Surgery using plasma energy for deep endometriosis: A quality of life assessment

OBJECTIVE: The principal objective of our study was to assess women\u27s quality of life (QoL) after surgery for Deep Endometriosis (DE), according to the surgical technique used. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Qualitative single-center survey in the department of obstetrics and gynecology, Angers University Hospital Center, France. All women who underwent surgery for DE from January 2011 to December 2015 were contacted by phone. The Endometriosis Health Profile-5 score was used to assess QoL before and after the surgery. Fifty-two women (response rate=86%) were included and classified into 3 groups according to the surgical technique used: simple shaving, shaving exclusively or in part by plasma vaporization (plasma), and resection. RESULTS: The 3 groups were comparable for surgical history, preoperative QoL score, and characteristics of endometriotic lesions (size and site). All DE symptoms and QoL scores improved significantly after the surgery, all techniques combined (P<0.01). QoL scores for women who had plasma shaving or complete resection were significantly higher than those for women with simple shaving (respectively, 375 [225-800] and 450 [-50 to 725] vs 275 [-100 to 600]; P=0.04). Self-image significantly improved only in the plasma group (P=0.03). The complete resection group had longer hospitals stays than the other groups (P=0.001), as well as a higher surgical revision rate (23% vs 0%; P=0.02). CONCLUSION: Plasma and complete resection improved QoL similarly for women with DE, both more than shaving alone. The advantage of plasma vaporization lies in the lesser morbidity and better self-image, both better than in women with resection

LUX -- A Laser-Plasma Driven Undulator Beamline

The LUX beamline is a novel type of laser-plasma accelerator. Building on the joint expertise of the University of Hamburg and DESY the beamline was carefully designed to combine state-of-the-art expertise in laser-plasma acceleration with the latest advances in accelerator technology and beam diagnostics. LUX introduces a paradigm change moving from single-shot demonstration experiments towards available, stable and controllable accelerator operation. Here, we discuss the general design concepts of LUX and present first critical milestones that have recently been achieved, including the generation of electron beams at the repetition rate of up to 5 Hz with energies above 600 MeV and the generation of spontaneous undulator radiation at a wavelength well below 9 nm.Comment: submitte

Chirp mitigation of plasma-accelerated beams using a modulated plasma density

Plasma-based accelerators offer the possibility to drive future compact light sources and high-energy physics applications. Achieving good beam quality, especially a small beam energy spread, is still one of the major challenges. For stable transport, the beam is located in the focusing region of the wakefield which covers only the slope of the accelerating field. This, however, imprints a longitudinal energy correlation (chirp) along the bunch. Here, we propose an alternating focusing scheme in the plasma to mitigate the development of this chirp and thus maintain a small energy spread

The FLASHForward Facility at DESY

The FLASHForward project at DESY is a pioneering plasma-wakefield acceleration experiment that aims to produce, in a few centimetres of ionised hydrogen, beams with energy of order GeV that are of quality sufficient to be used in a free-electron laser. The plasma wave will be driven by high-current density electron beams from the FLASH linear accelerator and will explore both external and internal witness-beam injection techniques. The plasma is created by ionising a gas in a gas cell with a multi-TW laser system, which can also be used to provide optical diagnostics of the plasma and electron beams due to the <30 fs synchronisation between the laser and the driving electron beam. The operation parameters of the experiment are discussed, as well as the scientific program.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure

Water-Window X-Ray Pulses from a Laser-Plasma Driven Undulator

Femtosecond (fs) x-ray pulses are a key tool to study the structure and dynamics of matter on its natural length and time scale. To complement radio-frequency accelerator-based large-scale facilities, novel laser-based mechanisms hold promise for compact laboratory-scale x-ray sources. Laser-plasma driven undulator radiation in particular offers high peak-brightness, optically synchronized few-fs pulses reaching into the few-nanometer (nm) regime. To date, however, few experiments have successfully demonstrated plasma-driven undulator radiation. Those that have, typically operated at single and comparably long wavelengths. Here we demonstrate plasma-driven undulator radiation with octave-spanning tuneability at discrete wavelengths reaching from 13nm to 4nm. Studying spontaneous undulator radiation is an important step towards a plasma-driven free-electron laser. Our specific setup creates a photon pulse, which closely resembles the plasma electron bunch length and charge profile and thus might enable novel methods to characterize the longitudinal electron phase space

Réponse insuffisante à la stimulation en vue de FIV : maintenir la ponction ou choisir l&#039; insémination ?

