Anaerobic ammonium oxidation by marine and freshwater planctomycete-like bacteria

Recently, two fresh water species, 'Candidatus Brocadia anammoxidans' and 'Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis', and one marine species, 'Candidatus Scalindua sorokinii', of planctomycete anammox bacteria have been identified. 'Candidatus Scalindua sorokinii' was discovered in the Black Sea, and contributed substantially to the loss of fixed nitrogen. All three species contain a unique organelle-the anammoxosome-in their cytoplasm. The anammoxosome contains the hydrazine/hydroxylamine oxidoreductase enzyme, and is thus the site of anammox catabolism. The anammoxosome is surrounded by a very dense membrane composed almost exclusively of linearly concatenated cyclobutane-containing lipids. These so-called 'ladderanes' are connected to the glycerol moiety via both ester and ether bonds. In natural and man-made ecosystems, anammox bacteria can cooperate with aerobic ammonium-oxidising bacteria, which protect them from harmful oxygen, and provide the necessary nitrite. The cooperation of these two groups of ammonium-oxidising bacteria is the microbial basis for a sustainable one reactor system, CANON (completely autotrophic nitrogen-removal over nitrite) to remove ammonia from high strength wastewater.

Three species of Pycnadenoides Yamaguti, 1938 (Digenea: Opecoelidae), including two new species from temperate marine fishes of Australia

Pycnadenoides pagrosomi Yamaguti, 1938 and P. reversati n. sp. from Pagrus auratus (Sparidae) and P. invenustus n. sp. from Nemadactylus valenciennesi (Cheilodactylidae) are described from the temperate marine waters off south-west Western Australia and south-east Queensland. The difference in the anterior extent of the vitelline follicles observed in P. reversati n. sp. recovered from off south-east Queensland waters and the material from off Western Australia is discussed. P. reversati n. sp. is distinguished from P. pagrosomi mainly in the position of the genital pore and in the arrangement of the testes, and from P. invenustus n. sp. in the posterior extent of the cirrus-sac. P. reversati belongs to the group of species with a short cirrus-sac and P. invenustus to the group with the cirrus-sac reaching into the anterior hindbody.

Bartoliella pritchardae n.g., n.sp. (Digenea: Opecoelidae) in Epinephelides armatus (Serranidae) from temperate marine waters of Western Australia

An opecoelid, Bartoliella pritchardae n. g., n. sp., is described from the intestine of Epinephelides armatus from Western Australia. The new genus has been assigned to the subfamily Opecoelininae Gibson & Bray, 1984, bringing the number of genera in the subfamily to two. Although the new genus is similar to Opecoelina Manter, 1934 morphologically, the pedunculate ventral sucker and complete absence of a cirrus-sac necessitate the erection of a new genus. A formal re-definition of the subfamily is given, based on the diagnoses of the genera Opecoelina and Bartoliella n. g.

Allopodocotyle skoliorchis n. sp. (Opecoelidae: Plagiorporinae) from Parequula melbournensis (Castelnau) (Gerreidae), a temperate marine fish in Australian waters

A new species of Allopodocotyle Pritchard, 1966 is described from the intestine and pyloric caeca of Parequula melbournensis (Gerreidae) caught from the waters off South and Western Australia. The new species is distinguished from other species by its larger eggs, broader form, pre-bifurcal genital pore and a number of other measurable features that are discussed. Of the species that share morphological similarities with Allopodocotyle skoliorchis n. sp., it is the only species known from a gerreid; all the other species are from serranids.

A new species of Podocotyloides Yamaguti, 1934 (Digenea: Opecoelidae) from a Western Australian temperate marine fish

A new species of Podocotyloides is described from Sillago bassensis caught off the coast of Western Australia. This is the second report of a species of this genus from Australian waters but the first of a new species. P. victori n. sp. is one of four species whose vitelline follicles extend into the forebody. It is distinguished from the other three species with vitelline follicles in the forebody by its relatively shorter forebody, smaller eggs and bipartite seminal vesicle. Pedunculotrema Fischthal & Thomas, 1970 is reduced to synonymy with Podocotyloides Yamaguti, 1934.

