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Long-term HIV/AIDS survivors responded online concerning their experiences during the AIDS and COVID pandemics. Recruited from web-based organizations for AIDS survivors, 147 answered questions on: frequency of experiencing stigma, isolation, aloneness, or grief/sadness; pet ownership; and sources of human support during each pandemic. Conditional inference trees were run to identify relevant demographic factors. Post-hoc comparisons were conducted to compare dog owners and cat owners. AIDS survivors reported more frequent feelings of stigma, aloneness, and sadness/grief during the AIDS pandemic than during COVID. Cat owners' sadness/grief during AIDS was greater than non-owners. During COVID, older respondents unexpectedly were less often sad/grieving than younger ones; dog owners less often felt alone and isolated than non-dog owners. Support during the AIDS pandemic retrospectively was rated better for older respondents; young gays' support was greater than young straights. During COVID, support was better for men than women. Contrastingly, women with pets felt less support than those without; men with dogs felt more support than those without. Cat owners more often felt isolated and unsupported during COVID than dog owners. Few dog or cat owners received support from family members in either pandemic; during AIDS, family support was better for owners of dogs than cats.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of various combinations of Lactobacillus species ( L . rhamnosus, L. paracasei , and L. plantarum ) on closely associated variables of production of laying hens, nitrogenous compounds in manure, the serum concentration of specific chemicals, and liver uric acid (UA) concentrations at peak lay. White Leghorns W-36 (32-week-old) were randomly assigned to five treatments for 8 weeks. Treatments were T1, the Control, a commercial feed; T2, the Control + L. paracasei + L. plantarum ; T3, the Control + L. paracasei + L. rhamnosus ; T4, the Control + L. plantarum + L. rhamnosus and T5, the Control + L. paracasei + L. plantarum + L. rhamnosus. Each bacterial species was included at 3.33 × 10 11 cfu/kg feed for a total of 6.66 x 10 11 cfu/kg feed for T2-T4 and a total of 1.0 × 10 12 cfu/kg feed for T5. Major effects among combinations of probiotics on production were not noted. The interaction of Probiotics by Week (Probiotics*Time) affected feed intake ( P = 0.0007) and feed conversion ratio (FCR, P = 0.0049) due to fluctuation by week. Significant effects of time were also recorded for a gradual increase in body weight (BW, P = 0.0007); lowest and greatest feed intake at weeks 2 and 7, respectively ( P < 0.0001); an increase in egg production ( P = 0.0007) and maximum FCR at week 7 ( P < 0.0001). Ammonia (NH 3 ) concentration, ammonium nitrogen (NH 4 -N), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), and total nitrogen remained unaffected at P < 0.05. Although there were fluctuations, a trend emerged for the reduction of TKN. Combinations of probiotics did not affect NH 3 , UA, total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), creatine kinase (CK), and UA in the liver. Temporal (Time as a fixed effect) effects were noted for all nitrogenous compounds present in manure. For ammonia, temporal effects were significant due to fluctuation over time. Week 0 had the lowest value followed by weeks 4 and 8. Week 6 had the greatest value. For ammonium nitrogen, week 8 had the lowest value followed by week 0 and 4 with the next highest value. Week 6 had the greatest value. For TKN, week 4 had the lowest value followed by weeks 6 and 8. Week 0 had the greatest value. For TN, weeks 4, 6, and 8 had similar and lowest values followed by week 0 having the greatest value. However, an overall reduction in NH 4 -N, TKN, and TN was noted. Fluctuations in NH 3 ( P = 0.0033) and CK ( P = 0.0085) were noted for Time. There was also a trend ( P = 0.0706) for the increase of UA in serum. Two or more species of probiotics with yeast should be investigated. If the combination is applicable for increasing production measurements and reducing nitrogenous and serum compounds, the most appropriate time to feed the probiotics from day 1 to the end of production should be investigated., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Animal Science.)

