Host Species and Body Site Explain the Variation in the Microbiota Associated to Wild Sympatric Mediterranean Teleost Fishes.

Microorganisms are an important component in shaping the evolution of hosts and as such, the study of bacterial communities with molecular techniques is shedding light on the complexity of symbioses between bacteria and vertebrates. Teleost fish are a heterogeneous group that live in a wide variety of habitats, and thus a good model group to investigate symbiotic interactions and their influence on host biology and ecology. Here we describe the microbiota of thirteen teleostean species sharing the same environment in the Mediterranean Sea and compare bacterial communities among different species and body sites (external mucus, skin, gills, and intestine). Our results show that Proteobacteria is the dominant phylum present in fish and water. However, the prevalence of other bacterial taxa differs between fish and the surrounding water. Significant differences in bacterial diversity are observed among fish species and body sites, with higher diversity found in the external mucus. No effect of sampling time nor species individual was found. The identification of indicator bacterial taxa further supports that each body site harbors its own characteristic bacterial community. These results improve current knowledge and understanding of symbiotic relationships among bacteria and their fish hosts in the wild since the majority of previous studies focused on captive individuals.

Dental considerations and recommendations in Eisenmenger syndrome: A report of an unusual paediatric case.

BACKGROUND: Eisenmenger syndrome (ES) is a heart cyanotic condition characterised by elevated pulmonary vascular resistance and an intra-cardiac right-to-left shunting of blood through a systemic-to-pulmonary circulation connection. Affected children usually exhibit severe hypoxia, clubbing of fingers/toes, haemoptysis, anaemia, and organ damage. CASE REPORT: During autumn 2015, the patient and her parents arrived at the paediatric dentistry clinic. The patient presented with the main complaint of generalised inflamed gingival tissues, severely protruded upper incisors, and evident abnormal mouth breathing. TREATMENT: This was performed under local analgesia, rubber-dam isolation, and antimicrobial prophylaxis with amoxicillin (50 mg/kg). The patient's parents agreed to the treatment plan through a signed informed consent. This treatment consisted of the placement of pit and fissure sealants on the four permanent first molars (which included enamel preparation with fissurotomy burs), in-depth gingiva/dental frequent cleanings, local fluoride varnish applications, and an exhaustive programme of at-home oral hygiene (brushing, flossing, and chlorhexidine mouth rinses), including adequate nutrition. Gingivoplasty surgery to remove residual enlarged tissues was indicated for the near future. FOLLOW-UP: The child did not return to the clinic. When contacted, the parents reported that their daughter's systemic condition worsened significantly. She was confined to a bed at home under palliative care, with a life-span expectation of only a few months. CONCLUSION: Comprehensive dental care of children with ES requires careful consideration of their medical condition, and dental care delivery should be coordinated with the paediatric cardiologist. General analgesia should be considered only in strictly selected cases, due to the high peri-operative mortality reported.

Ectoparasite Activity During Incubation Increases Microbial Growth on Avian Eggs.

While direct detrimental effects of parasites on hosts are relatively well documented, other more subtle but potentially important effects of parasitism are yet unexplored. Biological activity of ectoparasites, apart from skin injuries and blood-feeding, often results in blood remains, or parasite faeces that accumulate and modify the host environment. In this way, ectoparasite activities and remains may increase nutrient availability that may favour colonization and growth of microorganisms including potential pathogens. Here, by the experimental addition of hematophagous flies (Carnus hemapterus, a common ectoparasite of birds) to nests of spotless starlings Sturnus unicolor during incubation, we explore this possible side effect of parasitism which has rarely, if ever, been investigated. Results show that faeces and blood remains from parasitic flies on spotless starling eggshells at the end of incubation were more abundant in experimental than in control nests. Moreover, eggshell bacterial loads of different groups of cultivable bacteria including potential pathogens, as well as species richness of bacteria in terms of Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs), were also higher in experimental nests. Finally, we also found evidence of a link between eggshell bacterial loads and increased embryo mortality, which provides indirect support for a bacterial-mediated negative effect of ectoparasitism on host offspring. Trans-shell bacterial infection might be one of the main causes of embryo death and, consequently, this hitherto unnoticed indirect effect of ectoparasitism might be widespread in nature and could affect our understanding of ecology and evolution of host-parasite interactions.

Fundamentals in Biostatistics for Research in Pediatric Dentistry: Part I - Basic Concepts.

The purpose of this report was to provide the reader with some basic concepts in order to better understand the significance and reliability of the results of any article on Pediatric Dentistry. Currently, Pediatric Dentists need the best evidence available in the literature on which to base their diagnoses and treatment decisions for the children's oral care. Basic understanding of Biostatistics plays an important role during the entire Evidence-Based Dentistry (EBD) process. This report describes Biostatistics fundamentals in order to introduce the basic concepts used in statistics, such as summary measures, estimation, hypothesis testing, effect size, level of significance, p value, confidence intervals, etc., which are available to Pediatric Dentists interested in reading or designing original clinical or epidemiological studies.

