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Background: External support has been viewed as an important biomechanical constraint for children with deficits in postural control. Nonlinear analysis of head stability may be helpful to confirm benefits of interaction between external trunk support and level of trunk control., Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of biomechanical constraints (trunk support) on neural control of head stability during development of trunk control., Design: This was a quasi-experimental repeated-measures study., Methods: Data from 15 children (4-16 years of age) with moderate (Gross Motor Function Classification System [GMFCS] IV; n=8 [4 boys, 4 girls]) or severe (GMFCS V; n=7 [4 boys, 3 girls]) cerebral palsy (CP) were compared with previous longitudinal data from infants with typical development (TD) (3-9 months of age). Kinematic data were used to document head sway with external support at 4 levels (axillae, midrib, waist, and hip). Complexity, predictability, and active degrees of freedom for both anterior-posterior and medial-lateral directions were assessed., Results: Irrespective of level of support, CP groups had lower complexity, increased predictability, and greater degrees of freedom. The effect of support differed based on the child's segmental level of control. The GMFCS V and youngest TD groups demonstrated better head control, with increased complexity and decreased predictability, with higher levels of support. The GMFCS IV group had the opposite effect, showing decreased predictability and increased complexity and degrees of freedom with lower levels of support., Limitations: Infants with typical development and children with CP were compared based on similar segmental levels of trunk control; however, it is acknowledged that the groups differed for age, cognitive level, and motor experience., Conclusions: The effect of external support varied depending on the child's level of control and diagnostic status. Children with GMFCS V and young infants with TD had better outcomes with external support, but external support was not enough to completely correct for the influence of CP. Children with GMFCS IV performed worse, with increased predictability and decreased complexity, when support was at the axillae or midribs, suggesting that too much support can interfere with postural sway quality., (© 2016 American Physical Therapy Association.)

Zinc-aluminum layered double hydroxides with nitrate intercalated (Zn(n)Al-NO3, n=Zn/Al) is an intermediate material for the intercalation of different functional molecules used in a wide range of industrial applications. The synthesis of Zn(2)Al-NO3 was investigated considering the time and temperature of hydrothermal treatment. By examining the crystallite size in two different directions, hydrodynamic particle size, morphology, crystal structure and chemical species in solution, it was possible to understand the crystallization and dissolution processes involved in the mechanisms of crystallite and particle growth. In addition, hydrogeochemical modeling rendered insights on the speciation of different metal cations in solution. Therefore, this tool can be a promising solution to model and optimize the synthesis of layered double hydroxide-based materials for industrial applications., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To compare the postoperative analgesic effects of the extradural tramadol or morphine in female dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy., Methods: Sixteen female dogs were randomly assigned to two groups of eight animals each and received morphine (0.1 mg kg(-1) M group) or tramadol (2 mg kg(-1) T group). The pre-anesthetic medication was intravenously (iv) acepromazine (0.05 mg kg(-1)). Anesthesia was induced with propofol (4 mg kg(-1)iv) and maintained with isoflurane. The degree of analgesia was evaluated using a numerical rating scale that included physiologic and behavior variables. Dogs were scored at one, three, six and 12 hours after surgery by one blinded observer. Dogs were treated with morphine (0.5 mg kg(-1)) if their scores were >6. Serum cortisol was measured before the pre-anesthetic medication was administered (basal), at the time of the ovarian pedicle clamping (T0), and at 1 (T1), 6 (T6) and 12 (T12) hours postoperative., Results: The pain score did not differ between morphine and tramadol treatments. Rescue analgesia was administered to one dog in the T treatment group. Serum cortisol did not differ between treatments., Conclusion: The extradural administration of morphine or tramadol is a safe and effective method of inducing analgesia in female dogs undergoing ovariohyterectomy.

The phase transition temperatures of several lipidic systems were determined using two different techniques: dynamic light scattering (DLS) and steady-state fluorescence anisotropy, using two fluorescent probes that report different membrane regions (TMA-DPH and DPH). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used as a complementary technique to characterize different lipid model systems under study. The systems were chosen due to the increased interest in bacterial membrane studies due to the problem of antibiotic drug resistance. The simpler models studied comprised of mixtures of POPE and POPG lipids, which form a commonly used model system for Escherichia coli membranes. Given the important role of cardiolipin (CL) in natural membranes, a ternary model system, POPE/POPG/CL, was then considered. The results obtained in these mimetic systems were compared with those obtained for the natural systems E. coli polar and total lipid extract. DLS and fluorescence anisotropy are not commonly used to study lipid phase transitions, but it was shown that they can give useful information about the thermotropic behaviors of model systems for bacterial membranes. These two techniques provided very similar results, validating their use as methods to measure phase transitions in lipid model systems. The temperature transitions obtained from these two very different techniques and the AFM results clearly show that cardiolipin is a fundamental component to mimic bacteria membranes. The results suggest that the less commonly used ternary system is a considerably better mimic for natural E. coli membranes than binary lipid mixture.