Doppler evaluation of maternal and foetal vessels during normal gestation in queen.

The aim of this work is to evaluate the haemodynamic characteristics of maternal and foetal vessels during normal pregnancy in queens, using colour Doppler and pulsed wave Doppler ultrasonography, in order to obtain information about maternal and foetal circulation. The blood waveforms of the uteroplacental arteries, aorta, caudal cava vein and umbilical cord of the fetuses were recorded weekly in seven healthy pregnant queens. Also, the measurements of peak systolic, end diastolic velocities, resistance and pulsatility indices were carried out. Uteroplacental blood flow was biphasic while the ones of the umbilical artery and aorta were first systolic and then diastolic. The caudal cava vein showed a typical waveform of venous vessels. During gestation the EDV and PSV of foetal vessels increased (alpha<0.05) while the PI and RI of all vessels examined decreased (alpha<0.05) except for the IP of the aorta. The Doppler ultrasonography, also in queens, can be used to evaluate the characteristics of maternal and foetal vessel flow and their progressive changes during pregnancy. This study can be considered the basis for further contribution in diagnosing and monitoring high-risk pregnancies in Veterinary Medicine.

Doppler evaluation of maternal and fetal vessels during normal gestation in the bitch.

The aim of this work is to evaluate the haemodynamic characteristics of maternal and fetal vessels during normal pregnancy in bitches, using Colour and Pulsed wave Doppler ultrasonography, in order to obtain more information about maternal and fetal circulation. The blood waveforms of the uteroplacental arteries, aorta, caudal cava vein and umbilical cord of the fetuses were recorded weekly in 16 pregnant bitches. Also, the measurements of Peak Systolic, End Diastolic Velocities, Resistance and Pulsatility Indices were carried out. Uteroplacental blood flow was biphasic while the ones of the umbilical artery and aorta were first systolic and then diastolic. The cava showed a typical waveform of venous vessels. During gestation the EDV and PSV of fetal vessels increased (alpha<0.05) while the PI and RI of all vessels examined decreased (alpha<0.05) except for the IP of the Aorta. The Doppler ultrasonography was used to study the characteristics of maternal and fetal vessel flow and their progressive changes during pregnancy. This study can be considered a further contribution in diagnosing and monitoring high-risk pregnancies in Veterinary Medicine.

[Day-surgery operative hysteroscopy with loco-regional anesthesia]. / L'isteroscopie operativa in regime di day-surgery con l'utilizzo dell'anestesia loco-regionale.

BACKGROUND: Nowadays hysteroscopic surgery offers the opportunity of treating in Day Hospital even patients who cannot undergo a traditional surgery because of high anesthesiological risk. The aim of this study is to prove that minimal invasive hysteroscopic procedures in loco-regional anesthesia can replace laparotomic gynecological surgery in many intrauterine lesions with the same effectiveness on pain and outcome. METHODS: From September 1999 to December 2000 at the Obstetric and Gynecological Department in Asti 200 hysteroscopic procedures have been performed. The patients (all i.v. line inserted, ECG and pulsometer monitored, and sublingual BDZ sedated) were divided into two groups: a group of 50 patients who underwent operation on paracervical block alone, and the other one of 150 women on paracervical block plus periorificial infiltration of local anesthetic. RESULTS: Only one woman in the first group paracervical block was totally insufficient and she needed a general anesthesia. In the same group, 44% of paracervical blocks required an additional conscious sedation with Propofol and Fentanyl. In the second group only 16 % of cases required an additional sedation. In all cases outcome was very good with complete recovery of the patients dismissed the same afternoon. CONCLUSIONS: In our experience operative hysteroscopies under loco-regional anesthesia with paracervical block and periorificial infiltration is a very satisfactory alternative to general anesthesia. Moreover the type of intrauterine lesion did not influence the tolerability of the operation.

Ion chromatography inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (IC-ICP-MS) and radiometric techniques for the determination of actinides in aqueous leachate solutions from uranium oxide.

The choice of the analytical method for the determination of actinide isotopes in leachate solutions has to be made considering several parameters: detection limit for each isotope, sample preparation procedure in terms of duration and complexity, counting time and interferences. A leachate solution obtained by keeping a pellet of UO2 doped with 238Pu in contact with distilled water was investigated for the content of U and Pu isotopes by radiometric methods (alpha-, gamma-spectrometry and liquid scintillation counting). The results of the radiometric methods were compared with those obtained from the analysis performed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry on-line to a system for chromatographic separation (IC-ICP-MS). The comparison confirmed that IC-ICP-MS is a powerful method for the detection of long-lived radionuclides. The radiometric methods have a detection limit two orders of magnitude lower than IC-ICP-MS in the case of short-lived radioisotopes mostly due to the low background in the detector. On the other hand, the sample preparation and the analysis duration are more time-consuming compared to IC-ICP-MS; moreover, not all isotopes can be determined by using only one radiometric technique.

