Mechanochemical Preparation of Magnetically Separable Fe and Cu-Based Bimetallic Nanocatalysts for Vanillin Production.

A highly sustainable method for the preparation of supported iron oxide and copper nanoparticles (NPs) on a biomass-derived carbon by solvent-free mechanochemical process is reported. In-situ mechanochemically obtained extracts from orange peel could behave as a green reducing agent, allowing the formation of Cu metal nanoparticles as well as generating a magnetic phase (magnetite) in the systems via partial Fe reduction. At the same time, orange peel residues also served as template and carbon source, adding oxygen functionalities, which were found to benefit the catalytic performance of mechanochemically synthesized nanomaterials.

Metal-Catalyzed Hydride Transfer from Alcohols to Photoexcited Dipyridophenazine.

Dipyridophenazine (dppz) is known to react with alcohols upon photoexcitation into an n-π* transition at 378 nm to yield dihydrodipyridophenazine (dppzH ). This process occurs via H-atom abstraction from alcohols and subsequent disproportionation of the dppzH radical species, to the final product. This reaction shows a primary kinetic isotope effect (KIE = 4.

Silibinin as potential tool against SARS-Cov-2: In silico spike receptor-binding domain and main protease molecular docking analysis, and in vitro endothelial protective effects.

The spread of SARS-CoV-2, along with the lack of targeted medicaments, encouraged research of existing drugs for repurposing. The rapid response to SARS-CoV-2 infection comprises a complex interaction of cytokine storm, endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, and pathologic coagulation. Thus, active molecules targeting multiple steps in SARS-CoV-2 lifecycle are highly wanted.

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of 2,3,4-Triaryl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-ones as p38 MAPK Inhibitors.

A series of azastilbene derivatives, characterized by the presence of the 1,2,4-oxadiazole-5-one system as a linker of the two aromatic rings of stilbenes, have been prepared as novel potential inhibitors of p38 MAPK. Biological assays indicated that some of the synthesized compounds are endowed with good inhibitory activity towards the kinase. Molecular modeling data support the biological results showing that the designed compounds possess a reasonable binding mode in the ATP binding pocket of p38α kinase with a good binding affinity.

No Evidence of Perceptual Pseudoneglect in Alexithymia.

Neuroscience research links alexithymia, the difficulty in identifying and describing feelings and emotions, with left hemisphere dominance and/or right hemisphere deficit. To provide behavioral evidence for this neuroscientific hypothesis, we explored the relationship between alexithymia and performance in a line bisection task, a standard method for evaluating visuospatial processing in relation to right hemisphere functioning. We enrolled 222 healthy participants who completed a version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), which measures alexithymia, and were asked to mark (bisect) the center of a 10-cm horizontal segment.

Ca Complexation With Relevant Bioligands in Aqueous Solution: A Speciation Study With Implications for Biological Fluids.

A speciation study on the interaction between Ca and ligands of biological interest in aqueous solution is reported. The ligands under study are l-cysteine (), d-penicillamine (), reduced glutathione (), and oxidized glutathione (). From the elaboration of the potentiometric experimental data the most likely speciation patterns obtained are characterized by only protonated species with a 1:1 metal to ligand ratio.

Do Different Models Induce Changes in Mortality Indicators? That Is a Key Question for Extending the Lee-Carter Model.

The parametric model introduced by Lee and Carter in 1992 for modeling mortality rates in the USA was a seminal development in forecasting life expectancies and has been widely used since then. Different extensions of this model, using different hypotheses about the data, constraints on the parameters, and appropriate methods have led to improvements in the model's fit to historical data and the model's forecasting of the future. This paper's main objective is to evaluate if differences between models are reflected in different mortality indicators' forecasts.

The effect of hydrogen bonds on the ultrafast relaxation dynamics of a BODIPY dimer.

The influence of hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) in the structure, dynamics, and functionality of biological and artificial complex systems is the subject of intense investigation. In this broad context, particular attention has recently been focused on the ultrafast H-bond dependent dynamical properties in the electronic excited state because of their potentially dramatic consequences on the mechanism, dynamics, and efficiency of photochemical reactions and photophysical processes of crucial importance for life and technology. Excited-state H-bond dynamics generally occur on ultrafast time scales of hundreds of femtoseconds or less, making the characterization of associated mechanisms particularly challenging with conventional time-resolved techniques.

