Publications by authors named "Furlani A"

Cardiac tumors, although rare, carry high morbidity and mortality rates. They are commonly first identified either at echocardiography or incidentally at thoracoabdominal CT performed for noncardiac indications. Multimodality imaging often helps to determine the cause of these masses.

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Rationale And Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic led to the national shutdown and subsequent reopening of cancer screening programs. Our diverse inner-city lung cancer screening program serves patients in the Bronx NY, which was severely affected by COVID-19, with the highest mortality in New York State in the spring of 2020. Staffing redeployment, quarantine protocols, increased safety measures, and changes in follow up resulted.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study examined the cardiovascular health of women with HIV compared to those without, focusing on various heart conditions using echocardiography in the Women's Interagency HIV Study.
  • Of the 1,654 participants, about 70% had HIV, with findings revealing a higher risk of left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) in women with HIV, particularly as their CD4+ count decreased.
  • The results suggest that while women with HIV do have an increased risk for certain heart issues, especially at lower immune cell counts, it emphasizes the need for both heart health monitoring and HIV management in this population.
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Aims: Patients with left ventricular assist device (LVAD) suffer from persistent exercise limitation despite improvement of their heart failure syndrome. Exercise training (ET) programmes to improve aerobic capacity have shown modest efficacy. High-intensity interval training (HIIT), as an alternative to moderate continuous training, has not been systematically tested in this population.

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The Moderating Roles of Psychological Flexibility and Inflexibility on the Mental Health Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic and Lockdown in Italy. Preliminary data suggest the COVID-19 pandemic has adverse effects on mental health in approximately a quarter of the general population. Few prior studies have identified contextual risk factors and no published study has explored factors that might moderate their adverse effects on mental health.

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Evaluation of chest pain in the emergency department (ED) frequently employs a noninvasive strategy, including coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA), stress echocardiography (SE), or myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). We sought to report the real-world experience of utilizing CCTA compared with SE and MPI at an urban hospital ED. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of consecutively enrolled patients presenting with chest pain who had normal or nondiagnostic electrocardiogram (ECG), negative initial troponin-T, at least intermediate risk based on modified Diamond-Forrester criteria, and who underwent CCTA, SE, or MPI based on their individual test eligibility criteria.

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Objective: Therapeutic angiogenesis is currently under investigation in ischemic heart disease. We examined the effect on left ventricular function induced by therapeutic angiogenesis by intramyocardial injection of plasmid VEGF(165), in a canine model of chronic myocardial infarction.

Methods: Left thoracotomy was performed in 10 mongrel dogs, and myocardial infarction induced by ligation of the major diagonal coronary artery.

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Background: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has been shown to improve symptoms of patients with moderate to severe heart failure. Optimal CRT involves biventricular or left ventricular (LV) stimulation alone, atrio-ventricular (AV) delay optimization, and possibly interventricular timing adjustment. Recently, anodal capture of the right ventricle (RV) has been described for patients with CRT-pacemakers.

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The duration of cell proadhesive effects induced by imidazolium trans-imidazole dimethyl sulfoxide tetrachlororuthenate (NAMI-A), a compound endowed with in vivo antimetastatic properties, was tested in vitro on the human epithelial tumor cell line KB. The intensity of proadhesive effects continues to increase up to 48 to 72 h after NAMI-A withdrawal and declines only after 96 h. The proadhesive effect on cells seeded on fibronectin is greater than on plastic, since it already reaches its maximum after 24 h.

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Imidazolium trans-imidazoledimethylsulphoxidetrachlororuthenate (NAMI-A) was tested in vitro on the pro-adhesive properties, evaluated as resistance to trypsin treatment, which is a bona fide measure of adhesion strength, of KB and HeLa carcinoma cell lines and on human polymorphonuclear neutrophils (HPMN). NAMI-A increased the pro-adhesive activity of KB cells at 0.001 mM concentration, after few minutes incubation and this effect was not influenced by the vehicle used for cell challenge, neither did it depend on NAMI-A concentration or on temperature.

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A series of new platinum(II) complexes with diethyl (2-dqmp) and monoethyl (2-Hmqmp) 2-quinolylmethylphosphonates have been prepared and studied. Both organophosphorus ligands by reaction with [PtX(4)](2-) (X=Cl, Br) form either the molecular or ionic complexes depending on the acidity of the reaction solution. Dihalide adducts, trans-[PtL(2)X(2)] (L=2-dqmp, 2-Hmqmp), with N-bonded ligand through the quinoline nitrogen were obtained in the neutral medium, while under acidic conditions at pH<3 were isolated the ion-pair salt complexes, [LH](2)[PtX(4)], containing the protonated quinoline ligand as cation and tetrahaloplatinate complex as anion.

