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Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Background Sudden cardiac death is a major issue in industrialised countries and survival of patients who suffered from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains awfully low. An acute myocardial infarction is the principal cause of OHCA and myocardial revascularisation plays a positive role in survival. In this particular setting little is known about the role of complete versus culprit-only revascularisation on survival. Purpose The aim of the present study was to assess whether a complete revascularisation could lead to a better one-year survival as compared to culprit-only revascularisation. Methods All the patients prospectively enrolled in the OHCA registry of the Lombardy region (Lombardia CARe) from January 1, 2015 to May 1, 2021 in the province of Pavia who underwent a coronary angiography at our Polyclinic were enrolled in the study. All the coronary angiographies were retrospectively reviewed by two interventional cardiologists and angiographic features were inserted in the database. Prehospital data and survival were retrieved from the registry according to the Utstein style. Results We enrolled 239 patients [mean age 63.7±12.4 years; male 79.9%; presenting shockable rhythm 84.1%; acute myocardial infarction at post ROSC ECG 67.9%; ejection fraction 37% (30-45), circulatory support with ECMO 10.9%]. Among the 119 (50%) patients with a multi-vessel disease 82 (69%) received an incomplete revascularisation whereas 37 (31%) were completely revascularised [8 during the first procedure, 29 in a second procedure with a median time after OHCA of 5 (2.5-10) days]. This latter group showed a significantly higher one-year survival (54.9% vs 16.2%, p Conclusions A complete revascularisation is independently associated with a better one-year survival in patients resuscitated from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Background Once the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is achieved the acquisition of a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) is strongly recommended in order to determine candidates for urgent coronary angiography. However, little is known so far about the association of ECG features and survival to hospital discharge in OHCA patients. Purpose The aim of the present study is to assess whether ECG features could be associated with survival to hospital discharge. Methods We analysed all the post-ROSC ECGs collected from January 2015 to December 2018 in three European centres. For every ECG, the main features were analysed and filed in the database together with the pre-hospital data collected for every patient according to the Utstein style. Every ECG was evaluated by two independent cardiologists and in case of doubt a third one was asked to solve the dispute. Results We collected 370 ECGs: 287 males (77.6%); median age 62 years old (IQR 53-70 years); 121 from center 1 (32.7%), 38 from center 2 (10.3%) and 211 from center 3 (57.0%). In Cox univariable regression, age older than 62 years [HR 1.7 (95%CI 1.1-2.4), p=0.007], QRS wider than 120 msec [HR 1.87 (95%CI 1.3-2.7), p Conclusions Our study proves that after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, post-ROSC ECG features can be used for prognostic stratification in addition to the selection of patients who may benefit from urgent coronary angiography.

Symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease of the colon (SUDD) is generally managed by gastroenterologists rather than General Practitioners (GPs). The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of the treatment of SUDD with rifaximin, a non-absorbable antibiotic, in a primary care setting by GPs.This retrospective, observational study investigated the use of rifaximin at a dose of 400 mg b.i.d. for 5, 7 or 10 days monthly, up to 3 months. The symptoms were reported by the patients using a visual analogic scale (VAS) of 0-10.286 SUDD patients were enrolled (44.4% of men, average age 70.92±10.98). Respectively, 15 (5.2%) patients received the treatment for 5 days, 205 (71.7%) for 7 days and 66 (23.1%) for 10 days. After three months, a significant reduction of VAS score was observed in almost all symptoms assessed: 135 (47.2%) patients reported no abdominal pain (p0.001) and 23 (8.1%) reported no symptom. Adverse events related to the treatment were recorded in 3 (1.04%) patients, all of them mild and not requiring interruption of the treatment. Acute diverticulitis occurred in 9 (3.1%) patients, but only 2 of them [0.7% (n=2)] underwent surgery due to complicated diverticulitis. Analysis within the different treatment groups (5, 7 and 10 days) shows that rifaximin treatment is effective in reducing the severity of symptoms in almost all groups except for the constipation in the 5-day group.Rifaximin can be effectively used by GPs in real-life for the management of SUDD.

