Sperm culture and bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics in a large andrological population: prevalence and impact on seminal parameters

Background The aim of this study was to evaluate (i) the prevalence of subjects with a positive sperm culture (SC) for bacteria in subjects with or without genitourinary tract inflammation (GTI); (ii) the actual distribution of the species analysed, according to Gram stain; (iii) the impact on sperm parameters; and (iv) the actual bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics.Methods A total of 930 subjects (18-55) years, were retrospectively studied. All the patients underwent SC and in the case of positive tests (CFU> 10(6)), a microbiological susceptibility analysis. The subjects studied were subdivided into group A (n =452), with subjective signs of GTI; group B (n=478), male partners of infertile couples; and group C, 30 healthy normospermic subjects. In group B and in the control group, a semen analysis was performed.Results Overall, the prevalence of positive SC was 21.5% (200/930). The prevalence of positive SC in group A (113/200; 56.5%) was significantly higher vs. group B (87/200; 43.5%; p =0.01) and control group (1/30; 3.3%; p =0.0001). In subjects with GTI, the prevalence of asthenozoospermic (96/285; 33.7%) and oligo-asthenozoospermic (98/285; 34.4%) was significantly higher vs. normospermic, oligo-astheno-teratozoospermic, oligozoospermic and azoospermic subjects (22/285 (7.7%), 48/285 (16.8%), 15/285 (5.3%) and 6/285 (2.1%), respectively; p= 0.001). Finally, Enterococcus faecalis (Grampositive) and Escherichia coli (Gram-negative) showed the highest prevalence of antibiotic resistance.Conclusions The prevalence of positive SC is higher in GTI subjects; however, the SC could also be positive in subjects without GTI. Commonly used antibiotics have an increasing risk of being useless for the treatment of bacterial infections. Finally, the diagnosis of GTIs is important also for male fertility

Narrative analysis of the addictions of the main characters in the series Skins and Euphoria

En la actualidad, el consumo de drogas por los adolescentes es un problema bastante grave y sus consecuencias tienen un impacto significativo, no solo en sus vidas, sino en la sociedad en general. Es por ello que identificar y evaluar la manera como se están transmitiendo los mensajes a este grupo generacional, es de suma importancia. Ambas series tratan sobre la vida adolescente: el amor, la sexualidad, las amistades, los desórdenes alimenticios, trastornos mentales y el abuso de drogas; y ambas tienen una manera peculiar de abordar dichos temas. Es esta narrativa particular la que se va a identificar y exponer en el presente trabajo. Se escogió abordar dicho tema debido a que las representaciones de los personajes en este tipo de series son un reflejo de la problemática adolescente en la actualidad y el objetivo es analizar cómo la muestran de una manera peculiar a través de su narrativa. Se diseñó un enfoque de estudio cualitativo en base a la representación de las adicciones de las protagonistas en las series Skins UK (2007) y Euphoria (2019), específicamente la temporada 03 de Skins y la temporada 01 de Euphoria.This paper aims to show a qualitative study based on the representation of addictions of the main characters in the series Skins UK (2007) and Euphoria (2019), specifically season 03 of Skins and season 01 of Euphoria. It was chosen to address such topic because the representations of the characters in this type of series are a reflection of the current adolescent problematic and the objective is to analyze how they show it in a peculiar way through their narrative. Both series deal with adolescent life: love, sexuality, friendships, eating disorders, mental disorders and drug abuse; and both have a peculiar way of approaching these issues. It is this particular narrative that will be identified and exposed in this paper. Currently, drug use by adolescents is a very serious problem and its consequences have a significant impact, not only on their individual lives, but also on society in general. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to identify and evaluate the way in which messages are being transmitted to this generational group.Trabajo de investigació

