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L Bellina

Publications and source records attributed to L Bellina.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

[A survey on the use of pesticides in the province of Treviso].

The results of a study on a sample of 301 farms of the province of Treviso are here presented. The aim of our study was the evaluation of the quantity of pesticides, considered as active principle, spread over this territory in 1987. Our data stress that arboreal cultivations need the major quantity of fungicides, insecticides and acaricides while the use of herbicides and soil insecticides is almost exclusive to grassy cultures. The fungicides result the most widely used pesticides followed by herbicides and, to a less degree, the other products. In our case they are used nearly exclusively in vine growing. We underline that, although the consumption of pesticides fell within correct agronomic standards, this quantity could be considerably reduced by modern technology.

Agriculture↗

Turnover of phospholipids isolated from fractions of lung lavage fluid.

To clarify the steps following surfactant secretion, we injected adult rabbits with radioactive palmitate, lavaged the airways, removed the cells, separated by ultracentrifugation lavage components into two fractions (B and C), and followed the labeling of phospholipids of these fractions. The results were compatible with the view that total and saturated phosphatidylcholine are transferred from B to C. Furthermore, the fluxes of total and saturated phosphatidylcholine through fraction C (0.45 and 0.30 mumol . h-1 . g lung-1, respectively) were compatible with the actual estimates of surfactant recycling. The labeling of phosphatidylglycerol ruled out a simple precursor-product relationship between B and C but was compatible with a nonideal first-order relationship. The labeling of phosphatidylinositol, cardiolipin, and phosphatidylethanolamine was incompatible with the existence of a direct precursor-product relationship between B and C. The labeling of total and saturated phosphatidylcholine suggests that fraction B may be made by active surfactant, whereas fraction C may contain surfactant modified for reuptake or for reuptake and catabolism.

Animals↗

Heterogeneity of alveolar surfactant in the rabbit: composition, morphology, and labelling of subfractions isolated by centrifugation of lung lavage.

Rabbit alveolar saturated phosphatidylcholine (SPC) can be separated by differential and density gradient centrifugation of lung lavage into three fractions. One fraction ('B'), which is analogous to conventionally prepared alveolar surfactant, contains 46.0 +/- 5.9% (SD) of lavage SPC, and is made of large multilamellar vesicles or sheet-like structures. A second fraction ('C') does not sediment after centrifugation at 80 000 g for 90 min, contains 29.8 +/- 14.0% of lavage SPC, and a uniform population of small vesicles. This fraction incorporates 3H-palmitate administered intravenously with a small delay with respect to fraction 'B'. A third fraction ('D') contains almost all the cells of lavage and less than 5% of lavage SPC. We conclude that alveolar SPC consists of more than one compartment. The possible significance of isolated fractions is discussed.

Animals↗

Chicken buffy coat leucocytes (BCL) as indicator cells for human leucocytes migration inhibitory factor (LIF).

Human leucocyte migration inhibiting factor (LIF) form Con A stimulated lymphoid cells inhibited the migration of human and chicken peripheral blood leucocytes. The evaluation of human LIF activity on chicken cells is easy to perform as a routine test and has the advantage that large quantities of indicator cells are readily available. The chicken cell LIF test can be performed in the absence of serum, so avoiding effects due to plasminogen activator, and does not require the use of concentrated supernatants. LIF activity against both human and chicken targets was absent in supernatants from lung cancer subjects.

Animals↗

Depression of contact sensitivity to oxazolone by the paramyxovirus of Newcastle disease. Impairment by infectious virus of effector T cells which mediate the response to contactant.

The paramyxovirus of Newcastle disease (NDV) impairs the contact sensitivity to oxazolone in CBA/J mice: in vitro treatment with the infectious virus inhibits the passive transfer of contact sensitivity. Experiments performed with three different virus preparations demonstrate that only the infectious virus is able to inhibit the hypersensitivity reaction while treatment of virus by heat or ultraviolet irradiation wipes out its inhibitory activity. These results suggest that I-NDV depresses the response to oxazolone by its action on T immunoblasts which mediate the response to contactant.

Animals↗

Delayed-type skin reactions in bursectomized or thymectomized chickens.

Chickens can easily be induced to develop delayed-type skin reactions to oxazolone when animals are sensitized 7 days before the challenge. The reaction is quantitated by assessing the increase in wattle thickness: maximum reactions occur 24 h after challenge. The reaction is inhibited by neonatal thymectomy or bursectomy; these findings therefore suggest also an important B-derived component in delayed hypersensitivity to oxazolone.

Animals↗

Malaria in illegal Chinese immigrants, Italy.

A cluster of 22 imported malaria cases, 21 caused by Plasmodium falciparum, was observed among illegal Chinese immigrants in northern Italy in the summer of 2000. The rate of severe disease was high because the patients were not immune and they sought health-care services late in their illness because of their clandestine status. Recognition of the outbreak was delayed because no regional alert system among infectious diseases hospitals was in place.

Adolescent↗