A polycarboxylic chelating ligand for efficient resin purification of His-tagged proteins expressed in mammalian systems.

We describe the synthesis of a novel polyamino polycarboxylic ligand, its ability to coordinate metal-ions and attachment to a solid support designed for protein purification through Immobilised Metal-ion Affinity Chromatography (IMAC). The resin was found to be highly efficient for purification of His-tagged HCV E2 glycoproteins expressed in 293T mammalian cells.

Short epidemiological overview of the current situation on COVID-19 pandemic in Southeast European (SEE) countries.

We are living in times where a viral disease has brought normal life in much of the world to a halt. The novel coronavirus known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) started in December 2019 in Wuhan, China initially and in a short time crossed the European borders. After mitigating the epidemic in China, Italy became one of the most COVID-19 affected countries worldwide.

The Role of Molecular Imaging in the Assessment of Cardiac Amyloidosis: State-of-the-Art.

Cardiac amyloidosis is a progressive infiltrative disease for which new treatments are now available. As therapy should be started as early as possible to avoid complications such as restrictive cardiomyopathy, arrhythmias and heart failure, a prompt and reliable diagnosis by means of non-invasive tests would be highly warranted. Electrocardiography, echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging are all used in the evaluation of cardiac amyloidosis with varying diagnostic and prognostic accuracy, but none of these modalities can effectively differentiate the cardiac amyloid subtypes.

Synthesis of Fluorescent Dansyl Derivatives of Methoxyamine and Diphenylhydrazine as Free Radical Precursors.

Starting from dansyl-chloride, in reaction with 1,1-diphenylhydrazine and methoxyamine, two new fluorescent derivatives and were obtained and characterized by NMR, IR, UV-Vis, HR-MS, and fluorescence spectroscopy. The single-crystal X-ray structure was obtained for compound . Both compounds generate free radicals by oxidation, as demonstrated by ESR spectroscopy.

Low-cost conditioned place preference setup including video recording and analysis of behaviour.

The conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm is widely used in rodent research to test the rewarding and aversive properties of different stimuli. Despite its relative simplicity, commercially available CPP systems are often costly. Here we describe the construction of a CPP setup and a behavioral data analysis pipeline incorporating: • a CPP box which can be built in a single day by using widely available and affordable materials.

BONE QUALITY IN A YOUNG COHORT OF HIV-POSITIVE PATIENTS.

Context: In HIV+ patients, several factors related to patient and antiretroviral therapy (ART) could determine early onset of bone mineral density (BMD) disturbances.

Objective: Evaluation of bone quality according to gender in patients from the HIV Romanian cohort.

Design: A cross-sectional study in "Prof.

Is sudoscan a reliable tool in detecting small fiber neuropathy in Parkinson's disease patients?

Previous studies have revealed uncertainties concerning the utility of sudoscan in identifying small fiber neuropathy in Parkinson's disease (PD). We searched for a significant reduction of electrochemical skin conductance (ESC) in 67 PD patients versus 66 controls with similar characteristics. We conducted analysis of the subgroups of PD patients without diabetes using sudoscan technology.

Author Correction: Thermal equation of state of ruthenium characterized by resistively heated diamond anvil cell.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Impacts of the Allocation of Governmental Resources for Improving the Environment. An Empirical Analysis on Developing European Countries.

The last years have brought into attention more than ever concerns regarding the accelerating degradation of the environmental conditions which threaten both the present but mainly the future of human society. Under such circumstances, the society and especially the governments need to acknowledge the seriousness of environment issues and be able to develop and put into practice specific policies to counteract them. In this regard, this paper performs an analysis on a group of 11 European developing countries, over the period between 2000 and 2017, aiming first to evaluate the impact of the changing environment conditions and of the governmental actions regarding environment protection, on citizens life, namely on their life expectancy.

Clinical impact of strain histogram EUS elastography and contrast-enhanced EUS for the differential diagnosis of focal pancreatic masses: A prospective multicentric study.

Background: Recent advances in EUS techniques (real-time EUS elastography and contrast-enhanced EUS) have allowed a better characterization of focal pancreatic masses. Mean strain histograms (SHs) are considered a good parameter for the semi-quantitative evaluation of focal pancreatic masses, alongside complementary contrast-enhanced EUS parameters which can be quantified during both the early arterial and late venous phase.

Materials And Methods: The study design was prospective, blinded, and multicentric, assessing real-time EUS elastography and contrast-enhanced EUS results for the characterization of focal pancreatic masses using parametric measurements, in comparison with pathology which is the gold standard.

Phase Behavior of TmVO under Hydrostatic Compression: An Experimental and Theoretical Study.

We present a structural and optical characterization of magnetoelastic zircon-type TmVO at ambient pressure and under high pressure. The properties under high pressure have been determined experimentally under hydrostatic conditions and theoretically using density functional theory. By powder X-ray diffraction we show that TmVO undergoes a first-order irreversible phase transition to a scheelite structure above 6 GPa.

