Seasonal variations in time and space utilization by radio-tagged yellow eels Anguilla anguilla (L.) in a small stream

Seven yellow eels (572–643 mm, 318–592 g) Anguilla anguilla (L.) were tagged with surgically implanted radio transmitters (activity circuit, 1.6–1.7 g) and tracked in the Awirs stream, a small (width <5 m, depth from 0.1 to 1.2 m), densely populated (ca. 250 kg of eel ha−1) tributary of the Belgian River Meuse. The eels were positioned daily from late April to mid-August, and their diel activity was studied during twenty four 24-h cycles. During day-time, the eels were resting in rootwads or in crevices inside stone walls or in crevices in between rocks. They became more active in the late afternoon but generally did not leave their residence before sunset, except under overcast weather. Activity peaked during the first part of the night then progressively vanished, and always ended before sunrise. The area exploited during night-time never extended over more than 40 m2, except when the eel changed its residence. The intensity and timing of nocturnal activity and the extent of the daily activity area were dependent on water temperature (respectively P<0.0001, P<0.05 and P<0.0005), with eels showing little or no activity when the diurnal temperature did not exceed 13 _C. Eels showed higher agitation under full moon and maintained their activity later in the night (P<0.05). The eels showed restricted mobility, and occupied small stream areas (from 0.01 to 0.10 ha) in a non sequential mode, except for two fish which were displaced to the River Meuse by a spate in early June and were never recovered. The length and frequency of net daily journeys were higher (P = 0.005) at water temperatures above 16 _C in late May and June, which also corresponded to the period of immigration of eels from the River Meuse. This study thus shows that large yellow eels may adopt a highly sedentary lifestyle in a continental, fast flowing and densely populated environment, even at periods of the year when these stages usually show upstream migrations

Evaluation of surgery procedures for tagging eel Anguilla anguilla (L.) with biotelemetry transmitters

Externally attached telemetry transmitters are unsuitable to tag yellow eels Anguilla anguilla (L.), in streams where they exhibit cryptic life habits and hide in narrow cavities between rocks. We evaluated the adequacy of surgical implantation and closing procedures for tagging eels with biotelemetry transmitters. Epoxy dummy transmitters (18_8 mm, 1.6–1.7 g) were implanted in eels anaesthetised with 2-phenoxy-ethanol (0.9 ml l−1), through a 20mm mid ventral incision made in the posterior quarter of their body cavity. The incision was either left open, or closed in different ways: stitches (absorbable or non absorbable suture material) or commercial-grade cyanoacrilate adhesive (LoctiteTM). Fish were stocked in a 4 m2 flow through tank (15–17 _C), controlled daily for mortality and weekly for evaluating the healing process. No transmitter was expelled over a 12-week period, even in eels with unclosed incisions, of which 50% healed within 28 days (t50). Regardless of the nature of the filament, suturing induced skin and muscle necrosis, caused significantly higher mortality rates (60% after 10 weeks) and paradoxically slowed down the healing rate (40 and 45 d, respectively). Cyanoacrilate suppressed the inflammatory response and granted higher survival rate (90%), but did not permit to speed up the closing process (t50 = 52 d), as eels actively bit and removed the adhesive within hours. This behaviour was suppressed when we applied a freshly cut fragment of the eel dorsal fin as a biological bandage over the drying cyanoacrilate. The adhesive remained in place for one to two days and permitted to substantially increase the healing rate (t50 = 15 d). These results substantiate the efficiency of surgery techniques for tagging eels with radio transmitters, at least for units of small weight and bulk

Frequency of non-convulsive Seizures and non-convulsive status Epilepticus in Subarachnoid Hemorrhage patients in need of controlled ventilation and sedation

BACKGROUND: Non-convulsive seizures (NCSZ) can be more prevalent than previously recognized among comatose neuro-intensive care patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of NCSZ and non-convulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) in sedated and ventilated subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) patients. METHODS: Retrospective study at a university hospital neuro-intensive care unit, from January 2008 until June 2010. Patients were treated according to a local protocol, and were initially sedated with midazolam or propofol or combinations of these sedative agents. Thiopental was added for treatment of intracranial hypertension. No wake-up tests were performed. Using NicoletOne((R)) equipment (VIASYS Healthcare Inc., USA), continuous EEG recordings based on four electrodes and a reference electrode was inspected at full length both in a two electrode bipolar and a four-channel referential montage. RESULTS: Approximately 5,500 h of continuous EEG were registered in 28 SAH patients (33 % of the patients eligible for inclusion). The median Glasgow Coma scale was 8 (range 3-14) and the median Hunt and Hess score was 4 (range 1-4). During EEG registration, no clinical seizures were observed. In none of the patients inter ictal epileptiform activity was seen. EEG seizures were recorded only in 2/28 (7 %) patients. One of the patients experienced 4 min of an NCSZ and one had a 5 h episode of an NCSE. CONCLUSION: Continuous EEG monitoring is important in detecting NCSZ in sedated patients. Continuous sedation, without wake-up tests, was associated with a low frequency of subclinical seizures in SAH patients in need of controlled ventilation

Autologous or allogeneic bone marrow transplantation compared with intensive chemotherapy in acute myelogenous leukemia

SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Understanding the recognition of facial identity and facial expression

Faces convey a wealth of social signals. A dominant view in face-perception research has been that the recognition of facial identity and facial expression involves separable visual pathways at the functional and neural levels, and data from experimental, neuropsychological, functional imaging and cell-recording studies are commonly interpreted within this framework. However, the existing evidence supports this model less strongly than is often assumed. Alongside this two-pathway framework, other possible models of facial identity and expression recognition, including one that has emerged from principal component analysis techniques, should be considered