Search results for " LAB"

PREVALENCE OF ANTIBODIES ANTI-BARTONELLA HENSELAEIN WESTERN SICILY: CHILDREN, BLOOD DONORS, AND CATS

2011

To evaluate seroprevalence of B. henselae infection both in Sicilian children and healthy blood donors. Furthermore, circulation of Bartonella in the natural reservoir was also studied. Two hundred forty-three children, living in Sicily (Palermo), affected by various diseases, without clinical features suggesting B. henselae infection, together with 122 healthy blood donors were serologically investigated for IgG and IgM antibodies by indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT). One hundred twenty stray and 62 pet cats were also analyzed only for IgG. Among children 25.1% had IgG antibodies to B. henselae; 18.5% showed a titer 1:64, 2.4% 1:128, 2.4% 1:256, 0.8% 1:512, 0.4% 1:1024, and 0.4% 1:…

Decision making in a presumptive case of STEMI-like myocarditis

2015

In youngmales, differential diagnosis during chest pain is not always easy. When ECG findings suggest a cardiac origin of such symptoms, myo-pericarditis is usually themost likely hypothesis, beingmore common than Acute Coronary Syndromes (ACS) in the first decades of life [1]. In the presence of ST segment elevation, Troponin release and ventricular wall motion abnormalities, the diagnosis can be challenging, though. In the young a lowcoronary risk profile and atypical symptoms seldom support a working diagnosis of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), and, therefore, urgent coronary angiography is not recommended routinely, although cases of early ACS are not so rare. In October 2014 a 26-year-ol…

Cytokine serum profile in a group of Sicilian Nonagenarians

2011

The aim of our study was to evaluate the possibility of using multiplex analysis of the cytokine profile as a marker for successful aging by comparing cytokine plasmatic levels of a group of Sicilian nonagenarians with those of young controls. We analyzed a panel of 17 cytokines, comprehensive of haematopoietic factors T helper 1 (Th1), Th2, inflammation regulatory cytokines, and chemokines. The assay was carried out using the Luminex system. Interleukin (IL)-6 levels (p = 0.01) were increased in nonagenarians, whereas no modifications of other proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines were observed. Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and IL-2 levels are unmodified, suggesting a substantial mainte…

Dominance for Vestibular Cortical Function in the Non-dominant Hemisphere

2003

The aim of this (15)O-labelled H(2)O bolus positron emission tomography (PET) study was to analyse the hemispheric dominance of the vestibular cortical system. Therefore, the differential effects of caloric vestibular stimulation (right or left ear irrigation with warm water at 44 degrees C) on cortical and subcortical activation were studied in 12 right-handed and 12 left-handed healthy volunteers. Caloric irrigation induces a direction-specific sensation of rotation and nystagmus. Significant regional cerebral blood flow increases were found in a network within both hemispheres, including the superior frontal gyrus/sulcus, the precentral gyrus and the inferior parietal lobule with the sup…

Neural correlates of hemispheric dominance and ipsilaterality within the vestibularsystem

2007

Earlier functional imaging studies on the processing of vestibular information mainly focused on cortical activations due to stimulation of the horizontal semicircular canals in right-handers. Two factors were found to determine its processing in the temporo-parietal cortex: a dominance of the non-dominant hemisphere and an ipsilaterality of the neural pathways. In an investigation of the role of these factors in the vestibular otoliths, we used vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) in a fMRI study of monaural saccular-otolith stimulation. Our aim was to (1) analyze the hemispheric dominance for saccular-otolith information in healthy left-handers, (2) determine if there is a predom…

Reproducibility of multiphase pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling and the effect of post-processing analysis methods

2015

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) is an emerging MRI technique for non-invasive measurement of cerebral blood flow (CBF). Compared to invasive perfusion imaging modalities, ASL suffers from low sensitivity due to poor signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), susceptibility to motion artifacts and low spatial resolution, all of which limit its reliability. In this work, the effects of various state of the art image processing techniques for addressing these ASL limitations are investigated. A processing pipeline consisting of motion correction, ASL motion correction imprecision removal, temporal and spatial filtering, partial volume effect correction, and CBF quantification was developed and assessed. To fur…

Italian males recovering from mild COVID-19 show no evidence of SARS-CoV-2 in semen despite prolonged nasopharyngeal swab positivity.

2020

The effects of post-awakening light exposure on the cortisol awakening response in healthy male individuals.

2019

Abstract Background It is assumed that the expression of the cortisol awakening response (CAR) is modulated by light exposure during the peri-awakening period. While initial evidence supports this principal effect, the specific role of the spectral composition of light (brightness and wavelength) is still incompletely understood. Method Two counterbalanced within-subject experiments were conducted in a standardized sleep laboratory setting to investigate the effect of light intensity (study I; two days: dim vs. bright light) and spectral composition (study II; three days: red vs. blue vs. green light) on the CAR. Across studies, light exposure was conducted for one-hour post-awakening and t…

Performing allocentric visuospatial judgments with induced distortion of the egocentric reference frame: an fMRI study with clinical implications

2003

The temporary improvement of visuospatial neglect during galvanic vestibular stimulation (Scand. J. Rehabil. Med. 31 (1999)117) may result from correction of the spatial reference frame distorted by the responsible lesion. Prior to an investigation of the neural basis of this effect in neurological patients, exploration of the neural mechanisms underlying such procedures in normals is required to provide insight into the physiological basis thereof. Despite their clinical impact, the neural mechanisms underlying the interaction of galvanic (and other) vestibular manipulations with visuospatial processing (and indeed the neural bases of how spatial reference frames are computed in man) remai…

Fumaric acid ester treatment in cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE): a prospective, open-label, phase II pilot study.

2016

Objective The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy and safety of fumaric acid esters (FAEs) in patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE). Methods In this 24-week, prospective, open-label, phase II pilot study, 11 patients with CLE, refractory to topical corticosteroids, were included. The primary endpoint of the study was the evaluation of the efficacy of FAEs after 24 weeks of treatment as assessed by the Revised Cutaneous Lupus Disease Area and Severity Index (RCLASI). Results Compared to baseline, significant improvement in the mean total RCLASI activity score and the mean RCLASI activity score for skin lesions was observed in week 12 ( p = 0.002, p = 0.002, respectively) …