Sex difference and intra-operative tidal volume: Insights from the LAS VEGAS study

BACKGROUND: One key element of lung-protective ventilation is the use of a low tidal volume (VT). A sex difference in use of low tidal volume ventilation (LTVV) has been described in critically ill ICU patients.OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine whether a sex difference in use of LTVV also exists in operating room patients, and if present what factors drive this difference.DESIGN, PATIENTS AND SETTING: This is a posthoc analysis of LAS VEGAS, a 1-week worldwide observational study in adults requiring intra-operative ventilation during general anaesthesia for surgery in 146 hospitals in 29 countries.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Women and men were compared with respect to use of LTVV, defined as VT of 8 ml kg-1 or less predicted bodyweight (PBW). A VT was deemed 'default' if the set VT was a round number. A mediation analysis assessed which factors may explain the sex difference in use of LTVV during intra-operative ventilation.RESULTS: This analysis includes 9864 patients, of whom 5425 (55%) were women. A default VT was often set, both in women and men; mode VT was 500 ml. Median [IQR] VT was higher in women than in men (8.6 [7.7 to 9.6] vs. 7.6 [6.8 to 8.4] ml kg-1 PBW, P < 0.001). Compared with men, women were twice as likely not to receive LTVV [68.8 vs. 36.0%; relative risk ratio 2.1 (95% CI 1.9 to 2.1), P < 0.001]. In the mediation analysis, patients' height and actual body weight (ABW) explained 81 and 18% of the sex difference in use of LTVV, respectively; it was not explained by the use of a default VT.CONCLUSION: In this worldwide cohort of patients receiving intra-operative ventilation during general anaesthesia for surgery, women received a higher VT than men during intra-operative ventilation. The risk for a female not to receive LTVV during surgery was double that of males. Height and ABW were the two mediators of the sex difference in use of LTVV.TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered at Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01601223

Ceuthonectes petkovskii, a new species of Harpacticoid Copepod from Montenegro (Crustacea, Canthocamptidae)

A new species of the genus Ceuthonectes Chappuis, 1924 (Harpacticoida, Canthocamptidae) is described from three subterranean localities in Montenegro. With the addition of the new species, this genus now includes nine species from Europe and Caucasus

Four new Cyclopina (Copepoda, Cyclopinidae) from South Korea

Copepods are well studied in South Korea, with the exception of marine non-parasitic cyclopoids, and especially cyclopinids; only three species were found so far here, and only one of them is endemic. A survey of intertidal interstitial faunas from sandy beaches revealed four endemic members of the genus Cyclopina Claus, 1863, which represents the first record of the largest cyclopinid genus in South Korea. A detailed study of their morphology revealed numerous differences, including in rarely studied cuticular organs. Some of these micro-characters could easily be homologised and showed little intraspecific variability, which might prove invaluable for matching sexes and reconstructing phylogenetic relationships. Cyclopina busanensis sp. nov. is described from both sexes collected near Busan (South Coast of South Korea), and is most similar to the only congener from Japan: C. kiraensis Horomi, 1984. Cyclopina koreana sp. nov. is described from both sexes collected near Gangneung (East Coast), and has no close relatives among currently known species. Cyclopina curtijeju sp. nov. is described from two females from Jeju (off South Coast); it is possibly closely related to C. smirnovi Herbst, 1982, but the latter is known from a single male from the Russian Far East. Cyclopina wido sp. nov. is described from both sexes from Wido (West Coast), and shows numerous reductions in segmentation and armature of appendages, most of them probably a consequence of its diminutive size. A table of 26 discrete and continuous characters commonly used in the taxonomy of this group is provided for 48 valid species and subspecies of Cyclopina

Four new Cyclopina (Copepoda, Cyclopinidae) from South Korea

Copepods are well studied in South Korea, with the exception of marine non-parasitic cyclopoids, and especially cyclopinids; only three species were found so far here, and only one of them is endemic. A survey of intertidal interstitial faunas from sandy beaches revealed four endemic members of the genus Cyclopina Claus, 1863, which represents the first record of the largest cyclopinid genus in South Korea. A detailed study of their morphology revealed numerous differences, including in rarely studied cuticular organs. Some of these micro-characters could easily be homologised and showed little intraspecific variability, which might prove invaluable for matching sexes and reconstructing phylogenetic relationships. Cyclopina busanensis sp. nov. is described from both sexes collected near Busan (South Coast of South Korea), and is most similar to the only congener from Japan: C. kiraensis Horomi, 1984. Cyclopina koreana sp. nov. is described from both sexes collected near Gangneung (East Coast), and has no close relatives among currently known species. Cyclopina curtijeju sp. nov. is described from two females from Jeju (off South Coast); it is possibly closely related to C. smirnovi Herbst, 1982, but the latter is known from a single male from the Russian Far East. Cyclopina wido sp. nov. is described from both sexes from Wido (West Coast), and shows numerous reductions in segmentation and armature of appendages, most of them probably a consequence of its diminutive size. A table of 26 discrete and continuous characters commonly used in the taxonomy of this group is provided for 48 valid species and subspecies of Cyclopina

