Integration of genetic and seed fitness data to the conservation of isolated subpopulations of the Mediterranean plant Malcolmia littorea.

Plant autoecology and population genetics provide a perspective on the likelihood of natural regeneration, which is critical when designing conservation strategies for endangered species. The threatened coastal plant Malcolmia littorea (Brassicaceae) was sampled across its European distribution and studied for genetic diversity and seed fitness, with the aim of providing information for the conservation of isolated and declining populations. Nine microsatellite markers (five chloroplast and four nuclear) were analysed to assess population genetic diversity and structure and to conduct a spatial analysis using the software DIVA-GIS. Germination percentages and rates were assessed by incubating the seeds under eight constant temperatures (0-27 °C). The genetic diversity was found to be similar among subpopulations (chloroplast H = 0.04-0.17; nuclear Ho  = 0.20-0.37), with no correlation between subpopulation diversity and the area of occupancy (AOO). The subpopulations were found to be clustered in three genetic groups, and three of them were identified as conservation priorities due to their unique genetic composition. The germination study revealed a significant influence of the maternal environment and AOO on seed germination, with the smaller subpopulations showing lower germination percentages (P < 0.05). These results highlight the importance of obtaining information on isolated subpopulations through different experimental approaches (e.g. seed germination plus population genetics) to enable planning of effective conservation actions. For M. littorea, seed collection for both in situ and ex situ conservation should take into account the local adaptation of the subpopulation and the genetic structure of the species.

Descriptive study about congruence in wheelchair prescription.

AIM: Wheelchair prescription is relevant in the prevention of muscular joint pathology, and to facilitate autonomy and the patient's social life. However, in order to reach this goal, respecting the standards with a client-centred approach is essential. Congruence between user ability and wheelchair characteristics by making wheelchairs more "user friendly" can improve patient independence, facilitate integration into society and improve the patient's quality of life. The purpose of this study was to analyse congruence of wheelchair use by our patients, through the consideration of specific recommendations related to each subject's individual clinical situation. The second aim of the paper was to improve wheelchair prescriptions, by identifying the most frequent mistakes in the prescription and construction of wheelchairs. DESIGN: Observational study, outpatient. POPULATION: One hundred-fifty wheelchair users (average age 46.7±17.3) were analysed and described at 16.2±8.5 years from the onset of their disability. The subjects were 80 males and 70 females. RESULTS: Sixty-eight percent of the wheelchairs were not suitable for the patients, while 32% were suitable. We reported the incidence of non-congruence with respect to each wheelchair part. CONCLUSION: After finding a correlation between the prescription sources and suitability, the authors suggested that wheelchair prescriptions should be carried out in specialized departments, or that physician competences, and collaboration between physicians and technicians must be improved. Our data indicates the necessity to pay more attention to wheelchair prescription while considering ergonomic fitting to the individual. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: Identifying the most frequent mistakes in the prescription and construction of wheelchairs in this paper could help to make more appropriate prescriptions.

Mycobacterium infection directly observed in a surgical outpatient centre.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to check the presence and the role of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, in an Ambulatory and Day Surgery Out-Patient Centre. METHODS: Two periods of activity in this Centre are evaluated corresponding separately to the years 1989-1993 and 1994-1998 and the total number of patients, coming for examination, ambulatory or day surgery, hospitalization, postoperative follow-up, is considered, in order to identify the number of cases and the clinical signs of this disease. All cases were examined by the same team and the checks were completed, in the selected cases in which it was advisable, with radiological, bacteriological, bioptical, radiometrical exams and with the Elisa test (after informed consent). RESULTS: In the first period 1989-1993, 21,220 patients were examined and no case of tubercular infection was observed. In 1994-1998, 24,347 patients were examined and 4 cases of tubercular infection detected, which represent 0.016% of the patients attending the service. The clinical cases are as follows. Case 1: right sub-mammary lump, diameter 7 x 5 cm, smooth, oval, firm. Case 2: right breast swelling, diameter 5 cm, not sore, with deep attachments. The mammography and ultrasound scan indicate: the opacity is compatible with mali moris breast lesion. Case 3: coloured, immigrant, who presents back swelling, diameter 8 cm, with fluctuation. CT of the chest indicates opacity near left latissimus dorsi muscle, diameter 10 cm, without bronchopleural connections. Case 4: bleeding neoplastic ulcer of the wrist. At physical exam a right subclavear amphoric breath sound is noticed, corresponding at chest X-ray to an opacity including cavitation. In the 4 cases no lymph node in the regional effusion areas is detected. In the 4 cases surgical therapy is integrated with antituberculous chemotherapy till 6 months after operation. CONCLUSIONS: Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection has been increasing in the second group of years considered, as it is observed in European industrialized countries and North America. This increase corresponds to 0.016% in 24,374 patients examined in the period 1994-98. This infection must not be connected with the classic sites and traditional primary and post-primary symptons, but must be considered and identified in a surgical hospital out-patient centre, in unusual sites, sometimes masquerading as a false positive carcinoma, in patients with predisposition, because of old age, race, immunodepression (also if HIV negatives), resistance to treatment, previous tuberculous infection. In the cases identified deep diagnostic definition, the surgical treatment and a prolonged antituberculous chemotherapy are necessary.

