Spontaneous motor activity and sleep-wake cycles in low-risk preterm infants.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Activity Cycles↗
Biomedical subjects
M Moretti
Publications and source records attributed to M Moretti.
Low bedtime doses of H2-receptor antagonists for acute treatment of duodenal ulcer.
Twenty-four-hour intragastric acidity was measured continuously over five separate occasions in 15 patients with healed duodenal ulcers. They were randomized to receive either placebo, cimetidine 800 mg, ranitidine 150 mg, famotidine 20 mg, or nizatidine 150 mg, given at 2200 hr in double-blind fashion. All H2-receptor blockers were more effective than placebo in suppressing both circadian (P less than 0.05-P less than 0.01) and nocturnal (P less than 0.002) gastric acidity, while there was no significant differences between the effects of the four active drugs in the same time periods. The percentage of nocturnal acid inhibition (2300-0800 hr) over placebo in terms of H+ values was virtually 100% with all active treatments. The effect on daytime (0800-1700 hr) and evening (1700-2300 hr) acidity of both placebo and the four H2-receptor antagonists was similar. Therefore, in the above doses H2-receptor blockers guarantee overnight anacidity to a similar degree and cause the physiological buffering of daily meals on gastric acidity to be fully exploited. Furthermore, the reducing effect of daily meals on drug action can be prevented. Since strong acid suppression strictly confined to the nocturnal period has been shown to be closely correlated with the highest ulcer healing rates, it is suggested that single low bedtime doses of H2-receptor antagonist should be evaluated in the acute treatment of duodenal ulcer.
Adult↗
Conjugate lateral eye movements: a second look.
It has been suggested that conjugate lateral eye movements (CLEM) are related to cerebral lateralization. Two types of research have developed: studies examining individual differences (hemisphericity) and studies examining the type of questions used to elicit eye movements (hemispheric specialization). In a 1978 review, Ehrlichman and Weinberger questioned the notion that CLEM is related to cerebral lateralization, particularly with regard to individual differences. However, since their review, a substantial number of studies have been published which are pertinent to the validity of CLEM. The following paper reviewed the validity of CLEM through three avenues, neurophysiological evidence, relationships with other measures of laterality and relation to spatial and verbal stimuli. Overall, it was concluded that there is sufficient evidence to support the CLEM model. Converging evidence from studies on EEG, electrical stimulation, ablation, brain damage, sodium amytal testing, blood flow, positron emission tomography, dichotic listening, and visual half fields was found to be, for the most part, supportive. The results for verbal and spatial task performance were mixed. Studies examining verbal abilities or a verbal to spatial comparison were generally supportive. The findings for spatial abilities alone were more equivocal. Evidence on question-type was found to be weak but positive, with about half the studies showing the predicted asymmetry and the other half reporting nonsignificant results. The implications of an interaction between hemisphericity or characteristic arousal and hemispheric specialization were also discussed.
Animals↗
Gastric aspiration versus antimony and glass pH electrodes. A simultaneous comparative in vivo study.
To carry out a simultaneous comparison of the 24-h in vivo performance of antimony and glass electrodes and the findings of intermittent gastric aspiration, a triple-probe system with closely adjacent tips was positioned in the gastric corpus of 10 subjects representing different clinical and pharmacologic conditions. We showed that pH values measured with the antimony and the glass units were well correlated to those assessed in gastric aspirates (rs = 0.87; b = 1.079; a = -0.33; and rs = 0.85; b = 1.121; a = -0.38, respectively). A proportional correlation (rs = 0.86; b = 0.97; a = 0.02) was also found between the two intraluminal pH measurements. With regard to the error frequency distributions obtained by comparing the three measuring systems two at a time, the pH pairs differed by no more than 1 pH unit in most cases (greater than 90%). It can be concluded that antimony and glass pH electrodes can be used interchangeably in 24-h intragastric acidity studies in man.
Adolescent↗
Clinical relevance of sampling rate in the characterization and analysis of 24-hour gastric acidity. A report on 413 cases.
Four hundred and thirteen continuous, high-frequency-sampled gastric pH-metries were subdivided into six groups (normal subjects and patients with duodenal ulcer, gastric ulcer, chronic gastritis, prior cholecystectomy, or antisecretory treatment). The frequency distribution of those pH fluctuations that were greater than the quantitation error of instruments did not differ significantly (p greater than 0.30) between groups. Five per cent of these real pH fluctuations lasted less than 3 min. As the sampling rate increased from 1 to 60 min, the percentage of subjects whose 24-h median of pHs differed by no more than +/- 10% from that calculated on the raw high-frequency-acquired data progressively decreased (99.8%-42%). This error propagation was more marked in the case of [H+] integrals (99%-10%). A sampling rate equal to or faster than 1 min is necessary to provide a proper representation of the circadian pH pattern and to calculate accurate acidity indexes, regardless of the physiologic or pharmacologic nature of the profile.
