Palladium-catalyzed hydroarylation of alkynes with arenediazonium salts.

The palladium-catalyzed hydroarylation of arenediazonium tetrafluoroborates with alkynes in the presence of triphenylsilane affords stereoselectively hydroarylation products in moderate to high yields. The reaction tolerates a variety of substituents including keto, ester, cyano, and nitro groups and can be performed as a one-pot procedure generating the arenediazonium salt in situ. With ethyl phenylpropynoate as the starting alkyne, the hydroarylation affords ethyl (Z)-2-arylcinnamates stereo- and regioselectively.

Facile and highly stereoselective one-pot synthesis of either (E)- or (Z)-nitro alkenes.

Aliphatic aldehydes were reacted with nitro alkanes in the presence of catalytic amounts of piperidine over 4 A molecular sieves. Simply by changing reaction conditions (solvent and temperature) it is possible to control the stereochemical outcome of the reactions, obtaining pure (E)- and (Z)-nitro alkenes in high to excellent yields. The role of molecular sieves on the stereochemical control seems crucial in addition to that of piperidine, especially for the synthesis of the Z isomer.

Use of interleukin-2 in the management of haematological malignancies: focus on minimal residual disease.

Interleukin (IL)-2 is a glycoprotein lymphokine which induces proliferation of all subclasses of T-lymphocytes, natural killer cells and lymphokine activated killer cells, differentiation of cytotoxic cells and secretion of other cytokines, especially interferon-gamma. A fundamental property of IL-2 activated effector cells is to selectively lyse freshly isolated tumour cells. Work carried out on animal tumour models and application in human therapeutics has suggested the potential value of an immunotherapeutic approach in haematological malignancies, especially in the setting of minimal residual disease.

The effects of a sensitisation campaign on unrecognised migraine: the Casilino study.

A striking feature of migraine is the difference between the estimated migraine prevalence and the actual number of migraineurs consulting their general practitioners (GPs). We investigated the impact of a sensitisation campaign on migraine in a large cohort of patients, living in a district of Rome. The study involved 10 GPs and a population of about 12 000 people, contacted by mail and posters located in GP clinics.

Apyap1 affects aflatoxin biosynthesis during Aspergillus parasiticus growth in maize seeds.

It is demonstrated that, in fungal cells grown in synthetic media, the Apyap1 gene is implicated in the modulation of aflatoxin biosynthesis following the perturbation of redox balance. This study suggests that an association between oxidative stress and aflatoxin biosynthesis also occurs in maize seeds. We used DeltaApyap1, a strain in which the gene Apyap1 was disrupted, to verify whether this oxidative stress-related transcription factor, by affecting cell redox balance, can have a role in the modulation of aflatoxin synthesis.

Perforated jejuneal diverticulosis. Case report and review of literature.

Acquired (non-Meckel's) jejunoileal diverticulosis is an uncommon disease, generally characterised by vague and unspecific symptoms. This rare condition is mainly expressed as acute complications: gastrointestinal haemorrhage, mechanic obstruction of the small intestine or perforated diverticulum, requiring urgent surgical intervention. The authors report a case of this unusual clinical occurrence characterized by a picture of abdominal pain due to perforation of jejuneal diverticulum.

Synthesis of alkyl-substituted six-membered lactones through ring-closing metathesis of homoallyl acrylates. An easy route to pyran-2-ones, constituents of tobacco flavor.

The ring-closing metathesis (RCM) reactions of homoallylic acrylates bearing alkyl substituents on various positions of their skeleton afford the corresponding pentenolides in the presence of carbene ruthenium catalysts. For R3 = R4 = H, or R3 = Me, R4 = H, the reactions are catalyzed by complex [RuCl2(PCy3)2(=CHPh)], while a second-generation Grubbs catalyst is required when R3 = H and R4 = Me, R3 = R4 = Me, or R3 = i-Pr and R4 = H. Alkyl substitution at the homoallylic carbon (R1, R2) increases the yield of the reaction when both the acrylic and/or homoallylic double bonds are methyl-substituted.

