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Biomedical subjects

P Caputo

Publications and source records attributed to P Caputo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Nuclear DNA contents, rDNAs, and karyotype evolution in subgenus Vicia: III. The heterogeneous section Hypechusa.

Nuclear DNA contents, automated karyotype analyses, and sequences of internal transcribed spacers from ribosomal genes have been determined in the species belonging to section Hypechusa of the subgenus Vicia. Karyomorphological results and phylogenetic data generated from the comparison of rDNA (genes coding for rRNA) sequences showed that sect. Hypechusa is not monophyletic; however, some monophyletic units are apparent (one including Vicia galeata, V. hyrcanica, V. noeana, and V. tigridis, another including V. assyriaca, V. hybrida, V. melanops, V. mollis, and V. sericocarpa), which partly correspond to morphology-based infrasectional groups. The relationships among these species and the species in sections Faba, Narbonensis, Bithynicae, and Peregrinae have been also investigated.

Cell Nucleus↗
PubMed2005

Nuclear DNA contents, rDNAs, and karyotype evolution in Vicia subgenus Vicia: II. Section Peregrinae.

Nuclear DNA contents, automated karyotype analyses, and sequences of rDNA spacers have been determined for the species of Vicia belonging to sect. Peregrinae, as well as for V. mollis. The phylogenetic data generated from the comparison of rDNA sequences and karyomorphological results would both indicate that Vicia mollis is a sister group to sect. Peregrinae. The relationships among the species belonging to the Peregrinae section and species enclosed in sections Faba, Narbonensis, and Bithynicae have been also investigated: a clade including V. mollis and sect. Peregrinae is a sister group to a clade including V. bithynica and sect. Narbonensis. With our choice of outgroup, Vicia faba (including subsp. paucijuga) is external to the above mentioned inclusive group.

Cell Nucleus↗
PubMed2004

Giant proximity effect in cuprate superconductors.

Using an advanced molecular beam epitaxy system, we have reproducibly synthesized atomically smooth films of high-temperature superconductors and uniform trilayer junctions with virtually perfect interfaces. We found that supercurrent runs through very thick barriers. We can rule out pinholes and microshorts; this "giant proximity effect" (GPE) is intrinsic. It defies the conventional explanation; it might originate in resonant tunneling through pair states in an almost-superconducting barrier. GPE may also be significant for superconducting electronics, since thick barriers are easier to fabricate.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

No mixing of superconductivity and antiferromagnetism in a high-temperature superconductor.

There is still no universally accepted theory of high-temperature superconductivity. Most models assume that doping creates 'holes' in the valence band of an insulating, antiferromagnetic 'parent' compound, and that antiferromagnetism and high-temperature superconductivity are intimately related. If their respective energies are nearly equal, strong antiferromagnetic fluctuations (temporally and spatially restricted antiferromagnetic domains) would be expected in the superconductive phase, and superconducting fluctuations would be expected in the antiferromagnetic phase; the two states should 'mix' over an extended length scale. Here we report that one-unit-cell-thick antiferromagnetic La2CuO4 barrier layers remain highly insulating and completely block a supercurrent; the characteristic decay length is 1 A, indicating that the two phases do not mix. We likewise found that isolated one-unit-cell-thick layers of La1.85Sr0.15CuO4 remain superconducting. The latter further implies that, on doping, new electronic states are created near the middle of the bandgap. These two findings are in conflict with most proposed models, with a few notable exceptions that include postulated spin-charge separation.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

[CT pulmonary density mapping: surgical utility].

BACKGROUND: The present paper considers the technique of CT scan maps of pulmonary isodensity, examining lung density differences as a function of the type of disease and considering their significance for the purposes of refined, useful diagnosis in a surgical context. METHODS. The method is used to examine 3 groups of subjects selected on a clinical/anamnestic basis and a further group already admitted for surgery. For each patient we obtained 2 thoracic density scans during the phase of maximum inspiration and expiration. On each scan we constructed 50 isodensity maps, the equivalent of more than 2500 measurements: the preliminary standard was represented by 100 wide windows to produce total "illumination" of the pulmonary fields. The isodensity windows were then codified differently. Subsequently, the density scans were analysed with the technique of scalar decomposition. RESULTS: The CT scan maps of lung isodensity proved useful for certain lung diseases in which early diagnosis, topographic extent of the pathology and the refined definition of the pathological picture provide important solutions as regards the indication and planning of surgical treatment and for the evaluation of the operative risk and prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: We consider that the technique is rapidly performed, not complex and inexpensive and is able to supply detailed information on the lung parenchyma such as to be used not only as a routine technique but also in emergencies.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

[Gynaecological pelvic mass. Emergency clinical assessment].

