Biomedical subjects

J M Faure

Publications and source records attributed to J M Faure.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1998

[Creation of a neovagina using ultrasonography-assisted laparoscopy (modified Vecchietti technique].

Ultrasonography-assisted laparoscopic creation of a neavagina was performed on 6 patients suffering from vaginal aplasia. As the needle progress through the vesicorectal space, ultrasonography provided an accurate check of the bladder and rectal integrity, and improved the ease of the surgical procedure. Ultrasound can be considered an effective and reliable advance for laparoscopic management of vaginal aplasia.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

Feed pecking in young chickens: new techniques of evaluation.

Three techniques were compared: automated recording (A) of 2 h of feeding activities conveyed to a computer by constantly connected electronic balances, videotaping (V) of a closeup of the head of a chick during a feed-pecking session analyzed by focal sampling at reduced speed (16 times slower), strength of pecking (S) at feed particles recorded from a feeder-weight signal conveyed to a computer by a customized electronic balance at rapid speed (24 times/s). These techniques were applied to 16-18-day-old chicks fed either a complete feed or a split diet (whole grain wheat + a complementary feed). The two feeds had similar pellet forms. The complementary feed particles were eaten at a slower rate than the complete feed particles (A and V techniques). Wheat grains were pecked with a weaker measured strength than the pellets (technique S). Two pecks of three did not result in prehension of a feed particle and were categorized as "exploratory" pecks. For 75% of the time during a continuous pecking session the head of the chick was in a static position, suggesting a long period of observation of the feed between 2 consecutive pecks. Videotaping with slow-motion focal sampling (V) offers potential development for the study of food intake behavior of chickens.

Animals↗

PubMed1997

The behavior of the Japanese or domestic quail Coturnix japonica.

This paper reviews the literature pertaining to the behavior of the Japanese or domestic quail Coturnix japonica. Details are given of the classification, characteristics, domestication and the economic and research potential of the species. Further sections deal with sensation and perception (including taste and smell, vision and hearing), maintenance behavior (including feeding and drinking, dust bathing and thermoregulation), development and aging (including vocalization, filial imprinting, sexual imprinting, fear and avoidance responses, sexual maturation and aging), adult learning (including habituation, instrumental conditioning, Pavlovian conditioning and observational learning), photoperiodism, reproductive behavior (including courtship and mating, hormonal control and ontogeny of sexual differentiation, and male and female sexual behavior), parental behavior (including nest-site selection and nest building, incubation behavior and its hormonal control, and hen-chick relationships), and aggressive behavior and dominance (including agonistic behavior and the hormonal control of aggressive behavior).

Animals↗

PubMed1996

Behavioural adaptation of laying hens to dilution of diets under mash and pellet form.

1. Two laying diets, control (A) and a low-energy (B) diet diluted by adding 450 g/kg wheat bran, were fed to semi-heavy hens in three different forms: mash, small pellets and large pellets. The behavioural adaptations and the production characteristics for these six regimens were studied on 72 individually caged hens, between 19 and 29 weeks of age, subjected to a lighting pattern of 14 h light/24 h. 2. Diet B, as mash, showed a lower apparent physical density than the others. The hardness and durability of the pelleted diets were similar. 3. Hens fed the mash diet B could not completely adjust their food intake to compensate for the dilution and showed reduced egg output and body weight gain compared to the other groups. 4. Video observation of each hen for 14 consecutive hours showed that mash-fed hens ate for longer periods than pellet-fed hens during the first 11 h (proportion of time spent eating: 41.3% mash B, 32.5% mash A and 20% to 25% for all the pelleted diets). These differences were less pronounced during the last 3 h of the photoperiod. 5. Trough-oriented stereotypies were noted in 14 out of 22 mash-fed hens and in 12 out of 47 pellet-fed hens. Dilution of the diet did not appear to exacerbate stereotyped behaviours under the conditions of the study. 6. This experiment demonstrates that the feeding behaviour of laying hens is affected by the physical characteristics of the diet and that this may lower their productivity. 7. Low-energy pelleted diets might be used to feed hens efficiently in tropical countries where cereal by-products are abundant.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed1996

[Choledochal cyst. Prenatal diagnosis and early neonatal management].