[Child abuse: imaging of multiorgan damages].

An abused child can present with every lesion known to medicine, but some of these lesions can be specific of child abuse. The most frequent skeletal lesions are that of the long bones, of the head and the chest. Head damages are responsible for 80% of the dead in abused child.

Underuse of oral anticoagulants in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation in Italy.

Introduction: Oral anticoagulants (OAs) are significantly more effective than Aspirin in the prevention of cerebrovascular accidents among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Several studies, however, showed OAs to be widely underused in these patients.

Objective: To assess the appropriateness of antithrombotic therapy in an Italian population of AF patients.

[Transfixed stitches technique versus open haemorrhoidectomy. Results of a randomised trial].

Nowadays different surgical techniques are available for the treatment of haemorrhoids even if a general, international consensus is still lacking. The authors, through a personal interpretation of haemorrhoids based on the PATE 2000 Sorrento classification, report on a comparative trial of haemorrhoidectomy by the transfixed stitches technique versus an open surgical technique (Milligan-Morgan). Particular attention was devoted in this prospective randomised trial to analysing the early postoperative side effects (bleeding, urinary retention), the time taken to return to active life and wound healing.

Evaluation of carboplatin pharmacokinetics in pediatric oncology by means of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

Carboplatin is widely used in pediatric oncology to treat different tumors. Aim of the present study was to assess the potential of sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SF-ICPMS) in evaluating the area under the plasma platinum concentration vs time curve in pediatric patients presenting solid tumors and treated with carboplatin 349-1000 mg m-2. Seventeen patients were enrolled and 23 courses of chemotherapy were evaluated.

[Pathophysiological and clinical trials of the abdominal compartment syndrome].

The abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) is defined a situation of high degrade abdominal hypertension (IAH) with clinicals signs of multiorganic dysfunction. It's observed like in the intensive care, in particular surgycals and postraumatics, there is ever a bigger frequence of complications presented by criticals patients. The various trials remark a changeable incidence, but the common factor is characterized by a particular severity of scores.

Tacrine derivatives-acetylcholinesterase interaction: 1H NMR relaxation study.

Two acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors structurally related to Tacrine, 6-methoxytacrine (1a) and 9-heptylamino-6-methoxytacrine (1b), and their interaction with Electrophorus Electricus AChE were investigated. The complete assignment of the 1H and 13C NMR spectra of 1a and 1b was performed by mono-dimensional and homo- and hetero-correlated two-dimensional NMR experiments. This study was undertaken to elucidate the interaction modes between AChE and 1a and 1b in solution, using NMR.

Spigelian hernia: a case report and review of the literature.

Spigelian hernia is a rare abdominal hernia that occurs through Spigelian aponeurosis. The Authors present a case of Spigelian hernia associated with narrowing of sigmoid colon and diverticular pathology. They also described historical background, surgical anatomy and etiopathogenesis of this hernia.

[Efficacy of anal dilators in the treatment of acute anal fissure. A controlled clinical trial].

Procedures involving the use of anal dilators or topical nitroderivatives for the treatment of anal fissure are efficacious, economic and safe. The aim of our study was to compare the efficacy of two conservative treatments - passive dilation with anal dilators or topical nitroderivatives - in reducing anal pressure and resolving anal fissures. A total of 40 patients with a clinical diagnosis of acute anal fissure in the absence of hypotonic anal sphincter, abscess or perianal fistula, haemorrhoidal thrombosis, chronic inflammatory bowel disease or lower gastrointestinal neoplasia were randomly assigned to treatment with dilators (20 patients) or topical nitroderivatives (20 patients).

[Colorectal cancer surgery. Analysis of risk factors in relation to incidence of morbidity and mortality].

The aim of the study was to investigate risk factors in relation to the incidence of morbidity and mortality in surgery for colorectal cancer. Between 1986-2005, 328 patients underwent colorectal cancer surgery, 308 of whom (93.9%) in elective and 20 (6.

