Three-dimensional anthropometric database of attractive caucasian women: Standards and comparisons

The aim of this paper is to develop a database to determine a new biomorphometric standard of attractiveness. Sampling was carried out using noninvasive three-dimensional relief methods to measure the soft tissues of the face. These anthropometric measurements were analyzed to verify the existence of any canons with respect to shape, size, and measurement proportions which proved to be significant with regard to the aesthetics of the face. Finally, the anthropometric parameters obtained were compared with findings described in the international literature. The study sample was made up competitors in the Miss Italy 2010 and 2009 beauty contest. The three-dimensional (3D) scanning of soft tissue surfaces allowed 3D digital models of the faces and the spatial 3D coordinates of 25 anthropometric landmarks to be obtained and used to calculate linear and angular measurements. A paired Student t test for the analysis of the means allowed 3 key questions in the study of biomorphometric parameters of the face to be addressed through comparison with the data available in the literature. The question of statistical evidence for the samples analyzed being members of the populations samples reported in literature was also addressed. The critical analysis of the data helped to identify the anthropometric measurements of the upper, middle, and lower thirds of the face, variations in which have a major influence on the attractiveness of the face. These changes involve facial width, height, and depth. Changes in measurements of length, angles, and proportions found in the sample considered were also analyzed

Detection of Testudinid alphaherpesvirus, Chlamydia spp., Mycoplasma spp., and Salmonella spp. in free‑ranging and rescued Italian Testudo hermanni hermanni.

Testudo hermanni is included as near‑threatened in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, while T. hermanni hermanni is considered endangered in the Italian Red List. Appropriate management of smuggled or seized wild individuals is recommended before their reintroduction into the wild. Accordingly, a health monitoring study was carried out. During 2014‑2016, 133 oral swabs and 121 cloacal swabs were collected from a total of approximately 180 free‑ranging and rescued T. hermanni hermanni from eight different Italian regions to investigate the presence of DNA of Testudinid alphaherpesvirus (TeAHV), Chlamydia spp. and Mycoplasma spp. in the oral cavity, and Salmonella spp. isolates in the cloaca. Mycoplasma spp. was detected in 52 out of 87 (59.77%) of rescued and in 1 out of 46 free‑ranging (2.17%) individuals; 33 out of 53 (62.26%) Mycoplasma spp. positive samples were typed as M. agassizii by PCR. Salmonella spp. was isolated from 45 out of 121 (37.19%) cloacal swabs, typed into 14 serovars, and characterized for complete antimicrobial susceptibility. A significantly different distribution of Salmonella spp. isolates was found in 2016 in comparison with 2014 and 2015, without any difference between free‑ranging and rescued tortoises. All the tested tortoises were negative for TeAHV and Chlamydia spp. These results are considered a baseline information critical to monitor the dynamics of these microorganisms in free‑ranging and rescued populations of T. h. hermanni, and to correctly approach the management of rescued animals and possible relocation programs

Efficacy of AZM therapy in patients with gingival overgrowth induced by Cyclosporine A: a systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In daily clinical practice of a dental department it's common to find gingival overgrowth (GO) in periodontal patients under treatment with Cyclosporine A (CsA). The pathogenesis of GO and the mechanism of action of Azithromycin (AZM) are unclear. A systematic review was conducted in order to evaluate the efficacy of Azithromycin in patients with gingival overgrowth induced by assumption of Cyclosporine A.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A bibliographic search was performed using the online databases MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Central of Register Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in the time period between 1966 and September 2008.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The literature search retrieved 24 articles; only 5 were Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs), published in English, fulfilled the inclusion criteria. A great heterogeneity between proposed treatments and outcomes was found, and this did not allow to conduct a quantitative meta-analysis. The systematic review revealed that a 5-day course of Azithromycin with Scaling and Root Planing reduces the degree of gingival overgrowth, while a 7-day course of metronidazole is only effective on concomitant bacterial over-infection.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Few RCTs on the efficacy of systemic antibiotic therapy in case of GO were found in the literature review. A systemic antibiotic therapy without plaque and calculus removal is not able to reduce gingival overgrowth. The great heterogeneity of diagnostic data and outcomes is due to the lack of precise diagnostic methods and protocols about GO. Future studies need to improve both diagnostic methods and tools and adequate classification aimed to determine a correct prognosis and an appropriate therapy for gingival overgrowth.</p