Intralesional rituximab in primary conjunctival follicular lymphoma relapsed. / Rituximab intralesional como tratamiento de linfoma folicular primario de conjuntiva recidivante.

CLINICAL CASE: A 49-year-old woman experienced a local relapse of a primary follicular lymphoma (FL) of the conjunctiva. She received 4 weekly intra-lesional injections followed by 6 monthly injections of rituximab (6mg/ml). A clinical response was achieved after first injection. No adverse ocular event or signs of lymphoma relapse were seen after 10 months of follow-up. DISCUSSION: Intralesional administration of rituximab for treating primary FL of the conjunctiva was an effective and safe therapeutic option; therefore it could be an alternative to other conventional treatments, such as radiotherapy or chemotherapy.

Zinc Oxide-Eugenol Pulpotomy in Primary Teeth: A 24-Month Follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the clinical and radiographic effectiveness of zinc oxide-eugenol (ZOE) as the only pulp capping agent in pulpotomies carried out on decayed primary molars after a follow-up period of 24 months. STUDY DESIGN: In total, 60 pulpotomies were performed on 38 patients aged 3 to 11 years. Pulpotomy treatment consisted of the removal of the coronal pup tissue, subsequent hemostasis, irrigation with saline solution, drying and pressure with sterile cotton pellets, and placement of a thick regular ZOE base with a minimal amount of eugenol directly over the vital radicular pulp. Additionally, a histopathologic study was carried out on some of the molars treated. RESULTS: After a 24-month follow-up, we considered 51 procedures to be successful and 9 failures using clinical and radiographic criteria; most of the failures occurred between the 12th and 18th month. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that the proposed pulpotomy treatment with ZOE as the only capping agent may be considered as an alternative technique in the pulp treatment of primary molars.

Telomere dynamics in parasitic great spotted cuckoos and their magpie hosts.

Although little is known on the impact of environment on telomere length dynamics, it has been suggested to be affected by stress, lifestyle and/or life-history strategies of animals. We here compared telomere dynamics in erythrocytes of hatchlings and fledglings of the brood parasite great spotted cuckoos (Clamator glandarius) and of magpies (Pica pica), their main host in Europe. In magpie chicks, telomere length decreased from hatching to fledging, whereas no significant change in telomere length of great spotted cuckoo chicks was found. Moreover, we found interspecific differences in the association between laying date and telomere shortening. Interspecific differences in telomere shortening were interpreted as a consequence of differences in lifestyle and life-history characteristics of magpies and great spotted cuckoos. In comparison with magpies, cuckoos experience reduced sibling competition and higher access to resources and, consequently, lower stressful environmental conditions during the nestling phase. These characteristics also explain the associations between telomere attrition and environmental conditions (i.e. laying date) for magpies and the absence of association for great spotted cuckoos. These results therefore fit expectations on telomere dynamics derived from interspecific differences in lifestyle and life history of brood parasites and their bird hosts.

Probiotics and their effect on oral bacteria count in children: a pilot study.

AIM: To assess the effect of the daily ingestion of a mixture of probiotics on the amount of Streptococcus mutans in the oral cavity of preschool-age patients with a high risk of caries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty patients, aged between 4 and 6 years, with a high risk of dental caries were included in this pilot study. Patients were randomly assigned to two study groups: the Experimental Group (A) included patients who brushed their teeth and used fluoridated toothpaste in addition to consuming probiotics daily, and the Control Group (B) inclused patients who brushed their teeth and used fluoridated toothpaste but did not consume probiotics. Using the CariScreen, the microorganism count was determined at different times: baseline, 7, 14, 21 and 30 days. To identify the differences between both groups, a Mann-Whitney U test was performed, with a significance level of 0.05. RESULTS: It was observed that both groups showed similar microbial counts at the beginning of the trial (p>0.05), and a significant decrease in the count at the end of the study was found in the experimental group (p<0.05) 15 days after suspending ingestion. CONCLUSION: We found a significant reduction of RLU values in preschool children who ingested the tested probiotics in relation to the baseline values and 15 days after ceasing consumption.

Manejo estomatológico de un paciente con Síndrome de Di-George. Reporte de un caso / Management of patient with DiGeorge Sindrome. A case report

El Síndrome de DiGeorge pertenece a un grupo de los trastornos más comunes que ocurren de la deleción del cromosoma 22, región q11, caracterizado principalmente por la ausencia de timo y paratiroides de forma congénita. Este síndrome se asocia a trastornos cardiacos, del timo, paratiroides, craneofaciales, del desarrollo neurológico y manifestaciones conductuales. También se han reportado alteraciones en la mineralización del esmalte, que pueden estar relacionadas al hipoparatiroidismo e hipocalcemia. El objetivo de este reporte dé caso es describir las características del síndrome así como su manejo estomatológico restaurativo y preventivo...

