Scallop swimming kinematics and muscle performance: modelling the effects of "within-animal" variation in temperature sensitivity

Escape behaviour was investigated in Queen scallops (Aequipecten opercularis) acclimated to 5, 10 or 15 degrees C and tested at their acclimation temperature. Scallops are active molluscs, able to escape from predators by jet-propelled swimming using a striated muscle working in opposition to an elastic hinge ligament. The first cycle of the escape response was recorded using high-speed video ( 250 Hz) and whole-animal velocity and acceleration determined. Muscle shortening velocity, force and power output were calculated using measurements of valve movement and jet area, and a simple biomechanical model. The average shortening speed of the adductor muscle had a Q(10) of 2.04, significantly reducing the duration of the jetting phase of the cycle with increased temperature. Muscle lengthening velocity and the overall duration of the clap cycle were changed little over the range 5 - 15 degrees C, as these parameters were controlled by the relatively temperature-insensitive, hinge ligament. Improvements in the average power output of the adductor muscle over the first clap cycle ( 222 vs. 139 W kg(-1) wet mass at 15 and 5 degrees C respectively) were not translated into proportional increases in overall swimming velocity, which was only 32% higher at 15 degrees C ( 0.37m s(-1)) than 5 degrees C (0.28 m s(-1))

Recognition and Alleviation of Pain in Animals

The pain and distress which animals experience as a consequence of their use by man figures prominently in discussions of animal welfare. Some improvements have been made in animal housing and husbandry practices and it is likely that further progress will be made in this field. In comparison, relatively little attention has been given to the problem of minimizing the pain and distress caused to animals by the various procedures to which they are subjected. The most publicized of these are the wide range of experimental techniques which are undertaken using laboratory animals, but also includes procedures such as castration of farm animals and neutering operations carried out on pet animals. The prevention or alleviation of the pain associated with such procedures is a complex problem with no single, simple solution. Consideration must be given to the use of analgesic drugs, the provision of high standards of general care, and the use of special nursing techniques. When dealing with post-operative care, the pre-operative management ofthe animal, the operative procedures and the anesthetic regime must all be evaluated and, when necessary, modified to minimize pain or discomfort

The rank reversal problem in multi-criteria decision making : a literature review

Despite the importance of multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques for constructing effective decision models, there are many criticisms due to the occurrence of a problem called rank reversal. Nevertheless, there is a lack of a systematic literature review on this important subject which involves different methods. This study reviews the pertinent literature on rank reversal, based on 130 related articles published from 1980 to 2015 in international journals, which were gathered and analyzed according to the following perspectives: multicriteria technique, year and journal in which the papers were published, co-authorship network, rank reversal types, and research goal. Thus our survey provides recommendations for future research, besides useful information and knowledge regarding rank reversal in the MCDM field

Pre-cooling for endurance exercise performance in the heat: a systematic review.

PMCID: PMC3568721The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/10/166. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Endurance exercise capacity diminishes under hot environmental conditions. Time to exhaustion can be increased by lowering body temperature prior to exercise (pre-cooling). This systematic literature review synthesizes the current findings of the effects of pre-cooling on endurance exercise performance, providing guidance for clinical practice and further research

International Veterinary Epilepsy Task Force consensus proposal: Medical treatment of canine epilepsy in Europe

In Europe, the number of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) licensed for dogs has grown considerably over the last years. Nevertheless, the same questions remain, which include, 1) when to start treatment, 2) which drug is best used initially, 3) which adjunctive AED can be advised if treatment with the initial drug is unsatisfactory, and 4) when treatment changes should be considered. In this consensus proposal, an overview is given on the aim of AED treatment, when to start long-term treatment in canine epilepsy and which veterinary AEDs are currently in use for dogs. The consensus proposal for drug treatment protocols, 1) is based on current published evidence-based literature, 2) considers the current legal framework of the cascade regulation for the prescription of veterinary drugs in Europe, and 3) reflects the authors’ experience. With this paper it is aimed to provide a consensus for the management of canine idiopathic epilepsy. Furthermore, for the management of structural epilepsy AEDs are inevitable in addition to treating the underlying cause, if possible

VADER: a variable dose-rate external 137Cs irradiator for internal emitter and low dose rate studies.

