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Biomedical subjects

A Gatti

Publications and source records attributed to A Gatti.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Transthoracic repair of Morgagni's hernia: a 20-year experience from open to video-assisted approach.

BACKGROUND: Foramen of Morgagni's hernia is an uncommon congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Repair is mostly performed through laparotomy. We prefer the transthoracic approach, which allows better and safer control during thoracic dissection, although it is considered more painful and related to greater morbidity. In recent years we introduced the transxiphoid hand-assisted videothoracoscopic approach, which combines the advantages of the thoracic route with a mini-invasive procedure facilitated by one hand inside the chest. METHODS: A retrospective review was performed over a 20-year period (1985-2005). Twenty-two patients who had a foramen of Morgagni's hernia repaired were identified and relevant data were collected. Average age was 57 +/- 10 years and one half of the patients were asymptomatic. Chest roentgenograms, chest computerized tomography, and barium enema were used as diagnostic utilities. Posterolateral thoracotomy was performed in 17 (15 right-sided) patients, whereas in 5 (all right-sided) the defect was repaired by transxiphoid hand-assisted videothoracoscopy. Operative time, pain scored by visual analog scale, hospital stay, and cosmetic results by acceptance score were reviewed for every patient. RESULTS: Hernial sac was present in all cases and contained only omentum (n = 13), omentum plus transverse colon (n = 7), omentum plus transverse colon and small bowel (n = 2). In 6 patients (2 videothoracoscopy) we repaired the large defects with polypropylene mesh. Videothoracoscopy achieved significant good results compared to thoracotomy in operative time (85 +/- 7.9 versus 110 +/- 11.3 min, p < 0.01), 24-h visual analog scale (3.5 +/- 1.1 versus 6.7 +/- 3.9, p < 0.01), hospital stay (2.6 +/- 0.5 versus 6.4 +/- 1.2 days, p < 0.01), and acceptance score (4.3 +/- 0.5 versus 3.1 +/- 0.8, p < 0.05). Postoperative course was always uneventful. Patients were followed for an average period of 58.6 +/- 14.7 and 109.7 +/- 43.5 months, respectively: no recurrences were found in any group. CONCLUSIONS: We believe that the transthoracic approach is a safe and effective method for repairing Morgagni's hernia. The videothoracoscopic approach is a promising alternative and it may be facilitated by introducing a hand inside the chest.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

High-resolution ghost image and ghost diffraction experiments with thermal light.

High-resolution ghost image and ghost diffraction experiments are performed by using a single classical source of pseudothermal speckle light divided by a beam splitter. Passing from the image to the diffraction result solely relies on changing the optical setup in the reference arm, while leaving the object arm untouched. The product of spatial resolutions of the ghost image and ghost diffraction experiments is shown to overcome a limit which seemed to be achievable only with entangled photons.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Uncertainty of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry based measurements: an application to the analysis of urinary barium, cesium, antimony and tungsten.

The wide use of barium (Ba), cesium (Cs), antimony (Sb) and tungsten (W) in many industrial and agricultural fields causes the increased release of these metals into the environment, laying the basis for health risk. To assess the exposure for the general population, the development of adequate and reliable analytical techniques becomes compulsory. This study refers to the quantification of urinary Ba, Cs, Sb and W levels by both quadrupole (Q) and sector field (SF) inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The two procedures were compared for their performances and their measurement uncertainties. The limits of detection were (Q and SF) 23.0 and 5.21 ng L(-1) for Ba; 21.1 and 7.52 ng L(-1) for Cs; 1.09 and 0.43 ng L(-1) for Sb; and 0.36 and 0.49 ng L(-1) for W. The trueness was better than 93.3% and the precision less than 12% for both techniques. Relative expanded uncertainties of the analytical procedures, at the median levels found in the general population, were below 5% for all the elements with both ICP-MS techniques. The uncertainties related to the calibration and repeatability were the parameters most influencing the final analytical performance. The urinary median values observed in healthy subjects from central Italy were 1146, 4301, 60.8 and 48.5 ng L(-1) for Ba, Cs, Sb and W, respectively.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Cigarette smoking and risk of cerebral sinus thrombosis in oral contraceptive users: a case-control study.

Idiopathic cerebral sinus thrombosis (CST) can cause death and serious neurological disability. It is unknown whether smoking, a major risk factor for arterial stroke, is a risk factor also for CST. This work explored the association between smoking and CST in a hospital-based, multicentric, case-control study. In order to avoid the confounding effect of the different risk factors for CST, we analysed the homogeneous subgroup of oral contraceptive users. We compared the prevalence of smoking in a group of 43 young women with CST (cases), whose oral contraceptive use was the only known risk factor, with a sample of 255 healthy contraceptive users of similar age (controls). The prevalence of smoking in cases and controls was similar (26% vs. 29%). The age and geographic area-adjusted odds ratio was 0.9; 95% confidence interval, 0.4-1.8; p=0.7. Smoking in oral contraceptive users does not appear to be associated with CST.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Detection of sub-shot-noise spatial correlation in high-gain parametric down conversion.

