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Yosemite National Park (Yosemite) and the broader Sierra Nevada Mountains encompass elevational gradients and biodiversity patterns that can facilitate shifting species ranges and, therefore, accommodate conservation translocations (Singer, Papouchis, & Symonds, [22]; Powell I et al i ., [18]; Elsen, Monahan, & Merenlender, [8]; Joseph & Knapp, [13]). Conservation translocations - the release of individuals to reestablish, augment, or newly establish populations - are increasingly used to address the biodiversity crisis (Seddon, [21]; IUCN, [11]). In the animal conservation arena, broader research agendas that implement a more expansive approach can include examining institutional and sociocultural attitudes toward different conservation options as well as conducting pilot studies that test bold, on-the-ground conservation actions before implementing them at a larger scale. Safe harbor: translocating California red-legged frogs to a climate refuge in Yosemite National Park. [Extracted from the article]

This work, carried out in the College of Agricultural Sciences, UNR, in autumn, winter and spring with the objective of evaluating the effect the effect evaluates the effect of production systems, fastening methods and days of storage on yield and postharvest losses on Swiss chard along three seasons. The trial was carried out taking into account three factors: 1) Production systems: greenhouse (I), shade cloth (MS), frost protection fl eece fabric (MF), and open fi eld (C); 2) fastening method: bunches (A) and no fastening (G); 3) storage days. The variables measured were: yield, dry matter, weight loss by discarding, weight loss by water, and color index. In all three seasons, I obtained the highest yield and lowest dry matter content. I and MF obtained the least weight loss by discarding in autumn; in winter and autumn they increase with the days of storage. I and MF recorded the lowest weight losses per water in autumn on days 3 and 6 of storage. Chard showed a tendency towards yellowish green in MF in autumn, C in winter and I in spring, in all days of storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Liquid water is described in two-state theory as mixture of localised molecular arrangements having different structure and density, the low-density (LDW) and high-density water (HDW). Theoretical calculations describe the formation of LDW and/or HDW domains, while their lifetime remains unknown. As ions partition selectively into LDW or HDW, modifying the water structuring, time-resolved photo-induced Delayed Luminescence (DL) of different salts solutions was measured. When formation of LDW domains is foreseen, significant DL signal was found, whose decay-time probability distribution is maximum in microsecond range. This result suggests the existence of such long lifetimes structures, which can participate in biological processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compare introital ultrasound with colpocystodefecography (CCD) in quantifying the anorectal angle and in the diagnosis of posterior pelvic floor disorders. Methods: Forty-three consecutive women with functional impairment of the posterior pelvic floor were enrolled after a clinical evaluation. Using both CCD and introital ultrasound examination, the anorectal angle was measured during squeezing to evaluate the strength of voluntary muscle contraction and during straining to assess pelvic floor relaxation. Rectocele depth and the presence of intussusception were assessed. The performance of CCD and that of introital ultrasound were compared. Results: Good concordance was obtained between introital ultrasound and CCD. The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.82 (95% CI, 0.69-0.89) for measurement of the anorectal angle during squeezing and 0.67 (95% CI, 0.47-0.81) during straining. Rectoceles > 4 cm on CCD were detected by introital ultrasound in 100% of cases, and there was 91% agreement for rectal intussusception. Cohen's kappa index was moderate for rectocele assessment (0.41, P < 0.01) and excellent for intussusception (0.91, P < 0.001). It was also noted that introital ultrasound could be used to detect pelvic floor dyssynergia. Conclusions: Introital ultrasound is a simple, accurate, non-invasive method with which to assess anorectal dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity is associated with an increased risk of an adverse pregnancy outcome. The aim of this study was to analyze the serum levels of high mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1) in obese pregnant women, to assess the role of this protein in the pathogenesis of this disease and to evaluate its possible function as a diagnostic marker for obesity-related complications in obese women. Study participants were randomly selected, from a cohort of pregnant women afferent to our department. A total of 120 women were enrolled in this study: 60 pregnant women had normal body mass index (BMI) and 60 women resulted obese. Pre-pregnancy BMI, weight increase and HMGB1 levels were evaluated for each pregnant woman enrolled. Matching serum HMGB1 levels in two groups, our data evidenced higher levels in the obese women, with a statistically significant difference ( p = 0.0023). A significant positive univariate correlation was observed between serum HMGB1 levels and BMI in obese women. HMGB1 serum levels may therefore represent a predictive marker of disease in pregnant women ( r = 20.9 and p = 0.0001). Further studies are needed in order to validate the role of this cytokine, with the aim of making it possible to use in clinical practice not only for diagnostic purposes, but especially for the early recognition of complications related to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the spontaneous variability of vascular resistance, heart rate and arterial blood pressure in cholarose-anesthetized dogs with the left iliac vascular bed mechanically uncoupled from the central circulation. Perfusion system; Calculation of the overall variability; Time domain; Frequency domain.

