Chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis (CLT) has a positive prognostic value in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) patients: the potential key role of Foxp3+ T lymphocytes.

BACKGROUND: An impact of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis (CLT) on papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) outcome has long been advocated but it is still controversial. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of CLT in a retrospective cohort of PTC patients and to characterize the lymphocytic subpopulations and infiltrate (LI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We assessed 375 PTC patients, aged 45.2 ± 16.4 years, and treated with thyroidectomy and radioiodine remnant ablation, with a mean follow-up of 6.28 ± 3.86 years. In a subgroup of patients (n = 81) tissue sections were reviewed for the presence of CLT or lymphocytes associated with tumor in absence of background thyroiditis (TAL); cytotoxic CD8+/regulatory Foxp3+ T lymphocyte (CD8+/Foxp3+) ratio was characterized by immunohistochemistry: a low ratio is suggestive of a less effective anti tumor immune response. RESULTS: Seventy-five/375 patients (20%) had a histological diagnosis of CLT and showed at the last follow-up a significantly better outcome compared to those with no CLT (cure rate: 91.8 versus 76.3%, p = 0.003). LI was characterized in 81 PTC patients (24 with CLT and 57 with TAL): the peri-tumoral CD8+/Foxp3+ ratio was lower in patients not cured at the final evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that concurrent CLT has a protective effect on PTC outcome and that the imbalance between cytotoxic and regulatory T lymphocytes in the peri-tumoral TAL may affect the tumor-specific immune response favoring a more aggressive behavior of cancer.

Extra-linguistic influences on sentence comprehension in Italian-speaking children with and without specific language impairment.

BACKGROUND: Many children with specific language impairment (SLI) in sentence comprehension. These deficits are usually attributed to limitations in the children's understanding of syntax or the lexical items contained in the sentences. This study examines the role that extra-linguistic factors can play in these children's sentence comprehension. AIMS: Extra-linguistic demands on sentence comprehension are manipulated directly by varying the nature of the materials used. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Forty-five Italian-speaking children participated: 15 with SLI (mean age = 4;5), 15 typically developing children matched for age (TD-A, mean age = 4;5), and 15 younger typically developing children matched according to language comprehension test scores (TD-Y, mean age = 3;9). The children responded to sentence comprehension items that varied in their length and/or the number and type of foils that competed with the target picture. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: The TD-A children were more accurate than the TD-Y children and the children with SLI, but, for all groups, accuracy declined when task demands increased. In particular, sentences containing superfluous adjectives (e.g., Il topo bello copre l'uccello allegro, 'The nice mouse covers the happy bird' where all depicted mice were nice and all birds were happy) yielded higher scores than similar sentences in which each adjective had to be associated with the proper character (e.g., Il cane giallo lava il maiale bianco, 'The yellow dog washes the white pig', where foils included a yellow dog washing a pink pig, and a brown dog washing a white pig). Many errors reflected recency effects, probably influenced by the fact that adjectives modifying the object appear at the end of the sentence in Italian. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: Differences between conditions were observed even when lexical content, syntactic structure and sentence length were controlled. This finding suggests the need for great care when assessing children's comprehension of sentences. The same syntactic structure and lexical content can vary in difficulty depending on the number and types of foils used in combination with the target picture.

Lexical skills and gesture use: A comparison between expressive and receptive/expressive late talkers.

BACKGROUND: Studies on late talkers (LTs) highlighted their heterogeneity and the relevance of describing different communicative profiles. AIMS: To examine lexical skills and gesture use in expressive (E-LTs) vs. receptive-expressive (R/E-LTs) LTs through a structured task. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Forty-six 30-month-old screened LTs were distinguished into E-LTs (n= 35) and R/E-LTs (n= 11) according to their receptive skills. Lexical skills and gesture use were assessed with a Picture Naming Game by coding answer accuracy (correct, incorrect, no response), modality of expression (spoken, spoken-gestural, gestural), type of gestures (deictic, representational), and spoken-gestural answers' semantic relationship (complementary, equivalent, supplementary). OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: R/E-LTs showed lower scores than E-LTs for noun and predicate comprehension with fewer correct answers, and production with fewer correct and incorrect answers, and more no responses. R/E-LTs also exhibited lower scores in spoken answers, representational gestures, and equivalent spoken-gestural answers for noun production and in all spoken and gestural answers for predicate production. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Findings highlighted more impaired receptive and expressive lexical skills and lower gesture use in R/E-LTs compared to E-LTs, underlying the relevance of assessing both lexical and gestural skills through a structured task, besides parental questionnaires and developmental scales, to describe LTs' communicative profiles.

