ObjectiveTo evaluate the success of an intravitreal injection of ocriplasmin to release symptomatic vitreomacular traction (VMT) and close a full-thickness macular hole.Methods and analysisAn ...observational retrospective multicentre study conducted in Italy. Patients with symptomatic distortion and loss of vision secondary to VMT were included in the study. The patients received a single injection of ocriplasmin and were followed up for 1, 3 and 6 months. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and spectral domani OCT (SD-OCT) were performed for patient assessment, and adverse events were recorded and analysed.Results74 patients (74 eyes) were included in the study. 44 of 74 eyes (59.5%) experienced complete release of the VMT. Macular hole closure was obtained in eight eyes (40%). BCVA improved about three lines after 3 months of follow-up in the patients with VMT resolution in comparison with the patients who did not have VMT resolution (p<0.0001). In 55/74 eyes of 55 patients (74.3%), no adverse events were reported, and most of them were transitory (17/19; 89.5%). The mean time to resolve VMT was 27.4±21.9 days. No cases of retinal tear, retinal detachment or lens destabilisation were observed.ConclusionOcriplasmin is a potential alternative treatment for patients with symptomatic VMT and has a good safety profile. A more careful selection of patients, in clinical practice, may increase the success rate.
Patients with chronic mental disorders often can suffer from sexual dysfunction. Nevertheless, the sexual functioning of new patients with first-episode psychosis has been little explored. The aim of ...this study was to investigate gender differences in sexual functioning in people with first-episode psychosis.
A group of 40 males and 37 females with first-episode psychosis took part in the research. We administered a psychiatric protocol composed of the PANSS, UKU and SCID-DSM-IV diagnosis.
We found that the 42.5% of the male group had sexual dysfunctions while the percentage of the female group was 37.8%. The correlation between sexual dysfunctions and psychopathology did not reveal any association in males. However, in females, general psychopathology and positive symptoms are linked to the alteration of vaginal lubrication: (r=0.547; p=0.003) and (r=0.485; p=0.011), although orgasm alteration was also associated with general psychopathology (r=0.500; p=0.013). Moreover, we found a relation between the alteration of vaginal lubrication with depression(r=0.627; p<0.0001) and disorder of volition (r=0.600; p<0.001).
These data suggest that the association between sexual dysfunctions and psychopathology regarded only women. Therefore, during the taking charge of patients it is fundamental to consider the gender-specific relationship between psychopathology and sexual problems.
We report a measurement of the inclusive semileptonic branching fraction of the B_s meson using data collected with the BaBar detector in the center-of-mass (CM) energy region above the Upsilon (4S) ...resonance. We use the inclusive yield of phi mesons and the phi yield in association with a high-momentum lepton to perform a simultaneous measurement of the semileptonic branching fraction and the production rate of B_s mesons relative to all B mesons as a function of CM energy. The inclusive semileptonic branching fraction of the B_s meson is determined to be B(B_s to l nu X)=9.5 (+2.5/-2.0)(stat)(+1.1/-1.9)(syst)%, where l indicates the average of e and mu.
The aim of the present study was to examine the reproducibility of arterial baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) provided by the spontaneous baroreflex method at rest and during laboratory tests.
Twenty ...healthy volunteers were studied 24 h apart, in the same laboratory and under the same environmental conditions, at rest, during active standing, while performing mental arithmetics and during static hand-gripping. Systolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure and pulse interval were continuously and non-invasively measured by using a Finapres device. BRS was evaluated by analysing the slopes of spontaneously occurring sequences of three or more consecutive beats in which systolic blood pressure and pulse interval of the following beat both increased or decreased, in the same direction, in a linear fashion. Individual BRS were obtained by averaging all slopes computed within a given test.
Under each test condition BRS did not differ significantly between the two consecutive days, showing strikingly similar values. The mean group coefficients of variation (CVAR), obtained by averaging individual CVAR, between the two experimental days were 15.0, 13.9 and 19.7% for resting, standing, static hand-gripping and mental arithmetic, respectively. No relationships were found between individual CVAR and individual mean arterial pressure, pulse interval and number of baroreflex sequences under any tested condition, on both experimental days.
These results show that the spontaneous baroreflex method provides good BRS reproducibility under various stimuli that affect the neural control of circulation differently. They also suggest that BRS variability is dependent neither on haemodynamic modifications nor on the degree of baroreflex engagement, but it seems to reflect an inherent feature of the way in which arterial baroreflex modulate the heart period.