[Pseudolymphoma of the breast involving the periareolar area]. / Pseudolinfoma della mammella a sede periareolare.

Pseudolymphomas are a group of lymphoproliferative disorders which are difficult to classify and diagnose. They can affect several anatomical sites and, among these, a mammary localisation is considered rather rare. Pseudolymphomas of the breast carry an excellent prognosis, and no case of malignant degeneration has ever been described. On the contrary, cutaneous pseudolymphomas, which are considered very low-grade lymphomas by some authors, are actually able to progress to overt cutaneous lymphomas in a minority of cases. The authors present three cases of periareolar pseudolymphoma of the breast. The first two were characterised by the presence of an elevated serum antibody titer to Borrelia, and were therefore diagnosed as lymphocytoma cutis, a disorder affecting 0.6-1.3% of patients with Lyme's disease. Both cases had a benign clinical course, as confirmed by the negative follow-up after more than three years. On the contrary, the third pseudolymphoma, classifiable as an idiopathic form, relapsed locally after ten years, thus testifying to the benign nature of the lesion, but also demonstrating that the lymphoproliferative process may still be active after a long period of time. The last case emphasizes the need for long-term follow-up of these patients.

Intraspecific variation in the venom electrophoretic profile of recently captured Crotalus durissus terrificus (Laurenti, 1768) snakes

The aim of this study was to compare individual venom samples of Crotalus durissus terrificus recently captured in the wild to evaluate possible differences in venom protein composition. Protein levels were quantified by biochemical method (Biuret) and then submitted to electrophoresis. Electrophoresis studies of native protein were performed in vertical slabs of polyacrylamide gel (PAGE), in an alkaline discontinuous buffer system, with a concentration of 10 per cent in the separation gel. SDS-PAGE was performed in PhastGel (8-25). Both gels were stained with Coomassie Blue. Gels were analyzed using the VDS-Pharmacia device. Our results indicate that all analyzed venom samples showed different protein composition, although common protein fractions were detected in some individual samples. Differences were observed between the different individual venom samples and so in the same specimen in relation to the time of collection, for both techniques used. Diet did not influence the variability of venom composition. There is a significant difference in native venom protein composition of males and females.

[Pravastatin in hypercholesterolemia in the elderly. Increase of the caseload and control of the results with a regional study on the elderly population of the Monfalcone and Grado areas]. / La pravastatina nell'ipercolesterolemia dell'anziano. Aumento della casistica e verifica dei risultati con uno studio territoriale di una popolazione anziana nel monfalconese e nel gradese.

The authors confirm--by increasing the ambulatory randomized series in the territories which depend on Monfalcone and Grado (USL 2 Goriziana)--the results of previous studies of lipid improvement owing to the use of pravastatine. The average cholesterolemic rate has decreased of 26.50% in comparison with the initial value, that is from 310.44 +/- 52.587 mg% to 228.16 +/- 28.354 mg%; the addition of each individual rate from 19868 mg% to 14602 mg% (p < 0.001). Within the sample, the elder's undergroup reduced blood cholesterol by 25.76%, that is from 307.69 +/- 42.057 mg% to 228.44 +/- 28.126 mg%, with an addition from 13846 mg% to 10280 mg% (p < 0.001); the adults' undergroup of 28.26%, that is from 316.95 +/- 72.744 mg% to 227.47 +/- 29.654 mg%, with an addition from 6022 mg% to 4322 mg% (p < 0.001). The LDL-lipoprotein value showed a decrease from 30.66% in the average value, which lowered from 206.87 +/- 51.485 to 143.43 +/- 32.940 mg% (relative addition from 13239 mg% to 9179 mg%); in the old patients from 211.45 +/- 52.758 mg% to 143.66 +/- 35.654 mg% (relative addition from 9515 mg% to 6465 mg%), in the adults from 196.01 +/- 47.923 mg% to 142.86 +/- 26.264 mg% (relative addition from 3724 mg% to 2714 mg%. Triglyceridemia fell from 38.37%; the average circulating value fell from 245.13 +/- 348.415 mg% to 151.08 +/- 130.347 mg%; the complete series showed the same average decrease ie from 15688 mg% to 9669 mg%. In the elderly we showed a reduction from 207.87 +/- 250.784 mg% to 149.91 +/- 144.606 mg% (relative addition from 9354 mg% to 6746 mg%), in adults from 333.37 +/- 509.360 mg% to 153.846 +/- 91.321 mg% (relative addition from 6334 mg% to 2923 mg%).

