Oral plus vaginal alpha-lipoic acid in women at risk for preterm delivery

Objective: The etiology of preterm labor is multifactorial. An inflammatory response is always involved with the activation of NF-kB that determines synthesis and release of inflammatory molecules, implicated in fetal membrane activation, cervical modifications, abdominal pain and spontaneous uterine contractions. There is a close relationship between preterm birth and cervical shortening in the second quarter of pregnancy. We evaluated the benefits of alpha-lipoic acid administration on women considered at risk of preterm delivery due to the presence of symptoms (pelvic pain and uterine contractions) or reduced cervical length. Patients and Methods: This prospective observational study was carried out at the Gynecology and Obstetrics Unit of Palermo University Hospital (Palermo, Italy), from October 2015 to April 2016. The inclusion criteria were: women aged 18-35, with gestational age between 24 and 33 weeks of amenorrhea, pregnancy at risk of preterm delivery due to cervical length between 35-25 mm (in presence of symptoms) or < 30 and > 15 mm (if asymptomatic), intact membranes and negative for vaginosis. Patients were treated daily with alpha lipoic acid orally (300 mg, twice a day for 30 days) and vaginally (10 mg, once a day for 10 days), or untreated (controls). Patients were evaluated at the baseline (T 0), after 7 days, after 30 days, and at 34 weeks of gestation considering: maternal characteristics, symptomology and cervical length. Results: Among 60 analyzed women, 50 were treated orally and vaginally with alpha-lipoic acid, whereas 10 did not undergo any therapy. In the treated group, 10 patients were asymptomatic and 40 symptomatic. The symptoms disappeared in 37 patients. In the untreated group, 4 women were symptomatic and 6 asymptomatic. At the end all women were symptomatic. Mean cervical length showed a reduction in the untreated group compared to the treated group. Conclusions: The vaginal/oral-combined administration with alpha-lipoic acid showed effectiveness in reducing symptoms and preventing cervical shortening in our set of patients. No adverse effects were detected during the treatment

Is Ethics Education Necessary? A Comparative Study Of Moral Cognizance In Taiwan And The United States

Ethical development, cognizance, and maturity, as well as ethical behavior, are a primary concern of all managers, government officials, and educators. These moral values are even more important in Asian economies where some aspects of the economy seem to go underground without any due taxation afforded to the government or proper credit accorded to the property owners or copyright or other intellectual property holders. This article examines morality and ethics from a cross-cultural perspective. The article examines works using Kohlbergs Cognitive Moral Development theory and the Defining Issues Test (DIT), in order to ascertain the moral cognizance of workers and students, with particular attention to the variables of age, education, ethics education, and gender. United States samples are compared with studies of Taiwanese managers and Taiwanese students. The purpose was to see if there is relationship between any of these variables and moral maturity and cognizance, as well as whether any of these relationships were culturally influenced

NEW VARIETIES OF DURUM WHEAT (TRITICUM DURUM DESF.) IN SICILY: EVALUATION OF GENOTYPE-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION

Durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) is the typical cereal crop in semi-arid Italian environments, and Sicily, is one of the regions of southern Italy where the cultivation of durum wheat is very spread. The thesis was the comparison of 14 genotypes of durum wheat located in 11 locations typical of the Sicilian cropland in the years 2006-2011. The analysis of the results has allowed to study the productive and qualitative behavior of the tested genotypes. In addition, the study of interaction genotype-environment, has allowed to verify the yield stability in quantity and the quality of the grain by the individual genotypes

Influence of Acute Resistance Training on Memory, Executive Function, and Mood

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Integration of high-temperature electrolysis in an HVO production process using waste vegetable oil

The production of substitutes for liquid fossil fuels is of utmost importance for the decarbonization of the transport sector. This paper assesses the economic feasibility of producing hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) using waste vegetable oils as feedstock. The supply of hydrogen for the upgrading of the oil is obtained through a high-temperature electrolysis process, fed by low-carbon electricity. The use of waste materials eliminates the competition with food crops (e.g. soybean or rapeseed) and promotes the recycle of substances that should be treated for disposal. The results of the study show that the production cost of HVO with the considered plant are around 33% higher than that of fossil diesel. Moreover, the variable that has the strongest impact on the production cost of HVO is the price of the waste vegetable oil, which affects the final results more than the electricity price and the cost of the electrolyser

