Aspects of in vivo endotracheal tube intracuff pressure in cats.

Objectives: To determine the endotracheal tube cuff pressure produced with two inflation techniques, in two brands of endotracheal tube in cats. To determine the inspiratory pressure which produces an audible leak when the intracuff pressure is 30 cmHO.

Study Design: Prospective, clinical, randomized study.

Evidence for declining levels of heavy-metals in the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel, U.K. and their spatial distribution in sediments.

Levels of heavy-metals (Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn) in suspended particulate and in surface and subsurface sediments were determined at seven locations in the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel. Sediment metal concentrations were highest at sites close to industrial centres but levels have decreased significantly over the last 30 years so that they are now close to, or meet, environmental quality guidelines. The greatest metal concentrations in deposited sediments were usually associated with the finest particulates at locations with muddy sediments, but this was not always true at sites with predominantly sandy sediments.

Sub-lethal effects of metal exposure: physiological and behavioural responses of the estuarine bivalve Macoma balthica.

Variation in glycogen concentration, condition index (CI) and filtration activity were measured in the bivalve Macoma balthica buried in sediment and experimentally exposed to cadmium (Cd). The stress due to elevated but sub-lethal concentrations (300 ppb Cd) affected the overall fitness of the organism as all parameters monitored responded significantly. Lower concentrations tested (10, 30 and 100 ppb) only induced a significant decrease in filtration activity, which may play a protective role, enabling the organism to slow down its metabolic activity and preserving the integrity of its reserves (reflected by stable CI and glycogen levels).

Concentrations of Cd, Zn and Cu in sediments and brown shrimp (Crangon crangon L.) from the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel, UK.

Cd, Zn and Cu levels were determined in sediments and Crangon crangon from 9 sites in the Severn Estuary/Bristol Channel during winter 1999. Metal levels in both shrimp and sediments varied significantly between sites and were related to proximity of input and/or sediment type. In the upper Estuary, Cd levels in shrimp were 100x higher than other reported values whereas sediment Cd contamination was comparable.

Neuronal organization of the melanin-concentrating hormone system in primitive actinopterygians: evolutionary changes leading to teleosts.

Hypothalamic melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) neurones occur in all vertebrates and have an apparent neuromodulatory role. In teleost fish, however, MCH is used also as a neurohypophysial hormone, controlling skin color, and as a hypophysiotrophic peptide. This work describes the central location of immunoreactive MCH perikarya and their projections to the pituitary in a range of ancestral fish to determine the phylogenetic stage when the peptide adopted these roles.