Nivel de satisfacción sobre la seguridad y complicaciones a cuatro años de la introducción de la técnica Microelectrólisis Percutánea (MEP®) Sport como práctica fisioterapéutica / Vigilância em segurança e complicações quatro anos após a introdução da técnica Microeletrólise Percutânea (MEP®) Sport como prática fisioterapêutica / Surveillance on safety and complications four years after the introduction of Percutaneous Microelectrolisis (MEP®) Sport technique as a physical therapy practice

RESUMEN El objetivo de este trabajo es investigar la experiencia de los fisioterapeutas formados en microeletrólisis percutánea sport y conocer la cantidad de aplicaciones realizadas semanalmente, los efectos adversos presentados y el nivel de satisfacción de los terapeutas con sus pacientes. Se realizó una encuesta que evaluó la opinión y la experiencia de profesionales certificados en microelectrolisis percutánea sport. Los datos fueron obtenidos a través de la plataforma virtual SurveyMonkey, enviando por correo electrónico una invitación a 1.096 fisioterapeutas de América Latina. Respondieron el cuestionario 315 profesionales, entre los cuales 165 (56,51%) atienden de uno a cinco pacientes por semana. Las respuestas sobre efectos adversos fueron: nunca he tenido complicaciones (56,79% - 159 respuestas); choque hipotensivo (19,64% - 55 respuestas.); alergia al metal (5,36% - 15 respuestas). Los sitios/patologías a que más se aplican la microelectrolisis percutánea sport son: tendón rotuliano (10,77% - 198 respuestas.); tendón de aquiles (9,58% - 176 respuestas); tendón supraespino (9,36% - 172 respuestas.); fascitis plantar/espolón calcáneo (8,05% - 148 respuestas.); y puntos-gatillo (7,18% - 132 respuestas.). La satisfacción de los profesionales fue: satisfecho (51,87% - 152 respuestas) y muy satisfecho (40,96% - 120 respuestas). Las respuestas de los pacientes fueron: satisfecho (61,90% - 182 respuestas) y muy satisfecho (29,93% - 88 respuestas). La técnica MEP se aplica principalmente en tendinopatías y produce resultados satisfactorios y muy satisfactorios tanto para los pacientes como para los terapeutas, con baja presencia de efectos adversos.

RESUMO O objetivo do trabalho é pesquisar sobre a experiência dos fisioterapeutas formados em MEP Sport, conhecer a quantidade de aplicações realizadas semanalmente, os efeitos adversos que tenham sido apresentados e o nível de satisfação dos terapeutas com seus pacientes. Realizou-se uma enquete de perguntas mistas que avaliam a opinião e experiência de profissionais certificados em MEP Sport. Os dados foram obtidos por meio da plataforma virtual SurveyMonkey, enviando por correio eletrônico um convite a 1.096 fisioterapeutas da América Latina. Responderam 315 profissionais, destes, 165 (56,51%) atendem de um a cinco pacientes por semana. As respostas sobre efeitos adversos foram: nunca tive complicações (56,79% - 159 respostas); choque hipotensivo (19,64% - 55 respostas.); alergia ao metal (5,36% - 15 respostas). Os locais/patologias em que mais se aplicam MEP são: T. rotuliano (10,77% - 198 respostas.); T. Aquiles (9,58% - 176 respostas.); T. supraespinhoso (9,36% - 172 respostas.); fascite plantar/esporão calcâneo (8,05% - 148 respostas.); e pontos gatilhos (7,18% - 132 respostas.). A satisfação dos profissionais foi: satisfeito (51,87%, 152 respostas.) e muito satisfeito (40,96%, 120 respostas). As respostas dos pacientes foram: satisfeito (61,90%, 182 respostas.) e muito satisfeito (29,93%, 88 respostas). A técnica MEP é aplicada principalmente em tendinopatías e produz resultados satisfatórios e muito satisfatórios tanto para os pacientes quanto para os terapeutas, com baixa presença de efeitos adversos.

