Search results for " present"
showing 10 items of 566 documents
Use of Thromboelastography in severe sepsis a case-control Study
2011
Thromboelastography (TEG) is a global test of coagulation that records the viscoelastic changes in blood during clot formation. Cardiosurgery and liver transplantation are established fields of application for TEG. Severe sepsis is often characterized by an imbalance of the haemostatic equilibrium between clot formation and fibrinolysis in favor of a procoagulant status, especially in the first phase. A hypocoagulant status due to coagulation factor consumption could occur later. In spite of this, the correlation between TEG and sepsis is not clearly established. Moreover, there are doubts about which TEG-detected variable is best correlated with sepsis. The aim of this study is to clarify …
Genetic variants of ANP and cardiometabolic protection: from populations to novel therapeutics
2013
Background The cardiac hormone atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) induces natriuresis, vasodilation and inhibits aldosterone through the activation of the guanylyl cyclase A receptor (GC-A) and the second messenger cGMP. ANP possesses also metabolic properties enhancing lipolysis and release of the adipokine adiponectin. Previous studies in general populations reported that the minor G allele of the ANP genetic variant rs5068 is associated with increased circulating levels of ANP and B-type natriuretic peptide, lower blood pressure (BP), and reduced risk of hypertension. We recently reported that in the general population from Olmsted County, MN, USA the G allele of rs5068 is associated not o…
Possible Pathogenetic Relevance of Interleukin-1beta in "Destructive" Organ-specific Autoimmune Disease (Hashimoto's Thyroiditis)
1999
Thyroid follicular cells (TFC) abundantly express a variety of immunologically relevant surface molecules in Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), for example, MHC antigens and adhesion molecules such as ICAM-1. Cytokines produced by infiltrating type 1 helper and cytotoxic T cells are importantly involved in de novo expression or up-regulation of such molecules. We recently demonstrated that TFC from HT patients almost invariably bear on their surface two additive functional molecules: Fas/Apo1/CD95, an important participant in apoptosis, and B7.1, a member of a family of "co-stimulatory" molecules that are crucial for efficient antigen presentation. To date, 12 out of 14 surgical HT thyroid speci…
Pancoast's syndrome caused by lymph node metastasis from breast cancer.
2018
Pancoast’s syndrome may be the result of neoplastic, inflammatory or infectious disease. We report an unusual case of Pancoast’s syndrome in a patient with metastatic breast cancer. A 54-year-old woman, affected by metastatic breast cancer, presented for severe shoulder pain, paraesthesia and numbness in the right arm. Despite further multiple lines of systemic chemotherapy, she developed a progressive enlargement of retropectoral, supraclavicular and infraclavicular lymph node metastases, which involved brachial plexus, apex of lung and anterior mediastinum. Physical examination revealed severe weakness of proximal muscles of the right arm. Neuropathic pain was managed with pharmacological…
Use of Cepheid Xpert Carba-R® for rapid detection of carbapenemase-producing bacteria in critically ill, abdominal surgical patients: first report of…
2015
Introduction Xpert Carba-R® (Cepheid®, USA) is a PCR-based assay for rapid (<1 hour) detection of bacteria carrying carbapenem-resistance genes (KPC, NDM, VIM, OXA-48, IMP-1). The aim of the study is to compare PCR with microbiological cultures in critically ill, abdominal surgical patients. Methods We performed an observational study at University Hospital 'P. Giaccone' Palermo. We enrolled abdominal surgical patients admitted to the ICU with suspected abdominal sepsis or developing sepsis during the ICU stay. We obtained two rectal swab specimens and two drainage samples to perform PCR assay and classic culture tests. We used Cohen's K to test concordance of results. We considered conc…
“Less invasive” surgery in the treatment of cutaneous chronic ulcers of the lower limb in elderly
2010
The role of treatment of vascular lesions of the legs is very important in the elderly. Pain, inability, bandages, periodicity of medications can seriously interfere with a good quality of life because of the lower compliance of geriatric patients to accept a surgical approach. To allow a new approach to vascular lesions the Authors propose a guideline in which the topic of “less invasive” surgery is underlined based on their pathophysiological causes. Patients affected with lesions of the legs are addressed to the Leg Ulcers Centre by general physicians and selected on the basis of age and comorbility to propose a therapeutical plan. General conditions, evaluation of lesions healing and of…
The molecular basis of cancer immunotherapy by cytotoxic T lymphocytes.
1998
The disappointing clinical results of cancer immunotherapy of the past few decades have not diminished the optimism about the potential of the new generation of immunotherapeutic strategies towards treatment of malignant disease. Tremendous progress has been made over recent years in unveiling the molecular basis of antigen presentation and recognition by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). The molecular concepts that have emerged from these studies have led to the design of novel anticancer vaccines and CTL-based immunotherapeutics. This review is to highlight the current molecular insights of antigen presentation and CTL recognition/activation, and their impact on the rational design of therap…
Cytokine expression and antigen-presenting capacity of 4F7 + dendritic cells derived from dermis, spleen, and lymph nodes
1997
We took advantage of the recently generated 4F7 mAb, which recognizes an epitope expressed on dendritic cells (DC) from different tissues, to freshly isolate and positively sort for these cells and to characterize their cytokine pattern and antigen-presenting capacity in comparison with epidermal Langerhans cells (LC). RT-PCR and Northern blot analyses demonstrated constitutive mRNA expression of MIP-1 gamma, MIP-1 alpha, C10, and IL-1 beta in both 4F7+ DC and LC. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment resulted in the upregulation of mRNA expression of all four cytokines and in a newly detected signal for TNF alpha. Immunoblot analysis showed constitutive secretion of MIP-1 gamma, with LPS trea…
Pseudo-relatives, gerunds and infinitives in Romance: (only) superficial resemblances and structural connections
2013
L'argomento di questa monografia è un confronto tra i costrutti predicativi di tipo frasale nelle diverse varietà romanze. Mentre le pseudorelative sono diffuse pressoché in tutta la Romània, con qualche variazione parametrica minore, i gerundi predicativi e gli infiniti preposizionali sono usati solo in alcune varietà. Negli studi linguistici sull'argomento è mancata finora l'ottica comparativa, sia tra varietà diverse, sia tra costrutti predicativi diversi. Il mio lavoro si prefissa lo scopo di colmare questa lacuna, senza ignorare però i costrutti percettivi composti da un infinito semplice, che da parte della letteratura sono stati paragonati alle strutture predicative delle pseudorelat…
HLA-B27-restricted CD8 T cells derived from synovial fluids of patients with reactive arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis.
1993
Ankylosing spondylitis and seronegative spondylarthropathies such as Reiter's syndrome and reactive arthritis are strongly associated with HLA-B27. However, the mechanisms by which HLA-B27 is involved in disease susceptibility and pathogenesis are unknown. If the disease association is a consequence of HLA-B27's physiological function in antigen presentation, the disease should be mediated by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) that recognise bacterial or self peptides presented by HLA-B27. Proof of this arthritogenic peptide model requires isolation of B27-restricted CD8 T cells from arthritic joints of patients with spondylarthropathies. An important question is whether "arthritogenic" bacteri…