Nonadiabatic Calculations of the Dipole Moments of LiH and LiD

We present very high-accuracy fully nonadiabatic calculated values for the dipole moments for the ground states of LiH and LiD. These results were calculated via numerical differentiation of the energy obtained at different electric field strengths. The values for the energy were obtained from variational optimization with analytical gradients of the wave function expanded in a basis of explicitly correlated floating s-type Gaussian functions. The values obtained for LiH and LiD, 2.3140 and 2.3088 a.u., are nearly identical to those obtained by experiment.

Implementing an incontinence program in long-term care settings. A multidisciplinary approach

Urinary incontinence is a prevalent and costly problem in long-term care settings. Impaired bladder function can cause many physical and social problems, such as impaired skin integrity, falls, and altered psychological well-being. Fortunately, there are several low-risk interventions that can cure or improve continence status in many individuals, regardless of cognitive status. Basic assessment of medical and environmental status, as outlined in this article, can assist staff in determining transient conditions which often alter bladder control. Because many interventions are dependent on mobility, dexterity, and diet, an interdisciplinary approach is ideal.

Breast feeding and acute lower respiratory infection

The association between breast feeding and acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) was studied in a case-control study in southern Italy. Two groups of children were studied: the first group comprised 73 infants, aged 0-6 months, whose diagnosis was pneumonia or bronchiolitis; the second group included 88 infants less than 12 months of age with a diagnosis of pertussis-like illness. Control infants were two groups of infants admitted to the same ward. Compared with controls, infants in the first group were less likely to have been breast fed (odds ratio 0.42, 95% CI 0.19-0.90). The protection conferred by breast feeding was stronger among infants who were receiving human milk at the time of admission (odds ratio 0.22, 95% CI 0.09-0.55) and was absent among those infants who had stopped breast feeding for two or more weeks before admission. Among infants who were severely ill, breast feeding was less likely than among those with milder illnesses. There was evidence in the stratified analysis of effect modification by the presence of other children in the family. Among the infants with pertussis-like illness, the incidence and duration of breast feeding were not different compared with controls. The results suggest that breast feeding has a strong protective effect against ALRI in industrialized countries also. No protection seems to be conferred by human milk against pertussis-like illness.

[The efficacy of creatine phosphate in the treatment of patients with heart failure. Its echographic evaluation after acute and protracted treatment]

The hemodynamic effects of acute and long-term administration of creatine phosphate were studied in 23 patients with heart failure (NYHA classes II and III) under stabilized treatment. Acute creatine phosphate (5 g i.v.) induced a significant increase of the ejection fraction (FE) and of other parameters of cardiac contractility. Once these improvements of cardiac contractility were obtained by acute treatment, further significant increases in cardiac function were observed if treatment was continued for six days, i.e. telesystolic diameter and volume, as well as parietal stress were significantly reduced, and ejection fraction and shortening fraction were significantly increased. Creatine phosphate treatment has a favourable influence on the hemodynamics of patients with an obvious contractility deficit and chronic ischemia of the myocardium.

[Role of magnesium in cardiovascular pathology]

In the first part of the paper the Authors give an up-to-date analysis of our current knowledge of magnesium metabolism, its relation with other electrolytes (namely sodium, potassium, calcium) and clinical symptoms due to its deficiency. The Authors then focus their attention on the relations between magnesium and cardiovascular pathologies and underline the role which magnesium deficiency may play in the onset of various forms of coronary artery disease: preinfarction angina, myocardial infarction, threatening ventricular arrhythmia and sudden death.

Antenatal and perinatal care in southern Italy. I. The mothers' reports

A population-based cross-sectional study of antenatal and perinatal care was performed in Campania, a region of southern Italy. One thousand three hundred women who had given birth in 1982 were interviewed. The number of antenatal visits was very low, less than 1% of the mothers having attended more than three times during pregnancy. The women at high obstetric risk did not attend more than those at low risk and certain aspects of their antenatal care were unsatisfactory. The place of birth was similar for high risk and low risk mothers, with 40% delivering in small private facilities (with few neonatal resuscitation facilities and often with inadequate infant transport services). The labour was induced or accelerated in 60% of the mothers. The organisation of perinatal care did not take into account many of the needs of the mothers such as presence of a relative at delivery, ambulation during labour, early relationship with the newborn, rooming-in, or encouragement to breastfeed.