First record of the harpacticoid genus

Three new freshwater ameirid species were discovered in the Western Australian subterranean habitats and described in this paper. They all proved to belong to the genus Nitocrellopsis Galassi, De Laurentiis & Dole-Olivier, 1999, representing the first record of this genus in Australia. Nitocrellopsis operculata sp. nov. was collected in 2003 in the Pilbara region, during the Pilbara Regional Survey, led by the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC). It can be distinguished from all other congeners by the reduced armature of the antennal exopod, which is an autapomorphic feature. Also, no other species of Nitocrellopsis has cuticular windows on prosomal or urosomal somites, or six elements on the third exopodal segment of the second leg. Nitocrellopsis halsei sp. nov. and N. pinderi sp. nov. are sister-species, collected in 2007 in the neighbouring Yilgarn region, by the private environmental consulting company Bennelongia Pty Ltd. Numerous morphological similarities include somite ornamentation, armature patterns of the swimming legs and the fifth leg, as well as the shape and armature of the antennula, antenna and almost all mouth appendages, while the main differences between the two are observed in the body size and habitus appearance, caudal rami shape and size, presence/absence of large lateral pores on the fourth pedigerous somite, number of spinules on the anal operculum, number of setae on the madibular endopod, and shape of the exopod of the fifth leg. Although they differ from any other congener by a combination of characters, no significant autapomorphic features were observed. In order to find a more natural allocation of these three species, a cladistic analysis is performed on all current members of Nitocrellopsis and three outgroup taxa, based on 45 morphological characters. The resulting cladogram shows that the ingroup is well defined by at least four synapomorphies, but the Australian species from the two regions are only remotely related to each other, showing the importance of looking at small-scale patterns when inferring Gondwanan biogeography. Three sister-species pairs are recognized in the genus and a key to all 12 members is provided

Stygonitocrella Reid, Hunt & Stanley 2003

Key to species of Stygonitocrella. 1 Caudal rami shorter than anal somite.......................................................................................................................... 2 - Caudal rami longer than anal somite ............................................................ S. sequoyahi Reid, Hunt & Stanley, 2003 2 Armature on fifth leg endopod absent.......................................................................................................................... 3 - This armature present ............................................................................................................ S. dubia (Chappuis, 1937) 3 Antennal exopod with three setae............................................................................................................................... 4 - Only two setae present ................................................................................................... S. orghidani (Petkovski, 1973) 4 Anal operculum smooth ........................................................................................................ S. montana (Noodt, 1965) - Operculum ornamented ..................................................................................................... S. guadalfensis Rouch, 1985Published as part of Karanovic, Tomislav & Hancock, Peter, 2009, On the diagnostic characters of the genus Stygonitocrella (Copepoda, Harpacticoida), with descriptions of seven new species from Australian subterranean waters 2324, pp. 1-85 in Zootaxa 2324 (1) on page 38, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2324.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/531303

Maraenobiotus pescei Brancelj & Karanovic 2015, sp. nov.

Maraenobiotus pescei sp. nov. [partim.] Maraenobiotus vejdovskyi Mrázek, 1893 – Pesce et al. 1994: p. 83, figs. 1–10. Type locality Italy, Abruzzo, L’ Aquila, Gioia dei Marsi, temporary stream Fosso Perrone, a tributary of the river Sangro, epibenthic and interstitial habitat in organic detritus. Type material Holotype female, illustrated by Pesce et al. (1994) in their figures 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 10; allotype male, illustrated by Pesce et al. (1994) in their figures 3, 4, 6, 8; both from the type locality, originally deposited in the Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Università di L’ Aquila, Via Vetoio 14, 67100 Coppito, L’ Aquila, Italy. Current location the same, but condition not checked since the 2009 L’ Aquila earthquake which damaged many slides (Prof. Diana M. P. Galassi, personal communication, July 2014). [not examined] Etymology The species name is dedicated to Prof. Giuseppe Lucio Pesce, who discovered these specimens in Italy with his collaborators. The name is a noun in the genitive singular. Description Female as illustrated by Pesce et al. (1994) in their figures 1–10, as Maraenobiotus veydovskyi Mrázek, 1893. Remarks The female specimen of this Italian population has truncated principal caudal setae as in Maraenobiotus veydovskyi truncatus Gurney, 1932, and the caudal rami look very similar in shape and size, except that the Italian population has slightly smaller caudal rami in proportion to the anal somite. However, M. pescei sp. nov. differs from M. vejdovskyi truncatus by much reduced (or absent) all lateral setae on the caudal rami, as well as by a much longer apophysis on the male Endp P3. Maraenobiotus pescei differs from M. slovenicus sp. nov. also by very reduced (or absent) all lateral setae on the caudal rami, while the caudal rami of two other species from the M. vejdovskyi complex, M. ishidai sp. nov. (see above) and M. galassiae sp. nov. (see below), are cylindrical and much longer.Published as part of Brancelj, Anton & Karanovic, Tomislav, 2015, A new subterranean Maraenobiotus (Crustacea: Copepoda) from Slovenia challenges the concept of polymorphic and widely distributed harpacticoids, pp. 2905-2928 in Journal of Natural History 49 (45) on page 2923, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2015.1022620, http://zenodo.org/record/400232