Skull and Encephalic Injuries Caused by Beach Umbrellas: Case Reports and Review of Literature.

This study reports two unusual cases of skull-encephalic injuries in bathers that were caused by violent impacts with beach umbrellas. The first case concerned a 36-year-old man who, while lying on a sun bed, was struck on his left temple by a beach umbrella, which had been blown away by a gust of wind. The second case concerned a six-year-old child who was struck on the right temporal region while he was playing on the sand.

Unexpected death for Takayasu aortitis associated with coronary ostial stenosis: case report.

The differential diagnosis of vasculitis is often a difficult task due to the frequent morphological similarities that various vasculitic syndromes express when the heart is the target organ. The more the lesions are limited to the arterial tree with absent or almost silent coronary events, the less specific the anatomical and clinical frameworks. To create a series of clinical records and on the basis of these assumptions, the authors report a case concerning the sudden death of a 43-year-old woman which occurred while an ergonometric test was being carried out 28 days after the onset of the symptoms.

[Energy sources. Social and environmental impact and societal models: future perspectives. Part 1: General aspects and reflections.].

In this paper, the authors discuss energy sources, highlighting their impact on the environment and on human beings, their influence in economy and finance and on relations between governments. They attempt to analyse whether the above factors together can lead to a negative impact on health, defined as an individual's "complete physical social and psychological well being". The role of petroleum in the world economy is understandable if one considers that energy, heat, light, electricity, transportation and large part of mass production are all dependent on this energy resource.

[Adolescents and alcohol: a survey in the city of Messina (Italy)].

Alcohol abuse represents a relevant social problem in industrialized countries. Italy has an age-long tradition of producing and drinking wine, a beverage which in moderate doses is considered to be part of the much appreciated "Mediterranean diet". However, drinking other alcoholic beverages is becoming increasingly common, especially among adolescents.

[Prevention of legionellosis in hotel establishments: a proposal to introduce a plan of action in accordance with Provision 13 January 2005 (Italy)].

Provision 13 January 2005 (Italy) gives guidelines for legionellosis control and prevention in hotel and thermal establishments. Considering that Legionella pneumophila is an ubiquitous organism , the implementation of actions to control the risk of Legionella in the water distribution systems of various types of establishments (hospital, hotel, thermal), or to at least reduce it to acceptable levels, is warranted. The authors have prepared a plan of action for Legionella which, besides describing the main points of the provision and the roles of managers and technicians, also includes the data sheets to be used during environmental monitoring procedures.

Novel sigma receptor ligands: synthesis and biological profile.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the biological profile of new substituted 1-phenyl-2-cyclopropylmethylamines. High affinity for both sigma subtypes was achieved when 4-phenylpiperidin-4-ol (4a-e) and 4-benzylpiperidine moieties were present (5a-e). (1R,2S/1S,2R)-2-[4-Hydroxy-4-phenylpiperidin-1-yl)methyl]-1-(4-methylphenyl)cyclopropanecarboxylate (4b) showed high affinity for the sigma1 sites (Ki = 1.

[A survey of the social and health conditions of immigrants living in the city of Messina (Italy)].

From december 2002 to May 2003 a questionnaire was administered to a sample of the immigrant population living in Messina (Italy), in order to evaluate their social and health conditions. Of great interest are data revealing that nearly all immigrants, despite being regularly enrolled in the Italian National Health Service (INHS), do not utilize available services when ill. The survey identified one of the reasons for this to be insufficient visibility and accessibility of the INHS in that time period.

Aeromonas hydrophila exotoxin induces cytoplasmic vacuolation and cell death in VERO cells.

Many organisms are able to cause cell vacuolation, but it is unclear if this can be considered a step of apoptosis or necrosis, or a distinct form of cell death. In this study VERO cells were used to evaluate the relationship between vacuolation and cell death pattern caused by exotoxins produced by environmental strains of A. hydrophila.

Involvement of 5-lipoxygenase in spinal cord injury.

A traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) induces a sequelae of events which conduce biochemical and cellular alterations. Here we compare the degree of spinal cord injury caused by the application of vascular clips, in mice lacking the 5-lipoxygenase and in the corresponding wild-type mice. Biochemical, immunohistochemical and functional studies revealed respectively an increase of neutrophils infiltration, of IL-1beta, TNF-alpha immunoreactivity, apoptosis (measured by Annexin-V staining) and loss of hind legs movement in SCI operated 5-LO wild-type mice.

Role of endogenous ligands for the peroxisome proliferators activated receptors alpha in the secondary damage in experimental spinal cord trauma.

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPAR-alpha) is a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily of ligand-dependent transcription factors related to retinoid, steroid, and thyroid hormone receptors. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of endogenous PPAR-alpha ligand in an experimental model of spinal cord trauma. Spinal cord injury was induced in PPAR-alpha wild-type (WT) mice and PPAR-alpha knock out mice (PPAR-alpha KO) mice by the application of vascular clips (force of 24 g) to the dura via a four-level T5-T8 laminectomy.

Amyloid beta(1-42) and its beta(25-35) fragment induce activation and membrane translocation of cytosolic phospholipase A2 in bovine retina capillary pericytes.

We investigated changes in cytosolic phospholipase A(2) (cPLA(2)) and calcium-independent PLA(2) (iPLA(2)) activities in bovine retina capillary pericytes after stimulation with 50 microM amyloid-beta (Abeta) (1-42) and its (25-35) fragment, over 24 h (mild, sublethal model of cell damage). In the presence of Abeta peptides, we found that cPLA(2) activity was increased and translocated from the cytosolic fraction to the membrane system, particularly in the nuclear region. Reversed-sequence Abeta(35-25) peptide did not stimulate or induce cPLA(2) translocation.

Immunocytochemical localization and expression of heme oxygenase-1 in primary astroglial cell cultures during differentiation: effect of glutamate.

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) catalyzes the rate-limiting step in heme degradation releasing iron, carbon monoxide (CO), and biliverdin. We investigated subcellular localization of HO-1 using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and the expression by Western blot in primary astroglial cells during differentiation and after exposure to glutamate (100microM). CLSM analysis of immunostained HO-1 in cultured astroglial cells during differentiation showed an increase of fluorescence between 7 and 14 days and a decrease between 14 and 21, although HO-1 peaked at 14 days it remained at high levels.

Cytosolic phospholipase A2 mediates arachidonoyl phospholipid hydrolysis in immortalized rat brain endothelial cells stimulated by oxidized LDL.

We tested the hypothesis that oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL), administered in sublethal doses to the culture medium of immortalized rat brain endothelial cells (ECs, GP8.39), acts as a prooxidant signal to stimulate peroxidation processes and membrane phospholipid hydrolysis. ECs were grown at confluence in a medium with or without native LDL (nLDL) or oxLDL (1.