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Inhaled steroids are the most effective long-term treatment of persistent asthma but many children are unable to use correctly the available inhalers. Administration of nebulized corticosteroids has some advantages over the administration with pressurised metered-dose inhalers (pMDls). The objective of this multicenter randomised study was to compare the efficacy and tolerability of nebulized corticosteroids in paediatric patients with asthma. 127 patients agedor = 6 andor = 14 years with a diagnosis of mild to moderate persistent asthma (PEFR % predicted50% and85%) and positive response to the reversibility test were randomized. The patients were assigned by randomisation to one of the two treatment groups (4 weeks): beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) 800 microg/daily b.i.d. (n = 66) or budesonide (BUD) 1000 microg/daily b.i.d. (n = 61) both administered by nebulizer. The primary efficacy end point was the final mean of PEFR measured at clinical visit (clinic PEFR). In the BDP group clinic PEFR increased from 177.5 +/- 80 L/min to 246.6 +/- 84.2 L/min (p0.001 vs baseline), while in the BUD group the increase was from 180.4 +/- 77.8/min to 260.9 +/- 84.1 L/min (p0.001 vs baseline) (NS between treatments). FEV1 (% predicted) increased from 77.8% to 92.7% (p0.001 vs baseline) and from 74.1% to 95.9% (p0.001 vs baseline) in BDP and BUD group respectively (NS between treatments). Patients reduced the use of salbutamol rescue medication by 76% and 81% in BDP and BUD group respectively (p0.001 vs baseline, NS between treatments). 4 patients in the BDP group and 2 in the BUD group reported adverse events (AEs). AEs were mild to moderate and never there was the need to discontinue the treatments. In conclusion the results of this study demonstrate that both BDP (800 microg/daily) and BUD (1000 microg/daily) administered by nebulization are effective and with a acceptable safety and tolerability profile.

SummaryAsian tropical forests are among the most affected by overhunting of wildlife species. Bushmeat is not just a source of food, but is also often seen as an income source due to the increasing regional demand for wildlife products. In this study, we assess for the first time the medium- and large-size vertebrate species present in Lampi Marine National Park (Myanmar) using camera traps and opportunistic sightings, and we use data from law enforcement patrolling to identify areas where poaching activities occur. Nineteen different terrestrial vertebrate species were observed in the Park, five of which are listed as globally threatened, while illegal activities were recorded at 107 locations. We estimated wildlife and human distributions using the maximum-entropy (i.e., MaxEnt) algorithm. Human activities were widely distributed in the Park, and areas selected by people were those at lower elevations and mainly in evergreen or semi-evergreen forests where most of the species occur. These models could improve knowledge of species presence and of the potential risk to wildlife associated with human activities. The modelling of wildlife and human presence proved to be useful for identifying areas that would receive special attention during patrolling, management and conservation actions.

Integrative taxonomy, a multi-disciplinary approach adding modern techniques to traditional morphology-based methods (e.g. molecular and morphological criteria), can play an important role in bioinvasion research to identify introduced taxa, discover pathways of introduction and inform authorities to control and prevent future introductions. The present study is the first on introduced populations of Callosciurus, Asiatic tree squirrels, known as potentially invasive species in Europe (Italy, Belgium and France). We combined molecular (mitochondrial DNA markers: CoxI, D-loop) and morphometric analysis on skulls, comparing them to the widest morphological and molecular datasets ever assembled for Callosciurus. Squirrels collected in Italy and Belgium share the same haplotypes and skull characteristics, but are conspicuously different from the French population in Antibes. Genetic data revealed close similarity between French squirrels and Pallas's squirrels, Callosciurus erythraeus, from Taiwan, China. Italian and Belgian squirrels formed an independent taxonomic lineage in genetic analyses, whose taxonomic rank needs further investigation. The morphological and morphometric characteristics of these 2 populations are, however, similar to known specimens assigned to Callosciurus erythraeus. These results may indicate a common origin for the populations found in Belgium and Italy. In contrast, French specimens suggest an independent introduction event of squirrels originating from Asia.