Publications by authors named "N Massaro"

Article Synopsis
  • The study examines the efficacy of donated COVID-19 convalescent plasma (dCCP) in hospitalized adults with COVID-19 pneumonia, focusing on factors like antibody titers and patient characteristics.
  • The results showed that 85% of the dCCPs contained neutralizing antibodies, and while the transfusion didn't significantly affect survival rates, no adverse events were reported among dCCP recipients.
  • The findings highlight the variability in antibody responses among dCCP recipients, suggesting the need for controlled trials to utilize well-characterized dCCP with appropriate assays.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Localized drug delivery using Tissue-Reactive Anchoring Pharmaceuticals (TRAPs) offers a novel method for treating stiff tumors like desmoplastic cancers without systemic side effects.
  • TRAPs are modified potent drugs that are injected into tumors, where they react with tissue components to create stable, local drug depots for sustained release.
  • TRAP paclitaxel, a variant that improves drug solubility and effectiveness, has shown enhanced tumor cell death and prolonged antitumor efficacy compared to traditional free drug methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Alginate hydrogels are gaining traction for use in drug delivery, regenerative medicine, and as tissue engineered scaffolds due to their physiological gelation conditions, high tissue biocompatibility, and wide chemical versatility. Traditionally, alginate is decorated at the carboxyl group to carry drug payloads, peptides, or proteins. While low degrees of substitution do not cause noticeable mechanical changes, high degrees of substitution can cause significant losses to alginate properties including complete loss of calcium cross-linking.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: The loss of voice after total laryngectomy is one of the main impairments in personal and social life. In order to prevent potential psycho-social consequences in the patient and his family, the restoration of phonatory function is the main objective of post-laryngectomy rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to assess quality of life in patients who received prosthetic voice after total laryngectomy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A rapid synthesis of the core structures of crinane and haemanthamine has been developed, enabled by a multicomponent approach. This work constitutes a formal synthesis of crinane and sets the stage for access to both families of natural products and key analogues. A key highlight of the approach is the modularity of the core synthesis, overcoming existing challenges for these scaffolds and providing a path to explore site-selective oxidation to expand the scope of molecules accessible from common intermediates.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF