New records of rare species in the Mediterranean Sea (May 2020)

This Collective Article presents information about 17 taxa belonging to four Phyla (one Cnidaria, two Arthropoda, four Mollusca, and ten Chordata) and extending from the Western Mediterranean to the Levantine Sea. The new records were reported from nine countries as follows: Algeria: first published records of the clingfishes Apletodon dentatus and Lepadogaster lepadogaster after 1955; France: first record of the tripletail Lobotes surinamensis in French Mediterranean waters; Italy: new records of the rare bonito Orcynopsis unicolor and the recently described nudibranch Elysia rubeni from Sicily; first records of the parasitic cirriped Sacculina eriphiae and the nudibranch Dondice trainitoi in the Ionian Sea; first record of the nudibranch Taringa tritorquis in the Mediterranean Sea; first record of the tripletail Lobotes surinamensis in the North Ionian Sea; first documented record of the cephalopod Macrotritopus defilippi in the Adriatic Sea; Slovenia: first record of the Mediterranean endemic cryptobenthic goby Odondebuenia balearica; Montenegro: several recent occurrences of the critically endangered bull ray Aetomylaeus bovinus in the South-eastern Adriatic Sea; Greece: records of the nudibranch Dondice trainitoi in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea; new record of the occurrence of the Mediterranean spearfish Tetrapturus belone from Greece (Rhodes Island); Turkey: recent captures of the vulnerable ocean sunfish Mola mola, caught by purse-seine, in the Aegean Sea and the Dardanelles; new record of the luvar Luvarus imperialis along the Aegean coast of Turkey; Cyprus: first record of the habitat-forming hydroid Lytocarpia myriophyllum, often in considerable densities; first confirmed record of the agujon needlefish Tylosurus imperialis; Syria: first record of the decapod Ethusa mascarone

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Breast cancer management pathways during the COVID-19 pandemic: outcomes from the UK ‘Alert Level 4’ phase of the B-MaP-C study

Abstract: Background: The B-MaP-C study aimed to determine alterations to breast cancer (BC) management during the peak transmission period of the UK COVID-19 pandemic and the potential impact of these treatment decisions. Methods: This was a national cohort study of patients with early BC undergoing multidisciplinary team (MDT)-guided treatment recommendations during the pandemic, designated ‘standard’ or ‘COVID-altered’, in the preoperative, operative and post-operative setting. Findings: Of 3776 patients (from 64 UK units) in the study, 2246 (59%) had ‘COVID-altered’ management. ‘Bridging’ endocrine therapy was used (n = 951) where theatre capacity was reduced. There was increasing access to COVID-19 low-risk theatres during the study period (59%). In line with national guidance, immediate breast reconstruction was avoided (n = 299). Where adjuvant chemotherapy was omitted (n = 81), the median benefit was only 3% (IQR 2–9%) using ‘NHS Predict’. There was the rapid adoption of new evidence-based hypofractionated radiotherapy (n = 781, from 46 units). Only 14 patients (1%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during their treatment journey. Conclusions: The majority of ‘COVID-altered’ management decisions were largely in line with pre-COVID evidence-based guidelines, implying that breast cancer survival outcomes are unlikely to be negatively impacted by the pandemic. However, in this study, the potential impact of delays to BC presentation or diagnosis remains unknown

Immunophenotyping of Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes in Saudi Men

Flow cytometry is an important tool for the diagnosis and follow-up of immunodeficiency patients, as well as for pateints with leukemia and lymphoma. Lymphocytes and their subsets show variations with race. The aim of this study was to establish reference ranges for lymphocytes and their subsets in an Saudi adult population by using flow cytometry. Blood samples obtained from 209 healthy Saudi men were used for this study. All blood donors were between 18 and 44 years old. Lymphocytes and their subsets were analyzed by flow cytometry, and the absolute and percentage values were calculated. We investigated the expression of T-cell markers (CD3, CD4, and CD8), B cells (CD19), and natural killer cells (CD16 and CD56). The absolute and percent values of each cell subset were compared with published data from different populations by using the Student t test. Reference ranges, each expressed as the mean ± the standard deviation, were as follows: leukocytes (6,335 ± 1759), total lymphocytes (2,224 ± 717), CD3 cells (1,618 ± 547), CD4 cells (869 ± 310), CD8 cells (615 ± 278), CD19 cells (230 ± 130), and CD3-CD16(+)/CD56+ cells (262 ± 178). The CD4/CD8 ratio was 1.6 ± 0.7. Our results for B cells, CD4 cells, and CD8 cells and for the CD4/CD8 ratio fell in between the reported results for Ethiopian and Dutch subjects. Our results were also different from previously reported findings in an Saudi adult population that showed no increase in CD8 T cells. We thus establish here the reference ranges for lymphocytes and their subsets in a large cohort of Saudi men. The CD8 cell count was not abnormally high, as previously reported, and fell in between previous results obtained for African and European populations

