Intramyocardial haematoma causing right ventricular outflow obstruction after brown snake (Pseudonaja species) envenomation in a dog

A 15-month-old, male neutered Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross was presented to its referring veterinarian collapsed and agonal. He was immediately intubated, manually ventilated, and treatment commenced for presumptive snake envenomation with two vials of Tiger/Multi-Brown Snake Antivenom (minimum 7000 units/vial). The dog was transferred to a referral hospital intubated. Additional diagnostics performed following arrival at the referral hospital included a urine snake venom detection kit test, which was positive for brown snake immunotype. Three additional vials of Tiger/Multi-Brown Snake Antivenom (minimum 7000 units/vial) were administered until the dog was extubated and able to stand. Venom-induced consumptive coagulopathy (VICC) was diagnosed based on prolonged clotting times and scleral haemorrhage. Paroxysms of right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) origin ventricular arrhythmias were treated with lignocaine and sotalol. Four days after presentation, a new-grade IV/VI systolic heart murmur was auscultated, prompting an echocardiogram. An anechoic and compartmentalised mass measuring 43 mm × 19 mm was visualized within the right ventricular wall at the RVOT, immediately adjacent to the pulmonic valve. The mass was causing a RVOT obstruction. Its appearance was suggestive of an intramyocardial haematoma, most likely secondary to VICC. The dog remained cardiovascularly stable, and treatment consisted of supportive care. Recheck echocardiograms at 2 and 7 weeks after discharge revealed progressive improvement of the intramyocardial mass and resolution of the associated heart murmur. Although intramyocardial haematomas are rare, it should be considered as a differential in dogs that develop a newly diagnosed heart murmur and/or cardiac arrhythmia following brown snake envenomation.     

SnakeMap: four years of experience with a national small animal snake envenomation registry

SnakeMap is a national cloud-based, veterinary snakebite registry. It was designed to prospectively collect data of the clinical circumstances and temporospatial information on cases of snake envenomation in dogs and cats. We herein introduce the project and summarise the data from the first 4 years of SnakeMap. The registry is a veterinary community-based online database allowing case entry from veterinary hospitals across Australia. Registry data comprise hospital characteristics, patient characteristics, envenoming snake type, treatment and outcome variables, including time and geolocation of the snake bite. We present summative information on select key variables from the SnakeMap registry (1 July 2015 to 30 June 2019). Twenty-eight hospitals from 6 states/territories entered 624 cases into the registry, including 419 dogs (67%) and 205 cats (33%). Bite time was available in 216 animals of which 90 (42%) were reported to be bitten in the 3 hours between 03:00 pm and 05:59 pm; median bite to presentation interval was 60 (interquartile range [IQR] 30, 211) minutes in dogs and 95 (IQR 41, 238) minutes in cats. Bites occurred in the owner's yard in 356 dogs (85%) and 53 cats (26%). A snake venom detection kit was used in 172 cases (28%) and antivenom was administered in 523 cases (85%). Most animals (n = 534, 88%) survived to discharge (median hospitalisation of 25 [IQR 16, 62] hours). SnakeMap effectively collects relevant clinical data from dogs and cats with presumed snake bite and provides locally specific information on the epidemiology of snake envenomation in small animals.     

Closing the compliance gap in marine protected areas with human behavioural sciences

Advocates, practitioners and policy-makers continue to use and advocate for marine protected areas (MPAs) to meet global ocean protection targets. Yet many of the worlds MPAs, and especially no-take MPAs, are plagued by poaching and ineffective governance. Using a global dataset on coral reefs as an example, we quantify the potential ecological gains of governing MPAs to increase compliance, which we call the ‘compliance gap’. Using ecological simulations based on model posteriors of joint Bayesian hierarchical models, we demonstrate how increased compliance in no-take MPAs could nearly double target fish biomass (91% increases in median fish biomass), and result in a 292% higher likelihood of encountering top predators. Achieving these gains and closing the compliance gap necessitates a substantial shift in approach and practice to go beyond optimizing enforcement, and towards governing for compliance. This will require engaging and integrating a broad suite of actors, principles, and practices across three key domains: (i)) harnessing social influence, (ii) integrating equity principles, and (iii) aligning incentives through market-based instruments. Empowering and shaping communication between actor groups (e.g., between fishers, practitioners, and policy-makers) using theoretically underpinned approaches from the behavioural sciences is one of the most essential, but often underserved aspects of governing MPAs. We therefore close by highlighting how this cross-cutting tool could be further integrated in governance to bolster high levels of compliance in MPAs.     

