Laser-Doppler measurements of spinal cord blood flow changes during hemilaminectomy in chondrodystrophic dogs with disk extrusion

OBJECTIVES: (1) To assess spinal cord blood flow (SCBF) during surgical treatment of disk extrusion in dogs and (2) to investigate associations between SCBF, clinical signs, presurgical MRI images, and 24-hour surgical outcome. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study. ANIMALS: Chondrodystrophic dogs with thoracolumbar disk extrusion (n=12). METHODS: Diagnosis was based on clinical signs and MRI findings, and confirmed at surgery. Regional SCBF was measured intraoperatively by laser-Doppler flowmetry before, immediately after surgical spinal cord decompression, and after 15 minutes of lavaging the lesion. Care was taken to ensure a standardized surgical procedure to minimize factors that could influence measurement readings. RESULTS: A significant increase in intraoperative SCBF was found in all dogs (Wilcoxon's signed-rank test; P=.05) immediately after spinal cord decompression and after 15 minutes. Changes in SCBF were not associated with duration of clinical signs; initial or 24-hour neurologic status; or degree of spinal cord compression assessed by MRI. CONCLUSION: SCBF increases immediately after spinal cord decompression in dogs with disk herniation; however, increased SCBF was not associated with a diminished 24-hour neurologic status. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: An increase in SCBF does not appear to be either associated with the degree of spinal cord compression or of a magnitude sufficient to outweigh the benefit of surgical decompression by resulting in clinically relevant changes in 24-hour outcome.

Reliability of lithium dilution cardiac output in anaesthetized sheep

BACKGROUND: Cardiac output (CO) measurement with lithium dilution (COLD) has not been fully validated in sheep using precise ultrasonic flow probe technology (COUFP). Sheep generate important cardiovascular research models and the use of COLD has become more popular in experimental settings. METHODS: Ultrasonic transit-time perivascular flow probes were surgically implanted on the pulmonary artery of 13 sheep. Paired COLD readings were taken at six time points, before and after implantation of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) and compared with COUFP recorded just after lithium injection. RESULTS: The mean COLD was 5.7 litre min(-1) (range 3.8-9.6 litre min(-1)) and mean COUFP 5.9 litre min(-1) (range 4.0-9.2 litre min(-1)). The bias (standard deviation) was 0.3 (1.0) litre min(-1) [5.1 (16.9)%] and limits of agreement (LOA) were -1.7 to 2.3 litre min(-1) (-28.8 to 39.0%) with a percentage error (PE) of 34.4%. Data to assess trending [rate (95% confidence intervals)] included a 78 (62-93)% concordance rate in the four-quadrant plot (n=27). In the half moon polar plot (n=19), the mean polar angle was +5°, the radial LOA were -49 to +35° and 68 (47-89)% of data points fell within 22.5° of the mean polar angle. Both tests indicated moderate to poor trending ability. CONCLUSION: COLD is not precise when evaluated against COUFP in sheep based on the statistical criteria set, but the results are comparable with previously published animal studies. KEYWORDS:

Judaism defended against the attacks of T. J. C. of Oxford : a reply to 2 letters on the Damascus question, in "The Times" newspaper of the 20th and 27th oct., 1840

by Morris J. Raphall

Performing ‘Readings’: The Interplay of Theatre And Digital Comics In Tezuka

The article investigates the intriguing interplay of digital comics and live-action elements in a detailed performance analysis of TeZukA (2011) by choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. This dance theatre production enacts the life story of Osamu Tezuka and some of his famous manga characters, interweaving performers and musicians with large-scale projections of the mangaka’s digitised comics. During the show, the dancers perform different ‘readings’ of the projected manga imagery: e.g. they swipe panels as if using portable touchscreen displays, move synchronously to animated speed lines, and create the illusion of being drawn into the stories depicted on the screen. The main argument is that TeZukA makes visible, demonstrates and reflects upon different ways of delivering, reading and interacting with digital comics. In order to verify this argument, the paper uses ideas developed in comics and theatre studies to draw more specifically on the use of digital comics in this particular performance.