“Once upon a Time in the Mediterranean” Long Term Trends of Mediterranean Fisheries Resources Based on Fishers’ Traditional Ecological Knowledge

We investigate long-term changes in the Mediterranean marine resources driving the trawl fisheries by analysing fishers’ perceptions (Traditional Ecological Knowledge, TEK) throughout the Mediterranean Sea during the last 80 years. To this end, we conducted an extended set of interviews with experienced fishers that enabled us to classify species (or taxa) as ‘decreasing’ or ‘increasing’ both in terms of abundance, as well as average size in the catch. The aspect that most clearly emerged in all the investigated areas over time was the notable increase of fishing capacity indicators, such as engine power and fishing depth range. Atlantic mackerel, poor cod, scorpionfishes, striped seabream, and John Dory demonstrated a decreasing trend in the fishers’ perceived abundance, while Mediterranean parrotfish, common pandora, cuttlefish, blue and red shrimp, and mullets gave indications of an increasing temporal trend. Although, as a rule, trawler captains did not report any cataclysmic changes (e.g. extinctions), when they were invited to estimate total catches, a clear decreasing pattern emerged; this being a notable finding taking into account the steep escalation of fishing efficiency during the past century. The overall deteriorating status of stocks in most Mediterranean regions calls for responsible management and design of rebuilding plans. This should include historical information accounting for past exploitation patterns that could help defining a baseline of fish abundance prior to heavy industrial fisheries exploitation.     

Relationship between Urinary Level of Phytate and Valvular Calcification in an Elderly Population: A Cross-Sectional Study

Pathological calcification generally consists of the formation of solid deposits of hydroxyapatite (calcium phosphate) in soft tissues. Supersaturation is the thermodynamic driving force for crystallization, so it is believed that higher blood levels of calcium and phosphate increase the risk of cardiovascular calcification. However several factors can promote or inhibit the natural process of pathological calcification. This cross-sectional study evaluated the relationship between physiological levels of urinary phytate and heart valve calcification in a population of elderly out subjects. A population of 188 elderly subjects (mean age: 68 years) was studied. Valve calcification was measured by echocardiography. Phytate determination was performed from a urine sample and data on blood chemistry, end-systolic volume, concomitant diseases, cardiovascular risk factors, medication usage and food were obtained. The study population was classified in three tertiles according to level of urinary phytate: low (<0.610 μM), intermediate (0.61–1.21 μM), and high (>1.21 μM). Subjects with higher levels of urinary phytate had less mitral annulus calcification and were less likely to have diabetes and hypercholesterolemia. In the multivariate analysis, age, serum phosphorous, leukocytes total count and urinary phytate excretion appeared as independent factors predictive of presence of mitral annulus calcification. There was an inverse correlation between urinary phytate content and mitral annulus calcification in our population of elderly out subjects. These results suggest that consumption of phytate-rich foods may help to prevent cardiovascular calcification evolution.     

Trisomy 8, a Cytogenetic Abnormality in Myelodysplastic Syndromes,Is Constitutional or Not?

Isolated trisomy 8 is not considered presumptive evidence of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) in cases without minimal morphological criteria. One reason given is that trisomy 8 (+8) can be found as a constitutional mosaicism (cT8M). We tried to clarify the incidence of cT8M in myeloid neoplasms, specifically in MDS, and the diagnostic value of isolated +8 in MDS. Twenty-two MDS and 10 other myeloid neoplasms carrying +8 were studied. Trisomy 8 was determined in peripheral blood by conventional cytogenetics (CC) and on granulocytes, CD3+ lymphocytes and oral mucosa cells by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). In peripheral blood CC, +8 was seen in 4/32 patients. By FISH, only one patient with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia showed +8 in all cell samples and was interpreted as a cT8M. In our series +8 was acquired in all MDS. Probably, once discarded cT8M by FISH from CD3+ lymphocytes and non-hematological cells, +8 should be considered with enough evidence to MDS.     

No Major Host Genetic Risk Factor Contributed to A(H1N1)2009 Influenza Severity

While most patients affected by the influenza A(H1N1) pandemic experienced mild symptoms, a small fraction required hospitalization, often without concomitant factors that could explain such a severe course. We hypothesize that host genetic factors could contribute to aggravate the disease. To test this hypothesis, we compared the allele frequencies of 547,296 genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) between 49 severe and 107 mild confirmed influenza A cases, as well as against a general population sample of 549 individuals. When comparing severe vs. mild influenza A cases, only one SNP was close to the conventional p = 5×10⁻⁸. This SNP, rs28454025, sits in an intron of the GSK233 gene, which is involved in a neural development, but seems not to have any connections with immunological or inflammatory functions. Indirectly, a previous association reported with CD55 was replicated. Although sample sizes are low, we show that the statistical power in our design was sufficient to detect highly-penetrant, quasi-Mendelian genetic factors. Hence, and assuming that rs28454025 is likely to be a false positive, no major genetic factor was detected that could explain poor influenza A course.     

The management of vegetation classifications with fuzzy clustering

Questions: Does fuzzy clustering provide an appropriate numerical framework to manage vegetation classifications? What is the best fuzzy clustering method to achieve this? Material: We used 531 relevés from Catalonia (Spain), belonging to two syntaxonomic alliances of mesophytic and xerophytic montane pastures, and originally classified by experts into nine and 13 associations, respectively. Methods: We compared the performance of fuzzy C‐means (FCM), noise clustering (NC) and possibilistic C‐means (PCM) on four different management tasks: (1) assigning new relevé data to existing types; (2) updating types incorporating new data; (3) defining new types with unclassified relevés; and (4) reviewing traditional vegetation classifications. Results: As fuzzy classifiers, FCM fails to indicate when a given relevé does not belong to any of the existing types; NC might leave too many relevés unclassified; and PCM membership values cannot be compared. As unsupervised clustering methods, FCM is more sensitive than NC to transitional relevés and therefore produces fuzzier classifications. PCM looks for dense regions in the space of species composition, but these are scarce when vegetation data contain many transitional relevés. Conclusions: All three models have advantages and disadvantages, although the NC model may be a good compromise between the restricted FCM model and the robust but impractical PCM model. In our opinion, fuzzy clustering might provide a suitable framework to manage vegetation classifications using a consistent operational definition of vegetation type. Regardless of the framework chosen, national/regional vegetation classification panels should promote methodological standards for classification practices with numerical tools.     

Abnormal systolic blood pressure during treadmill test and brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilatation impairment

The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between systolic blood pressure during maximal treadmill test (SBP9mtt)) and flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD). Abnormal rise of SBP(mtt) is the phenomenon more frequent in hypertensive persons but it could be found in normotensive subjects too. 199 subjects referred to treadmill test were enrolled in the study. Four groups were formed: hypertensives with abnormal SBP(mtt) (group A), hypertensives with normal SBP(mtt) (group B), normotensives with abnormal SBP(mtt) (group C) and normotensives with normal SBP(mtt) (group D). Rise of SBP(mtt) above 200 mmHg was considered abnormal reaction. Simple linear regression analysis showed significant inverse relationship between SBP(mtt) and FMD (F = 20.2036, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.0956). Mean FMD index was worst in hypertensive subjects with abnormal SBP(mtt) (group A), followed by normotensives with abnormal SBP(mtt) (group C), hypertensives with normal SBP(mtt) (group B) and the best was in normotensives with normal SBP(mtt) (3.56 +/- 5.17, 4.19 +/- 5.14, 6.81 +/- 8.43 and 10.92 +/- 7.48%, respectively). In multivariate regression analysis FMD showed significant association with abnormal SBP(mtt) (p < 0.001) along with brachial artery diameter (p < 0.001), male gender (p < 0.001), but not with hypertension (p = 0.073), BMI (p = 0.137) and total cholesterol (p = 0.23) (coefficients: -0.26, -0.40, -0.27, -0.13, -0.11 and -0.07, respectively). There was a significant inverse relationship between SBP(mtt) and FMD. An impairment of FMD exists in normotensive subjects with abnormal SBP(mtt). In hypertensives with abnormal SBP(mtt) an additional impairment of FMD exists when compared to hypertensives with normal SBP(mtt). Abnormal SBP(mtt) should be taken into account in global cardiovascular risk assessment.     

Evaluation of antimicrobial regimens in a guinea-pig model of meningitis caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa

To compare the efficacy of meropenem, ceftazidime, tobramycin and ceftazidime+tobramycin in a guinea-pig model of P. aeruginosa meningitis. After anesthesia, the atlanto-occipital membrane was punctured with a butterfly needle and 100 microl of a solution containing 10(6)CFU/ml of P. aeruginosa were injected directly into the cisterna magna. Four h later, therapy was initiated with saline or antibiotics given im for 48 h in doses that obtained CSF levels as in human meningitis: ceftazidime 200 mg/kg/8h, meropenem 200 mg/kg/8h, tobramycin 30 mg/kg/24h. Tobramycin was also given intracisternally. Animals were sacrificed at different time points. CSF and blood samples were collected and a meningeal swab was performed. Four hours after inoculation, bacterial concentration in CSF was 4 to 5log10CFU and mean WBC was 16,000/-l. All control animals died in 24h with a 12% increase in cerebral edema. All blood-cultures were negative. Ceftazidime, ceftazidime+tobramycin and meropenem reduced the CSF bacterial concentration at 8h by 2.5log10. At 48 h all CSF cultures were sterile but meningeal swab cultures remained positive in 30%. Our results suggest that meropenem may be at least as effective as ceftazidime and that the addition of tobramycin to ceftazidime may improve its efficacy.