BACKGROUND: The authors report the gynaecological pathology of surgical interest occurring in an Emergency Department in the first half of 2000 and occasionally found during an operation in women who presented a pelvic mass or abdominal pain. METHODS: Six women, average age of 50 years, reached the Emergency Department: five of them were operated with an emergency procedure. RESULTS: Of the 6 cases, 1 patient was affected by uterine mass, 1 by uterine-ovarian mass and 3 by ovarian mass; in one patient, affected by ovarian tumour, another intervention was necessary for intestinal metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: The authors have considered the clinical aspect of the abdominal masses, the age of the patients, the diagnostic laboratory and instrumental implications, the surgical approach and the histological result, referring to literature. Their contribution is related to the need for an appropriate surgical approach in emergency where it may, sometimes, solve or, at least, stabilize an uncertain clinical case, thanks to the implicit basic knowledge of multidisciplinary surgical technique.

Abdomen, Acute↗
PubMed2001

[Biliary complications during videolaparoscopic cholecystectomy. Remarks on methodology and indications in the training period].

In our study we have considered the activity of a surgeon working in our Surgery Department during his laparoscopic training period. We focus our attention on a date related to the same complications checked in 27 cases of cholelithiasis operated by the same surgeon. We have observed three cases of biliary cholelithiasis fistulas, all of them during the three last operations. The examination of the above mentioned cases considers the clinical post-surgery situation and the therapeutic standards we adopted to work out the complications. Now we can precisely state, according to our experience, the particular directions for the videolaparoscopic training period. In addition we can propose one simple mathematical formula to value the IRL (Laparoscopic Risk Index) concerning three variables: the experience of the surgeon; the instruments condition; the clinical situation of the patient. The relation of these three factors turned in numbers suggests the chance of success of a videolaparoscopic operation. We conclude our study mentioning the gasless videolaparoscopic technique that seems to have a large indication, according to the same Surgery School. This technique is particulary indicated on those classes of patients in which the CO2 insufflation into abdominal cavity and the increase of endocavity pressure can represent a contraindication to the videolaparoscopic approach: in this case the surgeon will follow the surgical indication to solve the clinical situation, as happens in war surgery.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Maternal inheritance of plastids in Encephalartos Lehm. (Zamiaceae, Cycadales).

The mode of inheritance of chloroplast DNA has been determined in Encephalartos by employing a restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of chloroplast DNA. Artificial F1 hybrids were produced between a female specimen of E. natalensis and a male specimen of E. woodii. The hybridization patterns of all hybrids correspond, in all cases, with that of E. natalensis, and are different from that of E. woodii, thus indicating the maternal inheritance of cpDNA in cycads.

Chloroplasts↗
PubMed2001

[Combined complex surgical procedures: cardiovascular and general surgery].

BACKGROUND: Aim of the paper is to evaluate the surgical indication in patients with cardiac and concomitant pathology. METHODS: In this study, are examined ten combined surgical sessions performed from 1992 at 1999, in patients affected by both cardiac and neoplastic disease with surgical indication. Eight men and two women, mean age 59.4 (range 50-68 years), eight affected by thoracic or abdominal tumour, one affected by hypersplenism and one by pulmonary cystic dysplasia with recurring pneumothorax. Anatomic resection and in two patient wedge-resection were performed except one woman who was splenectomized and one man who underwent atypical resection and pulmonary decortication. All subjects required extracorporeal circulation. RESULTS: No peri-operative deaths were observed and mean survival was 34 months (range 6-72 months). Moreover, there were no hemorrhages due to coagulation values of extracorporeal circulation. This approach proved useful both from the economic point of view and hospitalization time. CONCLUSIONS: According to personal experience this can be considered a successful therapeutic choice in selected patients. These observations suggest further considerations on combined operations surgery risk and mortality-morbidity appears to be reduced by a better myocardial revascularization.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

[Rupture of the urinary bladder caused by trivial trauma. Case report].

