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Biomedical subjects

M Marchetti

Publications and source records attributed to M Marchetti.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Effect of enterovirus infection on susceptibility of HeLa cells to Shigella flexneri invasivity.

Invasiveness of Shigella flexneri M90T in HeLa cells was significantly increased when cells were preinfected with poliovirus 1, coxsackievirus B3 and echovirus 6. This effect was dependent on the dose of virus used, evident at early stages of viral infection and lasted hours before the appearance of a cytopathic effect. An increase of bacterial invasion ability was also noticed when HeLa cells were incubated with UV-inactivated enteroviruses. This enhancing effect obtained with both viable and UV-inactivated enteroviruses was not observed when in coinfection experiments HN555, a mutant of S. flexneri M90T which lacked invasive properties, was used. The data presented here suggest that the early steps of enterovirus infection induce some alterations of HeLa cells which are responsible for the enhancing of the invasiveness of S. flexneri M90T, but not sufficient to promote internalization of a non-invasive strain.

Animals

Carcinoma of the vulva: critical analysis of survival and treatment of recurrences.

Prognostic variables in vulvar cancer include: stage, lymph nodal status, tumour diameter, vascular space invasion, depth of invasion. Treatment must in the cost/benefit balance, be adequate to these prognostic variables and surgery is today the cornerstone in vulvar cancer management. In early stages it is possible to control the disease with personalized radical non-mutilant operations limiting the high incidence of complications of the past, without endangering the 5-year survival rate. The risk of relapses is related to some factors such as site of tumour growth, depth of tumoural infiltration, lymphnode involvement and vascular space involvement. Relapses appear earlier in the groin than in the primitive sites and cases with more than 3 effected nodes have a higher incidence of recurrences in any site. Survival in related to localization and time of relapses. The treatment of recurrence is personalized for different sites, almost always surgical, in local recurrences.

Carcinoma

Fertility after ovarian cancer treatment.

Considering the important improvement of surgical techniques and chemotherapy in the last few years, it is possible today, in selected cases of patients previously treated for ovarian cancer, to support their desire for motherhood, thus improving the quality of life for them. The major problem for the Gynecologic Oncologist in treating young women for ovarian tumour is the lack of statistically significant experience world-wide, because of the very few cases in which the reproductive function is preserved, and pregnancy is subsequently possible. In this report the problem is discussed, and the results obtained in our Institute are presented.

Adult

Carcinoma of the vulva: critical analysis of survival and treatment of recurrences.

Survival analysis of 181 vulvar cancer patients shows that stage and lymph nodal spread remain the most important prognostic factors. Other prognostic elements are: depth of stromal infiltration, thickness and site of the lesion, vascular space invasion. Precise definition of these pathological prognostic elements may be obtained only after appropriate surgical pathological evaluation of the primary lesion and regional nodes. Treatment must be adequate in the cost-benefit balance and surgery is the cornerstone in vulvar cancer management. Risk of relapse is statistically correlated with site of primary tumour, depth of infiltration, lymph nodal invasion and vascular space invasion. The treatment of recurrence is personalized for different sites but surgery is the elective treatment of the local recurrences.

Aged

Fertility after ovarian cancer treatment.

Considering the important improvement of surgical techniques and chemotherapy in the last few years, it is possible today, in selected cases of patients previously treated for ovarian cancer, to support their desire for motherhood, thus improving the quality of life for them. The major problem for the Gynecologic Oncologist in treating young women for ovarian tumour is the lack of statistically significant experience world-wide, because of the very few cases in which the reproductive function is preserved, and pregnancy is subsequently possible. In this report the problem is discussed, and the results obtained in our Institute are presented.

Adenocarcinoma

Clinical experience in gynecological cancer management. d). Ovarian tumors--1) Epithelial: report from the Gynaecological Institutes of Padua University (1963-1990).

A complete review of case series from 1963 to 1990 allows some considerations and conclusions on the clinical management of epithelial ovarian cancer. In the aim of early diagnosis, the ovarian condition must be evaluated also by ultrasound scans, in every woman, at every gynaecological control, and every ovarian or pelvic mass must be carefully examined and removed. Staging is generally recognized as reliable only by surgical pathological evaluation, (SPS) as in post-surgical FIGO staging. Therapy is based on adequate chemosurgical strategy. Surgery, performed in maximum effort, must aim at radicality or adequate debulking, avoiding, however too heavy mutilations, almost always useless for prognosis. Lymphadenectomy, in advanced cases, should be selectively and not systematically performed. Cyclophosphamide and Cis-Platinum appear to be, today too, the most effective regimens as first line chemotherapy. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy must still be well evaluated in its cost-benefit balance and personalized in particular cases. Second laparotomic look must be personalized in respect to residual disease after primary surgery and tumoral aggressiveness factors.

Clinical Protocols

Rapid and sensitive determination of phenylurea herbicides in water in the presence of their anilines by extraction with a Carbopack cartridge followed by liquid chromatography.

