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Golden Eagles Aquila chrysaetos in Sardinia are clustered across the main mountain ranges of the island, with a preference for undisturbed and homogeneous inland habitats. To analyse habitat preferences of the Golden Eagle in Sardinia, Italy, at the landscape and home range spatial scales. Landscape scale habitat preferences were analysed using the 10 × 10 km Universal Transverse Mercator grid and the home range scale was based on the spatial distribution of breeding territories. Generalized linear models were fitted with three different sets of environmental predictors (topographic, bioclimatic and land use variables) to analyse the spatial distribution of Golden Eagles with a case–control design. Eagles showed a preference for rugged and elevated areas, characterized by a certain degree of humidity and surrounded by areas of forest. The distribution of Golden Eagles on this Mediterranean island was negatively affected by the occurrence of arable farmland and coastal areas, as well as by the effects of habitat fragmentation. The results of this study could contribute to future management strategies and conservation projects aimed to protect this species, and may be used to identify the most suitable conservation areas for this and other competing species, such as the Bonelli's Eagle Aquila fasciata, which is currently the subject of a reintroduction project in Sardinia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction The Enterobacter cloacae is a microorganism found in the intestinal flora of the majority of animals, including humans. Primary infections caused by E. cloacae are rare in immunocompetent patients, but are very common in hospital settings in newborns and immunocompromised patients, and can be aggravated by the insurgence of antibiotic resistance. The incidence of periprosthetic hip infections is just below 2%. Case presentation A 76 year old woman with multiple comorbidities underwent surgical implantation of intermediary total hip prosthesis of the left hip, in a different health facility, in February 2014, after the basicervical fracture of the upper femur extremity due to trauma. After an episode of dislocation of the prosthetic implant, in September 2014, she underwent a surgical operation to implant the acetabular component. A month later not in our facility, following a re-hospitalization for the dislocation of the arthroprosthesis, an infection from E. cloacae complex was discovered. After 2 years of chronic infection she came to our attention; the clinical picture featured coxalgia and secreting fistula in the surgical wound. Following a specific antibiotic therapy, carried out intravenously over the course of a month, we decided to intervene removing the left hip arthroprosthesis and placing an antibiotic spacer following the direction deduced from the antibiogram study of August 2016. Conclusion The patient was hospitalized in our facility and 2 months later she underwent another operation to remove the antibiotic spacer and to place a new total hip arthroprosthesis. Multiple swabs showed the complete healing from the infection, which was confirmed a couple of months later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mid-infrared vertical external cavity surface emitting lasers (VECSELs) emitting above 1 W output power in pulsed mode and up to 17 mW in continuous mode at -172 °C were realized. Emission wavelength changes from 5 μm at -172 °C to 3.6 μm at 20 °C heat sink temperature. The active medium is a one wavelength thick PbTe layer grown by molecular beam epitaxy on a Si-substrate. It is followed by a 2.5 pair Pb1-yEuyTe/EuTe epitaxial Bragg mirror. The cavity is completed with an external curved Pb1-yEuyTe/BaF2 mirror. The VECSEL is optically pumped with 1.55 μm wavelength laser and In-soldered to Cu heat sink. No microstructural processing is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study on the synthesis and evaluation of five 5,5'-methylene-bis-salicylaldehyde compounds. The study aimed to establish a structure and activity relationship for the compounds. It determined the inhibitory mechanism of the compounds on mushroom tyrosinase for the oxidation of L-DOPA.

Abstract: Objective: To evaluate serum purine metabolite concentrations in patients affected by fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and the relationships between their levels and FM clinical parameters. Design and methods: Serum purine levels were quantified using LC/UV–vis in 22 fibromyalgic females (according to the American College of Rheumatology classification criteria) and 22 healthy females. Results: Significantly higher serum inosine, hypoxanthine and xanthine levels (p<0.001) and significantly lower serum adenosine (p<0.05) were detected in the FMS patients vs healthy controls. Our data show a negative correlation between adenosine and Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ). Conclusions: Study results suggest that purines, in particular adenosine and inosine, may be involved in pain transmission in fibromyalgia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Right ventricular function adaptation to afterload as assessed by the ratio of tricuspid annular plane excursion (TAPSE) to systolic pulmonary artery pressure (PASP) has been shown to be of prognostic relevance in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).To test the hypothesis that improvement in TAPSE/PASP under targeted therapies is associated with the likelihood to achieve a better prognostic low-risk status in PAH. The study retrospectively enrolled 677 PAH patients (55 % idiopathic) with follow-up clinical, right heart catheterization and echocardiographic evaluations within 12 months (IQR 180-344 days) after initiation of targeted therapies from 2005 to 2017 in 11 Italian centers. European guidelines-derived and United States Registry to Evaluate Early and Long-Term PAH Disease Management registry REVEAL 2.0 risk scores were assessed at baseline and follow-up. The patients improved their functional class and 6-min walk distance, but a minority of them achieved or mainteined the low risk status as assessed either with the European or the REVEAL score (30% and 27%, respectively). The TAPSE/PASP ratio increased curvilinearly in proportion to decreased pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) by more than 50 %. Patients at low risk were respectively, 4.93 and 3.37 times more likely to have TAPSE/PASP ≥ 0.35 mm/mmHg than those at intermediate or high risk, according to the ESC/ERS (OR 4.93, C.I. 3.40-7.14; p= 0.0001) and the REVEAL 2.0 score (OR 3.37, C.I. 2.32-4.90; p= 0.0001). Improvement of TAPSE/PASP under targeted therapies in PAH is associated with a low risk status and marked reduction in PVR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]