The urinary bladder occupies the deep pelvic cavity and is well protected from the bacin: this is the reason why it can rarely be traumatized. Anyway it could suffer traumas, which can cause extraperitoneal and intraperitoneal ruptures. A classification of traumas that can injure the urinary bladder and the treatments of these lesions are presented. A clinical case personal observed regarding a 78 year-old female patient is described. An accidental fall and direct trauma in the hypogastrium caused a rupture of her urinary bladder. In this case, the patient was anuric, though the macrohematuria and microhematuria can be present in the 85% of the urinary bladder lesions. This is an interesting case since it deals with a urinary bladder wall rupture, due to a trivial trauma on the bladder.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

[Hemorrhoid disease. Physiopathology, etiopathology and surgical approach].

The authors report a number of cases of hemorrhoid disease and describe the therapeutic iter followed with particular reference to the surgical approach used. After a description of the physiopathological aspects linked to the disease, bearing in mind the use of electromanometry and electromyography in diagnosis, the authors underline the contemporary presence of varices in the lower limbs and hemorrhoid disease, as well as the frequent finding of hemorrhoids in a syndrome of portal hypertension. They then affirm how it is impossible to establish the causes of this pathology with any certainty and how a single standardised treatment plan is untenable. The authors then indicate the guidelines used to choose the most appropriate form of surgery rather than pharmacological treatment, based on the ideal cases and conditions for surgery. The ultimate goals of surgery are also outlined. The study compares four possible surgical techniques, providing synthetic information regarding their adaptability to the various cases treated and the characteristics of their use. This means that, once decided, surgery must successfully resolve the patient's problems. In conclusion, once hemorrhoid disease has been diagnosed, it is important to intervene with appropriate medical treatment to control the evolution of the pathology; if this is not sufficient, surgery becomes an inevitable choice.

Hemorrhoids↗
PubMed1999

Phylogeny and evolution of Orchis and allied genera based on ITS DNA variation: morphological gaps and molecular continuity.

Phylogenetic relationships among members of genus Orchis and allied genera Aceras, Anacamptis, Barlia, Dactylorhiza, Gymnadenia, Himantoglossum, Neotinea, Ophrys, Platanthera, and Serapias were inferred from nucleotide sequence variation in the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA. Sequences were subjected to various alignments by changing the gap opening and extension parameters. After a preliminary parsimony analysis, the alignment with the lowest homoplasy indicators was chosen as optimal. The phylogenetic analysis, carried out on the optimal alignment by using Gennaria as an outgroup and a total of 31 taxa, showed that all the genera considered in this study are nested in Orchis despite their distinct morphological features. Genus Orchis is divided into two major clades, each of which includes one or more of the other genera in this study. The resulting phylogenetic hypothesis does not match previous conclusions based on vegetative and floral morphology of the taxa involved but is congruent with isoenzyme, karyological, and chloroplast DNA restriction data. Our results indicate that floral morphology is highly flexible and current generic and infrageneric limits are artificial. Even if some floral characters closely correspond to the molecular data, most are highly homoplastic and thus unsuitable for phylogenetic reconstruction. Various traits pertaining to floral morphology may be interpreted as a result of ecological convergence related to pollinator-mediated selection; such characters can undergo drastic modifications without correspondingly dramatic genetic changes.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1997

Stem cell mobilization in normal donors.

We studied peripheral blood and apheresis samples from 39 consecutive normal donors who were parents or siblings of patients who received matched or mismatched bone marrow transplants using a combination of rhG-CSF-mobilized peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) and bone marrow (BM). BM was harvested from donors 1-7 days before starting rhG-CSF treatment: 12 micrograms/kg/day rhG-CSF was administered by continuous s.c. infusion for 4-7 days. Peripheral blood progenitor cells were harvested by leukapheresis using an automated continuous-flow blood cell separator, beginning on day 4 of rhG/CSF, for 1-4 consecutive days. Peak peripheral blood CD34+ cell and CFU-GM levels were reached simultaneously on day 5 or 6 of rhG-CSF administration. Median peak levels were 1.65% for CD34+ cells (range 0.34%-4.7%) and 142 CFU-GM/10(5) plated cells (range 16-700). The greatest numbers of CD34+ cells and CFU-GM, expressed per liter of blood volume processed, were harvested during the second and third leukapheresis: CD34+ cells 37.77 +/- 25.48 x 10(6) and CFU-GM 3.32 +/- 2.51 x 10(6) during the second leukapheresis, and CD34+ cells 37.01 +/- 16.33 x 10(6) and CFU-GM 3.82 +/- 4.36 x 10(6) during the third. The number of CD34+ cells and CFU-GM did not correlate with the sex, age, or body weight of the donors. This study indicates that this protocol for administration of rhG-CSF mobilizes large numbers of hematopoietic progenitor cells into the peripheral blood and that bone marrow harvesting before G-CSF administration does not impair stem cell mobilization.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Platinum(II) complexes containing iminoethers: a trans platinum antitumour agent.

