Environmental complexity positively impacts affective states of broiler chickens.

Affective state can bias an animal's judgement. Animals in positive affective states can interpret ambiguous cues more positively ("optimistically") than animals in negative affective states. Thus, judgement bias tests can determine an animal's affective state through their responses to ambiguous cues. We tested the effects of environmental complexity and stocking density on affective states of broiler chickens through a multimodal judgement bias test. Broilers were trained to approach reinforced locations signaled by one color and not to approach unreinforced locations signaled by a different color. Trained birds were tested for latencies to approach three ambiguous cues of intermediate color and location. Broilers discriminated between cues, with shorter latencies to approach ambiguous cues closest to the reinforced cue than cues closest to the unreinforced cue, validating the use of the test in this context. Broilers housed in high-complexity pens approached ambiguous cues faster than birds in low-complexity pens-an optimistic judgement bias, suggesting the former were in a more positive affective state. Broilers from high-density pens tended to approach all cues faster than birds from low-density pens, possibly because resource competition in their home pen increased food motivation. Overall, our study suggests that environmental complexity improves broilers' affective states, implying animal welfare benefits of environmental enrichment.

Evaluation of rumen temperature as a novel indicator of meat quality: Rumen temperature and haematological indicators of stress during the pre-slaughter period as predictors of instrumental meat quality in bulls.

The use of new technologies such as rumen temperature boluses, together with the collective assessment of an animal stress responses may have the potential to act as an indicator of meat quality. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate rumen temperature as a novel indicator of meat quality, by investigating its relationship with welfare measures and instrumental meat quality. The study involved 42 Holstein bulls (15.8 ±â€¯0.08 months of age), which were transported 42 km to a commercial abattoir. Mean rumen temperature rose by 0.511 °C (P < .001) during the pre-slaughter phase; peaking during lairage. In addition, cortisol, creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were significantly (P < .001) elevated at slaughter. Bulls with a greater rumen temperature during the pre-slaughter phase produced meat with significantly higher pHult. Pre-slaughter rumen temperature was positively associated with slaughter CK, slaughter cortisol, pHult, L* and a*. Thus, rumen temperature demonstrates the potential to be used both as a novel welfare indicator and predictor of meat quality.

Review: welfare of dairy cows in continuously housed and pasture-based production systems.

There is increasing interest in the use of continuous housing systems for dairy cows, with various reasons put forward to advocate such systems. However, the welfare of dairy cows is typically perceived to be better within pasture-based systems, although such judgements are often not scientifically based. The aim of this review was to interrogate the existing scientific literature to compare the welfare, including health, of dairy cows in continuously housed and pasture-based systems. Although summarising existing work, knowledge gaps and directions for future research are also identified. The scope of the review is broad, examining relevant topics under three main headings; health, behaviour and physiology. Regarding health, cows on pasture-based systems had lower levels of lameness, hoof pathologies, hock lesions, mastitis, uterine disease and mortality compared with cows on continuously housed systems. Pasture access also had benefits for dairy cow behaviour, in terms of grazing, improved lying/resting times and lower levels of aggression. Moreover, when given the choice between pasture and indoor housing, cows showed an overall preference for pasture, particularly at night. However, the review highlighted the need for a deeper understanding of cow preference and behaviour. Potential areas for concern within pasture-based systems included physiological indicators of more severe negative energy balance, and in some situations, the potential for compromised welfare with exposure to unpredictable weather conditions. In summary, the results from this review highlight that there remain considerable animal welfare benefits from incorporating pasture access into dairy production systems.

Changing pattern of expression of parvalbumin immunoreactivity during human fetal spinal cord development.

Expression of the calcium binding protein parvalbumin (PV) by different classes of spinal neuron has been shown to be developmentally regulated in both rat and monkey. From postmortem studies of eight human cervical spinal cords ranging in age from 11 to 35 weeks postconceptional age, we report that parvalbumin immunoreactivity is similarly plastic in human lower cervical spinal cord development, with many changes occurring prenatally. At 11-14 weeks postconceptional age, there was prominent immunostaining of primary sensory afferents that could be seen coursing through the dorsal horn and extensively innervating the motoneuron pools. Motoneurons were also found to be clearly immunoreactive for choline acetyltransferase by this age. A few ventral horn neurons that were not motoneurons were also parvalbumin immunoreactive. By 24-27 weeks postconceptional age, sensory afferents were still immunoreactive, as were many other axons throughout the white matter. In addition, many ventral horn neurons were now immunoreactive as well as a few dorsal horn neurons. By 31-35 weeks postconceptional age, there was extensive immunostaining of neurons throughout the spinal cord, including a few moderately immunoreactive motoneurons. There were many immunopositive axons in all the white matter tracts except the corticospinal tracts; however, staining of sensory axons traversing the grey matter was less prominent by this age. In the rat, expression of PV by primary sensory neurons coincides with the onset of fetal limb movement. The onset of expression of PV in ventral horn neurons coincides with later developmental events after the arrival of corticospinal inputs, whereas widespread PV immunoreactivity in dorsal horn neurons marks the attainment of a mature pattern of PV expression. The extent to which expression of PV immunoreactivity can be taken to indicate landmarks in human development will be discussed.

