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Biomedical subjects

G Amato

Publications and source records attributed to G Amato.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Hashimoto's thyroiditis is associated with peripheral lymphocyte activation in patients with systemic sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether autoimmune thyroiditis [HT] (i.e., a TH1 disease) influences the pattern of peripheral lymphocyte activation in systemic sclerosis [SSc] (commonly regarded as a TH2 disease). Twenty SSc patients, 6 with (SSc+HT+) and 14 without HT (SSc+HT-) and 20 controls were investigated for the intracellular content of IFN-gamma and IL-4 in unstimulated and stimulated (25 ng/ml PMA and 1 microg/ml ionomycin) CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. Results Under basal conditions the percentages of CD4+IFN-gamma, CD4+IL-4+ and CD8+IFN-gammawere significantly higher in the patients than the control subjects, no significant differences being detectable between the two patient subgroups. Upon PMA stimulation, the 20 SSc patients showed a higher percentage of CD4+IFN-gamma+ and CD8+IFN-gamma+ than the control subjects. In particular, the 14 SSc+HT- patients showed a higher number of CD4+IFN-y+ and CD4+IL-4+ cells, while the SSc+HT+ patients showed higher percentage of CD8+IFN-gamma+ cells. The latter patients showed a reduced percentage of CD4+IL-4+ cells and an increased percentage of CD8+IFN-y+ in comparison with the SSc+HT- patients. Type-1 activation in the peripheral blood of SSc patients has been already pointed out by other authors and ourselves. This study shows that such activation mainly affects SSc patients with coexistent HT.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The senile voice].

Involutive processes which characterize aging induce substantial morphological and functional alteration in the pneumo-phono-articulatory system and thus bring about numerous effects on vocal quality. Fundamental frequency (Fo) variation, whose values increase in males and decrease in females, are found in voice patterns. Moreover, in literature many authors have described vocal substain intensity and timbre deficit in the elderly. Vocal emission of elderly people can become so peculiar that it may be possible to identify approximately the age and the sex of the speaker by merely hearing the voice. The aim of this work was to identify specific parameters of the senile voice using spectroacoustic digital analysis. The following points were considered in this study: the psychoacoustic perceptive evaluation of vocal samples in subjects of different ages in order to identify the sex and age of the speaker; the spectroacoustic digital analysis of the same vocal samples; the morphofunctional observation of the phono-articulatory apparatus. Our results confirmed the presence of peculiar electroacoustic characteristics in the senile voice (mean pitch value variation in males and in females, vocal substain deficit, decrease in vocal intensity, senile tremolo, cycle-to-cycle alteration of Fo and mean amplitude) due to morphofunctional changes of the pneumo-phono-articulatory system. In all the subjects we observed anatomo-functional changes at the glottic level. The presence of specific vocal patterns and the quality of speech play an important role in the processes of senile voice identification.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Nocardia asteroides: a case of subcutaneous abscess].

A case of subcutaneous abscess caused by Nocardia asteroides in an immunocompromised patient is described. A specific antibiotic therapy was successful. Details of the isolation procedures, clinical significance and epidemiological aspects related to the pathogen strain are reported.

Abscess↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Study on the antihemorrhagic action of aminaphtone].

This research is the continuation of a previous published paper. The blood losses occurring during multiple dental extractions under general anesthesia in pretreated patients (not with a recent new capillary protector) have been measured. The results obtained have been processed statistically and confirm the effectiveness of the product.

Aminobenzoates↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Bactericidal and potent antiadhesive activity of sulbenicillin].

Sulbenicillin, a wide broad spectrum penicillin, is active against a lot of gram positive and gram negative bacteria. The AA. studied the activity of this molecule against urinary infections causing germs, by evaluating two parameters: his antiadhesive capability and the Killing curves, in comparison with mezlocillin and piperacillin. An inhibition in adhesive capability of test-germs, due to sulbenicillin was obtained. Furthermore, resulting Killing curves showed more rapidity in action for sulbenicillin than for the two others molecules, versus resistant germs, like P. aeruginosa and S. faecalis.

Bacterial Adhesion↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Evaluation of the in vitro activity of enoxacin on bacterial strains recently isolated in a hospital milieu].

The in vitro activity of enoxacin, a new quinolone derivative, was tested against 2180 bacterial strains, recently clinically isolated, by measuring the minimum inhibitory concentrations. Comparisons were made with other drugs (flumequine, oxolinic acid, pipemidic acid) widely utilized for the treatment of urinary tract infections. Enoxacin showed the highest activity against all the tested strains, with a geometrical mean of MICs (MG) of 0.39 micrograms/ml and a MIC 50 and MIC 90 of 0.25 and 4 micrograms/ml, respectively.

Anti-Infective Agents, Urinary↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Electrophysiologic relations in the lateral geniculate body].

Responses were evoked in the lateral geniculate body (L.G.B.) of "encéphale isolé" cats by single-shock stimulation of either the geniculate body or the optic tract of the other side. Responses to optic tract stimulation were modified following excitability changes in the contralateral L.G.B. due to topical application of strychnine and KCl. Laminar stimulation and recording in different layers (A, A1, and B) suggested the existence of a certain homotopic organization of L.G.B. interconnections. The activity evoked in the L.G.B. was found to be abolished by electrocoagulation of the posterior commissure and intermediate gray matter. These results point to the presence of a transthalamic pathway which might mediate L.G.B. activity to the contralateral visual cortex.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Evaluation of a rapid computerized method (Cobas-Bact) for the determination of in vitro sensitivity to antibiotic drugs].

426 strains recent clinically isolates have been investigated with respect to their sensitivity against several chemioantibiotics. Data obtained with the Bauer and Kirby standard agar diffusion method have been compared with those carried out by using a new computerized system (Cobas-Bact, Roche), which is able to perform antibiograms in five hours. The performance of Cobas-Bact has been very significative, since the overall major concordance between the two methods was higher than 94%.

Agar↗