| 31. |
- Gizejewski, Z, et al.
(författare)
-
Genital and sperm characteristics of wild, free rangingred deer stags (Cervus elaphus L) hunted in different regions of Poland
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Wildlife Biology in Practice. - Braga, Portugal : Sociedade Portuguesa de Vida Selvagem,Portuguese Wildlife Society. - 1646-1509 .- 1646-2742. ; 6, s. 81-91
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In an attempt to establish reference values for sperm morphology in wild red deer, genital tracts were collected from thirty-six 3-11 years old free-ranging, wild red deer stags (Cervus elaphus L) shot down during 3 consecutive mating seasons (1996-1998) at three different environmental regions of Poland, defining two major ecotypes: (i) highland (outer eastern Carpathian range, Bieszczady mountains) and, (ii) lowland (Mazuria and Pomerania) and studied within 4.5h-49h after death for testis (T), epididymides (E) and vesicular gland (VG) variables. Spermatozoa collected from the E-cauda were examined for motility and morphology (light and electron microscopy levels). Both T size and weight and VS-weight differed with age (P<0.05-0.01) while habitat influenced T size and weight (P<0.01) a well as sperm motility (P<0.05). Neither sperm numbers nor morphology showed significant differences, mostly owing tothe large variation recorded among stags (range 1-72%). Domain-grouped sperm morphological deviations were <5%, the mean total proportion of abnormal spermatozoa ranging 7.2-17.5%. Although variation was present, the values ought to be used as reference for spermiogrammes.
|
|
| 32. |
- Hansson, Helena, et al.
(författare)
-
Measuring farmers' attitudes to animal welfare and health
- 2012
-
Ingår i: British Food Journal. - : Emerald. - 0007-070X .- 1758-4108. ; 114, s. 840-852
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this study was to develop a behavioural framework for developing a scale to measure farmers' attitudes to animal welfare and health and to take an explorative approach to initiating development of such a scale.Design/methodology/approachA literature review was used to develop the behavioural framework. Exploratory factor analysis was then used to initiate development of a measurement scale, based on a sample of 108 Swedish livestock farmers.FindingsBased on the framework developed, the authors' data suggest unidimensionality of farmers' attitudes to animal welfare and health; and that farmers perceive animal welfare as being about animal health and comfort in particular.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research should be devoted to this area to develop a more final measurement scale. This could be done by re‐evaluating the scale obtained in this paper in both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis settings. The behavioural framework proposed here provides a basis for such scale development and a more rigid framework for evaluating and comparing farmers' attitudes to animal welfare.Practical implicationsThe behavioural framework and scale development initiated in this paper can be used by policymakers and organizations responsible for quality assurance schemes to develop policy measures and education programmes to re‐train farmers' behaviour into a system that supports higher animal welfare and health standards.Originality/valueThe originality of this paper is that it develops and uses a behavioural framework based on psychological and psychometric theory to initiate development of a scale to measure farmers' attitudes to animal welfare and health.
|
|
| 33. |
- Hedenqvist, Patricia, et al.
(författare)
-
Carprofen neither reduces postoperative facial expression scores in rabbits treated with buprenorphine nor alters long term bone formation after maxillary sinus grafting
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Research in Veterinary Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0034-5288 .- 1532-2661. ; 107, s. 123-131
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In connection with bilateral maxillary sinus augmentation, the acute effects of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug carprofen on facial expressions and long-term effects on bone formation were evaluated in 18 male New Zealand White rabbits. A 10 x 10 mm bone window was drilled in the maxilla, the sinus membrane elevated and a titanium mini-implant inserted. One of two test materials was randomly inserted unilaterally and bovine bone chips (control) on the contralateral side in the created space. Rabbits were randomly allocated to receive buprenorphine plus carprofen (n = 9) or buprenorphine plus saline (n = 9) postoperatively. Buprenorphine was administered subcutaneously every 6 h for 3 days in a tapered dose (0.05-0.01 mg/kg) and carprofen (5 mg/kg) or saline administered subcutaneously 1 h before, and daily for 4 days postoperatively. To assess pain, clinical examination, body weight recording and scoring of facial expressions from photos taken before, and 6-13 h after surgery were performed. Twelve weeks after surgery the rabbits were euthanized and sections of maxillary bones and sinuses were analysed with histomorphometry and by qualitative histology. Carprofen had no effect on mean facial expression scores, which increased from 0.0 to 3.6 (carprofen) and 43 (saline), of a maximum of 8.0. Neither did carprofen have an effect on bone formation or implant incorporation, whereas the test materials had. In conclusion, treatment with 5 mg/kg carprofen once daily for 5 days did not reduce facial expression scores after maxillary sinus augmentation in buprenorphine treated rabbits and did not affect long term bone formation.
|
|
| 34. |
- Hellander Edman, Anna, et al.
