Effect of Prophylactic Intramuscular Administration of Polysulfated Glycosaminoglycan on Developmental and Traumatic Joint Injuries in Thoroughbred Foals

The objective of this study was to determine whether a prophylactic regimen of intramuscular polysulfated glycosaminoglycans (PSGAG), administered to growing Thoroughbred foals, would significantly reduce the incidence or severity of osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) or traumatic joint lesions that had been found in untreated foals (historical controls) from the same farm during the preceding 3 years. The number of PSGAG-treated foals with clinically significant joint lesions was 44.1% lower than the number of foals with OCD/joint injuries that had been found in the untreated historical controls. Surgical intervention of the treated foals declined 87.7% from the incidence on the farm during the preceding 3 years. Although the incidence of OCD lesions of the hock, stifle, and fetlocks in treated foals was not significantly different from that found in the matched controls, the lesions in the PSGAG-treated foals resolved without surgery. These results suggest that PSGAG has the potential to improve the clinical course of osteochondrosis (OC) and OCD. Additional studies are underway to determine whether a shorter or more targeted prophylactic regimen will provide a similar benefit.     

The Impact of Industrial Restructuring on Earnings Inequality: The Decline of Steel and Earnings in Pittsburgh

ABSTRACT Inter‐industry employment shifts were largely responsible for changes in the income distribution in the Pittsburgh region during the 1980s. Kernel density estimators were used, together with decomposition techniques developed by DiNardo et al. (1996 ) to show that industry shifts were responsible for over 90 percent of the earnings reductions at some points on the earnings distribution. Most of the losses at the lower end of the distribution occurred in the early 1980s as the economy plunged into a deep recession. The recovery in the later part of the decade brought little improvement as earnings in the lower part of the distribution continued to fall with the increase in employment of part‐time workers in the low‐wage trade and service sectors.     

Pregnancy rates of mares inseminated with semen cooled for 18 hours and then frozen

The ability to ship cooled stallion sperm for subsequent freezing at a facility specializing in cryopreservation would be beneficial to the equine industry. Stallion sperm has been centrifuged, cooled to 5 degrees C for 12 h, and frozen without a detrimental effect on motility in a previous study; however, no fertility data were available. Experiment 1 compared the post-thaw motility of sperm cooled for 18 h at 15 or 5 degrees C at either 400 or 200 x 10(6) sperm/mL and then frozen. Storage temperature, sperm concentration, or the interaction of temperature and concentration had no effect on total (TM) and progressive motility (PM) after cooling. Post-thaw TM and PM were higher for control than (P < 0.05) for treated samples. There was no difference in post-thaw TM and PM due to temperature or concentration. Experiment 2 further evaluated procedures for cooling before freezing. Ejaculates were either cooled to 5 degrees C for 18 h and centrifuged, centrifuged at room temperature and then cooled to 5 degrees C for 18 h before freezing, or centrifuged and frozen immediately (control). There was no difference among treatments on post-thaw TM or PM. In Exp. 3, mares were inseminated with semen that had been extended in skim milk-egg yolk without glycerol, centrifuged, resuspended at 200 x 10(6) sperm/mL, cooled to 5 degrees C for 18 h, and then frozen or not cooled for 18 h before freezing (control). Pregnancy rates did not differ for mares receiving semen cooled and then frozen (21 of 30, 70%) or semen frozen directly without prior cooling (16 of 30, 53%). In summary, a procedure was developed for cooling stallion sperm for 18 h before freezing without a resultant decrease in fertility.     

Microarray analysis of differential utilization of plant-based diets by rainbow trout

Microarray analysis was conducted using liver samples from two families of rainbow trout that differed in their growth responses when compared between individuals fed a fishmeal or plant protein-based diet. Differential expression relating to dietary utilization between the two families found significant changes in expression of 33 expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Eight of the differentially expressed ESTs had identified mammalian homologs that had been previously researched with identified cellular interactions and functions. Utilizing pathway analysis software to analyze sequences annotated with known mammalian genes, we were able to map gene pathways and process interactions. From this information, we were able to infer that the metabolic changes associated with utilization of plant protein versus fishmeal were associated with differential regulation of genes related to cell oxidative stress, proliferation, growth and survival. Furthermore, we inferred from the changes we observed in immune response gene expression that ingestion of this plant-based diet upregulated the expression of genes involved in immunoregulatory processes.     

Provenance and pretreatment effect on seed germination of six provenances of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Faidherbia albida</Emphasis> (Delile) A. Chev

A nursery experiment was conducted to determine the effects of seed pretreatment methods on the germination of Faidherbia albida at ICRAF, Nairobi from six provenances consisting of Awassa, Taveta, Lake Koka, Maseno, Chinzombo and Wagingombe. Seeds were subjected to five pretreatment methods namely nicking, soaking in acid, hot water, cold water and control. Germination percentages (GP), mean germination time (MGT) and germination index (GI) were calculated and the data was subjected to ANOVA. The study revealed significant (p ≤ 0.05) differences in seed treatments among provenances in all studied parameters. Highest germination among pretreatments in Awassa (99 %) and Wagingombe (80 %) was observed in nicked seeds, Chinzombo (81 %) in nicked and acid treated seeds, Lake Koka (90 %) in acid treated seeds and Taveta (28 %) and Maseno (64 %) in cold water treated seeds. Nicking gave the highest cumulative GP (69.67) while lowest GP was observed in hot water treated seeds (23.17). Acid treatment exhibited lowest MGT (8.85 days) and highest GI (2.29) while highest MGT (24.35 days) and lowest GI (0.31) were observed in control and hot water treatment respectively. Although acid treatment gave a high GP and lowest MGT and GI, nicking and soaking in cold water for 24 h is being recommended as cheaper and less hazardous pretreatment methods to improve germination in F. albida since sulphuric acid is expensive and requires proper handling techniques. Significant correlation between geo-climatic data and germination parameters of seeds subjected to different pretreatments indicates that provenances are as important as pretreatments in germination of the species.     

Chemical extraction to assess the bioavailability of chlorobenzenes in soil with different aging periods

Purpose  

Bioavailability is mainly influenced by aging and desorption of contaminants in soil. The purpose of this study was to investigate the desorption kinetics of chlorobenzenes (CBs) in soil and to investigate whether chemical extractions are suitable for the bioavailability assessment of CBs in soil.