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Physiological studies of the last century mapped a somatosensory cortical gyrus representing the pig's rostrum. Here, we describe the extraordinary correspondence of this gyrus to the rostrum. The pig rostrum is packed with microvibrissae (~470 per hemi-rostrum) and innervated by a prominent infraorbital nerve, containing about 80,000 axons. The pig's rostrum has three major skin-folds. The nostrils have a rectangular medial wall and a funnel-like lateral opening, nasal channels run obliquely from lateral (surface) to medial (inside). The rostrum gyrus mimics rostrum geometry in great detail. The putative representation of skin folds coincides with blood sinus and folds of the rostrum gyrus. The putative nostril representation is an oblique sulcus running from lateral (surface) to medial (inside). As observed in rodents, Layer 4 is thin in the nostril sulcus. The side of the nostril sulcus representing the medial wall of the nostril is rectangular, whereas the side of the nostril sulcus representing the lateral wall is funnel-like. Proportions and geometry of the rostrum and the rostrum gyrus are similar, albeit with a collapsed nostril and a larger interindividual variability in the gyrus. The pig's cortical rostrum gyrus receives dense thalamic innervation, has a thin Layer 1 and contains roughly 8 million neurons. With all that, the rostrum gyrus looks like a model of the pig rostrum at a scale of ~1:2. Our findings are reminiscent of the raccoon cortex with its forepaw-like somatosensory forepaw-representation. Representing highly relevant afferents in three-dimensional body-part-models might facilitate isomorphic cortical computations in large-brained tactile specialists., (© 2020 The Authors. The Journal of Comparative Neurology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

In many animal experiments scientists and local authorities define a body-weight reduction of 20% or more as severe suffering and thereby as a potential parameter for humane endpoint decisions. In this study, we evaluated distinct animal experiments in multiple research facilities, and assessed whether 20% body-weight reduction is a valid humane endpoint criterion in rodents. In most experiments (restraint stress, distinct models for epilepsy, pancreatic resection, liver resection, caloric restrictive feeding and a mouse model for Dravet syndrome) the animals lost less than 20% of their original body weight. In a glioma model, a fast deterioration in body weight of less than 20% was observed as a reliable predictor for clinical deterioration. In contrast, after induction of chronic diabetes or acute colitis some animals lost more than 20% of their body weight without exhibiting major signs of distress. In these two animal models an exclusive application of the 20% weight loss criterion for euthanasia might therefore result in an unnecessary loss of animals. However, we also confirmed that this criterion can be a valid parameter for defining the humane endpoint in other animal models, especially when it is combined with additional criteria for evaluating distress. In conclusion, our findings strongly suggest that experiment and model specific considerations are necessary for the rational integration of the parameter 'weight loss' in severity assessment schemes and humane endpoint criteria. A flexible implementation tailored to the experiment or intervention by scientists and authorities is therefore highly recommended.

People tend to pay the generosity they receive from a person forward to someone else even if they have no chance to reciprocate directly. This phenomenon, known as paying-it-forward (PIF) reciprocity, crucially contributes to the maintenance of a cooperative human society by passing kindness among strangers and has been widely studied in evolutionary biology. To further examine its neural implementation and underlying computations, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging together with computational modeling. In a modified PIF paradigm, participants first received a monetary split (i.e. greedy, equal or generous) from either a human partner or a computer. They then chose between two options involving additional amounts of money to be allocated between themselves and an uninvolved person. Behaviorally, people forward the previously received greed/generosity towards a third person. The social impact of previous treatments is integrated into computational signals in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the right temporoparietal junction during subsequent decision making. Our findings provide insights to understand the proximal origin of PIF reciprocity.

