Kinetic evaluation of normal walking and jumping in cats, using a pressure-sensitive walkway

The kinetic parameters of the limbs of 23 normal, client-owned cats were evaluated by encouraging them to walk and jump normally on a pressure-sensitive walkway. Each cat was encouraged to walk across the walkway five times over a period of 30 to 45 minutes (by using food, toys, the owner's presence and a purpose-built tunnel) at a target speed of 0.6 m/s (and an acceleration of less than +/- 0.1 m/s(2)). They were then encouraged to jump on to the walkway from a height of 1 m five times at five-minute intervals. The kinetic parameters of peak vertical force (PVF) and vertical impulse (VI) were measured for each limb (the forelimbs only for the jumps), and expressed as a percentage of bodyweight (PVF(%BW) and VI(%BW/S)). Fifteen of the 23 cats satisfactorily completed three to five walks and two to five jumps that could be analysed. There were no significant differences between the PVF or VI of the left and right limbs, but both parameters were significantly greater for the forelimbs than the hindlimbs (P<0.001) for the walking data. The mean (sd) PVF(%BW) for the forelimbs and hindlimbs were 48.2 (6.0) and 38.3 (4.0), respectively, and the mean VI(%BW/s) were 16.9 (3.2) and 13.3 (2.8). Jumping down generated significantly greater PVF (P<0.01) and slightly greater VI than during walking; there were no significant differences between the left and right forelimbs. The mean PVF(%BW) was 148.9 (16.4) and the mean VI(%BW/s) was 18.1 (4.3).     

Beyond the wetland border: Estimating the impact of roads for two species of water snakes

We used models integrating road maps, traffic volume, and snake movements to examine the potential for roads to contribute to mortality in two species of water snakes that differ in their vagility, use of terrestrial habitats, and conservation status. Road networks and traffic volumes typical of three regions in Indiana, USA, may account for mortality of 14-21% of the population per year in the more vagile, terrestrial, and imperiled copperbelly water snake (Nerodia erythrogaster neglecta) but only 3-5% mortality in the more sedentary, aquatic, and common northern water snake (Nerodia sipedon). The majority (>91%) of road crossings and associated mortality are predicted to occur during overland migrations to other wetlands, suggesting roads bisecting travel routes between wetlands may function as mortality sinks. Our models highlight the proportionately greater risk of mortality for the more vagile and imperiled species, N. e. neglecta, and suggest current wetland conservation strategies that focus on the wetland alone are unlikely to adequately protect wetland biodiversity from certain types of anthropogenic habitat modification. What is needed is a landscape approach to wetland conservation that considers not only the quality of wetlands and nearby terrestrial habitats, but also ensures that terrestrial corridors between wetlands remain permeable and offer safe passage for wildlife.     

Why is climate sensitivity so unpredictable?

Uncertainties in projections of future climate change have not lessened substantially in past decades. Both models and observations yield broad probability distributions for long-term increases in global mean temperature expected from the doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide, with small but finite probabilities of very large increases. We show that the shape of these probability distributions is an inevitable and general consequence of the nature of the climate system, and we derive a simple analytic form for the shape that fits recent published distributions very well. We show that the breadth of the distribution and, in particular, the probability of large temperature increases are relatively insensitive to decreases in uncertainties associated with the underlying climate processes.     

A map of visual space induced in primary auditory cortex

Maps of sensory surfaces are a fundamental feature of sensory cortical areas of the brain. The relative roles of afferents and targets in forming neocortical maps in higher mammals can be examined in ferrets in which retinal inputs are directed into the auditory pathway. In these animals, the primary auditory cortex contains a systematic representation of the retina (and of visual space) rather than a representation of the cochlea (and of sound frequency). A representation of a two-dimensional sensory epithelium, the retina, in cortex that normally represents a one-dimensional epithelium, the cochlea, suggests that the same cortical area can support different types of maps. Topography in the visual map arises both from thalamocortical projections that are characteristic of the auditory pathway and from patterns of retinal activity that provide the input to the map.     

Lateral ligamentous injury to the carpus of a racing greyhound

The lateral collateral ligament of the ulna and the dorsolateral ligaments of the radiocarpal joint of a racing Greyhound were ruptured, resulting in instability of the carpus when the joint was flexed. This report describes a technique for making a ligament prosthesis, using the ulnaris lateralis tendon. Although the dog did not return to racing, the carpus was stable enough for general activity.     

Use of an aiming device for application of a type-II (bilateral) external fixator to a fractured tibia of a dog

An aiming device was used to guide insertion of fixation pins in a type-II (bilateral) external fixator stabilizing an open canine tibial fracture. This device, designed by the Swiss AO group, has multiple applications in orthopedic surgery, because it accurately locates the exit point of a pin or drill hole on the far side of a bone or fractured bone fragment. When used with the type-II external fixator, it greatly facilitates pin placement by ensuring that, as a pin emerges from the bone, it is in line with the second clamp on the opposite connecting bar.     

Experimental Edema Disease of Swine (E. Coli ENTEROTOXEMIA) II. The Development of Hypertension After the Intravenous Administration of Edema Disease Principle

The intravenous inoculation of edema disease principle induced profound hypertension in pigs. The increase in blood pressure occurred approximately 40 hours after inoculation and coincided with the development of the characteristic neurological disturbance of edema disease. Therefore hypertension may play a pathogenetic role in the neuropathy of experimental edema disease.