Effects of Fitlight training on cognitive-motor performance in élite judo athletes.

Aims: The aims of this study were to verify if a 5-week cognitive-motor training (CMT) using FitlightsTM induced changes in young adult judo athletes compared to a non-intervention group. Specifically, it was verified if CMT influenced executive functions (EFs), physical fitness and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels. Additionally, athletes' competitive results were compared between groups. Method: Twenty-seven athletes (14 males and 13 females; age = 19.5 ± 2.0 years) were assigned to the Fitlight (FG) and control (CG) groups which performed 5 weeks of CMT, respectively, including 25 min per day of Fitlight training or traditional judo practice. All participants performed cognitive (flanker task and forward/backward digit span) and fitness tests (counter movement jump, handgrip test, dynamic and isometric chin up). In addition, BDNF was collected by saliva sampling and competitive results after the intervention period were considered. Results: RM-ANOVA showed significant differences in FG for the accuracy of flanker (p = 0.028) and backward digit span (p < 0.001). Moreover, significant differences in FG were found for relative dynamic chin up (p = 0.027) and counter movement jump (p = 0.05). In addition, a significant difference in FG was found for competitive results after the intervention period (p < 0.01).No significant differences were found for BDNF and other cognitive and fitness measures (p > 0.05). Conclusion: A 5-week judo-specific CMT improved EFs and motor performance in élite judo athletes. It seems that CMT with Fitlight™ could be considered an additional support to coaches during the training period.

RECURRENT LENTIGO MALIGNA: CONSERVATIVE CONTINUOUS TREATMENT WITH IMIQUIMOD OR REPEATED SURGERY? A LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP DERMOSCOPIC CASE STUDY.

A case of recurrent lentigo maligna in a 45-year-old woman is presented. The disease relapsed several times following the surgical excision of the lesion. An alternative treatment with imiquimod 5% cream was then used. After 4 years of follow-upfrom the last surgery, this treatment achieved total clearance of the lesion. The problems of lentigo maligna diagnosis and treatment are discussed.

Introducing clinical nanorachaeaology: Isolation by co-culture of Nanopusillus massiliensis sp. nov.

BACKGROUND: Nanoarchaeota, obligate symbiont of some environmental archaea with reduced genomes, have been described in marine thermal vent environments, yet never detected in hosts, including humans. METHODS: Here, using laboratory tools geared towards the detection of nanoarchaea including PCR-sequencing, WGS, microscopy and culture. RESULTS: We discovered a novel nanoarchaea, Nanopusillus massiliensis, detected in dental plate samples by specific PCR-based assays. Combining fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) with scanning electron microscopy disclosed close contacts between N. massiliensis and the archaea Methanobrevibacter oralis in these samples. Culturing one sample yielded co-isolation of M. oralis and N. massiliensis with a 606,935-bp genome, with 23.6% GC encoded 16 tRNA, 3 rRNA and 942 coding DNA sequences, of which 400 were assigned to clusters of orthologous groups. CONCLUSION: The discovery of N. massiliensis, made publicly available in collection, extended our knowledge of human microbiota diversity, opening a new field of research in clinical microbiology here referred to as clinical nanoarchaeology.

Innovation in the solid waste management industry: Integrating neoclassical and complexity theory perspectives.

Often considered a traditional labour intensive activity, in recent years, the solid waste management (SWM) industry has been largely interested in innovation. Nonetheless, the analysis of innovations in the SW industry is frequently confined to process innovation in the disposal segment, neglecting other kinds of innovation - such as product innovation and organizational innovation - in other segments. While several economic theoretical frameworks have been developed for interpreting eco-innovation in general, a specific analysis of innovation in each segment of SWM is still missing, despite the specificities of this sector. To fill this gap, this paper shows how complexity theory can be profitably used to integrate the more traditional neoclassical approach, offering a comprehensive theoretical framework to analyse innovation in the SWM industry from both a market and firm perspective (the neoclassical approach) and from a social perspective (the complexity theory framework). Four main typologies of the SW market system, exhibiting different kinds of innovation, are outlined: (i) a "traditional" landfill-oriented system; (ii) a modern "waste-to-energy" incinerator-oriented system; (iii) a "light recycling" system with integrated solutions and a selection performance that is lower than 50%; and (iv) a "hard recycling" system.

Scrotal cutaneous metastasis from rectal squamous cell carcinoma: a rare evolution into a rare tumor.

The scrotum is a rare site for metastases and represents less than 1% of the body's total surface area. Clinically, metastatic deposits in the scrotum can present in a variety of ways. They may appear as solitary cutaneous nodules, papules, plaques, or generalized induration or edema. Indeed, scrotum metastasis may be mistaken for other skin lesions since several dermatologic conditions can present with inflammation or dermatitis of the scrotum. Properly diagnosing cutaneous metastasis requires histopathological examination since the clinical appearances are, as described, highly variable and non-specific. We present a 63-year-old man with painless nodules on the scrotal skin. Excisional biopsy of the nodules revealed a metastasis from rectal squamous cell carcinoma. The incidence of this kind of tumors is estimated around 0.1-0.25 per 1000 colorectal neoplasms.