Blood cell counts in lacertids inhabiting differently managed vineyards and olive orchards

Resumen del trabajo presentado al 9th Symposium on the Lacertids of the Mediterranean Basin and 1st Symposium on Mediterranean Lizards, celebrados en Limassol (Chipre) del 20 al 23 de junio de 2016Lizard species inhabiting agroecosystems may experience stress associated with agricultural management, like habitat destruction and pesticides, which may affect animals' health. Blood cells variability can be interpreted as an early response to stress. Accordingly, this work intended to assess the influence of differently managed fields in the blood cell counts of two lizard specie s: podarcis murolis and Podorcis siculus. For this, organisms were captured from three olive orchards with different intensification degrees (organic farming, lightly managed and intensively managed), and from a conventional vineyard, all located in the same agricultural area at Montepaldi, Florence, central ltaly. lndividuals' blood, collected from the caudal vein, was used to prepare smears. White blood cells (WBC) were counted by determining the abundance of each class: agranulocytes (lymphocytes, monocytes) and granulocytes (heterophils, eosinophils, neutrophils, basophils). A lessthan-significant tendency in WBC reduction from reference (organic olive orchards) to intensively managed fields was observed, especially for lymphocytes. Sex-dependent differences were found; in both species, males showed larger heterophil values and neutrophil percentages than females. But, when comparing the two species, independently of the sampling site, they did not show significant differences, except for absolute basophil counts and basophil percentages, which resulted higher in P. siculus than in P. muralis. Haemo-parasitic load was higher in P. murolis than in p. siculus, and it also differed among sites, being highest in individuals from the organic farming site. parasite load was related to the number of granulocytes, as expected, considering that these cells acts against that kind of infections. Despite this, major differences in WBC counts in individuals of the genus podorcis, were driven by variation of agranulocytes rather than granulocyte cells. Further research is necessary to increase sample size in order to confirm the observed trend in total WBC reduction in individuals living in agriculture-managed fields.Peer Reviewe

Early Enteral Feeding Improves Tolerance of Parenteral Nutrition in Preterm Newborns

(1) Background: The tolerance of preterm newborns for the high nutritional intakes given by parenteral nutrition (PN) is still debated because of the risk of metabolic complications. Despite enteral nutrition (EN) being the preferred route of nutrition, an exclusive enteral feeding is not always possible, as in preterm newborns, the gut is immature and less tolerant of EN. We aimed to study the impact of a minimal enteral feeding (MEF) on the possible early metabolic complications of PN in a cohort of preterms with gestational age at birth GA ≤ 29 + 6/7 weeks of postmenstrual age. (2) Methods: We divided the study sample in two cohorts: 1) Late-Feeding (cohort 1), newborns who received MEF starting from the 8th day of age, and (2) Early-Feeding (cohort 2), newborns who received MEF, consisting of the administration of at least 4–5 mL/kg/day by the enteral route, in the first 7 days of age. The primary outcome of the study was the rate of at least one metabolic complication, including hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia, or metabolic acidosis. (3) Results: We enrolled 80 newborns (Late-Feeding cohort 51 vs. Early-Feeding cohort 29). The rate of all metabolic complications was statistically higher in the Late-Feeding cohort compared to the Early-Feeding cohort. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that late administration of MEF negatively influenced the rate of all metabolic complications. (4) Conclusions: Early minimal administration of EN is associated with less frequent PN-related metabolic side effects and a higher rate of survival in critically ill newborns

Mapping the geographic origin of captive and confiscated Hermann’s tortoises: a genetic toolkit for conservation and forensic analyses

