Key Factors Affecting Reproductive Success of Thoroughbred Mares and Stallions on a Commercial Stud Farm

To evaluate factors contributing to fertility of thoroughbred mares, data from 3743 oestrous periods of 2385 mares were collected on a large thoroughbred farm in Ireland. Fourteen stallions (mean age 8.3 years; range 4–15 years) had bred 2385 mares (mean age 9.4 years; range 3–24 years). Maiden mares accounted for 12%, mares with a foal at foot for 64%, and barren, slipped or rested mares for 24% of the total. The mean pregnancy rate per cycle was 67.8% (68.6% in year 1 and 66.9% in year 2). Backward stepwise multivariable logistic regression analysis was utilized to develop two models to evaluate mare factors, including mare age, reproductive status, month of foaling, dystocia, month of cover, foal heat, cycle number, treatments, walk‐in status and stallion factors including stallion identity, stallion age, shuttle status, time elapsed between covers and high stallion usage on the per cycle pregnancy rate and pregnancy loss. Old age (p < 0.001) and cover within 20 days post‐partum (p < 0.003) were associated with lowered pregnancy rates. High mare age (p < 0.05) and barren, slipped or rested reproductive status (p = 0.05) increased the likelihood of pregnancy loss. Uterine inflammation or infection, if appropriately treated, did not affect fertility. Only high usage of stallions (used more than 21 times in previous week) was associated with lowered (p = 0.009) pregnancy rates. However, shuttle stallions were more likely to have increased (p = 0.035) pregnancy survival, perhaps reflecting a bias in stallion selection. In conclusion, mare age exerted the greatest influence on fertility; nonetheless, thoroughbreds can be effectively managed to achieve high reproductive performance in a commercial setting.     

The effects of vaccination of Merino ewes with an attenuated Australian bluetongue virus serotype 23 at different stages of gestation

SUMMARY A cell culture attenuated Australian bluetongue virus serotype 23 (BLU23) prototype vaccine was assessed for its effects on pregnant Merino sheep. Seventy-six ewes were vaccinated at 5 different stages of gestation, and the failure to lamb at term was as follows: 35 to 43 days of gestation, 20/36 (56%); 57 to 64 days of gestation, 3/10 (30%); 81 to 88 days of gestation, 3/10 (30%); 109 to 116 days of gestation, 0/10 (0%); 130 to 137 days of gestation, 0/10 (0%). Of 30 ewes vaccinated with a cell culture supernatant fluid control between 35 and 43 days of gestation, 6.7% (2/30) failed to lamb at term. Two ewes vaccinated with BLU23 vaccine between 35 and 43 days of gestation had lambs with hydranencephaly. All other lambs born were clinically normal. Three ewes vaccinated with BLU23 aborted. Two of these were vaccinated between 35 and 43 days of gestation, the 3rd between 81 and 88 days of gestation. Five lambs were born with BLU group antibody. Four of these were from ewes vaccinated between 35 and 43 days of gestation, and 2 of these had hydranencephaly. The fifth was from a ewe vaccinated between 57 and 64 days of gestation. The vaccine did not produce disease in adult sheep, but was a potent cause of early foetal death and to a much lesser extent foetal malformation.     

Predicting the Phytoextraction Duration to Remediate Heavy Metal Contaminated Soils

The applicability of phytoextraction to remediate soils contaminated with heavy metals (HMs) depends on, amongst others, the duration before remediation is completed. The impact of changes in the HM content in soil occurring during remediation on plant uptake has to be considered in order to obtain a reliable estimate of the phytoextraction duration. To simulate the decrease in the HM content in soil and to assess the resulting decrease in the uptake of HMs by plants, contaminated soil was mixed with uncontaminated, but otherwise similar soil. Uptake of Cd, Pb, and Zn by the indicator plant Lupinus hartwegii and the Zn hyperaccumulator Thlaspi caerulescens (La Calamine ecotype) was a log-linear function of the in-situ measured HM soil solution concentrations. Over a wide range in dissolved Cd and Zn concentrations, uptake of these HMs by T. caerulescens was (much) greater than by L. hartwegii. Experimentally derived regression models describing the relationships between soil, soil solution, and plant were implemented in a HM mass balance model used to obtain estimates of the phytoextraction duration. For our target soils, estimates of the Cd phytoextraction duration using L. hartwegii or T. caerulescens increased significantly by more than 100 or 50 years when experimental soil—soil solution—plant relationships were used instead of the assumption of constant plant uptake of Cd. The two approaches gave similar results for phytoextraction of Zn by T. caerulescens.     

