"Vaginal" bleeding in prepubertal age: a rare scaring riddle, a case of the urethral prolapse and review of the literature.

The entities responsible for isolated vaginal bleeding are a broad spectrum of diseases. Vaginal bleeding in a prepubertal child is always treated as an alarming symptom both by parents and professionals. Most often, one of the first hypotheses is that a sexual abuse may be occurred and the clinical work up is oriented to explore it and eventually confirm or substantiante another diagnosis.

Records of Chrysomya albiceps in Northern Italy: an ecological and forensic perspective.

Knowledge of the carrion-breeding insects present at a local level is important and necessary for defining the post-mortem interval. Climate changes and globalisation are affecting species ranges and population dynamics. In this note, we report the incidence of Chrysomya albiceps (Diptera: Calliphoridae) on dead human bodies and carrion in Northern Italy.

Unusual association of three rare alleles and a mismatch in a case of paternity testing.

This study reports a paternity case analyzed by the AmpFlSTR Identifiler Kit (AB) in which father and daughter shared three rare alleles for D19S433, D18S51 and TH01 microsatellites. The case also showed an apparent exclusion, due to a mutation at the D3S 1358 microsatellite. Sequencing analysis was performed to assess the size of the rare alleles and to establish their structure, which revealed some molecular variations in regions flanking the motif repeats.

Time-related variations of some biochemical parameters in patients with short- or long-lasting post-traumatic coma.

The variation in time of some blood biochemical parameters was investigated in 100 patients with acute head injury and coma of variable duration, in parallel with the clinical course. The purpose of this study was to establish possible correlations between the severity of the trauma (assessed according to the coma classification proposed by C. Arseni) and the variation of the parameters studied.

Levels of carnitines in brain and other tissues of rats of different ages: effect of acetyl-L-carnitine administration.

Male Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 2, 5, 16, 20 and 30 months and normally fed, were used for determination of carnitines in the brain, serum, heart, tibial muscle, liver and urine. With respect to 5-month-old animals, those aged 30 months exhibited a statistically significant decrement of total carnitine levels in the brain, serum, heart and tibial muscle, accompanied by a dramatic increment in the liver. This suggests impaired net transport of carnitines from the liver to the blood in old age.

Acupuncture treatment of discopathic pain.

The authors present the effects of acupuncture in 50 patients showing discopathic pain. It is concluded that acupuncture treatment favours the reduction of drug consumption, and, implicitly, of iatrogenic pathology.

L-carnitine effect on plasma lipoproteins of hyperlipidemic fat-loaded rats.

The effect of oral L-carnitine administration to rats fed olive oil has been studied. Carnitine significantly decreased triglyceride, cholesterol and phospholipid levels. Particularly, the levels of chylomicron and very low density lipoproteins in the blood were lowered.

Outbreak of colonization of neonates with Enterobacter sakazakii.

An outbreak of colonization of 11 neonates with Enterobacter sakazakii occurred in a neonatal intensive care unit from the 10 September to 17 October 1984. During this period Ent. sakazakii was isolated from throat and rectal swabs and tracheal aspirates, but not from blood, of the neonates.

The effect of exogenous L-carnitine on biochemical parameters in serum and in heart of the hyperlipidaemic rat.

In previous experiments we have demonstrated that L-carnitine administration is capable of reducing olive oil-induced lipidaemia in the rat. In the present study we determined the effect of L-carnitine on the levels of (acyl)carnitines in heart and serum in addition to its effect on serum levels of lipids and ketone bodies after olive oil gavage feeding. L-carnitine was found to reduce the level of myocardial long-chain acylcarnitine which was increased by the olive oil treatment.

Rapid diagnosis of anaerobic infections by gas-liquid chromatography.

It was postulated that the short chain fatty acids (SCFA) produced by anaerobic bacteria might serve as microbial markers in purulent material. Eighteen pus specimens from various sources were analysed by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC), and the SCFA detected were compared with the microorganisms isolated by conventional methods. It was found that the detection of propionic, isobutyric, butyric, or isovaleric acids by direct GLC of pus specimens is strong evidence for anaerobic infection but not specific for Bacteroides fragilis.

Risk of infection associated with umbilical vein catheterization. A prospective study in 75 newborn infants.

To determine the risk of infection created by catheterization of the umbilical vein per se, 75 jaundiced, but otherwise healthy, newborn infants subjected to exchange transfusion were studied. Twenty-three were given antibiotics because of premature rupture of membranes. Fifty-three percent of the umbilici were contaminated before the insertion of the catheter, even after a very careful cleansing procedure.