A rapid and sensitive method for determining phenylurea herbicides in environmental aqueous samples in the presence of their anilines is described. The water sample is preconcentrated by passage at a flow-rate of ca. 150 ml/min through a 250-mg graphitized carbon black (Carbopack B) cartridge. After washing with 0.6 ml of methanol, the Carbopack B trap is connected with a cartridge containing a strong cation exchanger. Organics trapped by the Carbopack cartridge are eluted by passage of 6 ml of methylene chloride-methanol (95:5, v/v). Anilines and other basic compounds are quantitatively subtracted from the solvent system while flowing through the cation-exchange cartridge. After evaporation and redissolution, the sample is subjected to reversed-phase gradient elution high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection at 250 nm. Recoveries of phenylureas added to water at levels between 30 and 3000 ng/l were higher than 92%. The limit of detection was about 1 ng/l, for a 2-1 sample. With respect to an octadecyl (C18)-bonded silica cartridge, the Carbopack B cartridge had a far better extraction efficiency for polar phenylureas.

Aniline Compounds

Multiresidue method for pesticides in drinking water using a graphitized carbon black cartridge extraction and liquid chromatographic analysis.

A general liquid-solid extraction procedure for the isolation of pesticides from groundwater and drinking water for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is presented. This simple and rapid procedure involved passing a 2-L sample through a 250-mg graphitized carbon black (Carbopack B) cartridge at a flow rate of 150-160 mL/min. By taking advantage of the presence of positively charged active centers on the Carbopack B surface, a stepwise elution system allowed the complete separation of base-neutral pesticides from acidic ones. After partial solvent removal, the components in the two fractions were separated and quantified by gradient elution, reversed-phase HPLC with ultraviolet (UV) detection. The performance of the Carbopack cartridge was compared with that of a 500-mg C-18 bonded silica cartridge. With the Carbopack cartridge, the grand mean measurement accuracy of the 35 pesticides considered was 95%. With the C-18 cartridge, the grand mean measurement accuracy of the analytes was 76%. Compared to the C-18 cartridge, additional advantages of using a Carbopack cartridge are that the extraction procedure is about 7 times shorter, no pH adjustment of the environmental sample is necessary for trapping acidic compounds, and one cartridge instead of two suffices to extract base-neutral and acidic pesticides, making the Carbopack cartridge more adaptable than the C-18 one for field use. The detection limits by this method of all the pesticides considered were between 0.003 and 0.07 micrograms/L.

Carbon

The asymmetric hydroformylation in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals.

The asymmetric hydroformylation reaction represents a potential powerful synthetic tool for the preparation of large number of different chiral products to be used as precursors of several organic compounds endowed with therapeutic activity. Essential and nonessential amino acids, 2-arylpropanoic acids, aryloxypropyl- and beta-phenylpropylamines, modified beta-phenylethylamines, pheniramines, and other classes of pharmaceuticals are available through enantioselective oxo-reaction of appropriate functionalized olefins; this process is catalyzed by rhodium or platinum complexes with chiral ligands, mainly chelating phosphines, and sometimes affords very high enantiomeric excesses. Furthermore, the application of many simple optically active aldehydes arising from asymmetric hydroformylation as chiral building blocks for the synthesis of complex pharmacologically active molecules such as antibiotics, peptides, antitumor macrocycle compounds, and prostaglandins is conveniently emphasized. The possibility of a future application of this asymmetric process for the production of many synthons to obtain other valuable pharmaceuticals is widely discussed too.

Amines

Rabies virus infection in Aedes pseudoscutellaris cells: a study on receptorial structures.

Rabies virus is able to infect in vitro a wide range of homeothermic and poikilothermic cells but little is known about its multiplication in arthropod cells. In this research the infection of rabies virus in Aedes pseudoscutellaris cells, a mosquito cell line susceptible to mosquito-borne viruses, was studied. After 60 days of incubation at 26 degrees C up to 70% of infected cells showed the synthesis of both viral nucleocapsid and envelope antigens, although viral yield and cell damage could not be detected. Research performed in order to investigate the role of membrane carbohydrate moieties in rabies virus-mosquito cell interaction suggested the participation of galactose and N-acetylglucosamine whereas sialic acid, known to be a rabies binding site in many homeothermic cell lines, was not involved.

Aedes

Prediction of ramp traversability for wheelchair dependent individuals.

The purpose of this research was to obtain a single objective criterion that would constitute a reliable prediction of length and grade limits for ramps that can be traversed by any special category of wheelchair dependent individuals (WDI). The maximal voluntary force (MVC) is the main limiting factor of the performance of WDI, thus the force required to traverse a ramp has been established by means of a simple mechanical model. The real time course of force application during ascent was experimentally obtained. Then, a simplified law of force application was introduced in a computer simulation program of kinetics and kinematics of ascent. Inputs to the model were also the mass of the subject plus wheelchair, the initial velocity of the chair, and the ramp length. The output of the program was the force requirement for any given length/grade. When capsizing conditions were encountered the simulation ended. We tested the results thus obtained having some selected WDI successfully traversing ramps with the predicted length/grade specifications.

