Astrocyte expression of the Drosophila TNF-alpha homologue, Eiger, regulates sleep in flies.

Sleep contributes to cognitive functioning and is sufficient to alter brain morphology and function. However, mechanisms underlying sleep regulation remain poorly understood. In mammals, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) is known to regulate sleep, and cytokine expression may represent an evolutionarily ancient mechanism in sleep regulation.

Breed associations for canine exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.

Background: Knowledge of breed associations is valuable to clinicians and researchers investigating diseases with a genetic basis.

Hypothesis: Among symptomatic dogs tested for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) by canine trypsin-like immunoreactivity (cTLI) assay, EPI is common in certain breeds and rare in others. Some breeds may be overrepresented or underrepresented in the population of dogs with EPI.

Prognostic factors in canine exocrine pancreatic insufficiency: prolonged survival is likely if clinical remission is achieved.

Background: Response to therapy in canine exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) varies considerably, making it difficult to determine prognosis for individual patients.

Hypothesis: Response to initial treatment (RIT) and survival are affected by signalment, clinical variables, and therapeutic regimen employed.

Animals: Client-owned dogs diagnosed with EPI between 1990 and 2002 were included in this study.