The biological activity of cis and trans complexes of formula [PtCl2(HN = C(OMe)Me)2] has been investigated. The iminoether ligands can have either E or Z configuration about the C = N double bond, therefore EE, EZ and ZZ isomers are obtainable. Substitution of iminoether with EE configuration for amine leads to unexpectedly high antitumor activity for the complex with trans geometry which turns out to be more active than the cis congener in the P388 leukaemia system. The same trans-EE complex shows an activity comparable to that of cisplatin in reducing the primary tumour mass and lung metastases in mice bearing Lewis lung carcinoma, thus representing a trans platinum complex active on both limphoproliferative and solid metastasizing murine tumours. Also the cytotoxicity, the inhibition of DNA synthesis and the mutagenic activity, which are greater for the cis- with respect to the trans-isomer in the amine complexes, are instead greater for the trans- than for the cis- isomer in the case of iminoether compounds. Binding to calf thymus DNA is slower for iminoether complexes than it is for amine complexes, however after 24 h reaction time the level of binding is similar for both types of complexes. Trans-EE, like trans-DDP, does not give the DNA conformational alterations (terbium fluorescence) typical of antitumour-active cis- platinum compounds, but, under strictly analogous experimental conditions, shows a greatly reduced DNA interstrand cross-linking ability (heat denaturation/renaturation assay) with respect to either trans-DDP or cis-EE and cis-DDP. The data in hand point to a new trans platinum antitumour complex with a mechanism of action different from that of cis-DDP and classical analogues.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Reliability in diagnosis of brain death.

OBJECTIVE: To compare some of the confirmatory investigations of brain death with clinical criteria in order to achieve the most sensitive and accurate diagnosis of brain death. DESIGN: All patients with isolated brain lesions and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) = 3 were subjected to neurological examination after ruling out hypothermia, metabolic disorders and drug intoxications and diagnosed as clinically brain-dead when the brainstem reflexes were absent and the apnea test positive. PATIENTS: 15 patients with clinical diagnosis of brain death entered this study. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The patients were submitted to the following investigations: electroencephalogram (EEG), transcranial Doppler (TCD) of the middle cerebral arteries (MCA), cerebral blood flow measurements with the i.v. Xe-133 method (CBF) and selective cerebral angiography (CA). EEG was isoelectric in 8 patients while the remaining 7 patients showed persistence of electrical activity. TCD was compatible with intracranial circulatory arrest in 18 MCA districts, compatible with normal flow in 2 and undetectable in 10 out of 30 districts insonated. In CBF examinations, however, all the patients showed a characteristic "plateau" of the desaturation curves lasting through the whole investigation and suggestive of absent cortical flow. CA showed circulatory arrest in both carotid and vertebral arteries. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that cerebral angiography and CBF studies are the most reliable investigations whereas the role of EEG and TCD remains to be determined because of the presence of false negatives and positives.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

[Traumatic tearing of the mesentery: immediate or deferred emergency surgery].

We have considered a 1 year first-aid survey and focused a 6 checked mesentery vascular traumatic tearing cases. We have valued some hypotheses on pathogenic mechanism assumptions about these vascular injuries in abdomen trauma. Among these, we have focused our attention on the relationship between visceral stretching from alimentary bolus and abdominal vascular trauma. During diagnosis, we valued the importance of abdominal sounding, of echotomography and Computerized Tomography; the first one seems to be remarkable for reliability and quickness of accomplishment. In one case we have performed laparoscopic diagnostic-therapeutic approach. We suggested some standards for surgery choice related to injury amount. Monitoring is particularly important for those patients it can performed by invasive or image means seen that the unacknowledged endo-abdominal injury increases mortality by about 5-65%.

Adolescent↗