In the long term, 137Cs is probably the most biologically important agent released in many accidental (or malicious) radiation disasters. It can enter the food chain, and be consumed, or, if present in the environment (e.g. from fallout), can provide external irradiation over prolonged times. In either case, due to the high penetration of the energetic γ rays emitted by 137Cs, the individual will be exposed to a low dose rate, uniform, whole body, irradiation. The VADER (VAriable Dose-rate External 137Cs irradiatoR) allows modeling these exposures, bypassing many of the problems inherent in internal emitter studies. Making use of discarded 137Cs brachytherapy seeds, the VADER can provide varying low dose rate irradiations at dose rates of 0.1 to 1.2 Gy/day. The VADER includes a mouse "hotel", designed to allow long term simultaneous residency of up to 15 mice. Two source platters containing ~ 250 mCi each of 137Cs brachytherapy seeds are mounted above and below the "hotel" and can be moved under computer control to provide constant low dose rate or a varying dose rate mimicking 137Cs biokinetics in mouse or man. We present the VADER design and characterization of its performance over 18 months of use

LD-Spline: Mapping SNPs on genotyping platforms to genomic regions using patterns of linkage disequilibrium

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gene-centric analysis tools for genome-wide association study data are being developed both to annotate single locus statistics and to prioritize or group single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) prior to analysis. These approaches require knowledge about the relationships between SNPs on a genotyping platform and genes in the human genome. SNPs in the genome can represent broader genomic regions via linkage disequilibrium (LD), and population-specific patterns of LD can be exploited to generate a data-driven map of SNPs to genes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study, we implemented LD-Spline, a database routine that defines the genomic boundaries a particular SNP represents using linkage disequilibrium statistics from the International HapMap Project. We compared the LD-Spline haplotype block partitioning approach to that of the four gamete rule and the Gabriel et al. approach using simulated data; in addition, we processed two commonly used genome-wide association study platforms.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We illustrate that LD-Spline performs comparably to the four-gamete rule and the Gabriel et al. approach; however as a SNP-centric approach LD-Spline has the added benefit of systematically identifying a genomic boundary for each SNP, where the global block partitioning approaches may falter due to sampling variation in LD statistics.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>LD-Spline is an integrated database routine that quickly and effectively defines the genomic region marked by a SNP using linkage disequilibrium, with a SNP-centric block definition algorithm.</p

Freezing of Enkephalinergic Functions by Multiple Noxious Foci: A Source of Pain Sensitization?

BACKGROUND:The functional significance of proenkephalin systems in processing pain remains an open question and indeed is puzzling. For example, a noxious mechanical stimulus does not alter the release of Met-enkephalin-like material (MELM) from segments of the spinal cord related to the stimulated area of the body, but does increase its release from other segments. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Here we show that, in the rat, a noxious mechanical stimulus applied to either the right or the left hind paw elicits a marked increase of MELM release during perifusion of either the whole spinal cord or the cervico-trigeminal area. However, these stimulatory effects were not additive and indeed, disappeared completely when the right and left paws were stimulated simultaneously. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE:We have concluded that in addition to the concept of a diffuse control of the transmission of nociceptive signals through the dorsal horn, there is a diffuse control of the modulation of this transmission. The "freezing" of Met-enkephalinergic functions represents a potential source of central sensitization in the spinal cord, notably in clinical situations involving multiple painful foci, e.g. cancer with metastases, poly-traumatism or rheumatoid arthritis

Trial outcomes and information for clinical decision-making: a comparative study of opinions of health professionals

Background: Trials are robust sources of data for clinical practice, however, trial outcomes may not reflect what is important to communicate for decision making. The study compared clinicians’ views of outcomes to include in a core outcome set for colorectal cancer (CRC) surgery, with what clinicians considered important information for clinical practice (core information). Methods: Potential outcomes/information domains were identified through systematic literature reviews, reviews of hospital information leaflets and interviews with patients. These were organized into 6 categories, and used to design a questionnaire survey that asked surgeons and nurses from a sample of CRC centers to rate the importance of each domain as an outcome or as information on a 9-point Likert scale. Respondents were re-surveyed (round 2) following group feedback (Delphi methods). Comparisons were made by calculating the difference in mean scores between the outcomes and information domains, and paired t-tests were used to explore the difference between mean scores of the 6 outcome/information categories. Results: Data sources identified 1216 outcomes/information of CRC surgery that informed a 94 item questionnaire. First round questionnaires were returned from 63/81 (78%) of centers. Clinicians rated 76/94 (84%) domains of higher importance to measure in trials than to information to communicate to patients in Round 1. This was reduced to 24/47 (51%) in Round 2. The greatest difference was evident in domains about survival, which was rated much more highly as a trial outcome than important piece of information for decision-making (mean difference 2.3, 95% CI 1.9-2.8, p<0.0001). Specific complications and quality-of-life domains were rated similarly (mean difference 0.18, 95% CI -0.1-0.4, p=0.2 and 0.2, 95% CI -0.1-0.5, p=0.2 respectively). Conclusions: Whilst clinicians want to measure key outcomes in trials, they rate these as less important to communicate in decision-making with patients. This discrepancy needs to be explored and addressed to maximize the impact of trials on clinical practice