Decay fungi associated with cavity excavation by a large South American woodpecker

In temperate systems of the Northern Hemisphere, wood-decay fungi are known to facilitate cavity excavation by woodpeckers. For South America, woodpecker–fungi interactions have not been explored. The aim of this work was to identify wooddecay fungi associated with the process of cavity excavation by the Magellanic woodpecker (Campephilus magellanicus), a large South American picid that excavates on living trees. The survey was conducted in old-growth Nothofagus pumilio forests of Patagonia. For freshly excavated cavities, wood condition was assessed, adjacent basidiocarps were collected, and fungal cultures were obtained from wood samples taken to the laboratory. All cavities exhibited softened wood. Four Agaricomycotina were isolated in cultures: Stereum hirsutum was the most frequent, followed by Postia pelliculosa, Nothophellinus andinopatagonicus and Aurantiporus albidus. Basidiocarps around cavities were of two species that did not develop in cultures: Laetiporus portentosus and Macrohyporia dictyopora. Excavations were slightly more frequent in white rot colonized than brown rot colonized wood, but this may be an artefact of differential success in fungal isolation and culturing, since several cavities that showed visual symptoms of brown wood rots did not yield mycelia of those wooddecay fungi. As shown by research elsewhere, basidiocarps underestimated heart rot on cavity walls and revealed additional wood-decay species living on the same trees; therefore, assessments of fungal diversity in substrates used for cavity excavation should be based on culturing and/or DNA extraction. Because fungal communities in the southern Andes are poorly known, decay fungi and their roles in ecosystem development should be studied across different forest areas, where samples from non-cavity-bearing (control) trees should also be taken in order to determine excavation-site selection.Fil: Pozzi, Carla Martina. Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable. Administración de Parques Nacionales. Parque Nacional "Nahuel Huapi". Departamento Conservación y Educación Ambiental; ArgentinaFil: Rajchenberg, Mario. Centro de Investigación y Extensión Forestal Andino Patagónico; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Ojeda, Valeria Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones En Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Subsede Junín de Los Andes-inibioma-centro de Ecología Aplicada del Neuquén (cean) | Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones En Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Subsede Junín de Los Andes-inibioma-centro de Ecología Aplicada del Neuquén (cean).; Argentin

Technical note: Identification of Prototheca species from bovine milk samples by PCR-single strand conformation polymorphism

We report the development of a PCR-single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) method to identify Prototheca spp. responsible for bovine mastitis: P. zopfii and P. blaschkeae. The method was set up using reference strains belonging to P. zopfii genotype 1, P. zopfii genotype 2, and P. blaschkeae as target species and P. stagnora, and P. ulmea as negative controls. The assay was applied on 50 isolates of Prototheca spp. isolated from bovine mastitic milk or bulk-tank milk samples, and all isolates were identified as P. zopfii genotype 2. We conclude that the described PCR-SSCP approach is accurate, inexpensive, and highly suitable for the identification of P. zopfii genotype 2 on field isolates but also directly on milk, if preceded by a specific DNA extraction method

Elective and emergency laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the elderly: our experience

BACKGROUND: We aimed to analyze outcomes of early and delayed laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the elderly in our General Surgery Division. METHODS: We analyzed 114 LC performed from the 1st of January 2008 to the 31st of December 2012 in our General Surgery division: 67 LC were performed for gallbladder stones and 47 for acute cholecystitis. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Comparison between Ordinary and Emergency groups showed that drain placement and post-operative hospital stay were significatively different. There were no significative differences between Early Laparoscopic Emergency Cholecystectomy (E-ELC) and Delayed Laparoscopic Emergency Cholecystectomy (D-ELC). There weren't any differences about Team's evaluation. CONCLUSION: We consider LC a safe and effective treatment for cholelitiasis and acute cholecystitis in Ordinary and Emergency setting, also in the elderly. We also demonstrate that, in our experience, LC for AC is feasible as well

Effect of Erdosteine on COPD Exacerbations in COPD Patients with Moderate Airflow Limitation

Background: The RESTORE study, a multi-national randomized, placebo-controlled study, showed that erdosteine - a muco-active antioxidant that modulates bacterial adhesiveness - reduced the rate and duration of exacerbations in moderate and severe COPD with a history of exacerbations. How much benefit patients with less severe disease experience when taking this drug remains unclear. Methods: This post hoc analysis of the 254 RESTORE participants with spirometrically-defined moderate COPD (post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1] 50\u201279% predicted) examined exacerbation rate and duration, time to first exacerbation, and exacerbation-free time. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and comparisons between treatment groups used Wilcoxon rank-sum tests, Mann-Whitney U-tests, or log rank tests. Results: Patients with moderate COPD received erdosteine 300 mg twice daily (n=126) or placebo (n=128) added to usual COPD therapy for 12 months. During this time, there were 53 exacerbations in the erdosteine group and 74 in the placebo group, with 42.1% and 57.8% of patients, respectively, experiencing an exacerbation. There was a 47% reduction in the mean exacerbation rate with erdosteine compared to placebo (0.27 vs 0.51 exacerbations per-patient per-year, respectively, P=0.003), and a 58.3% reduction in the mild exacerbation rate (0.23 vs 0.53 mild exacerbations per-patient per-year, P=0.001). Mean duration of exacerbations was 26% shorter in erdosteine-treated patients (9.1 vs 12.3 days for placebo, P=0.022), with significant reductions in the duration of mild and moderate-to-severe exacerbations. Mean time to first exacerbation was prolonged by 7.7% (182 days for erdosteine vs 169 days for placebo, P<0.001) and the mean exacerbation-free time was increased by 51 days (279 days for erdosteine vs 228 days for placebo; P<0.001). Conclusion: These results indicate that adding erdosteine to usual COPD maintenance therapy reduces the number of mild, and duration of all, exacerbations in patients with moderate COPD and a history of exacerbations