Using a 1 GW, 1 ps pump laser pulse in high-gain parametric down conversion allows us to detect sub-shot-noise spatial quantum correlation with up to 100 photoelectrons per mode by means of a high efficiency charge coupled device. The statistics is performed in single shot over independent spatial replica of the system. Evident quantum correlations were observed between symmetrical signal and idler spatial areas in the far field. In accordance with the predictions of numerical calculations, the observed transition from the quantum to the classical regime is interpreted as a consequence of the narrowing of the down-converted beams in the very high-gain regime.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Ghost imaging with thermal light: comparing entanglement and classical correlation.

We consider a scheme for coherent imaging that exploits the classical correlation of two beams obtained by splitting incoherent thermal radiation. This case is analyzed in parallel with the configuration based on two entangled beams produced by parametric down-conversion, and a precise formal analogy is pointed out. This analogy opens the possibility of using classical beams from thermal radiation for ghost imaging schemes in the same way as entangled beams.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Nerve growth factor (NGF) induces a rapid and sustained downregulation of the focal adhesion kinase (FAK).

1. Exposure of PC12 cells to nerve growth factor (NGF) induces an early tyrosine phosphorylation of many proteins, a number of which is still unidentified. Although NGF is known to bind to and activate the receptor tyrosine kinase TrkA, many downstream targets of NGF signaling may be possibly phosphorylated by nonreceptor tyrosine kinases such as c-Src and focal adhesion kinase (FAK). 2. In the present study, exposure of TrkA-overexpressing PC12 cells to NGF is found to cause a rapid and sustained loss in the recovery of a subpopulation of nominally active FAK (i.e., being autophosphorylated on the positive site of regulation). 3. Consistent with the possibility that NGF induces the proteolysis of FAK via recruitment of Src family kinases, the use of various phosphorylation site-specific anti-FAK antibodies revealed an NGF-inducible and PP1-sensitive accumulation of a putative fragment (i.e., p62) of FAK. Significantly, the mitogenic epidermal growth factor (EGF) failed to induce the downregulation of FAK and the accumulation of tyrosine phosphorylated p62. Such differential response of FAK to NGF and EGF may shape the specificity by which these growth factors control the status of cell-matrix adhesion and the adhesion-driven signaling.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

The impairment of renal function is not associated to altered circulating vascular endothelial growth factor in patients with Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Metabolic and haemodynamic factors concur in the development of diabetic nephropathy. Moreover, in diabetes, the presence of hypertension may accelerate the development of renal damage. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) stimulates microvascular permeability, endothelium-dependent vasodilation and angiogenesis and its synthesis is enhanced by hyperglycaemia, advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), tissue hypoxia and hypertension. VEGF appears to play a central role in mediating diabetic vasculopathy, and although VEGF and its receptors are expressed at renal level, its action in renal pathophysiology is unknown. The aim of this study was to elucidate whether presence and/or severity of renal dysfunction is related to circulating VEGF in patients with Type 2 diabetes and hypertension. DESIGN AND METHODS: Fifty hypertensive Type 2 diabetic patients and 20 non-diabetic patients were included in the study. Renal function parameters such as albumin excretion rate (AER), and glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and VEGF plasma levels were analysed in all subjects, whereas %HbA1c and AGEs levels were evaluated in diabetic patients. RESULTS: GFR was significantly decreased in diabetic patients compared with the control subjects (74.36 +/- 15.95 vs 111.5 +/- 17.0 ml/min, p<0.0001). Three diabetic patients showed AER abnormalities (53.8 +/- 2.3 mg/24h). VEGF in diabetic patients was higher than in the control group (77.95 +/- 65.98 vs 49.30 +/- 40.8 pg/ml), but not significantly. %HbA1c and AGE levels were 6.6 +/- 1.5% and 11.59 +/- 8.09 UAGE/ml, respectively. No correlation was found between renal function, circulating VEGF levels and metabolic control. CONCLUSION: Diabetes, in association with hypertension, significantly decreases renal function, but circulating VEGF may not reflect its concentration and action at renal level.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Loss of cell adhesion impairs the early response of TrkA to nerve growth factor (NGF).

Within the in vitro model of nerve growth factor (NGF)-dependent differentiation of PC12 cells, loss of adhesion is known to interfere with certain neurotrophic responses and not with others. The present analysis of early NGF signaling shows that the upstream activation of TrkA, as well as the recruitment of the adaptor protein Shc, are dramatically attenuated upon loss of cell adhesion, while the downstream activation of ERK1/2 is unaffected. That loss of cell adhesion interferes with the primary signaling response to NGF (i.e. autophosphorylation of TrkA) may explain why suspended PC12 cells fail to morphologically differentiate in response to NGF. The possibility that established adhesion-driven mechanisms underlie the full responsiveness of TrkA to NGF is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Entangled imaging and wave-particle duality: from the microscopic to the macroscopic realm.

