Biomedical subjects

B Basile

Publications and source records attributed to B Basile.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Self-disclosure in eating disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Secrecy and concealment are typical behaviours in individuals with eating problems. This study explored the relationship between eating-related problems and self-disclosure. It examined whether women with greater eating related problems were less willing to disclose. Different types of self-disclosure were calculated, considering disclosure related to body appearance and to restrained eating. The role of risk factors which concur to the development and maintenance of eating symptomatology was also explored. METHOD: The Eating Symptoms Inventory was used to investigate the existence of an eventual eating symptomatology, self-disclosure was calculated through the Self-Disclosure Index, while a new scale was validated to assess a self-disclosure related to body image and eating attitudes. Other scales measured the influence of different risk factors, as body dissatisfaction, social pressure to be thin, and restrained eating. RESULTS: A significant inverse relationship was found between general self-disclosure and psychological aspects related to the practice of wrong weight control behaviours and risk factors as dieting, body dissatisfaction, and social pressure to be thin. The significant role of risk factors was confirmed in the development and maintenance of eating disturbances. Interesting results were found using the different self-disclosure indexes as mediators and moderators. Relevant differences were found between Dutch and Italians concerning to their eating attitudes and to the role of different risk factors. CONCLUSION: Some limits are the impossibility to generalize these findings and the use of a non clinical sample. Some new longitudinal studies should be done in this direction to deepen the relationship between self-disclosure and eating disorders.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Routine insertion of permanent peritoneal dialysis catheters in the nephrology ward. The sliding percutaneous technique.

AIM: A prerequisite to the technical success of peritoneal dialysis in its different modifications is a safe, reliable, correctly positioned, and functioning peritoneal catheter. The ideal method for insertion of permanent catheters (PC) remains debatable. The most commonly used technique is an open surgical approach, by minilaparatomy. Others have proposed a blind approach, using either a trocar method or a modified Seldinger technique or an insertion by means of peritoneoscopy. METHODS: We describe our 5-year experience (May 1997 - June 2002) with 68 percutaneous PC insertions in 63 consecutive patients. A modified technique of percutaneous PC insertion was used that here we call sliding percutaneous technique (SPT): 1) a midline incision is made 4 cm below the umbilicus; the peritoneum is punctured using a straight plastic catheter with a stylet. The catheter is pushed caudally towards the left iliac fossa; 2) a straight stiff 90 cm stylet is inserted through the temporary catheter, which is subsequently removed. The stylet has 2 tips, a blunt proximal one, which is pushed through the catheter into the iliac fossa, and the distal one; 3) having the stylet in situ, a double-cuffed curled-end PC is mounted at the distal tip of the stylet starting from the curl; then, the PC is gently slid down along the stylet as a train does along the rail-way. PC failure was defined as mechanical dysfunction, persistent dialysate leak and persistent peritonitis, or exit site/tunnel infection requiring PC removal. Furthermore, PC failure was defined as early, if occurring in the first 30 days after PC placement, or late, if occurring more than 30 days post-operation. Life-table estimates of PC survival were determined by Kaplan-Meier analysis. RESULTS: Early complications: in the 1st month on dialysis, obstruction to dialysate flow was the commonest cause leading to PC failure. The early actuarial survival (AS) was 90%. Late complications: peritonitis was the commonest cause of PC failure. The late AS, i.e. excluding the catheter failures occurring in the 1st month post-operation, was 82% at 3 years. Global AS, i.e. including both early and late PC failures, was excellent (74% at 3 years). CONCLUSIONS: Even though this study is retrospective and does not compare percutaneous with surgical PC placement techniques, it allows us to state that percutaneous PC insertion is a well-tolerated, rapidly performed, side-room procedure that gives excellent results, above all when using SPT.

Aged↗

PubMed1992

A pilot model of vaccination against hepatitis B virus suitable for mass vaccination campaigns in hyperendemic areas.

A hepatitis B vaccination campaign was carried out in a town of 60,000 inhabitants, Afragola, Campania, Italy, a hyperendemic area for hepatitis B where HBsAg prevalence was 13.4% and anti-HBc prevalence was 64.7%. This experimental pilot project aimed to reduce the incidence of both acute and asymptomatic viral hepatitis B and of related chronic liver complications. From 1983-1989, 8,400 subjects were vaccinated: 6,900 children up to 10 years of age and 1,500 subjects from 11-60 years of age. High seroconversion rates were observed: 99.0% in all children under one year of age, 96.0% in the older children, and 86.7% in adults. The rate of infection in Afragola has diminished from 63/100,000 in 1983 to 10/100,000 in 1989. Carriers of HBsAg decreased in the general population (7.3% compared to 13.4%), especially in children up to 10 years of age (1.0% compared to 9.0%). In babies who received hepatitis B vaccine at the same time as compulsory vaccinations compliance was 98% while it was 80% in babies who were vaccinated separately. In June 1991 the Italian Parliament promulgated a decree which imposes hepatitis B vaccination for all newborn babies at 3, 5, and 11 months of age, at the same times as the mandatory childhood vaccinations (diphtheria, tetanus, and polio) according to a new protocol (Piazza scheme) which has been in use since January 1987 in our pilot vaccination campaign in Afragola.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1984

The prebiotic synthesis and catalytic role of imidazoles and other condensing agents.

