To investigate the clinical value of delta agent infection in HBsAg positive chronic hepatitis, we detected anti-delta antibody (anti-delta) in serum and delta antigen (delta-Ag) on sequential liver ...biopsies of nine patients with HBsAg-positive CPH and 45 patients with HBsAg-positive CAH without cirrhosis observed for at least 2 years. The initial group of patients with CAH was composed of 54 patients who were consecutively either left untreated or treated with 15 mg of prednisolone daily. Nine patients dropped out. Delta-Ag was searched by the direct immunofluorescence technique. HBsAg, anti-delta, HBeAg and anti-HBe were detected by RIA. All CPH patients were delta-Ag negative in the 1st liver biopsy and anti-delta negative in serum. Out of these nine patients, seven remained delta-Ag negative CPH throughout the observation and the remaining two became delta-Ag positive, anti-delta positive and developed CAH. The 73% of patients with CAH were delta-Ag positive on the 1st biopsy and anti-delta positive in serum. The patients in the delta-Ag positive group (24 were always delta-Ag positive and two became delta-Ag positive during the observation) more frequently than those in the delta-Ag negative group (10 were always delta-Ag negative and nine became delta-Ag negative during the study) showed deterioration or died (77 vs. 16%; P less than 0.001). Neither in the delta-Ag positive group nor in the delta-Ag negative group did prednisolone modify the course of the disease.
Erythrocytes from children with uremia who are undergoing hemodialysis show normal maximal velocity of NA+-Li+ countertransport and Na+/K+/Cl- cotransport and normal intracellular sodium content. ...These aspects of intracellular sodium metabolism are not affected by dialysis. The normality of intraerythrocytic cation metabolism in children with uremia is associated with anemia, increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure, reduced body mass index, retention of solutes (urea, creatinine, potassium), a low triiodothyronine and thyroxine syndrome, and high parathormone levels.
Because of the limitations resulting from the severity of heart failure, patients in the waiting list for cardiac transplantation often show a worsening in their social life. They usually present ...with psychological problems caused by symptoms, medical or surgical therapies and consequences on their own work. We have devised and utilized an experimental psychodiagnostic protocol to study the psychological characteristics of a sample of patients with heart failure (NYHA functional class III and IV) candidate to heart transplantation. Our study was particularly aimed at investigating the quality of life and the psychological mechanisms of adaptation. Findings show a strong attempt of denying the discomfort deriving from the disease and the expectation for transplant. Patients seem to have an adequate reaction to the illness and, otherwise, they feel anxiety and trouble that make very fragile their psychological adaptation. This behaviour is probably correlated with symptoms and the clinical history of heart failure, and does not match with a visible state of well-being that can be detected with a superficial analysis. Nevertheless patients have a good availability in receiving a psychological support from the whole medical staff (physicians, nurses): this suggests that the benefits deriving from a contemporary medical and psychological therapy are able to prevent the appearance of clear psychiatric symptoms. Additional studies involving larger samples of selected populations are needed to confirm the results of the present investigation.
The aim of this paper was to evaluate the factors affecting body fat excess and distribution in prepubertal age.A cross-sectional survey was carried out on children attending the 4th grade of a ...primary school in Naples. Eighty-eight per cent of the total sample was examined: 52 girls, 58 boys; mean age = 9.6 yrs (s.e. +/- 0.10).Each child underwent a medical examination, anthropometric measurements and bio-impedance analysis of body composition. The parents were asked to fill in a questionnaire that included demographic data, family history, parent's weight and height, child's perinatal history and his or her involvement in sports activities. Data were analyzed by multiple linear regression. The results showed a direct correlation between parental BMI and children's anthropometric measurements: the children's BMI correlated with the fathers' (P = 0.02) and mothers' BMI(P = 0.027); the children's waist/hip ratio correlated with the fathers' BMI(P = 0.07); the children's subscapular skinfolds correlated with the father's (P = 0.07) and mothers' BMI(P = 0.02); the children's triceps skinfolds correlated with the fathers' BMI(P = 0.004). Among congenital factors, sex was shown to be correlated with the children's waist/hip ratio (P = 0.05) with a lower ratio in the female, indicating a sex influence on body fat distribution even in prepubertal age. The children's BMI correlated with their waist/hip ratio (P = 0.001). Children's systolic blood pressure showed a positive correlation with triceps (P = 0.04) and subscapular (P = 0.05) skinfolds thickness, % FAT-PLI (P = 0.02). No correlation was found between the children's BMI and their weight at birth, a family history of diabetes, hypertension, or hyperlipidemia. Among environmental factors, only the mother's weight gain during pregnancy (P = 0.03) and breast feeding (P = 0.05) showed a reverse correlation with the children's BMI.We foresee the importance of defining a series of factors associated with obesity in pediatric age in different populations. This field of investigation is intriguing because it could lead to a better understanding of the etiology of obesity and could help to establish preventive programs for this Western disease.
The vigor of the glacial Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and the locations of frontal boundaries are important parameters in understanding to the role of the Southern Ocean in global climate ...changes. To contribute to our understanding of these parameters we are surveying the provenance of detrital sediments around the perimeter of Antarctica. In general, erosion products from East Antarctica in proximal marine sediments are characterized by highly radiogenic Sr isotopes and erosion products from West Antarctica are reflected by less radiogenic Sr isotopes in proximal marine sediments. Downstream from major oceanic basalt sources such as the Drake Passage and the Kerguelen Plateau, the sediments also have unradiogenic Sr isotopes. Another observation from the pattern of compositional variations within the modern ACC is that terrigenous sediment from Antarctica appears to be injected into the ACC by way of the Ross and Weddell gyres. Sr isotopes from a transect northward from the Ross Sea reveal a general trend that suggests two main sources, one from New Zealand (unradiogenic Sr) and one from Antarctica (radiogenic Sr). In the latitudinal range of the major ACC water flux and where the sediment flux is low (sediment flux data are from Chase et al., 2003, Deep Sea Research II), a departure from the general Ross Sea-to-New Zealand trend toward less radiogenic values indicates the input from a third source, and is approximately coincident with the southern boundary of the ACC. This third component is interpreted to originate from the Pacific-Antarctic ridge to the west. During the LGM the departure from the trend in Sr isotopes is displaced to the north, consistent with a northward displacement of the frontal system. In the Atlantic sector there is also a systematic geographical variation in the Sr isotope composition during both time intervals. Additionally, the differences between LGM and Holocene times reveal some important insights about changing continental contributions to the ACC. For example, more radiogenic Sr in cores starting at about 36oeE (and 57oeS) and moving to the east, appear to indicate a significant increase in sediment flux from the ancient basement of the Antarctic continent (Dronning Maude Land). On the other hand, lower values in a streak running east- west through the center of the Atlantic ACC sector are attributable to greater contributions from the young terrains that border the Drake Passage. It also appears that the Agulhas leakage was reduced in the LGM (Franzese abstract, this meeting), consistent with a northward displacement of the frontal zones, but more data will be needed to confirm this intriguing hint.
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