Assessing lexicon: validation and developmental data of the Picture Naming Game (PiNG), a new picture naming task for toddlers.

BACKGROUND: Understanding lexical abilities in infants and toddlers is important, yet no single tool can be used. AIMS: To perform a validation of a new tool (known as the Picture Naming Game, or 'PiNG') for assessing lexical comprehension and production in toddlers and to obtain developmental trends for Italian children. METHODS & PROCEDURES: PiNG consists of four subtests: Noun Comprehension (NC), Noun Production (NP), Predicate Comprehension (PC) and Predicate Production (PP), each containing 20 lexical targets. It was administered to 388 children with typical development aged 19-37 months. The short form of the Italian version of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (MB-CDI), previously completed by parents of participants, was used for the validation of PiNG. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: For the validation study, reliability, internal consistency and concurrent validity were analysed. The reliability was optimal for NC, NP and PP, and satisfactory for PC. Split-half analysis showed a fair internal consistency for all of the subtests. Concurrent validity was verified through the correlation with MB-CDI using Pearson's correlation coefficient, which was significant even after having controlled for age. To describe the developmental trends, data are provided for 1-month age intervals. The comprehension subtests showed a rapid increase at younger ages, with children reaching a plateau slightly earlier for the NC (at 30 months versus 33 months for the PC). The increase in the production subtests was gradual; PP appeared to be the most difficult subtest, administrable starting at the age of 24 months. When we analysed, as potential confounders for developmental trends, gender, parents' educational level, and the way in which the subtests were administered, no differences were found, except for a better performance for girls in the NP subtest. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: Overall, the results suggest that PiNG is suitable for children in the age range considered to evaluate language abilities. It can be used together with other tools with clinical and theoretical objectives also to describe lexical abilities in atypical populations, such as children with cognitive and/or language impairment, as well as with late-talking children. Finally, the four subtests can be administered separately or combined, which provides flexibility in clinical use, in that the individual child's linguistic and/or cognitive characteristics and level can be taken into consideration.

Communicative and linguistic development in preterm children: a longitudinal study from 12 to 24 months.

BACKGROUND: Research conducted on preterm children's linguistic skills has provided varying pictures, and the question of whether and to what extent preterm children are delayed in early language acquisition remains largely unresolved. AIMS: To examine communicative and linguistic development during the second year in a group of Italian children born prematurely using the 'Primo Vocabolario del Bambino' (PVB), the Italian version of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory. The primary goal was to compare action/gesture production, word comprehension, and word production, and the relationship between these three domains in preterm children and to normative data obtained from a large sample of Italian children born at term. A second aim was to address the longstanding debate regarding the use of chronological versus corrected gestational age in the assessment of preterm children's abilities. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Parents of twelve preterm children completed the PVB questionnaire at five age points during the children's second year, and scores were compared with those from a normative sample of full-term children and those of 59 full-term children selected as a control group from the normative sample for the PVB. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: Preterm children exhibited a delay in all three aspects of communication and language. In particular, communicative-linguistic age tended to lag approximately 3 months behind chronological age when children were between the ages of 12 and 24 months. When chronological age was used, preterm children's percentile scores for all three components of communication and language fell within the lower limits of the normal range, while scores calculated using corrected age either fell at or above the 50th percentile. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: Findings suggest that despite the significant biological risk engendered by premature birth, early communicative and linguistic development appears to proceed in a relatively robust fashion among preterm children, with tight relations across communicative domains as in full-term children. Employing both chronological and corrected gestational age criteria in the evaluation of preterm children's abilities may provide important information about their progress in language acquisition. This may be especially important during the initial stages of communicative and linguistic development, inasmuch as comparisons of the two sets of scores may provide clinicians with a way to distinguish children who may be at risk for language problems from those who may be expected to progress normally.

Monitoring of volatile organic compounds in non-residential indoor environments.

