Confronting the psychological burden of haemophilia.

Providing comprehensive care, counselling and support to haemophilic patients, and their parents have always been quite complex for haemophilia treatment centres. Nowadays, starting with recent developments in genetic counselling, prenatal diagnosis and carrier testing, the psychological burden on patients and parents might possibly have increased, compared with even the recent past. The emotional strains and worries associated with a possibly affected newborn and his care through childhood and adolescence may also have a grievous impact on couple dynamics and marital relationship. The impact may be even higher in families in which haemophilia is newly diagnosed. The main psychological problems faced by parents and then by affected individuals are herein chronologically reviewed, starting from genetic counselling before conception through childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Aware of the psychosocial burden on patients and their families associated with haemophilia, from prenatal diagnosis and carrier testing until later stages of life of the affected individual, a board of Italian haemophilia specialists and psychologists is designing and organizing an innovative network of psychological support services in some Italian haemophilia centres and promoting specific educational programmes in this setting.

Effects of anabolic and therapeutic doses of dexamethasone on thymus morphology and apoptosis in veal calves.

Three groups of 10 veal calves were treated, respectively, with 5 mg of dexamethasone-21-isonicotinate administered intramuscularly on days 0 and 7 (group A); 0.4 mg/day of dexamethasone-21-phosphate administered orally for 20 days (group B); or left untreated as controls (group C). Two animals from each group were slaughtered on day 3, 7, 14, 32 and 52. The size and weight of the thymus decreased progressively in both treated groups until day 32. On day 14, in comparison with the controls, there was a mean reduction of 76 per cent in the thymus weight of group A and 35 per cent in group B. On day 32, the reductions were 13 per cent in group A and 50 per cent in group B, but the thymus weight of both groups had recovered completely by day 52. Dexamethasone-induced changes in thymus weight associated with lymphoid depletion and fat replacement, and there were clear correlations between these changes and apoptosis of thymocytes.

The lethal principle of Poa huecu (coiron blanco): a plant indigenous to Argentina.

The lethality of Poa huecu, a plant toxic to cattle and sheep, was followed by injection of chromatographic fractions in mice. The lethal aqueous extract was administered i.p. to Rockland mice of either sex and produced motor incoordination, transient ataxia, rough hair coat, tremors and muscle contractions and, occasionally, blindness. Doses greater than 1.5 g/kg mouse were always lethal. Fractionation of this lethal extract included dialysis, column chromatography on Sephadex G-25 and fractional precipitation with ethanol. Precipitates obtained with 70% and 85% ethanol were further purified on a DEAE-cellulose column. Eight fractions were obtained, each was injected into mice. Only fractions 3-6 were toxic. Fraction 3 produced slight hepatosis and hyperemia in the liver and gliosis in the brain. None of the other tissues exhibited histological lesions. Fractions 4 and 5 caused death of all animals within 30 min to 4 hr after injection. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and acid hydrolysis showed that fractions 4 and 5 contained a glycoprotein of nearly the same mol. wt (67,000-94,000). Microscopic pathology in the mice treated with the lethal glycoprotein of fraction 4 included hyperemia in the kidneys, megakaryocytes in the spleen, slight hepatosis and focal coagulative necrosis with nuclear pyknosis and karyonexis in the liver, gliosis, intracellular brain edema with axon degeneration and swollen astrocytes in the brain. These brain injuries may relate to the motor incoordination of cattle that causes a delayed righting reflex. The major monosaccharides of the lethal glycoprotein are glucose and mannose, while rhamnose, arabinose, xylose and galactose are present in low percentages. Proline and the acidic amino acids (glutamic and aspartic acids) are the most abundant in the peptidic residue.

Real-time PCR and enzyme-linked fluorescent assay methods for detecting Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli in mincemeat samples.