Acute spinal epidural abscess.

An anterolateral cervical epidural abscess occurred in the course of a septicaemia caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Early diagnosis, before permanent neurological signs developed, was provided by CT scan without myelography. Total recovery occurred with antibiotic therapy alone.

False positive-false negative CT scan in late epileptic seizure: a meningioma-glioblastoma association.

A false-negative finding on initial CT is reported in a case of supratentorial glioma. This observation was peculiar because the first CT revealed a meningioma which might initially have been related to the clinical symptoms. The term false positive-false negative CT is proposed. The reasons for such CT failures are discussed. The accuracy of clues as to the localization of the glioma provided by EEG is emphasized.

Developmental expression of parvalbumin by rat lower cervical spinal cord neurones and the effect of early lesions to the motor cortex.

Expression of calcium binding proteins (CaBPs), increasing neuronal activity and phases of synapse elimination are widely believed to be linked during development. We have employed immunocytochemistry to study the expression of the CaBP parvalbumin (PV) during the postnatal development of the lower cervical spinal cord and investigated how early lesions to the motor cortex, at the onset of corticospinal synaptogenesis, perturb the normal pattern of PV expression. This study confirms previous observations that in normal rats PV-like immunoreactivity is confined to large sensory afferents for at least 10 days postnatally (P10) and that the adult pattern of expression emerges from about P18 and involves mainly dorsal horn neurones. However, the study has also demonstrated a transient wave of expression in ventral horn neurones which reaches a maximum between P14-18 and declines thereafter. Unilateral lesions made at P7 to the forelimb motor cortex, which sends an almost completely crossed projection to the spinal cord, resulted in reduced neuronal expression of PV in the lower cervical spinal cord contralaterally at a range of ages (P14-31). The median ratio of PV positive neurones contralateral/ipsilateral to the lesion in spinal cord segments C7 and C8 was significantly lower (p < 0.01) at 56.0% (34.5-76.8 95% confidence limits, n = 14) than in sham operated controls (99.7%, range 93.7-113.6, n = 5). The lesion affected the transient wave of expression seen in ventral horn neurones during the third postnatal week as well as dorsal horn expression at older ages. We conclude that there is considerable plasticity in PV immunoreactivity during spinal cord development. PV is transiently expressed by ventral horn neurones at an age when movement control is functionally maturing. Early cortical lesions disrupt this transient phase of expression but also alter mature patterns of PV localisation. This suggests a critical role for corticospinal pathways in guiding maturation of segmental spinal cord circuitry.

[Paravertebral ganglioneuroma in an adult. Discovery during a spinal attack revealing multiple sclerosis]. / Ganglioneurome paravertébral de l'adulte. Découverte lors d'une poussée médullaire révélatrice de sclérose en plaques.

A paravertebral ganglioneuroma was discovered in a 25 year-old woman presenting a transverse spinal syndrome at the same level. Exeresis necessitated sacrifice of the ninth left intercostal artery, but paraplegia regressed completely under corticotherapy. Additional exploration and subsequent clinical evolution revealed multiple sclerosis, of which the pavaplegia had been a manifestation. The authors discuss ganglioneuroma in the adult, a rare tumour, and the possibility of a link with multiple sclerosis. The association seems fortuitous despite the fact that the tumour and the transverse myelitis occurred at the same level.

[Femoral neuropathy with deafferentation pain. Complications of a hematoma during anticoagulant treatment]. / Neuropathie crurale avec douleurs de déafférentation. Complication d'un hématome au cours d'un traitement anticoagulant.

A case of femoral palsy associated with chronic pain sensible to Carbamazepine, secondary to iliacus haematoma during anticoagulant therapy is reported. Late femoral nerve decompression followed by transcutaneous neurostimulation permit the normalization of the sensory nerve conduction and a complete clinical recovery. The localizations of hemorrhage and nervous compression are discussed. The necessity of a nerve decompression when features of nervous conduction persist is emphasized. Clinical symptomatology, Carbamazepine and transcutaneous neurostimulation efficacity, electrophysiological features are correlated with a central deafferentation state caused by an incomplete and heterogeneous lesion of the sensory nerve conduction pathways.

