On the tracks of Nitrogen deposition effects on temperate forests at their southern European range - an observational study from Italy.

We studied forest monitoring data collected at permanent plots in Italy over the period 2000-2009 to identify the possible impact of nitrogen (N) deposition on soil chemistry, tree nutrition and growth. Average N throughfall (N-NO3 +N-NH4 ) ranged between 4 and 29 kg ha(-1)  yr(-1) , with Critical Loads (CLs) for nutrient N exceeded at several sites. Evidence is consistent in pointing out effects of N deposition on soil and tree nutrition: topsoil exchangeable base cations (BCE) and pH decreased with increasing N deposition, and foliar nutrient N ratios (especially N : P and N : K) increased.

[Relationship between hypothyroidism and cholesterol out of the records of 1756 patients].

Background: Subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) is settled whenever high levels of serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) are detected, whereas free thyroid hormone levels are within the normal range. Benefits and risks of therapy for SH have been debated for 2 decades. However, consensus has not yet been achieved.

Ferutinin dose-dependent effects on uterus and mammary gland in ovariectomized rats.

The present paper completes our recent study on the effects of phytoestrogen ferutinin in preventing osteoporosis and demonstrating the superior osteoprotective effect of a 2 mg/kg/day dose in ovariectomized (OVX) rats, compared to both estrogens and lower (0.5, 1 mg/kg/day) ferutinin doses. Morphological and morphometrical analyses were performed on the effects of different doses of ferutinin administrated for one month on uterus and on mammary gland of Sprague-Dawley OVX rats, evaluated in comparison with the results for estradiol benzoate.

Postural rehabilitation and Kinesio taping for axial postural disorders in Parkinson's disease.

Objective: To assess the effects of postural rehabilitation (PR) on trunk asymmetry and balance, with and without Kinesio taping (KT) of the back muscles as additional treatment, in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) who have postural disorders.

Design: Single-blind, randomized controlled trial with 1-month follow-up.

Setting: Ambulatory care in referral center.

New autoantibodies and their clinical associations in juvenile myositis - a systematic review.

Background: Novel autoantibodies targeting intracellular proteins are recently detected in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs).

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of these myositis-specific antibodies (MSAs) in juvenile IIMs (JIIMs) and their association with clinical characteristics and disease course.

Methods: A systematic literature search was carried out to identify all studies concerning these novel MSAs (p155/140, p140, CADM-140, SAE and 200/100) in patients with JIIMs.

The nature of coherences in the B820 bacteriochlorophyll dimer revealed by two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy.

Light-harvesting in photosynthesis is determined by the excitonic interactions in disordered antennae and the coupling of collective electronic excitations to fast nuclear motions, producing efficient energy transfer with a complicated interplay between exciton and vibrational coherences. Two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2DES) is a powerful tool to study the presence of these coherences in photosynthetic complexes. However, the unambiguous assignment of the nature of the observed coherences is still under debate.

Mutations in MAPT give rise to aneuploidy in animal models of tauopathy.

Tau is a major microtubule-associated protein in brain neurons. Its misfolding and accumulation cause neurodegenerative diseases characterized by brain atrophy and dementia, named tauopathies. Genetic forms are caused by mutations of microtubule-associated protein tau gene (MAPT).

The role of the pulmonologist in rapid on-site cytologic evaluation of transbronchial needle aspiration: a prospective study.

Background: Rapid on-site cytologic evaluation (ROSE) of cytologic specimens is a useful ancillary technique in needle aspiration procedures of pulmonary/mediastinal lesions. ROSE is not a widespread technique, however, because of a lack of time and resources. Our aim was to verify whether, in comparison with a board-certified cytopathologist, a pulmonologist could evaluate the adequacy of transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) specimens on-site to diagnose hilar/mediastinal adenopathies/masses after receiving training in cytopathology.

Epidemiology of total hip and knee replacement: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: To describe the epidemiologic characteristics and adverse events of patients submitted to total hip and total knee replacement.

