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Background: Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is an important problem in cattle production that is responsible for economic losses in dairy herds. Mycoplasma spp. are described as an important etiological agent of BRD. Hypothesis:To evaluate the occurrence of the most important mycoplasmas in the lower respiratory tract of healthy and BRD cattle in relationship to clinical signs of BRD. Animals: Sixty young dairy cattle were classified as healthy (n = 32) or cattle showing clinical signs of BRD (n = 28). Methods: Tracheal lavage samples were collected and added to tubes containing Hayflick media. Mycoplasma spp. were identified by the presence of “fried egg” like colonies, biochemical tests and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Occurrence of Mollicutes, M. bovis, M. mycoides subsp. mycoides SC and M. dispar was evaluated. The association between clinical signs of BRD and the presence of Mycoplasma spp. also was evaluated. Results: Colonies were obtained from a 1-year-old BRD calf only. However, species identification was not possible. Mollicutes (P = .035) and M. dispar (P = .036) were more common in BRD cattle. The relationship between Mollicutes and crackle (P = .057) was not significant. M. dispar was associated to tachypnea (P = .045) and mixed dyspnea (P = .003). Relationships to heart rate (P = .062) and crackle (P = .062) were not significant. Conclusions and clinical importance: The results confirmed the importance of mycoplasma as an etiologic agent of BRD and suggested M. dispar as part of the respiratory microbiota and its possible role in the development of BRD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The symbiotic partnership between corals and dinoflagellate algae is crucial to coral reefs. Corals provide their algal symbionts with shelter, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. In exchange, the symbiotic algae supply their animal hosts with fixed carbon in the form of glucose. But how glucose is transferred from the algal symbiont to the animal host is unknown. We reasoned that a transporter resident in the dinoflagellate cell membrane would facilitate outward transfer of glucose to the surrounding host animal tissue. We identified a candidate transporter in the cnidarian symbiont dinoflagellate Breviolum minutum that belongs to the ubiquitous family of facilitative sugar uniporters known as SWEETs (sugars will eventually be exported transporters). Previous gene expression analyses had shown that BmSWEET1 is upregulated when the algae are living symbiotically in a cnidarian host by comparison to the free-living state [1, 2]. We used immunofluorescence microscopy to localise BmSWEET1 in the dinoflagellate cell membrane. Substrate preference assays in a yeast surrogate transport system showed that BmSWEET1 transports glucose. Quantitative microscopy showed that symbiotic B. minutum cells have significantly more BmSWEET1 protein than free-living cells of the same strain, consistent with export during symbiosis but not during the free-living, planktonic phase. Thus, BmSWEET1 is in the right place, at the right time, and has the right substrate to be the transporter with which symbiotic dinoflagellate algae feed their animal hosts to power coral reefs., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Symbiodiniaceae algae are often photosymbionts of reef-building corals. The establishment of their symbiosis resembles a microbial infection where eukaryotic pattern recognition receptors (e.g. lectins) are thought to recognize a specific range of taxon-specific microbial-associated molecular patterns (e.g. glycans). The present study used the sea anemone, Exaiptasia diaphana and three species of Symbiodiniaceae (the homologous Breviolum minutum, the heterologous-compatible Cladocopium goreaui and the heterologous-incompatible Fugacium kawagutii) to compare the surface glycomes of three symbionts and explore the role of glycan-lectin interactions in host-symbiont recognition and establishment of symbiosis. We identified the nucleotide sugars of the algal cells, then examined glycans on the cell wall of the three symbiont species with monosaccharide analysis, lectin array technology and fluorescence microscopy of the algal cell decorated with fluorescently tagged lectins. Armed with this inventory of possible glycan moieties, we then assayed the ability of the three Symbiodiniaceae to colonize aposymbiotic E. diaphana after modifying the surface of one of the two partners. The Symbiodiniaceae cell-surface glycome varies among algal species. Trypsin treatment of the alga changed the rate of B. minutum and C. goreaui uptake, suggesting that a protein-based moiety is an essential part of compatible symbiont recognition. Our data strongly support the importance of D-galactose (in particular β-D-galactose) residues in the establishment of the cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis, and we propose a potential involvement of L-fucose, D-xylose and D-galacturonic acid in the early steps of this mutualism., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

