193 Comparison of Superovulatory Responses to Single Subcutaneous FSH Injection and Twice-Daily Intramuscular FSH Injection Protocols in Japanese Black Cows

The conventional superovulation treatment using follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) comprises 2 intramuscular injections per day for 3 to 4 days. This conventional method requires frequent handling of donors—which may cause increasing stress in donors—and high labour costs. Therefore, to alleviate these issues, a treatment protocol using a single FSH injection under on-farm conditions is needed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of the single subcutaneous FSH injection protocol (Sugawara et al. 2017 Reprod. Fertil. Dev. 29, 209), compared with with the traditional twice-daily intramuscular FSH injection protocol, in Japanese Black cows. Japanese Black cows (n = 13) were superovulated using 2 treatments in a crossover design. All cows received an intravaginal progesterone device (CIDR) at random stages of the oestrous cycle (Day 0), and 2 mg of oestradiol benzoate on Day 1 (24 h after CIDR insertion). On Day 6, for the group receiving a single subcutaneous FSH injection (single-FSH), 20 armor units (AU) of pFSH dissolved in 30 mL of saline was subcutaneously injected in the neck region and 0.5 mg of prostaglandin F2α was intramuscularly injected simultaneously. For the control group, FSH administration was initiated at Day 6. A total dose of 20 AU of FSH was administered in 3 days (with decreasing doses of 5, 3, and 2 AU, respectively, per injection) with 2 intramuscular injections per day; 0.5 mg of prostaglandin F2α was injected 48 h after the first FSH injection. For both groups, CIDR was removed 60 h after FSH injection and AI was done 42 to 48 h after CIDR removal. Embryo collections were performed 7 days after AI. Data were analysed using t-test for the mean numbers of collected ova/embryos and transferable embryos, and chi-squared test for the proportion of transferable embryos. There were no significant differences in the mean numbers (single-FSH v. control) of ova/embryos collected (17.1 ± 12.1 v. 17.8 ± 9.3), or transferable embryos (8.4 ± 9.3 v. 10.3 ± 8.7), and proportion of transferable embryos (45.0 ± 34.0 v. 56.6 ± 36.5). These results showed that although a slightly higher number and proportion of transferable embryos were obtained in the control group, a superovulation treatment protocol involving a single subcutaneous FSH injection can be effectively used for Japanese Black cows, under on-farm conditions.

201 EFFECT OF A SINGLE SUBCUTANEOUS INJECTION OF FSH AND TIMING OF PROSTAGLANDIN F2α ADMINISTRATION ON SUPEROVULATORY RESPONSE IN JAPANESE BLACK COWS

Superovulation treatment using FSH requires injection twice a day, for 3 to 4 days. This conventional method requires frequent handling of donors and higher labour costs. Therefore, simplification of the superovulation treatment protocol is needed to reduce animal handling and labour costs. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of a single subcutaneous FSH injection and the timing of prostaglandin F2α (PGF; cloprostenol) administration on the superovulatory response in Japanese Black cows (Hiraizumi et al. 2015 Theriogenology 83, 466–473) and to determine whether the superovulation treatment protocol can be used in on-farm conditions. A total of 270 Japanese Black cows were used in this study. Twenty Armour units of pFSH dissolved in 30 mL of saline was injected subcutaneously in the neck region. In Experiment 1, 32 cows received an intravaginal progesterone device (CIDR) at random stages of the oestrous cycle (Day 0), and 2 mg of oestradiol benzoate on Day 1 (24 h after CIDR insertion). On Day 6, FSH was injected subcutaneously, and 16 cows were simultaneously injected with 0.5 mg of PGF (0-h PGF, Group A); the other 16 cows were injected with 0.5 mg of PGF at 48 h (on Day 8) after FSH injection (48-h PGF, Group B). The CIDR was removed at 60 h after FSH injection and AI was done 42 to 48 h after CIDR removal. Embryo collections were performed 7 days after AI. In Experiment 2, 238 cows were used in farm conditions. The cows were superstimulated using the same protocol as that used for Group A. Data were analysed by ANOVA for the mean numbers of collected ova/embryos and transferrable embryos and chi-square test for the proportion of transferrable embryos. In Experiment 1, there were no differences in the mean numbers of ova/embryos collected (16.9 ± 12.3 v. 16.1 ± 17.1) or transferrable embryos (11.1 ± 9.5 v. 7.2 ± 6.2). However, the proportion of transferrable embryos for Group A was significantly higher than that of Group B (65.9 v. 44.7%; P < 0.01). In Experiment 2, the mean numbers of ova/embryos collected and transferrable embryos were 15.7 ± 13.3 and 6.8 ± 7.8, respectively. These results showed that a superovulation treatment protocol involving a single subcutaneous injection of FSH with simultaneous PGF injection can be effectively used for Japanese Black cows under on-farm conditions.