UNLABELLED: A weekly monitoring campaign of volatile organic compounds (VOC), with single sampling of 24 h, was carried out in non-residential indoor environments such as libraries, pharmacies, offices, gymnasiums, etc., in order to evaluate the VOC concentrations to which people are exposed. Moreover, an outdoor sample was coupled to each indoor site to point out the influence of indoor sources. They were sampled with Radiello diffusive samplers for thermal desorption and analyzed by GC-MS. As already described in other papers, the VOC levels of most of the indoor sites were higher than that observed in the corresponding outdoor sites. For example, some sites showed a level of pollution that is ten times higher than their corresponding outdoor site. The monitored environments that had higher concentrations of the investigated VOC were the pharmacies, a newspaper stand, a copy center, and the coffee shops. Analysis of the weekly average concentrations of each pollutant and the use of literature allowed pointing out some site-specific characteristics that singled out possible sources of VOC. These results were verified analyzing the indoor-outdoor ratio (I/O) too. Newspaper stands were characterized by very high concentrations of toluene and pharmacies were characterized by high concentrations of aromatic compounds. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Indoor air pollution caused by volatile organic compounds (VOC) might affect human health at home as well as in public and commercial buildings. The main VOC sources in indoor environments are human activities, personal care products, smoking, house cleaning products, building products, and outside pollution. To preserve human health it is necessary to evaluate the average concentrations of VOC to which people are exposed and to identify the main sources of indoor pollution by means of suitable indoor monitoring campaigns in several environments. These investigations allow pointing out the characteristic critical situations of some indoor environments or some other types of environments.

Oxidative Stress in Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Dizziness Patients, Basally and After Polyphenol Compound Supplementation.

BACKGROUND: Leukoaraiosis (LA) is a common radiological finding in elderly, frequently associated with several clinical disorders, including unexplained dizziness. The pathogenesis of LA is multifactorial, with a dysfunction of cerebral microcirculation resulting in chronic hypoperfusion and tissue loss, with oxidative stress involved in this cascade. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyse some oxidative stress biomarkers in a cohort of LA patients. METHOD: Fifty-five consecutive patients (33 males, median age 75 years) with LA were recruited. In a subgroup of 33 patients with LA and unexplained dizziness, we have then performed an open study to evaluate if 60-day supplementation with a polyphenol compound may modify these biomarkers and influence quality of life, analysed with the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) scale. RESULTS: At baseline, blood oxidative stress parameters values were outside normal ranges and compared to matched healthy controls. After the two months supplementation, we observed a significant decrement of advanced oxidation protein products values and a significant improvement of DHI. CONCLUSION: Oxidative stress biomarkers may be useful to detect redox imbalance in LA and to provide non-invasive tools to monitor disease status and response to therapy.

Siete años de experiencia en pacientes intervenidos por patología proctológica bajo modalidad cirugía mayor ambulatoria y estudio del grado de satisfacción usuaria

Objetivo: Exponer los resultados de 7 años de cirugía proctológica por cirugía mayor ambulatoria (CMA) y determinar el grado de satisfacción usuaria. Material y Método: Se realizó un estudio observacional descriptivo de pacientes sometidos a cirugía proctológica bajo modalidad CMA en el Hospital Regional de Concepción entre los años 2012 y 2019. Se realizó la encuesta telefónica de satisfacción SUCMA-14. Resultados: Se evaluaron a 632 pacientes en el período de estudio. Con diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre patologías para edad, género e IMC. Se aplicó la encuesta a 270 pacientes que contestaron y respondieron. Los resultados mostraron que en general la percepción de los pacientes es positiva salvo puntuales excepciones, como el dolor postoperatorio para condilomas y hemorroides, y las complicaciones postoperatorias para la enfermedad pilonidal. Cuando se realiza el análisis multivariado a los datos correspondientes a la encuesta, no se logran diferencias significativas entre los diagnósticos, pero al aplicarlo a las variables clínico-quirúrgicas se evidencia, claramente, que existe una distinción entre éstas, en especial para la enfermedad pilonidal. Discusión: Las diferencias en términos de tiempos quirúrgicos, complicaciones y re-hospitalizaciones, no necesariamente afectan la percepción que los pacientes tienen de la CMA, ya que ésta depende de otros factores y no solo de los resultados quirúrgicos. Conclusión: Se obtuvieron resultados acorde a la literatura internacional, con peores resultados para enfermedad pilonidal. La satisfacción usuaria fue positiva en general, sin una clara distinción por patologías. Creemos que la CMA es recomendable en patología proctológica tanto por sus resultados, como por la satisfacción que genera en los pacientes.

