Pediatric gallstone disease-Management difficulties in clinical practice.

Background: Gallstone disease (GD) is no longer an exclusive condition of adulthood, and its prevalence is increasing in pediatric age. The management and the extent of the etiological investigation of GD in children and adolescents remains controversial. This study aimed to analyze the difficulties in the work-up and management of pediatric GD patients.

Harnessing Rare Actinomycete Interactions and Intrinsic Antimicrobial Resistance Enables Discovery of an Unusual Metabolic Inhibitor.

Bacterial natural products have historically been a deep source of new medicines, but their slowed discovery in recent decades has put a premium on developing strategies that enhance the likelihood of capturing novel compounds. Here, we used a straightforward approach that capitalizes on the interactive ecology of "rare" actinomycetes. Specifically, we screened for interactions that triggered the production of antimicrobials that inhibited the growth of a bacterial strain with exceptionally diverse natural antimicrobial resistance.

The Conservon System Is a Global Regulator of Specialized Metabolism in Streptomyces coelicolor during Interspecies Interactions.

Interspecies interactions are known to activate specialized metabolism in diverse actinomycetes. However, how interspecies cues are sensed and ultimately lead to induction of specialized metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters remains largely unexplored. Using transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq), we analyzed genes that were transcriptionally induced in the model actinomycete Streptomyces coelicolor during interactions with four different actinomycetes, including genes that encode unusual regulatory systems known as conservons.

Gathering at the top? Environmental controls of microplastic uptake and biomagnification in freshwater food webs.

Microplastics are ubiquitous in the environment, with high concentrations being detected now also in river corridors and sediments globally. Whilst there has been increasing field evidence of microplastics accumulation in the guts and tissues of freshwater and marine aquatic species, the uptake mechanisms of microplastics into freshwater food webs, and the physical and geological controls on pathway-specific exposures to microplastics, are not well understood. This knowledge gap is hampering the assessment of exposure risks, and potential ecotoxicological and public health impacts from microplastics.

Responses of resident (DNA) and active (RNA) microbial communities in fluvial biofilms under different polluted scenarios.

Pollution from human activities is a major threat to the ecological integrity of fluvial ecosystems. Microbial communities are the most abundant organisms in biofilms, and are key indicators of various pollutants. We investigated the effects some human stressors (nutrients and heavy metals) have on the structure and activity of microbial communities in seven sampling sites located in the Ter River basin (NE Spain).

Endoscopic pilonidal sinus treatment versus total excision with primary closure for sacrococcygeal pilonidal sinus disease in the pediatric population.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Endoscopic Pilonidal Sinus Treatment (EPSiT) in the pediatric population and compare it with excision followed by primary closure (EPC) regarding intra- and postoperative outcomes.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of all patients with chronic sacrococcygeal pilonidal sinus submitted to EPSiT and EPC during a 12-month period in our institution was performed. Data concerning patients' demographics and surgical outcomes were collected and compared between the two groups.

Structural and functional responses of periphyton and macroinvertebrate communities to ferric Fe, Cu, and Zn in stream mesocosms.

Two mesocosm experiments were conducted to examine effects of ferric iron (Fe) and mixtures of ferric Fe with aqueous metals (Cu, Zn) on stream benthic communities. Naturally colonized benthic communities were exposed to a gradient of ferric Fe (0, 0.4, 1.

Combined effects of hydrologic alteration and cyprinid fish in mediating biogeochemical processes in a Mediterranean stream.

Flow regimes are important drivers of both stream community and biogeochemical processes. However, the interplay between community and biogeochemical responses under different flow regimes in streams is less understood. In this study, we investigated the structural and functional responses of periphyton and macroinvertebrates to different densities of the Mediterranean barbel (Barbus meridionalis, Cyprinidae) in two stream reaches differing in flow regime.

Molecules to Ecosystems: Actinomycete Natural Products .

Actinomycetes, filamentous actinobacteria found in numerous ecosystems around the globe, produce a wide range of clinically useful natural products (NP). In natural environments, actinomycetes live in dynamic communities where environmental cues and ecological interactions likely influence NP biosynthesis. Our current understating of these cues, and the ecological roles of NP, is in its infancy.

