Despite growing knowledge of the different EEHV types, the prevalence of each type within African and Asian elephants remains to be determined and there is considerable need for diagnostic tests to detect and discriminate between each EEHV species for clinical management of African and Asian elephants that develop illness from one or more of these viruses. To begin to address these issues, we developed real-time PR assays for EEHV2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Overall, each assay had robust PCR efficiency, a dynamic linear range over 5 log(10) concentrations, a limit of detection of 10 copies/test reaction

with 100% sensitivity, and low intra- and inter-assay variability. Each assay proved to be specific for the EEHV targets for which it was designed, with the exception of EEHV3 and EEHV4, which was expected because of greater DNA sequence similarity between these two EEHV species GW3965 than the others. These new tools will be useful for conducting surveys of EEHV prevalence within captive and range country elephants, for diagnostic testing selleck chemicals of elephants with suspected EEHV-associated disease, and for managing the treatment of elephants with EEHV-induced illness. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“The NMDA receptor antagonist ketamine can induce a rapid improvement in depressive

symptoms that often endures for days after a single intravenous dose. The pharmacodynamic basis for this effect is poorly Evofosfamide nmr understood. Using a proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ([H-1]-MRS) method that previously detected a normalization of amino acid neurotransmitter (AANt)

content after chronic treatment with conventional antidepressant treatments, we examined whether the acute action of ketamine is associated with alterations in AANt content as well. Ten subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD) received saline, then ketamine in a fixed order, one week apart, under single-blind conditions. Each infusion was associated with three [ MRS scans (baseline, 3 h and 48 h post-infusion) that measured glutamate, GABA and glutamine within the occipital cortex. Rating scales were administered before, during and after each infusion. The rapid (1 h) and sustained (at least 7 days) antidepressant effect we observed after ketamine infusion was not associated with either baseline measures of, or changes in, occipital AANt content Dissociative symptoms were not correlated with changes in depression scores. While our results indicate that changes in occipital AANt content are not a correlate of ketamine’s antidepressant action, this may only apply to the regional and temporal windows of our MRS measurements. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“BackgroundThe role of bracing in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis who are at risk for curve progression and eventual surgery is controversial.