Showing papers by "University of Milan published in 1979"
TL;DR: Right brain-damaged patients with unilateral neglect were asked to detect differences within pairs of patterns moving left- or rightward behind a narrow vertical slit; it was seen that differences occurring on the left side of the mentally reconstructed images were less easily detected.
Abstract: Right brain-damaged patients with unilateral neglect were asked to detect differences within pairs of patterns moving left- or rightward behind a narrow vertical slit. It was seen that differences occurring on the left side of the mentally reconstructed images were less easily detected; therefore it is suggested that a representational disorder plays a primary role in unilateral neglect. In the light of these findings, it is possible to take into consideration some implications of unilateral neglect for theories of conscious brain activity.
434 citations
TL;DR: It is reported here that in homogenates of human PRL adenomas, in which dopaminergic agonists act as inhibitors of PRL secretion, basal adenylate cyclase is inhibited by DA and the DA receptors mediating this inhibition have the same pharmacological properties as those regulatingPRL secretion.
Abstract: THERE is evidence for the existence of multiple forms of dopamine (DA) receptors1–3. In particular, some of these receptors are coupled to adenylate cyclase (DA-stimulating enzyme activity), whereas others seem to be independent3–5. These two classes of receptors, which have been designated D-1 and D-2, respectively, would also have different pharmacological properties3. Pituitary mammotroph DA receptors regulating prolactin (PRL) secretion are considered to be typical D-2 receptors. A DA-stimulated adenylate cyclase has not been detected in normal anterior pituitaries3,5,6; furthermore, several studies indicate that cyclic AMP is stimulatory and not inhibitory to PRL secretion7,8. We report here that in homogenates of human PRL adenomas, in which dopaminergic agonists act as inhibitors of PRL secretion, basal adenylate cyclase is inhibited by DA. The DA receptors mediating this inhibition have the same pharmacological properties as those regulating PRL secretion.
266 citations
240 citations
TL;DR: Ninety right-handed patients with present or past evidence of aphasia following a stroke were given a standard language battery and a CT scan examination, and presence and type ofAphasia were correlated with the location and extent of the CT scan lesion.
205 citations
TL;DR: The stage of skeletal ossification in day-21 fetuses is proposed to be used in teratogenic studies in the rat to evaluate retarded fetal development.
Abstract: In teratogenic studies toxic effects may manifest themselves in retarded fetal development, such as a reduction in fetal weight. In searching for an additional index, the number of centers of ossification in seven skeletal districts (sternum, metacarpus, metatarsus, cervical and caudal vertebrae, anterior and posterior proximal phalanges) of rat fetuses delivered on days 19, 20 and 21 of gestation were counted and compared. Results showed uneven ossification in day-19 and -20 fetuses, but sufficiently advanced, homogeneous and uniform ossification in day-21 fetuses to provide a reliable quantitative index for evaluating retarded fetal development. It is therefore proposed that the stage of skeletal ossification in day-21 fetuses be used in teratogenic studies in the rat to evaluate retarded fetal development.
197 citations
TL;DR: Present data suggest that several patients with hypothyroidism consequent to hypothalamic-pituitary diseases secrete a material which is immunologically similar to pituitary standard TSH and responds to stimulatory and suppressive agents in a manner similar to normal TSH but has low or absent biological activity.
Abstract: TSH concentration was measured in plasma before and after TRH administration (200 micrograms, iv) in 89 patients with documented hypothyroidism consequent to various hypothalamic-pituitary disorders. Basal plasma TSH was less than 1.0 microI/ml in 34.8%, between 1.0-3.6 microU/ml in 40.5% and slightly elevated (3.7-9.7 microU/ml) in 24.7% of the cases. The plasma TSH response to TRH was absent in 13.5%, impaired in 16.8%, normal in 47.2%, and exaggerated in 22.5% of the cases, with delayed and/or prolonged pattern of response in 65% of the cases. The dilution curves of several plasmas drawn before and after TRH were parallel to those obtained with TSH standard preparation. After gel filtration, the elution pattern of TRH-stimulated plasmas from 4 patients did not show any major difference from that of pooled plasmas from normal subjects given TRH or from that of patients with primary hypothyroidism. Plasma TSH values determined by cytochemical bioassay on both basal and TRH-stimulated samples of 5 patients were markedly lower than those obtained by RIA. The serum T3 response to TRH was absent or low in 40 out of 53 patients in whom it was evaluated. The administration of T3 (100 micrograms/day for 3 days) or dexamethasone (3 mg/day for 5 days) respectively suppressed or reduced both basal and TRH-induced plasma TSH levels. Two patients became hypothyroid shortly after pituitary surgery in spite of basal and TRH-induced plasma TSH levels similar to or higher than those before surgery. Though thyroid atrophy due to chronic understimulation could explain the low T3 response to TRH in secondary hypothyroidism, it is difficult to reconcile thyroid understimulation with normal or increased plasma TSH unless the immunoreactive material has low biological activity. Present data suggest that several patients with hypothyroidism consequent to hypothalamic-pituitary diseases secrete a material which is immunologically similar to pituitary standard TSH and responds to stimulatory and suppressive agents in a manner similar to normal TSH but has low or absent biological activity. Thus, hypothyroidism due to insufficient TSH stimulation can be termed central hypothyroidism and can be due 1) to pituitary insufficiency (secondary hypothyroidism), 2) to a hypothalamic defect (tertiary hypothyroidism), or 3) to the secretion of biologically inactive TSH.
181 citations
TL;DR: Treatment with the soybean diet is an effective regimen for inducing a significant cholesterol reduction in type II patients refractory to standard low lipid regimens.
147 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that K+ causes dimples or protuberances to appear between the active zones because it activates latent sites of exocytosis specified by small numbers of large intramembrane particles located between active zones.
Abstract: Frog cutaneous pectoris nerve muscle preparations were studied by the freeze-fracture technique under the following conditions: (a) during repetitive indirect stimulation for 20 min, 10/s; (b) during recovery from this stimulation; and (c) during treatment with 20 mM K+. Indirect stimulation causes numerous dimples or protuberances to appear on the presynaptic membrane of nerve terminal, and most are located near the active zones. Deep infoldings of the axolemma often develop between the active zones. Neither the number nor the distribution of dimples, protuberances, of infoldings changes markedly during the first minute of recovery. The number of dimples, protuberances, and infoldings is greatly reduced after 10 min of recovery. Since endocytosis proceeds vigorously during the recovery periods, we conclude that endocytosis occurs mostly at the active zones, close to the sites of exocytosis. 20 mM K+ also causes many dimples or protuberances to appear on the axolemma of the nerve terminal but they are distributed almost uniformly along the presynaptic membrane. Experiments with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) show that recycling of synaptic vesicles occurs in 20 mM K+. This recycling is not accompanied by changes in the number of coated vesicles. Since both exocytosis and endocytosis occur in 20 mM K+, it is difficult to account for this unique distribution. However, we suggest that K+ causes dimples or protuberances to appear between the active zones because it activates latent sites of exocytosis specified by small numbers of large intramembrane particles located between active zones. The activation of latent release sites may be related to the complex effects that K+ has on the quantal release of neurotransmitter.
144 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the spin wave spectrum of the helical phases has a large density of states at low frequency due to the presence of saddle points in the spectrum or of a soft branch.
Abstract: The phase diagram at T = 0 K and the spin wave spectrum is studied for magnetic models appropriate for certain layer compounds of transition metals. Heisenberg and XY exchange is considered with interaction up to third neighbours in the basal plane. We consider only the case of nearest neighbour (n.n.) ferromagnetic interaction. Noncollinear order (helical phases) can easily occur when the interaction between more distant neighbours is antiferromagnetic. The following lattices are considered: square, triangular, honeycomb, tetragonal, exagonal and rhombohedral. Under certain conditions the spin wave spectrum of the helical phases has a large density of states at low frequency due to the presence of saddle points in the spectrum or of a “soft branch”. Models for NiBr2 and BaCo2(AsO4)2 are considered.