Architectural Accessibility

Ramp length/grade prescriptions for wheelchair dependent individuals.

The aim of this work was to provide well defined criteria for ramp construction for wheelchair dependent individuals (WDI). Force capability was measured in a large sample (140) of WDI, who presented different levels of motor impairment. Levels of impairment were established on the basis of the answers given in a questionnaire regarding the degree of self sufficiency at home as well as outside the home and active participation in sports events. Taking into account those WDI who exhibited at least a minimal level of self-sufficiency, the following prescriptions are indicated. For a 1 metre ramp length, allowable maximal incline 15%; up to 3 metre ramp length, maximal incline 10%. The reliability of such prescriptions was confirmed by having a test ramp traversed by 43 WDI. These values are suggested as confidence limits when faced with public building accommodations. Special prescriptions could be adopted for selected populations of WDI.

Architectural Accessibility

Age-related balance changes in hearing-impaired children.

This study compared balance skills of hearing-impaired children with those of hearing children in order to determine whether a deficit in balance exists in hearing-impaired children and to ascertain whether this deficit is age-related. Twenty-eight hearing-impaired subjects were chosen as a sample of convenience from the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf and placed into one of three age groups. Ten subjects were in the 4.5 to 6.5-year-old age group, 8 in the 8- to 10-year-old age group, and 10 in the 12.5 to 14.5-year-old age group. Selection criteria included bilateral sensorineural hearing loss of greater than or equal to 65 dB and normal intelligence (IQ greater than or equal to 80). Balance was measured by the use of the Balance subtest of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency. For each age group, a z test was used to compare the subjects' scores with the Balance subtest standard scores. The results showed that for each age group, the mean score for the hearing-impaired children was lower than the standard score. Both older groups had significantly higher scores than the youngest group, but the mean scores of the older groups were not significantly different. No difference between the subjects' balance scores and the Balance subtest standard scores was found among the age groups, suggesting that the balance deficit was not age-related. Gender differences were not found for balance scores.

Adolescent

Human serum non-antibody inhibitors towards SA-11 rotavirus hemagglutination.

In the present work the non-antibody inhibitory activity of human serum towards SA-11 rotavirus hemagglutination (HA) has been studied. Among human serum protein components, inhibitory activity was recovered in fractions III (beta-globulin), IV (alpha-globulin) and IV (glycoprotein). Additional experiments performed with purified lipoprotein sub-classes and their lipid and apolipoprotein moieties demonstrated the ability of HDL and, HDL1 to prevent SA-11 HA.

Animals

5-year survival of endometrial carcinoma in the experience of the Gynaecological Clinic of Padua University: quality of life.

We have considered 414 cases of endometrial carcinoma from 1963 to 1990, with particular attention to 5-year survival and quality of life. The results show an increase of survival rate and of patients always NED- rate, from the first decades (63-70) to the last period (81-90). Similarly, the percentage of patients treated just with surgical therapies increases too, showing the effectiveness of personalized therapeutical strategies.

Endometrial Neoplasms

Relationships between some lithogenetic factors and vitamin B6-status in idiopathic calcium lithiasis.

Several researchers have shown that a reduced intake of vitamin B6 can induce increased oxalate urinary excretion leading to a higher incidence of calcium oxalate stones. Furthermore, the treatment with pyridoxine in patients with urinary stones and high oxalate excretion has led to contradictory results as the excretion of oxalate was either decreased, unchanged or increased. To verify if these divergent results were linked to a different B6 status of the patients undergoing the treatment, we studied the vitamin B6 and the main lithogenetic factor levels in patients with idiopathic calcium lithiasis as compared to normal subjects. The results showed that a high oxalate excretion is not necessarily coupled with a low vitamin B6 status and viceversa. However, some stone formers present a non homogeneous vitamin pattern that could be the consequence of an abnormal vitamin B6 metabolism.

Calcium Oxalate

Clinical experience in gynecological cancer management. c). Cervical cancer: report from the Gynecologic Institutes of Padua University (1963-1989).

The retrospective analysis of 1876 cases of invasive cervical cancer allows some considerations and conclusions on the clinical management of this neoplasia. Always led by the Gynaecologist, in the aims of prophylaxis and early diagnosis, personalized screening are necessary, with regard to risk factors. Surgical Pathological Staging (SPS) is mandatory for adequate treatment and prognosis. By personalizing surgical radicality and avoiding the application, in all cases, of the routine and standard extended operations of the past, it may be possible to reduce the complication rate with 5 year survival rate unchanged. In early stages personalized radical operations with systemic pelvic lymphadenectomy allow the best results (94% 5 year survival rate). Integrated therapies must be planned only in lymph nodal positive or in vascular space invasion cases. In advanced cases, surgery must be personalized in enlarged operations and integrated with adjuvant treatments on the basis of surgical pathological findings. In very advanced stages, integrated therapies, even without surgery, are justified, due to the poor prognosis of these cases.

Combined Modality Therapy