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Larvae of the two European species of the genus Pyrochroa (P. coccinea and P. serraticornis) are redescribed, for the first time based on Italian samples, and new relevant and distinctive characters have emerged from P. serraticornis. Particularly, the presence of a single urogomphal pit between urogomphi (representing a new condition for the entire family), and new characters of mandibles, open new questions about the current taxonomic status of the European species.

Hycleus is a hyper-diverse genus of blister beetles including ~500 species widely distributed in the Old World, currently divided into three "sections" and into 45 "phenetic" species groups according to morphological characters. Recently the monophyly of Hycleus was questioned pointing out its paraphyly with respect to the genera Ceroctis and Paractenodia. In this study, we built a time-calibrated phylogenetic tree based on DNA sequence data from mitochondrial and nuclear genes obtained from 125 species, to understand the phylogenetic relationships among the species of this genus, to infer the biogeographic processes behind their diversification, and to assess their taxonomy and classification. Our results identified four main lineages one of which included the species belonging to Ceroctis and Paractenodia; therefore, both taxa are now referred to Hycleus as new synonyms. The three described sections of Hycleus resulted polyphyletic and are rejected, whereas several species groups represented well supported clades. Hycleus likely originated in Africa during the Early Miocene (~20 Mya), and subsequently spread in Europe and western Asia. Later, in the Late Miocene (~6 Mya) a Saharo-Sindian group branched off from the Palaearctic lineage, whereas the Oriental Region was colonized following a dispersal event through the Arabian Peninsula from the Afrotropical Region (~5 Mya)., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background & Aims: Fractionated plasma separation and adsorption (FPSA) is an extracorporeal procedure that supports liver function by removing endogenous toxins that cause complications from acute-on-chronic liver failure (AOCLF). We performed a randomized trial to investigate survival of patients with AOCLF treated with FPSA., Methods: Patients with AOCLF were randomly assigned to groups given a combination of FPSA and standard medical therapy (SMT) (FPSA group, n = 77) or only SMT (SMT group, n = 68). The Prometheus liver support system was used to provide 8 to 11 rounds of FPSA (minimum of 4 hours each) for 3 weeks. Primary end points were survival probabilities at days 28 and 90, irrespective of liver transplantation., Results: Baseline clinical parameters and number of transplant patients were similar between study arms. Serum bilirubin level decreased significantly in the FPSA group but not in the SMT group. In an intention-to-treat analysis, the probabilities of survival on day 28 were 66% in the FPSA group and 63% in the SMT group (P = .70); on day 90, they were 47% and 38%, respectively (P = .35). Baseline factors independently associated with poor prognosis were high SOFA score, bleeding, female sex, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, intermediate increases in serum creatinine concentration, and combination of alcoholic and viral etiology of liver disease. There were no differences between the 2 groups in the incidence of side effects., Conclusions: Among all patients with AOCLF, extracorporeal liver support with FPSA does not increase the probability of survival. Further studies are needed to assess whether therapy might be beneficial in specific subsets of patients., (Copyright © 2012 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)