Imaging of intermittency in ripple-wave turbulence

The dynamics of a fluid surface filled with high-amplitude ripples were studied with a technique (diffusing light photography) that resolves the height at all locations instantaneously. Even when nonlinearities are strong enough to generate a (Kolmogorov) cascade from long wavelength (where energy is input) to shorter wavelength, the resulting turbulent state contains large coherent spatial structures. The appearance of these structures in a thermal equilibrium state (with the same average energy) would be highly improbable.     

Evaluation of a regimen using a progesterone releasing intravaginal device (CIDR) and PMSG as a treatment for post partum anoestrus in dairy cattle

Anoestrous dairy cows in seasonally calving herds in the Macalister Irrigation District of Gippsland, Victoria were treated at the start of the mating period with a progesterone releasing intravaginal device (CIDR). The CIDR was inserted for 7 days and 400 IU of PMSG was injected intramuscularly at removal. There was no clinically useful difference among cows receiving the CIDR, a placebo and untreated cows in the interval from treatment to either first oestrus or conception, the conception rate to first service or percent pregnant by the end of mating. Analyses of data from 2-year-old cows, older cattle, cows calved at least 45 days or cows calved at least 55 days and cows treated 3 weeks after the start of mating did not show improved reproductive performance following treatment with the CIDR.     

Surface proteins of Breda virus

The serotypes 1 and 2 of Breda virus from feces of experimentally infected gnotobiotic calves were studied with respect to their sedimentation and density properties in sucrose gradients and their structural polypeptides; Berne virus, the proposed prototype of the new family Toroviridae, was included for comparison. After Breda-1 virus had been stored at 4 C for a prolonged period, it showed a heterogeneous sedimentation behavior (480 to 520 Svedberg units [S]) and density (1.18 to 1.21 g/ml) indicative of its poor state of preservation. In contrast, freshly prepared Breda-2 virus sedimented at 350 S and showed a buoyant density of 1.18 g/ml; these values compare well with those of Berne virus (400 S and 1.16 g/ml, respectively). Efficient purification of the Breda viruses could be achieved by a 2-step method, involving pelleting by ultracentrifugation followed by isokinetic and isopyknic sucrose gradient centrifugation. Radioiodinated purified virus showed polypeptides with apparent molecular weights of 105,000, 85,000 37,000, and 20,000; another labeled protein of 65,000 D is of doubtful virus specificity. Mouse immune serum raised against Breda-2 virus recognized the polypeptides of the homologous virus and the 2 highest molecular weight proteins of Breda 1 virus in radioimmune precipitation. The same serum inhibited hemagglutination of the heterologous serotype to a low, but significant, degree and efficiently neutralized the infectivity of Berne virus. These observations are taken as indications that the 105,000- and 85,000-D polypeptides represent surface structures of torovirions, probably peplomeric proteins.     

Bilateral ovarian adenocarcinoma in a mare causing haemoperitoneum and colic

Abstract

CASE HISTORY: A 13-year-old Thoroughbred mare was presented with a history of mild colic over 3 days. This colic had acutely exacerbated and was unresponsive to analgesic treatment, and was referred to Massey University Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

CLINICAL FINDINGS: On examination the heart rate was 100 beats per minute, and mucous membranes were pale and tacky. A large mass was detected on transrectal palpation in the caudal abdomen to the left of midline. Explorative laparotomy revealed severe haemoperitoneum and several masses that were associated with the reproductive tract. The mare was then subject to euthanasia. On post-mortem examination, adjacent and attached to each ovary were soft, lobulated dark red masses up to 200 mm in diameter. Similar masses were present in the omentum and on the peritoneal surface of the diaphragm and the serosa of the spleen and liver. Histopathology revealed that the neoplastic component of the masses comprised proliferating cuboidal to columnar cells forming disorganised acini and cords separated by dense collagenous stroma. Immunohistochemistry showed the neoplastic cells were positive for cytokeratin AE1/AE3 and vimentin, but negative for cytokeratin 7 and inhibin α.

DIAGNOSIS: Bilateral ovarian adenocarcinoma with transcoelomic metastasis and terminal decompensation due to rupture of a neoplastic mass and consequent haemoperitoneum.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: To the authors' knowledge, bilateral ovarian adenocarcinoma has not been previously reported in a horse. Ovarian adenocarcinoma should be considered when horses present with haemoperitoneum and colic. Further research is required on the immunohistochemical differentiation of adenocarcinoma of ovarian and intestinal origin in the horse.