New records of rare species in the Mediterranean Sea (May 2020)

Gerovasileiou, Vasilis/0000-0002-9143-7480WOS: 000563186800006This Collective Article presents information about 17 taxa belonging to four Phyla (one Cnidaria, two Arthmpoda, four Mollusca, and ten Chordata) and extending from the Western Mediterranean to the Levantine Sea. the new records were reported from nine countries as follows: Algeria: first published records of the clingfishes Apletodon dentatus and Lepadogaster lepadogaster after 1955; France: first record of the tripletail Lobotes surinamensis in French Mediterranean waters; Italy: new records of the rare bonito Orcynopsis unicolor and the recently described nudibranch Elysia rubeni from Sicily; first records of the parasitic cirriped Sacculina enphiae and the nudibranch Dondice trainitoi in the Ionian Sea; first record of the nudibranch Taringa tritoriquis in the Mediterranean Sea; first record of the tripletail Lobotes surinamensis in the North Ionian Sea; first documented record of the cephalopod Macrotritopus defihppi in the Adriatic Sea; Slovenia: first record of the Mediterranean endemic cryptobenthic goby Odondebuenia balearica; Montenegro: several recent occurrences of the critically endangered bull ray Aetomylaeus bovinus in the South-eastern Adriatic Sea; Greece: records of the nudibranch Dondice trainitoi in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea; new record of the occurrence of the Mediterranean spearlish Tetrapturus belone from Greece (Rhodes Island); Turkey: recent captures of the vulnerable ocean sunfish Mold mola, caught by purse-seine, in the Aegean Sea and the Dardanelles; new record of the luvar Luvarus imperialis along the Aegean coast of Turkey; Cyprus: first record of the habitat-forming hydroid Lytocarpia ntyriophyllum, often in considerable densities; first confirmed record of the agujon needlefish Tylosurus imperialis; Syria: first record of the decapod Ethusa mascarone.European Fisheries Fund 2007-2013; European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) 2014-2020; national resources of the Republic of CyprusVasilis Gerovasileiou would like to thank Argyro Zenetos and all reviewers for sharing their time, knowledge, and expertise during the review process of all sub-sections of this Collective Article. Paolo Guidetti thanks very much Mr. Tony Dalmasso and Mme Celine Casamata (Maritime Fishing and Aquaculture Departmental Committee of Maritime Alps -CDPMEM, France) for precious information provided about the capture of Lobotes surinamensis in France. Gianni Insacco and Bruno Zava are grateful to Mr. Marco Schifitto, owner of the fishing boat "Nettuno 3SRI006", for his prompt information and for the Orcynopsis unicolor specimen that he provided. Andrea Lombardo and Giuliana Marletta are grateful to Leopoldo Moro for his suggestions on the manuscript concerning Taringa tritorquis. Cataldo Licchelli and Francesco Denitto would like to thank Riccardo Giannotta, the local fisher who shared data and information about the Lobotes surinamensis record from Italy. Giambattista Bello and Angelo Vazzana thank an anonymous referee for his suggestions. Ilija Cetkovic and Ana Pesic are thankful to the local fishers Vaso Kostic and Milan Milic for providing photos and other data. Dimitris Poursanidis and Fabio Crocetta thank Manolis Darakis (Greece) for sharing data on Dondice trainitoi. Maria Corsini-Foka, Gianni Insacco and Bruno Zava thank Mr Tsetin Karaosman, the captain of the fishing vessel "Evagelistra", who provided information on the capture of the reported Tetrapturus belone specimen from Rhodes. the same authors also warmly thank two reviewers for providing suggestions that greatly improved the first version of the manuscript. Vasilis Gerovasileiou, Carlos Jimenez and Ioannis Thasitis would like to thank Antonis Petrou, Katerina Achilleos, Magdalene Papatheodoulou, Louis Hadjioannou and the captain and crew of the R/V Megalohari for their help during collecting and sorting haul samples. the MEDITS survey in Cyprus was conducted by the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research under the EU Data Collection Framework, co-funded by the European Fisheries Fund 2007-2013, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) 2014-2020 and national resources of the Republic of Cyprus

New records of introduced species in the Mediterranean Sea (April 2023)

