To support the global restart of elective surgery, data from an international prospective cohort study of 8492 patients (69 countries) was analysed using artificial intelligence (machine learning techniques) to develop a predictive score for mortality in surgical patients with SARS-CoV-2. We found that patient rather than operation factors were the best predictors and used these to create the COVIDsurg Mortality Score (https://covidsurgrisk.app). Our data demonstrates that it is safe to restart a wide range of surgical services for selected patients.

Azhdarchid pterosaurs existed during the Mesozoic era and died out during the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous. These amazingly large creatures have sparked a debate on whether they were capable of flying or simply gliding due to their massive size, anatomy and morphology. Two theories that have been developed are that these creatures were terrestrial stalkers and that they are closer to pelicans in terms of feeding capability. More specifically, Naish and Witton suggest that these giants were capable of covering large distances by soaring and could forage on land by walking quadrupedally using their long necks to reach down and kill small animals, parts of dead tissues and possibly fruits. Fossil evidence to support this theory includes tracks of the Azhdarchid’s showing a parasagittal gait, a winged planform, and specimens have been only found in continental depositional settings. Evidence also indicates that these creatures had membranes serving as wings, but it cannot be discerned with current knowledge whether membranes were used for gliding or for true flying.

It is well documented that coordination of feeding behavior in anuran amphibians requires precise coordination of the jaw levators and depressors with the timing of the protraction of the tongue. (for review, see Nishikawa, 2000). However, the neuronal mechanism initiating and synchronizing this coordination is not well understood. In addition to the intermandibularis muscle and tongue musculature in the lower jaw, there is a small, transverse muscle at the tip of the jaw, the m. submentalis. Previous anatomical work has demonstrated the presence of muscle spindles in the submentalis, leading to the hypothesis that the activation of this muscle may provide proprioceptive information to aid in coordinating the feeding biomechanics in Rhinella marina. Here, we demonstrate that the submentalis likely acts as a ‘trigger’ to initiate the hypoglossal nerve to activate the tongue, and without feedback information from the muscle spindles of the submentalis, tongue protraction is compromised.

The term ‘brain death’ is a rather untenable description to be defended ethically. This needs to be sorted out to ‘cortical brain death’, ‘whole brain death’ and WBD should include the brainstem. Organ transplants confound the difference between WBD and ‘biological death’, that is, the complete cessation of body function. It is clearly an ethical issue of taking a life, however, I argue for the greater good, IF it is clearly documented that irreversibility presents itself through multiple criteria (apnea, brainstem function, lack of long onset EEG, etc.). If meeting these criteria, we can have medical, physiological and moral standards and it is ethical to declare brain death, thus allowing organ transplants, and by definition, create biological death by doing so. This is a very consequentialist approach, but it does appease the dualistic ethics by separating the brain, or, more to the point, the concept of the ‘conscience’, and the possibility of defining ‘personhood’ or lack thereof. I believe the 1968 Harvard ‘declaration of death’ doesn’t fit the above criteria and the AMA declaration (formally adopted in 2003) states that: “a determination of death must be made in accordance with accepted medical standards”, however, those medical standards were not described. This paper addresses those standards.

Our lab is studying the feeding behavior in the marine toad, Bufo marinus, as a model system for the neuronal regulation of coordinated movement. Previous studies have suggested that the brainstem coordinates precise movements through a muscular 'trigger' that signals and initiates pre‐loaded muscle activation. We investigated a small distal muscle in the lower jaw, the submentalis, as the trigger for the feeding behavior in toads. The innervation of this muscle was identified, as well as the distribution of trigeminal nuclei innervating the submentalis. Using high speed videography, we analyzed jaw‐tongue movements before and after denervation of the submentalis. Following denervation, the toads were unable to completely protract their tongues. However, tongue protraction gradually increased and full tongue protraction and successful feeding behavior was observed after 4‐6 attempts, suggesting a potential model for motor learning. Additionally, we have anatomically identified the presence of muscle spindles in the submentalis, suggesting that proprioceptive afferents are regulating the motor output. These data support the idea of the submentalis muscle acting as a trigger for timed feeding movements and the importance of the submentalis in coordinating jaw‐tongue movement.