Effects of low arsenic concentration exposure on freshwater fish in the presence of fluvial biofilms.

Arsenic (As) is a highly toxic element and its carcinogenic effect on living organisms is well known. However, predicting real effects in the environment requires an ecological approach since toxicity is influenced by many environmental and biological factors. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate if environmentally-realistic arsenic exposure causes toxicity to fish.

Cumulative Stressors Trigger Increased Vulnerability of Diatom Communities to Additional Disturbances.

Chronic, non-lethal stressors occurring gradually (in space or time) can result in cumulative impacts that are more dramatic than higher intensities or occasional critical levels of any single one of these stressors. The negative effects of the chronic stressors trigger lasting impacts that may grow in intensity and become problematic over time and/or to higher trophic levels. In rivers, aquatic organisms experience this type of cumulative stress along the up- to downstream gradient in natural and anthropogenic contaminants generally observed in inhabited watersheds.

Direct capture and heterologous expression of Salinispora natural product genes for the biosynthesis of enterocin.

Heterologous expression of secondary metabolic pathways is a promising approach for the discovery and characterization of bioactive natural products. Herein we report the first heterologous expression of a natural product from the model marine actinomycete genus Salinispora. Using the recently developed method of yeast-mediated transformation-associated recombination for natural product gene clusters, we captured a type II polyketide synthase pathway from Salinispora pacifica with high homology to the enterocin pathway from Streptomyces maritimus and successfully produced enterocin in two different Streptomyces host strains.

Is the toxicity of pesticide mixtures on river biofilm accounted for solely by the major compounds identified?

Comparative effects of long-term exposure to Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Sampler (POCIS) extracts (PE) and to a reconstituted mixture based on the major compounds quantified in the PE were evaluated on river biofilm communities. The study aimed to characterize the effects of long-term and low-dose exposure to pesticides on natural biofilm communities and to evaluate if the effects due to PE exposure could be explained solely by the major compounds identified in the extracts. Biofilms from an uncontaminated site were exposed in artificial channels to realistic environmental concentrations using diluted PE, with the 12 major compounds quantified in the extracts (Mix) or with water not containing pesticides (Ctr).

Experimental evaluation of the contribution of acidic pH and Fe concentration to the structure, function and tolerance to metals (Cu and Zn) exposure in fluvial biofilms.

An indoor channel system was colonised with fluvial biofilms to study the chronic effects of high Fe and SO4(2-) concentrations and acidic pH, the water chemistry in the surrounding streams of Aljustrel mining area (Alentejo, Portugal), and their contribution to community (in)tolerance to metal toxicity by short-term experiments with Cu and Zn. Biofilms were subjected to four different treatments during 8 weeks: high Fe and SO4(2-) concentrations (1 mg Fe l(-1)+ 700 mg SO4(2-) l(-1)) and acidic pH, high Fe and SO4(2-) at alkaline pH; lower Fe and SO4(2-) at acidic pH: and lower Fe and SO4(2-) concentrations at alkaline pH as negative control. During chronic exposure, acidic pH affected growth negatively, based on low values of algal biomass and the autotrophic index, high values of the antioxidant enzyme activities and low diversity diatom communities, dominated by acidophilic species (Pinnularia aljustrelica) in acidic treatments, being the effects more marked with high Fe and SO4(2-).

Antioxidant enzyme activities in biofilms as biomarker of Zn pollution in a natural system: an active bio-monitoring study.

This study aimed to explore the use of antioxidant enzyme activities (AEA) and biofilm metal accumulation capacity in natural communities as effect-based indicator of metal exposure in fluvial systems. To achieve these objectives, an active biomonitoring using fluvial biofilm communities was performed during 5 weeks. Biofilm was colonized over artificial substrata in a non-polluted site.

Seasonal changes in antioxidant enzyme activities of freshwater biofilms in a metal polluted Mediterranean stream.

While seasonal variations in fluvial communities have been extensively investigated, effects of seasonality on community responses to environmental and/or chemical stress are poorly documented. The aim of this study was to describe antioxidant enzyme activity (AEA) variability in fluvial biofilms over an annual cycle, under multi-stress scenarios due to environmental variability (e.g.

Light History Influences the Response of Fluvial Biofilms to Zn Exposure.

Fluvial biofilms are subject to multistress situations in natural ecosystems, such as the co-occurrence of light intensity changes and metal toxicity. However, studies simultaneously addressing both factors are rare. This study evaluated in microcosm conditions the relationship between short-term light intensity changes and Zn toxicity on fluvial biofilms with long-term photoacclimation to different light conditions.

Antioxidant enzyme activities as biomarkers of Zn pollution in fluvial biofilms.

The potential of the antioxidant enzyme catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) as molecular biomarkers of Zn toxicity in freshwater biofilms has been explored in this study jointly with other classical functional and structural endpoints (photosynthetic parameters, algal group composition and bioaccumulation). Biofilms were colonized in an indoor microcosm system for 5 weeks and then exposed to Zn for 5 weeks. To evaluate Zn effects, biofilms were sampled 5 and 3 days before exposure, just before exposure (time 0), and after 6h, 1, 3, 7, 21 and 35 days of metal exposure.

9 Years after the first laparoscopic adjusted gastric banding (LAGB) in adolescents: the Portuguese experience.

Introduction: Children all over the world are increasingly becoming overweight and obese. The experience with adults has demonstrated that surgery is the only effective way of achieving sustained weight loss in obese patients. Simultaneously, it has been proposed that bariatric surgery in the adolescent period would be a more effective treatment for childhood-onset extreme obesity rather than delaying surgery for extremely obese youth until adulthood.

In situ spatio-temporal changes in pollution-induced community tolerance to zinc in autotrophic and heterotrophic biofilm communities.

Pollution-induced community tolerance (PICT) uses increased tolerance in populations at contaminated sites as an indicator of contaminant effects. However, given the broad structural and functional complexity that characterizes biological communities, the acquisition of PICT could vary with (i) target community, (ii) intensity of toxicant exposure, (iii) the species succession stage, and (iv) the physicochemical characteristics of the studied site. To assess the spatio-temporal changes of zinc-induced tolerance in fluvial biofilm communities, we conducted an in situ study in Osor River (North-East Catalonia, Spain), which has zinc contamination.

Catalase in fluvial biofilms: a comparison between different extraction methods and example of application in a metal-polluted river.

Antioxidant enzymes are involved in important processes of cell detoxification during oxidative stress and have, therefore, been used as biomarkers in algae. Nevertheless, their limited use in fluvial biofilms may be due to the complexity of such communities. Here, a comparison between different extraction methods was performed to obtain a reliable method for catalase extraction from fluvial biofilms.

Octreotide in the treatment of neonatal postoperative chylothorax: report of three cases and literature review.

Chylothorax is a well-recognized complication after neonatal cardiothoracic surgery. Management strategies include cessation of enteral feedings, repeated aspiration, chest drainage, and total parenteral nutrition. Somatostatin and its analogue, octreotide, have been used with promising results.

Changes in plasma lipids and increased low-density lipoprotein susceptibility to oxidation in pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes: consequences of obesity.

Dyslipidemia is associated with increased low-density lipoprotein (LDL) susceptibility to oxidation, a phenomenon associated with endothelial dysfunction, atherosclerosis, cell toxicity, and intrauterine growth retardation. The present study was designed to determine if women developing gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have both increased plasma lipids and LDL susceptibility to oxidation throughout pregnancy. We also wanted to study the effects of obesity upon these parameters.

Adipose tissue and liver lipid metabolism in obese children: role of the body mass index and the presence of acanthosis nigricans.

Aims: The aims of our study were to determine if insulin resistance is associated with increased plasma levels of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), glycerol, 3-hydroxybutyrate and triglycerides in obese children. We also studied whether the presence of acanthosis nigricans (AN) led to further alterations in the above parameters.

Methods: A total of 101 children were studied on their first visit to the paediatric endocrine clinic.