Methods: A cross-sectional study retrospectively assessing medical chart data of all total hip and total knee replacements performed at a private hospital, between January 2007 and December 2010 Patients submitted to total hip and total knee replacement, with consent of surgeons were included. Incomplete records and/or missing data of the hospital database were excluded.

Patellar tendon ossification after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using bone--patellar tendon--bone autograft.

Background: Among the various complications described in literature, the patellar tendon ossification is an uncommon occurrence in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction using bone - patellar tendon - bone graft (BPTB). The heterotopic ossification is linked to knee traumatism, intramedullary nailing of the tibia and after partial patellectomy, but only two cases of this event linked to ACL surgery have been reported in literature.

Case Presentation: We present a case of a 42-year-old Caucasian man affected by symptomatic extended heterotopic ossification of patellar tendon after 20 months from ACL reconstruction using BPTB.

Analysis of the effect of estrogen/androgen perturbation on penile development in transgenic and diethylstilbestrol-treated mice.

Because both androgens and estrogens have been implicated in penile morphogenesis, we evaluated penile morphology in transgenic mice with known imbalance of androgen and estrogen signaling using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), histology, and immunohistochemistry of androgen and estrogen receptors α/β. Penises of adult wild-type, estrogen receptor-α knockout (αERKO), estrogen receptor-β knockout (βERKO), aromatase knockout (Arom-KO), and aromatase overexpression (Arom+) mice were evaluated, as well as adult mice treated with diethylstilbestrol (DES) from birth to day 10. Adult penises were examined because the adult pattern is the endpoint of development.

Gradual strenuous running regimen predisposes to osteoarthritis due to cartilage cell death and altered levels of glycosaminoglycans.

Objective: To investigate the hypothesis that strenuous running is a predisposing factor for osteoarthritis.

Design: Wistar rats were divided into two groups: a control group (CG) and a trained group (TG). The TG underwent a strenuous treadmill running training regimen of controlled intensity, exhibiting progressively improvement of fitness over 12 weeks, running at least 55 km during this period and finally performing an ultra-endurance running exercise to exhaustion.

Platelet-rich plasma for long bone healing.

Objective: To evaluate effectiveness of the use of platelet-rich plasma as coadjuvant for union of long bones.

Methods: The search strategy included the Cochrane Library (via Central) and MEDLINE (via PubMed). There were no limits as to language or publication media.

Spine surgery cost reduction at a specialized treatment center.

Objective: To compare the estimated cost of treatment of spinal disorders to those of this treatment in a specialized center.

Methods: An evaluation of average treatment costs of 399 patients referred by a Health Insurance Company for evaluation and treatment at the Spine Treatment Reference Center of Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein. All patients presented with an indication for surgical treatment before being referred for assessment.

Structural, microstructural and magnetic properties of (La(1-x)Ca(x))MnO3 nanoparticles.

The crystal and magnetic structures of 10 and 20 nm sized (La1-xCax)MnO3 (x = 0.37, 0.50, 0.

M2 receptor activation inhibits cell cycle progression and survival in human glioblastoma cells.

Muscarinic receptors, expressed in several primary and metastatic tumours, appear to be implicated in their growth and propagation. In this work we have demonstrated that M2 muscarinic receptors are expressed in glioblastoma human specimens and in glioblastoma cell lines. Moreover, we have characterized the effects of the M2 agonist arecaidine on cell growth and survival both in two different glioblastoma cell lines (U251MG and U87MG) and in primary cultures obtained from different human biopsies.

An evaluation of chondrocyte morphology and gene expression on superhydrophilic vertically-aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube films.

Cartilage serves as a low-friction and wear-resistant articulating surface in diarthrodial joints and is also important during early stages of bone remodeling. Recently, regenerative cartilage research has focused on combinations of cells paired with scaffolds. Superhydrophilic vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) are of particular interest in regenerative medicine.

[Multifactor Organizational Stress Risk Questionnaire--MOSRQ: a preliminary study of dimensions and structure].

