Thermal adaptation and physiological responses to environmental stress in tunicates

Understanding the multifaceted nature of environmental fluctuations is crucial to predicting the physiological adjustments utilised by organisms in resisting or adapting to changes over time. Here we investigate the effects of 2 environmental stressors on tunicates, whose fitness can have important repercussions on the quality of habitat. Specifically, we report respiration rate (RR), clearance rate (CR), and assimilation efficiency (AE) of the ascidian Styela plicata in response to a range of temperatures and varying food availability. Temperature-dependent RR was observed only within a portion of the thermal window of the species. Significant differences in clearance rates were detected among organisms fed with varying algal concentrations, while no significant influence of food concentrations on AE was observed. This plasticity of the physiological rates and the development of ubiquitous mechanisms such as temperature-insensitive aerobic metabolism suggest a competitive advantage of this group. Such knowledge may allow for more accurate predictions of the physiological and evolutionary mechanisms driving current and future distribution of this species

L’isterectomia peripartum: la nostra esperienza

Obiettivo: determinare l'incidenza, l'indicazione e l'associazione con il parto cesareo dell'isterectomia peripartum (I.P.), la morbilità e la mortalità materna e neonatale. Materiale e metodo: sono stati esaminati tutti i casi di isterectomia peripartum osservati presso l’U.O. di Ostetricia e Ginecologia dell'A.O.S. S. Antonio Abate di Trapani dall’1/01/2001 al 31/05/2006. Risultati: sono stati eseguiti 13 interventi di I.P. pari al 2,26‰ parti di cui 46,1% come isterectomia totale, e 53,9% come isterectomia subtotale. Il 69,2% degli interventi praticati è stato eseguito in condizioni d'emergenza mentre il 30,8% è stato programmato. Le indicazioni sono state: placenta previa accreta (38,4%), placenta accreta n.i. (7,6%), metrorragia da distacco intempestivo di placenta, Hellp sindrome e CID (38,3%), atonia uterina resistente a terapia medica (15,5%) e rottura d'utero (7,6%). Otto pazienti (61,6%) erano precesarizzate. In 12 pazienti (92,4%) l'intervento è stato eseguito durante o subito dopo parto cesareo. È stata osservata una morte materna per embolia polmonare mentre, per quanto riguarda la morbilità, il 38,4 % delle pazienti è stato trasferito in terapia intensiva, una paziente è stata sottoposta a 4 laparotomie successive. Non si è avuto alcun caso di mortalità neonatale. Conclusioni: la placenta previa accreta è la più comune indicazione all'intervento di isterectomia peripartum; essa è proporzionalmente associata con il numero di pregressi parti cesarei che predispongono la cavità uterina ad inserzioni più basse e profonde

La pre-induzione del travaglio di parto nella gravidanza > 41ª settimana. Impiego di una preparazione di dinoprostone a lento rilascio

Obiettivo:gli Autori hanno valutato la sicurezza e l’efficacia del dinoprostone a rilascio continuo e costante, 10 mg in 12 ore, nell’indurre il ripening cervix e/o l’inizio del travaglio. Materiali e metodi: lo studio è stato condotto su un gruppo di 78 gravide con epoca gestazionale > 41 settimane con o senza oligoidramnios suddivise in 2 gruppi in base all’indice di Bishop. Il I gruppo (indice di Bishop � 4) è costituito da 51 casi, pari al 65,3%, di cui 38 sono primigravide e 13 sono pluripare. Il II gruppo (indice di Bishop � 5 e �7) è costituito da 27 casi pari al 34,7%, di cui 20 sono primigravide e 7 sono pluripare. Il dispositivo contenente il dinoprostone è stato inserito nel fornice vaginale posteriore. È stato eseguito il monitoraggio continuo della F.C.F e della contrattilità uterina nelle prime 2 ore e poi ad intervalli frequenti e regolari. Il dispositivo è stato rimosso prima delle 12 ore nelle seguenti condizioni: maturazione completa della cervice uterina, inizio del travaglio, rottura delle membrane, distress fetale, contrazioni uterine ipertoniche, effetti secondari sistemici della PGE2. È stato rimosso dopo 12 ore in caso di indice di Bishop invariato, ed è stato applicato un nuovo dispositivo dopo 12 ore. L’efficacia del farmaco è stata valutata dal numero delle pazienti in cui si è determinata la maturazione cervicale e/o l’inizio del travaglio entro 48 ore dall’applicazione del dispositivo e la sua sicurezza in base all’incidenza di effetti collaterali sulla madre e sul feto. Risultati: il ripening cervix e/o l’inizio del travaglio è stato indotto in 51 casi (65,3%): 26 pazienti sono del I gruppo (pari al 50,7%) e 25 sono del II gruppo (pari al 92,7%). In 37 casi (47,5%) il parto è stato espletato mediante taglio cesareo. In nessuna paziente è stato necessario rimuovere il dispositivo vaginale per complicazioni materne o fetali. Conclusioni: i nostri dati hanno evidenziato che il tasso di successo è influenzato in parte dalle condizioni del collo ed in minor misura dalla parità. L’ incidenza del parto operativo (47,5%) e dei fallimenti (34,7%) concorda con quella riferita dalla letteratura nei gruppi di donne selezionate in base all’indice di Bishop ed alla parit

