In situ provision of drinking water to grazing dairy cows improves milk production.

AIMS: To determine the effect of providing water within the area grazed by dairy cows on milk yield and quality, compared to requiring cows to walk to a distant water trough, on a dairy farm in the Pampa region of Argentina during summer. METHODS: Holstein dairy cows were allocated to two herds with similar parity, days in milk and milk production. They were grazed in one paddock that was divided in two, with a fixed water trough at one end. Cows were moved twice daily to grazing plots within the paddock. Control cows (n=66) could only access water from the fixed trough, whereas supplemented cows (n=67) also received water from a mobile trough within the grazing plot. Milk production of each cow, and water consumption of the two herds were measured daily over 62 days. Milk composition for each herd was determined weekly from Days 18 to 60 of the study, and grazing behaviour was observed between 08:00 and 16:00 hours on Days 11-15, 19-22 and 39-43. RESULTS: Over the 62 days of the study, supplemented cows produced 1.39 (SE 0.11) L/cow/day more milk than Control cows (p=0.027). Estimated mean daily water intake was 50.4 (SE 2.1) L/cow/day for supplemented cows and 58.2 (SE 2.7) L/cow/day for Control cows (p=0.004). Percentage total solids in milk was higher for supplemented (12.5 (SE 0.06)%) than Control (12.4 (SE 0.04)%) cows (p=0.047). During the periods of behavioural observation, a higher percentage of cows in the water supplemented than the Control herd were observed in the grazing area (p=0.012). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This preliminary study demonstrated that provision of water to dairy cows within the grazing plot was beneficial for milk production and composition, and may be associated with longer periods spent within the grazing area, during hot weather in the Pampa region of Argentina.

Comparison of three methods for gastrointestinal nematode diagnosis determination in grazing dairy cattle in relation to milk production.

Development of resistance to anthelmintic drugs has motivated the search for diagnostic methods to identify animals for targeted selective treatments. We compared three methods for the diagnosis of nematode infection in relation to milk production in a fully grazing dairy herd of 150 cows in the humid Pampa (Argentina). Animals had feces, blood and milk sampled during the first postpartum month for EPG, pepsinogen and anti-Ostertagia antibody determination, respectively. With the results obtained two groups of cows, divided in high and low parasite burden, were conformed for each method, and milk production was then compared between groups. When cows were separated by the EPG method (EPG=0 (N=106) vs. EPG>0 (N=44)) a difference of nearly 800 l of milk per cow per lactation was found (P<0.05). On the other hand, milk production between groups separated by Pepsinogen (mUtyr ≤ 1000 vs. mUtyr > 1000) or by anti-Ostertagia (ODR ≤ 0.5 vs. ODR > 0.5) results did not differ. Interestingly, proportion of cows in each group differed between methods (P<0.0001), and the anti-Ostertagia method yielded significantly more cows in the high index group compared to results using the EPG or Pepsinogen method. No correlations were found between parasite indexes determined by the different methods. High parasite burden estimation found may be ascribed to the production system, fully grazing all year round, and to the sampling time, at the beginning of lactation with cows in negative energy balance and depressed immunity. The fact that the cows were born and reared outside, on pasture with continuous nematode larvae exposure, may also account for the results obtained. In conclusion, EPG counting during the first postpartum month may be a useful tool for the diagnosis of production impairment induced by high nematode burden in adult grazing dairy cows. The anthelmintic treatment of only the EPG-positive recently calved cows would improve milk production, while reducing selective pressure on nematode population for the development of resistance.

Gastrointestinal parasites presence during the peripartum decreases total milk production in grazing dairy Holstein cows.