Unlabelled: INTRODUCTION. The aim of the present study is to demonstrate the validity of the MOSRQ, a questionnaire for the assessment of work related stress risk. This questionnaire has 38 items: 19 related to organizational stressors and 19 to strains.

Effects of guidelines on adeno-tonsillar surgery on the clinical behaviour of otorhinolaryngologists in Italy.

Background: Several guidelines on adeno-tonsillar disease have been proposed in recent years and some discrepancies in relation both to clinical manifestations and indications for surgical treatment have emerged. The aim of the study was to verify what influence (adeno)-tonsillectomy guidelines have had on the clinical behaviour of ENT specialists in Italy. Our study is a retrospective and multi-centre case series with chart review.

The problem of bone lamellation: an attempt to explain different proposed models.

Collagen texture and osteocyte distribution were analyzed in human woven- and lamellar-bone using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. We provide data substantiating the concept that lamellar bone is made up of an alternation of dense-acellular lamellae and loose-cellular lamellae, all exhibiting an interwoven texture of collagen fibers. An attempt is also made to explain how the present findings might conform to those of authors whose models propose orderly, geometric arrangements of collagen fibers inside bony lamellae.

Towards the harmonization between National Forest Inventory and Forest Condition Monitoring. Consistency of plot allocation and effect of tree selection methods on sample statistics in Italy.

In the frame of a process aiming at harmonizing National Forest Inventory (NFI) and ICP Forests Level I Forest Condition Monitoring (FCM) in Italy, we investigated (a) the long-term consistency between FCM sample points (a subsample of the first NFI, 1985, NFI_1) and recent forest area estimates (after the second NFI, 2005, NFI_2) and (b) the effect of tree selection method (tree-based or plot-based) on sample composition and defoliation statistics. The two investigations were carried out on 261 and 252 FCM sites, respectively. Results show that some individual forest categories (larch and stone pine, Norway spruce, other coniferous, beech, temperate oaks and cork oak forests) are over-represented and others (hornbeam and hophornbeam, other deciduous broadleaved and holm oak forests) are under-represented in the FCM sample.

Our orientation regarding the ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast.

Aim: The ductal carcinoma in situ is a malignant proliferation of mammary ductal epithelial cells without invasion beyond the basement membrane. The management of patients with DCIS is complex, controversial and has undergone changes over time.

Material Of Study: We treated 65 patients diagnosed with DCIS between 2002 and 2005.

Early-onset absence epilepsy: SLC2A1 gene analysis and treatment evolution.

Background And Purposes: To determine the prevalence of SLC2A1 mutations in children with early-onset absence epilepsy (EOAE) and to investigate whether there were differences in demographic and electroclinical data between patients who became seizure-free with anti-epileptic drug (AED) monotherapy (group I) and those who needed add-on treatment of a second AED (group II).

Methods: We reviewed children with EOAE attending different Italian epilepsy centers. All participants had onset of absence seizures within the first 3 years of life but otherwise conformed to a strict definition of childhood absence epilepsy.

Specific morphogenetic events in mouse external genitalia sex differentiation are responsive/dependent upon androgens and/or estrogens.

The objective of this study was to perform a comprehensive morphologic analysis of developing mouse external genitalia (ExG) and to determine specific sexual differentiation features that are responsive to androgens or estrogens. To eliminate sex steroid signaling postnatally, male and female mice were gonadectomized on the day of birth, and then injected intraperitoneally every other day with DES (200 ng/g), DHT (1 μg/g), or oil. On day-10 postnatal male and female ExG were dissected, fixed, embedded, serially sectioned and analyzed.

Striated muscle fiber apoptosis after experimental tendon lesion in a rat model.

Tendon lesions induce muscular atrophy, the nature of which has not yet been clearly related to lesion etiology and entity. In the present study, tendon and muscle alterations were assessed after experimental tendon lesion of the Infraspinatus muscle in young rats. The consequences of lesions differed on the basis of both extension and injured tissue vascularization, that is apoptosis and/or degeneration, differing mainly by energy demands: apoptosis requires high energy levels (proportional to vascular supply), but degeneration does not.