Suture Materials: Do They Affect Fistula and Stricture Rates in Flap Urethroplasties?

<i>Introduction:</i> The effect of suture materials on urethroplasty complications is debated. Indeed, materials with a delayed absorption might either reduce the incidence of fistulas by ensuring a prolonged approximation of neo-urethral edges or increase the risk of urethral strictures due to a prolonged tissue reaction during suture absorption. We retrospectively evaluated the role of suture materials in the complication rate of urethroplasty procedures performed in our institution over a 10-year period. <i>Patients and Methods:</i> Three hundred and thirty-six boys undergoing a flap procedure (parameatal based, preputial tube, or onlay preputial flap) for hypospa…

UNA RARA COMPLICANZA DEL DIVERTICOLO INTRALUMINALE DEL DUODENO

The Authors report a case of intraluminal diverticulum of the duodenum complicated by endodiverticulum litiasis

Invasive Alien Species and Their Effects on Marine Animal Forests

Nonindigenous species are increasingly transported around the world through multiple pathways by a diversity of vectors. Invasive species are a subset of those that are introduced into the receptor community, where they establish and increase their population to a size where they impact the native system. Marine invasive species can therefore interact with and modify native animal forests and/or create novel ones resulting in simple-to-complex changes in material cycling, energy flow, ecosystem structure, and function. Despite the ever increasing number of studies dealing with marine invasive species, mostly biological invasions are mentioned generically as one of a number of threats of dir…

Effects of reduced pH on shell integrity of a common whelk from a natural undersea CO2 vent community off Vulcano Island, Italy.

Hexaplex trunculus is a widespread Mediterranean gastropod mollusc that plays a crucial role in benthic ecosystem dynamics. Individuals occur in shallow, sublittoral habitats near Vulcano Island, Italy, where an undersea CO2 vent provides a gradient of seawater acidification mimicing future predicted levels of ocean acidification. Individuals were collected from three sites with declining pH [ambient ( pH 8.18), medium (pH 8.05) and low (pH 7.49)]. Dissolution of shells was clearly evident at the medium (smoothing of outer shell ) and low (pitting and holes) pH sites. Scanning electron microcroscopy will provide a qualitative comparative assessment of micro-scale impacts of shell dissolutio…

Effectiveness of a remote simulation training in mechanical ventilation among trainees.

Trace elements in shells of common gastropods in the near vicinity of a natural CO2 vent: no evidence of pH-dependent contamination

There is concern that the use of natural volcanic CO2 vents as analogs for studies of the impacts of ocean acidification on marine organisms are biased due to physiochemical influences other than seawater pH alone. One issue that has been raised is whether potentially harmful trace elements in sediments that are rendered more soluble and labile in low pH environments are made more bioavailable, and sequestered in the local flora and fauna at harmful levels. In order to evaluate this hypothesis, we analyzed the concentrations of trace elements in shells (an established proxy for tissues) of four species of gastropods (two limpets, a topshell and a whelk) collected from three sites in Levante…

Structure and composition of intertidal biofilms which enhance the settlement of the central-Mediterranean reef builder Dendropoma cristatum (Biondi 1859).

Introduction Marine biofilms are complex matrix of microorganisms and mucopolysaccharide substances which develop on all submerged surfaces, providing a variety of physical-bio-chemical cues which affect the settlement of a wide range of benthic organisms. Biofilm community composition, 3-D structure and metabolic activity vary over time. Few studies report the biological and physical changes in marine biofilm development in relationship to their effects on benthic colonisation. Biofilm maturity has been reported to enhance the settlement rate of the central-Mediterranean Dendropoma cristatum (Biondi, 1859), an intertidal vermetid gastropod which builds up ecologically relevant reefs, subje…

Mediterranean rocky reefs in the Anthropocene: Present status and future concerns

Global change is striking harder and faster in the Mediterranean Sea than elsewhere, where high levels of human pressure and proneness to climate change interact in modifying the structure and disrupting regulative mechanisms of marine ecosystems. Rocky reefs are particularly exposed to such environmental changes with ongoing trends of degradation being impressive. Due to the variety of habitat types and associated marine biodiversity, rocky reefs are critical for the functioning of marine ecosystems, and their decline could profoundly affect the provision of essential goods and services which human populations in coastal areas rely upon. Here, we provide an up-to-date overview of the statu…

