Equine pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction: current understanding and recommendations from the Australian and New Zealand Equine Endocrine Group

The purpose of this article is to provide a review of the current knowledge and opinions about the epidemiology, clinical findings (including sequelae), diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of equine pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction, particularly in the Australian context. This information and the recommendations provided will assist practitioners in making informed decisions regarding the diagnosis and management of this disorder.     

Who's keeping the code? Compliance with the international code for the marketing of breast-milk substitutes in Greater Glasgow

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate compliance with the World Health Organization's International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes in primary care, after the introduction of strict local infant feeding guidelines. DESIGN: An audit form was sent to all community-based health professionals with an infant feeding remit. Walking tours were conducted in a random sample of community care facilities. SETTING: Greater Glasgow Primary Care Division. SUBJECTS: (1) Primary-care staff with an infant feeding remit; (2) community health-care facilities. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Contact with manufacturers of breast-milk substitutes (BMS) and BMS company personnel, free samples or incentives, and advertising of BMS. RESULTS: Contact with company personnel was minimal, usually unsolicited and was mainly to provide product information. Free samples of BMS or feeding equipment were rare but childcare or parenting literature was more prevalent. Staff voiced concerns about the lack of relevant information for bottle-feeding mothers and the need to support the mother's feeding choice. One-third of facilities were still displaying materials non-compliant with the Code, with the most common materials being weight conversion charts and posters. CONCLUSIONS: Contact between personnel from primary care and BMS companies was minimal and generally unsolicited. The presence of materials from BMS companies in health-care premises was more common. Due to the high level of bottle-feeding in Glasgow, primary-care staff stated a need for information about BMS.     

Factors leading to spatiotemporal variability of soil moisture and turfgrass quality within sand-capped golf course fairways

Precision irrigation utilizing soil moisture data and valve-in head sprinkler systems may be a viable solution for sustainable water management on complex turfgrass areas. There is currently no research investigating the factors that influence soil moisture and turfgrass quality variability within sand-capped golf course fairways to aid in precision irrigation-related management decisions. Therefore, the objective of this study was to measure several turfgrass and soil characteristics from two sand-capped fairways during dry down events from either rainfall or irrigation to determine their relationship and contribution to soil moisture and turfgrass quality variability. Considerable spatiotemporal variability was observed within the two fairways during the dry down periods. Factors that were found to have a significant influence on soil moisture and turfgrass quality were sand capping depth, elevation, and thatch depth, but these relationships were not consistent between rainfall versus irrigation events, days after dry down, or even the specific fairways. Also, the direction of many of the relationships were opposite of what was expected. These findings highlight the complexity of soil moisture and turfgrass quality variability on sand-capped golf course fairways. To incorporate soil moisture sensor technologies into large-scale precision irrigation practices, mapping soil moisture with an understanding of contributing factors is a necessary preliminary step. Although there are several current practical limitations, the information presented in this study provides a foundation for future research.

     

Parapoxvirus in goats: experimental infection and genomic analysis

Veterinary Research Communications -     

Structure and diversity among rhizobial strains, populations and communities-a review

Published studies of rhizobial populations, communities and other strain collections were analysed to identify trends in strain richness, strain dominance and genetic diversity within and between locations. For individual populations and communities, strain richness indices were calculated by dividing the number of strain types identified by the number of isolates recovered. Where possible, strain dominance (the proportion of rhizobial isolates represented by each strain type) was also calculated. Analysis of the genetic diversity of populations, communities and rhizobial strain collections originating from diverse legume hosts and locations, was confined to studies using multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE) so that diversity could be compared on the basis of published H values. Strain richness indices were highly variable (0.02-0.94) and were influenced by both the discriminatory power of the strain typing method and the type and number of legume species used to recover rhizobia from soil. The strain richness of populations recovered either directly from soil, or from the nodules of trap hosts inoculated with the same soil, was similar. Because the arithmetic relationship between the number of strain types and number of isolates varies between different populations and communities, strain richness curves are proposed as the most appropriate method for reporting rhizobial structural diversity. Comparison of over 50 rhizobial populations and communities from published studies showed that strain dominance patterns in nodules were often similar. Typically, a single strain type occupies more than 30% of nodules with the majority of strain types being recovered at low frequency (∼75% of published populations and communities). Rhizobial populations and communities characterised by MLEE varied in their genetic diversity, with H values ranging from 0.06 to 0.78. In several studies, most of the genetic diversity within a site could be recovered from the nodules of a single plant. When hierarchical analyses were performed on populations within and between sites, the genetic diversity within sites was similar to the genetic diversity between sites. Similarly, the genetic diversity of strain collections originating from multiple hosts and locations was no more diverse than some individual populations and communities. Strain richness and genetic diversity measures were not always correlated for rhizobial populations. Populations with low strain richness were sometimes genetically diverse, and the relationship between the diversity measures varied for different legume species at the same location. We suggest that both strain richness and genetic diversity measures are required to fully describe rhizobial population and community diversity.     