The EPA regulates ambient particulate matter (PM) because substantial associations have been established between PM and health impacts. Presently, regulatory compliance involves broad control of PM emission sources based on mass concentration rather than chemical composition, although PM toxicity is likely to vary depending upon PM physicochemical properties. The overall objective of this study was to help inform source-specific PM emission control regulations. For the first time, source-oriented PM was collected from the atmosphere in Fresno, CA, onto 38 source/size substrates. Mice were exposed via oropharyngeal aspiration to equivalent mass doses [50 μg] of two size fractions: ultrafine (Dp < 0.17μm) and submicron fine (0.17 < Dp < 1 μm) during summer and winter seasons. At 24 hours post-exposure, cellular and biochemical indicators of pulmonary inflammation were evaluated in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Significant inflammatory responses were elicited by vehicle, regional background, and cooking PM sources that were dependent on season and particle size. This is the first study of source-oriented toxicity of atmospheric PM and supports source-specific emissions control strategies.

Nursery-reared infants have several behavioral and physiologic differences from their mother-reared counterparts. We investigated whether a response-contingent surrogate mitigated some of those differences by decreasing fearfulness and partner-clinging and increasing environmental exploration in nursery-reared infants continuously paired with a peer. Six nursery-reared infant rhesus macaques (in pairs) were given a mechanical responsive surrogate (RS), and 6 (in pairs) were given an identical but nonresponsive surrogate (NRS). The 2 treatment groups were compared and then combined into a single group of all 12 of surrogate-exposed animals (CS) that was compared with a nonsurrogate control group (NS) of 10 nursery-reared infants. Results showed significant differences between CS and NS infants but no significant differences between the RS and NRS infants. As compared with NS infants, CS infants showed less partner-clinging, less affiliation directed toward only partner, and more foraging and tactile-oral exploration of the environment. These advantageous effects support additional research to develop improved surrogate and the implementation of surrogate programs for nursery-reared infants.

In contrast to European countries, the overwhelming majority of dogs in the U.S. are neutered (including spaying), usually done before one year of age. Given the importance of gonadal hormones in growth and development, this cultural contrast invites an analysis of the multiple organ systems that may be adversely affected by neutering. Using a single breed-specific dataset, the objective was to examine the variables of gender and age at the time of neutering versus leaving dogs gonadally intact, on all diseases occurring with sufficient frequency for statistical analyses. Given its popularity and vulnerability to various cancers and joint disorders, the Golden Retriever was chosen for this study. Veterinary hospital records of 759 client-owned, intact and neutered female and male dogs, 1-8 years old, were examined for diagnoses of hip dysplasia (HD), cranial cruciate ligament tear (CCL), lymphosarcoma (LSA), hemangiosarcoma (HSA), and mast cell tumor (MCT). Patients were classified as intact, or neutered early (<12 mo) or late (≥12 mo). Statistical analyses involved survival analyses and incidence rate comparisons. Outcomes at the 5 percent level of significance are reported. Of early-neutered males, 10 percent were diagnosed with HD, double the occurrence in intact males. There were no cases of CCL diagnosed in intact males or females, but in early-neutered males and females the occurrences were 5 percent and 8 percent, respectively. Almost 10 percent of early-neutered males were diagnosed with LSA, 3 times more than intact males. The percentage of HSA cases in late-neutered females (about 8 percent) was 4 times more than intact and early-neutered females. There were no cases of MCT in intact females, but the occurrence was nearly 6 percent in late-neutered females. The results have health implications for Golden Retriever companion and service dogs, and for oncologists using dogs as models of cancers that occur in humans.

Purpose: To determine the effect of conjunctival incision location on the long-term efficacy of nonvalved glaucoma drainage devices., Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of patients ≥18 years of age with uncontrolled glaucoma [intraocular pressure (IOP) ≥18 mm Hg] who underwent glaucoma drainage device implantation. A comparison was made of a limbal-based (LB-BGI) versus fornix-based (FB-BGI) conjunctival flap during placement of a 350-mm Baerveldt glaucoma implant (AMO, Santa Ana, CA) in subjects with at least 1 year of follow-up data. The primary outcome measure was IOP; secondary outcome measures were medication burden, visual acuity, and surgical complications., Results: One hundred sixty eyes of 147 glaucoma patients were included. Two years after surgery, the IOP in the LB-BGI group was 14.3±5.3 mm Hg and in the FB-BGI group 13.1±4.7 mm Hg (P=0.47). Overall success of IOP control was achieved at the final visit (range 1 to 5 y) in 90% of the LB-BGI group and 87% of the FB-BGI group (P=0.63). The medication burden of the 2 groups at 1 and 2 years after surgery was not statistically significantly different. Worsening of visual acuity by more than 2 lines was not statistically different between the groups 2 years after the surgery and at the final visit (P=0.47, P=0.60, respectively). A greater number of eyes developed endophthalmitis and were more likely to undergo subsequent tube revision in the FB-BGI group, but the differences were not significant., Conclusions: Both incision techniques were equally effective in controlling IOP. Each surgical approach has its advantages and this study suggests that either technique may be used safely and effectively.

