First evidence for fin whale migration into the Pacific from Antarctic feeding grounds at Elephant Island

Funding: This work was funded by IWC-SORP and by the DFG within the priority programme SPP 1158 ‘Antarctic Research with comparative investigations in Arctic ice areas’ by grant HE5696/3-1. Additional funding from National Geographic / Disney+ supported field efforts by Hickmott.This study presents the first long-distance tracks of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) equipped with satellite transmitters off the Antarctic Peninsula. Southern Hemisphere fin whales were severely depleted by twentieth century industrial whaling, yet recently, they have returned to historical feeding grounds off the northern Antarctic Peninsula, forming large aggregations in austral summers. To date, our knowledge only extended to summer behaviour, while information regarding migration routes and the location of breeding and wintering grounds are lacking. During the austral autumn of 2021, we deployed nsatellite transmitters on four fin whales at Elephant Island. Two transmitters stopped working while the animals were still at the feeding grounds, while two continued to transmit during the transition from feeding activity to migration. Both migrating animals left the feeding ground on 15 April 2021, travelling northward into the Pacific and up along the Chilean coast. The most northerly position received before all tags stopped transmitting on 1 May 2021 was at 48°S. These tracks provide initial evidence of seasonal migratory routes and a first indication toward possible locations of winter destinations. This information, even if preliminary, is critical for investigations of population connectivity, population structure and the identification of breeding grounds of Southern Hemisphere fin whales.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Biodiversity impacts of ship movement, noise, grounding and anchoring

Marine life in the Mediterranean Sea is threatened by intensive human activities such as fisheries, ship traffic, pollution and coastal development. Cetaceans and other vertebrates are affected not only by chemical pollution, but also by noise pollution (Richardson et al., 1995; Simmonds et al., 2004). Noise has become a ubiquitous form of marine pollution, especially in areas of heavy maritime traffic and along developed coasts. Intense underwater noise is generated by airguns, widely used for geophysical exploration in the oil and gas industry as well as for academic and government research purposes; by high power sonar, either military or civilian; by ship traffic; by shoreline and offshore construction works; and by a number of other commercial, scientific, military and industrial sources. The most powerful noises (from airguns, sonars, and explosions) may directly injure animals in the vicinity of the source. General ship traffic, heavy industries on the coast and a variety of other human activities generally do not generate such intense noise, but the acoustic pollution they produce is constant over time and may affect large areas. It may be a serious hazard not only to individual animals, but also to entire populations. Such increased background noise affects underwater life just as airborne noise affects terrestrial animals, including human beings.peer-reviewe

Long-term clinical outcomes in critical limb ischemia--A retrospective study of 181 patients

Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is the most severe manifestation of the peripheral arterial disease. To date, several prognostic factors have been identified but the data of long-term follow-up in real life setting are scarce. The aim of our study is to describe a large group of CLI patients and identify possible prognostic factors, in a long-term follow-up

Long-term survival of patients with critical limb ischemia treated with iloprost: response rate and predictive criteria. A retrospective analysis of 102 patients

Critical limb ischemia (CLI) patients have poor long-term prognosis. We showed that iloprost improves outcomes (major amputation and survival) up a 5-year follow-up, but it is not known if in this length of time the survival curves, of clinical responders and non-responders, differ

Monitoring Winter and Summer Abundance of Cetaceans in the Pelagos Sanctuary (Northwestern Mediterranean Sea) Through Aerial Surveys

Systematic long-term monitoring of abundance is essential to inform conservation measures and evaluate their effectiveness. To instigate such work in the Pelagos Sanctuary in the Mediterranean, two aerial surveys were conducted in winter and summer 2009. A total of 467 (131 in winter, 336 in summer) sightings of 7 species was made. Sample sizes were sufficient to estimate abundance of fin whales in summer (148; 95% CI = 87–254) and striped dolphins in winter (19,462; 95% CI = 12 939–29 273) and in summer (38 488; 95% CI = 27 447–53 968). Numbers of animals within the Sanctuary are significantly higher in summer, when human activities and thus potential population level impacts are highest. Comparisons with data from past shipboard surveys suggest an appreciable decrease in fin whales within the Sanctuary area and an appreciable increase in striped dolphins. Aerial surveys proved to be more efficient than ship surveys, allowing more robust estimates, with smaller CIs and CVs. These results provide essential baseline data for this marine protected area and continued regular surveys will allow the effectiveness of the MPA in terms of cetacean conservation to be evaluated and inform future management measures. The collected data may also be crucial in assessing whether ship strikes, one of the main causes of death for fin whales in the Mediterranean, are affecting the Mediterranean population

Epidemiology and outcome of Clostridium difficile infections in patients hospitalized in Internal Medicine: findings from the nationwide FADOI-PRACTICE study.

BACKGROUND: Clostridium difficile (CD) is a leading cause of diarrhoea among hospitalized patients. The objective of this study was to evaluate the rate, the optimal diagnostic work-up, and outcome of CD infections (CDI) in Internal Medicine (IM) wards in Italy. METHODS: PRACTICE is an observational prospective study, involving 40 IM Units and evaluating all consecutive patients hospitalized during a 4-month period. CDI were defined in case of diarrhoea when both enzyme immunoassay for GDH, and test for A/B toxin were positive. Patients with CDI were followed-up for recurrences for 4 weeks after the end of therapy. RESULTS: Among the 10,780 patients observed, 103 (0.96 %) showed CDI, at admission or during hospitalization. A positive history for CD, antibiotics in the previous 4 weeks, recent hospitalization, female gender and age were significantly associated with CDI (multivariable analysis). In-hospital mortality was 16.5 % in CD group vs 6.7 % in No-CD group (p\u2009<\u20090.001), whereas median length of hospital stay was 16 (IQR\u2009=\u200913) vs 8 (IQR\u2009=\u20098) days (p\u2009<\u20090.001) among patients with or without CDI, respectively. Rate of CD recurrences was 14.6 %. As a post-hoc evaluation, 23 out of 34 GDH+/Tox- samples were toxin positive, when analysed by molecular method (a real-time PCR assay). The overall CD incidence rate was 5.3/10,000 patient-days. CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm the severity of CDI in medical wards, showing high in-hospital mortality, prolonged hospitalization and frequent short-term recurrences. Further, our survey supports a 2-3 step algorithm for CD diagnosis: EIA for detecting GDH, A and B toxin, followed by a molecular method in case of toxin-negative samples

Dynamics of sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence and reflectance to detect stress-induced variations in canopy photosynthesis

Passive measurement of sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (F) represents the most promising tool to quantify changes in photosynthetic functioning on a large scale. However, the complex relationship between this signal and other photosynthesis-related processes restricts its interpretation under stress conditions. To address this issue, we conducted a field campaign by combining daily airborne and ground-based measurements of F (normalized to photosynthetically active radiation), reflectance and surface temperature and related the observed changes to stress-induced variations in photosynthesis. A lawn carpet was sprayed with different doses of the herbicide Dicuran. Canopy-level measurements of gross primary productivity indicated dosage-dependent inhibition of photosynthesis by the herbicide. Dosage-dependent changes in normalized F were also detected. After spraying, we first observed a rapid increase in normalized F and in the Photochemical Reflectance Index, possibly due to the blockage of electron transport by Dicuran and the resultant impairment of xanthophyll-mediated non-photochemical quenching. This initial increase was followed by a gradual decrease in both signals, which coincided with a decline in pigment-related reflectance indices. In parallel, we also detected a canopy temperature increase after the treatment. These results demonstrate the potential of using F coupled with relevant reflectance indices to estimate stress-induced changes in canopy photosynthesis

Twenty articles that critical care clinicians should read about COVID-19

Infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus- 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first identified in December 2019 and has since become a worldwide pandemic, challenging and sometimes overwhelming healthcare systems as well as causing more than a million deaths thus far. In just 10 months, over 80,000 indexed publications have appeared that reference SARS-CoV-2 and the associated Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this article, we highlight 20 papers that are of particular relevance to the critical care clinician. The papers are divided into four broad topics: manifestations of severe COVID- 19 disease, pharmacological therapy for COVID-19, ventilatory support for COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and healthcare system and worker stress. This list is not designed to be comprehensive but rather to give the reader an overview of important early papers and their findings.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Multi-antigen Vaccination With Simultaneous Engagement of the OX40 Receptor Delays Malignant Mesothelioma Growth and Increases Survival in Animal Models

Malignant Mesothelioma (MM) is a rare and highly aggressive cancer that develops from mesothelial cells lining the pleura and other internal cavities, and is often associated with asbestos exposure. To date, no effective treatments have been made available for this pathology. Herein, we propose a novel immunotherapeutic approach based on a unique vaccine targeting a series of antigens that we found expressed in different MM tumors, but largely undetectable in normal tissues. This vaccine, that we term p-Tvax, is comprised of a series of immunogenic peptides presented by both MHC-I and -II to generate robust immune responses. The peptides were designed using in silico algorithms that discriminate between highly immunogenic T cell epitopes and other harmful epitopes, such as suppressive regulatory T cell epitopes and autoimmune epitopes. Vaccination of mice with p-Tvax led to antigen-specific immune responses that involved both CD8+ and CD4+ T cells, which exhibited cytolytic activity against MM cells in vitro. In mice carrying MM tumors, p-Tvax increased tumor infiltration of CD4+ T cells. Moreover, combining p-Tvax with an OX40 agonist led to decreased tumor growth and increased survival. Mice treated with this combination immunotherapy displayed higher numbers of tumor-infiltrating CD8+ and CD4+ T cells and reduced T regulatory cells in tumors. Collectively, these data suggest that the combination of p-Tvax with an OX40 agonist could be an effective strategy for MM treatment