Cysts of the main bile duct occur rarely. Antenatal diagnosis has improve med management. We demonstrate the difficulties in identifying intra-abdominal liquid collections at antenatal examinations and discuss the differential diagnosis. Certain diagnosis is established when a communication between the bile duct and the cyst can be visualized. After sonography confirmation post-natally, early surgical cure is required and has radically changed the prognosis of this condition.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Restraint, fear, and distress in Japanese quail genetically selected for long or short tonic immobility reactions.

Japanese quail genetically selected for long (LTI) rather than short (STI) tonic immobility reactions showed more pronounced overt fear-responses in a number of putatively frightening situations. Greater fear has also been found in Japanese quail selected, in an independent program, for exaggerated (HS, high stress) rather than reduced (LS, low stress) plasma corticosterone response to brief mechanical restraint. The present study examined tonic immobility (TI) and adrenocortical responses in male and female quail of the LTI, STI and CON (control) lines which had either remained undisturbed or had been briefly exposed to a mechanical restraint stressor similar to that used for selection of the HS and LS lines. Behavioral strategies during restraint differed across lines, i.e., struggling followed the pattern STI > CON > LTI. The LTI quail showed more pronounced TI reactions than did CON and STI birds. Mechanical restraint prolonged subsequent TI responses and markedly elevated plasma corticosterone concentrations in all lines, but there were no line x treatment interactions. The results are discussed in terms of the parallels between the four selected lines and of the likelihood that the independent selection programs may have affected the same intervening variable.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

[Strangulated urethral prolapse in a young woman: a rare urological emergency].

Total prolapse of the urethral mucosa in women is an uncommon lesion, observed at the two extremes of reproductive life. Strangulation of urethral prolapse is a rare complication whose emergency treatment is essentially surgical. The authors report a case of strangulated urethral prolapse in a 43-year-old woman, for which several pathophysiological mechanisms can be proposed: first delivery by forceps, poorly repaired perineal tear, untreated early menopause at the age of 40 years. Urethral prolapse in elderly women has become much less common since the introduction of hormone replacement therapy for menopause. Other physiopathogenic factors may be responsible for this prolapse, such as thrombosis of the juxtameatal submucosal veins, laxity between the mucosa and submucosa or uretrodetrusor dyssynergia. The diagnosis of strangulated urethral prolapse is based on the discovery of a very painful, violaceous, inflammatory circular mucosal tumour surrounding the urethral meatus. If rapid reduction of the prolapse is not obtained with systemic and topical oestrogen therapy, the strangulated mucosal flap must be resected surgically, followed by apposition of the urethral mucosal and submucosal planes. This suture, in tissues which are always inflamed, must be calibrated and the urine must be drained by bladder catheter for about ten days. Meatal stricture is the principal complication of this surgery.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Welfare of ducks in intensive units.

Intensive husbandry of ducks is currently creating problems with regard to the welfare of these birds. The improvement of hygiene conditions and rationalisation of husbandry have created a poor and restrictive environment, leading to the appearance of abnormal behaviour patterns, such as certain types of pecking. Solutions are proposed. Many factors are involved and vast fields remain open for study.

Animal Husbandry↗

PubMed1993

Responses to isolation in Japanese quail genetically selected for high or low sociality.

