BACKGROUND Morphine sulfate has long been used for analgesia, but clinical applications can be limited by side effects, tolerance, and potential for addiction at therapeutic doses. An agent that produces therapeutic analgesia when coadministered with low-dose morphine could have important clinical uses. The anticonvulsant agent gabapentin has been identified as having antihyperalgesic propertie...

We report new skeletal elements pertaining to the same individual which represents the holotype of Australovenator wintonensis, from the 'Matilda Site' in the Winton Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of western Queensland. The discovery of these new elements means that the hind limb of Australovenator is now the most completely understood hind limb among Neovenatoridae. The new hind limb elements in...

In the legless lizard, Ophisaurus apodus, the hind-limb primordium appears on the caudal extremity of the Wolffian ridge at an early stage in the development of the embryo (4-2 mm long). Three somites each send an extension into this young bud and distribute cells in its mesenchymal mass of cells. An apical epiblastic ridge, appearing as a fold from the exterior, forms on the limb-bud, which at...

BACKGROUND An inexpensive method of generating continuous data on hind limb function in dogs with spinal cord injury is needed to facilitate multicentre clinical trials. This study aimed to define normal fore limb, hind limb coordination in dogs walking on a treadmill and then to determine whether reliable data could be generated on the frequency of hind limb stepping and the frequency of coord...

BACKGROUND Various physiotherapeutic evaluation methods are used to assess the functionality of dogs with stifle problems. Neither validity nor sensitivity of these methods has been investigated. This study aimed to determine the most valid and sensitive physiotherapeutic evaluation methods for assessing functional capacity in hind limbs of dogs with stifle problems and to serve as a basis for ...

Genetic variation in functionally integrated skeletal traits can be maintained over 10 million years despite bottlenecks and stringent selection. Here, we describe an analysis of the genetic architecture of the canid axial skeleton using populations of the Portuguese Water Dog Canis familiaris) and silver fox (Vulpes vulpes). Twenty-one skeletal metrics taken from radiographs of the forelimbs a...

BACKGROUND Reports of malformed frogs have increased throughout the North American continent in recent years. Most of the observed malformations have involved the hind limbs. The goal of this study was to accurately characterize the hind limb malformations in wild frogs as an important step toward understanding the possible etiologies. METHODS During 1997 and 1998, 182 recently metamorphosed ...

Walking involves a cyclic exchange of gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy of the center of mass. Our goal was to understand how the limbs of walking quadrupeds coordinate the vertical movements of the fore and hind quarters to produce these inverted pendulum-like movements. We collected kinematic and ground reaction force data from dogs walking over a range of speeds. We found tha...

BACKGROUND Earlier studies have shown that adrenomedullin (AM), a potent vasodilator peptide, has a variety of cardiovascular effects. However, whether AM has angiogenic potential remains unknown. This study investigated whether AM gene transfer induces therapeutic angiogenesis in chronic hind limb ischemia. METHODS AND RESULTS Ischemia was induced in the hind limb of 21 Japanese White rabbit...

OBJECTIVE Oxygen delivery, underpinned by vascular tone, is the principle limiting factor in the study of skeletal muscle physiology, particularly during muscle contraction. The aim of this study was to develop an autologous perfused rat hind limb preparation for the study of skeletal muscle contractile function. METHODS Adult Wistar rats were surgically prepared using a by-pass system for pu...