Exposure to a novel male during late pregnancy influences subsequent growth of offspring during lactation.

In mammals, allocation to reproduction can either be primed or suppressed in relation to cues from other individuals. Some conspecifics (e.g. potential mates) may enhance an individual's ability to reproduce but others may have a detrimental effect on reproductive success. One widely studied response to conspecific cues, the 'Bruce effect', occurs when pregnant females abort their pregnancies after exposure to a novel male. It has been suggested that this response has evolved as a counter-tactic to the threat of infanticide posed by novel males. In some species, like mice, pregnancy termination will only occur if females are exposed to the unfamiliar male during a brief critical period early in pregnancy, which is surprising considering that an unfamiliar male threatens infanticide whenever present, and in particular near to birth. We demonstrate that female mice experiencing novel males during late pregnancy also alter their investment in progeny, but in a more subtle manner than previously observed. Females exposed to an unfamiliar male during late pregnancy give birth to offspring of a comparable weight to those produced by females exposed to the paternal male, but these offspring grow more slowly over lactation. As a consequence, offspring from these females weigh less at weaning. Modification of their growth trajectory, however, allows these offspring to catch up to normal weights by adulthood. Thus, cues of unfamiliar males, and possibly their associated threat of infanticide, can produce more wide-ranging effects on maternal investment than previously recognized.

Development and validation of a dissolution method for warfarin sodium and aspirin combination tablets.

A dissolution method for warfarin sodium-aspirin combination tablets was developed which utilizes USP Apparatus 1 (baskets) at 50 rpm with 900 ml of phosphate buffer (pH 6.8; 0.05 M) medium at 37 degrees C. A reversed-phase liquid chromatographic method was also developed for the simultaneous determination of warfarin sodium, aspirin and salicylic acid on an octadecylsilica column using acetonitrile-tetrahydrofuran-glacial acetic acid-water (23:5:5:67, v/v/v/v) as the mobile phase with UV detection at 282 nm. Validation data were obtained which demonstrate that the dissolution methodology is accurate, precise, linear and rugged for the combination tablets.

Chronic toxicity of Great Lakes sediments to Daphnia magna: elutriate effects on survival, reproduction and population growth.

: Seventeen Great Lakes sediments ranging in degree of expected toxicity were evaluated using a 21 day sediment elutriate bioassay with Daphnia magna. Sediments differed in their effects on survival, age at first reproduction, the number of broods produced and the total number of young produced per adult. Sediments producing low survivorship (50-60%) also had negative effects on reproduction. However, both positive and negative effects on reproduction were found among sediments producing high survivorship. To integrate all test end-points, a stochastic matrix population model was constructed and parameterized with survival and reproduction data from each sediment. By including estimates of variability in vital rates, the model output provided quantitative estimates of uncertainty in projected population size. Sediment effects on survival and reproduction translated into large differences in projected population growth; mean estimates of projected population size at day 28 of the simulations ranged over two orders of magnitude among the 17 sediments. Reproductive timing (e.g. age at first reproduction), followed by fecundity and survivorship, had the largest effect on population growth. Results of this study also indicate that the presence of suspended sediment in elutriates may confound toxicity evaluations using cladocerans. The concentration of total suspended solids was negatively correlated with age at first reproduction and positively correlated with measures of fecundity and population growth. In order to realize the potential benefits of chronic testing we must develop ecologically relevant ways of interpreting sediment bioassay results and expressing the uncertainty associated with our estimates of ecological risk.