Objective: To present the results of 7 years of colorectal surgery on mayor ambulatory surgery (MAS) and to determine patient satisfaction. Methods: A descriptive observational study of patients undergoing proctological surgery under the MAS modality was carried out at Regional Hospital of Concepción between 2012 and 2019. The SUCMA-14 satisfaction survey was applied. Results: 632 patients were evaluated in the study period. With statistically significant differences between pathologies for age, gender and BMI. The survey was applied to 270 patients who answered and responded. The results showed that, in general, the perception of the patients is positive, with exceptions, such as postoperative pain for warts and hemorrhoids, and postoperative complications for pilonidal disease. When the multivariate analysis corresponding to the survey is performed, it does not allow distinguishing between the diagnoses, but when applied to the surgical variables, it clearly shows that there is a distinction between them, with a disadvantage for pilonidal disease. Discussion: The differences in terms of surgical times, complications and re-hospitalizations do not necessarily affect the perception that patients have of the MAS, since it depends on other factors and not only on the surgical results. Conclusion: Results were concordant to what is described in the international literature, with worse results for pilonidal disease. Patient satisfaction was positive in general, without a clear distinction by pathology. We believe that MAS is recommended in proctological pathology both for its results and for the satisfaction it generates in patients.

"Cervia II Working Group Report 2006": guidelines on diagnosis and treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection in Italy.

Proper management of Helicobacter pylori infection in clinical practice--when supported by evidence-based data--is expected to produce substantial cost-efficacy advantages. This consideration has prompted the Cervia Working Group to organise a meeting of experts to update the National Guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of H. pylori infection in Italy. Recommendations in the new European Guidelines were considered in the National setting, here in the light of factors such as the incidence of gastric cancer and gastric lymphoma, the accessibility to different diagnostic tools, the prevalence of bacterial resistance against antibiotics, and the availability of different drugs. The main revisions in respect to the previous guidelines include H. pylori eradication in non-ulcer dyspepsia patients and in non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug users, as well as in patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and iron deficiency anaemia. The stool antigen test is now accepted as a valid test for confirmation of H. pylori eradication following therapy. New therapeutic approaches have been recommended for both first- (sequential therapy) and second-line (levofloxacin-based) treatment in our country.

Monitoring of odor compounds produced by solid waste treatment plants with diffusive samplers.

Nuisance caused by odors is one of the most important problems for waste management plants. To control an odor nuisance, it must first be quantified. The analytical difficulties in odor measurements are related to the high number of volatile components (belonging to several chemical classes), above all when the concentration is lower than the detection limit of the technique used for the measurement. In this work, 2-butanone, alpha-pinene, tetrachloroethylene, dimethyldisulfide, beta-pinene, limonene, phenol and benzoic acid are determined, because they are representative of some important classes of compounds with higher odor impact. The compounds are sampled with thermal desorbable radial diffusive samplers Radiello containing Tenax cartridges. The analytical repeatability and the complete thermal desorption of the cartridges were verified for each odor compound; the relative standard deviations for repeated samples and the recovery percentage were, respectively, less than 7% and about 97% for all compounds. The measurements of the linearity of sampling showed no systematic difference according to the collection period. The comparison between the odor threshold and the limit of detection demonstrated that this method is reliable for the recognition and quantification of odor compounds, allowing Public Administration to impose legal limits and the control agencies to verify them.

First genetic analysis of lattice corneal dystrophy type I in a family from Bulgaria.

PURPOSE: To report a new family belonging to a previously non-investigated geographic are a with a rare form of lattice corneal dystrophy (LCD). METHODS: Detailed ophthalmologic analysis was carried out on a Bulgarian woman, enrolled for perforating keratoplasty. In order to obtain a final diagnosis both histology and genetic analysis were performed. RESULTS: Upon transplantation, histologic analysis of the dystrophic cornea revealed the typical staining pattern and amyloid deposits of lattice corneal dystrophies. Genetic analysis of the subject and her daughter confirmed the presence of an autosomal dominant R124C mutation within exon 4 of the BIGH3 gene, encoding for keratoepithelin, while showing no abnormalities in her son. CONCLUSIONS: The identification of this mutation allows the unambiguous classification of this corneal dystrophy as LCD type I. A first case of LCD I in a family from Eastern Europe could help to better clarify the molecular epidemiology of the disease.

Pain measurements in right-left cerebral lesions.

