Renal function in Palestine sunbirds: elimination of excess water does not constrain energy intake

Copyright © 2004 Company of BiologistsAlthough the renal responses of birds to dehydration have received significant attention, the consequences of ingesting and processing large quantities of water have been less studied. Nectar-feeding birds must often deal with exceptionally high water intake rates in order to meet their high mass-specific energy demands. Birds that ingest large volumes of water may either eliminate excess water in the kidney or regulate the volume of water absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. Because water absorption in the gastrointestinal tract of Palestine sunbirds (Nectarinia osea) decreases with increasing water ingestion rate, we predicted that glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in these birds would not be unusually high in spite of large ingested water loads. When feeding on dilute sucrose solutions, sunbirds ingested between 4 and 6 times their body mass in nectar per day, yet they were able to compensate for varying nectar energy density and increased thermoregulatory energy demands with no apparent difficulty. GFR was lower than predicted (1976.22±91.95 µl h-1), and was not exceptionally sensitive to water loading. Plasma glucose concentrations were high, and varied 1.8-fold between fasted (16.08± 0.75 mmol l-1) and fed (28.18±0.68 mmol l-1) sunbirds, but because GFR was low, glucose filtered load also remained relatively low. Essentially the entire glucose filtered load (98%) was recovered by the kidney. Renal fractional water reabsorption (FWR) decreased from 0.98 to 0.64 with increasing water intake. The ability of Palestine sunbirds to reduce the absorption of ingested water in the gastrointestinal tract may resolve the potential conflict between filtering a large excess of absorbed water in the kidney and simultaneously retaining filtered metabolites.Todd J. McWhorter, Carlos Martínez del Rio, Berry Pinshow and Lizanne Roxburg

Hummingbirds arrest their kidneys at night: diel variation in glomerular filtration rate in Selasphorus platycercus

© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2004Small nectarivorous vertebrates face a quandary. When feeding, they must eliminate prodigious quantities of water; however, when they are not feeding, they are susceptible to dehydration. We examined the role of the kidney in the resolution of this osmoregulatory dilemma. Broad-tailed hummingbirds (Selasphorus platycercus) displayed diurnal variation in glomerular filtration rate (GFR). During the morning, midday and evening, GFRs were 0.9±0.6, 1.8±0.4 and 2.3±0.5 ml h–1, respectively. At midday, GFR increased linearly with increased water intake. During the evening, hummingbirds decreased renal fractional water reabsorption linearly with increased water intake. Broad-tailed hummingbirds appeared to cease GFR at night (–0.1±0.2 ml h–1) and decreased GFR in response to short-term (~1.5 h) water deprivation. GFR seems to be very responsive to water deprivation in hummingbirds. Although hummingbirds and other nectarivorous birds can consume astounding amounts of water, a phylogenetically explicit allometric analysis revealed that their diurnal GFRs are not different from the expectation based on body mass.Bradley Hartman Bakken, Todd J. McWhorter, Ella Tsahar and Carlos Martínez del Ri

Hypertension, Chronic Kidney Disease, and Renal Pathology in a Child with Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome

We report a child with Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome (HPS) and chronic kidney disease (stage II) with histological diagnosis of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). A 15-year-old male of Puerto Rico ancestry with history of HPS, hypertension (HTN), asthma, obesity, and chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage II presented with new-onset proteinuria without edema. His blood pressure had been controlled, serum creatinine had been 0.9–1.4 mg/dL, and first morning urine protein/creatinine ratio (UPC) ranged from 0.2 to 0.38. Due to persistent nonorthostatic proteinuria with CKD, renal biopsy was performed and FSGS (not otherwise specified) with chronic diffuse tubulopathy (tubular cytoplasmic droplets) and acute tubular injury was reported. Ceroid-like material is known to infiltrate tissues (i.e., lungs, colon, and kidney) in HPS, but the reason for the renal insufficiency is unknown. Nonspecific kidney disease and in one adult case IgA nephropathy with ANCA-positive glomerulonephritis have previously been reported in patients with Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome. To our knowledge, we report the first pediatric renal pathology case of HPS associated with CKD. This paper discusses presentation and management of renal disease in HPS