The algal cell wall is an important cellular component that functions in defense, nutrient utilization, signaling, adhesion, and cell-cell recognition-processes important in the cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis. The cell wall of symbiodiniacean dinoflagellates is not well characterized. Here, we present a method to isolate cell walls of Symbiodiniaceae and prepare cell-wall-enriched samples for proteomic analysis. Label-free liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry was used to explore the surface proteome of two Symbiodiniaceae species from the Great Barrier Reef: Breviolum minutum and Cladocopium goreaui. Transporters, hydrolases, translocases, and proteins involved in cell-adhesion and protein-protein interactions were identified, but the majority of cell wall proteins had no homologues in public databases. We propose roles for some of these proteins in the cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis. This work provides the first proteomics investigation of cell wall proteins in the Symbiodiniaceae and represents a basis for future explorations of the roles of cell wall proteins in Symbiodiniaceae and other dinoflagellates., (© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society of Protistologists.)

Chromerids are a group of alveolates, found in corals, that show peculiar morphological and genomic features. These organisms are evolutionary placed in-between symbiotic dinoflagellates and parasitic apicomplexans. There are two known species of chromerids: Chromera velia and Vitrella brassicaformis. Here, the biochemical composition of the C. velia cell wall was analyzed. Several polysaccharides adorn this structure, with glucose being the most abundant monosaccharide (approx. 80%) and predominantly 4-linked (approx. 60%), suggesting that the chromerids cell wall is mostly cellulosic. The presence of cellulose was cytochemically confirmed with calcofluor white staining of the algal cell. The remaining wall polysaccharides, assuming structures are similar to those of higher plants, are indicative of a mixture of galactans, xyloglucans, heteroxylans, and heteromannans. The present work provides, for the first time, insights into the outermost layers of the photosynthetic alveolate C. velia., (© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Phycology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Phycological Society of America.)

Aim: To emphasize the effectiveness and versatility of prosthesis, and good tolerance by patients with incisional hernia (IH)., Methods: From December 2001 to February 2016, 270 liver transplantations were performed at San Camillo Hospital. IH occurred in 78 patients (28.8%). IH usually appeared early within the first year post-orthotopic liver transplantation. In the first era, fascial defect was repaired by primary closure for defects smaller than 2.5 cm or with synthetic mesh for greater defects. Recently, we started using biological mesh (Permacol™, Covidien). We present a series of five transplanted patients submitted to surgery for abdominal wall defect correction repaired with biological mesh (Permacol™, Covidien)., Results: In our cases, the use of biological prosthesis (Permacol™, Covidien) have proven to be effective and versatile in repairing hernia defects of different kinds; patients did not suffer infections of the prosthesis and no recurrence was observed. Furthermore, the prosthesis remains intact even in the years after surgery., Conclusion: The cases that we presented show that the use of biological mesh (Permacol™, Covidien) in transplanted patients may be safe and effective, being careful in the management of perioperative immunosuppression and renal and graft function, although the cost of the product itself has been the main limiting factor and there is need for prospective studies for further evaluations., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare they have no conflict of interest related to the manuscript.

Background: Yttrium-90 microspheres radioembolization (Y90-RE) has shown to be an effective and safe treatment of primary liver tumors. According to the staging system of the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC), patients with macrovascular invasion are staged as BCLC-C. This paper comprises a presentation of the results following application of the procedure., Methods: From January 2002 to December 2015, 367 patients were transplanted at the San Camillo Hospital Center. One hundred and forty-three patients were transplanted for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and in 22 cases patients were treated with Y90-RE before liver transplantation (LT), of them 4 with macrovascular invasion were included in this study., Results: The four patients had a complete response for the thrombosis, and were included in the waiting list within the Milan criteria. Means interval time between Y90-RE and LT was 15.86 months. No patient death was observed at Y90-RE procedure or at LT. We obtain a free-survival of 39.1 (range, 6-76) months. In all four cases the complete thrombosis regression was observed., Conclusions: We reported a short series of patients transplanted after Y90-RE in patients with BCLC stage C. In our experience we achieved acceptable overall and disease-free survival. Eventually, Y90-RE seems to have a place in the downstaging strategy for LT candidates., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Background: A potential mechanism of the infection would be an infected donor, contamination at the time of the infusion and/or packaging, back-table procedure, and finally during the transplantation, all are potential sources of infection. The aim of our study is to analyze the incidence and significance of infection in the preservation solution according with the graft temperature. The second aim was to analyze the impact graft temperature on the clinical infections and the ischemia reperfusion injury., Methods: Sixteen donors were prospectively included in this study, including 9 males and 7 females. The liver graft temperature monitoring shows variation in four different phases: at the harvesting beginning, before the graft packaging, at the beginning of the backtable, at the end of the backtable., Results: There was no correlation between the functionality of the graft and the temperature of the perfusion fluid., Conclusions: In conclusion, we did not found a correlation between graft temperature, culture of the preservation solution and early post-transplant follow up., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Background: We set out to study, through ultrasound examinations, the carotid bifurcation in men and women with/without carotid stenosis to look for anatomical and electrophysiologic differences. We evaluated other variables to look for differences that might explain the dissimilar behavior of this disease in the two sexes and the presence and impact of risk factors., Methods: We examined 974 subjects aged 25 to 88 years (478 men and 496 women) in whom we considered heart rate, smoking status, and the presence of hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertriglyceridemia. Ultrasound examination of the neck vessels included measurement of intimal medial thickness (IMT), vessel diameter, and outflow area/inflow area ratio. We established plaque location, echogenicity and echostructure, and the percentage of stenosis owing to plaque and measured systolic velocity, flow direction, and the depth of detection of these parameters. We used the apnea and hyperpnea test to assess cerebrovascular reactivity., Results: Hypertension and hypercholesterolemia were the most frequent risk factors. Women had a higher heart rate, whereas men had significantly greater IMT. The presence of atheromatous plaque was significantly correlated with age in both sexes, with men having a higher prevalence of carotid plaques. The sexes differed significantly with regard to plaque location, echogenicity, echostructure, and intracranial circulation. Women had a slightly higher blood flow velocity in the intracranial arteries. Risk factors affected plaque formation and extent more in men than in women., Conclusions: These findings suggest that carotid stenosis is a gender-related trait.

Authors analyze their experience of parathyroid autotransplantation during total thyroidectomy, with the purpose of seeing whether this practice influenced the rate of postoperative hypocalcemia and/or hypoparathyroidism. We identified three groups of patients: group A, consisting of 57 patients, underwent parathyroid autotransplantation during total thyroidectomy; group B consisting of 87 patients not submitted to intraoperative autotransplantation in whom, as an incidental finding, a parathyroid gland was detected in the surgical specimen; group C consisted of 100 patients who did not undergo autotransplantation and whose surgical specimens were not found to contain parathyroid glands. The three groups were compared for sex and age as well as for a series of clinical and laboratory parameters on the first three postoperative days and at six months after surgery. The rate of permanent hypoparathyroidism was 3.5% in Group A, 3.45% in Group B, and 1% in Group C. Multivariate analysis revealed that all three groups showed postoperative recovery of calcium levels, although the rate and extent of this recovery differed between them. The control group showed a more rapid and more complete recovery of serum calcium values compared with Groups A and B. Calcium recovery in Groups A and B was comparable, in terms of both rate and extent. The same pattern of results emerged for the iPTH values. The analysis of the data showed that there were no significant differences in the analyzed parameters between Groups A and B. This suggests that parathyroid autotransplantation does not influence the rate of postoperative hypocalcemia and/or hypoparathyroidism., (Copyright © 2015 IJS Publishing Group Limited. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)