DECISA Project (DErmatology Clinics in Italy: Survey on Alitretinoin): A real-life retrospective cohort multicenter study on 438 subjects with chronic hand eczema.

Alitretinoin is the only systemic agent approved to treat moderate-severe chronic hand eczema (CHE) unresponsive to potent topical corticosteroids. No nationwide Italian data regarding real-life efficacy, safety, and tolerability of treatment are available. The DECISA project (DErmatology Clinics in Italy: Survey on Alitretinoin) retrospectively examined data from a registry including 15 Dermatology Clinics authorized to prescription of alitretinoin for CHE patients.

Removal of melatonin receptor type 1 signalling induces dyslipidaemia and hormonal changes in mice subjected to environmental circadian disruption.

Background: Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland in a circadian rhythmic manner with peak synthesis at night. Melatonin signalling was suggested to play a critical role in metabolism during the circadian disruption.

Methods: Melatonin-proficient (C3H-f or WT) and melatonin receptor type 1 knockout (MT KO) male and female mice were phase-advanced (6 hours) once a week for 6 weeks.

Anthropogenic Infection of Cats during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic.

COVID-19 is a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) caused by a new coronavirus (CoV), SARS-CoV-2, which is closely related to SARS-CoV that jumped the animal-human species barrier and caused a disease outbreak in 2003. SARS-CoV-2 is a betacoronavirus that was first described in 2019, unrelated to the commonly occurring feline coronavirus (FCoV) that is an alphacoronavirus associated with feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). SARS-CoV-2 is highly contagious and has spread globally within a few months, resulting in the current pandemic.

Clinical Features of Patients With Cervical Artery Dissection and Fibromuscular Dysplasia.

Background And Purpose: Observational studies have suggested a link between fibromuscular dysplasia and spontaneous cervical artery dissection (sCeAD). However, whether patients with coexistence of the two conditions have distinctive clinical characteristics has not been extensively investigated.

Methods: In a cohort of consecutive patients with first-ever sCeAD, enrolled in the setting of the multicenter IPSYS CeAD study (Italian Project on Stroke in Young Adults Cervical Artery Dissection) between January 2000 and June 2019, we compared demographic and clinical characteristics, risk factor profile, vascular pathology, and midterm outcome of patients with coexistent cerebrovascular fibromuscular dysplasia (cFMD; cFMD+) with those of patients without cFMD (cFMD-).

Could thermodynamics and heat and mass transfer research produce a fundamental step advance toward and significant reduction of SARS-COV-2 spread?

We are living an extraordinary season of uncertainty and danger, which is caused by SARS-Cov-2 infection and consequent COVID-19 infection. This preliminary study comes from both a mix of entrepreneurial experience and scientific research. It is aimed by the exigency to reach a new and more effective analysis of the risks on the filed and to reduce them inside a necessary cooperation process which may regard both research and some of the economic activities which are damaged by passive protection measures such as indiscriminate lockdowns.

Fast transport of HCl across a hydrophobic layer over macroscopic distances by using a Pt(II) compound as the transporter: micro- and nanometric aggregates as effective transporters.

Bis-(diethyl-dithioxamidate)platinum(ii) is able to transport HCl from the donor aqueous phase to the receiving one over a mean distance of 12 cm in about 3 minutes across an organic membrane in the bulk, without stirring of the organic phase, i.e. at a rate far exceeding the unidirectional macroscopic diffusion coefficient.

Stimuli-Responsive Internally Ion-Paired Supramolecular Polymer Based on a Bis-pillar[5]arene Dicarboxylic Acid Monomer.

A novel bis-pillar[5]arene dicarboxylic acid self-assembles in the presence of 1,12-diaminododecane to yield overall neutral, internally ion-paired supramolecular polymers. Their aggregation, binding mode, and morphology can be tuned by external stimuli such as solvent polarity, concentration, and base treatment.

Evaluation of the status quo of polyphenols analysis: Part II-Analysis methods and food processing effects.

Nowadays due to the concern with the environmental impact of analytical techniques and in order to reduce the ecological footprint there is a tendency to use more efficient and faster procedures that use a smaller amount of organic solvents. Polyphenols have been widely studied in plant-based matrices due to their wide and potent biological properties; however there are no standardized procedures both for sample preparation and analysis of these compounds. The second of a two-part review will carry out a critical review of the extraction procedures and analytical methods applied to polyphenols and their selection criteria over a wide range of factors in relation to commerce-associated, environmental, and economic factors.

Atoms in separated resonators can jointly absorb a single photon.

The coherent nonlinear process where a single photon simultaneously excites two or more two-level systems (qubits) in a single-mode resonator has recently been theoretically predicted. Here we explore the case where the two qubits are placed in different resonators in an array of two or three weakly coupled resonators. Investigating different setups and excitation schemes, we show that this process can still occur with a probability approaching one under specific conditions.

[Therapeutic options to reduce arterial stiffness in chronic kidney disease].

Chronic kidney disease is associated with an increased cardiovascular risk. Several uremic toxins are also vascular toxins and may contribute to the increase of the cardiovascular risk through the development of aortic stiffening. In this process, oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction play an important role.

Stereotactic Radiotherapy for the Treatment of Patients With Oligo-progressive Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Receiving Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor: Data From the Real World.

Aim: This retrospective observational study evaluated the role of hypo-fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) in patients with oligo-progressive metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) treated with first-line oral tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). Data on local control, delay of further progression, and safety are reported.

Patients And Methods: Between January 2010 and December 2016, 28 patients with mRCC who showed oligo-progressive disease while receiving first-line pazopanib were treated with hypofractionated SRT to progressive metastatic sites to delay the change of systemic therapy.

Spreading of Competing Information in a Network.

We propose a simple approach to investigate the spreading of news in a network. In more detail, we consider two different versions of a single type of information, one of which is close to the essence of the information (and we call it ), and another of which is somehow modified from some biased agent of the system (, in our language). Good and fake news move around some agents, getting the original information and returning their own version of it to other agents of the network.

Müller-Weiss disease: Four case reports.

Background: Müller-Weiss disease (MWD) is an idiopathic foot condition characterized by spontaneous tarsal "scaphoiditis" in adults. Frequently bilateral and affecting females during the 4-6 decades of life, the pathogenesis of MWD remains unclear: It has been traditionally considered a spontaneous osteonecrosis of the navicular. The typical presentation of MWD is a long period of subtle discomfort followed by prolonged standing, atraumatic, disabling pain.

Evaluation of PD1 and PD-L1 expression in high-grade sarcomas of the limbs in the adults: possible implications of immunotherapy.

Sarcomas are a heterogeneous group of rare tumours. Improvements in immunotherapy and the important role of PD1 and PD-L1 expression in advancement and prognosis have opened new fields of research for the treatment of these neoplasia. We evaluated the immunohistochemistry of PD1 and PD-L1 expression in 60 adults' patients affected by high-grade sarcomas of the limbs.

Store-Operated Calcium Entry as a Therapeutic Target in Acute Pancreatitis: Discovery and Development of Drug-Like SOCE Inhibitors.

Store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) is important in the maintenance of calcium homeostasis and alterations in this mechanism are responsible for several pathological conditions, including acute pancreatitis. Since the discovery of SOCE, many inhibitors have been identified and extensively used as chemical probes to better elucidate the role played by this cellular mechanism. Nevertheless, only a few have demonstrated drug-like properties so far.

Intelligent non-colorimetric indicators for the perishable supply chain by non-wovens with photo-programmed thermal response.

Spoiled perishable products, such as food and drugs exposed to inappropriate temperature, cause million illnesses every year. Risks range from intoxication due to pathogen-contaminated edibles, to suboptimal potency of temperature-sensitive vaccines. High-performance and low-cost indicators are needed, based on conformable materials whose properties change continuously and irreversibly depending on the experienced time-temperature profile.

Hypersensitivity reactions to proton pump inhibitors in childhood.

Hypersensitivity reactions (HRs) to proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are mainly described in adults. Anyway, increased use of PPIs in childhood has been observed in recent years. In the literature, only case reports are published on children.