Papillary carcinoma of the thyroid: evidence for a role for hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in promoting tumour angiogenesis.

The pattern of vascularization of papillary carcinoma was investigated in tumour sections from 31 cases and in primary cultures from 12 cases. Tumour sections were immunostained for von Willebrand Factor (vWF) to visualize blood vessels; for endothelial-specific nitric-oxide-synthase (EC-NOS), as a marker of endothelial cell activation; and for Ki-67 to evaluate endothelial cell proliferation. It was found that endothelial cells lining venous vessels located in peritumoural fibrous tissue were intensely EC-NOS-positive and occasionally Ki-67-positive.

[Respiratory effects of exposure to chlorine vapors during a swimming pool accident in a recreational center in Rome].

When inhaled, chlorine is a highly irritating gas that can damage larger airways as well as distal lung structure. We examined the short-term respiratory effects of acute chlorine inhalation during a swimming pool accident. On October 22, 1998, an emission of chlorine vapours occurred in the chlorinating maintenance procedures room of a recreational center in Rome.

High-resolution CT angiography of the abdomen.

Multislice computed tomographic angiography (MSCTA) is a versatile technique that combines speed, excellent contrast, superb spatial resolution, and extreme simplicity. It has a wide range of applications in the abdomen including all vascular pathologies, occlusive or dilative, with excellent demonstration of atherosclerotic plaques in large or smaller branches. MSCTA is the method of choice in the follow-up of patients undergoing endovascular procedures for aneurysms.

Poly(ethylene glycol) block copolymers.

The ubiquitous use of poly(ethylene glycol) in the biomaterials field has also boosted the research activity in the chemical derivatization of this polymer. We focused our interest on the preparation of tailor-made poly(ethylene glycol)-based structures and on the study of structure-activity relationships for its functionalization, as preliminary steps for the preparation of smart functional materials. More specifically, amphiphilic and cationic block copolymers were prepared for prospective use in the preparation of self-assembled carriers, and Michael-type addition of thiols onto acrylates was studied as a model for end-group reaction leading to hydrogel formation.

DNA bending, compaction and negative supercoiling by the architectural protein Sso7d of Sulfolobus solfataricus.

Members of the Sso7d/Sac7d family are small, abundant, non-specific DNA-binding proteins of the hyperthermophilic Archaea SULFOLOBUS: Crystal structures of these proteins in complex with oligonucleotides showed that they induce changes in the helical twist and marked DNA bending. On this basis they have been suggested to play a role in organising chromatin structures in these prokaryotes, which lack histones. We report functional in vitro assays to investigate the effects of the observed Sso7d-induced structural modifications on DNA geometry and topology.

Structural characterization of isoxazolidinyl nucleosides by fast atom bombardment tandem mass spectrometry.

4'-Aza-2',3'-dideoxyerythrofuranosyl derivatives of thymine (AdT, 1) and uracil (AdU, 2) are analogues of 2',3'-dideoxyribofuranosyl thymine (ddT, 3) and uracyl (ddU, 4). Compounds 1 and 2 are representative of a new class of antiviral agents where the sugar moiety is replaced by an isoxazolidine ring. The increasing importance of isoxazolidinyl nucleosides has encouraged the exploitation of simple mass spectrometric rules for unambiguously assigning their structure.

Clinical presentation of inhalational anthrax following bioterrorism exposure: report of 2 surviving patients.

The use of anthrax as a weapon of biological terrorism has moved from theory to reality in recent weeks. Following processing of a letter containing anthrax spores that had been mailed to a US senator, 5 cases of inhalational anthrax have occurred among postal workers employed at a major postal facility in Washington, DC. This report details the clinical presentation, diagnostic workup, and initial therapy of 2 of these patients.

Facile approach to enantiomerically pure alpha-amino ketones by Friedel-Crafts aminoacylation and their conversion into peptidyl ketones.

