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Biomedical subjects

S Consoli

Publications and source records attributed to S Consoli.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Wastewater quality improvement through storage: a case study in Sicily.

This paper presents the results of a research aiming at evaluating the effects of storage on wastewater characteristics. Wastewater discharged from the Caltagirone (Eastern Sicily) plant after secondary treatment was stored in an earth reservoir with a capacity of about 25,000 m3 and a depth of 5 m. Wastewater inflow in the reservoir was continuous throughout the experimental activities, while discharge was discontinuous, depending on irrigation demand. Removal efficiency resulted highly influenced by the operation regime of the reservoir and by influent wastewater characteristics. BOD5 and COD removal efficiency was above 50%. Removal efficiency of faecal coliforms, faecal streptococci and Escherichia coli was between 2 and 5 log units. Single and multiple regressions were tested to determine the reservoir design characteristics and operation parameters that most significantly affected water quality changes.

Oxygen↗
PubMed2003

[Causes of uncontrolled hypertension. DUO-HTA survey].

OBJECTIVES: To identify the socio-demographic, clinical, psycho-behavioural and therapeutic factors explaining uncontrolled blood pressure in a population of hypertensives in ambulatory practice. METHODS: The DUO-HTA survey is a national, cross-sectional, mirrored, observational study, from a representative sample of 347 general practitioners (MG) and 210 cardiologists, and a population of 2022 hypertensive patients followed by these doctors. The data were collected by means of questionnaires completed by the hypertensives and their doctors. RESULTS: The factors significantly discriminating patients for whom BP was controlled (C) from those patients whose BP was not controlled (NC) were an age less than 65 years, smoking, obesity, alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyle and multiple anti-hypertensive treatment. On the psycho-behavioural front, the NC patients were more often anxious and irritable, claiming to lead a stressful life and for whom hypertension was often perceived as a "foreign entity" and a source of frustration and multiple deprivations. The factors discriminating the NC doctors from the C doctors were essentially psycho-behavioural, with the NC doctors considering the management of hypertension as being less gratifying, and hypertension as a condition with fluctuating progression, poorly understood and dramatized by patients. CONCLUSION: The DUO-HTA survey underlines the weight of reciprocal representation systems in hypertension for patients and their doctors, as well as the quality of the doctor-patient relationship in blood pressure control. It prompts the development of sensitisation actions for practitioners centered on improving the doctor-patient relationship.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

[Antioxidant therapeutic efficiency after the use of carnitine in infertile patients with bacterial or non bacterial prostato-vesiculo-epididymitis].

