Desiccation resistance reflects patterns of microhabitat choice in a Central American assemblage of wandering spiders.

The lowland rainforest of northeastern Costa Rica harbours an assemblage of large wandering spider species belonging to three habitat subguilds: (1) semi-aquatic, (2) forest ground dwelling and (3) vegetation dwelling. We hypothesized that desiccation resistance should differ among species preferring different microhabitats and the associated microclimate. Desiccation resistance was assessed by: (1) measuring water loss rates of the spiders under relatively dry experimental conditions, and (2) recording desiccation susceptibility, i.

Exacerbation of chronic hepatitis B during chemotherapy due to testicular seminoma.

Chronic hepatitis B is often asymptomatic until it progresses to advanced stage. The natural course of disease includes flares and periods of decreased inflammatory activity. Immune decline status is proven risk factor for exacerbation of viral hepatitis.

Myiasis after study trip to French Guiana.

Cutaneous myiasis is usually a harmless tropical disease caused by infestation with larvae from a variety of flies. Because of its rare occurrence in Europe, it is often misdiagnosed. Increased travel to tropical regions has correspondingly increased the number of cases observed in Europe.

Effect of misoprostol in ethanol-induced liver injury.

Prostaglandins appeared protective against acute experimental liver injury of different origin. Misoprostol, stable, orally active, synthetic derivative of PGE1 attenuates several functional alterations in liver mitochondria during ethanol administration. To study its possible hepatoprotective effects on ethanol-induced liver injury in rats we measured: serum activities of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) and concentrations of ammonia in blood and liver tissue.