The urban contrast: A nationwide assessment of avian diversity in Mexican cities.

In this study we focused on urban bird diversity across Mexico, a megadiverse country, with a special focus on the relative role of urban greenspaces and heavily-built sites. We considered a country-wide approach, including 24 different sized Mexican cities. Our aims were to describe the urban bird diversity in focal cities and further assess the relationships between it and the biogeographic region where cities are located, their size, elevation, and annual rainfall. Additionally, we evaluated differences in the functional composition of bird communities in both studied urban scenarios (i.e., urban greenspaces, heavily-built sites). Our results confirm that urban greenspaces are home to a large proportion of species when contrasted with heavily-built sites. While total species richness and species richness of greenspaces were related with the cities' biogeographic region -with higher species richness in the Neotropical region and Transition Zone-, the relationship did not hold true in heavily-built sites. We found that annual rainfall was negatively related to bird richness in heavily-built sites, suggesting that species from arid systems can be more tolerant to urbanization. Regarding the bird functional group assessment, results show a clear differentiation between the functional groups of greenspaces and those of heavily-built sites, with granivores and omnivores associated with the latter and a highly diverse array of functional groups associated with urban greenspaces.

Experiencia en el uso de tromboprofilaxis farmacológica en un hospital colombiano de tercer nivel / Experience with the use of pharmacological thromboprophylaxis in a tertiary care Colombian hospital

Objetivo: Describir las características de la población con patologías no quirúrgicas en quien se indicó manejo de tromboprofilaxis farmacológica en un hospital de tercer nivel y determinar la indicación según riesgo de tromboembolia venosa (VTE) y sangrado con las escalas Padua e IMPROVE Bleeding Score. Materiales y métodos: estudio observacional, descriptivo, de corte transversal que incluyó a pacientes > 18 años, con patología no quirúrgica del servicio de medicina interna, con estancia hospitalaria mínima de 48 horas, atendidos entre el 1 de junio de 2015 a 1 de junio de 2016. En la valoración de riesgo de VTE y sangrado se aplicaron las escalas Padua e IMPROVE Bleeding Score, respectivamente. Resultados: se incluyeron 531 pacientes, de los que el 51,78% fueron hombres, con una edad promedio de 66 años y hospitalización de 37,2 días. La indicación farmacológica más empleada fue la heparina de bajo peso molecular (76,3%). De acuerdo a la escala de Padua, solo 225 pacientes (42,37%) tenían un alto riesgo de tener VTE; según la IMPROVE Bleeding Score, 447 (84,18%) pacientes presentaban bajo riesgo de sangrado y 84 pacientes (15,81%) alto riesgo. Además, se observó que los pacientes con puntaje PADUA ≥ 4, el 21,33% tenía puntaje IMPROVE Bleeding Score ≥7, adicionalmente el 20,23% de los pacientes con alto riesgo de sangrado según esta última escala presentó un episodio de sangrado. Conclusión: se evidenció un sobreuso de tromboprofilaxis farmacológica, lo cual se ve reflejado en episodios de sangrado en paciente que no tenían indicado su uso

Objective: To describe the characteristics of the population with non-surgical conditions who were prescribed pharmacological thromboprophylaxis in a tertiary care hospital, and to determine the indication according to the risk for developing venous thromboembolism (VTE) and bleeding using the Padua Scale and the IMPROVE Bleeding Score. Materials and Methods: This is an observational, descriptive, and cross-sectional study that included patients >18 years old from the internal medicine ward who had no surgical conditions, who were hospitalized for 48 hours as a minimum, between June 1st, 2015 and June 1st, 2016. When assessing the risk for VTE and bleeding the Padua scale and the IMPROVE Bleeding Score were used, respectively. Results: Five-hundred and thirty-one patients were included, half of them (51.78%) were male, their mean age was 66 years, and their average hospitalization time was 37.2 days. The most frequently used pharmacological indication was low molecular weight heparin (76.3%). According to the Padua scale, only 225 patients (42.37%) were at high risk for developing VTE; according to the IMPROVE Bleeding Score, 447 (84.18%) patients were at low risk for bleeding, and 84 patients (15.81%) were at high risk. Also, it was observed that patients with a >4 score in the PADUA scale, 21.33% had >7 points in the IMPROVE Bleeding Score; additionally, 20.23% of patients at high risk for bleeding according to the latter instrument had a bleeding episode. Conclusion: There was overuse of pharmacological thromboprophylaxis, which was reflected in the occurrence of bleeding episodes in patients who did not qualify for such indication

Coccidia in passerines from the Nevado de Toluca National Park, Mexico.

In this study, we found unsporulated coccidia oocysts in passerines from the Nevado de Toluca National Park, Mexico. We captured birds and took samples of their droppings during three field visits. We examined a total of 72 fecal samples and found unsporulated coccidia oocysts in 10 samples from five passerine species: Atlapetes pileatus (3), Cardelina ruber (1), Mniotilta varia (1), Oreothlypis celata (2) and Regulus calendula (3). This appears to be the first recorded study of unsporulated coccidia oocysts in passerine species from Mexico.