Idiopathic atrial flutter AFL in neonates (Case Report)

Atrial flutter AFL is a rare arrhythmia in the neonate and early infants. Here we report the case of a term female infant (A.K), with a birth weight of 3000 g, who was delivered by Cesarian section of a 26-year-old primiparous mother (I.K) in “Queen Geraldine” Maternity in Tirana. The APGAR scores were 9 and 10 at 1st and 5th minute, respectively. In prenatal history, no fetal arrhythmia was present. After waters breaks, a fetal arrhythmia was detected. Then the infant was delivered by an urgent C section. The infant was treated by medical treatment, which resulted unsuccessful. In the 16th day of life, the DC shock was applied and a sinus rhythm was detected immediately. Neonate: A.K Mother: I.K Keywords: infant, atrial flutter, antiarrhythmic, DC shock DOI: 10.7176/ALST/80-05 Publication date: July 30th 202

A novel dietary supplement containing multiple phytochemicals and vitamins elevates hepatorenal and cardiac antioxidant enzymes in the absence of significant serum chemistry and genomic changes

A novel dietary supplement composed of three well-known phytochemicals, namely, Salvia officinalis (sage) extract, Camellia sinensis (oolong tea) extract, and Paullinia cupana (guarana) extract, and two prominent vitamins (thiamine and niacin) was designed to provide nutritional support by enhancing metabolism and maintaining healthy weight and energy. The present study evaluated the safety of this dietary supplement (STG; S, sage; T, tea; G, guarana) and assessed changes in target organ antioxidant enzymes (liver, kidneys and heart), serum chemistry profiles and organ histopathology in Fisher 344 rats. Adult male and female Fisher 344 rats were fed control (no STG) or STG containing (1X and 7X, 1X = daily human dose) diets and sacrificed after 2 and 4 months. Serum chemistry analysis and histopathological examination of three vital target organs disclosed no adverse influence on protein, lipid and carbohydrate profiles, genomic integrity of the liver and/or the tissue architecture. However, analysis of the most important antioxidant components in the liver, kidney and heart homogenates revealed a dramatic increase in total glutathione concentrations, glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase enzyme activities. Concomitantly, oxidative stress levels (malondialdehyde accumulation) in these three organs were less than control. Organ specific serum markers (ALT/AST for the liver; CPK/AST/LDH for the heart; BUN/creatinine for kidneys) and the genomic integrity disclosed no STG-induced alteration. Some of the serum components (lipid and protein) showed insignificant changes. Overall, STG-exposed rats were more active, and the results suggest that STG exposure produces normal serum chemistry coupled with elevated antioxidant capacity in rats fed up to seven times the normal human dose and does not adversely influence any of the vital target organs. Additionally, this study reiterates the potential benefits of exposure to a pharmacologically relevant combination of phytochemicals compared to a single phytochemical entity

Hereditary Leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer: clinical, molecular, and screening features in a cohort of 185 affected individuals

Hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer (HLRCC) is a tumour predisposition syndrome characterised by predisposition to cutaneous and uterine leiomyomata and renal cell carcinoma (RCC).This article is freely available via Open Access. Click on the Publisher URL to access the full-text

Discovery and Clinical Proof-of-Concept of RLY-2608, a First-in-Class Mutant-Selective Allosteric PI3Kα Inhibitor That Decouples Antitumor Activity from Hyperinsulinemia

PIK3CA (PI3Kα) is a lipid kinase commonly mutated in cancer, including ∼40% of hormone receptor–positive breast cancer. The most frequently observed mutants occur in the kinase and helical domains. Orthosteric PI3Kα inhibitors suffer from poor selectivity leading to undesirable side effects, most prominently hyperglycemia due to inhibition of wild-type (WT) PI3Kα. Here, we used molecular dynamics simulations and cryo-electron microscopy to identify an allosteric network that provides an explanation for how mutations favor PI3Kα activation. A DNA-encoded library screen leveraging electron microscopy-optimized constructs, differential enrichment, and an orthosteric-blocking compound led to the identification of RLY-2608, a first-in-class allosteric mutant-selective inhibitor of PI3Kα. RLY-2608 inhibited tumor growth in PIK3CA-mutant xenograft models with minimal impact on insulin, a marker of dysregulated glucose homeostasis. RLY-2608 elicited objective tumor responses in two patients diagnosed with advanced hormone receptor–positive breast cancer with kinase or helical domain PIK3CA mutations, with no observed WT PI3Kα-related toxicities. Significance: Treatments for PIK3CA-mutant cancers are limited by toxicities associated with the inhibition of WT PI3Kα. Molecular dynamics, cryo-electron microscopy, and DNA-encoded libraries were used to develop RLY-2608, a first-in-class inhibitor that demonstrates mutant selectivity in patients. This marks the advance of clinical mutant-selective inhibition that overcomes limitations of orthosteric PI3Kα inhibitors