Oxidative stress indicators as selection tools for salt tolerance

Oxidative stress indicators, malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation and chlorophyll retention, were tested as tools for salt‐tolerance screening in Chloris gayana (Kunth), a forage grass exhibiting inter‐ and intra‐cultivar variability in the response to salt stress. Three types of experimental system were compared, salt shock, gradual salt treatment and leaf segments floated on control and saline solutions. Results followed the same trend in the three systems, but leaf segments or gradually salinized plants are the most convenient. Lower mean MDA and higher mean chlorophyll content were found under salinity in cv. ‘Katambora’, which is considered, from previous field trials, to be more salt tolerant than cv. ‘Boma’. Nevertheless, chlorophyll content did not give consistent results in other tests and it is not recommended for selection purposes. Within cv. ‘Boma’, clones rating higher in a salt tolerance evaluation under greenhouse conditions had lower MDA content under salinity and lower mean MDA ratios between salt‐treated and control samples. The survival of 80‘Boma’ plants under increasing NaCl concentration was assessed and MDA was measured in the leaves of very plant before the final NaCl level was reached, to assess whether it was predictive of survival capability. MDA values were significantly lower in the group surviving longer, thus, a selection based on low MDA values would have enriched the original population with more tolerant individuals.     

Vergleichende Untersuchungen an Haaren von Pudu pudu und europäischen Cerviden

The awn and the fur hair of Pudu were investigated. Values of the length are between 14 and 56 mm for the awn hair, and 9 to 36 mm for the fur hair. Hair thickness--especially at the thickest point--ranges from 140 to 236 microns for the awn hair and from 19 to 106 microns for the fur hair. The values of the cuticle scales are between 12 and 18 microns for the length and between 41 and 66 microns for the width. The shape of the scales is rectangular in the basal three quarters (R) and becomes crenated (R/Z) in the apical quarter. The medulla is continuous with large hollow vesicles. The similarity to the hair of european red deer is surprising.     

Effects of Growth Hormone on In Situ Culture of Bovine Preantral Follicles are Dose Dependent

The objective of this study was to evaluate different concentrations of growth hormone (GH) on the development of bovine preantral follicles cultured included in the ovarian tissue (in situ) on the rates of morphologically normal, viable, primordial and developing follicles, as well as the oocyte and follicle diameter and ultrastructural analysis. Ovarian fragments collected from cows with no cross‐breeds defined were cultured in situ for 1 and 7 days in minimal essential medium (α‐MEM+) supplemented with different concentrations of recombinant human GH (0, 10, 25, 50 ng/ml). The ovarian fragments non‐cultured (control) and cultured were processed for classic histology, mechanical isolation and electron transmission microscopy (MET). The parameters underwent anova (Tukey′s and Dunnett′s tests) and chi‐square test (χ²). After 7 days of culture, the treatment with 50 ng/ml GH showed no differences with fresh control (p > 0.05) and had greater effectiveness than in the 0, 10 and 25 ng/ml GH concentrations of the morphologically normal follicles. Regarding the primordial follicles, a reduction was observed in the 50 ng/ml GH concentration concomitant with the significant increase in developing follicles, differing from both the fresh control and the other GH concentrations tested. In addition, 50 ng/ml GH showed a larger follicle and oocyte diameter when compared to the other treatments cultured. Similar structures were ultrastructurally observed in the control group, 50 ng/ml GH. Follicles cultured in 10 ng/ml GH showed nuclear invagination, vacuoles and lesioned basal membrane. Hence, it is concluded that 50 ng/ml GH is the most effective concentration for the development of preantral follicles cultured in situ.     

Effect of human tubal fluid medium and hyperactivation inducers on stallion sperm capacitation and hyperactivation

Conventional in vitro fertilization has not yet been implemented in the equine species. One of the main reasons has been the inability to develop a culture medium and incubation conditions supporting high levels of stallion sperm capacitation and hyperactivation in vitro. Although different culture media have been used for this purpose, human tubal fluid (HTF) medium, widely used in the manipulation of human and mice gametes, has not been reported so far in stallion sperm culture. The first part of this study aimed to compare HTF and Whitten's media on different stallion sperm quality and capacitation variables. Additionally, the effect of procaine, aminopyridine and caffeine in both media was evaluated on sperm motility parameters at different incubation times. Integrity and destabilization of the plasma membrane were evaluated by merocyanine 540/SYTOX Green (MC540), mitochondrial membrane potential (?Ψm) using tetramethylrhodamine methyl ester perchlorate (TMRM), acrosome membrane integrity by PNA/FITC and tyrosine phosphorylation by P‐tyrosine mouse mAb conjugated to Alexa Fluor® by flow cytometry. Motility parameters were evaluated using the integrated semen analysis system (ISAS®). We found no differences between Whitten's and HTF media and incubation time in terms of sperm viability, uninduced acrosome membrane damage or mitochondrial membrane potential at 30‐ and 120‐min incubation. Membrane fluidity (MC540) increased in both media at 30‐ and 120‐min incubation compared to noncapacitating conditions. Similarly, tyrosine phosphorylation increased in both media in capacitating conditions at 2‐ and 4‐hr incubation compared to noncapacitating conditions. Although procaine showed the best result in terms of sperm hyperactivated motility in both media, aminopyridine also showed parameters consistent with the hyperactivation including an increase in curvilinear velocity and decrease in straightness. In conclusion, HTF medium and aminopyridine equally support capacitation‐related parameters in stallion sperm.