Parasitism in cattle is known to impair growth and development. Recent findings suggest that productivity of adult animals is also affected, but little is known about the physiological mechanisms involved. Furthermore, development of nematode resistance to drugs makes imperative the search of management practices that avoid whole herd treatment. We undertook an epidemiological and endocrine study in a grass based dairy farm in Argentina to study the effect of parasites on milk production and the underlying mechanisms involved, and identify individual animals that would benefit from antiparasitic treatment. All the cows in the dairy were followed monthly for egg parasite output in feces. Samples were cultured for genera determination. Milk production and reproductive results were recorded and periodical bleedings for hormone determination were performed. Nematode egg output (EPG) was maximal in late Summer and Autumn and minimal in Spring in coincidence with the Ostertagia inhibition-disinhibition cycle as this genus had the highest prevalence in all the study. The highest proportion of positive samples was found in the high producing herd and maximal counts were found in the peripartal period. Milk production did not correlate with EPG mean values but, when cows were grouped by EPG positivity around parturition, a significant difference in total milk production between EPG null and positive cows was observed. Positive cows produced 7%, 12% or 15% less milk than null EPG cows, depending on the sampling month/s chosen for classification. The highest difference was seen when both prepartum and postpartum samples were taken into account. No difference in lactation length and a marginal effect on partum to first service interval were encountered. Endocrine studies revealed a decrease in serum growth hormone (GH), type I insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) and prolactin during lactation in cows with positive EPG in the first postpartum sample with respect to null EPG cows at that time. GH levels decreased and prolactin and IGF-I levels increased in both groups of cows from month 0 to 6 in milk. Serum insulin levels remained stable throughout lactation and were similar in both groups of cows. In conclusion, EPG around parturition may be a useful tool for identifying cows that will have a decrease in productivity due to parasite effects and would possibly benefit from an antiparasitic treatment. Besides, our results suggest that detrimental effect of parasites on milk production may be mediated by GH, IGF-I and prolactin serum levels.

Survival and recovery: psychoanalytic reflections.

This paper offers a critical review of the psychoanalytic literature on the Holocaust. In keeping with its emphasis on recovery, it describes the mechanisms involved in psychological survival under extreme conditions. It is postulated that these mechanisms constituted a link in the psychic continuity between the survivors' pre-Holocaust psychological organization and their adaptations to a new life.

Structural specializations of the eye in the vizcacha (Lagostomus maximus maximus).

Vizcachas (Lagostomus maximus maximus, Chinchillidae) are nocturnal rodents living in burrows in many regions of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. We have studied the eye of the vizcacha using several light and electron microscopic procedures, with the purpose of understanding the role of vision in the behavior of this species. Our observations demonstrated an avascular, rod-rich retina, with a specialized region spanning through most of the equator of the eye. In this central band, all neural retinal layers exhibited a high cell density, whereas the photoreceptor layer was characterized by the presence of very long rods. In addition, the central region was associated with a distinct pigmentation pattern, including scarce granulation of the pigment epithelium, low pigmentation of the choroid, and the selective attachment of suprachoroidal cells to the inner scleral surface. These central modifications probably form the structural basis of a reflecting tapetum. The eye of the vizcacha received both long and short ciliary vessels, and a specialized cilio-sclero-choroidal vascular network appeared at the equatorial region. Our findings suggest that the equatorial region of the eye of the vizcacha could be a highly sensitive light detector related to foraging behaviors during crepuscular or nocturnal hours.

The mean-integral representation of rectangles.

To assess perceptual interaction between the height and width of rectangles, we used an accuracy variant of the Garner paradigm. We measured the discriminability of height and width (baseline tasks) and size and shape (correlated tasks). From the d' values in these conditions, we estimated perceptual distances and inferred a mean-integral representation in which height and width corresponded to non-independent dimensions in a perceptual space. This model accounted well for performance in these two-stimulus conditions, and it also explained 70%-80% of the decline in performance in selective and divided attention. In a second experiment, conducted for purposes of comparison with the rectangle discrimination Experiment, we studied the discrimination of horizontal and vertical line segments connected in an L-shape. In size discrimination, observers were equally good with line pairs and rectangles, suggesting holistic perception; but in shape discrimination, they appeared to combine information from the two line-pair components of the rectangle independently. The mean-integral model was again successful in relating performance in the Garner tasks quantitatively.

On the conceptualisation of clinical facts in psychoanalysis.

After defining 'facts', 'clinical facts' and 'psychoanalytic clinical facts' the authors describe their conceptualisations of these facts from experience-near to experience-distant levels. They maintain that psychoanalytic clinical facts are jointly created by patient and analyst and are to a great degree dependent on the analyst's mode of observation and theory. They illustrate the various levels of conceptualisation within the broad outlines of self psychology with three detailed clinical vignettes from the analysis of Mr K. A starting central question in the authors' minds arises out of their focus on the patient's selfobject transference (in this instance a mirror transference), hence on the function they serve for the patient in this transference; the role he assigns to them in the restoration and maintenance of the cohesiveness of the self. It is the recognition of this function that serves as the basis for their conceptualisation of the patient's psychopathology as well as the curative process of his analysis.

Agreement of classification decisions using two measures of motor co-ordination in persons with a traumatic brain injury.

