Animal phyla vary dramatically in species richness (from one species to >1.2 million), but the causes of this variation remain largely unknown. Animals have also evolved striking variation in morphology and ecology, including sessile marine taxa lacking heads, eyes, limbs, and complex organs (e.g., sponges), parasitic worms (e.g., nematodes, platyhelminths), and taxa with eyes, skeletons, limbs...

Animal models have been used to investigate the involvement of epithelial tight junctions in the pathogenesis of human airway disease. However, no previous study has compared the tight junction morphologies of human and animal species in order to relate findings in animal models to human disease. In the present study, we therefore undertook a comprehensive quantitative evaluation of tight junct...

The red panda (Ailurus fulgens) is a quadrupedal arboreal animal primarily distributed in the Himalayas and southern China. It is a species commonly kept in zoological collections. This study was carried out to describe the morphology of the pelvis and hind limb of the red panda evidenced by gross osteology, radiography and computed tomography as a reference for clinical use and identification ...

Estimation of permeation of compounds such as chemical warfare agents (CWAs) alone or through barrier creams such as SERPACWA (Skin Exposure Reduction Paste Against Chemical Warfare Agents) requires animal experiments or in vitro testing using animal or human skin. While animal skin does not reflect the same barrier properties as human skin, human skin poses problems of procurement, cost and la...

The present study was conducted to evaluate and compare the effects of various animal and plant protein sources on piglet’s performance, digestibility of amino acids and gut morphology in weaned pigs until 28 days after weaning. The plant protein sources used were soybean meal (SBM), fermented soy protein (FSP), rice protein concentrate (RPC); and animal protein sources tested were, whey protei...

background: stem cell therapy in small animal medicineis still in its infancy and few in vitro and in vivo research projectsregarding animal mesenchymal stem cells (mscs) have beencarried out. on the other hand, cell tracking is the first step of thecell-based therapies and is essential to recognize cell fate posttransplantation. objectives: the aim of this study was toisolate, characterize, an...

conclusions the results of the present study indicate the protective effects of melissa officinalis on some sperm parameters and spermatogenesis quality in rats exposed to lead. background some medicinal plants with their antioxidant properties have protective effects on sperm parameters and neutralize the harmful effects of lead exposure. objectives the present study aimed to determine the eff...

This chapter describes how large animal models can be used to improve our knowledge of neuroscience and brain disorders. Various animal models have been used in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Rodents and non-human primates are the most commonly used, but they present a number of drawbacks; for example, the rodent brain is smaller than that of humans and thus a higher spatial resolution is re...