ABSTRACT This work aims to recollect information about the experience of physical therapists trained in MEP Sport, to know how many treatments they did per week, the adverse effects that might have appeared and the patients and therapists' satisfaction. A mixed multiple choice survey with the option of choosing one or more alternatives to assess the opinion and experience of physical therapists trained in MEP Sport was carried out. SurveyMonkey was used for data collection. The invitations were sent by email to 1.096 physical therapists of Latin America. The survey was answered by 315 professionals, of whom 165 (56,51%) treat 1 to 5 patients per week. The answers about adverse effects were: I've never had adverse effects: 159 answers (56,79%), Hypotensive shock: 55 answers (19,64%), Allergy to metal 15 answers (5,36%). The most common areas/conditions where the MEP is applied are: Patellar tendon (10,77% - 198 answ.), Achilles tendon, (9,58% - 176 answ.), Supraspinatus tendon (9,36% - 172 answ.), Plantar fasciitis/Calcaneal spurs (8,05% - 148 answ.), Trigger points (7,18% - 132 answ.). The professionals' satisfaction was: Satisfied (51,87%, 152 answ.) and Very Satisfied (40,96%, 120 answ.). Patients' satisfaction was: Satisfied (61,90%, 182 answ.) and Very satisfied (29,93%, 88 answ.). MEP is applied mainly in tendinopathies and produces satisfactory and very satisfactory results, both for patients and professionals, with low incidence of adverse effects.

Increased short­term food intake after external lateral parabrachial subnucleus lesions in rats.

The vagus nerve and several brainstem nuclei to which it projects have been closely associated with food intake. The aim of this study was to determine the degree to which the same or different information on food intake is processed by this nerve and by one of these nuclei, the external lateral parabrachial subnucleus (LPbNe). For this purpose, we analyzed the solid and liquid food intake of Wistar rats subjected to vagal deafferentation with capsaicin or lesions of the LPbNe. Vagotomized animals consumed significantly larger amounts of solid food during the first 24 h post­surgery but not at 48, 72, or 96 h. Animals with LPbNe lesions also consumed larger amounts of liquid and solid foods but only during periods of 60 min on day 5 and 90 min on day 6 post­surgery, respectively. According to these findings, both the vagus nerve and the LPbNe appear to be involved in short­term regulation of food intake, although they participate over different time scales. These data are discussed in terms of the potential importance of the vagal­parabrachial axis in the rapid processing of nutritional information from the upper gastrointestinal tract.

Molecular and histological study on the effects of electrolytic electroporation on the liver.

This study examined the temporal physiological and molecular events following the treatment of the liver with a tissue ablation modality that combined electroporation with electrolysis (E2). Rat liver was treated with an E2 waveform and the tissue examined, 1 h, 3 h, 6 h and 24 h with: H&E, Masson Trichrome, TUNEL stains and Western blot. H&E and TUNEL stains have shown that cell death began to be evident 3 h and hepatocyte regeneration was seen 24 h after treatment. H&E and Masson trichrome have shown that the extracellular matrix and the large lumens, appeared intact after E2. Western blot has shown the following molecular events after E2: cleaved caspase 3-downgraded at 1 h, upgraded at 24 h (apoptosis); cleaved Caspase 1 and cleaved GSDMD-upgraded at 6 h (pyroptosis), RIP3-upgraded at 1 h, MLKL-upgraded at 3 h (necroptosis). The mechanism of cell death was possible initiated by necroptosis pathway. Pyroptosis pathway was also activated. The observation that cell death from E2 was by programed necrosis and the details on the temporal molecular pathways, may have value for the recent attempt to combine electroporation mediated ablation with immunological treatment, by demonstrating that the cell death from E2 involves an inflammatory response and by providing data that could be used to design the optimal timing for the injection of immunological adjuvants.

