Evaluating the effects of giraffe skin disease and wire snare wounds on the gaits of free-ranging Nubian giraffe.

Giraffe skin disease (GSD), a condition that results in superficial lesions in certain giraffe (Giraffa spp.) populations, has emerged as a potential conservation threat. Preliminary findings suggested that individuals with GSD lesions move with greater difficulty which may in turn reduce their foraging efficiency or make them more vulnerable to predation. A current known threat to some giraffe populations is their mortality associated with entrapment in wire snares, and the morbidity and potential locomotor deficiencies associated with wounds acquired from snares. The goal of our study was to quantify the locomotor kinematics of free-ranging Nubian giraffe (G. camelopardalis camelopardalis) in Murchison Falls National Park (MFNP), Uganda, and compare spatiotemporal limb and neck angle kinematics of healthy giraffe to those of giraffe with GSD lesions, snare wounds, and both GSD lesions and snare wounds. The presence of GSD lesions did not significantly affect spatiotemporal limb kinematic parameters. This finding is potentially because lesions were located primarily on the necks of Nubian giraffe in MFNP. The kinematic parameters of individuals with snare wounds differed from those of healthy individuals, resulting in significantly shorter stride lengths, reduced speed, lower limb phase values, and increased gait asymmetry. Neck angle kinematic parameters did not differ among giraffe categories, which suggests that GSD neck lesions do not impair normal neck movements and range of motion during walking. Overall, MFNP giraffe locomotor patterns are largely conservative between healthy individuals and those with GSD, while individuals with snare wounds showed more discernible kinematic adjustments consistent with unilateral limb injuries. Additional studies are recommended to assess spatiotemporal limb kinematics of giraffe at sites where lesions are found predominantly on the limbs to better assess the potential significance of GSD on their locomotion.

Supernumerary intrathoracic ribs: imaging features of two cases.

Intrathoracic supernumerary ribs are a rare congenital abnormality. The chest radiography and computed tomographic findings (including 3D reconstruction) of two cases are presented with a brief review of the literature.

Strength loss after eccentric contractions is unaffected by creatine supplementation.

This study's objective was to determine whether 14 days of dietary creatine supplementation preceding an injurious bout of eccentric contractions affect the in vivo strength loss of mouse anterior crural muscles. Three groups of nine mice each were fed a meal diet for 14 days, one group at each of three levels of creatine supplementation (i.e., 0, 0.5, and 1% creatine). Electrically stimulated concentric, isometric, and eccentric contraction torques produced about the ankle were measured both before and after a bout of 150 eccentric contractions. Tibialis anterior muscle creatine concentration was significantly increased by the supplementation, being 12% higher in the mice fed the 1% creatine diet compared with control mice. After the bout of eccentric contractions, the reductions in torque (i.e., 46-58%) were similar for the isometric contraction, all eccentric contractions, and the slow (i.e., /= 0.62). In conclusion, a moderate increase in muscle creatine concentration induced by dietary supplementation in mice does not affect the strength loss after eccentric contractions.

Pneumomediastinum after rigid bronchoscopy.

The accumulation of extrapulmonary air is a well-known complication of airway endoscopic procedures. However, pulmonic disease alone can predispose toward pneumomediastinum and pneumothorax, without iatrogenic manipulation. In this case, a portable chest radiograph diagnosed the cause of the sudden accumulation of extrapulmonary air after rigid bronchoscopy as alveolar rupture, rather than iatrogenic airway perforation. The pathophysiology of pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum and the interpretation of chest radiographs in these situations is reviewed.

Quantitative computer-aided analysis of lung texture in chest radiographs.

The authors describe a computerized method to quantify and characterize interstitial diseases by using physical texture measures obtained from an analysis of the power spectrum of lung textures in digital chest radiographs. They compared these texture measures obtained from standard radiographs from the International Labour Office (ILO) classification scheme and the ILO classification categories for small opacities in pneumoconioses. Their preliminary results indicate that texture measures obtained from this computer analysis of the ILO standard radiographs correspond closely with the ILO classification categories.

Irradiation damage to the lung.

While some degree of injury to normal, non-tumor-bearing, intrathoracic structures always occurs following irradiation for cure or palliation of neoplastic disease, clinical expression of this injury is uncommon. However, under certain circumstances, clinical manifestations may be severe and life threatening. Acute radiographic manifestations of pulmonary injury usually appear either synchronous with or, more typically, seven to ten days after the onset of the clinical syndrome. The acute signs of edema and slight volume loss within the irradiated zone are nonspecific except for their temporal and spatial relationship to the irradiation of the patient. Resolution of the acute changes is followed by pulmonary cicatrization, which is almost always stable within one year after completion of therapy. Change in postirradiation scarring following stabilization of the reaction must always be assumed to be due to some other process. While the radiograph primarily reveals pulmonary injury, all tissues, including the heart and major vessels, are susceptible, and the radiologist must recognize that any change within the thorax of a patient who has undergone thoracic irradiation may be a complication of that treatment. Differentiation of irradiation injury from residual or recurrent tumor, drug reaction, or opportunistic infection may be difficult and at times impossible.

Transcatheter bronchial brush and forceps biopsies. Histologic evaluation.

The histologic findings in transcatheter brush and forceps biopsies from 472 cases over a six-year period are evaluated. Diagnostic accuracy based on histologic findings was 38% and based on cytologic findings was 70%. When the two methods of examination were used, however, the overall accuracy was improved to 76%. In Hodgkin's disease and some inflammatory processes histologic examination is essential for the diagnosis. The transcatheter biopsies under fluoroscopic control are especially useful for securing tissues from the peripherally located lesions. When possible, examination of tissue obtained by transcatheter as well as forceps biopsies is encouraged.

The radiology of lung cancer.

Double reading of radiographs increases the likelihood of detecting pulmonary disease and, accordingly, physicians have an obligation to view the radiographic examinations performed on their patients, either with the radiologist or independently. It is also essential that the radiologist be proved with the clinical findings before he interprets the radiographs, a practice which will result in significant improvement in the accuracy of radiologic reports.