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.     

Paradoxical false memory for objects after brain damage

Poor memory after brain damage is usually considered to be a result of information being lost or rendered inaccessible. It is assumed that such memory impairment must be due to the incorrect interpretation of previously encountered information as being novel. In object recognition memory experiments with rats, we found that memory impairment can take the opposite form: a tendency to treat novel experiences as familiar. This impairment could be rescued with the use of a visual-restriction procedure that reduces interference. Such a pattern of data can be explained in terms of a recent representational-hierarchical view of cognition.     

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.     

Selecting broilers for low or high abdominal fat: Initial observations

1. Two lines of broiler breeders were selected for three generations using a high (fatty line) or a low (lean line) ratio of abdominal fat to live weight as criterion in males at 9 weeks of age.

2. The heritability of this character remained high in both lines.

3. By the third generation, the progress achieved was much more marked in males than in females. The difference between the females of both lines was nevertheless significant.

4. The differences between the two lines were already discernible at 4 weeks of age.

5. Selecting for low or high abdominal fat content was accompanied by a better food conversion ratio in males of the lean line.

6. Selecting for the amount of abdominal fat produced similar effects on the other fatty deposits.     

Sulfur-associated polioencephalomalacia in cattle grazing plants in the Family Brassicaceae

Polioencephalomalacia was diagnosed histologically in cattle from two herds on the Darling Downs, Queensland, during July–August 2007. In the first incident, 8 of 20 18-month-old Aberdeen Angus steers died while grazing pastures comprising 60% Sisymbrium irio (London rocket) and 40% Capsella bursapastoris (shepherd's purse). In the second incident, 2 of 150 mixed-breed adult cattle died, and another was successfully treated with thiamine, while grazing a pasture comprising almost 100% Raphanus raphanistrum (wild radish). Affected cattle were either found dead or comatose or were seen apparently blind and head-pressing in some cases. For both incidents, plant and water assays were used to calculate the total dietary sulfur content in dry matter as 0.62% and 1.01% respectively, both exceeding the recommended 0.5% for cattle eating more than 40% forage. Blood and tissue assays for lead were negative in both cases. No access to thiaminase, concentrated sodium ion or extrinsic hydrogen sulfide sources were identified in either incident. Below-median late summer and autumn rainfall followed by above-median unseasonal winter rainfall promoted weed growth at the expense of wholesome pasture species before these incidents.     

Evolution of the earliest horses driven by climate change in the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

Body size plays a critical role in mammalian ecology and physiology. Previous research has shown that many mammals became smaller during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), but the timing and magnitude of that change relative to climate change have been unclear. A high-resolution record of continental climate and equid body size change shows a directional size decrease of ~30% over the first ~130,000 years of the PETM, followed by a ~76% increase in the recovery phase of the PETM. These size changes are negatively correlated with temperature inferred from oxygen isotopes in mammal teeth and were probably driven by shifts in temperature and possibly high atmospheric CO(2) concentrations. These findings could be important for understanding mammalian evolutionary responses to future global warming.     

Enhancement of plant essential oils' aqueous solubility and stability using alpha and beta cyclodextrin

Sodium benzoate has been shown to produce benzene in combination with ascorbic acid. This has led to research for safe alternatives from plant essential oils and parabens that have shown some antimicrobial activity, but many of these compounds exhibit poor solubility in aqueous solutions. Cyclodextrins can increase the solubility of many compounds. This work aimed to investigate the solubility of 23 plant essential oils and 4 parabens in water and an apple juice medium. Four of these compounds were chosen for their low aqueous solubility to determine if complexing the compound with α- and β-cyclodextrin would increase solubility. Three of the complexes were dissolved in an acidified aqueous solution and then studied in glass and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to determine if storage material would affect the stability. Solubility of the 27 compounds in distilled water ranged from 1.6 mg/L to 2460.6 mg/L and the solubility of 18 of the compounds decreased from 2.5 to 84.7% in apple juice medium (pH = 3.4, 12-13 °Brix). Complexation with cyclodextrin dramatically increased the solubility of the compounds, up to 10-fold. Packaging material had no effect on concentration of compounds present over 7 days. Cyclodextrins were able to increase solubility of these compounds to more suitable concentrations, and may lead to viable natural alternatives to sodium benzoate.