A rare case of endometriosis in Turner's syndrome

Endometriosis is defined by the presence of functional endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity and musculature. It has a prevalence rate as high as 35e50% in women experiencing pain or infertility [1] and sometimes has a peculiar and rare onset [2,3]. Endometriosis is a common disease in menstruating women [4,5] but has also been reported in postmenopausal or surgically castrated women on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) [6]. The common denominator of all such cases is exposure to female hormones [7]. However, endometriosis, a common and important clinical problem in women of reproductive age, has rarely been described in prepubertal girls. In patients with Turner's syndrome or other ovarian dysgenesis, endometriosis is very rare. Some cases are subclinical, and endometriosis is an incidental finding during routine examination. Although endometriosis was described in the medical literature at the end of the 19th century, and the first theories regarding its hystogenesis were developed at the beginning of the 20th century, the real pathogenesis of endometriosis remains unknown. Most studies about the etiology of endometriosis claim that the main possible causes of endometriosis are probably multifactorial. Three theories of histogenesis have been proposed. (1) The metastatic theory [8] proposes the transplantation of endometrial tissue via retrograde menstrual implantation, vascular/lymphatic spread, and intraoperative implantation. (2) The coelomic metaplastic theory [9] suggests that the germinal epithelium of the ovary can be transformed by metaplasia into endometrium. This theory, which initially explained only ovarian endometriosis, has since been extended to the peritoneal serosa, as embryologic studies have indicated that Mullerian ducts, th

G-protein coupling and nuclear translocation of the human abscisic acid receptor LANCL2

Abscisic acid (ABA), a long known phytohormone, has been recently demonstrated to be present also in humans, where it targets cells of the innate immune response, mesenchymal and hemopoietic stem cells and cells involved in the regulation of systemic glucose homeostasis. LANCL2, a peripheral membrane protein, is the mammalian ABA receptor. We show that N-terminal glycine myristoylation causes LANCL2 localization to the plasmamembrane and to cytoplasmic membrane vesicles, where it interacts with the \u3b1 subunit of a Gi protein and starts the ABA signaling pathway via activation of adenylate cyclase. Demyristoylation of LANCL2 by chemical or genetic means triggers its nuclear translocation. Nuclear enrichment of native LANCL2 is also induced by ABA treatment. Therefore human LANCL2 is a non-transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor susceptible to hormone-induced nuclear translocation

Diffusion-weighted imaging and apparent diffusion coefficient mapping of head and neck lymph node metastasis: a systematic review

Aim: Head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) is the ninth most common tumor worldwide. Neck lymph node (LN) status is the major indicator of prognosis in all head and neck cancers, and the early detection of LN involvement is crucial in terms of therapy and prognosis. Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is a non- invasive imaging technique used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to characterize tissues based on the displacement motion of water molecules. This review aims to provide an overview of the current literature concerning quantitative diffusion imaging for LN staging in patients with HNSCC. Methods: This systematic review performed a literature search on the PubMed database (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) for all relevant, peer-reviewed literature on the subject following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) criteria, using the keywords: DWI, MRI, head and neck, staging, lymph node. Results: After excluding reviews, meta-analyses, case reports, and bibliometric studies, 18 relevant papers out of the 567 retrieved were selected for analysis. Conclusions: DWI improves the diagnosis, treatment planning, treatment response evaluation, and overall management of patients affected by HNSCC. More robust data to clarify the role of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and DWI parameters are needed to develop models for prognosis and prediction in HNSCC cancer using MRI

Critical behavior of magnetic systems with extended impurities in general dimensions

We investigate the critical properties of d-dimensional magnetic systems with quenched extended defects, correlated in $\epsilon_d$ dimensions (which can be considered as the dimensionality of the defects) and randomly distributed in the remaining $d-\epsilon_d$ dimensions; both in the case of fixed dimension d=3 and when the space dimension continuously changes from the lower critical dimension to the upper one. The renormalization group calculations are performed in the minimal subtraction scheme. We analyze the two-loop renormalization group functions for different fixed values of the parameters $d, \epsilon_d$. To this end, we apply the Chisholm-Borel resummation technique and report the numerical values of the critical exponents for the universality class of this system.Comment: 8 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.