140 citations
TL;DR: Black widow spider venom was applied to frog nerve-muscle preparations bathed in Ca2-containing, or Ca2+-free, solutions and the neuromuscular junctions were studied by the freeze-fracture technique, concluding that exocytosis can occur mostly in the immediate vicinity of the large intramembrane particles.
Abstract: Black widow spider venom (BWSV) was applied to frog nerve-muscle preparations bathed in Ca2+-containing, or Ca2+-free, solutions and the neuromuscular junctions were studied by the freeze-fracture technique. When BWSV was applied for short periods (10-15 min) in the presence of Ca2+, numerous dimples (P face) or protuberances (E face) appeared on the presynaptive membrane and approximately 86% were located immediately adjacent to the double rows of large intramembrane particles that line the active zones. When BWSV was applied for 1 h in the presence of Ca2+, the nerve terminals were depleted of vesicles, few dimples or protuberances were seen, and the active zones were almost completely disorganized. The P face of the presynaptic membrane still contained large intramembrane particles. When muscles were soaked for 2-3 h in Ca2+-free solutions, the active zones became disorganized, and isolated remnants of the double rows of particles were found scattered over the P face of the presynaptic membrane. When BWSV was applied to these preparations, dimples or protuberances occurred almost exclusively alongside disorganized active zones or alongside dispersed fragments of the active zones. The loss of synaptic vesicles from terminals treated with BWSV probably occurs because BWSV interferes with the endocytosis of vesicle membrane. Therefore, we assume that the dimples or protuberances seen on these terminals identify the sites of exocytosis, and we conclude that exocytosis can occur mostly in the immediate vicinity of the large intramembrane particles. Extracellular Ca2+ seems to be required to maintain the grouping of the large particles into double rows at the active zones, but is not required for these particles to specify the sites of exocytosis.
138 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that metabolic changes at the pituitary level may play some role in the induction of the increased responsiveness to luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone which can be observed in quails after exposure to 7 long days.
TL;DR: An outbreak of breast enlargement in girls and boys attending a school in Milan, first noted in November, 1977, was followed up until the end of 1978, and oestrogen contamination was suspected as being the cause of this outbreak.
TL;DR: Prostacyclin lowers the tonus and reduces the spontaneous motility of isolated pregnant human myometrium and seems to be related to coclic-AMP accumulation, since PGI2 increases the formation of this cyclic nucleotide in incubated minces of pregnant and non-pregnant uterus.
TL;DR: A new phenomenon, called the 'Nonidet P-40 effect', which greatly enhances the separation between gamma and beta chains by binding to these two chains and shifting their pI values in opposite directions, is described.
TL;DR: The results show that the perinatal risk in pregnant diabetic women can be reduced to a level comparable to that in nondiabetic pregnant women.
TL;DR: Papular acrodermatitis of childhood (PAC), first recognized in Milan and described by Gianotti in 1955, is an infectious disease of childhood, of low infectivity, fairly widespread, and characterized by:
Abstract: Papular acrodermatitis of childhood (PAC), first recognized in Milan and described by Gianotti in 1955, is an infectious disease of childhood, of low infectivity, fairly widespread, and characterized by: (1) Non-relapsing erythemato-papular dermatitis localized to the face and limbs, lasting about 3 weeks. (2) Paracortical hyperplasia of lymph-nodes. (3) Acute hepatitis, usually anicteric, which lasts at least 2 months and may progress to chronic liver disease.
TL;DR: It was found that in human hypertension the carotid baroreflex mechanism controlling blood pressure undergoes a very marked resetting but shows no major reduction in sensitivity, implying that in severe hypertension the reflex shows an asymmetry opposite to that in normotensive subjects.