Acute appendicitis: should the laparoscopic approach be proposed as the gold standard? Six-year experience in an Emergency Surgery Unit

Acute appendicitis is common in an Emergency Surgery Unit. Although the laparoscopic approach is a method accepted for its treatment, no strong data are available for determining how many procedures must an experienced surgeon carry out for obtaining all the advantages of this technique and if this approach can become the gold standard in the activity of a general emergency unit with senior surgeons variously skilled on the basic laparoscopy. 142 patients that underwent appendectomy (90 laparoscopic, 52 conventional) for acute appendicitis were enrolled in this institutional retrospective cohort study. The surgeons were classified with a descriptor-based grading and divided in two groups regarding the skill. The only relevant result of our study was the significant reduction of conversion rate in case of laparoscopic approach. No strong differences were found concerning the duration of the procedure and the hospital stay between the two groups. The rate of complications were very low in both groups. In conclusion, the experienced surgeons can easily perform a laparoscopic approach independently from the specific skill in this approach

Vacuum-Assisted Wound Closure with Mesh-Mediated Fascial Traction Achieves Better Outcomes than Vacuum-Assisted Wound Closure Alone: A Comparative Study

In the original article the credit line for the reuse of Fig. 1 from an article published in the open access journal, World Journal of Emergency Surgery is missing

Vacuum-Assisted Wound Closure with Mesh-Mediated Fascial Traction Achieves Better Outcomes than Vacuum-Assisted Wound Closure Alone: A Comparative Study

Background Open abdomen (OA) permits the application of damage control surgery principles when abdominal trauma, sepsis, severe acute peritonitis and abdominal compartmental syndrome (ACS) occur. Methods Non-traumatic patients treated with OA between January 2010 and December 2015 were identified in a prospective database, and the data collected were retrospectively reviewed. Patients\u2019 records were collected from charts and the surgical and intensive care unit (ICU) registries. The Acosta \u2018\u2018modified\u2019\u2019 technique was used to achieve fascial closure in vacuum-assisted wound closure and mesh-mediated fascial traction (VAWCM) patients. Sex, age, simplified acute physiology score II (SAPS II), abdominal compartmental syndrome (ACS), cardiovascular disease (CVD) and surgical technique performed were evaluated in a multivariate analysis for mortality and fascial closure prediction. Results Ninety-six patients with a median age of 69 (40\u201378) years were included in the study. Sixty-nine patients (72%) underwent VAWCM. Forty-one patients (68%) achieved primary fascia closure: two patients (5%) were treated with VAWC (37 median days) versus 39 patients (95%) who were treated with VAWCM (10 median days) (p = 0.0003). Forty-eight patients underwent OA treatment due to ACS, and 24 patients (50%) survived compared to 36 patients (75%) from the \u2018\u2018other reasons\u2019\u2019 group (p = 0.01). The ACS group required longer mechanical ventilator support (p = 0.006), length of stay in hospital (p = 0.005) and in ICU (p = 0.04) and had higher SAPS II scores (p = 0.0002). Conclusions The survival rate was 62%. ACS (p = 0.01), SAPS II (p = 0.004), sex (p = 0.01), pre-existing CVD (p = 0.0007) and surgical technique (VAWC vs VAWCM) (p = 0.0009) were determined to be predictors of mortality. Primary fascial closure was obtained in 68% of cases. VAWCM was found to grant higher survival and primary fascial closure rate

Solitary metastasis from melanoma causing bowel perforation

Skin melanoma can metastasize to any organ or tissue. The median survival in patient with intestinal metastases is inferior to 7 months compared to other sites metastasis. A wide intestinal resection including the resection of the mesentery with lymph nodes remains the main treatment due to the low morbidity and mortality rate it is also associated with

Fifteen years of research in innovative HVAC plants at DTG

At the Department of Management and Engineering (DTG) of the University of Padova (Italy), the research team led by Prof. Renato Lazzarin, formed by the au-thors, worked during the first fifteen years of the millennium on different topics fo-cused on innovative HVAC technologies. Both experimental and theoreti-cal/modelling studies were carried on: condensing boilers performances were eval-uated in different climates; a liquid desiccant system for the air conditioning of one of the DTG buildings, operating both in winter and in summer mode, was designed, realized and tested; a self-regenerating liquid desiccant cooling system able to de-humidify, heating or cooling the ambient air by an electric heat pump was installed in a new building of the Vicenza hospital, and a data logging system was set up to monitor several parameters; a Gas Engine Heat Pump plant for the air conditioning of another building of the DTG was designed, realized and monitored for a long pe-riod; a multi-source heat pump system for a school building was modelled and dy-namically simulated, and then designed and monitored; hybrid water/phase change materials tanks were modelled, designed and tested for thermal energy storage; fi-nally, thermal and electric solar cooling plants were modelled and dynamically simulated for evaluating energy performance. The paper summarizes the main ideas and results of the research during the fifteen years period of work together