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The amphipodTalitrus saltator(Montagu 1808), diffused on the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic coasts, displays physiological and behavioural adaptations to life on sandy beaches. To avoid dehydration, sandhoppers burrow in moist sand near the water’s edge during the day in the warmest seasons. When displaced, they can navigate to this safe zone using a sun compass and several additional mechanisms, both universal and local, an adaptive behaviour named ‘zonal recovery’. In this study, we analysed the effects of several variables on the talitrids’ orientation behaviour to highlight the relevance of the local cues and analyse the behavioural variation with relation to the ecology of sandy beaches. In different seasons for 2 years, orientation experiments were made onT. saltatorsub-populations, at three sites of an extended sandy beach, differing in shoreline sedimentary dynamics; the main environmental, climatic and individual variables known to influence talitrid orientation were registered during each experimental session. The statistics of circular distributions were calculated and a multiple regression analysis adapted to angular data was performed, to highlight the scaling triggered by environmental conditions. The results showed that seasonal climatic variables played a primary role, adaptively modifying the sandhoppers’ behaviour. A significant interaction with the site (the chosen sites differed for sedimentary dynamics) was observed as well. A high behavioural plasticity appears to guarantee toT. saltatora good adaptation (both as abundance and geographical spreading) to life on sandy beaches, which are notably unstable environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The management of uncontrolled severe asthma has greatly improved since the advent of novel biologic therapies. Up to August 2022, five biologics have been approved for the type 2 asthma phenotype: anti-IgE (omalizumab), anti-IL5 (mepolizumab, reslizumab, benralizumab), and anti-IL4 (dupilumab) monoclonal antibodies. These drugs are usually well tolerated, although long-term safety information is limited, and some adverse events have not yet been fully characterized. Spontaneous reporting systems represent the cornerstone for the detection of potential signals and evaluation of the real-world safety of all marketed drugs., Objective: The aim of this study was to provide an overview of safety data of biologics for severe asthma using VigiBase, the World Health Organization global pharmacovigilance database., Methods: We selected all de-duplicated individual case safety reports (ICSRs) attributed to five approved biologics for severe asthma in VigiBase, up to 31st August 2022 (omalizumab, mepolizumab, reslizumab, benralizumab and dupilumab). Descriptive frequency analyses of ICSRs were carried out both as a whole class and as individual products. Reporting odds ratios (ROR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used as the measure of disproportionality for suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated with the study drugs compared with either all other suspected drugs (Reference Group 1, RG1) or inhaled corticosteroids plus long-acting β-agonists (ICSs/LABAs) (Reference Group 2, RG2) or with oral corticosteroids (OCSs) (Reference Group 3, RG3)., Results: Overall, 31,724,381 ICSRs were identified in VigiBase and 167,282 (0.5%) were related to study drugs; the remaining reports were considered as RG1. Stratifying all biologic-related ICSRs by therapeutic indication, around 29.4% (n = 48,440) concerned asthma use; omalizumab was mainly indicated as the suspected drug (n = 20,501), followed by dupilumab, mepolizumab, benralizumab and reslizumab. Most asthma ICSRs concerned adults (57%) and women (64.1%). Asthma biologics showed a higher frequency of serious suspected ADR reporting than RG1 (41.3% vs 32.3%). The most reported suspected ADRs included asthma, dyspnea, product use issue, drug ineffective, cough, headache, fatigue and wheezing. Asthma biologics were disproportionally associated with several unknown or less documented adverse events, such as malignancies, pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis with omalizumab; alopecia and lichen planus with dupilumab; alopecia and herpes infections with mepolizumab; alopecia, herpes zoster and eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis related to benralizumab; and alopecia with reslizumab., Conclusions: The most frequently reported suspected ADRs of asthma biologics in VigiBase confirmed the presence of well-known adverse effects such as general disorders, injection-site reactions, nasopharyngitis, headache and hypersensitivity, while some others (e.g. asthma reactivation or therapeutic failure) could be ascribed to the indication of use. Moreover, the analysis of signals of disproportionate reporting suggests the presence of malignancies, effects on the cardiovascular system, alopecia and autoimmune conditions, requiring further assessment and investigation., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Introduction: The nose and throat are areas of high viral load, which could place otolaryngologists at an even higher risk for COVID-19 than other health-care workers., Objective: To investigate the prevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in otorhinolaryngologists in southern Brazil, its relationship to demographic data, professional practice and reported symptoms of COVID-19, and compare it with official data on other health-care