Publications by authors named "Ferrara A"

The possibility that magnetic fields (MF) cause antitumor activity in vivo has been investigated. Two different experiments have been carried out on nude mice bearing a subcutaneous human colon adenocarcinoma (WiDr). In the first experiment, significant increase in survival time (31%) was obtained in mice exposed daily to 70 min modulated MF (static with a superimposition of 50 Hz) having a time average total intensity of 5.

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Although immediate results are good to excellent in great majority of patients who undergo biofeedback treatment (BFT) for chronic constipation and fecal incontinence, they tend to loose the benefit over a period of time. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term sustainability of results after successful biofeedback treatment. Two groups of patients who successfully completed BFT at our institution from 1995 to 1997 were created based on the date of completion.

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This paper first provides a survey of the expanding brain imaging literature in the field of time processing, showing that particular task features (discrete vs rhythmic, perceptual vs motor) do not significantly affect the basic pattern of activation observed. Next, positron emission tomography (PET) data obtained in a timing task (temporal reproduction) with two distinct duration ranges (2.2--3.

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Fecal incontinence occurs frequently in both men and women. Yet, few studies on fecal incontinence have separated the evaluation and interpretation of data by gender. This study was designed to identify differences in the clinical, anorectal manometry, and electromyography (EMG) characteristics between male and female patients with fecal incontinence.

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The reduced incidence of gastric cancer, due to a better patients surveillance and more accurate understanding of prophylactic measure, has allowed a detection of early stages as well as cancers with different origin cells. Either the difficulty of differential diagnosis or the various surgical and integrated approaches, make these neoplasm hard to enroll in standard treatment protocols. Our experience consists of 5 clinical cases with four different histology: lymphoma, leiomioma, carcinoid and gastrinoma.

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The ability of static and extremely low frequency (ELF) Magnetic Fields (MF) to interfere with neoplastic cell function has been evaluated. In vitro experiments were carried out to study the role of MF characteristics (intensity, frequency, and modulation) on two transformed cell lines (WiDr human colon adenocarcinoma and MCF-7 human breast adenocarcinoma) and one nontransformed cell line (MRC-5 embryonal lung fibroblast). Increase in cell death morphologically consistent with apoptosis was reported exclusively in the two transformed cell lines.

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Objective: To develop and validate a prediction rule for identifying diabetic patients at high short-term risk of complications using automated data in a large managed care organization.

Research Design And Methods: Retrospective cohort analyses were performed in 57,722 diabetic members of Kaiser Permanente, Northern California, aged > or =19 years. Data from 1994 to 1995 were used to model risk for macro- and microvascular complications (n = 3,977), infectious complications (n = 1,580), and metabolic complications (n = 316) during 1996.

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Purpose: We sought to evaluate the effectiveness of self-monitoring blood glucose levels to improve glycemic control.

Subjects And Methods: A cohort design was used to assess the relation between self-monitoring frequency (1996 average daily glucometer strip utilization) and the first glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level measured in 1997. The study sample included 24,312 adult patients with diabetes who were members of a large, group model, managed care organization.

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Objective: In women with diabetes, the changes that accompany menopause may further diminish glycemic control. Little is known about how hormone replacement therapy (HRT) affects glucose metabolism in diabetes. The aim of this study was to examine whether HbA(1c) levels varied by current HRT among women with type 2 diabetes.

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Background: Glycemic control is associated with microvascular events, but its effect on the risk of heart failure is not well understood. We examined the association between hemoglobin (Hb) A(Ic) and the risk of heart failure hospitalization and/or death in a population-based sample of adult patients with diabetes and assessed whether this association differed by patient sex, heart failure pathogenesis, and hypertension status.

Methods And Results: A cohort design was used with baseline between January 1, 1995, and June 30, 1996, and follow-up through December 31, 1997 (median 2.

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Background: Carbon dioxide (CO2) pneumoperitoneum effects are still controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate cardiopulmonary changes in patients subjected to different surgical procedures for cholecystectomy.

Methods: In this study, 15 patients were assigned randomly to three groups according to the surgical procedure to be used: open cholecystectomy (OC), CO2 pneumoperitoneum cholecystectomy (PP), and laparoscopic gasless cholecystectomy (abdominal wall lifting [AWL]), respectively.

