Relationship between myological variables and different take-off and landing behaviours in frogs

Although landing behaviour in anurans differs significantly among species, a take-off behaviour seems to be largely conserved in the evolution of frogs and toads. The ancestral mode of landing is hypothesized to involve the body crash-landing on the substrate, after which the anuran cycles the limbs forward and then backward to their resting position. The part of the body that first contacts the substrate may vary among taxa. The limbs and pectoral girdle muscles as well as those of the caudopelvic region, involved with landing and take-off behaviours, are investigated. The existence of a relationship exists between myology and different take-off and landing behaviours is explored. The results suggest that most of the muscles involved in both take-off and landing are conserved morphologically, with only few differing, depending on the locomotor behaviour. Two muscles tend to be longer; the m. coracobrachialis, which is involved with landing, and the m. coccygeosacralis, related to the take-off.Fil: Soliz, Monica Carina. Universidad Nacional de Salta; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Tulli, María José. Fundación Miguel Lillo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Abdala, Virginia Sara Luz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical; Argentin

Sensory comparison of mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) farmed in the Adriatic and Sardinian Sea

Italy, with Spain and France, is a top producer of molluscan shellfish in the EU; the national production of bivalve mollusc (111,000 tons) accounts for 63% of the Italian aquaculture size and mainly consists in farmed Mediterranean mussels (M. galloprovincialis). Mussels have an interesting nutritional value making them ideal for the human diet; however, being cultured in extensive systems, their quality entirely depends on natural resources. Recent studies highlighted that mussels from different Spanish and Portuguese production sites can be distinguished by biometric, nutritional and sensory characteristics (Olivera et al., 2014). Such differences could help to register seafood products by a Protected Designation of Origin. The experiment aims at a quick, explorative sensory profiling of mussels cultured in different Italian rearing sites. M. galloprovincialis of commercial size, from Arborea (OR), Marano Lagunare (UD) and Goro (FE) after heat treatment (85\ub0C for 10 minutes) Sous vide cooking and chilling, were analyzed using Flash Profiling in both the conventional method (CFP), with a free generation of sensory attributes, and the guided method (GFP), with a selection of sensory attributes from a precompiled list. Products were evaluated by two panels of 8 untrained assessors each, during two parallel sessions of sensory analysis, comprising three replicates each. Data collected with the FIZZ software (Biosystem, Couternon, F) were subjected to GPA by Senstool software (O&P Product Research BV, 1998). The same average number of attributes, 13, were considered by the two methods, but GFP proved more reliable (Permutation test) in providing the sensory profile of mussels originating from different areas. The experiment showed significant differences in flavor characteristics between mussel groups; "sweetness" was the prevailing perceived feature of mussels cultured in the Adriatic Sea, while "salty", "brackish", "marine" and "seaweed" were the most recurrent sensory attributes selected to describe the mussels farmed in the Sea of Sardinia

IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE OF ANTI-SPAM FILTERS USING OUT-OF-VOCABULARY STATISTICS MEJORA DEL DESEMPEÑO DE FILTROS ANTI-SPAM USANDO ESTADÍSTICAS DE PALABRAS FUERA DE VOCABULARIO

This paper presents a feature based on out-of-vocabulary word statistics that complements the information sources used in the decision by state-of-the-art spam filters. The experiments included freely available spam filters as reference, SpamAssassin, Bogofilter, SpamBayes and SpamProbe, as well as a Naive Bayes classifier. The results show that the decision based on the proposed feature improves the performance of all spam filters under study.Este artículo presenta una característica basada en estadísticas de palabras desconocidas (fuera del vocabulario) que complementa las fuentes de información usadas en la decisión por parte de los filtros anti-spam actuales. Los experimentos incluyeron filtros anti-spam disponibles libremente como referencia: SpamAssassin, Bogofilter, SpamBayes y SpamProbe, así como también un clasificador puramente bayesiano. Los resultados muestran que la decisión basada en la característica propuesta mejora el rendimiento de todos los filtros anti-spam sujetos a estudio

Ecomorfología en tetrápodos

La ecomorfología es una disciplina biológica que estudia la interacción entre el organismo y el ambiente, resaltando la importancia del comportamiento como nexo que permite distinguir qué cambios morfológicos representan una adaptación. Por lo tanto, los organismos ocupan el mismo hábitat/nicho estructural, son similares en su comportamiento y morfología, pero no están necesariamente filogenéticamente relacionados. La morfología de un organismo se liga a la ecología debido a que determina el límite individual de la habilidad de los organismos para realizar todas las funciones diarias. Recientes estudios morfológicos han demostrado que existe una correlación entre la morfología y la ecología en amplios niveles taxonómicos, pero esta relación se disipa cuando se comparan grupos estrechamente relacionados (por ejemplo: familias). A partir de estos enfoques nuestro grupo se propuso trabajar en la obtención de datos (morfológicos, filogenéticos y ecológicos) en distintos grupos de vertebrados como lagartijas, roedores, anfibios, abordando una amplia gama de preguntas. A partir de estos estudios parciales nos proponemos realizar meta-análisis, es decir, análisis de las matrices ya publicadas para los diferentes grupos taxonómicos en forma combinada, para poder inferir procesos macroevolutivos y complementar aspectos aún no cubiertos por la información pre-existente acerca de la relación morfología-ecología en otros grupos de tetrápodos.Fil: Tulli, María José. Fundación Miguel Lillo. Dirección de Zoología. Instituto de Herpetología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; ArgentinaFil: Carrizo, Luz Valeria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas; ArgentinaFil: Soliz, Monica Carina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Humanidades. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Salta; ArgentinaFil: Abdala, Virginia Sara Luz. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Facultad de Cs.naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical; Argentin

Protective efficacy induced by recombinant Clostridium difficile toxin fragments

Clostridium difficile is a spore-forming bacterium that can reside in animals and humans. C. difficile infection causes a variety of clinical symptoms, ranging from diarrhea to fulminant colitis. Disease is mediated by TcdA and TcdB, two large enterotoxins released by C. difficile during colonization of the gut. In this study, we evaluated the ability of recombinant toxin fragments to induce neutralizing antibodies in mice. The protective efficacies of the most promising candidates were then evaluated in a hamster model of disease. While limited protection was observed with some combinations, coadministration of a cell binding domain fragment of TcdA (TcdA-B1) and the glucosyltransferase moiety of TcdB (TcdB-GT) induced systemic IgGs which neutralized both toxins and protected vaccinated animals from death following challenge with two strains of C. difficile. Further characterization revealed that despite high concentrations of toxin in the gut lumens of vaccinated animals during the acute phase of the disease, pathological damage was minimized. Assessment of gut contents revealed the presence of TcdA and TcdB antibodies, suggesting that systemic vaccination with this pair of recombinant polypeptides can limit the disease caused by toxin production during C. difficile infection

Pentraxin 3 in patients with severe sepsis or shock: the ALBIOS trial

Background: The long pentraxin PTX3 is a key component of the humoral arm of innate immunity related to sepsis severity and mortality. We evaluated the clinical and prognostic significance of circulating PTX3 in the largest cohort ever reported of patients with severe sepsis or septic shock. Materials and methods: Plasma PTX3 was measured on days 1, 2 and 7 after randomization of 958 patients to albumin or crystalloids for fluid resuscitation in the multicentre Albumin Italian Outcome Sepsis (ALBIOS) trial. We tested the association of PTX3 and its changes over time with clinical severity, prevalent and incident organ dysfunctions, 90-day mortality and treatment. Results: PTX3 was high at baseline (72 [33\u2013186] ng/mL) and rose with the severity and number of organ dysfunctions (P < 0\ub7001) and the incidence of subsequent new failures. The PTX3 concentration dropped from day 1 to 7, but this decrease was less pronounced in patients with septic shock (P = 0\ub70004). Higher concentrations of PTX3 on day 1 predicted incident organ dysfunctions. Albumin supplementation was associated with lower levels of PTX3 in patients with septic shock (P = 0\ub7005) but not in those without shock. In a fully adjusted multivariable model, PTX3 on day 7 predicted 90-day mortality. Smaller drops in PTX3 predicted higher 90-day mortality. Conclusions: In severe sepsis and septic shock, early high PTX3 predict subsequent new organ failures, while a smaller drop in circulating PTX3 over time predicts an increased risk of death. Patients with septic shock show lower levels of PTX3 when assigned to albumin than to crystalloids

