Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted ascending) Filter |
|---|
| mycobacteriosis in a domestic ferret (mustela putorius furo). | a 4-year-old spayed female ferret presented with a 2-month history of anorexia, vomiting and occasional diarrhea. abdominal ultrasonography revealed thickening of the gastric wall and enlarged abdominal lymph nodes. biopsy samples from the thickened gastric wall, enlarged abdominal lymph nodes and liver were taken during an exploratory laparotomy. based on the histopathological examination, mycobacterium infection was diagnosed. the bacterial species could not be identified by additional diagnos ... | 2014 | 24419874 |
| evaluation of heterosubtypic cross-protection against highly pathogenic h5n1 by active infection with human seasonal influenza a virus or trivalent inactivated vaccine immunization in ferret models. | the threat of highly pathogenic avian influenza (hpai) h5n1 viruses to cause the next pandemic remains a major concern. here, we evaluated the cross-protection induced by natural infection of human seasonal influenza strains or immunization with trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (tiv) against hpai h5n1 (a/vietnam/1203/2004) virus in ferrets. groups were treated with pbs (group a), infected with h1n1 (group b) or h3n2 (group c) virus, or immunized with tiv (group d). twelve weeks after the ... | 2014 | 24421115 |
| fight like a ferret: a novel approach of using art therapy to reduce anxiety in stroke patients undergoing hospital rehabilitation. | the holistic aspect of stroke rehabilitation to include psychological well-being is currently neglected, with more emphasis placed on physical recovery despite anxiety and depression being common poststroke. from the limited amount of current literature, it seems that creative strategies such as art therapy (at) can be beneficial in reducing isolation and anxiety among stroke patients. | 2014 | 24429732 |
| twenty years of immunocontraceptive research: lessons learned. | the national wildlife research center (nwrc) began immunocontraception vaccine research by testing porcine zona pellucida (pzp) on white-tailed deer (odocoileus virginianus). early pzp research demonstrated that pzp induced infertility; however, increased length of the rut was observed in pzp-treated deer. an alternative vaccine using a keyhole limpet hemocyanin-gonadotropin-releasing hormone (klh-gnrh) conjugate formulated with modified freund's adjuvant was developed at nwrc. suppression of gn ... | 2013 | 24437088 |
| genetic characterization of coronaviruses from domestic ferrets, japan. | we detected ferret coronaviruses in 44 (55.7%) of 79 pet ferrets tested in japan and classified the viruses into 2 genotypes on the basis of genotype-specific pcr. our results show that 2 ferret coronaviruses that cause feline infectious peritonitis-like disease and epizootic catarrhal enteritis are enzootic among ferrets in japan. | 2014 | 24447852 |
| wildlife reservoirs of canine distemper virus resulted in a major outbreak in danish farmed mink (neovison vison). | a major outbreak of canine distemper virus (cdv) in danish farmed mink (neovison vison) started in the late summer period of 2012. at the same time, a high number of diseased and dead wildlife species such as foxes, raccoon dogs, and ferrets were observed. to track the origin of the outbreak virus full-length sequencing of the receptor binding surface protein hemagglutinin (h) was performed on 26 cdv's collected from mink and 10 cdv's collected from wildlife species. subsequent phylogenetic anal ... | 2014 | 24454897 |
| vaccination of monoglycosylated hemagglutinin induces cross-strain protection against influenza virus infections. | the 2009 h1n1 pandemic and recent human cases of h5n1, h7n9, and h6n1 in asia highlight the need for a universal influenza vaccine that can provide cross-strain or even cross-subtype protection. here, we show that recombinant monoglycosylated hemagglutinin (hamg) with an intact protein structure from either seasonal or pandemic h1n1 can be used as a vaccine for cross-strain protection against various h1n1 viruses in circulation from 1933 to 2009 in mice and ferrets. in the hamg vaccine, highly c ... | 2014 | 24469815 |
| randomized controlled ferret study to assess the direct impact of 2008-09 trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine on a(h1n1)pdm09 disease risk. | during spring-summer 2009, several observational studies from canada showed increased risk of medically-attended, laboratory-confirmed a(h1n1)pdm09 illness among prior recipients of 2008-09 trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (tiv). explanatory hypotheses included direct and indirect vaccine effects. in a randomized placebo-controlled ferret study, we tested whether prior receipt of 2008-09 tiv may have directly influenced a(h1n1)pdm09 illness. thirty-two ferrets (16/group) received 0.5 ml i ... | 2014 | 24475142 |
| bidirectional plasticity of purkinje cells matches temporal features of learning. | many forms of learning require temporally ordered stimuli. in pavlovian eyeblink conditioning, a conditioned stimulus (cs) must precede the unconditioned stimulus (us) by at least about 100 ms for learning to occur. conditioned responses are learned and generated by the cerebellum. recordings from the cerebellar cortex during conditioning have revealed cs-triggered pauses in the firing of purkinje cells that likely drive the conditioned blinks. the predominant view of the learning mechanism in c ... | 2014 | 24478355 |
| novel avian-origin influenza a (h7n9) virus attachment to the respiratory tract of five animal models. | we determined the pattern of attachment of the avian-origin h7n9 influenza viruses a/anhui/1/2013 and a/shanghai/1/2013 to the respiratory tract in ferrets, macaques, mice, pigs, and guinea pigs and compared it to that in humans. the h7n9 attachment pattern in macaques, mice, and to a lesser extent pigs and guinea pigs resembled that in humans more closely than the attachment pattern in ferrets. this information contributes to our knowledge of the different animal models for influenza. | 2014 | 24478425 |
| shrinkage of x cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus after monocular deprivation revealed by foxp2 labeling. | the parallel processing of visual features by distinct neuron populations is a central characteristic of the mammalian visual system. in the a laminae of the cat dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dlgn), parallel processing streams originate from two principal neuron types, called x and y cells. disruption of visual experience early in life by monocular deprivation has been shown to alter the structure and function of y cells, but the extent to which deprivation influences x cells remains less c ... | 2014 | 24480423 |
| development of a surveillance scheme for equine influenza in the uk and characterisation of viruses isolated in europe, dubai and the usa from 2010-2012. | equine influenza viruses are a major cause of respiratory disease in horses worldwide and undergo antigenic drift. several outbreaks of equine influenza occurred worldwide during 2010-2012, including in vaccinated animals, highlighting the importance of surveillance and virus characterisation. virus isolates were characterised from more than 20 outbreaks over a 3-year period, including strains from the uk, dubai, germany and the usa. the haemagglutinin-1 (ha1) sequence of all isolates was determ ... | 2014 | 24480583 |