Abstract: The studies of plasmas generated by laser-matter interaction requires detectors that are able to perform the time resolved imaging of photons and charged particles. Such information are necessary in order to characterize the time evolution of fundamental parameters (as temperature, density, etc.) of plasma. One of the key elements of such diagnostics is the position sensitive anode. We are studying a new type of position-sensitive anode which will be realized by using silicon planar technology: a trapezes and stripes resistive anode (TSRA). The new TSRA is a two-dimensional system, which can be coupled with one of two-stage multichannel plates for the particles detection or for photons. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Some of the first results concerning the electrical and optical performances of new bi-dimensional single photon avalanche diodes arrays for imaging applications are briefly presented. The planned arrays were realized at the Fondazione Bruno Kessler—Trento and tested at LNS–INFN. The proposed new solution, utilizing a new architecture with integrated quenching resistors, allows to simplify the electronic readout. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents a case study of a 40-year-old woman diagnosed with transient diabetes insipidus during her pregnancy using peptides apelin and copeptin. Topics discussed include the diagnosis of transient diabetes insipidus, the causes of the disease, its symptoms, and the treatment options for the patient.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article concerning three-dimensional transperineal ultrasonography for evaluation of the anal sphincter complex.

Tonelli A, Romaniello R, Grasso R, Cavallini A, Righini A, Bresolin N, Borgatti R, Bassi MT. Novel splice-site mutations and a large intragenic deletion in PLA2G6 associated with a severe and rapidly progressive form of infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy. Infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy, INAD, is a severe progressive psychomotor disorder with infantile onset and characterized by the presence of axonal spheroids throughout the central and peripheral nervous systems. A subset of INAD patients shows also brain iron accumulation which represents instead the distinctive feature of the idiopathic neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation, NBIA. These diseases share the same causative gene, PLA2G6, encoding iPLA2-VIA, a calcium-independent phospholipase. Mutations that lead to a complete absence of protein are associated with a severe INAD profile, while compound heterozygous mutations with possibly a residual protein activity are instead associated with the less severe NBIA phenotype. Here we describe two INAD patients both with an unusually rapid disease progression and a peculiar neuroradiological presentation in one of them. Compound heterozygosity for a large intragenic deletion and a nonsense mutation was found in one of them while the other is carrying two novel splice-site mutations. Breakpoint-sequence analysis suggests a non-allelic-homologous-recombination (NAHR) event, probably underlying the rearrangement. These findings, while supporting the genotype-phenotype correlation already observed in INAD patients, provide the first sequence characterization of a genomic rearrangement in PLA2G6 gene, thus orienting the search for missing mutant alleles in PLA2G6 related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the problem of retrieving optically active parameters of the water from multispectral remotely sensed data. We analyse the neural networks approach applied to the estimation of chlorophyll concentration in coastal waters (Case II Waters) and discuss the use of two types of networks: the Radial Basis Function neural network and Multilayer Perceptron. We present a brief summary concerning their architectures and training methods. For proving the concept we analyse the procedures and the performances on a simulated data set reproducing the data acquired from the MERIS (Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer), the multispectral sensor on board the ENVISAT satellite. The multispectral subsurface reflectance data have been generated by means of a three component ocean colour direct model and statistically reproduce the case II waters. The neural networks performances have been analysed in terms of MSE (Mean Square Error), correlation coefficient and relative error. We provide a detailed discussion and comparison of the two types of networks and the obtained results confirm the effectiveness of the neural approach in such an application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study that evaluated the effectiveness of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) as a therapeutic approach in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Percentage of patients with CML who experienced a relapse after bone marrow transplantation; Analysis of the effect of donor lymphocyte infusion in patients relapsing after BMT; Details on the development of a single-strand conformational polymorphism polymerase chain reaction strategy; Implications of the results.