Determination of the effect of lipophilicity on the in vitro permeability and tissue reservoir characteristics of topically applied solutes in human skin layers

In order to establish the relationship between solute lipophilicity and skin penetration (including flux and concentration behavior), we examined the in vitro penetration and membrane concentration of a series of homologous alcohols (C2-C10) applied topically in aqueous solutions to human epidermal, full-thickness, and dermal membranes. The partitioning/distribution of each alcohol between the donor solution, stratum corneum, viable epidermis, dermis, and receptor phase compartments was determined during the penetration process and separately to isolated samples of each tissue type. Maximum flux and permeability coefficients are compared for each membrane and estimates of alcohol diffusivity are made based on flux/concentration data and also the related tissue resistance (the reciprocal of permeability coefficient) for each membrane type. The permeability coefficient increased with increasing lipophilicity to alcohol C8 (octanol) with no further increase for C10 (decanol). Log vehicle:stratum corneum partition coefficients were related to logP , and the concentration of alcohols in each of the tissue layers appeared to increase with lipophilicity. No difference was measured in the diffusivity of smaller more polar alcohols in the three membranes; however, the larger more lipophilic solutes showed slower diffusivity values. The study showed that the dermis may be a much more lipophilic environment than originally believed and that distribution of smaller nonionized solutes into local tissues below a site of topical application may be estimated based on knowledge of their lipophilicity alone.

Automatic prebent customized prosthesis for pectus excavatum minimally invasive surgery correction

Pectus excavatum is the most common deformity of the thorax. A minimally invasive surgical correction is commonly carried out to remodel the anterior chest wall by using an intrathoracic convex prosthesis in the substernal position. The process of prosthesis modeling and bending still remains an area of improvement. The authors developed a new system, i3DExcavatum, which can automatically model and bend the bar preoperatively based on a thoracic CT scan. This article presents a comparison between automatic and manual bending. The i3DExcavatum was used to personalize prostheses for 41 patients who underwent pectus excavatum surgical correction between 2007 and 2012. Regarding the anatomical variations, the soft-tissue thicknesses external to the ribs show that both symmetric and asymmetric patients always have asymmetric variations, by comparing the patients’ sides. It highlighted that the prosthesis bar should be modeled according to each patient’s rib positions and dimensions. The average differences between the skin and costal line curvature lengths were 84 ± 4 mm and 96 ± 11 mm, for male and female patients, respectively. On the other hand, the i3DExcavatum ensured a smooth curvature of the surgical prosthesis and was capable of predicting and simulating a virtual shape and size of the bar for asymmetric and symmetric patients. In conclusion, the i3DExcavatum allows preoperative personalization according to the thoracic morphology of each patient. It reduces surgery time and minimizes the margin error introduced by the manually bent bar, which only uses a template that copies the chest wall curvature.

Thoracic wall reconstruction using ultrasound images to model/bend the thoracic prosthesis for correction of pectus excavatum

Pectus excavatum is the most common congenital deformity of the anterior thoracic wall. The surgical correction of such deformity, using Nuss procedure, consists in the placement of a personalized convex prosthesis into sub-sternal position to correct the deformity. The aim of this work is the CT-scan substitution by ultrasound imaging for the pre-operative diagnosis and pre-modeling of the prosthesis, in order to avoid patient radiation exposure. To accomplish this, ultrasound images are acquired along an axial plane, followed by a rigid registration method to obtain the spatial transformation between subsequent images. These images are overlapped to reconstruct an axial plane equivalent to a CT-slice. A phantom was used to conduct preliminary experiments and the achieved results were compared with the corresponding CT-data, showing that the proposed methodology can be capable to create a valid approximation of the anterior thoracic wall, which can be used to model/bend the prosthesis

Automatic modeling of an orthotic bracing for nonoperative correction of PectusCarinatum

Pectus Carinatum is a deformity of the chest wall, characterized by an anterior protrusion of the sternum, often corrected surgically due to cosmetic motivation. This work presents an alternative approach to the current open surgery option, proposing a novel technique based on a personalized orthosis. Two different processes for the orthosis’ personalization are presented. One based on a 3D laser scan of the patient chest, followed by the reconstruction of the thoracic wall mesh using a radial basis function, and a second one, based on a computer tomography scan followed by a neighbouring cells algorithm. The axial position where the orthosis is to be located is automatically calculated using a Ray-Triangle intersection method, whose outcome is input to a pseudo Kochenek interpolating spline method to define the orthosis curvature. Results show that no significant differences exist between the patient chest physiognomy and the curvature angle and size of the orthosis, allowing a better cosmetic outcome and less initial discomfort

Automatic prebent customized prosthesis for pectus excavatum minimally invasive surgery correction

Pectus excavatum is the most common deformity of the thorax. A minimally invasive surgical correction is commonly carried out to remodel the anterior chest wall by using an intrathoracic convex prosthesis in the substernal position. The process of prosthesis modeling and bending still remains an area of improvement. The authors developed a new system, i3DExcavatum, which can automatically model and bend the bar preoperatively based on a thoracic CT scan. This article presents a comparison between automatic and manual bending. The i3DExcavatum was used to personalize prostheses for 41 patients who underwent pectus excavatum surgical correction between 2007 and 2012. Regarding the anatomical variations, the soft-tissue thicknesses external to the ribs show that both symmetric and asymmetric patients always have asymmetric variations, by comparing the patients’ sides. It highlighted that the prosthesis bar should be modeled according to each patient’s rib positions and dimensions. The average differences between the skin and costal line curvature lengths were 84 ± 4 mm and 96 ± 11 mm, for male and female patients, respectively. On the other hand, the i3DExcavatum ensured a smooth curvature of the surgical prosthesis and was capable of predicting and simulating a virtual shape and size of the bar for asymmetric and symmetric patients. In conclusion, the i3DExcavatum allows preoperative personalization according to the thoracic morphology of each patient. It reduces surgery time and minimizes the margin error introduced by the manually bent bar, which only uses a template that copies the chest wall curvature.

Finite element analysis of pectus carinatum surgical correction via a minimally invasive approach

Pectus carinatum (PC) is a chest deformity caused by a disproportionate growth of the costal cartilages compared to the bony thoracic skeleton, pulling the sternum towards, which leads to its protrusion. There has been a growing interest on using the ‘reversed Nuss’ technique as minimally invasive procedure for PC surgical correction. A corrective bar is introduced between the skin and the thoracic cage and positioned on top of the sternum highest protrusion area for continuous pressure. Then, it is fixed to the ribs and kept implanted for about 2–3 years. The purpose of this work was to (a) assess the stresses distribution on the thoracic cage that arise from the procedure, and (b) investigate the impact of different positioning of the corrective bar along the sternum. The higher stresses were generated on the 4th, 5th and 6th ribs backend, supporting the hypothesis of pectus deformities correction-induced scoliosis. The different bar positioning originated different stresses on the ribs’ backend. The bar position that led to lower stresses generated on the ribs backend was the one that also led to the smallest sternum displacement. However, this may be preferred, as the risk of induced scoliosis is lowered.

Automatic prebent customized prosthesis for pectus excavatum minimally invasive surgery correction

Pectus excavatum is the most common deformity of the thorax. A minimally invasive surgical correction is commonly carried out to remodel the anterior chest wall by using an intrathoracic convex prosthesis in the substernal position. The process of prosthesis modeling and bending still remains an area of improvement. The authors developed a new system, i3DExcavatum, which can automatically model and bend the bar preoperatively based on a thoracic CT scan. This article presents a comparison between automatic and manual bending. The i3DExcavatum was used to personalize prostheses for 41 patients who underwent pectus excavatum surgical correction between 2007 and 2012. Regarding the anatomical variations, the soft-tissue thicknesses external to the ribs show that both symmetric and asymmetric patients always have asymmetric variations, by comparing the patients’ sides. It highlighted that the prosthesis bar should be modeled according to each patient’s rib positions and dimensions. The average differences between the skin and costal line curvature lengths were 84 ± 4 mm and 96 ± 11 mm, for male and female patients, respectively. On the other hand, the i3DExcavatum ensured a smooth curvature of the surgical prosthesis and was capable of predicting and simulating a virtual shape and size of the bar for asymmetric and symmetric patients. In conclusion, the i3DExcavatum allows preoperative personalization according to the thoracic morphology of each patient. It reduces surgery time and minimizes the margin error introduced by the manually bent bar, which only uses a template that copies the chest wall curvature.