PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Venturini

Publications and source records attributed to A Venturini.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Acetylcholine synthesis and release is enhanced by dibutyryl cyclic AMP in a neuronal cell line derived from mouse septum.

Cholinergic properties of the SN56.B5.G4 cell line derived from the fusion of neurons of the mouse postnatal day 21 septum and the murine neuroblastoma cell line N18TG2 were investigated and correlated with morphological differentiation. In basal serum-containing growth medium, few cells developed neurites. Neurite extension occurred in cells grown for 2 d with forskolin or dibutyryl cAMP (dbcAMP) but not with butyrate. In cells treated with these compounds, the activity of ChAT and ACh content were two- to threefold higher relative to controls. The cells synthesized ACh from choline taken up by the sodium-dependent high-affinity transport. Forskolin-, dbcAMP-, and butyrate-treated cells (but not the controls) were capable of spontaneous and depolarization-evoked ACh release. The results indicate that the morphological and the neurochemical aspects of SN56.B5.G4 cell differentiation are independently regulated.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1992

Bioceramics in orthopaedic surgery: state of the art and preliminary results.

Ceramic materials utilized in orthopaedic surgery can be divided into bioinert, causing minimum tissue reaction, and bioactive types, capable of stimulating bone tissue growth, establishing a bond capable of supporting physiological loads. Alumina is a bioinert ceramic which shows excellent mechanical resistance and an extremely low level of wear when given appropriate structural characteristics. It is therefore used to make prosthetic hip components (head and acetabulum), to coat metal prosthetic shafts and to make prostheses for small joints. Among the bioactive ceramics, bioglass, bioglaze and hydroxylapatite are included in the study. At present, bioglass and bioglaze appear interesting, but not sufficiently so as to find a precise niche in orthopaedic surgery. Currently the bioactive ceramic with the most possibilities for use in orthopaedic surgery is hydroxylapatite. The close interfacial bond which is established with bone tissue allows it to be used as a filler for defective bones in various skeletal diseases and as a coating for metal prosthetic substrates.

Aluminum Oxide↗
PubMed1991

Attendance to a screening program for cervical cancer in the city of Florence.

The study was aimed to assess: a) the proportion of true refusers among non-attenders resulting from residents and screening database matching, b) the typology of refusers compared to attenders, and c) the reasons for non-attendance as stated by refusers. Three hundred and forty-one non-attenders according to computer-produced lists were interviewed: 29 were not evaluable, 148 had had a Pap test, 18 had not attended for valid reasons, and 146 were true refusers; 94 refusers accepted the interview as far a points b) and c) were concerned. Ninety-four attenders, matched by age and residence, were interviewed for comparison. Attendance at private laboratories or incorrect identification of subjects on the screening record accounted for 45% or 55% of misclassified cases, respectively. The adjusted true refusal rate in the last 10 years was 18.1% compared to a computer-assessed non-attendance rate of 40.7%. Refusal was significantly associated to socioeconomic status (geographic origin, working activity and educational level of both women and husbands), whereas no significant association was observed for sexual history (deliveries, age at first sexual relation, number of partners) or health-related behavior. Attendance and counseling at the gynecologist's office were strongly associated to attendance, and gynecologists should be stimulated to promote opportunistic screening. The belief that screening is useless in the absence of symptoms, the fear of cancer being detected, postponement or laziness were the reasons for non-attendance stated by 80% of refusers. Improving knowledge about the purpose of the Pap test should be the main goal of any action aimed to improve screening attendance.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

What healthy women think, feel and do about cancer, prevention and breast cancer screening in Italy.

In preparation for a major campaign to encourage participation in a breast screening programme for all women between 50-70 years old in Florence, Italy, an in-depth study of 200 women's attitudes and practices regarding cancer and its prevention was undertaken. 72% participated in semistructured interviews, and inclination to participate was analysed in terms of Yes (39%), Uncertain (36%), and No (20%) (5% were unspecified). Age (P = 0.03), area of birth (P = 0.01), education level of husband (P = 0.04) and prior Pap smear (P = 0.00) or mammography (P = 0.00) were among the variables statistically associated with inclination to participate. While the women shared more or less common images of cancer, concern for health, and belief in the importance of God and destiny, those less inclined to participate felt less personally vulnerable, had less faith in medicine's ability to cure or prevent cancer, were more distant from the medical system and culture in general and regarded information about health or illness more as unnecessary or dangerous than beneficial. Understanding and consideration of both "popular" and "medical" cultures need to be encouraged.

Aged↗
PubMed1990

A centralised cytology screening programme for cervical cancer in Florence.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a centralised population based cervical cytology screening programme. DESIGN: The study was a case-control investigation. SETTING: Cases and controls were confined to the province of Florence. PARTICIPANTS: 191 out of 208 cases of cervical cancer in women less than 75 years old at diagnosis in the period 1982-85 were interviewed. For each case three living controls were selected, strictly matched by year of birth and district of residence; in all 573 controls were eventually identified. Of these, 15 had had a hysterectomy (2.6%) and were excluded, and a further 18 (3.2%) did not take part for other reasons, leaving a total of 540 controls. MEASUREMENT AND RESULTS: Screening history was taken from a computerised archive for both cases and controls. A mail questionnaire was used to collect information on several potential confounding variables. For women screened only once in comparison with those never screened, the reduction in risk was about 70% (odds ratio 0.29. 95% confidence limits 0.15-0.55), while the reduction was even greater for those screened twice or more. No trend of increasing risk with increasing interval since last test was shown: considering separately women who had only had one test and those who had had two or more tests, the risk estimates were stable across different time intervals since the last test. CONCLUSIONS: There is a strong protective effect against developing invasive cervical cancer through participation in the screening programme.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Multilayered bead ceramic composite coating for hip prostheses: experimental studies and preliminary clinical results.

The clinical use of a new ceramic composite material made up of multilayered alumina beads and adhered to a ceramic surface with a high-temperature-melting bioglass is proposed. The result is a structure characterised by a 27% porosity and an average pore diameter of 400 microns. The actual structure of the parts as well as their interface interaction were determined by Raman laser. The mechanical resistance of the adherence of this coating for the ceramic substratum was good enough to resist the stress to which it was submitted when used for a new model of prosthetic acetabulum. Experiments with rabbits revealed the good biocompatibility of the composite. The osteoproductive activity of the tissue surrounding the implant led to the gradual filling of the porosity with trabecular structures. The preliminary results of the clinical experience which began in November 1985, confirm the good compatibility of the ceramic composite.

Aluminum Oxide↗
PubMed1988

[Biopsy of the chorionic villi in the early diagnosis of chromosomal diseases].

In the first trimester of pregnancy two simple chorionic villus sampling method, carried out under ultrasound guidance, with transabdominal or transcervical aspiration, was evaluated in 257 cases at risk for chromosomic diseases. The high efficacy of the transabdominal aspiration was demonstrated by obtain villus tissue for karyotyping in all but one case. In only one sample the abnormalities detected were not confirmed (one case of false positive).

Chorionic Villi Sampling↗
PubMed1985

[Echographic diagnosis of gestational age and law 194].

The authors examine the various biometrics parameters evidentiable at the 13th week of pregnancy, which is so important age for the limits imposed by the law 194, that regulates the legal abortion. These findings are studied as for their evidentiability and their diagnostic predictivity aiming to single out the most reliable. As for the results obtained examining the singular parameters, the authors conclude that the goal of the echographist is to search for the fetal CRL and BPD: they are characterised of an optimum predictivity and a good evidentiability, besides they provide direct data about the embryo dimensions. If these measurements are not evidentiable the operator can base his diagnosis on the other parameters that do not refer directly to the embryo. At last the authors sustain that who carried out the ultrasound examination should not "force" the diagnosis trying to establish the gestational age with excessive exactness; on the contrary he must limit himself to provide the evidentiable biometric values, indicating the minimum and the maximum age that is compatible with them. It is up to the physician who performs the termination of pregnancy to draw the correlations about the gestational age.

Abortion, Legal↗
PubMed1984

[Ultrasound in the study of the functional dynamics of the female genitalia].

The Authors have carried out this survey aiming at having at their disposal biometric indexes to be used in the dynamic and functional study of the female genitalia, since the purely anatomic data cannot be correlated white absolute certainty to the ultrasound data. The survey has been carried out on 42 women of an age between early childhood and late menopause. The patients in their fertile age were examined every other day, from the 10th day of the menstrual cycle; women in menopause or in their pre-puberal age were examined only once, to a total of 158 scans. In each woman the linear and volumetric measurement of the uterus, ovary, ovarian follicle and of the tube has been studied. The results were in conformity with those already reported in the literature.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

[Volumetric growth of the gestational sac: reliability and clinical limits].

Thanks to the continuous progress of the ultrasound scanning in obstetrics it is now possible to see the gestation sac already the 5th week of the pregnancy. Aiming to simplify the methods, of the past, the authors suggest the utilisation of a very simple but at the same time extremely accurate methodology to measure the volume of the gestational sac. The comparison between the data which have been obtained with this study and those reported in the literature showed a substantial uniformity, though the results came from different procedure. At the end of the study, the uses of this parameter as well as its application in the solution of that particular problem in the ultrasound diagnosis which is the "blighted ovum" are explained.

Female↗
PubMed1983

Oxalosis.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Calcium Oxalate↗