Immunization but not natural infection of horses results in antibody activity against the S protein of Streptococcus equi subsp equi.

Objective: Evaluate the immunogenicity of a vaccine targeting the S protein (Ssee) of Streptococcus equi subsp equi and determine antibody activity against Ssee in horses with strangles.

Methods: The study was designed as a prospective experiment using 20 university-owned Quarter Horses and a cross-sectional serosurvey of 78 privately owned horses with strangles. Horses were immunized IM with 0 (n = 4), 200 (n = 8), or 400 (n = 8) μg of recombinant Ssee at weeks 0, 4, and 12.

Intramuscular but not nebulized administration of a mRNA vaccine against Rhodococcus equi stimulated humoral immune responses in neonatal foals.

Objective: Design and evaluate immune responses of neonatal foals to a mRNA vaccine expressing the virulence-associated protein A (VapA) of Rhodococcus equi.

Animals: Cultured primary equine respiratory tract cells; Serum, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 30 healthy Quarter Horse foals.

Methods: VapA expression was evaluated by western immunoblot in cultured equine bronchial cells transfected with 4 mRNA constructs encoding VapA.

Association of pneumonia with concentrations of virulent Rhodococcus equi in fecal swabs of foals before and after intrabronchial infection with virulent R. equi.

Background: Intragastric administration of virulent Rhodococcus equi protects foals against subsequent experimental intrabronchial (IB) infection, but it is unknown whether R. equi naturally ingested by foals contributes to their susceptibility to pneumonia.

Hypothesis: Fecal concentration of virulent R.

Safe and effective aerosolization of in vitro transcribed mRNA to the respiratory tract epithelium of horses without a transfection agent.

Vaccines and therapeutics using in vitro transcribed mRNA hold enormous potential for human and veterinary medicine. Transfection agents are widely considered to be necessary to protect mRNA and enhance transfection, but they add expense and raise concerns regarding quality control and safety. We found that such complex mRNA delivery systems can be avoided when transfecting epithelial cells by aerosolizing the mRNA into micron-sized droplets.

Phaeohyphomycotic Rhinitis Caused by Bipolaris hawaiiensis in a Horse.

This case represents the first reported case of Bipolaris hawaiiensis infection in an equid, and its aggressive clinical course. This case provides important descriptive and prognostic information for horses diagnosed with phaeohyphomycotic rhinitis. A 19-year-old American Quarter Horse mare was presented for second opinion of stertor and exercise intolerance of four-month duration.

Pharmacodynamic Effects of Pioglitazone on High Molecular Weight Adiponectin Concentrations and Insulin Response After Oral Sugar in Equids.

Chronic insulin dysregulation is challenging to manage with pharmaceuticals in horses. Pioglitazone improves insulin sensitivity in humans, and the pharmacokinetics of pioglitazone have been evaluated in horses. The objectives of this study were to assess the pharmacodynamic effects of oral pioglitazone on morphometric parameters, hepatic enzyme activity and function, adipokines, and enteroinsular response to oral sugar.

A quantum scattering interferometer.

The collision of two ultracold atoms results in a quantum mechanical superposition of the two possible outcomes: each atom continues without scattering, and each atom scatters as an outgoing spherical wave with an s-wave phase shift. The magnitude of the s-wave phase shift depends very sensitively on the interaction between the atoms. Quantum scattering and the underlying phase shifts are vitally important in many areas of contemporary atomic physics, including Bose-Einstein condensates, degenerate Fermi gases, frequency shifts in atomic clocks and magnetically tuned Feshbach resonances.

Sexual dysfunction secondary to depressive disorders.

Human sexuality has received less systematic study and is less well understood than other aspects of mental and physical health. Although depression itself, apart from medication, is generally believed to be associated with sexual dysfunction, the few existing studies report wide discrepancies with regard to frequency, gender, and quality of sexual dysfunction. Loss of libido is frequently and consistently associated with major depression.

Sulfur mustard-induced increase in intracellular free calcium level and arachidonic acid release from cell membrane.

The mechanism of action of the alkylating agent bis-(2-chloroethyl)sulfide (sulfur mustard, SM) was studied using the in vitro mouse neuroblastoma-rat glioma hybrid NG108-15 clonal cell line model. Following 0.3 mM SM exposure, cell viability remained high (> 80% of untreated control) up to 9 hr and then declined steadily to about 40% of control after 20-24 hr.