[Hepatorenal syndrome].

Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) is defined by progressive changes in the splanchnic and systemic circulation of cirrhosis patients. It is usually secondary to triggering events, inducing a complex multiorgan dysfunction syndrome, also including renal failure with a reduction in urinary output. The progression rate of the renal dysfunction discriminates between HRS type 1, where the worsening is more rapid, i.

Medical student career survey--vascular surgery awareness initiative.

Background: The objectives of this survey were to identify medical students' general knowledge of vascular surgery as a career choice on entrance to medical school, and how student perspectives change during their exposure to clinical disciplines. Furthermore, we sought to determine which factors may influence the choice of a particular career path, and to apply this knowledge to improve the recruitment process of medical students into the specialty of vascular surgery.

Methods: A one-time anonymous questionnaire consisting of 21 open and multiple-choice questions was distributed to first- (MS1), second- (MS2), and third-year (MS3) medical students at a large single-campus medical school.

In vitro phytotoxicity and antioxidant activity of selected flavonoids.

The knowledge of flavonoids involved in plant-plant interactions and their mechanisms of action are poor and, moreover, the structural characteristics required for these biological activities are scarcely known. The objective of this work was to study the possible in vitro phytotoxic effects of 27 flavonoids on the germination and early radical growth of Raphanus sativus L. and Lepidium sativum L.

Concerted action of the PHD, chromo and motor domains regulates the human chromatin remodelling ATPase CHD4.

CHD4, the core subunit of the Nucleosome Remodelling and Deacetylase (NuRD) complex, is a chromatin remodelling ATPase that, in addition to a helicase domain, harbors tandem plant homeo finger and chromo domains. By using a panel of domain constructs we dissect their roles and demonstrate that DNA binding, histone binding and ATPase activities are allosterically regulated. Molecular shape reconstruction from small-angle X-ray scattering reveals extensive domain-domain interactions, which provide a structural explanation for the regulation of CHD4 activities by intramolecular domain communication.

Robotic transperitoneal aortic lymphadenectomy in gynecologic cancer: a new robotic surgical technique and review of the literature.

Background: Lymph node status is a prognostic factor for gynecologic cancer. We describe a new developing strategy for robotic transperitoneal aortic lymphadenectomy without relocating the robotic column or the patient.

Methods: Patients with histologically confirmed cervical cancer, early ovarian cancer, or endometrial carcinoma with suspected risk factors indicating aortic lymphadenectomy were eligible for the robotic transperitoneal aortic lymphadenectomy using the Da Vinci robotic system as part of the surgical treatment of gynecologic malignancies.

The prevalence of peripheral neuropathy in hemodialysis patients.

Background/aims: Uremic Neuropathy (UN) highly limits the individual self-sufficiency causing near-continuous pain. An estimation of the actual UN prevalence among hemodialysis patients was the aim of the present work.

Methods: We studied 225 prevalent dialysis patients from two Italian Centers.

HIV reservoirs and immune surveillance evasion cause the failure of structured treatment interruptions: a computational study.

Continuous antiretroviral therapy is currently the most effective way to treat HIV infection. Unstructured interruptions are quite common due to side effects and toxicity, among others, and cannot be prevented. Several attempts to structure these interruptions failed due to an increased morbidity compared to continuous treatment.

Structural and magnetic dynamics of a laser induced phase transition in FeRh.

We use time-resolved x-ray diffraction and magneto-optical Kerr effect to study the laser-induced antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic phase transition in FeRh. The structural response is given by the nucleation of independent ferromagnetic domains (τ(1)~30 ps). This is significantly faster than the magnetic response (τ(2)~60 ps) given by the subsequent domain realignment.

[Plasmapheresis in intensive care].

Blood purification by means of plasmapheresis has been known since the 1950s. Plasmapheresis first separates plasma from the blood's cell component; in the classical plasma exchange modality, the patient's plasma is then replaced with fresh frozen plasma from a donor. This procedure is still current in different fields of medicine, as there are hematological (thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, Waldenström's disease), neurological (Guillain-Barre' syndrome, myasthenia gravis) and toxicological indications (several forms of mushroom poisoning, tricyclic antidepressants, transfusional reactions), as well as nephrological indications (Goodpasture's syndrome, ANCA-associated vasculitis, myeloma) for its use.

In vitro control of post-harvest fruit rot fungi by some plant essential oil components.

Eight substances that are main components of the essential oils from three Mediterranean aromatic plants (Verbena officinalis, Thymus vulgaris and Origanum vulgare), previously found active against some phytopathogenic Fungi and Stramenopila, have been tested in vitro against five etiological agents of post-harvest fruit decay, Botrytis cinerea, Penicillium italicum, P. expansum, Phytophthora citrophthora and Rhizopus stolonifer. The tested compounds were β-fellandrene, β-pinene, camphene, carvacrol, citral, o-cymene, γ-terpinene and thymol.

Pontin is essential for murine hematopoietic stem cell survival.

Pontin is a highly conserved DNA helicase/ATPase which is a component of several macromolecular complexes with functions that include DNA repair, telomere maintenance and tumor suppression. While Pontin is known to be essential in yeast, fruit flies and frogs, its physiological role in mammalian organisms remains to be determined. We here find that Pontin is highly expressed in embryonic stem cells and hematopoietic tissues.

Diagnosis of mitochondrial disorders applying massive pyrosequencing.