Cutaneous leiomyosarcoma: a clinical, dermoscopic, pathologic case study.

Cutaneous leiomyosarcoma is a rare malignant mesenchymal tumor of smooth muscle origin of unknown etiology. Leiomyosarcomas located on the skin include superficial leiomyosarcomas and metastatic leiomyosarcomas. Superficial leiomyosarcomas represent 7-10% of all cases of leiomyosarcoma and are subdivided into cutaneous and subcutaneous lesions based on skin location. We report a case of an 81-year-old woman who presented a slow growing tender single nodule on the left thigh and describe its clinical and dermoscopic features.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm associated with renal ectopia.

This report describes a rare case of concurrent abdominal aortic aneurysm and bilateral renal ectopia. Preoperative work-up included intravenous pyelography and angiography to assess renal function, renal artery anatomy, and ureter position. Conventional surgery was performed without renal protection. No deterioration in postoperative renal function was observed.

Cardiac metastases.

Tumours metastatic to the heart (cardiac metastases) are among the least known and highly debated issues in oncology, and few systematic studies are devoted to this topic. Although primary cardiac tumours are extremely uncommon (various postmortem studies report rates between 0.001% and 0.28%), secondary tumours are not, and at least in theory, the heart can be metastasised by any malignant neoplasm able to spread to distant sites. In general, cardiac metastases are considered to be rare; however, when sought for, the incidence seems to be not as low as expected, ranging from 2.3% and 18.3%. Although no malignant tumours are known that diffuse preferentially to the heart, some do involve the heart more often than others--for example, melanoma and mediastinal primary tumours. This paper attempts to review the pathophysiology of cardiac metastatic disease, epidemiology and clinical presentation of cardiac metastases, and pathological characterisation of the lesions.

Intraocular lens decentration and posterior capsule opacification: anatomo-pathologic findings after implantation of AMOSI40 IOLS.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the incidence of intraocular lens (IOL) decentration and posterior capsule opacification (PCO) after implantation of a three-piece posterior chamber silicone IOL in a series of eyes examined postmortem. METHODS: Twenty-three pseudophakic enucleated human cadaver eyes, implanted with AMO SI40NB IOLs after phacoemulsification, were analyzed. Eyes obtained postmortem were sectioned at the equatorial plane and the anterior segment photographed from a posterior view. Location of IOL optic and haptics, type of fixation, and centration of IOL was evaluated. PCO was graded and the presence of Nd:YAG laser posterior capsulotomy was noted. RESULTS: Mean age at the time of surgery was 77.83 years, mean time since implantation was 18.26 months. In all the eyes examined, IOL haptics were positioned in the capsular bag. Mean decentration was 0.20+/-0.16 mm. No correlation was found between IOL decentration and time since implantation. The degree of peripheral PCO ranged from none (13.0%) to mild (39.1%) to moderate (26.1%) to severe (21.7%). The degree of central PCO ranged from none (52.2%) to mild (30.4%) to moderate (4.3%). Three patients (13.0%) underwent Nd:YAG laser posterior capsulotomy. CONCLUSIONS: A very good centration can be obtained when silicone AMOSI40NB IOLs are correctly implanted with the haptics inside the capsular bag. About half of the implants showed no central PCO while Nd:YAG laser posterior capsulotomy rates documented a relatively low PCO 18 months after surgery. A careful in the bag haptics placement is needed in order to reduce the IOL decentration and to prevent central PCO.

