Worker policing by egg eating in the ponerine ant Pachycondyla inversa

We investigated worker policing by egg eating in the ponerine ant Pachycondyla inversa, a species with morphologically distinct queens and workers. Colonies were split into one half with the queen and one half without. Workers in queenless colony fragments started laying unfertilized male eggs after three weeks. Worker-laid eggs and queen-laid eggs were introduced into five other queenright colonies with a single queen and three colonies with multiple queens, and their fate was observed for 30 min. Significantly more worker-laid eggs (range of 35–62%, mean of 46%) than queen-laid eggs (range of 5–31%, mean of 15%) were eaten by workers in single-queen colonies, and the same trend was seen in multiple-queen colonies. This seems to be the first well-documented study of ants with a distinct caste polymorphism to show that workers kill worker-laid eggs in preference to queen-laid eggs. Chemical analyses showed that the surfaces of queen-laid and worker-laid eggs have different chemical profiles as a result of different relative proportions of several hydrocarbons. Such differences might provide the information necessary for differential treatment of eggs. One particular alkane, 3,11-dimeC27, was significantly more abundant on the surfaces of queen-laid eggs. This substance is also the most abundant compound on the cuticles of egg layers

Dynamics and genetic structure of Argentine ant supercolonies in their native range.

Some introduced ant populations have an extraordinary social organization, called unicoloniality, whereby individuals mix freely within large supercolonies. We investigated whether this mode of social organization also exists in native populations of the Argentine ant Linepithema humile. Behavioral analyses revealed the presence of 11 supercolonies (width 1 to 515 m) over a 3-km transect. As in the introduced range, there was always strong aggression between but never within supercolonies. The genetic data were in perfect agreement with the behavioral tests, all nests being assigned to identical supercolonies with the different methods. There was strong genetic differentiation between supercolonies but no genetic differentiation among nests within supercolonies. We never found more than a single mitochondrial haplotype per supercolony, further supporting the view that supercolonies are closed breeding units. Genetic and chemical distances between supercolonies were positively correlated, but there were no other significant associations between geographic, genetic, chemical, and behavioral distances. A comparison of supercolonies sampled in 1999 and 2005 revealed a very high turnover, with about one-third of the supercolonies being replaced yearly. This dynamic is likely to involve strong competition between supercolonies and thus act as a potent selective force maintaining unicoloniality over evolutionary time

Ultrasound 3D reconstruction of malignant masses in robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy using the PAF rail system: a comparison study

PURPOSE: In robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN), the use of intraoperative ultrasound (IOUS) helps to localise and outline the tumours as well as the blood vessels within the kidney. The aim of this work is to evaluate the use of the pneumatically attachable flexible (PAF) rail system for US 3D reconstruction of malignant masses in RAPN. The PAF rail system is a novel device developed and previously presented by the authors to enable track-guided US scanning. METHODS: We present a comparison study between US 3D reconstruction of masses based on: the da Vinci Surgical System kinematics, single- and stereo-camera tracking of visual markers embedded on the probe. An US-realistic kidney phantom embedding a mass is used for testing. A new design for the US probe attachment to enhance the performance of the kinematic approach is presented. A feature extraction algorithm is proposed to detect the margins of the targeted mass in US images. RESULTS: To evaluate the performance of the investigated approaches the resulting 3D reconstructions have been compared to a CT scan of the phantom. The data collected indicates that single camera reconstruction outperformed the other approaches, reconstructing with a sub-millimetre accuracy the targeted mass. CONCLUSIONS: This work demonstrates that the PAF rail system provides a reliable platform to enable accurate US 3D reconstruction of masses in RAPN procedures. The proposed system has also the potential to be employed in other surgical procedures such as hepatectomy or laparoscopic liver resection

Reasons why HIV-positive women do not want to have a child: the questionnaire-based DIDI study

