Clinical and pharmacokinetic characteristics of intracavitary administration of pegylated liposomal encapsulated doxorubicin in dogs with splenic hemangiosarcoma

BACKGROUND: Canine splenic hemangiosarcoma (HSA) is a fatal malignancy, and most affected dogs die within a few months of diagnosis. Most dogs present with signs from tumor rupture, resulting in hemoabdomen and intra-abdominal dissemination. The abdomen is also the main site of disease recurrence. HYPOTHESIS: Intraperitoneal (IP) administration of doxorubicin will delay or prevent intra-abdominal tumor recurrence and prolong survival in dogs with HSA. ANIMALS: Fourteen dogs with splenic HSA. METHODS: A prospective, unmasked, uncontrolled clinical trial. After staging of disease status and splenectomy, pegylated liposomal encapsulated doxorubicin was administered intraperitoneally (1 mg/kg body weight) every 3 weeks for 4 cycles. All dogs were monitored for recurrence of HSA. Samples of plasma and abdominal fluid were collected for measurement of doxorubicin concentration and pharmacokinetic analysis. Nonlinear mixed-effect modeling was used to describe the pharmacokinetics of liposomal doxorubicin administered IP. RESULTS: All 14 dogs died, 12 because of HSA and 2 from other causes. Postmortem examination was performed on 12 dogs. All 12 dogs died because of HSA-related causes and had hepatic metastases and hemoabdomen. The IP-treated dogs had fewer serosal, mesenteric, and omental metastases than historical controls treated with systemic doxorubicin. Results of the postmortem examination and pharmacokinetic analysis confirmed that IP delivery of doxorubicin resulted in an effective drug concentration with a clearance comparable with that after i.v. delivery. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: IP pegylated liposomal encapsulated doxorubicin administration did not prevent intraabdominal recurrence of HSA in dogs.     

Designing marine reserves for interacting species: Insights from theory

The primary goals of marine reserves include protecting biodiversity and ecosystem structure. Therefore, a multispecies approach to designing and monitoring reserve networks is necessary. To gain insight into how the interactions between species in marine communities may affect reserve design, we synthesize marine reserve community models and community models with habitat destruction and fragmentation, and we develop new extensions of existing models. This synthesis highlights the potential for species interactions to alter reserve design criteria; in particular, accounting for species interactions often leads to an increase in reserve size necessary to protect populations. Accounting for species interactions also indicates the need to base reserve design and monitoring on a variety of species, especially long-distance dispersers, inferior colonizers, and specialists. Finally, the new model extensions highlight how, given dispersal, source populations outside reserves as well as increases in fished populations after reserve establishment may negatively affect reserve populations of competitors or prey. Therefore, multispecies harvest dynamics outside reserves and before reserve establishment are critical to determining the appropriate reserve size, spacing, and expectations after establishment. These models highlight the importance of species interactions to reserve design and provide guidelines for how this complexity can begin to be incorporated into conservation planning.     

Landscape-scale distribution of tree roosts of the northern long-eared bat in Mammoth Cave National Park,USA

Context

The roosting habits of many temperate zone bats are well documented at microhabitat scales, but fewer studies have included multi-scale assessments of landscape patterns in bat roost site selection.

Objectives

To identify and assess at the landscape-scale the location of spring and early season maternity roosts of female northern long-eared bats (Myotis septentrionalis) from 2015 to 2016 at Mammoth Cave National Park (MACA), Kentucky, USA.

Methods

We used mist-nets and radiotelemetry to catch and track bats to roost trees across the landscape of MACA. Data on roosting sites were evaluated using spatial point pattern analysis to examine distributional trends of roosts. A variety of spatial covariates were used to model the effect of landscape pattern, including: forest type, elevation, and proximity to hibernacula, water, and road corridors.

Results

Data indicate that roost locations of female northern long-eared bats in MACA were typically situated within 2000 m of known winter hibernacula, occurring more often at higher elevations in mesic upland deciduous forests, and in close proximity to water sources and roads. We present hypotheses to account for the patterns observed in relation to landscape features and habitat resources in the Park.

Conclusions

Our data indicate that a more comprehensive understanding of habitat requirements which includes empirically-based, landscape-scale patterns, and not solely considerations at stand or local levels, could lead to better informed management policies targeting conservation of maternity habitat of forest-dwelling bats, including the northern long-eared bat, a species in decline throughout much of its distribution in North America.

     

Morphological study of Socorro Island Merino sheep and its crosses with hair breeds

Tropical Animal Health and Production - A study was conducted with the objective to characterize the morphology of Socorro Island Merino sheep. A total of 67 sheep, 62 females, 26 purebred and 36...     

Applied information retrieval and multidisciplinary research: new mechanistic hypotheses in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

Background

Collaborative efforts of physicians and basic scientists are often necessary in the investigation of complex disorders. Difficulties can arise, however, when large amounts of information need to reviewed. Advanced information retrieval can be beneficial in combining and reviewing data obtained from the various scientific fields. In this paper, a team of investigators with varying backgrounds has applied advanced information retrieval methods, in the form of text mining and entity relationship tools, to review the current literature, with the intention to generate new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying a complex disorder. As an example of such a disorder the Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) was chosen. CRPS is a painful and debilitating syndrome with a complex etiology that is still unraveled for a considerable part, resulting in suboptimal diagnosis and treatment.

Results

A text mining based approach combined with a simple network analysis identified Nuclear Factor kappa B (NFκB) as a possible central mediator in both the initiation and progression of CRPS.

Conclusion

The result shows the added value of a multidisciplinary approach combined with information retrieval in hypothesis discovery in biomedical research. The new hypothesis, which was derived in silico, provides a framework for further mechanistic studies into the underlying molecular mechanisms of CRPS and requires evaluation in clinical and epidemiological studies.