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Some children have problems concentrating and difficulty in using their hands for basic daily activities due to a condition known as ataxia, which has many causes. The impact of this thus varies from case to case. The idea underlying the current work is to design and manufacture a technological device inspired by traditional occupational therapy that can function in a toy-like manner while allowing users to improve their hand-eye coordination and focus, thus enabling affected children to be able to take better care of themselves and become more active members of society in time. The proposed device consists of a small lap desk, an electronic unit, thirteen LED buttons in four different colours, and a glove with five LEDs on each fingertip. The LED lights on the lap desk are turned on randomly, and the matching LED on one of the fingertips should then be turned on by the user. This product trains the brain, seeking to improve hand-eye coordination by repeated selection and activation of the appropriate button on the lap desk to match the colour on the glove, and pressing the button. A software program was therefore designed to create random runs of colour groups to ensure the brain is trained to respond quickly rather than memorising colour sequences. The device has shown effective initial results in terms of accelerating the learning and rehabilitation process, and, due to the current lack of technology use in occupational therapy in the treatment of ataxia, the response speed of standard sessions is relatively slow. The utility of the proposed device lies in its ability to develop and accelerate cognitive assistance to help mitigate the impact of this condition, leading those with ataxia to a stage where they can become self-reliant in less time than traditional methods of occupational therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of current article is to present a post-COVID-19 clinical case of cerebellar ataxia. Corona-virus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the newly emerged coronavirus [severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)], affected the public health in the world. Many acute and chronic neurological issues were considered as consequences of COVID-19: ischaemic stroke, inflammatory and neurodegenerative disorders (encephalomyelitis, leucoencephalitis, Guillain-Barre syndrome and chronic demyelinating polyneuropathy, relapses of Multiple sclerosis, Parkinsonism; cognitive impairment, post-intensive care syndrome (PICS), Memory, attention and sleep problems; Brain fog, Post-traumatic stress syndrome, Depression and Anxiety. Cerebellar degeneration and subsequent cerebellar ataxia (CA) include a group of disorders, affecting coordination, balance and speech. The outlook for ataxia vary considerably, but most adult onset ataxias will get progressively worse over many years. A multidisciplinary approach is necessary in CA. We present a case of a woman of 51 years, with CA, developed progressively for a period of 7–8 months; the onset was 25 days after a Corona-virus disease (fever up to 38 oC, headache, fatigue, myalgia and arthralgia, without pneumonia). At the entry in our department, she presented vertigo, balance and gait instability, dysmetria and dysdyadochokinesia, muscular cramps in both legs, ataxic dysarthria. During the TYMO Balance test (TyroMotion system), we obtained oscillations of the center of pressure and extended sway area, with considerable anterior-posterior displacement. The instability increases on instable surface and after eyes’ closure. Romberg index 0.74. Many studies provide Class III evidence that coordinative training improves motor performance and reduces ataxia symptoms in patients with progressive CA. The detailed digitalized evaluation of the equilibrium was the base for structuration of a complex training of the balance, gait and coordination, adapted to the needs to the concrete patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Spinal cord atrophy occurs in several pathologies. Measurement of atrophy patterns from magnetic resonance (MR) images improve the neurologists's understanding of these pathologies and provide reliable means to distinguish between pathologies with similar symptoms. Spinal cord measurements from MR are complicated by spinal cord curvature, patient movement, MR resolution, lack of reproducibility in interactive methods and the need of pathology-specific MR protocols. In this work we present SpineSeg, a tool that combines image analysis techniques to achieve reproducibility in spinal cord atrophy measurements without requiring pathology-specific MR protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analgesia is poorly studied in hedgehogs, although they are commonly presented for painful conditions. This study evaluated the antinociceptive efficacy and safety of methadone hydrochloride and hydromorphone hydrochloride in nine healthy African pygmy hedgehogs (Atelerix albiventris) in randomized, blinded, placebocontrolled, complete crossover studies. Methadone was evaluated at 0.5 and 1 mg/kg SC and hydromorphone at 0.15 and 0.3 mg/kg SC. Hindlimb withdrawal latencies in response to an acute thermal noxious stimulus were measured to evaluate the antinociceptive efficacy of the drugs. Food intake, body weight, and running wheel activity were assessed daily for 6 days post-injection to evaluate for adverse effects. The safety of multiple doses of methadone (1.5 mg/kg SC q2h for 3 doses) and hydromorphone (0.3 mg/kg SC q6h for 3 doses) was also assessed. Methadone at 1.0 and 1.5 mg/kg provided antinociception lasting < 2 hours. Methadone at 0.5 mg/kg did not produce antinociception. Hydromorphone provided antinociception lasting < 4 hours (0.15 mg/kg) or < 6 hours (0.3 mg/kg). Both opioids produced transient adverse effects including vocalization, ataxia, and sedation. There were no significant differences in total food intake or wheel activity between treatments for single or multiple doses of methadone and for wheel activity with single or multiple doses of hydromorphone. Multiple doses of hydromorphone produced a significant decrease in 6-day total food intake. Methadone (1-1.5 mg/kg) and hydromorphone (0.15-0.3 mg/kg) are recommended for short term antinociception in hedgehogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Attwater's prairie chicken is an endangered subspecies of greater prairie chicken native to Coastal Texas and Louisiana. During the 2019 breeding season, large losses were experienced at a captive facility due to respiratory and enteric cryptosporidiosis, which has not been previously described in this species, nor diagnosed in the Northwest ZooPath (NWZP) archives. Various treatments, including antiprotozoal drugs, were ineffective. A total of 70 birds died (27.5% mortality) with clinical signs and gross lesions consistent with cryptosporidiosis. Eighteen were submitted to NWZP for histologic examination. Clinical signs included swollen cloaca, poor weight gain, oculonasal discharge, respiratory stridor, and ataxia or opisthotonos. Gross lesions included thin body condition, swollen cloaca, enlarged bursa, reddened ceca, swollen conjunctiva and nasal sinuses with mucoid or purulent exudate, congested or consolidated lungs, and purulent material within the facial sinuses and air cells of the calvarium. Histologically, cryptosporidia lined the apical aspects of nasal, sinusoidal, tracheal, bronchial, conjunctival, enteric and bursal mucosal epithelium with mucosal hyperplasia, erosions, ulcers and necrosis. Moderate to severe lymphoplasmacytic inflammation accompanied the infection, and heterophilic to pyogranulomatous inflammation was present in lesions that had secondary bacterial, mycotic or flagellate infections. Cloacal and sinus swab samples submitted for PCR and sequencing identified Cryptosporidium avium (formerly Cryptosporidium avian genotype V). This organism belongs to the non-gastric Cryptosporidium clade, and has been associated with disease in birds and squamates, often primarily centered on the cloaca and urinary tract. This report extends the known host range of C. avium, and demonstrates broader tissue tropism like the related C. baileyi and Cryptosporidium avian genotype II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Glutamate transporters and ataxia: Zonal susceptibility of Purkinje cells to loss of EAAT4 and GLAST" by M. Jackson and colleagues is presented.