The effectiveness of field and post-harvest treatments with dicarboximides (iprodione, procymidone and vinclozolin) against B. fuckeliana (B. cinerea) rot has been evaluated in cold-stored ...kiwifruits. Although effective, field treatments did not allow the achievement of the desired level of control, whereas post-harvest applications permitted to maintain the absolute health of fruits even when these were artificially inoculated. Dicarboximide residues were estimated after 4 months storage on fruits exposed to different treatments. Observations on the partitioning of fungicides between skin and pulp showed that the level of residues present in the edible part of the fruits was negligible. The maximum residue limits admitted in Italy are referred to unpeeled fruits. The validity of this criterion is briefly discussed.
We report of a case of a fortythree years old women affected by squamous cell cancer of the vulva (T3N0M0). Despite curative treatment (radical vulvectomy with bilateral inguinal and femoral ...lymphadenectomy), after 41 months she had a local recurrence, retreated with surgery and radiotherapy; another recurrence, after 29 months was treated with chemotherapy, without results. Because of local diffusion with infiltration of the urethra and anus, the patient was submitted to demolitive operation (total pelvic evisceratio, excision of pelvic and perineal soft tissues and reconstruction with rotating skin flaps of the posterior face of the thighs). After two years of follow up, the patient is alive without evidence of disease.
Results of a survey for resistance to fungicides in Botryotinia fuckeliana (Botrytis cinerea) carried out in greenhouses located in two Apulian (Southern Italy) areas with intensive flower farming ...are reported. In both locations (200 Km apart) either dicarboximide- or benzimidazole-resistant isolates of the fungus were widespread. During the survey, in 6 out of the 55 monitored greenhouses, new variants of the fungus have been recognized wich had acquired either moderate or high resistance to benomyl keeping the normal insensivity to the N-phenylcarbamate diethofencarb. Thus, the negative cross-resistance between benzimadole and N-phenylcarbamate fungicides is not complete in B. fuckeliana. The practical implications of this are briefly discussed. Si riportano i risultati di un'indagine sullo stato della resistenza ai funghicidi di Botryotinia fuckeliana (Botrytis cinerea) eseguita in serre site in due aree pugliesi, distanti fra loro 200 Km, nelle quali è praticata un'intensa floricultura. Isolati del fungo resistenti a benzimidazolici e a dicarbossimidici sono risultati largamente diffusi in entrambe le aree. In 6 delle 55 serre sottoposte ad indagine sono state rinvenute nuove varianti del fungo che hanno mostrato di possedere livelli moderati o elevati di resistenza ai benzimidazolici pur conservando la normale insensibilità verso l'N-fenilcarbammato diethofencarb. Pertanto nel caso di B. fuckeliana la resistenza incrociata negativa fra i funghicidi benzimidazolici e N-fenilcarbammati non è completa. Le conseguenze pratiche di ciò sono brevemente discusse.
The aim of our study was to search the eventual presence of asbestos fibers in the neoplastic tissue of 13 cases of bladder carcinoma and in the normal vesical tissue of 12 control cases without ...neoplasia and operated upon for other urologic pathologies. To all patients a standardised questionnaire has been administered in order to ascertain the entity of the eventual exposition to asbestos. The organic component of the tissues has been oxidated at low temperature in atomic oxygen plasma and the residual inorganic component has been analysed by transmission electronic microscopy and energy dispersion spectrometry. We have found asbestos fibers only in two over the 25 examined samples; in both cases they belonged to patients affected by the neoplasia and in one of them also by pulmonary asbestos. The procedures that we used in this study, in respect to our other experiences, allowed us to reduce the risk of contamination of the tissues by asbestos, as it is shown by the lower number of cases with positive finding of fibers and by lower concentration of fibers in the positive cases.
A survey has been carried out in order to study, in the warm-dry environment of Apulia (Southern Italy), the evolution during a year of resistance to dicarboximide and benzimidazole fungicides in ...populations of Botryotinia fuckeliana (Botrytis cinerea) present on greenhouse flower crops. The results indicate that resistance to benzimidazoles is rather stable and that the frequency of dicarboximide-resistant isolates of the pathogen fall down in summer time. Practical aspects of this behaviour of B. fuckeliana populations are briefly discussed.
Results of a survey for resistance to fungicides in Botryotinia fuckeliana (Botrytis cinerea ) carried out in greenhouses located in two Apulian (Southern Italy) areas with intensive flower farming ...are reported. In both locations (200 km apart) either dicarboximide- or benzimidazole-resistant isolates of the fungus were widespread. During the survey, in 6 out of the 55 monitored greenhouses, new variants of the fungus have been recognized which had acquired either moderate or high resistance to benomyl keeping the normal insensitivity to the N-phenylcarbamate diethofencarb. Thus, the negative cross-resistance between benzimadole and N-phenylcarbamate fungicides is not complete in B. fuckeliana . The practical implications of this are briefly discussed.
The diagnosis and follow-up of bladder cancer are mainly based on cystoscopy, an invasive method which could be negative in case of flat malignancies such as carcinoma in situ. Other noninvasive ...diagnostic methods have not yet given satisfactory results. There is a need for a reliable yet noninvasive method for the detection of bladder cancer. Our aim was to investigate whether cell-free DNA quantified in urine (ucf-DNA) could be a useful marker for the diagnosis of bladder cancer. A standard urine test was performed in 150 naturally voided morning urine samples that were processed to obtain a quantitative evaluation of ucf-DNA. Leukocyturia and/or bacteriuria were found in 18 subjects, who were excluded from the study. Statistical analysis was performed on 45 bladder cancer patients and 87 healthy subjects. Ucf-DNA was extracted from urine samples by a spin column-based method and quantified using four different methods: GeneQuant Pro (Amersham Biosciences, Pittsburg, PA, USA), Quant-iT DNA high-sensitivity assay kit (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA), Real-Time PCR (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA), and NanoDrop 1000 (NanoDrop Technologies, Houston, TX, USA). Median free DNA quantification did not differ statistically between bladder cancer patients and healthy subjects. A receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve was developed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of ucf-DNA quantification for each method. The area under the ROC curve was 0.578 for GeneQuant Pro, 0.573 for the Quant-iT DNA high-sensitivity assay kit, 0.507 for Real-Time PCR, and 0.551 for NanoDrop 1000, which indicated that ucf-DNA quantification by these methods is not able to discriminate between the presence and absence of bladder cancer. No association was found between ucf-DNA quantification and tumor size or tumor focality. In conclusion, ucf-DNA isolated by a spin column-based method and quantified by GeneQuant Pro, Quant-iT DNA high-sensitivity assay kit, Real-Time PCR or NanoDrop 1000 does not seem to be a reliable marker for the diagnosis of bladder cancer.
Congenital polyps of the prostatic urethra are an uncommon cause of obstructive uropathy, infection and/or hematuria in male children. A filling defect localized in the posterior urethra on the ...voiding cystourethrogram represents the peculiar diagnostic finding. Transurethral resection is the treatment of choice, according to the size of the polyp. Two cases of congenital posterior urethral polyps are reported and the main clinical and radiological features are discussed. This lesion has to be considered in the differential diagnosis of the voiding dysfunction in young boys.
