A Matter of Necessity: The Case for Mandating Health Insurance for Contraception

This paper examines the recent judicial, administrative, and federal and state legislative efforts to mandate contraceptive coverage. The paper analyzes the reasons why historically contraception has been excluded from health insurance plans and then concludes that to end gender discrimination, increase women’s power in the workforce, reduce unintended pregnancies and encourage pharmaceutical research and development, Congress should pass the Equity in Prescription and Contraceptive Coverage Act

Native Study of the Behaviour of Magnetite Nanoparticles for Hyperthermia Treatment during the Initial Moments of Intravenous Administration

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) present outstanding properties making them suitable as therapeutic agents for hyperthermia treatments. Since the main safety concerns of MNPs are represented by their inherent instability in a biological medium, strategies to both achieve longterm stability and monitor hazardous MNP degradation are needed. We combined a dynamic approach relying on flow field flow fractionation (FFF)-multidetection with conventional techniques to explore frame-by-frame changes of MNPs injected in simulated biological medium, hypothesize the interaction mechanism they are subject to when surrounded by a saline, protein-rich environment, and understand their behaviour at the most critical point of intravenous administration. In the first moments of MNPs administration in the patient, MNPs change their surrounding from a favorable to an unfavorable medium, i.e., a complex biological fluid such as blood; the particles evolve from a synthetic identity to a biological identity, a transition that needs to be carefully monitored. The dynamic approach presented herein represents an optimal alternative to conventional batch techniques that can monitor only size, shape, surface charge, and aggregation phenomena as an averaged information, given that they cannot resolve different populations present in the sample and cannot give accurate information about the evolution or temporary instability of MNPs. The designed FFF method equipped with a multidetection system enabled the separation of the particle populations providing selective information on their morphological evolution and on nanoparticle– proteins interaction in the very first steps of infusion. Results showed that in a dynamic biological setting and following interaction with serum albumin, PP-MNPs retain their colloidal properties, supporting their safety profile for intravenous administration

Pulmonary Safety Profile of Esc Peptides and Esc-Peptide-Loaded Poly(lactide-co-glycolide) Nanoparticles: A Promising Therapeutic Approach for Local Treatment of Lung Infectious Diseases

In recent years, we have discovered Esc(1-21) and its diastereomer (Esc peptides) as valuable candidates for the treatment of Pseudomonas lung infection, especially in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Furthermore, engineered poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) were revealed to be a promising pulmonary delivery system of antimicrobial peptides. However, the "ad hoc" development of novel therapeutics requires consideration of their stability, tolerability, and safety. Hence, by means of electrophysiology experiments and preclinical studies on healthy mice, we demonstrated that neither Esc peptides or Esc-peptide-loaded PLGA NPs significantly affect the integrity of the lung epithelium, nor change the global gene expression profile of lungs of treated animals compared to those of vehicle-treated animals. Noteworthy, the Esc diastereomer endowed with the highest antimicrobial activity did not provoke any pulmonary pro-inflammatory response, even at a concentration 15-fold higher than the efficacy dosage 24 h after administration in the free or encapsulated form. The therapeutic index was ≥70, and the peptide was found to remain available in the bronchoalveolar lavage of mice, after two days of incubation. Overall, these studies should open an avenue for a new up-and-coming pharmacological approach, likely based on inhalable peptide-loaded NPs, to address CF lung disease

