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Maize yield forecasting is important for the organisation of harvesting and storage, for the estimation of the commodity base and for the provision of the country's feed and food demand (export-import). To this end, a field experiment was conducted in dry (2021) and extreme dry (2022) years to track the development of the crop to determine the evolution of the relative chlorophyll content (SPAD) and leaf area index (LAI) for better yield estimation. The obtained results showed that SPAD and LAI decreased significantly under drought stress, and leaf senescence had already started in the early vegetative stage. The amount of top dressing applied at V6 and V12 phenophases did not increase yield due to the low amount of rainfall. The 120 kg N ha-1 base fertiliser proved to be optimal. The suitability of SPAD and LAI for maize yield estimation was modelled by regression analysis. Results showed that the combined SPAD-LAI was suitable for yield prediction, and the correlation was strongest at the VT stage (R2 = 0.762).
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Nutrient stress has been known as the main limiting factor for maize growth and yield. Nitrapyrin, as a nitrification inhibitor-which reduces nitrogen loss-and foliar fertilizer treatments have been successfully used to enhance the efficiency of nutrient utilization, however, the impacts of these two technologies on physiological development, enzymatic responses, and productivity of maize are poorly studied. In this paper, the concentration of each stress indicator, such as contents of proline, malondialdehyde (MDA), relative chlorophyll, photosynthetic pigments, and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured in maize leaf tissues. In addition, biomass growth, as well as quantitative and qualitative parameters of yield production were examined. Results confirm the enhancing impact of nitrapyrin on the nitrogen use of maize. Furthermore, lower activity of proline, MDA, SOD, as well as higher photosynthetic activity were shown in maize with a more favorable nutrient supply due to nitrapyrin and foliar fertilizer treatments. The obtained findings draw attention to the future practical relevance of these technologies that can be implemented to enhance the physiological development and productivity of maize. However, this paper also highlights the importance of irrigation, as nutrient uptake from soil by the crops decreases during periods of drought.
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AIM: This study aimed to address the need for adaptation of the current model of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) care in Switzerland, particularly in regard to acute exacerbations, and how far an integrated approach involving advanced nursing practice can meet those needs. METHODS: A state analysis guided by the PEPPA framework was initiated by the Pulmonology Clinic of University Hospital Zürich. Literature describing the current provision of COPD care regarding exacerbations in Switzerland and international qualitative studies describing the patient perspective were systematically searched and summarised. The health providers' perspective was investigated in three focus-group interviews. RESULTS: A lack of systematic and state-of-the-art support for patient self-management in Switzerland was described in literature and confirmed by the health providers interviewed. While care was assessed as being comprehensive and of good quality in each individual sector, such as inpatient, outpatient, rehabilitation and home settings, it was identified as being highly fragmented across sectors. The interview participants described day-to-day examples in which a lack of support in COPD self-management and fragmentation of care negatively affected the patients' disease management. CONCLUSION: The necessity of coordinating the transition between healthcare sectors and self-management support and that these organisational boundaries should be addressed by a multi-professional team were identified. Initial evaluation indicates that advanced practice nurses potentially have the skill set to coordinate the team and address patients' self-management needs in complex patient situations. However, the legal foundation and a reimbursement system to ensure long-term implementation is not yet available.
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Permanent ectoparasites live in stable environments; thus, their population dynamics are mostly adapted to changes in the host life cycle. We aimed to investigate how static and dynamic traits of red-footed falcons interplay with the dynamics of their louse subpopulations during breeding and how they affect the colonisation of new hosts by lice. We sampled red-footed falcon (Falco vespertinus) nestlings (two breeding seasons) and adults (one breeding season) in southern Hungary. The mean abundance of Colpocephalum subzerafae and Degeeriella rufa lice on the nestlings was modelled with generalized linear mixed models using clutch size and host sex in interaction with wing length. For adults, we used wing length and the number of days after laying the first egg, both in interaction with sex. D. rufa abundances increased with the nestlings' wing length. In one year, this trend was steeper on females. In adult birds, both louse species exhibited higher abundances on females at the beginning, but it decreased subsequently through the breeding season. Contrarily, abundances were constantly low on adult males. Apparently, D. rufa postpones transmission until nestlings develop juvenile plumage and choose the more feathered individual among siblings. The sexual difference in the observed abundance could either be caused by the different plumage, or by the females' preference for less parasitized males. Moreover, females likely have more time to preen during the incubation period, lowering their louse burdens. Thus, sex-biased infestation levels likely arise due to parasite preferences in the nestlings and host behavioural processes in the adult falcons.
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Anoplura/fisiología , Falconiformes/parasitología , Ischnocera/fisiología , Phthiraptera/fisiología , Animales , Enfermedades de las Aves/parasitología , Aves/parasitología , Plumas , Femenino , Hungría , Infestaciones por Piojos/parasitología , Masculino , Alas de Animales/anatomía & histología , Alas de Animales/parasitologíaRESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Growth hormone and prolactin secretion is affected by thyroid hormones. To see if this influence is subsidiary to the hyptothalamus, we investigated the effects of thyroxin (T4) on hormone secretion and histology of sellar pituitaries and pituitary grafts detached from the hypothalamus (autografted or allografted under the kidney capsule). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male Wistar rats were divided into eight groups: control, thyroidectomised, pituitary autografted, pituitary allografted, and four additional groups that were injected with T4 for two weeks, starting four weeks after surgery. At sacrifice, adenohypophysial hormone blood levels were assessed, and tissue from sellar and grafted pituitaries were investigated by histology and electron microscopy. RESULTS: Growth hormone and prolactin blood levels, as well as the number of growth hormone immunopositive cells increased in T4-treated groups. Both pituitary auto- and allo-grafts showed lactotroph hyperplasia and displayed spongiform areas containing cells with vesicles in their cytoplasm resembling thyroidectomy cells. This phenomenon was minimized in their respective T4-treated group. Thyroidectomy cells were identified in pituitary grafts, indicating that hypothalamic control was not essential to induce them. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: It is intriguing that the pituitary allografted group, even maintaining normal T4 blood levels, developed thyroidectomy cells in their grafts, suggesting that a long- term deficit of vascularization (>4 weeks) prevented T4 from reaching the graft. After 6 weeks, post T4 treatment of two weeks seemed to be the determining factor to minimize thyroidectomy cells in both pituitary autografted + T4 and pituitary allografted + T4 grafts compared to the untreated groups, although more time and/or higher T4 doses may be required to fully restore the euthyroid morphology.
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Hipófisis/cirugía , Hipófisis/trasplante , Tiroxina/farmacología , Trasplantes/efectos de los fármacos , Análisis de Varianza , Animales , Peso Corporal , Densitometría , Femenino , Masculino , Microscopía Electrónica de Transmisión , Hipófisis/metabolismo , Ratas , Ratas Wistar , Tiroxina/metabolismo , Trasplantes/metabolismoRESUMEN
van 't Hoff plots (logarithm of the retention factor, ln k, vs. the reciprocal of absolute temperature, 1/T) are commonly used in chromatographic studies to characterize the retention mechanisms based on the determined enthalpy (ΔH∘) and entropy (ΔS∘) change of analyte adsorption. In reversed phase liquid chromatography, the thermodynamic parameters could help to understand the retention mechanism. In chiral chromatography, however, the conclusions drawn based on van 't Hoff plots can be deceptive because several different types of adsorption sites are present on the surface of stationary phase. The influence of heterogeneity, however, cannot be studied experimentally. In this study, we employed two reversed phase columns with different retention mechanisms to show that by serially coupling the columns, the obtained thermodynamic parameters are not related to the results obtained on the respective individual columns. Furthermore, our results show that the experimental conditions - such as flow-rate or choice of instrument - will strongly influence the calculated enthalpy and entropy values.
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Cromatografía Líquida de Alta Presión/instrumentación , Cromatografía de Fase Inversa/instrumentación , Adsorción , Estereoisomerismo , Temperatura , TermodinámicaRESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programme has been described and practiced for twenty years in the perioperative management of colorectal patients. ERAS is a complex, evidence based strategy which proved to be extremely effective when linked to laparoscopy in reducing morbidity, length of hospital stay, as well as reducing cost of colorectal service. AIMS: We gradually adapted elements of ERAS protocol along with laparoscopy in the colorectal surgical treatment at a county hospital from 2013. This study reports a retrospective clinical audit of ERAS programme of two years, between 2015-2016. METHODS: In this timeframe we compared clinical results of traditional and ERAS perioperative colorectal management protocols. The two groups were assessed on the basis of demographic, cancer-related parameters and clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Over the two years of audit we treated 130 patients under "traditional" and 84 cases according to ERAS protocol. Mean length of hospital stay was 8 and 6 days median, respectively. Earlier discharge in the ERAS group did not cause any increase in the readmission rates. Morbidity (Clavien-Dindo grade 2 or more) was found to be less in ERAS group: 8,3% vs. 27,4%. ERAS programme success rate, characterized by discharge by 7th postoperative day, was over 70%, keeping well with rates of the experienced centres of ERAS. CONCLUSION: Therefore we can report a successful introduction of ERAS programme for colorectal service in a Middle-Eastern European county hospital. Based on the favourable outcome results of the retrospective audit we have extended ERAS protocol as first choice perioperative scheme for each elective colorectal case from the beginning of 2017.
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Colon/cirugía , Neoplasias Colorrectales/cirugía , Cirugía Colorrectal , Procedimientos Quirúrgicos del Sistema Digestivo/rehabilitación , Tiempo de Internación/estadística & datos numéricos , Evaluación de Programas y Proyectos de Salud/métodos , Adulto , Anciano , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Vías Clínicas/normas , Procedimientos Quirúrgicos del Sistema Digestivo/normas , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Cuidados Posoperatorios , Complicaciones Posoperatorias , Guías de Práctica Clínica como Asunto , Estudios Retrospectivos , Resultado del TratamientoRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Avian host species have different roles in the amplification and maintenance of West Nile virus (WNV), therefore identifying key taxa is vital in understanding WNV epidemics. Here, we present a comprehensive case study conducted on red-footed falcons, where host-vector, vector-virus and host-virus interactions were simultaneously studied to evaluate host species contribution to WNV circulation qualitatively. RESULTS: Mosquitoes were trapped inside red-footed falcon nest-boxes by a method originally developed for the capture of blackflies and midges. We showed that this approach is also efficient for trapping mosquitoes and that the number of trapped vectors is a function of host attraction. Brood size and nestling age had a positive effect on the number of attracted Culex pipiens individuals while the blood-feeding success rate of both dominant Culex species (Culex pipiens and Culex modestus) markedly decreased after the nestlings reached 14 days of age. Using RT-PCR, we showed that WNV was present in these mosquitoes with 4.2% (CI: 0.9-7.5%) prevalence. We did not detect WNV in any of the nestling blood samples. However, a relatively high seroprevalence (25.4% CI: 18.8-33.2%) was detected with an enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA). Using the ELISA OD ratios as a proxy to antibody titers, we showed that older seropositive nestlings have lower antibody levels than their younger conspecifics and that hatching order negatively influences antibody levels in broods with seropositive nestlings. CONCLUSIONS: Red-footed falcons in the studied system are exposed to a local sylvatic WNV circulation, and the risk of infection is higher for younger nestlings. However, the lack of individuals with viremia and the high WNV seroprevalence, indicate that either host has a very short viremic period or that a large percentage of nestlings in the population receive maternal antibodies. This latter assumption is supported by the age and hatching order dependence of antibody levels found for seropositive nestlings. Considering the temporal pattern in mosquito feeding success, maternal immunity may be effective in protecting progeny against WNV infection despite the short antibody half-life measured in various other species. We conclude that red-footed falcons seem to have low WNV host competence and are unlikely to be effective virus reservoirs in the studied region.
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Enfermedades de las Aves/virología , Culex/virología , Falconiformes/virología , Insectos Vectores/virología , Fiebre del Nilo Occidental/veterinaria , Virus del Nilo Occidental/fisiología , Animales , Anticuerpos Antivirales/sangre , Enfermedades de las Aves/sangre , Enfermedades de las Aves/transmisión , Culex/fisiología , Falconiformes/sangre , Conducta Alimentaria , Femenino , Interacciones Huésped-Patógeno , Insectos Vectores/fisiología , Masculino , Estudios Seroepidemiológicos , Fiebre del Nilo Occidental/transmisión , Fiebre del Nilo Occidental/virología , Virus del Nilo Occidental/genética , Virus del Nilo Occidental/aislamiento & purificaciónAsunto(s)
Antibacterianos/administración & dosificación , Fibrosis Quística/enfermería , Adhesión a Directriz , Servicios de Atención a Domicilio Provisto por Hospital , Neumonía Bacteriana/enfermería , Humanos , Infusiones Intravenosas/enfermería , Educación del Paciente como Asunto , Neumonía Bacteriana/prevención & control , AutocuidadoRESUMEN
Crooke's cell adenomas are a rare type of pituitary neoplasm. They produce adrenocorticotropic hormone causing Cushing's disease or may be endocrinologically silent. These tumors are usually invasive, may exhibit aggressive clinical behavior, and often recur with a low success of cure after reoperation and/or radiotherapy. Due to their rarity, they present great difficulties in assessing prognosis, treatment, and clinical management. Neurosurgeons and physicians dealing with pituitary adenomas diagnosed as Crooke's cell adenomas have to be aware of their potential clinical aggressiveness to plan strict follow-up of patients and eventual multimodality treatment. We review here the published cases of Crooke's cell tumors, as well as the clinical and histopathological characteristics of these unusual neoplasms.
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Adenoma/patología , Adenoma/terapia , Neoplasias Hipofisarias/patología , Neoplasias Hipofisarias/terapia , Adenoma/cirugía , Terapia Combinada , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana EdadRESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Managing Cushing's disease remains a challenge. Surgery is the first option of treatment and it offers a high success rate. Even in cases where biochemical remission is not achieved, it is crucial to obtain surgical tissue for morphological diagnosis because the therapeutic approach can be modified according to the findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A literature search was performed using PubMed for information regarding pathology and Cushing's disease. RESULTS: The histopathological features found in the pituitary gland of patients with Cushing's disease are presented. CONCLUSION: Different subtypes of ACTH-producing pituitary tumors are recognized and characterized. The significance of finding a normal pituitary gland with or without Crooke's changes is also discussed.
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Adenoma Hipofisario Secretor de ACTH/patología , Adenoma/patología , Hipersecreción de la Hormona Adrenocorticotrópica Pituitaria (HACT)/patología , Hipófisis/patología , Adenoma Hipofisario Secretor de ACTH/complicaciones , Adenoma Hipofisario Secretor de ACTH/cirugía , Adenoma/complicaciones , Adenoma/cirugía , Biopsia , Humanos , Hipersecreción de la Hormona Adrenocorticotrópica Pituitaria (HACT)/clasificación , Hipersecreción de la Hormona Adrenocorticotrópica Pituitaria (HACT)/cirugía , Hipófisis/cirugía , Valor Predictivo de las Pruebas , Inducción de Remisión , Resultado del TratamientoRESUMEN
Individuals harboring germ-line DICER1 mutations are predisposed to a rare cancer syndrome, the DICER1 Syndrome or pleuropulmonary blastoma-familial tumor and dysplasia syndrome [online Mendelian inheritance in man (OMIM) #601200]. In addition, specific somatic mutations in the DICER1 RNase III catalytic domain have been identified in several DICER1-associated tumor types. Pituitary blastoma (PitB) was identified as a distinct entity in 2008, and is a very rare, potentially lethal early childhood tumor of the pituitary gland. Since the discovery by our team of an inherited mutation in DICER1 in a child with PitB in 2011, we have identified 12 additional PitB cases. We aimed to determine the contribution of germ-line and somatic DICER1 mutations to PitB. We hypothesized that PitB is a pathognomonic feature of a germ-line DICER1 mutation and that each PitB will harbor a second somatic mutation in DICER1. Lymphocyte or saliva DNA samples ascertained from ten infants with PitB were screened and nine were found to harbor a heterozygous germ-line DICER1 mutation. We identified additional DICER1 mutations in nine of ten tested PitB tumor samples, eight of which were confirmed to be somatic in origin. Seven of these mutations occurred within the RNase IIIb catalytic domain, a domain essential to the generation of 5p miRNAs from the 5' arm of miRNA-precursors. Germ-line DICER1 mutations are a major contributor to PitB. Second somatic DICER1 "hits" occurring within the RNase IIIb domain also appear to be critical in PitB pathogenesis.
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ARN Helicasas DEAD-box/genética , Mutación , Neoplasias Complejas y Mixtas/genética , Neoplasias Complejas y Mixtas/patología , Neoplasias Hipofisarias/genética , Neoplasias Hipofisarias/patología , Ribonucleasa III/genética , Preescolar , Análisis Mutacional de ADN , Resultado Fatal , Mutación de Línea Germinal , Humanos , Inmunohistoquímica , Lactante , Imagen por Resonancia Magnética , Neoplasias Complejas y Mixtas/cirugía , Linaje , Neoplasias Hipofisarias/cirugía , Radiografía Torácica , Tomografía Computarizada por Rayos X , Resultado del TratamientoRESUMEN
We report the presence of pituitary tissue in a benign ovarian cystic teratoma removed surgically from a 43-year-old woman. The pituitary consisted of non-tumorous neurohypophysis and adenohypophysis containing mainly prolactin (PRL)-immunopositive cells (80 % of cells) and a small PRL-producing adenoma. The ultrastructure of the tumor cells differed significantly from PRL cells in the non-tumorous and adenomatous intrasellar pituitary. It appears that cells differing in ultrastructure from intrasellar pituitary PRL cells can also produce PRL.
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Neoplasias Primarias Múltiples/patología , Neoplasias Ováricas/patología , Neoplasias Hipofisarias/patología , Prolactinoma/patología , Teratoma/patología , Adulto , Femenino , HumanosRESUMEN
After a brief summary of the stress concept and the contribution of Dr. Hans Selye, this publication focuses on the classification of pituitary neoplasms and the difficulties to provide conclusive information on the prognosis of various pituitary tumor types. The term "aggressive pituitary tumors" was introduced. These tumors have a rapid cell proliferation rate. At present, the assessment of Ki-67 nuclear labeling index appears to be the simplest and most reliable method to evaluate tumor cell multiplication. Further studies on pituitary tumor biomarkers are needed.
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Adenocarcinoma , Adenoma , Biomarcadores de Tumor/análisis , Antígeno Ki-67/análisis , Neoplasias Hipofisarias , Adenocarcinoma/química , Adenocarcinoma/clasificación , Adenocarcinoma/diagnóstico , Adenocarcinoma/terapia , Adenoma/química , Adenoma/clasificación , Adenoma/diagnóstico , Adenoma/terapia , Canadá , Proliferación Celular , Diagnóstico Diferencial , Historia del Siglo XX , Humanos , Hungría , Neoplasias Hipofisarias/química , Neoplasias Hipofisarias/diagnóstico , Neoplasias Hipofisarias/terapia , Valor Predictivo de las Pruebas , Pronóstico , Factores de Riesgo , Terminología como AsuntoAsunto(s)
Trasplante de Pulmón/enfermería , Complicaciones Posoperatorias/enfermería , Respiración , Adulto , Conducta Cooperativa , Fibrosis Quística/enfermería , Fibrosis Quística/psicología , Femenino , Departamentos de Hospitales , Hospitales Universitarios , Humanos , Terapia de Inmunosupresión/enfermería , Comunicación Interdisciplinaria , Trasplante de Pulmón/psicología , Masculino , Complicaciones Posoperatorias/psicología , Pronóstico , Neumología , Suiza , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Cushing disease (CD) constitutes a challenging condition for the pituitary surgeon. Given the variety of factors affecting outcomes in CD, it is uncertain whether the newer endoscopic technique improves the results of surgery. METHODS: A review was conducted of CD cases at our institution between 2000 and 2010. Analysis was done to: determine if surgical technique had an effect on outcome, identify the predictors of outcome and provide details of failed cases. Remission was defined as normal postoperative 24-hour urinary free cortisol (24-h UFC), suppression of morning serum cortisol to <50 nmol/L after 1mg of dexamethasone or being dependent on steroid replacement. RESULTS: Forty-two patients met our inclusion criteria. Average follow-up period was 33 months. There were 15 macroadenomas and 27 microadenomas. Seventeen patients had an endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery and twenty-five patients had a microscopic transsphenoidal procedure. Long-term overall remission was achieved in 26 (62%) patients. There was no significant difference in remission rates between the two techniques (p value 0.757). Patient's subjective symptomatic improvement and drop of morning serum cortisol in the postoperative period to less than 100 nmol/L correlated with long-term remission (p value 0.0031 and 0.0101, respectively) while repeat surgery was the only predictor of the lack of postoperative remission (p value 0.0008). CONCLUSIONS: Revision surgery predicted poor remission rate for CD. Within the power of our study size, there was no difference in outcome between the endoscopic and microscopic approaches. Surgical outcomes should be reviewed in association with remission criteria used in a study.
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Endoscopía/métodos , Microscopía/métodos , Hipersecreción de la Hormona Adrenocorticotrópica Pituitaria (HACT)/cirugía , Resultado del Tratamiento , Hormona Adrenocorticotrópica/sangre , Adulto , Anciano , Endoscopios , Femenino , Estudios de Seguimiento , Humanos , Hidrocortisona/sangre , Antígeno Ki-67/metabolismo , Imagen por Resonancia Magnética , Espectroscopía de Resonancia Magnética , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Hipersecreción de la Hormona Adrenocorticotrópica Pituitaria (HACT)/sangre , Hipersecreción de la Hormona Adrenocorticotrópica Pituitaria (HACT)/diagnóstico , Estudios Retrospectivos , Prevención Secundaria , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
The pituitary is the master endocrine gland of the body. It undergoes many changes after birth, and these changes may be mediated by the differentiation of pituitary stem cells. Stem cells in any tissue source must display (1) pluripotent capacity, (2) capacity for indefinite self-renewal, and (3) a lack of specialization. Unlike neural stem cells identified in the hippocampus and subventricular zone, pituitary stem cells are not associated with one specific cell type. There are many major candidates that are thought to be potential pituitary stem cell sources. This article reviews the evidence for each of the major cell types and discuss the implications of identifying a definitive pituitary stem cell type.