Assessment of Suitable Porcine Semen for Freezing,According to the Ejaculate Characteristics in the Iberico × Landrace Breed

A total of 35 ejaculates were studied in order to assess the suitability of porcine semen for freezing according to the ejaculate characteristics. The effects of the freezing procedure were identified; a decrease in motility and acrosome quality was found after thawing. The best results on motility were linked to the ejaculates with a volume of less than 100 ml of the sperm‐rich fraction, a concentration lower than 450 × 10⁶ spermatozoa/ml and an agglutination score below 2. However, the best normal apical ridge (NAR) was found when the volume of the sperm‐rich fraction was greater than 150 ml. For this reason, an intermediate volume of the sperm‐rich fraction of the ejaculate for the best motility and the best NAR, a concentration lower than 450 × 10⁶ spermatozoa/ml and a rate of agglutination below 2 should provide the best quality after freezing. This study also attempted to determine whether a positive effect of ejaculate selection on the overall freezing performance might be expected.     

The End of an Era: Asian NIEs in the Global Economy

ABSTRACT Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, and Taiwan (the Asian newly industrialized economies [NIEs]) were the economic success stories of the 1970s and 1980s. While there are a number of competing explanations for their rapid growth, some focusing upon the process of export-led development, the Asian NIEs face a more hostile global competitive environment than heretofore acknowledged. Their competitiveness in labor-intensive and traded-goods manufactured industries has been undermined by new competitors including the ASEAN countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines, as well as China. With new competitors, the rise of trading blocs, and the shrinkage of export surpluses (over imports) it is doubtful if the NIEs will be able to sustain past rates of growth over the coming years. The capacity to adjust efficiently to changing circumstances has become a vital determinate of long-term growth of the NIEs. Whatever the virtues of past state-based industrial policies, restructuring is now a very important part of the life of firms in the NIEs’labor-intensive industries. Moreover, the significance of these industries in each of the NIEs has been undercut by the growing importance of the global finance industry and its attendant political economy.     

Isolation of an unidentified agent from the respiratory tract of chickens

A relatively stable filterable virus, not previously described, which hemagglutinated red blood cells of chickens, was isolated from the tracheae of birds suffering from an unusually severe outbreak of infectious laryngotracheitis. The latter disease concealed the infection caused by the new hemagglutinating agent, which was shown to cause, by itself, a mild and transient illness in susceptible chickens. Preliminary studies indicate that the new agent may be a new entity of the myxovirus group.     

Mucopolysaccharidosis type VI in a Miniature Poodle-type dog caused by a deletion in the arylsulphatase B gene

Abstract

AIM: To investigate and characterise an inborn error of metabolism in a dog with skeletal and ocular abnormalities.

METHODS: A 2.5-year-old small male Miniature Poodle-like dog was presented with gross joint laxity and bilateral corneal opacities. Clinical examination was augmented by routine haematology, serum chemistry, radiographs, pathology, enzymology and molecular genetic studies. Euthanasia was requested when the dog was 3 years of age because of progressively decreasing quality of life.

RESULTS: Radiology revealed generalised epiphyseal dysplasia, malformed vertebral bodies, luxation/subluxation of appendicular and lumbosacral joints with hypoplasia of the odontoid process and hyoid apparatus. These clinical and radiographic findings, together with a positive urinary Berry spot test for mucopolysaccharides, and metachromatic granules in leucocytes, were indicative of a mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS), a lysosomal storage disease. Histological lesions included vacuolation of stromal cells of the cornea, fibroblasts, chondrocytes, macrophages and renal cells. The brain was essentially normal except for moderate secondary Wallerian-type degeneration in motor and sensory tracts of the hind brain. Dermatan sulphate-uria was present and enzymology revealed negligible activity of N-acetylgalactosamine-4-sulphatase, also known as arylsulphatase B, in cultured fibroblasts and liver tissue. A novel homozygous 22 base pair (bp) deletion in exon 1 of this enzyme's gene was identified (c.103_124del), which caused aframe-shift and subsequent premature stop codon. The “Wisdom pure breed-mixed breed” test reported the dog as a cross between a Miniature and Toy Poodle.