Abstract: Most techniques available for studying arterial baroreflexes in man are unsuitable for analysis of the primary function of these reflexes, that is, arterial pressure control. Such control can be evaluated during increases and decreases in carotid baroreceptor activity obtained with a variable pressure neck chamber. This study reviews some technical aspects of the technique and describes the influence the carotid baroreceptors exert on arterial pressure in normotensive subjects and in those with essential hypertension. Major differences can be found in the two populations. In normotensive subjects the change in blood pressure is greater with a decrease than with an increase in baroreceptor activity. The former response becomes progressively less and the latter progressively greater with increasingly high blood pressure, so that in severe hypertension the reflex shows an asymmetry opposite to that in normotensive subjects, the change in blood pressure being greater with an increase than with a decrease in baroreceptor activity. These results imply that in human hypertension the carotid baroreflex mechanism controlling blood pressure undergoes a very marked resetting but shows no major reduction in sensitivity. In hypertensive subjects cardiac output and peripheral resistance were also measured. It was found that the depressor response to an increase in carotid baroreceptor activity depends on both a reduction in cardiac output and a systemic vasodilatation. However, peripheral vasoconstriction is the only factor accounting for the pressor response to reduced baroreceptor activity.
TL;DR: Results show that injected GM1 reaches different organs, binds to cellular membranes, and remains unaltered long after administration, while 3H-GM1 catabolism and elimination was also investigated.
TL;DR: It is reported here that GABA, derived from the central nervous sytem (CNS), is present in the rat anterior pituitary, and evidence that GABA has a functional role in the control of PRL secretion is provided.
Abstract: Hypothalamic hormones synthesised in nuclei within the medial basal hypothalamus (MBH) and extrahypothalamic regions and released from nerve endings at the level of the median eminence (ME) into the hypophysial portal capillary system control anterior pituitary (AP) function1. The median eminence is a key area for neuroendocrine regulation as it receives projections of neurotransmitter pathways which modulate functions such as synthesis and release of hypothalamic hormones2. In addition, transmitters released from the ME into the stalk portal blood may act directly at the AP level to control hormone secretion—this has been demonstrated for dopamine (DA) with respect to prolactin (PRL) secretion3 and it has been suggested that DA itself may represent the so far elusive PRL-inhibiting factor (PIF)2,4,5. Recently, evidence has been presented which suggests that γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) may also have an important inhibitory role in regulating PRL secretion in the rat. Both GABA and muscimol, a powerful agonist at GABA receptors6, inhibited PRL secretion when injected into urethane anaesthetised female7 or freely moving male rats8. In view of the poor penetrability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) by both amino acids9 and the recently described specific GABA receptor sites in rat AP10, the above data support the notion that GABA may act directly at the level of the AP to inhibit PRL secretion. This proposition is reinforced by the demonstration that both GABA11 and muscimol12 inhibit PRL secretion from rat isolated APs, an effect which is blocked by the antagonist picrotoxin. We report here that GABA, derived from the central nervous sytem (CNS), is present in the rat anterior pituitary, and we provide evidence that GABA has a functional role in the control of PRL secretion.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: VIP stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in homogenates of some areas of rat brain that are rich in this peptide, e.g., cerebral cortex, hypothalamus and hippocampus, as well as in cerebellar cortex, where VIP content is low.
TL;DR: These spontaneously active ventricular receptors with unmyelinated nerve fibres participate in the transmission of the continuous impulse activity which from the cardiovascular system reaches the spinal cord through the sympathetic nerves and which is likely to contribute to the neural control of circulation.