The GEOBASI (Geochemical Database of Tuscany) open source tools

The tools implemented for the new Regional Geochemical Database, called GEOBASI, are hereafter presented. The database has permitted the construction of a repository where the geochemical information (compositional and isotopic) has been stored in a structured way so that it can be available for different groups of users (e.g. institutional, public and private companies). The information contained in the database can in fact be downloaded freely and queried to correlate geochemistry to other non compositional variables. The repository has been aimed at promoting the use of the geochemical data already available from previous investigations through a powerful Web-GIS interface. The resulting graphical-numerical tools in such a complex database have been developed to: 1) analyse the spatial variability of the investigated context, 2) highlight the geographic location of data pertaining to classes of values or single cases, 3) compare the results of different analytical methodologies applied to the determination of the same element and/or chemical species, 4) extract the geochemical data related to specific monitoring plans and/or geographical areas, and finally 5) recover information about data below the detection limit to understand their impact on the behaviour of the investigated variable

GEOBASI: il Database Geochimico della Regione Toscana

In questo lavoro vengono presentate le varie fasi di attività svolte da un gruppo di lavoro costituito da ricercatori delle tre università regionali (Firenze, Pisa e Siena), del CNR di Pisa (Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse), dell’ARPAT, del Consorzio LAMMA e del Sistema Informativo Territoriale ed Ambientale della Regione Toscana, che hanno condotto alla costruzione del Database Geochimico regionale. Tale banca dati si propone come strumento fruibile ed accessibile a differenti livelli di utenza, i cui contenuti possano essere liberamente interrogabili e scaricabili oltre che implementabili nel tempo, secondo regole e standard condivisi. L'obiettivo è quello di fornire un importante riferimento conoscitivo nel campo delle informazioni geochimiche relative alle varie matrici geoambientali nel territorio toscano. Nella prima fase di progetto le attività sono state orientate non solo a favorire la piena fruizione di dati disaggregati già disponibili tramite una potente interfaccia webgis, ma anche ad individuare l’utilizzo di strumenti grafici e numerici di analisi statistica mediante i quali: 1) comprendere la variabilità del fenomeno oggetto di studio nella sua caratterizzazione spaziale; 2) individuare la posizione geografica di valori anomali; 3) confrontare gli esiti di diverse metodologie analitiche sperimentali per uno stesso elemento e/o specie chimica; 4) estrarre dati relativi ad un determinato periodo temporale e/o una determinata area e 5) verificare l’impatto della presenza di informazione numerica con valore inferiore al limite di rilevabilità strumentale. Ulteriori sviluppi del progetto dovranno prevedere la definizione di regole e strumenti finalizzati ad una continua e progressiva implementazione controllata del Database, anche in previsione di un utilizzo di nuove informazioni provenienti da soggetti esterni al gruppo di lavoro

Geobasi: Il database geochimico toscano: manuale d'uso

Il presente documento descrive le modalità di consultazione e di accesso a Geobasi attraverso la sua interfaccia WEB. I contenuti della banca dati sono organizzati in un database relazionale ad oggetti, quindi raggruppati in classi di oggetti con specifiche proprietà. Tra i vari oggetti sono definite delle “relazioni” di interdipedenza e legame e tra i vari contenuti insistono vincoli di congruenza dell’integrità topologica ed alfanumerica. Da questa complessità ne deriva una non semplice accessibilità e fruibilità dei contenuti del database, i cui principali utenti risultano generalmente non confidenti con questi tipi di strutture dati. Per tale motivo è stata messa a punto una interfaccia WEB-GIS disponibile all'indirizzo http://www506.regione.toscana.it/geobasi/index.html, tramite la quale poter accedere e fruire della banca dati. Tale interfaccia consente di effettuare una selezione della banca dati, di scaricarne il contenuto in formato CSV (Comma Separated Values), di elaborare delle analisi grafico numeriche, di visualizzare su mappa i risultati delle selezioni e delle analisi

GEOBASI: The geochemical Database of Tuscany Region (Italy)