Efecto de la lesión electrolítica del estriado dorsomedial sobre la conducta sexual y actividad locomotora de la rata / Effect of electrolytic lesion of the dorsomedial striatum on sexual behaviour and locomotor activity in rats

Introducción: Las áreas motoras corticales no solo son influenciadas por aferencias sensitivas periféricas y áreas de asociación prefrontales, sino también por los ganglios basales, específicamente el estriado. El estriado dorsomedial (EDM) y el estriado dorsolateral están involucrados en el aprendizaje espacial y el aprendizaje estímulo-respuesta; sin embargo, cada una de estas zonas pudiera mediar distintos componentes del aprendizaje. El propósito del estudio es determinar el efecto de la lesión electrolítica del EDM sobre el aprendizaje y ejecución de la conducta locomotora y sexual en ratas macho. Método: Una vez que los sujetos aprendieron a ejecutar las pruebas motoras de equilibrio, laberinto, rampa de ascenso y la conducta sexual, se realizó la lesión electrolítica del EDM. Cinco días después se realizaron las pruebas en 2 ocasiones más y se compararon las latencias de ejecución de cada prueba. Resultados: Después de la lesión, los valores promedio de latencia, incrementaron durante la ejecución de las pruebas de laberinto y equilibrio. Sin embargo, los valores promedio en la prueba rampa y conducta sexual, no aportaron efectos contrastantes entre los grupos. Conclusiones: La lesión electrolítica del EDM modifica la ejecución de la actividad locomotora (prueba de laberinto y equilibrio), pero no la ejecución de la conducta sexual (AU)

Introduction: Cortical motor areas are influenced not only by peripheral sensory afferents and prefrontal association areas, but also by the basal ganglia, specifically the striatum. The dorsomedial striatum (DMS) and dorsolateral striatum are involved in both spatial and stimulus-response learning; however, each of these areas may mediate different components of learning. The aim of the study is to determine the effect of electrolytic lesion to the DMS on the learning and performance of sexual behaviour and locomotor activity in male rats. Method: Once the subjects had learned to perform motor tests of balance, maze navigation, ramp ascent, and sexual behaviour, they underwent electrolytic lesion to the DMS. Five days later, the tests were repeated on 2 occasions and researchers compared performance latencies for each test. Results: Average latency values for performance on the maze and balance tests were higher after the lesion. However, the average values for the ramp test and for sexual behaviour did not differ between groups. Conclusions: Electrolytic lesion of the DMS modifies the performance of locomotor activity (maze test and balance), but not of sexual behavior (AU)

The area postrema (AP) and the parabrachial nucleus (PBN) are important sites for salmon calcitonin (sCT) to decrease evoked phasic dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens (NAc).

The pancreatic hormone amylin and its agonist salmon calcitonin (sCT) act via the area postrema (AP) and the lateral parabrachial nucleus (PBN) to reduce food intake. Investigations of amylin and sCT signaling in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) suggest that the eating inhibitory effect of amylin is, in part, mediated through the mesolimbic 'reward' pathway. Indeed, administration of the sCT directly to the VTA decreased phasic dopamine release (DA) in the NAc. However, it is not known if peripheral amylin modulates the mesolimbic system directly or whether this occurs via the AP and PBN. To determine whether and how peripheral amylin or sCT affect mesolimbic reward circuitry we utilized fast scan cyclic voltammetry under anesthesia to measure phasic DA release in the NAc evoked by electrical stimulation of the VTA in intact, AP lesioned and bilaterally PBN lesioned rats. Amylin (50µg/kg i.p.) did not change phasic DA responses compared to saline control rats. However, sCT (50µg/kg i.p.) decreased evoked DA release to VTA-stimulation over 1h compared to saline treated control rats. Further investigations determined that AP and bilateral PBN lesions abolished the ability of sCT to suppress evoked phasic DA responses to VTA-stimulation. These findings implicate the AP and the PBN as important sites for peripheral sCT to decrease evoked DA release in the NAc and suggest that these nuclei may influence hedonic and motivational processes to modulate food intake.

[Evaluation of workplace air pollution with fluor compounds and their contents of biologic media in aluminium production workers].

The authors estimated fluorine compounds content of workplace air in electrolysis workshops of aluminium production, for various electrolysis technologies. The data cover results of physical and chemical analysis and material constitution of produced toxic dust complexes, urinary excretion levels of fluorine ion and fluorides accumulation in hair of aluminium production workers.

The habenula as a critical node in chronic stress-related anxiety.

