Anomalies of the inferior vena cava: a report of two cases and a short review of the literature

The inferior vena cava, also known as the posterior vena cava, is the large vein that carries de-oxygenated blood from the lower half of the body into the right atrium of the heart. Congenital anomalies of the inferior vena cava result from the persistence of the embryonic venous system. The majority of cases are clinically silent and are diagnosed in routine dissection studies, in retroperitoneal surgeries, or through imaging for other reasons. Although these anomalies are rare, they are of great importance during operations in the abdominal area or in the treatment of thromboembolic diseases. We report two cases of double vena cava and left vena cava, respectively, and a short review of the relevant literature. (Folia Morphol 2010; 69, 3: 123-127

Transferable plasmid mediating resistance to multiple antimicrobial agents in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates in Greece

AbstractObjective To investigate the underlying resistance mechanisms in 10 Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates.Methods Ten K. pneumoniae strains according to distinct bacteriocin typing and REP-PCR, were examined for their plasmid content, their ability to transfer their resistance to aminoglycosides and third-generation cephalosporins, and their production of aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes and β-lactamases.Results Transfer of resistance to the above-mentioned antibiotics as well as to co-trimoxazole and tetracycline in Escherichia coli strain RC 85 at a frequency of 5–106 was achieved for all strains by conjugation. Similar strains harbor a self-transferable multiresistant plasmid (80 kb) with similar EcoRI and HindIII restriction patterns. This plasmid encodes an extended-spectrum β-lactamase which confers high-level resistance to third-generation cephalosporins and aztreonam. It produces SHV-5 β-lactamase, as demonstrated by isoelectric focusing and DNA sequencing. Aminoglycoside resistance was co-transferred, and AAC(6′)-I, mediating resistance to gentamicin, tobramycin, netilmicin and amikacin, and AAC(3)-I, mediating resistance to gentamicin and sisomycin, were encoded in all isolates and their transconjugants, while APH(3′)-I, mediating resistance to kanamycin and neomycin, was encoded in seven strains.Conclusions It appears that a multiresistant transferable plasmid encoding the SHV-5 β-lactamase, causing unusually high resistance to ceftazidime and aztreonam, and the combination AAC(6′)-I + AAC(3)-I of acetylating enzymes causing, also resistance to all clinically available aminoglycosides, is established in K. pneumoniae in Greece

GIS as an educational tool: Mapping cultural sites in greek space-time

Το θέμα της παρούσας εργασίας είναι η χαρτογραφική παρουσίαση της πολιτιστικής διαδοχής στον ελληνικό χωρο-χρόνο που σχετίζεται με βασικές έννοιες της γεωγραφικής και ιστορικής εκπαίδευσης. Η παιδαγωγική αξία της μελέτης είναι η ανάπτυξη πέντε διακριτών δεξιότητων: της έννοιας του χρόνου-κλίμακας, της ιστορικής και γεωγραφικής κατανόησης, της χωρικής ανάλυσης και ερμηνείας, της ικανότητας διεξαγωγής γεω-ιστορικής έρευνας, και της γεω-ιστορικής διαδικασίας λήψης αποφάσεων. Η μεθοδολογία βασίζεται στη βαθμονόμηση μιας σειράς κριτηρίων για κάθε πολιτιστική περιοχή που καλύπτει τα θέματα της οικονομίας, της γεωμορφολογίας, της κοινωνίας των πολιτών, της θρησκείας, της τέχνης και της επιστήμης. Η περαιτέρω ανάλυση αυτών των δεδομένων οδηγεί στη δημιουργία μιας γεω-βάσης. Οι παλαιογεωγραφικοί και ιστορικοί χάρτες των πολιτιστικών χώρων που προέρχονται από την γεωβάση παρέχουν πληροφορίες σχετικά με τις χρονικές και χωρικές μεταβολές. Ως αποτέλεσμα, οι μαθητές θα είναι σε θέση να αναπτύξουν μια πολυδιάστατη και διεπιστημονική προσέγγιση, προκειμένου να ανακατασκευάσουν την εξέλιξη του τόπου.This paper deals with the cartographical presentation of cultural succession in Greek space-time associated with core concepts of geographic and historical education. The pedagogic value of this study is to develop five distinct skills: sense of time-scale, historical and geographic comprehension, spatial analysis and interpretation, ability to perform geo-historical research, and procedure of geohistorical decision-making. The methodology is based on the calibration of a set of criteria for each cultural site that covers the topics of economy, geomorphology, society, religion, art and science. Further analysis of these data forms a geodatabase. In addition, palaeogeographic and historical maps of the cultural sites derived by the geodatabase provide information about temporal and spatial changes. As result, students will be able to develop a multidimensional and interdisciplinary approach, in order to reconstruct the evolution of the site

Storage of fruits and vegetables in refrigerator increases their phenolic acids but decreases the total phenolics, anthocyanins and Vitamin C with subsequent loss of their antioxidant capacity

It is of paramount importance for consumers, scientists and industrialists to understand how low-temperature storage of food items affects their bioactive compounds and properties. This study evaluated the effects of cold storage on total phenolics (TP), phenolic acids profile (PA), total anthocyanins (TA), total ascorbic acid (Vit. C) and antioxidant activity (AA) of 19 fruits and vegetables, collected from local Indian markets and stored in refrigerator (4 °C) during 15 days. Content of TP was highest in dill and amaranth and decreased (up to 29.67%) with storage. Leafy vegetables (amaranth, dill, onion, fenugreek and spinach) contained higher amounts of the 12 PA revealed by UPLC-UV; ellagic, gallic, sinapic and vanillic acids levels were the highest; chlorogenic acid (ρ = 0.423), syringic acid (ρ = 0.403) and sinapic acid (ρ = 0.452) mostly correlated with TP; and the PA increased during storage. Highest contents of Vit C estimated by AOAC, DCPIP and DNP methods were found in amaranth, dill and pomegranate, and decreased with storage. Pomegranate showed highest TA levels and low-temperature storage did not significantly increase TA, which was the largest contributor of TP in fruits and vegetables (ρ = 0.661). Storage induced a drastic decrease of AA, which mostly correlated with TP (ρ = 0.808, 0.690 and 0.458 for DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assays, respectively). Spearman’s correlation confirmed by principal component analysis demonstrated that dill, pomegranate and amaranth had the highest overall antioxidant capacity, whereas orange juice and carrot showed the lowest. The results provide support for a key-role of TP, followed by Vit. C and TA in antioxidant capacity of fruits and vegetables, which could be interesting dietary sources of natural antioxidants for prevention of diseases caused by oxidative stress

Morphological study of the calcaneofibular ligament in cadavers

The aim of the present study was to investigate the anatomical and morphological characteristics and the maximum elongation of the calcaneofibular ligament (CFL) in cadavers. In a sample of 72 cadaveric lower limbs the mean values of length, width, thickness, and angle with the sagittal plane were recorded for the CFL. The mean ligament’s length was 31.8 mm, and the mean width and thickness were 4.4 mm and 1.5 mm respectively. The mean angle with the sagittal plane was 51.11°. In 72.2% of the lower limbs studied, the ligament presented one band, while 22.2% and 5.6% of them were two-banded and three-banded respectively. A common origin with the anterior talofibular ligament (TFL) was found in 24 of the feet (33%). There were also 4 cases in which the anterior TFL was absent. Finally, we measured the maximal elongation of the ligament during extreme inversion and simultaneous dorsal flexion and found it to be 2.88 mm on average. We noticed and statistically verified that women presented a greater elongation compared to men. A precise knowledge of the origin, insertion, direction, and morphology of CFL is critical for ligament injuries in ankle sprains and during ankle reconstruction. Ligament elasticity plays an important role in the range of ankle motion and ligament shearing. Male and female ankle joints differ in several anthropometric characteristics and thus the genre differences in ligament elongation are of great interest. (Folia Morphol 2011; 70, 3: 180–184

Molecular characterization of Indian potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) varieties for cold-induced sweetening using SSR markers

Cold-induced sweetening developed during storage of potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) at low temperature is a crucial factor influencing the processing quality of potato tubers and remains one of the principal concerns of potato processing industry. Developing CIS-resistant genotypes is the most effective method to cope with this stress. In this study, the genetic diversity of 11 Indian potato varieties with different reactions to CIS was assessed using 10 SSR primers. The primers detected a total of 42 alleles arranged in 44 different configurations, among which 37 alleles (88%) were polymorphic. The polymorphic information content (PIC) value of the SSR locus ranged from 0.473 to 0.787 thus indicating a high utility of these markers for study of genetic diversity in potato. A number of polymorphic fragments appeared to be specific to a given sugar-forming group. Primer Sti007 generated one fragment Sti007131bp present only in all the high sugar-forming varieties. The dendrogram derived from Dice’s similarity coefficients among the 11 varieties could partially but efficiently differentiate close parents and sugar-forming groups among the varieties. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of SSR markers to assess the genetic variation among potato cultivars in order to develop molecular markers associated with CIS to improve potato breeding programs

