Effect of cryopreservation and semen extender on extracellular vesicles isolated from bull semen.

Introduction: Semen cryopreservation is the most popular practice for semen production for artificial insemination and fertilization in cattle. The Seminal plasma contains extracellular vesicles (spEVs) which modulate sperm viability and function during oocyte fecundation. The study of spEVs in frozen-thawed semen doses may yield novel indicators for predicting bull fertility, but the presence of the semen extender may hinder molecular profiling of spEVs.

Cytokine mRNA expression in the bronchoalveolar lavage cells from horses affected by different equine asthma subtypes.

Equine asthma (EA) is a respiratory syndrome associated with the increase of different leukocyte populations in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Its pathogenetic mechanisms remain unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the associations between the mRNA expression of different cytokines in the BALF, different EA subtypes and lung function.

Platelet-rich plasma and ovarian quiescence: a bovine model for regeneration of the ovary.

Context: Ovarian quiescence can be due to hormonal deficiency usually caused by apoptosis of granulosa cells responsible for oestrogen synthesis.

Aim: This study evaluated the regenerative effect of platelet rich plasma (PRP) on bovine in vitro models to understand its effect on granulosa cells.

Methods: Quiescent and healthy ovarian sections were cultured in the presence/absence of PRP for 72h and, at different times (0, 24, 48 and 72h), hematoxylin-eosin and immunohistochemical detection of Ki-67 were performed.

Amniotic Mesenchymal-Derived Extracellular Vesicles and Their Role in the Prevention of Persistent Post-Breeding Induced Endometritis.

Persistent post-breeding induced endometritis (PPBIE) is considered a major cause of subfertility in mares. It consists of persistent or delayed uterine inflammation in susceptible mares. There are many options for the treatment of PPBIE, but in this study, a novel approach aimed at preventing the onset of PPBIE was investigated.

Drift compensation on electronic nose data for non-invasive diagnosis of prostate cancer by urine analysis.

Diagnostic protocol for prostate cancer (KP) is affected by poor accuracy and high false-positive rate. The most promising innovative approach is based on urine analysis by electronic noses (ENs), highlighting a specific correlation between urine alteration and KP presence. Although EN could be exploited to develop non-invasive KP diagnostic tools, no study has already introduced EN into clinical practice, most probably because of drift issues that hinder EN scaling up from research objects to large-scale diagnostic devices.

NEOTROPICAL XENARTHRANS: a data set of occurrence of xenarthran species in the Neotropics.

Xenarthrans-anteaters, sloths, and armadillos-have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across their full distribution ranges. The Neotropics harbor 21 species of armadillos, 10 anteaters, and 6 sloths.

A multidisciplinary group for prostate cancer management: A single institution experience.

Increased knowledge regarding the heterogeneity of Prostate Cancer (PC) and its variable outcomes has generated controversy over the best clinical approach. Nowadays, it is well-known that patient outcomes and clinical management may be improved by an efficient organization of the national health care system. The Interdisciplinary Group for Oncological Care (GICO) for PC patients was created by our healthcare management company in September 2010.

Open partial nephrectomy with no clamping of the pedicule: a good surgical option in treatment of renal cancer.

Aim: The aim of the present work was to describe authors' surgical experience using the partial nephrectomy technique without intraoperatory pedicle clamping for masses even up to 4 cm of size.

Methods: The study enrolled 96 patients with an average age of 59.7 years, who underwent partial nephrectomy without pedicle clamping.

Computer-assisted detection of monoclonal components: results from the multicenter study for the evaluation of CASPER (Computer Assisted Serum Protein Electrophoresis Recognizer) algorithm.

Background: To investigate the potential use of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) in the evaluation of serum protein electrophoresis, we set up a multicenter study involving six Italian laboratories. For this purpose, we developed an algorithm named CASPER (Computer Assisted Serum Protein Electrophoresis Recognizer).

Methods: A total of 59,516 samples from the six centers were divided into three groups.

Homocysteine, MTHFR C677T gene polymorphism, folic acid and vitamin B 12 in patients with retinal vein occlusion.

Background: Many available data have suggested that hyperhomocysteinaemia, an established independent risk factor for thrombosis (arterial and venous), may be associated with an increased risk of retinal vein occlusion (RVO).