Cholecystectomy↗
Mean and median of pH values, characterizing average intragastric acidity.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Gastric Acidity Determination↗
Epidemiological and genetic study of 200 cases of oral cleft in the Emilia Romagna region of northern Italy.
Epidemiological and genetic variables in clefts were analyzed during the years 1978-1986 in a case-control study of congenital malformations in the Emilia Romagna region of northern Italy. Among 150,168 newborns, 200 cases of cleft were detected, yielding a prevalence of 1.33 per 1,000. These clefts consisted of 112 (0.075%) cases of cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL +/- P) and 88 cases (0.058%) of cleft palate (CP). Coexisting abnormalities were found in 32% of cases. The heritability coefficient of CL +/- P was 0.84. No cluster in time or space could be demonstrated. Epilepsy was the only maternal risk factor found to be correlated with clefts. A predominance of males was found among CL +/- P cases.
Cleft Lip↗
Cell-specific localization of the alpha-subunit of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II in Purkinje cells in rodent cerebellum.
Brain calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type II, a multimeric 600-650 kDa enzyme composed of alpha- (50 kDa) and beta/beta' (60 and 58 kDa) subunits, may be formed by alpha- and beta-subunits combining in variable proportions in different types of neurons. This study presents evidence, using cerebella from mutant mice, that the alpha-subunit displays a restricted localization in the rodent cerebellum, being detectable only in Purkinje cells. Immunocytochemical analysis of normal rat cerebellum with an antibody selective for the alpha-subunit confirmed that this subunit was detectable only in Purkinje cells. In contrast, the beta/beta'-subunits appeared to be present in all types of cerebellar mutants examined. These results indicate that different cells of the cerebellum express distinct isozymic forms of the multifunctional calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type II. It appears that Purkinje cells primarily contain an isoenzyme formed by both alpha- and beta/beta'-subunits, and that non-Purkinje cells contain an isoenzyme formed primarily by beta/beta'-subunits.
Animals↗
Maternal and perinatal outcome of expectant management of premature rupture of membranes in the midtrimester.
The purpose of this clinical investigation was to determine the maternal and perinatal results of continuing pregnancy in 118 consecutive patients with premature rupture of the membranes at 16 to 26 weeks. The mean gestational age at diagnosis of premature rupture of the membranes was 23.1 +/- 2.7 weeks, with a median of 23.5. The interval from rupture to delivery ranged from 1 to 152 days, with a mean of 13. There was no correlation between gestational age at the time of rupture and the latency period. Thirty-five patients received tocolytic agents and 24 received steroids. Forty-eight percent were delivered within 3 days, 67% within 1 week, and 83% within 2 weeks. There was one maternal death from sepsis; 46 (39%) had amnionitis, and 8 (6.8%) had abruptio placentae. The mean gestational age at the time of delivery was 24.7 +/- 3.6 weeks. The 118 pregnancies resulted in 124 births. There were 17 stillbirths and 67 neonatal deaths, for a total perinatal mortality of 67.7%. In patients with premature rupture of the membranes at less than or equal to 23 weeks the perinatal survival rate was 13.3%, while it was 50% in patients with premature rupture of the membranes at 24 to 26 weeks (p less than 0.0001). Information was charted at 3 to 36 months for 34 of 40 surviving infants. The intact survival rate in this group was 67%, and 33% had some form of developmental abnormality. Expectant management in such cases can be justified in only a limited number of patients (patients who understand and accept the risks and patients beyond 23 weeks of gestation).
Adolescent↗
[Functions of the pediatrician in the delivery room].
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Delivery Rooms↗
Congenital malformations in 100,000 consecutive births in Emilia Romagna region, northern Italy: comparison with the EUROCAT data.
A population based Congenital Malformations Registry has been established in the Emilia Romagna region of northern Italy. From the 1st of January 1978 to the end of 1984, 103,484 births were monitored, and 1914 babies with one or more congenital abnormalities were registered producing a rate of 1.85 per cent. The total number of malformations registered was 2,412 (2.3%). The rates of selected groups of malformations (isolated and in association with other defects) are presented and compared with rates derived from the EUROCAT study.
Abnormalities, Multiple↗
A comparison of labetalol plus hospitalization versus hospitalization alone in the management of preeclampsia remote from term.
Two hundred primigravid women with mild preeclampsia at 26-35 weeks' gestation were randomly allocated to treatment with hospitalization alone or combined with labetalol. There were no differences between the two groups in mean systolic or diastolic pressures, mean gestational age, or initial laboratory findings at time of entry. Patients in the labetalol group demonstrated a statistically significant (P less than .005) decrease in blood pressure during treatment. No such decrease occurred in the hospitalization-alone group. Both groups exhibited significant deterioration in proteinuria, creatinine, and uric acid. The average days of pregnancy prolongation (mean +/- SD) were 21.3 +/- 13 and 20.1 +/- 14 days in the hospitalization and labetalol groups, respectively. There were no differences between the groups regarding any of the following: gestational age at delivery, birth weight, number of infants admitted to the special care unit, or cord blood gas measurements. However, the incidence of small-for-gestational-age infants was significantly higher in the labetalol group (19 versus 9%, P less than .05). There were no stillbirths, but one neonatal death in the labetalol group. Treatment of maternal blood pressure in preeclamptic pregnancies with labetalol did not improve perinatal outcome, and was associated with a higher frequency of fetal growth retardation.