Acrylamide-forming potential of cereals, legumes and roots and tubers analyzed by UPLC-UV

For directing scientists, consumers, industry and stakeholders on mitigation strategies, there is a need to understand the acrylamide-forming potential of important Indian foods. Flour obtained from total 16 varieties of 9 Indian cereals, legumes and roots and tubers was heated at 160 °C for 20 min, acrylamide was extracted and quantified by UPLC-UV. Acrylamide level was above the European Commission indicative value in potato- and cereal-based food products, it ranged from 3436.13 to 5562.56 μg/kg in roots and tubers (potato and sweet potato). Among the cereals, maize (2195.31 μg/kg) and wheat (161.12 μg/kg) had the highest and lowest contents, respectively, whereas rice, sorghum and pearl millet showed intermediate values. Among the 2 legumes, soybean contained higher acrylamide (337.08–717.52 μg/kg) than chickpea (377.83–480.49 μg/kg). Analysis of variance revealed that roots and tubers acrylamide was highly significantly greater than the content in cereals (p < 0.0001) and in legumes (p < 0.0001) while there was no significant difference between cereals and legumes (p = 0.443). These results support the combination of pulses and minor cereals (chickpea, soybean, millets and sorghum) in cereal-based foods for improving the nutritional value and reducing acrylamide formation

Effect of photoperiod and host distribution on the horizontal transmission of Isaria fumosorosea (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae) in greenhouse whitefly assessed using a novel model bioassay

A model bioassay was used to evaluate the epizootic potential and determine the horizontal transmission efficiency of Isaria fumosorosea Trinidadian strains against Trialeurodes vaporariorum pharate adults under optimum conditions (25±0.5°C, ~100% RH) at two different photoperiods. Untreated pharate adults were arranged on laminated graph paper at different distributions to simulate varying infestation levels on a leaf surface. Four potential hosts were located 7, 14 and 21 mm away from a central sporulating cadaver simulating high, medium and low infestation levels, respectively. Percent hosts colonized were recorded 7, 12, 14 and 21 days post-treatment during a 16- and 24-h photophase. After 21 days, mean percent hosts colonized at the highest, middle and lowest infestation levels were 93 and 100%, 22 and 58%, 25 and 39% under a 16- and 24-h photophase, respectively. From the results, it was concluded that the longer the photophase, the greater the percentage of hosts colonized, and as host distance increased from the central sporulating cadaver, colonization decreased. The use of this novel model bioassay technique is the first attempt to evaluate the epizootic potential and determine the horizontal transmission efficiency of I. fumosorosea Trinidadian strains under optimal environmental conditions at different photoperiods. This bioassay can be used to assess horizontal transmission efficiency for the selection of fungi being considered for commercial biopesticide development

Association of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with morbidity and mortality in patients with peripheral artery disease: insights from the EUCLID trial

Background: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at increased risk of developing lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD) and suffering PAD-related morbidity and mortality. However, the effect and burden of COPD on patients with PAD is less well defined. This post hoc analysis from EUCLID aimed to analyze the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and major adverse limb events (MALE) in patients with PAD and concomitant COPD compared with those without COPD, and to describe the adverse events specific to patients with COPD. Methods: EUCLID randomized 13,885 patients with symptomatic PAD to monotherapy with either ticagrelor or clopidogrel for the prevention of MACE. In this analysis, MACE, MALE, mortality, and adverse events were compared between groups with and without COPD using unadjusted and adjusted Cox proportional hazards model. Results: Of the 13,883 patients with COPD status available at baseline, 11% (n=1538) had COPD. Patients with COPD had a higher risk of MACE (6.02 vs 4.29 events/100 patient-years; p< 0.001) due to a significantly higher risk of myocardial infarction (MI) (3.55 vs 1.85 events/100 patient-years; p< 0.001) when compared with patients without COPD. These risks persisted after adjustment (MACE: adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 1.30, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11– 1.52; p< 0.001; MI: aHR 1.45, 95% CI 1.18– 1.77; p< 0.001). However, patients with COPD did not have an increased risk of MALE or major bleeding. Patients with COPD were more frequently hospitalized for dyspnea and pneumonia (2.66 vs 0.9 events/100 patient-years; aHR 2.77, 95% CI 2.12– 3.63; p< 0.001) and more frequently discontinued study drug prematurely (19.36 vs 12.54 events/100 patient-years; p< 0.001; aHR 1.34, 95% CI 1.22– 1.47; p< 0.001). Conclusion: In patients with comorbid PAD and COPD, the risks of MACE, respiratory-related adverse events, and premature study drug discontinuation were higher when compared with patients without COPD. Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01732822