Different responses to granulocyte colony-stimulating factor treatment in siblings with alloimmune neonatal neutropenia.
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Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor↗
Biomedical subjects
A Del Vecchio
Publications and source records attributed to A Del Vecchio.
[Magnetic resonance evaluation in a case of bilateral tendon fibroxanthoma of the ankle].
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Achilles Tendon↗
Characterization of the helicase and ATPase activity of human papillomavirus type 6b E1 protein.
Human papillomavirus type 6b (HPV-6b) is one of the most common causes of human genital warts, an important sexually transmitted disease. Discovery of antiviral therapies for this condition has been hampered by the inability to propagate the virus using standard tissue culture techniques and through difficulties in expressing sufficient recombinant viral proteins in vitro. Replication of papillomavirus DNA requires two viral proteins, E1 and E2. In an effort to establish assays to discover compounds active against this virus, we have co-expressed HPV-6b E1 and E2 proteins in insect cells. We demonstrate that the two proteins form a heteromeric complex which can be purified by sequence-specific DNA affinity chromatography. We also demonstrate that the complex has both E1-associated ATPase and ATP-dependent DNA helicase activity and report further characterization of these functions.
Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
Dietary guidance workshop helps tribal program cooks make changes.
Nutrition educators need to view tribal program cooks as important food and nutrition gatekeepers for their clients, families, and communities. They need to train these cooks using a variety of educational techniques, including culturally sensitive food preparation sessions and classroom activities to increase cooks' knowledge and skills, enhance their self-esteem, and improve their attitudes about cooking more healthfully.
Adult↗
[The use of fibrin glue in the treatment of angiomas of the oromaxillofacial area].
The authors discuss the indications for fibrin glue utilization in the sclerosing treatment of angiomas, with particular reference to cavernous and venous angiomas. The sclerosing agent may be employed in connection with embolization and subsequent surgery. The authors have successfully used the interstitial sclerosing technique to obtain the sclerosis of the thin threads of fibrous tissue stroma between blood vessels. The sclerosing therapy may cause the complete regression of "low flow" angiomas or, at least, a partial reduction that simplifies the ensuing surgical excision. In the case of partial regression of the angiomas obtained with the sclerosing therapy, the surgery of the remaining angioma causes a lower degree of bleeding; an increased reliability in the radicality of the intervention (due also to the reduced size of the lesion); and better results from an aesthetic-functional point of view.
Adolescent↗
Skin-sparing reduction effects of thermoplastics used for patient immobilization in head and neck radiotherapy.
Skin-sparing benefits derived from the use of megavoltage photon beams can be strongly reduced when filters are inserted between the source and the patient. The use of plastic masks for immobilizing the patient is the most important cause of this reduction in head and neck treatments. The influence of thermoplastics, commercially available for patient immobilization systems (Orfit Raycast (Luxilon Ind. Co.), Posicast (Sinmed bv) and Optimold (WFR Aquaplast Corp.)), on the patient skin dose value has been investigated by using an NE2534 'Markus' chamber. Indicative measurements with moulded masks (carried out with 2-mm Orfit and 3.2-mm Optimold layers) show significant differences between masks moulded with the two thermoplastics.
Acrylic Resins↗
[Histological and immunohistochemical studies in cases of malignant mesenchymal neoplasms of the oromaxillofacial area].
The authors present an immunohistochemical study of 11 cases of maxillo-facial primitive sarcomas. Specimens from demoliti maxillary resections were prepared and stained with alpha-1-antichymotrypsin, lysozyme and CD68. Alpha-1-antichymotrypsin confirmed in this study its lack of specificity as a tumor marker being relevated both in fibroblasts and in osteoblasts and even in chondrosarcomatous tissue. The results of lysozyme and CD68 stainings were interesting especially in malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH), fibrosarcoma and osteosarcoma. The authors showed, once more, that while in osteosarcoma the markers were noted in osteoclasts or pre-osteoclasts alone and not in the neoplastic stroma; all fibroblastic elements were marked in MFH. Immunohistochemical research of histiocyte-macrophage lineage confirmed its utility in osteosarcoma versus MFH differential diagnosis. In fibrosarcoma, furthermore, the authors obtained a positive staining of CD68 and lysozyme in fibroblastic elements morphologically similar to the other neoplastic cells. This datum induced the authors to formulate the interesting hypothesis that MFH and fibrosarcoma represent the opposite ends of a wide spectrum of differentiation of a single neoplasm of fibrohistiocytic origin.
Antigens, CD↗
Amebiasis after bone marrow transplantation.
A patient undergoing BMT for acute non-lymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) developed bloody diarrhea due to amebiasis. The infection was successfully treated with intensive and prolonged antiparasitic therapy.
