Studies on Cercariae from Kuwait Bay. XI. Description and surface topography of Cercaria kuwaitae XI sp.n. (Digenea: Echinostomatidae)

A new echinostome cercaria, Cercaria kuwaitae XI sp.n., from the prosobranch gastropod Cerithidea cingulata (Gmelin) from Kuwait Bay is described. The new cercaria is characterized by 23 collar spines and primary excretory tubules with distinct diverticula. The cercaria encysts in the snail host and is similar to those of Acanthoparyphium sp. The surface topography of the redia, cercaria and metacercarial cyst wall is studied by scanning electron microscopy. This is the first echinostome cercaria to be recorded in a gastropod from the Arabian Gulf region.

Genetic diversity of Brazilian Pantaneiro horse and relationships among horse breeds

The objective of this work was to evaluate the genetic diversity of Brazilian Pantaneiro horse by microsatellite markers, investigate the effect of genetic bottlenecks and estimate genetic differentiation among four horse breeds. Genetic variation was estimated through allele frequencies and mean breed heterozygosity. Nei's genetic distances among the breeds Pantaneiro, Thoroughbred, Arabian, Spanish Pure Breed (Andalusian), and Uruguay Creole were calculated, and it was used to construct an UPGMA dendrogram. Clustering at different K values was calculated to infer population structure and assign individuals to populations. Nei's distances showed a minimum distance between Pantaneiro horse and Spanish Pure Breed (0.228), and similar distances from Spanish Pure Breed to Thoroughbred and to Arabian (0.355 and 0.332). It was observed a great level of diversity, clear distance from Pantaneiro horse to other breeds, and genetic uniformity within breed. It was verified a certain level of substructure of Pantaneiro horse showing no influences from the other studied breeds.

Advances in research and development of mango industry

World mango production is spread over 100 countries that produce over 34.3 million tons of fruit annually. Eighty percent of this production is based in the top nine producing nations that also consume upward of 90% of their production domestically. One to 2 percent of fruit is traded internationally in to markets in the European Community, USA, Arabian Peninsula and Asia. This paper outlines some of the recent research and development advances in mango breeding and genomics, rootstock development, disease management and harvest technologies that are influencing the production and quality of mango fruit traded domestically and internationally.

Equine leukoencephalomalacia (ELEM) due to fumonisins B1 and B2 in Argentina

In August 2007 an outbreak of neurological disease and sudden death in Arabian horses occurred in a farm located in Coronel Rosales County, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The animals were on a pasture of native grasses and supplemented ad libitum with corn kernels and wheat bran. Three horses were observed having acute neurologic signs including blindness, four leg ataxia, hyperexcitability, aimless walking and circling, followed by death in two of them. Four other horses were found dead overnight without a history of neurologic signs. The morbidity, mortality and lethality rates were 11.6%, 10% and 85.7%, respectively. Grossly, the brain showed focal areas of hemorrhage, brown-yellow discoloration and softening of the sub-cortical white matter. The microscopic brain lesions consisted of extensive areas of malacia within the white matter of the cerebral hemispheres, brainstem and cerebellum, characterized by rarefaction of the white matter with cavitations filled with proteinaceous edema, multifocal hemorrhages and mild infiltration by neutrophils, and rare eosinophils. Swollen glial cells with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm, distinct cell borders, intracytoplasmic deeply eosinophilic globules and eccentric, hyperchromatic, occasionally pyknotic nucleus were present throughout the areas of rarefaction hemorrhage, edema and necrosis. The feed supplements contained 12,490µg/kg of fumonisin B1 and 5,251µg/ kg of fumonisin B2. This is the first reported outbreak of ELEM associated with consumption of feed supplements containing high concentrations of fumonisins in Argentina.

Venous hemogasometry of equines finalists in 90 km endurance races

Front of exercise, the organic systems may suffer water-electrolyte and acid-base imbalances, particularly in the case of blood gases, demonstrating variations from different causes, whether respiratory and/or metabolic. Understanding the physiological adaptations to exercise is essential in the search for the optimum performance. In this way, this study measured the venous blood gases (pO2, pCO2), as well as the oxygen saturation (SatO2) in healthy equines, Arabian horses finalists in 90km endurance races. A total of fourteen Arabian horses were evaluated, nine males and five females, between six and 12 years old, finalists in 90km endurance races. There was a significant reduction in pO2, pCO2 and SatO2 after the exercise, however, the values remained within the normality range, and did not change the athletic performance of the animals, indicating a temporary alteration, assuming thus a character of physiological response to the exercise performed. The equines, finalists in 90 Km endurance races, demonstrated efficient ventilatory process, without any alterations in the athletic performance, being adapted to the type of exercise imposed.

Differences in prostate cancer detection between Canadian and Saudi populations

Few studies have addressed racial differences in prostate cancer (PCa) detection between Western and Arabian countries, although PCa has a significantly lower prevalence in Arabic populations compared to Western populations. Therefore, an explanation of this difference is lacking. Serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a valuable marker used to select patients who should undergo prostate biopsies, although the manner in which it is used may require adjustments based on the ethnic population in question. We investigated racial differences in the PCa detection rate between Canadian and Saudi populations. A retrospective analysis was performed of data collected prospectively over 5 consecutive years in urology clinics at the McGill University Health Center (MUHC) and King Saud University Hospital (KSUH). Men who had high (>4'ng/mL) or rising PSA levels and a negative digital rectal examination were eligible. A total of 1403 Canadian and 414 Saudi patients were evaluated for the study; 717 and 158 men, median age 64 and 68 years, were included in the MUHC and KSUH cohorts, respectively, P<0.0001). Median serum PSA, prostate volume, and PSA density values were 6.1'ng/mL, 47.3 g, and 0.12'ng·mL−1·g−1, respectively, for MUHC patients and 5.2'ng/mL, 64.5'g, and 0.08'ng·mL−1·g−1, respectively, for KSUH patients (P<0.0001, t-test followed by one-way ANOVA). In addition, the KSUH group had a significantly lower PCa detection rate among patients younger than 60 years of age and with PSA values <10'ng/mL.