CONCLUSIONS: The clinicopathological features are similar to those of MPS type VI as previously described in dogs, cats and other species, and this clinical diagnosis was confirmed by enzymology and molecular genetic studies. This is an autosomal recessively inherited lysosomal storage disease.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The prevalence of MPS VI in Miniature or Toy Poodles in New Zealand and elsewhere is currently unknown. Due to the congenital nature of the disorder, malformed pups may be subject to euthanasia without investigation and the potential genetic problem in the breed may not be fully recognised. The establishment of a molecular genetic test now permits screening for this mutation as a basis to an informed breeding policy.     

Serum chloramphenicol concentrations in preruminant calves: a comparison of two formulations dosed orally

Serum concentrations of chloramphenicol were determined after oral doses (55 mg/kg body weight) were administered to 7–9 day old Holstein-Friesian calves. Chloramphenicol in an oral solution produced greater serum concentrations than did an equivalent dose of chloramphenicol in capsules ( P <0.005). A second dose of each formulation administered 12 h after the first dose elevated serum chloramphenicol concentrations significantly ( P <0.001). The average serum chloramphenicol concentration exceeded 5 μg/ml of serum 1 h after administration of the solution compared with 4 h for the capsules. Average serum chloramphenicol concentration was greater than 5 μg/ml for at least 12 h after the dose was administered for both formulations. Of the eight calves receiving repeat doses of chloramphenicol, seven (87.5%) developed diarrhea in 76 ± 8.6 h. Six of the eight calves (75%) died during or shortly after the period of chloramphenicol administration.     

The Effects of Organomercury Seed Treatment on Barley Artificially Inoculated with Fusarium spp.1

Artificial field inoculation showed that in one year out of two, Fusarium roseum caused significant yield loss in barley grown from organomercury-treated seed. No significant yield loss occurred in either year as a result of inoculation with Fusarium nivale. Results from field, pot and blotter tests suggested that inoculation with F. nivale and sometimes F. roseum could at times be associated with increased vigour in barley. There was a fairly consistent trend particularly with F. nivale for this to occur to a greater extent in plants from untreated seed than in those from treated seed. Similarly, any reductions in vigour associated with inoculation with more pathogenic strains of either species occurred only, or to a greater extent, in plants from treated seed. There was some evidence of an increased capacity for regenerative root and shoot growth in barley plants damaged by Fusarium inoculation, and it is suggested that increased growth may be associated with increases in percentage dry weights of the shoot 8 but not 18 days after inoculation. In the absence of inoculation, the effect of seed treatment was to increase grain yields, though this was not clearly associated with the increases it sometimes caused in emergence and in 1000-grain weight.     

Controlled Tissue Expansion in the Distal Extremities of Dogs

Controlled tissue expansion using a 100 cc rectangular silicone elastomer expander was performed in the mid-antebrachium and mid-crus of eight adult mixed-breed dogs. Two expander inflation schedules were followed. Group 1 dogs (n = 4) underwent expander inflation using 10 cc sterile saline every other day, and group 2 dogs (n = 4) underwent expander inflation using 15 cc sterile saline every other day until the nominal volume (100 cc) was attained. Significant mean postexpansion increases in skin surface area of 94.1 cm² (35.9%) and 108.9 cm² (37.3%) were measured in the antebrachium and crus, respectively (p < .05). In a second procedure, the expanders were removed and skin flaps were developed from the redundant tissue generated during the expansion process. Single pedicle advancement flaps and transposition flaps were used to cover surgically created defects measuring 5 times 10 cm in the antebrachium and cms. Single pedicle advancement flaps consistently measured 10 × 10 cm and could be advanced to cover defects involving one third of the mid-antebrachial or mid-crural circumference. Transposition flaps were rotated up to 170 and the donor site defects were easily closed under minimal or no tension. Complications included an abscess in one dog and seroma formation in four dogs. Differences in success or complication rates between group 1 dogs and group 2 dogs were not observed; an accelerated inflation schedule using 15 cc sterile saline every other day was recommended.