Minimal Movement Research Articles

ABCDE steps to prevent heart disease in breast cancer survivors.

Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer diagnosed in women. Of every 8 women, 1 woman is diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. In 2013, more than 230 000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States alone, resulting in nearly 40 000 deaths. Breast cancer can also occur in men, although the incidence is much lower, with a total of 2240 men diagnosed in 2013 (accounting for less than 1% of all breast cancers). Over the past 2 decades, death resulting from breast cancer has been declining each year. This decrease in mortality is due in part to improvements in cancer treatment. These treatments have come about as a result of collaborations among physicians in various specialties. These physicians include medical oncologists (who give systemic treatments like chemotherapy and hormonal therapy), surgeons (who perform surgery such as mastectomy and lumpectomy), and radiation oncologists (who treat patients with radiation therapy). Radiation therapy, in particular, has increasingly become an important part of management of most patients with breast cancer. Radiation therapy has been demonstrated not only to prevent recurrence of cancer in the breast or chest wall area but also to improve long-term survival in women. In addition, radiation therapy allows women to undergo a less radical form of surgery in which the breast tissue is conserved, thus improving body image for breast cancer survivors without compromising survival. As a result of this progress in treatment and improved detection of early breast cancer, in 2012, there were nearly 3 million breast cancer survivors in the United States alone, a number that will increase in the coming years. Women who survive breast cancer may face many health challenges, but the number 1 cause of death in breast cancer survivors (and, in fact, all women) remains heart disease. Unfortunately, although systemic …

Abstract 3336: The heterotypic interaction between CXCR7 and EGFR is an alternative proliferation mechanism in breast cancer

Abstract Introduction: CXCR7 is selectively over expressed in Breast Cancer (BrCa), suggesting its potential importance in BrCa development and function. CXCR7 is the latest CXC-chemokine receptor implicated in BrCa growth. Although it is endogenously over expressed in BrCa, the CXCR7 mechanism of tumor growth enhancement is still vaguely described. BrCa is a heterogeneous disease in several ways. An investigation of the interaction of CXCR7 with EGFR will help determine the relative contribution and consequence of such interaction in BrCa cell proliferation and progression. Results: CXCR7 is expressed predominantly in Estrogen Receptor positive (ER+) BrCa cells, MCF7 and BT474, and was absent in common ER- BrCa cells. CXCR7 was expressed unevenly in normal breast and ER+ cancer tissues. Depletion of CXCR7 in BrCa cells by RNAi decreased cell proliferation and caused cell cycle arrest, with significant changes in cell cycle-associated proteins. Addition, depletion, and rescue of CXCR7-ligand, SDF-1a, had no significant effect on cell proliferation or phosphorylation of ERK1/2. Depletion of CXCR7 led to inhibition of EGF-mediated phosphorylation of EGFR at Tyrosine 1110 and ERK1/2 phosphorylation. We examined whether CXCR7 regulates BrCa proliferation through interaction with EGFR or by activating other potential targets of MAP-kinase activation and found that CXCR7 complexes with EGFR, as demonstrated by co-immunoprecipitation followed by immunoblotting and with proximity ligation assays, using the Duo-link fluorescence technique. Investigation of whether CXCR7-EGFR interaction is direct or indirect, led to test potential translocation of fluorescent β-Arrestin-2 from the plasma membrane to the cytoplasm. SDF-1a addition to MCF7 cells, over expressing β-Arrestin-2-EGFP, induced minimal movement of β-Arrestin-2-EGFP over a 30 min window, whereas EGF addition induced re-arrangement of β-Arrestin-2-EGFP localization. When CXCR7 was down-regulated by siRNA, the beta-ARR2-EGFP rearrangement was significantly reduced, suggesting this CXCR7-EGFR interaction is facilitated by β-Arrestin-2. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate a heterotypic interaction between CXCR7 and EGFR in breast cancer independent of SDF-1a. Recent studies remind us that seventy percent of breast cancers are ER+ even at the metastatic stage, making the expression of CXCR7 clinically relevant. The innate heterogeneity of BrCa makes it clear that proliferation mechanisms change and may be altered during cancer progression, so that CXCR7 and other receptors may step in to support proliferation. These results demonstrate the important role of CXCR7 in breast cancer growth and progression. Citation Format: Nicole Salazar, Daniel Muñoz, Rajendra K. Singh, Bal L. Lokeshwar. The heterotypic interaction between CXCR7 and EGFR is an alternative proliferation mechanism in breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 3336. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-3336

