Association of missense variants in GDF9 with litter size in Entlebucher Mountain dogs.

In the past two decades, average litter size (ALS) in Entlebucher Mountain dogs decreased by approximately 0.8 puppies. We conducted a GWAS for ALS using the single-step methodology to take advantage of 1632 pedigree records, 892 phenotypes and 372 genotypes (173 662 markers) for which only 12% of the dogs had both phenotypes and genotypes available.

Population structure and toxin gene profiles of Bacillus cereus sensu lato isolated from flour products.

Data on the occurrence, population structure and toxinogenic potential of Bacillus cereus sensu lato isolated from flour is essential to enable improved risk assessment. We aimed to provide data on the occurrence of B. cereus sensu lato in flour products at retail level.

Case report - azygos vein drainage into the left atrium in a dog with cor triatriatum dexter and a patent foramen ovale.

A 2-year-old Airedale terrier was presented with exercise intolerance since birth and newly developed chylous pleural effusion. Imaging procedures including echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, and selective angiography revealed an aberrant connection of the azygos vein and the left atrium, a membrane in the right atrium consistent with cor triatriatum dexter, and a patent foramen ovale with right-to-left shunt. Balloon dilation of the membrane in the right atrium seemed to result in transient improvement of exercise tolerance compared with the previous 2 years.

Safety and Accuracy of Minimally Invasive Long Bone Fracture Repair Using a 2.5-mm Interlocking Nail: A Cadaveric Feline Study.

Objectives:  The Targon Vet System (TVS) is a 2.5-mm interlocking nail that can be applied minimally invasively. The purpose of this study was to test if the TVS could be safely applied percutaneously to different feline long bones without fluoroscopic guidance.

Body weight-dependent and independent improvement in lipid metabolism after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in ApoE*3Leiden.CETP mice.

Background/objectives: The incidence of obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) has rapidly increased worldwide. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) achieves long-term weight loss and improves MetS-associated comorbidities. Using a mouse model with a humanized lipoprotein metabolism, we elucidated whether improvements in lipid and glucose metabolism after RYGB surgery are body weight loss-dependent or not.

Phylogenetic signal in tooth wear? A question that can be answered-By testing.

Do all teeth show the same wear traces when processing the same diet, or do the wear traces of the same diet differ between species, maybe due to differences in tooth morphology or chewing physiology? Questions like this one can be tested using appropriate biological and statistical methods. Without such tests, claiming that a certain proxy of tooth wear represents a "taxon-free" signal remains a hypothesis.

Cell line-specific efficacy of thermoradiotherapy in human and canine cancer cells in vitro.

Objective: Aims were to investigate sensitivity of various human and canine cancer cell lines to hyperthermia and the influence of particular treatment conditions, and to analyze the DNA-damage response and mode of cell death in cell line radiosensitized by hyperthermia. Additionally, we were interested in the involvement of HSP70 in radiosensitization.

Methods: Radiosensitization by hyperthermia was determined in a panel of human and canine cancer cell lines using clonogenic cell survival assay, as well as levels of heat shock proteins (HSPs) using immunoblotting.

Hyperoxia-induced lung structure-function relation, vessel rarefaction, and cardiac hypertrophy in an infant rat model.

Background: Hyperoxia-induced bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) models are essential for better understanding and impacting on long-term pulmonary, cardiovascular, and neurological sequelae of this chronic disease. Only few experimental studies have systematically compared structural alterations with lung function measurements.

Methods: In three separate and consecutive series, Sprague-Dawley infant rats were exposed from day of life (DOL) 1 to 19 to either room air (0.

Staphylococcus aureus related to bovine mastitis in Switzerland: Clonal diversity, virulence gene profiles, and antimicrobial resistance of isolates collected throughout 2017.

Staphylococcus aureus can be associated with subclinical, acute, chronic, and toxic cases of bovine intramammary infections, leading to considerable financial losses for the dairy industry in Switzerland and worldwide. In addition, milk products are one of the most common food categories implicated in staphylococcal food poisoning in humans. Detailed information on the population structure, as well as the virulence and resistance characteristics of Staph.

Holter monitoring demonstrates that ventricular arrhythmias are common in cats with decompensated and compensated hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Arrhythmias can complicate cardiac disease in cats and are a potential cause of sudden death. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence and nature of cardiac arrhythmias, and the potential correlation between plasma serum troponin I (cTnI) concentrations and the presence or severity of arrhythmias in cats with decompensated (dHCM) and compensated hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (cHCM). Forty one client-owned cats were studied: 16 with cHCM, 15 with dHCM and 10 healthy control cats.

Effects of moderate and severe arterial hypotension on intracerebral perfusion and brain tissue oxygenation in piglets.

Background: Hypotension is common in anaesthetised children, and its impact on cerebral oxygenation is unknown. The goal of the present study was to investigate the effects of moderate systemic arterial hypotension (mHT) and severe hypotension (sHT) on cerebral perfusion and brain tissue oxygenation in piglets.

Methods: Twenty-seven anaesthetised piglets were randomly allocated to a control group, mHT group, or sHT group.

Biomechanical properties of plate constructs for feline ilial fracture gap stabilization.

Objective: To determine the biomechanical properties of plating techniques for comminuted feline ilial fractures.

Study Design: Ex vivo study on 40 paired feline hemipelves.

Sample Population: Forty paired fresh-frozen hemipelves that had been collected from 20 cats aged 2-6 years and weighing 4.

Circulating CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) T regulatory cell levels in an experimental model of canine atopic dermatitis.

Background: The pathogenesis of canine atopic dermatitis (cAD) is characterized immunologically by an imbalanced T-cell response. Mechanisms of immune regulation in cAD have not yet been completely elucidated.