The adrenocortical, behavioral, and leucocytic responses to isolation, for 1, 3, or 72 h, of 7-10-day-old Japanese quail chicks, of lines selected for high (HSR) or low (LSR) levels of social reinstatement (SR) behavior, were studied. Isolation had no effect on plasma corticosterone levels of heterophil/lymphocyte measures in LSR line chicks. Conversely, circulating corticosterone levels were increased after 1 h of isolation in the HSR line, although they fell to control levels thereafter. Heterophil/lymphocyte ratios of HSR line chicks were also increased after 3 h of isolation but decreased to control levels thereafter. Isolated HSR line chicks were consistently more active and showed more peeping and jumping than LSR line chicks in which sitting and lying were more frequent. However, no such behavioral divergence was observed when HSR and LSR line chicks were housed in same-line groups. These results indicate that selection for SR behavior has influenced both underlying social motivation and responses to short-term isolation. Social separation appeared to be more stressful for HSR than LSR line chicks.

Animals↗

PubMed1993

Effects of CRF on isolated Japanese quails selected for fearfulness and for sociality.

The effects of CRF on the behavior and plasma corticosterone levels of isolated Japanese quail chicks were determined. Doses of 15, 30, and 45 micrograms/kg of CRF reduced the number of distress vocalizations emitted during isolation in chicks of a control line. The behavioral responses to a 15 micrograms/kg dose of CRF in lines selected either for high (HSR) or low (LSR) level of sociality or for low (STI) or high (LTI) fearfulness were compared. CRF suppressed vocalizations and increased the number of pecks at food. In LTI and STI chicks, CRF decreased the number of distress calls. In HSR chicks, CRF increased the number of pecks at food and suppressed vocalizations. No effect of CRF was found in LSR chicks. Chicks of the HSR, LSR, LTI, STI, and control lines were injected with 15 micrograms/kg of CRF or saline solution and the level of corticosterone measured following a 15-min isolation period. CRF or isolation alone slightly activated the HPA axis, whereas CRF plus isolation greatly increased corticosterone levels except in the LSR line. These differential responses of LSR chicks and chicks of the other lines, indicate a possible role of CRF in the regulation of social reinstatement behavior.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Genetic and experiential manipulation of fear-related behavior in Japanese quail chicks (Coturnix coturnix japonica).

We examined effects of environmental enrichment and regular handling on fear-related responses in chicks of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) selected over several generations for short or long tonic immobility (STI and LTI, respectively). STI chicks froze less, vocalized and walked sooner and more in an open field, emerged sooner from a hole-in-the-wall box, and showed shorter TI reactions than did chicks of the LTI line. Similarly, environmental enrichment reduced silence and inactivity in the open field, accelerated emergence, and attenuated TI. Regular handling promoted open-field vocalization and reduced the duration of TI but exerted no other significant effects. Principal component analysis showed that the responses in the 3 tests were not independent, which implies that they measured the same underlying factor. The genetic and experiential manipulation of stimulus-specific fears and of general fearfulness is discussed.

Age Factors↗

PubMed1991

Divergent selection for duration of tonic immobility and social reinstatement behavior in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) chicks.

Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) were selected over 8 generations for long or short duration of tonic immobility (TI) weighted for independence from social reinstatement (SR) behavior (as measured in a treadmill) and for high or low levels of SR behavior weighted for independence from duration of TI. Divergent selection for long or short duration of TI and for high or low levels of SR behavior resulted in immediate and significant responses that continued throughout the 8 generations. There was no evidence of a plateau in the response to selection in any of the lines. SR responses did not vary in lines selected for duration of TI and vice versa. Selection for short duration of TI led to in an increase in the number of inductions required to induce TI. Selection for low levels of SR behavior led to a decrease in the tendency to move toward conspecifics but not to an increase in the tendency to move away from conspecifics.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Rhythmic occurrence of sexual behavior and egg laying activity of Muscovy ducks.