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Some antibiotics at sub-inhibitory concentrations are able to alter bacterial surface structures and modulate adhesiveness by affecting the expression of microbial adhesins. An important mechanism of pulmonary defence against pathogens is SP-A, one of the proteins of the alveolar surfactant having opsonizing activity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect that sub-inhibitory concentrations of different antibiotics and physiological concentrations of SP-A (1 and 5 microg/ml) could exert on the adherence of respiratory pathogens to the bronchial epithelial cell line, WI26VA4.

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Objectives: To investigate the effects of physiologic concentrations, at alveolar level, of some fractions of pulmonary surfactant (phospholipids and SP-A) on the bactericidal activity of different antimicrobials against some respiratory pathogens.

Methods: The antimicrobial agents cefdinir, sparfloxacin, clarithromycin, teicoplanin, cefepime, ciprofloxacin, netilmicin and tobramycin, depending on their specific activity, were investigated against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Killing curves were carried out with antimicrobials at 0.

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The development of thyroid tissue can occur in any moment of the migration of the thyroid along the thyroglossal duct from the tongue, resulting in lingual (at tongue base), sublingual (below the tongue), prelaryngeal (in front of the larynx), and substernal (in the mediastinum) ectopy. Thyroglossal duct cyst is the most common type of clinical abnormality related to thyroid ectopy. Surgical removal of such ectopic tissue is justified since some Authors describe thyroid cancer arising from aberrant thyroid tissue.

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Wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) and OF1 albino mice (Mus musculus) were compared over durations ranging from 0.5 to 7 s, using the differential reinforcement of response duration schedule (DRRD) and a 'platform' response, i.e.

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Several theories on the etio-pathogenesis and physio-pathology of hemorrhoids have been up to now proposed. From the fisio-pathological viewpoint, particular importance is retained by the vascular factor, which in its turn is influenced by mechanical and sphinceric factors, that impair the venous back-flow. In the evidence of an hemorrhoidal crisis, characterized by local oedema, pain and bleeding, the use of bioflavonoid drugs is deemed to be the first choice.

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The Authors, on the basis of personal experience relative to 71 cases of Autonomous Adenoma of the thyroid treated by surgery or percutaneous ethanol injections (PEI), analyze the results in terms of complications and function. After comparing their results with the data in the literature relative to radioiodine therapy, the Authors conclude that surgery should be the primary treatment for plurifocal nodules or nodules greater than 2 cm in diameter, while PEI can be used for single nodules smaller than 2 cm. The point is that radioiodine often induces hypothyroidism, while our knowledge of the results of percutaneous ethanol injections is still limited in terms of number of cases and length of observation periods.

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Peptic ulcer disease (PUD) has been described in the absence of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection, suggesting that different factors are involved in its etiopathogenesis. We investigated prevalence and characteristics of Hp-negative (Hp-) PUD in an area of Northern Italy and calculated the rate of Hp-positive (Hp+) patients with PUD in whom Hp might be coincidental and not causal. Four hundred nine consecutive patients with endoscopically diagnosed PUD were enrolled in seven hospitals.

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We describe herein four unusual clinical cases of rare allergy to foods in patients affected by allergic rhinitis and asthma. The patients were skin tested both with commercial food extracts and using prick-prick procedure with fresh foods. Total and specific IgE in serum were determined by REAST.

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Objective: Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is a cornerstone of diabetes care, but little is known about barriers to this self-care practice.

Research Design And Methods: This cross-sectional study examines SMBG practice patterns and barriers in 44,181 adults with pharmacologically treated diabetes from the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Region who responded to a health survey (83% response rate). The primary outcome is self-reported frequency of SMBG.

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We show that the gas in growing density perturbations is vulnerable to the influence of winds outflowing from nearby collapsed galaxies that have already formed stars. This suggests that the formation of nearby galaxies with masses less, similar10(9) M( middle dot in circle) is likely to be suppressed, irrespective of the details of galaxy formation. An impinging wind may shock-heat the gas of a nearby perturbation to above the virial temperature, thereby mechanically evaporating the gas, or the baryons may be stripped from the perturbation entirely if they are accelerated to above the escape velocity.

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The antimicrobial resistance patterns of respiratory pathogens isolated during an 8-year period (1990-1997) in an Italian hospital from patients with bronchopulmonary infections were investigated. A global variation in the resistance of Staphylococcus aureus to all relevant antibiotics was observed during the years 1990-1997. With the exception of penicillin and amoxicillin, to which Staphylococci were always resistant, and vancomycin, to which they were always susceptible, in the first period (1990-1992) the percentage of resistance to beta-lactams, aminoglycosides, macrolides, fluoroquinolones and cotrimoxazole was about 15%, while in the last period (1993-1997) it was about 35%.

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