Postscript to Invertebrate Welfare: "We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us".

Through this collection of papers, we have considered in depth the effects that humans have on invertebrate welfare in a variety of contexts [...

Neurocomputational mechanisms underlying perception and sentience in the neocortex.

The basis for computation in the brain is the quantum threshold of "soliton," which accompanies the ion changes of the action potential, and the refractory membrane at convergences. Here, we provide a logical explanation from the action potential to a neuronal model of the coding and computation of the retina. We also explain how the visual cortex operates through quantum-phase processing.

The Use of Isoflurane and Adjunctive Magnesium Chloride Provides Fast, Effective Anaesthetization of .

A wide variety of substances have been used to anaesthetise invertebrates, but many are not anaesthetics and merely incapacitate animals rather than preventing pain. In essence, the role of an ideal general anaesthetic is to act as a muscle relaxant, an analgesic, an anaesthetic, and an amnesic. To achieve all these properties with a single substance is difficult, and various adjuvants usually need to be administered, resulting in a cocktail of drugs.

COVID-19 vulnerabilities are intensified by declining human serum albumin levels.

What is the topic of this review? Human serum albumin (HSA) a common factor in COVID-19 vulnerabilities. What advances does it highlight? Understanding of HSA capacity, and systemic vulnerabilities to COVID-19. Raising HSA in COVID-19 patients may alleviate systemic injury caused by diminished native HSA binding.

Does the Brain Function as a Quantum Phase Computer Using Phase Ternary Computation?

Here we provide evidence that the fundamental basis of nervous communication is derived from a pressure pulse/soliton capable of computation with sufficient temporal precision to overcome any processing errors. Signalling and computing within the nervous system are complex and different phenomena. Action potentials are plastic and this makes the action potential peak an inappropriate fixed point for neural computation, but the action potential threshold is suitable for this purpose.

SARS-CoV-2 Bound Human Serum Albumin and Systemic Septic Shock.

The emergence of the COVID-19 virus and the subsequent pandemic have driven a great deal of research activity. The effects of COVID-19 are caused by the severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and it is the underlying actions of SARs-CoV-2 virions on the endothelial glycocalyx that we consider here. One of the key factors in COVID-19 infection is its almost unique age-related profile, with a doubling in mortality every 10 years after the age of 50.

The role of non-coding RNAs in neuroprotection and angiogenesis following ischemic stroke.

Stroke is the leading cause of death and physical disability worldwide. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are endogenous molecules that play key roles in the pathophysiology and retrieval processes following ischemic stroke. The potential of ncRNAs, especially microRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in neuroprotection and angiogenesis highlights their potential as targets for therapeutic intervention.

A Comparative Study of Cell Specific Effects of Systemic and Volatile Anesthetics on Identified Motor Neurons and Interneurons of (L.), Both in the Isolated Brain and in Single Cell Culture.

1. A comparative descriptive analysis of systemic (sodium pentobarbital, sodium thiopentone, ketamine) and volatile (halothane, isoflurane, enflurane) general anesthetics revealed important differences in the neuronal responses of identified motor neurons and interneurons in the isolated central nervous system (CNS) and cultured identified neurons in single cell culture of Lymnaea stagnalis (L.).

Long non-coding RNAs and cell death following ischemic stroke.

Stroke is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and extensive efforts have focused on the improvement of therapeutic strategies to reduce cell death following ischemic stroke. Uncovering the cellular and molecular pathophysiological processes in ischemic stroke have been a top priority. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are endogenous molecules that play key roles in the pathophysiology of cerebral ischemia, and involved in the neuronal cell death during ischemic stroke.

Sense and Insensibility - An Appraisal of the Effects of Clinical Anesthetics on Gastropod and Cephalopod Molluscs as a Step to Improved Welfare of Cephalopods.

Recent progress in animal welfare legislation stresses the need to treat cephalopod molluscs, such as , humanely, to have regard for their wellbeing and to reduce their pain and suffering resulting from experimental procedures. Thus, appropriate measures for their sedation and analgesia are being introduced. Clinical anesthetics are renowned for their ability to produce unconsciousness in vertebrate species, but their exact mechanisms of action still elude investigators.

The Soliton and the Action Potential - Primary Elements Underlying Sentience.

At present the neurological basis of sentience is poorly understood and this problem is exacerbated by only a partial knowledge of how one of the primary elements of sentience, the action potential, actually works. This has consequences for our understanding of how communication within the brain and in artificial brain neural networks (BNNs). Reverse engineering models of brain activity assume processing works like a conventional binary computer and neglects speed of cognition, latencies, error in nerve conduction and the true dynamic structure of neural networks in the brain.

Vanillic acid attenuates effects of transient bilateral common carotid occlusion and reperfusion in rats.