Given that the majority of HIV‐positive women are of reproductive age, it is necessary to understand the interaction between HIV and family planning, especially as antiretroviral medications allow to live longer, healthier lives. Aim of this analysis form the DIDI study was to assess prevalence of motherhood desire in current years and to identify variables associated pregnancy decision‐making in HIV‐infected women. DIDI is an Italian, 16‐center, questionnaire‐based survey performed in 585 HIV‐positive women between Nov. 2010 and Feb. 2011. The items covered in the self‐administered questionnaire included: socio‐demographic characteristics, sexual and gynecological health, motherhood desire, strategies adopted to become pregnant, reasons for not wanting a child, partnership, HIV disclosure, physical and mental health, ART adherence, drug use. For the present analysis only women aged<45 years and engaged in a partnership were included. Absence of motherhood desire was defined by a negative answer at the question whether the women at present would like to have a child. 178 women were included: mean age 39 (IQR, 33–42), HIV transmission heterosexual 75%, IVDU 11%, heterosexual/IVDU 2.5%, not known 7.5%; mean CD4 and HIV‐RNA were 552/mmc (+252) and 3.85 c/ml (+4.7), respectively. Absence of motherhood desire was found in 61% of women; 50% of women declared that HIV negatively affected motherhood desire, and 22% declared a decrease in desire after start of ART. The probability of vertical transmission was estimated higher than 50% by 19% of women, even when adopting all preventive measures. Not wanting a child was associated with: fear of vertical transmission (p<0.001), fear of not being able to raise the child (p<0.001), decline in motherhood desire after HIV (p=0.007), unstable partnership (p=0.02). At multivariable analysis, variables found to be significantly associated with negative pregnancy decision‐making were: fear of vertical transmission (AOR 3.75; 95%CI 1.18–11.89), economic restrictions (AOR 0.28; 95% CI 0.10–0.76 In conclusion, absent motherhood desire in HIV‐positive women with child‐bearing potential is frequent and essential information on vertical HIV transmission is lacking. HIV‐positive women of childbearing age may benefit from counseling interventions sensitive to factors that influence infected women's pregnancy decisions

Evolution of the cosmic ray anisotropy above 10^{14} eV

The amplitude and phase of the cosmic ray anisotropy are well established experimentally between 10^{11} eV and 10^{14} eV. The study of their evolution into the energy region 10^{14}-10^{16} eV can provide a significant tool for the understanding of the steepening ("knee") of the primary spectrum. In this letter we extend the EAS-TOP measurement performed at E_0 around 10^{14} eV, to higher energies by using the full data set (8 years of data taking). Results derived at about 10^{14} and 4x10^{14} eV are compared and discussed. Hints of increasing amplitude and change of phase above 10^{14} eV are reported. The significance of the observation for the understanding of cosmic ray propagation is discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication on ApJ Letter

Albumin supplementation dampens hypercoagulability in COVID-19. A preliminary report

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is characterized by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) needing mechanical ventilation and intensive care unit (ICU) treatment. In addition to lung disease, clinical features of SARS-CoV-2 include myocardial damage and ischemia-related vascular disease, which are associated with a hypercoagulable state (e.g., high D-dimer levels) predisposing to thrombotic-related complications and eventually death.1–3 Serum albumin levels &lt;3.5 g/dL are detectable in SARS-CoV-2 patients and associated with death4 and elevated D-dimer and thrombotic events,5 which is in accordance with previous studies reporting an association between serum albumin &lt;3.5 g/dL and risk of venous and arterial thrombosis.6 Thus, we tested the hypothesis that albumin supplementation could dampen hypercoagulability in SARS-CoV-2 with serum albumin &lt;3.5 g/dL. This is an observational cohort study performed at a large university hospital located in Rome and Chieti (Italy) and devoted to COVID-19 care

Lower risk of death and cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes initiating glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists or sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors: A real-world study in two Italian cohorts