The habenula is activated in response to stressful and aversive events, resulting in exploratory inhibition. Although possible mechanisms for habenula activation have been proposed, the effects of chronic stress on the habenular structure have never been studied. Herein, we assessed changes in volume, cell density and dendritic structure of habenular cells after chronic stress exposure using stereological and 3D morphological analysis. This study shows for the first time that there is a hemispherical asymmetry in the medial habenula (MHb) of the adult rat, with the right MHb containing more neurons than its left counterpart. Additionally, it shows that chronic stress induces a bilateral atrophy of both the MHb and the lateral habenula (LHb). This atrophy was accompanied by a reduction of the number of neurons in the right MHb and the number of glial cells in the bilateral LHb, but not by changes in the dendritic arbors of multipolar neurons. Importantly, these structural changes were correlated with elevated levels of serum corticosterone and increased anxious-like behavior in stressed animals. To further assess the role of the habenula in stress-related anxiety, bilateral lesions of the LHb were performed; interestingly, in lesioned animals the chronic stress protocol did not trigger increases in circulating corticosterone or anxious-like behavior. This study highlights the role of the habenula in the stress responses and how its sub-regions are structurally impacted by chronic stress with physiological and behavioral consequences.

Remodeling of Dendritic Spines in the Avian Vocal Motor Cortex Following Deafening Depends on the Basal Ganglia Circuit.

Deafening elicits a deterioration of learned vocalization, in both humans and songbirds. In songbirds, learned vocal plasticity has been shown to depend on the basal ganglia-cortical circuit, but the underlying cellular basis remains to be clarified. Using confocal imaging and electron microscopy, we examined the effect of deafening on dendritic spines in avian vocal motor cortex, the robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA), and investigated the role of the basal ganglia circuit in motor cortex plasticity. We found rapid structural changes to RA dendritic spines in response to hearing loss, accompanied by learned song degradation. In particular, the morphological characters of RA spine synaptic contacts between 2 major pathways were altered differently. However, experimental disruption of the basal ganglia circuit, through lesions in song-specialized basal ganglia nucleus Area X, largely prevented both the observed changes to RA dendritic spines and the song deterioration after hearing loss. Our results provide cellular evidence to highlight a key role of the basal ganglia circuit in the motor cortical plasticity that underlies learned vocal plasticity.

Risk assessment of human health from exposure to the discharged ballast water after full-scale electrolysis treatment.

The presence of disinfection by-products (DBPs) releasing from ballast water management systems (BWMS) can cause a possible adverse effects on humans. The objectives of this study were to compute the Derived No Effect Levels (DNELs) for different exposure scenarios and to compare these levels with the exposure levels from the measured DBPs in treated ballast water. The risk assessment showed that when using animal toxicity data, all the DNELs values were approximately 10(3)-10(12) times higher than the exposure levels of occupational and general public exposure scenarios, indicating the level of risk was low (risk characterization ratios (RCRs) < 1). However, when using human data, the RCRs were higher than 1 for dichlorobromomethane and trichloromethane, indicating that the risk of adverse effects on human were significant. This implies that there are apparent discrepancies between risk characterization from animal and human data, which may affect the overall results. We therefore recommend that when appropriate, human data should be used in risk assessment as much as possible, although human data are very limited. Moreover, more appropriate assessment factors can be considered to be employed in estimating the DNELs for human when the animal data is selected as the dose descriptors.

Electrolytic lesions of the bilateral ventrolateral orbital cortex inhibit methamphetamine-associated contextual memory formation in rats.

The memories that are formed between rewarding and drug-associated contextual cues have been suggested to contribute to drug addiction relapse. Recent evidence has indicated that the ventrolateral orbital cortex (VLO) plays important roles in reward-based learning and reversal learning. However, whether the VLO is required for methamphetamine-induced contextual memory formation is not well understood. In the present study, a three-phase methamphetamine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) model was used to investigate the effects of VLO lesions on the formation of drug-associated contextual memories in rats. We found that the VLO lesions themselves elicited no observable effects on place preferences. However, the VLO lesions delayed the acquisition and extinction phases of CPP without affecting the expression level. Furthermore, the VLO lesions did not have an obvious influence on CPP reinstatement. These results indicate that electrolytic lesions of the bilateral ventrolateral orbital cortex can inhibit the formation of methamphetamine-induced contextual memories in rats. Moreover, VLO may not be critically involved in memory storage and retrieval.