(författare)
-
Corneal cross-linking in 9 horses with ulcerative keratitis
- 2013
-
Ingår i: BMC Veterinary Research. - London, United Kingdom : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1746-6148. ; 9, s. 128-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Corneal ulcers are one of the most common eye problems in the horse and can cause varying degrees of visual impairment. Secondary infection and protease activity causing melting of the corneal stroma are always concerns in patients with corneal ulcers. Corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL), induced by illumination of the corneal stroma with ultraviolet light (UVA) after instillation of riboflavin (vitamin B2) eye drops, introduces crosslinks which stabilize melting corneas, and has been used to successfully treat infectious ulcerative keratitis in human patients. Therefore we decided to study if CXL can be performed in sedated, standing horses with ulcerative keratitis with or without stromal melting.Results: Nine horses, aged 1 month to 16 years (median 5 years) were treated with a combination of CXL and medical therapy. Two horses were diagnosed with mycotic, 5 with bacterial and 2 with aseptic ulcerative keratitis. A modified Dresden-protocol for CXL could readily be performed in all 9 horses after sedation. Stromal melting, diagnosed in 4 horses, stopped within 24 h. Eight of nine eyes became fluorescein negative in 13.5 days (median time; range 4-26 days) days after CXL. One horse developed a bacterial conjunctivitis the day after CXL, which was successfully treated with topical antibiotics. One horse with fungal ulcerative keratitis and severe uveitis was enucleated 4 days after treatment due to panophthalmitis.Conclusions: CXL can be performed in standing, sedated horses. We did not observe any deleterious effects attributed to riboflavin or UVA irradiation per se during the follow-up, neither in horses with infectious nor aseptic ulcerative keratitis. These data support that CXL can be performed in the standing horse, but further studies are required to compare CXL to conventional medical treatment in equine keratitis and to optimize the CXL protocol in this species.
|
|
| 35. |
- Humblot, Patrice
(författare)
-
Effects of embryo size at transfer (whole versus demi) and early pregnancy progesterone supplementation on embryo growth and pregnancy-specific protein bovine concentrations in recipient dairy heifers
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Theriogenology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0093-691X .- 1879-3231. ; 76, s. 522-531
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objectives of this study were to evaluate embryonic size and survival, plasma progesterone (P4) and pregnancy-specific protein bovine (PSPB) concentrations in early pregnancies (n = 99) following the transfer of one whole (n = 66) or one demi (n = 33) embryo to recipient virgin dairy heifers. The experiment was designed to evaluate the fixed effects of embryo size at transfer (whole or demi embryo) on Day 7 of the estrous cycle (Day 0 = estrus) and P4 supplementation between Days 7 to 19 through an intravaginal device (yes or no) on plasma P4 and PSPB concentrations and on embryo measurements. Plasma P4 concentrations were measured by RIA on Days 0, 7, 14, 19, 21, 25, 35, 42, 49, 56 and 63 of pregnancy and, PSPB concentrations were measured by ELISA on Days 7, 21, 25, 35, 42, 49, 56 and 63. The presence of an embryonic vesicle was detected on Day 25, embryonic/fetal movements and heartbeat were evaluated on Days 42 and 63 and embryo measurements [crown-rump length (CRL) and width at mid body] were obtained on Day 42 through ultrasonography.In non-supplemented pregnancies, Day 42 whole embryos had higher (P < 0.05) CRL and width than demi embryos, but the difference averaged only 1 to 2 mm. In P4 supplemented pregnancies, whole and demi embryos attained a similar size on Day 42 of pregnancy. Embryo size at transfer, early exogenous P4 supplementation and their interactions had no effects (P > 0.05) on plasma P4 concentrations. However, the post-hoc LSD evaluation showed that plasma P4 concentrations on Day 25 were higher (P < 0.001) in whole than in demi embryo derived pregnancies and, that exogenous P4 supplementation increased (P < 0.05) plasma P4 concentrations on Day 19 of pregnancy. The plasma PSPB detection rate on Days 7 to 63 of pregnancy was similar in pregnancies resulting from the transfer of whole and demi embryos. From a total of 93 recipients remaining pregnant until Day 63, plasma PSPB was constantly undetectable on Day 7, was detected in 4% of Day 21 samples, 41% of Day 25, 95% of Day 35, 96% of Day 42, 99% of Day 49 and in 100% of samples of Days 56 and 63. Concentrations of PSPB increased (P < 0.05) from Days 21 to 42 and from Days 56 to 63, with a plateau between Days 42 to 56. Demi embryo pregnancies had higher (P < 0.05) plasma PSPB concentrations on Days 35 and 42 than whole embryo pregnancies. Progesterone supplementation had a positive effect (P < 0.01) on PSPB concentrations from Days 35 to 63. Concentrations of PSPB were similar in non-supplemented whole and demi embryo pregnancies from Days 7 to Day 63. In contrast, in supplemented recipients, demi embryo pregnancies had higher (P < 0.05) PSPB concentrations on Days 25 to 42 than whole embryo pregnancies. No significant correlation was found between P4 and PSPB concentrations or between the concentrations of these hormones and embryonic measurements on Day 42. In conclusion, demi embryos experienced a compensatory growth until Day 42 of pregnancy, attaining a similar size to that of whole embryos and originating conceptuses producing similar plasma PSPB concentrations to those of whole embryo derived conceptuses. Embryonic growth and conceptus secretion of PSPB were positively stimulated by early pregnancy exogenous P4 treatment. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
|
|
| 36. |
- Hägglund, Sara, et al.
