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Despite the widespread diversity of neobatrachian frogs in South America nowadays, their fossils remain notably sparse, particularly during the Palaeogene. Consequently, the discovery of fossils attributed to neobatrachians constitutes a significant contribution to our understanding of their past distribution and diversity. Here, we report a new neobatrachian fossil from the Eocene – Oligocene Aiuruoca Basin in Brazil. The fossil record known from this unit, which is still inadequately documented, includes coprolites, plants, insects, fishes, and also frogs. Prior investigations of these anurans attributed approximately 200 specimens to an as-yet unnamed Pipidae species. The partially preserved specimen described herein (MZSP-PV 1333) clearly differs from the pipid-like fossils by the presence of procoelous vertebral centra, a sacrum separated from the urostyle, bicondylar sacro-urostylar articulation, and fused distal carpals 3 + 4 + 5. However, the absence of additional diagnostic features prevents a confident classification into a more specific subgroup, being thus identified as Neobatrachia indet. The identification of this new frog morphotype suggests that the anuran diversity in the Aiuruoca Basin is more extensive than previously understood, and further emphasises the palaeontological significance of this unit for ongoing research and collection endeavours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surgical treatment of secondary (SHPT) and tertiary hyperparathyroidism (THPT) may involve various surgical approaches. The aim of this paper was to evaluate presternal intramuscular autotransplantation of parathyroid tissue as a surgical option in SHPT and THPT treatment. 66 patients with renal chronic disease underwent surgery from April 2000 to April 2005 at Universidade Federal São Paulo, Brazil. There were 38 SHPT patients (24 women/14 men), mean age of 39.yrs (range: 14-58), and 28 THPT patients (14 women/14 men), mean age of 43.4 yrs (range: 24-62). Postoperative average followup was 42.9 months (range: 12-96). Postoperative intact PTH increased throughout followup from 73.5 pg/mL to 133 pg/mL on average from 1st to the 5th year, respectively, in SHPT and from 54.9 pg/mL to 94.7 pg/mL on average from 1st to 5th year, respectively, in THPT group. Definitive hypoparathyroidism was observed in 4 (6.06%) patients and graft-dependent recurrence in 6 (9.09%). Presternal intramuscular autotransplantation of parathyroid tissue is a feasible and safe surgical option in SHPT and THPT treatment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Invasion Ecology of Sargassum Muticum, the Invader Par Excellence," by A. H. Engelen and R. O. Santos is presented.

Introduction. Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHP) is characteristically determined by high levels of calcium and high or inappropriate levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH). Technological advances have dramatically changed the surgical technique over the years once intraoperative parathyroid hormone (IOPTH) assay had allowed for focused approaches. Objective. To evaluate our 10-year experience in employing a rapid intraoperative PTH assay for PHP. Methods. A prospective cohort of 91 PHPoperated patients in a tertiary institution in São Paulo, Brazil, from June 2000 to April 2011. Results.We had 85 (93.4%) successful parathyroidectomies, 6 (6.6%) failed parathyroidectomies in 91 previous unexplored patients, and 5 (100%) successful remedial surgeries. The IOPTH was true-positive in 88.5%, true-negative in 7.3%, false-positive in 2.1%, and false-negative in 2.1% of the procedures. IOPTH was able to obviate additional exploration or to ask for additional exploration in 92 (95.8%) procedures. Conclusion. The IOPTH revealed to be an important technological adjunct in the current parathyroid surgery for PHP [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]