Time course of leucine-induced 4E-BP1 and S6K1 phosphorylation in the liver and skeletal muscle of rats

The purpose of the current study was to assess the involvement of the branched-chain amino acid leucine in the regulation of translation initiation in the liver and to compare the time course of leucine action on the translation initiation in the liver and skeletal muscle of rats. The phosphorylation of the eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF)4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1) frees eIF4E and stimulates protein synthesis by accelerating translation initiation. Phosphorylation of the 70-kDa ribosomal protein S6 kinase (S6K) is thought to be involved in regulating the synthesis of certain ribosomal proteins and other selected proteins with polypyrimidine clusters near the transcription start site. Food-deprived (18 h) male rats were orally administered 135 mg/100 g body weight L-leucine and sacrificed at 0, 1, 3, or 6 h after administration. The oral administration of leucine resulted in an enhanced phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 and S6K1 in both the liver and skeletal muscle. A time-dependent change in the phosphorylation state of 4E-BP1 and S6K1 was more acute in the skeletal muscle than in the liver and closely paralleled the changes in plasma leucine concentration. Our results indicate that the primary mediator in 4E-BP1 phosphorylation and S6K1 phosphorylation by the oral administration of leucine is an increase in the plasma concentration of leucine. Furthermore, our findings suggest differential sensitivity in the tissue response to oral administration of leucine.

Periodic aperture size measurement with submicron accuracy: application to nonuniform detection in color CRT shadow masks

A novel periodic aperture size measurement optical system, which makes use of a coherent light beam/lens 2-D Fourier-transform property, is proposed. Measuring gain and errors is discussed. This optical system is able to produce aperture widths on a 3-D formed surface with the same accuracy as those on a flat surface and is well suited for measuring small aperture size variations in shadow masks for color TV tubes. These variations in shadow masks are considered to cause luminous and color nonuniformities and have been detected heretofore only by visual inspection. The minimum detectable size variation for this new measuring method is ~0.1 microm.

Defect-type discriminating optical system

Novel coherent optical defect detecting methods, which can distinguish between opaque defects and transparent defects, are proposed. One of these novel methods makes use of a holographylike polarity reference signal and is suited to automatic detection systems. The other employs two independent light sources, and suitable for visual detection systems. Realizing these novel methods using omnidirectional spatial filters, simple but effective periodic pattern defect-detecting systems are formed, which can be easily accommodated with defect touching-up stages.

Rotation-, shift-, and magnification-insensitive periodic-pattern-defects optical detection system

Defects in rectangular x-y axis decomposable periodic patterns are found to be detected by an omnidirectional (r-theta axis decomposable) spatial filter optical system, where use is made of the spectral difference between periodic patterns and defects. A novel omnidirectional spatial filter, which has bandpass characteristics, is designed to block all the repetitive periodic regular pattern spectra and pass the defect information carrying spectra. According to a computer simulation, the minimum detectable defect size using this optical system is about one-twentieth that of the periodic pattern pitch. This novel optical system is characterized by its ability to detect defects at any location and rotation (shift and rotation immunity of the optical system) and also to be insensitive to object magnification by the frequency domain operation characteristics. This filter application is not limited to 2-D rectangular periodic-pattern-defects detection, but defects in 1-D or skew periodic patterns are also detected by the same filter.