Rewarding brain stimulation reverses the disruptive effect of amygdala damage on emotional learning.

Intracranial self-stimulation (SS) in the lateral hypothalamus, a rewarding deep-brain stimulation, is able to improve acquisition and retention of implicit and explicit memory tasks in rats. SS treatment is also able to reverse cognitive deficits associated with aging or with experimental brain injuries and evaluated in a two-way active avoidance (2wAA) task. The main objective of the present study was to explore the potential of the SS treatment to reverse the complete learning and memory impairment caused by bilateral lesion in the lateral amygdala (LA). The effects of post-training SS, administered after each acquisition session, were evaluated on distributed 2wAA acquisition and 10-day retention in rats with electrolytic bilateral LA lesions. SS effect in acetylcholinestaresase (AchE) activity was evaluated by immunohistochemistry in LA-preserved and Central nuclei (Ce) of the amygdala of LA-damaged rats. Results showed that LA lesion over 40% completely impeded 2wAA acquisition and retention. Post-training SS in the LA-lesioned rats improved conditioning and retention compared with both the lesioned but non-SS treated and the non-lesioned control rats. SS treatment also seemed to induce a decrease in AchE activity in the LA-preserved area of the lesioned rats, but no effects were observed in the Ce. This empirical evidence supports the idea that self-administered rewarding stimulation is able to completely counteract the 2wAA acquisition and retention deficits induced by LA lesion. Cholinergic mechanisms in preserved LA and the contribution of other brain memory-related areas activated by SS could mediate the compensatory effect observed.

Active avoidance learning requires prefrontal suppression of amygdala-mediated defensive reactions.

Signaled active avoidance (AA) paradigms train subjects to prevent an aversive outcome by performing a learned behavior during the presentation of a conditioned cue. This complex form of conditioning involves pavlovian and instrumental components, which produce competing behavioral responses that must be reconciled for the subject to successfully avoid an aversive stimulus. In signaled AA paradigm for rat, we tested the hypothesis that the instrumental component of AA training recruits infralimbic prefrontal cortex (ilPFC) to inhibit central amygdala (CeA)-mediated Pavlovian reactions. Pretraining lesions of ilPFC increased conditioned freezing while causing a corresponding decrease in avoidance; lesions of CeA produced opposite effects, reducing freezing and facilitating avoidance behavior. Pharmacological inactivation experiments demonstrated that ilPFC is relevant to both acquisition and expression phases of AA learning. Inactivation experiments also revealed that AA produces an ilPFC-mediated diminution of pavlovian reactions that extends beyond the training context, even when the conditioned stimulus is presented in an environment that does not allow the avoidance response. Finally, injection of a protein synthesis inhibitor into either ilPFC or CeA impaired or facilitated AA, respectively, showing that avoidance training produces two opposing memory traces in these regions. These data support a model in which AA learning recruits ilPFC to inhibit CeA-mediated defense behaviors, leading to a robust suppression of freezing that generalizes across environments. Thus, ilPFC functions as an inhibitory interface, allowing instrumental control over an aversive outcome to attenuate the expression of freezing and other reactions to conditioned threat.

The medial dorsal thalamic nucleus and the medial prefrontal cortex of the rat function together to support associative recognition and recency but not item recognition.

