Stress responses in lambs castrated with three different methods

The present work was conducted to evaluate the animal response to stress in lambs caused by three different castration techniques. Forty-six male lambs aged 4-5 months were randomly allocated to one of four groups including Burdizzo (B), scrotal ablation (SA), orchiectomy (OR) and control handling (H). Local anaesthesia (lidocaine 2%) was administered in both spermatic cords and the scrotal neck of lambs before each treatment. Blood samples were collected at -30, -10, +1, +20, +40, +60, +120, and +180 minutes. Serum cortisol concentrations were determined using a competitive immunoassay and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated for each lamb. The following biochemical parameters were assayed for each animal at each time point: alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK) and glucose (GLU). The time needed for total lesion resolution and weight gain of each animal was recorded. Orchiectomy elicits the greatest cortisol response, significantly greater than that seen in similarly handled controls (P≤0.01), Burdizzo and scrotal ablation groups (P≤0.05). The serum cortisol AUC was higher in the scrotal ablation group (P≤0.05) than controls, but lower than in the orchiectomy group (P≤0.05). The Burdizzo group didn’t differ from controls. Serum glucose levels of the castrated lambs differed significantly from the control group, following a trend similar to cortisol. No change was seen in ALT, AST, LDH or CK. No difference in weight gain was seen among the groups. Our results suggest that use of the Burdizzo is the preferable castration technique for adult lambs, while scrotal ablation is a valid surgical alternative to orchiectomy and permits more rapid wound healing that is ideal for extensive management where flocks are not under close observation

Studio clinico sul coinvolgimento aortico nelle metastasi linfonodali lombo-aortiche da carcinoma testicolare

Gli Autori passano brevemente in rassegna la letteratura interna - zionale sulla frequenza dell’interessamento vascolare (vena cava infe - riore ed aorta) nelle metastasi linfoghiandolari lombo-aortiche da neoplasie del testicolo. Presentano, quindi, un caso venuto alla loro osservazione ed operato di linfoadenectomia lombo-aortica da carci - noma misto del testicolo sinistro con infiltrazione dell’aorta sottorenale e, quindi, con conseguente resezione in blocco anche di un trat - to dell’aorta e sua sostituzione con protesi in dacron. Sulla base dei casi riportati in letteratura e del paziente da loro operato, gli Autori rilevano la possibilità di ottenere discreti risultati di sopravvivenza anche in questi stadi avanzati della malattia

La lana nella medicina romana: Celso, Scribonio, Plinio

The wool is an animal fiber with a chemical and physical properties: after shearing, the raw wool (or sucida) is very rich in lanolin, a waterproof fat substance, that practically disappears after washing. For this reason the raw wool has hydrophobic properties and doesn’t interact with the medicaments or the organic tissues (like the epithelial), whereas the washed wool has hydrophilic properties and absorbs the medicaments. In the Roman medicine the first type has been used like a mechanical means of transport or for covering, the second like an physical agent able to interactive with the medicaments. We can compare the kinds of the wool with the cotton, used now in medicine: the seed wool is hydrophobic, the cotton wool is hydrophilic

La memoria del Grand Tour. Un set di strumenti chirurgici ‘pompeiani’ in collezione privata a Padova

Il presente lavoro si inquadra in una ricerca condotta dal Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici e del Patrimonio Culturale dell’Università di Udine sulla produzione e il mercato dei falsi; il caso oggetto di studio è uno strumentario chirurgico pseudo-antico da una collezione privata vicentina, del quale si approfondisce l’analisi stilistica grazie al contributo degli esami effettuati nel laboratorio della Soprintendenza Archeologia del Veneto. Ciò costituisce la premessa per indagare i motivi ispiratori e gli obiettivi di tale produzione, nel tentativo di individuarne produttori e destinatari. L’ipotesi sottesa alla ricerca è che l’altissimo grado di verosimiglianza, ottenuto nella realizzazione del falso sia attribuibile al fatto che sia stato prodotto in un arco di tempo ben determinato, per un ambiente di collezionisti e studiosi, a scopo eminentemente scientifico. Per ulteriori conferme viene contestualmente analizzato il contenitore nel quale gli strumenti sono stati conservati: una miniatura laccata proveniente dalla Russia di inizio Novecento, produzione di un certo pregio artistico, piuttosto famosa e diffusa in tutta Europa e soprattutto nei paesi dell’ex blocco sovietico. La produzione del cofanetto, il suo allestimento per gli strumenti, la storia del suo arrivo nella collezione Rossi, sembrano riconducibili per molti dettagli al periodo storico e all’ambiente del collezionismo antiquario e scientifico per il quale potrebbero essere stati prodotti gli strumenti.This article belongs to a further research made by the Department of Humanistic Studies and Cultural Heritage of University of Udine about the production of fakes and their commerce and distribution in the antiques market. As case study it a surgical set from a private collection in Vicenza, which can be regarded as an imitation of ancient medical tools from Pompei: our hypothesis is that the high quality of the fake suggests that it might have been made in a specific time frame and destined to collectors of antiquities as well as scholars for scientific purposes. To prove more the contribution has focussed also on the box containing the medical tools: it is a Russian lacquered miniature, dated back to the beginning of 20th century. This item reveals a significant historical and artistic value, very popular and widespread all over Europe, mostly in the ex URSS countries. Many details about the production, the set-up, the history and the passage of the box in the Rossi collection seem to be ascribable to the same time span, the same realm which the surgical instruments might have been produced for. As a result the study suggests that a specific production of fakes might have occurred during the second half of 19th and 20th century across Europe, with wide target of collectors and scholars with interests in medical tools and surgery from the classical worl

Gli aneurismi dell'aorta addominale

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[Klinefelter syndrome: clinical and auxological features of 14 patients diagnosed in childhood].

Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is the most frequent chromosomal aneuploidy with a prevalence of 1: 500 men but it often remains a largely undiagnosed condition and only 10% of cases are identified in childhood and adolescence. We report the anamnestic, clinical and auxological findings of 14 KS patients diagnosed in paediatric age. 3/14 patients (21%) with KS were diagnosed in prenatal age by amniocentesis, 1 patient was diagnosed at birth due to genital ambiguity and the remaining 10/14 (71.4%) were diagnosed at a chronological age younger than 15 years old for a clinical picture characterized by a peculiar cognitive and behavioral pattern or genital anomalies and abnormalities of pubertal development. The classical karyotype 47 XXY was present in 10/14 subjects (72%), a mosaic form (46 XY/47 XXY) was present in 2/14 (14%) and a complex aneuploidy (48 XXYY and 48 XXXY) was present in the remaining 2/14 (14%) patients. All KS patients diagnosed in childhood and adolescence (10/14 =71.4 %) showed a stature taller than the respective target height and also the predicted final height (calculated from a chronological age older than 7 years old) and the reached final height were significantly taller than target height. Conclusion: according to our retrospective data we can assert that KS in paediatric age is characterized by a stature taller than target height, often associated with a characteristic cognitive and behavioral pattern while the typical clinical signs and symptoms of KS are lacking and manifest only in late adolescence or adulthood