Co‐existing monophasic teratoma and uterine adenocarcinoma in a female dog

Ovarian teratomas are occasionally reported in dogs; the rarest type is the monophasic teratoma,composed of tissues originating from only one germ layer. Canine endometrial adenocarcinomas are also rare in dogs and mainly affect geriatric females. This report describes case of co-existing ovarian teratoma and uterine adenocarcinoma in a 10-year old nulliparous female Boxer presented with lethargy, anorexia and purulent vaginal discharge. Abdominal ultrasonography evidenced pyometra and a mass in the left ovary. This was composed of a uniform whitish tissue with multiple cystic structures. The histology revealed an atrophy of the ovarian parenchyma, compressed by a proliferation of well-differentiated nervous tissue staining positively to vimentin, S100 and neuronal specific enolase (NSE), and negatively to keratin and inhibin. The left uterine horn, whose diameter was markedly increased, showed foci of endometrial cellular atypia, evident nucleoli and mitoses, at light microscopy. To our best knowledge, this is the first report of a coexisting ovarian monophasic teratoma and endometrial adenocarcinoma, two rare reproductive neoplasia in dogs

Geochemistry of groundwater from Graciosa Island (Azores): A contribution to the hydrothermal system conceptual model

Graciosa island is located in the Azores Archipelago, along the so-called Terceira Rift, a major tectonic structure that makes the NE boundary of the Azores Plateau. In general terms, it includes a basaltic plataform on the NW and a silicic poligenetic volcano with caldera on the SE, the Graciosa Caldera Volcano. This volcano has produced significant tephra falls, pyroclastic flows, lahars, and lava flows, both of basaltic s.l. and trachitic s.l. composition. The hydrothermal system shows fumarolic emissions inside the volcano caldera and thermal springs located along the shoreline. This system is exploitated in a thermal building through shallow and deep (110 m) boreholes, near the coast. In Graciosa two types of Na-Cl groundwater systems can be identified: 1) a cold one emerging at springs and exploited by wells for public water supply, and 2) a hydrothermal system with temperatures around 40-44 °C. The cold groundwaters have pH higher than 7 and different degree of mineralization, according to the proximity to the sea. The thermal waters show mixing with seawater, pH varying between 6.20 and 6.94, 166 mg/L of SiO2, and significant concentration of metals, such as Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn. The thermal water mineralization varies strongly, showing EC from 8.87 mS/cm (shallow water) to 47.4 mS/cm (deeper water). The higher mineralized water is rich in CO2(g), with 2130 mg/L of total dissolved CO2. Geothermometers application reveals aquifer temperature around 167 °C and immature/mixed waters, not reaching complete equilibrium with reservoir rock. The geochemistry of the thermal waters indicates the occurrence of seawater/host rock interaction processes at high temperature and slightly acid conditions, favored by CO2(g) input, and a different degrees of mixing with cold and shallow groundwaters

Global surveillance of cancer survival 1995-2009: analysis of individual data for 25,676,887 patients from 279 population-based registries in 67 countries (CONCORD-2)

BACKGROUND: Worldwide data for cancer survival are scarce. We aimed to initiate worldwide surveillance of cancer survival by central analysis of population-based registry data, as a metric of the effectiveness of health systems, and to inform global policy on cancer control. METHODS: Individual tumour records were submitted by 279 population-based cancer registries in 67 countries for 25·7 million adults (age 15-99 years) and 75,000 children (age 0-14 years) diagnosed with cancer during 1995-2009 and followed up to Dec 31, 2009, or later. We looked at cancers of the stomach, colon, rectum, liver, lung, breast (women), cervix, ovary, and prostate in adults, and adult and childhood leukaemia. Standardised quality control procedures were applied; errors were corrected by the registry concerned. We estimated 5-year net survival, adjusted for background mortality in every country or region by age (single year), sex, and calendar year, and by race or ethnic origin in some countries. Estimates were age-standardised with the International Cancer Survival Standard weights. FINDINGS: 5-year survival from colon, rectal, and breast cancers has increased steadily in most developed countries. For patients diagnosed during 2005-09, survival for colon and rectal cancer reached 60% or more in 22 countries around the world; for breast cancer, 5-year survival rose to 85% or higher in 17 countries worldwide. Liver and lung cancer remain lethal in all nations: for both cancers, 5-year survival is below 20% everywhere in Europe, in the range 15-19% in North America, and as low as 7-9% in Mongolia and Thailand. Striking rises in 5-year survival from prostate cancer have occurred in many countries: survival rose by 10-20% between 1995-99 and 2005-09 in 22 countries in South America, Asia, and Europe, but survival still varies widely around the world, from less than 60% in Bulgaria and Thailand to 95% or more in Brazil, Puerto Rico, and the USA. For cervical cancer, national estimates of 5-year survival range from less than 50% to more than 70%; regional variations are much wider, and improvements between 1995-99 and 2005-09 have generally been slight. For women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2005-09, 5-year survival was 40% or higher only in Ecuador, the USA, and 17 countries in Asia and Europe. 5-year survival for stomach cancer in 2005-09 was high (54-58%) in Japan and South Korea, compared with less than 40% in other countries. By contrast, 5-year survival from adult leukaemia in Japan and South Korea (18-23%) is lower than in most other countries. 5-year survival from childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is less than 60% in several countries, but as high as 90% in Canada and four European countries, which suggests major deficiencies in the management of a largely curable disease. INTERPRETATION: International comparison of survival trends reveals very wide differences that are likely to be attributable to differences in access to early diagnosis and optimum treatment. Continuous worldwide surveillance of cancer survival should become an indispensable source of information for cancer patients and researchers and a stimulus for politicians to improve health policy and health-care systems

