This report presents the clinical, laboratory, imaging, and pathologic findings in 61 dogs with pheochromocytoma by retrospective evaluation of medical records. Pheochromocytomas were diagnosed by histopathologic examination of tissue specimens in all dogs. Special stains (chromogranin A and synaptophysin) also were used t o confirm the chromaffin cell origin of the tumors. Epidemiologic findings were in agreement with previous studies, indicating that pheochromocytomas affect middle-aged t o older dogs with no apparent gender or breed predilection. The tumor was considered clinical in 21 dogs (34%), was responsible for abnormalities related t o a space-occupying mass in 7 dogs (ll%), and was an incidental finding in 35 dogs (57%). The hematologic and biochemical findings were nonspecific. Hypertension was detected in 10 of 23 (43%) dogs tested, but all hypertensive dogs had concurrent diseases that may have heochromocytoma is a tumor of the chromaffin cells of P the adrenal medulla or sympathetic paraganglia'.2 that has been described in human beings, horses, cattle, dogs, cats, and laboratory rats.' Clinical diagnosis of pheochromocytoma is relatively rare.'.' A variety of vague and nonspecific clinical signs attributed to excessive secretion of catecholamines has been reported in dogs with pheochromo~y t o m a .~-* The mass effect or local invasion of structures by these tumors also can produce clinical signs. Approximately 50% of pheochromocytomas are discovered incidentally in dogs with no clinical signs or other problem caused by the tum0r.j Antemortem diagnosis of pheochromocytoma is difficult because of lack of specific clinical signs.' There are few comprehensive studies pertaining to pheochromocytomas in the veterinary literature and a paucity of information documenting the imaging diagnosis of this tumor.'.' The purpose of this study was to characterize the clinical, laboratory, imaging, and pathologic findings of pheochromocytoma in 61 dogs. findings, clinicopathologic data, imaging results, pathologic findings, and outcome for each dog. Signalment (breed and gender) of the 61 dogs was compared to that of the hospital population during the same period using chi square analysis. Hypotheses tested were accepted when P < .OS. Materials and MethodsMedical records were analyzed to determine if the tumor was clinical (group I), was responsible for abnormalities related to a space-occupying mass (group 2), or was an incidental finding (group 3). Criteria for including dogs in group 1 were selected from previous retrospective studies on pheochromocytoma'.' and included the presence of at least one of the following: weakness, lethargy; polyuria and polydipsia (PUPD); collapse, panting, dyspnea or tachypnea; vomiting, anorexia or inappetence; weight loss; seizures; tachyarrhythmias; pale mucous membranes; injected mucous membranes; fever; and cardiac arrest. Criteria for including dogs in group 2 were the presence of at least one of the following: ascites, limb edema, abdominal pain, abdominal distention, and ...

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The aim of this study was to assess the structural efficacies of daily glucosamine sulfate and chondroitin sulfate in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). The authors surveyed randomized controlled studies that examined the effects of long-term daily glucosamine sulfate and chondroitin sulfate on joint space narrowing (JSN) in knee OA patients using the Medline and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, and by performing manual searches. Meta-analysis was performed using a fixed effect model because no between-study heterogeneity was evident. Six studies involving 1,502 cases were included in this meta-analysis, which consisted of two studies on glucosamine sulfate and four studies on chondroitin sulfate. Glucosamine sulfate did not show a significant effect versus controls on minimum JSN over the first year of treatment (SMD 0.078, 95% CI -0.116 to -0.273, P = 0.429). However, after 3 years of treatment, glucosamine sulfate revealed a small to moderate protective effect on minimum JSN (SMD 0.432, 95% CI 0.235-0.628, P < 0.001). The same was observed for chondroitin sulfate, which had a small but significant protective effect on minimum JSN after 2 years (SMD 0.261, 95% CI 0.131-0.392, P < 0.001). This meta-analysis of available data shows that glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate may delay radiological progression of OA of the knee after daily administration for over 2 or 3 years.