Caloric restriction (CR) decelerates the aging process, extends lifespan and exerts neuroprotective effects in diverse species by so far unknown mechanisms. Based on known neuroprotective effects of fibroblastic growth factor 21 (Fgf21) we speculate that CR upregulates Fgf21, which phosphorylates neuronal AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), leading to a decrease of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling activity and an inhibition of tau-hyperphosphorylation. This in turn reduces the formation of neurofibrillary tangles, a neuropathological hallmark of Alzheimer´s disease. ApoE -deficient mice ( ApoE-/- ), serving as a model of neurodegeneration, showed upon CR vs. ad libitum feeding increased Fgf21 levels in both, plasma and brain as well as higher phosphorylation of fibroblastic growth factor receptor 1c (Fgfr1c), extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) and AMPK in brain, lower activity of mTOR and decreased Tau-phosphorylation. Finally, CR in ApoE-/- mice caused neuroprotection as indicated by a higher synaptic plasticity shown by immunohistochemical analysis with increased numbers of PSD95-positive neurons and a better cognitive performance as analyzed with Morris water maze test. These data provide substantial evidence that neuroprotection upon CR seems to be Fgf21-dependent. Further experiments are necessary to evaluate Fgf21 as a therapeutic tool to treat tauopathy for improvement of cognitive performance., Competing Interests: The other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Introduction: There are only a few studies about mountain-biking. These give a statistical review of injuries in recreational sports - sometimes related to competition sports. This study was performed to evaluate injuries, training and driving style of professional cross-country-mountain-biker., Methods: 49 professional mountain-bikers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland were interviewed retrospectively by standardised questionnaire., Results: Most commonly the cervical spine and knee (each with 25.7 %) as well as the lumbar spine (22.8 %) are affected by recurrent disorders (n = 101). These disorders are more common in the pre-season and at the end of the season. The most common fracture is the clavicula fracture (n = 15). Ligament and tendon injuries are less frequent (n = 3). Most drivers choose jogging and cross-country for compensation and stretching and massage for regeneration. A regular training for trunk strength accomplish 27 of 49 drivers. Most drivers accomplish a specific strength training in the pre-season, some drivers practise also during the season., Discussion: Recurrent disorders in the cervical and lumbar spine and the knee are the most common disorders in competitive mountainbikers. Trunk training should be emphasised. Further research is needed to improve driving technique to account for the reported disorders of the musculoskeletal system.

Unlabelled: Breathing 100% oxygen at the end of general anesthesia has been shown to worsen postoperative pulmonary gas exchange when an endotracheal tube is used. Counter measures, such as high positive end-expiratory pressure or the vital-capacity maneuver, may limit this effect. Such strategies, however, may be impracticable, or even contraindicated, when the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) is used. Because of the vast differences in design between the LMA and endotracheal tube, we examined postanesthetic blood gas tensions in patients after emergence from anesthesia breathing oxygen via LMA. Sixty-four ASA physical status I-II patients undergoing general anesthesia for 60 min with LMA were randomly assigned to receive either 100% or 30% oxygen during emergence from anesthesia and removal of LMA. Postoperative blood gas measurements were taken at 30 and 60 min after removal of the LMA. At either measurement, patients treated with 100% oxygen essentially had the same arterial partial pressure of oxygen (60-min measurement: 83 +/- 8 versus 85 +/- 7 mm Hg [mean +/- SD], P = 0.14) as those treated with 30% oxygen. We conclude that breathing 100% oxygen at the end of general anesthesia does not worsen postoperative pulmonary gas exchange when an LMA is used., Implications: The endotracheal tube and laryngeal mask airway are substantially different artificial airways used to ventilate the lungs of anesthetized patients. Breathing 100% oxygen before removing the endotracheal tube results in lung function defects. This study shows that oxygen breathing before removing the laryngeal mask airway has no effect on pulmonary function.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to analyse the mid-term clinical and sonographical results of non-operative therapy of calcifying tendinitis., Methods: Retrospectively the anamnestical, clinical and sonographical results after various non-operative treatment of patients with calcifying tendinitis were reviewed. For this purpose 159 patients with 178 calcifying deposits in the rotator cuff were evaluated on an average of 60 months after their first examination in our clinic (mean age: 49.2 years; sex ratio: 58% women)., Results: During a mean symptomatic period of 49 months, an average of 4.2 different therapeutic modalities were applied. After this time 70% of all patients showed an excellent or good result. With regard to the age-correlated Constant-Score 85% of all patients had more than 81 points, i.e. a good result. The mid-term results on a visual analogous scale from 10 (pain) to 0 (no pain) showed a decrease from 7.7 to 2.2 and this correlated with the shoulder function scores (Constant-/Patte-Score, r -0.8). After an average of 104 months 82% of the hydroxyapatite deposits could not be diagnosed by sonography (7.5 MHz.) anymore., Conclusion: In the treatment of calcifying tendinitis the conservative methods achieve good and excellent results in 70%. Patients should be treated with analgetics, subacromial injections, physiotherapy and ice therapy up to a period of twelve months, above all with small deposits and radiologic resorptive stadiums. The results of this study should be compared with any invasive regimen.

Excimer laser coronary angioplasty is a new technique for ablation of coronary stenosis, however, the indications for its application are still controversial. We describe two male patients, 60 and 65 years old, who underwent unsuccessful balloon PTCA with a short, concentric and calcified coronary stenosis, although balloon inflation pressure was increased to a maximum in both cases. Excimer laser angioplasty following the failed procedures showed no evidence for tissue ablation angiographically, but a repeat attempt with balloon angioplasty was successful in both cases. Thus, laser angioplasty may be considered as an adjunct technique to balloon angioplasty after a failed PTCA in resistant, non-inflatable lesions.