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Biomedical subjects

G Costa

Publications and source records attributed to G Costa.

At least 433 records · Page 24Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Usual meal times in relation to age, sex, work activity and morningness-eveningness.

Meal-timing is considered an important socio-environmental synchronizer of circadian rhythms and influences human metabolism; the temporal distribution of food intake has also an influence on human performance. In these last years, in industrialized countries, remarkable changes, both in quality and quantity and in timing, have been determined in eating behavior brought about by changes in social and working organization. In this study the authors have verified the usual mealtimes during working and free-days in a population of 670 city-dwellers, 404 men and 266 women, aged between 17 and 60, including students, housewives, clerks, artisans, tradesmen and industrial workers. The results can be summarized as follows: a. the times of the two main meals show a high stability, both in working and in free-days, at about 1230 for lunch and 1915 for dinner, with a higher variability for the dinner-time; b. there are no relevant differences between men and women; c. there is a progressive advance of the breakfast-time (together with sleeping and waking times) with oncoming age; d. industrial workers advance the breakfast-time, on work days, compared to housewives, clerks, artisans and tradesmen, while the latter delay dinner-time as compared to the others; e. shiftwork breaks up the usual timetables interfering with at least one of the main meals, according to the different shifts (morning, afternoon, night); f. morning types anticipate meal and sleeping times in comparison to evening types, both while working and, above all, on free-days.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Applied aspects of chronoergohygiene.

Chronoergohygiene defines a field of study set on optimizing the work timing compared to the desiderata of human physiology in order to improve the working conditions. Production systems follow their own laws with a timing resulting from economic, technological and natural factors; this timing could contrast with che chronological variables of the person 'involved'. Important aspects to be considered in this regard concern: a energy expense and nutrition, in relation to the mechanization and automation of the working tasks, sociocultural models, individual behaviors in eating habits; b. work performance, with particular reference to the modifications during the life-span and the rhythmic variations in the circadian period; c. toxicologic risks, considering problems of chronokinetics of the toxic agent and of 'chronoesthesia' of the body functions and apparatuses; d. work and social organization, with special reference to shift work, work pace and commuting. The research for a dynamic evaluation of the human-machine interaction in time and into forms of chronological compatibility between man and work organization should optimize industrial hygiene.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Wiedemann-Beckwith syndrome in childhood].

A follow up examination was carried out in a 10 year old child who had been diagnosed as having Wiedemann-Beckwith syndrome soon after birth. Macrosomy was seen to persist and body asymmetry and some dysmorphic aspects had become more pronounced over the years. The presence of moderate mental deficiency had led to difficulty in social relationships. In the prepuberty phase, the reappearance of hypoglycemia crises, which were also noted in the neonatal age, was of particular interest.

Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Cytogenetic and clinical aspects of Prader-Willi syndrome].

Two male nonconsanguineous cases (aged 4 years) of Prader-Willi syndrome are clinically and cytologically studied. Both had obesity, marked hypogonadism, reduced head circumference, psychomotor impairment, hypotonia, tooth decay, small hands and feet, immature EEG. Case 1 showed a "de novo" translocation 7;15 and case 2 showed a normal karyotype. According to various authors, many cases of Prader-Willi syndrome show the presence of a translocation of chromosome 15 onto an autosome or X chromosome. This is the first observation of chromosome 7 involvement in this translocation.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Return to work and cardiovascular status after myocardial infarction].