DiGeorge syndrome belongs to a group of the most common disorders that occur from the deletion of chromosome 22, region q 11, characterized principally by the lack of thymus and parathyroid congenitally. This condition is associated with heart diseases, craniofacial defects, neurodevelopmental and interactive manifestations. Have also informed changes in enamel mineralization, which may be associated to hypoparathyroidism and hypocalcemia. The purpose of this case report is to describe the features of the syndrome and its dental care restorative and preventive...

Management and followup of complicated crown fractures in young patients treated with partial pulpotomy.

Two cases of young patients with traumatized permanent teeth having complicated crown fractures are reported. Endodontic management included partial pulpotomy by the Cvek technique; restorative management included resin restoration and reattachment of the teeth fragments. Treatments were considered successful in all cases according to the following criteria: absence of clinical symptoms, absence of X-ray signs of pathology, and presence of pulpal vitality 6 to 25 months after treatment.

Does avian conspicuous colouration increase or reduce predation risk?

Animals often announce their unprofitability to predators through conspicuous coloured signals. Here we tested whether the apparently conspicuous colour designs of the four European Coraciiformes and Upupiformes species may have evolved as aposematic signals, or whether instead they imply a cost in terms of predation risk. Because previous studies suggested that these species are unpalatable, we hypothesized that predators could avoid targeting them based on their colours. An experiment was performed where two artificial models of each bird species were exposed simultaneously to raptor predators, one painted so as to resemble the real colour design of these birds, and the other one painted using cryptic colours. Additionally, we used field data on the black kite's diet to compare the selection of these four species to that of other avian prey. Conspicuous models were attacked in equal or higher proportions than their cryptic counterparts, and the attack rate on the four species increased with their respective degree of contrast against natural backgrounds. The analysis of the predator's diet revealed that the two least attacked species were negatively selected in nature despite their abundance. Both conspicuous and cryptic models of one of the studied species (the hoopoe) received fewer attacks than cryptic models of the other three species, suggesting that predators may avoid this species for characteristics other than colour. Globally, our results suggest that the colour of coraciiforms and upupiforms does not function as an aposematic signal that advises predators of their unprofitability, but also that conspicuous colours may increase predation risk in some species, supporting thus the handicap hypothesis.

Rehabilitación protésica en displasia ectodérmica hipohidrótica: reporte de un caso / Prosthetic rehabilitation in hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia: Report of a case

La displasia ectodérmica hipohidrótica es un síndrome genético, caracterizado principalmente por hipohidrosis, hipotricosis e hipodoncia. Esta enfermedad es asociada con hipodoncia y atrofia de los procesos alveolares. El aspecto facial y la ausencia dental múltiple puede ser causa de problemas de socialización por parte de los niños afectados. El propósito de este reporte es describir las características y el manejo odontológico y protésico de un paciente masculino de 5 años de edad diagnosticado con el síndrome.

Hypodriotic ectotermal dysplasia is a genetic syndrome characterized mainly by hypodriosis, hypotrichosis and hypodontia. This disesase is associated with hypodontia and atrophy of the alveolar process. The facial aspect and the multiple missing teeth can cause problems of socialization of the affected children. The aim of this report is to describe features and dental and prosthetic management of a 5-year-old boy, diagnosed with the syndrome.

Manifestaciones orales y manejo de un paciente pediátrico con esclerodermia localizada: revisión de literatura y reporte de un caso / Oral manifestations and management of localized scleroderma in childhood: Review of the literature and case report

La esclerodermia es una rara enfermedad que afecta los tejidos de origen mesenquimatoso y ectodérmico. Se caracteriza por la aparición de alteraciones inflamatorias y vasculares, además de esclerosis en la piel y órganos de los sistemas respiratorio, cardiovascular y gastrointestinal. El propósito del presente reporte es describir el caso de una niña de 4 años con esclerodermia localizada, sus manifestaciones clínicas, datos epidemiológicos y sugerencias de manejo odontológico de los pacientes pediátricos con esta rara enfermedad.

Scleroderma is a rare disorder that affects mesenchymal and ectodermal tissues. It is characterized of vascular and inflammatory alterations and sclerosis in the skin and organs of respiratory, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems. The purpose of this report is to describe the case of a 4 year old girl with localized scleroderma, its clinical manifestations, epidemiological data and recommendations of dental management for the pediatric patients with this rare disease.

