Dual infection with Pythium insidiosum and Blastomyces dermatitidis in a dog

A 4-year-old male neutered Labrador Retriever with severe gastrointestinal signs, but no respiratory signs, was diagnosed with multifocal pyogranulomatous gastritis, enteritis, and lymphadenitis with intralesional hyphae and multifocal pyogranulomatous pneumonia with intralesional yeast. Based on cytologic evaluation, histologic examination with special stains, and immunohistochemical analysis of tissues collected antemortem or at necropsy, dual infections with Pythium insidiosum and Blastomyces dermatitidis were detected and are reported for the first time.     

Testosterone serum profile,semen characteristics and testicular biometry of Mangalarga Marchador stallions in a tropical environment

This study was conducted to characterize the daily profile of testosterone secretion and its mean concentrations in the four seasons as well as to evaluate the semen characteristics and testicular biometry of Mangalarga Marchador stallions throughout the year in a tropical region. Three stallions were submitted to semen collections and evaluation of testicular biometry every 14 days along a year. Blood samples were collected once at the middle of each season, in a 20‐min interval during 24 hr in order to evaluate the testosterone secretion profiles among seasons. Testosterone concentrations along the day were higher at the beginning of the afternoon (from 12:00 to 15:00 hr), but a circadian secretion was not clearly observed. Mean testosterone concentrations did not differ among seasons (p > .05), but a pattern of secretion along the day showed variations with higher concentrations in the afternoon during the winter. Ejaculate volume was higher during summer; however, sperm motility decreased in summer and spring. Total sperm in ejaculate, sperm morphology and testicular biometry kept constant along the year showing no differences among the seasons. The results demonstrated that in a tropical region, reproductive aspects of stallions did not show a clearly defined seasonal variation, and months of autumn and winter were not unsuitable for reproduction of the males.     

Immotile Short‐Tail Sperm Defect in Nelore (Bos taurus indicus) Breed Bulls

This case study reported the presence of short tail sperm defect in the semen of three Nelore breed bulls. The sperm presented 0% of motility in the three animals evaluated and a total of 70%, 61% and 34% of pathologies of the intermediate piece of the tail respectively for animals 1, 2 and 3. It was identified that animals 2 and 3 had high degree of inbreeding, although no relationship was found with animal 1. Animal 2 was the only one that presented inbreeding coefficient (6.25%). His half‐sib (animal 3) and animal 1, from the same herd, had shown no inbreeding, showing that inheritance is not the only determinant factor for its incidence on Nelore males.     

The present state of national animal welfare policy

Animal welfare is expected to increase in importance as a political and marketing issue. There is a vigorous debate about what, besides the absence of physical pain, is necessary for acceptable animal welfare. This paper focuses on the present state of animal welfare policy at the national level.     

Promoting axon regeneration in the adult CNS by modulation of the PTEN/mTOR pathway

The failure of axons to regenerate is a major obstacle for functional recovery after central nervous system (CNS) injury. Removing extracellular inhibitory molecules results in limited axon regeneration in vivo. To test for the role of intrinsic impediments to axon regrowth, we analyzed cell growth control genes using a virus-assisted in vivo conditional knockout approach. Deletion of PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog), a negative regulator of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, in adult retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) promotes robust axon regeneration after optic nerve injury. In wild-type adult mice, the mTOR activity was suppressed and new protein synthesis was impaired in axotomized RGCs, which may contribute to the regeneration failure. Reactivating this pathway by conditional knockout of tuberous sclerosis complex 1, another negative regulator of the mTOR pathway, also leads to axon regeneration. Thus, our results suggest the manipulation of intrinsic growth control pathways as a therapeutic approach to promote axon regeneration after CNS injury.     

Tuberculosis in alpaca (Lama pacos) on a farm in Ireland. 2. Results of an epidemiological investigation

Tuberculosis (TB), due to infection with Mycobacterium bovis was diagnosed in a flock of alpaca in Ireland in 2004. An epidemiological investigation was conducted to identify the risk of TB for farmed alpaca where TB is endemic, the origin of the infection, the potential for alpaca-to-alpaca transmission and appropriate control measures. The investigation focused on the alpaca flock (including the farm, animal movements and breeding, feeding and flock health practice), the disease episode (including animal disease events and subsequent control measures) and TB infection risk in the locality. The TB risk to alpaca is high in areas where infection is endemic in cattle and badgers and where biosecurity is inadequate. It is most likely that the source of infection for the alpaca was a local strain of M. bovis, present in cattle in this area since at least 2001. Genotyping of isolates identified a single variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) profile in both cattle and alpaca in this region. Although a tuberculous badger was also removed from the vicinity, bacterial isolation was not attempted. On this farm, infection in alpaca was probably derived from a common source. Alpaca-to-alpaca transmission seems unlikely. Two broad control strategies were implemented, aimed at the rapid removal of infected (and potentially infectious) animals and the implementation of measures to limit transmission. Tests that proved useful in detecting potentially-infected animals included measurement of the albumin-to-globulin ratio and regular body condition scoring. Skin testing was time consuming and unproductive, and early detection of infected animals remains a challenge. The flock was managed as a series of separate groupings, based on perceived infection risk. No further TB cases have been detected.     

Assessment of the diagnostic accuracy of circulating cardiac troponin I concentration to distinguish between cats with cardiac and non-cardiac causes of respiratory distress

Objective

To determine if serum cardiac troponin I (cTnI) concentrations can distinguish cardiac from non-cardiac causes of respiratory distress (RD) in cats.

Animals, materials and methods

53 cats. cTnI concentrations were measured in 30 cats with non-cardiac respiratory distress (RD-NC) and compared to 23 cats with RD due to congestive heart failure (RD + CHF).

Results

The RD + CHF group had higher median cTnI concentration (0.94 ng/ml interquartile range IQR 0.54-4.00, range <0.20 - 90.14) than the RD-NC group (<0.2 ng/ml IQR < 0.2-0.33, range <0.20-41.1, p < 0.001). The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.842 (95% CI 0.728-0.955) for the receiver operator curve (ROC) analysis of the accuracy of cTnI concentrations to discriminate RD + CHF from RD-NC cats. A cut-off of ≥ 0.81 ng/ml discriminated RD + CHF from RD-NC cats with a sensitivity and specificity of 65.2% and 90.0% respectively. However considerable overlap in cTnI concentrations between the 2 groups was identified.

Conclusions

Serum cTnI concentrations were different in RD + CHF compared to RD-NC cats. However the overlap in cTnI concentrations between the 2 groups reduced the clinical efficacy of the assay which therefore should not be used as a stand-alone test but in combination with other diagnostics such as echocardiography and radiography.     

Element partitioning: the role of melt structure and composition

We segregated coexisting gabbroic and granitic melts by centrifuging them at high pressures and temperatures and measured the trace element compositions of the melts by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Our results demonstrate that the effect of melt structure contributes about one order of magnitude to crystal/melt partition coefficients. Partitioning of alkali and alkaline earth elements strongly depends on field strength: Amphoteric and lone pair electron elements partition into the polymerized granitic melt; and rare earth, transition, and high field strength elements coordinated by nonbridging oxygens partition remarkably similar into the gabbroic melt. A regular solution model predicts these effects.