In the past decade significant advances have been made in the synthesis of oligonucleotides and other polymers by means of imidazoles and other condensing agents. In spite of the current knowledge of the chemistry of imidazoles and their importance as prebiotic catalysts, their formation under primitive earth conditions has not been properly demonstrated. We have now been able to synthesize imidazole as well as its 2-methyl and 4-methyl derivatives under plausible prebiotic conditions. One method utilizes an aldehyde (formaldehyde or acetaldehyde), glyoxal and ammonia as the starting materials for the formation of imidazole and 2-methylimidazole. The other method uses a carbohydrate and ammonia as the key reagents for the synthesis of 4-methylimidazole. The importance of imidazole and related compounds (e.g., cyanamide) in the synthesis of oligonucleotides has been studied by us as well as others. Apparently the charge relay group (-N-C-N-) present in imidazoles, carbodiimides, cyanamide, or the histidine and arginine of enzyme active centers is essential for the synthesis of phosphodiester and pyrophosphate bonds.

Acetaldehyde↗

PubMed1984

Abiotic synthesis of purines and other heterocyclic compounds by the action of electrical discharges.

The synthesis of purines and pyrimidines using Oparin-Urey-type primitive Earth atmospheres has been demonstrated by reacting methane, ethane, and ammonia in electrical discharges. Adenine, guanine, 4-aminoimidazole-5-carboxamide (AICA), and isocytosine have been identified by UV spectrometry and paper chromatography as the products of the reaction. The total yields of the identified heterocyclic compounds are 0.0023%. It is concluded that adenine synthesis occurs at a much lower concentration of hydrogen cyanide than has been shown by earlier studies. Pathways for the synthesis of purines from hydrogen cyanide are discussed, and a comparison of the heterocyclic compounds that have been identified in meteorites and in prebiotic reactions is presented.

Biological Evolution↗

PubMed1984

On the abiotic formation of amino acids. I. HCN as a precursor of amino acids detected in extracts of lunar samples. II. Formation of HCN and amino acids from simulated mixtures of gases released from lunar samples.

Two studies on the abiotic formation of amino acids are presented. The first study demonstrates the role of hydrogen cyanide as a precursor of amino acids detected in extracts of lunar samples. The formation of several amino acids, including glycine, alanine, aspartic acid, and glutamic acid, under conditions similar to those used for the analysis of lunar samples is demonstrated. The second study investigates the formation of hydrogen cyanide as well as amino acids from lunar-sample gas mixtures under electrical discharge conditions. These results extend the possibility of synthesis of amino acids to planetary bodies with primordial atmospheres less reducing than a mixture of methane, ammonia, hydrogen and water.

Amino Acids↗

PubMed1984

Prebiotic syntheses of purines and pyrimidines.

The work done in many laboratories during the last two decades has confirmed that hydrogen cyanide and cyanoacetylene are the two major precursors for the prebiotic synthesis of purines and pyrimidines, respectively. Although several different pathways for the synthesis of purines have been described, they are all variations of the initial mechanism proposed by Oró and Kimball, where hydrogen cyanide leads first to the formation of a 4,5-di-substituted imidazole derivative, and then to the closing of the purine ring with a C1 compound. A number of experiments have shown that purines and pyrimidines can also be obtained from methane, ammonia (nitrogen), and water mixtures, provided an activating source of energy (radiation, electric discharges, etc.) is available. However, in this case the yields are lower by about two orders of magnitude because of the intermediate formation of hydrogen cyanide and cyanoacetylene. The latter two compounds have been found in interstellar space, Titan and other bodies of the solar system. They were probably present in the primordial parent bodies from the solar nebula in concentrations of 10(-2) to 10(-3) M as inferred from recent calculations by Miller and coworkers obtained for the Murchison meteorite. These concentrations should have been sufficient to generate relatively large amounts of purine and pyrimidine bases on the primitive Earth.

Adenine↗

PubMed1982

cis 2-Methylthio-ribosylzeatin (ms2io6A) is present in the transfer RNA of Salmonella typhimurium, but not Escherichia coli.

We have identified the cis isomer of N6-(4-hydroxy-isopentenyl)-2-methylthioadenosine (ms2io6A) as a component of the tRNA of Salmonella typhimurium. This is the first report of this compound in the tRNA of any member of the enterobacteriaceae: the nucleoside was previously thought to be found exclusively in plants or plant associated bacteria. Interestingly, all E. coli strains examined were found to lack ms2io6A. Evidence is presented which suggests S. typhimurium tRNA also contains low levels of 5-carboxymethylaminomethyl-2-thiouridine (cmnm5s2U) in addition to 5-methylaminomethyl-2-thiouridine (mnm5s2U).

Adenosine↗

PubMed1982

Queuine, a modified base incorporated posttranscriptionally into eukaryotic transfer RNA: wide distribution in nature.

Queuine, a modified base found in transfer RNA, appears to be a new dietary factor because (i) previous studies have shown that mice require it for the expression of queuine-containing transfer RNA's but apparently do not synthesize it, and (ii) significant amounts of free queuine are present in common plant and animal food products.

Animals↗

PubMed1982