Prevalence and clinical implications of anthelmintic resistance in cyathostomes of horses.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and clinical implications of anthelmintic resistance in cyathostomes of horses. DESIGN: Prospective study. ANIMALS: 80 horses on 10 farms in a 5-county region of northeast Georgia. PROCEDURE: On each farm, horses were stratified in descending order according to pretreatment fecal egg count (FEC), blocked into groups of 4, and then randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatment groups: no treatment (controls), and treatment with pyrantel pamoate, fenbendazole, or ivermectin. Fecal samples were collected 24 hours prior to treatment and 2, 4, and 6 weeks after treatment for determination of FEC. Mean percentage of reduction in FEC was then calculated for each treatment group. For horses from each farm, the efficacy of each anthelmintic was categorized on the basis of mean percentage of reduction in FEC at 2 weeks after treatment (< 80% reduction = ineffective; 80 to 90% reduction = equivocal; and > 90% reduction = effective). RESULTS: Pyrantel pamoate was effective at reducing FEC in horses from 7 farms, ineffective in horses from 2 farms, and equivocal in horses from 1 farm. Fenbendazole was ineffective at reducing FEC in horses from 9 farms and equivocal in horses from 1 farm. Ivermectin was effective at reducing FEC in horses from all 10 farms. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results suggest that cyathostome resistance to fenbendazole is highly prevalent, and resistance to pyrantel pamoate is high enough to warrant concern. Resistance to ivermectin was not detected. On the basis of these data, it appears that ivermectin continues to be fully effective in horses. However, too few farms were used in this study to determine the prevalence of cyathostome resistance to ivermectin. Therefore, the efficacy of ivermectin should continue to be monitored closely.     

Drivers of recent forest cover change in southern South America are linked to climate and CO2

Landscape Ecology - Widespread changes in forest structure&nbsp;and distribution have been documented in northern Patagonia over the past century. We employed LPJ-GUESS, a dynamic global...     

The effect of NPK fertilizer with different nitrogen solubility on growth,nutrient uptake and use by chrysanthemum

The effect of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) fertilizer with different nitrogen forms on N, P, K use, uptake and growth of potted chrysanthemum plants during three vegetation phases was observed in two - years experiment. In the experiment, NPK fertilizer with slow soluble nutrients with different nitrogen forms: ureaform, (IBDU) isobutyledenediurea and melamin, was used. At control treatment the identical fertilizer was applied but the nitrogen was in ammonia and urea forms as usually used in horticulture. The experiment clearly showed the positive effect of NPK fertilizer containing half nitrogen amount in ureaform, on growth and plant nutrient uptake. This effect of nitrogen ureaform was confirmed by both the highest uptake of N, P, K and the highest yield of biomass. The NPK fertilizer with half nitrogen content in ureaform ensured optimal nutrient release according chrysanthemum nutrient requirement.     

Physicochemical requirements in the environment of the earthworm Eisenia foetida

Survival and/or growth were used to assess optimum and potentially deleterious physico-chemical conditions in the environment of the earthworm Eisenia foetida. Maximum weight was gained between 20 and 29°C with horse manure or activated sludge as food. Maximum weight gain as a function of moisture in activated sludge occurred between 70 and 85%. All worms died within a week at pH values <5 or >9; optimum pH for gain in weight centered around 7.0 Soluble salts in excess of 0.5% were lethal, though ammonium acetate caused 100% mortality at a concentration of 0.1%; concentrations in manures contaminated by urine or cattle slurry may be lethal, while those present in noncontaminated manure, with an electrolytic conductivity of 1.5–3mmhos, support weight gain. Inorganic chemicals that are commonly used to coagulate sludges, often as a preliminary to land application, were innocuous at concentrations higher than those normally used at wastewater treatment plants. Anaerobically digested sludges are toxic to earthworms, and are characterized by low oxidation-reduction potentials; when placed upon a soil substrate the redox potential increases slowly, and though the sludge tested in this study was nontoxic at Eh values in excess of 250 mV, it provided insufficient nutriment to E. foetida to allow weight gain. With activated sludge as food, growth of E. foetida occurred more rapidly when soil was present, independently of whether it was placed as a substrate beneath the sludge or mixed into the sludge. Growth occurred more rapidly when activated sludge was placed on substrates which allowed drainage, though loam or ashed loam appeared superior to others, such as glass beads or sand; the growth promoting factor is related to the inorganic fraction of the soil.     

