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Concerns over interactions between analgesics and experimental outcomes are a major reason for withholding opioids from rats undergoing surgical procedures. Only a fraction of morphine injected intravenously reaches receptors responsible for analgesia in the central nervous system. Intrathecal administration of morphine may represent a way to provide rats with analgesia while minimizing the amount of morphine injected. This study aimed to assess whether morphine injected intrathecally via direct lumbar puncture provides sufficient analgesia to rats exposed to acute surgical pain (caudal laparotomy).In an initial blinded, randomised study, pain-free rats received morphine subcutaneously (MSC, 3mg.kg-1, N = 6), intrathecally (MIT, 0.2mg.kg-1, N = 6); NaCl subcutaneously (NSC, N = 6) or intrathecally (NIT, N = 6). Previously validated pain behaviours, activity and Rat Grimace Scale (RGS) scores were recorded at baseline, 1, 2, 4 and 8h post-injection. Morphine-treated rats had similar behaviours to NaCl rats, but their RGS scores were significantly different over time and between treatments. In a second blinded study, rats (N = 28) were randomly allocated to one of the following four treatments (N = 7): MSC, 3mg.kg-1, surgery; MIT, 0.2mg.kg-1, surgery; NIT, surgery; NSC, sham surgery. Composite Pain Behaviours (CPB) and RGS were recorded as previously. CPB in MIT and MSC groups were not significantly different to NSC group. MSC and MIT rats displayed significantly lower RGS scores than NIT rats at 1 and 8h postoperatively. RGS scores for MIT and MSC rats were not significantly different at 1, 2, and 8h postoperatively. Intraclass correlation value amongst operators involved in RGS scoring (N = 9) was 0.913 for total RGS score. Intrathecal morphine was mostly indistinguishable from its subcutaneous counterpart, providing pain relief lasting up to 8 hours in a rat model of surgical pain. Further studies are warranted to clarify the relevance of the rat grimace scale for assessing pain in rats that have received opioid analgesics.

The study aimed to determine the nature of the relationship between communication methods within the family and the bullying behavior of middle school students. The concepts of the study(communication methods within the family, bullying behavior), which is a descriptive study based on the social survey approach with random sampling. It assumes the existence of a statistically significant positive correlation between negative communication methods within the family and the bullying behavior of middle school students, and the existence of a statistically significant negative correlation between positive communication methods within the family and the bullying behavior of middle school students. The study tools(measure communication methods within the family, measure of bullying behavior), and were applied On (238) single middle school students in three schools in Giza. It was found that there is a statistically significant positive correlation between negative communication methods within the family and the bullying behavior of middle school students at a significant level (0.01). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Storytelling is fundamental to human communication yet is under-represented in aphasia therapy research and clinical practice. Access to care may be one obstacle; in the broader healthcare context, remote modes of treatment delivery can increase individuals' access to care. EVA Park is a highly novel, online platform designed with people with aphasia that has shown capacity to improve aspects of language and communication. This study explored whether it is feasible to deliver a storytelling intervention in EVA Park and whether therapy brought about improvements in the content and organisation of their narratives. Changes in functional communication and technology use were also examined. In a pilot feasibility study, three individuals with aphasia were recruited in the UK and Australia. Over five weeks, participants received 20 hours of therapy in EVA Park, consisting of three weekly sessions with a speech therapist and one weekly session in which the participant told the story to a volunteer who was blinded to the content of their story. A repeated-measures, case series design was used to evaluate therapy. The primary measure assessed the content of narratives elicited by novel video stimuli twice before and twice after therapy. Secondary measures investigated structural features of the video narratives and of personal narratives. Functional communication was assessed with the Communication Activities of Daily Living assessment, and technology use was probed via a Technology Screen. Delivery of storytelling therapy via EVA Park was feasible; technology challenges arose and were resolved using multiple strategies. Following therapy, participants' storytelling improved in content, with a large effect size for the group, and in structure. Generalisation to personal narratives was not observed. Some improvements were seen in functional communication. Storytelling therapy delivered via an online platform is feasible and may improve the content and organisation of participants' storytelling, with some evidence of generalisation to functional communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pain management involves considering pain, recognising pain, and managing pain. Part One looked at assessment and recognition of pain. This discussed the physiological and