Identification of motor co-ordination deficits in persons with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a vital part of both assessment and rehabilitation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the agreement of classification decisions based on clinical (subjective) and instrumented (objective) tests for measuring upper-limb co-ordination in persons with a TBI. Twenty-two subjects with TBI performed the 'finger-to-nose' test and a 'lateral reach tapping test' 12 months post-injury. After reduction to categorical form (deficit/no deficit), the data were interpreted using a generalized kappa statistic, to estimate the agreement between the two tests. The kappa values for the right and left upper extremities were 0.625 and 0.360, respectively, while the combined (right and left) value was 0.500, representing only 'moderate' agreement between the two testing protocols. This indicates that motor co-ordination deficits in persons with TBI can be documented using either clinical or instrumented tests. The choice of test does not appear to be based on the subjective/objective nature (dimension) of each test, but rather on more practical factors such as administration time, cost and level of objectivity desired by the clinician.

The curative fantasy and psychic recovery : contribution to the theory of psychoanalytic psychotherapy.

The discovery of selfobject transferences and the interpretation of symptomatic behavior from within the patient's perspective have altered the conduct of psychoanalytic psychotherapy in fundamental ways. A review of the treatment process from a self psychological perspective serves as a background for pointing to the significance of curative fantasies in the process of recovery.

[Superior vena cava syndrome due to hemothorax].

A 40-year-old man suffering from chronic uremia was admitted for hemodialysis. During cannulation of the subclavian vein, 1 of the arteries of the chest was punctured and bled into the right hemithorax. A large compressing hematoma occurred near the superior vena cava and acute superior vena cava syndrome developed very rapidly despite repeated intercostal drainage. Bedside, 1-shot-venography enabled accurate diagnosis and localization of the obstruction and permitted aimed surgical intervention.

The dread to repeat: comments on the working-through process in psychoanalysis.

This paper focuses on the process of working through in psychoanalysis. Reemphasis of the centrality of the empathic listening perspective and discovery of the selfobject transferences made it necessary to reconceptualize various aspects of the analytic process from the perspective of psychoanalytic self psychology. With the help of a clinical vignette, the paper illustrates the manner in which archaic defense organizations and newly developing psychic structures find a compromise solution in a transference symptom. Such symptoms can serve as nodal points in the process of working through; they represent a transitional phase between the old automatic responses to narcissistic injury and an increased capacity to use signal anxiety. The psychopathology that became illuminated in this process can be described phenomenologically as a self-defeating personality disorder.

Partial agonistic activity of GR43175 at the inhibitory prejunctional 5-HT1-like receptor in rat kidney.

1. The pharmacological effect of the selective 5-HT receptor agonist GR43175 has been studied in the isolated perfused rat kidney with particular reference to the inhibitory prejunctional 5-HT1-like receptor. 2. GR43175 (1 x 10(-8) to 1 x 10(-5) M) inhibited the electrically evoked release of tritium from renal noradrenergic nerves but did not affect the basal (non-stimulated) release of tritium or perfusion pressure. 3. The inhibitory prejunctional action of GR43175, as well as that of 5-HT, was blocked by methiothepin, suggesting that both agonists act at the inhibitory 5-HT1-like site. 4. GR43175, relative to 5-HT, acted as a weak partial agonist at the inhibitory prejunctional 5-HT1-like receptor and antagonized 5-HT-induced inhibition of tritium release, suggesting again that a common site of action is involved. 5. The results support the conclusion that the 5-HT1-like receptor activated by GR43175 in the rat kidney is very similar to that identified in dog saphenous vein and certain other tissues.

Unsurmountable antagonism to 5-hydroxytryptamine in rat kidney results from pseudoirreversible inhibition rather than multiple receptors or allosteric receptor modulation.

Experiments were conducted in the isolated perfused rat kidney to determine the mechanism of unsurmountable antagonism by metergoline toward the vasoconstrictor response to 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT). Three possible mechanisms were investigated: 1) multiple receptors for 5-HT; 2) pseudoirreversible inhibition; and 3) allosteric modulation of 5-HT receptors. Metergoline and six other 5-HT antagonists acted as potent unsurmountable antagonists, only (-)-propranolol acted competitively (pA2 = 6.5). Multiple receptors for 5-HT were ruled out as the mechanism of unsurmountable antagonism because 5-HT and four 5-HT analogs gave similar pA2 values with (-)-propranolol. In addition, the KA value for 5-HT (185 nM) and the order and relativity of agonist potency suggest the presence of a single 5-HT2 receptor. Pseudoirreversible inhibition, over allosteric modulation of the 5-HT2 receptor, is suggested from experiments in which reversal of metergoline-induced inhibition by (-)-propranolol (studied in the presence of metergoline) was matched, in magnitude, by wash-out of metergoline. (-)-Propranolol is suggested to mimic wash-out by occupying and protecting receptors from which metergoline has dissociated. This is accomplished by virtue of its faster kinetics, on-off the 5-HT receptor, allowing restoration of 5-HT responses via a competitive interaction. Pseudoirreversible antagonism, over allosteric receptor modulation, offers an explanation that does not involve the postulation of allosteric effector sites or changes in the state of the 5-HT2 receptor.

