Assessing the environmental impact of WWTP expansion: odour nuisance and its minimization.

As part of the effort to provide proper wastewater disposal for the City of Milan, the expansion of the WWTP located in Peschiera Borromeo has been planned and is currently under completion. The plant, sized for a population of less than 300,000, will soon treat the wastes from the south-east areas of Milan for a total capacity of over 500,000 p.e.

p63 immunoreactivity in lung cancer: yet another player in the development of squamous cell carcinomas?

The p63 protein, a member of the p53 family of nuclear transcription factors, is characterized by different capabilities of transactivating reporter genes, inducing apoptosis, and functioning as dominant-negative agent. This study evaluated the prevalence and prognostic implications of p63 immunoreactivity in 221 patients with stage I non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) and in 57 patients with stage I-IV neuroendocrine tumours (NET). The results were correlated with the tumour proliferative fraction, the accumulation of p53 protein, and with patient survival.

High-dose chemotherapy in small cell lung cancer.

Improvements in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) therapy with conventional doses of drugs with or without radiotherapy have been poor, and the 5-year survival is discouraging. Since SCLC is highly sensitive to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, some studies have tried to improve survival by increasing the dose of the drugs. Within conventional ranges, dose intensity can be increased with the support of hematopoietic growth factors (G/GM-CSF) and/or shortening treatment intervals (e.

Late events and clinical prognostic factors in stage I non small cell lung cancer.

Unlabelled: Two hundred and forty six consecutive patients with pathological T1-2 N0 M0 non-small cell lung cancer were reviewed. Median follow-up was 79 months (range 3-144). So far, 110 patients have relapsed (45.

Synthesis, characterization and X-ray structures of new antiproliferative and proapoptotic natural aldehyde thiosemicarbazones and their nickel(II) and copper(II) complexes.

Synthesis and characterization of new thiosemicarbazones derived from natural aldehydes (1-9) have been investigated in order to develop a research program aimed at the development of compounds with antiviral, antibacterial, and antitumor properties. These substances contain both a chain with N and S nucleophilic centers with tuberculostatic activity, and an alkyl or terpenic moiety. In addition, a few nickel(II) and copper(II) complexes (10-18), derived also from the previously studied ligands, were synthesized and characterized by means of NMR and IR techniques.

Stroke patients, what to do and what to avoid.

In Italy (130,000 new strokes in the general population per year) ischemic stroke is the third cause of death, after cardiovascular disease and neoplastic disease with a prevalence of 6.5%. Different physicians are involved in the emergent evaluation and treatment of the acute ischemic stroke.

Progesterone receptor immunoreactivity in minute meningothelioid nodules of the lung.

Meningothelioid nodules (MNs) are not uncommon lesions of the pulmonary interstitium composed of monomorphic round to spindle cells, likely reactive in nature. Their origin is unsettled, though a derivation from arachnoid-like cells in conditions of perturbed perfusion of the pulmonary tissue has been proposed. Here we confirm the consistent occurrence of intense progesterone-receptor immunoreactivity in MNs fortuitously detected in surgical specimens of lung carcinomas.

Fluoro-deoxi-glucose uptake and angiogenesis are independent biological features in lung metastases.

Neoangiogenesis and enhanced glucose metabolism in neoplasms are likely to be activated by the same biochemical stimulus; hypoxia. A correlation between these two parameters has been postulated. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between Fluoro-desoxi-glucose uptake at positron emission tomography scan and angiogenesis in lung metastasis.

The presence of bone marrow cytokeratin-immunoreactive cells does not predict outcome in gastric cancer patients.

The independent prognostic significance of isolated tumour cells in bone marrow is still a matter of debate. This study evaluated the possible association of bone marrow micrometastases with tumour progression and prognosis in patients affected by gastric cancer. Bone marrow aspirates from both iliac crests were obtained from 114 consecutive patients operated on for gastric cancer.

Synthesis, characterization and biological activity of two new polymeric copper(II) complexes with alpha-ketoglutaric acid thiosemicarbazone.

In this paper we describe the synthesis of new copper complexes with alpha-ketoglutaric acid thiosemicarbazone. The crystal structures of the two compounds: [Cu(H(2)ct)Cl](n) [(Cu(H(2)ct)Cl)(2)] (1) and [Cu(Hct)](n).3nH(2)O (2) (H(3)ct=alpha-ketoglutaric acid thiosemicarbazone) have been determined by X-ray and spectroscopic methods.

Low morbidity of bronchoplastic procedures after chemotherapy for lung cancer.

Objective: To evaluate if induction chemotherapy, with or without irradiation, represents an additional risk factor for early and late morbidity and perioperative mortality in bronchoplastic procedures for lung cancers.

Methods: From January 1998 to January 2001, 27 patients underwent a bronchial sleeve resection after induction treatment at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan. They represent 7% of lung cancer resections (387) and 27% of those performed after neoadjuvant treatment (100 cases).

New methyl pyruvate thiosemicarbazones and their copper and zinc complexes: synthesis, characterization, X-ray structures and biological activity.

By reacting thiosemicarbazides substituted on the aminic nitrogen with both alkyl or aryl groups, and methyl pyruvate a new group of methylpyruvate thiosemicarbazones (Hmpt) derivatives was obtained. These ligands were then treated with copper and zinc inorganic salts. All isolated compounds were characterized using spectroscopic methods.

