A European multicentre prospective randomized study to assess the use of assisted hatching with a diode laser and the benefit of an immunosuppressive/antibiotic treatment in different patient populations

BACKGROUND: Assisted hatching (AH) techniques, designed for facilitating the embryo escape out of the zona pellucida (ZP) have been used in IVF centres since 1992. The initial indications for AH were patient's age, ZP thickness, high basal FSH and repeated IVF failures. Several retrospective and prospective studies assessing AH in these indications have given disparate results. Our aims were to evaluate the benefits of AH and immunosuppressive/antibiotic treatment (IA) in patients with either a poor prognosis of success, previous implantation failures or transfers of cryopreserved embryos. METHODS: Four IVF centres allocated 426 patients, randomized for AH and IA, into four groups of AH indications between 1997 and 1999. AH was performed with a diode laser. ZP thickness, opening size and embryo score were recorded. Outcome measures were implantation and delivery rates. RESULTS: Patients coming for a first or third transfer of cryopreserved embryos and poor prognosis patients admitted for a first trial did not benefit from AH. Even patients with repeated implantation failures of fresh embryos did not gain significantly from AH. CONCLUSIONS: Among AH indications, absence of implantation after several transfers of good quality embryos remains the strongest patient selection criterion. Prescription of an immunosuppressive/antibiotic treatment is essentia

Groundwater and nutrient discharge through karstic coastal springs (Castelló, Spain)

Altres ajuts: Support from the Fulbright Commission for a post-doctoral fellowship to J.G-O. (ref 2007-0516) is gratefully acknowledged. Support for the research of PM was received through the prize ICREA Academia, funded by the Generalitat de Catalunya.Discharge of groundwater and associated chemical compounds into coastal karstic regions, which are abundant in the Mediterranean basin, is envisaged to be significant. In this study, we evaluate the groundwater discharge and its nutrient load to the open karstic site of Badum (Castelló, East Spain). Salinity profiles evidenced that groundwater discharge from coastal brackish springs causes a buoyant fresher layer, as identified with thermal infrared images. Chemical tracers (radium isotopes, dissolved inorganic silicate and seawater major elements) have been used to determine a brackish groundwater proportion in coastal waters of 36% in October 2006 and 44% in June 2007. Based on a radium-derived residence time of 2.7 days in October 2006 and 2.0 days in June 2007, total SGD fluxes have been estimated in 71 500 and 187 000m³ d⁻¹, respectively, with fresh-SGD contributions representing 71% and 85%. The calculated SGD-associated nutrient fluxes, most likely of natural origin, were 1500 and 8300 μmolm⁻² d⁻¹ of DIN and 19 and 40 μmolm⁻² d⁻¹ of DIP in October 2006 and June 2007, respectively. These inputs may actually lead to or enhance P limitation, thereby altering the structure of biological communities in the area

Time to Renal Disease and End-Stage Renal Disease in PROFILE: A Multiethnic Lupus Cohort

BACKGROUND: Renal involvement is a serious manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE); it may portend a poor prognosis as it may lead to end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The purpose of this study was to determine the factors predicting the development of renal involvement and its progression to ESRD in a multi-ethnic SLE cohort (PROFILE). METHODS AND FINDINGS: PROFILE includes SLE patients from five different United States institutions. We examined at baseline the socioeconomic–demographic, clinical, and genetic variables associated with the development of renal involvement and its progression to ESRD by univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analyses. Analyses of onset of renal involvement included only patients with renal involvement after SLE diagnosis (n = 229). Analyses of ESRD included all patients, regardless of whether renal involvement occurred before, at, or after SLE diagnosis (34 of 438 patients). In addition, we performed a multivariable logistic regression analysis of the variables associated with the development of renal involvement at any time during the course of SLE. In the time-dependent multivariable analysis, patients developing renal involvement were more likely to have more American College of Rheumatology criteria for SLE, and to be younger, hypertensive, and of African-American or Hispanic (from Texas) ethnicity. Alternative regression models were consistent with these results. In addition to greater accrued disease damage (renal damage excluded), younger age, and Hispanic ethnicity (from Texas), homozygosity for the valine allele of FcγRIIIa (FCGR3A*GG) was a significant predictor of ESRD. Results from the multivariable logistic regression model that included all cases of renal involvement were consistent with those from the Cox model. CONCLUSIONS: Fcγ receptor genotype is a risk factor for progression of renal disease to ESRD. Since the frequency distribution of FCGR3A alleles does not vary significantly among the ethnic groups studied, the additional factors underlying the ethnic disparities in renal disease progression remain to be elucidated

The Victorian Newsletter (Spring 1997)

The Victorian Newsletter is sponsored for the Victorian Group of Modern Language Association by Western Kentucky University and is published twice annually.From "Ladies' Business" to "Real Business": Elizabeth Gaskell' s Capitalist Fantasy in North and South / Pamela Corpron Parker -- Aesthetic Intertexuality as Cultural Critique: Vernon Lee Rewrites History through Walter Pater's "La Gioconda" / Christa Zorn -- Romance and the Self-Made Man: Gaskell Rewrites Brontë / Catherine Barnes Stevenson -- Wilde's Gracious Enclosures: A Brief Tour / Gareth Noon -- Reconceiving the Mother: Deconstructing the Madonna in Aurora Leigh / Patricia Murphy -- The Domination of Dorian Gray / Barri J. Gold -- Trollope's Admirable Women and Their Literary Sisters: A Continuing Quest for the Bearer of the Country House Tradition / Yoko Hatano -- Books Receive

AMBEATion: Analog Mixed-Signal Back-End Design Automation with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Techniques

