Changes in clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 during two years of the pandemic: experience in a venezuelan hospital.

Objectives.: To determine changes in the clinical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in a private hospital in Caracas during two years of the pandemic.

Materials And Methods.

Effect of water temperature on the duration of the internesting interval across sea turtle species.

Sea turtles generally lay several clutches of eggs in a single nesting season. While a negative correlation between water temperatures and the time required between constitutive nesting events (termed the internesting interval) has been previously reported in loggerhead Caretta caretta and green turtles Chelonia mydas, it is not understood whether this relationship remains constant across other sea turtle species. Here, we expanded upon these previous studies on loggerhead and green turtles by using larger sample sizes and including data from species with a wider range of body-sizes; specifically: hawksbill Eretmochelys imbricata, leatherback Dermochelys coriacea, and olive ridley turtles Lepidochelys olivacea.

The impacts of mining on the food sovereignty and security of Indigenous Peoples and local communities: A global review.

Mineral extraction areas represent an environmental, social, and also a food sovereignty challenge for several countries. Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLC) are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of mining activities, particularly those that affect their lands and waters. At the global level, scientific evidence on the impacts of mining on the food sovereignty of IPLC is meagre, scattered, and fragmented across disciplines and geographic regions.

Tracking the exposure of a pelagic seabird to marine plastic pollution.

We aimed to describe how debris originated from coastal cities and fisheries circulates and accumulates along the Argentine continental shelf and its potential interaction with southern giant petrels (SGP, Macronectes giganteus). We used tracking data of 31 SGPs (adults and juveniles) from Patagonian colonies. Lagrangian simulations of particles were released from coastal cities and fisheries.

A Baseline Model For Estimating the Risk of Gas Embolism in Sea Turtles During Routine Dives.

Sea turtles, like other air-breathing diving vertebrates, commonly experience significant gas embolism (GE) when incidentally caught at depth in fishing gear and brought to the surface. To better understand why sea turtles develop GE, we built a mathematical model to estimate partial pressures of N (PN), O (PO), and CO (PCO) in the major body-compartments of diving loggerheads (), leatherbacks (), and green turtles (). This model was adapted from a published model for estimating gas dynamics in marine mammals and penguins.

Female-biased stranding in Magellanic penguins.

Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) have been reported to become stranded along the coasts of northern Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil during the austral winter [1-3]. This location is more than a thousand kilometers distant from their northernmost breeding colony in northern Patagonia. Curiously, females typically outnumber males at stranding sites (approximately three females per male) [2].

Multinational tagging efforts illustrate regional scale of distribution and threats for east pacific green turtles (Chelonia mydas agassizii).

To further describe movement patterns and distribution of East Pacific green turtles (Chelonia mydas agassizii) and to determine threat levels for this species within the Eastern Pacific. In order to do this we combined published data from existing flipper tagging and early satellite tracking studies with data from an additional 12 satellite tracked green turtles (1996-2006). Three of these were tracked from their foraging grounds in the Gulf of California along the east coast of the Baja California peninsula to their breeding grounds in Michoacán (1337-2928 km).

Movements and diving behavior of internesting green turtles along Pacific Costa Rica.

Using satellite transmitters, we determined the internesting movements, spatial ecology and diving behavior of East Pacific green turtles (Chelonia mydas) nesting on Nombre de Jesús and Zapotillal beaches along the Pacific coast of northwestern Costa Rica. Kernel density analysis indicated that turtles spent most of their time in a particularly small area in the vicinity of the nesting beaches (50% utilization distribution was an area of 3 km(2) ). Minimum daily distance traveled during a 12 day internesting period was 4.

Prognostic value of echocardiographic-derived calcium index in coronary artery disease diagnosed by 64-multidetector computed tomography.

Purpose: To determine whether echocardiographic calcium index (ECI) calculated using transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) predicts coronary ischemic events. We also wished to determine coronary artery calcium score (CACS), the presence of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) and plaque composition, all of which were assessed by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT).

Methods: We carried out a prospective cohort study of 82 consecutive outpatients with chest pain and low-moderate risk of CAD, referred for noninvasive coronariography by MDCT.

Climate driven egg and hatchling mortality threatens survival of eastern Pacific leatherback turtles.

Egg-burying reptiles need relatively stable temperature and humidity in the substrate surrounding their eggs for successful development and hatchling emergence. Here we show that egg and hatchling mortality of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in northwest Costa Rica were affected by climatic variability (precipitation and air temperature) driven by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Drier and warmer conditions associated with El Niño increased egg and hatchling mortality.

