Correlation of racing performance with fitness parameters after exercise tests on treadmill and on track in Standardbred racehorses

Fitness parameters of racehorses were investigated after standardized exercise tests on treadmill and on track, and correlated with race-time. Twenty Standardbred trotters were divided into two groups (A and B) based on the time recorded during five national competitions carried out before the test. Five horses of group A were tested on a treadmill 3.5% slope and 5 horses were tested on a flat sandy track. The same procedure was carried out for group B horses. VLa4 (speed producing a lactate concentration of 4 mmol/L) and VLal (speed at which the mean variation of lactate was 0.2 mmol/L for an increasing velocity of 1 m/s) of group A and B were compared. The data of this investigation confirmed that different test protocols cannot be easily compared. VLa4 and VLal obtained with both tests seem however to be useful parameters to evaluate fitness in trotters

The complete nucleotide sequence of goat (Capra hircus) mitochondrial genome.

The goat mtDNA sequences reported to date are fragmentary. By using both in silico cloning procedure and conventional molecular biology techniques we have determined the complete nucleotide sequence of the goat (Capra hircus) mitochondrial genome. The length of the sequence was 16.640bp. Genes responsible for 12S and 16S rRNAs, 22 tRNAs and 13 protein-coding regions are found. The genome organization is conformed to those of other mitochondrial genomes. Comparison between the 13 protein coding genes of goat, cow and sheep reveals that the difference range from 1.2 to 12.2% with a mean of 7.3% between goat and cow and from 0 to 15.6% (mean 4.7%) between goat and sheep

Investigation on circadian rhythm of hemogram values in horses (Indagini sul ritmo circadiano dei parametri dell'emogramma nella specie equina)

In this paper the behaviour of several haematological parameters in the horse during the day and night phases have been investigated. The research has been carried out utilizing 12 stallions from four different breeds (English Thoroughbred, Sardinian Anglo Arabian, Maremmana and Haflinger). For a week blood samples have been collected every four hours from these horses in order to establish : n° RBC, n° WBC, Hgb, Hct, MCV, MCH, MCHC, n° PLT, MPV, PCT, RDW, PDW and lymphocyte %. It has been determined that the following parameters show a significative circadian trend: Hct and MCHC (erythrocytes), n° WBC and lymphocyte % (leukocytes), and PCT (thrombocytes). For the other haematological parameters investigated the statistical analysis used did not show an armonic circadian rythm