Clinical aspects of middle ear tympanokeratoma in dogs diagnosed through advanced imaging, otoendoscopy and histopathological evaluation.

Background: Canine aural cholesteatoma (more appropriately named tympanokeratoma) is an epidermoid cyst whose aetiopathogenesis remains poorly recognised in veterinary medicine. There are a few reports published, possibly because it may be underdiagnosed.

Objectives: To characterise the clinical aspects of dogs with tympanokeratoma, to describe the otoendoscopic, advanced imaging and histopathological findings of tympanokeratoma and to report the best approach to diagnose canine auricular tympanokeratoma in a retrospective study.

Structural changes shaping the Drosophila ellipsoid body ER-neurons during development and aging.

The ellipsoid body (EB) of the insect brain performs pivotal functions in controlling navigation. Input and output of the EB is provided by multiple classes of R-neurons (now referred to as ER-neurons) and columnar neurons which interact with each other in a stereotypical and spatially highly ordered manner. The developmental mechanisms that control the connectivity and topography of EB neurons are largely unknown.

Oclacitinib therapy in two cats with refractory proliferative and necrotising otitis externa.

Feline proliferative and necrotising otitis externa (PNOE) is a rare immune-mediated condition, usually self-limiting or responsive to immunosuppressants such as topical tacrolimus. This case report describes two cats with refractory PNOE that responded successfully to oclacitinib. One cat also had middle ear involvement and the other cat had extra-auricular dermatitis.

The Trotter collection: A review of Mildred Trotter's hair research and an update for studies of human variation.

Objectives: Mildred Trotter was an anatomist and physical anthropologist whose studies on hair morphology, growth, somatic distribution, and trait relationships to age and ethnogeographic population were foundational to the field of microscopical hair analysis. The collection of human hair samples she assembled for her research has been an underutilized resource for studies on human hair variation. We applied updated methods and reviewed Trotter's original data to reassess the relationship hair traits have to diverse population labels.

Impact of Physiological Fluctuations of Sex Hormones During the Menstrual Cycle on Glucose Metabolism and the Gut Microbiota.

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases. Previous studies have shown differences in glucose metabolism between males and females. Moreover, difficulties in medication adherence have been reported in females with type 2 diabetes.

Middle ear cholesteatoma in two cats diagnosed with the aid of video-otoscopy.

Case Series Summary: The present report describes middle ear cholesteatoma in two cats and also the use of video-otoscopy and flushing to assist with the diagnosis. CT and video-otoscopic examination and flushing were performed in two cats, a 13-year-old mixed breed spayed female cat and a 1-year-old mixed breed male cat, with middle ear cholesteatomas. During the procedure, keratinous material from the middle ears was collected for histopathological evaluation, demonstrating findings consistent with cholesteatoma, and the middle ears were flushed extensively.

Breeding from 1891 to 2010 did not increase the content of amylase/trypsin-inhibitors in wheat (Triticum aestivum).

The prevalence of hypersensitivities towards wheat has increased in the last decades. Apart from celiac disease these include allergic and other inflammatory reactions summarized under the term non-celiac wheat sensitivity. One suspected trigger is the family of amylase/trypsin-inhibitors (ATIs), non-gluten proteins that are prominent wheat allergens and that activate the toll-like receptor 4 on intestinal immune cells to promote intestinal and extra-intestinal inflammation.

Pathology in Practice.

In collaboration with the American College of Veterinary Pathologists.

Hostage to history - questioning the duration of systemic antimicrobial therapy for the treatment of canine superficial bacterial folliculitis.

Current guidelines for the use of systemic antimicrobials for the treatment of superficial bacterial folliculitis in dogs include the recommendation that the disease be treated for a minimum of 3 weeks and for at least 1 week beyond clinical resolution. With increasing antimicrobial resistance being noted for bacteria involved in this condition, as well as the increased use of evidence-based medicine, this dogma needs to be reevaluated.

Validation of the 0-10 verbal numeric scale for assessment of pruritus severity in dogs.

Background: The pruritus Visual Analog Scale (pVAS) is currently the only validated tool for assessing canine pruritus. A verbal numeric scale (VNS) offers an alternative if clients are not present or able to complete the pVAS.

Hypothesis/objective: To validate the 0-10 VNS and evaluate its interchangeability with the pVAS.

Assembly of infectious Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus progeny requires formation of a pORF19 pentamer.

Herpesviruses cause severe diseases particularly in immunocompromised patients. Both genome packaging and release from the capsid require a unique portal channel occupying one of the 12 capsid vertices. Here, we report the 2.