This Collective article reports 17 introduced species and 22 new locations for these species in the Mediterranean Sea. The reports are from three different Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) subregions (Aegean-Levantine Sea, Adriatic Sea and Western Mediterranean Sea) and the Sea of Marmara and cover ten different countries. The goal of consistent and detailed reporting of introduced species is to complement the existing species inventories and serve as a basis for establishing monitoring strategies and other conservation measures. Some of the reports from this article are the first species records for the Mediterranean Sea, namely the green alga Udotea flabellum from the Aegean Sea (Turkey) and the deepbody boarfish Antigonia capros from the Balearic Sea (Spain). In addition, new records of introduced species are included for different seas, namely the moon crab Matuta victor for the Aegean Sea (Greece), the whale shark Rhincodon typus and the lionfish Pterois miles for the Alboran Sea (Spain), the almaco jack Seriola rivoliana for the Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy), and the hound needlefish Tylosurus crocodilus for the Adriatic Sea (It-aly). Furthermore, reports on first country records are included: the red alga Colaconema codicola from Slovenia, the nudibranch Melibe viridis from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the lionfish Pterois miles from Montenegro, and the goldstripe sardinella Sardinella gibbosa from Syria, which also represents a second record for the Mediterranean Sea. Furthermore, the occurrence of the sclerac-tinian coral Oculina patagonica was noted in Gulf of Lion (France). Four polychaete species, namely Leodice antennata, Timarete punctata and Branchiomma bairdi, are reported from the vermetid reef habitat and two of them (L. antennata and B. bairdi) are also recorded for the first time in Lebanon. Evidence for established populations of the Asian date mussel Arcuatula senhousia in the Sea of Marmara (Turkey) and the rayed pearl oyster Pinctada radiata around the island of Sardinia (Italy) is provided.Emine Sukran Okudan and Inci Tuney Kizilkaya were supported by the Turkish Republic Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change-Directorate General for Protection of Natural Assets. The work of Ana Fortic and Martina Orlando Bonaca was conducted as part of the Slovenian national monitoring of alien species 2021-2023 (Contract No. 2330-21-670002) . The authors thank Leon Lojze Zamuda and Domen Trkov, who helped with the fieldwork, Janja France, who provided photos with the inverted microscope, and Adriano Sfriso for his help in the species identification. Daniele Grech and Daniela Caracciolo were supported by the LIFE PINNA (LIFE20 NAT/IT/001122) Conservation and re-stocking of the Pinna nobilis in the western Mediterranean and Adriatic Sea. The authors would like to thank Benedetto Cristo, Paolo Marras, Andrea Impera and Riccardo Antonello Vargiu for the field support. The collaboration of Paraskevi K. Karachle and Elsa Martinez Jim?nez has been achieved within the framework of the project 4ALIEN: Biology and the potential economic exploitation of four alien species in the Hellenic Seas, funded by NRSF 2017-2020 (MIS (O?S): 5049511) , concerning the update of ELNAIS, the Ellenic Network of Aquatic Invasive Species. Javier Guallart and Antoni Lombarte acknowledge Salvador Rodriguez and Amadeu Ros, skippers of the fishing vessels Verge Loreto Segona and Cap Prin Segon respectively, from Xabia harbour (Spain) , for obtaining and preserving specimenfor study and providing precise data about its capture. Olivera Markovic and Ilija Cetkovic would like to thank Andrej Samardzic who kindly reported the sighting and provided the footage. Andrea Spinelli and Alvaro Garcia De los Rios y los Huertos are grateful to the CECAM divers (Center for Studies and Conservation of Marine Animals of Ceuta) and local fishermen's association of Almadraba Fraymartin for the assistance provided. We are grateful to Juan Carlos Rivas who filmed the R. typus specimen studied. Riccardo Virgili and Fabio Crocetta are grateful to Arturo Facente (Pozzuoli, Naples, Italy) for sharing pictures, data, and the sample of Seriola rivo-liana and were partially funded by the project PO FE-AMP Campania 2014-2020. DRD n. 35 of 15th March 2018. Innovazione, sviluppo e sostenibilit nel settore della pesca e dell'acquacoltura per la regione Campania. Misura 2.51. WP5. Task 5.5. Presenza e distribuzione di specie non indigene del macrozoobenthos e del necton in Campania. Diego Borme, Federica Camisa and Nicola Bettoso acknowledge the fisheries monitoring of a coastal area in the northern Adriatic Sea, carried out within the project PO FEAMP (2014-2020) Misura 1.40-Cod. progetto 071/RBC/20-entitled MITigation and monitoring of the interaction between artisanal fishery, fish fauna, protected species of aquatic birds and benthic habitats included in Natura 2000 sites (MITFISH-N2K). The authors would like to thank Mr Antonio Santopolo of the Cooperativa Pescatori Grado for providing the specimen.Turkish Republic Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change-Directorate General for Protection of Natural Assets; Slovenian national monitoring of alien species 2021-2023 [2330-21-670002]; LIFE PINNA Conservation and re-stocking of the Pinna nobilis in the western Mediterranean and Adriatic Sea [LIFE20 NAT/IT/001122]; NRSF [MIS (O?S): 5049511]; project PO FE-AMP Campania 2014-2020 [35]; project PO FEAMP (2014-2020) Misura 1.40 entitled MITigation and monitoring of the interaction between artisanal fishery, fish fauna, protected species of aquatic birds and benthic habitats included in Natura 2000 sites (MITFISH-N2K) [071/RBC/20