NEOTROPICAL XENARTHRANS: a data set of occurrence of xenarthran species in the Neotropics

Xenarthrans – anteaters, sloths, and armadillos – have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with 24 domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across their full distribution ranges. The Neotropics harbor 21 species of armadillos, ten anteaters, and six sloths. Our dataset includes the families Chlamyphoridae (13), Dasypodidae (7), Myrmecophagidae (3), Bradypodidae (4), and Megalonychidae (2). We have no occurrence data on Dasypus pilosus (Dasypodidae). Regarding Cyclopedidae, until recently, only one species was recognized, but new genetic studies have revealed that the group is represented by seven species. In this data-paper, we compiled a total of 42,528 records of 31 species, represented by occurrence and quantitative data, totaling 24,847 unique georeferenced records. The geographic range is from the south of the USA, Mexico, and Caribbean countries at the northern portion of the Neotropics, to its austral distribution in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. Regarding anteaters, Myrmecophaga tridactyla has the most records (n=5,941), and Cyclopes sp. has the fewest (n=240). The armadillo species with the most data is Dasypus novemcinctus (n=11,588), and the least recorded for Calyptophractus retusus (n=33). With regards to sloth species, Bradypus variegatus has the most records (n=962), and Bradypus pygmaeus has the fewest (n=12). Our main objective with Neotropical Xenarthrans is to make occurrence and quantitative data available to facilitate more ecological research, particularly if we integrate the xenarthran data with other datasets of Neotropical Series which will become available very soon (i.e. Neotropical Carnivores, Neotropical Invasive Mammals, and Neotropical Hunters and Dogs). Therefore, studies on trophic cascades, hunting pressure, habitat loss, fragmentation effects, species invasion, and climate change effects will be possible with the Neotropical Xenarthrans dataset

El pinsapo, abeto endémico andaluz. O, ¿Qué hace un tipo como tú en un sitio como éste?

El pinsapo (Abies pinsapo, Boiss.) es un abeto,
 relicto del Terciario, endémico de tres sierras de las provincias de Málaga (Sierra de las Nieves, Sierra Bermeja) y Cádiz (Sierra de Grazalema),
 en la zona occidental de las Cordilleras Béticas. Se distribuye entre 1000 y 1700 m de altitud, ocupando poco más de 2000 Ha, siempre en
 laderas umbrías con orientación norte, donde recibe abundante precipitación orográfica (desde 1000 hasta incluso 3000 mm anuales). En la
 franja basal de su distribución forma bosques mixtos con encinas, quejigos e incluso alcornoques; mientras que, en bandas altitudinales más
 elevadas, tiende a formar bosques puros, los pinsapares, cuya fisiognomía asemeja la de un bosque de coníferas templado-boreal, a pesar de
 encontrarse inmersos en una región de clima Mediterráneo. La excepcionalidad y singularidad biogeográfica del pinsapo, compartida con la del
 resto del grupo de abetos circum-mediterráneos, deriva de una extraordinaria concatenación de eventos que incluye el levantamiento de
 cordilleras costeras con el choque de las placas tectónicas eurosiberiana y africana, la progresiva aridificación del clima en la cuenca
 mediterránea que se inicia a mediados del Mioceno, seguida de la alternancia de periodos glaciares y de calentamiento climático interglaciar
 durante el Cuaternario; y de la existencia, entre tantos avatares que jugaban en su contra, de refugios locales que permitieron su pervivencia
 como especie relicta. Como resultado de su singularidad biogeográfica, los pinsapares constituyen islas de biodiversidad, con numerosas
 especies asociadas, tanto de plantas como de animales, muchas de ellas también endémicas. Asimismo, representan un modelo excepcional para
 el seguimiento de síntomas tempranos del calentamiento climático