Cerebral hypoperfusion induced by transient bilateral common carotid arteries occlusion (tBCCAO), is associated with deleterious alterations in several physiological parameters of the animals. This study aims to investigate the effects of vanillic acid (VA) on memory impairment, locomotion and exploratory deficits, as well as histological and hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) injuries induced by tBCCAO procedure followed by reperfusion (BCCAO/R) in rats. Adult male Wistar rats (250-300g) were divided randomly into four groups: Sham-Operated group "Sham"; Vehicle+BCCAO/R group "BCCAO/R"; Vehicle+ Vanillic acid group "VA"; VA (100mg/kg) +BCCAO/R group "VA +BCCAO/R".

The Interplay of MicroRNAs in the Inflammatory Mechanisms Following Ischemic Stroke.

Immunity and inflammation are important parameters of the pathophysiology of stroke, a destructive illness that is the second most common cause of death worldwide. Following ischemic stroke, neuroinflammation plays a critical role in neurodegeneration and brain injury. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenously expressed, noncoding RNA molecules that function to inhibit mRNA translation.

Emerging Roles of microRNAs in Ischemic Stroke: As Possible Therapeutic Agents.

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and physical disability worldwide. The consequences of stroke injuries are profound and persistent, causing in considerable burden to both the individual patient and society. Current treatments for ischemic stroke injuries have proved inadequate, partly owing to an incomplete understanding of the cellular and molecular changes that occur following ischemic stroke.

Pathogenic mechanisms following ischemic stroke.

Stroke is the second most common cause of death and the leading cause of disability worldwide. Brain injury following stroke results from a complex series of pathophysiological events including excitotoxicity, oxidative and nitrative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis. Moreover, there is a mechanistic link between brain ischemia, innate and adaptive immune cells, intracranial atherosclerosis, and also the gut microbiota in modifying the cerebral responses to ischemic insult.

Dose-dependent effects of the clinical anesthetic isoflurane on Octopus vulgaris: a contribution to cephalopod welfare.

Recent progress in animal welfare legislation relating to invertebrates has provoked interest in methods for the anesthesia of cephalopods, for which different approaches to anesthesia have been tried but in most cases without truly anesthetizing the animals. For example, several workers have used muscle relaxants or hypothermia as forms of "anesthesia." Several inhalational anesthetics are known to act in a dose-dependent manner on the great pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis, a pulmonate mollusk.

GABA(A)- and AMPA-like receptors modulate the activity of an identified neuron within the central pattern generator of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis.

To examine the neurochemistry underlying the firing of the RPeD1 neuron in the respiratory central pattern generator of the pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis, we examined electrophysiologically and pharmacologically either "active" or "silent" preparations by intracellular recording and pharmacology. GABA inhibited electrical firing by hyperpolarizing RPeD1, while picrotoxin, an antagonist of GABA(A) receptors, excited silent cells and reversed GABA-induced inhibition. Action potential activity was terminated by 1 mM glutamate (Glu) while silent cells were depolarized by the GluR agonists, AMPA, and NMDA.

Aripiprazole: the evidence of its therapeutic impact in schizophrenia.

Introduction: An ideal antipsychotic would rapidly stabilize acute psychotic symptoms and maintain the patient, without relapse, for prolonged periods in the absence of extrapyramidal, endocrine, diabetic, or cardiovascular side effects, and without weight gain. The dopamine partial agonist aripiprazole is compared with this ideal and with conventional antipsychotics, such as haloperidol, and with atypical antipsychotics.

Aims: To review the evidence for the clinical impact of aripiprazole in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia.

Pramipexole in restless legs syndrome: an evidence-based review of its effectiveness on clinical outcomes.

Introduction: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) affects 5-15% of adults, but is often unrecognized and consequently misdiagnosed. The International Restless Legs Scale (IRLS) has been developed and validated to assess the severity of RLS. Currently, the most common treatment for RLS is levodopa, but this may lead to augmentation of symptoms.

Anesthetic treatment blocks synaptogenesis but not neuronal regeneration of cultured Lymnaea neurons.

Trauma and injury necessitate the use of various surgical interventions, yet such procedures themselves are invasive and often interrupt synaptic communications in the nervous system. Because anesthesia is required during surgery, it is important to determine whether long-term exposure of injured nervous tissue to anesthetics is detrimental to regeneration of neuronal processes and synaptic connections. In this study, using identified molluscan neurons, we provide direct evidence that the anesthetic propofol blocks cholinergic synaptic transmission between soma-soma paired Lymnaea neurons in a dose-dependent and reversible manner.

Seasonal plasticity of synaptic connections between identified neurones in Lymnaea.

Here we investigate the synaptic connectivity of the giant dopamine containing neurone (RPeDI) of Lymnaea stagnalis during the winter months, in wild and laboratory bred animals. RPeD1 is one of the three neurones forming the respiratory central pattern generator (CPG) in Lymnaea and initiates ventilation under normal circumstances. Many of the follower cells of RPeD1 are ventilatory motor neurones.

Effect of volatile anaesthetics on the electrical activity and the coupling coefficient of weakly electrically coupled neurones.

1. The application of the volatile anaesthetics, halothane and isoflurane (1% v/v and 2% v/v), to the CNS of Lymnaea reduced the firing frequency of the small weakly coupled pedal A cluster (PeA) neurones, which eventually become quiescent. There was no change in their resting membrane potential.