Severe asthma features in children: A case–control online survey

Background: Very few studies have explored the distinguishing features of severe asthma in childhood in Europe, and only one study was conducted in Southern Europe. The aim of this study was to provide a detailed characterization of children with severe asthma treated in specialized pediatric asthma centers across Italy. Methods: We conducted a web-based data collection of family, environmental, clinical and laboratory characteristics of 41 patients aged 6–17 years with severe asthma, defined according to the recent guidelines of the European Respiratory Society and the American Thoracic Society, and 78 age-matched peers with non-severe persistent asthma. The patients have been enrolled from 16 hospital-based pediatric pulmonology and allergy centers in Northern, Central, and Southern Italy. Logistic regression analysis assessed the relationship between patients’ characteristics and severe asthma or non-severe persistent asthma. Results: Features independently and significantly associated with severe asthma included lifetime sensitization to food allergens [Odds ratio (OR), 4.73; 95% Confidence Interval (CI), 1.21–18.53; p = 0.03], lifetime hospitalization for asthma (OR, 3.71; 95% CI, 1.11–12.33; p = 0.03), emergency-department visits for asthma during the past year (OR = 11.98; 95% CI, 2.70–53.11; p = 0.001), and symptoms triggered by physical activity (OR = 12.78; 95% CI, 2.66–61.40; p = 0.001). Quality-of-life score was worse in patients with severe asthma than in subjects with non-severe persistent asthma (5.9 versus 6.6, p = 0.005). Self-perception of wellbeing was compromised in more than 40% of patients in both groups. Children with severe asthma had lower spirometric z scores than non-severe asthmatic peers (all p < 0.001), although 56% of them had a normal forced expiratory volume in 1 s. No differences were found between the two groups for parental education, home environment, patients’ comorbidities, adherence to therapy, exhaled nitric oxide values, and serum eosinophils and IgE. Conclusions: As expected, children with severe asthma had more severe clinical course and worse lung function than peers with non-severe persistent asthma. Unlike previous reports, we found greater sensitization to food allergens and similar environmental and personal characteristics in patients with severe asthma compared to those with non-severe persistent asthma. Psychological aspects are compromised in a large number of cases and deserve further investigation

Definizione ed ottimizzazione di un metodo spettrofotometrico per la determinazione dell'attività della Cistationina Beta Sintasi

La via di transulfurazione attraverso l'azione di due enzimi piridossalfosfato-dipendenti, la Cistationina β Sintasi (E.C. 4.2.1.22) e la Cistationina γ Liasi (E.C. 4.4.1.1), produce cisteina a partire da omocistena. Questa via ricopre un ruolo di primaria importanza nel metabolismo degli amminoacidi solforati, sia perché consente di controllare i livelli dell'omocisteina, sia perché produce la cisteina, che è l'amminoacido limitante per la sintesi del glutatione, il più importante antiossidante cellulare. Inoltre entrambi gli enzimi della via di transulfurazione sono in grado di generare acido solfidrico, un "terzo messaggero" gassoso caratterizzato da una molteplicità di effetti, che vanno dall'induzione della proliferazione cellulare all'induzione dell'apoptosi, dipendentemente dal tipo cellulare in cui è prodotto. I risultati riportati nella presente tesi concernono la messa a punto di una metodica spettrofotometrica per la determinazione dell'attività della Cistationina β Sintasi, basata sull'utilizzo della Cistationina γ Liasi come enzima ancillare e sulla quantificazione spettrofotometrica della cisteina prodotta, attraverso la sua complessazione con la ninidrina in ambiente acido

Colorimetric coupled enzyme assay for cystathionine β-synthase

A colorimetric coupled enzyme assay for the determination of cystathionine β-synthase activity is described. The method exploits cystathionine γ-lyase as an ancillary enzyme capable of transforming cystathionine, produced by cystathionine β-synthase, into cysteine. The cysteine is then spectrophotometrically detected at 560 nm, after its specific complexation with ninhydrin. This method was used to detect cystathionine β-synthase in crude extracts, and for the kinetic characterization of the enzyme partially purified from bovine kidney. A rapid two-step protocol is described for the partial purification of cystathionine γ-lyase from bovine kidney, aimed at a suitable and stable ancillary enzyme preparation. 201

Microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS)-UHPLC-UV: A simple and efficient method for the determination of five benzodiazepines in an alcoholic beverage

This article describes a nano-scale method for the determination and quantification of five benzo-diazepines (BDZ) in an alcoholic grappa drink (chlordiazepoxide; lorazepam; diazepam; oxazepam;medazepam). BDZ are typically used in drug-facilitated crimes (DFC) for their accessibility and syner-gistic effects with alcohol. Specimens collected on the crime scene must be rapidly analyzed to prove thecrime, though, in most cases, a very small amount is available. Off-line MEPS extraction of diluted grappasamples proved to be an efficient and reliable method for the recovery of the selected compounds. Requir-ing a very small amount of extraction solvents, MEPS is an environment-friendly technique. LC separationwith UV detection was used as the analytical technique because it is simple, robust, relatively economicand easy-to-find in most laboratories. The method was validated in terms of precision, accuracy andrecovery. Limits of detection and quantitation were in the range of 0.5–2 ng/L. Linearity (R2) spannedfrom 0.9994 and 1.0000. Intra- and inter-day repeatabilities were lower than 12% at any concentration.Recovery percentages of an equivalent-to-real sample at three different concentrations were between70.7 and 74.1%