Repeat bleaching of a central Pacific coral reef over the past six decades (1960-2016).

The oceans are warming and coral reefs are bleaching with increased frequency and severity, fueling concerns for their survival through this century. Yet in the central equatorial Pacific, some of the world's most productive reefs regularly experience extreme heat associated with El Niño. Here we use skeletal signatures preserved in long-lived corals on Jarvis Island to evaluate the coral community response to multiple successive heatwaves since 1960.

Ocean acidification affects coral growth by reducing skeletal density.

Ocean acidification (OA) is considered an important threat to coral reef ecosystems, because it reduces the availability of carbonate ions that reef-building corals need to produce their skeletons. However, while theory predicts that coral calcification rates decline as carbonate ion concentrations decrease, this prediction is not consistently borne out in laboratory manipulation experiments or in studies of corals inhabiting naturally low-pH reefs today. The skeletal growth of corals consists of two distinct processes: extension (upward growth) and densification (lateral thickening).

[Complete transposition of great vessels: clinical aspects, diagnosis, echocardiography].

The paper reports the study of 12 patients admitted to hospital between January 1992 and October 1994. The patients were almost all neonates. Clinical, electrocardiographic and radiological data led to the suspected diagnosis of complete transposition of the great vessels.

[Dilated cardiomyopathy in childhood: clinical aspects, echocardiographic diagnosis].

The authors report a study of 30 patients admitted to hospital between January 1982 and August 1994 for dilatative cardiomyopathy. The majority of children were under one year old. At the time of admittance all patients were suffering from congestive heart decompensation.

[The echocardiographic diagnosis and evolution of coronary aneurysms in Kawasaki's disease].

Some cases of coronary aneurysms studied echocardiographically in children suffering from Kawasaki's disease are reported. In the fourth case, bidimensional echocardiography highlighted a uniform dilatation of the right and left coronary proximal segments which had retreated at subsequent controls. In the third case, echocardiogram clearly showed large aneurysms in the common trunk of the left coronary artery, in the left circumflex artery and in the anterior interventricular artery.