We formulate a theory for entangled imaging, which includes also the case of a large number of photons in the two entangled beams. We show that the results for imaging and for the wave-particle duality features, which have been demonstrated in the microscopic case, persist in the macroscopic domain. We show that the quantum character of the imaging phenomena is guaranteed by the simultaneous spatial entanglement in the near and in the far field.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

The neuromelanin of human substantia nigra: structure, synthesis and molecular behaviour.

The pigmented neurons of the substantia nigra (SN) are typically lost in Parkinson's disease: however the possible relationship between neuronal vulnerability and the presence of neuromelanin (NM) has not been elucidated. Early histological studies revealed the presence of increasing amounts of NM in the SN with aging in higher mammals, showed that NM granules are surrounded by membrane, and comparatively evaluated the pigmentation of SN in different animal species. Histochemical studies showed the association of NM with lipofuscins. However, systematic investigations of NM structure, synthesis and molecular interactions have been undertaken only during the last decade. In these latter studies, NM was identified as a genuine melanin with a strong chelating ability for iron and affinity for compounds such as lipids, pesticides, and MPP+. The affinity of NM for a variety of inorganic and organic toxins is consistent with a postulated protective function for NM. Moreover, the neuronal accumulation of NM during aging, and the link between its synthesis and high cytosolic concentration of catechols suggests a protective role. However, its putative neuroprotective effects could be quenched in conditions of toxin overload.

Aging↗
PubMed2003

Sustained and transient downregulation of Src kinases in response to nerve growth factor and epidermal growth factor, respectively.

Within a search for novel points of divergence in the signalling of differentiative nerve growth factor (NGF) and mitogenic epidermal growth factor (EGF) in PC12 cells, in the present study, I comparatively analysed the impact of these growth factors on the in situ activation status of Src kinases. By probing total cell extracts and anti-P-Tyr immunoprecipitates with a phosphorylation site-specific antibody targeting a conserved site of positive regulation of the overall family of Src kinases, a sustained and a transient downregulation of the immunoprecipitable subpopulation of nominally active Src kinases is detected in response to NGF and EGF, respectively. As the recovery of immunoreactive Src kinases is greater from cells being lysed while in suspension than from adherent cells, the possibility that NGF reduces the stability of Src kinases by upregulating cell adhesiveness is preliminarily explored and discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Active ageing: a policy framework.

The paper reflects the message of the WHO Policy Framework on Active Ageing. The Policy Framework is intended to inform discussion and the formation of action plans that promote healthy and active ageing. It was developed by WHO's Ageing and Life Course Programme as a contribution to the Second United Nations World Assembly on Ageing held in April 2002. The paper presents the challenge of rapid ageing population, especially in developing countries. And it discusses the concept and the rational of the active ageing. Policy Responses to this challenge are identify in the final part of the paper.

Aging↗
PubMed2002

The neuromelanin of human substantia nigra and its interaction with metals.

Neuromelanin (NM) is a peculiar biochemical component of several neurons in the Substantia Nigra (SN), the target area of the degenerative process in Parkinson Disease (PD). SN NM has peculiarities as to its composition and an impressive capacity of chelating metals, iron in particular, but not exclusively. Gaining insights into the structural and functional characteristics of NM should help understanding the reasons of selective vulnerability of nigral neurons in many parkinsonian conditions. From the present data a protective role of NM can be postulated until the buffering capability toward heavy metals are exhausted. The overloading of NM with iron and other metals in neurons may trigger inflammatory and degenerative processes aggravating the underlying pathological condition.

Drug Interactions↗
PubMed2002

Prevalence of anti-cardiolipin, anti-beta2 glycoprotein I, and anti-prothrombin antibodies in young patients with epilepsy.

PURPOSE: To measure anti-cardiolipin (aCL), anti-beta2 glycoprotein I (anti-beta2GPI), and anti-prothrombin (aPT) antibodies in young patients with epilepsy, and to correlate their presence with demographic data, clinical diagnoses, laboratory and neuroradiologic findings, and antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). METHODS: Sera from one hundred forty-two consecutive patients with epilepsy with a median age of 10 years were tested for aCL and anti-beta2GPI autoantibodies by solid-phase assays. aPT antibodies also were assayed in sera from 90 patients. Positive results were confirmed after a minimum of 6 weeks. Antinuclear antibodies (ANAs) and antibodies against extractable nuclear antigens (ENAs) also were tested. RESULTS: An overall positivity of 41 (28.8%) of 142 sera was found. Fifteen patients were positive for aCL, 25 for anti-beta2GPI, and 18 for aPT antibodies. Several patients (12%) displayed more than one specificity in their serum. Only one of these patients had a concurrent positivity for ANAs and ENAs. A predominance of younger patients was found in the antibody-positive group. All types of epilepsy were represented in the positive group. No relation between antibody positivity and AEDs was found. Diffuse ischemic lesions at computed tomography (CT)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were present in higher percentages in patients who were antibody positive. No positive patient had a history of previous thrombosis or other features related to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and no patient was born of a mother with SLE. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests a relation between epilepsy and aPL in young patients. A pathogenetic role for these autoantibodies cannot be excluded, and their determination might prove useful even from a therapeutic point of view.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Dermoscopic criteria for melanoma in situ are similar to those for early invasive melanoma.

