Extent of intraspecific trait variability in ecologically central and marginal populations of a dominant alpine plant across European mountains.

Background And Aims: Studying trait variability and restricted gene flow between populations of species can reveal species dynamics. Peripheral populations commonly exhibit lower genetic diversity and trait variability due to isolation and ecological marginality, unlike central populations experiencing gene flow and optimal conditions. This study focused on Carex curvula, the dominant species in alpine acidic meadows of European mountain regions.

Development of SSR markers for Carex curvula (Cyperaceae) and their importance in investigating the species genetic structure.

Background: Microsatellite primers were developed and tested to genotype several populations of Carex curvula s. l. (Cyperaceae), in order to infer the phylogeographic relationships of the populations within species and the boundaries between the two described subspecies: C.

Texture Analysis in Uterine Cervix Carcinoma: Primary Tumour and Lymph Node Assessment.

The conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evaluation and staging of cervical cancer encounters several pitfalls, partially due to subjective evaluations of medical images. Fifty-six patients with histologically proven cervical malignancies (squamous cell carcinomas, = 42; adenocarcinomas, = 14) who underwent pre-treatment MRI examinations were retrospectively included. The lymph node status (non-metastatic lymph nodes, = 39; metastatic lymph nodes, = 17) was assessed using pathological and imaging findings.

Rare diseases and space health: optimizing synergies from scientific questions to care.

Knowledge transfer among research disciplines can lead to substantial research progress. At first glance, astronaut health and rare diseases may be seen as having little common ground for such an exchange. However, deleterious health conditions linked to human space exploration may well be considered as a narrow sub-category of rare diseases.

Directional turnover towards larger-ranged plants over time and across habitats.

Species turnover is ubiquitous. However, it remains unknown whether certain types of species are consistently gained or lost across different habitats. Here, we analysed the trajectories of 1827 plant species over time intervals of up to 78 years at 141 sites across mountain summits, forests, and lowland grasslands in Europe.

Computer Tomography in the Diagnosis of Ovarian Cysts: The Role of Fluid Attenuation Values.

Pathological analysis of ovarian cysts shows specific fluid characteristics that cannot be standardly evaluated on computer tomography (CT) examinations. This study aimed to assess the ovarian cysts' fluid attenuation values on the native (Np), arterial (Ap), and venous (Vp) contrast phases of seventy patients with ovarian cysts who underwent CT examinations and were retrospectively included in this study. Patients were divided according to their final diagnosis into the benign group ( = 32) and malignant group ( = 38; of which 27 were primary and 11 were secondary lesions).

The utility of texture-based classification of different types of ascites on magnetic resonance.

Purpose: To quantify specific characteristics of different types of ascitic fluid on magnetic resonance (MR) images and to determine their utility for computer-assisted lesion classification.

Methods: The MR images of 48 patients with intra-abdominal fluid were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were grouped according to the underlying disease and pathological outcomes.

Is there a place for F18-FDG PET/CT in the diagnosis of primary breast cancer?

Purpose: With the improvement of techniques and the update of diagnostic protocols in breast cancer, modern imaging proves to be effective in the diagnosis of this pathology, as well as in its prognosis. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of these modern imaging techniques through a systematic assessment of the most recent studies.

Methods: A PUBMED search, using certain key combinations ("breast cancer", "F18 FDG PET-CT", "MRI", "staging", "diagnosis") and some inclusion and exclusion criteria, yielded 24 articles published during 2014-2018.

SoilTemp: A global database of near-surface temperature.

Current analyses and predictions of spatially explicit patterns and processes in ecology most often rely on climate data interpolated from standardized weather stations. This interpolated climate data represents long-term average thermal conditions at coarse spatial resolutions only. Hence, many climate-forcing factors that operate at fine spatiotemporal resolutions are overlooked.

The Treasure Vault Can be Opened: Large-Scale Genome Skimming Works Well Using Herbarium and Silica Gel Dried Material.

Genome skimming has the potential for generating large data sets for DNA barcoding and wider biodiversity genomic studies, particularly via the assembly and annotation of full chloroplast (cpDNA) and nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) sequences. We compare the success of genome skims of 2051 herbarium specimens from Norway/Polar regions with 4604 freshly collected, silica gel dried specimens mainly from the European Alps and the Carpathians. Overall, we were able to assemble the full chloroplast genome for 67% of the samples and the full nrDNA cluster for 86%.

A malignant phyllodes tumor with liposarcomatous differentiation case with 3-year follow-up.

Phyllodes tumors (PTs) are a group of rarely breast tumors of fibro-epithelial origin, counting for about 1% of the breast malignancies divided, based on histological features, in benign, borderline and malignant neoplasms, arising most of them in women in their 40's. Among this complex group of tumors, the liposarcomatous differentiation is an even more rare lesion, counting for about 0.3% of all primary sarcomas of the breast.

