Use of Honey Bees and Hive Products as Bioindicators to Assess Environmental Contamination in Targeted Areas of the Campania Region (Italy).

In recent years, biomonitoring has gained more attention, particularly when assessing the environmental health of significant areas, such as those near waste-to-energy facilities. These requirements coincide with the chance to detect environmental pollutants using sensitive organisms. Bees were shown to be quite effective in evaluating the presence of certain compounds by analyzing their associated matrices, such as pollen, honey, or wax.

Effect of the flow regime on the hydraulic features governing the operation of vortex drop shafts with spiral inlets.

If the operation of existing vortex drop shafts should be verified, then it is essential to know the hydraulic performance of these special structures under both subcritical and supercritical flow regimes. The purpose of the present research consisted of providing practical guidelines and recommendations for managing the hydraulic design and verification of subcritical and supercritical vortex drop shafts. The examination of various experimental results from physical model investigations allowed to show that the inlet channel and the spiral inlet behaved differently depending on the energy approach flow content.

miRNA and mRNA Profiling Links Connexin Deficiency to Deafness via Early Oxidative Damage in the Mouse .

Pathogenic mutations in the non-syndromic hearing loss and deafness 1 (DFNB1) locus are the primary cause of monogenic inheritance for prelingual hearing loss. To unravel molecular pathways involved in etiopathology and look for early degeneration biomarkers, we used a system biology approach to analyze Cx30 mice at an early cochlear post-natal developmental stage. These mice are a DFNB1 mouse model with severely reduced expression levels of two connexins in the inner ear, Cx30, and Cx26.

Experience of stent implantation for recurrent aortic arch obstruction following Norwood or Damus-Kaye-Stansel operation over the last decade.

Background: Recurrent aortic arch obstruction following the Norwood procedure is recognised as an important complication. Balloon arch angioplasty is associated with a high recoarctation rate.

Methods: We sought to evaluate the prevalence and outcome of stent implantation for recoarctation in children following Norwood or Damus-Kaye-Stansel procedure over the past decade at a single national cardiology centre.

Evaluation of a surgical supervision model in three African countries-protocol for a prospective mixed-methods controlled pilot trial.

Background: District-level hospitals (DLHs) can play an important role in the delivery of essential surgical services for rural populations in sub-Saharan Africa if adequately prepared and supported. This article describes the protocol for the evaluation of the Scaling up Safe Surgery for District and Rural Populations in Africa (SURG-Africa) project which aims to strengthen the capacity in district-level hospitals (DLHs) in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia to deliver safe, quality surgery. The intervention comprises a programme of quarterly supervisory visits to surgically active district-level hospitals by specialists from referral hospitals and the establishment of a mobile phone-based consultation network.