Osilodrostat improves blood pressure and glycemic control in patients with Cushing's disease: a pooled analysis of LINC 3 and LINC 4 studies.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of osilodrostat and hypercortisolism control on blood pressure (BP) and glycemic control in patients with Cushing's disease.

Methods: Pooled analysis of two Phase III osilodrostat studies (LINC 3 and LINC 4), both comprising a 48-week core phase and an optional open-label extension. Changes from baseline in systolic and diastolic BP (SBP and DBP), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and glycated hemoglobin (HbA) were evaluated during osilodrostat treatment in patients with/without hypertension or diabetes at baseline.

Anthracyclines disaggregate and restore mutant p63 function: a potential therapeutic approach for AEC syndrome.

Ankyloblepharon-Ectodermal Defects-Cleft Lip/Palate (AEC) syndrome is a rare genetic disorder caused by mutations in the TP63 gene, which encodes a transcription factor essential for epidermal gene expression. A key feature of AEC syndrome is chronic skin erosion, for which no effective treatment currently exists. Our previous studies demonstrated that mutations associated with AEC syndrome lead to p63 protein misfolding and aggregation, exerting a dominant-negative effect.

Clinically Meaningful Upstaging and Upgrading in Favorable Intermediate-Risk Radical Prostatectomy Patients.

Introduction: In NCCN favorable intermediate-risk (FIR) prostate cancer (PCa) patients treated with radical prostatectomy (RP), we tested the effect of upstaging and upgrading on cancer-specific mortality (CSM).

Methods: Within the SEER database (2010-2021), upstaging (≥pT3a or pN1) and upgrading (ISUP ≥3) rates in FIR RP patients were tabulated. Kaplan-Meier (KM) plots and multivariable Cox-regression models (CRMs) were fitted.

Biomarkers and Social Determinants in atherosclerotic Arterial Diseases: A Scoping Review.

Background: Arterial diseases like coronary artery disease, carotid stenosis, peripheral artery disease, and abdominal aortic aneurysm have high morbidity and mortality, making them key research areas. Their multifactorial nature complicates patient treatment and prevention. Biomarkers offer insights into the biochemical and molecular processes, while social factors also significantly impact patients' health and quality of life.

Hit the target: A new experimental method to select bioindicators of microplastic ingestion by marine fish.

Implementing biomonitoring programs for assessing the impact of microplastic ingestion on marine organisms is a priority to verify the effectiveness of measures adopted by legislative frameworks to deal with plastic pollution. At the European level, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive mandates Member States to establish a unified monitoring approach. However, due to the vast range and differences in marine regions, the selection of bioindicators must be tailored locally.

Synthesis of a di-O-acylated deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) derivative and evaluation of its antibacterial and antibiofilm activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia.

Herein we report the synthesis of a novel di-O-acylated DNJ derivative, conceived to study whether iminosugar derivatization with a lipophilic acyl moiety could positively affect its antibacterial properties. The well-known PS-TPP/I/ImH activating system was used to readily install the acyl chains on the iminosugar, leading to the desired compound in high yield. Biological assays revealed that a di-O-lauroyl DNJ derivative enhanced the antibacterial effect of gentamicin and amikacin against S.

Thyroid Hormone Activation Regulates the Crosstalk between Breast Cancer and Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

Background: Thyroid Hormones (THs) critically impact human cancer. Although endowed with both tumor-promoting and inhibiting effects in different cancer types, excess of THs has been linked to enhanced tumor growth and progression. Breast cancer depends on the interaction between bulk tumor cells and the surrounding microenvironment in which mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) exert powerful pro-tumorigenic activities.

Synthesis of Arginase Inhibitors: An Overview.

Arginase (ARG) is a binuclear manganese-containing metalloenzyme that can convert L-arginine to L-ornithine and urea and plays a key role in the urea cycle. It also mediates different cellular functions and processes such as proliferation, senescence, apoptosis, autophagy, and inflammatory responses in various cell types. In mammals, there are two isoenzymes, ARG-1 and ARG-2; they are functionally similar, but their coding genes, tissue distribution, subcellular localization, and molecular regulation are distinct.

Drug-Drug Interactions Between HIV Antivirals and Concomitant Drugs in HIV Patients: What We Know and What We Need to Know.

Highly active antiretroviral therapy has led to a significant increase in the life expectancy of people living with HIV. The trade-off is that HIV-infected patients often suffer from comorbidities that require additional treatment, increasing the risk of Drug-Drug Interactions (DDIs), the clinical relevance of which has often not been determined during registration trials of the drugs involved. Therefore, it is important to identify potential clinically relevant DDIs in order to establish the most appropriate therapeutic approaches.