Left- and right-brain damaged (BD) subjects were examined to ascertain whether psychophysical parameters of pain-pain threshold (P), tolerance threshold (T), and pain endurance (E)-were modified by brain damage and whether differences exist between LBD and RBD. Noxious stimulus was provided by electrical stimulation. Results showed that P and T scores for the paralysed arms were consistently higher than those of the contralateral side. This was not simply due to modified sensitivity alone; in the RBD group hemi-inattention and aphasia in the LBD group also played a role. A significantly hightened value of pain endurance was found only in the healthy arm in the RBD group.

Asynchrony of lexical and morphosyntactic development in children with Down Syndrome.

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential dissociation between mental age and specific aspects of language: lexical and morphosyntactic comprehension and production in different situations and with different measures. Fifteen children with Down Syndrome (DS) (from 4 to 7 years) and fifteen normal controls matched on mental age participated in this study. Children with DS showed generally a lower performance in language abilities with respect to the normal controls. In the two groups no dissociation was evident between lexical and cognitive abilities, but specific morphosyntactic difficulties emerged both in comprehension and production.

Language acquisition in special populations: a comparison between Down and Williams syndromes.

To investigate the relationship between language acquisition and cognition, we evaluated linguistic abilities in 12 Italian-speaking children with Williams syndrome (WS) and 12 with Down syndrome (DS) of comparable global cognitive level. Another control group included 12 typically developing (TD) children, matched for mental age. Linguistic measures included a parent questionnaire to assess vocabulary, a verbal comprehension test, a sentence repetition test and MLU calculated on spontaneous production. No dissociation was evident between lexical and cognitive abilities, but specific morphosyntactic difficulties emerged both in comprehension and production in children with DS. Individuals with WS, albeit less compromised than DS, also had difficulty in the phrase repetition task and, particularly, using content words. Our results demonstrate that the linguistic abilities of infants with WS are not above their cognitive level and that language development in these special populations is not only delayed, but follows a different developmental trajectory.

Evaluation of a new ultrashort triple therapy for Helicobacter pylori disease.

BACKGROUND: 1-week proton pump inhibitor-based triple therapies are considered the most effective and convenient drug combinations for curing Helicobacter pylori infection. Short therapies, lasting less than 1 week have been investigated rarely. AIM: To assess the efficacy and tolerability of a 3-day lansoprazole triple therapy after 1 day of lansoprazole pre-treatment. METHODS: Seventy H. pylori-positive (rapid urease test and histology) patients received LAzT3 regimen (lanzoprazole 30 mg b.d. and azithromycin 500 mg o.m. for 3 days; tinidazole 2000 mg o.m. on day 1 and 1000 mg o.m. on days 2-3) after 1 day of lansoprazole pretreatment. Patients with active ulcer received lansoprazole 30 mg o.m. for an additional 4 weeks. Follow-up gastroscopy was carried out 4-6 weeks after completion of therapy. Eradication was defined as negative histology and rapid urease test. RESULTS: Four patients failed to attend the follow-up endoscopy. One patient complained of minor side-effects. H. pylori was eradicated in 57 of 66 patients suitable for evaluation, with a per-protocol cure rate of 86.3% (95%CI: 76-94%), and an intention-to-treat cure rate of 81.4% (95%CI: 70-90%). CONCLUSIONS: This new ultrashort triple therapy including lansoprazole, azithromycin and tinidazole seems to be effective in eradicating H. pylori. It is safe and well-tolerated, and may be taken into consideration as a valid alternative to the better known and widely used 1-week proton pump inhibitor-based triple therapies.

Histological findings in gastric mucosa in patients treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

AIMS: To identify distinguishing and general histological features related to the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID). METHODS: Slides from gastric antral biopsies of 50 patients with osteoarthritis taking NSAID were compared with slides from antral biopsies of 50 control cases matched for age, sex, and race. Semithin sections stained with toluidine blue were used. RESULTS: Chronic gastritis was seen in 76% of the patients taking NSAID and in 58% of the control cases; active inflammation was detected in 10% of the NSAID treated patients and in 24% of the control cases, and it appeared closely related with Helicobacter pylori infection. Some histological features common to all slides of patients taking NSAID were recognised. These consisted of focal erosions of the gastric epithelium and macroerosions, and they seemed to represent successive steps of a process of "desquamation". CONCLUSIONS: Some distinguishing morphological aspects appeared prominent; it is suggested that these may be related to the pathogenesis of NSAID linked peptic ulceration. On the other hand, epithelial damage due to NSAID appears very different from that due to Helicobacter pylori, another important factor involved in the aetiopathogenesis of peptic disease.