Museums with technological exhibitions: an analysis of Musme and Corporea

reservedIl museo rappresenta un’istituzione che colleziona, conserva ed espone il patrimonio culturale, permettendo al pubblico di vivere esperienze educative e di svago. Grazie al progresso tecnologico, visitare i musei diventa più facile, soprattutto per l’impiego di strumenti che rendono il percorso al loro interno più interattivo e accessibile alla popolazione. Tutto ciò non priva i musei dei valori che li contraddistinguono, bensì li arricchisce, coinvolgendo maggiormente i loro visitatori. In questa tesi ci occuperemo di descrivere le tecnologie impiegate in due musei italiani: il MUSME e il CORPOREA. Lo scopo è quello di attuare un confronto tra Nord e Sud Italia (Padova e Napoli) dal punto di vista dei sistemi impiegati e delle esperienze proposte.The museum represents an institution that collects, preserves and exhibits cultural heritage, allowing the public to have educational and leisure experiences. Thanks to technological progress, visiting museums becomes easier, above all for the use of tools that make the itinerary inside them more interactive and accessible to the population. All this does not deprive museums of the values that distinguish them, but enriches them, involving their visitors more. In this thesis we will deal with describing the technologies used in two Italian museums: the MUSME and the CORPOREA. The aim is to implement a comparison between Northern and Southern Italy (Padua and Naples) from the point of view of the systems used and the experiences proposed

Il razionamento del credito e la sua influenza sulle imprese

Il razionamento del credito è un fenomeno che vìola uno dei principi di base dell’economia, ossia l’equilibrio tra domanda e offerta sul mercato; Nel caso in cui la domanda superi l‘offerta i prezzi aumenterebbero, e questo farebbe diminuire la domanda e/o aumentare l’offerta, raggiungendo un nuovo prezzo di equilibrio in moto automatico. Quindi se il meccanismo dell’aggiustamento del prezzo funzionasse a dovere non si osserverebbe il fenomeno del razionamento. In questo elaborato verrà dapprima analizzato il razionamento del credito, preceduto da qualche informazione sul contesto informativo a cui ci si riferisce quando si parla del fenomeno del razionamento del credito, seguita da un’analisi fondata su dati empirici dell’influenza di questo fenomeno sulle imprese; influenza che, come verrà spiegato, varia non solo in base al contesto storico e alle condizioni del mercato, ma anche e soprattutto in base alle dimensioni dell’impresa considerata e altri fattori che saranno oggetto di analisi successiva. Infine, verranno discusse le possibili soluzioni da adottare in termini di “strumenti” utilizzabili per mitigare il fenomeno del razionamento del credito, più comunemente conosciuto come credit rationing

Posttraumatic Pleural Empiema (PtPE) and Multidetector CT (Mdct) Findings.

Background: PTPE is a significant complication and te main cause for 2–10% of victims. MDCT is increasingly used. Our study is an analysis focused on the anatomy of pleura, principles behind fluid formation/reabsorption and imaging approach to assessing pleural effusion and PTPE under-CT evacuation. Material and methods: The study is conducted on eight (8) patients with PTPE at University Hospital of Trauma, University Hospital– “Mother Theresa”, University Hospital “ Shefqet Ndroqi”  in Tirana, during the period, January 2015 – June 2018, by using a MDCT of 128 slice – 64 detector – dual source, SIEMENS, German machine. Results and conclusions: The frequency of post-traumatic pleural injuries with presence of Hydrothorax is 75.6 % in total; second after that of Chest wall injuries (94.2 %). Among the variable forms are reported Hemothorax – 17.4 % and Pneumothorax – 7.3 %. Empyema is rare – 2 %. MDCT is the most sensitive, specific, and accurate imaging modality in the assessment of PTPE and management of patients: • demonstrates the significant disorder in patients with normal initial radiographs, • indicates changing of management in up to 20% of cases with abnormal initial radiographs, • assists several micro-invasive procedures in order to prevents development of empyema, • enables early prediction of respiratory compromise and limits the severe invasive interventions

Antiapoptotic and antinecrotic properties of bioflavonoids curcumin and rutin

The last segment of the 20th century primarily focused on understanding the mechanisms of programmed cell death as opposed to unprogrammed cell death, whereas the beginning of the 21st century is more-or-less involved in defining ways to maneuver programmed cell death in order to understand disease sequel. In this arena, phytochemicals appear to play an instrumental role in modulating various forms of cell death. Among thousands of phytochemicals investigated so far, the citrus flavonoid rutin (RUT) and Curcuma longa flavonoid curcumin (CUR) have captured the most attention due to their remarkable anticancer properties. Although curcumin has already gone into anticancer clinical trial, antitoxic properties of either CUR or RUT remain unknown to date. This study explored whether preexposure to CUR (17 mg/kg, p.o. for 12 days) and RUT (1.25 mg/kg orally for 14 days) has the potential to prevent acetaminophen (AP)-induced liver injury and apoptotic and necrotic cell deaths in vivo. Additional objectives were to determine whether exposure to these flavonoids modulates the expression of the anti-apoptotic gene bcl-XL, by influencing oxidative stress and genomic DNA fragmentation - the prime suspects responsible for turning on various forms of cell death. Male ICR mice were administered either CUR or RUT for 12 or 14 days followed by a highly hepatotoxic dose of AP (400 mg/kg, i.p.) for 24 hours. Serum and liver samples were collected and subjected to various analyses. The results indicated that CUR and RUT pre-exposures showed dramatic prevention against AP-induced liver injury by minimizing toxicant-induced oxidative stress and genomic DNA fragmentation which are instrumental in orchestrating apoptotic (programmed) and necrotic (unprogrammed) cell deaths in the liver. Western blot analysis disclosed the ability of CUR and RUT to block AP-induced decrease in bcl-XL expression. Overall, this study suggests that pre-exposure to CUR and RUT may prevent drug/chemicalIinduced organ injuries