A global multinational survey of cefotaxime-resistant coliforms in urban wastewater treatment plants

The World Health Organization Global Action Plan recommends integrated surveillance programs as crucial strategies for monitoring antibiotic resistance. Although several national surveillance programs are in place for clinical and veterinary settings, no such schemes exist for monitoring antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment. In this transnational study, we developed, validated, and tested a low-cost surveillance and easy to implement approach to evaluate antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) by targeting cefotaxime-resistant (CTX-R) coliforms as indicators. The rationale for this approach was: i) coliform quantification methods are internationally accepted as indicators of fecal contamination in recreational waters and are therefore routinely applied in analytical labs; ii) CTX-R coliforms are clinically relevant, associated with extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs), and are rare in pristine environments. We analyzed 57 WWTPs in 22 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North America. CTX-R coliforms were ubiquitous in raw sewage and their relative abundance varied significantly (<0.1% to 38.3%), being positively correlated (p < 0.001) with regional atmospheric temperatures. Although most WWTPs removed large proportions of CTX-R coliforms, loads over 10 colony-forming units per mL were occasionally observed in final effluents. We demonstrate that CTX-R coliform monitoring is a feasible and affordable approach to assess wastewater antibiotic resistance status. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Coding with me: exploring the effect of coding intervention on preschoolers’ cognitive skills

In the last ten years, the topic of Computational Thinking (CT) has been gaining increasing attention from researchers in the education field. Starting from kindergarten, increasingly programming activities such as coding and educational robotics are proposed to enhance CT and some cognitive skills, such as problem- solving, spatial and reasoning skills. The most commonly used tools are the so- called tangible interfaces, such as floor-robots (e.g. Cubetto, Bee and Blue-Bot and others), through which children can interact with the object and learn playfully. Investigating the effects of CT activities on children's cognitive abilities is important to understand the impact in kindergarten and to comprehend in which developmental periods these activities might be most successful. The aim of the present study is that of evaluating the effect of a coding intervention, based on CT, through the use of the Cubetto robot, on the cognitive skills of 4-years-old children. The coding intervention included three sessions and required the manipulation of physical objects to plan and conduct a Cubetto journey. Results showed that children of the experimental group performed better than those of the control group in programming the Cubetto path after the intervention

A global multinational survey of cefotaxime-resistant coliforms in urban wastewater treatment plants

The World Health Organization Global Action Plan recommends integrated surveillance programs as crucial strategies for monitoring antibiotic resistance. Although several national surveillance programs are in place for clinical and veterinary settings, no such schemes exist for monitoring antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment. In this transnational study, we developed, validated, and tested a low-cost surveillance and easy to implement approach to evaluate antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) by targeting cefotaxime-resistant (CTX-R) coliforms as indicators. The rationale for this approach was: i) coliform quantification methods are internationally accepted as indicators of fecal contamination in recreational waters and are therefore routinely applied in analytical labs; ii) CTX-R coliforms are clinically relevant, associated with extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs), and are rare in pristine environments. We analyzed 57 WWTPs in 22 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North America. CTX-R coliforms were ubiquitous in raw sewage and their relative abundance varied significantly (&lt;0.1% to 38.3%), being positively correlated (p &lt; 0.001) with regional atmospheric temperatures. Although most WWTPs removed large proportions of CTX-R coliforms, loads over 103 colony-forming units per mL were occasionally observed in final effluents. We demonstrate that CTX-R coliform monitoring is a feasible and affordable approach to assess wastewater antibiotic resistance status

Risk factors associated with adverse fetal outcomes in pregnancies affected by Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): a secondary analysis of the WAPM study on COVID-19.

Objectives To evaluate the strength of association between maternal and pregnancy characteristics and the risk of adverse perinatal outcomes in pregnancies with laboratory confirmed COVID-19. Methods Secondary analysis of a multinational, cohort study on all consecutive pregnant women with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 from February 1, 2020 to April 30, 2020 from 73 centers from 22 different countries. A confirmed case of COVID-19 was defined as a positive result on real-time reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) assay of nasal and pharyngeal swab specimens. The primary outcome was a composite adverse fetal outcome, defined as the presence of either abortion (pregnancy loss before 22 weeks of gestations), stillbirth (intrauterine fetal death after 22 weeks of gestation), neonatal death (death of a live-born infant within the first 28 days of life), and perinatal death (either stillbirth or neonatal death). Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate parameters independently associated with the primary outcome. Logistic regression was reported as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results Mean gestational age at diagnosis was 30.6+/-9.5 weeks, with 8.0% of women being diagnosed in the first, 22.2% in the second and 69.8% in the third trimester of pregnancy. There were six miscarriage (2.3%), six intrauterine device (IUD) (2.3) and 5 (2.0%) neonatal deaths, with an overall rate of perinatal death of 4.2% (11/265), thus resulting into 17 cases experiencing and 226 not experiencing composite adverse fetal outcome. Neither stillbirths nor neonatal deaths had congenital anomalies found at antenatal or postnatal evaluation. Furthermore, none of the cases experiencing IUD had signs of impending demise at arterial or venous Doppler. Neonatal deaths were all considered as prematurity-related adverse events. Of the 250 live-born neonates, one (0.4%) was found positive at RT-PCR pharyngeal swabs performed after delivery. The mother was tested positive during the third trimester of pregnancy. The newborn was asymptomatic and had negative RT-PCR test after 14 days of life. At logistic regression analysis, gestational age at diagnosis (OR: 0.85, 95% CI 0.8-0.9 per week increase; pPeer reviewe