In this article we describe a versatile and straightforward preparative approach to chiral aryl alpha-amino ketones via a Friedel-Crafts-type reaction of stable and enantiomerically pure N-Fmoc protected L-amino acid chlorides with toluene in the presence of aluminum trichloride. The developed methodology provided aryl alpha-amino-p-methylphenyl ketones, which can be obtained and isolated as free bases or recovered as their N-acetyl derivatives, after treatment with acetic anhydride in chloroform at room temperature, subsequent to the Lewis acid induced removal of the 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl protecting group. The Friedel-Crafts-like process and the cleavage of the amino function masking group can selectively be performed since, as verified in all cases, the alpha-aminoacylation step occurred with kinetics that were faster than those required to remove the N-protection.

A randomized 4-arm multicenter study of interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin in the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C not responding to interferon alone.

To determine whether a higher dosage of interferon (IFN) associated with ribavirin and/or prolonged time of administration may improve therapeutic efficacy, we conducted a 4-arm randomized trial on patients with chronic hepatitis C not responding to one or more previous treatment courses with IFN monotherapy. Group 1 (n = 139) received 3 million units (MU) IFN-alpha2b 3 times a week (t.i.

[Magnetic resonance angiography with contrast media in the study of carotid arteries].

Purpose: Purpose of our study was to determine the feasibility and accuracy of contrast enhanced Turbo-MRA (CE-MRA) in the evaluation of patients with carotid artery stenosis, using a dynamic technique with multiple acquisitions.

Material And Methods: 37 patients with suspected carotid artery stenosis were studied with a 1.5 T magnet (Siemens Vision Plus) using, with a neck phased array coil, a dynamic tridimensional T1 weighted spoiled GRE (TR/TE/NEX: 3.

Short term respiratory effects of acute exposure to chlorine due to a swimming pool accident.

Objective: Acute exposure to chlorine causes lung damage, and recovery may proceed slowly for several weeks. The short term respiratory effects of acute chlorine inhalation during a swimming pool accident were examined.

Methods: A total of 282 subjects (134 children, aged <14 years) inhaled hydrogen chloride and sodium hypochlorite during an accident caused by a malfunction of the water chlorinating system in a community pool in Rome in 1998.

Site selectivity in the synthesis of O-methylated hydroxamic acids with diazomethane.

In this paper we report the results obtained by treating some selected hydroxamic acids with diazomethane in ethereal media. The multitask reagent diazomethane was used either as a base to induce deprotonation of the chosen hydroxamic acids or as conjugated acid which undergoes one-pot methylation processes of the generated anions. Product distributions clearly showed that a high site selectivity is expressed by the different deprotonated species in the alkylation processes.

Transforming growth factor-beta 1 and insulin-like growth factor-1 expression in ovarian endometriotic cysts: a preliminary study.

Increased concentrations of TGF-beta 1 in endometriotic tissue are considered important in the pathophysiology of endometrial diseases since TGF-beta 1 may inhibit natural killer activity and induce angiogenesis and proliferation of endometrial stromal cells. In the present study we report on TGF-beta 1, IGF-1 and their receptor localization, as detected by Northern hybridization and immunohistochemistry, in ovarian endometriotic tissues removed during surgical procedures. We detected comparable expression of IGF-1 and IGF-1 receptor in the stromal and epithelial compartments, thus confirming disregulated expression of the IGF system in ovarian endometriosis.

Treatment with interferon-alpha2b of naive non-cirrhotic patients with chronic hepatitis C according to viraemia and genotype. Results of a randomized multicentre study. The North West Italian Hepatological Group.

Objective: To establish whether tailoring the dosage of interferon (IFN)-alpha2b in non-cirrhotic naive patients with chronic hepatitis C according to hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype and viraemic level improves the rate of sustained response (normal alanine aminotransferase values and HCV-RNA negativity 6 months after the end of therapy).

Patients: A total of 538 consecutively collected HCV-positive patients with non-cirrhotic chronic hepatitis who had not been previously treated.

Methods: Quantitative viraemia and genotype were determined in each patient by a core laboratory.

Electron transfer vs. proton transfer within radical-cation clusters of guanosine and deoxyguanosine with substituted naphthalenes and sinapinic acid.