workers of the state and the general population in the same period., Methods: In this cross-sectional multicenter study, otolaryngologists actively practicing officially registered in Rio Grande do Sul were screened for IgM and IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 from August 1 to September 15, 2020. A questionnaire was also applied., Results: We screened 358 (80.1%) of 447 actively practicing otolaryngologists (195 [54.5%] male; mean [SD] age, 47.77 [13.57] years; range, 26-84 years). Twenty-three were positive for IgM and/or IgG (6.4%). This result was significantly associated with reports of infected household contacts (19/315 negatives and 8/23 positives; p < 0.001). From 23 seropositive participants, 14 were asymptomatic (60.9%; p < 0.001). There were no significant associations between seroconversion and age, sex, number of patient appointments and surgical procedures, workplace (hospital or private practice), patients with or without respiratory symptoms, or level of personal protective equipment used. The rate of COVID-19 in all health-care workers in the state was 7.69% at the end of the same period. Data from state government seroprevalence was 5.26 (risk ratio [RR]; 95% CI 3.27-8.45) and 4.66 (RR; 95% CI 2.93-7.43) times higher in otolaryngologists than in the general population in August and September, respectively., Conclusion: Otolaryngologists had a higher seroconversion rate than the general population. Using personal protective equipment, the level of occupational exposure did not result in higher rates of infection than other health-care workers, but the presence of infected household contacts was associated with higher rates of seroconversion., (Copyright © 2021 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.)

Background: Among professional voice users, teachers are subject to higher risks of developing occupational dysphonia due to their abusive use of the voice, usually under unfavorable conditions., Objectives: Quantify the vocal self-perception, the voice-related quality of life, and the anxiety, and depression symptoms, of dysphonic female teachers, after a brief and intensive short-term voice therapy using the finger kazoo technique., Methods: Blinded, randomized, and controlled clinical trial. Questionnaires applied to two study groups (15 subjects without structural laryngeal disorder in one group, and nine subjects with vocal nodules in the other), and to two control groups (9 subjects without structural laryngeal disorder in one group, and eight subjects with vocal nodules in the other)., Results: The Vocal Tract Discomfort Scale, the Voice Activity and Participation Profile, the Voice Symptom Scale, and the Voice-Related Quality of Life Protocol, showed significant improvement in both study groups. The Vocal Perception Protocol showed that negative vocal self-perception reduced significantly in subjects without structural alteration of the vocal folds in the study group. Anxiety symptoms improved significantly in subjects with vocal nodules in the study group; depression symptoms improved significantly in subjects with vocal nodules in the control group, and in subjects without structural alteration of the vocal folds in the study group., Conclusion: Brief and intensive short-term voice therapy using the finger kazoo technique provided improvement in the vocal self-perception, the voice-related quality of life, and in the symptoms of anxiety and depression in dysphonic teachers, more evidently in teachers with vocal nodules., (Copyright © 2020 The Voice Foundation. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Obtain aerodynamic vocal measurements of dysphonic female teachers from two groups, before and after a brief and intensive short-term voice therapy using the finger kazoo technique, compare to the respective control groups, and compare between the two study groups., Study Design: A randomized blind controlled clinical trial., Methods: A randomized blind controlled clinical trial. Measurements of maximum phonation time and sound pressure level (dB SPL) were measured before and after intensive short-term vocal therapy in 24 teachers with and without structural laryngeal disorders and 17 controls with and without structural laryngeal disorder., Results: There was significant reduction in the maximum phonation time of /e/ for the group with no structural laryngeal disorder, and a significant reduction of the maximum sound pressure level for the group with structural laryngeal disorder., Conclusions: Based on the observed results, a significant reduction in the maximum phonation time of /e/ for the group with no structural laryngeal disorder, and a significant reduction of the maximum sound pressure level for the group with structural laryngeal disorder, it is possible that finger kazoo reduced the glottal hyperfunction by improving the balance between the respiratory and the glottal vocal production levels during speech., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Objective: To verify the acoustic measurements of glottic source of dysphonic teachers of a medium-sized municipality of interior of the state., Methods: Retrospective, cross-sectional, and quantitative study, with a composite sample of 34 dysphonic teachers, of which 21 teachers without laryngeal affections and 13 with laryngeal affections, mean age 39.1 years old and 39.5 years old, respectively. Glottic source acoustic analysis was performed with the Multi-Dimensional Voice Program Advanced. The data were analyzed statistically to verify the significance of each acoustic