Aim: To examine the efficacy and safety of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors compared with other antihyperglycaemic agents (AHAs) in large and unselected populations of the Lombardy and Apulia regions in Italy. Materials and Methods: An observational cohort study of first-time users of GLP-1RAs, SGLT2 inhibitors or other AHAs was conducted from 2010 to 2018. Death and cardiovascular (CV) events were evaluated using conditional Cox models in propensity-score-matched populations. Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for each region and in a meta-analysis for pooled risks. Results: After propensity-score matching, the Lombardy cohort included 18 716 and 11 683 patients and the Apulia cohort 9772 and 6046 patients for the GLP-1RA and SGLT2 inhibitor groups, respectively. Use of GLP-1RAs was associated with lower rates of death (HR 0.61, CI 0.56-0.65, Lombardy; HR 0.63, CI 0.55-0.71, Apulia), cerebrovascular disease and ischaemic stroke (HR 0.70, CI 0.63-0.79; HR 0.72, CI 0.60-0.87, Lombardy), peripheral vascular disease (HR 0.72, CI 0.64-0.82, Lombardy; HR 0.80, CI 0.67-0.98, Apulia), and lower limb complications (HR 0.67, CI 0.56-0.81, Lombardy; HR 0.69, CI 0.51-0.93, Apulia). Compared with other AHAs, SGLT2 inhibitor use decreased the risk of death (HR 0.47, CI 0.40-0.54, Lombardy; HR 0.43, CI 0.32-0.57, Apulia), cerebrovascular disease (HR 0.75, CI 0.61-0.91, Lombardy; HR 0.72, CI 0.54-0.96, Apulia), and heart failure (HR 0.56, CI 0.46-0.70, Lombardy; HR 0.57, CI 0.42-0.77, Apulia). In the pooled cohorts, a reduction in heart failure was also observed with GLP-1RAs (HR 0.89, 95% CI 0.82-0.97). Serious adverse events were quite low in frequency. Conclusion: Our findings from real-world practice confirm the favourable effect of GLP-1RAs and SGLT2 inhibitors on death and CV outcomes across both regions consistently. Thus, these drug classes should be preferentially considered in a broad type 2 diabetes population beyond those with CV disease

Preliminary attempt to predict risk of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in patients with influenza. Decision trees may help?

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is typically considered a disease of immunocompromised patients, but, recently, many cases have been reported in patients without typical risk factors. The aim of our study is to develop a risk predictive model for IPA through machine learning techniques (decision trees) in patients with influenza. We conducted a retrospective observational study analyzing data regarding patients diagnosed with influenza hospitalized at the University Hospital “Umberto I” of Rome during the 2018-2019 season. We collected five IPA cases out of 77 influenza patients. Although the small sample size is a limit, the most vulnerable patients among the influenza-infected population seem to be those with evidence of lymphocytopenia and those that received corticosteroid therapy

Infected chronic ischemic wound topically treated with a multi-strain probiotic formulation: A novel tailored treatment strategy

Background A wide debate is ongoing regarding the role of cutaneous dysbiosis in the pathogenesis and evolution of difficult-to-treat chronic wounds. Nowadays, probiotic treatment considered as an useful tool to counteract dysbiosis but the evidence in regard to their therapeutic use in the setting of difficult-to-treat cutaneous ulcers is still poor. Aim: clinical report An 83-year-old woman suffering a critical limb ischemia and an infected difficult-to-treat ulcerated cutaneous lesion of the right leg, was complementary treated with local application of a mixture of probiotic bacteria. Methods Microbiological and metabolomic analysis were conducted on wound swabs obtained before and after bacteriotherapy. Results During the treatment course, a progressive healing of the lesion was observed with microbiological resolution of the polymicrobial infection of the wound. Metabolomic analysis showed a significant difference in the local concentration of propionate, 2-hydroxyisovalerate, 2-oxoisocaproate, 2,3-butanediol, putrescine, thymine, and trimethylamine before and after bacteriotherapy. Conclusion The microbiological and metabolomic results seem to confirm the usefulness of complementary probiotic treatment in difficult-to-treat infected wounds. Further investigations are needed to confirm these preliminary findings