[The aging heart and its pathology. An epidemiological study of 229 cases based on a clinical and radiological classification]. / Il cuore senile e la sua patologia. Studio epidemiologico di 229 osservazioni, in base ad una classificazione clinica e radiologica.

The paper studies epidemiological distribution of the aging heart and its pathology in a sample of 229 subjects (101 male and 128 female) on the basis of a clinical and radiological classification into cardiological phenotypes. This study involved the use of mathematical statistical procedures following a standard method using SIR database (Scientific Information Retrieval) software implemented on the CDC Cyber 170/730 mainframe in the Trieste University Computing Center that is connected with the Chair of Geriatric Pathology. Using this software it was possible to assess the epidemiological significance of the usual clinical parameters, and show that the most representative cardiopathy is the 3rd type, i.e. the hypertrophic-ischemic cardiopathy belonging to the large aortic heart. Its natural pathogenesis is independent of risk factors and relates to the aging of muscular and connective tissues in which the coronary circulation is involved in the deterioration of the cardiovascular system and is therefore different from the primary ischemias of adults.

[Current problems in the surgical treatment of primary lymphoma of the stomach]. / Problematiche attuali nel trattamento chirurgico del linfoma gastrico primitivo.

The surgical treatment of the primary gastric lymphoma (P.G.L.) presents some controversial aspects still. The authors discuss the problem on the basis of the most recent data published in the literature and on their own experience concerning 14 cases of P.G.L. They confirm that surgery maintains an important role, at first, in the determination of the diagnosis exactly. The incidence of preoperative diagnosis of P.G.L. is unsatisfactory still, although increasing with the appropriate technique of endoscopic biopsies and modern immunohistochemical analysis. Moreover, the surgical approach is necessary for the definitive staging of the disease, which at the laparotomy, must be performed with these modalities: gastrectomy, regional and extra-regional lympho-adenectomy, fine needle aspiration and surgical biopsy of the liver. The extension of the gastrectomy is based on the location of the tumor. In the P.G.L. localized in the middle and in the upper stomach a total gastrectomy must be performed; on the contrary in a neoplasm localized in the lower part, a subtotal gastrectomy could be considered as a curative treatment. Integrated with chemotherapy, surgery offers appreciable results in long term survival, much better than those obtained after surgical treatment of gastric cancer.

[Total colectomy in the rat : its metabolic and functional consequences]. / La colectomia totale nel ratto: sue consequenze metaboliche e funzionali.

A number of total colectomies with end-to-end ileo-rectal anastomosis was performed in the inbred Lister rat. The following data were studied: survival rate, body weight curves, variations of appetite, thirst and diuresis, daily weight and electrolytes content of feces, intestinal transit time, histology of terminal ileum, rectum, liver and kidney. After an initial lose of body weight, rats gained their original weight at about two months after colectomy; at this time a syndrome was observed caracterized by anemia, leucocitosis with neutrophilia, ipoproteinemia, remarkable increase of thirst (up to 400%) and of water and sodium content of feces; appetite and diuresis were normal; intestinal transit tice was slightly reduced. Histologically there was a "coloni" transformation of the terminal ileum and vacuolization of the proximal renal tubules.

[Metabolic and histological changes induced in the rat by massive resection of the small intestine]. / Su alcune modificazioni metaboliche ed istologiche indotte nel ratto dalla resezione massiva del tenue.

The aim of this paper was o study the long-term changes induced in the rat as a consequence of a 90% resection of small intestine. At 6 months after operation the surviving rats were stable and showed: hypoproteinemia, hyperlipemia, and a decrease of bile flow, total lipids, and cholesterol of bile. What residual intestine concern there was an increase in length and size, and decreased transit time; stomach, duodenum and colon too showed increase size. Histologically there was hypertrophy of villi, regressive changes of pancreas and kidney, as well as deposit of iron in the kidney. The reasons for these changes are discussed.