The illegal trade has been threatening tortoise populations worldwide for decades. Nowadays, however, DNA typing and forensic genetic approaches allow us to investigate the geographic origin of confiscated animals and to relocate them into the wild, providing that suitable molecular tools and reference data are available. Here we assess the suitability of a small panel of microsatellite markers to investigate patterns of illegal translocations and to assist forensic genetic applications in the endangered Mediterranean land tortoise Testudo hermanni hermanni. Specific allelic ladders were created for each locus and tested on several reference samples. We used the microsatellite panel to (i) increase our understanding of the population genetic structure in wild populations with new data from previously unsampled geographic areas (overall 461 wild individuals from 28 sampling sites); (ii) detect the presence of non-native individuals in wild populations; and (iii) identify the most likely geographic area of origin of 458 confiscated individuals hosted in Italian seizure and recovery centers. Our analysis initially identified six major genetic clusters corresponding to different geographic macro-areas along the Mediterranean range. Long-distance migrants among wild populations, due to translocations, were found and removed from the reference database. Assignment tests allowed us to allocate approximately 70 % of confiscated individuals of unknown origin to one of the six Mediterranean macro-areas. Most of the assigned tortoises belonged to the genetic cluster corresponding to the area where the respective captivity center was located. However, we also found evidence of long-distance origins of confiscated individuals, especially in centers along the Adriatic coast and facing the Balkan regions, a well-known source of illegally traded individuals. Our results clearly show that the microsatellite panel and the reference dataset can play a beneficial role in reintroduction and repatriation projects when confiscated individuals need to be re-assigned to their respective macro-area of origin before release, and can assist future forensic genetic applications in detecting the illegal trade and possession of Testudo hermanni individuals

Closed loop operation with extremely elongated LGS spots in CANARY Phase D

International audienceCANARY is a wide-field AO on-sky test facility which has been operated annually on the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope since 2010. CANARY has the stated goal of testing and demonstrating AO technologies that are critical for ELT AO performance. It has seen four distinct phases where new AO technologies have been developed and demonstrated, including NGS MOAO in 2010 (phase A), Rayleigh LGS and NGS MOAO in 2012 and 2013 (phase B, with LGS commissioning in 2011), LTAO operation in 2014 and 2015, and finally operation with a single Sodium laser guide star launched far off axis in 2016 and 2017 (phase D). By launching this laser guide star 40m off axis, extremely elongated laser guide star spots are created in the CANARY LGS Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor. Therefore, the 7&times;7 sub-apertures of CANARY can be used to test wavefront sensing performance of a sub-pupil of the ELT located furthest from the laser launch axis. We present an overview of CANARY in its phase D configuration. Depending on where in the sky the LGS is pointing, the projected baseline between the on-axis LGS wavefront sensor and the laser launch location, as seen by the wavefront sensor, will vary from about 20-40m, allowing us to artificially generate different degrees of elongation. Additionally, the well sampled CANARY sub-apertures have 30&times;30 pixels each and a 20 arcsecond field of view, using an OCAM2S EMCCD camera. This means that by shrinking sub-apertures, and optionally by binning pixels, we are able to investigate different pixel scales and fields of view for the ELT systems, thus determining the optimal design parameters. Here we discuss the closed loop tests that were performed to investigate the effect of spot truncation and extreme elongation. We include different correlation techniques, including standard FFT-based correlation, brute force correlation and correlation by difference squared. We also mention dynamic and automatic updates of the correlation reference images while the AO loop is engaged that have previously been reported. The matched filter algorithm is also mentioned, with a pointer to our prior on-sky investigations. We give our recommendation for the ELT wavefront sensing algorithm of choice, and our evidence based reasons for this recommendation, which may come as a surprise to some. Finally we also present the future experiments to be performed with CANARY, give details of the OPTICON funded programme which enables the hosting of AO experiments on CANARY, allowing the AO community to get involved