Overview of spp. and Animal Models in Malaria Research.

Malaria is a parasitic disease caused by protozoan species of the genus and transmitted by female mosquitos of the genus and other Culicidae. Most of the parasites of the genus are highly species specific with more than 200 species described affecting different species of mammals, birds, and reptiles. species strictly affecting humans are , , , and More recently, and other nonhuman primate plasmodia were found to naturally infect humans.

A Review of the Effects of Some Extrinsic Factors on Mice Used in Research.

Animals have been used in research for over 2,000 y. From very crude experiments conducted by ancient scholars, animal research, as a science, was refined over hundreds of years to what we know it as today. However, the housing conditions of animals used for research did not improve significantly until less than 100 years ago when guidelines for housing research animals were first published.

Possibly pathogenic bacteria in aerosols and foams as a result of aeration remediation in a polluted urban waterway.

Newtown Creek is a tributary of the Hudson River Estuary. It has a legacy of both industrial pollution and sewage pollution and has been designated a Superfund site. To ameliorate the chronically low levels of dissolved oxygen detected in the Creek, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection has been installing aerators.

Denitrification potential of surface soils of constructed wetlands in Newtown Creek, an urban superfund site.

Denitrification, the anaerobic microbial conversion of nitrate (NO ), a common water pollutant, to nitrogen (N) gases, is often high in the soil of natural wetlands. In areas where natural wetlands have been degraded or destroyed, constructed and restored wetlands have been used to restore ecosystem services like denitrification. Thus, denitrification in restored and constructed wetlands could play an important role in treating anthropogenic N sources such as combined sewer overflow discharges which can be high in NO .

Contributions of Diet and Age to Ulcerative Dermatitis in Female C57BL/6J Mice.

C57BL/6J (B6) mice are commonly affected by ulcerative dermatitis (UD), a disease of unknown etiology with poor response to treatment. To study the possible role of diet in UD, we compared skin changes in B6 female mice fed a high-fat diet with those of mice fed a control diet. In addition, skin samples from mice with no, mild, moderate, and severe clinical signs of UD were examined by light and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

Detection of early myocardial cell death in owl monkeys (Aotus nancymai) using complement component C9 immunohistochemistry in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded heart tissues: A retrospective study.

Background: Owl monkeys are commonly used in biomedical research which is affected by the high incidence of cardiomyopathy in this species. Occasionally, owl monkeys with no clinical signs of heart disease are found dead and at necropsy show no, or very mild, cardiomyopathy. A possible explanation for sudden death is acute myocardial infarction; however, early myocardial changes may be difficult to assess by conventional stains and light microscopy.

Calidad de Vida: a systematic review of quality of life in Latino cancer survivors in the USA.

Background: Cancer is the leading cause of death among Hispanics/Latinos. Thus, understanding health-related quality of life (HRQOL) needs among this diverse racial/ethnic group is critical. Using Ferrell's multidimensional framework for measuring QOL, we synthesized evidence on HRQOL needs among Hispanic/Latino cancer survivors.

Retrospective Study of Intercalated Disk Defects Associated with Dilated Cardiomyopathy, Atrial Thrombosis, and Heart Failure in BALB/c Mice Deficient in IL4 Receptor α.

An increased incidence of dilated cardiomyopathy and atrial thrombosis was noted in a breeding colony of BALB/c mice deficient in IL4 receptor α. The condition affected mice of both sexes and of various ages, and extensive testing (microbiology, serology, histopathology) failed to ascertain the cause. Transmission electron microscopy of heart samples showed structural defects in the myocardial intercalated disks, characterized by unorganized and heavily convoluted arrangement with lower density and less prominent desmosomes and adherens junctions, widening of the intercellular space, myofibrillar lysis adjacent to intercalated disks, occasional sarcomere lysis with marked myofiber degeneration, vacuolation, accumulation of cell debris, and myelin figures.

Racial differences in user experiences and perceived value of electronic symptom monitoring in a cohort of black and white bladder and prostate cancer patients.

Purpose: Electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs) are increasingly being used for symptom monitoring during routine cancer care, but have rarely been evaluated in diverse patient populations. We assessed ePRO user experiences and perceived value among Black and White cancer patients.

Methods: We recruited 30 Black and 49 White bladder and prostate cancer patients from a single institution.

Tau pathology in cognitively normal older adults.

Introduction: Tau pathology, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, is observed in the brains of virtually all individuals over 70 years.

Methods: Using F-AV-1451 (F-flortaucipir) positron emission tomography, we evaluated tau pathology in 54 cognitively normal participants (mean age: 77.5 years, SD: 8.

Using a RE-AIM framework to identify promising practices in National Diabetes Prevention Program implementation.

Background: The National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) is rapidly expanding in an effort to help those at high risk of type 2 diabetes prevent or delay the disease. In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded six national organizations to scale and sustain multistate delivery of the National DPP lifestyle change intervention (LCI). This study aims to describe reach, adoption, and maintenance during the 4-year funding period and to assess associations between site-level factors and program effectiveness regarding participant attendance and participation duration.

Eosinophilic aortitis with thoracic aortic aneurysm and rupture in a captive-born owl monkey.

Eosinophilic aortitis is a rare condition in animals and humans, and it has been occasionally reported associated with parasitic migration and with a poorly understood complex group of autoimmune vasculitides. Here, we describe a case of eosinophilic aortitis with thoracic aortic aneurysm and rupture in a captive-born owl monkey and discuss the differential diagnoses.

