Deforestation scenarios show the importance of secondary forest for meeting Panama’s carbon goals

Landscape Ecology - Tropical forest loss has a major impact on climate change. Secondary forest growth has potential to mitigate these impacts, but uncertainty regarding future land use, remote...     

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING OF THE BRAIN AND COELOMIC CAVITY OF THE DOMESTIC PIGEON (Columba livia domestica)

The technical feasibility of performing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in domestic pigeons was investigated. Imaging was performed with a 1.5 Tesla magnet using a human knee surface coil. The head and coelomic cavity of isoflurane-anesthetized birds were imaged in the dorsal, sagittal, and transverse planes to produce T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images. The birds were then euthanatized, formalin perfused, frozen, and sectioned in the corresponding anatomic planes. The anatomy defined by MRI was correlated with gross anatomic sections made from the same birds. The following CNS structures were identified: cerebral hemispheres, cerebellum, optic chiasm, optic lobes, brain stem, and cranial spinal cord. The cornea, lens, and vitreous were also well differentiated in dorsal section MRI's. The abdominal organs identified included proventriculus, ventriculus, intestines, cloaca, liver, kidneys, spleen, testes, and ovary. The hepatic and renal vasculature were well defined.