The impact of resveratrol on the outcome of the in vitro fertilization: an exploratory randomized placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Resveratrol is a natural polyphenolic compound present in plants and red wine with many potential health benefits. This compound has various anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor properties and can improve cellular mitochondrial activity. This trial was designed to evaluate the effect on the outcome of IVF of Resveratrol supplementation in women > 35 years with good ovarian reserve (AMH > 1.2 ng/ml). Women were randomized to receive or placebo or Resveratrol (150 mg per day) for three months preceding the ovarian stimulation (OS). All patients were stimulated with a starting dose of recombinant FSH ranging between 150 and 300 IU according to age and ovarian reserve. GnRH antagonist flexible protocol was adopted for pituitary suppression. Triggering was performed with urinary hCG (10.000 IU). RESULTS: The study was conducted between January 2019 and December 2022 with aa total of 37 cases and 33 controls were recruited. No statistically significant differences in the number of oocytes retrieved, biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy and live birth rates were observed between women treated with resveratrol and control group. A statistically significant increase in the follicle output rate (FORT) and follicle-to oocyte index (FOI) was observed in women treated with resveratrol-based nutraceutical (0.92 versus 0.77 [p = 0.02], and 0.77 versus 0.64 [p = 0.006], respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary results from this study indicate that pre-treatment with resveratrol may improve ovarian sensitivity to exogenous FSH, which in turn may decrease the risk of hypo-response to OS in advanced reproductive age women.

The 17ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 3 deficiency: a case report of an 18-year patient and review of the literature.

UNLABELLED: Deficiency of 17ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 3 (17ßHSD3), an enzyme converting androstenedione (A) to testosterone (T), is a rare cause of autosomal recessive 46,XY disorder of sexual development (DSD). A 18-years phenotypically female patient from southern Italy presented with primary amenorrhea. She had deep voice, macrocephaly, enlarged and bulbous nasal tip, macrostomia, facial acne, breast asymmetry, hypoplasia of the first finger of right hand, proximal implant of the fifth metatarsus bilaterally as well as an increased muscle mass and hirsutism, with hair distribution on face, neck, chest, abdomen, pubic region and on upper and lower limbs. Genital exam showed thickened labra majora with absence of labra minora and a blind-ending pseudo-vagina with clitoris enlargement. Karyotype analysis showed a male genotype (46,XY). Hormonal evaluation showed decreased T (188 ng/dL-6.5 nmol/L) and increased A (10 ng/mL-34,96 nmol/L), considering male reference ranges, resulting in a decreased T/A ratio (0,186). MRI identified testicles in inguinal regions. Human Chorionic Gonadotropin test showed T/A ratio permanently under 0,8. These evidences were suggestive of a 46,XY DSD due to 17ßHSD3 deficiency. An homozygous mutation (IVS3 -1 G>C or c.326-1G>C) of the 17ßHSD3 gene was discovered. Psychologist identified a well determined female gender identity. It was decided to proceed with gonadectomy and vaginal enlargement by use of dilatators. CONCLUSION: The case described represents a new case of DSD due to 17ßHSD3 deficiency. This patient, raised as a girl, is diagnosed in a very late stage. The identified mutation, previously reported only in Dutch and Brazilian population, is one of 27 presently known mutations of 17ßHSD3 gene and is never reported in Italian population.

Assessment and clinical implications of RANK/RANKL/OPG pathway as markers of bone tumor progression in patients with NET harboring bone metastases.

INTRODUCTION: The impact on the survival of bone metastases (BM) in patients with neuroendocrine tumor (NET) is a matter of debate. BM have a key role in causing symptoms and in decreasing patients' quality of life. Although the mechanisms of the development of BM are not completely clear, it is now well understood that the Receptor Activator of Nuclear factor Kappa-B-/Ligand (RANK/RANKL)/osteoprotegerin (OPG) pathway plays a relevant role. AIM: To characterize the RANK/RANKL/OPG pathway in patients affected with NET. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Two cohorts of 15 patients each were enrolled in the study; one cohort was affected with NET without BM and the second cohort was affected with NET with BM. The serum RANK/RANKL/OPG pathway was assessed in both the groups. RESULTS: Serum OPG levels and RANKL/OPG ratio were lower and higher, respectively, in NET patients harboring BM than in those without BM. During the ROC analysis, a cut-off value of 1071 pg/ml for OPG and 0.62 for RANKL/OPG ratio were able to significantly distinguish between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that RANK/RANKL/OPG pathway is imbalanced in patients with NET harboring BM. Specific alterations of this pathway could predict an early development of BM.

