0000000000193052
AUTHOR
Carmelina Bellavia
Vulnerability of Posidonia oceanica meadow inside a coastal lagoon (Stagnone di Marsala – Western Sicily)
HPV in semen: evaluation of the link among infection, sperm parameters and viral genome integration
Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are agents of the most common sexually transmitted diseases. Both in men and in women, HPVs cause a variety of clinical symptoms ranging from warts to cancer. It has been shown that infection with oncogenic HPV is the major cause of development of cervical cancer in women and less frequently of penile cancers in men. HPV infects epithelial cells and can bind other cell types. Its presence in semen is widely known, but the effects on fertility and reproductive function are still controversial. Partners of women with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions were enrolled. From each subject seminal parameters were evaluated. HPV was detected and genotyped both …
Oral human papillomavirus infection in women with cervical HPV infection: new data from an Italian cohort and a metanalysis of the literature.
Summary A key issue in oral HPV infection is whether it can be associated with a genital HPV infection, or whether it can be considered as an independent event. This analysis evaluated the frequency and type-concordance of oral HPV infection in women with cervical HPV infection by means of: (i) a cross-sectional study on a sample (n = 98) of Italian women; and (ii) a literature-based metanalysis, including the experimental study the subject of this Paper and nine other published studies (n = 1017), which also examined the influence of oral sampling procedure (oral brushing vs oral rinse) and HIV status on oral HPV detection. The prevalence of oral HPV infection in the Italian study was 14.3…
Penile, Uretral and Seminal Sampling for Diagnosis of Human Papillomavirus Infection in Men.
ABSTRACT Methods that used specimens from three genital sites (penile brushing [PB], urethral brushing [UB], and the retrieval of semen [SE]) from 50 men were examined for human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA detection. The rates of detection by PB, UB, SE, PB and UB, and PB and SE were 88.9%, 50.0%, 33.3%, 100%, and 97.2%, respectively. The use of PB and UB appears to be the most accurate method; as an alternative to UB, the use of SE with PB could be used to improve the rate of HPV DNA detection in men.
The use of high-resolution seismo-acoustic echosounder imaging for estimation carbon sink in P. oceanica dead matte
Biodegradable anchor modular system for transplanting Posidonia oceanica cuttings
Transplantation assessment of degraded Posidonia oceanica habitats: site selection and long-term monitoring
A model developed for Zostera marina was adapted and used to select suitable areas for Posidonia oceanica transplantation in the Gulf of Palermo, where recent rehabilitation programmes have reduced human pressure. This model consists of three steps: (1) habitat selection, by calculation of the Preliminary Transplant Suitability Index (PTSI); (2) field assessments and test-transplanting, to evaluate the site suitability and to estimate the effects of tearing on transplant units (about 50%); (3) identification of suitable restoration sites, by calculation of the Transplant Suitability Index (TSI). A new parameter was added to the literature model: the number of grids detached, which is linked…
HPV genotype prevalence in cytologically abnormal cervical samples from women living in south Italy
Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the commonest sexually transmitted infection, and high-risk HPV types are associated with cervical carcinogenesis. This study investigated: the HPV type-specific prevalence in 970 women with an abnormal cytological diagnosis; and the association of HPV infection and cervical disease in a subset of 626 women with a histological diagnosis. HPV-DNA was researched by nested PCR/sequencing and the INNOLiPA HPV Genotyping assay. The data were analysed by the chi-square test (p ? 0.05 significant). Overall, the HPV prevalence was 37.7%; high-risk genotypes were found in 88.5% of women and multiple-type infections in 30.9% of the HPV-positive women. The commo…
DISTRIBUTION OF GENITAL HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS IN SICILIAN MEN WITH AND WITHOUT CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS
Introduction: Infection Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the cause of several disease in men and in women: genital warts, penile and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, invasive penile carcinoma and cervical cancer. However, less is known about HPV infection and prevalence of HPV types in men. Materials and Methods: 820 genital samples of men (age 19-77; mean age: 36.7 ys) who had come to the Virology laboratory of the Department of Sciences for Health Promotion and Mother and Child Care (Policlinico, University of Palermo, Italy) were examined for HPV infection. The study included men with genital warts, men with atypical genital lesion, partners of HPV-positive women and asymptomatic men for…
Mapping Posidonia oceanica lower limit combining high resolution instruments (SSS and MBS)
HPV group- and type-specific concordance in HPV infected sexual couples.