In humans recognition memory deficits, a typical feature of diencephalic amnesia, have been tentatively linked to mediodorsal thalamic nucleus (MD) damage. Animal studies have occasionally investigated the role of the MD in single-item recognition, but have not systematically analyzed its involvement in other recognition memory processes. In Experiment 1 rats with bilateral excitotoxic lesions in the MD or the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) were tested in tasks that assessed single-item recognition (novel object preference), associative recognition memory (object-in-place), and recency discrimination (recency memory task). Experiment 2 examined the functional importance of the interactions between the MD and mPFC using disconnection techniques. Unilateral excitotoxic lesions were placed in both the MD and the mPFC in either the same (MD + mPFC Ipsi) or opposite hemispheres (MD + mPFC Contra group). Bilateral lesions in the MD or mPFC impaired object-in-place and recency memory tasks, but had no effect on novel object preference. In Experiment 2 the MD + mPFC Contra group was significantly impaired in the object-in-place and recency memory tasks compared with the MD + mPFC Ipsi group, but novel object preference was intact. Thus, connections between the MD and mPFC are critical for recognition memory when the discriminations involve associative or recency information. However, the rodent MD is not necessary for single-item recognition memory.

Spinal and pontine relay pathways mediating respiratory rhythm entrainment by limb proprioceptive inputs in the neonatal rat.

The coordination of locomotion and respiration is widespread among mammals, although the underlying neural mechanisms are still only partially understood. It was previously found in neonatal rat that cyclic electrical stimulation of spinal cervical and lumbar dorsal roots (DRs) can fully entrain (1:1 coupling) spontaneous respiratory activity expressed by the isolated brainstem/spinal cord. Here, we used a variety of preparations to determine the type of spinal sensory inputs responsible for this respiratory rhythm entrainment, and to establish the extent to which limb movement-activated feedback influences the medullary respiratory networks via direct or relayed ascending pathways. During in vivo overground locomotion, respiratory rhythm slowed and became coupled 1:1 with locomotion. In hindlimb-attached semi-isolated preparations, passive flexion-extension movements applied to a single hindlimb led to entrainment of fictive respiratory rhythmicity recorded in phrenic motoneurons, indicating that the recruitment of limb proprioceptive afferents could participate in the locomotor-respiratory coupling. Furthermore, in correspondence with the regionalization of spinal locomotor rhythm-generating circuitry, the stimulation of DRs at different segmental levels in isolated preparations revealed that cervical and lumbosacral proprioceptive inputs are more effective in this entraining influence than thoracic afferent pathways. Finally, blocking spinal synaptic transmission and using a combination of electrophysiology, calcium imaging and specific brainstem lesioning indicated that the ascending entraining signals from the cervical or lumbar limb afferents are transmitted across first-order synapses, probably monosynaptic, in the spinal cord. They are then conveyed to the brainstem respiratory centers via a brainstem pontine relay located in the parabrachial/Kölliker-Fuse nuclear complex.

Transformation from a pure time delay to a mixed time and phase delay representation in the auditory forebrain pathway.

Birds and mammals exploit interaural time differences (ITDs) for sound localization. Subsequent to ITD detection by brainstem neurons, ITD processing continues in parallel midbrain and forebrain pathways. In the barn owl, both ITD detection and processing in the midbrain are specialized to extract ITDs independent of frequency, which amounts to a pure time delay representation. Recent results have elucidated different mechanisms of ITD detection in mammals, which lead to a representation of small ITDs in high-frequency channels and large ITDs in low-frequency channels, resembling a phase delay representation. However, the detection mechanism does not prevent a change in ITD representation at higher processing stages. Here we analyze ITD tuning across frequency channels with pure tone and noise stimuli in neurons of the barn owl's auditory arcopallium, a nucleus at the endpoint of the forebrain pathway. To extend the analysis of ITD representation across frequency bands to a large neural population, we employed Fourier analysis for the spectral decomposition of ITD curves recorded with noise stimuli. This method was validated using physiological as well as model data. We found that low frequencies convey sensitivity to large ITDs, whereas high frequencies convey sensitivity to small ITDs. Moreover, different linear phase frequency regimes in the high-frequency and low-frequency ranges suggested an independent convergence of inputs from these frequency channels. Our results are consistent with ITD being remodeled toward a phase delay representation along the forebrain pathway. This indicates that sensory representations may undergo substantial reorganization, presumably in relation to specific behavioral output.

[Clinical and pathogenetic aspects of the chronic occupational intoxication with fluorine compounds in modern reality].

