Swallowing kinematics and airway protection after palatal local anesthesia in infant pigs.

Objectives/hypothesis: Abnormal kinematics during swallowing can result in aspiration, which may become life threatening. We tested the role of palatal sensation in the motor control of pharyngeal swallow in infants.

Study Design: In eight infant pigs, we reduced palatal sensation using local anesthesia (PLA) and measured the impact on swallowing kinematics and airway protection.

Sucking and swallowing rates after palatal anesthesia: an electromyographic study in infant pigs.

Infant mammalian feeding consists of rhythmic suck cycles and reflexive pharyngeal swallows. Although we know how oropharyngeal sensation influences the initiation and frequency of suck and swallow cycles, the role of palatal sensation is unknown. We implanted EMG electrodes into the mylohyoid muscle, a muscle active during suckling, and the thyrohyoid muscle, a muscle active during swallowing, in eight infant pigs.

The effect of varying alkaloid concentrations on the feeding behavior of gypsy moth larvae, Lymantria dispar (L.) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae).

Nine alkaloids (acridine, aristolochic acid, atropine, berberine, caffeine, nicotine, scopolamine, sparteine, and strychnine) were evaluated as feeding deterrents for gypsy moth larvae (Lymantria dispar (L.); Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae). Our aim was to determine and compare the taste threshold concentrations, as well as the ED(50) values, of the nine alkaloids to determine their potency as feeding deterrents.