Antenatal and perinatal care in southern Italy. II. The clinicians' reactions

One hundred obstetricians and 50 paediatricians engaged in public antenatal and perinatal care in southern Italy were interviewed about the provision of care in their facilities: 93% of the obstetricians judged the coverage of the target population to be insufficient and 53% of them considered the use of the risk approach to be unsatisfactory in public clinics. For example, no initiative was taken by 60% of public clinics when a woman at high risk failed to attend a booked antenatal visit. Bed rest during labour was prescribed by 72% of the obstetricians, a supporting relative was admitted to only 18% of the births and routine episiotomy was performed in 77% of primigravidae. Only 56% of the paediatricians interviewed allowed early contact between mother and baby. In public hospitals, 80% of paediatricians were present in the delivery room for the births. Screening for congenital hypothyroidism and phenylketonuria was executed in only 37% of the public hospitals. Newborn transport system adequate to national standards was available in only 33% of the hospitals. Antenatal and perinatal care need to be rapidly improved to meet population needs in southern Italy.

Organization of human class I homeobox genes

We report the genomic organization of 20 human class I homeoboxes and the predicted primary sequence of the encoded homeodomains. These homeoboxes are clustered in four complex HOX loci on chromosomes 2, 7, 12, and 17. The homeoboxes of one HOX locus can be aligned to the homeoboxes of the other HOX loci so that corresponding homeodomains in all loci can share the maximal peptide sequence identity. This correspondence of individual homeoboxes in different chromosomal loci suggests the hypothesis of large-scale duplications of a single complex locus. The existence of an ancestral complex locus might have predated the divergence of vertebrates and invertebrates.

The proposal of the Italian Committee on Occupational Cardiology

This paper describes a protocol of assessing specific working fitness of post-myocardial infarction patients proposed by the Italian Committee on Occupational Cardiology. After cardiovascular (cross-sectional echocardiography, Holter monitoring and maximal symptom-limited ergometric test) and psychological evaluation (CBA-2.0), two ambulatory ECGs were used during work to confirm the first judgement of specific work fitness expressed by occupational specialists. The preliminary results obtained in 106 uncomplicated male patients (mean age 49 +/- 8 years) show that: (i) return to work (89.6%) at 117 +/- 51 days after the acute event is mainly related to socio-occupational variables rather than to cardiovascular status; (ii) the results of the ambulatory monitoring usually confirm the first judgment of specific work fitness; (iii) heart rate responses recorded during work are unrelated to the judgment of fitness; and (iv) the repeatability of the results observed during the two ambulatory ECGs at work is good.

[Psychometric evaluation of the psychoemotional stability in patients considered suitable for heart transplant]

The main purpose of this study was to make an objective assessment of emotional stability as a selection criterion in 14 heart transplant candidates (13 M, 1 F, 45.5 +/- 6.6 years). A psychometric study was conducted using Cognitive Behavioral Assessment (CBA 2.0 Primary-Scale Battery) and the Beck Depression Inventory. The main results of this study were the identification of: a) emotionally unstable patients (42%) who did not respond to the above mentioned selection criterion; b) stable psychological traits such as hostility, aloofness, extroversion as described in type A Behavior Pattern and c) the presence of secondary alexitimic responses suggesting a protective denial of the meaning of the disease. The psychometric method used seems useful in the selection of heart transplant candidates, however, a follow-up can better define the range of emotional stability.

[Dynamic electrocardiographic evaluation of the circadian rhythms of the ectopic ventricular beats in healthy and cardiopathic subjects]

The 24 hour study was carried out on 34 subjects, 17 cardiopathy 13 male and 4 female, mean age 56 +/- 14) and 17 normal (10 male and 7 female, mean age 41 +/- 18) with, on average, over 30 PVC/h in the dynamic ECG: no statistically significant difference in mean PVC/h was recorded between the two groups. Single cosinor analysis demonstrated a statistically significant circadian rhythm (p less than 0.05) in 11 cardiopathic (64.7%) and 13 normal subjects (76.4%). Population mean cosinor failed to demonstrate a significant rhythm in either of the two groups. Results suggest that personal circadian rhythms should be studied to identify the most appropriate antiarrhythmic treatment.

[Long-term clinical study of a new molecule (nifedipine) in ischemic cardiopathy]

Results with a new anti-angina molecule (nifedipine: Adalat) in the long-term management of 28 patients with ischaemic heart disease are presented. The effectiveness of the drug was judged outstanding on the strength of its reduction of angina outstanding on the strength of its reduction of angina crises and consumption of NTG beads. Non side-effects were noted.