Time-variant left ventricle models for intracardiac impedance analysis.

Cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of mortality worldwide. Thus, critically ill patients require continuous monitoring of cardiovascular indicators, such as the left ventricular volume (LVV). Although continuous hemodynamic monitoring of patients is desirable, due to technical limitations, current measurement technologies either require manual intervention of the physician or only provide inaccurate results.

The environmental history of Chatthin Wildlife Sanctuary, a protected area in Myanmar (Burma).

We reconstructed the history of Chatthin Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) to understand how social and economic events, and policy changes affected the sanctuary's condition. We surveyed 25 villages surrounding CWS to evaluate past and present ecological conditions, compare the results with historical accounts and identify causal relationships. During the first half of the 20th century, the primary threat was the government's reduction of old growth forest to supply fuel wood for the British-built railway.

Phylogeography of the asian elephant (Elephas maximus) based on mitochondrial DNA.

Populations of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) have been reduced in size and become highly fragmented during the past 3,000 to 4,000 years. Historical records reveal elephant dispersal by humans via trade and war. How have these anthropogenic impacts affected genetic variation and structure of Asian elephant populations? We sequenced mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to assay genetic variation and phylogeography across much of the Asian elephant's range.

Comparative reproductive function in cervids: implications for management of farm and zoo populations.

The cervids represent a complex assemblage of taxa characterized by extreme diversity in morphology, physiology, ecology and geographical distribution. Farmed species (for example red deer and fallow deer) are usually the common larger-bodied, gregarious and monotocous species that express marked reproductive seasonality in their temperate environment. Their commercial importance has facilitated considerable research into reproductive physiology and the development of assisted reproductive technologies (ART).

Plasma vitamin E and other analyte levels in Nepalese camp elephants (Elephas maximus).

Plasma concentrations of alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) and other analytes in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Nepal were determined during typical work camp management of the elephants. Elephants foraged for food for 4-6 hr each day under the control of mahouts and were also provided daily with cut forage and supplements of unhusked rice, cane molasses, and salt. Blood samples were taken monthly for 1 yr without chemical restraint from 26 female elephants in four camps.