Osmotic concentration of prey affects food discrimination behaviour in the A ustralian pelican

The Australian pelican Pelecanus conspicillatus is the largest of all pelican species and can consume up to half their body weight per day, feeding predominantly on teleost fishes. Anecdotally, it has been suggested that pelicans preferentially avoid the consumption of small portions of elasmobranch fishes (e.g. sharks and rays), which prompted this investigation into their food discrimination behaviour. The large differences in the osmolarity and/or urea content between elasmobranch and teleost fishes are likely to underpin this behaviour. Osmoconformers such as elasmobranchs maintain an internal osmotic concentration similar to seawater, with this state being achieved primarily by the retention of the osmolyte urea, while other osmoconforming organisms such as squid likely conserve ions such as Na+ and Cl–. In contrast, osmoregulating teleosts maintain an osmolarity much lower than seawater and approximately the same as pelicans. Consequently, ingestion of teleost fishes results in minimal water movement; however, if a large bolus of osmoconformers are consumed this may lead to dehydration. It was hypothesized that pelicans would preferentially avoid the consumption of osmoconformers and accept osmoregulators. In addition, we investigated the underlying physiological basis for elasmobranch rejection, and which sense(s) are primarily utilized for such behaviour. We found that pelicans freely chose to accept offerings of osmoregulators at a significantly greater frequency than osmoconformers. Furthermore, the osmotic concentration (and not specifically urea) was considered to be the most likely cause of rejection, as squid, which do not conserve urea, were rejected equally as often as elasmobranchs. Finally, vision appears to be the sense utilized for this behaviour because when elasmobranchs were made to appear visibly ‘similar’ to teleost fishes they were consumed at equal frequencies. This study provides new insight into food discrimination in pelicans and might also be applicable to other seabirds.

Affective Movement Recognition Based on Generative and Discriminative Stochastic Dynamic Models

For an engaging human-machine interaction, machines need to be equipped with affective communication abilities. Such abilities enable interactive machines to recognize the affective expressions of their users, and respond appropriately through different modalities including movement. This paper focuses on bodily expressions of affect, and presents a new computational model for affective movement recognition, robust to kinematic, interpersonal, and stochastic variations in affective movements. The proposed approach derives a stochastic model of the affective movement dynamics using hidden Markov models (HMMs). The resulting HMMs are then used to derive a Fisher score representation of the movements, which is subsequently used to optimize affective movement recognition using support vector machine classification. In addition, this paper presents an approach to obtain a minimal discriminative representation of the movements using supervised principal component analysis (SPCA) that is based on Hilbert-Schmidt independence criterion in the Fisher score space. The dimensions of the resulting SPCA subspace consist of intrinsic movement features salient to affective movement recognition. These salient features enable a low-dimensional encoding of observed movements during a human-machine interaction, which can be used to recognize and analyze human affect that is displayed through movement. The efficacy of the proposed approach in recognizing affective movements and identifying a minimal discriminative movement representation is demonstrated using two challenging affective movement datasets.

