Review of the genus Sparasion Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera: Platygastroidea: Sparasionidae) of the Oriental region with descriptions of new species from India.

BACKGROUND: The genus Sparasion, endoparasitoids of Tettigoniidae, occur in the Nearctic, Palearctic, Afrotropical and Oriental regions. It is absent in the Neotropics and Australasia. Of the thirteen species found in the Oriental region only a single species is from India. RESULTS: Two new species groups - Sparasion bilahari species group and Sparasion manavati species group - are proposed for species from the Oriental region. Thirty-six species are described and illustrated of which twenty-four are new: Sparasion albopilosellus Cameron, 1906 (Pakistan); S. bhairavi Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. bhupali Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. bihagi Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. bilahari Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. cellularis Strand, 1913 (Taiwan); S. coconcus Kozlov and Lê, 2000 (Vietnam); S. coeruleus Kieffer, 1905 (Sumatra); S. cullaris Kozlov and Lê, 2000 (Vietnam); S. darbari Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. deepaki Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. domes Kozlov and Lê, 2000 (Vietnam); S. elbakyanae Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. formosus Kieffer, 1910 (Taiwan); S. hindoli Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. kalyani Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. kanakangi Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. karivadana Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. lividus Johnson, Masner & Musetti, 2008 (Philippines); S. manavati Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. meghmalhari Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. micromerus Kozlov and Lê, 2000 (Vietnam); S. pahadi Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. philippinensis Kieffer, 1913 (Philippines); S. ratnangi Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. rupavati Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. salagami Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. shulini Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. sinensis Walker, 1852 (China); S. sivaranjini Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. syamalangi Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. todi Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. travancoricus Mani and Sharma, 1981 (India); S. vanaspati Veenakumari, sp. n. (India); S. visvambari Veenakumari, sp. n. (India) and S. zeelafi Veenakumari, sp. n. (India). Keys to Oriental species of Sparasion are furnished. Intrasexual colour morphs among females of Sparasion is reported. Lectotype is designated for Sparasion cellularis Strand. CONCLUSIONS: Twenty-four new species are added to the Indian fauna of Sparasion. Previously described species of Oriental Sparasion are redescribed and illustrated. Keys are furnished for all Oriental species.

Contribution to the knowledge of the genus Dendarus Dejean, 1821 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Blaptinae: Dendarini) from Iran, Turkmenistan and some adjacent territories.

The taxonomic review of the genus Dendarus Dejean, 1821 from Iran and Turkmenistan is given. In total, five species are distributed in Iran and four species in South Turkmenistan; three species occur in both countries. The new species D. matthewsi sp. n. is described from Iran and compared with D. simplex Seidlitz, 1893. One taxon is resurrected from a synonymy with D. transcaspicus: D. vagabundus sp. resurr. As a result, one Afghan subspecies of D. transcaspicus belongs to another species: D. vagabundus afghanicus Kaszab, 1973. The following new synonymy is proposed: Dendarus vagabundus vagabundus Reitter, 1904 = D. transcaspicus medvedevi Kaszab, 1973, syn. n. Lectotypes of Dendarus armeniacus Baudi di Selve, 1876 and D. leonhardi Schuster, 1940 are designated. The following erroneous interpretations of Iranian and Turkmenian species are indicated: D. vagabundus = D. armeniacus sensu G. Medvedev = D. transcaspicus sensu Kaszab; D. armeniacus = D. simplex sensu G. Medvedev. New distribution data are given: D. armeniacusN Iran (excluded from faunistic lists of Armenia, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Turkey); D. crenulatus (Mntris, 1832)Turkey, Transcaucasia, the North Caucasus (Russia: Dagestan, Chechen Republic), N Iran, Turkmenistan (new record for the country); D. leonhardiNE Iran, S Turkmenistan; D. matthewsi Nabozhenko sp. n.W Iran (Zagros); D. transcaspicus Brancsik, 1899S Turkmenistan (Kopetdag); D. vagabundus vagabundus Reitter, 1904N Iran, S Turkmenistan (Kopetdag). Two species must be excluded from Iranian faunistic list: D. simplexTurkey, Syria, Iraq; D. extensus (Faldermann, 1837)Georgia, Armenia, W Azerbaijan, Turkey (new record for the country). Well-illustrated keys to males and females of Iranian and Turkmenian species of the genus are given.

Ptilodactyla exotica Chapin, 1927 in Italy (Coleoptera: Ptilodactylidae).

Ptilodactyla exotica Chapin, 1927 is a subcosmopolitan synanthropic species introduced to Europe with tropical ornamental plants. It is here firstly recorded from central Italy (Tuscany region), and its Italian chronogeonemy (1940-2016) is summarized. Most records come from the Genoa province (Northern Italy, Liguria region), where this species was repeatedly collected in the period 1940-1999.

ERAS, length of stay and private insurance: a retrospective study.

