The activities of ornithine and S-adenosyl-L-methionine decarboxylase were assayed in the thymuses of adult rats killed at 7-day intervals up to 6 wk after either pinealectomy or sham pinealectomy. The absence of the pineal gland markedly influenced the ornithine decarboxylase activity in the thymus, in which the level of the enzyme was decreased permanently by the 4th wk after the operation (P less than 0.05). The time course of the changes in S-adenosyl-L-methionine decarboxylase activity in the thymus during the entire period investigated was also significantly (P less than 0.05) modified by pinealectomy but did not show any stable trend. Adrenalectomy significantly raised (P less than 0.001) for ornithine decarboxylase; P less than 0.01 for S-adenosyl-L-methionine decarboxylase) the basal levels of the thymic biosynthetic polyamine decarboxylases. A pharmacological dose of corticosterone or cortisol produced a rapid and significant decrease in ornithine and S-adenosyl-L-methionine decarboxylase activities (P less than 0.02) in the thymus, whereas the injection of either D-aldosterone or ACTH was ineffective. Therefore, the thymic biosynthetic polyamine decarboxylases that in this organ are known to be located only in the lymphocytes appear to be regulated in opposing ways by the pineal gland and by the adrenal cortex.
With the purpose of detecting spontaneous variation of systolic time intervals (STI), 20 normal subjects have been examined and the STI has been recorded for 5 consecutive days at the beginning of the test and 20, 40 and 60 min afterwards. Significant differences were found for PEP, LVET and the PEP/LVET ratio between observations (p < 0.05) and between days (p < 0.01). All the values of the STI at the fifth day are rather near the values recorded at the last observation of the first day. This may be related to the presence of some factor (catecholamine release induced by emotional stress?) resulting in physiological changes which are reduced by repetition of the test. This hypothesis was confirmed in a second series of normal volunteers where the STI were recorded simultaneously with sampling of blood for assessing circulating CA levels. A highly significant correlation (p < 0.001) was recorded between PEP, PEP/LVET and plasma CA making it evident that the increase of PEPI and PEP/LVET is directly correlated with the reduction of plasma CA level.
On 11 March 2020, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). As of 12.44 GMT on 15 January 2021, it has produced 93,640,296 cases and 2,004,984 deaths. The use of mathematical modelling was applied in Italy, Spain, and UK to help in the prediction of this pandemic. We used equations from general and reduced logistic models to describe the epidemic development phenomenon and the trend over time. We extracted this information from the Italian Ministry of Health, the Spanish Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs, and Social Welfare, and the UK Statistics Authority from 3 February to 30 April 2020. We estimated that, from the seriousness of the phenomenon, the consequent pathology, and the lethal outcomes, the COVID-19 trend relate to the same classic laws that govern epidemics and their evolution. The curve d(t) helps to obtain information on the duration of the epidemic phenomenon, as its evolution is related to the efficiency and timeliness of the system, control, diagnosis, and treatment. In fact, the analysis of this curve, after acquiring the data of the first three weeks, also favors the advantage to formulate forecast hypotheses on the progress of the epidemic.
Preliminary data obtained in the ambit of Anturan Reinfarction Italian Study (ARIS) show that, in postmyocardial infarction, reduced platelet survival time occurred in hyperbetalipoproteinemic patients treated with placebo, but not in the group of patients treated with sulfinpyrazone (interaction between treatment and lipemic level is at p ∼ 0.1). The sulfinpyrazone effect on platelet survival is probably related to the release reaction inhibition as suggested by our ex vivo results on platelet-bound 14C-serotonin release.
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