Cervical Vertebral Body Chordoma in a Cat Hampel, R.; Taylor-Brown, F.; Priestnall, S.L.
Journal of comparative pathology,
20/May , Letnik:
154, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
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A 9-year-old, neutered female Maine Coon cat with a 6-week history of progressive ataxia was diagnosed with a cervical vertebral body mass using magnetic resonance imaging. The mass displaced and ...compressed the cervical spinal cord. The cat was humanely destroyed and necropsy examination confirmed a mass within the second cervical vertebral body. Microscopically, the mass was composed of large, clear, vacuolated (‘physaliferous’) cells. Immunohistochemically, the neoplastic cells expressed both cytokeratin and vimentin and the final diagnosis was a cervical, vertebral body chordoma. This is only the third report of a chordoma in this species and the first in this location. Chordoma should be considered as a potential differential diagnosis for tumours arising from the cervical vertebrae in the cat.
Young adolescents who are LGBTQIA+ often encounter hostile experiences while in middle level schools. Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 young adolescents who are LGBTQIA+ at ...two middle schools to determine their experiences. Students report the ages at which they realized their gender and sexual identities: Five reveal recognizing their identities before they entered sixth grade. Respondents provide examples of how they are often mistreated and disrespected by fellow students and teachers. Students offer advice to middle level educators for how to protect and support them as they interact with teachers and fellow students. Differences between gender identity and sexual orientation are provided to assist educators in understanding the distinction and its significance. Current sexual and gender identity vocabularies are provided, as is a rationale to avoid labeling anyone who is LGBTQIA+ as "diverse" or with the phrase, "identifies as." Three types of victimization of adolescents who are LGBTQIA+ that often occur at school are identified: staff-sanctioned victimization, direct victimization, and indirect victimization. The effects of victimization are described as are suggestions for circumventing these behaviors. We offer strategies to help educators identify and address heteronormative beliefs and resultant negative policies. Suggestions are provided for how to create safe and equitable environments in middle level schools for students who are LGBTQIA+.
We used data from 444 undergraduates and 375 adults recruited online to evaluate lay raters’ perceptions of vignettes described as having high levels of narcissistic traits. Participants were ...presented with vignettes describing someone with grandiose narcissistic characteristics only (e.g., someone who is arrogant), followed by vignettes describing someone with both grandiose and vulnerable narcissistic features (e.g., feeling insecure). Our primary aims focused on determining the extent to which (a) lay raters viewed narcissistic grandiosity and vulnerability as interconnected and (b) how attitudes toward vignettes varied as a function of the vulnerable and grandiose characteristics in the vignette descriptions. We also examined associations between lay raters’ self-rated personality (assessed using the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire and the Big Five Inventory-2) and their vignette perceptions. Lay raters rated the vignette described as having only grandiose features as being prone to experiencing vulnerability. Furthermore, lay raters had more favorable views of the vignette including descriptions of both grandiose and vulnerable features (versus grandiose features alone). Likability and sympathy ratings did not vary based on the name used for vignettes (i.e., using the name “James” versus “Mary”). Finally, lay raters’ self-rated traits showed some interesting associations with their vignette perceptions, but generally associations were weak in magnitude. Collectively, our findings indicate that lay raters perceive grandiosity and vulnerability as overlapping, and co-occurring grandiosity and vulnerability (versus grandiosity alone) may represent a more sympathetic view of narcissism. Determining the extent to which these attitudes influence real-world interactions would be useful for extending our findings.
The ongoing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic presents an urgent need for an effective vaccine. Molecular characterization of SARS-CoV-2 is critical to the ...development of effective vaccine and therapeutic strategies. In the present study, we show that the fusion of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor-binding domain to its transmembrane domain is sufficient to mediate trimerization. Our findings may have implications for vaccine development and therapeutic drug design strategies targeting spike trimerization. As global efforts for developing SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are rapidly underway, we believe this observation is an important consideration for identifying crucial epitopes of SARS-CoV-2.
