Bayesian radiocarbon modeling and the absolute chronology of the Middle Bronze Age Thapsos facies in mainland Sicily : a view from St. Ippolito (Caltagirone)

One of the most debated and explored period of the prehistory of Sicily is the Middle Bronze Age (15th-13th century BCE), which is considered as a crucial moment for the development of local prehistoric social, economic, and cross-cultural dynamics. The local Thapsos culture is what best represents this chronological period and is characterized at some sites by theoccurrence of datable ceramic imports from the Aegean alongside their local replicas. These have helped researchers with estab-lishing a local relative chronology based indirect beacons with eastern Mediterranean contexts. However, when it comes to an independent absolute chronology for MBA context in mainland Sicily, no recent program of radiocarbon dating has been carried out so far. In this contribution, the authors devise a Bayesian model based on evidence from a stratified MBA context at St. Ippolito (Caltagirone, central-eastern Sicily) where a set of seven samples have been radiocarbon dated. The study aims to assess which part of the overall development of the MBA the analyzed context corresponds to, to absolute date the activities represented by the deposit’s layers, and to lay the basis to tentatively bracket in time the use of some associated ceramic materials.peer-reviewe

Single-W Production and Fermion-Loop Scheme: Numerical Results

The single-W production mechanism is synonymous to the electron-positron annihilation into electron, neutrino and a W boson with the outgoing electron lost in a small cone around the beam direction. It requires a Renormalization Scheme that preserves gauge invariance and fermion masses cannot be neglected in the calculation. A recently proposed generalization of the so-called Fermion-Loop scheme is applied to the evaluation of observables at LEP 2 energies. Single-W processes are dominated by a regime of low momentum transfer of the outgoing electron and any high-energy Renormalization Scheme fails to give the correct description of the scale. The Fermion-Loop scheme automatically converts all couplings of the theory into couplings that are running at the appropriate scale. Therefore, in addition to represent the only scheme fully justified on a field-theoretical basis, the Fermion-Loop is the best starting point to include radiative corrections into single-W production. Numerical results are presented, showing a decrease in the predictions that can be sizeable. There is no naive and overall rescaling of the e.m. coupling constant, in any pragmatic scheme, that can reproduce the Fermion-Loop results, at the requested accuracy, for all configurations and for all kinematical cuts.Comment: 27 pages(Latex), 7 figure

Intravenous Thrombolysis for Acute Ischemic Stroke Associated to Extracranial Internal Carotid Artery Occlusion: The ICARO-2 Study

Background and Purposes: In a case-control study in patients with acute ischemic stroke and extracranial internal carotid artery (eICA) occlusion, thrombolytic treatment was associated with increased mortality. The aim of this cohort study was to assess the efficacy and safety of thrombolysis in patients with eICA occlusion compared to those without eICA occlusion. Methods: Consecutive patients treated with intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator within 4.5 h from symptom onset included in the Safe Implementation of Thrombolysis in Stroke - International Stroke Thrombolysis Registry (SITS-ISTR) in 20 Italian centres were analyzed. Acute carotid occlusion was diagnosed using ultrasound examination, angio-CT scan or angio-MRI. Since the SITS-ISTR database did not plan to report the site of vessel occlusion, each participating center provided the code of the patient with eICA occlusion. Patients were divided into 2 groups, those with and those without eICA occlusion. Main outcome measures were: death, disability (modified Rankin Scale, mRS, 3-6) and any intracranial bleeding at 3 months. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to reveal predictors for main outcomes. The following variables of interest were included in the analysis: presence of eICA occlusion, age, gender, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure, previous stroke, current smoking, antiplatelet treatment at stroke onset, baseline NIHSS score, baseline blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure, history of hypertension and stroke onset to treatment time. Results: A total of 1,761 patients without eICA occlusion and 137 with eICA occlusion were included in the study. At 3 months, 42 patients were lost to follow-up (3 with eICA occlusion). Death occurred in 30 (22.4%) patients with eICA occlusion and in 175 (10.2%) patients without (p < 0.0001). Death or disability at 3 months occurred in 91 of 134 patients with eICA occlusion (67.9%) compared with 654 of 1,722 patients without eICA occlusion (37.9%, p < 0.0001). No or minimal disability at 3 months (mRS 0-1) was reported in 25 (18.7%) patients with eICA occlusion and in 829 (48.2%) patients without (p < 0.0001). Any intracranial bleeding detected by CT or MRI at posttreatment imaging was seen in 16 (11.7%) patients with eICA occlusion and in 314 (17.8%) of those without (p = 0.09). The proportion of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage was 5.8% for patients with eICA occlusion and 8.0% for patients without (p = 0.16). At logistic regression analysis, eICA occlusion was associated with mortality (odds ratio, OR 5.7; 95% confidence interval, CI 2.9-11.1) and mortality or disability (OR 5.0; 95% CI 2.9-8.7) at 90 days. Conclusions: This cohort study in patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with thrombolysis showed an association between eICA occlusion and adverse outcome. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base

Intravenous Thrombolysis for Acute Ischemic Stroke Associated to Extracranial Internal Carotid Artery Occlusion: The ICARO-2 Study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSES: In a case-control study in patients with acute ischemic stroke and extracranial internal carotid artery (eICA) occlusion, thrombolytic treatment was associated with increased mortality. The aim of this cohort study was to assess the efficacy and safety of thrombolysis in patients with eICA occlusion compared to those without eICA occlusion. METHODS: Consecutive patients treated with intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator within 4.5 h from symptom onset included in the Safe Implementation of Thrombolysis in Stroke - International Stroke Thrombolysis Registry (SITS-ISTR) in 20 Italian centres were analyzed. Acute carotid occlusion was diagnosed using ultrasound examination, angio-CT scan or angio-MRI. Since the SITS-ISTR database did not plan to report the site of vessel occlusion, each participating center provided the code of the patient with eICA occlusion. Patients were divided into 2 groups, those with and those without eICA occlusion. Main outcome measures were: death, disability (modified Rankin Scale, mRS, 3-6) and any intracranial bleeding at 3 months. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to reveal predictors for main outcomes. The following variables of interest were included in the analysis: presence of eICA occlusion, age, gender, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure, previous stroke, current smoking, antiplatelet treatment at stroke onset, baseline NIHSS score, baseline blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure, history of hypertension and stroke onset to treatment time. RESULTS: A total of 1,761 patients without eICA occlusion and 137 with eICA occlusion were included in the study. At 3 months, 42 patients were lost to follow-up (3 with eICA occlusion). Death occurred in 30 (22.4%) patients with eICA occlusion and in 175 (10.2%) patients without (p < 0.0001). Death or disability at 3 months occurred in 91 of 134 patients with eICA occlusion (67.9%) compared with 654 of 1,722 patients without eICA occlusion (37.9%, p < 0.0001). No or minimal disability at 3 months (mRS 0-1) was reported in 25 (18.7%) patients with eICA occlusion and in 829 (48.2%) patients without (p < 0.0001). Any intracranial bleeding detected by CT or MRI at posttreatment imaging was seen in 16 (11.7%) patients with eICA occlusion and in 314 (17.8%) of those without (p = 0.09). The proportion of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage was 5.8% for patients with eICA occlusion and 8.0% for patients without (p = 0.16). At logistic regression analysis, eICA occlusion was associated with mortality (odds ratio, OR 5.7; 95% confidence interval, CI 2.9-11.1) and mortality or disability (OR 5.0; 95% CI 2.9-8.7) at 90 days. CONCLUSIONS: This cohort study in patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with thrombolysis showed an association between eICA occlusion and adverse outcome

