Degradation of lansoprazole and omeprazole in the aquatic environment

Lansoprazole and omeprazole degrade in water leading to sulfides, benzimidazolones and a red complex material. Degradation is accelerated in acid medium and by solar simulator irradiation. Benzimidazoles, dianilines and pyridines have also been identified

Photooxygenation of furans in water and ionic liquid solutions

Photooxygenation of differently functionalized furans is investigated in aqueous solutions and in ionic liquids [emim]Br and [bmim]BF4. The reaction is generally selective and the final products derive from rearrangement of the intermediate endoperoxides, depending mainly on the polarity and/or nucleophilic nature of the solvent

Palermo, metropolitan mainstreams with a twist

Palermo, administrative capital of Sicily, with its metropolitan region, hosts around one million people. A city with long history which has been, for long periods, one of the richest cities in Europe. At the end of the first millennium, during the Arab domination, Palermo was described as the most beautiful and happy city in the world. An history of multifaceted dominations the one following the other. In XXth century, the worst days had come. After the the world wars, Palermo was one of the cities in Italy which couldn’t - or wouldn’t - step out of post-war era. The city grew, but who decided how wasn’t the public interest: from the country the Mafiosi had come, willing to take their place in the city. And it was them, with the complicity of the leading political class, to draw the city to come. Remember Vito Ciancimino, member of Democrazia Cristiana, major in the seventies, the one who signed - in just one night - for the demolition of numbers of liberty villas, to be substituted by condominiums. Another paradigmatic story regards the airport, built during the 50s. The technicians had suggested to build it on the east of the metropolitan area, but mysterious powers moved it to the other side, shifting the growth of the city to lands bought at low prices by the Mafia. Who paid the bill? In 1972, when technological aids for flight were not developed, the Alitalia 112 flight collided with Montagna Longa, a mountain near the airport. 115 victims of the Mafia, not even acknowledged as that. And the city? The historical centre, one of the biggest and richest in Europe, remained abandoned, restructuring being less profitable than building new neighbourhoods. In the 90s, with the first left-wing administrations of its history, the city had its ‘spring’. In consequence of 1992 Mafia slaughters, the city reacted, a new season had begun. Buildings destroyed since second world war started to be restructured, the focus moved to the historical centre, a detailed plan was designed, local development was launched with partial results. With the new millennium the spring has shifted to a new autumn. A new administration, right-wing sided, promoted the building - more often the design - of infrastructures and flag projects. But suddenly something happened. A major known just for his wild nights - made of alcohols and young ladies -, dozens of scandals - for instance those regarding the management of waste -, fiscal crisis, a second mandate coming from debated elections - pre-empted ballotpapers were found, judicial enquiries are questioning the validity of the process - have undermined the credibility of the administration. Thus, everything seems blocked, the city is stuck, mainstream pressures are slowed by a viscous atmosphere. What has not stopped is private led neighbourhoods upgrading. Palermo’s metropolitan mainstream are going on, but ancient drifts deviate them. Everything reveals backsides, contradiction is normality. Resistance appears where you may not imagine. We’ve tried to show it in the map, where some stories are strangely mixed, some narratives pertaining to different categories than usual. Palermo, Southern Europe, Metropolitan Mainstream with a twis

Location of actin, myosin, and microtubular structures during directed locomotion of <i>Dictyostelium amebae</i>

During their life cycle, amebae of the cellular slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum aggregate to form multicellular structures in which differentiation takes place. Aggregation depends upon the release of chemotactic signals of 3',5'-cAMP from aggregation centers. In response to the signals, aggregating amebae elongate, actively more toward the attractive source, and may be easily identified from the other cells because of their polarized appearance. To examine the role of cytoskeletal components during ameboid locomotion, immunofluorescence microscopy with antibodies to actin, myosin, and to a microtubule-associated component was used. In addition, rhodamine- labeled phallotoxin was employed. Actin and myosin display a rather uniform distribution in rounded unstretched cells. In polarized locomoting cells, actin fluorescence (due to both labeled phallotoxin and specific antibody) is prevalently concentrated in the anterior pseudopod while myosin fluorescence appears to be excluded from the pseudopod. Similarly, microtubules in locomoting cells are excluded from the leading pseudopod. The cell nucleus is attached to the microtubule network by way of a nucleus-associated organelle serving as a microtubule-organizing center and seems to be maintained in a rather fixed position by the microtubules. These findings, together with available morphological and biochemical evidences, are consistent with a mechanism in which polymerized actin is moved into the pseudopod through its interaction with myosin at the base of the pseudopod. Microtubules, apparently, do not actively participate in movement but seem to behave as anchorage structures for the nucleus and possibly other cytoplasmic organelles