Canine protothecosis: review of the literature and report of an additional case

A review of protothecosis in dogs revealed that this malady usually begins in the gastrointestinal tract and progresses to systemic involvement. Clinical signs generally include bloody diarrhea or blood-stained feces as well as blindness, ataxia, and polyuria. Histologically, myriads of protothecal organisms in different stages of development are found in the granulomatous lesions. Two main species have been culturally identified: Prototheca zopfii and P wickerhamii. In the absence of cultural studies, species identification can be accomplished readily by immunofluorescence. The present case involved P zopfii infection in a 5-year-old female Cocker Spaniel that had bloody diarrhea, with a history of bloody diarrhea 6 months earlier.     

Cryopreservation of Ram Semen in Extenders Containing Soybean Lecithin as Cryoprotectant and Hyaluronic Acid as Antioxidant

A soybean lecithin‐based extender supplemented with hyaluronic acid (HA) was assayed for effectiveness to improve the quality of frozen–thawed ram semen. HA has not been tested yet in an extender containing soybean lecithin for freezing ram semen. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyse the effects of soybean lecithin at 1% or 1.5% along with HA at 0, 0.5 and 1 mg ml^‐1 in a Tris‐based extender on the motion characteristics, membrane integrity (HOST), viability, GSH peroxidase (GSH‐PX) activity, lipid peroxidation and acrosomal status after freezing–thawing. Semen was collected from four Mehraban rams during the breeding season and frozen in the six lecithin×HA extenders. The extender containing 1.5% lecithin supplemented with no HA yielded higher total motility (52.5%±1.6), viability (55.8%±1.6) and membrane integrity (44.5%±1.7), but the effects of the lecithin concentration did not reach signification. Linearity‐related parameters, ALH, BCF, lipid peroxidation, GSH‐PX activity, morphology and acrosomal status were not affected by the extender composition. In general, adding HA significantly decreased sperm velocity (1 mg ml^‐1 HA), total motility (only with 1.5% lecithin), viability (1 mg ml^‐1 HA for 1% lecithin; both concentrations for 1.5% lecithin) and membrane integrity. In conclusion, adding HA to the freezing extender supplemented with soybean lecithin failed to improve quality‐related variables in ram semen. Increasing the lecithin content could have a positive effect, but further studies are needed.     

Determination of Feeder Cell‐Based Cellular Niches Supporting the Colonization and Maintenance of Spermatogonial Stem Cells from Prepubertal Domestic Cat Testes

Recently, isolation and in vitro culture of putative spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) in the domestic cat have been conducted. However, the cellular niche conditions that facilitate the establishment and long‐term maintenance of feline SSCs (FSSCs) have not been described. Therefore, we investigated the type of feeder cells used to stimulate colony formation and growth of FSSCs among the various factors in the FSSC niche. Spermatogonial stem cells isolated from feline testes were cultured on mitotically inactivated testicular stromal cells (TSCs) derived from cats, dogs and mice, and mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs). The formation and growth of colonies derived from SSCs cultured on each type of feeder cell were identified at passage 0, and the morphology, alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity and expression of SSC‐specific genes in surviving colonies were investigated at passage 4. Among these diverse feeder cells, TSCs from cat showed the greatest colony formation, growth and maintenance of FSSCs, and SSC colonies cultured by passage 4 showed a typical dome‐shaped morphology, AP activity and expression of SSC‐specific genes (NANOG, OCT4, SOX2 and CD9). Accordingly, these results demonstrate that feline TSCs could be used as feeder cells to support the establishment and maintenance of SSCs from domestic cats.