110 male subjects, under 60, admitted for myocardial infarction in 1980 and 1981, have been considered. 85 answers to the questionnaire, sent by post have been obtained, 6 pertaining to patients who died in the meanwhile. Among the 79 living patients who replied, 57 (72.1%) had resumed work within the average time of 4.8 months (min. 0.5-max. 12). Return to work has been significantly higher among self-employed people than employees; only 15 subjects had changed job or task. The subjective rating of the actual health status, two years after the infarction, has been satisfactory in 90.5% of cases, in spite of 56.5% complaining of heartburn, 38.1% of dyspnea and 35.7% of palpitation. The work-load has been rated as tiring only by 12.6% of them, while 65.6% have maintained unchanged their work capacity. Electrocardiographic monitoring (by the Holter method), during a normal workday, showed no significant differences between working and retired subjects and, also, in work and normal activity periods. 19 subjects (47.5%) presented ventricular arrhythmias, in 12 cases at high risk, most of them being unaware of it. These arrhythmias were more frequent during wake periods, but not strictly connected to the type and the quality of the work activity. The patients subjected to rehabilitation showed no differences in the cardiovascular patterns during the ergometric test and ECG monitoring when compared to those not subjected to rehabilitation.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of intracerebroventricular injection of pentagastrin on rat drinking behavior.

Intracerebroventricular (icv) injection of pentagastrin showed a powerful, dose dependent antidipsogenic effect in the rat. Drinking behavior stimulated by 48 h water deprivation was inhibited by 2000 ng of pentagastrin which also blocked, at lower doses, water intake induced by icv injection of angiotensin II (100 ng) and carbachol (150 ng). Pentagastrin was less effective on food intake stimulated by 24 h starvation. The antidipsogenic effect was not a consequence of behavioral alteration. It is suggested that gastrin-like peptides in the brain may play a role in the regulation drinking, acting as thirst inhibitors.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Economic and occupational activities at an increased risk of mortality for lung tumors in Turin (1981-89) and in Italy (1981-82)].

In the framework of occupational disease surveillance program, based on integration of current information systems, the first Italian occupational mortality study was carried out. This paper reports on excess lung cancer risk by industry and occupation. The study population consists of subjects included in the Italian Cross-Sectional Study (STI) and in the Turin Longitudinal Study (SLT), both of which are surveys based on record-linkage procedures between census records and death certificates. The STI is a six-month follow-up of Italian residents at the 1981 census. The SLT is a prospective study of Turin residents at the 1981 census, followed for mortality up to 1989. Only persons aged 18-64 years at entry, and economically active, were eligible for the occupational mortality analysis (i.e. 15,734 deceased individuals out of 13 million subjects in the STI, and 435,608 individuals, among whom 10,789 deaths occurred, in the SLT). Information about job and economic activity recorded at census consisted of the Italian standard 1981 industry and occupation codes. Lung cancer relative risks by category of industry and job were estimated as mortality odds ratios (MOR) in the STI, and as observed to expected death ratios (SMR) in the SLT. Only excess risks based on > or = 3 observed cases and with p < 0.1, were included in the present report. Lung cancer mortality was increased in different industries and jobs. The excess risks found in the mechanic and transport industries are of particular interest in a public health perspective, due to the high number of Italian workers employed in these sectors. From an etiologic point of view, however, careful attention should be paid to the excess lung cancer risks among workers in the wood manufacturing industry, in meat preparation, and in nursing occupations, where detailed analytical studies of exposure profile and cancer risk are warranted.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Acute cholecystitis: elements for diagnosis and therapy].

The Authors report their experience in the surgical management of 439 patients with acute cholecystitis. Symptoms and laboratory findings at onset, preoperative diagnostic tools, associated disorders, surgical procedures as well as age-related postoperative morbidity and mortality and length of postoperative stay were analyzed. The most valuable investigation in the diagnosis of acute cholecystitis was ultrasound carried within the first 48 hrs, with positive results in 81% of cases. Tc-99m-HIDA biliary tract imaging proved to be a rapid, highly sensitive and specific, non invasive method of diagnosing acute cholecystitis in doubt cases. Morbidity (4.8%) and mortality (0%) rates in younger patients were inferior than those (22% vs 1.5%) observed in the elderly. Early and late results indicate that early cholecystectomy is the treatment of choice in acute cholecystitis.

Acute Disease↗