Development of a 3D in vitro model to study corpus luteum of felids based on luteinized cells from antral follicles.

The study aimed to establish a long-term 3D cell culture model using luteinized follicular cells to investigate the functionality and life cycle of the CL in felids. A mixture of cell types from antral follicles was luteinized in vitro and cultured for up to 23 days. The method, initially applied to the domestic cat, was later extended to Persian and Clouded leopards.

Assessment of fetal development during mid and late term pregnancies by standard B-Mode ultrasonography in Shetland ponies.

Transrectal and transabdominal ultrasonography is an established method to monitor pregnancy, fetal growth and wellbeing in different species. Growth charts with multiple bio-morphometric parameters to estimate days of gestation and days before parturition exist in small companion animals, sheep and goats, riding type horses and large ponies but not in small horse breeds like Shetland ponies. The aim of this study was to apply fetal biometric assessment and detailed description of physiologic fetal development to mid and late term pregnancies in Shetland mares and to generate reference data for clinical practice and for future research.

Low progesterone concentration in early pregnancy is detrimental to conceptus development and pregnancy outcome in horses.

High progesterone concentrations in the early luteal phase support pregnancy, whereas subphysiological progesterone concentrations delay embryonic development at least until placentation. In this study, fetal growth and development of pregnancy was investigated in pregnancies with prostaglandin F-induced low progesterone concentrations (PGF) in the early luteal phase and control pregnancies (CON) in the same mares (n = 12). Mares were inseminated and in PGF pregnancies received the prostaglandin F analogue cloprostenol (62.

Abundance of Anti-Muellerian hormone in cat ovaries and correlation of its plasma concentration with animal age, weight and stage of the estrous cycle.

In female animals of different species, Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is produced by follicular granulosa cells and has been associated with the ovarian follicle pool. Because concentration of AMH in plasma of ovary-intact female cats is apparently more variable than previously assumed, we have analysed AMH concentration in blood of cats (n = 93) presented for routine ovariectomy and assessed ovarian histology and AMH protein expression in the surgically removed ovaries. We hypothesised that AMH is synthesized only in preantral and small antral follicles and that plasma AMH concentration reflects the antral follicle count (AFC).

Increased relaxation, less boredom, and a faster passage of time during a period of silence in the forest.

Introduction: There is growing evidence of the beneficial effects of exposure to nature on health and well-being. Time spent in nature can decrease stress, anxiety, depression, and improve mood. In the present study, we compared the experience of a short period of silence in the natural environment of a forest with the same amount of silence in a seminar room.

Inhibition of the cholesterol transporter ABCA1 by probucol decreases capacitation and tyrosine phosphorylation of dog spermatozoa, and is dose dependent.

The ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter molecule ABCA1 participates in the cholesterol transport within and through cell membranes. We recently demonstrated that in dog spermatozoa, capacitation could be decreased with probucol (PRO), an ABCA1 specific antagonist. In this study, a dose-effect relationship of PRO on dog sperm capacitation, tyrosine phosphorylation and cholesterol efflux from the sperm plasma membrane was investigated.

Knowing the entire story - a focus group study on patient experiences with chronic Lyme-associated symptoms (chronic Lyme disease).

Background: Healthcare providers frequently struggle to provide effective care to patients with chronic Lyme-associated symptoms (chronic Lyme disease, CLD), potentially causing these patients to feel misunderstood or neglected by the healthcare system. This study is the first to use a combined medical and communication science approach, and aims to assess patients' experiences with CLD & CLD-related care, identify themes and repertories in these patients' narrations, and provide potential ways to improve communication with them.

Methods: Informed by the principles of 'clean language', we conducted focus groups with self-identified CLD patients (N = 15).

Cardiac troponin I is present in plasma of type 1 myocardial infarction patients and patients with troponin I elevations due to other etiologies as complex with little free I.

Background: Cardiac troponin (cTn) is a complex of three subunits (T, I, and C), with some studies reporting that ~5-10% is cytosolic and unbound ('free'). It has been hypothesized that free cTn is released before complex and before or without cell death dependent on the severity of ischemia. In this context, new generation assays that can discriminate free, binary (IC) and ternary (TIC) complex forms may aid to differentiate between type 1 myocardial infarction (MI) and cTn elevations due to different etiologies, e.

Modeling the development of panic disorder with interoceptive conditioning.

Panic disorder is characterized by the paroxysmal occurrence and fear of bodily symptoms. In recent years it has been proposed that patients "learn" to fear cardiorespiratory sensations through interoceptive conditioning. This study sought to model the initial stage of this process in healthy volunteers (N=44) using mild cardiac sensations.

[Operationalized psychodynamic diagnostics in childhood and adolescence (OPD-CA): the axis during psychoanalytic child- and adolescent psychotherapy].

There is evidence for the effectiveness of psychodynamic therapies in terms of symptom reduction. Up to now, there is little evidence to what extend therapy translates to the improvement of core analytical concepts, like psychic structure, interpersonal relatedness, and intrapsychic conflicts. The current study focuses on these concepts over the course of therapy as well as in connection with outcome.

The requirements of a specialist Breast Centre.

Introduction: In recognition of the advances and evidence based changes in clinical practice that have occurred in recent years and taking into account the knowledge and experience accumulated through the voluntary breast unit certification programme, Eusoma has produced this up-dated and revised guidelines on the requirements of a Specialist Breast Centre (BC).

Methods: The content of these guidelines is based on evidence from the recent relevant peer reviewed literature and the consensus of a multidisciplinary team of European experts. The guidelines define the requirements for each breast service and for the specialists who work in specialist Breast Centres.

A comparison of the efficiency of five different commercial DNA extraction kits for extraction of DNA from faecal samples.

Differences in the composition of the gut microbiota have been associated with a range of diseases using culture-independent methods. Reliable extraction of nucleic acid is a key step in identifying the composition of the faecal microbiota. Five widely used commercial deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) extraction kits (QIAsymphony® Virus/Bacteria Midi Kit (kit QS), ZR Fecal DNA MiniPrep™ (kit Z), QIAamp® DNA Stool Mini Kit (kit QA), Ultraclean® Fecal DNA Isolation Kit (kit U) and PowerSoil® DNA Isolation Kit (kit P)) were evaluated, using human faecal samples.

A rare case of acute diffuse alveolar hemorrhage following initiation of amiodarone: a case report.

Amiodarone is effective for treating ventricular and supraventricular tachyarrhythmias, despite potential side effects which can include injury to the liver, thyroid, cornea, skin, and neuromuscular system. Acute lung toxicity is a known but rare side effect of amiodarone use, most commonly taking the form of an acute or subacute interstitial pneumonitis. Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage is a rare reaction, with few case reports documented in the literature since amiodarone became widely used in the early 1980s.

Training breast care nurses throughout Europe: the EONS postbasic curriculum for breast cancer nursing.

Background: The European Parliamentary Group on Breast Cancer and the European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists state that there is a need for EU agreed guidelines on breast care nursing and training. Therefore the European Oncology Nursing Society (EONS) commissioned the development of a post-basic curriculum for breast cancer nursing.

Purpose: The goal was to define a European curriculum for the training of breast care nurses.

Achromobacter xylosoxidans infection presenting as a pulmonary nodule mimicking cancer.

Achromobacter xylosoxidans is typically isolated from pulmonary sources, presenting as pneumonia in immunosuppressed individuals. We describe a novel clinical presentation of A. xylosoxidans infection presenting as multiple spiculated, pulmonary nodules mimicking cancer for which the patient underwent a wedge resection of the lung for diagnosis and staging of presumptive cancer.

Electrophysiological and fluorescence microscopy studies with HERG channel/EGFP fusion proteins.

HERG (human ether-a-go-go-related gene) encodes the Kv11.1 protein alpha-subunit that underlies the rapidly activating delayed rectifier K+ current (IKr) in the heart. Alterations in the functional properties or membrane incorporation of HERG channels, either by genetic mutations or by administration of drugs, play major roles in the development of life-threatening torsades de pointes cardiac arrhythmias.

Effects of fluoroquinolones on HERG channels and on pancreatic beta-cell ATP-sensitive K+ channels.

An inhibition of the cardiac rapid delayed rectifier K(+) current (I(Kr)) and of the ATP-sensitive K(+) (K(ATP)) current seems to be involved in the mechanisms of the cardiotoxic effects and the alterations in glucose homeostasis, respectively, induced by some fluoroquinolones. The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of fluoroquinolone derivatives on the pore-forming subunit of the cardiac I(Kr), which is encoded by human ether-a-go-go-related gene (HERG), and on the ATP-sensitive K(+) (K(ATP)) channel from the clonal insulinoma cell line RINm5F. Sparfloxacin blocked HERG currents half-maximally (IC(50) value) at a concentration of 33.

Comparison of the effects of metoclopramide and domperidone on HERG channels.

Torsades de pointes (TdP) is a potentially fatal form of ventricular arrhythmia that occurs under conditions where cardiac repolarization is delayed (as indicated by prolonged QT intervals from electrocardiographic recordings). A likely mechanism for QT prolongation and TdP is blockade of the rapid component of the cardiac delayed rectifier K(+) current (I(Kr)), which is encoded by HERG (human ether-a-go-go-related gene). The gastroprokinetic agent cisapride is a potent blocker of HERG currents and serious cardiac arrhythmias and deaths from TdP and ventricular fibrillation have been reported in patients taking cisapride.