Most of the 620+ species of salamanders are relatively small animals, rarely exceeding 200 mm total length, but members of the families Cryptobranchidae (1800 mm), Sirenidae (978 mm), Amphiumidae (1162 mm), Proteidae (486 mm) and Dicamptodontidae (351 mm) can truly be considered "giant salamanders." These families have few species (Proteidae with six species is the most speciose) and are aquati...

PURPOSE Cloacal exstrophy is a complex multisystem anomaly. Due to ambiguous genitalia gender assignment or reassignment is common. The psychological, emotional and behavioral impact of this condition has rarely been investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS We recruited 8 children with cloacal exstrophy born with genital ambiguity and a control group of 12 with cloacal anomalies born without genit...

Bladder and cloacal exstrophy are rare malformations associated with abnormalities in the pelvis. The objectives in reconstruction are to obtain a closed and continent bladder, with an acceptable cosmetic appearance. Treatment for the abnormalities of pelvic anatomy is an important part of achieving successful treatment for these urological conditions. This article aims to describe the techniqu...

Five commercially available immunoassays were evaluated for the detection of Chlamydia psittaci in cloacal and conjunctival swabs from industrially raised turkeys: IMAGEN (DAKO Diagnostics, Ely, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom), Chlamydia CEL-VET IF (Cellabs, Brookvale, Australia), IDEIA (DAKO Diagnostics), CELISA (Cellabs), and CLEARVIEW (Unipath, Bedford, United Kingdom). Results were compared...

Ranaviruses are emerging infectious diseases that infect amphibians, fish, and reptiles. Several cases of morbidity and mortality in captive and natural populations of reptiles have been attributed to ranaviruses, but research in this taxon has been limited. We used oral-cloacal swabs and tail clips to survey two species, Chrysemys picta picta (Eastern Painted Turtles) and Sternotherus odoratus...

Urocortin (UCN) is a 40 aminoacid peptide which belongs to corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) family. This family of peptides stimulates the secretion of proopiomelanocortin (POMC)-derived peptides, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), beta-endorphin and melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) in the pituitary gland. In the present study, using Western blotting and immunohistochemistry, the distr...

Chickens were experimentally infected with Salmonella thompson (serogroup C, paratyphoid) and Salmonella pullorum (serogroup D). Five serological methods and one cultural method were used in detecting the infections. The microantiglobulin test was superior to all other methods for detection of paratyphoid (S. THOMPSON) infection and was followed in efficacy by the microagglutination test, rapid...

Prenatal diagnosis of cloacal abnormalities is a challenge and most suspicious prenatal findings abdominopelvic (AP) cyst. The objective our study to identify new imaging sign, the umbilical artery-aorta (UMA) angle, suspect malformation. In this retrospective we report 3 cases AP cyst, identified in 11–14-week scan. spatial relation between artery aorta sagittal view were evaluated on colour D...

Background & Aims: The H9N2 avian influenza subtype is endemic in many parts of Iran and has the ability to transmit from bird to human. In the present study, the risk of this subtype for humans was assessed by determination of the viral titer and shedding time in bird. Method: The experiment was done on fifteen male budgerigars at 4 months of age. The birds w...

Background & Aims: The H9N2 avian influenza subtype is endemic in many parts of Iran and has the ability to transmit from bird to human. In the present study, the risk of this subtype for humans was assessed by determination of the viral titer and shedding time in bird. Method: The experiment was done on fifteen male budgerigars at 4 months of age. The birds were inoculated intranasally with al...