Animal Shelters' Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Survey of 14 Shelters in the Northeastern United States.

Anecdotal reports indicate that many animal shelters experienced increased adoption and foster care rates during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet peer-reviewed evidence is lacking. In this pilot survey of 14 animal shelters in the Northeastern United States, we aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on animal intakes, foster care and five outcome types and describe operational changes reported by shelters in response to COVID-19. Paired sample -tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to compare intake, adoption, euthanasia and foster care rates and numbers between March-June 2019 and 2020.

Nrf2 overexpression rescues the RPE in mouse models of retinitis pigmentosa.

Nrf2, a transcription factor that regulates the response to oxidative stress, has been shown to rescue cone photoreceptors and slow vision loss in mouse models of retinal degeneration (rd). The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is damaged in these models, but whether it also could be rescued by Nrf2 has not been previously examined. We used an adeno-associated virus (AAV) with an RPE-specific (Best1) promoter to overexpress Nrf2 in the RPE of rd mice.

AAV -regulatory sequences are correlated with ocular toxicity.

Adeno-associated viral vectors (AAVs) have become popular for gene therapy, given their many advantages, including their reduced inflammatory profile compared with that of other viruses. However, even in areas of immune privilege such as the eye, AAV vectors are capable of eliciting host-cell responses. To investigate the effects of such responses on several ocular cell types, we tested multiple AAV genome structures and capsid types using subretinal injections in mice.