Comparison between the use of direct current glow discharge mass spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma quadrupole mass spectrometry for the analysis of trace elements in nuclear samples.

The quantitative determination of trace elements in nuclear samples by GDMS and ICP-MS is presented and compared. Spectral interferences, matrix effects, detection limits, precision and accuracy are discussed. Results for selected samples demonstrated that both techniques are complementary. The use of a multi-standard solution provides the most accurate results in ICP-MS, whereas in GDMS this is achieved by relative sensitivity factors (RSF) matrix matched. Nevertheless, the use of standard RSF allows a fast screening.

[Comparative study of diagnostic hysteroscopy and transvaginal ultrasonography in patients with abnormal uterine hemorrhage during the peri- and post-menopausal period]. / Studio comparativo tra isteroscopia diagnostica ed ecografia transvaginale in pazienti con sanguinamento uterino anomalo in epoca peri- e postmenopausale.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic value of hysteroscopy and transvaginal ultrasonography in patients with abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) in the peri and postmenopausal period. METHODS: 302 patients with AUB, underwent hysteroscopy and in 86 cases, also a transvaginal ultrasonography before hysteroscopy was performed. Results were compared with the histological diagnosis. RESULTS: The diagnostic accuracy of hysteroscopy was very high in the cases of endometrial carcinoma (sensibility 100%, specificity 99%), and lower in the cases of endometrial hyperplasia (sensibility 69%, specificity 72%) and endometrial atrophy (sensibility 29% and specificity 97%). Sonography proved to be less reliable in the diagnosis of endometrial pathology (carcinoma: sensibility 57%, specificity 100%, hyperplasia: sensibility 62.5% specificity 63%). The results of this study show that sonography may be used as a first choice diagnostic test in the investigation of women with AUB. CONCLUSIONS: Hysteroscopy represent a second diagnostic step for achieving a proper histologic diagnosis.

An Attempt to Interpret the Spread of Element Concentration in Antarctic Surface Snow: The Same Element in a Given Test Field, Several Elements in Different Sampling Fields

Sampling surface snow on a large test field always leads to a spread of analyte concentration data which partly follows a Gaussian distribution and partly a rectangular one as can be observed from the analysis of literature data. The spread depends on the nonuniformity of the air-snow interface in the field and on the extent of reproducibility of all the procedures used from sampling to analysis. Consequently a sample relevant to a restricted surface might be poorly representative of the surrounding area. Contamination of the sample during the gathering and storing steps is assumed to be the main source of nonrandom results (outliers). Using various statistical tools we were able to evaluate which part of the spread was due to the snow surface nonuniformity in the case of many samples collected in the same test field. In the case of samples gathered in different geographical areas, the possibility of finding correlations among points is greatly enhanced when three or more analytes are considered for each sample. When the same correlation is found for some analytes and a variable tentatively tested, information can be gained about the source of chemical content of snow samples. The use of UV pretreatment of snow samples has been proven to cut down the interference of organics on the electrochemical process in DPASV, allowing one to obtain accurate and reproducible data.

Cannabinoid acids analysis.

The cannabinoid pattern of vegetable preparations from Cannabis sativa (hashish, marijuana) allows to recognize the phenotype of the plants, to be used as drug or for fiber. Cannabinoid determination by analytical point of view has represented some problems caused by the complex composition of the hexane extract. Capillary gas chromatography of the hexane extracts of vegetable samples, shows the presence of rather polar constituents that eluted, with noticeable interactions, only on polar phase. The compounds can be methylated by diazomethane and silanized (TMS) by silylating reagents. The methyl and methyl-TMS derivatives are analyzed by high resolution gas chromatography (HRGC) and by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The identification of the compounds shows their nature of cannabinoid acids, which the main by quantitative point of view results the cannabidiolic acid (CBDA). It is known that the cannabinoid acids are thermally unstable and are transformed in the corresponding cannabinoids by decarboxilation. This is of interest in forensic analysis with the aim to establish the total amount of THC in the Cannabis preparations, as the active component.

[Contribution to the serologic study of toxoplasmosis in pregnancy]. / Contributo allo studio sierologico della toxoplasmosi in gravidanza.

Toxoplasma antibodies in five women sera during the pregnancy were detected by direct agglutination and immunofluorescent tests both for IgG and IgM. The presence and the changes of the IgG and IgM titers are related to the abortion and/or foetal pathology. In order to prevent such a risk the authors suggest to test all the women before or early in the pregnancy for toxoplasma antibodies.