Self-efficacy scaling by adult stutterers.

A scale was developed for estimating adult stutterers' confidence for entering and maintaining fluency in a variety of speaking situations. This Self-Efficacy Scale for Adult Stutterers (SESAS) was administered to 20 adult stutterers along with the shortened form of the Erickson Scale of Communication Attitudes and the Perceptions of Stuttering Inventory. Twenty nonstuttering adults were also given the SESAS the self-efficacy scores significantly differentiated between stutterers and nonstutterers. SESAS scores were correlated with the Erickson Scale (-0.71) and the Perceptions of Stuttering Inventory (-0.52). A correlation of -0.51 was found for SESAS scores and stutterers' self-ratings of severity. Test-retest reliability for the SESAS averaged 0.89. The results suggest that with continued development, self-efficacy scaling may be a useful technique for measuring one aspect of change during treatment.

Self-pathology in childhood: developmental and clinical considerations.

The conceptualization of childhood psychopathology is greatly aided when the stability and cohesiveness of the self are used as overriding points of orientation in the organization of clinical data. In children, self-cohesion, which is experienced as vigor, enthusiasm, and pleasure in the body-mind-self, depends on the phase-appropriate responses of the environment to the child's narcissistic developmental needs: mirroring and merger with the idealized selfobject. Since these selfobject responses depend on the empathic capacities of the child's psychological environment (primarily the parents), the development of parental empathy and the vicissitudes of its maintenance have been given special emphasis in this paper. The diagnosis of self-pathology in childhood has far-reaching consequences for the treatment of the child and his psychological environment. Recognizing the parents as selfobjects provides a conceptual bridge between the intrapsychic and the interpersonal in the treatment of children whose self is still in the process of evolving in relationship to their psychological environment. The active involvement of the parents in the treatment of a young child is supported by the now repeatedly made observation that patients who establish selfobject transferences in the course of their analyses are able to utilize the analyst's selfobject functions for belated structure building by the transmuting internalization of these functions. During childhood this structure-building potential can be remobilized within the child's own psychological environment. The clinical vignettes were chosen from the three representative age groups in childhood: preschool, latency, and adolescence. These vignettes were not intended to demonstrate "typical" manifestations of self-pathology at the various developmental phases. Rather, they were intended to demonstrate that the theory of the self as it develops within its psychological (selfobject) environment provides the child therapist with a theoretical tool which facilitates the understanding of those psychological conditions which- on a depth-psychological rather than on a descriptive level-could not readily be categorized either as a neurotic or a psychotic conditions. Since parental empathy is the sine qua non for the execution of parental self-object functions, the remobilization of these functions will depend on the parents' ability to become empathic toward the now symptomatic child. This may require the treatment of one or both parents, since this capacity cannot be "grafted" onto the parents' personalities: these are capacities that have to become the expressions of their own nuclear self. Parental selfobject functions are active functions and have to be differentiated from the processes of identification...

Formulating interpretations in clinical psychoanalysis.

The psychoanalytic psychology of the self led not only to a theoretical expansion of our central concepts of transference and resistance, but it also led to a decisive, dual shift in the manner in which we formulate and focus our interventions, irrespective of the nature of the patient's psychopathology. What we have described here as the empathic, reconstructive-interpretive process, and have exemplified with a clinical vignette, bridges within the psychoanalytic process the often still prevailing sharp division between conflict-based, structural psychopathology and deficiency-based, primary self-pathology. The utilization of a predominantly empathic mode of listening and responding (as contrasted with a predominantly inferential mode) is of particular significance in unifying the psychoanalytic approach to the various forms of psychopathology. Empathic reconstructive-interpretations encompass both transference repetitions and new experiences. Such interventions, therefore, responded to the total self of the patient, rather than to isolated, single elements in his associations and thereby lend them their broad therapeutic leverage.