Neonatal and postnatal exposures to air pollutants have adverse effects on lung development resulting in airway structure changes. Usually, generation-averaged analysis of airway geometric parameters is employed to differentiate between pulmonary airway trees. However, this method is limited, especially for monopodial branching trees such as in rat airways, because both quite proximal and less proximal airways that have very different structure and function may be in the same generation. To avoid limitations inherent in generation averaging, we developed a method that compares two trees airway-by-airway using micro CT image data from rat lungs. This computerized technique (1) identifies the geometry and architecture of the conducting airways from CT images, (2) extracts the main tree, (3) associates paired airways from the two different trees, and (4) develops summary statistics on the degree of similarity between populations of animals. By comparing the trees airway-by-airway, we found that the variance in airway length of the group exposed to diffusion flame particles (DFP) is significantly larger than the group raised in filtered air (FA). This method also found that rotation angle of the DFP group is significantly larger than FA, which is not as certain in the generation-based analysis. We suggest that airway-by-airway analysis complements generation-based averaging for detecting airway alterations.

Pto is a serine/threonine kinase that mediates resistance in tomato to strains of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato expressing the (a)virulence proteins AvrPto or AvrPtoB. DNA shuffling was used as a combinatorial in vitro genetic approach to dissect the functional regions of Pto. The Pto gene was shuffled with four of its paralogs from a resistant haplotype to create a library of recombinant products that was screened for interaction with AvrPto in yeast. All interacting clones and a representative sample of noninteracting clones were sequenced, and their ability to signal downstream was tested by the elicitation of a hypersensitive response in an AvrPto-dependent or -independent manner in planta. Eight candidate regions important for binding to AvrPto or for downstream signaling were identified by statistical correlations between individual amino acid positions and phenotype. A subset of the regions had previously been identified as important for recognition, confirming the validity of the shuffling approach. Three novel regions important for Pto function were validated by site-directed mutagenesis. Several chimeras and point mutants exhibited a differential interaction with (a)virulence proteins in the AvrPto and VirPphA family, demonstrating distinct binding requirements for different ligands. Additionally, the identification of chimeras that are both constitutively active as well as capable of binding AvrPto indicates that elicitation of downstream signaling does not involve a conformational change that precludes binding of AvrPto, as previously hypothesized. The correlations between phenotypes and variation generated by DNA shuffling paralleled natural variation observed between orthologs of Pto from Lycopersicon spp.

Single-fiber electromyography (SFEMG), a technique used to investigate neuromuscular transmission, has been described previously in the pelvic limb of dogs. Because preferential involvement of isolated muscle groups can occur in disorders of neuromuscular transmission, SFEMG was done in the peroneus longus (PL), extensor carpi radialis (ECR), and orbicularis oculi (OO) muscles of 10 adult, clinically normal dogs. Jitter was calculated as the mean absolute value of the consecutive differences in latency of 50 single muscle fiber action potentials after stimulation of intramuscular nerve bundles at the level of the motor point in at least 20 muscle fibers per muscle. Bilateral recordings were performed in 3 dogs. Mean jitter values were determined for each muscle, and differences among muscle groups and among dogs were compared. The upper limits of mean consecutive difference (mean plus 3 standard deviations) for the PL, ECR, and OO muscles were 21.94, 22.53, and 23.39 micros, respectively, and the upper limit of mean consecutive difference for individual muscle fibers in the respective fiber pools was 28.62, 36.39, and 35.68 micros. Jitter values for the ECR and OO were significantly higher than the jitter value for the PL muscle (P < .05). Significant differences among muscles or dogs or between sides were not observed for the ECR. Significant differences among dogs were observed for OO jitter values and were attributed to extremely low jitter values in 1 dog. Significant differences were demonstrated between sides for the PL and were attributed to small sample size. Results of this study provide normative data that can be used in the application of the stimulated SFEMG technique to dogs with suspected disorders of neuromuscular transmission.