Correlation between endometrial dating of luteal phase days 6 and 10 of the same menstrual cycle

CONTEXT: Endometrial maturation, important in the diagnosis of infertile couples, has been evaluated since 1950 using the Noyes criteria. Nevertheless, there is no consensus regarding the most suitable period of the luteal phase for performing the biopsy. OBJETIVE: This study evaluated the correlation between the histological dating of two endometrial biopsies performed in the same menstrual cycle, on luteal phase days six and ten.DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: Human Reproduction Division of the Federal University of São Paulo, referral center. PATIENTS:Twenty-five women complaining of infertility had their menstrual cycles monitored by ultrasound and LH plasma levels, to obtain evidence of ovulation. PROCEDURES: Endometrial biopsies were performed on luteal phase days LH+6 and LH+10 (luteal phase day 1 = LH+1 = the day that follows LH peak). Dating was done according to morphometric criteria, in which an endometrium sample is considered out of phase if the minimum maturation delay is one day. On day LH+6, blood was drawn for plasma progesterone level determination. RESULTS: All patients had an ovulatory cycle (mean LH peak: 47.4 U/L; mean follicular diameter on LH peak day: 18.9 mm; mean endometrial thickness on LH peak day: 10.3 mm; mean plasma progesterone level on day LH+6: 14.4 ng/ml). 14 patients had both biopsies in phase; 5 patients had out of phase biopsies only on day LH+6; 3 had out of phase biopsies only on day LH+10 and 3 patients had out of phase biopsies on both days. McNemar's test showed no statistical difference between these data (p>33.36%). CONCLUSIONS: The correlation found between the endometrial datings suggests that biopsies performed on either of these two days are suitable for evaluation of endometrial maturation.CONTEXTO: A verificação da maturidade endometrial, elemento diagnóstico necessário na avaliação do casal com queixa de infertilidade, vem sendo feita desde 1950 através do critério de datação histológica de Noyes. No entanto, não existe um consenso em relação ao período da fase lútea mais adequado para a colheita. OBJETIVO: Avaliar a correlação entre as datações histológicas de duas amostras de endométrio colhidas nos dias 6 e 10 da fase lútea de um mesmo ciclo menstrual. LOCAL: Setor de Reprodução Humana da Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). TIPO DE ESTUDO: Estudo prospectivo. Constou da comparação entre duas datações de endométrio num mesmo ciclo menstrual. PARTICIPANTES: 25 pacientes com queixa de infertilidade tiveram um ciclo menstrual monitorizado por ultra-sonografia e medida plasmática de LH, para demonstração de ovulação. PROCEDIMENTO: Biópsias de endométrio foram feitas nos dias LH+6 e LH+10 da fase lútea, considerando-se o dia seguinte ao do pico de LH como LH+1. A datação foi feita de acordo com critério morfométrico, considerando-se o endométrio como fora de fase, se o atraso de maturação mínimo fosse de um dia. No dia LH+6 foi feita dosagem de progesterona plasmática. RESULTADOS: Todas as pacientes apresentaram ciclos ovulatórios (média dos valores de pico de LH: 47,3 U/L; média dos diâmetros foliculares no dia do pico de LH: 18,9 mm; média das espessuras do endométrio no dia do pico de LH: 10,3 mm; média das concentrações de progesterona plasmática no dia LH+6: 14,4 ng/ml.). Em 14 pacientes, as duas biópsias estavam em fase. Houve atraso de maturação apenas no dia LH+6 em cinco pacientes; apenas no dia LH+10 em três pacientes e, nos dois dias, em três pacientes. Não houve diferença estatística entre esses valores (teste de McNemar, p=33,36%). CONCLUSÕES: Os resultados sugerem que a colheita do endométrio em qualquer dos dias (sexto ou décimo) da fase lútea fornece resultados semelhantes em relação à maturidade endometrial.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)UNIFESPSciEL

Loss of interleukin-12 modifies the pro-inflammatory response but does not prevent duct obstruction in experimental biliary atresia

BACKGROUND: Livers of infants with biliary atresia and of neonatal mice infected with rotavirus (RRV) have increased expression of interferon-gamma (IFNγ) and interleukin (IL)-12. While the expression of IFNγ regulates the obstruction of extrahepatic bile ducts by lymphocytes, the role of IL-12 in the pathogenesis of biliary obstruction is unknown. Based on the role of IL-12 as a key proinflammatory cytokine, we hypothesized that loss of IL-12 prevents the obstruction of extrahepatic bile ducts. METHODS: IL12-knockout (IL-12KO) and wild type mice were injected with RRV or saline at day 1 of age and monitored for the development of symptoms. The cellular and molecular phenotypes were determined at days 3, 7, and 14 by real-time PCR and flow cytometry. RESULTS: RRV infection of IL-12KO mice resulted in growth failure, jaundice/acholic stools, and decreased survival similar to wild-type mice. IL-12KO mice had a remarkable neutrophil-rich portal inflammation and epithelial sloughing of extrahepatic bile ducts. Loss of IL-12 decreased but did not abolish the hepatic expression of IFNγ, displayed a remarkable increase in expression of TNFα, IFNα, IFNβ and decreased expression of IL-4 and IL-5. CONCLUSION: Loss of IL-12 did not modify the progression of bile duct obstruction in experimental biliary atresia. However, the inflammatory response was predominantly neutrophil-based and displayed a Th1 response in the absence of IL-12

