Predation pressure in maize across Europe and in Argentina: an intercontinental comparison.

Humankind draws important benefits from large-scale ecological processes termed ecosystem services, yet the status of several of them is declining. Reliable monitoring methods are essential for tracking the status of ecosystem services. Predation is the mainstay of natural pest control, a key ecosystem service.

[Lymphatic and vascular invasion in laryngeal and pyriform sinus carcinomas].

Background: To investigate prognostic significance of the lymphatic and vascular invasion in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx and pyriform sinus.

Material And Methods: Patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx and pyriform sinus who underwent laryngectomies between 2002 and 2006 in the ENT Clinic of Cluj-Napoca were investigated for lymphatic and vascular invasion and their effect on disease-free survival and recurrence rates.

Results: The present study included 396 patients.

Surgical management of Gerhardt syndrome.

Adduction bilateral vocal fold immobility syndrome may be due by both recurrent laryngeal nerves paralysis--Gerhardt syndrome--and all intrinsic laryngeal muscles paralysis--Riegel syndrome. Etiology of Gerhardt syndrome is thyroid surgery, intubation's maneuver, trauma, neurological disorders, extrala-ryngeal malignancies. The manifestations of Gerhardt syndrome are inspiratory dyspnea and slightly influenced voicing by paramedian vocal folds paralysis with an important narrowing of the airway at the glottic level.

Prevalence of the c.35delG and p.W24X mutations in the GJB2 gene in patients with nonsyndromic hearing loss from North-West Romania.

Objective: In Central and South-Eastern European countries, the most frequent mutation types responsible for congenital nonsyndromic sensorineural hearing loss (NSHL) are c.35delG and p.W24X (15-55.

[Cortisone treatment in prevention of pharyngocutaneous fistula after total laryngectomy].

Purpose: To identify a method of prophylaxis in pharyngocutaneous fistula (PCF) after radical surgery for cancer of larynx and pyriform fossa.

Materials And Methods: A prospective longitudinal study on patients who were operated for cancer of larynx and pyriform fossa, in year 2007 in ENT Department of Clinic Emergency County Hospital Cluj-Napoca, with total laryngectomy and partial hypo-pharyngectomy. These patients were distributed in two lots: case (who received postoperative treatment with hemisuccinate of hydrocortisone or dexamethasone) and witness (they didn't received cortisone or other treatment except the standard therapy).