The concordance of human papillomavirus (HPV) groups and types was evaluated in 45 sexual couples with both partners HPV infected, by analyzing cervical samples from women and three genital sites (penile brushing, urethral brushing, and semen) from men. When grouping HPV types, no significant HPV group sharing was found between partners, either considering samples from any male site (concordance: 55.5%; P = 0.11) or from each site (concordance by penile brushing, 37.8%; urethral brushing, 24.5%; semen, 22.3%; P > 0.05). Examining individual HPV types, using samples from any male site, concordance was found in 29 (64.4%; P = 0.036) couples; significant concordance was evident for 16 HPV geno…
Resilience of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica following pulse-type disturbance.
Understanding the response of species to disturbance and the ability to recover is crucial for preventing their potential collapse and ecosystem phase shifts. Explosive submarine activity, occurring in shallow volcanic vents, can be considered as a natural pulse disturbance, due to its suddenness and high intensity, potentially affecting nearby species and ecosystems. Here, we present the response of Posidonia oceanica, a long-lived seagrass, to an exceptional submarine volcanic explosion, which occurred in the Aeolian Archipelago (Italy, Mediterranean Sea) in 2002, and evaluate its resilience in terms of time required to recover after such a pulse event. The study was carried out in 2011 i…
RESILIENZA E RESISTENZA DI POSIDONIA OCEANICA (L.) DELILE A DISTURBI NATURALI
The EBV-DNA Can be Used as a Diagnostic and Follow-up Parameter of the Rhinopharyngeal Tumors in the Non-Endemic Population of the Western Sicily
To evaluate whether EBV-DNA can be used as a diagnostic and follow-up parameter for nasopharyngeal tumors in a non-endemic population. The study was carried out in a university hospital. A retrospective study was conducted on 40 paraffin samples of histological preparations. EB-DNA was detected by real-time PCR technique. A prospective study was also conducted on a group of 30 patients who underwent nasopharyngeal biopsy for suspected nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) by comparing EBV-DNA concentrations between the histological specimen and the serum. Quantification of genomic copies of EBV-DNA in serum and detection of anti-EBV antibodies was performed. In both groups the presence of high vir…
Prevalence of cervical human papillomavirus infection and types among women immigrated to Sicily, Italy.
We determined the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) cervical infection and HPV genotypes among 115 women immigrating to Sicily (Italy), with regard to abnormal cytology and socio-behavioral characteristics in a cross-sectional, observational study. Information was collected with the help of cultural mediators/translators. HPV-DNA was assayed by the INNOLiPA HPV assay and a nested PCR/sequencing method. Sixty (52.2%) women came from sub-Saharan Africa and 55 (47.8%) from Eastern Europe. HPV infection was found in 55 (47.8%) women. The most frequent types were the oncogenic types HPV-16 (7.8%), HPV-18 and 51 (6.0% each), HPV-52 (5.2%), 31, 53, and 68 (4.3% each). Twenty-seven (23.5%) w…
Potential impact of a nonavalent HPV vaccine on HPV related low-and high-grade cervical intraepithelial lesions: A referral hospital-based study in Sicily
ABSTRACT While bivalent and quadrivalent HPV vaccines have been used for about 10 years, a nonavalent vaccine against HPV types 6/11/16/18/31/33/45/52 and 58 has been recently approved by FDA and EMA and is now commercially available. The objective of our study was to evaluate the potential impact of the nonavalent vaccine on HPV infection and related low- and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL, HSIL), compared to the impact of the quadrivalent vaccine, in a female population living in Sicily (Italy). Low estimates of HPV vaccine impact were calculated as prevalence of HPV 6/11/16/18/31/33/45/52 and 58 genotypes, alone or in association, but excluding presence of other HPV ty…