Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of COVID-19 Disease and Post Covid Syndrome: The Role of N Acetyl-cysteine and Acetyl-L-carnitine.

COVID-19 is associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as anosmia, anxiety, depression, stress-related reactions, and psychoses. The illness can cause persistent cognitive impairment and "brain fog", suggesting chronic brain involvement. Clinical entities of ongoing symptomatic COVID-19 and Post COVID Syndrome (PCS) mainly present neuropsychiatric symptoms such as dysgeusia, headache, fatigue, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Switching from paliperidone palmitate 3-monthly long-acting injection to oral aripiprazole in a pregnant woman with schizophrenia: a case report and short review.

Treatment with long-acting injection (LAI) antipsychotics, such as paliperidone palmitate, has improved the quality of life in terms of symptoms and prevention of relapses in patients with schizophrenia. Although there are plenty of evidences about the efficacy and safety of paliperidone palmitate 3-monthly injection (PP3M) in adults with schizophrenia, literature appears lacking about the use of LAIs during pregnancy. We hereby describe the clinical case of a pregnant woman affected by schizophrenia (DSM-5-TR), taking pharmacological treatment of PP3M.

Image-guided moderately hypofractionated radiotherapy for localized prostate cancer: a multicentric retrospective study (IPOPROMISE).

Background: Moderate hypofractionated radiotherapy is a treatment option for the cure of localized prostate cancer (PCa) patients based on the results of randomized prospective trials, but there is a clinical concern about the relatively short length of follow-up, and real-world results on outcome and toxicity based on cutting-edge techniques are lacking. The objective of this study is to present the long-term results of a large multicentric series.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 1325 PCa patients treated with daily volumetric image-guided hypofractionated radiotherapy between 2007 and 2020 in 16 Centers.

Early results of PRO-EPI: PROspective multicenter observational study on elective pelvic nodes irradiation in patients with intermediate/high/very high-risk non-metastatic prostate cancer submitted to radical, adjuvant, or salvage radiotherapy with or without concomitant androgen deprivation therapy.

Although radiotherapy plays a fundamental role in the management of intermediate/high/very high-risk non-metastatic prostatic cancer (IHR-nmPca), there is still no consensus on the optimal treatment strategy in this setting. Remarkably, the role of elective nodal irradiation (ENI) is still highly controversial. The PROspective multicenter observational study on Elective Pelvic nodes Irradiation (PRO-EPI) was designed to provide "real life" data regarding the patterns of care for IHR-nmPca.

Buprenorphine/naloxone (Suboxone®) withdrawal may facilitate antipsychotic-induced priapism. A case report.

Introduction: Priapism is defined as a prolonged penile erection in absence of sexual arousal, leading also to serious sexual and urological problems such as erectile dysfunction and penile fibrosis. Amongst many different etiologies, priapism may be caused by a wide range of antipsychotic medications, mainly due to the α1-adrenergic receptor antagonism. On the other hand, only a couple of cases of opioid compounds have been linked to the onset of priapism, with evidence coming only from methadone and buprenorphine.

A global microbiome survey of vineyard soils highlights the microbial dimension of viticultural terroirs.

The microbial biodiversity found in different vitivinicultural regions is an important determinant of wine terroir. It should be studied and preserved, although it may, in the future, be subjected to manipulation by precision agriculture and oenology. Here, we conducted a global survey of vineyards' soil microbial communities.

Medical Comorbidities in 181 Patients With Bipolar Disorder . Schizophrenia and Related Psychotic Disorders: Findings From a Single-Center, Retrospective Study From an Acute Inpatients Psychiatric Unit.

Medical comorbidities (MCs) represent a significant burden in terms of more frequent hospitalizations and overall lower life expectancy among people with severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD). The present article aims to compare the prevalence of MCs and to examine the associated characteristics as marital status, job occupation, level of education, and living arrangements, between BD and SZ patients. One-hundred-eight-one patients with MCs (85/47% had BD and 96/53% had SZ) were recruited retrospectively from the Acute Inpatients Psychiatry Unit of Policlinico Tor Vergata, Rome, between January-2017 and December-2020.

Al-alkyls as acceptor dopant precursors for atomic-scale devices.

Atomically precise ultradoping of silicon is possible with atomic resists, area-selective surface chemistry, and a limited set of hydride and halide precursor molecules, in a process known as atomic precision advanced manufacturing (APAM). It is desirable to expand this set of precursors to include dopants with organic functional groups and here we consider aluminium alkyls, to expand the applicability of APAM. We explore the impurity content and selectivity that results from using trimethyl aluminium and triethyl aluminium precursors on Si(001) to ultradope with aluminium through a hydrogen mask.

Pharmacophore-Based Virtual Screening for Identification of Negative Modulators of GLI1 as Potential Anticancer Agents.

Starting from known GLI1 inhibitors, a pharmacophore-based virtual screening approach was applied to databases of commercially available compounds with the aim of identifying new GLI1 modulators. As a result, three different chemical scaffolds emerged that were characterized by a significant ability to reduce the transcriptional activity of the endogenous Hedgehog-GLI pathway and GLI1 protein level in murine NIH3T3 cells. They also showed a micromolar antiproliferative activity in human melanoma (A375) and medulloblastoma (DAOY) cell lines, without cytotoxicity in non-neoplastic mammary epithelial cells.

Transcarotid Endovascular Repair of Extracranial Internal Carotid Artery Aneurysms Using Flow Reversal for Distal Embolic Protection.

Extracranial carotid artery aneurysms (ECAAs) have a low incidence between 0.4% and 4% of all peripheral artery aneurysms and involving 0.1-2% of all carotid artery procedures.

Mesenteric lymph nodes as alternative site for pancreatic islet transplantation in a diabetic rat model.

Background: Islet transplantation has progressively become a safe alternative to pancreas transplantation for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. However, the long-term results of islet transplantation could be significantly increased by improving the quality of the islet isolation technique even exploring alternative islet transplantation sites to reduce the number of islets required to mitigate hyperglycemia. The goal of the study was to test the lymph node as a suitable anatomical location for islet engraftment in a rodent model.

Quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the impact of the G2 enhancer, bead sizes and lysing tubes on the bacterial community composition during DNA extraction from recalcitrant soil core samples based on community sequencing and qPCR.

Soil DNA extraction encounters numerous challenges that can affect both yield and purity of the recovered DNA. Clay particles lead to reduced DNA extraction efficiency, and PCR inhibitors from the soil matrix can negatively affect downstream analyses when applying DNA sequencing. Further, these effects impede molecular analysis of bacterial community compositions in lower biomass samples, as often observed in deeper soil layers.

Abdominal CT Scan Findings of Decompression Sickness: A Case Report.

This case report depicts the radiologic findings of a 51-year-old male presenting with Decompression Sickness. Decompression Sickness is diagnosed clinically, therefore radiologic imaging of this disease entity is limited. Our patient's history includes a scuba dive to depth of 110 feet with a descending time of 24 minutes and an ascending time of 8 minutes.

Combining Abiraterone and Radiotherapy in Prostate Cancer Patients Who Progressed During Abiraterone Therapy.

Background/aim: This multicenter, retrospective, 'field-practice' study investigated treatment outcomes of ongoing abiraterone therapy with the addition of radiotherapy (RT) - initiated for oligoprogression or with a palliative intent.

Patients And Methods: Consecutive patients affected by metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) treated with abiraterone acetate were considered if they had received RT after the initiation of abiraterone treatment.

Results: A total of 32 patients were enrolled in the study.

Psychological perspective of medication adherence in transplantation.

Aim: To identify the risk factors and the post-transplant psychological symptoms that affect adherence to therapy in a population of kidney transplant recipients.

Methods: The study examined the psychological variables likely responsible for the non-adherent behavior using a psychological-psychiatric assessment, evaluation of the perception of patients' health status, and an interview regarding the anti-rejection drug therapy assumption. The study included 74 kidney transplant recipients.

Low dose rate brachytherapy (LDR-BT) as monotherapy for early stage prostate cancer in Italy: practice and outcome analysis in a series of 2237 patients from 11 institutions.

Objective: Low-dose-rate brachytherapy (LDR-BT) in localized prostate cancer is available since 15 years in Italy. We realized the first national multicentre and multidisciplinary data collection to evaluate LDR-BT practice, given as monotherapy, and outcome in terms of biochemical failure.

Methods: Between May 1998 and December 2011, 2237 patients with early-stage prostate cancer from 11 Italian community and academic hospitals were treated with iodine-125 ((125)I) or palladium-103 LDR-BT as monotherapy and followed up for at least 2 years.

Tandem mass spectrometry in an electrostatic linear ion trap modified for surface-induced dissociation.

A variety of ion traps are used in mass spectrometry. A key feature shared by most of them is the ability to perform tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). The Orbitrap is perhaps the most notable ion trap in which MS/MS has yet to be performed.

SOX2 regulates self-renewal and tumorigenicity of human melanoma-initiating cells.

Melanoma is one of the most aggressive types of human cancer, characterized by enhanced heterogeneity and resistance to conventional therapy at advanced stages. We and others have previously shown that HEDGEHOG-GLI (HH-GLI) signaling is required for melanoma growth and for survival and expansion of melanoma-initiating cells (MICs). Recent reports indicate that HH-GLI signaling regulates a set of genes typically expressed in embryonic stem cells, including SOX2 (sex-determining region Y (SRY)-Box2).

Hypoxia-resistant profile implies vulnerability of cancer stem cells to physiological agents, which suggests new therapeutic targets.

We have previously shown that peculiar metabolic features of cell adaptation and survival in hypoxia imply growth restriction points that are typical of embryonic stem cells and disappear with differentiation. Here we provide evidence that such restrictions can be exploited as specific antiblastic targets by physiological factors such as pyruvate, tetrahydrofolate, and glutamine. These metabolites act as powerful cytotoxic agents on cancer stem cells (CSCs) when supplied at doses that perturb the biochemical network, sustaining the resumption of aerobic growth after the hypoxic dormant state.

Absorption mode Fourier transform electrostatic linear ion trap mass spectrometry.

In Fourier transform mass spectrometry, it is well-known that plotting the spectrum in absorption mode rather than magnitude mode has several advantages. However, magnitude spectra remain commonplace due to difficulties associated with determining the phase of each frequency at the onset of data acquisition, which is required for generating absorption spectra. The phasing problem for electrostatic traps is much simpler than for Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) instruments, which greatly simplifies the generation of absorption spectra.

Nondestructive tandem mass spectrometry using a linear quadrupole ion trap coupled to a linear electrostatic ion trap.

A novel hybrid tandem mass spectrometer is presented that combines a linear quadrupole ion trap (QLIT) with a linear electrostatic ion trap (ELIT), which is composed of opposing ion mirrors. The QLIT is used both as an accumulation device for the pulsed injection of ions into the ELIT and as a collision cell for ions released from the ELIT and back into the QLIT. Ions are subjected to mass analysis in the ELIT via Fourier transformation of the time-domain signal obtained from an image current measurement using a pick-up electrode in the field-free region of the ELIT.

Culture and isolation of melanoma-initiating cells.

Melanoma is the most aggressive skin cancer. This unit illustrates protocols for culture and isolation of human melanoma cancer stem cells/tumor-initiating cells (CSC/TIC). We describe two complementary methods to enrich for melanoma CSC/TIC.