In this study the new Regional Geochemical Database (RGDB), called GEOBASI, is presented and illustrated in the framework of a joint collaboration among the three Tuscan universities (Florence, Pisa and Siena), CNR-IGG (Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources of Pisa), ARPAT (Regional Agency for the Environmental Protection), LAMMA (Environmental Modelling and Monitoring Laboratory for Sustainable Development) Consortium and S.I.R.A. (Territorial and Environmental Informative System of Tuscany). The database has permitted the construction of a repository where the geochemical information (compositional and isotopic) has been stored in a structured way so that it can be available for different groups of users (e.g. institutional, public and private companies). The information contained in the database can in fact be downloaded freely and queried to correlate geochemistry to other non compositional variables. The first phase of the project was aimed at promoting the use of the geochemical data already available from previous investigations through a powerful Web-GIS interface to implement the exploratory statistics graphical-numerical tools used to: 1) analyse the spatial variability of the investigated context, 2) highlight the geographic location of data pertaining to classes of values or single cases, 3) compare the results of different analytical methodologies applied to the determination of the same element and/or chemical species, 4) extract the geochemical data related to specific monitoring plans and/or geographical areas, and finally 5) recover information about data below the detection limit to understand their impact on the behaviour of the investigated variable. Developments of this project will be focused on the definition of rules and standardized methods in a way that external users could also interactively pursue the RGDB. Furthermore, a detailed investigation of the Scarlino-Follonica plain will permit the improvement and test of statistical and geostatistical methods, using open source software (QGIS and R) to support the process of evaluation of the geochemical baseline

European Multicenter Study of ET-COVID-19

Acute ischemic stroke and large vessel occlusion can be concurrent with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. Outcomes after mechanical thrombectomy (MT) for large vessel occlusion in patients with COVID-19 are substantially unknown. Our aim was to study early outcomes after MT in patients with COVID-19

European Multicenter Study of ET-COVID-19

International audienceBackground and Purpose: Acute ischemic stroke and large vessel occlusion can be concurrent with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. Outcomes after mechanical thrombectomy (MT) for large vessel occlusion in patients with COVID-19 are substantially unknown. Our aim was to study early outcomes after MT in patients with COVID-19. Methods: Multicenter, European, cohort study involving 34 stroke centers in France, Italy, Spain, and Belgium. Data were collected between March 1, 2020 and May 5, 2020. Consecutive laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases with large vessel occlusion, who were treated with MT, were included. Primary investigated outcome: 30-day mortality. Secondary outcomes: early neurological improvement (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale improvement ≥8 points or 24 hours National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale 0–1), successful reperfusion (modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction grade ≥2b), and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. Results: We evaluated 93 patients with COVID-19 with large vessel occlusion who underwent MT (median age, 71 years [interquartile range, 59–79]; 63 men [67.7%]). Median pretreatment National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score were 17 (interquartile range, 11–21) and 8 (interquartile range, 7–9), respectively. Anterior circulation acute ischemic stroke represented 93.5% of cases. The rate modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction 2b to 3 was 79.6% (74 patients [95% CI, 71.3–87.8]). Thirty-day mortality was 29% (27 patients [95% CI, 20–39.4]). Early neurological improvement was 19.5% (17 patients [95% CI, 11.8–29.5]), and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage was 5.4% (5 patients [95% CI, 1.7–12.1]). Patients who died at 30 days exhibited significantly lower lymphocyte count, higher levels of aspartate, and LDH (lactate dehydrogenase). After adjustment for age, initial National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score, and successful reperfusion, these biological markers remained associated with increased odds of 30-day mortality (adjusted odds ratio of 2.70 [95% CI, 1.21–5.98] per SD-log decrease in lymphocyte count, 2.66 [95% CI, 1.22–5.77] per SD-log increase in aspartate, and 4.30 [95% CI, 1.43–12.91] per SD-log increase in LDH). Conclusions: The 29% rate of 30-day mortality after MT among patients with COVID-19 is not negligible. Abnormalities of lymphocyte count, LDH and aspartate may depict a patient’s profiles with poorer outcomes after MT. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier: NCT04406090