Background: The correlation between symptoms and observed impaired function in functional dyspepsia is still inconsistent. The aims of the study were to obtain a measure of satiety by a meal test; to verify whether this compares with severity of symptoms assessed using a reproducible questionnaire; and to correlate the parameters of satiety test and gastric emptying with all the dyspeptic symptoms. Methods: Fifty-two functional dyspepsia patients reported their symptoms on a standardized questionnaire that considered belching, bloating, early satiety, epigastric pain and burning, nausea, postprandial fullness and vomiting. They were monitored for gastric emptying of a solid caloric meal using a radionuclide technique and underwent a test to quantify meal-induced satiety by a liquid caloric meal. Results: The number of kilocalories ingested during the satiety test until the occurrence of maximum satiety in healthy subjects was 110% higher than in the dyspeptic group (mean ± s[sub x]: 1110 ± 23 versus 532 ± 56; P < 0.01). We found a significant positive correlation between gastric emptying rate and kcal of the satiety test (P < 0.01; r = 0.428). Logistic regression showed a significant inverse association between severity of early satiety-coded as absent, mild, moderate or severe, kcal of meal test (P = 0.01), and gastric emptying lag phase (P = 0.03). Bloating was associated directly with t½ of gastric emptying (P = 0.03) and inversely with lag phase (P = 0.02). Conclusions: The satiety test gives a fine numerical measure of satiety and confirms the results of a symptoms questionnaire. Our study showed an indirect correlation between severity of early satiety—as measured by the satiety test, and gastric emptying rate, as well as an association between bloating and delayed gastric emptying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: There is debate as to whether the apparent rebound after fingolimod discontinuation is related to the discontinuation itself or whether it is due to the natural course of highly active multiple sclerosis (MS). Our aim was to survey the prevalence of severe reactivation and rebound after discontinuation of fingolimod in a cohort of Italian patients with MS. Methods: Patients with relapsing–remitting MS who were treated with fingolimod for at least 6 months and who stopped treatment for reasons that were unrelated to inefficacy were included in the analysis. Results: A total of 100 patients who had discontinued fingolimod were included in the study. Fourteen patients (14%) had a relapse within 3 months after fingolimod discontinuation, and an additional 12 (12%) had a relapse within 6 months. According to this study's criteria, 10 patients (10%) had a severe reactivation. Amongst these patients, five (5%) had a reactivation that was considered to be a rebound. Conclusions: The present study showed that more than 26% of patients are at risk of having a relapse within 6 months after fingolimod discontinuation. Nevertheless, the risk of severe reactivations and rebound is lower than has been previously described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forty-two patients relapsing after an unmanipulated haploidentical BM transplant and post-transplant CY (PT-CY), were given 108 DLI, with median interval from transplant of 266 days (range, 67-1372). DLI were given at escalating doses, expressed as CD3+ cells/kg, without GVHD prophylaxis, and ranged from 1 × 103 to 1 × 107 cells/kg (median 5 × 105 cells/kg). The average number of DLI per patient was 2.6 (range, 1-6). The diagnosis was leukemias (n=32) grafted with a myeloablative regimen and Hodgkin's disease (n=10), grafted with a nonmyeloablative regimen. Leukemic patients with molecular relapse (n=20), received DLI alone (n=17) or in association with azacytidine (n=3); leukemic patients with hematologic relapse (n=12) received chemotherapy followed by DLI (n=11) or DLI alone (n=1); Hodgkin patients received DLI following 1-3 courses of chemotherapy. In these three groups the incidence of acute GVHD II-III was 15%, 17% and 10%; response rate was 45%, 33% and 70%; 2-year actuarial survival was 43%, 19% and 80% respectively. This study confirms that escalating doses of DLI can be given in the haploidentical setting with PT-CY, with a relatively low risk of acute GVHD. Response rates and survival are dependent on the underlying disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor related to gene fusions in patients suffering from acute myeloid leukemia is presented.