Pulmonary epithelial-myoepithelial tumor of unproven malignant potential: report of a case and review of the literature.

Epithelial-myoepithelial tumors of the lung are rare neoplasms whose biological behavior and clinical course still remain to be defined. A case of epithelial-myoepithelial tumor of the lung arising from bronchial mucosa-submucosa and occurring as a polypoid lesion of the upper left bronchus in a 47-year-old man is reported. The tumor did not infiltrate the cartilaginous wall of the bronchus and showed a biphasic histological appearance with a double layering of epithelial and myoepithelial cells.

Efficient otoacoustic emission protocols employed in a hospital-based neonatal screening program.

Within the context of a hospital-based newborn hearing screening program, we have studied the application of two OAE protocols (TEOAE and DPOAE) on a group of 250 well babies. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the performance of DPOAE protocol in a relatively large population sample. using a preset number of five tested frequencies, in comparison with a default TEOAE screening protocol.

111In platelet scintigraphy for the noninvasive detection of carotid plaque thrombosis.

Background And Purpose: Thrombosis on atherosclerotic lesions in the large extracranial arteries is the main cause of embolization in the distal cerebral circulation and thus is involved in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke. The assessment of biological characteristics of lesions that are predictive of thrombotic complications might help in stratification of the risk for stroke but is currently imperfect.

Methods: We compared the performance of (111)In-platelet scintigraphy with blood pool subtraction, ultrasound-based tissue texture analyses, and transcranial Doppler techniques in their ability to predict the occurrence of superficial thrombosis or the presence of a lipid pool in carotid artery plaque specimens removed at the time of carotid endarterectomy in 22 patients with unilateral carotid artery stenosis of >70%.

Synthesis, characterisation, X-ray structure and biological activity of three new 5-formyluracil thiosemicarbazone complexes.

Three new complexes of transition metals as copper, nickel and cobalt with 5-formyluracil thiosemicarbazone (H3ut) have been synthesised and characterised by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In all compounds the ligand behaves as SNO terdentate. In the copper complex the coordination geometry is square pyramidal with the ligand lying on the basal plane and two water molecules that complete the metal environment, the nickel compound is surrounded by six donor atoms (three of the ligand, two water oxygen atoms and a chlorine atom) in an octahedral fashion, and cobalt also shows an octahedral geometry but determined only by two terdentate ligand molecules.

[Distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAEs) and newborn hearing screening: a feasibility and performance study].

In view of the great psychological effect deafness has on one's social life, the scientific community has long sought the best way to define the hearing function. The development of new technologies in this field has set "early intervention" as the primary target for screening. For this reason, within the contest of a program of audiological newborn hearing screening, the Authors have used data from a selected group of 1250 newborns to (a) compare the clinical feasibility and performance of three different DPOAE protocols and (b) establish the scoring criteria defining "pass" or "fail" responses.

Immunoreactivity for thyroid transcription factor-1 in stage I non-small cell carcinomas of the lung.

Thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF-1) is a nuclear protein regulating the transcriptional activity of lung-specific genes in the normal and neoplastic bronchioloalveolar cells. It has been implicated in the normal growth and development of the lung, and the disruption of the TTF-1 locus leads to neonatal death with pulmonary hypoplasia. We evaluated retrospectively the prevalence and clinical significance of TTF-1 immunoreactivity in 222 patients with stage I non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) with a follow-up time of at least 5 years, and we investigated its relationship with other markers of tumor growth, namely cell proliferation and angiogenesis.

CD99 immunoreactivity in gastrointestinal and pulmonary neuroendocrine tumours.

Although considered a specific marker for Ewing's sarcoma/peripheral neuroectodermal tumour, the MIC2 gene product (CD99) has been immunolocalised in a variety of human tumours. The present study evaluated immunohistochemically the prevalence of CD99 expression in a series of 68 neuroendocrine tumours of different gastrointestinal and pulmonary sites. We now report on membrane and/or granular cytoplasmic immunoreactivity in 25% of these tumours, independent of their anatomical sites.

Synthesis, structural characterization and biological activity of p-fluorobenzaldehyde thiosemicarbazones and of a nickel complex.

New thiosemicarbazones (1-7), derived from p-fluorobenzaldehyde and differently substituted thiosemicarbazides, were synthetized and characterized by means of NMR and IR techniques. The p-fluorobenzaldehyde thiosemicarbazone Hfbt (1), the p-fluorobenzaldehyde 4-phenylthiosemicarbazone Ph-Hfbt (4) and complex [Ni(fbt)2] (8) were also characterized by X-ray diffractometry. Molecules 1 and 4 consist of two units: the p-fluorobenzaldehyde residue and the thiosemicarbazonic chain.

Synthesis, spectroscopic characterization and biological properties of new natural aldehydes thiosemicarbazones.

As part of a research programme aimed at the synthesis of compounds with antiviral, antibacterial and antitumor properties and their spectroscopic characterization, new thiosemicarbazones deriving from natural aldehydes have been investigated. These substances contain in the same molecule both a chain with nucleophilic centres N, S with tubercolostatic activity, and a glycosidic or alkyl moiety (modified glycosides and nucleosides have recently received a great deal of attention in the fields of neoplastic diseases and viral infections). In this paper the synthesis and the characterization of these compounds by means of 1H NMR, IR, and MS techniques is reported.