A prospective, randomized, split-face, controlled trial of salicylic acid peels in the treatment of melasma in Latin American women.

Background: Melasma, a common disorder of hyperpigmentation, is often resistant to therapy. Although salicylic acid peels have been reported to be useful for patients with recalcitrant melasma, controlled trials are lacking.

Objective: We sought to determine the efficacy of salicylic acid peels when added to hydroquinone in the treatment of melasma.

Surgical strategies for fornix reconstruction based on symblepharon severity.

Purpose: To identify surgical strategies of fornix reconstruction for symblepharon graded according to the length from the limbus to the lid margin, to the width, and to associated inflammation.

Design: Retrospective, comparative, interventional case series.

Methods: In 61 eyes with symblepharon, cicatrix lysis and amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT) were performed with sutures (n = 34) or fibrin glue (n = 27) together with (n = 47) or without (n = 14) intraoperative mitomycin C (MMC), plus fornix reconstruction using anchoring sutures without (n = 30) or with (n = 7) oral mucosal graft or with conjunctival autograft (n = 4).

Surgical approach for scleral ischemia and melt.

Purpose: To describe the combined use of tenonplasty, lamellar corneal patch graft, and amniotic membrane transplantation in managing scleral ischemia and/or melt by using sutures or fibrin glue.

Methods: We subjected five eyes of 4 patients with scleral ischemia and/or melt of diverse etiologies to debridement of all necrotic tissue, followed by a lamellar corneal graft (cases with melt, n = 3) or a cryopreserved amniotic membrane (cases without melt, n = 2), and a Tenon pedicle graft was used to cover the ischemic zone; surgery was completed by using a second layer of cryopreserved amniotic membrane. These procedures were performed by using either sutures or fibrin glue.

Amniotic membrane transplantation with fibrin glue for conjunctivochalasis.

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of performing sutureless amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT) using fibrin glue for conjunctivochalasis.

Design: Noncomparative interventional case series.

Methods: In 25 eyes of 16 patients with refractory conjunctivochalasis (CCh), AMT using fibrin glue was performed to cover the bare sclera.

Fluorescein dye improves microscopic evaluation and counting of demodex in blepharitis with cylindrical dandruff.

Purpose: To show whether fluorescein dye helps detect and count Demodex embedded in cylindrical dandruff (CD) of epilated eyelashes from patients with blepharitis.

Methods: Two eyelashes with CD were removed from each lid of 10 consecutive patients with blepharitis and subjected to microscopic examination with and without fluorescein solution to detect and count Demodex mites.

Results: Of 80 eyelashes examined, 36 (45%) lashes retained their CD after removal.

New surgical approach for superior conjunctivochalasis.

Purpose: To show poor adhesion between the conjunctiva and the sclera in eyes with superior conjunctivochalasis (CCh) and to introduce a new surgical approach by reinforcing adhesion between the conjunctiva and the sclera for correcting this deficiency.

Methods: After conjunctival peritomy and removal of the loose Tenon remnants, "Tenon reinforcement" for conjunctival adhesion to the underlying sclera was achieved by transplantation of cryopreserved amniotic membrane with fibrin glue (group A, 9 eyes of 6 patients) or 10-0 nylon sutures (group B, 8 eyes of 6 patients) in 17 eyes of 12 patients with refractory superior CCh.

Results: The mean age of patients was 68.

Serotonin (5HT), fluoxetine, imipramine and dopamine target distinct 5HT receptor signaling to modulate Caenorhabditis elegans egg-laying behavior.

Drugs that target the serotonergic system are the most commonly prescribed therapeutic agents and are used for treatment of a wide range of behavioral and neurological disorders. However, the mechanism of the drug action remain a conjecture. Here, we dissect the genetic targets of serotonin (5HT), the selective 5HT reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) fluoxetine (Prozac), the tricyclic antidepressant imipramine, and dopamine.

Caenorhabditis elegans TRPV ion channel regulates 5HT biosynthesis in chemosensory neurons.

Serotonin (5HT) is a pivotal signaling molecule that modulates behavioral and endocrine responses to diverse chemical and physical stimuli. We report cell-specific regulation of 5HT biosynthesis by transient receptor potential V (TRPV) ion channels in C. elegans.

[Bacterial resistance to antibiotics in gram-negative rods isolated from intensive care units. Comparative analysis between two periods (1998 and 2001)].

The incidence and drug susceptibility of gram-negative isolates from clinical samples of patients from different intensive care units at the Hospital de Clinicas José de San Martín were analysed. Two hundred isolates during the same five months period, in two different years (1998 and 2001) were obtained and evaluated. Acinetobacter spp.