In order to ascertain whether there are hippocampal electrophysiological modifications specifically related to memory, exploratory activity and emotional stress, extracellular electrical activity was recorded in hippocampal slices prepared from the brains of male adult rats. Several groups of animals were employed: (i) rats which had freely explored the experimental apparatus (8 min exposure); (ii) rats which had been subjected, in the same apparatus, to a fear conditioning paradigm training entailing the administration of aversive electrical footshocks (8 min exposure); (iii) rats to which the same number of aversive shocks had been administered in the same apparatus, but temporally compressed so as to make difficult the association between painful stimuli and the apparatus (30 s exposure); (iv) naïve rats never placed in the apparatus. Half of the rats from each treatment group were used for retrieval testing and the other half for hippocampal excitability testing. The conditioned freezing response was exhibited for no less than 4 weeks. Hippocampal excitability was measured by means of input-output curves (IOC) and paired-pulse facilitation curves (PPF). Retrieval testing or brain slices preparation were performed at increasing delays after the training sessions: immediately afterwards or after 1, 7 or 28 days. Only the rats subjected to the fear conditioning training exhibited freezing when placed again in the apparatus (retrieval testing). It was found that IOCs, with respect to naïve rats, increased in the conditioned animals up to the 7-day delay. In free exploration animals the IOCs increased only immediately after the training session. In all other rats no modification of the curves was observed. IOC increases do not appear to imply presynaptic transmitter release modifications, because they were not accompanied by PPF modifications. In conclusion, a clear-cut correlation was found between the increase in excitability of the Schaffer collateral-CA1 dendrite synapses and freezing response consolidation.

The presence of functional nongenomic progesterone (P) receptors in human spermatozoa has been investigated by equilibrium binding studies in intact spermatozoa, ligand blot and Western blot analysis of sperm lysates, as well as determination of the effects of the steroid on sperm intracellular Ca2+ concentrations. Binding experiments were performed using progesterone-11alpha-glucuronide-[125I]iodotyramine as tracer. Computer analysis of competition curves using different steroids as competitors indicated the presence of two distinct binding sites for P. The high affinity site (Kd in the nanomolar range) appears to be specific for P, whereas the low affinity one (Kd in the micromolar range) binds with equal affinity 11beta-hydroxyprogesterone (11betaOHP) and 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone (17alphaOHP). A significant correlation exists among affinity constants (as determined by binding studies) and EC50 values for the effects of P, 11betaOHP, and 17alphaOHP on intracellular Ca2+ in fura-2-loaded spermatozoa, strongly indicating the involvement of P-binding sites in the biological effect of the steroid. In particular, dose-response curves for P were biphasic, with an EC50 in the nanomolar range and another in the micromolar range. Conversely, curves for 11betaOHP and 17alphaOHP were monophasic, with an EC50 just in the micromolar range. Ligand blot analysis of sperm total lysates performed with peroxidase-conjugated P revealed the presence of two binding proteins of 54 and 57 kDa that were specific for P. Indeed, peroxidase-conjugated P binding was blocked by the simultaneous presence of the unconjugated steroid. Using alpha c262 antibody, which is directed against the P-binding domain of genomic receptor, we detected two proteins of similar molecular mass (54 and 57 kDa), whereas using antibodies directed against the DNA-binding and N-terminal domains of the genomic P receptors, the two proteins were not detected. In addition, p54 and p57 appear to be mostly localized in sperm membranes and virtually absent in the cytoplasm. The involvement of these proteins in the biological effects of P is indicated by the strong inhibitory effect of alpha c262 on P-induced acrosome reaction of capacitated human spermatozoa.

In this experiment we (i) tested the hypothesis that, besides decreasing leaf C fixation, lime induced iron (Fe) deficiency increases root C fixation via PEP carboxylase and (ii) assessed the Fe-induced modifications in the elemental composition of plant tissues. Sugar beet plants were grown in nutrient solutions with Fe (45 μM Fe-EDTA; +Fe control) or in a similar nutrient solution without Fe (-Fe) and in presence of CaCO3 (1.0 gL -1), either labelled with 13C (20 at. %) or unlabelled. After 7 and 17 days from treatment imposition, plants were harvested and single organs analysed for total O, C, H, macro and micronutrients. 13C abundance was also assessed in control, unlabelled and labelled -Fe plants. Iron deficiency caused significant growth reductions; chlorophyll and net photosynthesis decreased markedly in Fe-deficient plants when compared to the controls, whereas leaf transpiration rates and stomatal conductance were not affected by Fe deficiency. Iron deficient plants had leaf biomass with lower C (2 to 4%) and higher O (3 to 5%) concentrations than +Fe plants. The δ13C was higher (less negative) in +Fe than in -Fe unlabelled plants. Iron deficient plants grown in the nutrient solution enriched with labelled CaCO3 absorbed a relatively small amount of labelled C, which was mainly recovered in the fine roots and accounted for less than 2% of total C gain in the 10 d treatment period. Evidences suggest that iron deficient sugar beets grown in the presence of CaCO3 do not markedly shift their C fixation from leaf RuBP to root PEPC. © Springer 2005., The study was supported by grants MURST ex 40% (Roma, grant Cofin 2000) to M.T., Spanish MCYT grant BOS2001-2343 and AGL2002-1999 and MURST-MCYT ‘Azioni Integrate/Acción Integrada’ (HI2002-0178) to J.A. and M.T.; Y.G. was the recipient of a postdoctoral contract from the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas.