acanthocythereis colini nomen novum for a reticulata sciuto 2014

In Sciuto (2014), a new species, Acanthocythereis reticulata, was described from the Upper Pliocene sediments of NE Sicily and belonging to the family Trachyleberididae Sylvester-Bradley, 1948. Nonetheless, the new species name is preoccupied by A. reticulata Smith, 1978, described from the Danian of Alabama (p. 553, Pl. 5, figs. 5-7). According to the Code of Zoological Nomenclature it is necessary to replace the name of the junior homonym. Therefore, I propose a new name for the species from Capo Milazzo

two new species of early pleistocene marine ostracods from southeast sicily

Two fossil species of Ostracoda belonging to the genera Urocythereis Ruggieri, 1950, and Semicytherura Wagner, 1957, discovered in the Early Pleistocene shallow marine sandy-silty sediments outcropping at "Cartiera Molino" (F. 276, IV NO, Vittoria, Southeast Sicily) are described and figured

In vitro and in vivo screening for novel essential cell-envelope proteins in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa represents a prototype of multi-drug resistant opportunistic pathogens for which novel therapeutic options are urgently required. In order to identify new candidates as potential drug targets, we combined large-scale transposon mutagenesis data analysis and bioinformatics predictions to retrieve a set of putative essential genes which are conserved in P. aeruginosa and predicted to encode cell envelope or secreted proteins. By generating unmarked deletion or conditional mutants, we confirmed the in vitro essentiality of two periplasmic proteins, LptH and LolA, responsible for lipopolysaccharide and lipoproteins transport to the outer membrane respectively, and confirmed that they are important for cell envelope stability. LptH was also found to be essential for P. aeruginosa ability to cause infection in different animal models. Conversely, LolA-depleted cells appeared only partially impaired in pathogenicity, indicating that this protein likely plays a less relevant role during bacterial infection. Finally, we ruled out any involvement of the other six proteins under investigation in P. aeruginosa growth, cell envelope stability and virulence. Besides proposing LptH as a very promising drug target in P. aeruginosa, this study confirms the importance of in vitro and in vivo validation of potential essential genes identified through random transposon mutagenesis

New reports of Paratethyan ostracods affinity from the Mediterranean Basin (Sicily, Italy)

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Routine Cysticotomy and Flushing of the Cystic Duct in Patients with Low Risk of Common Duct Stones: Can It Be Beneficial?

Gallstone disease affects 15\u201320% of the general population and up to 20% of these patients present common bile duct stones. Aim. This observational study reports our experience on routine cysticotomy and flushing of the cystic duct in patients with low risk of common duct stones. Materials and Methods. We analyzed 731 patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy between September 2013 and September 2015. Results. Patients were preoperatively stratified on the clinical risk; those presenting with low preoperative risk of common bile duct stones were referred to undergo laparoscopic cholecystectomy and routine cysticotomy with bile duct flushing. Patients presenting thick bile sludge, solid debrides, and/or increased tension of bile outflow underwent unplanned cholangiography. No intraoperative complications or conversion to open technique occurred. Average follow-up time was 22,8 months (range 12 to 37). Rate of retained ductal stones accounted for 0,3%. Conclusions. Routine cysticotomy and bile flushing in our experience is a valid, simple, and not time consumingmanoeuvre that can help decompressing and flushing CBD.Moreover, it is a valid tool for extending selective IOC approach in a focused manner. Further evaluations have to be conducted to evaluate risks and effectiveness of this manoeuvre

Ferric uptake regulator Fur is conditionally essential in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the ferric uptake regulator (Fur) protein controls both metabolism and virulence in response to iron availability. Differently from other bacteria, attempts to obtain fur deletion mutants of P. aeruginosa failed, leading to the assumption that Fur is an essential protein in this bacterium. By investigating a P. aeruginosa conditional fur mutant, we demonstrate that Fur is not essential for P. aeruginosa growth in liquid media, biofilm formation, and pathogenicity in an insect model of infection. Conversely, Fur is essential for growth on solid media since Fur-depleted cells are severely impaired in colony formation. Transposon-mediated random mutagenesis experiments identified pyochelin siderophore biosynthesis as a major cause of the colony growth defect of the conditional fur mutant, and deletion mutagenesis confirmed this evidence. Impaired colony growth of pyochelin-proficient Fur-depleted cells does not depend on oxidative stress, since Fur-depleted cells do not accumulate higher levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and are not rescued by antioxidant agents or overexpression of ROS-detoxifying enzymes. Ectopic expression of pch genes revealed that pyochelin production has no inhibitory effects on a fur deletion mutant of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci, suggesting that the toxicity of the pch locus in Fur-depleted cells involves a P. aeruginosa-specific pathway(s)