Primary dermal melanoma in a patient with a history of multiple malignancies: a case report with molecular characterization

Introduction: Primary dermal melanoma (PDM) is a recently described clinical entity accounting for less than 1% of all melanomas. Histologically, it is located in the dermis or subcutaneous tissue, and it shows no connections with the overlying epidermis. The differential diagnosis is principally made along with that of metastatic cutaneous melanoma. Case Report: A 72-year-old Caucasian woman with a history of multiple cancers (metachro-nous bilateral breast cancer, meningioma, clear cell renal cell carcinoma, uterine fibromatosis and intestinal adenomatous polyposis), came to our attention with a nodular lesion on her back. After removal of the lesion, the histology report indicated malignant PDM or metastatic malignant melanoma. The clinical and instrumental evaluation of the patient did not reveal any other primary tumour, suggesting the primitive nature of the lesion. The absence of an epithelial component argued for a histological diagnosis of PDM. Subsequently, the patient underwent a wide surgical excision with sentinel node biopsy, which was positive for metastatic melanoma. Finally, the mutational status was studied in the main genes that regulate proliferation, apoptosis and cellular senescence. No pathogenetic mutations in CDKN2A, BRAF, NRAS, KRAS, cKIT, TP53 and PTEN genes were observed. This suggests that alternative pathways and low-frequency alterations may be involved. Conclusions: The differential diagnosis between PDM and isolated metastatic melanoma depends on the negativity of imaging studies and clinical findings for other primary lesions. This distinction is important because 5-year survival rates in such cases are higher than in metastatic cases (80– 100 vs. 5–20%, respectively)

The “Bitul B’shishim (one part in sixty)”: is a Jewish conditional prohibition of the Talmud the oldest-known testimony of quantitative analytical chemistry?

Accomplishments of Hellenistic science and technology in some fields, such as mathematics, physical cosmology and engineering, has recently been re-evaluated and can be considered as of the same level that the scientific revolution in Western Europe reached at the beginning of the XVII century CE. Information on the level of chemical science is scanty; however, independent ancient sources such as the Jewish Talmud can yield significant clues. The still existing dietary laws include a practice to assess the acceptability of food mixtures with two complementary assessment techniques. One enforces a specific minimum mixing ratio (1:60) of unacceptable-to-acceptable ingredients, the other uses a sensory assessment to exclude the presence of a tasty unacceptable ingredient. This practice is likely the first historical example of quantitative analytical chemistry. This article collects clues that this approach is rooted in the implicit acceptance by Hellenistic chemical science of an atomic paradigm and on the awareness that interaction of different matter yields product that are different from the starting ones. Quantitative assessment of the presence of unacceptable ingredients by sensorial assessment or by mixing ratio likely points to a forgotten practice of Hellenistic experimental pharmacology and physiology to test the efficacy of drugs and poisons, that was performed in animals, with the use of a control group, and on human subjects

Impact of climate change on the energy performance of building envelopes and implications on energy regulations across Europe

This paper delves into the potential impact of a changing climate on the energy performance of European buildings. Research aims to provide a comprehensive evaluation of current energy requirements focusing on the envelope, considering existing regulations in national policies. Energy simulations are conducted at 94 locations across the European Union to cover the climatic variability and Koppen climate classification. The research analyzes future climate scenarios for the years 2030, 2050, and 2070, using three different Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP 2.6, 4.5, 8.5). According to a comprehensive analysis of heating, cooling, and overall energy performance, climate plays a significant role in buildings’ energy balance. In moderately cool climate countries, the demand for air conditioning is projected to decrease in the years ahead. Conversely, in countries with a warm climate, there is a projected increase in the overall energy demand. Consequently, a revision of current energy regulations should be a priority. Providing insights into the relation between building design, energy efficiency, and climate change, the research identifies policy adjustments to ensure buildings can effectively respond to changing climatic conditions. A holistic and dynamic approach can support building design accounting for long-term impacts of climate change to create resilient and energy-efficient structures

