Catalytic reduction of ortho- and para-azidonitrobenzenes via tert-butoxide ion mediated electron transfer

The reduction of a range of substituted azidonitrobenzene derivatives to the corresponding aniline is described. The chemoselective reaction proceeds cleanly and in good yield, generating minimal waste products. The process involves a thiazolium salt derived species which is proposed as a radical anion relay, with tert-butoxide as the stoichiometric reductant

Obesity and kidney stone disease. A systematic review

INTRODUCTION: Currently, abdominal obesity has reached an epidemic stage and obesity represents an important challenge for worldwide health authorities. Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that the stone risk incidence increases with Body Mass Index, through multiple pathways. Metabolic syndrome and diabetes are associated with an increased renal stones disease incidence. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the prevalence, morbidity, risk factors involved in the association between obesity and urolithiasis. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: The search involved finding relevant studies from MEDLINE, EMBASE, Ovid, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL, Google Scholar, and individual urological journals between January 2001 and May 2017. The inclusion criteria were for studies written in the English language, reporting on the association between obesity and urinary stones. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: The underlying pathophysiology of stone formation in obese patients is thought to be related to insulin resistance, dietary factors, and a lithogenic urinary profile. Uric acid stones and calcium oxalate stones are observed frequently in these patients. Insulin resistance is thought to alter the renal acid-base metabolism, resulting in a lower urine pH, and increasing the risk of uric acid stone disease. Obesity is also associated with excess nutritional intake of lithogenic substances and with an increase in urinary tract infection incidence. Recent studies highlighted that renal stone disease increases the risk of myocardial infarction, progression of chronic kidney disease, and diabetes. Contemporary, bariatric surgery has been shown to be associated with hyperoxaluria and oxalate nephropathy. Certainly, the many health risks of obesity, including nephrolithiasis, will add more burden on urologists and nephrologists. CONCLUSIONS: Obesity related nephrolithiasis seems to necessitate weight loss as primary treatment, but the recognition of the associated complications is necessary to prevent induction of new and equally severe medical problems. The optimal approach to obesity control that minimizes stone risk needs to be determined in order to manage obesity-induced renal stones disease

XRD analysis of patinas on the monument dedicated to Saint Oronzo, Lecce

The monument dedicated to Saint Oronzo is placed in the homonymous square in the city centre of Lecce (Southern Italy). This monument consists of an internal wooden structure that is completely covered with copper sheets, lying on a concrete base about 1.5 meters high, which is placed on a Roman column about 29 meters high. The restoration of this manufact started in June 2018 and, first of all, non-destructive analyses are planned as proposed in the time-schedule. In this paper, we show the results of X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of the patinas both of the statue and of the column in order to evaluate their composition

Radiologic Cerebral Reperfusion at 24 h Predicts Good Clinical Outcome

Cerebral reperfusion and arterial recanalization are radiological features of the effectiveness of thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients. Here, an investigation of the prognostic role of early recanalization/reperfusion on clinical outcome was performed. In AIS patients (n = 55), baseline computerized tomography (CT) was performed 64 8 h from symptom onset, whereas CT determination of reperfusion/recanalization was assessed at 24 h. Multiple linear and logistic regression models were used to correlate reperfusion/recanalization with radiological (i.e., hemorrhagic transformation, ischemic core, and penumbra volumes) and clinical outcomes (assessed as National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale [NIHSS] reduction 65 8 points or a NIHSS 64 1 at 24 h and as modified Rankin Scale [mRS] < 2 at 90 days). At 24 h, patients achieving radiological reperfusion were n = 24, while the non-reperfused were n = 31. Among non-reperfused, n = 15 patients were recanalized. Radiological reperfusion vs. recanalization was also confirmed by early increased levels of circulating inflammatory biomarkers (i.e., serum osteopontin). In multivariate analysis, ischemic lesion volume reduction was associated with both recanalization (\u3b2 = 0.265; p = 0.014) and reperfusion (\u3b2 = 0.461; p < 0.001), but only reperfusion was independently associated with final infarct volume (\u3b2 = 12 0.333; p = 0.007). Only radiological reperfusion at 24 h predicted good clinical response at day 1 (adjusted OR 16.054 [1.423\u2013181.158]; p = 0.025) and 90-day good functional outcome (adjusted OR 25.801 [1.483\u2013448.840]; p = 0.026). At ROC curve analysis the AUC of reperfusion was 0.777 (p < 0.001) for the good clinical response at 24 h and 0.792 (p < 0.001) for 90-day clinical outcome. Twenty-four-hour radiological reperfusion assessed by CT is associated with good clinical response on day 1 and good functional outcome on day 90 in patients with ischemic stroke

Cooperative Induction of a Tolerogenic Dendritic Cell Phenotype by Cytokines Secreted by Pancreatic Carcinoma Cells

AbstractAg presentation by dendritic cells (DC) is essential to effective antitumor T cell responses in cancer patients. Depending on their origin, maturation state, and the ambient cytokine milieu, DC can differentiate into distinct subpopulations, which preferentially either induce Th1 cell activation (CD11c+,CD123− myeloid DC (MDC)) or immunosuppressive T cell development (CD11c−,CD123+ plasmacytoid DC (PDC)). The present study was undertaken to characterize the effects of pancreatic carcinoma cell-derived cytokines on immature monocyte-derived DC (iMo-DC) in vitro and in vivo. Medium conditioned by human pancreatic carcinoma cells inhibited iMo-DC proliferation, expression of costimulatory molecules (CD80 and CD40) and of HLA-DR, and functional activity as assessed by MLR and IL-12p70 production. iMo-DC generated from pancreatic carcinoma patients in advanced stages of the disease similarly showed decreased levels of HLA-DR expression and reduced ability to stimulate MLR in response to CD40L and IFN-γ. Moreover, in tumor-patient peripheral blood, the ratio of MDC to PDC cells was lower than in healthy controls due to reduced numbers of MDC CD11c+ cells. Importantly, rather than a single cytokine, a combination of tumor-derived cytokines was responsible for these effects; these were primarily TGF-β, IL-10, and IL-6, but not vascular endothelial growth factor. In summary, we have identified an array of pancreatic carcinoma-derived cytokines that cooperatively affect iMo-DC activation in a manner consistent with ineffective antitumor immune responses

