Left coronary artery fistula to right ventricle complicated heart failure in a patient on hemodialysis

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Superconductivity in doped sp3 semiconductors: The case of the clathrates

We present a joint experimental and theoretical study of the superconductivity in doped silicon clathrates. The critical temperature in Ba-8@Si-46 is shown to strongly decrease with applied pressure. These results are corroborated by ab initio calculations using MacMillan's formulation of the BCS theory with the electron-phonon coupling constant lambda calculated from perturbative density functional theory. Further, the study of I-8@Si-46 and of gedanken pure silicon diamond and clathrate phases doped within a rigid-band approach show that the superconductivity is an intrinsic property of the sp(3) silicon network. As a consequence, carbon clathrates are predicted to yield large critical temperatures with an effective electron-phonon interaction much larger than in C-60

Robotic versus laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy for apical prolapse: a case-control study

The apical prolapse has always been considered the most complex of the defects of the pelvic floor, for both the difficulty of the surgical corrective technique and for the high post-surgical recurrence rate. Today, the laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy can be considered the standard treatment for apical prolapse. In the last years, several author performed robotic sacrocolpopexy, obtaining positive results. So, we developed a casecontrol study in order to compare the surgical outcome of robotic group with a control group of laparoscopic approach in patients with symptomatic apical pro-lapsed between January 2015 and December 2015 at University Hospital Policlinico "P. Giaccone" and Ospedali Riuniti "Villa Sofia-Cervello", Palermo. Our experience shows that robotic sacrocolpopexy can be considered in positive way for clinical results obtained: all procedures were executed with no complications, we noted a lower intraoperative blood loss and a shorter hospital stay than in laparoscopic group. Although the mean operative time and the economic costs are higher in robotic surgery, this study demonstrates that the use of robotic platform for repairing of symptomatic apical vaginal prolapse is feasible, safe and associated with short-term satisfactory results, representing therefore a valid alternative to laparoscopic approach

Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogue or dienogest plus estradiol valerate to prevent pain recurrence after laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis: a multi-center randomized trial.

Abstract Objectives To evaluate the efficacy of dienogest + estradiol valerate (E2V) and gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogue (GnRH-a) in reducing recurrence of pain in patients with chronic pelvic pain due to laparoscopically diagnosed and treated endometriosis. Design Multi-center, prospective, randomized study. Setting Three university departments of obstetrics and gynecology in Italy. Population Seventy-eight women who underwent laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis combined with chronic pelvic pain. Methods Post-operative administration of dienogest + E2V for 9 months (group 1) or GnRH-a monthly for 6 months (group 2). Main outcome measures A visual analogue scale was used to test intensity of pain before laparoscopic surgery at 3, 6 and 9 months of follow up. A questionnaire to investigate quality of life was administered before surgery and at 9 months of follow up. Results The visual analogue scale score did not show any significant differences between the two groups (p = 0.417). The questionnaire showed an increase of scores for all women compared with pre-surgery values, demonstrating a marked improvement in quality of life and health-related satisfaction with both treatments. No significant differences were found between the groups. The rate of apparent endometriosis recurrence was 10.8% in group 1 and 13.7% in group 2 (p = 0.962). Conclusion Both therapies seemed equally efficacious in preventing endometriosis-related chronic pelvic pain recurrence in the first 9 months of follow-up

Oral contraceptives in the prevention of endometrioma recurrence: does the different progestins used make a difference?

Objective The primary aim of the study was to analyze the endometrioma recurrence rate in patients who under- went laparoscopic excision followed by postoperative long- term regimen of oral contraceptives (OCs). Materials and methods 168 patients who underwent a conservative laparoscopic surgery for endometrioma, dur- ing the period between September 2009 and August 2010 in three university hospitals were studied. A long-term OCs therapy was offered to all women following surgery. Patients were randomly divided into three groups accord- ing to different progestins used (desogestrel, gestodene, dienogest). Women who refused a postoperative hormonal therapy served as control. Follow-up visits and transvaginal scan were planned at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after surgery. All patients who showed an ultrasound persistence of the endometrioma at 1 month follow-up were excluded from clinical analysis. Results Of the 168 patients, 131 completed the 24 months follow-up. Endometrioma recurrence was found in 21 (12.5 %) of all patients, it was unilateral in 17 cases while bilateral in 4 cases. The rate of recurrent endome- trioma was statistically significant in non-users compared to the long-term OCs treated patients. Conclusion The current data suggest the usefulness of long-term OCs regimen after conservative surgery for the prevention of ovarian endometrioma recurrence. As a sta- tistical significant difference could not be observed between OCs groups, further study on the individual mol- ecules is required in order to really understand the effect of each of them

