First evidence of heteroplasmy in Grey Partridge (Perdix perdix)

Abstract We report for the first time the occurrence of heteroplasmy in Grey Partridge (Perdix perdix) revealed by means of two mitochondrial fragments. The possible serious biological and management implications of this exception to unilateral inheritance of mtDNA were underlined

Effect of Azospirillum brasilense and mycorrhizal soil fungi on topinambur grown in a greenhouse

To determine the effect of Azospirillum brasilense and soil mycorrhizal fungi on the nutrition of the Jerusalem artichoke crop (Helianthus tuberosus L.), evaluations of agronomic parameters and the health status of the plants were carried out, under greenhouse conditions. The tests were carried out, at the moment of the implantation of the culture: the tubers were inoculated with A. brasilense and with native mycorrhizal fungi, generating four treatments including the control and the co-inoculation of the consortium of the microorganisms under study (T0: control or control without inoculation; T1: inoculation with native A. brasilense; T2: inoculation with native mycorrhizal fungi and T3: joint inoculation with A. brasilense and native mycorrhizal fungi. The results indicate that co-inoculation with A. brasilense and with native mycorrhizal fungi increased plant growth in height, leaf area, biomass, dry matter, and yields significantly in greenhouse production. It was determined that the application of the selected microorganisms has a plant growth-promoting effect, increasing the productivity of cultivated topinambur in the greenhouse.Fil: Di Barbaro, Maria Gabriela. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Andrada, Horacio. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Batallan Morales, Silvana Rosa. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Espeche Acosta, Eliana. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Rizo, Melisa. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: del Valle, Eleodoro Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Instituto de Ciencias Agropecuarias del Litoral. - Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Ciencias Agropecuarias del Litoral.; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Brandan, Celia Ines. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán; Argentin

Biofertilization of topinambur with Azospirillum brasilense and native mycorrhical fungi, cultivated in the Central Valley of Catamarca, Argentina

To evaluate the effect of Azospirillum and mycorrhizal soil fungi on the nutrition of the Jerusalem artichoke crop (Helianthus tuberosus L.), determinations of agronomic parameters and the health status of the plants were carried out under field conditions. The tests were carried out, at the time of the implantation of the culture: the ?seeds? were inoculated with A. brasilense and with native mycorrhizal fungi, generating four treatments including the control and the co-inoculation of the consortium of the microorganisms under study (T0: control or uninoculated control; T1: inoculation with native A. brasilense; T2: inoculation with native mycorrhizal fungi and T3: joint inoculation with A. brasilense and native mycorrhizal fungi). The results indicate that co-inoculation with A. brasilense and native mycorrhizal fungi, significantly increased plant growth in height, leaf area, biomass, dry matter, and yields. It was determined that the application of the selected microorganisms has a promoting effect of plant growth, increasing the growth and productivity of the topinambur crop.Fil: Di Barbaro, Maria Gabriela. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Andrada, Horacio Enrique. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Batallan Morales, Silvana Rosa. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Espeche Acosta, Eliana. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Rizo, Melisa. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez Basso, Maria Valeria. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: del Valle, Eleodoro Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Instituto de Ciencias Agropecuarias del Litoral. - Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Ciencias Agropecuarias del Litoral.; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Brandan, Celia Ines. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán; Argentin

The impact of Nursing Homes staff education on end-of-life care in residents with advanced dementia: a quality improvement study

Context. End-of-life care in nursing homes (NHs) needs improvement. We carried out a study in 29 NHs in the Lombardy Region (Italy).Objectives. The objective of this study was to compare end-of-life care in NH residents with advanced dementia before and after an educational intervention aimed to improving palliative care.Methods. The intervention consisted of a seven-hour lecture, followed by two 3-hour meetings consisting of case discussions. The intervention was held in each NH and well attended by NH staff. This multicenter, comparative, observational study included up to 20 residents with advanced dementia from each NH: the last 10 who died before the intervention (preintervention group, 245 residents) and the first 10 who died at least three months after the intervention (postintervention group, 237 residents). Data for these residents were collected from records for 60 days and seven days before death.Results. The use of "comfort hydration" (< 1000 mL/day subcutaneously) tended to increase from 16.9% to 26.8% in the postintervention group. The number of residents receiving a palliative approach for nutrition and hydration increased, though not significantly, from 24% preintervention to 31.5% postintervention. On the other hand, the proportion of tube-fed residents and residents receiving intravenous hydration decreased from 15.5% to 10.5%, and from 52% to 42%, respectively. Cardiopulmonary resuscitations decreased also from 52/245 (21%) to 18/237 (7.6%) cases (P = 0.002).Conclusion. The short educational intervention modified some practices relevant to the quality of end-of-life care of advanced dementia patients in NHs, possibly raising and reinforcing beliefs and attitudes already largely present. (C) 2018 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

The last week of life of nursing home residents with advanced dementia: a retrospective study

