GnRH agonist versus GnRH antagonist in in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF/ET)

Several protocols are actually available for in Vitro Fertilization and Embryo Transfer. The review summarizes the main differences and the clinic characteristics of the protocols in use with GnRH agonists and GnRH antagonists by emphasizing the major outcomes and hormonal changes associated with each protocol. The majority of randomized clinical trials clearly shows that in "in Vitro" Fertilization and Embryo Transfer, the combination of exogenous Gonadotropin plus a Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH) agonist, which is able to suppress pituitary FSH and LH secretion, is associated with increased pregnancy rate as compared with the use of gonadotropins without a GnRH agonist. Protocols with GnRH antagonists are effective in preventing a premature rise of LH and induce a shorter and more cost-effective ovarian stimulation compared to the long agonist protocol. However, a different synchronization of follicular recruitment and growth occurs with GnRH agonists than with GnRH antagonists. Future developments have to be focused on timing of the administration of GnRH antagonists, by giving a great attention to new strategies of stimulation in patients in which radio-chemotherapy cycles are needed

Seismicity and Focal Mechanisms at the Calabro-Lucanian boundary along the Apennine chain (southern Italy)

The Calabro-Lucanian boundary is a complex geological zone marking the transition between the highly seismogenic tectonic domains of Southern Apennines and the Calabrian Arc. Historical catalogues include earthquakes with macroseismic effects up to VII-VIII MCS (CPTI WORKING GROUP, 2004) and paleoseismological investigations suggested that earthquakes of magnitude between 6.5 and 7 may have occurred in this area, between the 6th and the 15th century (MICHETTI et alii, 2000). More recently, on 9 September 1998, an earthquake of moment magnitude M5.6 occurred at the north-western margin of the Pollino massif (GUERRA et alii, 2005; ARRIGO et alii, 2006) and since the second half of 2010 the same region was interested by a noteworthy seismic activity characterized by several swarms with thousands of events with a maximum magnitude of 3.6

Barriers associated with emergency medical service activation in Italian patients with ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes

Abstract Background Many ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (STEACS) patients fail to activate the Emergency Medical System (EMS), with possible dramatic consequences. Prior studies focusing on barriers to EMS activation include patients with any acute coronary syndrome (ACS) without representation of southern European populations. However, barriers are influenced by the ACS type and by socio-demographic and racial factors. Purpose We aimed to investigate the barriers to EMS call for patients diagnosed for STEACS in Italy. Methods A prospective, single-center, survey-based study, including all the patients treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention for STEACS in a tertiary hospital in northern Italy from 1st June 2018 to 31st May 2020. Results The questionnaire was filled out by 293 patients. The majority of the participants were males (74%), married (70.4%), with a high-school degree (38.4%) and with a median age of 62 years. Chest pain as a possible symptom related to a cardiovascular attack is known by most of the respondents (89%), and left arm pain/shake by 53.7% of them, whilst the other possible signs and symptoms (i.e. dyspnea, asthenia, sweating, nausea, vomiting, dizziness) were unknown to the majority of the participants. Only 191 (65.2%) of the participants activated the EMS after symptoms onset. The main reasons for not calling EMS were the perception that symptoms were not related to an important health problem (45.5%) and that a private vehicle is faster than EMS to reach the hospital (34.7%). The median time to first medical contact was 60 minutes, and it was significantly higher in the patients who did not called EMS compared to those who did (180 [60–420] mins vs 35 [15–120] mins, p<0.001). The patients who called a private doctor after symptoms onset did not called EMS more frequently than those who did not (5.9% vs 8.2%, p=0.3). Moreover, 30% of the patients who did not call the EMS would still act in the same way if a new episode occurred and the main reasons for this were that they think to be faster than EMS (57.1%) and to live close to the hospital (17.9%). Analyzing predictors of EMS activation, only prior history of cardiovascular disease has been demonstrated to be a predictor of calling the EMS in case of symptoms suspected for STEACS. Conclusions Our study, from the southern Europe, showed that a substantial percentage of patients with symptoms suspected for STEACS preferred private vehicle rather than activating the EMS. Our results highlight the need for information campaigns targeted to both the general population and medical doctors, stressing that the EMS is faster than a private vehicle to direct the patient to the right hospital and increasing the awareness of the people on the type of possible heart attack symptoms, which seem to be the most neglected issues by patients who did not call the EMS. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None

Coronary artery bypass surgery in a patient with Kartagener syndrome: a case report and literature review