Pseudomonas aeruginosa LptE is crucial for LptD assembly, cell envelope integrity, antibiotic resistance and virulence

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is an essential structural component of the outer membrane (OM) of most Gram-negative bacteria. In the model organism Escherichia coli, LPS transport to the OM requires seven essential proteins (LptABCDEFG) that form a continuous bridge across the cell envelope. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa the recently-demonstrated essentiality of LptD and LptH, the P. aeruginosa LptA homologue, confirmed the crucial role of the Lpt system and, thus, of LPS in OM biogenesis in this species. Surprisingly, independent high-throughput transposon mutagenesis studies identified viable P. aeruginosa insertion mutants in the lptE gene, suggesting that it might be dispensable for bacterial growth. To test this hypothesis, we generated an lptE conditional mutant in P. aeruginosa PAO1. LptE depletion only slightly impairs P. aeruginosa growth in vitro. Conversely, LptE is important for cell envelope stability, antibiotic resistance and virulence in an insect model. Interestingly, the maturation and OM localization of LPS is only marginally affected in LptE-depleted cells, while the levels of the OM component LptD are strongly reduced. This suggests that P. aeruginosa LptE might not be directly involved in LPS transport, although it is clearly essential for the maturation and/or stability of LptD. While poor functionality of LptD caused by LptE depletion is somehow tolerated by P. aeruginosa, this has a high cost in terms of cell integrity, drug resistance and virulence, highlighting LptE function(s) as an interesting target to weaken P. aeruginosa defenses and reduce its infectivity

Earned schedule formulation using nonlinear cost estimates at completion

This work contributes to improving available methodologies for duration and cost estimates of ongoing projects with nonlinear cost profiles. It is demonstrated that accurate time estimates can be made when a generalized mathematical formulation of the Earned Schedule and the point estimate methodology are used. It also highlights the advantages of using these duration estimate methodologies to provide more accurate nonlinear schedule-based cost estimates at completion. This is shown via application and comparison of the proposed methodologies to datasets of eight real case projects from the construction industry. In particular, the defined methodologies tend to perform better, on average, than traditional index-based formulae, especially in the early stages of project development when the practical benefits are the greatest for project teams to take their corrective actions

L’ESPERIENZA DELLA SICILIA QUALE REGIONE CAPOFILA NELLA INTRODUZIONE DELLA VACCINAZIONE UNIVERSALE CONTRO I ROTAVIRUS

La gastroenterite da rotavirus (GARV) rappresenta uno dei principali bisogni assistenziali durante l’età pediatrica. Purtroppo, in Italia, in assenza di notifica obbligatoria e di specifici sistemi di sorveglianza, le uniche valutazioni epidemiologiche disponibili sulle GARV sono rese possibili dall’analisi delle ospedalizzazioni. Il presente lavoro ha avuto l’obiettivo di valutare le ospedalizzazioni per GARV e per intussuscezione, avvenute in Sicilia in soggetti di età compresa tra 0 e 60 mesi, negli anni 2003-2012 (periodo prevaccinale) e 2013 (anno di introduzione della vaccinazione antirotavirus). Nel periodo in esame si sono osservate 9.886 ospedalizzazioni per GARV con una media annua di 899 casi. La maggior parte dei ricoveri (62,3%) è stata registrata nella fascia di età compresa tra 0 e 2 anni con una progressiva riduzione negli anni di vita successivi. Durante il 2013 si è osservata una copertura vaccinale regionale attestatasi tra il 30 ed il 40% per la prima dose ed il 25-35% per la seconda dose. Nello stesso anno si è assistito ad una riduzione dei casi di GARV di circa il 38,9% nei soggetti di età 0-5 anni (931 casi/anno nel 2003-2012 vs. 569 nel 2013) e superiore al 50% nella fascia di età 0-11 mesi (277 casi/anno nel 2003-2012 vs. 137 nel 2013). Diversamente, nel 2013 il numero di ospedalizzazioni per intussuscezione in soggetti di età compresa tra 0 ed 11 mesi si è mantenuta in linea con quanto osservato in epoca prevaccinale (15 casi nel 2013 vs. 15,4 casi/anno osservati in media tra 2003 e 2012). I dati presentati evidenziano l’importante peso assistenziale che le GARV hanno annualmente in Sicilia e supportano l’efficacia della vaccinazione nella riduzione significativa dei casi di ospedalizzazione per GARV in assenza di incrementi di rischio di intussuscezione