OBJECTIVE: In the male genital tract, reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction generated by infiltrating WBC or spermatozoa is one of the major causes of defective sperm function. Recently, we demonstrated that prostato-vesiculo-epididymitis (PVE) is the male accessory gland infection more crucial for the establishment of this cellular (sperm and/or WBC oxidative) response. This biochemical stress is due to an imbalance of pro and antioxidants factors and persists even after treatment with antimicrobials. Thus, the antioxidative properties of Carnitines (in terms of combined "Carnitine-Acetil-Carnitine" system) have currently found more attention as part of antimicrobial therapies. In this study, we compared which antioxidative strategy was more beneficial for the treatment of PVE. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We selected two groups of infertile patients. One group consisted of 55 abacterial PVE patients (mean age 34 yrs, range 27-40) (group A); the other included other 35 bacterial PVE patients (mean age 35 yrs, range 28-38) (group B). Each group was randomly subdivided into the following treatment subsets: 1) A1 (n = 14) and B1 (n = 23) subsets received respectively a combined antibiotic and/or antiphlogistic regimen (x 14 days/ monthly x 3 months) (first step) followed by L-Carnitine 1 g x 2 day + acetyl-Carnitine 0.5 g x 2/day x other 3 months (second step) and finally no drug x other 3 months (third step). 2) A2 (n = 8) and B2 (n = 16) subsets received, for a 3 month period, in the meantime the combined antibiotic and/or antiphlogistic regimen (x 14 days/monthly) and L-Carnitine 1 g x 2/day + acetyl-Carnitine 0.5 g x 2/day (first step) and finally no drug x other 3 months (second step). 3) A3 (n = 8) and B3 (n = 12) subsets received for a 3-month period L-Carnitine 1 g x 2/day + acetyl-Carnitine 0.5 g x 2 day (first step) and finally no drug x other 3 months (second step). Before and after each step of the therapeutical design, all patients underwent semen and quantitative bacteriological analyses and 60/90 semen specimens were also investigated about ROS production analysis by chemiluminescence in their 45% and 90% Percoll-generated fractions. RESULTS: The antioxidative response either in terms of significant decrease in the ROS production and increase in some semen parameters (sperm motility and viability) were highest in the patients of A1/B1 subsets, followed by A2/B2 subsets and lowest in the A3/B3 subsets. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that in PVE patients antimicrobials and/or antiphlogistic drugs get a full positive antimicrobial response but a partial antioxidative response, which seems to be potentiated by the addition of antioxidative agents (Carnitines). Furthermore, it is important to underline that the antioxidative treatment with Carnitines administered in the meantime with antiinfectious agents is less effective, and finally this treatment is unsuccessful without the eradication of the pro-oxidant (germs and WBC) agents.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Efficacy, safety, and effects on quality of life of bisoprolol/hydrochlorothiazide versus amlodipine in elderly patients with systolic hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have shown the benefits of antihypertensive treatment in elderly patients in terms of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality rate reduction. Low-dose drug combinations may be of interest in treating older subjects. A randomized, multicenter, double-blind, parallel group study was conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of bisoprolol 2.5 mg/hydrochlorothiazide 6.25 mg (n = 84) to amlodipine 5 mg (n = 80) in isolated systolic hypertension in patients older than 60 years. METHODS: After a 2- to 4-week placebo washout period, both drugs were administered once daily and taken for 12 weeks. Blood pressure was measured 24 hours after treatment administration. RESULTS: Systolic and diastolic blood pressure changes from baseline to week 12 were similar for both the bisoprolol and amlodipine groups (-20. 0/-4.5 mm Hg and -19.6/-2.4 mm Hg, respectively). Overall adverse events for bisoprolol and amlodipine were 39% and 40%, respectively. Changes in quality of life scores were +2.5 for bisoprolol and +3.2 for amlodipine, with a positive change indicating improvement. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates comparable efficacy and tolerability of bisoprolol 2.5 mg/hydrochlorothiazide 6.25 mg and amlodipine 5 mg. The low-dose combination of bisoprolol and hydrochlorothiazide may be an appropriate alternative for elderly patients with systolic hypertension.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗
PubMed1999

Alexithymia and anxiety: compounded relationships? A psychometric study.

This study is a careful examination of the relationships between different components of the alexithymia construct and state versus trait anxiety. In order to study the relations between anxiety and alexithymia in a subclinical population, we administered to 125 female college students a test battery including measures of alexithymia (TAS26), state and trait anxiety (STAI) and depression (QD2A). Results indicated positive correlations between depression, anxiety (state and trait) and alexithymia scores. Partial correlations revealed a tight link between trait anxiety and alexithymia. Furthermore, in agreement with the view that alexithymia is a multidimensional construct, the various alexithymia dimensions were found to be diversely correlated with anxiety. On the basis of partial correlation analyses, a descriptive model of the relationships between depression, state anxiety, trait anxiety and alexithymia was postulated. This model was confirmed by pathways analyses.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

[Skin and stress].

The concept of stress was developed based on data from experimental pathology and psychology studies. Selye defined stress and described the physiologic changes induced by stress, under the designation "general adaptation syndrome". The interactive aspect of stress has since then been emphasized. Stress results from a unique interaction between a thinking individual and a physical or social environment. The presence in humans of a mental apparatus capable of thinking, reminiscing, and fantasizing accounts for the specific features of stress as a clinical condition. It follows that psychosomatic dermatology cannot be satisfied with defining and documenting stress, with establishing a link between stress and a disorder of the skin (an organ that plays a unique role in communication), and with evaluating the biological mechanism underlying the skin lesions. Another essential goal is to understand why an individual patient, with his or her unique history, develops a skin disorder as a manifestation of an inability to cope with adversity. Two psychologic factors should be taken into account in dermatology, namely stress and the personality of the person subjected to the stress. What makes a life event stressful is often the personality of the subject experiencing the event.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

17 beta-Estradiol: oral or parenteral administration in hyperandrogenic women? Metabolic tolerance in association with cyproterone acetate.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the metabolic effects of two different administration routes of estrogen associated with cyproterone acetate (CPA) in young women. DESIGN: Randomized and prospective study. SETTING: University medical and research center. PATIENTS: Sixty-five premenopausal young women with clinical hyperandrogenism. INTERVENTIONS: A high dose of CPA was administered, associated with either transdermal (group T) or oral (group O) 17 beta-E2. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Glucose tolerance, plasma lipid level, coagulation and fibrinolysis parameters, and angiotensinogen, before and at 6 and 12 months during treatment. RESULTS: At 12 months, fasting blood glucose and basal insulin levels were significantly lower in group O than in group T. The increase in angiotensinogen was greater in group O, however, without modification in arterial blood pressure. No significant difference between the two groups was observed in lipids, coagulation, and fibrinolysis. CONCLUSION: Natural estrogens associated with CPA have no patent deleterious metabolic effect. However, the choice of oral estrogen administration seems to be better among patients with disorders such as hyperandrogenism or obesity with potential hyperinsulinism.