For the competitiveness of the European economy, automation techniques in the design of complex electronic systems are a prerequisite for winning the global chip challenge. Specifically, while the physical design of digital Integrated Circuits (ICs) can be largely automated, the physical design of Analog-Mixed-Signal (AMS) ICs built with an analog-on-top flow, where digital subsystems are instantiated as Intellectual Property (IP) modules, is still carried out predominantly by hand, with a time-consuming methodology. The AMBEATion consortium, including global semiconductor and design automation companies as well as leading universities, aims to address this challenge by combining classic Electronic Design Automation (EDA) algorithms with novel Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (ML) techniques. Specifically, the scientific and technical result expected at the end of the project will be a new methodology, implemented in a framework of scripts for AMS placement, internally making use of state-of-the-art AI/ML models, and fully integrated with Industrial design flows. With this methodology, the AMBEATion consortium aims to reduce the design turnaround-time and, consequently, the silicon development costs of complex AMS ICs

A European multicentre prospective randomized study to assess the use of assisted hatching with a diode laser and the benefit of an immunosuppressive/antibiotic treatment in different patient populations

BACKGROUND: Assisted hatching (AH) techniques, designed for facilitating the embryo escape out of the zona pellucida (ZP) have been used in IVF centres since 1992. The initial indications for AH were patient's age, ZP thickness, high basal FSH and repeated IVF failures. Several retrospective and prospective studies assessing AH in these indications have given disparate results. Our aims were to evaluate the benefits of AH and immunosuppressive/antibiotic treatment (IA) in patients with either a poor prognosis of success, previous implantation failures or transfers of cryopreserved embryos. METHODS: Four IVF centres allocated 426 patients, randomized for AH and IA, into four groups of AH indications between 1997 and 1999. AH was performed with a diode laser. ZP thickness, opening size and embryo score were recorded. Outcome measures were implantation and delivery rates. RESULTS: Patients coming for a first or third transfer of cryopreserved embryos and poor prognosis patients admitted for a first trial did not benefit from AH. Even patients with repeated implantation failures of fresh embryos did not gain significantly from AH. CONCLUSIONS: Among AH indications, absence of implantation after several transfers of good quality embryos remains the strongest patient selection criterion. Prescription of an immunosuppressive/antibiotic treatment is essential

Immunochip analysis identifies multiple susceptibility loci for systemic sclerosis

In this study, 1,833 systemic sclerosis (SSc) cases and 3,466 controls were genotyped with the Immunochip array. Classical alleles, amino acid residues, and SNPs across the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region were imputed and tested. These analyses resulted in a model composed of six polymorphic amino acid positions and seven SNPs that explained the observed significant associations in the region. In addition, a replication step comprising 4,017 SSc cases and 5,935 controls was carried out for several selected non-HLA variants, reaching a total of 5,850 cases and 9,401 controls of European ancestry. Following this strategy, we identified and validated three SSc risk loci, including DNASE1L3 at 3p14, the SCHIP1-IL12A locus at 3q25, and ATG5 at 6q21, as well as a suggested association of the TREH-DDX6 locus at 11q23. The associations of several previously reported SSc risk loci were validated and further refined, and the observed peak of association in PXK was related to DNASE1L3. Our study has increased the number of known genetic associations with SSc, provided further insight into the pleiotropic effects of shared autoimmune risk factors, and highlighted the power of dense mapping for detecting previously overlooked susceptibility loci

Controlling liver cancer internationally: A qualitative study of clinicians' perceptions of current public policy needs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer in men and the seventh for women. Usually because of late diagnosis, the prognosis for liver cancer remains poor, resulting in liver cancer being the third most common cause of death from cancer. While some countries have treatment guidelines, little is known or understood about the strategies needed for liver cancer control internationally.</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To explore leading liver cancer clinician's perceptions of the current public policy needs to control liver cancer internationally.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Key informant interviews were conducted with a range of liver cancer clinicians involved in policy in eleven countries. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, translated (where necessary), de-identified and analyzed by two researchers using a constant comparative method.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted in: Australia, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey and the United States. Nine themes were identified and cluster into three groups: 1) Promoting prevention via early risk assessment, focusing on viral hepatitis and other lifestyle factors; 2) Increasing political, public and medical community awareness; and 3) Improving funding for screening, liver cancer surveillance and treatment.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study is an important step towards developing an evidence-based approach to assessing preparedness for implementing comprehensive liver cancer control strategies. Evaluation mechanisms to assess countries' performance on the needs described are needed. Future research will concentrate of understanding how these needs vary across countries and the optimal strategies to improve the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with liver cancer internationally.</p

Species traits and geomorphic setting as drivers of global soil carbon stocks in seagrass meadows

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MOur knowledge of the factors that can influence the stock of organic carbon (OC) that is stored in the soil of seagrass meadows is evolving, and several causal effects have been used to explain the variation of stocks observed at local to national scales. To gain a global-scale appreciation of the drivers that cause variation in soil OC stocks, we compiled data on published species-specific traits and OC stocks from monospecific and mixed meadows at multiple geomorphological settings. Species identity was recognized as an influential driver of soil OC stocks, despite their large intraspecific variation. The most important seagrass species traits associated with OC stocks were the number of leaves per seagrass shoot, belowground biomass, leaf lifespan, aboveground biomass, leaf lignin, leaf breaking force and leaf OC plus the coastal geomorphology of the area, particularly for lagoon environments. A revised estimate of the global average soil OC stock to 20 cm depth of 15.4 Mg C ha−1 is lower than previously reported. The largest stocks were still recorded in Mediterranean seagrass meadows. Our results specifically identify Posidonia oceanica from the Mediterranean and, more generally, large and persistent species as key in providing climate regulation services, and as priority species for conservation for this specific ecosystem service