measure between the groups (with laryngeal affection, without laryngeal affection, and total) and in relation to the normality proposed by the software., Results: In the three conditions (groups with and without affection and total) the means were statistically below normality in the measurements of maximum and minimum fundamental frequency. In the group without affection, frequency, and noise measurements presented above normality. In both groups, measurements of frequency, noise, and subharmonic segments were above normal, and number of voice breaks below normal., Conclusion: Acoustic parameters outside the normal pattern showed an aperiodic vocal production, with presence of noise and instability in the vocal signal, in dysphonic teachers with or without alteration at the laryngeal level., (Copyright © 2019 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Attention on port waters is increasing since these economically important infrastructures are embedded in the coastal environment and their management needs to be considered in the monitoring programmes of coastal ecosystems. To implement the sustainable development (blue growth) of port areas, a general knowledge on the ongoing processes in their waters needs to be obtained, considering both abiotic and biotic variables. The present study aimed at inspecting the relationships among plankton components to provide insights into the ecology of ports. Seasonal samplings were carried out in three Mediterranean touristic ports where bacterio-, phyto- and zoo-plankton were simultaneously assessed at a large spatial scale and compared with respect to environmental variables and anthropogenic inputs. Factor analysis revealed the effects of load of inland waters, seasonality, water turbulence and hydrocarbon pollution on the planktonic components and zooplankton variability in port sectors characterized by different depths and uses., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The Mediterranean Sea is one of the busiest areas worldwide in terms of maritime activity, facing considerable anthropogenic disturbance, such as pollution by hydrocarbons and heavy metals. The present study has evaluated the environmental and benthic biodiversity characteristics of three touristic ports, Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy), Heraklion (Crete, Greece) and El Kantaoui (Tunisia), based on the combined assessment of physical parameters, chemical variables (i.e. nutrients, pigments), sediment pollution and macrobenthic biodiversity. Different port sectors (leisure, fishing, passenger, cargo, shipyard) and different seasons (winter, before touristic period, after touristic period) were compared. Salinity and sediment concentration of copper and antimony were the three environmental parameters most highly correlated with benthic species composition and diversity. Both the environmental variables and the benthic biodiversity patterns were significantly different between the three ports (i.e. different geographical locations). Heraklion port was heavily polluted by AHs in surface and anoxic sediments and had the highest percentage of opportunistic species, while Cagliari had the highest levels of PAHs and UCM and low species richness. El Kantaoui port was less polluted and characterised by a richer biodiversity. The shipyard sector in Heraklion port was significantly different from all other sectors in terms of abiotic and biotic parameters. Physico-chemical and pollution variables recorded during the period after tourism (late summer) were significantly different from the ones recorded in winter. Seasonal differences were not significant between benthic species diversity patterns, but were revealed when the patterns derived from the aggregation of higher taxonomic levels were compared. The present study indicates that a regular-basis monitoring plan including evaluation of environmental health based on benthic biodiversity, can provide a basis for perceiving changes and reveal the degree of anthropogenic disturbance in port environments., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is characterized by repeated episodes of upper airway obstruction during sleep., Objective: The objective of this study is to verify the craniofacial characteristics and craniocervical posture of OSA and healthy subjects, determining possible relationships with the apnea/hypopnea index (AHI)., Methods: This case-control study evaluated 21 subjects with OSA, who comprised the OSA group (OSAG), and 21 healthy subjects, who constituted the control group (CG). Cephalometry analyzed head posture measurements, craniofacial measurements, and air space. Head posture was also assessed by means of photogrammetry., Results: The groups were homogeneous regarding gender (12 men and 9 women in each group), age (OSAG = 41.86 ± 11.26 years; GC = 41.19 ± 11.20 years), and body mass index (OSAG = 25.65 ± 2.46 kg/m2; CG = 24.72 ± 3.01 kg/m2). We found significant differences between the groups, with lower average pharyngeal space and greater distance between the hyoid bone and the mandibular plane in OSAG, when compared with CG. A positive correlation was found between higher head hyperextension and head anteriorization, with greater severity of OSA as assessed by AHI., Conclusion: OSAG subjects showed changes in craniofacial morphology, with lower average pharyngeal space and greater distance from the hyoid bone to the mandibular plane, as compared with healthy subjects. Moreover, in OSA subjects, the greater the severity of OSA, the greater the head hyperextension and anteriorization.

