Disturbances that result in the mass mortality of reef-building corals are changing the appearance of reefs worldwide. Many reefs are transitioning away from scleractinian-coraldominated assemblages to benthic communities composed primarily of non-scleractinian taxa. This study evaluated recovery patterns of reef communities in the Florida Keys following the mortality associated with the 1997/1998 El Niño. We examined temporal trends among the 5 most spatially abundant reef taxa and stony coral species from 1999 to 2009 at 3 spatial scales, and applied a Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) to determine whether changes in their cover resulted in a shift in community structure. Trends of decreasing stony coral cover were not identified Keys-wide between 1999 and 2009, but 2 of the 3 habitats examined -shallow and deep forereefs -did show a significant decline in cover. Concomitantly, octocoral cover significantly increased Keys-wide and in all 3 habitats. The transition to octocorals was most evident on shallow forereefs, where octocoral cover significantly increased at 9 of 12 reefs and overwhelmingly influenced the PCoA. On deep forereefs, octocoral and sponge cover did significantly increase, but did not impart a clearly defined shift in community structure like that observed on shallow forereefs. Community composition at patch reefs was relatively consistent during the study, but the increase in octocoral cover may accelerate further following a cold-water mortality event in 2010. These results demonstrate that octocorals are emerging as the predominant benthic taxa in the Florida Keys. Although the transition to octocorals may have started long ago, their apparent resilience to present-day stressors will likely allow this shift to continue into the foreseeable future.

The diagnostic accuracy of contrast-enhanced CT for detection of cervical lymph node metastasis in dogs is unknown. The purpose of this retrospective, observational, diagnostic accuracy study was to assess the efficacy of CT for detection of mandibular and medial retropharyngeal lymph node metastasis in dogs. Histopathology of dogs with cancer of the head, CT and bilateral mandibular and medial retropharyngeal lymphadenectomy was reviewed. A single radiologist measured lymph nodes to derive short axis width and long-short axis ratios. Two blinded radiologists separately assessed lymph node margins, attenuation and contrast enhancement and each provided a final subjective interpretation of each node site as benign or neoplastic. Where radiologists' opinions differed, a consensus was reached. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were calculated for mandibular and medial retropharyngeal sites. Agreement between radiologists was assessed. Fisher's exact test and the Kruskal-Wallis H-test were used to assess associations between variables. Forty-one primary tumours were recorded in 40 dogs. Metastasis to mandibular or retropharyngeal lymph nodes occurred in 16 out of 40 dogs (43/160 nodes). Agreement between radiologists was almost perfect for margination, attenuation and enhancement, strong for interpretation of mandibular lymph node metastasis, and weak for interpretation of medial retropharyngeal lymph node metastasis. Sensitivity of CT was 12.5% and 10.5%, specificity was 91.1% and 96.7%, and accuracy was 67.5% and 76.3% for mandibular and medial retropharyngeal lymph nodes respectively. No individual CT findings were predictive of nodal metastasis. Given the low sensitivity of CT, this modality cannot be relied upon alone for assessment of cervical lymph node metastasis in dogs.

SUMMARYThe evolutionarily conserved Elongator complex functions in diverse biological processes including salicylic acid-mediated immune response. However, how Elongator functions in jasmonic acid (JA)/ethylene (ET)-mediated defense is unknown. Here, we show that Elongator is required for full induction of the JA/ET defense pathway marker gene PLANT DEFENSIN1.2 (PDF1.2) and for resistance to the necrotrophic fungal pathogens Botrytis cinerea and Alternaria brassicicola. A loss-of-function mutation in the Arabidopsis Elongator subunit 2 (ELP2) alters B. cinerea-induced transcriptome reprogramming. Interestingly, in elp2, expression of WRKY33, OCTADECANOID-RESPONSIVE ARABIDOPSIS AP2/ERF59 (ORA59), and PDF1.2 is inhibited, whereas transcription of MYC2 and its target genes is enhanced. However, overexpression of WRKY33 or ORA59 and mutation of MYC2 fail to restore PDF1.2 expression and B. cinerea resistance in elp2, suggesting that ELP2 is required for induction of not only WRKY33 and ORA59 but also PDF1.2. Moreover, elp2 is as susceptible as coronatine-insensitive1 (coi1) and ethylene-insensitive2 (ein2) to B. cinerea, indicating that ELP2 is an important player in B. cinerea resistance. Further analysis of the lesion sizes on the double mutants elp2 coi1 and elp2 ein2 and the corresponding single mutants revealed that the function of ELP2 overlaps with COI1 and is additive to EIN2 for B. cinerea resistance. Finally, basal histone acetylation levels in the coding regions of WRKY33, ORA59, and PDF1.2 are reduced in elp2 and a functional ELP2-GFP fusion protein binds to the chromatin of these genes, suggesting that constitutive ELP2-mediated histone acetylation may be required for full activation of the WRKY33/ORA59/PDF1.2 transcriptional cascade.

Objective: To compare leak pressures and construct completion time of six intestinal anastomoses and report normal canine gastrointestinal thickness. Study design: Experimental study. Animals: Grossly normal jejunal segments (n = 140) from 10 fresh canine cadavers. Methods: Gastrointestinal thickness was recorded. Eight-centimeter cooled canine cadaveric jejunal segments were randomly assigned to a control group (20 segments) and six treatment groups (20 segments/group [10 constructs/ group]): (1) handsewn anastomosis (HSA), (2) functional end-to-end stapled anastomosis (FEESA)-blue thoracoabdominal (TA; FEESA-TAB), (3) FEESAgreen TA (FEESA-TAG), (4) FEESA TA-gastrointestinal anastomosis (GIA), (5) FEESA with suture oversew (FEESA-O), and (6) skin staples (SS). Construct assembly time, initial leak pressure (ILP), maximum intraluminal pressure (MIP), and leakage location were compared. Results: Initial leak pressures (mean ± SD) for control (308.38 ± 115.91 mm Hg), HSA (41.96 ± 15.97), FEESA-TAB (31.71 ± 15.71), FEESA-TAG (27.24 ± 14.11), FEESA-GIA (25.62 ± 11.22), FEESA-O (31.01 ± 17.38), and SS (44.42 ± 28.88) groups were compared. No difference in ILP (P > .24) or MIP (P > .17) was detected between treatment groups. Sutured anastomoses took up to 10 times longer to complete (P = .0025). The stomach, duodenum, jejunum, and ileum mural thicknesses (mean ± SD) were 3.99 ± 0.44 mm, 2.34 ± 0.16, 2.49 ± 0.28, and 2.30 ± 0.31, respectively. Conclusion: The ILP of all anastomoses exceeded maximum intraluminal peristaltic pressures. Stapled anastomoses were faster to complete. Clinical significance: All anastomoses may be considered when performing an intestinal resection and anastomosis, with stapled anastomoses resulting in a shorter surgical time. Canine intestinal thickness may warrant use of a larger staple size. 1 | INTRODUCTION Intestinal resection and anastomosis is a common procedure performed in small animal surgery to remove nonviable or diseased intestines, with a reported incidence of dehiscence between 3% and 28%. 1-6 Currently, anastomoses in small animals are commonly performed with either a traditional handsewn technique or a surgical

Acute psychological stress was directly related to symptoms of gastrointestinal dysfunction and cold or flu. Galactooligosaccharide supplementation reduced these symptoms and the number of days with cold or flu. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01137760.