Tinea capitis due to Microsporum gypseum in an adult.

A case of tinea capitis due to Microsporum gypseum in an adult is described. An otherwise healthy 69-year-old woman presented two large patches of slightly erythematous scaling alopecia localized on the vertex and on the left parietal region of the scalp. The only subjective sign was itching.

Nerve regeneration through a combined autologous conduit (vein plus acellular muscle grafts).

The authors describe nerve regeneration obtained by using a combined autologous conduit, consisting of a vein plus acellular muscle grafts. The right sciatic nerve of seven Sprague Dawley rats was transected for a length of 2 cm and the gap was filled with 2 cm long femoral vein conduit in which two autologous acellular muscle grafts had been previously inserted. Clinical and electrophysiologic tests were carried out twelve weeks after the surgical procedure.

Polymorphism and sequence variations of the HumCD4 pentameric microsatellite in an Italian population sample.

A sample of 265 subjects from central Italy was analyzed at the HumCD4 locus by polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR). Phenotypes were identified by comparison with a sequenced ladder, after high-resolution horizontal polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) followed by silver staining. A set of representative alleles was sequenced by Taq-cycle-sequencing with dye terminator labeling and capillary gel electrophoresis strategies.

Biochemical modifications of human whole saliva induced by pregnancy.

Objective: To assess human unstimulated whole saliva components during pregnancy, to determine the relation, if any, between pregnancy and oral health, particularly total protein concentration, alpha-amylase activity, sialic acid content and calcium and phosphate concentrations were evaluated.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Participants: Forty-five healthy primigravid women; 15 nonpregnant women acted as controls.

Fluconazole susceptibility and strain variation of Candida albicans isolates from HIV-infected patients with oropharyngeal candidosis.

Over a 16 month period we conducted a prospective study in a cohort of 45 HIV-positive patients to detect the development of resistance to fluconazole and to analyse the epidemiology of oropharyngeal candidosis (OPC). Each episode was treated with fluconazole 100 mg/day po for 10 days. All yeast isolates were tested for their in-vitro susceptibility to fluconazole.

A regulatory mutant of Hansenula polymorpha exhibiting methanol utilization metabolism and peroxisome proliferation in glucose.

Mutant LGM-128 of Hansenula polymorpha harbors the recessive mutation glr2-1 which confers a complex pleiotropic phenotype, the major feature of which is the metabolically unnecessary induction of methanol utilization metabolism (C1 metabolism) during growth on glucose, whether or not methanol is in the medium. Therefore, in this mutant, peroxisomes are formed and proliferate upon cultivation in glucose-containing media. In these media, LGM-128 shows induction levels of C1 metabolism that are similar to those observed in methanol-containing media.

Ras p21 immunostaining in early stage squamous cervical carcinoma: relationship with lymph nodal involvement and 72 kDa-metalloproteinase index.

Background: Ras p21 expression seems to be associated with aggressiveness of neoplastic growth and metastatic potentially in human solid tumors. In our series of early-stage squamous cervical carcinoma, we evaluated ras p21 expression with respect to lymph nodal involvement; the aim was to analyse the ras p21 immunostaining as potential marker of lymphatic spread, and investigate the relationship between ras p21 expression and 72 kDa-metalloproteinase immunostaining.

Patients And Methods: 46 patients with FIGO stage I squamous cell cervical carcinoma, who had undergone primary radical surgery with systematic pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy (Piver's type III) at the Institute of Gynecologic and Obstetrics, Ancona University, were recruited from our series of 59 consecutive cases, and included the study.

Diabetes-induced alterations in platelet metabolism.

Objectives: This review summarizes the recent findings on some aspects of platelet metabolism that appear to be affected as a consequence of diabetes mellitus. The metabolites include glutathione, L-Arginine/nitric oxide, as well as the ATP-dependent exchange of Na+/K+ and Ca2+.

Conclusions: Several aspects of platelet metabolism are altered in diabetics.

A phase I study of paclitaxel and 5-fluorouracil in advanced gastric cancer.

This is a phase I study to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and toxicity of a combination of paclitaxel and 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) in advanced gastric cancer patients. The patients, refractory to the PELF regimen (5-FU, leucovorin, cisplatin, epidoxorubicin), received weekly 5-FU at the fixed dose of 500 mg/m2, and escalating doses of paclitaxel every 3 weeks with a starting dose of 150 mg/m2 given as in 3-h infusion. The dose was escalated by 25 mg/m2 every 3 patients.

Genotypic identification of sequential Candida albicans isolates from AIDS patients by polymerase chain reaction techniques.

Random amplification of polymorphic DNA and inter-repeat polymerase chain reaction (IR-PCR) were compared with restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis as methods for DNA typing of Candida albicans. Forty-seven strains of Candida albicans isolated from the oral cavities of five AIDS patients undergoing fluconazole therapy were analyzed. There was an excellent correspondence between the DNA types obtained by both PCR-based techniques and by RFLP.

Lesions of the triangular fibrocartilage in fractures of the wrist.

MRI conducted in 32 cases of distal fracture of the radius a mean of 93 days after trauma allowed for the identification of various lesions of the soft tissues among which those of the triangular fibrocartilaginous complex. These observations confirm the presence of lesions of the triangular fibrocartilaginous complex (TFC) among immediate complications of distal fractures of the radius and the diagnostic role of MRI in post-traumatic ulnar pain.

Direct demonstration of cytokeratin filaments by electron microscopy in K562 cell lines in liquid culture.

Our previous study suggested the presence of cytokeratins in the supernatant of human K562 erythroleukemic cell line. In this study we confirm, by using an electron microscopy technique, that K562 cells contain typical intermediate tonofilaments with the characteristics of cytokeratins. After variable intervals of liquid culture, K562 cells have been examined for their clonogenic ability by immunostaining and ultrastructural study.

[Somatostatin in peri-arthropathies of the shoulder: clinical effectiveness and tolerability after sub-acromial administration].

In the last few years, the intra-articular administration of somatostatin, has been used in some diseases regarding rheumatology such as rheumatoid arthritis psoriatic arthritis and osteoarthritis, giving encouraging results. The objective of this study was to asses the efficacy and tolerability of subacromial-injection of somatostatin in 20 patients with painful shoulder. The study consisted of 3 injection administered every 4 days.

[Endoscopic treatment of vesicoureteral reflux in adults with bovine collagen].

Endoscopic subureteral collagen injection has become widely accepted a practiced method for the treatment of vesico-ureteral reflux in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment in adult patients affected by vesico-ureteral reflux. We have selected 45 patients with primary e 10 patients with secondary reflux (tot.

A new technique to facilitate laparoscopic resection of low rectal tumors.

To make laparoscopic low rectal resection feasible and technically correct, an articulating stapler made for open surgery was employed during laparoscopic low rectal resection in two patients with rectal tumors whose distal margins were located at 7 and 8 cm, respectively, from the dentate line. The problem with laparoscopic linear staplers is that they do not allow transverse resection of low rectal tumors with a double-stapling technique, placing the suture line in an exactly perpendicular position to the rectum below the tumor. The use of this stapler made for open surgery allows extension of the laparoscopic approach to low-lying rectal lesions following established surgical and oncological principles.

Vanadium affects vacuolation and phosphate metabolism in Hansenula polymorpha.

The yeast Hansenula polymorpha is able to grow on vanadate concentrations that are toxic to other organisms. Transmission electron microscopy analysis showed that H. polymorpha cells growing on a vanadate-containing medium undergo a significant increase in cell vacuolation and a thickening of the cell wall; the presence of small cytoplasmic vesicles and an increase in cristae at the level of the plasma membrane were also observed.

[Doppler color ultrasonography in the diagnosis of diffuse hyperthyroidism].

Graves disease is an organ-specific autoimmune disorder characterized by variable clinical and laboratory patterns and by alternating remissions and relapses. We investigated if a correlation exists between the hypervascular pattern of Graves disease, studied with color Doppler US (CDUS), and the degree of thyroid hyperfunction, estimated according to biohumoral parameters. We also investigated if CDUS can differentiate, with the help of pathologic correlations, the glandular histologic patterns recently reported in the literature in thyroidectomized patients.

[Sulfasalazine: side effects and duration of therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis].

Sulphasalazine (SSZ) is now recognised to be a useful agent in the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We studied SSZ toxicity (2 g/die) and duration of therapy in 102 patients with RA. Adverse events occurred in 25.

[Therapeutic objectives in the subacute phase after stroke].

The aim of this study was to identify the most appropriate clinical management of the subacute stage after stroke, in order to reduce mortality and control disability following cerebrovascular disease. Data were collected from international journals, books and guidelines written by accredited agencies and scientific societies. Reviews and clinical investigations written by authors operating in stroke assistance facilities have been selected among those submitted to accredited scientific journals, spontaneously or upon request by editors of specific sections or supplements.

Expression of p53 and apoptosis of tumor cells in locally advanced cervical carcinoma after cisplatin based neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Various chemoantiblastic agents cause DNA damage followed by apoptotic cell death through the activation of the p53 suppressor gene. The aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship between p53 protein expression, apoptosis of autologous tumor cells, and clinical response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with cervical carcinoma. Our study included 14 women with stage II squamous cervical carcinoma who had been admitted to the Institute of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Ancona University, between January 1990 and December 1995.

Estimating Mechanical Blood Trauma in a Centrifugal Blood Pump: Laser Doppler Anemometer Measurements of the Mean Velocity Field.

A laser Doppler anemometer (LDA) was used to obtain the mean velocity and the Reynolds stress fields in the inner channels of a well-known centrifugal vaneless pump (Bio-pump). Effects of the excessive flow resistance against which an occlusive pump operates in some surgical situations, such as cardiopulmonary bypass, are illustrated. The velocity vector field obtained from LDA measurements reveals that the constraint-forced vortex provides pumping action in a restricted area in the core of the pump.