Ethical committee frameworks and processes used to evaluate humanities research require reform: Findings from a UK-wide network consultation.

Background: Qualitative Humanities research is perturbed by ethical review processes that routinely invoke epistemological assumptions skewed towards positivistic or deductive research, giving rise to several concerns, including increased risk aversion by University Research Ethics Committees (URECs) and the evaluation of qualitative research designs according to STEM standards.

Methods/materials: This paper presents findings from an AHRC-funded research network built to better understand how research ethics frameworks and processes might be reformed to more appropriately fit ethically challenging qualitative methodologies.

Results: There remains dissatisfaction with the current processes for awarding ethical approval and the subsequent management of ethical dimensions of projects.

Immunological and pathological outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 challenge following formalin-inactivated vaccine in ferrets and rhesus macaques.

There is an urgent requirement for safe and effective vaccines to prevent COVID-19. A concern for the development of new viral vaccines is the potential to induce vaccine-enhanced disease (VED). This was reported in several preclinical studies with both SARS-CoV-1 and MERS vaccines but has not been reported with SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.

Lineage-dependent differences in the disease progression of Zika virus infection in type-I interferon receptor knockout (A129) mice.

Zika virus (ZIKV) falls into two lineages: African (ZIKVAF) and Asian (ZIKVAS). These lineages have not been tested comprehensively in parallel for disease progression using an animal model system. Here, using the established type-I interferon receptor knockout (A129) mouse model, it is first demonstrated that ZIKVAF causes lethal infection, with different kinetics of disease manifestations according to the challenge dose.

Chloroquine inhibited Ebola virus replication in vitro but failed to protect against infection and disease in the in vivo guinea pig model.

Ebola virus (EBOV) is highly pathogenic, with a predisposition to cause outbreaks in human populations accompanied by significant mortality. Owing to the lack of approved therapies, screening programmes of potentially efficacious drugs have been undertaken. One of these studies has demonstrated the possible utility of chloroquine against EBOV using pseudotyped assays.

Low dose influenza virus challenge in the ferret leads to increased virus shedding and greater sensitivity to oseltamivir.

Ferrets are widely used to study human influenza virus infection. Their airway physiology and cell receptor distribution makes them ideal for the analysis of pathogenesis and virus transmission, and for testing the efficacy of anti-influenza interventions and vaccines. The 2009 pandemic influenza virus (H1N1pdm09) induces mild to moderate respiratory disease in infected ferrets, following inoculation with 106 plaque-forming units (pfu) of virus.

Non-replicating Mycobacterium tuberculosis elicits a reduced infectivity profile with corresponding modifications to the cell wall and extracellular matrix.

A key feature of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is its ability to become dormant in the host. Little is known of the mechanisms by which these bacilli are able to persist in this state. Therefore, the focus of this study was to emulate environmental conditions encountered by M.

Experiences with audio feedback in a veterinary curriculum.

On a national scale in the United Kingdom, student surveys have served to highlight areas within higher education that are not achieving high student satisfaction. Of particular concern to the veterinary and medical disciplines are the persistently poor levels of student satisfaction with academic feedback compared to students in other subjects. In this study we describe experiences with audio feedback trials in a veterinary curriculum.

Hazara virus infection is lethal for adult type I interferon receptor-knockout mice and may act as a surrogate for infection with the human-pathogenic Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus.

Hazara virus (HAZV) is closely related to the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV). HAZV has not been reported to cause human disease; work with infectious material can be carried out at containment level (CL)-2. By contrast, CCHFV causes a haemorrhagic fever in humans and requires CL-4 facilities.

Evaluation of innervation of the mitral valves and the effects of myxomatous degeneration in dogs.

Objective: To map aspects of the innervation of the mitral valve complex and determine any association with the development or progression of myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) in dogs.

Sample Population: Septal mitral valve leaflets from 11 dogs aged 6 months to > 10 years.

Procedures: Expression of protein gene product 9.

Comparative analysis of c-kit gene expression and c-Kit immunoreactivity in horses with and without obstructive intestinal disease.

Previous immunohistochemical studies targeting the receptor tyrosine kinase (c-Kit) have demonstrated an apparent reduction in the number of gastrointestinal pacemaker cells--the interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC)--in horses with intestinal motility disorders. This study compared the level of transcription of the c-kit gene encoding this receptor in horses with and without such motility disorders. Transcription levels of this gene were also compared to the density of ICC immunohistochemically positive for the c-Kit antigen.