Vulvovaginectomy and perineal urethrostomy for neoplasms of the vulva and vagina.

Vulvovaginectomy and perineal urethrostomy were performed in three dogs with extensive neoplasms of the vulva and vagina. One benign tumor (fibroleiomyoma) and two malignant tumors (transitional cell carcinoma and anaplastic spindle cell sarcoma) were diagnosed. Survival times were 9 weeks to 10 months. Urinary continence was preserved in all three dogs. The procedure may be curative for benign tumors or malignant tumors that have not yet metastasized; it is a palliative procedure for advanced malignancies.

Potentially conflicting metabolic demands of diving and exercise in seals.

Metabolic replacement rates (Ra) for glucose and free fatty acids (FFA) were determined during rest, exercise, and diving conditions in the gray seal using bolus injections of radiotracers. In the exercise experiments the seal swam at a metabolic rate elevated twofold over resting Ra for glucose and FFA while resting were similar to values found in terrestrial mammals and other marine mammal species. During exercise periods glucose turnover increased slightly while FFA turnover changes were variable. However, the energetic demands of exercise could not be met by the increase in the replacement rates of glucose or FFA even if both were completely oxidized. Under diving conditions the tracer pool displayed radically different specific activity curves indicative of the changes in perfusion and metabolic rate associated with a strong dive response. Since the radiotracer curves during exercise and diving differed qualitatively and quantitatively, it is possible that similar studies on freely diving animals can be used to assess the role of the diving response during underwater swimming in nature.

Terminal dives in mink, muskrat and beaver.

Monitoring of EEG, EKG and overt behavior of mink, muskrat, and beaver caught in leg hold traps in an aquatic tank, showed marked differences by species. Death by CO2 induced narcosis (submersion asphyxia) was evident in beaver, about 50 percent of muskrat but "wet" drowning occurred in mink. Bradycardia was evident in all three species but was most pronounced in the beaver. Times to cessation of struggle, brain activity and heart activity indicated that the terminal dives of mink and muskrat, but not beaver, fell within the tentative criteria of humaneness for trapping devices established by the Federal Provincial Committee for Humane Trapping of Canada.

Isolation and identification of steroids from gonadal vein blood of the fetal horse.

Direct connection of the artery of a fetal ovary to the carotid artery of the mare allowed collection of a large volume of blood over a 30-min period. Extraction of steroids and their fractionation was followed by separation of the steroids by alumina adsorption chromatography, and Sephadex LH-20 and Celite partition chromatography. Further resolution of the material by HPLC led to the identification of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA) by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry. Other compounds were isolated, which remain to be identified fully, but in the 8th month of pregnancy the principal steroid secreted by the fetal ovary was apparently DHA.

Heart rate values for beaver, mink and muskrat.

1. Implanted ECG transmitters were used to determine heart rates for several activities of beaver (Castor canadensis), mink (Mustela vison), and muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) under free-ranging laboratory conditions within an aquatic tank. 2. All three species exhibited bradycardia when diving but mink heart rates returned to pre-dive levels if the dive lasted greater than 30 sec. 3. Heart rates for all other behaviours were significantly (P less than 0.05) higher than for diving and averaged about 120/min (beaver), 265/min (mink) and 240/min (muskrat). 4. Mink heart rate values were higher than would be expected based on general energetic equations if we assume heart rate to be reflective of energy costs. This was considered to be a function of this species' fusiform body shape.