Mitochondrial disorders are a frequent cause of neurological disability affecting children and adults. Traditionally, molecular diagnosis of mitochondrial diseases was mostly accomplished by the use of Sanger sequencing and PCR-RFLP. However, there are particular drawbacks associated with the use of these methods.

Mechanism of RNA packaging motor.

P4 proteins are hexameric RNA packaging ATPases of dsRNA bacteriophages of the Cystoviridae family. P4 hexamers are integral part of the inner polymerase core and play several essential roles in the virus replication cycle. P4 proteins are structurally related to the hexameric helicases and translocases of superfamily 4 (SF4) and other RecA-like ATPases.

Effects of fractionated plasma separation and adsorption on survival in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure.

Background & Aims: Fractionated plasma separation and adsorption (FPSA) is an extracorporeal procedure that supports liver function by removing endogenous toxins that cause complications from acute-on-chronic liver failure (AOCLF). We performed a randomized trial to investigate survival of patients with AOCLF treated with FPSA.

Methods: Patients with AOCLF were randomly assigned to groups given a combination of FPSA and standard medical therapy (SMT) (FPSA group, n = 77) or only SMT (SMT group, n = 68).

Chemical composition and possible in vitro antigermination activity of three Hypericum essential oils.

The essential oils of Hypericum perforatum, H. perfoliatum and H. hircinum, growing in Southern Italy, were analyzed by GC and GC/MS.

Extension of organised cervical cancer screening programmes in Italy and their process indicators, 2009 activity.

Italian national guidelines recommend to regions the implementation of organised screening programmes for cervical cancer. As in previous years since 1998, we collected from Italian organised cervical screening programmes aggregated tables of data in order to centrally compute process indicators. Data on women invited during 2009 and screened up to April 2010 were considered.

Is time on cardiopulmonary bypass during cardiac surgery associated with acute kidney injury requiring dialysis?

It is commonly accepted that the longer the time on extracorporeal cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), the higher is the likelihood of developing acute renal failure requiring dialysis (ARF-D). Nonetheless, previous works elicited conflicting evidence. We investigated the relationship between CPB duration and ARF-D occurrence.

Laparoscopic staging of early ovarian cancer: results of a multi-institutional cohort study.

Background: Minimal access surgery to stage early ovarian cancer (EOC) is still regarded as investigational among many gynecologic oncologists. Reporting outcome data from large cohorts is currently the only practical way to further define the appropriateness of minimally invasive surgery for EOC patients. We sought to investigate the safety, adequacy, and outcome of laparoscopic staging of EOC by using a multi-institutional sample.

FOG-1 and GATA-1 act sequentially to specify definitive megakaryocytic and erythroid progenitors.

The transcription factors that control lineage specification of haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have been well described for the myeloid and lymphoid lineages, whereas transcriptional control of erythroid (E) and megakaryocytic (Mk) fate is less understood. We here use conditional removal of the GATA-1 and FOG-1 transcription factors to identify FOG-1 as required for the formation of all committed Mk- and E-lineage progenitors, whereas GATA-1 was observed to be specifically required for E-lineage commitment. FOG-1-deficient HSCs and preMegEs, the latter normally bipotent for the Mk and E lineages, underwent myeloid transcriptional reprogramming, and formed myeloid, but not erythroid and megakaryocytic cells in vitro.

Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance of longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Chromatin modifiers regulate lifespan in several organisms, raising the question of whether changes in chromatin states in the parental generation could be incompletely reprogrammed in the next generation and thereby affect the lifespan of descendants. The histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) complex, composed of ASH-2, WDR-5 and the histone methyltransferase SET-2, regulates Caenorhabditis elegans lifespan. Here we show that deficiencies in the H3K4me3 chromatin modifiers ASH-2, WDR-5 or SET-2 in the parental generation extend the lifespan of descendants up until the third generation.

Molecular characterization and evolution of a gene family encoding male-specific reproductive proteins in the African malaria vector Anopheles gambiae.

Background: During copulation, the major Afro-tropical malaria vector Anopheles gambiae s.s. transfers male accessory gland (MAG) proteins to females as a solid mass (i.

Biological progression of breast cancer and clinical implications.

The classic view of tumor progression is that genetic mutation introduced in differentiated or progenitor cells causes tumors, through the acquisition of advantages for survival, and leading to phenotypic heterogeneity. Another theory (stem cell hypothesis) considers that tumor progression derives from cells within the tumor with stem cell characteristics of self-renewal and multiple differentiation potential. It is still unknown the timing of expression of various biological characteristics of breast cancer during the progression cascade, and the existence of clonal heterogeneity within primary tumor and synchronous or asynchronous distant metastases contributes to treatments failures.

Chemical composition and possible in vitro phytotoxic activity of Helichrsyum italicum (Roth) Don ssp. italicum.

The chemical composition of the essential oil of Helichrysum italicum (Roth) Don ssp. italicum, collected in the National Park of Cilento and Diano Valley, Southern Italy, was studied by means of GC and GC/MS. Forty four compounds of 45 constituents were identified in the oil, mainly oxygenated sesquiterpenes.

Molecular phylogeny and diversification of the "Haenydra" lineage (Hydraenidae, genus Hydraena), a north-Mediterranean endemic-rich group of rheophilic Coleoptera.

Hydraena is the largest genus within the water beetle family Hydraenidae, with ca. 1000 species distributed worldwide. Within this large genus some monophyletic groups of species are recognised, among them the "Haenydra" lineage, including ca.