Intravenous Thrombolysis for Acute Ischemic Stroke Associated to Extracranial Internal Carotid Artery Occlusion: The ICARO-2 Study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSES: In a case-control study in patients with acute ischemic stroke and extracranial internal carotid artery (eICA) occlusion, thrombolytic treatment was associated with increased mortality. The aim of this cohort study was to assess the efficacy and safety of thrombolysis in patients with eICA occlusion compared to those without eICA occlusion. METHODS: Consecutive patients treated with intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator within 4.5 h from symptom onset included in the Safe Implementation of Thrombolysis in Stroke - International Stroke Thrombolysis Registry (SITS-ISTR) in 20 Italian centres were analyzed. Acute carotid occlusion was diagnosed using ultrasound examination, angio-CT scan or angio-MRI. Since the SITS-ISTR database did not plan to report the site of vessel occlusion, each participating center provided the code of the patient with eICA occlusion. Patients were divided into 2 groups, those with and those without eICA occlusion. Main outcome measures were: death, disability (modified Rankin Scale, mRS, 3-6) and any intracranial bleeding at 3 months. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to reveal predictors for main outcomes. The following variables of interest were included in the analysis: presence of eICA occlusion, age, gender, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure, previous stroke, current smoking, antiplatelet treatment at stroke onset, baseline NIHSS score, baseline blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure, history of hypertension and stroke onset to treatment time. RESULTS: A total of 1,761 patients without eICA occlusion and 137 with eICA occlusion were included in the study. At 3 months, 42 patients were lost to follow-up (3 with eICA occlusion). Death occurred in 30 (22.4%) patients with eICA occlusion and in 175 (10.2%) patients without (p < 0.0001). Death or disability at 3 months occurred in 91 of 134 patients with eICA occlusion (67.9%) compared with 654 of 1,722 patients without eICA occlusion (37.9%, p < 0.0001). No or minimal disability at 3 months (mRS 0-1) was reported in 25 (18.7%) patients with eICA occlusion and in 829 (48.2%) patients without (p < 0.0001). Any intracranial bleeding detected by CT or MRI at posttreatment imaging was seen in 16 (11.7%) patients with eICA occlusion and in 314 (17.8%) of those without (p = 0.09). The proportion of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage was 5.8% for patients with eICA occlusion and 8.0% for patients without (p = 0.16). At logistic regression analysis, eICA occlusion was associated with mortality (odds ratio, OR 5.7; 95% confidence interval, CI 2.9-11.1) and mortality or disability (OR 5.0; 95% CI 2.9-8.7) at 90 days. CONCLUSIONS: This cohort study in patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with thrombolysis showed an association between eICA occlusion and adverse outcome

Intravenous thrombolysis or endovascular therapy for acute ischemic stroke associated with cervical internal carotid artery occlusion: the ICARO-3 study

The aim of the ICARO-3 study was to evaluate whether intra-arterial treatment, compared to intravenous thrombolysis, increases the rate of favourable functional outcome at 3 months in acute ischemic stroke and extracranial ICA occlusion. ICARO-3 was a non-randomized therapeutic trial that performed a non-blind assessment of outcomes using retrospective data collected prospectively from 37 centres in 7 countries. Patients treated with endovascular treatment within 6 h from stroke onset (cases) were matched with patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis within 4.5 h from symptom onset (controls). Patients receiving either intravenous or endovascular therapy were included among the cases. The efficacy outcome was disability at 90 days assessed by the modified Rankin Scale (mRS), dichotomized as favourable (score of 0-2) or unfavourable (score of 3-6). Safety outcomes were death and any intracranial bleeding. Included in the analysis were 324 cases and 324 controls: 105 cases (32.4 %) had a favourable outcome as compared with 89 controls (27.4 %) [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.25, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.88-1.79, p = 0.1]. In the adjusted analysis, treatment with intra-arterial procedures was significantly associated with a reduction of mortality (OR 0.61, 95 % CI 0.40-0.93, p = 0.022). The rates of patients with severe disability or death (mRS 5-6) were similar in cases and controls (30.5 versus 32.4 %, p = 0.67). For the ordinal analysis, adjusted for age, sex, NIHSS, presence of diabetes mellitus and atrial fibrillation, the common odds ratio was 1.15 (95 % IC 0.86-1.54), p = 0.33. There were more cases of intracranial bleeding (37.0 versus 17.3 %, p = 0.0001) in the intra-arterial procedure group than in the intravenous group. After the exclusion of the 135 cases treated with the combination of I.V. thrombolysis and I.A. procedures, 67/189 of those treated with I.A. procedures (35.3 %) had a favourable outcome, compared to 89/324 of those treated with I.V. thrombolysis (27.4 %) (adjusted OR 1.75, 95 % CI 1.00-3.03, p = 0.05). Endovascular treatment of patients with acute ICA occlusion did not result in a better functional outcome than treatment with intravenous thrombolysis, but was associated with a higher rate of intracranial bleeding. Overall mortality was significantly reduced in patients treated with endovascular treatment but the rates of patients with severe disability or death were similar. When excluding all patients treated with the combination of I.V. thrombolysis and I.A. procedures, a potential benefit of I.A. treatment alone compared to I.V. thrombolysis was observed