MSWI fly ash particle analysis by scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.

Municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) fly ash was investigated to study metal distribution on the particle surface. A detailed investigation into the distribution of chlorine, copper, iron, and zinc was carried out by electron microscopy coupled with X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. Compositional and leaching test data were used to identify the correlation of significant variables and to formulate a hypothesis about metals speciation. The presence of copper chloride, iron, and zinc oxides was inferred. The iron and zinc accumulation in the submicron nuclei indicates that these metals came from the condensation of volatile species. As far as concerns copper, morphological data together with the element correlation study suggest that this element accumulates on particles involved in heterogeneous condensation processes. Furthermore, during such processes, particles of small size containing copper are formed.

Synthesis, structure, and second-order nonlinear optical properties of copper(II) and palladium(II) acentric complexes with N-salicylidene-N'-aroylhydrazine tridentate ligands.

Two new N-salicylidene-N'-aroylhydrazines ligands have been prepared: N-4-diethylaminosalicylidene-N'-4-nitrobenzoyl-hydrazine (L(1)) and N-4-diethylaminosalicylidene-N'-4-(4-nitrophenylethylidene)-benzoyl-hydrazine (L(2)). The ligands are properly functionalized with strong electron donor-acceptor groups and are of potential interest in second-order nonlinear optics (NLO). Dimeric copper(II) and palladium(II) complexes with L(1) and L(2) have been prepared, and, starting from these, mononuclear acentric adducts with pyridine as a further ligand have been prepared and characterized. The X-ray structures of three adducts are also reported. The NLO activity of the adducts has been determined by EFISH measurements giving mubeta values up to 1500 x 10(-48) esu for an incident wavelength of 1.907 microm.

Thermal oxidation kinetics and mechanism of sludge from a wastewater treatment plant.

The organic fraction of a sludge from a wastewater biological treatment plant is characterized by the total organic carbon, TOC, content, cyclohexane and toluene extractions, and thermal desorptions in nitrogen and air flow at different temperatures. The inorganic fraction is characterized by water extraction, FT-IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersion X-ray analysis. The thermal degradation rate of organic carbon is studied in batch experiments in air, in the 250-500 degrees C temperature range. The sample TOC is used to measure the decrease of reagent concentration with time. The TOC vs time data are well fitted by a generalized kinetic model, previously proposed for the MSWIs fly ash thermal degradation. The rate constants of the immediate carbon gasification, k2, and of the dissociative oxygen chemisorption, k1, followed by C(O) intermediate gasification, k3, together with activation and thermodynamic parameters are calculated. The rate determining step is the C(O) oxidation. The influence of desorbed or extracted organic compounds on kinetics and the role of the C(O) formation in explaining the reaction mechanism as well as the comparison with fly ash kinetics are discussed.

Extended polymorphism in copper(II) imidazolate polymers: a spectroscopic and XRPD structural study.

Copper(II) bisimidazolate affords five different polymorphs; of these, one was structurally characterized 40 years ago by standard single-crystal X-ray diffraction (Jarvis, J. A. J.; Wells, A. F. Acta Crystallogr. 1960, 13, 1027), while the remaining four, selectively prepared as pure polycrystalline phases, have been now studied by X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) methods. Of the four new (blue, green, olive-green, and pink) phases, three were solved by the ab initio XRPD technique and refined by the Rietveld method, and the fourth phase (pink) could not be structurally characterized. Crystal data for [Cu(imidazolate)(2)](n): blue phase, a = 27.559(3) A, c = 5.3870(9) A, trigonal, R3 macro, Z = 54; green phase, a = 21.139(1) A, b = 19.080(1) A, c = 9.2842(8) A, orthorhombic, Ccca, Z = 20; olive-green phase, a = 11.7556(8) A, b = 23.422(2) A, c = 9.0727(9) A, beta = 104.993(5) degrees, monoclinic, C2/c, Z = 12. All polymorphs contain four-coordinate CuN(4) chromophores and (N,N')-exobidentate imidazolate ligands, but show different spectroscopic and structural properties, the latter ranging from 2D to different 3D networks of the PtS, sodalite, and moganite archetypes. The intermediacy of the [Cu(imidazole)(2)CO(3)]-H(2)O species in the synthesis of the blue polymorph has been confirmed by spectroscopic and thermal analyses. FTIR, Raman, and electronic spectra were correlated with the structural features revealed in the present work, and used to gain insight into the coordination geometry of copper(II) ions of the pink polymorph. In addition, the correct Raman spectrum for copper(II) bisimidazolate, common for all polymorphs, has been definitely determined.