Caries de la infancia temprana: ¿negligencia o ignorancia?: reporte de un caso / Early childhood caries: ¿neglect or ignorance?: report of a case

El presente es el reporte de un caso de un niño de 5 años 4 meses de edad que exhibía un patrón de caries dental de la infancia temprana severa no tratada oportunamente, debido a ignorancia y posible negligencia por parte de los padres. Se describe el proceso diagnóstico y el tratamiento brindado al paciente y el manejo preventivo que se instituyó a corto, mediano y largo plazo.

This case report is of a 5 years 4 months old male patient who exhibited a pattern of severe dental early caries childhood not treated in a timely manner, due to parent ignorance and possible negligence. The diagnostic process, treatment provided to the patient, and instituted preventive management in the short, medium and long term, are described.

Identification of cultivable microorganisms from primary teeth with necrotic pulps.

The objective of this study was to identify cultivable microorganisms from primary teeth with necrotic pulps. This experimental study included 21 patients of both sexes between 4 and 7 years of age with necrotic pulps in primary teeth. Twenty-one maxillary and mandibular molars containing at least 1 necrotic canal, an abscess or sinus tract, one or more radiolucent areas in the furcation or periapical region, teeth having at least two thirds of root length, and carious lesions directly exposed to the oral environment were included. After antisepsis of the oral cavity, anesthesia of the affected tooth, and isolation and disinfection of the operative field, 3 sterile absorbent paper points were sequentially placed for 30 seconds for the collection of samples. The samples were immediately processed in an anaerobic chamber, and all isolated microorganisms were identified. Anaerobic species (anaerobic facultative and moderate anaerobes) were isolated in all root canals; 68.4% of root canal samples studied showed a polymicrobial nature. Most of the isolate consisted of Bifidobacterium Spp2 and Streptococcus intermedius. Other less frequently encountered species were Actinomyces israelii, Bifidobacterium spp 1, Clostridium spp, and Candida albicans. Results indicate the existence of combinations of bacterial species in root canal infections of the primary dentition with necrotic pulps, anaerobic bacteria predominating.

Symbiotic bacteria living in the hoopoe's uropygial gland prevent feather degradation.

Among potential agents that might damage bird feathers are certain microorganisms which secrete enzymes that digest keratin, as is the case of the ubiquitous bacterium Bacillus licheniformis, present in both the feathers and skin of wild birds. It is therefore a good candidate for testing the effects of bird defences against feather-degrading microorganisms. One of these defences is the oil secreted by the uropygial gland, which birds use to protect their feathers against parasites. In previous studies we have shown how Enterococcus faecalis strains isolated from nestling hoopoes exert antagonistic effects against B. licheniformis, mediated by the production of bacteriocins. Consequently we hypothesized that this enterococcus and the bacteriocins it engenders might act as a defence against feather-degrading microorganisms in hoopoes. We investigated this hypothesis in a series of laboratory experiments and evaluated the extent to which the keratinolytic effects caused by B. licheniformis were reduced by the E. faecalis MRR10-3 strain, isolated from hoopoes, and its bacteriocins. In different treatments, feathers or pure keratin was incubated with B. licheniformis, B. licheniformis together with E. faecalis MRR10-3, and B. licheniformis together with the bacteriocins produced by E. faecalis MRR10-3. Our results were in accordance with the predicted effects on hoopoe feathers. There was a significant decrease both in pure keratin loss and in feather degradation in the presence of the symbiotic bacterium or its bacteriocin. These results suggest that by preening their feathers hoopoes benefit from their symbiotic relationship with bacteriocin-producing enterococci, which constitute a chemical defence against feather degradation.

[Traumatic maculopathies]. / Maculopatías traumáticas.

PURPOSE/METHODS: We reviewed all patients seen urgently on our Hospital and we studied those that present contusive pathology of the anterior pole with macular repercusion. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: Post-traumatic maculopathies are usually produced by contusion, namely: rupture of the choroid, chorioretinitis sclopetaria, postraumatic macular hole, commotio retinae (Berlin's oedema) and Purtscher's retinopathy was reported. With the presentation of these clinical cases, some of which are very typical, we aim to show the functional sequelae some patients suffer.

Maculopatías traumáticas / Traumatic maculopathies

Objetivo/Método: Revisamos todos los pacientes vistos de urgencia en nuestro Hospital y estudiamos aquellos que presentan patología contusiva del polo posterior con repercusión macular. Resultados/Conclusiones: Las contusiones originan frecuentemente maculopatías postraumáticas; citaremos: la ruptura coroidea, la coriorretinitis esclopetaria, el agujero macular, el edema de Berlin y la retinopatía de Purtscher. Con la presentación de estos casos clínicos, algunos muy típicos, pretendemos demostrar las secuelas funcionales que sufren algunos pacientes (AU)