This is a report of 148 patients with hematologic malignancies who received an unmanipulated haploidentical bone marrow transplant (BMT), followed by post-transplant high-dose cyclophosphamide (PT-CY). All patients received a myeloablative conditioning consisting of thiotepa, busulfan, fludarabine (n=92) or TBI, fludarabine (n=56). The median age was 47 years (17-74); 47 patients were in first remission (CR1), 37 in second remission (CR2) and 64 had an active disease; all patients were first grafts. The diagnosis was acute leukemia (n=75), myelodisplastic syndrome (n=24), myelofibrosis (n=16), high-grade lytmphoma (n=15) and others (n=18). GVHD prophylaxis consisted in PT-CY on days +3 and +5, cyclosporine (from day 0), and mycophenolate (from day +1). The median day for neutrophil engraftment was day +18 (13-32). The cumulative incidence of grades II-IV acute GVHD was 24%, and of grades III-IV GVHD 10%. The incidence of moderate-severe chronic GVHD was 12%. With a median follow-up for the surviving patients of 313 days (100-1162), the cumulative incidence of transplant-related mortality (TRM) is 13%, and the relapse-related death is 23%. The actuarial 22 months overall survival is 77% for CR1 patients, 49% for CR2 patients and 38% for patients grafted in relapse (P<0.001). Major causes of death were relapse (22%), GVHD (2%) and infections (6%). We confirm our initial results, suggesting that a myeloablative conditioning regimen followed by unmanipulated haploidentical BMT with PT-CY, results in a low risk of acute and chronic GVHD and encouraging rates of TRM and overall survival, also for patients with active disease at the time of transplant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the incidence and symptoms of and risk factors for biliary sludge and gallstones during pregnancy and to assess the natural history of these conditions in the first year after delivery.Design: Cohort study.Patients: A total of 272 pregnant women recruited in the first trimester.Measurements: Biliary sludge and gallstones were diagnosed using ultrasonography, both during pregnancy and after delivery. Predictors of the presence or disappearance of sludge and stones were examined.Main Results: Overall, from the first trimester of pregnancy until the immediate postpartum period, 67 women were newly diagnosed with biliary sludge, and 6 women were newly diagnosed with gallstones. The respective incidence rates were 31% (95% Cl, 25% to 37%) and 2% (95% Cl, 0.2% to 4%). During pregnancy, 28% of women experienced biliary pain, which was associated only with presence of stones. After delivery, 92 women had sludge and 23 had stones. Sludge disappeared in 61% of these women (Cl, 50% to 73%) after a mean follow-up of 5 months, and stones disappeared in 28% of women (Cl, 10% to 46%) after 9.7 months of follow-up.Conclusions: Biliary sludge occurred frequently during pregnancy but was generally asymptomatic and often disappeared spontaneously after delivery. Gallstones were much less frequent and were more likely to be associated with biliary pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An all-optical logic gate has been demonstrated in a nonlinear organic étalon using femtosecond laser pulses. The logic gate consists of a guest-host organic thin film, 7-[4-[(4-hexyloxyphenyl)azo](naphthyl)azo-(2,3-dihydro-1,3-dimethyl-2-octyl)] perimidine doped in poly(methyl methacrylate), sandwiched between two highly reflective mirrors. It shows a subpicosecond switch-on time and a switch-off or recovery time that has a fast, [bar_over_tilde:_approx._equal_to]4 ps component and slower components. A maximum contrast ratio of [bar_over_tilde:_approx._equal_to]2 between the switch-on and switch-off states of the optical gate was obtained. The nonlinear index of refraction is also measured from this Fabry–Perot interferometer to be Δn=0.005. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Prostate and breast cancer share many similarities: high lifetime prevalence, increasing frequency, role of environmental factors, long survival also in metastatic disease and possibility of screening. The aim of this work is to evaluate the characteristics related to the patients, disease and treatment which can affect HRQoL at the beginning and after radiotherapy. Methods: since June 2009, we have recruited patients, providing informed consent, before radiotherapy (T0). We assess demographic characteristic (age, qualification, work, marital status…); neoplastic staging and grading; radiation dose and other antineoplastic treatment (hormonal/chemio-therapy or surgery); concomitant medical disease and pharmacological therapy. We evaluate HRQoL by EORTC-QLQ-C30 and EORTC-QLQ-PR25 (prostate-specific) or EORTC-QLQ-BR23 (breast-specific). The protocol also includes HADS, Paykel Life Events Scale and EPQ-R. The work is ongoing and implies a follow-up at 6 and 12 months (T1/T2). Results: The majority of men have a localized disease with Gleason score between 6 and 8 and the median pretreatment PSA is 10.52 ng/mL; 70% will undergo adjuvant-RT; median age is 69.30 years. Women have a median age of 58.46 years, all underwent surgery and all have a localized disease and positive receptorial status. Global QoL is lightly higher in the man sample; both groups report a major deficit at Emotional Function and high levels of Fatigue. The personological characteristic more represented is “Extravertion”. Conclusions: The results show an association between worse QoL, “Nevroticism” and high Anxiety levels only in the men sample at T0. At the moment, there is no significant relation in the women sample. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]