| meloxicam pharmacokinetics using nonlinear mixed-effects modeling in ferrets after single subcutaneous administration. | this study was designed to investigate the pharmacokinetics of meloxicam, an oxicam class, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (nsaid), in ferrets. we determined the pharmacokinetic properties of a single subcutaneous dose of meloxicam (0.2 mg/kg) in nine male and nine female ferrets. blood samples were collected by venipuncture of the cranial vena cava into heparinized syringes. plasma meloxicam concentrations were determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography (hplc). pharmacokinetic variab ... | 2014 | 24483951 |
| a rapid field test for sylvatic plague exposure in wild animals. | plague surveillance is routinely conducted to predict future epizootics in wildlife and exposure risk for humans. the most common surveillance method for sylvatic plague is detection of antibodies to yersinia pestis f1 capsular antigen in sentinel animals, such as coyotes (canis latrans). current serologic tests for y. pestis, hemagglutination (ha) test and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa), are expensive and labor intensive. to address this need, we developed a complete lateral flow dev ... | 2014 | 24484483 |
| recent developments in experimental animal models of henipavirus infection. | hendra (hev) and nipah (niv) viruses (genus henipavirus (hnv; family paramyxoviridae) are emerging zoonotic agents that can cause severe respiratory distress and acute encephalitis in humans. given the lack of effective therapeutics and vaccines for human use, these viruses are considered as public health concerns. several experimental animal models of hnv infection have been developed in recent years. here, we review the current status of four of the most promising experimental animal models (m ... | 2014 | 24488776 |
| antiemetic effect of a potent and selective neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist, fk886, on cisplatin-induced acute and delayed emesis in ferrets. | the antiemetic effect of a potent and selective neurokinin-1 (nk1) receptor antagonist, fk886 ([3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl][(2r)-2-(3-hydroxy-4-methylbenzyl)-4-{2-[(2s)-2-(methoxymethyl)morpholin-4-yl]ethyl}piperazin-1-yl]methanone dihydrochloride), on cisplatin-induced acute and delayed emesis in ferrets was studied. intravenous administration of fk886 dose-dependently inhibited cisplatin (10 mg/kg)-induced acute emesis with a minimum effective dose (med) of 0.32 mg/kg. in the same study, o ... | 2014 | 24492720 |
| evidence for radiation-induced disseminated intravascular coagulation as a major cause of radiation-induced death in ferrets. | the studies reported here were performed as part of a program in space radiation biology in which proton radiation like that present in solar particle events, as well as conventional gamma radiation, were being evaluated in terms of the ability to affect hemostasis. | 2014 | 24495588 |
| ectoparasites in black-footed ferrets (mustela nigripes) from the largest reintroduced population of the conata basin, south dakota, usa. | the black-footed ferret, mustela nigripes, is an endangered carnivore endemic to the grasslands of north america. we present the first investigation of ectoparasites associated with black-footed ferrets since reintroduction. we sampled more than 200 individuals from one of the largest and most successful reintroduced populations located in the conata basin of south dakota, usa. we compared our findings with ectoparasite assemblages of sympatric carnivores and historic ferret records. we collecte ... | 2014 | 24499333 |
| transmissibility of novel h7n9 and h9n2 avian influenza viruses between chickens and ferrets. | previous studies have shown that the h7n9 avian influenza virus cannot be transmitted efficiently between ferrets via respiratory droplets. here, we studied the infectivity of the h7n9 avian influenza virus in chickens and its transmissibility from infected to naïve chickens and ferrets. the h7n9 virus (a/anhui/1/2013) replicated poorly in chickens and could not be transmitted efficiently from infected chickens to naïve chickens and ferrets. h7n9 virus was shed from chicken tracheae for only 2 d ... | 2014 | 24503095 |
| experimental oral immunization of ferret badgers (melogale moschata) with a recombinant canine adenovirus vaccine cav-2-e3δ-rgp and an attenuated rabies virus srv9. | ferret badgers (melogale moschata) are a major reservoir of rabies virus in southeastern china. oral immunization has been shown to be a practical method for wildlife rabies management in europe and north america. two groups of 20 ferret badgers were given a single oral dose of a recombinant canine adenovirus-rabies vaccine, cav-2-e3δ-rgp, or an experimental attenuated rabies virus vaccine, srv9. at 21 days, all ferret badgers had seroconverted, with serum virus-neutralizing antibodies ranging f ... | 2014 | 24506428 |
| survey of zoonotic dermatoses in client-owned exotic pet mammals in southern italy. | several 'exotic' mammalian species (e.g. rabbits, rodents, ferrets and hedgehogs) live in close proximity to humans as companion pets. skin diseases (sd) are frequent causes of morbidity in exotic pet mammals, and most of those sds have a zoonotic potential. the purpose of this study was to determine the frequencies and types of zoonotic dermatosis (zd) in client-owned, exotic pet mammals in southern italy. six-hundred and fifty-five medical records of exotic pet mammals examined between 2011 an ... | 2015 | 24506806 |
| harvesting, isolation, and functional assessment of primary vagal ganglia cells. | airway sensory nerves play an important defensive role in the lungs, being central in mediating protective responses like cough and bronchoconstriction. in some cases, these responses become excessive, hypersensitive, and deleterious. understanding the normal function of airway nerves and phenotype changes associated with disease will help in developing new therapeutics for treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic cough. guinea pigs, and to a lesser extent ferrets, are commonly ... | 2013 | 24510717 |
| influenza a virus infections in marine mammals and terrestrial carnivores. | influenza a viruses (iav), members of the orthomyxoviridae, cover a wide host spectrum comprising a plethora of avian and, in comparison, a few mammalian species. the viral reservoir and gene pool are kept in metapopulations of aquatic wild birds. the mammalian-adapted iavs originally arose by transspecies transmission from avian sources. in swine, horse and man, species-adapted iav lineages circulate independently of the avian reservoir and cause predominantly respiratory disease of highly vari ... | 2014 | 24511825 |
| assessment of a blood preservation protocol for use in ferrets before transfusion. | blood transfusion has been described in ferrets as a treatment for oestrus-associated anaemia and as a life-saving therapy following trauma, iatrogenic (usually surgery-induced) anaemia, autoimmune haemolytic anaemia and pure red cell aplasia. although blood banking is a common method for storage of feline and canine blood it is not currently done with ferret blood. the aim of this study was to determine the shelf-life of ferret blood using the anticoagulant citrate-phosphate-dextrose-solution w ... | 2014 | 24523302 |
| diverse behaviors of outer radial glia in developing ferret and human cortex. | the dramatic increase in neocortical size and folding during mammalian brain evolution has been attributed to the elaboration of the subventricular zone (svz) and the associated increase in neural progenitors. however, recent studies have shown that svz size and the abundance of resident progenitors do not directly predict cortical topography, suggesting that complex behaviors of the progenitors themselves may contribute to the overall size and shape of the adult cortex. using time-lapse imaging ... | 2014 | 24523546 |