Administration, Cutaneous↗
PubMed1995

Cardiovascular reactivity to a new mental stress test: the maze test.

The response to the maze test was studied in 31 subjects on no medication, including seven subjects with mild essential hypertension. Beat-by-beat finger blood pressure (BP) was measured with a Finapres device. Pulse interval from which heart rate (HR) was derived was obtained from the BP signal. A period of 5 min baseline was used to define resting levels of systolic BP and HR using 20-s averaged values for the calculation of the 95% confidence limit of the two variables. The average test duration was 10 min. During this period a series of video-displayed mazes had to be solved with easy mazes preceding difficult ones. No subject had been exposed to the test before. The maximal BP elevation associated with the test was 27 mmHg. The HR response averaged 11 beats/min. Significant elevations were observed for half the test duration. No significant relationship between these two responses was observed and some subjects exhibited isolated systolic BP or HR responses. When indices obtained during this active mental stress were compared to resting values, positive correlations were observed. When the resting standard deviation (SD) of systolic BP was higher the systolic response was greater. A similar relationship was observed for HR. In addition, when the systolic BP level at rest was higher, the systolic BP reactivity index was greater. However, systolic BP or HR at baseline were not predictive of the systolic BP or HR responses. This study demonstrates the applicability of a new test to assess cardiovascular reactivity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1994

A comparative study between a computer-aided education (ISIS) and habitual education techniques for hypertensive patients.

ISIS is a patient education computer program about hypertension. It aims to be complementary to the habitual educational techniques by bringing into patient education the facility of multimedia features. Its efficiency in improving the knowledge about hypertension was tested among 158 hypertensive patients. Their prior knowledge was evaluated using a questionnaire. They were then randomly separated in a control group (CG) which had the regular education program and ISIS group or (IG) which, in addition, had an interactive session using ISIS. Two months after discharge, all the patients were asked the same questions over the telephone. A total of 138 observations (69 CG, 69 IG) were reported in the final analysis. The initial scores were significantly improved for both groups. The improvement is more evident in the IG, particularly among patients whose initial score was low and patients whose hypertension was discovered for more than 6 months. ISIS is actually used by hospitalized patients and by nurse students.

Computer Systems↗
PubMed1984

[Long-term observation of a female patient presenting with psychosomatic disorders and followed in psychotherapy].

The author analyzes data assembled during psychotherapy of a 38-year-old woman who had experienced serious obstetrical difficulties, with two deaths in utero late in each pregnancy, ascribable, at least in part, to toxemia. These difficulties are brought into connection, in particular, with the patient's subconscious conflicts and the ambivalence of her planned motherhood. During psychotherapy a new pregnancy was successfully completed: the psychotherapy plan, at first indistinguishable from the request for medical help, especially as the treatment was undertaken in a general hospital, has been nevertheless progressively extended beyond the psychosomatic symptom to aim at a greater general comfort.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

[Charcot's blue edema, a case].

The case of an 18 year old Algerian girl with acrocyanosis of the four extremities since childhood and presenting a with 6 months history of oedema of the left hand resulting in severe functional handicap, is reported. Clinically, the oedema suggested a lymphatic origin. However, its localised, strictly unilateral distribution, the normality of vascular investigations, the absence of pain and regression of the oedema during the period of hospitalisation suggested autoaggression. The discovery of tourniquet marks on the skin of the thigh confirmed the diagnosis of Charcot's blue oedema. The patient has a hysterical personality, was of higher than normal intelligence but immature, and could only express herself through her functional handicap, a cry for affection in a rigid family environment only concerned by her scholastic achievements. To our knowledge, there have been 27 other reports of this condition since Charcot's first description in 1890. The majority concerned young intelligent women. Diagnosis is difficult and can only be confirmed by the finding of tourniquet marks on the skin. Psychotherapy is often useful as an underlying neurotic or psychotic personality is commonly found.

Adolescent↗