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Purpose: The uptake of NAMI-A (imidazolium trans-imidazoledimethylsulphoxidetetrachlororuthenate) by KB cells in vitro was compared with the effects of this compound on the cell cycle phase distribution of the cells.

Methods: NAMI-A uptake was determined by flameless atomic absorption spectroscopy, and the cell cycle phase distribution was determined by flow cytometry.

Results: NAMI-A uptake was proportional to its concentration in the incubation medium.

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The influence of chemical stability on the antimetastatic ruthenium(III) compound imidazolium trans-imidazoletetrachlorodimethylsulphoxideruthenium(III) (NAMI-A) in aqueous solution was studied both in vitro and in vivo. The loss of dimethyl-sulphoxide (DMSO) ligand from the compound was tested by using a NAMI-A solution acidified with HCl at pH 3.0 and aged for 0, 4, 8 and 24 h prior to intraperitoneal (i.

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The effects of NAMI-A (imidazolium trans-imidazoledimethyl sulfoxide-tetrachlororuthenate) are compared with cisplatin on tumor cells cultured in vitro at doses of 1 to 100 microM and on tumor metastases in vivo at maximum tolerated doses. Using mouse tumors that metastasize to the lungs, NAMI-A given i.p.

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Spectroscopic (1H NMR, UV-visible) and biological (cytostatic, antiviral activity) studies of palladium(II) complexes of monoethyl 2-quinolymethylphosphonate (2-Hmqmp): dihalide adducts trans-Pd(2-Hmqmp)2X2, chelate Pd(2-mqmp)2.2H2O and ion-pair salt complexes [2-H2mqmp]+[Pd(2-Hmqmp)X3]- (X = Cl, Br), have been carried out in order to determine structural and biological properties of these biologically interesting complex compounds. The complexes were evaluated in vitro for their cytostatic activity against murine L1210 and human KB and T-lymphoblast Molt4/C8 and CEM/0 cell lines, and the results obtained were compared with those obtained for the complexes of diethyl 2-quinolylmethylphosphonate (2-dqmp).

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The new palladium (II) halide complexes with diethyl and dibutyl esters of (alpha-anilino-N-benzyl) phosphonic acid and diethyl and dibutyl esters of [alpha-(4-benzeneazoanilino)-N-benzyl] phosphonic acid have been prepared and studied. All organophosphorus ligands form dihalide complexes, trans-Pd(L)2X2(X = Cl or Br), with monodentate N-bonded ligand through the anilinobenzyl nitrogen in (alpha-anilino-N-benzyl) phosphonate complexes and through the azo nitrogen in [alpha-(4-benzeneazoanilino)-N-benzyl] phosphonate complexes, respectively, without participation of the phosphoryl group. Azobenzene containing ligands by ortho-metallation also form binuclear organo-palladium complexes, [Pd(L-H)Cl]2, with the metal-metal chloro bridge.

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New rhodium(I) complexes, belonging to the general structure [Rh(CO)2 (L)], where dithiocarbamate and xanthate derivatives, were synthesized and assayed as cytostatic and antitumour agents in vitro against KB cells and in vivo against P388 leukaemia, Ehrlich ascites carcinoma, Sarcoma 180 ascites and ADJ/PC6A solid tumour. Assays against five trypanosoma strains were also performed. Among the new compounds the [Rh(CO)2 (DPA-dtc)] appeared to be active in all biological systems without showing evident nephrotoxicity.

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Six new platinum (II)-sulfonamide complexes were examined for their in vitro cytostatic properties as well as in vivo antitumour effect against three experimental murine tumours. The possible antitrypanosomic in vivo activity against T. brucei, T.

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New rhodium(I) complexes, belonging to the general structure [Rh(CO)2(L)], where L were sulfonamide derivatives, were synthesized and characterized by chemical analysis and IR determinations. These complexes were assayed as cytostatic and antitumour agents in vitro against KB cells and in vivo against P388, Ehrich ascites and advanced B16 melanoma. Assays against three Trypanosoma strains were also performed.

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It has been shown recently that anthracyclines induce an important, noncytotoxic histamine release from rat and mouse peritoneal mast cells. In the present study we evaluate if histamine release is related to Adriamycin uptake; in addition the uptake of this antineoplastic drug is studied in other normal or tumor cells. In rat and mouse peritoneal mast cells, Adriamycin-induced histamine release is quantitatively related to its intracellular concentrations.

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Aqueous, ethanolic and chloroformic extracts of 13 algae from the Gulf of Trieste (North Adriatic Sea) were assayed in vitro against human tumour established cell line (KB). Some of them exhibit a noteworthy cytostatic activity, in particular Dictyopteris membranacea (Stackh.) Batt.

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