Aim We estimated the patterns of seed deposition provided by the eyed lizard, Timon lepidus, and evaluated whether these patterns can be generalized across plant species with different traits (fruit and seed size) and spatial distributions.Location Monteagudo Island, Atlantic Islands National Park (north-western Spain).
MethodsWe radio-tracked seven lizards for 14 days and estimated their home ranges using fixed kernels. We also geo-referenced all fruit-bearing individuals of four plant species dispersed by eyed lizards in the study area (Corema album, Osyris alba, Rubus ulmifolius and Tamus communis), measured the passage time of their seeds through the lizard gut, and estimated seed predation in four habitats (bare sand, grassland, shrub and gorse). Seed dispersal kernels were estimated using a combination of these data and were combined with seed predation probability maps to incorporate post-dispersal seed fate ('seed survival kernels').Results Median seed gut-passage times were around 52-98 h, with maximum values up to 250 h. Lizards achieved maximum displacement in their home ranges within 24-48 h. Seed predation was high (80-100% of seeds in 2 months), particularly under Corema shrub and gorse. Seed dispersal kernels showed a common pattern, with two areas of preferential seed deposition, but the importance of these varied among plant species. Interspecific differences among dispersal kernels were strongly reduced by post-dispersal seed predation; hence, seed survival kernels of the different plant species showed high auto-and pairwise-correlations at small distances (< 50 m). As a result, survival to postdispersal seed predation increased with dispersal distance for O. alba and T. communis, but not for C. album.Main conclusions Seed dispersal by lizards was determined primarily by the interaction between the dispersers' home ranges and the position of the fruitbearing plants. As a result, seed rain shared a common template, but showed considerable variation among species, determined by their specific spatial context. Seed predation increased the spatial coherence of the seed rain of the different species, but also resulted in contrasting relationships between seed survival and dispersal distance, which may be of importance for the demographic and evolutionary processes of the plants.
We present a randomized clinical trial to compare postoperative pain, complications, feeling of a foreign body, and recurrence between heavyweight and lightweight meshes in patients with bilateral groin hernia. Sixty-seven patients with bilateral hernia were included in our study. In each patient, the side of the lightweight mesh was decided by random numbers table. Pain score was measured by visual analogue scale, on 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th postoperative day, and one year after the surgery. There were no statistically significative differences between both meshes in postoperative complications. About differences of pain average, there were statistically significant differences only on the 1st postoperative day (P <0.01) and the 7th postoperative day (P <0.05). In the review after a year, there were no statistically significative differences in any parameter. In our study, we did not find statistically significative differences between lightweight and heavyweight meshes in postoperative pain, complications, feeling of a foreign body, and recurrence, except pain on 1st and 7th postoperative day.
Performing SLNB avoids an unnecessary second surgery to study axillary lymph nodes in invasive carcinoma diagnosed after definitive histological study. In patients undergoing a mastectomy, this study requires an axillary lymphadenectomy that is not useful in up to 50% of cases. We think that in a selected group of patients with DCIS, SLNB improves tumour staging, adapts the treatment and avoids second surgery in this group of patients.
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