Lethal and Sub-Lethal Effects of Organic-Production-Approved Insecticides and Fungicides on the Predator Macrolophus pygmaeus (Rambur) (Hemiptera: Miridae).

In this study, the effects of paraffin oil, copper hydroxide, copper oxychloride, wettable sulfur, Beauveria bassiana and deltamethrin, as a toxic reference treatment, on the survival and predation rate of M. pygmaeus were investigated. In each treatment, the prey were classified as slightly, partially or fully consumed. The mortality rate after contact exposure was high (66.6%) when nymphs were treated with copper hydroxide but much lower after residual exposure (6.6%). B. bassiana caused 53.3% and 46.6% mortality via contact and residual exposure, respectively. The total prey consumption was significantly lower in the pyrethroid reference treatment control and B. bassiana treatments. The highest percentage of slightly consumed prey was recorded in the toxic reference and B. bassiana treatments, that of partially consumed prey in the copper hydroxide treatment and, finally, that of fully consumed prey in the paraffin oil treatment. Therefore, assessing the sub-lethal effects by separating the prey killed into slightly, partially and fully consumed is a sensitive approach to detect impacts which otherwise may remain unnoticed. The results provide information for the most appropriate use of M. pygmaeus in IPM programs and introduce more sensitive approaches in the detection of side-effects of pesticides on M. pygmaeus and other hemipteran predators.

Safer school with near-UV technology: novel applications for environmental hygiene.

Systems capable of disinfecting air and surfaces could reduce the risk of infectious diseases transmission. Aim: to evaluate the effectiveness of near-UV LED ceiling lamps, with a wavelength of 405 nm, in improving environmental hygiene. Between November and December 2020, we conducted an experimental study having a pre-post design in a kindergarten room in Siena where 4 ceiling lamps with 405 nm LED technology were installed. Twice per day, sampling was performed before (T0) and after treatment with near-UV (T1). We used between 8 and 12 pairs of contact plates to sample at various random spots each day. Air samplings were also performed. The plates were incubated at 22 and 36 °C. Significance was set at 95% (p < 0.05). The mean level of Colony Forming Unit (CFU) at T(0) was 249 (95% CI 193.1 - 305.0) at 36 °C and 535.2 (374.3 - 696.1) at 22 °C. The reduction was significant at T(1): by 65% at 36 °C and, 72% at 22 °C. Also, for air contamination: 95.3% (98.4-92.3). A dose threshold of about 5 J/cm2 was identified to have an 80% CFU abatement and remains nearly constant. The advantage of being able to use this technology in the presence of people is very important in the context of controlling environmental contamination.

Biochemical study of the effect of stress conditions on the mandelonitrile-associated salicylic acid biosynthesis in peach.

Salicylic acid (SA) plays a central role in plant responses to environmental stresses. In a recent study, we suggested a third pathway for SA biosynthesis from mandelonitrile (MD) in peach plants. This pathway is an alternative to the phenylalanine ammonia-lyase pathway and links SA biosynthesis and cyanogenesis. In the present work, using biochemical approaches, we studied the effect of salt stress and Plum pox virus (PPV) infection on this proposed SA biosynthetic pathway from MD. Peach plants were submitted to salt stress and Plum pox virus (PPV) infection. We studied the levels of SA and its intermediates/precursors (phenylalanine, MD, amygdalin and benzoic acid) in in vitro shoots. Moreover, in peach seedlings, we analysed the content of H2 O2 -related enzymes, SA and the stress-related hormones abscisic acid and jasmonic acid. We showed that the contribution of this SA biosynthetic pathway from MD to the total SA pool does not seem to be important under the stress conditions assayed. Nevertheless, MD treatment not only affected the SA content, but also had a pleiotropic effect on abscisic acid and jasmonic acid levels. Furthermore, MD modulates the antioxidative metabolism via SA-dependent or -independent redox-related signalling pathways. Even though the proposed SA biosynthetic pathway seems to be functional under stress conditions, MD, and hence cyanogenic glycosides, may be operating more broadly than by influencing SA pathways and signalling. Thus, the physiological function of the proposed SA biosynthetic pathway remains to be elucidated.