Calving rates in a tropical beef herd after treatment with a synthetic progestagen, norgestomet, or a prostaglandin analogue, cloprostenol

Maiden heifers and lactating cows of known ovarian status and of several breeds were treated with a synthetic prostaglandin, cloprostenol, or a synthetic progestagen, norgestomet, at the start of an artificial insemination (AI) program. Animals in the cloprostenol treatment received 2 injections 10 days apart. Over the next 26 days those animals that showed oestrous behaviour were inseminated. Synchronisation rates and calving rates to insemination over the first 7 days were calculated. Those in the norgestomet treatment received an implant of norgestomet plus an injection of norgestomet and oestradiol valerate. The implant was removed 10 days later and the animals were given an injection of pregnant mare serum gonadotrophin (PMSG). They were inseminated at 48 h (maiden heifers) or 56 h (lactating cows) after implant removal. Calving rates to fixed-time insemination were recorded. After completion of the AI program the animals in both treatments were joined with bulls. Overall calving rates (AI plus bulls) were calculated. By day 7 of the program, 82% of the maiden heifers and 76% of the lactating cows in the cloprostenol treatment had been detected in oestrus. By day 21 the respective figures were 99% and 81% Norgestomet treatment had an immediate and a prolonged effect on ovarian activity in those females classified as having inactive ovaries at the start of the AI program. Calving rates of those females to fixed-time AI and overall were similar to those of the females with active ovaries in both treatments. Their calving rates to fixed-time insemination, and overall calving rates for the lactating females, were significantly higher than the corresponding values of their contemporaries treated with cloprostenol and inseminated on observed oestrus over 7 days. For those females classified as having active ovaries at the start of the AI program, calving rates to first insemination and overall were similar for both treatments. Overall calving rates of lactating cows of each breed were, with one exception, higher in the norgestomet treatment than in the cloprostenol treatment. Although norgestomet treatment was more expensive than cloprostenol treatment, the advantage in calf crop resulted in an overall monetary advantage to the norgestomet treatment.     

Caecal impaction and chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction in a dog

A 10-year-old female neutered cross-breed dog presented with a 4-month history of chronic intermittent diarrhoea and vomiting. Abdominal ultrasound showed dilated loops of small intestine and a suspected faecolith. Exploratory surgery revealed a caecal impaction and a typhlectomy was performed. Histopathological examination of caecal and full thickness small intestine sections demonstrated atrophy of smooth muscle fibres as well as an influx of plasma cells, lymphocytes and macrophages, and mild lymphoplasmacytic and eosinophilic enteritis. This combination of caecal impaction and chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction has not been reported previously in the dog.     

Synthesis and structure of a terminal uranium nitride complex

The terminal uranium nitride linkage is a fundamental target in the study of f-orbital participation in metal-ligand multiple bonding but has previously eluded characterization in an isolable molecule. Here, we report the preparation of the terminal uranium(V) nitride complex [UN(Tren(TIPS))][Na(12-crown-4)(2)] {in which Tren(TIPS) = [N(CH(2)CH(2)NSiPr(i)(3))(3)](3-) and Pr(i) = CH(CH(3))(2)} by reaction of the uranium(III) complex [U(Tren(TIPS))] with sodium azide followed by abstraction and encapsulation of the sodium cation by the polydentate crown ether 12-crown-4. Single-crystal x-ray diffraction reveals a uranium-terminal nitride bond length of 1.825(15) angstroms (where 15 is the standard uncertainty). The structural assignment is supported by means of (15)N-isotopic labeling, electronic absorption spectroscopy, magnetometry, electronic structure calculations, elemental analyses, and liberation of ammonia after treatment with water.     

Resistance to a triple-combination anthelmintic in Trichostrongylus spp. on a commercial sheep farm in New Zealand

Abstract

AIM: To evaluate resistance to anthelmintics containing abamectin, levamisole, and oxfendazole (AB-LEV-OX), derquantal and abamectin (DEQ-AB), moxidectin, and monepantel in naturally acquired gastrointestinal nematodes present on a sheep farm.

METHODS: Faecal nematode egg count reduction tests (FECRT) were carried out on lambs that were approximately 7 months-old and infected with naturally acquired nematodes. Lambs were randomly allocated to one of five groups (n=15 per group): treatment with 2?mg/kg derquantel and 0.2?mg/kg abamectin; 0.2?mg/kg abamectin, 8?mg/kg levamisole HCl and 4.5?mg/kg oxfendazole; 2.5?mg/kg monepantel; 0.2?mg/kg moxidectin, or no treatment. Post-treatment samples were collected 12 days later. Abomasa and small intestines were collected from two slaughtered lambs from each of the DEQ-AB, AB-LEV-OX, moxidectin and control groups 15 days after treatment, for nematode counting.

RESULTS: The FECRT demonstrated that efficacy was 90.3 (95% CI=84.2–94.1)% for AB-LEV-OX, 54.5 (95% CI=28.4–71.1)% for moxidectin, 99.2 (95% CI=97.4–99.8)% for DEQ-AB and 100% for monepantel, across all genera. For Trichostrongylus spp. efficacy was 85.5% for AB-LEV-OX and 46.7% for moxidectin. Haemonchus spp. were fully susceptible to all treatments. Post-treatment nematode counts indicated that the resistant Trichostrongylus spp. were from the small intestine.

CONCLUSIONS: Anthelmintic resistance to both AB-LEV-OX and moxidectin was present in the Trichostrongylus genus on a commercial sheep farm. Monepantel and DEQ-AB were both effective against Trichostrongylus spp. based on FECRT results.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This finding of resistance to an AB-LEV-OX triple-combination anthelmintic in the Trichostrongylus genus in sheep in New Zealand further limits anthelmintic treatment options available, and calls into question whether this combination is suitable for use as a quarantine treatment.