Search

This paper examines the relationships between breeding site selection of red-backed shrikes Lanius collurio and land-use features using GIS. We examine the habitat preference of this species in areas characterised by a temperate climate and by a prevailing agricultural cover. We focused on the occurrence of red-backed shrike in relation to fragmentation, patch diversity and a few habitat features of the farmlands, as a surrogate for functional heterogeneity. We also studied several parameters such as the number of closely located nests, minimum distance between the nests and elevation above sea level of the breeding sites. Our results confirm the importance of the marginal elements such as shrubs, hedgerows and scatter patches in farmlands, and could add an effective method for studying suitable habitats for L. collurio using few environmental parameters. Our results suggest that breeding sites of the species are located mainly in cultivated zones, characterised by the presence of dispersal shrub patches and high edge density values and in proximity to the roads. Our results confirm also that landscape heterogeneity is one of the key factors in the selection of breeding habitat for red-backed shrikes in farmland of Central Italy, and therefore should be subject to agricultural policies aimed at conservation and maintenance of these environmental features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patellar tendinopathy (jumper's knee) is an overuse syndrome that frequently affects athletes. A retrospective study was done to analyze the results at a minimum of five years after the performance of a surgical technique in competitive athletes.Methods: From 1985 to 1995, thirty-two patients (thirty-eight knees) affected by patellar tendinopathy were treated surgically after failure of nonoperative treatment. All knees were operated on by the same surgeon using the same surgical technique: longitudinal splitting of the tendon, excision of any abnormal tissue that was identified, and resection and drilling of the inferior pole of the patella. The results in twenty-seven patients (thirty-three knees), including twenty-two athletes (twenty-seven knees) who were still involved in sports activities (or wished to still be involved) at a competitive level at the time of final follow-up, were reviewed at a mean of eight years postoperatively. The results were evaluated according to symptoms and the ability to return to full sports activities.Results: The result was excellent in twenty-three knees (70%), good in five, fair in one, and poor in four at the time of the long-term follow-up. Eighty-two percent of the patients who tried to pursue sports at their preinjury level were able to do so, and 63% of those knees were totally symptom-free.Conclusions: The outcome of the described surgical treatment appears to be satisfactory; however, the results are less predictable in volleyball players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the histologic course of regenerated tissue simulating the semitendinosus tendon in three patients after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with doubled semitendinosus and gracilis tendons. Specimens were retrieved during revision surgery for removal of tibial hardware at 6, 24, and 27 months, respectively. Resisted flexion during physical examination in all patients revealed a 'string' on the posteromedial aspect of the knee that was quite evident, suggesting the presence of a regenerated semitendinosus tendon. At surgery, a well-defined fibrous band was identified about 3 cm proximal and medial to the pes anserinus, reproducing the pathway of the native semitendinosus tendon. In the specimen retrieved 6 months postoperatively, a prominent fibroblastic proliferation was observed together with a few vessels surrounded by fibrous tissue; only a few bundles of well-oriented collagen fibers were present, together with scattered rows of spindle-shaped cells. In both of the specimens retrieved 2 years postoperatively, all of the central, thicker portion of each specimen was occupied by well-oriented tendon-like fibers together with uniformly distributed spindle-shaped cells that had the appearance of mature tenocytes arranged in orderly rows. These findings help us to understand the progression of the healing process at the harvest site and the nature of the regenerated semitendinosus tendon, which has previously been investigated only by studies of clinical and functional outcomes and by imaging studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Platinum-based systemic chemotherapy is considered the backbone for management of advanced urothelial carcinomas. However there is a lack of real world data on the use of such chemotherapy regimens, on patient profiles and on management after treatment failure.Methods: Fifty-one randomly selected physicians from 4 European countries registered 218 consecutive patients in progression or relapse following a first platinum-based chemotherapy. Patient characteristics, tumor history and treatment regimens, as well as the considerations of physicians on the management of urothelial carcinoma were recorded.Results: A systemic platinum-based regimen had been administered as the initial chemotherapy in 216 patients: 15 in the neoadjuvant setting, 61 in adjuvant therapy conditions, 137 in first-line advanced setting and 3 in other conditions. Of these patients, 76 (35 %) were initially considered as cisplatin-unfit, mainly because of renal impairment (52 patients). After platinum failure, renal impairment was observed in 44 % of patients, ECOG Performance Status ≥ 2 in 17 %, hemoglobinemia < 10 g/dL in 16 %, hepatic metastases in 13 %. 80 % of these patients received further anticancer therapy. Immediately after failure of adjuvant/neoadjuvant chemotherapy, most subsequent anticancer treatments were chemotherapy doublets (35/58), whereas after therapy failure in the advanced setting most patients receiving further anticancer drugs were treated with a single agent (80/114). After first progression to chemotherapy, treatment decisions were mainly driven by Performance Status and prior response to chemotherapy (>30 % patients). The most frequent all-settings second anticancer therapy regimen was vinflunine (70 % of single-agent and 42 % of all subsequent treatments), the main reasons evoked by physicians (>1 out of 4) being survival benefit, safety and phase III evidence.Conclusion: In this daily practice experience, a majority of patients with urothelial carcinoma previously treated with a platinum-based therapy received a second chemotherapy regimen, most often a single agent after an initial chemotherapy in the advanced setting and preferably a cytotoxic combination after a neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy. Performance Status and prior response to chemotherapy were the main drivers of further treatment decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several shreds of evidence indicate that visual deprivation does not alter numerical competence neither in adults nor in children. However, studies reporting non-impaired numerical abilities in the visually impaired population present some limitations: (a) they mainly assessed the ability to process numbers (e.g. mathematical competence) rather than represent numbers (e.g. mental number line); (b) they principally focused on positive rather than negative number estimates; (c) they investigated numerical abilities in adult individuals except one focusing on children (Crollen et al. in Cognition 210:104586, 2021). Overall, this could limit a comprehensive explanation of the role exerted by vision on numerical processing when vision is compromised. Here we investigated how congenital visual deprivation affects the ability to represent positive and negative numbers in horizontal and sagittal planes in visually impaired children (thirteen children with low vision, eight children with complete blindness, age range 6–15 years old). We adapted the number-to-position paradigm adopted by Crollen et al. (Cognition 210:104586, 2021), asking children to indicate the spatial position of positive and negative numbers on a graduated rule positioned horizontally or sagittally in the frontal plane. Results suggest that long-term visual deprivation alters the ability to identify the spatial position of numbers independently of the spatial plane and the number polarity. Moreover, results indicate that relying on poor visual acuity is detrimental for low vision children when asked to localize both positive and negative numbers in space, suggesting that visual experience might have a differential role in numerical processing depending on number polarity. Such findings add knowledge related to the impact of visual experience on numerical processing. Since both positive and negative numbers are fundamental aspects of learning mathematical principles, the outcomes of the present study inform about the need to implement early rehabilitation strategies to prevent the risk of numerical difficulties in visually impaired children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]