Cost evaluation of PAGE-B risk score guided HCC surveillance in patients with treated chronic hepatitis B.

Background: The PAGE-B score (Platelet Age GEnder-HBV) selects chronic hepatitis B (cHB) patients showing no relevant 5-year risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We, therefore, explored potential cost reduction following the introduction of a PAGE-B tailored ultrasound screening in a single center cohort of cHB patients receiving stable antiviral therapy.

Methods: cHB patients attending throughout the year 2018 were documented.

High pretreatment static and dynamic alpha-fetoprotein values predict reduced overall survival in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most lethal cancers worldwide. Novel prognostic and/or predictive biomarkers are urgently needed to improve patient management. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a well-established and widely used biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Structural aspects of the aging invertebrate brain.

Aging is characterized by a decline in neuronal function in all animal species investigated so far. Functional changes are accompanied by and may be in part caused by, structurally visible degenerative changes in neurons. In the mammalian brain, normal aging shows abnormalities in dendrites and axons, as well as ultrastructural changes in synapses, rather than global neuron loss.

High pre-treatment static and dynamic alpha-fetoprotein values predict reduced overall survival in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most lethal cancers worldwide. Novel prognostic and/or predictive biomarkers are urgently needed to improve patient management. Alpha-fetoprotein is a well-established and widely used biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Microscopical discrimination of human head hairs sharing a mitochondrial haplogroup.

In forensic analyses, determining the level of consensus among examiners for hair comparison conclusions and ancestry identifications is important for assessing the scientific validity of microscopical hair examinations. Here, we present data from an interlaboratory study on the accuracy of microscopical hair comparisons among a subset of experienced hair examiners currently analyzing hair in forensic laboratories across the United States. We examined how well microscopical analysis of hair can reliably be used to differentiate hair samples, many of which were macroscopically similar.

Validation of prognostic accuracy of MESH, HKLC, and BCLC classifications in a large German cohort of hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

Background And Aim: The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system is commonly used to classify hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. However, other staging classification schemes have been proposed. We aimed to compare the prognostic accuracy of the Hong Kong Liver Cancer Staging (HKLC), the Model to Estimate Survival for HCC (MESH), and the BCLC staging systems using a Western cohort of HCC patients.

Patulous Eustachian tube and palatine defect in a Dachshund with chronic unilateral otitis externa and otitis media.

Background: Patulous Eustachian tube (pET) is a rare dysfunction of the Eustachian tube described in humans. It is characterized by failure of the ET to close, resulting in unrestricted passage of air, sound and material between the nasopharynx and the middle ear.

Objective: To report a case of pET associated with otitis in a dog.

Targeting Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus ORF21 Tyrosine Kinase and Viral Lytic Reactivation by Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors Approved for Clinical Use.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the cause of three human malignancies: Kaposi's sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma, and the plasma cell variant of multicentric Castleman disease. Previous research has shown that several cellular tyrosine kinases play crucial roles during several steps in the virus replication cycle. Two KSHV proteins also have protein kinase function: open reading frame (ORF) 36 encodes a serine-threonine kinase, while ORF21 encodes a thymidine kinase (TK), which has recently been found to be an efficient tyrosine kinase.

Improved Prediction of Survival by a Risk Factor-Integrating Inflammatory Score in Sorafenib-Treated Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background And Aims: Inflammation affects progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We therefore postulate that systemic inflammatory markers could help to predict prognosis in HCC patients receiving sorafenib therapy.

Methods: Overall survival (OS) of HCC patients receiving palliative sorafenib treatment was correlated with the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), C-reactive protein to albumin ratio (CAR), Glasgow prognostic score (GPS) and the modified GPS (mGPS) along with clinicopathological parameters.

Sarcopenia as prognostic factor for survival after orthotopic liver transplantation.

Background And Aim: Body composition has emerged as a prognostic factor for end-stage liver disease. We therefore investigated muscle mass, body fat and other clinical-pathological variables as predictors of posttransplant survival.

Methods: A total of 368 patients, who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) at our institution, were assessed prior to OLT and followed for a median of 9.

Dermal arteritis of the nasal philtrum: a retrospective study of 23 dogs.

Background: Dermal arteritis of the nasal philtrum (DANP) is a cutaneous vascular condition that selectively targets large vessels of the nasal philtrum of dogs; little information is published about this disease.

Objective: The aim of this study was to report the signalment, clinical signs, treatment options and outcome of dogs with DANP, and to propose a rationale for the clinical diagnosis.

Animals: Twenty-three dogs from four referral veterinary clinics from January 2002 to July 2018.