This work aimed to compare real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with the commercially available enzyme-linked fluorescent assay (ELFA) VIDAS ECOLI O157 for detecting Escherichia coli O157 in mincemeat. In addition, a PCR-based survey on Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) in mincemeat collected in Italy is presented. Real-time PCR assays targeting the stx genes and a specific STEC O157 sequence (SILO157, a small inserted locus of STEC O157) were tested for their sensitivity on spiked mincemeat samples. After overnight enrichment, the presence of STEC cells could be clearly determined in the 25 g samples containing 10 bacterial cells, while the addition of five bacteria provided equivocal PCR results with Ct values very close to or above the threshold of 40. The PCR tests proved to be more sensitive than the ELFA-VIDAS ECOLI O157, whose detection level started from 50 bacterial cells/25 g of mincemeat. The occurrence of STEC in 106 mincemeat (bovine, veal) samples collected from September to November 2004 at five different points of sale in Italy (one point of sale in Arezzo, Tuscany, central Italy, two in Mantova, Lombardy, Northern Italy, and two in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, upper-central Italy) was less than 1%. Contamination by the main STEC O-serogroups representing a major public health concern, including O26, O91, O111, O145, and O157, was not detected. This survey indicates that STEC present in these samples are probably not associated with pathogenesis in humans.

Periods of organogenesis in shoots of Nothofagus dombeyi (Mirb.) oersted (Nothofagaceae).

The organogenetic cycle of main-branch shoots of Nothofagus dombeyi (Nothofagaceae) was studied. Twelve samples of 52-59 parent shoots were collected from a roadside population between September 1999 and October 2000. Variations over time in the number of nodes of terminal and axillary buds, and the length, diameter and number of leaves of shoots derived from these buds (sibling shoots) were analysed. The number of nodes of buds developed by parent shoots was compared with the number of nodes of buds developed, I year later, by sibling shoots. The length, diameter and number of leaves of sibling shoots increased from October 1999 to February 2000 in those shoots with a terminal bud. However, extension of most sibling shoots, including the first five most distal leaf primordia, ceased before February due to abscission of the shoot apex. Axillary buds located most distally on a shoot had more nodes than both terminal buds and more proximal axillary buds. The longest shoots included a preformed part and a neoformed part. The organogenetic event which initiated the neoformed organs continued until early autumn, giving rise to the following year's preformation. The absence of cataphylls in terminal buds could indicate a low intensity of shoot rest. The naked terminal bud of Nothofagus spp. could be interpreted as a structure less specialized than the scaled bud found in genera of Fagaceae and Betulaceae.

Echography of optic disc related pathology in diabetic retinopathy.

Combined A- and B-scan examination of eyes with diabetic retinopathy and opaque media provides information about the presence and density of vitreous hemorrhages, can detect membranes inserting into the optic disc or the retina and differentiate them from retinal detachment. Absolute and relative indications for echographic examination are listed and some echograms concerning vitreous hemorrhage, proliferating membranes and traction retinal detachment are presented. The value of both A-scan standardized echography and contact B-scan technique for previtrectomy evaluation is stressed.

Axis differentiation in two South American Nothofagus species (Nothofagaceae).

An analysis was carried out on the length, diameter and number of leaves, and the ratios between these variables for current-year growth units (sibling growth units) derived from different nodes of previous-year growth units (parent growth units) of young Nothofagus dombeyi and Nothofagus pumilio trees. Changes in sibling growth unit length, diameter, and number of leaves with position on the parent growth unit were assessed. In both species, sibling-growth unit morphology varied according to both the axis type of the parent growth unit and the position of the sibling growth unit on its parent growth unit. For the largest parent growth units, the length, diameter and number of leaves of their sibling growth units decreased from distal to proximal positions on the parent growth unit. Distal sibling growth units had a more slender stem and longer internodes than proximal sibling growth units. Sibling growth units in equivalent positions tended to have a more slender stem for N. dombeyi than for N. pumilio. Long main-branch growth units of N. pumilio had longer internodes than those of N. dombeyi; the converse was true for shorter growth units. The growth unit diameter/leaf number ratio was consistently higher for N. pumilio than for N. dombeyi. Nothofagus pumilio axes would go through a faster transition from an 'exploring' morphology to an 'exploiting' morphology than N. dombeyi axes. Within- and between-species variations in growth unit morphology should be considered when assessing the adaptive value of the branching pattern of plants.