Screening for Fabry disease in patients with ischaemic stroke at young age: the Italian Project on Stroke in Young Adults

reserved85nomixedPoli, L.; Zedde, Marialuisa; Zini, Andrea; Del Sette, Massimo; Lodigiani, Corrado; Spalloni, Alessandra; Di Lisi, Filomena; Toriello, Antonella; Piras, Valeria; Stilo, Cesare; Tomelleri, Giampaolo; Tancredi, Lucia; Paciaroni, Maurizio; Silvestrelli, Giorgio; Adami, Alessandro; Costa, P.; Morotti, A.; De Giuli, V.; Caria, F.; Gamba, Massimo; Malferrari, Giovanni; Simone, Anna Maria; Musolino, Rossella; Giorli, Elisa; Banfi, Elena; Marcheselli, Simona; Rasura, Maurizia; Pugliese, Nicola; Melis, Maurizio; Bovi, Paolo; Padovani, A.; Burlina, A.; Pezzini, A; Del Zotto, Elisabetta; Giossi, Alessia; Sessa, Maria; Gilberti, Nicola; Magoni, Mauro; Ferrazzi, Paola; Librè, Luca; Rota, Lidia Luciana; Patella, Rosalba; Calabrò, Rocco Salvatore; Bramanti, Placido; La Spina, Paolo; Finocchi, Cinzia; Balestrino, Maurizio; Bruno, Chiara; Massucco, Davide; Gandolfo, Carlo; Traverso, Elisabetta; Delodovici, Maria Luisa; Verrengia, Elena Pinuccia; Carimati, Federico; Bono, Giorgio; Dell'Acqua, Maria Luisa; Bigliardi, Guido; Vandelli, Laura; Nichelli, Paolo Frigio; Carletti, Monica; Cerrato, Paolo; Iacoviello, Licia; Di Castelnuovo, Augusto; de Gaetano, Giovanni; Grassi, Mario; Locatelli, Giampiero; Caso, Valeria; D'Amore, Cataldo; Agnelli, Giancarlo; Checcarelli, Nicoletta; Guidotti, Mario; Arnaboldi, Marco; Giacalone, Giacomo; Zanoli, Elisa; Cavallini, Anna; Persico, Alessandra; Micieli, Giuseppe; Chiti, Alberto; Orlandi, Giovanni; Marchi, Piernicola; Lanari, Alessia; Ciccone, Alfonso; Cucurachi, Laura; Bonifati, Marco Domenico; Marcello, NorinaPoli, L.; Zedde, Marialuisa; Zini, Andrea; Del Sette, Massimo; Lodigiani, Corrado; Spalloni, Alessandra; Di Lisi, Filomena; Toriello, Antonella; Piras, Valeria; Stilo, Cesare; Tomelleri, Giampaolo; Tancredi, Lucia; Paciaroni, Maurizio; Silvestrelli, Giorgio; Adami, Alessandro; Costa, P.; Morotti, A.; De Giuli, V.; Caria, F.; Gamba, Massimo; Malferrari, Giovanni; Simone, Anna Maria; Musolino, Rossella; Giorli, Elisa; Banfi, Elena; Marcheselli, Simona; Rasura, Maurizia; Pugliese, Nicola; Melis, Maurizio; Bovi, Paolo; Padovani, A.; Burlina, A.; Pezzini, A; Del Zotto, Elisabetta; Giossi, Alessia; Sessa, Maria; Gilberti, Nicola; Magoni, Mauro; Ferrazzi, Paola; Librè, Luca; Rota, Lidia Luciana; Patella, Rosalba; Calabrò, Rocco Salvatore; Bramanti, Placido; La Spina, Paolo; Finocchi, Cinzia; Balestrino, Maurizio; Bruno, Chiara; Massucco, Davide; Gandolfo, Carlo; Traverso, Elisabetta; Delodovici, Maria Luisa; Verrengia, Elena Pinuccia; Carimati, Federico; Bono, Giorgio; Dell'Acqua, Maria Luisa; Bigliardi, Guido; Vandelli, Laura; Nichelli, Paolo Frigio; Carletti, Monica; Cerrato, Paolo; Iacoviello, Licia; Di Castelnuovo, Augusto; de Gaetano, Giovanni; Grassi, Mario; Locatelli, Giampiero; Caso, Valeria; D'Amore, Cataldo; Agnelli, Giancarlo; Checcarelli, Nicoletta; Guidotti, Mario; Arnaboldi, Marco; Giacalone, Giacomo; Zanoli, Elisa; Cavallini, Anna; Persico, Alessandra; Micieli, Giuseppe; Chiti, Alberto; Orlandi, Giovanni; Marchi, Piernicola; Lanari, Alessia; Ciccone, Alfonso; Cucurachi, Laura; Bonifati, Marco Domenico; Marcello, Norin