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D Corsini

Publications and source records attributed to D Corsini.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Quality of life and aphasia. Multicentric standardization of a questionnaire.

AIM: It is important to assess aphasics' quality of life in order to plan a rehabilitation treatment. To date such a tool is still missing for Italian patients. This paper reports normative data of the Italian version of SAQOL-39, a British questionnaire aimed to assess aphasics' quality of life. It consists of 39 items, divided into 4 subdomains (Physical, Communication, Psychosocial and Energy). METHODS: Forty-two patients coming from 3 different Speech Therapy Services were enrolled. All patients completed speech therapy before examination. They were submitted to the Italian SAQOL-39 and 2 screening tests for aphasia: 1) Communication Assessment Scale according Goodglass and Kaplan; 2) Franchay Aphasia Screening Test (FAST). A receptive FAST score of 7 out of 15 was used as a cut-off score for SAQOL-39 administration. RESULTS: The Italian SAQOL-39 showed good internal consistency (full scale Cronbach's alpha 0.939). Cronbach's alpha for every subdomains ranged from 0.950 (Communication) to 0.720 (Energy). Fluent aphasics gave significantly higher scores than nonfluent ones on full scale, and all out of Energy subdomains. Furthermore gravity of aphasia correlated with both full scale and Communication subdomain scores. CONCLUSIONS: In authors' opinion, the Italian SAQOL-39 shares many psychometric features with the English one. This questionnaire seems to be suitable for clinical practice.

Aged↗

Control of enzymatic browning in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) by sense and antisense RNA from tomato polyphenol oxidase.

Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity of Russet Burbank potato was inhibited by sense and antisense PPO RNAs expressed from a tomato PPO cDNA under the control of the 35S promoter from the cauliflower mosaic virus. Transgenic Russet Burbank potato plants from 37 different lines were grown in the field. PPO activity and the level of enzymatic browning were measured in the tubers harvested from the field. Of the tubers from 28 transgenic lines that were sampled, tubers from 5 lines exhibited reduced browning. The level of PPO activity correlated with the reduction in enzymatic browning in these lines. These results indicate that expression of tomato PPO RNA in sense or antisense orientation inhibits PPO activity and enzymatic browning in the major commercial potato cultivar. Expression of tomato PPO RNA in sense orientation led to the greatest decrease in PPO activity and enzymatic browning, possibly due to cosuppression. These results suggest that expression of closely related heterologous genes can be used to prevent enzymatic browning in a wide variety of food crops without the application of various food additives.

Biotechnology↗

[Economic burden and clinical course of HIV infection and AIDS today: how the variation of natural history, available treatments, and strictly related costs play a role in needs of health care].

In order to provide an updated balance of the evolution of the natural history of HIV infection, the major clinical end-points of disease morbidity and mortality were compared with the progressively increasing use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), in a cohort of patients followed by our tertiary care centre in an eight-year period including both the pre-HAART and the HAART era. Although direct expenditures for antiretroviral agents reached even 99.8% of overall costs related to drugs and blood derivatives at our entire unit in the year 2000, a clear shift towards outpatient assistance of HIV infection was realized during recent years, leading to an increased and greatly varied spectrum of infectious diseases hospitalized at our inpatient and Day-Hospital units. Due to the significant reduction of inpatient expenditures, even the elevated costs of management of HIV disease based on HAART and periodic virological and immunological monitoring are expected to remain cost-effective, at least during the next few years.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

[Portal thromboses].

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Esophageal and Gastric Varices↗

[Our experience with althesin and hydroxyzine combined in the same syringe in minor surgery].

Personal experience in minor surgery with Althesin alone (200 cases) and in association with hydroxyzine in the same syringe (250 cases) is reported. Comparison showed that the association is useful, particularly in cases where the operation lasts longer and involves greater pain stimuli. It is felt that the method described will extend the use of Althesin in minor surgery.

Adolescent↗

[Personal experience with a combination of Althesin and Atarax in caesarean section].

Personal experience with an association of Althesin and hydroxyzine administered in the same syringe in the induction and maintenance of anaesthesia for caesarean section is described. The technique proved to be sound, offering safe conditions for both mother and foetus, and absence of noteworthy side-effects, and a good post-operative analgesic effect. The overall results were better than those observed when TPS is used as the inducing agent.

Alfaxalone Alfadolone Mixture↗