No effect of creatine supplementation on oxidative stress and cardiovascular parameters in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Background: Exacerbated oxidative stress is thought to be a mediator of arterial hypertension. It has been postulated that creatine (Cr) could act as an antioxidant agent preventing increased oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of nine weeks of Cr or placebo supplementation on oxidative stress and cardiovascular parameters in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Findings: Lipid hydroperoxidation, one important oxidative stress marker, remained unchanged in the coronary artery (Cr: 12.6 +/- 1.5 vs. Pl: 12.2 +/- 1.7 nmol.mg(-1); p = 0.87), heart (Cr: 11.5 +/- 1.8 vs. Pl: 14.6 +/- 1.1 nmol.mg(-1); p = 0.15), plasma (Cr: 67.7 +/- 9.1 vs. Pl: 56.0 +/- 3.2 nmol.mg(-1); p = 0.19), plantaris (Cr: 10.0 +/- 0.8 vs. Pl: 9.0 +/- 0.8 nmol.mg(-1); p = 0.40), and EDL muscle (Cr: 14.9 +/- 1.4 vs. Pl: 17.2 +/- 1.5 nmol.mg(-1); p = 0.30). Additionally, Cr supplementation affected neither arterial blood pressure nor heart structure in SHR (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Using a well-known experimental model of systemic arterial hypertension, this study did not confirm the possible therapeutic effects of Cr supplementation on oxidative stress and cardiovascular dysfunction associated with arterial hypertension.FAPES

Women's attitudes towards mechanisms of action of family planning methods: survey in primary health centres in Pamplona, Spain

Irala J de, Lopez del Burgo C, Lopez de Fez CM, Arredondo J, Mikolajczyk RT, Stanford JB. Women's attitudes towards mechanisms of action of family planning methods: survey in primary health centres in Pamplona, Spain. BMC Women's Health. 2007;7(1): 10.Background: Informed consent in family planning includes knowledge of mechanism of action. Some methods of family planning occasionally work after fertilization. Knowing about postfertilization effects may be important to some women before choosing a certain family planning method. The objective of this survey is to explore women's attitudes towards postfertilization effects of family planning methods, and beliefs and characteristics possibly associated with those attitudes. Methods: Cross-sectional survey in a sample of 755 potentially fertile women, aged 18–49, from Primary Care Health Centres in Pamplona, Spain. Participants were given a 30-item, self-administered, anonymous questionnaire about family planning methods and medical and surgical abortion. Logistic regression was used to identify variables associated with women's attitudes towards postfertilization effects. Results: The response rate was 80%. The majority of women were married, held an academic degree and had no children. Forty percent of women would not consider using a method that may work after fertilization but before implantation and 57% would not consider using one that may work after implantation. While 35.3% of the sample would stop using a method if they learned that it sometimes works after fertilization, this percentage increased to 56.3% when referring to a method that sometimes works after implantation. Women who believe that human life begins at fertilization and those who consider it is important to distinguish between natural and induced embryo loss were less likely to consider the use of a method with postfertilization effects. Conclusion: Information about potential postfertilization effects of family planning methods may influence women's acceptance and choice of a particular family planning method. Additional studies in other populations are necessary to evaluate whether these beliefs are important to those populations

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Azimuthal anisotropy of charged particles at high transverse momenta in PbPb collisions at sqrt(s[NN]) = 2.76 TeV

The azimuthal anisotropy of charged particles in PbPb collisions at nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 2.76 TeV is measured with the CMS detector at the LHC over an extended transverse momentum (pt) range up to approximately 60 GeV. The data cover both the low-pt region associated with hydrodynamic flow phenomena and the high-pt region where the anisotropies may reflect the path-length dependence of parton energy loss in the created medium. The anisotropy parameter (v2) of the particles is extracted by correlating charged tracks with respect to the event-plane reconstructed by using the energy deposited in forward-angle calorimeters. For the six bins of collision centrality studied, spanning the range of 0-60% most-central events, the observed v2 values are found to first increase with pt, reaching a maximum around pt = 3 GeV, and then to gradually decrease to almost zero, with the decline persisting up to at least pt = 40 GeV over the full centrality range measured.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT