Maternal plasma leptin is elevated in ewes during pregnancy. The authors studied whether there was any relation between maternal plasma leptin and insulin concentrations, the number of fetuses and the circulating and faecal levels of gestagens. At the end of the breeding season in January the ovarian activity of Prolific Merino ewes was induced/synchronised with gestagen + eCG treatment. Ewes were inseminated artificially (AI) by laparoscopy. Blood and faecal samples were collected before AI (day 0) and again 41, 81 and 101 days later. The plasma levels of leptin (pL), insulin and progesterone (pP 4 ), and the faecal P 4 metabolite (P 4 -met) content were determined. The day 0 level of pL was significantly higher in pregnant (n = 24) than in non-pregnant ewes (n = 32). By day 41 the pL of pregnant animals had doubled, it showed a further moderate increase on day 81, and decreased slightly thereafter. During pregnancy pP 4 and faecal P 4 -met rose continuously and were positively correlated at all stages. The mean levels of pL and pP 4 and the faecal content of P 4 -met were lower in ewes bearing single (n = 12) than in those with 2 (n = 6) or 3-5 fetuses (n = 6). Analysis of variance demonstrated significant differences according to the number of fetuses in the pL and pP 4 , but not in P4-met (p = 0.042, 0.044, and 0.051, respectively). Leptin showed positive correlation with insulin before the AI but not during pregnancy. On days 41 and 81 pL showed a slight positive correlation with P 4 and P 4 -met, which decreased slightly by day 101. This study shows that although leptinaemia is affected by the number of fetuses and the level of P 4 , pregnancy stage is a more important regulator than these additional factors.

No abstract

The present study aims to evaluate the effect of different preparation designs on fracture resistance and failure mode of hybrid nanoceramic endocrown on premolars. Methodology: Fourteen endodontically treated maxillary premolars were prepared to receive a hybrid nanoceramic endocrown restorations and divided into 2 groups according to the preparation designs (butt joint and 2 mm ferrule). The endocrown restorations were cemented to the prepared teeth using dual cure adhesive resin cement. All specimens were subjected to a compressive force 5KN until fracture occurs by using universal testing machine. The maximum compressive force was recorded for all specimens, then failure mode of all samples were examined visually and photographically. All repairable samples were examined for extension of the cracks using scanning electron microscope. Results: Endocrowns with ferrule preparation recorded a highly statistically significant difference with the higher mean value of fracture resistance (1911.57 ± 341.29 N), compared to the endocrowns with butt joint which recorded the lower mean value of fracture resistance (1192.70±196.04 N). Regarding the failure mode; endocrowns with ferrule design showed a high percent of catastrophic failure while butt joint showed more repairable failure. Conclusion: Endocrowns with ferrule design showed a higher fracture resistance value but with a high percent of catastrophic failure mode compared to butt joint design that showed lower fracture resistance value with mostly repairable mode of failure.

Our experiment was conducted at a special dairy farm in Dakahlia Governorate between the periods (March –May 2018), This farm consisted of 400 Holestien cows; from the total of the animals only 210 lactating cows. The established experiment applied on 40 cows suffered from different types of anestrum detected by ultrasonography as follow (15 cows suffer from cystic ovary, 15 cows suffer from smooth inactive ovaries and 10 cows suffer from persist corpus luteum to study the effect of progesterone device insertion in dairy cattle and its effect in fertility. On day 0, cattle at random stage of estrous cycle received controlled internal drug release vaginal insert (CIDR).We left the CIDR in the vagina for seven days as we inject PGF2 on day 6 and remove the CIDR on day 7, blood samples were collected from 25 animals at zero day, 3rd, 7th and 9th day from the tail vein, and then we follow the estrous and detected the estrus cow for AI and apply ultrasonography for pregnancy diagnosis after 30 day from insemination From this study it was concluded that the use of progesterone for 7 days +i.m. injection of PGF2α in the 7th day can applied to dairy cattle to restart ovarian activity and it is an effective treatment for different infertility cases like cystic ovarian disease, persist corpus luteum and smooth in active ovaries. Moreover present study provides evidence for the importance of prior exposure to progesterone for cows to express estrous behavior, increase number of pregnant animals and increase conception rate.

Our experiment was conducted at a special dairy farm in Dakahlia Governorate between the periods (March -May 2018), This farm consisted of 400 Holestien cows; from the total of the animals only 210 lactating cows. The established experiment applied on 40 cows suffered from different types of anestrum detected by ultrasonography as follow (15 cows suffer from cystic ovary, 15 cows suffer from smooth inactive ovaries and 10 cows suffer from persist corpus luteum to study the effect of progesterone device insertion in dairy cattle and its effect in fertility. On day 0, cattle at random stage of estrous cycle received controlled internal drug release vaginal insert (CIDR).We left the CIDR in the vagina for seven days as we inject PGF2 on day 6 and remove the CIDR on day 7, blood samples were collected from 25 animals at zero day, 3 rd , 7 th and 9 th day from the tail vein, and then we follow the estrous and detected the estrus cow for AI and apply ultrasonography for pregnancy diagnosis after 30 day from insemination From this study it was concluded that the use of progesterone for 7 days +i.m. injection of PGF2α in the 7 th day can applied to dairy cattle to restart ovarian activity and it is an effective treatment for different infertility cases like cystic ovarian disease, persist corpus luteum and smooth in active ovaries. Moreover present study provides evidence for the importance of prior exposure to progesterone for cows to express estrous behavior, increase number of pregnant animals and increase conception rate.