Settlement performance of the Mediterranean reef-builders Dendropoma cristatum (Biondi 1859) in response to natural bacterial films

The gastropod Dendropoma cristatum is a biogenic engineer of the central Mediterranean, forming reefs along the lower rocky intertidal fringe with a remarkable ecological role. To understand whether reef-associated biofilm cultivable bacterial and biofilm ageing may trigger the settlement of the juvenile snails, a combination of laboratory techniques and field experiments was used. Reef-associated biofilm cultivable bacteria were isolated, and a settlement-choice experiment was performed in situ on artificial biofilms composed of i) a mixture of six biofilm-forming selected isolates, ii) all the cultivable bacteria, and iii) 13-, 23-, 32-day old biofilms formed under naturalconditions. Overall,sett…

Impiego dei BRUV (Baited Remote Underwater Video) per la valutazione del popolamento ittico nell'area marina protetta Capo Gallo-Isola delle Femmine (Palermo)

A Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV) system was used to assess fish assemblages on detritic bottoms (40 m) inside and outside the Capo Gallo - Isola delle Femmine MPA. Our study investigated the suitability of Baited Remote Underwater Video to describe fish (relative) abundance and diversity between sites at different protection levels. The fish assemblages relative abundance and species richness significantly differed between the three different location (A, B e CTL) considered. The largest difference occurred at CTL site position outside the MPA, where 2-fold increase in the number of species was recorded relative to the A and B sites.

Inorganic carbon physiology underpins macroalgal responses to elevated CO2

Beneficial effects of CO2 on photosynthetic organisms will be a key driver of ecosystem change under ocean acidification. Predicting the responses of macroalgal species to ocean acidification is complex, but we demonstrate that the response of assemblages to elevated CO2 are correlated with inorganic carbon physiology. We assessed abundance patterns and a proxy for CO2:HCO3− use (δ13C values) of macroalgae along a gradient of CO2 at a volcanic seep, and examined how shifts in species abundance at other Mediterranean seeps are related to macroalgal inorganic carbon physiology. Five macroalgal species capable of using both HCO3− and CO2 had greater CO2 use as concentrations increased. These s…

SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF DENDROPOMA CRISTATUM (MOLLUSCA, GASTROPODA) ADULT BIOMASS ON A VERMETID REEF

A spatial characterization of Dendropoma cristatum biomass was carried out on a Vermetid reef in north-western Sicily. Biomass distribution of adult specimens is not homogenous in the different areas of the reef, with an increasing trend from the inner edge to the outer edge, while the central pool supports intermediate values of vermetid biomass. Considering the entire reef area, the cuvette has the highest Dendropoma biomasses of the bioconstruction, even if the highest surface-biomass ratio is found in the outer edege.

IN TEMA DI LAPAROSCHISI: Ricerche Sperimentali sull'Embrione di Pollo.

Gli Autori descrivono la loro esperienza microchirurgica sull'embrione di pollo, utilizzato come modello sperimentale per verificare alcuni aspetti embriopatogenetici della laparoschisi.

COASTAL ACCESSIBILITY AS VULNERABILITY FACTOR FOR PATELLA ULYSSIPONENSIS GMELIN, 1791 IN A MEDITERRANEAN MPA

Average density of Patella ulyssiponensis Gmelin, 1791 was correlated with costal accessibility and tourists’ density. The results highlighted that the accessibility could have a greater weight than the MPA regulation, in absence of patrolling, on the vulnerability of this sensitive species.

Appendix B. Description of the field methods of the 40 studies used in the meta-analysis.

Description of the field methods of the 40 studies used in the meta-analysis.

Appendix A. Location, design, and other characteristics of the European marine reserves included in the meta-analysis.

Location, design, and other characteristics of the European marine reserves included in the meta-analysis.

Appendix C. List of the species recorded from the studies and their commercial and ecological categories.

List of the species recorded from the studies and their commercial and ecological categories.

Appendix D. Pairwise Pearson correlation coefficients between the commercial and ecological traits considered in the meta-analysis.

Pairwise Pearson correlation coefficients between the commercial and ecological traits considered in the meta-analysis.

Appendix E. Number of species in each combination of commercial category and ecological trait.

Number of species in each combination of commercial category and ecological trait.