University of Perugia

About: University of Perugia is a education organization based out in Perugia, Umbria, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Large Hadron Collider. The organization has 13365 authors who have published 39516 publications receiving 1265601 citations. The organization is also known as: Universitá degli Studi di Perugia & Universita degli Studi di Perugia.

Early Recurrence and Cerebral Bleeding in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke and Atrial Fibrillation Effect of Anticoagulation and Its Timing: The RAF Study

Abstract: Background and Purpose—The best time for administering anticoagulation therapy in acute cardioembolic stroke remains unclear. This prospective cohort study of patients with acute stroke and atrial fibrillation, evaluated (1) the risk of recurrent ischemic event and severe bleeding; (2) the risk factors for recurrence and bleeding; and (3) the risks of recurrence and bleeding associated with anticoagulant therapy and its starting time after the acute stroke. Methods—The primary outcome of this multicenter study was the composite of stroke, transient ischemic attack, symptomatic systemic embolism, symptomatic cerebral bleeding and major extracranial bleeding within 90 days from acute stroke. Results—Of the 1029 patients enrolled, 123 had 128 events (12.6%): 77 (7.6%) ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack or systemic embolism, 37 (3.6%) symptomatic cerebral bleeding, and 14 (1.4%) major extracranial bleeding. At 90 days, 50% of the patients were either deceased or disabled (modified Rankin score ≥3), ...

A multicentre randomised study of intrasphincteric botulinum toxin in patients with oesophageal achalasia

Abstract: BACKGROUND Intrasphincteric injection of botulinum toxin (Botx) has been proposed as treatment for oesophageal achalasia. However, the predictors of response and optimal dose remain unclear. AIMS To compare the effect of different doses of Botx and to identify predictors of response. PATIENTS/METHODS A total of 118 achalasic patients were randomised to receive one of three doses of Botx in a single injection: 50 U (n=40), 100 U (n=38), and 200 U (n=40). Of those who received 100 U, responsive patients were reinjected with an identical dose after 30 days. Clinical and manometric assessments were performed at baseline, 30 days after the initial injection of botulinum toxin, and at the end of follow up (mean 12 months; range 7–24 months). RESULTS Thirty days after the initial injection, 82% of patients were considered responders without a clear dose related effect. At the end of follow up however, relapse of symptoms was evident in 19% of patients who received two injections of 100 U compared with 47% and 43% in the 50 U and 200 U groups, respectively. Using Kaplan-Meier analysis, patients in the 100×2 U group were more likely to remain in remission at any time (p CONCLUSIONS Two injections of 100 U of Botx 30 days apart appeared to be the most effective therapeutic schedule. The presence of vigorous achalasia was the principal determinant of the response to Botx.

Reproducible DNA fingerprinting with the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method

Abstract: Much interest has recently arisen in methods for DNA fingerprinting based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Among these, the Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method, developed by Williams etal. (1), is currently receiving particular attention (2) because of its extreme simplicity and requirement for minimal amounts of genomic DNA. The basic strategy involves the PCR amplification of random fragments of genomic DNA with single or multiple (3) primers of arbitrary sequence. Polymorphism between individuals (or strains) is detected as differences between the pattern of DNA fragments amplified from the different DNAs using a given primer(s). Although RAPD PCR is an extremely powerful tool for such tasks as gene mapping, population and pedigree analysis, phylogenetic studies and bacterial strain identification, the reproducibility of RAPD fingerprints can be quite problematic (4-6). Since the pattern of fragments amplified is, in large part, a function of the sites on the template to which productive annealing of the oligonucleotide primer can occur, differences between DNA preparations that affect primer annealing could be one major source of irreproducibility of RAPD patterns. Here we show directly that ethanol precipitable contaminants in DNA are a major cause of irreproducibility. In preparing DNA for RAPD analysis using standard extraction techniques we found a perfect correlation between the procedure used to collect ethanol precipitated DNA and the reproducibility of the RAPD pattern. We always obtained highly reproducible patterns from DNAs that were wound on a glass rod, while patterns from DNAs collected by centrifugation displayed different degrees of variability. Since centrifugation of an ethanol precipitate of a previously wound DNA sample did not introduce variability, we concluded that winding the DNA must free it of the material that causes the variability exhibited by the centrifuged samples. The results in the figure demonstrate that the RAPD pattern of centrifuged DNA differs from that of wound DNA (lanes Al and Bl, respectively), that the pattern produced by wound DNA can be produced from centrifuged DNA if the latter is reprecipitated from ethanol but collected by winding on a glass rod (lanes A2), and that an altered pattern is obtained using wound DNA to which its supernatant material has been added back (lanes B2). Although RNase A digestion modified the RAPD pattern produced from centrifuged DNA, this treatment did not result in the same RAPD pattern produced with wound DNA (results not shown). Therefore, contaminating RNA may only be partly responsible for the variability observed with centrifuged samples. On the other hand, DNase treatment modified the RAPD pattern produced from wound DNA (results not shown), suggesting that either the presence of very short DNA fragments or shortened templates, or both, may lead to RAPD variability. These findings support the hypothesis that the ethanol precipitable contaminants include very low molecular weight DNA and/or RNA which, in some way, alter the formation of productive template/primer complexes. Whatever their nature, our results unequivocally show that ethanol precipitable contaminants in DNA extracted by standard techniques are a major, if not sole, source of variability in RAPD

Fermi-LAT discovery of GeV gamma-ray emission from the young supernova remnant Cassiopeia A

Abstract: We report on the first detection of GeV high-energy gamma-ray emission from a young supernova remnant with the Large Area Telescope aboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. These observations reveal a source with no discernible spatial extension detected at a significance level of 12.2$\sigma$ above 500 MeV at a location that is consistent with the position of the remnant of the supernova explosion that occurred around 1680 in the Cassiopeia constellation - Cassiopeia A. The gamma-ray flux and spectral shape of the source are consistent with a scenario in which the gamma-ray emission originates from relativistic particles accelerated in the shell of this remnant. The total content of cosmic rays (electrons and protons) accelerated in Cas A can be estimated as $W_{\mathrm{CR}} \approx (1-4) \times 10^{49}$ erg thanks to the well-known density in the remnant assuming that the observed gamma-ray originates in the SNR shell(s). The magnetic field in the radio-emitting plasma can be robustly constrained as B $\gt 0.1$ mG, providing new evidence of the magnetic field amplification at the forward shock and the strong field in the shocked ejecta.