Adverse events in thyroid surgery: observational study in three surgical units with high volume/year

Background: Thyroid surgery, performed for benign or malignant pathologies, is one of the most frequently performed procedures and its frequency has even been increasing in recent years. Postoperative bleeding, recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) palsy, associated to dysphonia, dysphagia, dyspnea, and hypoparathyroidism represent the most fearful and common complications. We conducted a multicenter, observational study of retrospectively collected data in three high-volume referral centers, enrolling all patients undergone to thyroid surgery between January 2016 and December 2017 in Parma University Hospital, Cagliari University Hospital and Ferrara University Hospital. Materials: Patients were divided into five groups, differentiated thyroid carcinoma, medullary thyroid carcinoma, non-toxic benign pathology, hyperfunctioning benign pathology and NIFTP (Non-invasive Follicular Thyroid neoplasm with Papillary-like nuclear features). A follow up at 7 and 30 days was executed, evaluating the onset of paresthesia, dysphonia and dysphagia. A 6-month follow-up was conducted in cases of early complications. Results: Totally, 1252 patients were eligible for the study: 907 female and 345 male, with a female to male ratio of 2.6:1 and an average age of 53.428. Total thyroidectomy was performed in 1022 cases, lobectomy in 230. After 6 months we recorded paresthesia in 0.5%, dysphonia in 1.8% and dysphagia in 0.5%. Conclusion: Our study confirms once again that a share of morbidity escapes the possibilities of prediction and control by the operator, depending on patient anamnestic, pathological or anatomical factors

Encounters with di-baryons - from the ABC effect to a new resonance?

The ABC effect, an intriguing low-mass enhancement in the $\pi\pi$ invariant mass spectrum, is known from inclusive measurements of two-pion production in nuclear fusion reactions to the few-body systems d, $^{3}$He and $^{4}$He. It was first observed 1960 by Abashian, Booth and Crowe in the inclusive pd $\to$ $^{3}$He X reaction. Its explanation has been a puzzle since then. In an effort to solve this long-standing problem by exclusive and kinematically complete high-statistics experiments, we have measured the fusion reactions to d, $^{3}$He and $^{4}$He with WASA-at-COSY. These measurements cover the full energy region, where the ABC effect has been observed previously in inclusive reactions. In a recent kinematically complete measurement of the $pn \to d\pi ^{0}\pi ^{0}$ reaction we have shown that the ABC effect in this basic double-pionic fusion reaction is correlated with a narrow structure in the total cross section with quantum numbers I(J$^{P}$) = 0(3$^{+}$), a mass of 2.37 GeV and a width of about 70 MeV. The mass is about 90 MeV below 2 times the mass of $\Delta$, the mass of a $\Delta\Delta$ system, and the width is three times narrower than expected from a conventional t-channel $\Delta\Delta$ process. In the double-pionic fusion reaction to the helium isotope $dd \to ^{4}$He$\pi ^{0}\pi ^{0}$ again the ABC effect is observed to be correlated with the appearance of a resonance-like structure in the total cross section at the same excess energy. From a previous exclusive experiment at CELSIUS-WASA it is known that the double-pionic fusion to $^{3}$He also exhibits a pronunced ABC effect. New data from COSY on the $pd \to ^{3}$He$\pi ^{0}\pi ^{0}$ reaction scanning the full ABC region are presented as well as the status of measurements in other reaction channels, where the new resonance might contribute

A comparative analysis of the publication behaviour of MSCA fellows

MSCA applicants from South and Eastern European countries underperform researchers from North Western Europe before receiving the grant. However, the median difference disappears by the time of the grant and in the period after this. Due to a higher number of outliers (top performers) among the researchers from North Western Europe, the mean impact scores do remain significantly higher