SOSORT consensus paper: school screening for scoliosis. Where are we today?

This report is the SOSORT Consensus Paper on School Screening for Scoliosis discussed at the 4th International Conference on Conservative Management of Spinal Deformities, presented by SOSORT, on May 2007. The objectives were numerous, 1) the inclusion of the existing information on the issue, 2) the analysis and discussion of the responses by the meeting attendees to the twenty six questions of the questionnaire, 3) the impact of screening on frequency of surgical treatment and of its discontinuation, 4) the reasons why these programs must be continued, 5) the evolving aim of School Screening for Scoliosis and 6) recommendations for improvement of the procedure

Temperature response in electrosensors and thermal voltages in electrolytes

Temperature sensation is increasingly well understood in several model organisms. One of the most sensitive organs to temperature changes is the functional electrosensor of sharks and their relatives; its extreme thermal responsiveness, in excised preparations, has not been mechanistically described. In recent years, conflicting reports have appeared concerning the properties of a hydrogel that fills the ampullae of Lorenzini. The appearance of a thermoelectric effect in the gel (or, using different methods, a reported lack thereof) suggested a link between the exquisite electrosense and the thermal response of the electroreceptors (or, alternately, denied that link). I review available electrophysiology evidence of the organ’s temperature response, calculate a theoretical gel signal prediction using physical chemistry, analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the existing gel measurements, and discuss broader implications for the ampullae and temperature sensation