Environmental metabarcoding reveals contrasting belowground and aboveground fungal communities from poplar at a Hg phytomanagement site

Characterization of microbial communities in stressful conditions at a field level is rather scarce, especially when considering fungal communities from aboveground habitats. We aimed at characterizing fungal communities from different poplar habitats at a Hg-contaminated phytomanagement site by using Illumina-based sequencing, network analysis approach, and direct isolation of Hg-resistant fungal strains. The highest diversity estimated by the Shannon index was found for soil communities, which was negatively affected by soil Hg concentration. Among the significant correlations between soil operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in the co-occurrence network, 80% were negatively correlated revealing dominance of a pattern of mutual exclusion. The fungal communities associated with Populus roots mostly consisted of OTUs from the symbiotic guild, such as members of the Thelephoraceae, thus explaining the lowest diversity found for root communities. Additionally, root communities showed the highest network connectivity index, while rarely detected OTUs from the Glomeromycetes may have a central role in the root network. Unexpectedly high richness and diversity were found for aboveground habitats, compared to the root habitat. The aboveground habitats were dominated by yeasts from the Lalaria, Davidiella, and Bensingtonia genera, not detected in belowground habitats. Leaf and stem habitats were characterized by few dominant OTUs such as those from the Dothideomycete class producing mutual exclusion with other OTUs. Aureobasidium pullulans, one of the dominating OTUs, was further isolated from the leaf habitat, in addition to Nakazawaea populi species, which were found to be Hg resistant. Altogether, these findings will provide an improved point of reference for microbial research on inoculation-based programs of tailings dumps

Umbilical Hernia Repair in Pregnant Patients: Review of the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program.

© 2017, Springer-Verlag France SAS. Background: Umbilical hernias present commonly during pregnancy secondary to increased intra-abdominal pressure. As a result, umbilical hernia incarceration or strangulation may affect pregnant females. The purpose of this study is to detail the operative management and 30-day outcomes of umbilical hernias in pregnant patients using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP). Methods: All female patients undergoing umbilical hernia repair during pregnancy were identified within the ACS-NSQIP. Preoperative patient variables, intraoperative variables, and 30-day patient morbidity and mortality outcomes were investigated using a variety of statistical tests. Results: A total of 126 pregnant patients underwent umbilical hernia repair from 2005 to 2014; 73 (58%) had incarceration or strangulation at the time of surgical intervention. The majority of patients (95%) underwent open umbilical hernia repair. Superficial surgical site infection was the most common morbidity in patients undergoing open umbilical hernia repair. Conclusions: Based on review of the ACS-NSQIP database, the incidence of umbilical hernia repair during pregnancy is very low; however, the majority of patients required repair for incarceration of strangulation. When symptoms develop, these hernias can be repaired with minimal 30-day morbidity to the mother. Additional studies are needed to determine the long-term recurrence rate of umbilical hernia repairs performed in pregnant patients and the effects of surgical intervention and approach on the fetus

Properties and nature of Be stars

Photometric and spectroscopic monitoring of the B star resulted in the finding that this object is a new bright Be star with a clear positive correlation between the brightness and emission-line strength. The emission-line episodes are relatively short and seem to repeat frequently which makes this star an ideal target for studying the causes of the Be phenomenon. The general character of the light variations, the low v sin i = 70 km s-1 and the very pronounced line asymmetries of the \ion{He}{i} 6678 line, seen both outside and during emission-line episodes, are all attributes which make phenomenologically very similar to the well-known Be star ω CMa. Radial velocities of the deepest parts of the metallic and \ion{He}{i} 6678 absorption lines vary with a strict period of 2$^{\rm d}\!\!.$61507 over the whole time interval covered by the observations, the velocities of the broad outer wings of the same lines varying in anti-phase and with a lower amplitude. This periodicity could not be found in the radial-velocity variations of the sharp core of Hα. There is some indication of variability on a time scale of 24–29 days but our data are insufficient to prove that conclusively. A comparison of the line spectrum obtained outside emission episodes with synthetic spectra, standard dereddening of $U\!B{}V$ magnitudes and Hipparcos parallax all agree with the conclusion that is a star with the following basic properties: Teff  = 17 000 K, log $g = 3.0$ [cgs], mass of 5 $M_{\odot}$ and radius of 11 $R_{\odot}$. The strong emission-line episodes may appear regularly, in a cycle of 630 days but with different durations of individual cycles. is probably one of the first B stars for which the Be nature was predicted on the basis of the character of its light and colour changes

Umbilical hernia repair in pregnant patients: review of the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program

© 2017, Springer-Verlag France SAS. Background: Umbilical hernias present commonly during pregnancy secondary to increased intra-abdominal pressure. As a result, umbilical hernia incarceration or strangulation may affect pregnant females. The purpose of this study is to detail the operative management and 30-day outcomes of umbilical hernias in pregnant patients using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP). Methods: All female patients undergoing umbilical hernia repair during pregnancy were identified within the ACS-NSQIP. Preoperative patient variables, intraoperative variables, and 30-day patient morbidity and mortality outcomes were investigated using a variety of statistical tests. Results: A total of 126 pregnant patients underwent umbilical hernia repair from 2005 to 2014; 73 (58%) had incarceration or strangulation at the time of surgical intervention. The majority of patients (95%) underwent open umbilical hernia repair. Superficial surgical site infection was the most common morbidity in patients undergoing open umbilical hernia repair. Conclusions: Based on review of the ACS-NSQIP database, the incidence of umbilical hernia repair during pregnancy is very low; however, the majority of patients required repair for incarceration of strangulation. When symptoms develop, these hernias can be repaired with minimal 30-day morbidity to the mother. Additional studies are needed to determine the long-term recurrence rate of umbilical hernia repairs performed in pregnant patients and the effects of surgical intervention and approach on the fetus

Properties and nature of Be stars

Aims.We include existing photometric and spectroscopic material with new observations in a detailed study of the Be+F binary V360 La