(författare)
-
Characterization of an Experimental Vaccine for Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Clinical and Vaccine Immunology. - 1556-6811 .- 1556-679X. ; 21:7, s. 997-1004
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) and human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) are major causes of respiratory disease in calves and children, respectively, and are priorities for vaccine development. We previously demonstrated that an experimental vaccine, BRSV-immunostimulating complex (ISCOM), is effective in calves with maternal antibodies. The present study focuses on the antigenic characterization of this vaccine for the design of new-generation subunit vaccines. The results of our study confirmed the presence of membrane glycoprotein (G), fusion glycoprotein (F), and nucleoprotein (N) proteins in the ISCOMs, and this knowledge was extended by the identification of matrix (M), M2-1, phosphoprotein (P), small hydrophobic protein (SH) and of cellular membrane proteins, such as the integrins alpha(V)beta(1), alpha(V)beta(3), and alpha(3)beta(1). The quantity of the major protein F was 4- to 5-fold greater than that of N (similar to 77 mu g versus similar to 17 mu g/calf dose), whereas G, M, M2-1, P, and SH were likely present in smaller amounts. The polymerase (L), M2-2, nonstructural 1 (NS1), and NS2 proteins were not detected, suggesting that they are not essential for protection. Sera from the BRSV-ISCOM-immunized calves contained high titers of IgG antibody specific for F, G, N, and SH. Antibody responses against M and P were not detected; however, this does not exclude their role in protective T-cell responses. The absence of immunopathological effects of the cellular proteins, such as integrins, needs to be further confirmed, and their possible contribution to adjuvant functions requires elucidation. This work suggests that a combination of several surface and internal proteins should be included in subunit RSV vaccines and identifies absent proteins as potential candidates for differentiating infected from vaccinated animals.
|
|
| 37. |
- Johansson Wensman, Jonas, et al.
(författare)
-
Visualization of Borna Disease Virus Protein Interactions with Host Proteins using in situ Proximity Ligation Assay
- 2016
-
Ingår i: British journal of virology. - : ResearchersLinks Ltd. - 2055-6128. ; 3:1, s. 11-23
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Borna disease virus type 1 (BDV) comprises highly conserved neurotropic non-segmented negative strand RNA-virus variants causing neurological and behavioral disorders in a wide range of mammalian animals, possibly including humans. Viral persistence in the brain has been frequently observed, however, the exact mechanisms behind BDV’s ability to establish persistence despite a prominent immune response are not known. Here we have used in situ proximity ligation assay (in situ PLA), a selective tool for studying virus-host protein-protein interactions. BDV P (phosphoprotein) and N (nucleoprotein) have previously been reported to interact with several host proteins, thereby interfering with various signaling pathways. In this study, we focused on some of these interactions (BDV P-HMGB1, BDV N/P-Cdc2). First, we used rat glioma cell cultures persistently infected with a laboratory strain of BDV (C6BV) to establish the assay. Next, in situ PLA was applied to detect BDV P in brain tissues of infected animals. Finally, protein-protein interactions were visualized in both C6BV and brain tissues of experimentally as well as naturally infected animals (rat and horse, respectively). BDV proteins and their interactions with host proteins could be shown in cell cultures (HMGB1, Cdc2) and in brain tissues of rat (HMGB1, Cdc2) and horse (Cdc2 only) infected with BDV. In this study, we have for the first time directly visualized protein-protein interactions between BDV and its host, and thereby confirmed previous data to demonstrate findings in cell cultures to be applicable also in experimentally and naturally infected animals.