Optimal and Fully Connected Deep Neural Networks Based Classification Model for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Using Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Images

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is treated as an effective technique for gathering high resolution aerial images. The UAV based aerial image collection is highly preferred due to its inexpensive and effective nature. However, automatic classification of aerial images poses a major challenging issue in the design of UAV, which could be handled by the deep learning (DL) models. This study designs a novel UAV assisted DL based image classification model (UAVDL-ICM) for Industry 4.0 environment. The proposed UAVDL-ICM technique involves an ensemble of voting based three DL models, namely Residual network (ResNet), Inception with ResNetv2, and Densely Connected Networks (DenseNet). Also, the hyperparameter tuning of these DL models takes place using a genetic programming (GP) approach. Finally, Oppositional Water Wave Optimization (OWWO) with Fully Connected Deep Neural networks (FCDNN) is employed for the classification of aerial images. A wide range of simulations takes place and the results are examined in terms of different parameters. A detailed comparative study highlighted the betterment of the UAVDL-ICM technique compared to other recent approaches

New records of introduced species in the Mediterranean Sea (April 2023)

This Collective article reports 17 introduced species and 22 new locations for these species in the Mediterranean Sea. The reports are from three different Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) subregions (Aegean-Levantine Sea, Adriatic Sea and Western Mediterranean Sea) and the Sea of Marmara and cover ten different countries. The goal of consistent and detailed reporting of introduced species is to complement the existing species inventories and serve as a basis for establishing monitoring strategies and other conservation measures. Some of the reports from this article are the first species records for the Mediterranean Sea, namely the green alga Udotea flabellum from the Aegean Sea (Turkey) and the deepbody boarfish Antigonia capros from the Balearic Sea (Spain). In addition, new records of introduced species are included for different seas, namely the moon crab Matuta victor for the Aegean Sea (Greece), the whale shark Rhincodon typus and the lionfish Pterois miles for the Alboran Sea (Spain), the almaco jack Seriola rivoliana for the Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy), and the hound needlefish Tylosurus crocodilus for the Adriatic Sea (Italy). Furthermore, reports on first country records are included: the red alga Colaconema codicola from Slovenia, the nudibranch Melibe viridis from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the lionfish Pterois miles from Montenegro, and the goldstripe sardinella Sardinella gibbosa from Syria, which also represents a second record for the Mediterranean Sea. Furthermore, the occurrence of the scleractinian coral Oculina patagonica was noted in Gulf of Lion (France). Four polychaete species, namely Leodice antennata, Timarete punctata and Branchiomma bairdi, are reported from the vermetid reef habitat and two of them (L. antennata and B. bairdi) are also recorded for the first time in Lebanon. Evidence for established populations of the Asian date mussel Arcuatula senhousia in the Sea of Marmara (Turkey) and the rayed pearl oyster Pinctada radiata around the island of Sardinia (Italy) is provided

Acute kidney disease beyond day 7 after major surgery: a secondary analysis of the EPIS-AKI trial

Purpose: Acute kidney disease (AKD) is a significant health care burden worldwide. However, little is known about this complication after major surgery. Methods: We conducted an international prospective, observational, multi-center study among patients undergoing major surgery. The primary study endpoint was the incidence of AKD (defined as new onset of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eCFR) < 60 ml/min/1.73 m2 present on day 7 or later) among survivors. Secondary endpoints included the relationship between early postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) (within 72 h after major surgery) and subsequent AKD, the identification of risk factors for AKD, and the rate of chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression in patients with pre-existing CKD. Results: We studied 9510 patients without pre-existing CKD. Of these, 940 (9.9%) developed AKD after 7 days of whom 34.1% experiencing an episode of early postoperative-AKI. Rates of AKD after 7 days significantly increased with the severity (19.1% Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes [KDIGO] 1, 24.5% KDIGO2, 34.3% KDIGO3; P < 0.001) and duration (15.5% transient vs 38.3% persistent AKI; P < 0.001) of early postoperative-AKI. Independent risk factors for AKD included early postoperative-AKI, exposure to perioperative nephrotoxic agents, and postoperative pneumonia. Early postoperative-AKI carried an independent odds ratio for AKD of 2.64 (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.21-3.15). Of 663 patients with pre-existing CKD, 42 (6.3%) had worsening CKD at day 90. In patients with CKD and an episode of early AKI, CKD progression occurred in 11.6%. Conclusion: One in ten major surgery patients developed AKD beyond 7 days after surgery, in most cases without an episode of early postoperative-AKI. However, early postoperative-AKI severity and duration were associated with an increased rate of AKD and early postoperative-AKI was strongly associated with AKD independent of all other potential risk factors