| effects of l-type calcium channel antagonists verapamil and diltiazem on fkv1.4δn currents in xenopus oocytes. | the goal of this study was to determine the effects of the l-type calcium channel blockers verapamil and diltiazem on the currents of voltage-gated potassium channel (fkv1.4δn), an n-terminal-deleted mutant of the ferret kv1.4 potassium channel. measurements were made using a two electrode voltage clamp technique with channels expressed stably in xenopus oocytes. the fkv1.4δn currents displayed slow inactivation, with a half-inactivation potential of -38.38 mv and slow recovery from inactivation ... | 2013 | 24523765 |
| using the ferret model to study morbillivirus entry, spread, transmission and cross-species infection. | canine distemper virus (cdv) is an animal morbillivirus with a worldwide circulation that infects carnivores, including domestic dogs and an assortment of wildlife hosts. the development of reverse genetics systems for wild-type strains of cdv and the use of the resulting recombinant (r) viruses to infect ferrets by a natural route has shed new light on the temporal pathogenesis of distemper. combining fluorescent protein expressing recombinant viruses and multimodal, macroscopic and microscopic ... | 2014 | 24525290 |
| gla-af, an emulsion-free vaccine adjuvant for pandemic influenza. | the ongoing threat from influenza necessitates the development of new vaccine and adjuvant technologies that can maximize vaccine immunogenicity, shorten production cycles, and increase global vaccine supply. currently, the most successful adjuvants for influenza vaccines are squalene-based oil-in-water emulsions. these adjuvants enhance seroprotective antibody titers to homologous and heterologous strains of virus, and augment a significant dose sparing activity that could improve vaccine manuf ... | 2014 | 24551202 |
| the spectral transmission of ocular media suggests ultraviolet sensitivity is widespread among mammals. | although ultraviolet (uv) sensitivity is widespread among animals it is considered rare in mammals, being restricted to the few species that have a visual pigment maximally sensitive (λmax) below 400 nm. however, even animals without such a pigment will be uv-sensitive if they have ocular media that transmit these wavelengths, as all visual pigments absorb significant amounts of uv if the energy level is sufficient. although it is known that lenses of diurnal sciurid rodents, tree shrews and pri ... | 2014 | 24552839 |
| red ginseng-containing diet helps to protect mice and ferrets from the lethal infection by highly pathogenic h5n1 influenza virus. | the highly pathogenic (hp) h5n1 influenza virus is endemic in many countries and has a great potential for a pandemic in humans. the immune-enhancing prowess of ginseng has been known for millennia. we aimed to study whether mice and ferrets fed with red ginseng could be better protected from the lethal infections of hp h5n1 influenza virus than the infected unfed mice and ferrets. we fed mice and ferrets with red ginseng prior to when they were infected with hp h5n1 influenza virus. the mice an ... | 2014 | 24558309 |
| short-term outcome following partial or complete liver lobectomy with a commercially prepared self-ligating loop in companion animals: 29 cases (2009-2012). | to evaluate the clinical use of a self-ligating loop (sll) for partial or complete liver lobectomy in a variety of companion animal species. | 2014 | 24568111 |
| notes from the field: wildlife rabies on an island free from canine rabies for 52 years--taiwan, 2013. | dog-to-dog transmission of rabies in taiwan was eliminated in 1961; the island was considered canine rabies-free for 52 years. on july 16, 2013, three ferret-badgers (melogale moschata) tested positive for rabies by fluorescent antibody testing at the animal health research institute, council of agriculture of taiwan. this was the first time wild animals other than bats were tested. during 1999-2012, a total of 6,841 clinically healthy dogs and five apparently normal cats from shelters were test ... | 2014 | 24572614 |
| the pathology and pathogenesis of experimental severe acute respiratory syndrome and influenza in animal models. | respiratory viruses that emerge in the human population may cause high morbidity and mortality, as well as concern about pandemic spread. examples are severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (sars-cov) and novel variants of influenza a virus, such as h5n1 and pandemic h1n1. different animal models are used to develop therapeutic and preventive measures against such viruses, but it is not clear which are most suitable. therefore, this review compares animal models of sars and influenza, wit ... | 2014 | 24581932 |
| quantifying insulin sensitivity and entero-insular responsiveness to hyper- and hypoglycemia in ferrets. | ferrets are an important emerging model of cystic fibrosis related diabetes. however, there is little documented experience in the use of advanced techniques to quantify aspects of diabetes pathophysiology in the ferret. glycemic clamps are the gold standard technique to assess both insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion in humans and animal models of diabetes. we therefore sought to develop techniques for glycemic clamps in ferrets. to assess insulin sensitivity, we performed euglycemic hype ... | 2014 | 24594704 |
| emerging feed-forward inhibition allows the robust formation of direction selectivity in the developing ferret visual cortex. | the computation of direction selectivity requires that a cell respond to joint spatial and temporal characteristics of the stimulus that cannot be separated into independent components. direction selectivity in ferret visual cortex is not present at the time of eye opening but instead develops in the days and weeks following eye opening in a process that requires visual experience with moving stimuli. classic hebbian or spike timing-dependent modification of excitatory feed-forward synaptic inpu ... | 2014 | 24598528 |
| the precedence effect and its buildup and breakdown in ferrets and humans. | although many studies have examined the precedence effect (pe), few have tested whether it shows a buildup and breakdown in nonhuman animals comparable to that seen in humans. these processes are thought to reflect the ability of the auditory system to adjust to a listener's acoustic environment, and their mechanisms are still poorly understood. in this study, ferrets were trained on a two-alternative forced-choice task to discriminate the azimuthal direction of brief sounds. in one experiment, ... | 2014 | 24606278 |
| protection of ferrets from pulmonary injury due to h1n1 2009 influenza virus infection: immunopathology tractable by sphingosine-1-phosphate 1 receptor agonist therapy. | influenza infection of humans remains an important public health problem. vaccine strategies result in a significant but only partial control (65-85%) of infection. thus, chemotherapeutic approaches are needed to provide a solution both for vaccine failures and to limit infection in the unvaccinated population. previously (walsh et al., 2011; teijaro et al., 2011) documented that sphingosine-1-phosphate 1 receptor (s1p1r) agonists significantly protected mice against pathogenic h1n1 influenza vi ... | 2014 | 24606692 |
