Building a framework for a synoptic overview of drought.

Drought is a complex phenomenon with multifactorial impacts, requiring a multiscale approach for effective understanding and management. This study presents an innovative operational framework, "Drought Scan," designed to deepen drought understanding, improve monitoring, and streamline climate services to support effective adaptation and mitigation against drought impacts. At the core of the framework is a methodology that integrates two standardized indices: the standardized precipitation and streamflow indices (SPI and SQI, respectively).

Langerhans cell histiocytosis oral lesions in pediatric patients.

Unlabelled: Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a disease with unknown etiology. It presents as single-system (affecting a single organ or tissue) or as multisystem (with or without risk organ involvement). The oral cavity may be involved or be the site of the first manifestation.

RNA polymerase II transcription attenuation at the yeast DNA repair gene DEF1 is biologically significant and dependent on the Hrp1 RNA-recognition motif.

Premature transcription termination (i.e. attenuation) is a potent gene regulatory mechanism that represses mRNA synthesis.

An Intraosseous Giant Cell Granuloma: An Uncommon Presentation.

The giant cell granuloma is an identical reactive lesion which is mostly progressive in nature. The clinical behavior of these lesions varies from indolent to aggressive variant. The central form of giant cell granuloma involves the craniofacial bone, followed by long bones of hands and feet.

Neuropeptide Substance P Enhances Inflammation-Mediated Tumor Signaling Pathways and Migration and Proliferation of Head and Neck Cancers.

Head and neck cancers (HNC) are extremely aggressive, highly recurrent, and the sixth most common cancer worldwide. Neuropeptide substance P, along with its primary receptor, neurokinin-1 (NK-1R), is overexpressed in HNC and is a central player in inflammation and growth and metastasis of several cancers. However, the precise SP-mediated signaling that promotes HNC progression remains ill defined.

Environmental Factors and Kawasaki Disease Onset in Emilia-Romagna, Italy.

Kawasaki disease (KD)is an idiopathic acute febrile illness that primarily occurs in children <5 years of age and can lead to artery lesions if not promptly treated. Recent studies have shown possible correlations between KD onset and currents and air pollutants.The present study describes results on the correlation between environmental conditions, frequency, and variability ofKD onset in children under five years of age in Emilia-Romagna, a region of Northern Italy, over the period from 2000 to 2017.

Targeted activation of the SHP-1/PP2A signaling axis elicits apoptosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells.

Lyn, a member of the Src family of kinases, is a key factor in the dysregulation of survival and apoptotic pathways of malignant B cells in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. One of the effects of Lyn's action is spatial and functional segregation of the tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 into two pools, one beneath the plasma membrane in an active state promoting pro-survival signals, the other in the cytosol in an inhibited conformation and unable to counter the elevated level of cytosolic tyrosine phosphorylation. We herein show that SHP-1 activity can be elicited directly by nintedanib, an agent also known as a triple angiokinase inhibitor, circumventing the phospho-S591-dependent inhibition of the phosphatase, leading to the dephosphorylation of pro-apoptotic players such as procaspase-8 and serine/threonine phosphatase 2A, eventually triggering apoptosis.

Antiproliferative activity of Juglone derivatives on rat glioma.

Malignant gliomas are aggressive and life-threatening tumours that still show a poor prognosis: the current therapeutic approach based on surgical resection and chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy does not provide a satisfactory chance of long-term survival to patients. Natural bioactive compounds represent a precious source of molecules with antiproliferative activity, potentially effective also against glioma cells. Among these, Juglone is a known allelopathic compound extracted from the eastern black walnut (Juglans nigra) whose antimitotic effect has been extensively described in mammalian cells.

The concentration of il-1β in saliva of children with oral lesions associated to histiocytosis.

Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH) is a disease whose etiology and pathogenesis are still unknown. It affects several organs and tissues, producing lesions of different severity. Its histopathology and clinical picture suggest the participation of cytokines in its pathogenesis.

Semi-synthetic derivatives of natural isoflavones from Maclura pomifera as a novel class of PDE-5A inhibitors.