Spectrum of clinicopathologic manifestations of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia: a multicenter study.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present investigation was to redefine the clinicopathologic profile of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia (ARVC), with special reference to disease progression and left ventricular (LV) involvement. BACKGROUND: Long-term follow-up data from clinical studies indicate that ARVC is a progressive heart muscle disease that with time may lead to more diffuse right ventricular (RV) involvement and LV abnormalities and culminate in heart failure. METHODS: Forty-two patients (27 male, 15 female; 9 to 65 years old, mean [+/-SD] age 29.6 +/- 18) from six collaborative medical centers, with a pathologic diagnosis of ARVC at autopsy or heart transplantation, and with the whole heart available, were studied according to a specific clinicomorphologic protocol. RESULTS: Thirty-four patients died suddenly (16 during effort); 4 underwent heart transplantation; 2 died as a result of advanced heart failure; and 2 died of other causes. Sudden death was the first sign of disease in 12 patients; the other 30 had palpitations, with syncope in 11, heart failure in 8 and stroke in 3. Twenty-seven patients experienced ventricular arrhythmias (ventricular tachycardia in 17), and 5 received a pacemaker. Ten patients had isolated RV involvement (group A); the remaining 32 (76%) also had fibrofatty LV involvement that was observed histologically only in 15 (group B) and histologically and macroscopically in 17 (group C). Patients in group C were significantly older than those in groups A and B (39 +/- 15 years vs. 20 +/- 8.8 and 25 +/- 9.7 years, respectively), had significantly longer clinical follow-up (9.3 +/- 7.3 years vs. 1.2 +/- 2.1 and 3.4 +/- 2.2 years, respectively) and developed heart failure significantly more often (47% vs. 0 and 0, respectively). Patients in groups B and C had warning symptoms (80% and 87%, respectively, vs. 30%) and clinical ventricular arrhythmias (73% and 82%, respectively, vs. 20%) significantly more often than patients in group A. Hearts from patients in group C weighed significantly more than those from patients in groups A and B (500 +/- 150 g vs. 328 +/- 40 and 380 +/- 95 g, respectively), whereas hearts from both group B and C patients had severe RV thinning (87% and 71%, respectively, vs. 20%) and inflammatory infiltrates (73% and 88%, respectively, vs. 30%) significantly more often than those from group A patients. CONCLUSIONS: LV involvement was found in 76% of hearts with ARVC, was age dependent and was associated with clinical arrhythmic events, more severe cardiomegaly, inflammatory infiltrates and heart failure. ARVC can no longer be regarded as an isolated disease of the right ventricle.

The genotype of the hepatitis C virus in patients with HCV-related B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Increasing evidence suggests that the hepatitis C virus (HCV) might be involved in the pathogenesis of B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL). Since several HCV genotypes are currently identifiable and might be involved in the pathogenesis of different diseases (with different severity and responsiveness to therapy), the aim of our study was to assess the prevalence of viral genotypes in a group of patients with HCV-related NHL. Among 470 consecutive patients, 42 HCV Ab-positive cases were identified. HCV RNA could be detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and genotyping performed in 31 of these cases. As compared to our control group (211 healthy blood donors and patients with chronic liver disease), a striking high prevalence of genotype 2ac was detected among B cell NHL (48.4 vs 9.0%), with a relative risk of infection of 5.37 (P < 0.0001). No major differences were observed in the distribution of NHL histotypes and in the clinical features among patients with genotype 1b (the other most frequent genotype) or 2ac, a part from a trend towards a higher percentage of liver disease and a lower likelihood of response to interferon for patients with genotype 1b. The same high prevalence of genotype 2ac has been recently reported in patients with mixed cryoglobulinemia (MC), monoclonal gammopathies, B cell NHL complicating MC and autoimmune hepatitis. All these data taken together suggest that genotype 2ac might be involved in the pathogenesis of lymphoproliferative and autoimmune disorders.

A dynamic population of excitable cells: the taste receptor cells.

Taste receptor cells (TRCs) represent an unique opportunity to study a dynamic population of excitable cells that undergoes two basic neurobiological processes: postnatal development and cell turnover. We have begun to investigate the functional properties of TRCs and how they mature over time by applying the patch-clamp technique to single cell in taste buds isolated from mouse vallate papilla during postnatal development. We have focussed our attention on a well-defined functional group of taste cells, called Na/OUT cells, and on their voltage-gated K+, and Cl- currents (I(K) and I(Cl), respectively). As in neurons, I(K) and I(Cl) underlie action potential waveform and firing properties in these cells. By analyzing the relative occurrence of I(K) and I(Cl) among cells, we found that in adult mice three different electrophysiological phenotypes of Na/OUT cells could be detected: cells with only I(K) (K cells); cells with both I(K) and I(Cl) (K + Cl cells); and cells with I(Cl) (Cl cells). On the contrary, at early developmental stages (2-4 postnatal day, PD) there were no Cl cells, which appeared at PD 8. The analysis of the changes in current amplitude (which continuously increased in developing cells) during postnatal development suggested that Cl cells and K + Cl cells likely represented a single functional line different from K cells. In addition, electrophysiological data were consistent with the interpretation that Cl cells derived from some K + Cl cells by suppression of I(K). The dynamics of the expression of I(K) and I(Cl) during postnatal development likely reflects a mechanism that could also operate during turnover.

Studies of the geographic patterns of c-myc expression in bone marrow.