| the claustrum of the ferret: afferent and efferent connections to lower and higher order visual cortical areas. | the claustrum, a subcortical telencephalic structure, is known to be reciprocally interconnected to almost all cortical regions; however, a systematic analysis of claustrocortical connectivity with physiologically identified lower and higher order visual cortical areas has not been undertaken. in the current study we used biotinylated dextran amine to trace the connections of the ferret claustrum with lower (occipital areas 17, 18, 19 and 21) and higher (parietal and temporal areas posterior par ... | 2014 | 24616671 |
| gastrointestinal pathology in juvenile and adult cftr-knockout ferrets. | cystic fibrosis (cf) is a multiorgan disease caused by loss of a functional cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (cftr) chloride channel in many epithelia of the body. here we report the pathology observed in the gastrointestinal organs of juvenile to adult cftr-knockout ferrets. cf gastrointestinal manifestations included gastric ulceration, intestinal bacterial overgrowth with villous atrophy, and rectal prolapse. metagenomic phylogenetic analysis of fecal microbiota by deep seq ... | 2014 | 24637292 |
| functional imaging of auditory cortex in adult cats using high-field fmri. | current knowledge of sensory processing in the mammalian auditory system is mainly derived from electrophysiological studies in a variety of animal models, including monkeys, ferrets, bats, rodents, and cats. in order to draw suitable parallels between human and animal models of auditory function, it is important to establish a bridge between human functional imaging studies and animal electrophysiological studies. functional magnetic resonance imaging (fmri) is an established, minimally invasiv ... | 2014 | 24637937 |
| molecular characterization of three ferret badger (melogale moschata) rabies virus isolates from jiangxi province, china. | ferret badger (fb) rabies viruses jx09-17(fb), jx09-18 and jx10-37 were isolated from three different regions in jiangxi province, china, in 2009 and 2010. the complete nucleotide sequence identity between these three isolates was 87-93 %. compared with the other chinese rabies virus isolates and vaccine strains, 101 substitutions (53 in jx10-37, 23 in jx09-17(fb) and 25 in jx09-18) in the five structural proteins were observed, and 47 of these substitutions (27 in jx10-37, 14 in jx09-17(fb) and ... | 2014 | 24643334 |
| rapid spectrotemporal plasticity in primary auditory cortex during behavior. | complex natural and environmental sounds, such as speech and music, convey information along both spectral and temporal dimensions. the cortical representation of such stimuli rapidly adapts when animals become actively engaged in discriminating them. in this study, we examine the nature of these changes using simplified spectrotemporal versions (upward vs downward shifting tone sequences) with domestic ferrets (mustela putorius). cortical processing rapidly adapted to enhance the contrast betwe ... | 2014 | 24647959 |
| humans and ferrets with prior h1n1 influenza virus infections do not exhibit evidence of original antigenic sin after infection or vaccination with the 2009 pandemic h1n1 influenza virus. | the hypothesis of original antigenic sin (oas) states that the imprint established by an individual's first influenza virus infection governs the antibody response thereafter. subsequent influenza virus infection results in an antibody response against the original infecting virus and an impaired immune response against the newer influenza virus. the purpose of our study was to seek evidence of oas after infection or vaccination with the 2009 pandemic h1n1 (2009 ph1n1) virus in ferrets and human ... | 2014 | 24648486 |
| complete genome of hepatitis e virus from laboratory ferrets. | the complete genome of hepatitis e virus (hev) from laboratory ferrets imported from the united states was identified. this virus shared only 82.4%-82.5% nt sequence identities with strains from the netherlands, which indicated that the ferret hev genome is genetically diverse. some laboratory ferrets were contaminated with hev. | 2014 | 24655541 |
| mammalian pathogenesis of oseltamivir-resistant pandemic (h1n1) 2009 influenza virus isolated in south korea. | oseltamivir, a neuraminidase (na) inhibitor, has been widely used for the treatment of patients infected with the pandemic (h1n1) 2009 influenza virus. with the increasing use of oseltamivir, drug-resistant mutants emerged rapidly and 11 cases of resistant viruses were detected during the 2009 h1n1 pandemic in south korea. to better understand the differences between oseltamivir-susceptible and oseltamivir-resistant virus, we compared the replication and pathogenesis of the na h275y mutant virus ... | 2014 | 24657788 |
| developmental remodeling of corticocortical feedback circuits in ferret visual cortex. | visual cortical areas in the mammalian brain are linked through a system of interareal feedforward and feedback connections, which presumably underlie different visual functions. we characterized the refinement of feedback projections to primary visual cortex (v1) from multiple sources in juvenile ferrets ranging in age from 4-10 weeks postnatal. we studied whether the refinement of different aspects of feedback circuitry from multiple visual cortical areas proceeds at a similar rate in all area ... | 2014 | 24665018 |
| a data repository and analysis framework for spontaneous neural activity recordings in developing retina. | during early development, neural circuits fire spontaneously, generating activity episodes with complex spatiotemporal patterns. recordings of spontaneous activity have been made in many parts of the nervous system over the last 25 years, reporting developmental changes in activity patterns and the effects of various genetic perturbations. | 2014 | 24666584 |
| histologic examinations of teeth treated with 2 scaffolds: a pilot animal investigation. | a growing body of evidence is building a case for the possibility of tissue regeneration within the root canal of necrotic teeth, allowing for continued root development. however, it remains unknown what type of tissue is produced after regenerative endodontics. the purpose of this study was to use blood clots and platelet-rich plasma (prp) as scaffolds in regenerative endodontics under ideal conditions in a ferret model to examine the tissues generated within the root canals. | 2014 | 24666902 |
| animal model of respiratory syncytial virus: cd8+ t cells cause a cytokine storm that is chemically tractable by sphingosine-1-phosphate 1 receptor agonist therapy. | the cytokine storm is an intensified, dysregulated, tissue-injurious inflammatory response driven by cytokine and immune cell components. the cytokine storm during influenza virus infection, whereby the amplified innate immune response is primarily responsible for pulmonary damage, has been well characterized. now we describe a novel event where virus-specific t cells induce a cytokine storm. the paramyxovirus pneumonia virus of mice (pvm) is a model of human respiratory syncytial virus (hrsv). ... | 2014 | 24672024 |
| a model for early onset of protection against lethal challenge with highly pathogenic h5n1 influenza virus. | highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses of subtype h5n1 sporadically cause severe disease in humans and involve the risk of inducing a pandemic by gaining the ability for human-to-human transmission. in naïve poultry, primarily gallinaceous birds, the virus induces fatal disease and the used inactivated vaccines occasionally are unable to provide efficient and early onset of protection. therefore, optimized vaccines must be developed and evaluated in model systems. in our study, we tested a no ... | 2014 | 24674664 |