1. The existence of nychthemeral rhythms in the sexual behaviour of Muscovy ducks, kept under intensive husbandry conditions, was investigated. Studies were also carried out of the relationships between artificial insemination or natural mating times, oviposition time and female fertility. 2. Sexual activity (as measured by the number of complete matings observed) followed a trimodal pattern with peaks of activity in the second to third, 5th to 6th and 10th to 15th hours of the photoperiod. The last peak in sexual activity was the most important in both length and intensity. 3. The rhythm in sexual activity was entrained by the light-dark transition. 4. Female fertility was lowest during the period from 4 h before to 1 h after oviposition and greatest in the periods 8 to 4 h before and 1 to 7 h after oviposition. 5. The periods of maximum female fertility did not coincide with the periods of greatest sexual activity. More than 60% of all matings observed occurred during periods of intermediate female fertility. It would therefore appear that natural mating is not consistent with optimal female reproductive performance under artificial husbandry conditions. 6. The results are discussed in relation to a possible reduction in the number of males necessary in breeder populations in Muscovy ducks with a view to reducing the cost of producing ducklings.

Animal Husbandry↗

PubMed1990

Effects of blood sampling on plasma concentrations of corticosterone and glucose in laying hens caged in groups.

1. The effects of taking a blood sample from one bird in a caged group on plasma concentrations of corticosterone and glucose in birds from its own group and birds from other groups were investigated. 2. Two blood sampling protocols were used: successive (all birds within a group were sampled one immediately after another) and alternative (birds from different groups were sampled one after another until all birds in all groups had been sampled). 3. Neither sampling protocol nor between or within group sampling rank was related to plasma concentrations of corticosterone and glucose. 4. The time taken to remove a blood sample (generally more than 45 s but less than 2 min) did not influence circulating corticosterone and glucose. 5. In individual birds plasma concentrations of corticosterone and glucose were poorly correlated with one another. 6. It is concluded that it is possible to take blood samples from a bird, kept in a group, without affecting plasma concentrations of corticosterone and glucose in other birds from that group or in birds from other groups in other cages.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed1987

Extraneous egg shell calcification as a measure of stress in poultry.

The incidence of eggs showing abnormal shell calcification amongst those produced by hens kept in individual battery cages, hens kept in battery cages in groups of 3 and hens kept in battery cages in groups of 4 was studied. There was good agreement between observers in the assessment of abnormal eggs. Hens kept in individual cages laid fewer abnormal eggs than hens kept in groups of 3 or 4. There was no significant difference in the incidence of abnormal eggs between hens kept in groups of 3 or 4. The results of this study support the idea that the incidence of eggs showing abnormal calcification may provide a quick and reliable method of measuring stress in hens which lay brown shelled eggs.

Animals↗

PubMed1984

Lack of influence of pullet rearing conditions on the hen's performance.

The influence of three aspects of the rearing conditions of pullets on their performance as adults was investigated. The rearing conditions investigated were early acquaintance between birds, group size and stocking density. The production characteristics measured were laying performance, feathering and foot condition. No significant effect of rearing condition on the characteristics measured was found.

Animal Husbandry↗

PubMed1981

Bidirectional selection for open-field activity in young chicks.

A selection program for open-field activity in 2-day-old chicks was performed over eight generations. All characters measured responded to selection, and for most of them the response was symmetric in the two strains. After eight generations of selection the distribution of latencies and of measures of activity overlapped only slightly. The two exceptions were the latency to move and the percentage of birds which defecated. From an evolutionary point of view the symmetry of the two lines, the relatively high heritabilities, and the absence of heterotic effects on these characters show that open-field behavior has been subjected to a stabilizing natural selection rather than a directional one. This conclusion agrees with observations on open-field behavior in this and other species.

Animals↗

PubMed1980

[The relationship between heart rate and type of growth in the domestic fowl].

The heart rate at 6 and 24 weeks of age and the relative weight of the heart at 8 and 24 weeks were studied in four strains of domestic fowl, differing in growth and, in this study, in body weight. Heart rate at 6 weeks of age was not related to sex, body weight, absolute or relative heart weight. Heart rate at 24 weeks of age was related to relative heart weight at 24 weeks, to absolute heart weight at 6 and 24 weeks, and to body weight at 6 weeks. There was a marked sex effect at 24 weeks. No within-species relationship between heart rate and body weight was found, but a negative correlation existed between heart rate and relative heart weight.

Aging↗