Italian pediatric nutrition survey

Introduction the prevalence of malnutrition in children and its impact on clinical outcomes is underrecognized by clinicians in Italy as well as worldwide. A novel definition of pediatric malnutrition has been recently proposed by a working group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.), based on the correlation between illness and the use of zscores of anthropometric measurements. Aim to investigate the prevalence of malnutrition and related nutritional support among hospitalized children in Italy, in a nationwide survey performed in a single day (16/4/2015). Methods an open access website (http://nday.biomedia.net) was used to collected data from 73 hospitals and 101 wards in 14 Italian regions (1994 patients). Anonymous information was collected on hospitals' characteristics, patient's anthropometry, admission diagnosis, presence of chronic diseases and use of nutritional support: oral nutritional supplements (ONS), enteral nutrition (EN) or parenteral nutrition (PN). Z-scores of anthropometric measurements, calculated with Epi Info 7.1.5, defined nutritional status: wasting was identified by BMI or Weight-for-Length z-score (<â\u88\u921 mild, <â\u88\u922 moderate, <â\u88\u923 severe), stunting by Height-for-Age Z-score <â\u88\u922. WHO 2006 and CDC 2000 growth charts were used respectively for children younger and older than 2 years old. Results 1790 complete records were obtained for hospitalized patients aged 0â\u80\u9320 years, with median age 6.16 (0.1â\u80\u9320 years and 53.3% males). 52.9% were aged 0â\u80\u936 years and 58.8% of children suffered from chronic diseases. Wasting was detected in 28.7% of the total sample with higher occurrence observed in age ranges 0â\u80\u936 and 14â\u80\u9320 years, while 17.3% of patients showed stunting; surprisingly almost 27% of them were aged 0â\u80\u932. A ranking of the admission diagnosis with the highest rate of malnutrition was complied. The prevalence of wasting was significantly (p < 0.005) higher amongst children with chronic diseases (34.1% vs. 27.1%); stunting prevalence tripled in patients with chronic disease (24.5% vs. 8.3%). Only 23.5% of malnourished children (17%, 25.6% and 36.7%, respectively mild, moderate and severe malnutrition) received nutritional support: 11.7% received oral nutrition supplements (ONS, modular or complete), 11.5% enteral nutrition (EN, 6.4% via nasogastric tube, 5.1% via gastrostomy) and 6.8 % received parenteral nutrition (PN); in some patients a combination of two. Nutritional support is more commonly used among stunting patients, 39.5% of children under treatment. Conclusion Malnutrition of any grade was observed in nearly 1/3 and stunting in 17% of the reported hospitalized children, and it is likely to be underrecognized as the nutritional support reached only a small part of the malnourished children

Italian pediatric nutrition survey

Introduction the prevalence of malnutrition in children and its impact on clinical outcomes is underrecognized by clinicians in Italy as well as worldwide. A novel definition of pediatric malnutrition has been recently proposed by a working group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.), based on the correlation between illness and the use of zscores of anthropometric measurements. Aim to investigate the prevalence of malnutrition and related nutritional support among hospitalized children in Italy, in a nationwide survey performed in a single day (16/4/2015). Methods an open access website (http://nday.biomedia.net) was used to collected data from 73 hospitals and 101 wards in 14 Italian regions (1994 patients). Anonymous information was collected on hospitals' characteristics, patient's anthropometry, admission diagnosis, presence of chronic diseases and use of nutritional support: oral nutritional supplements (ONS), enteral nutrition (EN) or parenteral nutrition (PN). Z-scores of anthropometric measurements, calculated with Epi Info 7.1.5, defined nutritional status: wasting was identified by BMI or Weight-for-Length z-score (<−1 mild, <−2 moderate, <−3 severe), stunting by Height-for-Age Z-score <−2. WHO 2006 and CDC 2000 growth charts were used respectively for children younger and older than 2 years old. Results 1790 complete records were obtained for hospitalized patients aged 0–20 years, with median age 6.16 (0.1–20 years and 53.3% males). 52.9% were aged 0–6 years and 58.8% of children suffered from chronic diseases. Wasting was detected in 28.7% of the total sample with higher occurrence observed in age ranges 0–6 and 14–20 years, while 17.3% of patients showed stunting; surprisingly almost 27% of them were aged 0–2. A ranking of the admission diagnosis with the highest rate of malnutrition was complied. The prevalence of wasting was significantly (p < 0.005) higher amongst children with chronic diseases (34.1% vs. 27.1%); stunting prevalence tripled in patients with chronic disease (24.5% vs. 8.3%). Only 23.5% of malnourished children (17%, 25.6% and 36.7%, respectively mild, moderate and severe malnutrition) received nutritional support: 11.7% received oral nutrition supplements (ONS, modular or complete), 11.5% enteral nutrition (EN, 6.4% via nasogastric tube, 5.1% via gastrostomy) and 6.8 % received parenteral nutrition (PN); in some patients a combination of two. Nutritional support is more commonly used among stunting patients, 39.5% of children under treatment. Conclusion Malnutrition of any grade was observed in nearly 1/3 and stunting in 17% of the reported hospitalized children, and it is likely to be underrecognized as the nutritional support reached only a small part of the malnourished children