Treatment of subarachnoid-parenchymal hemorrhage, caused by rupture of the middle cerebral artery aneurysm

Clinical observation of treatment of rupture of the right middle cerebral artery aneurysm with subarachnoid-parenchymal hemorrhage (V graduation on Hunt-Hess scale) is given. Taking into account the patient’s condition, urgent surgical treatment was held, aimed at removing the source of bleeding and increasing the intracranial volume (advanced craniotomia). This contributed to significant improvement: consciousness recovering, spontaneous breathing, swallowing, minimal movements in patient’s left upper extremity.

Lateral diversity of regolith and soils under a mountain slope — implications for interpretation of hillslope materials and processes, Central Sudetes, SW Poland

A recent forestry road cut on the slopes of Mt Wysoka (Sudetes Mountains, Central Europe) exposed a 1.6km-long, nearly continuous outcrop of hillslope regolith. The regolith is divided into two main parts. The lower one is made of disintegrated tuff, while the upper part, from less than 1m to at least 3m thick, includes five different lithological types which combine to form recurring layered vertical sequences of cover materials. This upper part is markedly transformed by pedogenesis. The main aims of the paper are to examine and explain vertical and lateral diversity of these cover materials and to review the findings in the context of their origin and age. Methods included field regolith mapping and soil research followed by basic laboratory analyses of soil properties, including particle size distribution, pH and organic carbon content. Topmost fine-grained and coarse open-work surface materials have been subject to some, although limited downslope transport, while the underlying layers, although lithologically different, are interpreted as mainly products of bedrock weathering and pedogenic alterations, with minimal downslope movement. Slope corrugation into shallow hollows, indistinct spurs and long sections of planar slope exerts an effect on hillslope materials and soil-forming processes via pathways of groundwater circulation. Open-work structures are mainly products of preferential eluviation. Periglacial inheritance in the regolith is uncertain and these layered materials should not be interpreted as indicators of changing environmental conditions in the late Pleistocene. Regional models of hillslope covers do not fit the complexity of regolith present on Mt Wysoka. Generalizations about hillslope materials are better avoided if a limited number of outcrops is investigated.

Invasion of an Exotic Shrub into Forested Stands in an Agricultural Matrix

AbstractWe investigated the relative importance of stand and landscape characteristics in the invasion of a nonnative shrub, Amur honeysuckle, in 40 woodlots in an agricultural matrix in southwest Ohio. We quantified stand characteristics that could influence invasibility, the intrinsic susceptibility of an area to invasion, including woodlot size, perimeter-to-area ratio, tree basal area, and stand age. At the landscape scale we included factors that potentially influence propagule rain (the contribution of seeds from individuals established outside the focal area), including the land cover and road density in a 1,500-m buffer around each woodlot, as well as the extent to which the perimeter was forested at two points in the past, and latitude (based on an apparent south-to-north invasion in this region). Based on stepwise regression, we determined that honeysuckle cover was determined primarily by landscape parameters, particularly the percent of the buffer comprised of cropland. Woodlots surrounded by more cropland had less honeysuckle cover, which we attribute to paucity of nearby seed sources and/or minimal movement of seed-dispersing animals. From these findings, we argue that impediments to propagule rain are more important in shaping the invasion of this exotic shrub than are characteristics of the woodlots themselves, i.e., community invasibility.

Hearing in action; auditory properties of neurons in the red nucleus of alert primates.

The response of neurons in the Red Nucleus pars magnocellularis (RNm) to both tone bursts and electrical stimulation were observed in three cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis), in a series of studies primarily designed to characterize the influence of the dopaminergic ventral midbrain on auditory processing. Compared to its role in motor behavior, little is known about the sensory response properties of neurons in the red nucleus (RN); particularly those concerning the auditory modality. Sites in the RN were recognized by observing electrically evoked body movements characteristic for this deep brain structure. In this study we applied brief monopolar electrical stimulation to 118 deep brain sites at a maximum intensity of 200 μA, thus evoking minimal body movements. Auditory sensitivity of RN neurons was analyzed more thoroughly at 15 sites, with the majority exhibiting broad tuning curves and phase locking up to 1.03 kHz. Since the RN appears to receive inputs from a very early stage of the ascending auditory system, our results suggest that sounds can modify the motor control exerted by this brain nucleus. At selected locations, we also tested for the presence of functional connections between the RN and the auditory cortex by inserting additional microelectrodes into the auditory cortex and investigating how action potentials and local field potentials (LFPs) were affected by electrical stimulation of the RN.

How should monetary policy respond to changes in the relative price of oil? Considering supply and demand shocks

This paper examines optimal monetary policy in a New Keynesian model where supply and demand shocks affect the price of oil. Optimal policy fully stabilizes core inflation when wages are flexible. The nominal rate rises (falls) in response to the demand (supply) shock. With sticky wages core inflation falls (rises) in response to the demand (supply) shock. Impulse response functions from a VAR estimated with post-1986 U.S. data show minimal movement in core inflation in response to both shocks. The federal funds rate rises (falls) in response to the demand (supply) shock, consistent with the predictions from the theoretical model for policy that stabilizes core inflation.

Risk factors forEscherichia coliO157 on beef cattle ranches located near a major produce production region

Our goal was to identify climate variables and management practices associated with the presence of E. coli O157 in rangeland cow-calf operations located in a major leafy green production region in the California Central Coast. E. coli O157 was present in 2·6% (68/2654) of faecal, 1·5% (3/204) of water and 1·1% (1/93) of sediment samples collected on eight ranches over 2.5 years. Five (62·5%) ranches were positive at least once during the study. The odds of detecting E. coli O157 in faecal samples was higher during periods of higher maximum soil temperature, higher maximum relative humidity, and larger herd sizes, but decreased as wind speed increased. Molecular subtyping of isolates from cattle faeces and streams/sediments suggested minimal movement of strains between ranches. The findings suggest that E. coli O157 prevalence is relatively low on cow-calf ranches in this region, spatially constrained, but may vary by weather conditions and herd size.

Spontaneous resolution of large acute subdural hematoma and the value of neurological exam in conservative management of high risk patients

84 year old female presented after a fall with a brief loss of onsciousness and minor facial injury. Her condition declined in he emergency room necessitating a STAT head computed tomoram (CT). At that point the patient was lethargic but arousable, her upils were sluggish and symmetric, was not following commands, as able to say some words and she had minimal movements n all extremities; Glasgow Coma Scale of 11 (E3V3M5). The scan emonstrated a large (1.6 cm) left sided aSDH with significant mass ffect with what appeared to be the beginning of uncal herniaion (Fig. 1). Past medical history is significant for chronic atrial brillation for which she was on Coumadin with an international ormalized ratio (INR) of 2.06. Patient was started on vitamin K nd was admitted for observation and comfort measures given her

The use of fibre-reinforced composite for the creation of anchor units in sectional orthodontic appliances

The benefits of fibre-reinforced composite (FRC), such as strength, excellent bonding characteristics and aesthetics, are widely appreciated in restorative dentistry. These properties are well suited to the creation of orthodontic anchorage units in full-arch or sectional appliances. In this article, two clinical cases are presented where FRC has been used to create anchorage units in adult orthodontic patients with high aesthetic demands. Anchorage units created in this way are immediate, aesthetic, comfortable and require minimal unwanted tooth movement. Clinical Relevance: The article describes techniques that may be of interest to clinical orthodontists by describing a novel use for a material not commonly used in orthodontics.

Organic wheat performance following conventional and non-inversion tillage systems

Field trials were conducted from October 2010 to August 2012 on land registered with the Soil Association, UK, for organic production on the Royal Agricultural University's Harnhill Manor Farm near Cirencester, UK, to compare the effects of conventional tillage (CT) involving maximum soil manipulation and 0% soil surface plant residues against conservation tillage strategy including low residue non-inversion tillage (LRNiT) involving minimal soil movements and 30% soil surface plant residues and also high residue non-inversion tillage (HRNiT) with least soil movements and maximum (>50%) retention of soil surface plant residues on organic winter and spring wheat performance. Establishment, growth and the yield response of organic winter and spring wheat for the three cultivation systems were assessed to determine the influence of these tillage treatments. Results showed that the plant establishment and tillers were significantly higher in CT than LRNiT and HRNiT in both cropping seasons. The total number of shoots, ear numbers, dry matter yield, 1000 grain weights and grain yield were significantly higher in the CT and LRNiT than HRNiT for winter wheat, whilst they were significantly higher in the CT than LRNiT or HRNiT for spring wheat. Crop establishment, growth and yield response were influenced by the weather conditions beyond the tillage treatments for the spring wheat compared with the winter wheat. On the basis of these results, a better alternative for CT could be LRNiT for winter wheat. Conversely, for spring wheat, CT had better crop establishment, growth and yield than other forms of cultivation.

Neural Responses of Posterior to Anterior Movement on Lumbar Vertebrae: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to develop and test a clinically relevant method to mechanically stimulate lumbar functional spinal units while recording brain activity by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MethodsSubjects were investigated in the prone position with their face lying on a modified stabilization pillow. To minimize head motion, the pillow was fixed to the MRI headrest, and supporting straps were attached around the shoulders. An experienced manual therapist applied controlled, nonpainful pressure stimuli to 10 healthy subjects at 3 different lumbar vertebrae (L1, L3, and L5). Pressure applied to the thumb was used as a control. The stimulation consisted of posterior to anterior (PA) pressure movement. The therapist followed a randomized stimulation protocol projected onto a screen in the MRI room. Blood oxygenation level–dependent responses were analyzed in relation to the lumbar and the thumb stimulations. The study was conducted by the Chiropractic Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zürich, Switzerland. ResultsNo participant reported any discomfort due to the prone-lying position or use of the pillow. Importantly, PA-induced pressure produced only minimal head movements. Stimulation of the lumbar spinous processes revealed bilateral neural responses in medial parts of the postcentral gyrus (S1). Additional activity was observed in the secondary somatosensory cortex (S2), posterior parts of the insular cortex, different parts of the cingulate cortex, and the cerebellum. Thumb stimulations revealed activation only in lateral parts of the contralateral S1. ConclusionThe current study demonstrates the feasibility of the application of PA pressure on lumbar spinous processes in an MRI environment. This approach may serve as a promising tool for further investigations regarding neuroplastic changes in chronic low back pain subjects.

β-Lactoglobulin's Conformational Requirements for Ligand Binding at the Calyx and the Dimer Interphase: a Flexible Docking Study

β-lactoglobulin (BLG) is an abundant milk protein relevant for industry and biotechnology, due significantly to its ability to bind a wide range of polar and apolar ligands. While hydrophobic ligand sites are known, sites for hydrophilic ligands such as the prevalent milk sugar, lactose, remain undetermined. Through the use of molecular docking we first, analyzed the known fatty acid binding sites in order to dissect their atomistic determinants and second, predicted the interaction sites for lactose with monomeric and dimeric BLG. We validated our approach against BLG structures co-crystallized with ligands and report a computational setup with a reduced number of flexible residues that is able to reproduce experimental results with high precision. Blind dockings with and without flexible side chains on BLG showed that: i) 13 experimentally-determined ligands fit the calyx requiring minimal movement of up to 7 residues out of the 23 that constitute this binding site. ii) Lactose does not bind the calyx despite conformational flexibility, but binds the dimer interface and an alternate Site C. iii) Results point to a probable lactolation site in the BLG dimer interface, at K141, consistent with previous biochemical findings. In contrast, no accessible lysines are found near Site C. iv) lactose forms hydrogen bonds with residues from both monomers stabilizing the dimer through a claw-like structure. Overall, these results improve our understanding of BLG's binding sites, importantly narrowing down the calyx residues that control ligand binding. Moreover, our results emphasize the importance of the dimer interface as an insufficiently explored, biologically relevant binding site of particular importance for hydrophilic ligands. Furthermore our analyses suggest that BLG is a robust scaffold for multiple ligand-binding, suitable for protein design, and advance our molecular understanding of its ligand sites to a point that allows manipulation to control binding.

Abstract C210: Atypical chemokine receptor 3/CXCR7 and EGFR interact to control breast cancer growth.

Abstract Introduction: Breast cancer (BrCa) is a major burden for women in the US, ranking second in both incidence and cancer related deaths. Many studies comparing cancer vs. normal gene expression have identified CXCR7 as being preferentially expressed in several different cancer types, including breast cancer. CXCR7 is the latest CXC-chemokine receptor implicated in breast cancer growth. The chemokine receptor CXCR7 is an atypical G-protein coupled receptor, in that it does not bind G-proteins as GPCRs do. It is so atypical, that convention by HUGO has recently changed the name of CXCR7 to ACKR3, atypical chemokine receptor 3. Methods: We used the database Oncomine to confirm the correlation of CXCR7 with breast cancer at both mRNA and tissue level. We also show functional expression of CXCR7 on relevant human breast cancer cell lines and tissue. To identify the mechanism of function of CXCR7 in BrCa we studied its interaction with EGFR and beta-arrestin2 (beta-ARR2), which are relevant partners important in the mitogenic growth cascade. We used a proximity ligation assay (PLA) to visualize CXCR7-EGFR co-localization both in cell culture and in human normal and breast cancer tissue. To visualize interaction with beta-ARR2, we used live cell confocal microscopy. Results: CXCR7 was over-expressed in ER-α positive BrCa cells, compared to normal breast epithelial cells. ER-negative cells also expressed CXCR7, however, at lower levels. Depletion of CXCR7 in MCF-7 BrCa cells by RNAi decreased cell proliferation and caused cell cycle arrest. Since CXCR7 is an atypical G-protein coupled receptor where ligand activation does not elicit conventional intracellular signaling, we hypothesized that CXCR7 regulates BrCa proliferation through interaction with EGFR or activation of other potential targets of the MAP-kinase pathway. CXCR7 depletion reduced site-specific phosphorylation of EGFR at Tyrosine 1110 after EGF-stimulation. CXCR7 depletion also reduced phosphorylation of ERK-1/2, indicating a potentially direct interaction with mitogenic signaling in MCF-7 cells. We found EGFR and CXCR7 co-localize as demonstrated by confocal microscopy, with increased co-localization after EGF stimulation. To clarify whether CXCR7-EGFR interaction is direct or indirect, we analyzed the role beta-ARR2 plays in this transactivation. SDF1 addition to MCF7 cells over expressing beta-ARR2-EGFP induced minimal movement of beta-ARR2-EGFP over a 30 min window. EGF addition induced an obvious shift of beta-ARR2-EGFP localization. When CXCR7 was down-regulated by siRNA, there was decreased rearrangement of beta-ARR2-EGFP after EGF stimulation, suggesting this CXCR7-EGFR interaction is beta-ARR2 mediated. Conclusion: These data demonstrate significant molecular interactions between two cell surface receptors that have high clinical significance. The impact of this work may potentially lead to better treatment strategies based on cell surface targets. Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):C210. Citation Format: Nicole Salazar, Daniel Muñoz, Bal L. Lokeshwar. Atypical chemokine receptor 3/CXCR7 and EGFR interact to control breast cancer growth. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2013 Oct 19-23; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):Abstract nr C210.

Minimising blood loss in early trauma resuscitation

Worldwide, trauma is responsible for more than 10,000 deaths each day with hundreds of thousands seriously injured. Current trauma resuscitation strategies are based on supporting haemostasis, maintaining circulating volume and rapidly identifying sites of blood loss. Approaches include hypotensive/hypovolaemic resuscitation, avoidance of colloids and crystalloids, early blood product based resuscitation, early imaging to identify sites of blood loss and damage control surgery. In this paper, we focus on ways to minimise blood loss and preserve the circulating volume. These include minimal movement of the patient, splinting fractures, use of tourniquets, application of local haemostatic dressings/agents, keeping the patient warm and giving tranexamic acid to improve clot strength. The recent CRASH-2 trial provided unequivocal evidence that tranexamic acid reduces mortality in bleeding trauma patients. This will be discussed in detail. When employed as part of a package of care in a well-rehearsed trauma system, these interventions to preserve the remaining circulating volume have the potential to save lives and allow patients to survive until timely definitive haemostasis can occur.

Protocol to assess the neurophysiology associated with multi-segmental postural coordination

Anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) stabilize potential disturbances to posture caused by movement. Impaired APAs are common with disease and injury. Brain functions associated with generating APAs remain uncertain due to a lack of paired tasks that require similar limb motion from similar postural orientations, but differ in eliciting an APA while also being compatible with brain imaging techniques (e.g., functional magnetic resonance imaging; fMRI). This study developed fMRI-compatible tasks differentiated by the presence or absence of APAs during leg movement. Eighteen healthy subjects performed two leg movement tasks, supported leg raise (SLR) and unsupported leg raise (ULR), to elicit isolated limb motion (no APA) versus multi-segmental coordination patterns (including APA), respectively. Ground reaction forces under the feet and electromyographic activation amplitudes were assessed to determine the coordination strategy elicited for each task. Results demonstrated that the ULR task elicited a multi-segmental coordination that was either minimized or absent in the SLR task, indicating that it would serve as an adequate control task for fMRI protocols. A pilot study with a single subject performing each task in an MRI scanner demonstrated minimal head movement in both tasks and brain activation patterns consistent with an isolated limb movement for the SLR task versus multi-segmental postural coordination for the ULR task.

REVIEW OF 23 CASES OF POSTINTUBATION TRACHEAL OBSTRUCTIONS IN BIRDS

Although recognized as a potential complication after endotracheal intubation in birds, the complication rate of postintubation tracheal obstruction in this taxon is unknown. Twenty-three cases of postintubation obstruction in birds from two institutions are reported. Clinical signs were noted an average of 16.6 days postintubation and consisted primarily of indications of acute respiratory distress. Diagnosis was confirmed via tracheoscopy or radiology. Five birds died before treatment could be initiated. Medical treatment alone was successful in three birds that had mild changes consisting primarily of a luminal mucoid plug that could be manually removed without tracheal surgery but was unsuccessful in an additional six birds. Tracheal resection and anastamosis was successful in four birds and unsuccessful in five birds. Overall mortality was 70%. Postintubation tracheal obstruction in birds appears to be more common in zoo practice than is suggested by the literature, as a total of 1.8% (1.2-2.7%, 95% confidence interval) of intubations or 3.5% (2.3-5.3%, 95% confidence interval) of individual animals intubated in these institutions resulted in this complication. Multiple cases were found in Ciconiiformes (n = 4), Columbiformes (n = 4), Gruiformes (n = 4), Anseriformes (n = 3), Galliformes (n = 3), and Passeriformes (n = 2). No cases were found in Coraciiforms, Falconiforms, or Psittaciformes despite many (>40) recorded intubations. The specific cause of these lesions is unclear, but some type of tracheal mucosa trauma or irritation is suggested by histologic findings. Prevention may include selective intubation, use of a laryngeal mask airway in place of intubation, careful placement of an endotracheal tube, minimal movement of the head and neck after placement, humidification of anesthetic gases, and gentle positive-pressure ventilation.

Breaking Down Silos to Protect the Spinal Cord

Breaking Down Silos to Protect the Spinal Cord