To find out the possible inefficiencies of artificial inseminators at rectovaginal insemination in cows, inseminators' skill were evaluated by controlling the semen thawing procedure adopted and by using the technique of dye deposition in the genital tract of slaughtered cows. This was followed by refreshment training for the inseminators. Thirty seven artificial insemination technicians regularly working in the government, cooperative and NGO (Non Government Organization) artificial insemination programmes at different places of Bangladesh were included in the study. Individual technicians were asked to thaw a semen straw and deposit dye in the genital tract of slaughtered cows following the procedures they would have adopted in their actual practices of insemination. The time and water temperature adopted by technicians were recorded and genital tract after sham artificial insemination was dissected to determine the site of dye deposition. Then, the inseminators took part in a three days intensive training program. The training program was ended up with the same tests for thawing frozen semen straw and dye deposition in the genital tract of slaughtered cows. At pre training evaluation, only inseminators adopted co..ect thawing time and temperature, respectively. At post training evaluation, all inseminators thawed semen straws for proper time and temperature. At pretraining evaluation, inseminators deposited dye at the body of uterus, in the vagina or in cervix, and into the horn of uterus, respectively. In cases dye did not pass into the genital tract, instead back flowed through the space between the barrel of insemination gun and sheath. At post training evaluation, all inseminators successfully deposited dye in the body of uterus. Frequent evaluation of inseminators' skill and subsequent training would help improvement of the artificial insemination technicians' skill.

We present a progress report on HCN(1-0) line observations toward starless cores to probe inward motions. We have made a single pointing survey toward the central regions of 85 starless cores and performed mapping observations of 6 infall candidate starless cores. The distributions of the velocity difference between HCN(1-0) hyperfine lines and the optically thin tracer N2H+(1-0) are significantly skewed to the blue, meaning that HCN(1-0) frequently detects inward motions. Their skewness to the blue is even greater than that of CS(2-1) Lee et al., possibly implying more infall occurrence than CS(1-0). We identify 19 infall candidates by using several characteristics illustrating spectral infall asymmetry seen in HCN(1-0) hyperfine lines, CS(3-2), CS(2-1), DCO+(2-1) and N2H+ observations. The HCN(1-0) F(O-l) with the least optical depth usually shows a similar intensity distribution to that of N2H+ which closely traces the density distribution of the cores, indicating that HCN(1-0) is less chemically affected and so believed to reflect kinematics occurring in rather inner regions of the cores. Detailed radiative transfer model fits of the spectra are underway to analyze central infall kinematics in starless cores.

Sexing from bovine embryos which were fertilized in vitro implicate a possibility of the sex-controlled cattle production. This study was carried out to investigate the possibility of determining of embryo sex by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique. FISH was achieved in in vitro fertilized bovine embryos using a bovine Y-specific DNA probe which constructed from the btDYZ-1 sequences. To evaluate Y-chromosome specificity of the FISH probe, metaphase spreads of whole embryos and lymphocytes were prepared and tested. A male-specific signal was detected on 100% of Y chromosome bearing metaphase specimens. Using the FISH technique with a bovine Y-specific probe, 232 whole embryos of 8 cell- to blastocyst-stage were analyzed. Observing the presence of the Y-probe signal on blastomeres, 102 embryos were predicted as male, and 130 embryos as female. The determining rate of embryo sex by FISH technique was about 93% regardless of embryonic stages. In conclusion, the FISH using a bovine Y-specific DNA probe is an accurate, reliable and quick method for determining the sex of bovine embryos.