In women undergoing controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) for in vitro fertilization (IVF), a poor ovarian response, defined as three of fewer mature follicles, can lead to cancellation of the cycle. However, in women with at least one patent tube and normal semen parameters, conversion to intrauterine insemination (IUI) is considered an option, offering reasonable pregnancy rates at a lower cost and without the complications associated with oocyte retrieval. Studies have shown that in cycles with only one mature follicle, IVF should be canceled. However, in cycles with 2 or 3 mature follicles, patients have the choice between IVF and conversion to IUI. Some studies have shown that IVF is superior to IUI in such cases, whereas other reports failed to find any difference. Most of these studies are retrospective and limited by the presence of several biases and low numbers of cycles, and to this date, there is no consensus on the best approach. We have thus designed a multicenter, randomized non-inferiority study, comparing live birth rates following conversion to IUI or IVF in patients with 2 or 3 mature follicles in COH cycles. Nine hundred and forty patients will be randomized on trigger day to either IVF or conversion to IUI. Our study will also include a medico-economic analysis

Lysine Residue 185 of Rad1 Is a Topological but Not a Functional Counterpart of Lysine Residue 164 of PCNA

Monoubiquitylation of the homotrimeric DNA sliding clamp PCNA at lysine residue 164 (PCNAK164) is a highly conserved, DNA damage-inducible process that is mediated by the E2/E3 complex Rad6/Rad18. This ubiquitylation event recruits translesion synthesis (TLS) polymerases capable of replicating across damaged DNA templates. Besides PCNA, the Rad6/Rad18 complex was recently shown in yeast to ubiquitylate also 9-1-1, a heterotrimeric DNA sliding clamp composed of Rad9, Rad1, and Hus1 in a DNA damage-inducible manner. Based on the highly similar crystal structures of PCNA and 9-1-1, K185 of Rad1 (Rad1K185) was identified as the only topological equivalent of PCNAK164. To investigate a potential role of posttranslational modifications of Rad1K185 in DNA damage management, we here generated a mouse model with a conditional deletable Rad1K185R allele. The Rad1K185 residue was found to be dispensable for Chk1 activation, DNA damage survival, and class switch recombination of immunoglobulin genes as well as recruitment of TLS polymerases during somatic hypermutation of immunoglobulin genes. Our data indicate that Rad1K185 is not a functional counterpart of PCNAK164

The Fanconi Anemia Core Complex Is Dispensable during Somatic Hypermutation and Class Switch Recombination

To generate high affinity antibodies during an immune response, B cells undergo somatic hypermutation (SHM) of their immunoglobulin genes. Error-prone translesion synthesis (TLS) DNA polymerases have been reported to be responsible for all mutations at template A/T and at least a fraction of G/C transversions. In contrast to A/T mutations which depend on PCNA ubiquitination, it remains unclear how G/C transversions are regulated during SHM. Several lines of evidence indicate a mechanistic link between the Fanconi Anemia (FA) pathway and TLS. To investigate the contribution of the FA pathway in SHM we analyzed FancG-deficient B cells. B cells deficient for FancG, an essential member of the FA core complex, were hypersensitive to treatment with cross-linking agents. However, the frequencies and nucleotide exchange spectra of SHM remained comparable between wild-type and FancG-deficient B cells. These data indicate that the FA pathway is not involved in regulating the outcome of SHM in mammals. In addition, the FA pathway appears dispensable for class switch recombination