Geochemistry of groundwater from Graciosa Island (Azores): A contribution to the hydrothermal system conceptual model

Graciosa island is located in the Azores Archipelago, along the so-called Terceira Rift, a major tectonic structure that makes the NE boundary of the Azores Plateau. In general terms, it includes a basaltic plataform on the NW and a silicic poligenetic volcano with caldera on the SE, the Graciosa Caldera Volcano. This volcano has produced significant tephra falls, pyroclastic flows, lahars, and lava flows, both of basaltic s.l. and trachitic s.l. composition. The hydrothermal system shows fumarolic emissions inside the volcano caldera and thermal springs located along the shoreline. This system is exploitated in a thermal building through shallow and deep (110 m) boreholes, near the coast. In Graciosa two types of Na-Cl groundwater systems can be identified: 1) a cold one emerging at springs and exploited by wells for public water supply, and 2) a hydrothermal system with temperatures around 40-44 °C. The cold groundwaters have pH higher than 7 and different degree of mineralization, according to the proximity to the sea. The thermal waters show mixing with seawater, pH varying between 6.20 and 6.94, 166 mg/L of SiO2, and significant concentration of metals, such as Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn. The thermal water mineralization varies strongly, showing EC from 8.87 mS/cm (shallow water) to 47.4 mS/cm (deeper water). The higher mineralized water is rich in CO2(g), with 2130 mg/L of total dissolved CO2. Geothermometers application reveals aquifer temperature around 167 °C and immature/mixed waters, not reaching complete equilibrium with reservoir rock. The geochemistry of the thermal waters indicates the occurrence of seawater/host rock interaction processes at high temperature and slightly acid conditions, favored by CO2(g) input, and a different degrees of mixing with cold and shallow groundwaters.PublishedPrague, Czech Republic4.5. Studi sul degassamento naturale e sui gas petroliferiope

Nitrogen isotope measurements on hydrothermal fluids from Azores (S. Miguel, Terceira and Graciosa) Islands, Portugal

We present the first nitrogen isotope data from hydrothermal fluids of Graciosa, Terceira and S. Miguel Islands (Azores, Portugal), together with helium isotope composition. 15N values are slightly enriched in light isotopes (from -0.7‰ to -2.2‰) with respect to air, while 3He/4He ratios range from 5 to 6 Ra in Sao Miguel island and from 8 to 9.1 Ra in Graciosa and Terceira islands. The latter values are similar to those found in olivine phenocrysts of basalts (Moreira et al., 1999; Madureira et al., 2005). Such isotope signatures seem to point to the presence of two different deeply-derived end-members: a 3He-rich primitive end-member evident in Terceira and Graciosa islands samples and a 3He-poor end-member characterizing samples from S. Miguel island. According to Madureira et al. (2005), the He primitive component which is more evident in the central parts of the Azores archipelago has to be related to a lower mantle contribution into the prevailing MORB component. On the contrary, the origin of the radiogenic crustal component is still open and debated between the contribution of recycled terrigenous sediments (Turner et al., 1997) and oceanic mantle lithosphere (Schaefer et al., 2002). Since 15N values from fluids vents and inclusions in basalt glasses were discovered to be good geochemical tracers of magma genetic processes, we determined molecular and isotope nitrogen composition (15NN2) in some hydrothermal fluids with the aim to provide additional information on the mantle composition beneath the Azores archipelago. Based on the N2/36Ar ratio we computed for each samples the 15N values of the non-atmospheric nitrogen (15Ndeep). Volatiles emitted from Graciosa and Terceira islands seem to have a common deep nitrogen isotope signature of about -1.5‰ likely resulting from a mixing between lower mantle (15N from 1‰ to 4‰) and upper mantle (15NMORB from -3‰ to -7‰). On the other hand, the 15Ndeep feeding the fumaroles at S. Miguel is close to -5.5‰. Such a 15N-depleted values seem to indicate a probable nitrogen origin from a deep source derived from the recycling of ancient oceanic plate into the upper mantle (MORB). rather than from the recycling of terrigenous sediments transported on top of the descending plate that should have lead to 15N-enrichments