Aim Of The Study: To evaluate homocysteine metabolism in consecutive caucasian patients affected by RVO from Northern Italy.

Patients And Methods: 69 consecutive patients from Northern Italy (mean age 64.

[Urologic complications of diverticulosis of the colon].

In this paper the complications of colonic diverticulosis are reported, on the basis of two clinical cases personally observed. In the first case, a 68 year-old man, the typical symptomatology with pneumaturia, cloudy urine and watery diarrhea suggested a uro-colonic fistula, therefore a fistula between sigma and bladder, caused by a perforate diverticulum, has been diagnosed by means of cystography and barium enema. In the second case, a 64 year-old woman, the irritative symptomatology, hematuria and endoscopic picture suggested a vesical neoplasia.

Prostatic carcinosarcoma.

A unique case of carcinosarcoma of the prostate in a 66-year old man is presented. The patient underwent a total prostatectomy under the diagnosis of prostatic carcinoma. Despite adjuvant radiotherapy, the patient died about 3 months after the operation.

[Rupture of the upper urinary tract during renal colic. Two cases].

The rupture of the upper urinary tract is an uncommon event. The authors describe 2 cases during renal colic and they write, particularly, about the diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of this pathology.

[Large inguino-scrotal bladder herniation].

The authors describe a case of voluminous inguinoscrotal bladder erniation. They write about the subjet with the help of the literature and above all they show the possible dangers of a vesical underestimated injury.

[A case of adrenal neoplasm].

Pheocromocytoma is a rare adrenal tumor. Generally its size is reduced and it is one of the causes of arterial hypertension. The authors present a case of giant pheocromocytoma, without arterial hypertension, and particularly they write about the used diagnostic and therapeutic management.

Influence of dietary manipulation on incidence of atopic disease in infants at risk.

Of 5,500 newborn infants whose family histories were screened, 900 were found to have anamnestic risk. Cord-blood IgE was evaluable in 4,677 of these newborns, of which 394 had levels > or = 1 IU/mL; 84 infants had both anamnestic risk and elevated cord-blood IgE levels. Parents of infants with anamnestic risk were informed of their child's risk of atopy.

Best's multiple vitelliform degeneration.

Best's disease with multifocal lesions is rare. The authors describe four cases of multifocal vitelliform disease. The fluorescein angiographic features of macular and extramacular lesions are considered.

The shapes and sizes of closed, pressurized random walks.

Two-dimensional cell-like membranes acted on by osmotic pressure differentials are represented by closed, unrestricted random walks. The treatment omits excluded-volume effects, and the pressure that is imposed thus favors an oriented area, so that the shriveled configuration of a vesicle with excess external pressure is inaccessible in this model. Nevertheless, the approach has the decided advantage of yielding analytic expressions in a complete statistical analysis.

[Role of the markers PAP-PSA in the diagnosis of cancer of the prostate].

The Authors report their personal experience relating to diagnostic screening for prostatic carcinoma using serum assays for specific markers of this tumour: prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) and prostatic specific antigen (PSA). They underline the importance of high serum values of these substances, especially in tumors in an advanced state, and point out that these markers can play a role both in the diagnosis and in the follow-up of prostatic carcinoma.

Oral anticoagulant therapy control: evidence that INR expression improves the inter-laboratory comparability of results--the Bologna oral anticoagulant control exercise.

The aims of the present study were: 1) interlaboratory normalization of prothrombin time (PT) testing for anticoagulant therapy control through calibration of customary thromboplastins against international reference materials, and 2) "on field" validation of the advantages offered by expression of results as International Normalized Ratio (INR) as opposed to percentage activity. PT tests were carried out over 8 days on the same normal subjects (16) and patients on oral anticoagulants (48) in the 9 laboratories of the Bologna area. The use of customary thromboplastins and coagulometers was maintained in all labs throughout the study.

The shapes of random walks.

A theoretical description of the shape of a random object is presented that is analytically simple in application but quantitatively accurate. The asymmetry of the object is characterized in terms of the invariants of a tensor, analogous to the moment-of-inertia tensor, whose eigenvalues are the squares of the principal radii of gyration. The complications accompanying ensemble averaging because of random processes are greatly reduced when the object is embedded in a space of high dimensionality, d.