Lifestyle and eating habits in a business community.

PURPOSE: The present study verified, using a validated questionnaire, the presence of unhealthy aspects of lifestyle and chronic degenerative conditions in a working community. METHODS: A cohort from a working community in Italy was investigated using of the INRAN (Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca per gli Alimenti e Nutrizione) questionnaire dedicated to the eating habits and Physical Activity Stages of Change. RESULTS: Most of the 93 subjects (56 females and 37 males, aged 42.0±0.7) recruited reported low levels of physical activity (70 subjects). Slightly more than 50% of the subjects undertook physical activity more than once a week, while 13% did it only once. Food intolerances were reported by 7 subjects (8%), with a high consumption of fruits, cereals and dairy products, low consumption of fish and alcohol, and meat consumption in the normal range. There was a high satisfaction in general quality of life. CONCLUSION: Questionnaire investigations play a role to identify the presence of degenerative chronic conditions in working communities. The self-reported perception of quality of life does not necessarily agree with the lifestyle habits found. Awareness of this aspect could be helpful to plan lifestyle interventions and promote healthy living habits.

Criticality and strong intermittency in the Lorentz channel.

We demonstrate the emergence of criticality due to power-law cross correlations in an ensemble of noninteracting particles propagating in an infinite Lorentz channel. The origin of these interparticle long-range correlations is the intermittent dynamics associated with the ballistic corridors in the single particle phase space. This behavior persists dynamically, even in the presence of external driving, provided that the billiard's horizon becomes infinite at certain times. For the driven system, we show that Fermi acceleration permits the synchronization of the particle motion with the periodic appearance of the ballistic corridors. The particle ensemble then acquires characteristics of self-organization as the weight of the phase space regions leading to critical behavior increases with time.

Neuropsicologia teoria e prática

O artigo relata um projeto de parceria entre o Centro de Neurologia Pediátrica do Hospital das Clínicas - CENEP-HC e o Laboratório de Neurologia da Universidade Federal do Paraná-LabNeuro, que atende crianças com comprometimentos neurológicos e/ou cognitivos com o obejtivo de identificar as dificuldades e potencialidades dessas crianças e contribuir para a inclusão social.

Interactive DICOM image transmission and telediagnosis over the European ATM network.

The European High-Performance Information Infrastructure in Medicine, n(o)B3014 (HIM3) project of the Trans-European Network--Integrated Broadband Communications (TEN-IBC) program, started on March 1996 and finished on February 1997, aimed to test the medical usability of the European asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network in medical image transmission. The Department of Radiology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy, and St-Luc University Hospital, Brussels, Belgium, involved in the project as healthcare partners in the radiological domain, established several connection sessions finalized to test the usability of Digital Imaging and Communication (DICOM) image transmission and interactive telediagnosis tools in the daily radiological practice. The Pisa site was connected to the Italian ATM pilot (Sirius Network) through the Tuscany metropolitan area network (MAN), while St-Luc University Hospital was connected to Belgium ATM network through the Brussels MAN. By means of international connections provided by the European JAMES project, a link between the two sites was established, connecting both national ATM networks. Due to the large variety of hardware present in the medical centers, multiplatform software tools were used and tested: central test node (CTN) release 2.8 [3], VAT [6], NV-3.3 [7], and IDI (UCL homemade multiplatform teleradiology tool for interactive visualization and processing of DICOM images). During the telediagnosis session, lead by radiologists in both hospitals, each site submitted neuroradiological clinical cases to the other for remote consultation. The connection, available for a period of two weeks, at 2-Mbit/s bandwidth, allowed the transmission of MR images (256 x 256 x 12 bit) and simultaneous multimedia interactive discussion of the cases. Both off-line transmission and review of the images, using the CTN DICOM transfer routines, and on-line interactive image discussion, using the IDI telediagnosis software, were tested successfully from the technical and medical point of view.