|
|
| 38. |
- Morrell, Jane
(författare)
-
In vitro Embryo Production in Llamas (Lama glama) from In vivo Matured Oocytes with Raw Semen Processed with Androcoll-E using Defined Embryo Culture Media
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Reproduction in Domestic Animals. - : Wiley. - 0936-6768 .- 1439-0531. ; 47, s. 562-567
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Contents The aim of this study was to carry out in vitro fertilization using spermatozoa selected with Androcoll-E (TM) and to evaluate the efficiency of the culture medium DMEM-F12 for in vitro embryo development in the llama. Twelve adult females from 18 superstimulated (67%) were used as oocyte donors. They were superstimulated with 1500 IU of eCG and after 5 days, received a single dose of buserelin. Twenty hours post-injection, follicular aspiration was conducted by flank laparotomy. Semen collections were performed under general anesthesia by electroejaculation of the male. The ejaculates were processed with a solution of collagenase (0.1%) and an Androcoll-E (TM) column was used to improve the sample. Sixty nine COCs were recovered from 79 aspirated follicles (87% recovery). Only expanded COCs were used (n = 67); they were randomly placed in groups of 15 in Fertil-TALP and the sperm suspension (20 x 106 live spermatozoa/ml) was added to each fertilization microdroplet. After 24 h, they were randomly placed in one of two culture media: SOF (n = 34) or DMEM-F12 (n = 33) and incubated for 6 days in humidified atmosphere of 5% CO2, 5% O2 and 90% N2 at 38 degrees C. The blastocyst rate was 20% (7/34) in SOF medium (3 hatched, 2 expanded and 2 early blastocysts) and 15% (5/33) in DMEM medium (all expanded blastocysts). In conclusion, using Androcoll-E (TM) it is possible to select good quality spermatozoa from llama ejaculates for in vitro fertilization and to produce blastocysts in DMEM-F12 medium. This is also the first time that hatched llama blastocysts have been produced after culture in a defined medium such as SOFaa.
|
|
| 39. |
- Morrell, Jane
(författare)
-
Osmotic shock induces structural damage on equine spermatozoa plasmalemma and mitochondria
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Theriogenology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0093-691X .- 1879-3231. ; 78, s. 415-422
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The present study aimed to elucidate the effects that osmotic shock exerts on equine spermatozoa. To achieve this goal, a retrospective study of the cellular volume of 40 equine ejaculates subjected to osmolarities ranging from 75 to 900 mOsm in Biggers-Whitten-Whittingham (BWW) media was performed using a Multisizer(3) Coulter Counter (R). The 300 mOsm BWW solution was used as control. The sperm volume ranged between 37.93 +/- 0.6 (mean +/- Standard Error of the Mean (SEM)) in 75 mOsm BWW to 21.61 +/- 0.27 (mean +/- SEM) for 900 mOsm BWW. Thus the spermatozoa behaved as linear osmometers when adjusted to the Boyle Van't Hoff equation (R-2 = 0.9808). After the different osmotic challenges, spermatozoa were returned to 300 mOsm BWW and the cellular volume was measured again. The results showed that the spermatozoa were able to retrieve the isosmolar volume (20.81 +/- 0.34; mean +/- SEM). Also, an ultrastructural study of spermatozoa membrane and mitochondria was accomplished using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) after the osmotic challenges in 2 ejaculates. As observed by TEM, sperm plasmalemma swelled and detached from the sperm head in hypotonic conditions (75 mOsm), with blebbing on return to isosmolarity. When subjected to 900 mOsm, the sperm plasmalemma shrank, with disarrangement and blebbing when returned to isosmolarity. Mitochondria were also found to change their volume; the main pathologic change was irreversible vacuolization and changes in their arrangement for all the osmotic challenges tested. The present work leads to a better understanding of how osmotic shock adversely affects equine spermatozoa structure. (c) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
|
|
| 40. |
- Munoz-Fuentes, Violeta, et al.
(författare)
-
Single-layer centrifugation separates spermatozoa from diploid cells in epididymal samples from gray wolves, Canis lupus (L.)
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Theriogenology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0093-691X .- 1879-3231. ; 82:5, s. 773-776
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sperm samples may be used for assisted reproductive technologies (e.g., farmed or endangered species) or as a source of haploid DNA or sperm-specific RNA. When ejaculated spermatozoa are not available or are very difficult to obtain, as is the case for most wild endangered species, the epididymides of dead animals (e.g., animals that have been found dead, shot by hunters or poachers, or that that require euthanasia in zoological collections) can be used as a source of sperm. Such epididymal sperm samples are usually contaminated with cellular debris, erythrocytes, leukocytes, and sometimes also bacteria. These contaminants may be sources of reactive oxygen species that damage spermatozoa during freezing or contribute undesired genetic material from diploid cells. We used single-layer centrifugation through a colloid formulation, Androcoll-C, to successfully separate wolf epididymal spermatozoa from contaminating cells and cellular debris in epididymal samples harvested from carcasses. Such a procedure may potentially be applied to epididymal sperm samples from other species.
|
|