Cardiac protection by volatile anaesthetics: a multicentre randomized controlled study in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting with cardiopulmonary bypass.

Background And Objectives: To evaluate the effects of total intravenous anaesthesia vs. volatile anaesthesia on cardiac troponin release in coronary artery bypass grafting with cardiopulmonary bypass, we performed a multicentre randomized controlled study to compare postoperative cardiac troponin release in patients receiving two different anaesthesia plans.

Methods: We randomly assigned 75 patients to propofol (intravenous anaesthetic) and 75 patients to desflurane (volatile anaesthetic) in addition to an opiate-based anaesthesia for coronary artery bypass grafting.

[Congenital intestinal malformations: clinical evaluation and specific treatment. Case report and literature review].

A case of acute abdomen due to diastasic perforation of the right colon by volvulus on mesenterium commune with associated agenesis of the left kidney and urogenital malformations in a young woman is reported. The case emphasizes the complexity and the polymorphism of congenital abdominal malformations, particularly predisposing to volvulus, that can represent a really challenge for emergency surgeon. The A.

[Development of an informatic model for monitoring and clinical and epidemiological evaluation of acute intoxication in Emergency Departments in Italy].

Data collection at Emergency Departments (ED), especially with regard to toxicological aspects, is usually incomplete; they further deteriorate following the recent diffusion of data processing and retrieval systems, possibly different from region to region. The present paper deals with the setting of a computer program, specific for toxicological patients, easy to access from the general data collection system.

Parallel solution-phase synthesis of acrylonitrile scaffolds carrying L-alpha-amino acidic or D-glycosyl residues.

A practical and straightforward protocol for the preparation of a solution-phase library of acrylonitrile scaffolds is reported. Target compounds were obtained in high yield, stereoselectivity, and purity by two simple and practical steps from cyanoacetic acid. Moreover, our study proposes a synthetic approach starting from the constructed library to obtain three-membered heterocycles.

[ADHD and multimodal intervention].

During the year 2003, the National Register of the Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been implemented in Italy. It was commissioned by the Ministry of Health to the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, which is its leading technical and scientific body, with the aim to set up a sound database gathering detailed information on the prescription of Ritalin at the national level. The latter represents the most diffused elective drug treatment for such an early-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome.

Antisense expression of the Arabidopsis thaliana AtPGIP1 gene reduces polygalacturonase-inhibiting protein accumulation and enhances susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea.

Polygalacturonases (PGs) hydrolyze the homogalacturonan of plant cell-wall pectin and are important virulence factors of several phytopathogenic fungi. In response to abiotic and biotic stress, plants accumulate PG-inhibiting proteins (PGIPs) that reduce the activity of fungal PGs. In Arabidopsis thaliana, PGIPs with comparable activity against BcPG1, an important pathogenicity factor of the necrotrophic fungus Botrytis cinerea, are encoded by two genes, AtPGIP1 and AtPGIP2.

MDCT assessment of lung volume in patients undergoing bronchial stenting for treatment of pulmonary emphysema: correlation with respiratory tests and personal experience.

Purpose: The aid of this study was to evaluate lung volume reduction with multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) in patients with emphysema who have undergone endobronchial valve placement.

Materials And Methods: Nine patients with emphysema were studied by low-dose chest MDCT (64-slice Somatom Sensation Cardiac, Siemens) with a collimation of 64 x 0.6 mm and a slice thickness of 1 mm.

Amination of CF3-enones with nosyloxycarbamates.

CF3-enones showed a different reactivity in amination reactions with nosyloxycarbamates. 4-Oxazolines or vinyl carbamates were obtained as unique products depending on the nature of double-bond substituents and on the choice of carbamates and bases. Starting from trans-trifluoroacetyl olefins carrying a heterocyclic residue or the p-methoxyphenyl group on the double bond, a rare loss of CF3CO was observed when the aminations were performed under heterogeneous conditions using CaO as the base.