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Introduction: Negative pressure therapy (NPT) is a widely recognised procedure for the temporary closure of open abdominal wounds. In this study, we compare two NPT products, the V.A.C.® abdominal dressing (AD) system and the new ABThera™ (ABT) system, in terms of the primary closure rates achieved, types of closure, and the associated morbidity.Methods: We employed a retrospective comparative study of open-abdomen patients treated with NPT using either AD or ABT. The indications for treatment were damage control surgery, abdominal compartment syndrome, or severe abdominal sepsis.Results: The group of patients treated with ABT showed a higher percentage of primary closures (41 vs. 11%) and required fewer days of NPT (17 vs. 26 days) than the AD group. Differences were statistically significant. In addition, only 4% of patients in the ABT group exhibited enteroatmospheric fistulae, compared to 17% in the AD group.Conclusions: Compared to the AD system, ABT can achieve faster primary closure after open abdomen treatment with only minor complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During a 30-year span (1969–1999) the annual growth rate of a Venezuelan red howler (Alouatta seniculus ) population fluctuated irregularly, but its size increased, remained stable for a short while, and finally declined sharply. The increase took place in three stages, and began as an increase in the size of established groups. The next two stages of population increase were due to the formation of new groups and their subsequent increases in size. These two stages likely occurred because of habitat regeneration, which increased the areas where newly formed groups could establish home ranges. The population decline of 74% was most likely due to disease. However, new groups died out more rapidly than established groups, indicating that food shortages, especially in recently regenerated areas, may also have contributed to the population crash. The food shortages could have been caused by unpredictable periods of drought, which may explain the irregular size fluctuations of the study population. Since many howler species show irregular size fluctuations and sharp declines, their demographic features may reflect adaptations to unpredictable events like droughts and disease epidemics. On this premise we explain the preponderance of unimale groups and female-biased birth sex ratios at low densities and the dispersal of both sexes as adaptations for increasing a population rapidly after a decline. Within the population, mortality of small juvenile females was higher in multimale than in unimale groups, though medium juvenile and older immature females were better represented in multimale than in unimale groups. These results may be explained in terms of group composition and the mating systems in red howlers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the abstract of the paper "Variability in Pitheciine Social Organization," by L.M. Veiga and colleagues to be presented at the 21st Congress of the International Primatological Society in Entebbe, Uganda from June 25-30, 2006.

The article presents the abstract of the paper "Picky, Picky: The Bases for Diet Choice in Pitheciins," by A.A. Barnett and colleagues to be presented at the 21st Congress of the International Primatological Society in Entebbe, Uganda from June 25-30, 2006.