Solar photodegradation of irinotecan in water: optimization and robustness studies by experimental design

Irinotecan, a widely prescribed anticancer drug, is an emerging contaminant of concern that has been detected in various aquatic environments due to ineffective removal by traditional wastewater treatment systems. Solar photodegradation is a viable approach that can effectively eradicate the drug from aqueous systems. In this study, we used the design of experiment (DOE) approach to explore the robustness of irinotecan photodegradation under simulated solar irradiation. A full factorial design, including a star design, was applied to study the effects of three parameters: initial concentration of irinotecan (1.0-9.0 mg/L), pH (5.0-9.0), and irradiance (450-750 W/m(2)). A high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a high-resolution mass spectrometry (HPLC-HRMS) system was used to determine irinotecan and identify transformation products. The photodegradation of irinotecan followed a pseudo-first order kinetics. In the best-fitted linear model determined by the stepwise model fitting approach, pH was found to have about 100-fold greater effect than either irinotecan concentration or solar irradiance. Under optimal conditions (irradiance of 750 W/m(2), 1.0 mg/L irinotecan concentration, and pH 9.0), more than 98% of irinotecan was degraded in 60 min. With respect to irradiance and irinotecan concentration, the degradation process was robust in the studied range, implying that it may be effectively applied in locations and/or seasons with solar irradiance as low as 450 W/m(2). However, pH needs to be strictly controlled and kept between 7.0 and 9.0 to maintain the degradation process robust. Considerations about the behavior of degradation products were also drawn

Translation, Cross-Cultural Adaptation, and Preliminary Validation of the Transsexual Voice Questionnaire for Male-to-Female Transsexuals (I-TVQ MtF) Into Italian

Summary: Objective.To perform a cross-cultural adaptation into Italian and to analyse reliability and valid-ity of the Transsexual Voice Questionnaire for male-to-female transsexuals (I-TVQMtF).Study Design.Cross-sectional nonrandomized survey study.Methods.For item-generation, a cross-cultural adaptation and translation process was performed followingstandard guidelines. Transgender women were consecutively recruited and asked tofill out the I-TVQMtFand aform on social, demographic and transition-related variables. Firstly, data collected from participants were usedto perform confirmatory factor analysis, and to evaluate internal consistency and test-retest reliability Subse-quently, convergent validity was evaluated comparing I-TVQMtFtotal scores with the two extra items addressingself-perception (SPVF) and aspiration (AVF) of voice femininity. To evaluate convergent validity, scores of theItalian version of the Voice Handicap Index were considered for comparisons. A correlation analysis was per-formed to verify potential association between I-TVQMtFscores and social, demographic and transition-relatedvariables.Results.Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that a two-factor modelfits data better than the unidimen-sional one. Both internal consistency and test retest reliability of the I-TVQMtFwere satisfactory. Negative corre-lations were highlighted between I-TVQMtFscores on one side and self-perception vocal functioning andaspiration vocal functioning on the other. Positive correlations between I-TVQMtFand Italian version of theVoice Handicap Index scores were also found. Finally, negative correlations were demonstrated between I-TVQMtFscores and time spent living in the female role.Conclusion.The I-TVQMtFappears to be a reliable and valid instrument for the assessment of voice-relatedquality of life in transgender women

Comorbidities of primary headache disorders: a literature review with meta-analysis

Background: Primary headache disorders are common and burdensome conditions. They are associated to several comorbidities, such as cardiovascular or psychiatric ones, which, in turn, contribute to the global burden of headache. The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive description of the pooled prevalence of comorbidities of primary headache disorders using a meta-analytical approach based on studies published between 2000 and 2020. Methods: Scopus was searched for primary research (clinical and population studies) in which medical comorbidities were described in adults with primary headache disorders. Comorbidities were extracted using a taxonomy derived from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. We compared prevalence of comorbidities among headache sufferers against general population using GBD-2019 estimates, and compared comorbidities’ proportions in clinical vs. population studies, and by age and gender. Results: A total of 139 studies reporting information on 4.19 million subjects with primary headaches were included: in total 2.75 million comorbidities were reported (median per subject 0.64, interquartile range 0.32–1.07). The most frequently addressed comorbidities were: depressive disorders, addressed in 51 studies (pooled proportion 23 %, 95 % CI 20–26 %); hypertension, addressed in 48 studies (pooled proportion 24 %, 95 % CI 22–26 %); anxiety disorders addressed in 40 studies (pooled proportion 25 %, 95 % CI 22–28 %). For conditions such as anxiety, depression and back pain, prevalence among headache sufferers was higher than in GBD-2109 estimates. Associations with average age and female prevalence within studies showed that hypertension was more frequent in studies with higher age and less females, whereas fibromyalgia, restless leg syndrome, and depressive disorders were more frequent in studies with younger age and more female. Conclusions: Some of the most relevant comorbidities of primary headache disorders – back pain, anxiety and depression, diabetes, ischemic heart disease and stroke – are among the most burdensome conditions, together with headache themselves, according to the GBD study. A joint treatment of headaches and of these comorbidities may positively impact on headache sufferers’ health status and contribute to reduce the impact of a group of highly burdensome diseases

Method for the production of a biocompatible polymer-ceramic composite material with a predetermined porosity

Method to obtain a biocompatible polymer ceramic composite material of a predeterminated porosit

Application of fuzzy logic principles to the classification of 2D-PAGE maps belonging to human pancreatic cancers treated with trichostatin-A

2D gel-electrophoresis is the most widespread technique applied in the study of cellular protein patterns. The complexity of this technique is reflected in the production of complex samples (2D gel maps) which are very difficult to compare. In this paper a method is proposed based on fuzzy logic principles. The method can be summarised in four steps: 1) digitalisation of the image; 2) fuzzyfication of the digitalised image in order to consider the natural variability of the applied technique; 3) comparison of the samples and calculation of a similarity matrix; 4) application of Multidimensional Scaling technique to the similarity matrix, in order to verify the presence of clusters of samples. The investigated dataset consists of IS samples belonging to two different cell lines (Paca 44 and T3M4) of control (untreated) and drug-treated pancreatic ductal carcinoma cells