Evaluation of joint stabilization for treatment of shearing injuries of the tarsus in 20 dogs

Medical records of 20 dogs with 23 shearing injuries of the tarsus leading to joint instability were reviewed. A transarticular external skeletal fixation device or prosthetic ligament was used to stabilize the joints. The most common complications were fixator failure and implant infection. The median times for wound healing and maximal joint function were 10 and 12 weeks, respectively. Clinical outcome was excellent in 22%, good in 56%, and poor in 22%. Comparison of the two stabilization methods showed no statistically significant differences in healing time, time to regain function, or clinical outcome.     

Unilateral ablation of the auditory cortex in the cat impairs complex sound localization

Unilateral ablation of the auditory cortex in the cat results in a profound deficit in attending to stimuli on the side contralateral to the lesion. The deficit is also manifested in an abnormal perception of left-right pulse pairs when the pulse which leads by a few milliseconds is contralateral to the damaged hemisphere.     

Rat brain: effects of environmental enrichment on wet and dry weights

Wet weight of rat cerebral cortex was increased by exposure to an enriched environment, as compared with standard colony or impoverished conditions. Dry weights and wet weights were compared and both yielded identical percentage differences between brains of animals experiencing enrichment and those experiencing impoverishment.