| a novel neutralizing antibody against diverse clades of h5n1 influenza virus and its mutants capable of airborne transmission. | highly pathogenic avian influenza a virus h5n1 continues to spread among poultry and has frequently broken the species barrier to humans. recent studies have shown that a laboratory-mutated or reassortant h5n1 virus bearing hemagglutinin (ha) with as few as four or five mutations was capable of transmitting more efficiently via respiratory droplets between ferrets, posing a serious threat to public health and underscoring the priority of effective vaccines and therapeutics. in this study, we ide ... | 2014 | 24681124 |
| intranasally administered endocine formulated 2009 pandemic influenza h1n1 vaccine induces broad specific antibody responses and confers protection in ferrets. | influenza is a contagious respiratory disease caused by an influenza virus. due to continuous antigenic drift of seasonal influenza viruses, influenza vaccines need to be adjusted before every influenza season. this allows annual vaccination with multivalent seasonal influenza vaccines, recommended especially for high-risk groups. there is a need for a seasonal influenza vaccine that induces broader and longer lasting protection upon easy administration. endocine is a lipid-based mucosal adjuvan ... | 2014 | 24690149 |
| quantitative measurement of influenza virus replication using consecutive bronchoalveolar lavage in the lower respiratory tract of a ferret model. | the ferret is an established animal model of influenza virus infection. although viral replication in the upper respiratory tract is usually measured with consecutively collected nasal washes, daily evaluation of viral replication in the lung is limited because a large numbers of ferrets need to be sacrificed at consecutive time points. to overcome this limitation, we performed a virus quantification assay using bronchoalveolar lavage (bal) fluid. this non-invasive bal technique allows consecuti ... | 2014 | 24690606 |
| use of spectroscopy for assessment of color discrimination in animal vision. | animals use color vision for a number of tasks including food localization, object recognition, communication, and mate selection. for these and other specific behaviors involving the use of color cues, models that quantify color discriminability have been developed. these models take as input the photoreceptor spectral sensitivities of the animal and radiance spectra of the surfaces of interest. these spectra are usually acquired using spectroscopic instruments that collect point-by-point data ... | 2014 | 24695182 |
| occurrence and molecular typing of giardia isolates in pet rabbits, chinchillas, guinea pigs and ferrets collected in europe during 2006-2012. | a total of 1180 faecal samples (528 from rabbits, 531 from chinchillas and 121 from guinea pigs) collected during 2006-2012 by veterinarians in germany and in other european countries were submitted to a diagnostic laboratory for giardia testing by means of coproantigen elisa. of these samples, 40 rabbits (7.6 per cent), 326 chinchillas (61.4 per cent) and five guinea pigs (4.1 per cent ) were found to be positive. to gain insights into the genetic identity of giardia in small mammals, elisa-pos ... | 2014 | 24696441 |
| airborne transmission of highly pathogenic h7n1 influenza virus in ferrets. | avian h7 influenza viruses are recognized as potential pandemic viruses, as personnel often become infected during poultry outbreaks. h7 infections in humans typically cause mild conjunctivitis; however, the h7n9 outbreak in the spring of 2013 has resulted in severe respiratory disease. to date, no h7 viruses have acquired the ability for sustained transmission among humans. airborne transmission is considered a requirement for the emergence of pandemic influenza, and advanced knowledge of the m ... | 2014 | 24696487 |
| retinal ganglion cells projecting to the accessory optic system in optokinetic blind albinotic rats are direction-selective. | the optokinetic deficits in albinotic rats and ferrets are caused by the loss of direction selectivity in the accessory optic system (aos). however, the underlying mechanisms for this loss are still not clear. here we tested the hypothesis that, in albino rats, the retinal input to the aos lacks direction selectivity and, as a consequence, neurons in the aos are direction non-selective. we investigated on-center direction-selective retinal ganglion cells, the major input to the aos, in pigmented ... | 2014 | 24698401 |
| estimating the fitness advantage conferred by permissive neuraminidase mutations in recent oseltamivir-resistant a(h1n1)pdm09 influenza viruses. | oseltamivir is relied upon worldwide as the drug of choice for the treatment of human influenza infection. surveillance for oseltamivir resistance is routinely performed to ensure the ongoing efficacy of oseltamivir against circulating viruses. since the emergence of the pandemic 2009 a(h1n1) influenza virus (a(h1n1)pdm09), the proportion of a(h1n1)pdm09 viruses that are oseltamivir resistant (or) has generally been low. however, a cluster of or a(h1n1)pdm09 viruses, encoding the neuraminidase ( ... | 2014 | 24699865 |
| fecal microbiota and antibiotic resistance in ferrets (mustela putorius furo) from two captive breeding facilities in italy. | the microbiota of the intestinal tract plays important roles in the overall health, productivity and well-being of the animals. we have characterized the intestinal microbiota of the ferret because its human cohabitation may increase the possibility of new zoonosis. the presence of anaerobic and microaerophilic bacteria has been evaluated in fresh fecal specimens of 40 ferrets in apparently good health. the bacteria most frequently isolated were clostridium acetobutylicum (25/40 samples, 62.5%; ... | 2014 | 24709054 |
| animal models for influenza virus pathogenesis, transmission, and immunology. | in humans, infection with an influenza a or b virus manifests typically as an acute and self-limited upper respiratory tract illness characterized by fever, cough, sore throat, and malaise. however, influenza can present along a broad spectrum of disease, ranging from sub-clinical or even asymptomatic infection to a severe primary viral pneumonia requiring advanced medical supportive care. disease severity depends upon the virulence of the influenza virus strain and the immune competence and pre ... | 2014 | 24709389 |
| low dose influenza virus challenge in the ferret leads to increased virus shedding and greater sensitivity to oseltamivir. | ferrets are widely used to study human influenza virus infection. their airway physiology and cell receptor distribution makes them ideal for the analysis of pathogenesis and virus transmission, and for testing the efficacy of anti-influenza interventions and vaccines. the 2009 pandemic influenza virus (h1n1pdm09) induces mild to moderate respiratory disease in infected ferrets, following inoculation with 106 plaque-forming units (pfu) of virus. we have demonstrated that reducing the challenge d ... | 2014 | 24709834 |
| highly pathogenic avian influenza a virus (h5n1) can be transmitted in ferrets by transfusion. | highly pathogenic avian influenza a virus has been shown to infect organs other than the lung, and this is likely to be mediated by systemic spread resulting from viremia which has been detected in blood in severe cases of infection with avian h5n1 viruses. the infectivity of virus in blood and the potential for virus transmission by transfusion has not been investigated. | 2014 | 24712669 |