Natural (iso)flavonoids have been recently reported to inhibit cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (PDEs) and induce vasorelaxation, albeit the results described in the literature are discordant. The cGMP-selective isoform PDE-5A, in particular, represents the target of sildenafil and its analogues in the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED) and pulmonary hypertension by promoting relaxation in vascular smooth muscle through the activation of the NO/cGMP pathway. We undertook this study to verify if osajin and pomiferin, two natural prenylated isoflavones and major constituents of Maclura pomifera extracts previously investigated for their anticancer, antibacterial and antidiabetic properties, show inhibitory activity on PDE-5A.

The Old Made New: Natural Compounds against Erectile Dysfunction.

The interest toward sex-related diseases keeps growing through the years. In this review, we focus our attention on erectile dysfunction (ED), a condition that caught much attention especially after the introduction on the market of phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors such as the well-known sildenafil. Here, we briefly describe both the etiology of ED and the available treatments, examining then extensively some natural derivatives that, coming from traditional medicine, could represent promising starting points for the development of alternative remedies.

Lyn sustains oncogenic signaling in chronic lymphocytic leukemia by strengthening SET-mediated inhibition of PP2A.

Aberrant protein kinase activities, and the consequent dramatic increase of Ser/Thr and -Tyr phosphorylation, promote the deregulation of the survival pathways in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), which is crucial to the pathogenesis and progression of the disease. In this study, we show that the tumor suppressor protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), one of the major Ser/Thr phosphatases, is in an inhibited form because of the synergistic contribution of 2 events, the interaction with its physiologic inhibitor SET and the phosphorylation of Y307 of the catalytic subunit of PP2A. The latter event is mediated by Lyn, a Src family kinase previously found to be overexpressed, delocalized, and constitutively active in CLL cells.

New naphthoquinone derivatives against glioma cells.

This work was aimed to the development of a set of new naphtoquinone derivatives that can act against glioma. The compounds were tested in order to find out their ability to inhibit the growth of glioma cells, and the results of these assays were correlated with electrochemical analysis and NMR-based reoxidation kinetic studies, suggesting that a redox mechanism underlies and may explain the observed biological behavior. In addition to a full description of the synthetic pathways, electrochemistry, NMR and single crystal X-ray diffraction data are provided.

Prevalence of molar incisor hypomineralization in the city of Buenos Aires.

The prevalence of Molar Incisor Hypomineralization (MIH) still remains unknown in Argentina. The objectives of this work were to: estimate prevalence of MIH in a group of children seeking dental care in the city of Buenos Aires, analyze distribution according to year of birth and compare prevalence and severity of MIH in children with different access to health care services. A prospective, observational, transversal, descriptive study was designed, to be conducted on children seeking attention at Department of Comprehensive Children's Dentistry at the School of Dentistry of Buenos Aires University and at 3 pediatric dentistry offices attended by members of the team, located in Buenos Aires city (Kappa 0.

Novel phthalazinyl derivatives: synthesis, antimycobacterial activities, and inhibition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isocitrate lyase enzyme.

Novel 2-[3-(4-bromo-2-fluorobenzyl)-4-oxo-3,4-dihydro-1-phthalazinyl]acetic acid hydrazones were synthesized from phthalic anhydride by a six step synthesis and evaluated for in vitro, in vivo activities against eight mycobacterial species and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isocitrate lyase (ICL) enzyme inhibition studies. Among twenty six compounds N'1-[(4-nitrophenyl)methylene]-2-[3-(4-bromo-2-fluorobenzyl)-4-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-phthalazinyl]ethanohydrazide (7j) was found to be the most active compound in-vitro with MIC's of 0.18 and <0.

IL-1 beta and PGE2 levels are increased in the saliva of children with Langerhans cell histiocytosis.

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare disorder mainly of children, whose pathogenesis is still unknown. Some studies have demonstrated that LCH lesions produce different cytokines abnormally that may be relevant to the pathogenesis of the disease. The purpose of this study was to investigate interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE(2)) levels in saliva from children with different clinical subtypes of LCH.

Current perspectives of therapeutic patient education in Italy.

Therapeutic patient education is a well-defined branch of health education aimed at patient empowerment. It consists of helping the patient to understand his own disease and its treatment, actively collaborating to its fulfillment and to take care of his own health status in order to maintain and improve his life quality. The correct implementation of both communication and therapeutic patient education involves the mastery of specific professional skills by healthcare personnel.