Taxonomy, Habitat Preference, and Niche Overlap of Two Arrow-Poison Flea Beetle Species of the Genus in Sub-Saharan Africa (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae).

Coupling the geographic distribution and the ecological requirements of species often supports taxonomy and biogeography. In this contribution, we update the distribution of two flea beetle species of ethno-entomological interest, and , by analyzing original data. In addition, we supply their main morphological diagnostic characters, describing their aedeagal and spermathecal shapes for the first time.

DBSCAN and GIE, Two Density-Based "Grid-Free" Methods for Finding Areas of Endemism: A Case Study of Flea Beetles (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) in the Afrotropical Region.

Areas of endemism (AoEs) are a central area of research in biogeography. Different methods have been proposed for their identification in the literature. In this paper, a "grid-free" method based on the "Density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise" (DBSCAN) is here used for the first time to locate areas of endemism for species belonging to the beetle tribe Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini in the Afrotropical Region.

Climate change favours connectivity between virus-bearing pest and rice cultivations in sub-Saharan Africa, depressing local economies.

Aims: Rice is a staple food for many countries, being fundamental for a large part of the worlds' population. In sub-Saharan Africa, its importance is currently high and is likely to become even more relevant, considering that the number of people and the per-capita consumption are both predicted to increase. The flea beetles belonging to the species group ( group), a harmful rice pest, are an important vector of the Rice Yellow Mottle Virus, a disease which leads even to 80-100% yield losses in rice production.

Habitat Specificity, Host Plants and Areas of Endemism for the Genera-Group s.l. in the Afrotropical Region (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini).

The genus Heyden (Chrysomelidae) is mainly distributed in the eastern and southern parts of sub-Saharan Africa, with some extensions northward, while Bechyné occurs in the intertropical zone of Africa, with two subgenera, s. str. and Biondi and D'Alessandro.

Investigating the Current and Future Co-Occurrence of and in Europe through Ecological Modelling and Remote Sensing Data Analysis.

The common ragweed has spread throughout Europe since the 1800s, infesting croplands and causing severe allergic reactions. Recently, the ragweed leaf beetle was found in Italy and Switzerland; considering that it feeds primarily on in its invaded ranges, some projects started biological control of this invasive plant through the adventive beetle. In this context of a 'double' invasion, we assessed the influence of climate change on the spread of these alien species through ecological niche modelling.

[The unusual couple: a clinical case of coexistence between aHUS and Fabry's disease].

Atypical hemolytic-uremic syndrome (aHUS) is a rare, potentially lethal (1-4) systemic disorder, capable of affecting both adults and children, causing thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) (5) that leads to the formation of thrombus within small blood vessels with multiple organ failure. The pathogenesis of the aHUS is part of a sort of chronic and uncontrolled activation of the complement system by genetic mutation of some proteins usually responsible for its self-regulation (6,7). Today, the rapid diagnosis of the disease and the timely start of treatment with eculizumab, improve outcomes of renal failure, stroke and heart attack (8-10).

Effect of Increased Convection Volume by Mid-Dilution Hemodiafiltration on the Subclinical Chronic Inflammation in Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients.

Mid-dilution hemodiafiltration (MID) is a dialytic technique that might improve systemic inflammation of patients in chronic hemodialysis (HD) by increasing substitution volumes. To verify this hypothesis, we performed a prospective cross-over study comparing the effect on inflammatory biomarkers of higher convection by MID versus standard convection by post-dilution hemodiafiltration (HDF). Patients under chronic HD were therefore treated by MID and HDF by crossover design.

[Bilirubin removal with Coupled Plasma Filtration and Adsorption in patients affected by hilar cholangiocarcinoma].

Background: Patients affected by hilar cholangiocarcinoma are eligible for surgery only in the 20-30% of the cases and postoperative mortality is 40-50%. Many specialists are involved in the treatment of this disease, like surgeons, gastroenterologists, oncologists and radiotherapists. Recent studies have shown that preoperative bilirubinaemia is a predictor of morbidity and mortality after surgery.

[The Ormond's disease: an intriguing obstructive nephrouropathy].

Idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis also known as Ormonds disease is a rare disorder characterized by the development of fibrotic tissue in the retroperitoneum involving the abdominal aorta and iliac arteries, ureters and the inferior vena cava. The aberrant tissue may compress ureters leading to obstructive nephrouropathy and renal failure, which are the most common clinical manifestations of this condition. The nephrologist is often consulted to make differential diagnosis for acute renal failure and obstructive uropathy.

Quality of life of hemodialysis patients in Central and Southern Italy: cross-sectional comparison between Hemodiafiltration with endogenous reinfusion (HFR) and Bicarbonate Hemodialysis.

Introduction: in hemodialysis (HD) patients, poor health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) is prevalent and associated with adverse outcomes. HR-QoL is strictly linked to nutritional status of HD patients. Hemodiafiltration with endogenous reinfusion (HFR) is an alternative dialysis technique that combines diffusion, convection and absorption.

[Management of antirheumatic drugs in kidney failure].

The nephrologist deals with the management of patients with rheumatic disease, both diagnostically and therapeutically. He must determine whether the renal pathology is related to the rheumatologic disease, mostly through the use of the renal biopsy. In the second case, he must know the nephrotoxic potential of the drugs prescribed and adjust their use to the degree of renal impairment.

Effect of hemodiafiltration with endogenous reinfusion on overt idiopathic chronic inflammation in maintenance hemodialysis patients: a multicenter longitudinal study.

Chronic inflammation is widely diffuse in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients and is associated with poor survival. Hemodiafiltration with endogenous reinfusion (HFR) is a dialysis technique, highly biocompatible, able to adsorb proinflammatory cytokines and to decrease amino acids and antioxidants loss. These features could be helpful in MHD patients affected by idiopathic chronic inflammation, but this issue remains to be elucidated.

[Role of the ultrasounds in the kidney biopsy: a case of postbiopsy hematoma linked to renal arteriovenous fistula].

In the planning of a kidney biopsy procedure, ultrasound examination has a crucial role before percutaneous renal biopsy (PRB) in detecting renal abnormalities that could contraindicate the biopsy; during PRB as a method to locate the kidney; and after PRB to diagnose and monitor postbiopsy complications. The case of a 40-year-old woman who underwent ultrasound-guided PRB for urinary abnormalities is described. Careful renal assessment by ultrasonography before the kidney biopsy was not performed.

[Diagnostic pathway of an unusual case of nephrotic syndrome: immunotactoid glomerulopathy].

Immunotactoid glomerulopathy is a clinicopathological entity characterized by extracellular deposition of microtubular substructures, which are negative for the usual staining that identifies amyloid within the mesangium and capillary walls of renal glomeruli. Despite ongoing debate in the nephrological community, it is kept distinct from fibrillary glomerulonephritis on the basis of the size and arrangement of the microtubules and microfibrils. It is clinically characterized by the presence of glomerular proteinuria in the nephrotic range, microscopic hematuria and hypertension, and is often associated with hypocomplementemia, monoclonal gammopathy, and lymphoprolipherative disorders.

Effects of efficiency and length of acetate-free biofiltration session on postdialysis solute rebound.

Background: Postdialytic rebound (PDR) of plasma solutes is a relevant drawback of intermittent hemodialysis, but its pathophysiological process remains undefined. We assessed the independent effects of efficiency and length of dialytic session on PDR of urea, phosphate, and potassium.

Methods: Uremic patients were evaluated at the beginning and end of dialysis and after 180 minutes in 2 randomized crossover studies.

Nutritional-inflammation status and resistance to erythropoietin therapy in haemodialysis patients.

Background: Chronic kidney disease patients who are resistant to erythropoietin (EPO) treatment may suffer from malnutrition and/or inflammation.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study of haemodialysis patients, we investigated the relationship between the natural logarithm of the weekly EPO dose normalized for post-dialysis body weight and outcome measures of nutrition and/or inflammation [BMI, albumin and C reactive protein (CRP)] by means of multiple linear regression analysis. On the basis of the decile distribution of weekly EPO doses, we also evaluated four groups of patients: untreated, hyper-responders, normo-responders and hypo-responders.