In 1940, Scholander suggested that stiffened upper airways remained open and received air from highly compressible alveoli during marine mammal diving. There are few data available on the structural and functional adaptations of the marine mammal respiratory system. The aim of this research was to investigate the anatomical (gross) and structural (compliance) characteristics of excised marine mammal tracheas. Here, we defined different types of tracheal structures, categorizing pinniped tracheas by varying degrees of continuity of cartilage (categories 1-4) and cetacean tracheas by varying compliance values (categories 5A and 5B). Some tracheas fell into more than one category along their length; for example, the harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) demonstrated complete rings cranially, and as the trachea progressed caudally, tracheal rings changed morphology. Dolphins and porpoises had less stiff, more compliant spiraling rings while beaked whales had very stiff, less compliant spiraling rings. The pressure-volume (P-V) relationships of isolated tracheas from different species were measured to assess structural differences between species. These findings lend evidence for pressure-induced collapse and re-inflation of lungs, perhaps influencing variability in dive depth or ventilation rates of the species investigated.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.093146 | DOI Listing |
Iowa Orthop J
January 2025
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, New York, USA.
Background: While prolonged operative time and increased levels fused have been shown to increase the risk of prolonged intensive care unit (ICU) length-of-stay (LOS), studies are limited in guiding decision-making regarding the need for intensive care postoperatively. This is especially the case among the cohort of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients undergoing posterior spinal fusion (PSF); associations between comorbidities and ICU LOS are not well-delineated.
Methods: AIS patients who underwent PSF from January 1st, 2016 to December 1st, 2016 at 101 participating centers were identified using the American College of Surgeons (ACS) National Surgical Quality Im-provement Project (NSQIP) Pediatric database.
Sci Rep
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Holistic Integrative Management of Gastrointestinal Cancers, National Clinical Research Center for Digestive Diseases, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
Background: Clinically, the ability to distinguish which Crohn's disease patients can benefit from Adalimumab is limited.
Aims: This study aimed to develop a model for predicting clinical remission probability for Crohn's disease patients with Adalimumab at 12 weeks. The model assists clinicians in identifying which Crohn's disease patients are likely to benefit from Adalimumab treatment before starting therapy, thus optimizing individualized treatment strategies.
Sci Rep
January 2025
Departamento de Farmacia, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Cra. 30 N° 45-03, Bogotá D.C., Colombia.
Skin cancer is one of the most common types of cancer worldwide, with exposure to UVB radiation being a significant risk factor for its development. To prevent skin cancer, continuous research efforts have focused on finding suitable photoprotective ingredients from natural sources that are also environmentally friendly. This study aimed to develop oil-in-water photoprotective nanoemulsions containing marine macroalgae extract.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany.
During the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, the dominant mammoth steppe ecosystem across northern Eurasia vanished, in parallel with megafauna extinctions. However, plant extinction patterns are rarely detected due to lack of identifiable fossil records. Here, we introduce a method for detection of plant taxa loss at regional (extirpation) to potentially global scale (extinction) and their causes, as determined from ancient plant DNA metabarcoding in sediment cores (sedaDNA) from lakes in Siberia and Alaska over the past 28,000 years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCBE Life Sci Educ
March 2025
Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115.
Previous research has shown that students employ intuitive thinking when understanding scientific concepts. Three types of intuitive thinking-essentialist, teleological, and anthropic thinking-are used in biology learning and can lead to misconceptions. However, it is unknown how commonly these types of intuitive thinking, or cognitive construals, are used spontaneously in students' explanations across biological concepts and whether this usage is related to endorsement of construal-consistent misconceptions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!