BACKGROUND: Dermoscopy is a noninvasive technique that increases the diagnostic accuracy of pigmented skin lesions, particularly improving the diagnosis of patients with cutaneous melanoma in situ (CMIS) and early invasive melanoma. To establish reliable and reproducible dermoscopic criteria for the diagnosis of CMIS, the authors conducted a retrospective clinical study of 37 patients with CMIS and 53 patients with invasive cutaneous melanomas (ICM). METHODS: The 37 patients with CMIS were divided into three groups: those with CMIS lesions measuring < or = 5 mm in greatest dimension (8 patients), those with CMIS lesions measuring from > 5 mm to < or = 10 mm in greatest dimension (20 patients), and those with CMIS lesions measuring > 10 mm in greatest dimension (9 patients). The 53 patients with ICM were divided into two groups according to Breslow index: those with ICM lesions measuring < or = 0.75 mm in tumor thickness (19 patients) and those with ICM lesions measuring > 0.75 mm in tumor thickness (34 patients). Lesions were examined with a dermatoscope and were photographed at a magnification of x10. Dermoscopic criteria were evaluated from examination of the photomicrographs. RESULTS: Blue-whitish veil, gray-blue areas, black dots, and irregular extensions and branched streaks were the most relevant dermoscopic criteria for CMIS and were present in 78%, 76%, 73%, and 62% of lesions, respectively. Brown globules, irregular pigment network, pseudopods, and depigmentation were present in 57%, 54%, 54%, and 51% of CMIS lesions, respectively. White scar-like areas and linear and/or dotted vascular patterns, two criteria that are associated frequently with ICM, were not found in our patients with CMIS. No clinically significant differences were observed between the three groups of CMIS patients. CONCLUSIONS: Dermoscopic criteria for CMIS were similar to those for ICM, although white scar-like areas and linear and/or dotted vascular patterns were observed only in patients with ICM. Dermoscopic criteria appeared to be independent of CMIS lesions size.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Intralesional granulocyte-monocyte colony-stimulating factor followed by subcutaneous interleukin-2 in metastatic melanoma: a pilot study in elderly patients.

AIM AND BACKGROUND: Recent data in the literature indicate that antigen-presenting cells (APC) are inactive in tumour tissue because of local immunosuppression. Tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) signal activation transducing mechanisms are also seriously impaired. Administration of granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) may lead to APC recovery and interleukin (IL)-2 may restore local TIL activation. Moreover, IL-2 increases the systemic lymphocyte population, an event that seems to correlate with a better prognosis. STUDY DESIGN: The present phase I-II study was carried out to examine whether intralesional injection of GM-CSF followed by subcutaneous IL-2 would induce a clinical response in advanced, pretreated elderly melanoma patients. METHODS: Sixteen patients over 60 years of age received intralesional GM-CSF (150 ng per lesion on day 1), generally divided between the two largest cutaneous lesions, followed by perilesional subcutaneous IL-2 (3,000,000 IU) for 5 days (days 3-7 inclusive) every 3 weeks. RESULTS: Four clinical responses [two partial (PR) and two minimal (MR)] (25%), which also involved lesions that had not been directly treated, and nine cases of stable disease were observed. The response duration for PR and MR was 9, 4, 4 and 2.5 + months, respectively. Stable disease (56%) recorded in the nine patients was short-term (3-6 months). Three patients rapidly progressed after two, two and one therapy cycles, respectively. The patient who reached the best PR had a fairly high absolute lymphocyte count (1600-2400/mm3). The second one, who reached complete remission after subsequent locoregional chemotherapy and hyperthermia, however, had a low absolute lymphocyte count that had doubled by the end of treatment. Blood lymphocyte values in the other patients were too varied to allow any correlation with clinical response. Therapy was well tolerated and only mild fever was observed, with the exception of one patient who had grade 3 fever, with muscle pain and arthralgia. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the very low toxicity observed, this treatment might be indicated in elderly patients for whom systemic therapy is no longer a viable option. Improved scheduling and timing could result from further studies.

Aged↗