Search results for "Vertebra"
showing 10 items of 1220 documents
Unusual case of dorsal vertebral metastases from a male breast cancer
2017
Introduction: Breast cancer is a malignant neoplasm arising from mammary glands and is a rare entity in the male patient. Spine is a common site for skeletal metastases. Case presentation: A 53-years-old male was admitted to our Neurosurgical unit because of an untreatable dorsal pain. He had been treated 3 years before for breast cancer. A dorsal Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) evidenced pathological masses at T8 level. A total body Computed Tomography (CT) scan revealed lungs and liver metastases. After a multidisciplinary consult, a posterior T8 decompression, a radiofrequency thermoablation in T8 vertebral body followed by screws and rods fixation (T7-T9) was performed. Post-operative …
New insights into the gut microbiome in loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta stranded on the Mediterranean coast
2019
Caretta caretta is the most common sea turtle species in the Mediterranean Sea. The species is threatened by anthropomorphic activity that causes thousands of deaths and hundreds of strandings along the Mediterranean coast. Stranded turtles are often cared for in rehabilitation centres until they recover or die. The objective of this study was to characterize the gut microbiome of nine sea turtles stranded along the Sicilian coast of the Mediterranean Sea using high-throughput sequencing analysis targeting V3–V4 regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Stool samples were collected from eight specimens hosted in the recovery centre after a few days of hospitalization (under 7) and from one ho…
Coastal Evolution in a Mediterranean Microtidal Zone: Mid to Late Holocene Natural Dynamics and Human Management of the Castellò Lagoon, NE Spain
2016
We present a palaeoenvironmental study of the Castelló lagoon (NE Spain), an important archive for understanding long-term interactions between dynamic littoral ecosystems and human management. Combining geochemistry, mineralogy, ostracods, diatoms, pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, charcoal and archaeo-historical datasets we reconstruct: 1) the transition of the lagoon from a marine to a marginal environment between ~3150 cal BC to the 17th century AD; 2) fluctuations in salinity; and 3) natural and anthropogenic forces contributing to these changes. From the Late Neolithic to the Medieval period the lagoon ecosystem was driven by changing marine influence and the land was mainly exploited …
Antitumoral compounds from vertebrate sister group: A review of Mediterranean ascidians
2020
Among the diseases that afflict the human population, cancer is one for which many drug treatments are not yet known or effective. Moreover, the pharmacological treatments used often create serious side effects in sick patients and for this reason, it is essential to find effective and less harmful treatments. To date, marine biodiversity is a real source of metabolites with antitumoral activity and among invertebrates' ascidians have been the main source to obtain them. Mediterranean area is the richest in biodiversity and contains several ascidian species used in drugs development during the years. However, many more Mediterranean ascidian species have not been studied and could be a sour…
Microplastics ingestion by the exotic fish Gambusia holbrooki in two Mediterranean coastal lagoons
2020
Gambusia holbrooki es un pequeño pez Poecílido, de origen norteamericano que fue introducido a principios del siglo XX en humedales de la Península Ibérica para el control biológico de los mosquitos. Actualmente presenta poblaciones en muchos humedales y está considerada como una de las principales especies invasoras en la península. Estos peces se alimentan principalmente de invertebrados, pero son también susceptibles de ingerir y acumular residuos de microplásticos que presentan tamaños similares al tamaño de algunas de sus presas habituales. En el presente estudio analizamos los contenidos del tracto gastrointestinal de ejemplares adultos de esta especie, procedentes de dos lagunas cost…
Invertebrate community responses to emerging water pollutants in Iberian river basins
2014
Abstract Chemical pollution is one of the greatest threats to freshwater ecosystems, especially in Mediterranean watersheds, characterized by periodical low flows that may exacerbate chemical exposure. Different groups of emerging pollutants have been detected in these basins during the last decade. This study aims to identify the relationships between the presence and levels of prioritary and emerging pollutants (pesticides, pharmaceutical active compounds—PhACs, Endocrine Disrupting Compounds EDCs and Perfluorinated Compounds—PFCs) and the invertebrate community in four Mediterranean basins: the Ebro, the Llobregat, the Jucar and the Guadalquivir. Structural (species composition and densi…
Fire disturbance disrupts co-occurrence patterns of terrestrial vertebrates in Mediterranean woodlands
2006
Aim This paper uses null model analysis to explore the pattern of species co-occurrence of terrestrial vertebrate fauna in fire-prone, mixed evergreen oak woodlands. Location The Erico–Quercion ilicis of the Mediterranean belt (50–800 m a.s.l.) in the Madonie mountain range, a regional park in northern Sicily (37°50′ N, 14°05′ E), Italy. Methods The stratified sampling of vertebrates in a secondary succession of recent burned areas (BA, 1–2 years old), intermediate burned areas (INT, 4–10 years old) and ancient burned areas (CNB, > 50 years old), plus forest fragments left within burned areas (FF, 1–2 years old) permitted the comparison of patterns of species co-occurrence using a set of…
Evaluating anthropogenic impacts on naturally stressed ecosystems: Revisiting river classifications and biomonitoring metrics along salinity gradients
2019
Naturally stressed ecosystems hold a unique fraction of biodiversity. However, they have been largely ignored in biomonitoring and conservation programmes, such as the EU Water Framework Directive, while global change pressures are threatening their singular values. Here we present a framework to classify and evaluate the ecological quality of naturally stressed rivers along a water salinity gradient. We gathered datasets, including aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages and environmental information, for 243 river locations across the western Mediterranean to: a) gauge the role of natural stressors (salinity) in driving aquatic community richness and composition; b) make river classificatio…
Shared effects of organic microcontaminants and environmental stressors on biofilms and invertebrates in impaired rivers
2016
Land use type, physical and chemical stressors, and organic microcontaminants were investigated for their effects on the biological communities (biofilms and invertebrates) in several Mediterranean rivers. The diversity of invertebrates, and the scores of the first principal component of a PCA performed with the diatom communities were the best descriptors of the distribution patterns of the biological communities against the river stressors. These two metrics decreased according to the progressive site impairment (associated to higher area of agricultural and urban-industrial, high water conductivity, higher dissolved organic carbon and dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentrations, and high…
Effects of acoustic stimulation on biochemical parameters in the digestive gland of Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck, 1819)
2020
Underwater sounds generated by anthropogenic activity can cause behavior changes, temporary loss of hearing, damage to parts of the body, or death in a number of marine organisms and can also affect healing and survival. In this study, the authors examined the effects of high-frequency acoustic stimulations on a number of biochemical parameters in the Mediterranean mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis. During the experiment, animals were placed in a test tank and exposed to acoustic signals [a linear sweep ranging from 100 to 200 kHz and lasting 1 s, with a sound pressure level range of between 145 and 160 dBrms (re 1μParms)] for 3 h. Total haemocyte count was assessed and glucose levels, cyto…