Background Barriers to palliative care still exist in long-term care settings for older people, which can mean that people with advanced dementia may not receive of adequate palliative care in the last days of their life; instead, they may be exposed to aggressive and/or inappropriate treatments. The aim of this multicentre study was to assess the clinical interventions and care at end of life in a cohort of nursing home (NH) residents with advanced dementia in a large Italian region. Methods This retrospective study included a convenience sample of 29 NHs in the Lombardy Region. Data were collected from the clinical records of 482 residents with advanced dementia, who had resided in the NH for at least 6 months before death, mainly focusing on the 7 days before death. Results Most residents (97.1%) died in the NH. In the 7 days before death, 20% were fed and hydrated by mouth, and 13.4% were tube fed. A median of five, often inappropriate, drugs were prescribed. Fifty-seven percent of residents had an acknowledgement of worsening condition recorded in their clinical records, a median of 4 days before death. Conclusions Full implementation of palliative care was not achieved in our study, possibly due to insufficient acknowledgement of the appropriateness of some drugs and interventions, and health professionals' lack of implementation of palliative interventions. Future studies should focus on how to improve care for NH residents

A protocol for an intercomparison of biodiversity and ecosystem services models using harmonized land-use and climate scenarios

To support the assessments of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the IPBES Expert Group on Scenarios and Models is carrying out an intercomparison of biodiversity and ecosystem services models using harmonized scenarios (BES-SIM). The goals of BES-SIM are (1) to project the global impacts of land-use and climate change on biodiversity and ecosystem services (i.e., nature's contributions to people) over the coming decades, compared to the 20th century, using a set of common metrics at multiple scales, and (2) to identify model uncertainties and research gaps through the comparisons of projected biodiversity and ecosystem services across models. BES-SIM uses three scenarios combining specific Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs) and Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs)-SSP1xRCP2.6, SSP3xRCP6.0, SSP5xRCP8.6-to explore a wide range of land-use change and climate change futures. This paper describes the rationale for scenario selection, the process of harmonizing input data for land use, based on the second phase of the Land Use Harmonization Project (LUH2), and climate, the biodiversity and ecosystem services models used, the core simulations carried out, the harmonization of the model output metrics, and the treatment of uncertainty. The results of this collaborative modeling project will support the ongoing global assessment of IPBES, strengthen ties between IPBES and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios and modeling processes, advise the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on its development of a post-2020 strategic plans and conservation goals, and inform the development of a new generation of nature-centred scenarios

Cannabidiol Reduces Aβ-Induced Neuroinflammation and Promotes Hippocampal Neurogenesis through PPARγ Involvement

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) has been reported to be involved in the etiology of pathological features of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Cannabidiol (CBD), a Cannabis derivative devoid of psychomimetic effects, has attracted much attention because of its promising neuroprotective properties in rat AD models, even though the mechanism responsible for such actions remains unknown. This study was aimed at exploring whether CBD effects could be subordinate to its activity at PPARγ, which has been recently indicated as its putative binding site. CBD actions on β-amyloid-induced neurotoxicity in rat AD models, either in presence or absence of PPAR antagonists were investigated. Results showed that the blockade of PPARγ was able to significantly blunt CBD effects on reactive gliosis and subsequently on neuronal damage. Moreover, due to its interaction at PPARγ, CBD was observed to stimulate hippocampal neurogenesis. All these findings report the inescapable role of this receptor in mediating CBD actions, here reported

Risk factors for infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales: an international matched case-control-control study (EURECA)

Cases were patients with complicated urinary tract infection (cUTI), complicated intraabdominal (cIAI), pneumonia or bacteraemia from other sources (BSI-OS) due to CRE; control groups were patients with infection caused by carbapenem-susceptible Enterobacterales (CSE), and by non-infected patients, respectively. Matching criteria included type of infection for CSE group, ward and duration of hospital admission. Conditional logistic regression was used to identify risk factors. Findings Overall, 235 CRE case patients, 235 CSE controls and 705 non-infected controls were included. The CRE infections were cUTI (133, 56.7%), pneumonia (44, 18.7%), cIAI and BSI-OS (29, 12.3% each). Carbapenemase genes were found in 228 isolates: OXA-48/like, 112 (47.6%), KPC, 84 (35.7%), and metallo-beta-lactamases, 44 (18.7%); 13 produced two. The risk factors for CRE infection in both type of controls were (adjusted OR for CSE controls; 95% CI; p value) previous colonisation/infection by CRE (6.94; 2.74-15.53; <0.001), urinary catheter (1.78; 1.03-3.07; 0.038) and exposure to broad spectrum antibiotics, as categorical (2.20; 1.25-3.88; 0.006) and time-dependent (1.04 per day; 1.00-1.07; 0.014); chronic renal failure (2.81; 1.40-5.64; 0.004) and admission from home (0.44; 0.23-0.85; 0.014) were significant only for CSE controls. Subgroup analyses provided similar results. Interpretation The main risk factors for CRE infections in hospitals with high incidence included previous coloni-zation, urinary catheter and exposure to broad spectrum antibiotics

Comparison of seven prognostic tools to identify low-risk pulmonary embolism in patients aged <50 years

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