[Fisher's one-and-one half syndrome. Involvement of the 6th cranial nerve nucleus and association with paralytic pontine exotropia]. / Syndrome un et demi de Fisher. Atteinte du noyau du VI associée à une exotropie pontine paralytique.

Total lateral paralysis in a case of "One and half" Fisher's syndrome accompanied by paralytic pontine exotropia is described. Oculographic investigation indicates involvement of the nucleus of the VIth cranial nerve. Paralytic pontine exotropia, may therefore be encountered where the VIth nucleus is involved.

[Refsum's disease. Ophthalmologic symptomatology dominated by tight bilateral miosis]. / Maladie de Refsum. Symptomatologie ophtalmologique dominée par un myosis bilatéral serré.

A case of Refsum's disease in a 62-year-old man, with an ophthalmologic symptomatology dominated by a tight bilateral miosis, is reported. The miosis mechanism in this disease is discussed. The clinical evolution has been stabilized by a diet poor in phytanic acid.

[Panmedullary ependymoma. A case report]. / Ependymome pan medullaire. Une observation.

Panmedullary ependymoma is an unusual disease last reported by Fuentes in 1986. The present case is the first to have been studied by magnetic resonance, using gadolinium. The findings indicated a panmedullary lesion rather than a tumour. Histopathological investigation confirmed the hypothesis.

[61 years' survival of Koch's bacillus in a closed focus. Disclosure in a case of spinal cord compression caused by sequelae of Pott's disease]. / Soixante et un ans de survie d'un bacille de Koch dans un foyer clos. Découverte lors d'une compression médullaire par séquelles de mal de Pott.

A 68 year-old woman presented with a spinal cord compression from an angular kyphosis due to Pott's disease at age 7. Clinical, radiological and pathological studies of the vertebral lesions did not demonstrate an evolutive lesion. However, culture yielded some viable Koch's bacilli. This bacteriologic confirmation 61 years later exemplifies the importance of host immunity reactions, that may prevent the development of KB, and the remarkable capacity of survival of the bacillus.

[Spinal cord compression caused by dorsal disk hernia. Complication of Scheuermann's disease]. / Compression médullaire par hernie discale dorsale. Une complication de la maladie de Scheuermann.

Association of Scheuermann's disease with a thoracic herniated disc compressing the spinal cord is rare but is clearly demonstrated in the case reported here. This confirms the non-fortuitous nature of this association also suggested by the analysis of published cases. The interest of spinal cord angiography and of surgery through a postero-lateral approach are emphasized.

[Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease. Anatomoclinical and genealogical study]. / Maladie de Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker. Etude anatomoclinique et généalogique.

The patient has been examined clinically and his brain examined. Four related patients are known by hospital records, and two others by history. The mode of transmission is compatible with a mendelian autosomic dominant mechanism through three generations, but the line appears to be broken at the further ascending generation with both parents dying too old to be affected. The disease begins in the early thirties, with tremor and frequent falls; intellectual impairment is soon obvious. Later on, the patients are demented, unruly; a marked dysarthria and severe intention and opposition tremor in the trunk and the extremities are present. Midline reflexes are brisk, other reflexes are normal, a Babinski response is not obtained. Laboratory and E.E.G. data are non contributive. At a terminal stage, the patient is bedridden, cachectic, with extensor hypertonia of the lower extremities and flexor hypertonia of the upper extremities. Total course is about seven years. Neuropathological findings in the propositus were almost entirely restricted to the cerebellar cortex, the molecular layer of which is moderately atrophic and gliotic, and contains numerous plaque-like formations without neuritic component, but differing from kuru plaques by the absence of amyloid characteristics. The condition may be nevertheless ascribed to Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease, understood as a provisional clinicopathology group, pending further transmission experiments.

[Chorea and systemic lupus erythematosus with circulating anticoagulant. 3 cases]. / Chorée et lupus érythémateux disséminé avec anticoagulant circulant. Trois cas.

Circulating anticoagulant was detected during the course of choreic manifestations in three young women with systemic lupus erythematosus, associated in two cases with false syphilitic serology due to the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies. The high prevalence of the presence of these antibodies in lupic chorea was confirmed by reports of 41 cases in the literature. These findings could suggest a possible pathogenic role for these antibodies in choreic manifestations by either a thrombotic or auto-immune encephalitis mechanism.