Guanosine (G) and deoxyguanosine (dG) radical cations can be generated in the gas phase by single electron transfer (SET) within nucleoside-dimethoxynaphthalenes (1-2) electron-bound heterodimers produced by fast atom bombardment in a four sector mass spectrometer. The nucleobase guanine is much more easily oxidized when it is linked to a ribose moiety. The radical cation dimers formed by G and dG with sinapinic acid behave as proton-bound heterodimers.

Role of spirometric and arterial gas data in predicting pulmonary complications after abdominal surgery.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of preoperative spirometric and arterial gas data on severe pulmonary complications (PC) after elective abdominal surgery. We retrospectively studied 480 patients, 254 males and 226 females, mean (SD) age 63 (11) years, at risk for PC according to standardized criteria, who underwent laparotomy for resection of gallbladder for gallstones (44% of patients), resection of colon, rectum or stomach for malignant tumours (37%), and other abdominal surgery (19%). The overall incidence of postoperative PC was 18%.

A novel member of the bacterial-archaeal regulator family is a nonspecific dna-binding protein and induces positive supercoiling.

In hyperthermophilic Archaea genomic DNA is from relaxed to positively supercoiled in vivo because of the action of the enzyme reverse gyrase, and this peculiarity is believed to be related to stabilization of DNA against denaturation. We report the identification and characterization of Smj12, a novel protein of Sulfolobus solfataricus, which is homologous to members of the so-called Bacterial-Archaeal family of regulators, found in multiple copies in Eubacteria and Archaea. Whereas other members of the family are sequence-specific DNA- binding proteins and have been implicated in transcriptional regulation, Smj12 is a nonspecific DNA-binding protein that stabilizes the double helix and induces positive supercoiling.

Cellular heterogeneity of granular cell tumours: a clue to their nature?

Most granular cell tumours (GCTs) are benign proliferations of purported Schwannian derivation, showing immunoreactivity for Schwann cell-related antigens. Due to incomplete agreement on the precise nature of GCTs (reactive vs neoplastic), we performed an immunohistochemical study with the alkaline phosphatase/anti-alkaline phosphatase (APAAP) technique on 30 GCTs. The aim was to evaluate their growth patterns and the possible relationships of granular cells with other nerve sheath-related cell types (i.

Survey of the proton affinities of adenine, cytosine, thymine and uracil dideoxyribonucleosides, deoxyribonucleosides and ribonucleosides.

The kinetic method was applied to the determination of the proton affinities (PAs) of modified deoxy- and dideoxyribonucleosides. A correlation between the measured PAs and the replacement of one of the three hydroxyl groups of the ribose unit is presented. A PA scale was obtained which shows that the replacement of the primary or of one or both secondary hydroxyl groups of a ribonucleoside with a hydrogen atom induces the lowering or the enhancement of the nucleoside PA, respectively.

A peptide analogue to a fusion domain within photoreceptor peripherin/rds promotes membrane adhesion and depolarization.

Photoreceptor peripherin/rds promotes membrane fusion, through a putative fusion domain located within the C-terminus (Boesze-Battaglia et al., Biochemistry 37 (1998) 9477-9487). A peptide analogue to this region, PP-5, competitively inhibits peripherin/rds mediated fusion in a cell free assay system.

Fetal pancreatic function in infants of diabetic and rhesus-isoimmunized women.

Objective: To measure insulin and glucagon concentrations in amniotic fluid (AF) collected near term in basal conditions and after an arginine test in diabetic, rhesus-isoimmunized, and control pregnant women.

Methods: At baseline, AF was collected from 44 diabetic, 32 rhesus-isoimmunized, and 27 control pregnant women in late pregnancy. Fifty-two diabetic, six rhesus-isoimmunized, and nine control pregnant women had amniocentesis 2 hours after arginine infusion (30 g intravenous/30 minutes) at 33-36 weeks.

Localization of pancreatic insulinomas with MR imaging at 0.5 T.

Objective: To determine the role of MR imaging in the localization of pancreatic insulinomas in patients with clinical and laboratory diagnosis of insulin-producing tumor.

Material And Methods: Thirty-one patients presenting with signs and symptoms of pancreatic insulinomas were prospectively included in our study. Twenty-six patients underwent surgery, and pathologic specimens were examined: 5 patients, in whom the initial diagnosis of insulinoma was excluded, were also studied and then followed up.