Objective-To examine the effect of a reduced sodium and increased potassium and magnesium intake on blood pressure.Design-Randomised double blind placebo controlled trial.Setting-General population of a suburb of Rotterdam.Subjects-100 men and women between 55 and 75 years of age with untreated mild to moderate hypertension.Interventions-During 24 weeks the intervention group received a mineral salt (sodium: potassium: magnesium 8:6:1) and foods prepared with the mineral salt. Controls received common salt and foods.Main outcome measure-Change in blood pressure.Results-Complete follow up was achieved for 97 of the 100 randomised subjects. Systolic blood pressure (mean ofmeasurements at weeks 8, 16, and 24) fell by 7-6 mm Hg (95% confidence interval 4 0 to 11.2) and diastolic blood pressure by 3-3 mm Hg (0.8 to 5.8) in the mineral salt group compared with the controls, with a 28%/ decrease in urinary sodium excretion and a 22% increase in urinary potassium excretion. Twenty five weeks after the study the difference in blood pressure between the groups was no longer detectable.Conclusion-Replacing common sodium salt by a low sodium, high potassium, high magnesium mineral salt could offer a valuable non-pharmacological approach to lowering blood pressure in older people with mild to moderate hypertension.

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The objective of this retrospective study was to evaluate the factors influencing developmental stage of bovine embryos recovered from superovulated dairy cattle 7 d after estrus. From 217 superovulated dairy cows and heifers, 2,211 eggs were recovered, of which 1,495 were classified as transferable embryos based on morphological evaluation of developmental stage and quality. From the evaluated embryos, 1,429 were non-surgically transferred to recipients to produce 623 calves. The transferable embryos were classified into five developmental stages and four quality grades. The least-developed transferable embryos tended to be classified into poorer quality grades. A multifactorial statistical model was used to analyze whether the following factors were associated with the developmental stage and quality grade of the embryos: donor breed, parity, gonadotropin preparation, embryo sex, insemination bull, embryologist (the person evaluating the embryo), year, and season of recovery. Among these factors, only the embryologist and the donor animal accounted for significant variation in embryo development. It was concluded that the developmental stage of embryos recovered at d 7 from superovulated cattle, when evaluated by simple morphological criteria, was correlated with the embryo's quality and was affected by the donor animal but in this study not by the embryo sex, donor breed and parity, gonadotropin preparation, and insemination bull used. The embryo's quality grading was influenced by the embryologist. Consequently, sexing of an embryo recovered from superovulated cattle is not possible by simple morphological evaluation of the embryo's developmental stage.

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