Stingless bees collect plant resins and make it into propolis, although they have a wider range of use for this material than do honey bees (Apis spp.). Plebeia spp. workers employ propolis mixed with wax (cerumen) for constructing and sealing nest structures, while they use viscous (sticky) propolis for defense by applying it onto their enemies. Isolated viscous propolis deposits are permanent...

OBJECTIVES The earwax (cerumen) that covers external auditory canal (EAC) skin contains a mixture of ceruminous and sebaceous gland substances, such as lipids, peptides, and proteins. The components secreted from the ceruminous gland that is a modified sweat gland form cerumen and contain several antimicrobial factors. Since substance P (SP) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), known as ...

A study based on naturally infested cats was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a single treatment with a topical formulation containing fipronil, (S)-methoprene, eprinomectin and praziquantel, for the prevention of Otodectes cynotis infestation in cats. Six treated cats and six untreated cats were housed with three chronically Otodectes cynotis-infested cats, respectively. The cats of e...

A 56-year-old white male physician presented with a 5-year history of recurrent and intermittent hearing loss. The symptoms were predominantly right-sided and were increasing in frequency. Hearing loss was interfering with his ability to perform auscultatory examinations. He was able to temporarily restore hearing with the frequent use of carbamide peroxide drops. There was no history of prior ...

0003-3472 2010 The Association for the Study of A doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2010.11.020 Social insects use cuticular lipids for nestmate recognition. These lipids are chiefly hydrocarbons that can be endogenously produced or acquired from the environment. Although these compounds are already described as coming from different sources for different groups of social insects, nothing is known about th...

We present highly sensitive, reliable methods for the determination of platinum originating from carboplatin in canine sebum and cerumen. The methods are based on the measurement of platinum by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and allow quantification of 0.15 pg platinum per cm² body surface in canine sebum and of 7.50 pg platinum per sampled ear canal. The sample pretreatment proce...