The range 3.0 K to 24.5561 K of the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90) was realized at VSL with a 4He interpolating constant-volume gas thermometer (ICVGT). The standard uncertainty of ...the generated scale ranged from 0.32 mK at 3.3 K to 0.38 mK at 24.5561 K. The ICVGT scale was compared with the classical absolute gas thermometer scales of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL-75, 1975) and the Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory (KOL, 1986) and was found to deviate from them by a maximum of 1.5 mK. The non-uniqueness of the generated scale was investigated by comparing it with alternative ICVGT scales (but having equal status because still satisfying all the requirements of the ITS-90) obtained from different choices of the lowest calibration temperature and interpolation function. The size of correction effects such as thermo-molecular pressure, aerostatic head pressure and dead volume was calculated and the effectiveness of the ICVGT calibration procedure in compensating for such correction effects was evaluated. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
The range 3.0 K to 24.5561 K of the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90) was realized at VSL with a 4He interpolating constant-volume gas thermometer (ICVGT). The standard uncertainty of ...the generated scale ranged from 0.32 mK at 3.3 K to 0.38 mK at 24.5561 K. The ICVGT scale was compared with the classical absolute gas thermometer scales of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL-75, 1975) and the Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory (KOL, 1986) and was found to deviate from them by a maximum of 1.5 mK. The non-uniqueness of the generated scale was investigated by comparing it with alternative ICVGT scales (but having equal status because still satisfying all the requirements of the ITS-90) obtained from different choices of the lowest calibration temperature and interpolation function. The size of correction effects such as thermo-molecular pressure, aerostatic head pressure and dead volume was calculated and the effectiveness of the ICVGT calibration procedure in compensating for such correction effects was evaluated.
We present a study of the decays B ± → D K ± with D mesons reconstructed in the K + π − π 0 or K − π + π 0 final states, where D indicates a D 0 or a ¯¯¯ D 0 meson. Using a sample of 474 × 10 6 B ¯¯¯ ...B pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e + e − collider at SLAC, we measure the ratios R ± ≡ Γ ( B ± → K ∓ π ± π 0 D K ± ) Γ ( B ± → K ± π ∓ π 0 D K ± ) . We obtain R + = ( 5 + 12 − 10 ( stat ) + 2 − 4 ( syst ) ) × 10 − 3 and R − = ( 12 + 12 − 10 ( stat ) + 3 − 5 ( syst ) ) × 10 − 3 , from which we extract the upper limits at 90% probability: R + < 23 × 10 − 3 and R − < 29 × 10 − 3 . Using these measurements, we obtain an upper limit for the ratio r B of the magnitudes of the b → u and b → c amplitudes r B < 0.13 at 90% probability.
Background. An acute thymic involution in human fetuses and newborns has been described in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants with histological chorioamnionitis. However, the mechanisms of thymic ...involution remain to be clarified. Here, we tested the hypothesis that an activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis occurs in VLBW infants with acute thymic involution at birth.
Methods. A total of 180 randomly selected VLBW newborns (28.8 ± 3.15 wk gestation; 1093 ± 305 g) entered the study. Thymic size was measured on standard chest radiographs at birth, and expressed as the ratio between the transverse diameter of the cardiothymic image at the level of the carina (CT) and that of the thorax (T). CT T < 0.28 was considered to indicate a small thymic size. Plasma cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) concentrations were determined on days 1 (d-1) and 7 (d-7), and at 1 month (mo-1).
Results. A total of 66 (36.7%) newborns had CT T < 0.28. Infants with small thymus had significantly increased cortisol on d-1 (∼5.2-folds) median: 18.95 (95% CI: 11.20-39.4) μg dl vs. 3.66 (1.94-6.82) μg dl, p < 0.0001) and d-7(∼1.7-folds) 12.0 (4.39-22.97) μg dl vs. 7.8 (3.63-12.8) μg dl, p = 0.0384), as compared with those with normal thymic size, together with higher adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) concentrations on d-1 (∼1.9-folds) 28 (15.6-61.07) pg ml vs. 14.9 (9.0-23.42) pg ml, p = 0.0005), while no significant differences for cortisol at mo-1 or ACTH concentrations on d-7 and mo-1 were evidenced (p > 0.50). From a multivariate logistic regression analysis, a small thymus at birth was a significant independent predictor of plasma cortisol concentrations in the top-quartile (OR = 14.4; 95% CI: 6.079-34.11), and plasma ACTH concentrations in the top-quartile (OR = 4.40 (95% CI: 1.99-9.74) on d-1 (results adjusted for variables significant at univariate analysis).
Conclusions. Our data indicated the presence of a previously unrecognized, early activation of the HPA axis in VLBW newborns with a small thymus at birth.
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