Abstract: 1. We recorded the electrical impulse activity of thirty-three single afferent fibres with left ventricular endings from the third and fourth left thoracic sympathetic rami communicantes of anaesthetized cats. Their conduction velocity ranged from 0.23 to 0.98 m/sec (group C). 2. The endings of each fibre were localized to the left ventricle by mechanical probing performed at the end of the experiment on the non-beating heart. No fibre had multiple sensory fields. 3. The impulse activity (0.95 +/- 0.2 impulses/sec) was spontaneous but most often a fixed temporal correlation between impulses and ventricular dynamics was not detectable. It was increased during occlusion of the thoracic aorta, I.V. administration of isoprenaline or infusion of saline. It was unaffected by asphyxia, haemorrhage and I.V. administration of acetylcholine. It was decreased during occlusion of inferior vena cava. Therefore these ventricular receptors appeared to be mainly sensitive to mechanical events. 4. The fibres were excited during the occlusion of the left main coronary artery, after a latency of 14.5 +/- 1.3 sec. They were also excited during ventricular fibrillation, exhibiting the highest values of impulse activity (2.51 +/- 0.4 impulses/sec). The increase in impulse activity during ventricular fibrillation was sometimes immediate and extreme, with peak frequencies of about 50 impulses/sec. 5. These spontaneously active ventricular receptors with unmyelinated nerve fibres participate in the transmission of the continuous impulse activity which from the cardiovascular system reaches the spinal cord through the sympathetic nerves and which is likely to contribute to the neural control of circulation. Thus the unmyelinated cardiac sympathetic afferents should not be considered as purely nociceptive in function.
TL;DR: The coupling between electronic and nuclear motions, which is neglected in the adiabatic approximation, allows energy flow between the two sorts of motion as mentioned in this paper, which has several consequences; among them, the broadening of the IR vibration line of a chemisorbed atom, and the possibility of a gas-phase atom losing enough energy to stick on to the substrate.
TL;DR: During ischemia following decapitation, instead, PGF2 alpha, and TXB2, show considerable increase, and levels of arachidonic acid metabolites are not modified.
TL;DR: Visual patterns projected tachistoscopically to the left and right striate cortex of 50 undergraduates were better recognized than those projected to the right, whereas the opposite was true when the stimuli were recognized at a 60 sec delay.
TL;DR: The increase of DA synthesis observed in some brain areas might be involved in determining the hyperactive behaviour that follows lead intoxication.
TL;DR: Hepatic glutathione reductase can be obtained in relatively good amounts from rabbit by a procedure which is fairly simple and sufficiently rapid, andKinetic parameters of the enzyme have been determined under optimal conditions.
TL;DR: Results of the present study indicate that S -adenosyl- l -methionine (SAMe) protects against mortality induced by high doses (710 mg/kg) of acetaminophen, and suggests that SAMe protection is related to its metabolism to thiol derivatives in the transmethylation-trans-sulfuration pathway.
TL;DR: Macrophages were isolated from 22 human ascitic ovarian epithelial tumors and their growth‐inhibitory capacity was tested using as targets the following in vitro tumor cell lines: murlne TLX9 lymphoma and FS6 sarcoma; human myeloid K562 leukemia and human E cell line derived from an ovarian carcinoma.
Abstract: Macrophages were isolated from 22 human ascitic ovarian epithelial tumors and their growth-inhibitory capacity was tested using as targets the following in vitro tumor cell lines: murine TLX9 lymphoma and FS6 sarcoma; human myeloid K562 leukemia and human E cell line derived from an ovarian carcinoma. Macrophage preparations were heterogeneous in their interaction with tumor target cells, and assay conditions, such as the type of target cell, incubation time, and attacker to target cell (A:T) ratio critically affected the evaluation of the cytotoxic potential of tumor-associated macrophages. At an A:T ratio of 7:1 no cytostatic activity on TLX9 and K562 cells was ever observed, but in the presence of specific antibody 8 out of 12 macrophage preparations tested showed significant antibody-dependent cytotoxicity on TLX9 lymphoma cells. Macrophage preparations from two patients significantly inhibited growth of the FS6 sarcoma and a cytostatic activity on E cells was observed in five additional patients. Significant stimulation of the proliferative capacity of at least one of the target cell lines was observed in 11 subjects at an A:T ratio of 7:1. In 12 patients, macrophage cytostatic activity on E cells was also tested at an A:T ratio of 35:1; eight out of 12 preparations showed significant cytotoxicity under these conditions. When the same subject was repeatedly tested at short intervals the same pattern of inhibition or stimulation of tumor growth was observed.