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Objectives: To describe characteristics and immediate results of surgical treatment of patients with intrathoracic goiter (ITG). Methods: Retrospective review. Period: October 2003 - March 2010. We describe general characteristics, morbidity and mortality. Results: 33 patients, 23 women, mean age 59.1 ± 14.3 years. Preoperative thyroid function: 32 euthyroid and 1 hyperthyroid. Asymptomatic 10 patients. ITG rate: 31 cervico-mediastinal and 2 mediastinal. Approach: 24 cervicotomy, 7 cervicotomy and sternotomy and 2 sternotomy. Type of resection: 19 total thyroidectomy and 14 subtotal thyroidectomy. Histology: 29 benign and 4 malignant neoplasms. Postoperative stay: median of 4.5 days. Complications in 12 patients: 10 hypoparathyroidism (9 transient and 1 permanent), 2 dysphonia, 2 cervical hematoma (one redo), 1 wound infection and 1 ventilator associated pneumonia. One patient died (pneumonia). Conclusions: The ITG is more common in women, most are euthyroid and may be asymptomatic. Most can be resected by cervicotomy. The histology is benign in most but may represent malignancies. The surgery is not free of morbidity and mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Satellite cartography of atmospheric methane concentrations during 2003–2004 is applied to a systematic top-down methodology to quantify large scale sources and sinks of this important greenhouse gas. Patterns of methane anomalies over South America below latitude 22 S and an assessment of the emissions from the Buenos Aires Province of Argentina are reported. The latter contains the main cattle livestock of the country together with a variety of surface conditions, both natural and man-modified, influencing methane emissions. It was found that anomalies in methane concentrations may be correlated to emission rates by a simple box accumulation-sweeping model validated by recurrent weather conditions. The model shows that the methane emission rates of the Buenos Aires Province are positively correlated with the cattle livestock corresponding to values of (190 ± 40) g d−1 per cattle head. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] A planning and operational tool for monitoring ET in irrigated lands is presented. [•] MINARET uses vegetation indices to derive basal crop coefficients. [•] Spatial resolution of images permitted individual characterisation of the fields. [•] The basin was segmented in zones with homogeneous climate and crop-growth patterns. [•] Permanent crops databases and image classification are combined to map crop types. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous is a basidiomycetous yeast that synthesizes astaxanthin, which is a carotenoid with a great biotechnological impact. The ergosterol and carotenoid synthesis pathways are derived from the mevalonate pathway, and in both pathways, cytochrome P450 enzymes are involved. Results: In this study, we isolated and described the X. dendrorhous CYP61 gene, which encodes a cytochrome P450 involved in ergosterol biosynthesis. This gene is composed of nine exons and encodes a 526 amino acid polypeptide that shares significant percentages of identity and similitude with the C22-sterol desaturase, CYP61, from other fungi. Mutants derived from different parental strains were obtained by disrupting the CYP61 gene with an antibiotic selection marker. These mutants were not able to produce ergosterol and accumulated ergosta-5,8, 22-trien-3-ol and ergosta-5,8-dien-3-ol. Interestingly, all of the mutants had a more intense red color phenotype than their respective parental strains. The carotenoid composition was qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed by RP-HPLC, revealing that the carotenoid content was higher in the mutant strains without major changes in their composition. The expression of the HMGR gene, which encodes an enzyme involved in the mevalonate pathway (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase), was analyzed by RT-qPCR showing that its transcript levels are higher in the CYP61 mutants. Conclusions: These results suggest that in X. dendrorhous, ergosterol regulates HMGR gene expression by a negative feedback mechanism and in this way; it contributes in the regulation of the carotenoid biosynthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous is one of the relevant sources of the carotenoid astaxanthin. In this paper, we describe for the first time cloning of unexpected cDNAs obtained from the crtI and crtYB genes of X. dendrorhous strain UCD 67-385. The cDNA of the crtI gene conserves 80 bp of the first intron, while the cDNA of the crtYB gene conserves 55 bp of the first intron and lacks 111 bp of the second exon. The crtI and crtYB RNAs could be spliced in alternative splice sites, which produced alternative transcripts which could not be translated to active CRTI and CRTYB proteins since they had numerous stop codons in their sequences. The ratio of mature mRNA to alternative mRNA for the crtI gene decreased as a function of the age of the culture, while the cellular content of carotenoids increased. It is possible that splicing to mature or alternative transcripts could regulate the cellular concentrations of phytoene desaturase and phytoene synthase-lycopene cyclase proteins, depending on the physiological or environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]