Kartagener syndrome consists of congenital bronchiectasis, sinusitis, and total situs inversus in half of the patients. A patient diagnosed with Kartagener syndrome was reffered to our department due to 3-vessel coronary disease. An off-pump coronary artery bypass operation was performed using both internal thoracic arteries and a saphenous vein graft. We performed a literature review for cases with Kartagener syndrome, coronary surgery and dextrocardia. Although a few cases of dextrocardia were found in the literature, no case of Kartagener syndrome was mentioned

Forward-Backward Asymmetry in Top Quark Production in ppbar Collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

Reconstructable final state kinematics and charge assignment in the reaction ppbar->ttbar allows tests of discrete strong interaction symmetries at high energy. We define frame dependent forward-backward asymmetries for the outgoing top quark in both the ppbar and ttbar rest frames, correct for experimental distortions, and derive values at the parton-level. Using 1.9/fb of ppbar collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV recorded with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron, we measure forward-backward top quark production asymmetries in the ppbar and ttbar rest frames of A_{FB,pp} = 0.17 +- 0.08 and A_{FB,tt} = 0.24 +- 0.14.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.Lett, corrected references and change of tex

Precise measurement of the W-boson mass with the CDF II detector

We have measured the W-boson mass MW using data corresponding to 2.2/fb of integrated luminosity collected in proton-antiproton collisions at 1.96 TeV with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. Samples consisting of 470126 W->enu candidates and 624708 W->munu candidates yield the measurement MW = 80387 +- 12 (stat) +- 15 (syst) = 80387 +- 19 MeV. This is the most precise measurement of the W-boson mass to date and significantly exceeds the precision of all previous measurements combined

Evidence for t\bar{t}\gamma Production and Measurement of \sigma_t\bar{t}\gamma / \sigma_t\bar{t}

Using data corresponding to 6.0/fb of ppbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV collected by the CDF II detector, we present a cross section measurement of top-quark pair production with an additional radiated photon. The events are selected by looking for a lepton, a photon, significant transverse momentum imbalance, large total transverse energy, and three or more jets, with at least one identified as containing a b quark. The ttbar+photon sample requires the photon to have 10 GeV or more of transverse energy, and to be in the central region. Using an event selection optimized for the ttbar+photon candidate sample we measure the production cross section of, and the ratio of cross sections of the two samples. Control samples in the dilepton+photon and lepton+photon+\met, channels are constructed to aid in decay product identification and background measurements. We observe 30 ttbar+photon candidate events compared to the standard model expectation of 26.9 +/- 3.4 events. We measure the ttbar+photon cross section to be 0.18+0.08 pb, and the ratio of the cross section of ttbar+photon to ttbar to be 0.024 +/- 0.009. Assuming no ttbar+photon production, we observe a probability of 0.0015 of the background events alone producing 30 events or more, corresponding to 3.0 standard deviations.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Observation of Exclusive Gamma Gamma Production in p pbar Collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

We have observed exclusive \gamma\gamma production in proton-antiproton collisions at \sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV, using data from 1.11 \pm 0.07 fb^{-1} integrated luminosity taken by the Run II Collider Detector at Fermilab. We selected events with two electromagnetic showers, each with transverse energy E_T > 2.5 GeV and pseudorapidity |\eta| < 1.0, with no other particles detected in -7.4 < \eta < +7.4. The two showers have similar E_T and azimuthal angle separation \Delta\phi \sim \pi; 34 events have two charged particle tracks, consistent with the QED process p \bar{p} to p + e^+e^- + \bar{p} by two-photon exchange, while 43 events have no charged tracks. The number of these events that are exclusive \pi^0\pi^0 is consistent with zero and is < 15 at 95% C.L. The cross section for p\bar{p} to p+\gamma\gamma+\bar{p} with |\eta(\gamma)| < 1.0 and E_T(\gamma) > 2.5$ GeV is 2.48^{+0.40}_{-0.35}(stat)^{+0.40}_{-0.51}(syst) pb.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Combined search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying to a bb pair using the full CDF data set

We combine the results of searches for the standard model Higgs boson based on the full CDF Run II data set obtained from sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV p-pbar collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.45/fb. The searches are conducted for Higgs bosons that are produced in association with a W or Z boson, have masses in the range 90-150 GeV/c^2, and decay into bb pairs. An excess of data is present that is inconsistent with the background prediction at the level of 2.5 standard deviations (the most significant local excess is 2.7 standard deviations).Comment: To be published in Phys. Rev. Lett (v2 contains minor updates based on comments from PRL