Chronic bacterial prostatitis: efficacy of short-lasting antibiotic therapy with prulifloxacin (Unidrox®) in association with saw palmetto extract, lactobacillus sporogens and arbutin (Lactorepens®)

Bacterial prostatitis (BP) is a common condition accounting responsible for about 5-10% of all prostatitis cases; chronic bacterial prostatitis (CBP) classified as type II, are less common but is a condition that significantly hampers the quality of life, (QoL) because not only is it a physical condition but also a psychological distress. Commonly patients are treated with antibiotics alone, and in particular fluoroquinolones are suggested by the European Urology guidelines. This approach, although recommended, may not be enough. Thus, a multimodal approach to the prolonged antibiotic therapy may be helpful.210 patients affected by chronic bacterial prostatitis were enrolled in the study. All patients were positive to Meares-Stamey test and symptoms duration was > 3 months. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of a long lasting therapy with a fluoroquinolone in association with a nutraceutical supplement (prulifloxacin 600 mg for 21 days and an association of Serenoa repens 320 mg, Lactobacillus Sporogens 200 mg, Arbutin 100 mg for 30 days). Patients were randomized in two groups (A and B) receiving respectively antibiotic alone and an association of antibiotic plus supplement.Biological recurrence at 2 months in Group A was observed in 21 patients (27.6%) and in Group B in 6 patients (7.8%). Uropathogens found at the first follow-up were for the majority Gram - (E. coli and Enterobacter spp.). A statistically significant difference was found at the time of the follow-up between Group A and B in the NIH-CPSI questionnaire score, symptoms evidence and serum PSA.Broad band, short-lasting antibiotic therapy in association with a nutritional supplement (serenoa repens, lactobacillus sporogens and arbutin) show better control and recurrence rate on patients affected by chronic bacterial prostatitits in comparison with antibiotic treatment alone.NCT02130713Date of trial Registration: 30/04/2014

A case of acute myeloid leukemia with promyelocytic features characterized by expression of a novel RARG-CPSF6 fusion

Key Points Novel RARG-CPSF6 fusion in an AML case with promyelocytic features and no evidence of PML-RARA or X-RARA fusion. Gene fusions involving RARG can initiate AML with promyelocytic morphological features.</jats:p

European Non-native Species in Aquaculture Risk Analysis Scheme - a summary of assessment protocols and decision support tools for use of alien species in aquaculture

The European Non-native Species in Aquaculture Risk Analysis Scheme (ENSARS) was developed in response to European 'Council Regulation No. 708/2007 of 11 June 2007 concerning use of alien and locally absent species in aquaculture' to provide protocols for identifying and evaluating the potential risks of using non-native species in aquaculture. ENSARS is modular in structure and adapted from non-native species risk assessment schemes developed by the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation and for the UK. Seven of the eight ENSARS modules contain protocols for evaluating the risks of escape, introduction to and establishment in open waters, of any non-native aquatic organism being used (or associated with those used) in aquaculture, that is, transport pathways, rearing facilities, infectious agents, and the potential organism, ecosystem and socio-economic impacts. A concluding module is designed to summarise the risks and consider management options. During the assessments, each question requires the assessor to provide a response and confidence ranking for that response based on expert opinion. Each module can also be used individually, and each requires a specific form of expertise. Therefore, a multidisciplinary assessment team is recommended for its completion

Gravitational radiation from gamma-ray bursts as observational opportunities for LIGO and VIRGO

Gamma-ray bursts are believed to originate in core-collapse of massive stars. This produces an active nucleus containing a rapidly rotating Kerr black hole surrounded by a uniformly magnetized torus represented by two counter-oriented current rings. We quantify black hole spin-interactions with the torus and charged particles along open magnetic flux-tubes subtended by the event horizon. A major output of Egw=4e53 erg is radiated in gravitational waves of frequency fgw=500 Hz by a quadrupole mass-moment in the torus. Consistent with GRB-SNe, we find (i) Ts=90s (tens of s, Kouveliotou et al. 1993), (ii) aspherical SNe of kinetic energy Esn=2e51 erg (2e51 erg in SN1998bw, Hoeflich et al. 1999) and (iii) GRB-energies Egamma=2e50 erg (3e50erg in Frail et al. 2001). GRB-SNe occur perhaps about once a year within D=100Mpc. Correlating LIGO/Virgo detectors enables searches for nearby events and their spectral closure density 6e-9 around 250Hz in the stochastic background radiation in gravitational waves. At current sensitivity, LIGO-Hanford may place an upper bound around 150MSolar in GRB030329. Detection of Egw thus provides a method for identifying Kerr black holes by calorimetry.Comment: to appear in PRD, 49

Does Vesta Have Moons?

