How grid reinforcement costs differ by the income of electric vehicle users.

The simultaneous charging of many electric vehicles in future mobility scenarios may lead to peaks and overloads threatening grid stability. The necessary infrastructure investments vary by the number and model type of vehicles driven and the residents' charging preferences. These attributes significantly depend on socio-economic factors such as income.

Cystoscopic-guided laser ablation of intramural ectopic ureters in a female cat.

Case Summary: An 8-month-old female spayed domestic shorthair cat was presented for chronic urinary incontinence (UI). Since being adopted 6 months earlier, the cat had a history of urine leakage during both activity and rest. Baseline blood work and urine culture showed no significant abnormalities and no evidence of a urinary tract infection.

Accuracy of Crit-Line® monitors in predicting hematocrit and change in blood volume of dogs during hemodialysis.

Background: Ultrafiltration (UF) is an extracorporeal technique for treating fluid overload and is monitored with noninvasive blood volume monitors.

Hypothesis/objectives: The primary objective was to determine the accuracy of Crit-Line® III and IV noninvasive blood volume monitors to estimate canine packed cell volume (PCV) and changes in blood volume during UF. A secondary aim was to determine accuracy of targeted ultrafiltration rates (UFR) compared to calculated delivered UFR.

Ultrasonographic features of gallbladder wall thickening in dogs with hypoalbuminemia.

Hypoalbuminemia has been considered as a cause of gallbladder wall thickening in humans and dogs. Recent study revealed that gallbladder wall thickening in dogs with hypoalbuminemia may not be associated with serum albumin/plasma levels within 48 h of ultrasound study. However, gallbladder wall edema may change within 48 h, and the ultrasonographic features of gallbladder wall thickening in dogs with hypoalbuminemia have not been reported.

Iodinated non-ionic contrast medium does not inhibit Escherichia coli growth in ex vivo inoculated canine urine.

Objective: To investigate the effect of iohexol on standardized quantitative urine culture results in dogs. The authors hypothesized that the presence of iohexol in inoculated urine samples would result in lower bacterial concentrations (CFU/mL) and, therefore, decrease culture sensitivity.

Sample: Urine samples were aseptically collected during cystoscopy from a single client-owned dog untreated with antimicrobials.

Concentrations and kinetics of renal biomarkers in dogs with gastric dilatation-volvulus with and without 24-h intravenous lidocaine.

Background: Gastric dilatation volvulus (GDV) can lead to organ failure including acute kidney injury (AKI). Due to its cytoprotective, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, lidocaine has a potential to prevent AKI in dogs with GDV.

Design And Setting: Prospective, observational cohort study in client-owned dogs with GDV.

A Therapeutic Extracorporeal Device for Specific Removal of Pathologic Asymmetric Dimethylarginine from the Blood.

Introduction: Blood levels of uremic toxin, asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), are strongly associated with mortality in sepsis, renal failure, and cardiovascular and renal disease patients.

Methods: An extracorporeal approach to reduce pathological ADMA was developed. The dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH) was immobilized on agarose beads to prepare a cartridge.

Ultrasonographic diagnosis of a hair foreign body in the urinary bladder of a dog.

A 13-year-old male neutered mixed-breed dog with a history of gallbladder mucocele and urolithiasis was evaluated by ultrasound. Two hyperechoic, linear foreign bodies with no distal acoustic shadowing were detected in the urinary bladder and urethra. Following the ultrasound examination, the patient underwent cystoscopy, and two single hairs were found and successfully retrieved.

Aortic Sca-1 Progenitor Cells Arise from the Somitic Mesoderm Lineage in Mice.

Sca-1 progenitor cells in the adult mouse aorta are known to generate vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), but their embryological origins and temporal abundance are not known. Using tamoxifen-inducible Myf5-Cre mice, we demonstrate that Sca-1 adult aortic cells arise from the somitic mesoderm beginning at E8.5 and continue throughout somitogenesis.

Clinical and histopathologic findings in dogs with the ultrasonographic appearance of gastric muscularis unorganized hyperechoic striations.

Background: Ultrasonographic appearance of unorganized hyperechoic striations (UHS) has been observed in the canine gastric muscularis layer. The purpose of the study was to determine the prevalence, sonographic and postmortem histologic features, and to determine the clinical significance of canine gastric muscularis UHS. In the prospective study, 72 dogs were included.

Transcutaneous glomerular filtration rate measurement in a canine animal model of chronic kidney disease.

Introduction: Quantitative assessment of renal function by measurement of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is an important part of safety and efficacy evaluation in preclinical drug development. Existing methods are often time consuming, imprecise and associated with animal burden. Here we describe the comparison between GFR determinations with sinistrin (PS-GFR) and fluorescence-labelled sinistrin-application and its transcutaneous detection (TD-GFR) in a large animal model of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Serum anti-Müllerian hormone concentrations before and after treatment of an ovarian granulosa cell tumour in a cat.

Case Summary: A 15-year-old female cat was presented for investigation of progressive behavioural changes, polyuria, polydipsia and periuria. An ovarian granulosa cell tumour was identified and the cat underwent therapeutic ovariohysterectomy (OHE). The cat's clinical signs resolved, but 6 months later it was diagnosed as having an anaplastic astrocytoma and was euthanased.

Skin-derived precursors from human subjects with Type 2 diabetes yield dysfunctional vascular smooth muscle cells.

Unlabelled: Objective Few methods enable molecular and cellular studies of vascular aging or Type 2 diabetes (T2D). Here, we report a new approach to studying human vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) pathophysiology by examining VSMCs differentiated from progenitors found in skin. Approach and results Skin-derived precursors (SKPs) were cultured from biopsies (=164, ∼1 cm) taken from the edges of surgical incisions of older adults (=158; males 72%; mean age 62.

Vascular smooth muscle cell differentiation from human stem/progenitor cells.

Transplantation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) is a promising cellular therapy to promote angiogenesis and wound healing. However, VSMCs are derived from diverse embryonic sources which may influence their role in the development of vascular disease and in its therapeutic modulation. Despite progress in understanding the mechanisms of VSMC differentiation, there remains a shortage of robust methods for generating lineage-specific VSMCs from pluripotent and adult stem/progenitor cells in serum-free conditions.

Use of a Microsoft Excel based add-in program to calculate plasma sinistrin clearance by a two-compartment model analysis in dogs.

Assessment of renal function by means of plasma clearance of a suitable marker has become standard procedure for estimation of glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Sinistrin, a polyfructan solely cleared by the kidney, is often used for this purpose. Pharmacokinetic modeling using adequate software is necessary to calculate disappearance rate and half-life of sinistrin.

Extrahepatic biliary atresia in a 4-week-old Pug.

Objective: To report diagnosis and surgical therapy of extrahepatic biliary atresia in a dog.

Study Design: Clinical report.

Animal: Dog (n = 1).

A pilot study to assess the feasibility of transcutaneous glomerular filtration rate measurement using fluorescence-labelled sinistrin in dogs and cats.

In dogs and cats an assessment of renal function is often needed, however, existing methods including urine and plasma clearances are invasive, cumbersome and time consuming. This pilot study evaluated the feasibility of a transcutaneous glomerular filtration rate (GFR) measurement in dogs and cats. Additionally the optimal dose and location for the transcutaneous measurement device were investigated.

Serum-free differentiation of functional human coronary-like vascular smooth muscle cells from embryonic stem cells.

Aims: Despite the diverse developmental origins of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), recent attempts to generate VSMCs from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) differentiated along various lineages did not yield distinct cell phenotypes. The aim of this study was to derive and characterize functional coronary-like VSMCs from hESCs using serum-free cardiac-directed differentiation.

Methods And Results: Embryoid bodies (EBs) from three pluripotent stem cell lines subjected to cardiac-directed differentiation in defined media were characterized over 30 days for VSMC-specific gene expression by qRT-PCR, immunofluorescence microscopy and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS).

Directed differentiation of skin-derived precursors into functional vascular smooth muscle cells.

Objective: The goal of this study was to characterize the factors and conditions required for smooth muscle cell (SMC)-directed differentiation of Sox2(+) multipotent rat and human skin-derived precursors (SKPs) and to define whether they represent a source of fully functional vascular SMCs for applications in vivo.

Methods And Results: We found that rat SKPs can differentiate almost exclusively into SMCs by reducing serum concentrations to 0.5% to 2% and plating them at low density.

Peptide-mediated disruption of calmodulin-cyclin E interactions inhibits proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells and neointima formation.

Rationale: Cell cycle progression in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) is a therapeutic target for restenosis.

Objective: Having discovered that calmodulin (CaM)-dependent cyclin E/CDK2 activity underlies Ca(2+)-sensitive G(1)-to-S phase transitions in VSMCs, we sought to explore the physiological importance of the CaM-cyclin E interaction.

Methods And Results: A peptide based on the CaM binding sequence (CBS) of cyclin E was designed to interfere with CaM-cyclin E binding.

Dual roles for the Drosophila PI 4-kinase four wheel drive in localizing Rab11 during cytokinesis.

Successful completion of cytokinesis relies on addition of new membrane, and requires the recycling endosome regulator Rab11, which localizes to the midzone. Despite the critical role of Rab11 in this process, little is known about the formation and composition of Rab11-containing organelles. Here, we identify the phosphatidylinositol (PI) 4-kinase III beta four wheel drive (Fwd) as a key regulator of Rab11 during cytokinesis in Drosophila melanogaster spermatocytes.

Essential role for Schizosaccharomyces pombe pik1 in septation.

Background: Schizosaccharomyces pombe pik1 encodes a phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase, reported to bind Cdc4, but not Cdc4(G107S).

Principal Findings: Gene deletion revealed that pik1 is essential. In cells with pik1 deleted, ectopic expression of a loss-of-function allele, created by fusion to a temperature-sensitive dihydrofolate reductase, allowed normal cell proliferation at 25 degrees C.