[Successive encephalic ischemic accidents in a young patient: Buerger's disease, buergerian syndrome, or juvenile atheroma? A report in clinical, angiographic, and anatomical findings in one case, compared to three other ones, in which a biopsy of the pulp of the toes was also performed (author's transl)]. / Accidents ischémiques encéphaliques successifs chez un sujet jeune: maladie de Buerger, syndrome buergerien ou athérome juvénile? A propos d'une observation clinique, angiographique et anatomique, comparée à trois autres avec étude de biopsie de pulpe d'orteil.

A man of 19 years of age was found to have a diffuse livedo, a quadruple asphyxic acrosyndrome, and dementia. Angiography confirmed the presence of distal ischemia with multiple circulatory blocks and a reduced distal network. The patient died at the age of 25 years and histopathological examinations of the vessels demonstrated obstructive atheromatous lesions in the medium sized and small arteries of the brain and viscera. By comparing these findings with those observed in three other cases, in which biopsy of the pulp of the toe was also performed, the hypothesis can be advanced that these juvenile encephalic ischemic accidents are caused by atheroma, which can be detected, at an early stage, by studying the distal arteries in the finger or toe pulp.

[Juvenile distal cerebral ischemia: value of pulp biopsy]. / Ischémie cérébrale distale juvénile: intérêt de la biopsie pulpaire.

Juvenile distal cerebral ischemia has been attributed to small artery atherosclerosis (Arnold, Benoit, Merlen, Dobbelaere, Delandsheer, 1979), based on clinicopathologic findings in one male patient and results of big toe pulp biopsy in three other cases. Pathological findings were obstruction of small artery lumens by hypertrophic endothelium and loose fibrocellular bands, their origin being the result possibly of partial intimalization of media by elastic neogenesis. Appearances were similar to those described by Dahl in human cerebral atherosclerosis in 1976, and approached those of the initial stages of experimental atheroma (Ross, Glomset, 1976). Arterial exiguity was also present in the 4 cases. Results of biologic, metabolic, inflammatory and immunologic examinations were negative. The present study concerns 4 additional cases of juvenile distal encephalic ischemia. One case in a female patient not on oral contraceptives confirmed the hypothesis of intimalization of media of arterioles of big toe pulp. Elastic neogenesis was present in the tunica media in areas where there was a change of direction of myocytes, and was apparent at a distance from the internal elastic layer. The latter was fragmented, sometimes doubles and of variable color. In another case, a woman taking oral contraceptives, there was almost total obstruction of the pulp arteriolar lumens with a very thin tunica media. Elastic neogenesis encircled two very narrow lumens in the center of the vessel and there were also elastic changes common to both.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[11 cases of neuropathy induced by almitrine, of which one had optic neuropathy]. / Onze cas de neuropathie à l'almitrine, dont un avec neuropathie optique.

The only etiologic factor retained in 11 patients with sensory or sensory-motor neuropathy was almitrine therapy. In one patient there was in addition an optic neuropathy. The reduction in visual acuity in this patient coincided with the onset of the sensory-motor neuropathy of lower limbs after treatment with 100 mg/day of almitrine over a 2-year period. No other metabolic, inflammatory, toxic, vascular or immunologic cause was found. There was a moderate chronic respiratory insufficiency. Visual recuperation started one month after the arrest of almitrine treatment and was satisfactory 7 months later. The other 10 patients had neuropathy of limbs without visual disorders. Neuromuscular biopsy in one case showed lesions to be of the axonal type.

[Guillain-Barré syndrome with favorable outcome in a case of recent human immunodeficiency virus infection]. / Syndrome de Guillain et Barré d'evolution favorable dans un cas d'infection récente par le virus de l'immunodéficience humaine.

An acute polyradiculoneuropathy occurred in a 30 years homosexual male. E.L.I.S.A. test and Western Blot showed recent infection by H.I.V. Besides, endogenous reinfestation by cytomegalovirus was found: high concentrations of specific IgG antibodies and presence of the virus in the blood. T4 helper cells were severely reduced, without any other sign of cellular immunity failure. None of the two viruses was found in the nervous biopsy. This Guillain-Barre syndrome with a subsequent cellular reaction in the CSF, is probably to be related to an immunoallergic mechanism. Brief increase of antibodies specific for HBsAg and Borrelia Burgdorferri and the beneficial effect of plasmapheresis, supported this view. Two months later, the patient showed superficial lymph nodes hyperplasia, without any other symptom of pre-Acquired Immuno-Depression Syndrome.