Multi-year follow-up of 358 workers of aluminum pot rooms, including 165 individuals suffering from fluorosis, has shown significant changes in the clinical picture of the chronic occupational fluorine intoxication, developed under modern conditions of production, at lower concentrations of fluorine compounds in the air of working area. In this connection, the pathology of the musculoskeletal system plays the dominating role in this clinical picture and has the large variability of combinations of the individual sections destructions of the bone tissue. The main criterion to establish the phase of the disease is still the number and severity of the signs of this destruction. The visceral pathology in contemporary production circumstances is registered with less frequency and loses a number of the previously described clinical manifestations, however, is still of some importance to identify the early signs of the disease and to prevent the dental fluorosis on time.

[Prevalence and estimation of the occupational risk of the musculosceletal disorders in workers of aluminum potrooms].

The aim of this research is to investigate the role of the occupational risks in the development of pain syndromes of the locomotor system in workers employed in basic workplaces at aluminum potrooms, basing on the periodic health screenings data. It has been determined that working under the conditions of toxical fluorides-related exposure and athletic overexertion increases the risk of the upper arm pain syndrome development 4.3 fold. The maximum relative risk (108.2) has been revealed in the workers of such kind of professions having the length of employment upper 20 years and suffering simultaneously from cervical osteochondrosis and pulmonary diseases.

[Skin vessel lesions in aluminum potroom workers].

The features of development of the skin vessels lesions in 550 aluminum production workers have been investigated. The high prevalence of these disorders have been revealed in anode-operators and cell-operators, 49, 3 and 26.0% of workers, respectively. The regularity and staging of the development of this abnormity have been established, etiology, pathogenesis and clinical significance of those remain unknown.

Possible cues driving context-specific adaptation of optocollic reflex in pigeons (Columba livia).

Context-specific adaptation (Shelhamer M, Clendaniel R. Neurosci Lett 332: 200-204, 2002) explains that reflexive responses can be maintained with different "calibrations" for different situations (contexts). Which context cues are crucial and how they combine to evoke context-specific adaptation is not fully understood. Gaze stabilization in birds is a nice model with which to tackle that question. Previous data showed that when pigeons (Columba livia) were hung in a harness and subjected to a frontal airstream provoking a flying posture ("flying condition"), the working range of the optokinetic head response [optocollic reflex (OCR)] extended toward higher velocities compared with the "resting condition." The present study was aimed at identifying which context cues are instrumental in recalibrating the OCR. We investigated that question by using vibrating stimuli delivered during the OCR provoked by rotating the visual surroundings at different velocities. The OCR gain increase and the boost of the fast phase velocity observed during the "flying condition" were mimicked by body vibration. On the other hand, the newly emerged relationship between the fast-phase and slow-phase velocities in the "flying condition" was mimicked by head vibration. Spinal cord lesion at the lumbosacral level decreased the effects of body vibration, whereas lesions of the lumbosacral apparatus had no effect. Our data suggest a major role of muscular proprioception in the context-specific adaptation of the stabilizing behavior, while the vestibular system could contribute to the context-specific adaptation of the orienting behavior. Participation of an efferent copy of the motor command driving the flight cannot be excluded.

Fornix and retrosplenial contribution to a hippocampo-thalamic circuit underlying conditional learning.

Rats with combined bilateral lesions of the retrosplenial cortex and the fornix or rats with unilateral lesions to the anterior thalamus and the hippocampus, made in opposite hemispheres (disconnection preparation), and combined with unilateral damage of the retrosplenial cortex in either hemisphere, were tested on a spatial-visual conditional learning task in which they learned arbitrary associations between stimuli and the scene in which they were embedded. All experimental groups were impaired in comparison with normal animals. The more severe deficits occurred when (1) both the fornix and the retrosplenial cortex were damaged bilaterally thus depriving the hippocampus both from subcortical interactions via the fornix and retrosplenial-mediated interactions and (2) when, in the crossed lesion preparation, the unilateral retrosplenial lesion was made in the hemisphere with the intact hippocampus, again because this lesion would be maximally disconnecting the hippocampus from functional interaction with the anterior thalamic nucleus and retrosplenial-mediated input.