Catalogue of Mesozoic radiolarian genera. Part 2: Jurassic-Cretaceous

The catalogue of Mesozoic radiolarian genera is a revision of all described genera with re-illustration of their type species. This project was organized under the auspices of the International Association of Radiolarian Paleontologists (Inter-Rad), and was carried out by the Mesozoic Working Group. This is the second of two contributions, this one devoted to the Jurassic-Cretaceous period. It contains 581 genera with re-illustration of their type species. This part shares 30 genera in common with the Triassic catalogue, most of which arose in the Carnian, Norian and Rhaetian. The sharp difference manifested between the Triassic fauna and the Jurassic-Cretaceous fauna is so evident that it justifies two independent catalogues. A comparable division between the Jurassic and Cretaceous could not be justified however, because of the similarity of the fauna, and by the greater number of genera crossing the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary which is three times that for the Triassic-Jurassic boundary. A distinct characteristic of Jurassic-Cretaceous genera is the high number of nomina dubia (up to 131), contrary to the low number in the Triassic interval. This reflects, in part, the influence of Haeckelian taxonomy in earlier research on Jurassic-Cretaceous faunas prior to the application of SEM techniques. The Mesozoic Working Group has carefully reviewed and re-examined the taxonomy of all available genera, their family assignment and stratigraphic ranges. Following careful comparisons, 91 genera were declared as synonyms. The review has noted 26 homonyms which were duly notified to their corresponding authors, and were corrected previous to the publication of this catalogue. In spite of this effort, unfortunately nine homonyms still remain. Two invalid nominal genera, and two nomina nuda are also reported. The systematic revisions have validated 341 genera for the Jurassic-Cretaceous interval. At the end of this catalogue 24 additional are resented as support for those genera having a poor photographs p original illustration of the type species.

Serum resistin concentrations and risk of new onset heart failure in older persons: the health, aging, and body composition (Health ABC) study.

OBJECTIVE: Resistin is associated with inflammation and insulin resistance and exerts direct effects on myocardial cells including hypertrophy and altered contraction. We investigated the association of serum resistin concentrations with risk for incident heart failure (HF) in humans. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied 2902 older persons without prevalent HF (age, 73.6+/-2.9 years; 48.1% men; 58.8% white) enrolled in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study. Correlation between baseline serum resistin concentrations (20.3+/-10.0 ng/mL) and clinical variables, biochemistry panel, markers of inflammation and insulin resistance, adipocytokines, and measures of adiposity was weak (all rho <0.25). During a median follow-up of 9.4 years, 341 participants (11.8%) developed HF. Resistin was strongly associated with risk for incident HF in Cox proportional hazards models controlling for clinical variables, biomarkers, and measures of adiposity (HR, 1.15 per 10.0 ng/mL in adjusted model; 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.27; P=0.003). Results were comparable across sex, race, diabetes mellitus, and prevalent and incident coronary heart disease subgroups. In participants with available left ventricular ejection fraction at HF diagnosis (265 of 341; 77.7%), association of resistin with HF risk was comparable for cases with reduced versus preserved ejection fraction. CONCLUSIONS: Serum resistin concentrations are independently associated with risk for incident HF in older persons.

La justicia como reciprocidad entre individuos (Epicuro) frente a la justicia como finalidad común (Aristóteles)

El presente artículo sostiene, por debajo de la contraposición entre los conceptos dejusticia epicúreo y aristotélico, la existencia de un común denominador a ambos, a saber, la prioridad de un concepto social-natural (no meramente social ni meramente natural) de justicia, previo a todo cálculo de conveniencia, pero no por ello de naturaleza metafísica.En el caso de Epicuro, se trata de un concepto de mínimo al que debe ajustarse el florecimiento individual: el reconocimiento mutuo. En el caso de Aristóteles, de un máximo en la búsqueda del bien común como condición del bien de cada individuo: la pólis gobernada en beneficio de todos los ciudadanos.

Time invested in the global respiratory care of cystic fibrosis paediatrics patients.

