Evaluación de un novedoso prototipo diseñado para el apoyo y la sujeción cefálica en pacientes con asistencia respiratoria mecánica

Objetivos: 1) Fabricar un prototipo de almohada para apoyo y sujeción cefálica para pacientes críticos con asistencia respiratoria mecánica, 2) comparar su eficacia con la de los métodos alternativos de apoyo y sujeción, 3) monitorizar la formación de escaras en contacto con el prototipo, 4) relevar la opinión del personal de enfermería. Diseño: Ensayo clínico con distribución aleatoria. Ámbito: Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos de un hospital privado.Pacientes: 52 hombres y mujeres con asistencia respiratoria mecánica, de entre 31 y 91 años de edad, reunidos en dos grupos: uno de 23 pacientes, que usaron métodos alternativos, y otro de 29 que utilizaron el prototipo.Intervenciones: Se registró la posición de la cabeza en los 52 pacientes por un lapso de entre 1 y 7 días corridos, 3 veces por día; y el desplazamiento del tubo endotraqueal se registró una vez por día. Catorce enfermeros/as respondieron un cuestionario.Variables de interés principales: Posición de la cabeza y desplazamiento del tubo endotraqueal.Resultados: La cabeza se mantuvo centrada en el 56,9% (métodos alterna-tivos) y en el 87,3% (prototipo) (p 0,9). Doce de los 14 enfermeros/as encuestados prefirieron el prototipo a los métodos alternativos. Conclusiones: El prototipo resultó significativamente más eficaz que los métodos alternativos para mantener la cabeza centrada, mientras que no así para prevenir el desplazamiento del tubo endotraqueal. La mayoría del personal de enfermería prefirió el prototipo a los métodos alternativos.Fil: Turchetto, Elsio S.. Hospital Italiano de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Navarro Arce, Graciela. Hospital Italiano de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Makinistian, Leonardo. Universidad Nacional de San Luis; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Física Aplicada; Argentina; Argentin

Influence of distributary channels on sediment and organic matter supply in event-dominated coastal margins: the Po prodelta as a study case

From November 2008 through May 2009, the Po river (Italy) experienced several floods exceeding 5000 m<sup>3</sup> s<sup>−1</sup>. This long series of events ended with a large flood in early May 2009 (~8000 m<sup>3</sup> s<sup>−1</sup>). An event-response sampling was carried out in the Po prodelta in April–May 2009 to characterize the preservation of this series of floods in the sediment record and to describe the event-supply and deposition of riverborne particulate material during the May 2009 flood. The water sampling was carried out early in the event under conditions of moderate river flow (~5000 m<sup>3</sup> s<sup>−1</sup>) and 24 h later during the peak discharge (~8000 m<sup>3</sup> s<sup>−1</sup>). Sediment cores were collected in the prodelta before and after the peak flood. At each station, profiles of conductivity, transmittance, and fluorescence were acquired. Surface and bottom waters were sampled to collect sediments in suspension. In addition, a few days before the May 2009 event, suspended sediments were collected at Pontelagoscuro gauging station, ~90 km upstream from the coast. Biogeochemical compositions and sedimentological characteristics of suspended and sediment samples were investigated using bulk and biomarker analyses. Furthermore, <sup>7</sup>Be and radiographs were used to analyze the internal stratigraphy of sediment cores. <br><br> During moderate flow, the water column did not show evidence of plume penetration. Stations re-occupied 24 h later exhibited marked physical and biogeochemical changes during the peak flood. However, the concentration of terrestrially-derived material in surface waters was still less than expected. These results suggested that, since material enters the Adriatic as buoyancy-driven flow with a reduced transport capacity, settling and flocculation processes result in trapping a significant fraction of land-derived material in shallow sediments and/or within distributary channels. <br><br> Although numerous discharge peaks occurred from November 2008 through April 2009 (4000–6000 m<sup>3</sup> s<sup>−1</sup>), sediment cores collected in late April 2009 showed lack of event-strata preservation and reduced <sup>7</sup>Be penetrations. This suggested that only a small fraction of the sediment supply during ordinary events reaches the deepest region of the prodelta (12–20 m water depth). As a result, these event-strata have a thickness not sufficient to be preserved in the sediment record because of post-depositional processes that destroy the flood signal. <br><br> Stations in the northern and central prodelta were re-occupied after the peak of the May 2009 flood. Based on <sup>7</sup>Be and radiographs, we estimated event layers of 17 and 6 cm thickness, respectively. Selective trapping of coarse material occurred in the central prodelta likely because of the geomorphologic setting of the central outlet characterized by an estuary-like mouth. Despite these settling processes, lignin-based parameters indicated that the composition of the terrigenous OC was fairly homogenous throughout the network of channels and between size-fractions

Suppression subtractive hybridization analysis of genes regulated by magnaporthe oryzae infection in wheat adult plants.

Blast (also known as brusone), caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, is a serious disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum) across central and southern Brazil. The pathogen is a hemibiotrophic ascomycete that attacks several grass species. The disease was first described in rice in 1600 in China and it was reported infecting wheat ears in 1985 in Paraná state, Brazil, and since spread to all growing-regions in the country. Currently has been also reported on wheat fields in Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina. The rice blast disease has emerged as a model for the study of phytopathogenic fungi showing that this pathogen initially colonizes host tissues as a biotroph, without causing detectable symptoms. Approximately 72?96 h after infection, lesions become apparent in the plant, characterizing the necrotrophic growth of M. oryzae. In wheat plants, depending on the developmental stage at which infection occurs blast can be devastating. Infected heads produce small and wrinkled grains with low specific weight. Few cultivars are described as resistant to wheat blast and fungicides have low control efficiency of the disease. Little is known about the molecular mechanism of wheat resistance to the pathogen. Here, we investigated the responses of wheat to M. oryzae infection in reproductive stage at 40 h after inoculation. The aim of this study was to identify genes that are differentially up- or downregulated in adults plants of Triticum aestivum infected with Magnaporthe oryzae. For this, we used a suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) approach. A total of 420 high-quality contigs were isolated, 415 of them were mapped in Triticum aestivum genome. The 420 contigs were searched against the non-redundant nucleotide and protein databases in GenBank to predict the function for the corresponding genes. Fifty-five contigs corresponded to defense-related genes. We used the quantitative RT-PCR analysis to validate the differential expression patterns for 16 Triticum aestivum genes between control and inoculated spikes. Nine genes presented higher transcript levels under inoculation, including one gene previously described as responsive to Magnaporthe infection on wheat seedlings. This gene coding one protein membrane-associated that may increase the adhesion of the plasma membrane to the cell wall during pathogen infection. In contrast, the other 7 genes presented higher expression in mock-inoculated spikes. The study of these genes and the associated defense mechanisms can provide a significant advance in our understanding of the putative determinants of the resistance mechanisms of this wheat resistant genotype

Sarcoptic Mange in Wild Caprinae of the Alps: Could Pathology Help in Filling the Gaps in Knowledge?

Sarcoptic mange represents the most severe disease for wild Caprinae individuals and populations in Europe, rising concerns for both conservation and management of these ungulates. To date, this disease has been investigated in different wild caprine species and under many different perspectives including diagnostics, epidemiology, impact on the host populations and genetics of both hosts and parasite, with the aim to disentangle the host-Sarcoptes scabiei relationship. Notwithstanding, uncertainty still remains and basic questions still need an answer. Among these, the effect of immunological responses on mange severity at an individual level, the main drivers in host-parasite interactions for different clinical outcomes and the role of the immune response in determining the shift from epidemic to endemic cycle. A deeper approach to pathology of this disease seems therefore advisable, all the more reason considering that immune response to S. scabiei in wild Caprinae, generally classified as a hypersensitivity, still remains poorly understood. In this paper, we started a journey into the pathological features associated to sarcoptic mange in wildlife, exploring different kinds of hypersensitivity and outcomes, with the final goal to highlight the major drivers in the different responses to this disease at an individual level and propose some key topics for future research, with a particular attention to Alps-dwelling wild caprines

Characterization of Eucalyptus grandis' DOF gene family of transcription factors.

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Characterization of eucalyptus grandis dof gene family of transcription factors.

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Il relitto del Molo Sud presso il porto di Malamocco (Venezia)

The paper is dedicated to the complicated underwater archaeological excavation, displacement, temporary lifting, photogrammetric and 3D laserscanner documentation, final protection of the 'wreck of the south pier', at the Malamocco inlet, Venice lagoon. The wreck is attributable to a brig carrying coke coal. The shipwreck dates back to the middle of the 19th century.Il contributo è dedicato ai complessi interventi di scavo archeologico subacqueo, spostamento, sollevamento temporaneo e protezione definitiva del "relitto del molo sud", presso la bocca di porto di Malamocco, laguna di Venezia. Il relitto è riferibile a un brigantino che trasportava carbone coke. Il naufragio si data intorno alla metà del XIX secolo

Amyloid-beta peptides and activated astroglia impairs proliferation of nerve growth factor releasing cells in vitro: implication for encapsulated cell biodelivery-mediated AD therapy

Alzheimer's disease (AD) treatment is constrained due to the inability of peripherally administered therapeutic molecules to cross the blood-brain barrier. Encapsulated cell biodelivery (ECB) devices, a tissue-targeted approach for local drug release, was previously optimized for human mature nerve growth factor (hmNGF) delivery in AD patients but was found to have reduced hmNGF release over time. To understand the reason behind reduced ECB efficacy, we exposed hmNGF-releasing cells (NGC0211) in vitro to human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) obtained from Subjective Cognitive Impairment (SCI), Lewy Body Dementia (LBD), and AD patients. Subsequently, we exposed NGC0211 cells directly to AD-related factors like amyloid-β peptides (Aβ40/42) or activated astrocyte-conditioned medium (Aβ40/42/IL-1β/TNFα-treated) and evaluated biochemical stress markers, cell death indicators, cell proliferation marker (Ki67), and hmNGF release. We found that all patients' CSF significantly reduced hmNGF release from NGC0211 cells in vitro. Aβ40/42, inflammatory molecules, and activated astrocytes significantly affected NGC0211 cell proliferation without altering hmNGF release or other parameters important for essential functions of the NGC0211 cells. Long-term constant cell proliferation within the ECB device is critically important to maintain a steady cell population needed for stable mNGF release. These data show hampered proliferation of NGC0211 cells, which may lead to a decline of the NGC0211 cell population in ECBs, thereby reducing hmNGF release. Our study highlights the need for future studies to strengthen ECB-mediated long-term drug delivery approaches.Supramolecular & Biomaterials Chemistr