To document the use of and to estimate the accuracy of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for detection of late meniscal tears in dogs with cranial cruciate ligament injury treated with tibial ...tuberosity advancement (TTA).
Medical records of dogs that had TTA followed by stifle MR imaging for suspected meniscal tear and subsequent arthrotomy were reviewed retrospectively. Magnetic resonance images were reviewed independently by an observer blinded to clinical information who classified menisci as torn, abnormal but intact, or normal. Magnetic resonance and surgical findings were compared.
Eight stifles from large breed dogs were included. Six stifles had a medial meniscal tear identified in MR images and later confirmed surgically. In the remaining two stifles, the menisci appeared intact in MR images and no tear was identified at subsequent arthrotomy. Lateral menisci in all stifles appeared intact in MR images and were considered normal at surgery. Susceptibility artefacts associated with TTA implants were present in all images but did not adversely affect interpretation of intra-articular structures.
Magnetic resonance imaging appears to be accurate for diagnosis of late meniscal tears. Artefacts associated with TTA implants did not prevent evaluation of critical intra-articular structures. Further investigation with MR imaging should be considered when late meniscal tear is suspected following TTA.
The influence of age-associated motor unit loss on contractile strength was investigated in a representative sample of healthy, active young and older men and women. In 24 younger subjects (22-38 yr) ...and 20 older subjects (60-81 yr) spike-triggered averaging was employed to extract a sample of surface-recorded single motor unit action potentials (S-MUAPs) from the biceps brachii and brachialis muscles. The amplitude of the maximum compound muscle action potential of the biceps brachii and brachialis muscles was divided by the mean S-MUAP amplitude to estimate the numbers of motor units present. The maximum isometric twitch contraction (MTC) and maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) of the elbow flexors were also recorded in 18 of the younger subjects and in all older subjects. The estimated numbers of motor units were significantly reduced (47%, P < 0.001) in older subjects with a mean value of 189 +/- 77 compared with a mean of 357 +/- 97 in younger subjects. The sizes of the S-MUAPs, however, were significantly larger in older subjects (23%, P < 0.01). Significant but less marked age-associated reductions in the MTC (33%, P < 0.05) and MVC (33%, P < 0.001) were also found and were similar for both men and women. These results suggest that motor unit losses, even in healthy active individuals, are a primary factor in the age-associated reductions in contractile strength.
The extreme conservation of mitochondrial genomes in metazoans poses a significant challenge to understanding mitogenome evolution. However, the presence of variation in gene order or genome ...structure, found in a small number of taxa, can provide unique insights into this evolution. Previous work on two stingless bees in the genus Tetragonula (T. carbonaria and T. hockingsi) revealed highly divergent CO1 regions between them and when compared to the bees from the same tribe (Meliponini), indicating rapid evolution. Using mtDNA isolation and Illumina sequencing, we elucidated the mitogenomes of both species. In both species, there has been a duplication of the whole mitogenome to give a total genome size of 30,666 bp in T. carbonaria; and 30,662 bp in T. hockingsi. These duplicated genomes present a circular structure with two identical and mirrored copies of all 13 protein coding genes and 22 tRNAs, with the exception of a few tRNAs that are present as single copies. In addition, the mitogenomes are characterized by rearrangements of two block of genes. We believe that rapid evolution is present in the whole Indo-Malay/Australasian group of Meliponini but is extraordinarily elevated in T. carbonaria and T. hockingsi, probably due to founder effect, low effective population size and the mitogenome duplication. All these features - rapid evolution, rearrangements, and duplication - deviate significantly from the vast majority of the mitogenomes described so far, making the mitogenomes of Tetragonula unique opportunities to address fundamental questions of mitogenome function and evolution.
•The mitogenomes of T. carbonara and T. hockingsi are characterised by rapid evolution, rearrangements, and duplication•The mitogenomes comprises two duplicated and mirrored single mitogenomes, with two different AT-rich regions between them•The mutation rate is ~26 times higher relative to nuclear genes - which is much higher than nearly all other insects•The rapid evolution and the rearrangements are present across a broad Indo-Malay/Australasian taxon of stingless bees
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