behavioural signs that can indicate pain in rabbits. Part Two looked at managing pain in the hospitalised rabbit. Analgesic options are discussed to cover all aspects of the pain pathway. Dose ranges for constant rate infusions are available. Local anaesthesia and analgesia techniques are discussed. Part Three (this article) will look at managing the chronic pain rabbit at home, including a case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pain management involves considering pain, recognising pain, and managing pain. Part 1 looked at assessment and recognition of pain. This discussed the physiological and behavioural signs that can indicate pain in rabbits. Part 2 (this article) will look at managing pain in the hospitalised rabbit. Analgesic options are discussed to cover all aspects of the pain pathway. Dose ranges for constant rate infusions are available. Local anaesthesia and analgesia techniques are discussed. Part 3 (next article) will look at managing the chronic pain rabbit at home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pain management involves considering pain, recognising pain, and managing pain. This three-part article will focus on recognition and management of pain in rabbits. Part One (this article) will look at assessment and recognition of pain. This discusses the physiological and behavioural signs that indicate pain. Part Two (next article) will look at managing pain. Analgesic options are discussed to cover all aspects of the pain pathway. Dose ranges for constant rate infusions are available. Local anaesthesia and analgesia techniques are discussed. Part Three will look at managing chronic pain in rabbits at home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reptiles are very likely to have the same pain experience as mammals, as the structures involved with nociception and processing are homologous. However, there is a big difference in expressive behaviours of pain between reptiles and mammals. This makes pain assessment challenging. Difficulty in pain assessment, along with other factors, makes poor pain management a welfare issue in the veterinary and the wider reptile - keeping context. Research in reptile pain is very limited so far; this article aims to provide some basic information on assessing pain in reptiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pain assessment and management in animals is still a new and growing field of research. Although it is still early days for pain research in birds, this article aims to provide information on the pain behaviours known so far, and describes current analgesic drugs and doses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Without the ability to effectively recognise pain and assess its severity in animals, there is no way of assessing the efficacy of analgesia administered. Therefore, we have no way of ensuring that pain is adequately managed. Despite the extensive use of rodents in medical research that often involves the assessment of pain and distress, translation of this knowledge to veterinary medicine has been relatively neglected, and original veterinary research in pain assessment in rodents is lacking. This article aims to provide a broad overview of common behaviours that could be used to assess pain in rodents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns over interactions between analgesics and experimental outcomes are a major reason for withholding opioids from rats undergoing surgical procedures. Only a fraction of morphine injected intravenously reaches receptors responsible for analgesia in the central nervous system. Intrathecal administration of morphine may represent a way to provide rats with analgesia while minimizing the amount of morphine injected. This study aimed to assess whether morphine injected intrathecally via direct lumbar puncture provides sufficient analgesia to rats exposed to acute surgical pain (caudal laparotomy).In an initial blinded, randomised study, pain-free rats received morphine subcutaneously (MSC, 3mg.kg-1, N = 6), intrathecally (MIT, 0.2mg.kg-1, N = 6); NaCl subcutaneously (NSC, N = 6) or intrathecally (NIT, N = 6). Previously validated pain behaviours, activity and Rat Grimace Scale (RGS) scores were recorded at baseline, 1, 2, 4 and 8h post-injection. Morphine-treated rats had similar behaviours to NaCl rats, but their RGS scores were significantly different over time and between treatments. In a second blinded study, rats (N = 28) were randomly allocated to one of the following four treatments (N = 7): MSC, 3mg.kg-1, surgery; MIT, 0.2mg.kg-1, surgery; NIT, surgery; NSC, sham surgery. Composite Pain Behaviours (CPB) and RGS were recorded as previously. CPB in MIT and MSC groups were not significantly different to NSC group. MSC and MIT rats displayed significantly lower RGS scores than NIT rats at 1 and 8h postoperatively. RGS scores for MIT and MSC rats were not significantly different at 1, 2, and 8h postoperatively. Intraclass correlation value amongst operators involved in RGS scoring (N = 9) was 0.913 for total RGS score. Intrathecal morphine was mostly indistinguishable from its subcutaneous counterpart, providing pain relief lasting up to 8 hours in a rat model of surgical pain. Further studies are warranted to clarify the relevance of the rat grimace scale for assessing pain in rats that have received opioid analgesics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various articles within the issue on topics including hypophysectomy, cats with acromegaly, and veterinary practice.