Effect of vine vigour of Vitis vinifera cv. Nebbiolo clones on wine acidity and quality

The grapevine cv. Nebbiolo grown in northern Italy produces high-quality red wines, of which Barolo and Barbaresco are the best known. During a clonal selection project, clones of this variety were assessed for their agronomical and enological value. Different degrees of vegetative vigour were found among them, and this was related to modifications of must and wine composition, with particular respect to the acidity. Over 4 years of observations, vigorous clones produced musts and wines of higher pH, regardless of the amount of titratable acidity. This was associated with a higher malic acid content in the juice and with a higher concentration of potassium in the wine. In addition, wines from vigorous clones showed an unbalanced ratio of colour components. They ranked at the lowest score in the sensory evaluation tests

Thyroid surgery in geriatric patients: a literature review.

BACKGROUND: Thyroid disease is common in the elderly population. The incidence of hypothyroidism and multinodular goitre gradually increases with age. In view of a growth of aging population, we performed a literature review about the feasibility of thyroid surgery in the elderly. METHODS: We conducted a literature search in the PubMed database in September 2012 and all English-language publications on thyroidectomy in geriatric patients since 2002 were retrieved. The potential original articles mainly focusing on thyroidectomy in elderly patients were all identified and full texts were obtained and reviewed for further hand data retrieving. RESULTS: We retrieved five papers based on different primary end-point. Four were retrospective non randomized studies and one was prospective non randomized study. At last 65, 70, 75 and 80 years were used as an age cut-off. All studies evaluate the indications of thyroidectomy in geriatric patients, postoperative morbility and mortality. Only one study specifically assesses the rate of the rehospitalization after thyroidectomy among the elderly. CONCLUSIONS: Thyroid nodules are particularly important in elderly patients, as the incidence of malignancy increases and they are usually more aggressive tumors. An age of at least 70 years is an independent risk factor for complications after general surgery procedures. Thyroid surgery in patients aged 70 years or older is safe and the relatively high rate of thyroid carcinoma and toxic goiter may justify an aggressive approach. A programmed operation with a careful pre-operative evaluation and a risk stratification should make the surgical procedures less hazardous, specially in 80 years old patients with an high ASA score