The high-pressure, high-temperature phase diagram of cerium.

We present an experimental study of the high-pressure, high-temperature behaviour of cerium up to ∼22 GPa and 820 K using angle-dispersive x-ray diffraction and external resistive heating. Studies above 820 K were prevented by chemical reactions between the samples and the diamond anvils of the pressure cells. We unambiguously measure the stability region of the orthorhombic4 phase and find it reaches its apex at 7.

The Dynamical Assessment of Inflammatory Biomarkers in Predicting the Outcome of Septic Patients and the Response to Antimicrobial Therapy.

Aims: To evaluate the kinetics of inflammatory biomarkers in septic patients in order to identify the most reliable predictor of unfavorable outcome.

Methods: A prospective analysis of septic patients was performed. Median levels of neutrophil/lymphocyte count ratio, fibrinogen, C-reactive protein and procalcitonin were dynamically assessed and comparatively analyzed.

Pregnancy outcomes in interferon-beta-exposed patients with multiple sclerosis: results from the European Interferon-beta Pregnancy Registry.

Background: Family planning is an important consideration for women with multiple sclerosis (MS), who are often diagnosed during their reproductive years. Currently, limited data are available on pregnancy outcomes in patients exposed to interferon-beta (IFN-beta) before or during pregnancy. Here, we present the cumulative pregnancy exposure data and prevalence of pregnancy and infant outcomes in IFN-beta-exposed pregnant women with MS from the European IFN-beta Pregnancy Registry.

Neonatal sepsis in low-income countries: epidemiology, diagnosis and prevention.

: Sepsis accounts for up to one-third of neonatal deaths in the world each year. The World Health Organization acknowledges neonatal sepsis as a major global health concern, and that the highest burden occurs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite major research and clinical progress in this area, we still lack accurate diagnostic tools for neonatal sepsis, complicating the management of this condition.

Organosilicons of different molecular size and chemical structure as consolidants for waterlogged archaeological wood - a new reversible and retreatable method.

Ineffectiveness of the chemicals applied so far for waterlogged wood conservation created the need to develop new more, efficient and reliable agents. As an alternative, a new method with the use of organosilicon compounds differing in chemical composition and molecular weight has been investigated. The results obtained show the potential of organosilicons as consolidants in waterlogged wood conservation able to effectively stabilise wood dimensions upon drying.

Orpiment under compression: metavalent bonding at high pressure.

We report a joint experimental and theoretical study of the structural, vibrational, and electronic properties of layered monoclinic arsenic sulfide crystals (α-AsS), aka mineral orpiment, under compression. X-ray diffraction and Raman scattering measurements performed on orpiment samples at high pressure and combined with ab initio calculations have allowed us to determine the equation of state and the tentative assignment of the symmetry of many Raman-active modes of orpiment. From our results, we conclude that no first-order phase transition occurs up to 25 GPa at room temperature; however, compression leads to an isostructural phase transition above 20 GPa.

Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Skin Cancers: A Review.

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is involved in physiologic processes such as embryogenesis and wound healing. A similar mechanism occurs in some tumors where cells leave the epithelial layer and gain mesenchymal particularities in order to easily migrate to other tissues. This process can explain the invasiveness and aggressiveness of these tumors which metastasize, by losing the epithelial phenotype (loss of E-cadherin, desmoplakin, and laminin-1) and acquiring mesenchymal markers (N-cadherin).

Spermatic vein aneurysm: a report of a unique case and review of the literature.

A spermatic vessel aneurysm is a rare entity, described only a few times in the literature. In most cases, it is caused by trauma or inflammation and appears as a painful mass in the scrotum or the inguinal area. We present a case of a 22-year-old man who came to our Surgical Department with a painful, palpable mass in the right inguinal area.

Chronic hyponatremia in patients with proximal femoral fractures after low energy trauma: A retrospective study in a level-1 trauma center.

Introduction: We evaluated the prevalence and influence of chronic hyponatremia in patients with low energy trauma. We also investigated the influence of medication and diseases on hyponatremia.

Material And Methods: This retrospective study included 314 cases of proximal femoral fracture due to low energy trauma.

The association between exposure to interferon-beta during pregnancy and birth measurements in offspring of women with multiple sclerosis.

Background: Interferon-beta (IFN-beta) is a commonly used treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS). Current guidelines recommend cessation of treatment during pregnancy, however the results of past studies on the safety of prenatal exposure to IFN-beta have been conflicting. A large scale study of a population of MS women is therefore warranted.

Structural characterization and mechanical properties of wet-processed fibreboard based on chemo-thermomechanical pulp, furanic resin and cellulose nanocrystals.

Fibreboards are made of lignocellulosic fibres and synthetic adhesive which connect them. These synthetic adhesives, while relatively low-cost, are usually non-biodegradable and may cause health and environmental issues. Therefore, in recent years, there has been an increased demand for replacing these adhesives with bio-derived adhesives.