| brainstem auditory-evoked response (baer) in client-owned pet ferrets with normal hearing. | the objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of brainstem auditory-evoked response (baer) testing in pet ferrets in a clinical setting, and to describe a routine method and baseline data for normal hearing ferrets for future investigation of deafness in this species. twenty-eight clinically normal client-owned ferrets were included. baer measurements were recorded under general anaesthesia (isoflurane delivered by mask), from subcutaneously placed needle electrodes. a 'click' stim ... | 2014 | 24714054 |
| development of a high-yield live attenuated h7n9 influenza virus vaccine that provides protection against homologous and heterologous h7 wild-type viruses in ferrets. | live attenuated h7n9 influenza vaccine viruses that possess the hemagglutinin (ha) and neuraminidase (na) gene segments from the newly emerged wild-type (wt) a/anhui/1/2013 (h7n9) and six internal protein gene segments from the cold-adapted influenza virus a/ann arbor/6/60 (aa ca) were generated by reverse genetics. the reassortant virus containing the original wt a/anhui/1/2013 ha and na sequences replicated poorly in eggs. multiple variants with amino acid substitutions in the ha head domain t ... | 2014 | 24719414 |
| hemozoin is a potent adjuvant for hemagglutinin split vaccine without pyrogenicity in ferrets. | synthetic hemozoin (shz, also known as β-hematin) from monomeric heme is a particle adjuvant which activates antigen-presenting cells (apcs), such as dendritic cells and macrophages, and enhances humoral immune responses to several antigens, including ovalbumin, human serum albumin, and serine repeat antigen 36 of plasmodium falciparum. in the present study, we evaluated the adjuvanticity and pyrogenicity of shz as an adjuvant for seasonal trivalent hemagglutinin split vaccine (sv) for humans us ... | 2014 | 24721532 |
| identification, characterization, and natural selection of mutations driving airborne transmission of a/h5n1 virus. | recently, a/h5n1 influenza viruses were shown to acquire airborne transmissibility between ferrets upon targeted mutagenesis and virus passage. the critical genetic changes in airborne a/indonesia/5/05 were not yet identified. here, five substitutions proved to be sufficient to determine this airborne transmission phenotype. substitutions in pb1 and pb2 collectively caused enhanced transcription and virus replication. one substitution increased ha thermostability and lowered the ph of membrane f ... | 2014 | 24725402 |
| next-generation sequencing and bioinformatic approaches to detect and analyze influenza virus in ferrets. | conventional methods used to detect and characterize influenza viruses in biological samples face multiple challenges due to the diversity of subtypes and high dissimilarity of emerging strains. next-generation sequencing (ngs) is a powerful technique that can facilitate the detection and characterization of influenza, however, the sequencing strategy and the procedures of data analysis possess different aspects that require careful consideration. | 2014 | 24727517 |
| effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. | the objectives of this review were to summarize the evidence from randomized controlled trials (rcts) on the effects of animal-assisted therapy (aat). studies were eligible if they were rcts. studies included one treatment group in which aat was applied. we searched the following databases from 1990 up to october 31, 2012: medline via pubmed, cinahl, web of science, ichushi web, ghl, wprim, and psycinfo. we also searched all cochrane database up to october 31, 2012. eleven rcts were identified, ... | 2014 | 24731910 |
| influenza h1n1pdm-specific maternal antibodies offer limited protection against wild-type virus replication and influence influenza vaccination in ferrets. | the objective was to study passively acquired influenza h1n1 pandemic (h1n1pdm) maternal antibody kinetics and its impact on subsequent influenza infection and vaccination in ferrets during an outbreak of the h1n1pdm. | 2014 | 24734293 |
| prevalence of deafness and association with coat variations in client-owned ferrets. | to evaluate the prevalence of congenital sensorineural deafness (csd) and its association with phenotypic markers in client-owned ferrets. | 2014 | 24739114 |
| an orally available, small-molecule polymerase inhibitor shows efficacy against a lethal morbillivirus infection in a large animal model. | measles virus is a highly infectious morbillivirus responsible for major morbidity and mortality in unvaccinated humans. the related, zoonotic canine distemper virus (cdv) induces morbillivirus disease in ferrets with 100% lethality. we report an orally available, shelf-stable pan-morbillivirus inhibitor that targets the viral rna polymerase. prophylactic oral treatment of ferrets infected intranasally with a lethal cdv dose reduced viremia and prolonged survival. ferrets infected with the same ... | 2014 | 24739760 |
| emergent selectivity for task-relevant stimuli in higher-order auditory cortex. | a variety of attention-related effects have been demonstrated in primary auditory cortex (a1). however, an understanding of the functional role of higher auditory cortical areas in guiding attention to acoustic stimuli has been elusive. we recorded from neurons in two tonotopic cortical belt areas in the dorsal posterior ectosylvian gyrus (dpeg) of ferrets trained on a simple auditory discrimination task. neurons in dpeg showed similar basic auditory tuning properties to a1, but during behavior ... | 2014 | 24742467 |
| automated analysis of delayed emesis in the telemetered ferret: detection of synergistic effects of aprepitant and ondansetron. | nausea and vomiting are common side effects of cancer chemotherapy. we have previously described a model in the ferret where delayed emesis can be measured automatically using telemetry. this study was designed to examine the sensitivity of this automated emesis model for detecting moderate and/or additive pharmacological effects by investigating low-dose effects of aprepitant alone or in combination with ondansetron. ferrets implanted with telemetry devices (data sciences international) were or ... | 2014 | 24750138 |
| molecular characterization of cryptically circulating rabies virus from ferret badgers, taiwan. | after the last reported cases of rabies in a human in 1959 and a nonhuman animal in 1961, taiwan was considered free from rabies. however, during 2012-2013, an outbreak occurred among ferret badgers in taiwan. to examine the origin of this virus strain, we sequenced 3 complete genomes and acquired multiple rabies virus (rabv) nucleoprotein and glycoprotein sequences. phylogeographic analyses demonstrated that the rabv affecting the taiwan ferret badgers (rabv-twfb) is a distinct lineage within t ... | 2014 | 24751120 |
| mechanisms of noise robust representation of speech in primary auditory cortex. | humans and animals can reliably perceive behaviorally relevant sounds in noisy and reverberant environments, yet the neural mechanisms behind this phenomenon are largely unknown. to understand how neural circuits represent degraded auditory stimuli with additive and reverberant distortions, we compared single-neuron responses in ferret primary auditory cortex to speech and vocalizations in four conditions: clean, additive white and pink (1/f) noise, and reverberation. despite substantial distort ... | 2014 | 24753585 |
| microinjection of membrane-impermeable molecules into single neural stem cells in brain tissue. | this microinjection protocol allows the manipulation and tracking of neural stem and progenitor cells in tissue at single-cell resolution. we demonstrate how to apply microinjection to organotypic brain slices obtained from mice and ferrets; however, our technique is not limited to mouse and ferret embryos, but provides a means of introducing a wide variety of membrane-impermeable molecules (e.g., nucleic acids, proteins, hydrophilic compounds) into neural stem and progenitor cells of any develo ... | 2014 | 24762784 |