Effects of amyloid pathology and neurodegeneration on cognitive change in cognitively normal adults.

Understanding short-term cognitive decline in relation to Alzheimer's neuroimaging biomarkers in early stages of the development of neuropathology and neurodegeneration will inform participant recruitment and monitoring strategies in clinical trials aimed at prevention of cognitive impairment and dementia. We assessed associations among neuroimaging measures of cerebral amyloid pathology, a hallmark Alzheimer's neuropathology, hippocampal atrophy, and prospective cognition among 171 cognitively normal Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging participants (baseline age 56-95 years, 48% female, 562 cognitive assessments, 3.7 years follow-up).

Ventricular and Periventricular Anomalies in the Aging and Cognitively Impaired Brain.

Ventriculomegaly (expansion of the brain's fluid-filled ventricles), a condition commonly found in the aging brain, results in areas of gliosis where the ependymal cells are replaced with dense astrocytic patches. Loss of ependymal cells would compromise trans-ependymal bulk flow mechanisms required for clearance of proteins and metabolites from the brain parenchyma. However, little is known about the interplay between age-related ventricle expansion, the decline in ependymal integrity, altered periventricular fluid homeostasis, abnormal protein accumulation and cognitive impairment.

Acute Occlusion of the Abdominal Aorta with Sudden Paraplegia in a Captive Mustached Tamarin ().

A wild-caught, research-naïve, adult male mustached tamarin (Saguinus mystax) experienced sudden onset of bilateral hindlimb paresis. Physical examination established the presence of paralysis and the lack of femoral pulses and deep pain in both legs. There were no signs of external trauma and, due to a poor prognosis, euthanasia was elected.

Frontal, Striatal, and Medial Temporal Sensitivity to Value Distinguishes Risk-Taking from Risk-Aversive Older Adults during Decision Making.

Unlabelled: Aging compromises the frontal, striatal, and medial temporal areas of the reward system, impeding accurate value representation and feedback processing critical for decision making. However, substantial variability characterizes age-related effects on the brain so that some older individuals evince clear neurocognitive declines whereas others are spared. Moreover, the functional correlates of normative individual differences in older-adult value-based decision making remain unclear.

Genetic diversity of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates during an outbreak in a non-human primate research colony.

Background: Klebsiella pneumoniae can be a serious pathogen in non-human primates, particularly Neotropical monkeys.

Methods: During a K. pneumoniae outbreak in an owl monkey research colony, 13 K.

Comparison of 3 Topical Treatments against Ulcerative Dermatitis in Mice with a C57BL/6 Background.

Ulcerative dermatitis (UD) is a common condition in C57BL/6 mice and strains with this background. The etiology of UD is unclear but appears to have a genetic component associated with the C57BL/6 strain and has been reported as secondary to a variety of conditions. Treatment is unrewarding, resulting in euthanasia in many cases.

Pancreatic endocrine tumour with disseminated pulmonary thromboembolism in an owl monkey (Aotus nancymae).

Pulmonary thromboembolism associated with pancreatic endocrine neoplasia is extremely uncommon in man and animals. Post-mortem examination of an adult owl monkey (Aotus nancymae) revealed extensive pulmonary arterial thromboembolism and a well-demarcated mass attached to the pancreas. Microscopically, the mass consisted of areas of interstitial fibrosis with loss of acini and islets and replacement by nests and sheets of polygonal cells with amphophilic cytoplasm, an eccentric round nucleus with stippled chromatin and, in some cells, with a single prominent eccentric nucleolus.

Pathobiology of hepatitis E: lessons learned from primate models.

Like the other hepatitis viruses, hepatitis E virus (HEV) has been difficult to study because of limitations in cell culture systems and small animal models. Much of what we know has come from epidemiological studies in developing countries and, more recently, in industrialized countries. However, the epidemiology is very different in these two settings: hepatitis E in developing countries is epidemic as well as sporadic, principally water-borne, most likely to cause disease in older children and young adults and relatively severe, especially in pregnant women; in industrialized countries the disease is sporadic, principally food-borne, most common in the elderly and probably associated with mostly inapparent infections.

Mucinous cystadenoma in the lung of a captive-born moustached tamarin (Saguinus mystax).

A 2-year-old, captive-born, male moustached tamarin was subjected to necropsy examination after a fatal head trauma. A solitary, circumscribed, subpleural mass (0.6 cm diameter) was found in the right caudal lung lobe.

Cerebral white matter disease is associated with Alzheimer pathology in a prospective cohort.

Background: Although magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-detected white matter disease has been correlated with cognitive decline in the elderly individuals, it is unclear whether white matter disease is primarily responsible for the cognitive deterioration or whether another process is common to both white matter disease and dementia.

Methods: We examined the relationship between Alzheimer-type brain pathology at autopsy and MRI-detected cerebral white matter disease in 50 participants from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging Autopsy Program, a prospective study of aging that includes detailed cognitive assessments.

Results: White matter disease was quantitated in pre- and postmortem MRI scans using the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) criteria in a blinded manner.

Select agent and toxin regulations: beyond the eighth edition of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.

In the interval between the publication of the seventh and eighth editions of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (Guide), much has changed with regard to the regulation and funding of highly pathogenic biologic agents and toxins (Select Agents). Funding of research involving highly pathogenic agents has increased dramatically during this time, thus increasing the demand for facilities capable of supporting this work. The eighth edition of the Guide briefly mentions Select Agents and provides a limited set of references.