169,808 research outputs found
[Review of 87 cases of scoliosis surgically treated].
No full textThe authors compared the results and complications in surgical treatment of idiopathic scoliosis with Harrington's rod instrumentation with subtrasversal wires in dorsal treat. A research on 87 cases operated on for idiopathic scoliosis from 1987 to 1995 is carried out. The 87 cases include 65 females and 25 males, 16 years old in average (range, 11 to 30). The curvature in Cobb's degrees and rotation of vertebrae with Raimondi's method on radiographs take just before, 15 days later and an year later on operation was measured. The patients have been divided into two groups: the first of 77 patients operated with Harrington's rod instrumentation; the second of 10 patients operated with Harrington's rod instrumentation and subtrasversal wires. In a general analysis without taking in to consideration the type and the seriousness of curvature it was obtained a better correction and derotation of vertebrae in patients of second group. The same group with wires had obtained a better correction and derotation of vertebrae in dorsal scoliosis from 40 degrees to 60 degrees and in the double scoliosis, while the first group obtained better results in dorsal scoliosis from 60 degrees to 80 degrees and in derotation of vertebrae on dorsal treat of double scoliosis. One case of pseudarthrosis in every group was observed. Any neurological complication were observed. The conclusions is drawn that the application of subtrasversal wire improves the Harrington's technique for the correction and derotation of dorsal and double scoliosis without neurological complications sometimes present with subliminar wires
The prognostic value of sentinel lymph node micrometastases in patients with invasive breast carcinoma
No full textAIM: The prognostic value of sentinel lymph node micrometastases in invasive breast cancer patients is still Even if, in the absence of unequivocal guidelines, the axillary lynphadenectomy is not still performed in the clinical care of these patients. METHOD: We have retrospectively analyzed 746 patients with operable invasive breast cancer and clinically negative axillary lymph nodes. These patients underwent conservative surgery or total mastectomy with sentinel lymph Patients with micrometastases in the sentinel lymph node treated with axillary dissection has been checked and the involvement of the remaining lymph nodes analyzed. Patients with micrometastases in the SLN not followed by axillary dissection have been checked as well and the incidence of recurrences has been evaluated in both groups. RESULTS: Micrometastases were found in 51 (6.83%) patients and isolated tumor cells in 8 (1.07%) patients section and confirmed at the final hystopathologic examination. Fifteen of these patients underwent complete axillary dissection two of them (13.33%) had metastatic involvement of other axillary lymph nodes. The other 44 patients receive further surgical axillary procedure. No axillary recurrences in these patients were found during a up of 65-3±9.65 months (range 42-78 months). CONCLUSION: Based on the results and according to some recent randomized trials we can say that axillary lynphadenectomy can be avoided when micrometastases are found in sentinel lynph nodes. It should be performed anyway, the analysis of the biomedical profile of the tumor
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Validity of needle core biopsy in the histological characterisation of mammary lesions
No full textOver the last few years, there has been an enormous increase in the use of needle core biopsy (CB) for the histopathological characterisation of suspect lesions of the breast. The aim of this study was to verify the diagnostic reliability of CB by comparing the histological results obtained with the use of this technique with those obtained from the whole of the surgically resected specimen. We studied 198 out of 426 patients with clinically and/or radiologically suspect breast lesions. We found correspondence between the histological examination of the whole of the excised specimen and that of the CB in 94.9% of the cases of infiltrating carcinoma and in 71.4% of those involving ductal carcinomas in situ. The predictive value of CB was 98.9%, sensitivity was 96.1% and specificity 93.3%. These results confirmed that CB is an extremely reliable diagnostic tool in the definition of breast lesions
Blue autofluorescence in protein aggregates “lighted on” by UV induced oxidation