| first survey of endoparasites in pet ferrets in italy. | endoparasites are infrequently reported in ferrets. a cross-sectional survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites in pet ferrets in southern italy. fresh fecal samples were randomly collected from 50 ferrets housed in pet shops or privately owned. all fecal samples were processed using the flotac pellet technique to identify and count helminthic eggs/larvae and protozoan cysts/oocysts. in addition, the samples were analyzed also by the remel xpectgiardia/cryptosporid ... | 2014 | 24768317 |
| ferret-mouse differences in interkinetic nuclear migration and cellular densification in the neocortical ventricular zone. | the thick outer subventricular zone (osvz) is characteristic of the development of human neocortex. how this region originates from the ventricular zone (vz) is largely unknown. recently, we showed that over-proliferation-induced acute nuclear densification and thickening of the vz in neocortical walls of mice, which lack an osvz, causes reactive delamination of undifferentiated progenitors and invasion by these cells of basal areas outside the vz. in this study, we sought to determine how vz ce ... | 2014 | 24780233 |
| use of a gnrh agonist implant as alternative for surgical neutering in pet ferrets. | in the current study, the duration of effectiveness, owner satisfaction and side effects of a gonadotrophin releasing hormone-agonist (deslorelin) implant were investigated during a two-year follow-up study in which 61 male and 69 female entire pet ferrets were given a 4.7 mg deslorelin implant as alternative to surgical neutering. in 27 participating non-oestrous jills, a double-blind placebo controlled study was performed to investigate whether a single low dose of medroxyprogesterone (2 mg or ... | 2014 | 24789851 |
| tetralogy of fallot in a 6-year-old albino ferret (mustela putorius furo). | tetralogy of fallot associated with bidirectional shunting across a large ventricular septal defect, was found in a 6-year-old ferret. the prognosis associated with tetralogy of fallot is usually poor. this case is interesting given the advanced age of the ferret. the bidirectional shunting, responsible for an acyanotic disease, may explain the unexpected prolonged survival in this ferret. | 2014 | 24790231 |
| mucociliary clearance and submucosal gland secretion in the ex vivo ferret trachea. | in many species submucosal glands are an important source of tracheal mucus, but the extent to which mucociliary clearance (mcc) depends on gland secretion is unknown. to explore this relationship, we measured basal and agonist-stimulated mcc velocities in ex vivo tracheas from adult ferrets and compared the velocities with previously measured rates of ferret glandular mucus secretion (cho hj, joo ns, wine jj. am j physiol lung cell mol physiol 299: l124-l136, 2010). stimulated mcc velocities (m ... | 2014 | 24793168 |
| taqman real time rt-pcr assays for detecting ferret innate and adaptive immune responses. | the ferret is an excellent model for many human infectious diseases including influenza, sars-cov, henipavirus and pneumococcal infections. the ferret is also used to study cystic fibrosis and various cancers, as well as reproductive biology and physiology. however, the range of reagents available to measure the ferret immune response is very limited. to address this deficiency, high-throughput real time rt-pcr taqman assays were developed to measure the expression of fifteen immune mediators as ... | 2014 | 24797460 |
| detection of evolutionarily distinct avian influenza a viruses in antarctica. | abstract distinct lineages of avian influenza viruses (aivs) are harbored by spatially segregated birds, yet significant surveillance gaps exist around the globe. virtually nothing is known from the antarctic. using virus culture, molecular analysis, full genome sequencing, and serology of samples from adélie penguins in antarctica, we confirmed infection by h11n2 subtype aivs. their genetic segments were distinct from all known contemporary influenza viruses, including south american aivs, sugg ... | 2014 | 24803521 |
| african green monkeys recapitulate the clinical experience with replication of live attenuated pandemic influenza virus vaccine candidates. | live attenuated cold-adapted (ca) h5n1, h7n3, h6n1, and h9n2 influenza vaccine viruses replicated in the respiratory tract of mice and ferrets, and 2 doses of vaccines were immunogenic and protected these animals from challenge infection with homologous and heterologous wild-type (wt) viruses of the corresponding subtypes. however, when these vaccine candidates were evaluated in phase i clinical trials, there were inconsistencies between the observations in animal models and in humans. the vacci ... | 2014 | 24807726 |
| evaluation of oseltamivir prophylaxis regimens for reducing influenza virus infection, transmission and disease severity in a ferret model of household contact. | the emergence of the pandemic influenza a(h1n1)pdm09 virus in 2009 saw a significant increase in the therapeutic and prophylactic use of neuraminidase inhibitors (nais) to mitigate the impact of this highly transmissible virus. prior to the pandemic, many countries stockpiled nais and developed pandemic plans for the use of antiviral drugs, based on either treatment of high-risk individuals and/or prophylaxis of contacts. however, to date there has been a lack of in vivo models to test the effic ... | 2014 | 24840623 |
| intranasal h5n1 vaccines, adjuvanted with chitosan derivatives, protect ferrets against highly pathogenic influenza intranasal and intratracheal challenge. | we investigated the protective efficacy of two intranasal chitosan (csn and tm-csn) adjuvanted h5n1 influenza vaccines against highly pathogenic avian influenza (hpai) intratracheal and intranasal challenge in a ferret model. six groups of 6 ferrets were intranasally vaccinated twice, 21 days apart, with either placebo, antigen alone, csn adjuvanted antigen, or tm-csn adjuvanted antigen. homologous and intra-subtypic antibody cross-reacting responses were assessed. ferrets were inoculated intrat ... | 2014 | 24850536 |
| an update on feline infectious peritonitis: diagnostics and therapeutics. | this review is concerned with what has been learned about feline infectious peritonitis (fip) diagnostics and therapeutics since the publication of an extensive overview of literature covering the period 1963-2009. although progress has been made in both areas, obtaining a definitive diagnosis of fip remains a problem for those veterinarians and/or cat owners who require absolute certainty. this review will cover both indirect and direct diagnostic tests for the disease and will emphasize their ... | 2014 | 24857253 |
| apremilast is a selective pde4 inhibitor with regulatory effects on innate immunity. | apremilast, an oral small molecule inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 4 (pde4), is in development for chronic inflammatory disorders, and has shown efficacy in psoriasis, psoriatic arthropathies, and behçet's syndrome. in march 2014, the us food and drug administration approved apremilast for the treatment of adult patients with active psoriatic arthritis. the properties of apremilast were evaluated to determine its specificity, effects on intracellular signaling, gene and protein expression, and in ... | 2014 | 24882690 |
