Harford Community College

Rocuronium bromide is a non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocking agent (NMBA) commonly used in anesthesia for its rapid onset and intermediate duration of action. While its therapeutic use has been well-documented in humans and experimentally in dogs, this report describes the first known case of its malicious use in the fatal intoxication of a canine. Herein we describe the case of a six-year-old male Plott Hound found deceased under suspicious circumstances. Postmortem investigation revealed focal hemorrhages near potential injection sites and toxicological analysis via liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) confirmed the presence of rocuronium in muscle tissue, heart blood and urine. The dog had no surgical history or indication for anesthesia. However, rocuronium concentrations mirrored those seen in anesthetized human patients under ventilatory support. The owner, a licensed pharmacist, was suspected of drug theft and aggravated animal abuse. This case highlights the lethality of NMBA's when misused outside of the clinical setting and further underscores a collaborative, multi-institutional, multidisciplinary approach to veterinary forensic investigations.

Venomous snake species across the globe have been historically categorized as aggressive and dangerous, leading to widespread persecution and killings. Despite the conservation importance of educating the public about the docile nature of these species, few studies have attempted to quantify the response of viperid species to human interactions. Here we report the responses of free-ranging copperheads to a potential human encounter using a set of hierarchical behavioral trials. Out of a total of 69 snakes, only two individuals feigned striking and only two attempted to bite (3% of all individuals). Our results support the findings of previous studies documenting the docile nature of other viperid species and can hopefully be used to change the public perception of venomous snakes. Convincing the public and policy makers that viperid species are docile is critical to long-term conservation of these species in the U.S. and around the globe.

Amanda Girardi is an Assistant Professor of Nursing and Allied Health at Harford Community College in Bel Air, Md. Mary Sharon Curran is a Clinical Associate Professor of Nursing at Towson University in Towson, Md. The authors have disclosed no financial relationships related to this article.

Immigrants typically express cravings for the food of their homeland, but for undocumented and temporarily documented Salvadoran immigrants living in the United States, the hunger for their traditional cuisine is particularly poignant. To cope with a history of food scarcity in El Salvador and their documentation liminality in the United States, Salvadoran immigrants in this study crave symbolically rich foods. Salvadoran women provide these foods by recreating for their families an ideal Salvadoran meal into which they “groom” meanings of an imagined past and a hoped for present and future. Salvadoran immigrants' cravings, more cultural than physiological, are not readily satisfied, thus contributing to the overconsumption of food and the high rate of overweight among first-generation Salvadoran-American children.

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems and human speech output to ASR systems are affected when users perform complex tasks in a noisy, stressful simulated tank environment. A second objective was to determine whether the type of auditory information input (monaural or spatial) affected user task performance, including the output of speech to ASR systems. Subjects performed simultaneous radio communication and tank driving tasks. Independent variables included auditory display configuration, driving speed, and subject type (soldier or civilian). Dependent variables included 1) the proportion of radio channel changes correctly recognized by the ASR; 2) the proportion and types of speech errors in radio channel changes; 3) the number of accurate responses to the radio messages; and 4) subject ratings of stress and workload. Subjects were six male U.S. Army personnel and six male civilians. Results indicated that ASR and human speech output were not significantly affected by any of the independent variables. A mean of 95.5% of all subject verbal commands was recognized by the ASR system. Spatialized radio messages significantly enhanced the ability of the user to understand speech communications from multiple channels. However, spatial audio information input had no significant effect on user speech output or on ASR performance. In general, ASR and spatial audio displays have potential as technologies of interest in high noise, stressful tank environments in which complex, concurrent tasks are performed.

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