Emergency endovascular treatment of cavernous internal carotid artery acute bleeding with flow diverter stent: a single-center experience

Background and objective To describe our single-center experience in the treatment of cavernous internal carotid artery (ICA) acute bleeding with flow diverter stent (FDS), as a single endovascular procedure or combined with an endoscopic endonasal approach. Methods We analyze a case series of 5 patients with cavernous ICA acute bleeding, i.e., 3 iatrogenic, 1 post-traumatic, and 1 erosive neoplastic. After an immediate nasal packing to temporarily bleeding control, patients underwent digital subtraction angiography (DSA) to identify the site of the ICA injury. A concomitant balloon occlusion test (BOT) was performed, to exclude post-occlusive ischemic neurological damage. An FDS was placed with parallel intravenous infusion of abciximab in 3 cases and tirofiban in 2 cases. In two patients, an innovative "sandwich technique" combining the endovascular reconstruction with an extracranial intrasphenoidal cavernous ICA resurfacing with autologous flaps or grafts by endoscopic endonasal approach was performed. Results No patient had periprocedural ischemic-hemorrhagic complications. All patients had a regular clinical evolution, without general complications or new onset of focal neurological deficits. No further bleeding occurred in 3 patients, while 2 cases experienced a mild rebleeding in a period ranging from 5 to 15 days after the endovascular procedure. In these two cases, we proceeded with an endoscopic endonasal procedure to resurface the exposed ICA wall in the sphenoid sinus. Conclusions Although the treatment of choice for cavernous ICA acute bleeding remains the occlusion of the injured vessel, in cases of poor hemodynamic compensation at the BTO, the endovascular FDS emergency placement can be effective. A combined endoscopic endonasal technique to support the extracranial side of the vessel using autologous flaps or grafts can be performed to prevent the risk of rebleeding

Interfranja vs rotación de la fuente filamentaria monocromática en un experimento de Young

Se realizó una experiencia de Young utilizando una fuente lineal monocromática (linea focal de un haz láser expandido y colimado al atravesar una lente cilíndrica). En la presente comunicación se discute la dependencia de la distancia entre las franjas con la rotación de las ranuras respecto de la fuente.A Young experiment was performed with a filamentary monochromatic source (focal line of an expanded collimated láser beam passing through a cylindrical lens). In this comunication the dependence of the distance between fringes on the rotation of the slits is discused.Facultad de Ciencias ExactasCentro de Investigaciones Óptica

Severe pneumonia caused by Legionella pneumophila serogroup 11, Italy.

Legionella pneumophila serogroups (SGs) 1–16 cause pneumonia in humans. Although SG 1 is the serogroup most commonly associated with disease, we report a case of community-acquired legionellosis caused by SG 11

Experimentos interferenciales de Young empleando una fuente filamentaria monocromática

El Teorema de van Cittert-Zemike permite interpretar la distribución de coherencia del campo electromagnético a partir de experiencias interferenciales simples, como son las experiencias de Young La visibilidad de las franjas de interferencia es igual al módulo del grado de coherencia complejo del campo óptico. Si bien el Teorema de van Cittert-Zemike se aplica a fuentes casimonocromáticas, en los experimentos que se comentan en esta comunicación, se empleó como fuente de luz la línea focal de una lente cilindrica iluminada por el haz expandido y colimado de 50 mm de sección de un láser rojo de He-Ne. Cuando las ranuras del interferómetro de Young de 22 mm de largo son paralelas a la línea focal, las franjas de interferencia resultan bien definidas y altamente contrastadas. Si la fuente es rotada en un plano paralelo al de las ranuras, la visibilidad de las franjas interferenciales se mantiene notablemente alta, aunque su geometría varia de un modo tal que resulta ser función de dicho ángulo de rotación. Se hicieron observaciones variando el ángulo de rotación desde cero hasta noventa grados. Los resultados experimentales de la observación de la geometría de las franjas interferenciales coinciden sorprendentemente con el modelo teórico planteado.Facultad de Ciencias ExactasFacultad de IngenieríaCentro de Investigaciones Óptica