Learning to communicate. The experience of an Italian emergency department

Dear Editor, In his essay "Considerations on Tasso," published in 1793, Galileo Galilei described Tasso as a man poor in concepts and lacking in knowledge, who resorted to literary subterfuges and "abstruse" literary techniques, thereby emphasizing the significance and centrality of knowledge and comprehension as integral components of communication.1 Although Galileo Galilei made his comments 230 years ago, we can still learn from them as we consider the importance of communication and the challenges of developing a trustworthy doctor-patient relationship. [...

Non-invasive estimation of in vivo optical properties and hemodynamic parameters of domestic animals: a preliminary study on horses, dogs, and sheep

Biosensors applied in veterinary medicine serve as a noninvasive method to determine the health status of animals and, indirectly, their level of welfare. Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been suggested as a technology with this application. This study presents preliminary in vivo time domain NIRS measurements of optical properties (absorption coefficient, reduced scattering coefficient, and differential pathlength factor) and hemodynamic parameters (concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin, deoxygenated hemoglobin, total hemoglobin, and tissue oxygen saturation) of tissue domestic animals, specifically of skeletal muscle (4 dogs and 6 horses) and head (4 dogs and 19 sheep). The results suggest that TD NIRS in vivo measurements on domestic animals are feasible, and reveal significant variations in the optical and hemodynamic properties among tissue types and species. In horses the different optical and hemodynamic properties of the measured muscles can be attributed to the presence of a thicker adipose layer over the muscle in the Longissimus Dorsi and in the Gluteus Superficialis as compared to the Triceps Brachii. In dogs the absorption coefficient is higher in the head (temporalis musculature) than in skeletal muscles. The smaller absorption coefficient for the head of the sheep as compared to the head of dogs may suggest that in sheep we are indeed reaching the brain cortex while in dog light penetration can be hindered by the strongly absorbing muscle covering the cranium

Chiral 2-(2-phenylthiophenyl)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydroquinolines: new N-S ligands for asymmetric catalysis Palladium-catalyzed allylic alkylation and copper-catalyzed cyclopropanation reactions

Diastereomeric pure 2-(2-phenylthiophenyl)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydroquinolines were prepared and assessed in the enantioselective palladium-catalyzed allylic substitution of 1,3-diphenylprop-2-enyl acetate with dimethyl malonate and in the copper-catalyzed cyclopropanation of styrene with ethyldiazoacetate. Enantioselectivity up to 63% was obtained

Lactam based 7-amino suberoylamide hydroxamic acids as potent HDAC inhibitors

8nonenoneTaddei, Maurizio; Cini, Elena; Luca, Giannotti; Giuseppe, Giannini; Gianfranco, Battistuzzi; Davide, Vignola; Loredana, Vesci; Walter, CabriTaddei, Maurizio; Cini, Elena; Luca, Giannotti; Giuseppe, Giannini; Gianfranco, Battistuzzi; Davide, Vignola; Loredana, Vesci; Walter, Cabr

The DORII project e-infrastructure: Deployment, applications, and measurements

Remote Instrumentation Services go far beyond offering networked access to remote instrument resources. They are establishing as a way of fully integrating instruments (including laboratory equipment, large-scale experimental facilities, and sensor networks) in a Service Oriented Architecture, where users can view and operate them in the same fashion with computing and storage resources. The deployment of test beds for a large basis of scientific instrumentation and e-Science applications is mandatory to develop new functionalities to be embedded in the existing middleware to enable such integration, to test them on the field, and to promote their usage in scientific communities. The DORII (Deployment of Remote Instrumentation Infrastructure) project is a major effort in this direction. The paper presents the performance monitoring infrastructure that has been built in DORII and the results concerning a selected application in seismic engineering. \ua9 Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering 2011

ST7612AA1, a Thioacetate-ω(γ-lactam carboxamide) Derivative Selected from a Novel Generation of Oral HDAC Inhibitors

A systematic study of medicinal chemistry aimed at identifying a new generation of HDAC inhibitors, through the introduction of a thiol zinc-binding group (ZBG) and of an amide-lactam in the ω-position of the polyethylene chain of the vorinostat scaffold, allowed the selection of a new class of potent pan-HDAC inhibitors (pan-HDACis). Simple, highly versatile, and efficient synthetic approaches were used to synthesize a library of these new derivatives, which were then submitted to a screening for HDAC inhibition as well as to a preliminary in vitro assessment of their antiproliferative activity. Molecular docking into HDAC crystal structures suggested a binding mode for these thiol derivatives consistent with the stereoselectivity observed upon insertion of amide-lactam substituents in the ω-position. ST7612AA1 (<b>117</b>), selected as a drug candidate for further development, showed an in vitro activity in the nanomolar range associated with a remarkable in vivo antitumor activity, highly competitive with the most potent HDAC inhibitors, currently under clinical trials. A preliminary study of PK and metabolism is also illustrated