PURPOSE: Hospital discharge after colorectal resection within an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) program occurs earlier compared to standard-care postoperative pathways but often later than what objective criteria of "readiness for discharge" could allow. The aim of this study was to analyse reasons and risk factors of such discharge delay. METHODS: All elective patients admitted for colorectal resection at the regional Hospital of Lugano in 2014 and 2015 were included. The postoperative day on which patients fulfilled consensus agreed criteria (according to Fiore) for readiness for discharge (POD-F) and the effective day of discharge (POD-D) were determined. We analysed the reasons for discharge delay (POD-D>POD-F) and performed univariate and multivariate analysis to determine risk factors. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-eight patients were included in the study. Median POD-F was 5 (2-48) days, POD-D was 6 (3-50) days. In 94 patients, POD-D occurred later than POD-F with a median delay of 1 (1-11) days. Reasons for discharge delay were insufficient social support in 13 (14%), patient's preference in 39 (41%) and medical team preference in 41 (44%). Private insurance (OR 2.61, 95%CI 1.08-6.34, p = 0.034) and patient discharged on a day other than Monday (OR 2.94, 95%CI 1.16-7.14, p = 0.023) were independent predictors for discharge delay. CONCLUSION: Even when objective criteria for readiness for discharge have been fulfilled, patients and/or doctors often do not feel comfortable with hospital discharge at this time point. Length of stay, even within an ERAS program, is still influenced by several non-medical factors and is therefore not a precise surrogate marker of outcomes.

Persistent postdischarge pain and chronic postoperative pain after breast cancer surgery under general anesthesia and single-shot paravertebral block: incidence, characteristics and impact on quality of life and healthcare costs.

Introduction: Breast surgery is associated with persistent postsurgical pain; usually related to poorly treated acute pain. Paravertebral block has been successfully employed in analgesic protocols for breast surgery; its impact on postdischarge pain (PDP) has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to assess characteristics of PDP after breast surgery, the development of chronic postoperative pain (CPP) and its impact on health care costs. Methods: We conducted a retrospective, observational study on a continuous cohort of adult female patients undergoing local breast cancer surgery under combined anesthesia. All patients were interviewed 6 months after hospital discharge. The survey was specifically conceived to assess incidence, features and duration of PDP. The overall cost of additional healthcare resources consumed with a specific relationship to persistent PDP was estimated. Results: A database of 244 patients was preliminarily analyzed. Of these, 188 were included in the following statistical analysis; 123 patients (65.2%) reported significant PDP, with a median intensity on NRS of 6 (IQR=2), more frequently described as burning and associated with paresthesia and/or hyperalgesia (87 patients, 46%). One hundred and six patients (56.5%) reported this pain as interfering with their normal daily activities, work and sleep. In 26.8% of cases (50 patients) symptoms lasted more than 1 month and in 28 patients (15.0%) pain became chronic. The majority of patients self-treated their pain with non-steroideal anti-inflammatory drugs, but in 50 patients (26.8%) this therapy was reported as ineffective. This additional consumption of healthcare resources led to a significant economical impact. Conclusion: PDP and CPP seem to be common complications after breast cancer surgery, even if a combined anesthesia technique with a thoracic paravertebral block is performed, leading to severe consequences on patients' quality of life and increasing consumption of healthcare resources after discharge. Trial number: NCT03618459 (www.clinicaltrials.gov).

Precocious Ossification of the Tympanoperiotic Bone in Fetal and Newborn Dolphins: An Evolutionary Adaptation to the Aquatic Environment?

The present study, performed with a dual-energy X-ray (DXA) bone densitometer on a series of fetal and newborn striped and short-beaked common dolphins, shows that the bone density of the area of the tympanic bulla within the tympanoperiotic complex starts with 0.483 g cm(-2) in 5- to 6-month-old specimens of striped (or common) dolphin fetuses and reaches 1.841 g cm(-2) in newborn striped dolphins, with values consistently higher than in other parts of the skull or elsewhere in the skeleton. The same results apply to the common bottlenose dolphins, in which the area of the tympanic bulla has a density of 0.312 g cm(-2) in 5-month-old specimens and becomes four times as much in newborns. Regardless of the areal bone density results correlated to the DXA-technique, comparisons with DXA-bone density data in the literature referred to other mammals emphasize the presence of very high mineral deposition in the area of the tympanoperiotic bone in fetal and newborn dolphins and the most dense part of it belongs to the tympanic bulla. The early osseous maturation of the tympanic bulla area may be compared to what described in fin whales and may represent an unique ontogenetic and phylogenetic feature of cetaceans, possibly related to the development of essential acoustic sense and establishment of immediate post-natal mother-calf relationship.

Three cases of ophthalmomyiasis externa by sheep botfly Oestrus ovis in Italy.

Human infection with the sheep nasal botfly Oestrus ovis is sporadic and is often the consequence of an accidental deposit of the larvae by an adult botfly in the eye. This infestation results in external ophthalmomyiasis that, although a very rare condition, is more common among people living close to farming communities. We report three cases of O. ovis infestation which occurred in Italy in a limited area of La Spezia province (Le Cinque Terre), Italy during summer 2004. None of the patients had contact with wild or farm animals.