Acute polymyositis during treatment of acute hepatitis C with pegylated interferon alpha-2b

Hepatitis C virus is not cleared after primary infection in 50-85% of subjects exposed to hepatitis C virus. Anti-viral treatment during the early phase of infection significantly enhances the likelihood of a sustained clearance of hepatitis C virus. Although, a variety of autoimmune-related side effects have been observed during interferon therapy for chronic hepatitis, immuno-mediated adverse reactions have not been reported during treatment of acute hepatitis C. We describe the case of a patient who developed acute hepatitis C virus infection and, while receiving pegylated interferon alpha-2b monotherapy, developed a severe polymyositis. This case illustrates the potential risk of autoimmunity by interferon, also for acute hepatitis, and underlines the importance of a prompt diagnosis and a rapid discontinuation of interferon treatment for an improvement of clinical outcomes. \ua9 2005 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l

Transfer of Carbapenem-Resistant Plasmid from Klebsiella pneumoniae ST258 to Escherichia coli in Patient

Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC) 3–producing Escherichia coli was isolated from a carrier of KPC-3–producing K. pneumoniae. The KPC-3 plasmid was identical in isolates of both species. The patient's gut flora contained a carbapenem-susceptible E. coli strain isogenic with the KPC-3–producing isolate, which suggests horizontal interspecies plasmid transfer

Impact of combination chemotherapy on toxicity in ovarian cancer: Systematic revision of literature and meta-analysis

The purpose of this statistical analysis is to demonstrate the real advantages in terms of cost-benefit of combination chemotherapy compared with single-agent chemotherapy. The trials, which are used in this meta-analysis, have been searched on PubMed database and they are phase II or randomized phase III studies with only chemotherapy regimens. In this meta-analysis were evaluated adverse effects with odds ratio (OR), which is expressed in 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Only 4 studies contained all the set selection criteria and they were selected. The data, which were obtained, were analyzed using MedCalc Application. The combination therapy was more strongly linked to certain adverse events than to chemotherapy with a single agent: thrombocytopenia, anemia, neutropenia and nausea. The data obtained for leukopenia, for vomiting and for stomatitis are not statistically significant, as well as those of antitumor activity. Obtained data allow us to state that the overall combination therapy is more closely related to adverse effects such as thrombocytopenia, anemia, neutropenia and nausea compared tosingle-agent chemotherapy

In situ FT-IR investigation of the reduction of NO with CO over Au/CeO2-Al2O3 catalyst in the presence and absence of H-2

Cataloged from PDF version of article.he NO + CO + H-2 reaction over CeO2, Au/CeO2 (3 wt% Au), Au/CeO2-Al2O3 (2.9 wt% Au, 20 wt% Al2O3) and CeO2-Al2O3 mixed support prepared by co-precipitation has been Studied by FT-IR spectroscopy at elevated temperatures. Formation of NCO species has been detected on all of the samples. The presence of metallic gold is not necessary for the generation of the isocyanates on ceria and the mixed ceria-alumina support. The NCO species are produced by a process involving the dissociation of NO on the oxygen vacancies of the support, followed by the reaction between N atoms lying oil the surface and CO molecules. Gold plays an important role in the modification of ceria leading to Ce3+ and oxygen vacancies formation, and causes significant lowering of the reduction temperature of CeO2 and CeO2-Al2O3 enhancing the reducibility of ceria surface layers. The role of H-2 is to keep the surface reduced during the course of the reaction. The onset temperature, at which the interaction between the surface isocyanates and No begins, is low (100 degrees C). This explains the high activity of the Au/CeO2-Al2O3 catalyst with 100% selectivity in the reduction of NO by CO at low temperature (200 degrees C) and in the presence of H-2 (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserve