Survey of Bacterial Isolates and Their Antimicrobial Susceptibility Patterns from Dogs with Infective Endocarditis.

Infective endocarditis (IE) is a potentially fatal disease in dogs. Limited information exists regarding the characterization of bacterial isolates from dogs with IE. The objective of this study was to describe bacterial isolates associated with IE and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns.

Pertuzumab as second‑ or later‑line therapy for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2‑positive metastatic breast cancer: A clinical experience.

Trastuzumab and pertuzumab with taxane-based chemotherapy are considered the first-line standard therapy for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 ()-positive metastatic breast cancer (mBC). Pertuzumab is also a later-line therapy for mBC in Switzerland, although limited safety and efficacy data are available. The present study assessed the therapeutic regimens, toxicities and clinical outcomes after second- or later-line pertuzumab therapy in patients with mBC who did not receive pertuzumab as a first-line therapy.

Eribulin as first-line treatment in older patients with advanced breast cancer: A multicenter phase II trial [SAKK 25/14].

Introduction: Standard-dose eribulin mesylate (1.4 mg/m d1 + 8) achieves clinical benefit rates of 26%-52% in patients with metastatic breast cancer (mBC). <10% of patients in the registration trial were ≥ 70 years old; dose reductions were common in these older patients.

Are Narrow Focus Exhaustivity Inferences Bayesian Inferences?

In successful communication, the literal meaning of linguistic utterances is often enriched by pragmatic inferences. Part of the pragmatic reasoning underlying such inferences has been successfully modeled as Bayesian goal recognition in the Rational Speech Act (RSA) framework. In this paper, we try to model the interpretation of question-answer sequences with narrow focus in the answer in the RSA framework, thereby exploring the effects of domain size and prior probabilities on interpretation.

Flatfish: an asymmetric perspective on metamorphosis.

The most asymmetrically shaped and behaviorally lateralized of all the vertebrates, the flatfishes are an endless source of fascination to all fortunate enough to study them. Although all vertebrates undergo left-right asymmetric internal organ placement during embryogenesis, flatfish are unusual in that they experience an additional period of postembryonic asymmetric remodeling during metamorphosis, and thus deviate from a bilaterally symmetrical body plan more than other vertebrates. As with amphibian metamorphosis, all the developmental programs of flatfish metamorphosis are ultimately under the control of thyroid hormone.

Visualizing and quantifying the suppressive effects of glucocorticoids on the tadpole immune system in vivo.

A challenging topic in undergraduate physiology courses is the complex interaction between the vertebrate endocrine system and the immune system. There are relatively few established and accessible laboratory exercises available to instructors to help their students gain a working understanding of these interactions. The present laboratory module was developed to show students how glucocorticoid receptor activity can be pharmacologically modulated in Xenopus laevis tadpoles and the resulting effects on thymus gland size visualized and quantified in vivo.

Cell-cell interactions during remodeling of the intestine at metamorphosis in Xenopus laevis.

Amphibian metamorphosis is accompanied by extensive intestinal remodeling. This process, mediated by thyroid hormone (TH) and its nuclear receptors, affects every cell type. Gut remodeling in Xenopus laevis involves epithelial and mesenchymal proliferation, smooth muscle thickening, neuronal aggregation, formation of intestinal folds, and shortening of its length by 75%.

Selective asymmetry in a conserved forebrain to midbrain projection.

How the left and right sides of the brain acquire anatomical and functional specializations is not well understood. The zebrafish has proven to be a useful model to explore the genetic basis of neuroanatomical asymmetry in the developing forebrain. The dorsal diencephalon or epithalamus consists of the asymmetric pineal complex and adjacent paired nuclei, the left and right medial habenulae, which in zebrafish larvae, exhibit differences in their size, neuropil density and patterns of gene expression.

Asymmetric craniofacial remodeling and lateralized behavior in larval flatfish.

Flatfishes, such as flounder, are the world's most asymmetric vertebrates. It is unknown if the development of lateralized swimming behavior during metamorphosis is an adaptive response to bilaterally asymmetric eye positioning, or if this results from a vestibular response to thyroid hormone. This study describes larval development in left-sided, right-sided and bilaterally symmetric variants of southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma).

Thyroid hormone controls multiple independent programs required for limb development in Xenopus laevis metamorphosis.

Thyroid hormone (TH) is required for limb development in Xenopus laevis. Specific cell types in the growing limb were targeted for expression of a dominant negative form of the TH receptor by sperm-mediated transgenesis. Limb muscle development, the innervation of muscle from the spinal cord, and cartilage growth can be inhibited without affecting patterning of the limb or differentiation of other cell types.

Tadpole skin dies autonomously in response to thyroid hormone at metamorphosis.

Transgenic tadpoles that express a dominant negative thyroid hormone (TH) receptor specifically in their skin undergo normal metamorphosis, with one exception: they retain a larval epidermis over the developing adult epithelium. TH-induced death of the tadpole epidermis is inhibited by the dominant negative TH receptor whereas the TH-induced response of the neighboring fibroblasts and the cells that form the adult skin occur normally. Therefore death of the tadpole skin is a direct and cell autonomous target of TH, and its protection has no detectable influence on TH-induced changes of other cell types.

Multiple thyroid hormone-induced muscle growth and death programs during metamorphosis in Xenopus laevis.

Xenopus laevis tadpole tails contain fast muscle fibers oriented in chevrons and two pairs of slow muscle "cords" along the length of the tail. When tail resorption is inhibited by a number of different treatments, fast muscle but not the slow cord muscle still is lost, demonstrating that the fast tail muscle is a direct target of the thyroid hormone-induced death program. Expression of a dominant negative form of the thyroid hormone receptor (TRDNalpha) was restricted to tadpole muscle by means of a muscle-specific promoter.