Determination of the quadratic hyperpolarizability of trans-4-[4-(dimethylamino)styryl]pyridine and 5-dimethylamino-1,10-phenanthroline from solvatochromism of absorption and fluorescence spectra: a comparison with the electric-field-induced second-harmonic generation technique.

For fluorescent compounds, the combined use of absorption and emission solvatochromic data allows to estimate indirectly the cavity radius of the molecule in solution, a very critical parameter in the application of the solvatochromic method for the determination of the quadratic hyperpolarizability beta of dipolar molecules. For two test compounds, trans-4-[4-(dimethylamino)styryl]pyridine (DASP) and 5-dimethylamino-1,10-phenanthroline (DAPHEN), the beta values so obtained are compared with those obtained by the EFISH (Electric Field Induced Second-Harmonic generation) technique. For DAPHEN, the versatility of the method described in this work in the presence of more than one electronic transition contributing to the non-linear optical response is demonstrated.

A key factor in modern protection of historic buildings: the assessment of penetration of water-repellent polymers into porous stone-materials.

From the 1960s on, the conservation of monuments and stone masonry has witnessed an increasing use of polymeric products during restoration interventions. Actual penetration depths reached by different polymers within the porous stone matrix are supposed to be key factors in determining the efficacy of the treatments themselves (besides, of course, the chemical-mineralogical nature of the stone and the chemical-physical characteristics of the various polymers). This work presents some preliminary results obtained on specimens of Noto calcarenite treated with various polymeric protective products. Samples were investigated with direct analytical methods (micro-ATR spectroscopy, SEM) in order to assess penetration depths reached by polymers inside the stone while reducing to a minimum the necessary manipulation of specimens. The obtained results highlighted the following trend in penetration depths for the various products tested: siloxane product > partially fluorinated acrylic resin > acrylic resin. Moreover, data obtained allowed to establish direct correlation between long term efficacy of products and relative penetration depths.

A spectroscopic and magnetic study of complexes of bis(2-benzothiazolyl)methanate and bis(2-benzoxazolyl)methanate with Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II).

The co-ordination geometry of the complexes M(bbtm)2 and M(bbom)2 (M: Co, Ni, Cu, Zn; bbtm, bis(2-benzothiazolyl)methanate; bbom, bis(2-benzoxazolyl)methanate) are discussed on the basis of their IR, Raman, resonance Raman, electronic and ESR spectra. Compounds of Ni, Co, Zn with both ligands and Cu(bbom)2 resulted to have a distorted tetrahedral geometry. The distortion towards a square planar geometry is more marked for the M(bbtm)2 series than for the M(bbom)2 one. It has been impossible to suggest a co-ordination geometry for Cu(bbtm)2, that probably has a polymeric structure.

Speciation and structure of copper(II) complexes with histidine-containing peptides in aqueous medium: a combined potentiometric and spectroscopic study.

The complex formation between copper(II) and some histidine-containing peptides has been investigated by means of potentiometric and spectroscopic measurements. Due to the interesting co-ordination mode towards copper(II), peptides with histidyl residue located in second position from the N-terminal amino group have been chosen. The stability constants evaluation has been performed by both pH-metric and ESR (room temperature) measurements; in this context a suitable computer program for the calculation of both stability constant values and the ESR spectrum for each complex has been written. Visible spectrophotometric and circular dichroism spectra, together with the isotropic ESR parameters, were used in order to propose a structure for each complex having a significant percentage of formation in solution.

Analytical characterization of municipal solid waste incinerator fly ash. Part II.

The synergy of the micro FT-IR (Fourier Transform-Infrared) and SEM-EDX (Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-ray) techniques has been shown to be particularly helpful and effective for the characterization of inorganic compounds in fly ashes. The experimental data obtained by these techniques have been interpreted in comparison with those of other techniques. The presence of calcium carbonate, some sulfates, ammonium nitrate, calcium hydrogen phosphate, some chlorides, some oxides and aluminium silicates have been verified.

Spectroscopic evaluation of interactions among trace elements and biogenic carbonates in the marine environment.

The interactions between trace elements and biogenic carbonates (marine mussel shells) in aqueous media were evaluated. The behaviour of Mn, Cu, Co, and Cd was investigated using spectrometric techniques (electrothermal atomic absorption, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission and electron paramagnetic resonance). The results obtained show that the metals considered do not form a distinct precipitated phase on the shell surfaces, but that they interact with the CaCO3. This study aimed to provide more information on the mechanisms involved in the storage of trace elements by the shells of marine bivalves. This would allow the use of mussel shells as an alternative to soft tissues for trace metal analyses in biological monitoring programmes.