All-you-can-eat buffet: A spider-specialized bat species (Myotis emarginatus) turns into a pest fly eater around cattle.

Determining the dietary spectrum of European insectivorous bats over time is the cornerstone of their conservation, as it will aid our understanding of foraging behavior plasticity in response to plummeting insect populations. Despite the global decline in insects, a restricted number of arthropod pest species thrive. Yet past research has overlooked the potential of European bats to suppress pests harmful to woodlands or livestock, in spite of their economic relevance.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm: a 6-year comparison of endovascular versus transabdominal repair.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) will result in a significant reduction in mortality and morbidity rates and cost when compared with open transabdominal repair.

Summary Background Data: Since the introduction of endovascular repair of AAA this decade, multiple groups have evaluated different endovascular grafts. Despite the excellent results reported initially, there has been a paucity of well-controlled, comparative studies looking at long-term outcome.

Repair of type IV thoracoabdominal aneurysm with a combined endovascular and surgical approach.

We report an unusual case of type IV Thoracoabdominal Aneurysm (TAA) with Superior Mesenteric Artery (SMA), celiac artery, and bilateral renal artery aneurysms in a patient who underwent an earlier repair of two infrarenal Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) ruptures. Because of the presence of the visceral artery aneurysms and the earlier operation through the retroperitoneum, standard surgical treatment via a retroperitoneal approach with an inclusion grafting technique was considered difficult. A combined surgical approach achieving retrograde perfusion of all four visceral vessels and endovascular grafting allowing exclusion of the TAA was accomplished.

Surgical results: a justification of the surgeon selection process for the ACAS trial. The ACAS Investigators.

Purpose: The selection of surgeons to participate in a prospective randomized trial comparing the efficacy of a surgical method with medical management is critically important because it will have a direct impact on the outcome of the study and the future use of the operation. We report the success of the method used for selecting surgeons who participated in the Asymptomatic Carotid Atherosclerosis Study (ACAS) by examining the surgical morbidity and mortality rates and the outcome of the study.

Methods: A Surgical Management Committee established criteria for auditing surgeons who wished to participate in the study.

Repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm by transfemoral endovascular graft placement.

Purpose: The authors describe the initial clinical experience with a new device, approved by the FDA for investigation, for repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm by transfemoral endovascular insertion of an aortic graft.

Methods: Sixty-nine patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms were screened, and ten were found to be suitable for endovascular grafting. Repair was done in the operating room using general anesthesia.