CROSS-DIFFUSION EFFECTS ON STATIONARY PATTERN FORMATION IN THE FITZHUGH-NAGUMO MODEL

We investigate the formation of stationary patterns in the FitzHugh-Nagumo reaction-diffusion system with linear cross-diffusion terms. We focus our analysis on the effects of cross-diffusion on the Turing mechanism. Linear stability analysis indicates that positive values of the inhibitor cross-diffusion enlarge the region in the parameter space where a Turing instability is excited. A sufficiently large cross-diffusion coefficient of the inhibitor removes the requirement imposed by the classical Turing mechanism that the inhibitor must diffuse faster than the activator. In an extended region of the parameter space a new phenomenon occurs, namely the existence of a double bifurcation threshold of the inhibitor/activator diffusivity ratio for the onset of patterning instabilities: for large values of inhibitor/activator diffusivity ratio, classical Turing patterns emerge where the two species are in-phase, while, for small values of the diffusion ratio, the analysis predicts the formation of out-of-phase spatial structures (named cross-Turing patterns). In addition, for increasingly large values of the inhibitor cross-diffusion, the upper and lower bifurcation thresholds merge, so that the instability develops independently on the value of the diffusion ratio, whose magnitude selects Turing or cross-Turing patterns. Finally, the pattern selection problem is addressed through a weakly nonlinear analysis

Phototransformation Products of Tamoxifen by Sunlight in Water. Toxicity of the Drug and Its Derivatives on Aquatic Organisms

Transformation of tamoxifen has been observed in water by prolonged sunlight irradiation. The main photoproducts, isolated by chromatographic techniques, have been identified by spectroscopic means. Photoisomerization, photocyclization and, to a lesser extent, photooxygenation appear to be involved in the degradation of the drug. The acute and chronic toxicity of the parent drug and its photoproducts were tested on non-target aquatic organisms (Brachionus calyciflorus, Thamnocephalus platyurus, Daphnia magna and Ceriodaphnia dubia). Exposure to all the compounds induced mainly chronic effects without significant differences among the parental and derivative compounds

Transformation and Ecotoxicity of Carbamic Pesticides in Water

N-methylcarbamate insecticides are widely used chemicals for crop protection. This study examines the hydro- lytic and photolytic cleavage of benfuracarb, carbosulfan and carbofuran under natural conditions. Their toxicity and that of the corresponding main degradation products toward aquatic organisms were evaluated. Suspensions of benfuracarb, carbosulfan and carbo- furan in water were exposed to sunlight, with one set of dark controls, for 6 days, and analyzed by 1H-NMR and HPLC. Acute toxicity tests were performed on Brachionus calyciflorus, Daphnia magna, and Thamnocefalus platyurus. Chronic tests were performed on Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, and Cerio- daphnia dubia. Under sunlight irradiation, benfuracarb and carbosulfan gave off carbofuran and carbofuran-phenol, while only carbofuran was detected in the dark experiments. The latter was degraded to phenol by exposure to sunlight. Ef- fects of pH, humic acid and KNO3 were evaluated by kinetics on dilute solutions in the dark and by UV irradiation, which evidenced the lability of the pesticide at pH 9. All three pesti- cides and phenol exhibited acute and higher chronic toxicity towards the aquatic organisms tested. Investigation on the hydrolysis and photolysis of benfuracarb and carbosulfan under natural conditions provides evidence concerning the selective decay to carbofuran and/or phenol. Carbofuran is found to be more persistent and toxic. The decay of benfuracarb and carbosulfan to carbofuran and the relative stability of this latter pesticide account for many papers that report the detection of carbofuran in water, fruits and vegetables