Adult↗
A possible role for polyamines in cartilage in the mechanism of calcification.
The role of polyamines in cartilage is not known: they may be somehow related to the mechanism of calcification. In epiphyseal cartilage from calf scapulas, they are more concentrated in the ossifying area, where calcification takes place, than in the resting region. Spermidine is present in greater amounts than spermine and putrescine. Since ornithine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.17) is measurable only in the resting region of the tissue, it is in this area that polyamine biosynthesis occurs, while they accumulate in the ossifying area. Immunohistochemical evidence is obtained that only in the ossifying zone is spermidine extracellular. It is at this level that the matrix is rearranged to become calcified, and proteoglycans are dissociated and partially removed. The effect of polyamines on solutions of proteoglycan subunits has been studied in vitro by following variations of turbidity and viscosity. While in the presence of putrescine the specific viscosity decreases to asymptotic values, in the presence of either 30 mM spermidine or 2.5-10 mM spermine, the decrement is more marked. At the same concentrations, increase of the turbidity of proteoglycan subunit solutions was observed. Only spermidine showed the capacity of displacing proteoglycan subunits from a column of Sepharose 4B-type II collagen: at 15 mM concentration, about 90% of proteoglycans were removed from the column. Alkaline phosphatase activity, which plays an important role in calcification, is enhanced by spermidine and spermine. These results obtained in vitro support the hypothesis that polyamines may be related to calcification of preosseous cartilage.
Alkaline Phosphatase↗
Relationship between depression and conduct disorder in children and adolescents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Adolescent↗
Heterogeneous distribution of the cAMP receptor protein RII in the nervous system: evidence for its intracellular accumulation on microtubules, microtubule-organizing centers, and in the area of the Golgi complex.
The cellular and subcellular distribution of the regulatory subunit RII of cAMP-dependent protein kinase was studied by light and electron microscopy immunocytochemistry in tissue sections from rat brain and in primary cultures of brain cells. RII immunoreactivity was present in most neurons, although at variable concentration. In addition, RII was also detectable in other cell types including glia, neuroepithelial cells, and cells of mesenchymal origin. In the cell cytoplasm, RII immunoreactivity was concentrated at certain sites. An accumulation of RII immunoreactivity was found in all RII-positive cells at the Golgi area, precisely at a region directly adjacent to one of the two major faces of the Golgi complex. RII was also highly concentrated in some microtubule-rich cell processes such as cilia and neuronal dendrites, but was below detectability in most axons. In neurons, its concentration in dendrites is consistent with the previously demonstrated high affinity interaction between RII and the dendritic microtubule-associated protein 2. In addition, RII was accumulated at basal bodies of cilia and at centrosomes, i.e., sites known to act as microtubule organizers. RII-labeled centrosomes, however, were visible only in cells where the Golgi complex had a pericentrosomal organization, and not in cells where the Golgi complex was perinuclear such as in neurons and glia in situ. We hypothesize that centrosomal RII is bound to the pericentriolar microtubule-organizing material and that this material remains associated with the trans region of the Golgi complex when the latter is no longer associated with the centrosome. Our results suggest a key but not obligatory role of cAMP in the Golgi-centrosomal area, the headquarters of cell polarity, mobility and intracellular traffic, and in the function of a subpopulation of microtubules.
Animals↗
Clinical study on bronchodilation induced by a metered aerosol of fenoterol in combination with ipratropium bromide.
The response to an aerosol preparation containing 100 micrograms fenoterol and 40 micrograms ipratropium bromide per puff (Duovent) was compared with a placebo in 18 asthmatic patients in a double-blind cross-over fashion. We measured changes in lung function tests and pulse rate. Duovent induced a significant improvement in lung tests with statistical relevance for VEMS and Raw in comparison with placebo. The combination of fenoterol and ipratropium bromide also provided a long-lasting bronchodilatation without side effects.
Aerosols↗
Genitourinary tract anomalies: neonatal medical problems.
The results of a multicentric survey in the Emilia-Romagna area from 1978 to 1984 are given. During the first week of life, 103,484 babies were examined. Anomalies were detected in 1,914 babies, 326 of which had genitourinary malformations. There were 214 cases of hypospadias with a history of exposure to progestogens for threatened abortion, intrauterine growth retardation and early maternal menarche. Ninety-one cases of urinary tract malformations were found and in 66 babies this was the only anomaly. Until 1983 antenatal ultrasound examinations detected only 25% of urinary tract anomalies. In 1984 this figure climbed to 70%.
Female↗