Cognitive Research with Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) at Disney’s The Seas: A Program for Enrichment, Science, Education, and Conservation

The dolphins at Disney contribute to a cognitive research program. This program has been very successful in four main areas: enrichment, science, education, and conservation. Dolphins are large brained,long-lived mammals with extended developmental periods, complex social lives, a large variety of foraging techniques, and intricate vocal emissions; consequently, they need to engage incognitive tasks, and they respond well to them. Our tasks have been designed for scientifically valid data collection focused mostly on questions relating to echoic object recognition, communication, and imitation/synchrony. The results have been published in peer-reviewed research journals and are summarized here. Data collection occurs in front of the public and appears to create a connection between the visitors and the dolphins. Through this program the dolphins under Disney’s care have been able to promote conservation via our publications, public education, the testing of new technologies, staff (veterinary, research, husbandry) support at in situ research sites, and direct financial contributions. The program may be a useful example for other public facilities housing dolphins

Cognitive Research with Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) at Disney’s The Seas: A Program for Enrichment, Science, Education, and Conservation

The dolphins at Disney contribute to a cognitive research program. This program has been very successful in four main areas: enrichment, science, education, and conservation. Dolphins are large brained,long-lived mammals with extended developmental periods, complex social lives, a large variety of foraging techniques, and intricate vocal emissions; consequently, they need to engage incognitive tasks, and they respond well to them. Our tasks have been designed for scientifically valid data collection focused mostly on questions relating to echoic object recognition, communication, and imitation/synchrony. The results have been published in peer-reviewed research journals and are summarized here. Data collection occurs in front of the public and appears to create a connection between the visitors and the dolphins. Through this program the dolphins under Disney’s care have been able to promote conservation via our publications, public education, the testing of new technologies, staff (veterinary, research, husbandry) support at in situ research sites, and direct financial contributions. The program may be a useful example for other public facilities housing dolphins

Postoperative continuous positive airway pressure to prevent pneumonia, re-intubation, and death after major abdominal surgery (PRISM): a multicentre, open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial

Background: Respiratory complications are an important cause of postoperative morbidity. We aimed to investigate whether continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) administered immediately after major abdominal surgery could prevent postoperative morbidity. Methods: PRISM was an open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial done at 70 hospitals across six countries. Patients aged 50 years or older who were undergoing elective major open abdominal surgery were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive CPAP within 4 h of the end of surgery or usual postoperative care. Patients were randomly assigned using a computer-generated minimisation algorithm with inbuilt concealment. The primary outcome was a composite of pneumonia, endotracheal re-intubation, or death within 30 days after randomisation, assessed in the intention-to-treat population. Safety was assessed in all patients who received CPAP. The trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN56012545. Findings: Between Feb 8, 2016, and Nov 11, 2019, 4806 patients were randomly assigned (2405 to the CPAP group and 2401 to the usual care group), of whom 4793 were included in the primary analysis (2396 in the CPAP group and 2397 in the usual care group). 195 (8\ub71%) of 2396 patients in the CPAP group and 197 (8\ub72%) of 2397 patients in the usual care group met the composite primary outcome (adjusted odds ratio 1\ub701 [95% CI 0\ub781-1\ub724]; p=0\ub795). 200 (8\ub79%) of 2241 patients in the CPAP group had adverse events. The most common adverse events were claustrophobia (78 [3\ub75%] of 2241 patients), oronasal dryness (43 [1\ub79%]), excessive air leak (36 [1\ub76%]), vomiting (26 [1\ub72%]), and pain (24 [1\ub71%]). There were two serious adverse events: one patient had significant hearing loss and one patient had obstruction of their venous catheter caused by a CPAP hood, which resulted in transient haemodynamic instability. Interpretation: In this large clinical effectiveness trial, CPAP did not reduce the incidence of pneumonia, endotracheal re-intubation, or death after major abdominal surgery. Although CPAP has an important role in the treatment of respiratory failure after surgery, routine use of prophylactic post-operative CPAP is not recommended