Results-Of the 3,442 cats that underwent necropsy during the study period, 59 (1.7%) had nonneoplastic middle ear disease. Six of the 59 (10%) cats, including 1 cat that was affected bilaterally, had clinical signs of middle ear disease. Etomoxir Of these, 5 had signs of unilateral peripheral vestibular

disease, and 1 had Horner syndrome.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Results suggested that most cats with nonneoplastic middle ear disease did not have associated clinical signs. Findings may be of clinical relevance for cats in which middle ear disease is identified as an incidental finding during computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging for unrelated diseases. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2009;235:841-843)”
“A 51-year-old active smoker with primary acquired pulmonary alveolar

proteinosis (PAP) diagnosed by biopsy and anti-GM-CSF antibodies was treated safely with whole-lung lavage (WLL). This resulted in a rapid improvement of symptoms and arterial blood oxygenation, but not of standard lung function parameters. However, we also performed the multiple-breath nitrogen washout (MBW) test to determine the lung clearance index (LCI) as well as indices of acinar ventilation heterogeneity (S-acin) and conductive ventilation heterogeneity (S-cond). At baseline, a distinct abnormality was seen for S-acin and LCI, while S-cond was at the upper limit of normal for this subject. S-acin, in particular, was AZ 628 in excess of the S-acin abnormality corresponding to a 20-pack-year smoking history. Immediately after WLL, S-acin and S-cond both fell BIBF 1120 in vivo to within a normal range while LCI also decreased but remained abnormal. The S-acin decrease was much greater than the S-cond decrease, which was to be expected after 1 week of smoking

cessation at the hospital (smoking was resumed after release from hospital). A follow-up visit 7 weeks after WLL revealed a spectacular improvement on CT scan and improvements in standard lung function. Another follow-up visit 14 weeks after WLL showed further improvements in standard lung function, and both S-acin and S-cond remained well within the normal range, and LCI was above the upper limit of normal. We conclude that in this patient, removal of excess surfactant by WLL resulted in a restored ventilation distribution in most of the distal air spaces. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel”
“In recent decades, scientific understanding of the many roles of oxytocin (OT) in social behavior has advanced tremendously. The focus of this research has been on maternal attachments and reproductive pair bonds, and much less is known about the substrates of sociality outside of reproductive contexts. It is now apparent that OT influences many aspects of social behavior including recognition, trust, empathy, and other components of the behavioral repertoire of social species. This review provides a comparative perspective on the contributions of OT to life in mammalian social groups.