Morphological and immunohistochemical characterization of spontaneous mammary tumours in European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus).

Mammary tumour samples (11 surgical and five post-mortem) from 16 adult European hedgehogs submitted between 1980 and 2004 were examined. Histologically, the tumours were classified as simple tubulo-papillary carcinomas with local invasive growth. In six cases, tumour cell emboli were present in blood vessels or lymphatic vessels, or both. However, metastasis to regional lymph nodes was found only in one hedgehog. Malignant neoplastic epithelial cells were immunolabelled by antibodies specific for various cytokeratins (CKs), including CK1-8, 10, 13-16, 19 and 20. CK expression did not differ from that in normal mammary gland tissue. CK20 was expressed in the mammary tissue of hedgehogs, in contrast to that of dogs and cats; CK7 immunolabelling, however, which commonly occurs in mammary epithelial cells, was negative. CK20 expression, together with the lack of CK7 as determined by a protein-specific antibody, represented an important difference from the CK profile shown by mammary epithelial cells of other mammalian species, including the dog and cat.

Metastatic esthesioneuroblastoma in a horse.

A 17-year-old horse developed severe proptosis of the left eye over a period of 1.5 years. At post-mortem examination a neoplasm was found involving the left ethmoid bone, left maxillary sinus, left orbit, left superior turbinate, and the left eye. Tumour cells were arranged in nests separated by a fine fibrovascular stroma. Immunohistochemically, the tumour cells were labelled by antibodies against neurofilament protein, synaptophysin, glial fibrillary acidic protein and S-100 protein antigen, but were negative for chromogranin A, cytokeratin and desmin. Electronmicroscopically, the cells showed neurosecretory granules with an electron-dense centre and a light halo, and microfilaments. On the basis of macroscopical, light microscopical and ultrastructural findings a diagnosis of a metastatic esthesioneuroblastoma was made.

Impact of child noncompliance on stress appraisals, attributions, and disciplinary choices in mothers at high and low risk for child physical abuse.

OBJECTIVE: The study investigated the impact of repeated child noncompliance on stress appraisals, attributions, and disciplinary choices in high- and low-risk mothers. METHOD: Fifty (25 high-risk and 25 demographically, matched low-risk) mothers responded to questions related to stress appraisals, attributions, and disciplinary choices following presentations of a child engaging in repeated noncompliance. RESULTS: After repeated child noncompliance, high-risk, compared to low-risk, mothers perceived more threat and uncontrollability, rated child behaviors as more stressful, and reported higher levels of negative affect. High-risk mothers also reported more stable, global, and intentional attributions, with a trend toward more internal attributions, but did not differ in their evaluations of wrongness and seriousness of the child's behavior. After repeated noncompliance, a risk group difference was found in estimates of future child compliance but not in the use of power assertive discipline. CONCLUSIONS: Results support the view that high-risk, relative to low-risk, mothers are differentially responsive to stressful situations and differ in their attributions for negative child behaviors and in their expectations of future child compliance. However, since risk group differences in disciplinary choices were not also found, additional research is needed to demonstrate the process through which risk group cognitive and affective differences are related to differences in disciplinary behavior.

Psychotherapy for male sexual dysfunction: a review.

There are nine major diagnostic categories of male sexual dysfunction in the DSM-IV. Psychotherapy outcome studies focusing on these problems are reviewed. Currently, there appears to be little evidence that effective psychological interventions exist for these problems. Reasons for this include numerous methodological problems of existing research, effect sizes that are not clearly clinically significant, lack of compelling follow-up data indicating durability of treatment gains, and lack of treatment manuals that allow replication. Also, some disorders have been ignored by researchers. Guidelines for sample selection and description, assessment and diagnosis, and research design are provided.

Psychotherapy for female sexual dysfunction: a review.

The increasing recognition of the significant incidence of female sexual dysfunction as well as the increasing acceptance of sex therapy as the preferred option for addressing problems in sexual functioning give rise to questions as to effectiveness of psychotherapy for female sexual dysfunction. This article presents a review of empirical studies of the treatment of female sexual dysfunction that meet minimal methodological criteria. Because of the variety and seriousness of methodological problems in the studies reviewed, guidelines for sample selection and description, research design, assessment and classification, and data analysis are provided. In addition, the 21 studies reviewed are examined for information they give about the treatment of female sexual dysfunction.