C-myc expression was studied semi-quantitatively in bone marrow biopsies obtained from normal individuals, patients with non-malignant haematological disorders and patients with various haematological malignancies. In normal bone marrow and in the bone marrow of patients with non-malignant haematological disorders, cells containing c-myc protein are present in small clones (average 7 +/- 2.5 cells/clone) located in the centre of the histotopographic region of the biopsy. In contrast, c-myc-containing cells are diffusely distributed in the bone marrow of patients with acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML). In the marrow of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes evolving to AML and in patients with AML in early relapse, the clones of cells containing c-myc are larger than those present in normal marrows (average clone size = 17.5 +/- 3.5 cells). Additionally, the proportion of the cells in normal bone marrow which express c-myc protein is less than that present in AML marrows (23.3 +/- 10.17 v. 60.2 +/- 6.17) and the intensity of staining is also less. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients with bone marrow involvement had distribution of c-myc positive cells similar to those with leukaemic infiltration.

Clonogenic potential of myeloid leukaemia cells in vitro is restricted to leukaemia cells expressing the CD34 antigen.

Cells from patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) or chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) were separated into CD34-enriched and CD34-depleted subpopulations. The clonogenic capacities of these two subpopulations were then compared to each other and to the original unseparated cell population. In every study, the CD34-enriched subpopulation demonstrated a substantial increase in clonogenicity in vitro in comparison with the original cell population, while the reverse was the case for the CD34-depleted subpopulations. For reasons not clear at present, the enrichment for clonogenic cells far exceeded the enrichment for cells expressing the CD34 antigen. Additionally, the clonogenic potential was found to be unrelated to the level of myc expression in the various cell populations.

Echocardiographic findings in myocarditis.

This study analyzes morphologic and functional alterations detected by M-mode and 2-dimensional echocardiography in 41 patients with histologically proven myocarditis and different clinical presentations: congestive heart failure (63%), atrioventricular block (17%), chest pain (15%) and supraventricular arrhythmias (5%). Left ventricular dysfunction was common (69%), particularly in patients with congestive heart failure (88%), often without or with minor cavity dilatation. Patients with atrioventricular block or chest pain had usually preserved ventricular function. Right ventricular dysfunction was present in 23%. Additional findings included asynergic ventricular areas (64%), left ventricular "hypertrophy" sometimes reversible (20%), hyperrefractile myocardial areas (23%), ventricular thrombi (15%) and "restrictive" ventricular filling (7%). It is concluded that echocardiographic features of myocarditis are polymorphous and nonspecific. The echocardiographic pattern can simulate alternatively dilated, hypertrophic, restrictive or "right" ventricular cardiomyopathy, as well as coronary artery disease. In an appropriate clinical context, echocardiography can be helpful in the diagnosis of myocarditis and in the selection of patients for endomyocardial biopsy.

Clinical and pathologic study of familial dilated cardiomyopathy.

To evaluate the occurrence of familial cases of dilated cardiomyopathy (DC), 165 consecutive patients were studied. Diagnosis of myocardial disease was based on clinical, hemodynamic, bioptic, postmortem or a combination of these criteria. Twelve patients (7% of cases) showed evidence of myocardial disease in greater than or equal to 1 relative; 27 patients with myocardial disease were detected in the 12 families, but a suspected history of myocardial involvement was present in a further 16 cases. In 6 families proband and relatives were affected by DC (total 14 cases); in 1 of these families the disease began with an atrioventricular block. In 4 families the relatives showed the presence of myocarditis at the endomyocardial biopsy. In 2 families the relatives presented a right ventricular cardiomyopathy. The mode of inheritance was autosomal dominant in 7 families, recessive in 4; X-linked pattern may be hypothesized in 1. Nine patients died under the age of 45 years: 2 of sudden death, 6 of chronic heart failure and 1 of cerebral embolism. Familial transmission is not rare. Different modes of genetic transmission (autosomal dominant, recessive and X-linked) and different forms of myocardial disease suggest that familial DC may be a multifactorial disease.

Correlation between histomorphometric findings on endomyocardial biopsy and clinical findings in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.

Multivariate analysis was used to analyze the morphometric data of endomyocardial biopsies (area, perimeter and minor diameter) of myocardial cells obtained at light microscopy by a computerized approach with 16 clinical parameters and prognosis in 52 patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. The best morphometric parameter was "area" (R2 = 0.47). A positive correlation was found with age (p less than 0.02), interval between first symptoms and diagnosis (p less than 0.02), left ventricular end-diastolic volume (p less than 0.02), cardiac index (p less than 0.05) and echocardiographic end-diastolic diameter (p less than 0.1). A negative correlation was found with prognosis (p less than 0.02), ejection fraction (p less than 0.02), shortening fraction (p less than 0.05), echocardiographic end-systolic diameter (p less than 0.06) and mitral regurgitation presence (p less than 0.1). The parameters that provided no correlation were New York Heart Association class, left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, right atrial pressure, cardiothoracic ratio, presence or absence of heart failure, fever or alcohol intake. These findings suggest that endomyocardial biopsy may provide prognostic information and confirm clinical diagnosis.