Donkey domestication has been essential to human culture and development and has played an important role in economic and social life in human history. China is one of the largest donkey breeders worldwide; donkey farming for meat, milk and hide production is becoming an important industry in rural China as it provides income to the rural livelihoods of many people. Currently, the donkey industry in China is small and relatively young, but it is growing fast. The industry is not adequately exploited economically, which means that it requires the diminution of its role in the traditional activities of rural households and a reorientation towards a more profitable industry. Given the growing importance of the donkey industry in rural China, this paper aims to outline the current situations of the donkey industry in China in terms of animal stock, breeds and distribution, donkey products, suggestions and future challenges to the development of the donkey industry.This study aimed to describe the testicular growth curve in Mangalarga Marchador stallions fitting nonlinear models to data of total scrotal width (TSW) and testicular volume (TV). A cross-sectional study was conducted with 120 stallions, aging from 1.75 to 21.93 years. The parameters of nonlinear models (Brody, Gompertz, Hill, Logistic I and II, Meloun I and II, Michaelis-Menten, Mitscherlich, and von-Bertalanffy) were estimated by Gauss-Newton iterative process. Goodness of fit was evaluated by the corrected Akaike (AICc) and Bayesian (BIC) information criteria, adjusted R2, error sum of square, mean absolute deviation and average prediction error. Based on the goodness of fit, the Logistic I model fitted better for TSW while Logistic II fitted better for TV growth curve. The inflection point (IP) of TSW growth was estimated in 5.23 cm at 0.76 years; the IP of TV growth was estimated in 139.36 cm3 at 2.57 years. The TV growth curve reached a plateau later than TSW growth curve, mainly because testicular height maintains growth for a longer period. In addition, there were moderate and positive correlations between whiter height and TSW and TV (r = 0.51 and r = 0.53, respectively). Findings suggest that TV is more associated with sexual maturity than sexual precocity. In addition, the moderate and positive correlations between whiter height and TSW and TV indicate that testicular traits can be included in selection programs of Mangalarga Marchador stallions with the same relevance as the morphometric traits.Ocular neoplasms represent 10% of all equine neoplasms and ocular squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common one. This report describes the clinical presentation, laboratory, ultrasonography, postmortem, histopathology and immunohistochemistry findings of a mixed ocular neoplasm in a 10-year-old draft mare. The mare had a one-year history of left ocular mass. Complete destruction of the left eye with loss of vision was observed. A large ulcerated mass oozing blood replaced the left eye. Left parotid lymph node was swollen and had a sinus tract discharging pus. Ultrasonography revealed absence of all intraocular structures, several lobular echogenic tissues and several hyperechoic areas of ossification with acoustic shadowing. Color Doppler scanning revealed numerous neovascularization all over the tumor, particularly along the periphery. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/tp0427736-hcl.html The neovascularization demonstrated mainly arterial with few mixed blood flow signals. The amplitude of systolic and diastolic blood flow was markedly increased. Enucleation was decided but the mare died just after examination. The ocular mass was excised and its weight was 390 g. Postmortem examination revealed no distant metastasis in all internal organs. Histopathology confirmed OSCC mixed with fibrosarcoma and associated with cartilaginous and osseous metaplasia. The neoplastic cells gave positive nuclear p53 immunoreactivity. The left parotid lymph node revealed metastasis. Despite the unsuccessful outcome in this particular case, this report documents a mixed eye neoplasm, highlights the ultrasonography and histopathology features of OSCC, and reinforces the need for early diagnosis and surgical treatment in such cases to improve the outcome and to decrease the drastic complications and mortality.Horses are a widely accepted model for osteoarthritis (OA) research. Synovial tissue sampling is commonly used in studies to evaluate and grade the progress of OA or to assess treatment effects. Synovial explants play an important role in ex-vivo studies, increasingly replacing the use of living animals. To understand histomorphological changes in the process of joint-related diseases such as OA, detailed information about histomorphometric parameters of unaffected synovial villi is necessary. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the mean width of the intimal synovial lining and its cellularity as well as the vascularization of the subintimal layer in juvenile and adult horses not affected by a joint-related disease. One hundred synovial samples from both metacarpophalangeal joints from 25 horses (one day to 24 years old) were collected to evaluate the following parameters on digitalized hematoxylin-eosin stained samples Width of intimal synovial lining measured by the distance from the inner joint surface to the subintimal layer; density of the cells making up the intimal synovial lining by counting cell nuclei; vascularization of the subintimal layer measured by the number and size of vessels in relation to the subintimal area. The median width of the intimal lining did not differ among juvenile (22.34 µm) and adult (23.34 µm) horses. The cellularity of the intimal lining was significantly lower in juvenile (one cell/143.8 µm2) than in adult (one cell /188.7µm2), (P less then .001) horses as well as the density of blood vessels per mm2 within the subintimal layer (juveniles 1/mm2 vs. adults 0.05/mm2), (P less then .001). This study provides morphometric data regarding synovial intimal width, intimal cellularity, and vascularization of equine synovial villi of unaffected horses. For future studies, age-related characteristics should be taken into consideration when synovial tissue samples are used for in-vivo and in-vitro studies.