[Fever of unknown origin and tuberculous aortitis]. / Fiebr de origen desconocido y aortitis tuberculosa.

We present the case of a silicotic patient, with recurrent febrile episodes during the past three years, who was hospitalized for the study of prolonged fever. In addition to compliance with the criteria of fever from unknown origin (FUO), the patient presented semiology and echocardiogram compatible with infectious endocarditis. Later on, he developed a severe aortic failure refractary to medical treatment and hence, he underwent surgery. The surgical intervention showed an abscess in the aortic root, which resulted to be of a tuberculous origin and an intact aortic valve. The review of the echocardiographic study allowed the detection of an image compatible with aortic abscess. We comment on the characteristic of this rare entity and the peculiarities of this case, which fulfill the criteria of what has been recently named recurrent or episodic FUO and among whose causes Mycobacterium tuberculosis had not been detected up to now.

Decrease in the frequency of autopsies in Denmark after the introduction of a new autopsy act.

UNLABELLED: New techniques have influenced the attitude to the autopsy and contribute to a de-emphasis on the importance of post-mortem examination. Since 1990, new Danish legislation has provoked a dramatic fall in the autopsy rate, which had already declined from 45% in 1970 to 35% in 1980. In the first half of 1990 the rate was 24% in the second half of that same year it had fallen to 16% ( SOURCE: The Danish National Institute of Health, 1992). The clinicians now seem to manage without the autopsy to confirm or correct their daily diagnostics. They also seem to be of the opinion that they do well without this "final checklist". The autopsy, however, is still an important tool in understanding, correcting and improving future diagnosis. Therefore, post-mortems should again be carried out as a matter of course and common practice. The following proposals are all aimed at obtaining a higher autopsy rate: The 1990 legislation on autopsy should be changed so that permission to perform a post-mortem can be given in due time, before the supposed death, preferably by the patient himself and obviously with the right to a subsequent change of mind. It is of great importance that the Public Health Service informs both the public and health workers in general about the nature and importance of the autopsy. Likewise, doctors and health workers in general should be educated in how best to give information to patients. Pathologists should, through a more uniform and exact practice, encourage the clinicians to a renewal of the close collaboration concerning the facts revealed by the autopsy, both in their everyday practice and in scientific projects in general.

[Diagnostic usefulness of 2-dimensional echocardiography in eosinophilic endomyocardial disease (Loeffler disease)]. / Utilidad diagnóstica de la ecocardiografía bidimensional en la enfermedad endomiocárdica eosinofílica (enfermedad de Löffler).

We present an uncommon case of idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome with cardiac involvement (fibroplastic parietal endocarditis --Löffler's disease--) in a 48-year-old female with congestive heart failure and hypereosinophilia. The 2-D echo findings (biventricular apical obliteration by echogenic endomyocardial proliferations with normal systolic inward motion) were the clue for the diagnosis that was hemodynamically and pathologically confirmed subsequently. We emphasize the diagnostic value of two-dimensional echocardiography in this condition and review the literature on it.

The composition of gallstones from geriatric patients. Methods for the determination of cholesterol and of black substances in gallstones.

78 female and 31 male Danish gallstone cases found by autopsy were studied. The mass of the gallstone(s) from each patient was recorded and the stones were ground. The content of cholesterol in the mixed material from each patient was determined, using the Liebermann-Burchard reaction. The ratio Gallstone(s) ash-mass/Gallstone(s)-mass was determined, and where this ratio exceeded 0.10, calcium and phosphate determinations were carried out. Subjective description of the stones as 'mixed stones' or 'pigment stones' was substituted by visual comparison of the ground gallstones with a 'grey scale' (black was given the highest value). The values of this quantity and the ash values generally increased with a decreasing content of cholesterol. The content of cholesterol in the gallstones increased with increasing stone mass. The chemical composition of gallstones found by surgery seems to differ from that of gallstones found by autopsy.