Adult↗
Human errors in the calculation of monitor units in clinical radiotherapy practice.
Human mistakes are an important source of error in all steps of radiotherapy planning and their incidence should be investigated. As has been recognized by different authors and by the ICRU [4], the human error rate in the calculation of monitor units (MU) is relatively high. At our institute, we measured the human error rate in the calculation of MU by an independent check of the calculation. From September 1991 to June 1992 we identified and corrected 17 serious errors (deviation from the prescribed dose > or = 5%) over 890 controls (1.9%) (daily dose errors). We also found a serious global dose error rate (i.e. the errors induced on the total reference dose for the complete course of the treatment) of 1.3% (9/685) during the period November 1991-June 1992. These values suggest the importance of human errors in the calculation of MU and also confirm the validity of the independent check of MU calculation as one of the simplest ways of avoiding erroneous dose delivery by incorrect calculation of MU.
Humans↗
Micropurification of two human cerebrospinal fluid proteins by high performance electrophoresis chromatography.
Using C8 reversed-phase HPLC in conjunction with sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, we have fractionated proteins contained in human CSFs obtained from patients with schizophrenic disorders. When these proteins were electrophoretically blotted onto polyvinylidene difluoride membrane for direct N-terminal amino acid sequencing, several CSF proteins were identified; these included albumin, transferrin, apolipoprotein A-I, beta 2-microglobulin, and prealbumin. We have also identified two structurally related human CSF proteins designated cerebrin 28 (M(r) 28,000) and cerebrin 30 (M(r) 30,000) that have an N-terminal amino acid sequence of NH2-APPAQVSVQPNF and NH2-APEAQVSVQPLFXQ, respectively. Comparison of these sequences with existing database at Protein Identification Resource (R 32.0), GenBank (R 72.0), SWISS-PROT (R 22.0), and EMBL (R 31.0) indicated that they are unique proteins. These proteins were subsequently purified by high performance electrophoresis chromatography (HPEC) using an Applied Biosystems 230A HPEC system. A specific polyclonal antibody was prepared and an ELISA was established for cerebrin 30. It was noted that HPEC is a powerful tool to purify microgram quantities of proteins from human, rabbit, and rat CSFs. Using such a system, we have been able to micropurify as many as 10 proteins simultaneously in a single experiment because the elution of proteins occurred strictly according to their molecular weights. More importantly, we routinely obtained a recovery of > 90%. The potential use of this technology for micropurification of proteins was discussed.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
[Human errors in the calculation of the Monitor Unit in radiotherapy].
Human mistakes are a major source of error from the definition to the execution of a treatment planning. An unrevealed serious human error can cause therapy to fail therefore it is of fundamental importance to eliminate serious human errors during MU calculation. In this work the human error incidence in MU calculation is evaluated by an independent check. The investigation refers to 1,926 controls collected in about 18 months. Serious daily errors rate (errors causing a 5%, or higher, discrepancy on the daily reference dose) was 1.4% (27/1926). Serious global errors incidence (errors causing a 5%, or higher, discrepancy on the total reference dose) was 0.9% (15/1,731). The data show that the human error in MU calculation is not negligible; they also indicate the value of the independent control of MU, which is an important tool for quality assurance in radiotherapy (like in vivo dosimetry and portal imaging.
Bias↗
[Dosimetric problems and their solution in the preparation of a 6-dual-field total-skin technique].
The six-field total skin electron irradiation (TSEI) technique needs an accurate preliminary dosimetric study. The American Association Physics in Medicine (AAPM) defined a dosimetric protocol that recommends the careful dosimetry of the horizontal, the dual and the six-dual fields by using both a cubic and a cylindrical phantoms. In our Institute, in a TSEI development program, we carried out the preliminary dosimetry according to AAPM criteria. We also investigated some dosimetric problems--e.g., the so-called "cable effect", which takes place when the detector cable in a TSEI field is not well shielded, polarity effects and photon contamination. As to the "cable effect", it is especially marked with the Markus NE2534 chamber; moreover, this effect, if not considered, can lead to overestimation of X-rays contamination.
Calibration↗
[Conformal technics by the movement of bars in pendular fields. 1. Prototype realization and the possible applications].
The growing interest for conformal radiotherapy originates from the need of giving the prescribed dose to the target volume, by sparing, at the same time, surrounding healthy tissues and organs. More dose to the target volume with respect to the healthy tissues always increases the curative possibilities of the treatment. However, the development of conformal techniques implies an increased complexity of the treatment and the solution of many technical and dosimetric problems. In our Institute we are developing new conformal techniques, based on the use of moving bars driven by a computer-controlled system in arc therapy. This paper refers to the conclusion of the preliminary part of our work: a movement (translating or rotating) of bars in arc therapy seems to have good chances to tailor dose distribution in a relatively simple way. We realized two mechanical systems driven by computer for translating and rotating movements of a bar. The two techniques have been tested by TLD and film dosimetry on acrylic phantoms. We present the results of these tests, and describe technical problems and the clinical possibilities of this method.
