BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Residual necks and recurrences frequently occur after endovascular treatment of cerebral aneurysms. Addition of fibrinogen and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) to the embolic material may promote healing of embolized aneurysms by increasing neointima formation at the neck. METHODS Bilateral carotid aneurysms were constructed with venous pouches in 31 dogs. Aneurysms...

Immunogenicity evaluations in human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine trials have relied on serological samples, yet cervical antibodies are likely to be most relevant for protection against infection. In order to assess functional antibody levels at the cervix, the secreted-alkaline-phosphatase neutralization assay (SEAPNA) was used to measure HPV-neutralizing activity. We assessed the variability ...

Sponges are ancient metazoans that host diverse and complex microbial communities. Sponge-associated microbial diversity has been studied from wide oceans across the globe, particularly in subtidal regions, but the microbial communities from intertidal sponges have remained mostly unexplored. Here we used pyrosequencing to characterize the microbial communities in 12 different co-occurring inte...

Marine sponges (Porifera) have attracted significant attention from various scientific disciplines. Remarkable traces, left by sponges in the fossil records have been studied by paleontologists and evolutionary biologists. As sponges produce various novel chemical molecules, they have been a goldmine to chemists and also found their way into biotechnological applications. Microbiologists became...

Marine sponges has been a large reservoir of microbial diversity, with the presence of many species specific populations as well as producing biologically active compounds, which has attracted great biotechnological interest. In order to verify the influence of the environment in the composition of the bacterial community present in marine sponges and biotechnological potential of bacteria isol...

Despite the importance of trophic interactions between organisms, and the relationship between primary production and benthic diversity, there have been few studies that have quantified the carbon flow from pelagic to benthic environments as a result of the assemblage level activity of suspension-feeding organisms. In this study, we examine the feeding activity of seven common sponge species fr...

Sponge-associated microbial communities include members from the three domains of life. In the case of bacteria, they are diverse, host specific and different from the surrounding seawater. However, little is known about the diversity and specificity of Eukarya and Archaea living in association with marine sponges. This knowledge gap is even greater regarding sponges from regions other than tem...

Retaining of gauzes and surgical sponges in the abdomen is one of the most frequent medical errors usually manifesting as abscess or abdominocutaneus fistulas with no definite symptoms during lifetime. Here, we introduce a 35 year old woman with symptoms and signs of partial bowel obstruction and enterocutaneous fistulas caused by migration of retained gauze from abdominal cavity to terminal il...

Textiloma is defined as a tumor composed of cotton matrix surrounded by granulomatous reaction. It occurs following operations in which surgical sponges were inadvertently left behind. We describe a case of a 59-year-old man presenting with a pathologic fracture of the proximal left femur. The results of the biopsy, unlike diagnoses suggested by radiographs, CT scan and magnetic resonance imagi...

Background Bleeding control is an important aim in surgery. A lot of haemostatic devices can be used to support hemostasis, so operative risks and length and hospital stay are reduced. At General and Transplants Surgery Department of “Federico II” University of Naples, we evaluated the efficacy of hemostatic devices such as fibrin glues and collagen sponges in several surgical applications: kid...