Studies of Myc super-competition and clonal growth in males and females.

Cell competition is a cell selection process that arises in growing tissues as a result of interactions between cells of different fitness. This behavior is also observed in Myc super-competition, where healthy wild type cells in growing wing discs of are outcompeted by nearby cells that express higher levels of the Myc oncogene. Most work on Myc super-competition has examined it in mixed populations of male and female larvae.

Clinical and pathologic evaluation of chorioretinal lesions in wild owl species.

Objective: Investigate histopathology and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging of wild owls with chorioretinitis and identify any potential correlation with an infectious etiology.

Materials And Methods: Ophthalmic examination and retinal OCT imaging were performed on fifteen great horned (Strix varia) and barred (Bubo virginianus) owls (30 eyes) with chorioretinitis and five owls with normal eyes (10 eyes). Testing to investigate the presence of potential infectious diseases included a complete blood count, biochemistry, protein electrophoresis, West Nile virus (WNV) plaque reduction neutralization test, Toxoplasma gondii modified direct agglutination test, WNV RT-PCR, and Avian Influenza RT-PCR.

L-type voltage-gated calcium channel agonists mitigate hearing loss and modify ribbon synapse morphology in the zebrafish model of Usher syndrome type 1.

The ( ) mutant is a zebrafish model for Usher syndrome type 1 (USH1). To further characterize hair cell synaptic elements in mutants, we focused on the ribbon synapse and evaluated ultrastructure, number and distribution of immunolabeled ribbons, and postsynaptic densities. By transmission electron microscopy, we determined that zebrafish have fewer glutamatergic vesicles tethered to ribbon synapses, yet maintain a comparable ribbon area.

Description of a novel technique for surgical placement of gastrostomy tubes in dogs.

Background: Early enteral nutrition in dogs with critical illnesses, including septic peritonitis, has been shown to have a positive influence on patient outcome. Surgical placement of a gastrostomy tube (GT) is one option for providing early enteral nutrition. Complications, including premature tube removal or separation of the stomach from the body wall, can result in leakage of gastric contents into the abdominal cavity and subsequent peritonitis.