I DADA TEAMS: un'esperienza di didattica innovativa

Reading the needs of students, in the modern-day reality, requires teacher to intervene with innovative teaching methodologies, able to integrate the two dimensions (analog and digital) of teaching and to promote talents. With these aims the comprehensive institute "Foscolo-Gabelli" in Foggia, formerly DADA school, signatory of a memorandum of understanding with the University of Foggia has included the DADA Teams in the Three-Year Plan of the Training Offer. They are cooperative working groups, carried out in curricular time. Within the DADA Teams, students are supported in learning by multimedia tools and learn to learn through transversal educational paths, discovering their talents passions and attitudes. This study aims to document the experimentation contextualizing it in the panorama of research on the interactions between teaching and talent development, where the use of flexible and "open" technologies and learning environments can be a driving force for change

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of a γ-Cyclodextrin-based Formulation of the Anticancer Agent 5,6,11,12,17,18,23,24-Octahydrocyclododeca[1,2-b:4,5-b’:7,8-b’’:10,11-b’’’]tetraindole (CTet)

none10sìopenLucarini, Simone; DE SANTI, Mauro; Antonietti, Francesca; Brandi, Giorgio; Diamantini, Giuseppe; Fraternale, Alessandra; Paoletti, MARIA FILOMENA; Tontini, Andrea; Magnani, Mauro; Duranti, AndreaLucarini, Simone; DE SANTI, Mauro; Antonietti, Francesca; Brandi, Giorgio; Diamantini, Giuseppe; Fraternale, Alessandra; Paoletti, MARIA FILOMENA; Tontini, Andrea; Magnani, Mauro; Duranti, Andre

GSH and analogs in antiviral therapy

Reduced glutathione (GSH) is the most prevalent non-protein thiol in animal cells. Its de novo and salvage synthesis serves to maintain a reduced cellular environment. GSH is the most powerful intracellular antioxidant and plays a role in the detoxification of a variety of electrophilic compounds and peroxides via catalysis by glutathione-S-transferases (GST) and glutathione peroxidases (GPx). As a consequence, the ratio of reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSH:GSSG) serves as a representative marker of the antioxidative capacity of the cell. A deficiency in GSH puts the cell at risk for oxidative damage. An imbalance in GSH is observed in a wide range of pathologies, such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, cystic fibrosis (CF), several viral infections including HIV-1, as well as in aging. Several reports have provided evidence for the use of GSH and molecules able to replenish intracellular GSH levels in antiviral therapy. This non-conventional role of GSH and its analogs as antiviral drugs is discussed in this chapter. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Pharmacogenetics of dabigatran etexilate interindividual variability

Introduction Dabigatran etexilate is given in fixed doses without coagulation monitoring for the prevention of blood clots in at risk adults. A high inter-individual variability in blood concentrations of the active metabolite of dabigatran has been reported. ABCB1 and CES1 exert an important effect in the metabolism of dabigatran etexilate and allele variants at these two loci are likely to play a pivotal role. To investigate whether screening for polymorphisms within the ABCB1 and the CES1 genes would explain a portion of the inter-individual variability in blood concentrations of the active metabolite of dabigatran. Material and methods In a cohort of patients who had atrial fibrillation and on anticoagulant prophylaxis with dabigatran etexilate, we investigated whether genotypes at rs4148738 (ABCB1), rs8192935 (CES1), and rs2244613 (CES1) loci would affect plasma dabigatran trough and peak concentrations. Results and discussion Among 92 patients (median age: 72.0 years, range: 52-92) analyzed, no clinical variable or genotype was associated with a significant difference in dabigatran peak concentrations. As for trough concentrations, in addition to creatinine clearance, and sex a significant association with the CES1 SNP rs8192935 (p = 0.023) was detected. The mean adjusted plasma levels were higher among patients with the CC genotype (86.3 ng/dl) than in those carrying the T allele (62.1 ng/dl). No significant effect was found for the ABCB1 SNP rs4148738. The CES1 SNP rs8192935 significantly influenced the dabigatran trough concentrations and carriers of the T allele showed significantly lower concentrations than did carriers of the CC genotype

Usefulness of atherogenic dyslipidemia for predicting cardiovascular risk in patients with angiographically defined coronary artery disease

The identification of factors contributing to residual cardiovascular risk is important to improve the management of patients with established coronary artery disease (CAD). This study was conducted to assess the predictive value of atherogenic dyslipidemia (defined as high triglycerides and low high-density lipoprotein [HDL] cholesterol) for long-term outcomes in patients with CAD. In 284 patients (238 men, 46 women; mean age at baseline 59.2 +/- 8.9 years) with coronary stenosis (> 50% in >= 1 vessel), the presence of atherogenic dyslipidemia was prospectively associated with the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) during a median follow-up of 7.8 years. MACEs were defined as cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, the recurrence of angina, and revascularization procedures. MACEs were observed in 111 (39.1%) patients with CAD. MACEs occurred more frequently in patients with atherogenic dyslipidemia (50.9%) than in those with isolated low HDL cholesterol or high triglycerides (33.0%) or with normal HDL cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations (29.2%) (p < 0.01 for trend). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed a decrease in event-free survival in patients with compared with those without atherogenic dyslipidemia (log-rank p = 0.006). Patients with atherogenic dyslipidemia presented with increased plasma concentrations of remnants, denser low-density lipoprotein, more atherogenic HDL particles, and insulin-resistant status. After adjustment for potential confounding variables, the magnitude of increased risk associated with atherogenic dyslipidemia was 1.58 (95% confidence interval 1.12 to 2.21, p = 0.008). In conclusion, these data provide evidence that atherogenic dyslipidemia is an independent predictor of cardiovascular risk in patients with CAD, even stronger than isolated high triglycerides or low HDL cholesterol. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved