Montana Bar Association Activities

Montana Bar Association Activitie

Montana Bar Association Activities

Montana Bar Association Activitie

Description of a new approach for great auricular and auriculotemporal nerve blocks: A cadaveric study in foxes and dogs

Otitis externa is a painful condition that may require surgical intervention in dogs. A balanced analgesia protocol should combine systemic analgesic agents and local anaesthesia techniques. The aim of the study was to find anatomical landmarks for the great auricular and the auriculotemporal nerves that transmit nociceptive information from the ear pinna and to develop the optimal technique for a nerve block. The study consisted of two phases. In phase I, one fox cadaver was used for dissection and anatomical localization of the auricular nerves to derive landmarks for needle insertion. Eight fox cadavers were subsequently used to evaluate the accuracy of the technique by injecting methylene blue bilaterally. In phase II findings from phase I were applied in four Beagle canine cadavers. A block was deemed successful if more than 0.6 cm of the nerve's length was stained. Successful great auricular nerve block was achieved by inserting the needle superficially along the wing of the atlas with the needle pointing towards the jugular groove. For the auriculotemporal nerve block the needle was inserted perpendicular to the skin at the caudal lateral border of the zygomatic arch, close to the temporal process. The overall success rate was 24 out of 24 (100%) and 22 out of 24 (91%) for the great auricular and the auriculotemporal nerves, respectively, while the facial nerve was stained on three occasions. Our results suggest that it is feasible to achieve a block of the auricular nerves, based on anatomical landmarks, without concurrently affecting the facial nerv

Analysis and Design of Computer Networks Using a Web-Based DSS

Analyzing the performance of computer networks to improve their overall performance requires accounting for a large variety of inputs and operating characteristics, such as packet flow rates and sizes, device capabilities and interconnection capacities. A decision support system to analyze these multiple simultaneous variables is presented to assist network developers. Network architectures and demand patterns are accounted for and the underlying model that analyzes these patterns is discussed. A web based approach was utilized which has resulted in an accessible and scalable analytical tool

Social Media, Confusion, and Small Business During the COVID 19 Crisis

In March 2020, the U.S. economy began a systematic shutdown in response to the COVID 19 pandemic. Schools, churches, retail, and service business all closed as states implemented stay at home orders in the name of public safety. Business fell into either essential or non-essential classifications in response to state and local government mandates. Loosely worded guideline created confusion among small business owners and their customers as to what services were available. This study examines the confused state of small business in response to their classification and the methods used by business owners to communicate their status to customers

Uncovering the protective role of POLGD257A, a mitochondrial DNA mutator, on diabetes and obesity

Mitochondria are highly conserved organelles, found in most cells throughout the body, and perform many essential biological processes. Mitochondria are responsible for the production of energy in the form of ATP that is required to maintain normal function in eukaryotic cells. While this is beneficial to the cell, mitochondria have the unique role in initiating cell death. It is not surprising that mitochondrial dysfunction is the hallmark of many metabolic disorders such as maternally inherited diabetes and deafness. Some evidence suggests that mitochondrial dysfunction via mitochondrial DNA damage in the form of DNA deletions and mutations can contribute to complications associated with diabetes, yet a causal role of mitochondrial DNA mutations in diabetic complications has not been answered. The PolgD257A mutant mouse disrupts the proofreading domain of DNA polymerase gamma resulting in the random accumulation of mitochondrial DNA mutations. The research presented in this dissertation aims to utilize the PolgD257A mutant mouse as a genetic tool to further investigate the role that accumulating mitochondrial DNA mutations have in diabetes, obesity, and diabetic complications. I demonstrate that accumulating mitochondrial DNA mutations in "Akita" diabetic mice improves the diabetic phenotype of the male mice. Within this study, I determined that mitochondrial dysfunction in the testis reduces appetite thereby improving diabetes, underlining the importance of hyperphagia in the diabetic Akita mouse. Over the course of this study, I uncovered a phenotype of the small intestine that was not described previously. In a separate study, I characterized the small intestine phenotype demonstrating that the PolgD257A mutation disrupts the cell cycle of the rapidly dividing cells in the small intestine leading to an increase in cell death. While the small intestine phenotype does not seem to cause an observable phenotype in the PolgD257A mice, the final study investigated the functional aspect of the small intestine by challenging the mice with a high fat, high carbohydrate diet. The diet challenged mice were protected against obesity suggesting a role for mitochondria in normal lipid absorption. Together, these studies have elucidated the unexpected role of mitochondrial DNA mutations in reversing diabetes and preventing obesity

Note and Comment

When the Descendants of a Predeceased Legatee Will Not Take Under a Statute of Substitution - There are in most states statutes declaring that if a person named as legatee dies before the testator, his descendants shall take his share. Downing v. Nicholson, 115 Ia. 493; Strong v. Smith, 84 Mich. 567; x8 A. & E. ENCYC. Ol LAw, 2d Ed. 755. A common type is such as is found in the Civil Code of California, sec. 1310, viz.: When any estate is devised or bequeathed to any child or other relation of the testator and the devisee or legatee dies before the testator, leaving lineal descendants, such descendants take the estate so given by the will in the same manner as the devisee or legatee would have done had he survived the testator. Under this statute the Supreme Court of California has just held (two judges dissenting) that descendants of a legatee dying after the will was made, but before a codicil confirming it do not take because (I) the statute is one of distribution having reference only to conditions existing at the time of death of the maker of the will and not to the time of the decease of the original legatee, (2) because the republication subsequent to the death of the legatee made the lapsed legacy a void legacy, and (3) because the statute applied only to lapsed and not to void legacies. In re Matthews\u27 Estate, (Calif. z918), x69 Pac. 233