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Biomedical subjects

A Conte

Publications and source records attributed to A Conte.

140 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

[Lysteria monocytogenes in samples of swines sent to the human alimentary chain].

Animal food-stuffs are known to be potential vehicles of Listeria monocytogenes. The contamination can be caused from processing or enviromental sources and from infected animals. This hypothesis has been checked in the present work. The authors found that 13.2% of 189 swines were carriers of Listeria monocytogenes, the microrganism was isolated from salivary glands, mesenterial gangles and tonsils. The authors suggest some preventive intervention to reduce both the environmental circulation of Listeria monocytogenes and the human risk of infection.

Animals↗

[Evaluating hospital appropriateness with different tools: administrative data versus analytic review].

PRUO, a modified version of AEP, is a widely used clinical-based tool to evaluate hospital appropriateness in Italy. We developed the APPRO method for assessing organizational appropriateness using administrative data. APPRO estimates the amount of inappropriate hospitalisation, giving consideration to severity of illness through APR-DRG classification system. The aims of the study were to: measure the agreement between evaluators using PRUO; investigate the relation between APR-DRG severity subgroups and PRUO assessment; asses the validity of APPRO method comparing its performance to PRUO results. We selected 361 hospital episodes assigned to DRG 39 ("lens procedures with or without vitrectomy") and 242 hospital episodes assigned to DRG 183 ("miscellaneous of digestive disorders, age > 17") from three hospitals in 2000. Clinical records were independently evaluated by two pairs of physicians using PRUO. Proportions of inappropriate episodes by hospital and DRG were also estimated through APPRO using data from Lazio regional hospital information system. The agreement between the two pairs of evaluators was high (k=0.93; p<0.0001). We observed no statistically significant association between APR-DRG severity subgroups and inappropriate hospitalisation found by PRUO. APPRO underestimates rates of inappropriate hospitalisation compared to PRUO. It depends on the different characteristics of the tools and particularly on the caution of APPRO in performing the evaluation using routine data.

Diagnosis-Related Groups↗

[Metabolism of 4-carbomethoxythiazolidine chlorohydrate to cysteine through human expectorate and lung homogenates, and its action on glycoproteins of mucus].

A study has been carried out on the formation of -SH groups and of cysteine and cystine from 4-carbomethoxythiazolidin HCl through human expectorate mucus and lung homogenates. Both the expectorate and the homogenate, revealed to be able to metabolize TCM to cysteine releasing free -SH groups. The speed of cysteine formation is higher for the homogenate, but also the expectorate revealed to be very effective for the metabolization to cysteine. Furthermore it has been demonstrated that the TCM, incubated with human expectorate in presence and in absence of lung homogenate, can modify the chemical-physical characteristics of the mucus, rendering it more soluble and less viscous, i.e. displaying a mucolytic activity. These results account for the in-vitro experimental base to the observation that the product has a mucolytic activity whether administered by os or by aerosol.

Cysteine↗