The analysis of animal movements may help to understand orientation strategies. While there have been many studies on sandhoppers' orientation mechanisms through the analysis of their orientation angles, no attempts have been made to analyze individual tracks under (varying) natural conditions. The species Talitrus saltator (Montagu, 1808) has the ability to recover the optimal zone of the beach at or below the drift-line and burrow into moist sand when released in the upper beach during the day. On dry sand sandhoppers typically jump and leave tracks; we measured the tracks in relation to the starting point. For each track we calculated: the mean angle of direction, distance covered from the starting point, number of jumps, number of effective turnings, rectilinearity and efficiency (how well the track was directed to the goal). We proposed a classification of the tracks based on both rectilinearity and efficiency. Freshly collected adult individuals from the population of San Rossore beach (Pisa, Italy) were compared to laboratory-born ones so as to highlight eventual differences related to experience. Most of the wild individuals made tracks with high rectilinearity and efficiency. This good orientation suggests that these individuals had developed experience of their beach rapidly recovering the optimal zone. Laboratory-born individuals showed a higher scatter in orientation and winding tracks. The factors that influenced the individuals during their movements could also be inferred by the track course. In addition to the sun azimuth (sun compass), wind direction appeared to be a major factor influencing orientation. The individuals released with onshore winds were more efficiently oriented seawards than those released with winds from other directions., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Complexity is increasingly the hallmark in environmental management practices of sandy shorelines. This arises primarily from meeting growing public demands (e.g., real estate, recreation) whilst reconciling economic demands with expectations of coastal users who have modern conservation ethics. Ideally, shoreline management is underpinned by empirical data, but selecting ecologically-meaningful metrics to accurately measure the condition of systems, and the ecological effects of human activities, is a complex task. Here we construct a framework for metric selection, considering six categories of issues that authorities commonly address: erosion; habitat loss; recreation; fishing; pollution (litter and chemical contaminants); and wildlife conservation. Possible metrics were scored in terms of their ability to reflect environmental change, and against criteria that are widely used for judging the performance of ecological indicators (i.e., sensitivity, practicability, costs, and public appeal). From this analysis, four types of broadly applicable metrics that also performed very well against the indicator criteria emerged: 1.) traits of bird populations and assemblages (e.g., abundance, diversity, distributions, habitat use); 2.) breeding/reproductive performance sensu lato (especially relevant for birds and turtles nesting on beaches and in dunes, but equally applicable to invertebrates and plants); 3.) population parameters and distributions of vertebrates associated primarily with dunes and the supralittoral beach zone (traditionally focused on birds and turtles, but expandable to mammals); 4.) compound measurements of the abundance/cover/biomass of biota (plants, invertebrates, vertebrates) at both the population and assemblage level. Local constraints (i.e., the absence of birds in highly degraded urban settings or lack of dunes on bluff-backed beaches) and particular issues may require alternatives. Metrics - if selected and applied correctly - provide empirical evidence of environmental condition and change, but often do not reflect deeper environmental values per se. Yet, values remain poorly articulated for many beach systems; this calls for a comprehensive identification of environmental values and the development of targeted programs to conserve these values on sandy shorelines globally., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)