802 research outputs found
Supraorbital transcutaneous neurostimulation has sedative effects in healthy subjects
Transcutaneous neurostimulation (TNS) at extracephalic sites is a well known treatment of pain. Thanks to recent technical progress, the Cefaly® device now also allows supraorbital TNS. During observational clinical studies, several patients reported decreased vigilance or even sleepiness during a session of supraorbital TNS. We decided therefore to explore in more detail the potential sedative effect of supraorbital TNS, using standardized psychophysical tests in healthy volunteers.Clinical TrialJournal Articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe
Water-Soluble Ruthenium(III)-Dimethyl Sulfoxide Complexes: Chemical Behaviour and Pharmaceutical Properties
In this paper we report a review of the results obtained in the last few years by our
group in the development of ruthenium(III) complexes characterized by the presence of
sulfoxide ligands and endowed with antitumor properties. In particular, we will focus on
ruthenates of general formula Na[trans-RuCl4(R1R2SO)(L)], where R1R2SO =
dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) or tetramethylenesulfoxide (TMSO) and L = nitrogen donor
ligand. The chemical behavior of these complexes has been studied by means of
spectroscopic techniques both in slightly acidic distilled water and in phosphate buffered
solution at physiological pH. The influence of biological reductants on the chemical
behavior is also described. The antitumor properties have been investigated on a number
of experimental tumors. Out of the effects observed, notheworthy appears the capability
of the tested ruthenates to control the metastatic dissemination of solid metastasizing
tumors. The analysis of the antimetastatic action, made in particular on the MCa
mammary carcinoma of CBA mouse, has demonstrated a therapeutic value for these
complexes which are able to significantly prolong the survival time of the treated
animals. The antimetastatic effect is not attributable to a specific cytotoxicity for
metastatic tumor cells although in vitro experiments on pBR322 double stranded DNA
has shown that the test ruthenates bind to the macromolecule, causing breaks
corresponding to almost all bases, except than thymine, and are able to cause interstrand
bonds, depending on the nature of the complex being tested, some of which results active
as cisplatin itself
Inhibition of endothelial cell functions and of angiogenesis by the metastasis inhibitor NAMI-A
NAMI-A is a ruthenium-based compound with selective anti-metastasis activity in experimental models of solid tumours. We studied whether this activity was dependent on anti-angiogenic ability of NAMI-A. We thus investigated its in vitro effects on endothelial cell functions necessary for angiogenesis to develop, as well as its in vivo effects in the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane model. Endothelial cell proliferation, chemotaxis, and secretion of the matrix-degrading enzyme metalloproteinase-2 were inhibited by NAMI-A in a dose-dependent manner, and without morphologic signs of cell apoptosis or necrosis. Lastly, NAMI-A displayed a dose-dependent in vivo anti-angiogenic activity in the chorioallantoic membrane model. These data suggest that the anti-angiogenic activity of NAMI-A can contribute to its anti-metastatic efficacy in mice bearing malignant solid tumours
Efficacy of 5-FU Combined to Na[trans-RuCl4(DMSO)Im], A Novel Selective Antimetastatic Agent, on the Survival Time of Mice With P388 Leukemia, P388/DDP subline and MCa Mammary Carcinoma
The combinational treatment between the selective antimetastatic agent, sodium-trans-rutheniumtetrachloridedimethylsulfoxideimidazole,
Na[trans-RuCl4(DMSO)Im], and the cytotoxic drug
5-fluorouracil (5-FU) on primary tumor growth and on the survival time of experimental tumors results
in an effect significantly greater than that of each single agent used alone either with the solid
metastasizing MCa mammary carcinoma of the CBA mouse or with the lymphocytic leukemia P388
and its platinum resistant P388/DDP subline. Thus the inorganic compound Na[trans-RuCl4(DMSO)Im], known for its potent and selective antimetastatic effects, positively interacts with
the antitumor action of an organic anticancer agent such as 5-FU on both a solid metastasizing
tumor and a tumor of lymphoproliferative type. In particular, the effects of the combinational
treatment on the survival time of tumor bearing mice seem to be related to the selective
antimetastatic activity of the ruthenium complex that joins the potent cytotoxicity of 5-FU for the
tumor. Moreover, these data show that Na[trans-RuCl4(DMSO)Im] is almost as effective on the
subline of P388 made resistant to cisplatin as it was on the parental line
Reduction of Lung Metastases by Na[trans-RuCl4(DMSO)Im] is not Coupled With the Induction of Chemical Xenogenization
The effects of the treatment of tumor cells of MCa mammary carcinoma and TLX5 lymphoma with
the ruthenium complex Na[trans-RuCl4 (DMSO)lm] for several transplant generations were studied on
tumor growth and metastases formation. On TLX5 lymphoma cells, treatment was performed in vitro
prior to in vivo inoculation of tumor cells in intact or immunesuppressed mice. Either considering tumor
take and growth or its capacity to invade the brain of the inoculated hosts, Na[trans-RuCl4(DMSO)lm] did not induce any significant modification. Conversely, in mice with MCa mammary carcinoma, the
in
vivo treatment of tumor cells in immunesuppressed hosts caused a progressive increase of DNA activity
and, starting from the 4th transplant generation, a significantly increased susceptibility of lung
metastasis formation to a further treatment in intact mice. These data seem to suggest that Na[trans-RuCl4(DMSO)Im] does not induce chemical xenogenization of tumor cells nor its repeated treatment
induces resistance in tumor cells. Conversely, it appears that Na[trans-RuCl4(DMSO)lm] may select a
tumor cell population which maintains its capacity to metastasise to the lung but with enhanced
sensitivity to the antimetastatic properties of this compound
A Unified Theoretical Description of the Thermodynamical Properties of Spin Crossover with Magnetic Interactions
After the discovery of the phenomena of light-induced excited spin state
trapping (LIESST), the functional properties of metal complexes have been
studied intensively. Among them, cooperative phenomena involving low spin-high
spin (spin-crossover) transition and magnetic ordering have attracted
interests, and it has become necessary to formulate a unified description of
both phenomena. In this work, we propose a model in which they can be treated
simultaneously by extending the Wajnflasz-Pick model including a magnetic
interaction. We found that this new model is equivalent to
Blume-Emery-Griffiths (BEG) Hamiltonian with degenerate levels. This model
provides a unified description of the thermodynamic properties associated with
various types of systems, such as spin-crossover (SC) solids and Prussian blue
analogues (PBA). Here, the high spin fraction and the magnetization are the
order parameters describing the cooperative phenomena of the model. We present
several typical temperature dependences of the order parameters and we
determine the phase diagram of the system using the mean-field theory and Monte
Carlo simulations. We found that the magnetic interaction drives the SC
transition leading to re-entrant magnetic and first-order SC transitions.Comment: 30pages, 11figure
THE EFFECT OF THE FERTILIZATION WITH VINASSA ROMPAK PRODUCT ON THE BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF THE CULTIVATED SOILS
The product Vinassa Rompak, resulted in the yeast obtaining technology process, can be a good fertilizer for agricultural crops and a factor for maintaining the balance between the microorganisms populations from the soil. The experiment
regarding the infl uence of fertilization by using the Vinassa Rompak product was made on two permanent growing; a permanent pasturelands and fodder beet. The results presents the infl uence of the fertilization process emphasize a variation of the total number of microorganisms, of the report between the main groups (bacteria and fungi), and of the micromycetes spectrum determined in each
variant of experiment
The transformation of the forest steppe in the lower Danube Plain of south-eastern Europe : 6000 years of vegetation and land use dynamics
Forest steppes are dynamic ecosystems, highly susceptible to changes in climate and land use. Here we examine the Holocene history of the European forest steppe ecotone in the Lower Danube Plain to better understand its sensitivity to climate fluctuations and human impact, and the timing of its transition into a cultural forest steppe. We used multi-proxy analyses (pollen, n-alkane, coprophilous fungi, charcoal, and geochemistry) of a 6000-year sequence from Lake Oltina (SE Romania), combined with a REVEALS model of quantitative vegetation cover. We found the greatest tree cover, composed of xerothermic (Carpinus orientalis and Quercus) and temperate (Carpinus betulus, Tilia, Ulmus and Fraxinus) tree taxa between 6000 and 2500 cal yr BP. Maximum tree cover (~ 50 %) occurred between 4200 and 2500 cal yr BP at a time of wetter climatic conditions. Compared to other European forest steppe areas, the dominance of Carpinus orientalis represents the most distinct feature of the woodland's composition during that time. Forest loss was under way by 2500 yr BP (Iron Age) with REVEALS estimates indicating a fall to ~ 20 % tree cover from the mid-Holocene forest maximum linked to clearance for agriculture, while climate conditions remained wet. Biomass burning increased markedly at 2500 cal yr BP suggesting that fire was regularly used as a management tool until 1000 cal yr BP when woody vegetation became scarce. A sparse tree cover, with only weak signs of forest recovery, then became a permanent characteristic of the Lower Danube Plain, highlighting recurring anthropogenic pressure. The timing of anthropogenic ecosystem transformation here (2500 cal yr BP) was in between that in central eastern (between 3700 and 3000 cal yr BP) and eastern (after 2000 cal yr BP) Europe. Our study is the first quantitative land cover estimate at the forest steppe ecotone in south eastern Europe spanning 6000 years and provides critical empirical evidence that the present-day forest steppe/woodlands reflects the potential natural vegetation in this region under current climate conditions. This study also highlights the potential of n-alkane indices for vegetation reconstruction, particularly in dry regions where pollen is poorly preserved
Central nervous system metastases from castration-resistant prostate cancer in the docetaxel era.
Central nervous system (brain or leptomeningeal) metastases (BLm) are considered rare in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients. Now that docetaxel has become the reference drug for first-line treatment of CRPC, patients whose disease is not controlled by hormonal manipulations may live much longer than before and have higher risk of developing BLm. We retrospectively reviewed the records of all patients with CRPC attending our centres from 2002 to 2010, and identified all of those who were diagnosed as having BLm and received (or were considered to have been eligible to receive) docetaxel-based treatment. We identified 31 cases of BLm (22 brain metastases and 9 leptomeningeal metastases) with an incidence of 3.3%. BLm-free survival was 43.5 months, and survival after BLm discovery was 4 months. With six patients surviving for more than 1 year after developing BLm, the projected 1-year BL-S rate was 25.8%. The findings of our study may be relevant in clinical practice as they indicate that incidence of BLm in CRPC patients in the docetaxel era seems to be higher than in historical reports, meaning that special attention should be paid to the appearance of neurological symptoms in long-term CRPC survivors because they may be related to BLm
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