| activation of coagulation and tissue fibrin deposition in experimental influenza in ferrets. | epidemiological studies relate influenza infection with vascular diseases like myocardial infarction. the hypothesis that influenza infection has procoagulant effects on humans has been investigated by experimental animal models. however, these studies often made use of animal models only susceptible to adapted influenza viruses (mouse adapted influenza strains) or remained inconclusive. therefore, we decided to study the influence of infection with human influenza virus isolates on coagulation ... | 2014 | 24884666 |
| high doses of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in chicken meat are required to infect ferrets. | high pathogenicity avian influenza viruses (hpaiv) have caused fatal infections in mammals through consumption of infected bird carcasses or meat, but scarce information exists on the dose of virus required and the diversity of hpaiv subtypes involved. ferrets were exposed to different hpaiv (h5 and h7 subtypes) through consumption of infected chicken meat. the dose of virus needed to infect ferrets through consumption was much higher than via respiratory exposure and varied with the virus strai ... | 2014 | 24894438 |
| the quantitative effect of visual and tactile stimuli on the prey-catching behaviour of ferrets (putorius furo l.). | the influence of visual and tactile stimuli on the elicitation of prey-catching behaviour of ferrets was to be studied. for this study 16 animals, males and females, some naive and others experienced in catching and killing mice and rats were used. the behaviour of the ferrets toward 16 dummies with different characteristics was analysed under standardized conditions. prey catching reactions of ferrets can be elicited by moving dummies. dummies up to a certain size reliably elicit hunting reacti ... | 1977 | 24896437 |
| identification of interspecific differences in phase ii reactions: determination of metabolites in the urine of 16 mammalian species exposed to environmental pyrene. | interspecific differences in xenobiotic metabolism are a key to determining relative sensitivities of animals to xenobiotics. however, information on domesticated livestock, companion animals, and captive and free-ranging wildlife is incomplete. the present study evaluated interspecific differences in phase ii conjugation using pyrene as a nondestructive biomarker of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (pah) exposure. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their metabolites have carcinogenic and endoc ... | 2014 | 24899081 |
| host species restriction of middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus through its receptor, dipeptidyl peptidase 4. | middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus (mers-cov) emerged in 2012. recently, the mers-cov receptor dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (dpp4) was identified and the specific interaction of the receptor-binding domain (rbd) of mers-cov spike protein and dpp4 was determined by crystallography. animal studies identified rhesus macaques but not hamsters, ferrets, or mice to be susceptible for mers-cov. here, we investigated the role of dpp4 in this observed species tropism. cell lines of human and nonhuman ... | 2014 | 24899185 |
| avian influenza h7n9/13 and h7n7/13: a comparative virulence study in chickens, pigeons, and ferrets. | human influenza cases caused by a novel avian h7n9 virus in china emphasize the zoonotic potential of that subtype. we compared the infectivity and pathogenicity of the novel h7n9 virus with those of a recent european avian h7n7 strain in chickens, pigeons, and ferrets. neither virus induced signs of disease despite substantial replication in inoculated chickens and rapid transmission to contact chickens. evidence of the replication of both viruses in pigeons, albeit at lower levels of rna excre ... | 2014 | 24899194 |
| gonadectomy-related adrenocortical tumors in ferrets demonstrate increased expression of androgen and estrogen synthesizing enzymes together with high inhibin expression. | the 2 objectives of this study were to (1) measure by quantitative polymerase chain reaction the expression of genes involved in steroid and inhibin synthesis in adrenocortical tumors of gonadectomized ferrets and (2) localize by immunohistochemistry several proteins that are key to adrenal steroidogenesis. relative to the control adrenals, expression of the messenger rnas encoding star (steroidogenic acute regulatory protein; p = 0.039), cyp11a (p = 0.019), cyp21 (p = 0.01), and 3β-hsd (p = 0.0 ... | 2014 | 24906927 |
| hearing in noisy environments: noise invariance and contrast gain control. | contrast gain control has recently been identified as a fundamental property of the auditory system. electrophysiological recordings in ferrets have shown that neurons continuously adjust their gain (their sensitivity to change in sound level) in response to the contrast of sounds that are heard. at the level of the auditory cortex, these gain changes partly compensate for changes in sound contrast. this means that sounds which are structurally similar, but have different contrasts, have similar ... | 2014 | 24907308 |
| rabies and rabies virus in wildlife in mainland china, 1990-2013. | the number of wildlife rabies and wildlife-associated human and livestock rabies cases has increased in recent years, particularly in the southeast and northeast regions of mainland china. to better understand wildlife rabies and its role in human and livestock rabies, we reviewed what is known about wildlife rabies from the 1990s to 2013 in mainland china. in addition, the genetic diversity and phylogeny of available wildlife-originated rabies viruses (rabvs) were analyzed. several wildlife spe ... | 2014 | 24911887 |
| antigenic variation of clade 2.1 h5n1 virus is determined by a few amino acid substitutions immediately adjacent to the receptor binding site. | highly pathogenic avian influenza (hpai) viruses of the h5n1 subtype are genetically highly variable and have diversified into multiple phylogenetic clades over the past decade. antigenic drift is a well-studied phenomenon for seasonal human influenza viruses, but much less is known about the antigenic evolution of hpai h5n1 viruses that circulate in poultry. in this study, we focused on hpai h5n1 viruses that are enzootic to indonesia. we selected representative viruses from genetically distinc ... | 2014 | 24917596 |
| influenza virus infectivity and virulence following ocular-only aerosol inoculation of ferrets. | respiratory pathogens have traditionally been studied by examining the exposure and infection of respiratory tract tissues. however, these studies typically overlook the role of ocular surfaces, which represent both a potential site of virus replication and a portal of entry for the establishment of a respiratory infection. to model transocular virus entry in a mammalian species, we established a novel inoculation method that delivers an aerosol inoculum exclusively to the ferret ocular surface. ... | 2014 | 24920819 |
| circulating avian influenza viruses closely related to the 1918 virus have pandemic potential. | wild birds harbor a large gene pool of influenza a viruses that have the potential to cause influenza pandemics. foreseeing and understanding this potential is important for effective surveillance. our phylogenetic and geographic analyses revealed the global prevalence of avian influenza virus genes whose proteins differ only a few amino acids from the 1918 pandemic influenza virus, suggesting that 1918-like pandemic viruses may emerge in the future. to assess this risk, we generated and charact ... | 2014 | 24922572 |