Advanced Video-Based Processing for Low-Cost Damage Assessment of Buildings under Seismic Loading in Shaking Table Tests

This paper explores the potential of a low-cost, advanced video-based technique for the assessment of structural damage to buildings caused by seismic loading. A low-cost, high-speed video camera was utilized for the motion magnification processing of footage of a two-story reinforcedconcrete frame building subjected to shaking table tests. The damage after seismic loading was estimated by analyzing the dynamic behavior (i.e., modal parameters) and the structural deformations of the building in magnified videos. The results using the motion magnification procedure were compared for validation of the method of the damage assessment obtained through analyses of conventional accelerometric sensors and high-precision optical markers tracked using a passive 3D motion capture system. In addition, 3D laser scanning to obtain an accurate survey of the building geometry before and after the seismic tests was carried out. In particular, accelerometric recordings were also processed and analyzed using several stationary and nonstationary signal processing techniques with the aim of analyzing the linear behavior of the undamaged structure and the nonlinear structural behavior during damaging shaking table tests. The proposed procedure based on the analysis of magnified videos provided an accurate estimate of the main modal frequency and the damage location through the analysis of the modal shapes, which were confirmed using advanced analyses of the accelerometric data. Consequently, the main novelty of the study was the highlighting of a simple procedure with high potential for the extraction and analysis of modal parameters, with a special focus on the analysis of the modal shape’s curvature, which provides accurate information on the location of the damage in a structure, while using a noncontact and low-cost method

Effects of atorvastatin treatment on sICAM-1 and plasma nitric oxide levels in hypercholesterolemic subjects.

This study investigated the behavior of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and serum nitric oxide (NO) products, nitrite/nitrate (NO 2-NO,-), in subjects with primary hypercholesterolemia (HCh) without other risk factors and atherosclerosis. The effect of a short-term cholesterol-lowering treatment with atorvastatin, an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, on the levels of sICAM-1 and NO2-/NO3 were also investigated. After 4 weeks of placebo administration, 40 HCh (15 males and 25 females) were randomized in 2 groups: 20 subjects (atorvastatin group) received 10 mg/day of atorvastatin and the remaining 20 (placebo group) continued to take placebo. At baseline and after 4 and 12 weeks of atorvastatin or placebo administration, serum sICAM-1 and NO2-/NO3-levels were evaluated. The basal levels of these parameters were compared with those of 20 healthy subjects (C), matched for sex and age. Hypercholesterolemic subjects showed sICAM-1 and NO2-/NO3-basal values that were higher (331.7 ± 60.3 ng/mL vs. 202.3 ± 32.3 ng/mL, p<0.001) and lower (10.4 ± 2.5 μmol/L vs. 20.7 ± 4.4 μmol/L, p<0.01) than controls. No correlation between sICAM-1 or NO products and plasma cholesterol values was found, whereas there was an inverse correlation between sICAM-1 and NO2-/NO3-levels. Atorvastatin administration significantly decreased sICAM-1 and increased NO2-/NO3-levels, however these changes were not correlated with the reduction of plasma cholesterol. These data support the hypothesize that patients with HCh with no signs of arterial lesions, may have latent atherosclerosis, expressed as an increase of sICAM-1 and decrease in NO product levels. An improvement in the levels of these parameters after a short-time treatment with atorvastatin was also demonstrated

Combination therapy with aliskiren versus ramipril or losartan added to conventional therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, uncontrolled hypertension and microalbuminuria.

Hypothesis/Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess the antihypertensive efficacy and safety of aliskiren versus ramipril or losartan in hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, microalbuminuria and uncontrolled hypertension, despite the use of optimal conventional antihypertensive therapy. Materials and methods: In this open-label active comparator study, 126 patients were randomly assigned to receive 24 weeks of additional therapy with aliskiren (Group A) or either losartan or ramipril (Group B), according to whether a patient was already treated with an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker, respectively. Results: After 24 weeks, both treatment groups experienced a significant reduction of systolic blood pressure (−11.37% and −8.47%, respectively; both p <0.001 vs . baseline) and diastolic blood pressure levels (−10.67% and −9.28%, respectively; both p <0.001 vs . baseline), with a greater reduction of mean systolic values in Group A compared with Group B ( p <0.001). Furthermore, after six months microalbuminuria was significantly decreased in both treatment groups (−67.62% and −49.1%, respectively; both p <0.001), with a reduction rate in Group A significantly higher than in Group B ( p <0.001). Conclusions: The addition of aliskiren to optimal conventional therapy provided a higher reduction of blood pressure and urinary albumin excretion when compared with the addition of losartan or ramipril