B-TURP versus HoLEP. Peri-operative outcomes and complications in frail elderly (>75 y.o.) patients. A prospective randomized study

Background: The aim of this study was to compare the peri-operative and functional results between trans-urethral resection of the prostate (TURP) and holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP) in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) associated with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in middle-old patients. Materials and methods: This prospective single-center study included patients over 75 years old treated with B-TURP or HoLEP for BPH associated with LUTS with prostate volume (PV) <100 mL. Primary endpoints were the intra-operative blood loss, percentage of loss of hemoglobin, blood transfusion, complications, and the comparison of functional outcomes. All patients were evaluated at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months of follow-up. Results: Overall, 96 patients undergoing HoLEP and 104 B-TURP were eligible and enrolled for the study. Post-operative results showed statistically significant differences between the two groups, all in favor of HoLEP group, specifically in terms of removed prostate tissue, PV reduction rate, hemoglobin values at 24 h, hemoglobin loss, operative time, length of hospitalization, days of catheterization, and urinary flow rates. There was no significant difference in terms of postvoid residual urine volume, perioperative complication, blood transfusion, International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), and IPSS quality of life scores. Conclusions: In middle-old patients, the HoLEP technique represents a prostate size-independent treatment option with a more favorable safety profile defined by less bleeding, lower blood transfusions, and a significantly lower hemoglobin drop than B-TURP

Antagonistic interactions between gemcitabine and 5-fluorouracil in the human pancreatic carcinoma cell line Capan-2.

Although the recently-developed Gemcitabine (GEM) has renewed interest in clinical research in pancreatic carcinoma, it offers modest improvement of tumor-related symptoms and marginal survival advantage, even when combined with other currently-available chemotherapeutic agents such as 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU). We hypothesized that this disappointing result could be due to an interaction between the two drugs affecting cytotoxic activity. We measured in-vitro growth inhibition, cell cycle distribution, gene and protein expression of apoptosis regulators bcl-2, bcl-x and survivin, NFkappaB and telomerase activities of human pancreatic carcinoma cell line Capan-2 following exposure to GEM and 5-FU singly or combined, by MTT assay and median effect analysis, flow cytometry, real-time RT-PCR, Western blotting, electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) and telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) assay, respectively. We found cell growth to be inhibited by both drugs, decreasing the percentage of cells in S and G2/M phases and inducing apoptosis, dependent on the levels of bcl-2, bcl-xL and survivin expression in the case of 5-FU, but not for GEM. Moreover, while telomerase activity was reduced equally by both drugs, 5-FU but not GEM effectively downregulated NFkappaB binding activity. Intriguingly, a substantial antagonistic effect was noticed when GEM was combined with 5-FU in the concentration range tested, with the exception of the TRAP assay. These indications of an antagonistic interaction between GEM and 5-FU in some pancreatic cancer context urge further investigation of both genetic and non-genetic differences to identify the variables most relevant for optimal selection and dosing of treatment for the individual patient

Three-axial Fiber Bragg Grating Strain Sensor for Volcano Monitoring

Fiber optic and FBGs sensors have attained a large diffusion in the last years as cost-effective monitoring and diagnostic devices in civil engineering. However, in spite of their potential impact, these instruments have found very limited application in geophysics. In order to study earthquakes and volcanoes, the measurement of crustal deformation is of crucial importance. Stress and strain behaviour is among the best indicators of changes in the activity of volcanoes .. Deep bore-hole dilatometers and strainmeters have been employed for volcano monitoring. These instruments are very sensitive and reliable, but are not cost-effective and their installation requires a large effort. Fiber optic based devices offer low cost, small size, wide frequency band, easier deployment and even the possibility of creating a local network with several sensors linked in an array. We present the realization, installation and first results of a shallow-borehole (8,5 meters depth) three-axial Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) strain sensor prototype. This sensor has been developed in the framework of the MED-SUV project and installed on Etna volcano, in the facilities of the Serra La Nave astrophysical observatory. The installation siteis about 7 Km South-West of the summit craters, at an elevation of about 1740 m. The main goal of our work is the realization of a three-axial device having a high resolution and accuracy in static and dynamic strain measurements, with special attention to the trade-off among resolution, cost and power consumption. The sensor structure and its read-out system are innovative and offer practical advantages in comparison with traditional strain meters. Here we present data collected during the first five months of operation. In particular, the very clear signals recorded in the occurrence of the Central Italy seismic event of October 30th demonstrate the performances of our device.PublishedWien7TM. Sviluppo e Trasferimento Tecnologic

Advances in statistical physics

The organization of this Conference settled the foundation of a series hold up to following a three-year cycle. The founding declaration, undersigned by more than 100 physicists, is now deposited at the Orthodox Academy of Crete and will move to the sites of the future editions of the Conference. The text of the founding declaration is inspired by the book E, rows 269-275, of the Homerus Odyssey as a metaphor of the knowledge willing pursued by the humanity. The objective of the Conference was to provide the opportunity for interaction and cross-fertilization betwee