INTRODUCTION: Respiratory therapy is a keystone of the treatment for cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease, but it is time consuming. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess the total time spent on respiratory therapy, including chest physiotherapy (CPT) and physical activity (PA), as well as inhalation therapy (IT) and maintenance of materials (MM) to rationalise and optimise treatment. METHODS: A cross-sectional prospective study in a paediatric CF cohort. A questionnaire was developed to look at the time spent on respiratory care over 3 months. Enrolled in this study are all CF patients aged from 6 to 16 years (the exclusion criterion was lung transplantation). RESULTS: Of the 40 enrolled patients, 22 participated (13 boys and 9 girls), with a mean age of 11 years. The patients spent approximately 19.46 h per week (standard deviation ± 7.53, 8.00-35.25 h) on therapy: CPT (30.58%), IT (15.11%), PA (50%) and MM (4.32%), without statistical significance between sexes. CONCLUSION: In our cohort, CF patients spent an average of nearly 20 h a week in respiratory therapy, within a wide range of between 8 h to almost 36 h a week. PA consumes almost half of the time. Physicians have to take into consideration the burden of the treatment, to optimise the therapy.

Secret scar free gracilis flap.

The gracilis free flap is a workhorse in plastic surgery. We present a modified technique that relies on a single horizontal thigh-lift-type approach, which (1) gives wide pedicle exposure, (2) provides material for skin grafting, and (3) allows for distal flap transection without an additional incision. Eighteen gracilis free flaps were performed from 2007 to 2009 for lower extremity reconstruction. Complete flap survival was observed in 17 patients with one partial necrosis distally. Our approach allowed access to divide the distal gracilis tendon without a second incision in all cases. The mean scar length was 16 ± 3 cm and no hypertrophic scars were observed. In 15 patients, no visible scar was observed in the upright position, and in three patients, the scar was visible dorsally (2 ± 1 cm). No sensory deficits were observed 6 months postoperatively. In addition, the split-thickness skin graft harvested from the skin paddle was sufficient to cover all defects.

Mating order-dependent female mate choice in the polygynandrous common lizard Lacerta vivipara.

Recent studies indicate that directional female mate choice and order-dependent female mate choice importantly contribute to non-random mating patterns. In species where females prefer larger sized males, disentangling different hypotheses leading to non-random mating patterns is especially difficult, given that male size usually correlates with behaviours that may lead to non-random mating (e.g. size-dependent emergence from hibernation, male fighting ability). Here we investigate female mate choice and order-dependent female mate choice in the polygynandrous common lizard (Lacerta vivipara). By sequentially presenting males in random order to females, we exclude non-random mating patterns potentially arising due to intra-sexual selection (e.g. male-male competition), trait-dependent encounter probabilities, trait-dependent conspicuousness, or trait-dependent emergence from hibernation. To test for order-dependent female mate choice we investigate whether the previous mating history affects female choice. We show that body size and body condition of the male with which a female mated for the first time were bigger and better, respectively, than the average body size and body condition of the rejected males. There was a negative correlation between body sizes of first and second copulating males. This indicates that female mate choice is dependent on the previous mating history and it shows that the female's choice criteria are non-static, i.e. non-directional. Our study therefore suggests that context-dependent female mate choice may not only arise due to genotype-environment interactions, but also due to other female mating strategies, i.e. order-dependent mate choice. Thus context-dependent female mate choice might be more frequent than previously thought.

Estimativas de parâmetros genéticos e métodos de seleção para o melhoramento genético de Pinus oocarpa Schiede

Este trabalho teve por objetivo estudar a variabilidade genética entre e dentro de procedências e progênies e determinar o ganho genético em volume de madeira, em Pinus oocarpa Schiede. O experimento foi instalado em Angatuba, SP, em delineamento de blocos de famílias compactas, com nove repetições e parcelas lineares de seis plantas. A produtividade volumétrica média obtida de sete procedências foi de 0,296 m³ de madeira por árvore aos nove anos de idade. Para estabelecer um pomar de sementes por mudas, a seleção (no bloco) de 189 árvores (27 por procedência) com os maiores diâmetros na altura do peito (DAP) permite aumentos na produtividade volumétrica de 0,327 m³, 0,338 m³ e 0,341 m³ por árvore, na seleção individual, combinada e índice multiefeito, respectivamente. Em pomar de sementes clonais, a seleção (no experimento) de 28 árvores (4 por procedência) com maiores DAPs permite aumentos na produtividade volumétrica de 0,345 m³, 0,355 m³ e 0,356 m³,por árvore, na seleção individual, combinada e índice multiefeito, respectivamente.

Oral versus intravenous empirical antimicrobial therapy for fever in patients with granulocytopenia who are receiving cancer chemotherapy. International Antimicrobial Therapy Cooperative Group of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Intravenously administered antimicrobial agents have been the standard choice for the empirical management of fever in patients with cancer and granulocytopenia. If orally administered empirical therapy is as effective as intravenous therapy, it would offer advantages such as improved quality of life and lower cost. METHODS: In a prospective, open-label, multicenter trial, we randomly assigned febrile patients with cancer who had granulocytopenia that was expected to resolve within 10 days to receive empirical therapy with either oral ciprofloxacin (750 mg twice daily) plus amoxicillin-clavulanate (625 mg three times daily) or standard daily doses of intravenous ceftriaxone plus amikacin. All patients were hospitalized until their fever resolved. The primary objective of the study was to determine whether there was equivalence between the regimens, defined as an absolute difference in the rates of success of 10 percent or less. RESULTS: Equivalence was demonstrated at the second interim analysis, and the trial was terminated after the enrollment of 353 patients. In the analysis of the 312 patients who were treated according to the protocol and who could be evaluated, treatment was successful in 86 percent of the patients in the oral-therapy group (95 percent confidence interval, 80 to 91 percent) and 84 percent of those in the intravenous-therapy group (95 percent confidence interval, 78 to 90 percent; P=0.02). The results were similar in the intention-to-treat analysis (80 percent and 77 percent, respectively; P=0.03), as were the duration of fever, the time to a change in the regimen, the reasons for such a change, the duration of therapy, and survival. The types of adverse events differed slightly between the groups but were similar in frequency. CONCLUSIONS: In low-risk patients with cancer who have fever and granulocytopenia, oral therapy with ciprofloxacin plus amoxicillin-clavulanate is as effective as intravenous therapy.

Functional genomics of intracellular bacteria.

During the genomic era, a large amount of whole-genome sequences accumulated, which identified many hypothetical proteins of unknown function. Rapidly, functional genomics, which is the research domain that assign a function to a given gene product, has thus been developed. Functional genomics of intracellular pathogenic bacteria exhibit specific peculiarities due to the fastidious growth of most of these intracellular micro-organisms, due to the close interaction with the host cell, due to the risk of contamination of experiments with host cell proteins and, for some strict intracellular bacteria such as Chlamydia, due to the absence of simple genetic system to manipulate the bacterial genome. To identify virulence factors of intracellular pathogenic bacteria, functional genomics often rely on bioinformatic analyses compared with model organisms such as Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. The use of heterologous expression is another common approach. Given the intracellular lifestyle and the many effectors that are used by the intracellular bacteria to corrupt host cell functions, functional genomics is also often targeting the identification of new effectors such as those of the T4SS of Brucella and Legionella.

La justicia transicional

Anàlisi dels processos de transició des d'una situació, en la que s'han produït violacions dels drets humans, fins a un sistema democràtic, des del punt de vista de la justícia aplicada, que castiga els transgressors, porta la reparació a les víctimes i possibilita una reconciliació de la societat, que fonamenti i garanteixi l'estabilitat i continuïtat del nou sistema democràtic.

Le Mari de Lucie. Le Soulier de Rosine. Par Mme Manoël de Grandfort

Comprend : Le soulier de Rosine