Progressive Fusion for Unsupervised Binocular Depth Estimation Using Cycled Networks.

Recent deep monocular depth estimation approaches based on supervised regression have achieved remarkable performance. However, they require costly ground truth annotations during training. To cope with this issue, in this paper we present a novel unsupervised deep learning approach for predicting depth maps.

Severe alcohol withdrawal syndrome: Evolution of care and impact of adjunctive therapy on course and complications of 171 intensive care unit patients.

This single site retrospective observational study assessed the evolution of sedation therapy for severe alcohol withdrawal syndrome in the intensive care unit. Patient records for 2 intervals were reviewed: Interval 1, which included 87 intensive care unit patients admitted January 2005 through September 2007, for whom benzodiazedpine monotherapy was utilized; and Interval 2, January 2010 through December 2010, for whom 54 of 84 (64.3%) intensive care unit patients, including all those intubated, received adjunctive agents, including dexmedetomidine or propofol.

Contrasting microbial biogeographical patterns between anthropogenic subalpine grasslands and natural alpine grasslands.

The effect of plant species composition on soil microbial communities was studied at the multiregional level. We compared the soil microbial communities of alpine natural grasslands dominated by Carex curvula and anthropogenic subalpine pastures dominated by Nardus stricta. We conducted paired sampling across the Carpathians and the Alps and used Illumina sequencing to reveal the molecular diversity of soil microbes.

Recent plant diversity changes on Europe's mountain summits.

In mountainous regions, climate warming is expected to shift species' ranges to higher altitudes. Evidence for such shifts is still mostly from revisitations of historical sites. We present recent (2001 to 2008) changes in vascular plant species richness observed in a standardized monitoring network across Europe's major mountain ranges.

Maternal/newborn genotype contribution of the renin-angiotensin system (Met235Thr, Thr174Met, I/D-ACE, A2350G-ACE, A1166C-AT2R1, C3123A- AT2R2, 83A/G-REN) to the risk of pre-eclampsia: a Romanian study.

Introduction: We evaluated the association of the mutated genotypes Met235Thr-AGT, Thr174Met-AGT, I/D-ACE, A2350G-ACE, A1166C-AT2R1, C3123A-AT2R2, (83)A/G-REN with the risk and outcome of pre-eclampsia; we also investigated whether genes in newborns increase maternal risk of pre-eclampsia.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-six pairs of pre-eclamptic women and their newborns were genotyped, along with 71 pairs of controls (mothers/newborns) using PCR-RFLP analysis.

Results: The Thr235/Thr235 (OR 3.

Post-glacial history of the dominant alpine sedge Carex curvula in the European Alpine System inferred from nuclear and chloroplast markers.

The alpine sedge Carex curvula ssp. curvula is a clonal, dominant graminoid found in the European Alps, the Carpathians, the Pyrenees and in some of the Balkan Mountains. It is a late-successional species of acidophilous alpine meadows that occurs on sites that were covered by ice during the last glacial maximum (LGM).

Vaginal superficial myofibroblastoma. Case report and review of the literature.

Superficial myofibroblastoma of the lower female genital tract is a rare, recently described tumor, which has a distinctive clinico-pathological profile. We report a 63-year old patient who presented with a polypoid vaginal mass. Histopathological examination revealed a moderately cellular tumor composed of bland spindled and stellate cells.

Acute pancreatitis in a pregnant woman with acute fatty liver dystrophy. A case report.

Acute fatty liver and acute pancreatitis rarely complicate pregnancy. Acute pancreatitis may appear isolated but when it is subsequent to acute fatty liver of pregnancy the evolution is in many cases fatal. We report the case of a 26-year-old primigravida, at 25 weeks' gestation, who developed acute fatty liver of pregnancy and acute pancreatitis after an acute viral upper respiratory tract infection, with an unfavorable evolution to death.

Angiotensinogen gene M235T variant and pre-eclampsia in Romanian pregnant women.

Background: Association between the human angiotensinogen gene and essential hypertension has been confirmed in recent studies. Pre-eclampsia is a complication of pregnancy characterised by increased vascular resistance, high blood pressure, proteinuria and oedema, that appears in the second and third trimester of pregnancy. The aim of our study was the analysis of M235T mutation in the gene encoding angiotensinogen in Romanian women with different forms of hypertension during pregnancy.

Innovative intersectoral approach reduces blood leads levels of children and workers in Romania.

With the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), an intersectoral approach involving the community, governmental and nongovernmental agencies, and the management of the local copper smelting plant succeeded in reducing the blood lead levels of plant workers and of young children living in the vicinity of a copper smelter, Zlatna, Romania.