Objectives: To investigate peripheral blood T regulatory (Treg) cells and their associated cytokines (TGF-β and IL-10) in an experimental model of cAD.

Rodent models of leptin receptor deficiency are less sensitive to amylin.

The pancreatic hormone amylin is released from beta cells following nutrient ingestion and contributes to the control of body weight and glucose homeostasis. Amylin reduces food intake by activating neurons in the area postrema (AP). Amylin was also shown to synergize with the adipokine leptin, with combination therapy producing greater weight loss and food intake reduction than either hormone alone.

RYGB increases the satiating effect of intrajejunal lipid infusions in female rats.

We used a novel rat model to investigate the physiological bases of early satiation after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (RYGB). Female rats were subjected to RYGB or sham surgery. Chronic infusion catheters were placed in the Roux limb of RYGB rats and the corresponding anatomical locus of the jejuna of sham-RYGB rats.

Development of a core outcome set for therapeutic clinical trials enrolling dogs with atopic dermatitis (COSCAD'18).

Background: For decades, the efficacy of interventions in clinical trials enrolling dogs with atopic dermatitis (AD) relied on heterogeneous evaluations of skin lesions and pruritus using unvalidated tools. Although some instruments for clinical signs were validated later, there was little impact on standardizing outcome measures resulting in difficulties in comparing treatment efficacy between trials and impeding meta-analyses.

Results: Participants in the Outcome Measures subcommittee of the International Committee of Allergic Diseases of Animals (ICADA) collaborated for two years to develop a core outcome set (COS) for canine AD, the COSCAD.

Microbiological quality and presence of foodborne pathogens in raw milk cheeses and raw meat products marketed at farm level in Switzerland.

This study investigated the microbiological quality and presence of bacterial foodborne pathogens in 51 raw milk cheeses (mainly semihard and hard cheese) and 53 raw meat products (cured meat products and sausages) marketed at farm level. With regard to Enterobacteriaceae, , and coagulase-positive staphylococci (CPS), the examined products were generally of a good microbiological quality. Enterobacteriaceae were found in seven cheeses (1.

Lateral movement of the saddle relative to the equine spine in rising and sitting trot on a treadmill.

Saddle slip, defined as a progressive lateral displacement of the saddle during ridden exercise, has recently been given attention in the scientific press as a potential sign of lameness. The aim of this study was to objectively quantify the normal lateral movement (oscillations) of the saddle relative to the horse in non-lame horses, and associate this movement to the movements of the horse and rider. Data from seven Warmblood dressage horses competing at Grand Prix (n = 6) or FEI Intermediate (n = 1) level, ridden by their usual riders, were used.

Phenotypical heterogeneity in responder and nonresponder male ApoE*3Leiden.CETP mice.

The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a major health issue worldwide and is associated with obesity, insulin resistance, and hypercholesterolemia. Several animal models were used to describe the MetS; however, many of them do not mimic well the MetS pathophysiology in humans. The ApoE*3Leiden.

Within trophic level shifts in collagen-carbonate stable carbon isotope spacing are propagated by diet and digestive physiology in large mammal herbivores.

Stable carbon isotope analyses of vertebrate hard tissues such as bones, teeth, and tusks provide information about animal diets in ecological, archeological, and paleontological contexts. There is debate about how carbon isotope compositions of collagen and apatite carbonate differ in terms of their relationship to diet, and to each other. We evaluated relationships between δC and δC among free-ranging southern African mammals to test predictions about the influences of dietary and physiological differences between species.

Cardiac-gated, phase contrast magnetic resonance angiography is a reliable and reproducible technique for quantifying blood flow in canine major cranial abdominal vessels.

Blood flow changes in cranial abdominal vessels are important contributing factors for canine hepatic disease. This prospective, experimental, pilot study aimed to evaluate cardiac-gated, phase contrast magnetic resonance angiography (PCMRA) as a method for characterizing blood flow in canine major cranial abdominal vessels. Eleven, healthy, adult beagle dogs were sampled.

Local mepivacaine before castration of horses under medetomidine isoflurane balanced anaesthesia is effective to reduce perioperative nociception and cytokine release.

Background: In horses castration with primary intention healing is usually performed under balanced inhalation anaesthesia. To optimise analgesia, the use of local anaesthesia was tested.

Objectives: To investigate the effect of local mepivacaine before castration with first intention healing under balanced medetomidine-isoflurane anaesthesia and flunixin meglumine, morphine analgesia on perioperative cytokine levels and pain in horses.

Patterns of activity and body temperature of Aldabra giant tortoises in relation to environmental temperature.

We studied the temperature relations of wild and zoo Aldabra giant tortoises () focusing on (1) the relationship between environmental temperature and tortoise activity patterns ( = 8 wild individuals) and (2) on tortoise body temperature fluctuations, including how their core and external body temperatures vary in relation to different environmental temperature ranges (seasons;  = 4 wild and  = 5 zoo individuals). In addition, we surveyed the literature to review the effect of body mass on core body temperature range in relation to environmental temperature in the Testudinidae. Diurnal activity of tortoises was bimodally distributed and influenced by environmental temperature and season.

Considering our methods: Methodological issues with rodent models of appetite and obesity research.

A large number of animal models are currently used in appetite and obesity research. Because the worldwide incidence of obesity continues to climb, it is imperative that animal models sharing characteristics of human obesity and its co-morbidities be used appropriately in the quest for novel preventions or treatments. There is probably no animal model, at least in rodents, that recapitulates all aspects of "common" human obesity and its comorbidities, but rodent models allow insight into specific mechanisms of disease or its consequences.

Short communication: Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus isolated along the raw milk cheese production process in artisan dairies in Italy.

Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of food-borne intoxications. Several staphylococcal food poisoning outbreaks have been linked to consumption of raw milk cheeses and artisanal cheese production. However, information on Staph.