Discospondylitis and orchitis associated with high Brucella titre in a dog

A case of discospondylitis and orchitis associated with high Brucella titre in a dog is presented. Clinical signs included intermittent pain, poor appetite and a decreased level of physical activity. Radiographic evidence of discospondylitis was found. Histopathological findings on the testes are included. Treatment regime and clinical progress are given. Diagnosis and treatment of B. canis are described and a brief review of the treatment of discospondylitis is presented.     

Production of a Mating Inhibitor by Ustilago hordei

ABSTRACT Ustilago hordei, the cause of barley covered smut, was found to produce a factor that inhibited its own mating. The mating inhibition factor (MIF) specifically inhibited mating of U. hordei and other Ustilago spp., but not teliospore germination or sporidial growth. MIF did prevent teliospore germination of Tilletia caries and T. contraversa. MIF was found at low levels in culture supernatants of either mating type of U. hordei grown separately, but at higher levels when both mating types were grown together, in the supernatants of MAT-1 mating type cells transformed with the MAT-1 pheromone gene mfa1 and of MAT-2 cells transformed with either mfa1 or the MAT-1 pheromone receptor gene pra1. Diploid cells produced no detectable inhibitor, nor did MAT-1 cells with a disrupted mating type locus that deleted both mfa1 and pra1. MIF production was restored when mfa1, but not pra1, was added back to the MAT-1Delta cells. MIF activity was altered by protease treatment. Highly purified MIF from MAT-1 cells contained cysteine methyl ester, farnesyl cysteine, farnesyl cysteine methyl ester, and a dodecapeptide with a mass consistent with that of MAT-1 pheromone lacking the terminal cysteine. Since smut fungi must first mate to become pathogenic, mating inhibition has the potential to be an effective method of disease control for these pathogens.     

Pulmonary hamartoma and multiple cardiac anomalies in a Finn-Dorset cross lamb

A case of pulmonary hamartoma was diagnosed in a neonatal, male, Finn-Dorset cross lamb with concurrent cardiac anomalies and palatoschisis. On gross examination, the lungs were markedly enlarged and spongy. Histologically, pulmonary lobules were composed of severely dilated and hyperplastic terminal bronchioles, separated by an abundant connective tissue stroma. Alveoli were generally absent. Other bronchi were hypoplastic and lacked both cartilage and smooth muscle. Both the cranial and caudal vena cavae and the pulmonary veins entered the right atrium. This anomaly has not been previously reported in lambs.     

Dicofol residues in United States soils having a known history of its use as a miticide, 1974

Soil samples were collected from a total of 21 sites in California, Washington, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. Dicofol (Kelthane) miticide had been applied at various times over a 5-year period to 17 of the sites; four sites had received no applications. Samples were collected at 0-75-mm and 75-150-mm depths, and submitted to gas-liquid chromatographic analysis. Samples from only four of the 17 treated sites contained mean residues equal to or exceeding 2.00 ppm. Residues in all cases were only a small fraction of the total amount applied. Apparently, a mechanism for the dissipation of dicofol exists, but it is unidentified at this time.     

Experimental staphylococcal mastitis in the mouse: the persistence of chronic infection from one lactation to the next.

Chronic staphylococcal mastitis was established in 50 mammary glands of 25 mice. The mice were mated and in the subsequent lactation there was alveolar mastitis in one of 50 glands. A further five glands had abscesses that contained staphylococci but there was no alveolar mastitis. The results are discussed in relation to the large number of infections that persist from one lactation to the next in cows not subjected to mastitis control measures.     

Musculoskeletal responses of 2-year-old Thoroughbred horses to early training. 5. Kinematic effects

AIM: To examine the effect of race training on kinematic parameters of the trot in a sample of 2-year-old Thoroughbred fillies. METHODS: Two-year-old Thoroughbred fillies that had been either trained for racing (n=7) or left untrained in small paddocks (n=7) were examined for lameness, and linear and temporal kinematic data were collected from video recordings of each horse trotted in-hand, 5, 9 and 13 weeks after the beginning of training. Horses were graded as: sound (Grade 0), suspected but not obviously lame (Grade 1), or definitely lame at the trot (Grade 2). RESULTS: Mean velocity at the trot did not vary with lameness grade. Compared with horses classified as sound (Grade 0), horses classified as suspected or definitely lame (Grades 1 and 2) had shorter (2.55 (SE 0.02) vs 2.41 (SE 0.02) and 2.44 (SE 0.03) m; p<0.001) and faster (671 (SE 3) vs 645 (SE 1) and 647 (SE 4) msec; p<0.001) strides. None of the linear or temporal parameters measured varied significantly between the successive observation periods. When data from sound horses were pooled, the training group trotted at a higher mean velocity (4.22 (SE 0.08) vs 3.22 (SE 0.06) m/sec; p<0.001) and with a longer stride length (2.79 (SE 0.05) vs 2.18 (SE 0.06) m; p<0.001) than the untrained group. The stride duration was longer (669 (SE 7) vs 662 (SE 9) msec; p=0.01), stance period was shorter (34.1 (SE 0.6) vs 39.3 (SE 0.7) %; p<0.001) and mid-stance was achieved earlier in the stride (12.1 (SE 0.6) vs 13.1 (SE 0.2) %; p=0.001) in the trained than the untrained group. A longer swing phase in the trained group was associated with an increase in retraction time (9.2 (SE 0.2) vs 7.6 (SE 0.3) %; p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that early race training in young Thoroughbreds was associated with quantifiable changes in linear and temporal kinematic parameters of the trot, which were related to the race-training objective of improving the horse's ability to work at higher velocities. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Race training resulted in changes in the gait of non-lame horses at the trot, which should be considered during veterinary lameness examinations.