No full textOxidation of amino acid side chains in protein structure can be induced by UV irradiation leading to critical changes in molecular structure possibly modifying protein stability and bioactivity. Here we show, by using a combination of multiple spectroscopic techniques and Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging, that UV-light exposure induces irreversible oxidation processes in Ubiquitin structure. In particular, the growth of a new autofluorescence peak in the blue region is detected, that we attribute to tyrosine oxidation products. Blue autofluorescence intensity is found to progressively increase also during aggregation processes leading to the formation of aggregates of non-amyloid nature. Significantly, analogous spectral modifications are found in amyloid fibrils from human insulin and Amyloid-β peptide grown under UV exposure. Experimental results reveal a substantial overlap between the fluorescence signal here attributed to tyrosine oxidation and the one referred in literature as “Amyloid autofluorescence”. These findings clearly represent a caveat about the specificity of the blue fluorescence peak measured for amyloids, especially when grown in conditions in which tyrosine residues may be oxidized. Moreover, our results once again highlight the close link between the formation of amyloid aggregates and protein damage resulting from oxidative stress, as these neurotoxic aggregate species are found to contain damaged residues
Incidenza della mutazione rs12979860 del gene di IL28 in un gruppo di soggetti HCV positivi dell’U.O.C. di Malattie infettive del P.O. Civico di Palermo
No full textL'infezione cronica da HCV colpisce 170 milioni di persone in tutto il mondo;su 100 persone infettate dal virus HCV il 15% non sviluppa alcuna patologia cronica ed elimina il virus, il restante 85% sviluppa forme croniche della malattia con evoluzione in cirrosi epatica e in carcinoma epato-cellulare.Il trattamento dell'epatite C cronica, che offre i maggiori vantaggi, è rappresentato da un ciclo di 24-48 settimane di PEG-Interferone-alfa-2a e Ribavirina. Il suo esito è influenzato da una serie di fattori tra cui il genotipo virale ed alcuni polimorfismi genetici dell’ospite
I pazienti infetti da HCV di genotipo 2 o 3 hanno probabilità 2-3 volte maggiore di rispondere alla terapia rispetto a coloro che sono infettati dal genotipo 1.Nell’ospite le variazioni geniche dell' IL28 sono associate alla risposta virale al trattamento dell’HCV con PEG-Interferone-alfa-2a e Ribavirina. La presenza del polimorfismo SNP “rs 12979860” determina una sostituzione C/T nella sequenza del promotore a monte del gene umano che codifica per la citochina “IL28” localizzato sul cromosoma 19 la cui espressione è indotta ed attivata dalle infezioni virali. Il polimorfismo IL28 B non solo influenza direttamente la risposta del paziente al trattamento ma ne determina il dosaggio terapeutico in funzione del genotipo stesso. E' stato dimostrato come infatti vi siano genotipi favorevoli al trattamento (C-C) e genotipi meno favorevoli (C-T e T-T).
Nel nostro studio abbiamo valutato l’espressione delle mutazioni su un gruppo di 40 pazienti afferenti all’U.O.C. di Malattie infettive del P.O. Civico , affetti da infezione da HCV e candidati a terapia con IFN e RBV .La ricerca è stata effettuata con tecnica in real-time ed ha fornito i seguenti risultati : 12 pazienti postivi (30% ) per genotipo CC suscettibili a terapia e 28 (70%) con genotipo meno favorevole ( CT o TT ) per i quali si dovrà valutare il potenziale impiego dei farmaci antivirali emergenti
Mitomycin C in highly myopic eyes - Author reply
No full textOphthalmology. 2005 Feb;112(2):208-18; discussion 219.
Mitomycin C modulation of corneal wound healing after photorefractive keratectomy in highly myopic eyes.
Gambato C, Ghirlando A, Moretto E, Busato F, Midena E.
SourceRefractive Surgery Service and Antimetabolite Therapy Research Unit, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of topical mitomycin C in corneal wound healing (CWH) after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) in highly myopic eyes.
DESIGN: Prospective, double-masked, randomized clinical trial.
PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-two eyes of 36 patients affected by high (>7 diopters) myopia.
METHODS: In each patient, one eye was randomly assigned to PRK with intraoperative topical 0.02% mitomycin C application, and the fellow eye was treated with a placebo. Postoperatively, mitomycin C-treated eyes received artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months), whereas the fellow eye was treated with fluorometholone sodium 2% and artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), contrast sensitivity, manifest refraction, and biomicroscopy. Contrast sensitivity was determined using the Pelli-Robson chart. Corneal confocal microscopy documented CWH.
RESULTS: Mean follow-up was 18 months (range, 12-36). No side effects or toxic effects were documented. At 12-month follow-up examination, UCVAs (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution) were 0.4+/-0.48 and 0.5+/-0.53 (P = .03) in mitomycin C-treated eyes and corticosteroid-treated eyes, respectively. At 1 year, corneal haze developed in 20% of corticosteroid-treated eyes, versus 0% of mitomycin C-treated eyes. At 12, 24, and 36 months, corneal confocal microscopy showed activated keratocytes and extracellular matrix significantly more evident in untreated eyes (Ps = 0.004, 0.024, and 0.046, respectively).
CONCLUSION: Topical intraoperative application of 0.02% mitomycin C can reduce haze formation in highly myopic eyes undergoing PRK.
Comment in
Ophthalmology. 2006 Feb;113(2):357; author reply 357-8
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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