Previous searches for moons around Vesta have found nothing to an upper limit of 22.5 magnitude, that corresponds to 44 +/- 4 m diameter assuming the same albedo as Vesta. The Dawn mission's approach phase has dedicated satellite search observations consisting of two mosaic sequences bracketing the first observations of a complete rotation of Vesta scheduled for early July, 2011. In addition, we use the approach optical navigation image sequences for initial satellite searches. We will report any findings from these observations, and upper limits of magnitude and size

Community action: value or instrument? An ethics and planning critical review

The community concept has maintained a constant and growing interest in urban studies and many related fields. The origin of this continuing interest seems to derive from the importance of the concept of community within diverse forms of political language and interpretations within different planning practices. In this contribution, through the analysis of different ethical and planning theories, we want to provide an update framework on community action. According to this objective, the argumentation will proceed through a literature review on four ethics theories and three key aspects related to spatial planning, as well as matching this theoretical analysis with exemplifying practices. The final objective is to provide an original analysis on drivers and outcomesof different forms of community, raising general issues that refer to spatial planning, social organization and regulation

Time-Transfer and Clock-Synchronization Technique for Microsatellites in the Lunar Region

The growing number of scientific and commercial missions to the Moon surface poses the need for a dedicated communication and navigation infrastructure. A precise Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) service is a key technology to allow lunar assets to determine their position and velocity, to plan and execute maneuvers and to maintain time. Argotec is working on ANDROMEDA, an end-to-end Communication and Navigation service for users on the Moon surface and in Low Lunar Orbit, based on a constellation of 24 microsatellites operating in high-elliptical frozen orbits around the Moon. To support missions with Communication and Navigation capabilities, an accurate on-board frequency reference and a time-transfer technique are crucial technologies. This paper presents a trade-off analysis of different time-transfer techniques, including existing GNSS, Two-Way Pseudo-Noise ranging, Network Time Protocol, Two Way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer and Optical links. Furthermore, an additional investigation on crucial constraints on microsatellites' design is performed with the goal of choosing the most suitable time-transfer technique and frequency reference for a microsatellite platform. A Two-Way coherent time transfer technique compatible with Consultive Committee for Space Data System (CCSDS) standards is studied and proposed. Special attention is given to synchronization accuracy, which is one of the most critical requirements for the navigation service. The choice of the technique has been supported by a trade-off analysis on the frequency reference to be adopted on board. Parameters such as Size, Weight and Power consumption (SWAP) have been taken into account in this phase, as well as costs and ground effort, paying particular attention to low-SWAP solutions. Finally, an error budget assessment is carried out considering free space propagation losses, relativistic effects, ephemeris errors, synchronization errors, and Earth's atmosphere contribution such as ionospheric and tropospheric delay

Turn-On Fluorescence Chemical Sensing through Transformation of Self-Trapped Exciton States at Room Temperature

Most of the current fluorescence sensing materials belong to the turn-off type, which make it hard to detect toxic substances such as benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX) due to the lack of active chemical sites, thereby limiting their development and practical use. Herein, we show a guest-host mechanism stemming from the confined emitter's self-trapped exciton (STE) states or electron-phonon coupling to achieve turn-on fluorescence. We designed a luminescent guest@metal-organic framework (LG@MOF) composite material, termed perylene@MIL-68(In), and established its E-type excimeric emission properties in the solid state. Upon exposure to BTX, especially xylene, we show that the E-excimer readily converts into the Y-excimer due to nanoconfinement of the MOF structure. Such a transformation elevates the fluorescence intensity, thus realizing a turn-on type fluorescent sensor for detecting BTX solvents. Our results further demonstrate that controlling the STE states of perylene at room temperature (vs the previous report of &lt;50 K) is possible via nanoscale confinement, paving the way to enabling turn-on type luminescent sensors for engineering practical applications