Vitamin D 25OH Deficiency and Mortality in Moderate to Severe COVID-19: A Multi-Center Prospective Observational Study.

Introduction: Several studies and meta-analyses suggested the role of vitamin D 25OH in preventing severe forms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the evidence on the clinical benefits of vitamin D 25OH adequacy in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 remain conflicting and speculative. We aimed to investigate the association between vitamin D 25OH serum levels and mortality in hospitalized patients with moderate to severe COVID-19.

Nutritional parameters associated with prognosis in non-critically ill hospitalized COVID-19 patients: The NUTRI-COVID19 study.

Background & Aims: To investigate the association between the parameters used in nutritional screening assessment (body mass index [BMI], unintentional weight loss [WL] and reduced food intake) and clinical outcomes in non-critically ill, hospitalized coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.

Methods: This was a prospective multicenter real-life study carried out during the first pandemic wave in 11 Italian Hospitals. In total, 1391 patients were included.

Nutritional therapy for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): Practical protocol from a single center highly affected by an outbreak of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

Objectives: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) carries a high risk for malnutrition owing to the state of debilitation that results from acute respiratory failure symptoms. The aim of this study was to provide an approach to reduce the risk for malnutrition and improve patients' clinical outcomes.

Methods: Short age-adjusted Nutritional Risk Screening was performed with 94 non-intensive care unit (ICU) patients admitted to the Giovanni Borea Civil Hospital in Sanremo.

Personality traits predict perceived health-related quality of life in persons with multiple sclerosis.

Background: Personality traits can affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in different disorders. In multiple sclerosis (MS), personality traits can determine patients' willingness to take on more risky treatment options, predispose to neuropsychiatric symptoms and affect coping strategies.

Objectives: We investigated the role of personality traits as possible predictors of HRQoL in a large cohort of persons with MS (PwMS).

A "twist box" code of p53 inactivation: twist box: p53 interaction promotes p53 degradation.

Twist proteins have been shown to contribute to cancer development and progression by impinging on different regulatory pathways, but their mechanism of action is poorly defined. By investigating the role of Twist in sarcomas, we found that Twist1 acts as a mechanism alternative to TP53 mutation and MDM2 overexpression to inactivate p53 in mesenchymal tumors. We provide evidence that Twist1 binds p53 C terminus through the Twist box.

Twist is substrate for caspase cleavage and proteasome-mediated degradation.

Twist is a member of the basic helix-loop-helix family of transcription factors. An aberrant Twist expression has been found in diverse types of cancer, including sarcomas, carcinomas and lymphomas, supporting a role for Twist in tumor progression. Twist is known to be essential for mesodermal development.

Regulation of cellular response to oncogenic and oxidative stress by Seladin-1.

Expression of multiple oncogenes and inactivation of tumour suppressors is required to transform primary mammalian cells into cancer cells. Activated Ha-RasV12 (Ras) is usually associated with cancer, but it also produces paradoxical premature senescence in primary cells by inducing reactive oxygen species followed by accumulation of tumour suppressors p53 and p16(INK4a) (ref. 4).

Alterations of beta-catenin pathway in non-melanoma skin tumors: loss of alpha-ABC nuclear reactivity correlates with the presence of beta-catenin gene mutation.

To determine the role of beta-catenin pathway in human skin carcinogenesis, 135 non-melanoma skin tumors were analyzed for beta-catenin expression and gene mutations. Intense nucleo-cytoplasmic immunoreactivity for C terminus beta-catenin antibodies was observed in all pilomatricomas and in single cases of trichoepithelioma and squamous cell carcinoma showing peculiar signs of matrical differentiation. Moderate increase of beta-catenin nuclear staining was detected in a significant proportion of basal cell carcinomas, Bowen disease, spiroadenomas, and occasionally also in squamous cell carcinomas, but in these neoplasms only a limited fraction of tumor cells accumulated beta-catenin.

Essential oil formulations useful as a new tool for insect pest control.

This study investigated the effects of some essential oils on Limantria dispar (Lepidoptera: Lymantridae, gypsy moth) larvae, one of the most serious pests of cork oak forests. The essential oils were first formulated as oil in water (o/w) emulsions and used in laboratory bioassays to assess their lethal concentration (LC50). Microcapsules containing the most promising oils (Rosmarinus officinalis and Thymus herba-barona) were then prepared by a phase separation process, followed by freeze-drying.

Cloning of the cDNAs coding for two novel molybdo-flavoproteins showing high similarity with aldehyde oxidase and xanthine oxidoreductase.

The cDNAs coding for two novel mouse molybdo-flavoproteins, AOH1 and AOH2 (aldehyde oxidase homolog 1 and 2), were isolated. The AOH1 and AOH2 cDNAs code for polypeptides of 1336 amino acids. The two proteins have similar primary structure and show striking amino acid identity with aldehyde oxidase and xanthine oxidoreductase, two other molybdo-flavoenzymes.

In vitro permeation through porcine buccal mucosa of Salvia desoleana Atzei & Picci essential oil from topical formulations.

In the light of recent studies, which have shown that the essential oil derived from some Lamiaceae species has appreciable anti-inflammatory activity, moderate anti-microbial action and the ability to inhibit induced hyperalgesia, an assessment of the diffusion and permeation of Salvia desoleana Atzei & Picci (S. desoleana) essential oil through porcine buccal mucosa was considered useful for a possible application in the stomatological field. Topical formulations (microemulsions, hydrogels and microemulsion-hydrogels) were prepared for application to the buccal mucosa.

The mouse aldehyde oxidase gene: molecular cloning, chromosomal mapping and functional characterization of the 5'-flanking region.

In this article, we report on the chromosome mapping and molecular cloning of the genetic locus encoding the mouse molybdo-iron/sulfur-flavoprotein aldehyde oxidase. The aldehyde oxidase locus maps to mouse chromosome 1 band C1-C2, as determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization experiments conducted on metaphase chromosomes. The gene is approximately 83 kb long and consists of 35 exons.

Molecular cloning of the cDNA coding for mouse aldehyde oxidase: tissue distribution and regulation in vivo by testosterone.

The cDNA coding for mouse aldehyde oxidase (AO), a molybdoflavoprotein, has been isolated and characterized. The cDNA is 4347 nt long and consists of an open reading frame predicting a polypeptide of 1333 amino acid residues, with 5' and 3' untranslated regions of 13 and 335 nt respectively. The apparent molecular mass of the translation product in vitro derived from the corresponding cRNA is consistent with that of the monomeric subunit of the AO holoenzyme.

Isolation and characterization of the gene coding for human cytidine deaminase.

The human gene coding for cytidine deaminase (CD), the enzyme which catalyzes the deamination of cytidine and deoxycytidine to uridine and deoxyuridine, was isolated and structurally characterized. CD is a single copy gene with a length of 31 kb and consists of four exons. Exon-intron junctions do not bracket functional domains of the encoded protein as the boundary between exons 2 and 3 interrupts the catalytically important zinc-finger domain, which is well conserved along phylogenesis.

Isolation and characterization of the human aldehyde oxidase gene: conservation of intron/exon boundaries with the xanthine oxidoreductase gene indicates a common origin.

Aldehyde oxidase (AO) is a molybdo-flavo enzyme involved in the metabolism of various endogenous and exogenous N-heterocyclic compounds of pharmacological and toxicological importance. The enzyme is the product of a gene which is implicated in the aetio-pathogenesis of familial recessive amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Here, we report the cloning and structural characterization of the human AO gene.