BACKGROUND Optical coherence tomography angiography is a novel imaging technique that allows dyeless in vivo visualization of the retinal and choroidal vasculature. The purpose of this study was to describe optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography findings in patients with retinal arterial macroaneurysms (RAMs). METHODS Three eyes of three patients with RAMs were retrospectively include...

BACKGROUND Contagious Epididymitis (CE) due to Brucella ovis (B. ovis) is a contagious disease that impairs rams' fertility due to epididymis, testicle and accessory sexual gland alterations. An increased incidence of CE has been observed in South Eastern France ("PACA" region) since the Rev.1 vaccination against B. melitensis has been stopped in 2008. The objective of this study was to evaluat...

Changes in profiles of serum luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and testosterone and in mating performance and ejaculate volume have been determined in Finnish Landrace (F inn)and Managra Synthetic (Line-M) rams during the ovine breeding season. In early August, mid-September, early November and mid-December four rams of each breed were bled by venipuncture from the ju...

OBJECTIVES We developed a radical multiple synovectomy (RaMS) procedure designed to reduce disease activity in refractory RA patients involving the excision of all inflamed synovial tissues. In this study we examined the long-term outcome of RaMS in terms of disease activity and articular destruction. METHODS Forty-two patients with refractory RA underwent RaMS and were followed up for an ave...

We are using the domestic ram as an experimental model to examine the role of aromatase in the development of sexual partner preferences. This interest has arisen because of the observation that as many as 8% of domestic rams are sexually attracted to other rams (male-oriented) in contrast to the majority of rams that are attracted to estrous ewes (female-oriented). Our findings demonstrate tha...

Pituitaries were collected from intact rams and rams that had been rendered bilaterally cryptorchid by surgery to examine the effects of cryptorchidism on gonadotropin heterogeneity, levels of uncombined luteinizing hormone (LH) subunits, and the apparent molecular sizes of LH and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). Cryptorchid rams had higher pituitary contents of LH and FSH as well as reduced...

Sperm DNA fragmentation was analysed in 113 semen samples obtained from different rams over a period of one year. Semen samples were collected from: unvaccinated rams between January and June (Control group 1; CG1); vaccinated rams at least 70 days after vaccination between October and December (Control group 2; CG2); vaccinated rams 20 days after vaccination (Vaccinated group 1; VG1); and vacc...

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the pathological effects of experimental trypanosomosis on the semen collection reaction time and spermatozoa morphology of Yankasa rams. Materials and Methods: Twelve apparently healthy Yankasa rams aging 24-30 months and weighing 22-25 Kg were randomly selected and were distributed into four (4) groups. Groups I and II were challenged with exper...

Profiles of LH and FSH levels and pituitary LH responses to exogenous luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) have been characterized in rams, castrated rams (wethers), and wethers implanted with testosterone. Rams were castrated when adult, and, at the time of castration, two groups of wethers were implanted with either four or eight testosterone capsules. Rams showed random pulses of LH ...

This study aimed to evaluate protection induced by the vaccine candidate B. ovis ΔabcBA against experimental challenge with wild type B. ovis in rams. Rams were subcutaneously immunized with B. ovis ΔabcBA encapsulated with sterile alginate or with the non encapsulated vaccine strain. Serum, urine, and semen samples were collected during two months after immunization. The rams were then challen...