Equipment Design↗
[Conformal technics by the movement of bars in pendular fields. 2. The dosimetric aspects].
The development of conformal techniques by movement of bars in pendular fields requires a careful examination of many physical and dosimetric problems: bar-critical organ synchronization problems, dose calculation problems, and problems relative to the "shadow effect". The use of a bar in an arc field, causes to a slow gradient of dose between shielded zone and target volume with a loss of homogeneity in dose distribution. This effect is well known ("shadow effect") and depends on the fact that different points spend different times beyond the bar's shadow. In this work the problem is investigated in the case of moving bar technique, mainly for dose calculation possibilities; then the possibility is analyzed of optimizing dose distribution by means of filters whose profile can be calculated for simple geometric conditions (fixed bar on the isocenter without considering the profile of the patient). These filters will be made in our Institute and they will be tested in various conditions, for both fixed bars and moving bars in arc fields.
Equipment Design↗
[Effects of prolonged administration of dapiprazole in rats].
In this paper we have studied the rat under chronic treatment with dapiprazole ip. (a drug with alpha-adrenergic blocking properties). For a 4 week period we have recorded, once a week, weight, rectal temperature, tail-flick, general activity and explorative behaviour on rotarod and one-arm radial maze. Surface (SEEG) and deep (DEEG) EEGrams were also recorded at the end of the experiments (4th week). SEEG and DEEG underwent the Fourier analysis (Fast Fourier Transform--see text). The findings were: 1) No change was observed in weight, rectal temperature and tail-flick time, glycemia and haematocrit. 2) Motor coordination on rotaroad dropped in 1st and 3rd week of treatment. 3) The treated rats, when in a one arm radial maze, showed signs of sedation (no grooming) from 2nd week of treatment. 4) SEEG and DEEG recordings showed a slowing activity; Fourier analysis confirmed these results. The slowing of activity (4) well agrees with the signs of sedation and behaviour (2, 3). It seems thus confirmed that alpha-adrenergic blockade is a feature of the drug together with the psychotropic effects previously described.
Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists↗
[Acinar-cell tumors of the minor salivary glands].
The authors present a rare case of acinic-cell tumor of minor salivary glands. In the dissertation are analyzed the clinical, histopathological and therapeutic aspects of this rare pathology.
Chronic Disease↗
Misleading results in studying pharmacodynamic interaction with oral anticoagulant.
We described an experimental condition, in which the i.p. administration of rats of irritants produces a misleading increase of the anticoagulant effect of warfarin. Group of 10 adult Wistar rats were treated i.p. or i.v. with HCl 0.1N plus warfarin p.o.; 24 hr after warfarin administration, prothrombin time was determined on citrate blood specimens and the animals were submitted to autopsy. When HCl is given i.p., a significant increase of prothrombin time is observed. On the contrary following i.v. administration no interference with the anticoagulant effect of warfarin is observed. Abdomen exploration of rats shows the presence of serum exudate following i.p. but not i.v. administration of HCl. The synergistic effect of i.p. administration of HCl on anticoagulant effect of warfarin appears an experimental artifact, probably attributable to a non-specific local irritating effect. This result stresses the need of caution in interpreting animal data indicating a synergism with oral anticoagulant.
Animals↗
Gonadotropin pulsatile secretion in girls with premature menarche.
Five prepubertal girls (2.3-8.1 years old) were studied for isolated or recurrent vaginal bleeding in the absence of other signs of precocious puberty (premature menarche). Four of these girls with recurrent vaginal bleeding were studied for pulsatile gonadotropin secretory patterns. During sleep 3 girls showed luteinizing hormone (LH) pulses with low amplitude and a pubertal pattern of frequency whereas follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) increased without demonstrable episodic secretion. Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) tests demonstrated that FSH responses are greater than the LH responses, as in prepuberty. In 3 cases estradiol levels had augmented above normal prepubertal range. The menses spontaneously stopped during the follow-up. A reevaluation of the gonadotropin pattern, having the menses stopped for 6 months, in one of the girls with pulsatile LH secretion showed an apulsatile prepubertal LH pattern. Also estradiol levels returned to prepubertal range. A follow-up of 10-66 months of these patients did not show any growth and bone acceleration or signs of precocious puberty. Our data suggest that in premature menarche a partial and transient activation of hypothalamo-pituitary axis could be present. Premature menarche seems to be a benign and self-limiting condition and one of the girls had a normal onset of puberty during follow-up.
Child↗