RARE PLANT SPECIES NOT LISTED IN NATURA 2000 SITES FROM OLTENIA REGION (ROMANIA)

The vascular Flora of Oltenia, so varied and diverse, is far from being known. The data rendered in the present study will complete the list of protected rare species from different areas of Oltenia and, at the same time, will bring contributions to the chorology of these rare taxa of our country flora.There are presented 8 vascular species included in the Red Book of vascular plants of Romania: Acanthus balcanicus Heywood et I. Richardson, Alkanna tinctoria (L.) Tausch, Aphanes australis Rydb., Azolla filiculoidesLam., Fimbristylis bisumbellata (Forssk.) Bubani, Limonium tomentelum (Boiss.)Kuntze, Silene borysthenica (Gruner) Walters and Veronica catenata Pennell

Elasticity and safety of alkoxyethyl cyanoacrylate tissue adhesives

Cyanoacrylate glues are easily applied to wounds with good cosmetic results. However, they tend to be brittle and can induce local tissue toxicity. A series of cyanoacrylate monomers with a flexible ether linkage and varying side-chain lengths was synthesized and characterized for potential use as tissue adhesives. The effect of side-chain length on synthesis yield, physical and mechanical properties, formaldehyde generation, cytotoxicity in vitro and biocompatibility in vivo were examined. The incorporation of etheric oxygen allowed the production of flexible monomers with good adhesive strength. Monomers with longer side-chains were found to have less toxicity both in vitro and in vivo. Polymerized hexoxyethyl cyanoacrylate was more elastic than its commercially available and widely used alkyl analog 2-octyl cyanoacrylate, without compromising biocompatibility.DuPont MIT Allianc

Surgery in tumors of the lateral ventricles – last 8 years experience

Introduction: Tumors of the lateral ventricle are rare lesions including a large variety of benign or malignant tumors. These tumors could originate in the ventricular wall or arising and expanding within the lateral ventricle from the surrounding neural structures. The purpose of this study is to discuss postoperative results and factors that affected the preference for transcallosal or transcortical approach.Material and methods: We performed a retrospective study, lasted between 2005-2013, that comprised 26 consecutive patients who underwent operation for lateral ventricle tumors. The main clinical symptoms and signs were associated with the localization and size of the tumors. Cerebral computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging were used to determine the location and expansion of each tumor. The transcortical approach was used in 17 patients and the transcallosal approach was used in 9 patients.Results: Total tumor resection was achieved in 73% of cases (19 patients). Most frequent histological tumor’s type was glioblastoma, choroid plexus papilloma, ependymoma and meningioma. Signs of increased intracranial pressure were most dominant. One patient died because of postoperative intraventricular hemorrhage. Additional neurological deficits were seen in 3 patients and postoperative seizure occurred in three patients. One patient with preoperative hydrocephalus required ventriculo-peritoneal shunting after tumor’s resection. Two patients developed postoperative epidural hematoma and one required reoperation. 15 of 26 patients received postoperative radiotherapy and 6 of them received adjuvant chemotherapy. The mean duration of postoperative evaluation was 24,32 (range 5-92). Excepting the cases with subtotal resection, two patients were reoperated for recurrences.Conclusions: The nature, size, location and vascularization of intraventricular tumors are the most important elements influencing the choice of surgical approach. Surgeons must evaluate all these factors and prefer the short and safe way to remove the tumor

Reconciling evidence from ancient and contemporary genomes: a major source for the European Neolithic within Mediterranean Europe

Important gaps remain in our understanding of the spread of farming into Europe, due partly to apparent contradictions between studies of contemporary genetic variation and ancient DNA. It seems clear that farming was introduced into central, northern, and eastern Europe from the south by pioneer colonization. It is often argued that these dispersals originated in the Near East, where the potential source genetic pool resembles that of the early European farmers, but clear ancient DNA evidence from Mediterranean Europe is lacking, and there are suggestions that Mediterranean Europe may have resembled the Near East more than the rest of Europe in the Mesolithic. Here, we test this proposal by dating mitogenome founder lineages from the Near East in different regions of Europe. We find that whereas the lineages date mainly to the Neolithic in central Europe and Iberia, they largely date to the Late Glacial period in central/eastern Mediterranean Europe. This supports a scenario in which the genetic pool of Mediterranean Europe was partly a result of Late Glacial expansions from a Near Eastern refuge, and that this formed an important source pool for subsequent Neolithic expansions into the rest of Europ

Diversity of insect pollinators in the Iberian Peninsula

Numerosas observaciones y estudios que se han llevado a cabo en las últimas décadas demuestran que, además de las abejas (Hymenoptera; Anthophila) otros grupos de insectos desempeñan un papel primordial en la polinización entomófila. En este artículo se revisa la información y bibliografía disponible sobre la contribución de los principales polinizadores tradicionalmente considerados como "secundarios": los coleópteros, los lepidópteros, los dípteros, las avispas y las hormigas. Para cada uno de estos grupos se sigue un esquema común, con una breve introducción, la enumeración de las características básicas -tanto morfológicas como de comportamiento- en relación con la polinización, su efectividad como polinizadores y el estatus de conservación en la península ibérica. Esta revisión pone de manifiesto la importancia de todos estos grupos en la polinización entomófila y la necesidad de incluirlos en estudios exhaustivos sobre este fenómeno. Aunque los datos existentes en general son muy limitados, también se evidencia un declive general en la mayoría de estos grupos y una necesidad apremiante de mejorar los conocimientos sobre sus tendencias poblacionales.Numerous observations and studies that have been carried out in recent decades show that, in addition to bees ((Hymenoptera; Anthophila), other groups of insects play a major role in entomophilous pollination. This article reviews the information and literature available on the contribution of the main groups of pollinators that traditionally have been considered as "secondary": beetles, butterflies and moths, dipterans, wasps and ants. For each of these groups a common outline is followed, with a brief introduction, a summary of the basic characteristics - both morphological and behavioral - in relation to pollination, their effectiveness as pollinators and their conservation status in the Iberian Peninsula. This review highlights the importance of all these groups in entomophilous pollination and the need to include them in comprehensive studies on this phenomenon. Although data are generally very limited, there is clear evidence of a general decline in most of these groups which calls for a pressing need to improve knowledge about their population trends

Nuclear shape and structure in neutron-rich 110,111Tc

The structure of Tc nuclei is extended to the moreneutron-rich regions based on measurements of prompt gamma rays from thespontaneous fission of 252Cf at Gammasphere. The level scheme of N=67neutron-rich (Z=43) 110Tc is established for the first time and that of111Tc is expanded. The ground-state band of 111Tc reaches theband-crossing region and the new observation of the weakly populatedalpha = -1/2 member of the band provides important information ofsignature splitting. The systematics of band crossings in the isotopicand isotonic chains and a CSM calculation suggest that the band crossingof the gs band of 111Tc is due to alignment of a pair of h11/2 neutrons.The best fit to signature splitting, branching ratios, and excitations ofthe ground-state band of 111Tc by RTRP model calculations result in ashape of epsilon2 = 0.32 and gamma = -26 deg. for this nucleus. Itstriaxiality is larger than that of 107Tc, to indicate increasingtriaxiality with increasing neutron number. The identification of theweakly-populated "K+2 satellite" band provides strong evidence for thelarge triaxiality of 111Tc. In 110Tc the four lowest-lying levelsobserved are very similar to those in 108Tc. At an excitation of 478.9keV above the lowest state observed, ten states of a delta I = 1 band areobserved. This band is very analogous to the delta I = 1 bands in106,108Tc, but it has greater signature splitting at higherspins