Baton Rouge Clinic

Saving data to a memory card is often required if the data needs to be analyzed later. With Arduino boards, this is done by using the breakout boards of SD or micro-SD cards. The SD cards have been on the market for more than 20 years and are still commonly used, including the Arduino-based projects. In this chapter, we will go over some simple setup and wiring for the purpose of writing data files on the memory card for later usage.

Parathyroid carcinoma is a rare malignancy; and it is rarer to find one located in an ectopic location. Ectopic parathyroid glands are a reported cause of failed primary surgery for hyperparathyroidism. We report here a 73-year-old male who previously had parathyroidectomy for primary hyperparathyroidism but then had recurrence of his symptoms with a diagnosis of a mediastinal parathyroid carcinoma on further evaluation. This presentation of complicated mediastinal parathyroid carcinoma posed significant diagnostic and management challenges due to comorbid stage IV chronic kidney disease (CKD). Secondly, due to the same comorbid condition, a more aggressive calcimimetic regimen could not be undertaken due to the risk of renal dysfunction with potential progression to dialysis status. Thirdly, he was a high-risk surgical candidate due to significant cardiovascular risks. Ideally, open surgical intervention would be recommended but due to the associated risks, he was managed with robotic-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. He subsequently developed hypocalcemia which normalized with supplemental calcium at follow-up.

Coastal restoration projects often require sediment resources borrowed from estuarine or marine ecosystems. A generalized additive modeling (GAM) framework was used to characterize fish-habitat relationships and predict spatiotemporal and ontogenetic shifts of Gulf sturgeon distribution within an impacted estuary in the northern Gulf of Mexico, Lake Pontchartrain. Habitat use and movement of Gulf sturgeon (n = 103) was monitored using an array of acoustic receivers (n = 81) from 2016 to 2019. Telemetry data was paired with environmental conditions hindcast from a high-resolution hydrodynamic model to develop GAMs for three life stages of Gulf sturgeon: juvenile, sub-adult, and adult. Model results demonstrated clear spatial, temporal, and ontogenetic shifts in habitat use for Gulf sturgeon in the Lake Pontchartrain estuary. The importance of spatial and temporal variables in the final models of all life stages suggests that distribution of Gulf sturgeon within the estuary is more likely driven by biology (prey distribution) rather than environment. Interestingly, dependence of Gulf sturgeon on the estuary for overwintering habitat declined with ontogeny. The northeastern shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain was identified as potential nursery habitat for overwintering juvenile sturgeon from the Pearl River, while eastern portions of the estuary and associated channels provide critical staging habitat and corridors of connectivity for migrating sub-adult and adult sturgeon. Given the clear need to prioritize conservation of Gulf sturgeon while restoring coastal marshes, findings from this study provide needed information to shape future coastal restoration and inform the siting and timing of future dredging operations in Lake Pontchartrain.

The pacemaker activity of cerebellum Purkinje neurons is well-known to be essential in multiple physiological functions, including voluntary locomotion, balance, aggressive behavior, and cognitive behavior. However, the specific ionic mechanism of Purkinje neurons in regulating voluntary locomotion is still unclear. To this end, we ex vivo electrophysiologically recorded the activity changes of Purkinje neurons after wheel running by using Pcp2-Cre/Rosa26-LTL-tdTOMATO reporter mice with tdTOMATO selectively expressed in Purkinje neurons. We found that the Purkinje neural activity was reduced by wheel running, associated with decreases in voltage-gated sodium current and expression of the voltage-gated sodium ion channel Nav1.7 (Scn9a), suggesting a potential role of Nav1.7-mediated sodium current. To test whether Nav1.7 is required for the activity dynamics of Purkinje neurons induced by voluntary wheel running and subsequent beneficial metabolic effects, we crossed Scn9a flox/flox mice with Pcp2-Cre mice to generate a mouse model with Nav1.7 selectively deleted from Purkinje neurons (Pcp2-Cre/Scn9a flox/flox, Nav1.7-KOPcp2). Nav1.7-KOPcp2 significantly decreased Purkinje neural dynamics, mimicking wheel running-induced neural activity reduction. Nav1.7-KOPcp2 mice also significantly increased voluntary locomotion compared to the control littermates. Further, Nav1.7-KOPcp2 mice showed decreased body weight gain, reduced blood glucose, and improved insulin sensitivity when fed a high-fat diet (HFD). These beneficial metabolic effects were associated with increased running activity but not food intake. In summary, these findings provide evidence to support the vital role of the Nav1.7 ion channel expressed by Purkinje neurons in the beneficial metabolic effects of voluntary locomotion activity. Disclosure B. Feng: None. P. Gao: None. J. Harms: None. P. Luo: None. P. Xu: None. Y. He: None. Funding National Institutes of Health (R01DK123098, R01DK129548)

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) derived from gut microbiota fermentation have been shown to generate beneficial metabolic effects on energy and glucose homeostasis by binding with free fatty acid receptors 2 (FFA2) and 3 (FFA3). Accumulating evidence indicates that the gut microbiota/SCFAs interact with the central nervous system (CNS) to regulate central metabolic function. Interestingly, we found that a single bolus intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of acetate (ACE), propionate (PRO), or butyrate (BUT) dose-dependently inhibited food intake in an FFA2/3-dependent manner. Notably, both in situ hybridization and RNAscope analysis showed that FFA3 but not FFA2 was expressed in the cerebellar granule neurons, which was inhibited by PRO or FFA3-selective agonists in a Gi/o-dependent mechanism. We also showed that high-fat diet (HFD)-induced hypothalamic inflammation is diminished by dietary fiber supplementation, which is associated with increased circulating SCFAs. Notably, these anti-inflammatory effects of dietary fiber supplementation were partially attenuated in FFA2/3 double-knockout mice, suggesting a beneficial effect of FFA2/3 on hypothalamic inflammation. Taking all these together, our results suggest a model that SCFAs act on the brain to regulate energy homeostasis and hypothalamic inflammation. Disclosure X.Yang: None. P.Xu: None. P.Luo: None. B.Feng: None. H.Ye: None. N.Antony: None. L.Carrillo-sáenz: None. V.C.Torres irizarry: None. B.T.Layden: Consultant; Bayer Inc. Y.He: None. Funding National Institutes of Health (R01DK123098, P30DK020595 to P.X.), (P20GM135002, R01DK129548 to Y.H.), (T32AA026577 to V.C.T.I.); American Heart Association (915789 to V.C.T.I.), (20POST35120600 to Y.H.); U.S. Department of Defense (W81XWH-20-1-0075 to P.X

The literature on mixed-species flocks references a wide variety of bird associations. These studies, however, have used an array of unstructured characteristics to describe flocks, ranging from the temporal occurrence of flocking to the identity and behavioural features of constituent members, with little consensus on which key traits define and characterize a mixed-species flock. Moreover, although most studies report species-specific roles, there is no clear consensus about what these roles signify nor how to define them. This lack of consistency limits our ability to compare flocks from different habitats, regions and species pools. To unify this sizable body of literature, we reviewed and synthesized 538 studies on mixed-species flocks. We propose 13 categories to classify mixed-species flocks using behavioural and physical traits at the flock and participant level, as well as the habitat where the flock occurs. Lastly, we discuss the historical terminology for different species roles and propose definitions to clarify and distinguish among nuclear, leader, sentinel, and flock-following species. We envision that these guidelines will provide a universal language for mixed-species flock research, paving the way for future comparisons and new insight between different regions and systems. This article is part of the theme issue 'Mixed-species groups and aggregations: shaping ecological and behavioural patterns and processes'.