Associations between polymorphisms of the osteoprotegerin gene (OPG) and bone mineral density (BMD) have been studied by several research groups, but results are mixed. Accordingly, the authors performed a meta-analysis on studies of associations between OPG polymorphisms and BMD. Appropriate studies were identified using MEDLINE and by manual searching. A total of eight separate comparisons were considered in this meta-analysis. Individuals with the GG genotype of G1181C were found to have a significantly lower mean lumbar BMD than subjects with the CC genotype (WMDs -0.051 g/cm(2), 95% confidence interval -0.079--0.023, P < 0.001), and similar results were obtained in European and Asian populations. In contrast to G1181C, no association was found between the A163G and T950C polymorphisms and lumbar BMD. In terms of femoral neck BMD, the GG genotype of G1181C was associated with a significantly lower BMD than the CC genotype in Europeans but not in Asians. Total hip BMD was lower for the GG genotype of G1181C than for the CC or GC genotypes in Europeans. A difference in total hip BMD was found between the AG and GG genotypes of the A163G polymorphism by meta-analyses in Europeans, but no differences were found between the genotypes of the T950C polymorphism and total hip BMD in Europeans. Summarizing, the present study demonstrates that the OPG G1181C polymorphism is associated with lumbar BMD in Europeans and Asians, and with femoral neck and total hip BMD in Europeans only.

Although many anti-theft technologies are implemented, auto-theft is still increasing. Also, security vulnerabilities of cars can be used for auto-theft by neutralizing anti-theft system. This keyless auto-theft attack will be increased as cars adopt computerized electronic devices more. To detect autotheft efficiently, we propose the driver verification method that analyzes driving patterns using measurements from the sensor in the vehicle. In our model, we add mechanical features of automotive parts that are excluded in previous works, but can be differentiated by drivers' driving behaviors. We design the model that uses significant features through feature selection to reduce the time cost of feature processing and improve the detection performance. Further, we enrich the feature set by deriving statistical features such as mean, median, and standard deviation. This minimizes the effect of fluctuation of feature values per driver and finally generates the reliable model. We also analyze the effect of the size of sliding window on performance to detect the time point when the detection becomes reliable and to inform owners the theft event as soon as possible.We apply our model with real driving and show the contribution of our work to the literature of driver identification.

The manila clam, Ruditapes philippinarum, is an important bivalve species in worldwide aquaculture including Korea. The aquaculture production of R. philippinarum is under threat from diverse environmental factors including viruses, microorganisms, parasites, and water conditions with subsequently declining production. In spite of its importance as a marine resource, the reference genome of R. philippinarum for comprehensive genetic studies is largely unexplored. Here, we report the de novo whole-genome and transcriptome assembly of R. philippinarum across three different tissues (foot, gill, and adductor muscle), and provide the basic data for advanced studies in selective breeding and disease control in order to obtain successful aquaculture systems. An approximately 2.56 Gb high quality whole-genome was assembled with various library construction methods. A total of 108,034 protein coding gene models were predicted and repetitive elements including simple sequence repeats and noncoding RNAs were identified to further understanding of the genetic background of R. philippinarum for genomics-assisted breeding. Comparative analysis with the bivalve marine invertebrates uncover that the gene family related to complement C1q was enriched. Furthermore, we performed transcriptome analysis with three different tissues in order to support genome annotation and then identified 41,275 transcripts which were annotated. The R. philippinarum genome resource will markedly advance a wide range of potential genetic studies, a reference genome for comparative analysis of bivalve species and unraveling mechanisms of biological processes in molluscs. We believe that the R. philippinarum genome will serve as an initial platform for breeding better-quality clams using a genomic approach.

Genetic associations of nucleotide sequence variants with carcass traits in beef cattle were investigated using a genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assay. Three hundred and thirteen Korean cattle were genotyped with the Illumina BovineSNP50 BeadChip, and 39,129 SNPs from 311 animals were analysed for each carcass phenotype after filtering by quality assurance. Five sequence markers were associated with one of the meat quantity or quality traits; rs109593638 on chromosome 3 with marbling score, rs109821175 on chromosome 11 and rs110862496 on chromosome 13 with backfat thickness (BFT), and rs110228023 on chromosome 6 and rs110201414 on chromosome 16 with eye muscle area (EMA) (P < 1.27 × 10(-6) , Bonferonni P < 0.05). The ss96319521 SNP, located within a gene with functions of muscle development, dishevelled homolog 1 (DVL1), would be a desirable candidate marker. Individuals with genotype CC at this gene appeared to have increased both EMA and carcass weight. Fine-mapping would be required to refine each of the five association signals shown in the current study for future application in marker-assisted selection for genetic improvement of beef quality and quantity.

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