Unusual osteochondral lesions of the talus in a horse

A 2-year-old Thoroughbred gelding was evaluated for a grade 3 out of 5 unilateral hind limb lameness. Flexion of the right hock and stifle joints (spavin test) exacerbated the lameness. Response to intra-articular and perineural anaesthesia isolated the source of lameness to the tarsocrural area, despite an absence of tarsocrural joint effusion. Routine radiographic examination of the hock did not reveal any significant abnormalities. Skeletal nuclear scintigraphic evaluation revealed a focal region of increased bone activity in the proximal medial trochlear ridge of the talus. Flexed lateromedial radiographic views identified three discrete semicircular lytic lesions at the proximal articular margin of the medial trochlear ridge of the talus. Conservative management of the lesions was associated with a successful return to racing. The location and appearance of the osteochondral lesions of this report have not been previously reported and may be a manifestation of developmental orthopaedic disease and abnormal endochondral ossification. Nuclear scintigraphy and flexed lateromedial radiographic views facilitated identification of the lesions. This radiographic view is recommended when lameness is isolated to the tarsocrural joint and standard radio-graphic projections fail to identify a cause.     

Metathesis of Alkanes Catalyzed by Silica-Supported Transition Metal Hydrides

The silica-supported transition metal hydrides (=Si-O-Si=)(=Si-O-)2Ta-H and (=Si-O-)xM-H (M, chromium or tungsten) catalyze the metathesis reaction of linear or branched alkanes into the next higher and lower alkanes at moderate temperature (25degrees to 200degreesC). With (=Si-O-Si=)(=Si-O-)2Ta-H, ethane was transformed at room temperature into an equimolar mixture of propane and methane. Higher and lower homologs were obtained from propane, butane, and pentane as well as from branched alkanes such as isobutane and isopentane. The mechanism of the step leading to carbon-carbon bond cleavage and formation likely involves a four-centered transition state between a tantalum-alkyl intermediate and a carbon-carbon final sigma-bond of a second molecule of alkane.     

Spatial Variability of Turbulent Mixing in the Abyssal Ocean

Ocean microstructure data show that turbulent mixing in the deep Brazil Basin of the South Atlantic Ocean is weak at all depths above smooth abyssal plains and the South American Continental Rise. The diapycnal diffusivity there was estimated to be less than or approximately equal to 0.1 x 10(-4) meters squared per second. In contrast, mixing rates are large throughout the water column above the rough Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and the diffusivity deduced for the bottom-most 150 meters exceeds 5 x 10(-4) meters squared per second. Such patterns in vertical mixing imply that abyssal circulations have complex spatial structures that are linked to the underlying bathymetry.     

A Case of Successful Pregnancy in a Ewe with Uterus Didelphys

Uterus didelphys is a rare congenital abnormality of the reproductive tract. Although it occurs in various species, there are no published reports describing pregnancy outcome in association with this abnormality. Herein we describe a case of successful unilateral singleton pregnancy in a ewe incidentally found to have uterus didelphys during the course of a biomedical research study. The pregnancy was established using assisted reproductive techniques and interrupted in late gestation, at which point the abnormality was identified. Serial ultrasound assessment of foetal biometry revealed a normal foetal growth trajectory. Despite a 45% reduction in placentome number, total placentome weight was near normal secondary to compensatory placentome growth and development. To our knowledge, this is the first detailed report of normal foetal growth in an animal with uterus didelphys and illustrates the ability of the ovine placenta to adapt to a reduced number of placentomes and maintain foetal nutrient supply.     

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) in Straws and a Short Gamete Coincubation Time Improves the Efficiency of Porcine IVF

The present study was designed to evaluate three different in vitro fertilization (IVF) systems: a straw‐IVF system with 10 min of coincubation, a straw‐IVF system with 6‐h coincubation and the microdrop‐IVF system with 6‐h coincubation (the traditional IVF system used routinely in most of IVF laboratories) in an attempt to reduce polyspermic penetration ( Experiment 1 ). When the straw‐IVF system was tested in combination with two coincubation times, the use of 10 min of coincubation significantly increased (p < 0.001) the penetration rate and the efficiency of fertilization (67.7 ± 6.4% vs 31.9 ± 6.5% and 41.5 ± 2.5% vs 17.6 ± 2.5% for 10 min and 6 h, respectively), while there were no significant differences in the incidence of monospermy between both systems (64.3 ± 5.1% and 67.7 ± 3.4%, for 10 min and 6 h, respectively). The penetration rate in the 6‐h microdrop‐IVF system was higher (93.8 ± 3.6%; p < 0.001) compared with the 10‐min straw‐IVF system (67.7 ± 6.4%), however, monospermy was severely reduced (25.0 ± 4.3% vs 67.7 ± 3.4%, for the 6‐h microdrop‐IVF system and 10‐min straw‐IVF system, respectively). The efficiency of the IVF showed similar values between microdrop and 6‐h straw‐IVF systems, but efficiency was significantly improved (p < 0.05) when the 10‐min straw‐IVF system was used. Experiment 2 was designed to compare porcine in vitro embryo production in two IVF systems, the 6‐h microdrop‐IVF system (1000 sperm per oocyte) and 10‐min straw‐IVF system (30 000 sperm per oocyte). The blastocyst formation rates tended (p = 0.06) to be higher when the 10‐min straw‐IVF system was used compared with the 6‐h microdrop‐IVF system. In addition, the number of total cells per blastocyst increased significantly (p < 0.05) in the 10‐min straw‐IVF system. These results showed that the 10‐min straw‐IVF system is an effective way to decrease polyspermic penetration, and improve the efficiency of fertilization and the quality of blastocysts in terms of cell number per embryo.