Prophylaxis and treatment of NSAID-induced gastroduodenal disorders.

A significant percentage of patients taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) experience some type of adverse gastrointestinal symptoms, lesions of the gastroduodenal tract being clinically the most relevant. NSAIDs cause gastrointestinal damage by 2 independent mechanisms: a topical effect, which is pH and pKa related, and a systemic effect mediated by cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibition with a reduction in prostaglandin synthesis. Using endoscopy, gastroduodenal lesions identified include subepithelial haemorrhages, erosions and ulcers. The prevalence of ulceration in NSAID users has been reported as being between 14 and 31% with a 2-fold higher frequency of gastric ulcers compared with duodenal ulcers. Among the strategies used to decrease the risk of ulcer development are: (i) the use of analgesics other than NSAIDs; (ii) use of the lowest possible dosage of NSAID; (iii) the use of a COX-2 selective NSAID; (iv) the use of low doses of corticosteroids instead of NSAIDs; (v) avoidance of concomitant use of NSAIDs and corticosteroids; and (vi) use of preventive therapy. In an attempt to reduce the incidence of NSAID-induced gastrointestinal lesions, the following approaches have been proposed: (i) use of the prostaglandin analogue misoprostol, which is an antiulcer drug which has been proven to be as effective in the prevention of NSAID-induced gastric and duodenal ulcers as in the reduction of serious upper gastrointestinal complications; (ii) histamine H2 receptor antagonists (H2 antagonists), e.g. ranitidine, cimetidine and famotidine, which are useful in the prevention of NSAID-induced duodenal ulcers during long term treatment, but not in the prevention of NSAID-induced gastric ulcers; (iii) proton pump inhibitors, e.g omeprazole, and pantoprazole, whose efficacy in preventing NSAID-associated ulcers has been recently demonstrated; and (iv) barrier agents, e.g. sucralfate, which cannot be recommended as prophylactic agents to prevent NSAID-induced gastropathy. The first step in the treatment of NSAID-associated ulcers lies in a reduction in the dosage of the NSAID or discontinuation of the drug. If NSAID treatment cannot be withdrawn, a proton pump inhibitor appears to be the most effective treatment in healing ulcers, accelerating the slow healing observed with H2 antagonists.

Pain endurance in unilateral cerebral lesions.

The purpose of the present experiment was to study whether a unilateral cerebral lesion modifies pain parameters with respect to a control group. Electric stimuli were applied to brain damaged patients on the forearm ipsilateral to the lesion, and to both forearms of a control group. No significant difference was found between experimental groups for either pain or tolerance thresholds, whereas pain endurance--the difference between pain threshold and pain tolerance threshold--was significantly greater in right brain damaged patients, compared to both the control group and the left brain damaged group. In the latter group, pain endurance was not significantly different from controls, although there was a tendency towards its decrease. Result are discussed in relation to the problem of the hemispheric specialization for emotional processes.

Fhit protein expression in human gastric cancer and related precancerous lesions.

The FHIT gene is altered in several types of tumors and abnormal expression of Fhit protein have also been reported in some preneoplastic lesions. We have determined the Fhit expression on histological samples of 26 patients affected by preneoplastic lesions who developed a gastric cancer within 2 years. The expression of the Fhit protein was always present in all preneoplastic lesions, while the Fhit protein immunostaining was distributed unevenly in 10 cases and completely lost in 6. The complete loss of Fhit expression only in areas of neoplastic low differentiation suggests that FHIT gene takes part in late gastric carcinogenesis.

Analysis of heavy metals in atmospheric particulate by ion chromatography.

Cu, Ni, Zn, Co, Fe+2, Mn, Cd, Fe+3 and Pb are easily separated and detected in isocratic mode by ion chromatography with post-column derivatization using a bifunctional ion-exchange column and an eluent formed by oxalic acid (28 mM) and sodium nitrate (250 mM). The separation is optimised by using a suggested sample solution containing a given concentration of chloride. Detection limits were 10-15 ppb for all the metals except for cadmium and lead, for which detection limits of 30 and 60 ppb were found, respectively. The method was tested on an atmospheric particulate certified sample. The measured values were in good agreement with certified values. Real samples of atmospheric particulate from industrial and urban sites were analysed and the results are discussed.