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Objective: To assess the ability of the SOFA score (Sequential Organ Failure Assessment) to describe the evolution of organ dysfunction/failure in trauma patients over time in intensive care units (ICU).Design: Retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected database.Setting: 40 ICUs in 16 countries.Patients: All trauma patients admitted to the ICU in May 1995.Main Outcome Measures and Results: Incidence of dysfunction/failure of different organs during the first 10 days of stay and the relation between the dysfunction, outcome, and length of stay. Included in the SOFA study were 181 trauma patients (140 males and 41 females). The non-survivors were significantly older than the survivors (51 years+/-20 vs 38+/-16 years, p < 0.05) and had a higher global SOFA score on admission (8+/-4 vs 4+/-3, p < 0.05) and throughout the 10-day stay. On admission, the non-survivors had higher scores for respiratory ( > 3 in 47% of non-survivors vs 17% of survivors), cardiovascular ( > 3 in 24% of non-survivors vs 5.7% of survivors), and neurological systems ( > 4 in 41% of non-survivors vs 16% of survivors); although the trend was maintained over the whole study period, the differences were greater during the first 4-5 days. After the first 4 days, only respiratory dysfunction was significantly related to outcome. A higher SOFA score, admission to the ICU from the same hospital, and the presence of infection on admission were the three major variables associated with a longer length of stay in the ICU (additive regression coefficients: 0.85 days for each SOFA point, 4.4 for admission from the same hospital, 7.26 for infection on admission).Conclusions: The SOFA score can reliably describe organ dysfunction/ failure in trauma patients. Regular and repeated scoring may be helpful for identifying categories of patients at major risk of prolonged ICU stay or death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the ability of the SOFA score (Sequential Organ Failure Assessment) to describe the evolution of organ dysfunction/failure in trauma patients over time in intensive care units (ICU). Design: Retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected database. Setting: 40 ICUs in 16 countries. Patients: All trauma patients admitted to the ICU in May 1995. Main outcome measures and results: Incidence of dysfunction/failure of different organs during the first 10 days of stay and the relation between the dysfunction, outcome, and length of stay. Included in the SOFA study were 181 trauma patients (140 males and 41 females).The non-survivors were significantly older than the survivors (51 years ± 20 vs 38 ± 16 years, p < 0.05) and had a higher global SOFA score on admission (8 ± 4 vs 4 ± 3, p < 0.05) and throughout the 10-day stay. On admission, the non-survivors had higher scores for respiratory ( > 3 in 47 % of non-survivors vs 17 % of survivors), cardiovascular ( > 3 in 24 % of non-survivors vs 5.7 % of survivors), and neurological systems ( > 4 in 41 % of non-survivors vs 16 % of survivors); although the trend was maintained over the whole study period, the differences were greater during the first 4–5 days. After the first 4 days, only respiratory dysfunction was significantly related to outcome. A higher SOFA score, admission to the ICU from the same hospital, and the presence of infection on admission were the three major variables associated with a longer length of stay in the ICU (additive regression coefficients: 0.85 days for each SOFA point, 4.4 for admission from the same hospital, 7.26 for infection on admission). Conclusions: The SOFA score can reliably describe organ dysfunction/failure in trauma patients. Regular and repeated scoring may be helpful for identifying categories of patients at major risk of prolonged ICU stay or death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the article "Enhancement of PR1 and PR5 gene expressions by chitosan treatment in kiwifruit plants inoculated with Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae," that was published in the 2016 issue is presented.

Subterranean clover, growing in experimental plots in northern Italy, showed dwarfing, phyllody and leaf reddening. These symptoms were associated with Italian clover phyllody phytoplasma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laurus nobilis (laurel) is an evergreen tree whose communities are spread throughout Italy (Filibeck, 2006). During summer 2014, in a laurel hedge of a garden near Rome symptoms were seen consisting of shoots with tips with typical 'shepherd's crook' and necrotic spots on leaves and twigs. Tissue fragments from the margin of necrotic spots were cut, surface-disinfected (1% NaClO for 1 min), plated onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 25°C in the dark. A single fungal species was consistently isolated, pure cultures of which were obtained by single conidia transfer. The fungus was morphologically identified as Colletotrichum acutatum. DNA of one monosporic isolate (2002ER) was extracted and amplified with primers specific for the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions and the beta-tubulin gene (TUB2). This isolate showed 100% similarity with several C. acutatum strains (i.e. AJ301964, AJ301950, DQ286130) for the ITS region and C. acutatum strains (i.e. JQ424939, JN121284) for the TUB2 gene. Our sequences were deposited in European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) with the accession No. LN836025 for ITS, and No. LN836026 for TUB2. Mycelial plugs (5 mm diameter) cut from the margins of actively growing cultures were inserted under the epidermis at different levels of six-year-old potted laurel plants. Controls were inoculated with sterile PDA plugs. After 45 days inoculated plants grown at 24 ± 2°C showed symptoms similar to those observed in the garden and C. acutatum was re-isolated from the margin of the lesions. There are a few report of anthracnose by other Colletotrichum species on laurel in Europe (Constantinescu and Jonsson, 1987; Göre and Bucak, 2006). To our knowledge, this is the first report of damages caused to laurel in Italy by C. acutatum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Current and Emerging Phythophthora: A Project for Harmonization of Detection and Identification methods at the European Level," by A. Haegi, S. Vitale, A. Belisario and L. Riccioni is presented.

In autumn 2011, a severe rot of fruits was observed in some quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) plants located in San Lorenzo Nuovo (province of Viterbo) and Frascati (province of Rome). Affected fruits showed rotting that evolved rapidly, covering their entire surface and causing mummification. Some mummified fruits dropped prematurely, although most of them persisted on the trees. No symptoms were observed on leaves or branches of the affected plants. A fungus consistently isolated from rotting fruits was identified as Fusicoccum aesculi Corda, the anamorph of Botryosphaeria dothidea Ces. et de Not., based on morphological characters (Sutton, 1980). The rDNA ITS regions of two fungal isolates, (ER1739, ER1757) one from each location, were amplified by PCR using the universal primers ITS1 and ITS4. The sequences (GenBank accession No. JQ686227 and JQ686228) revealed 100% homology with those of 21 isolates of B. dothidea retrieved from GenBank, confirming the morphological identification. Koch's postulates were verified on eight detached fruits from healthy C. oblonga trees. Seven days post inoculation with both fungal isolates, rotting initiated at the site of infection and expanded rapidly to the rest of the fruit. Non-inoculated controls remained healthy. Fruits rots and mummifications were similar to those observed in naturally infected trees in the field. The anamorph of B. dothidea was reisolated from all the inoculated fruits but not from the controls. B. dothidea is known to infect the fruits of several hosts, among which olive drupes (Lazzizzera et al., 2008), but this is the first time that it is identified as the casual agent of fruit rot of quince in Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]