Tiny Machine Learning Implementation for Guided Wave-Based Damage Localization.

This work leverages ultrasonic guided waves (UGWs) to detect and localize damage in structures using lightweight Artificial Intelligence (AI) models. It investigates the use of machine learning (ML) to train the effects of the damage on UGWs to the model. To reduce the number of trainable parameters, a physical signal processing approach is applied to the raw data before passing the data to the model.

Implementation and Testing of V2I Communication Strategies for Emergency Vehicle Priority and Pedestrian Safety in Urban Environments.

This paper explores the development and testing of two Internet of Things (IoT) applications designed to leverage Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communication for managing intelligent intersections. The first scenario focuses on enabling the rapid and safe passage of emergency vehicles through intersections by notifying approaching drivers via a mobile application. The second scenario enhances pedestrian safety by alerting drivers, through the same application, about the presence of pedestrians detected at crosswalks by a traffic sensor equipped with neural network capabilities.

Biomechanics Parameters of Gait Analysis to Characterize Parkinson's Disease: A Scoping Review.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by a slow, short-stepping, shuffling gait pattern caused by a combination of motor control limitations due to a reduction in dopaminergic neurons. Gait disorders are indicators of global health, cognitive status, and risk of falls and increase with disease progression. Therefore, the use of quantitative information on the gait mechanisms of PD patients is a promising approach, particularly for monitoring gait disorders and potentially informing therapeutic interventions, though it is not yet a well-established tool for early diagnosis or direct assessment of disease progression.

Advancing Insights into Pediatric Macular Diseases: A Comprehensive Review.

Pediatric macular disorders are a diverse group of inherited retinal diseases characterized by central vision loss due to dysfunction and degeneration of the macula, the region of the retina responsible for high-acuity vision. Common disorders in this category include Stargardt disease, Best vitelliform macular dystrophy, and X-linked retinoschisis. These conditions often manifest during childhood or adolescence, with symptoms such as progressive central vision loss, photophobia, and difficulty with fine visual tasks.

Therapeutic Inertia in Dyslipidemia Management for Secondary Cardiovascular Prevention: Results from the Italian ITACARE-P Network.

This study assessed the proportion of secondary cardiovascular prevention patients who achieved low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol targets as per the 2019 ESC/EAS Dyslipidemia Guidelines. We also evaluated whether lipid-lowering therapies (LLTs) were adjusted in patients not meeting targets and analyzed the likelihood of these modifications achieving recommended levels. A multicenter, cross-sectional observational study retrospectively reviewed medical records of 1909 outpatients in 9 Italian cardiac rehabilitation/secondary prevention clinics from January 2023 to June 2024.

Diagnostic Approach to Pneumonia in Immunocompromised Hosts.

In immunocompromised patients, pneumonia presents a diagnostic challenge due to diverse etiologies, nonspecific symptoms, overlapping radiological presentation, frequent co-infections, and the potential for rapid progression to severe disease. Thus, timely and accurate diagnosis of all pathogens is crucial. This narrative review explores the latest advancements in microbiological diagnostic techniques for pneumonia in immunocompromised patients.

Physiology-Versus Angiography-Guided Complete Coronary Revascularization in STEMI Patients with Multivessel Disease: A Network Meta-Analysis.

: In patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and multivessel disease (MVD), complete revascularization (CR) is recommended over culprit-only PCI to reduce adverse cardiovascular outcomes. However, the optimal strategy for CR, whether angiography (Angio)-guided or physiology-guided, remains uncertain. : This network meta-analysis included 14 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with 11,568 patients to compare the efficacy of angio-guided CR, physiology-guided CR, and culprit-only PCI in reducing major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), all-cause mortality, recurrent myocardial infarction (MI), cardiovascular (CV) death, and unplanned revascularization.

Medical Digital Twin: A Review on Technical Principles and Clinical Applications.

The usage of digital twins (DTs) is growing across a wide range of businesses. The health sector is one area where DT use has recently increased. Ultimately, the concept of digital health twins holds the potential to enhance human existence by transforming disease prevention, health preservation, diagnosis, treatment, and management.

The Effect of Zeolite Na-X and Clinoptilolite as Functional Fillers on the Mechanical, Thermal and Barrier Properties of Thermoplastic Polyurethane.

To obtain sustainable food packaging materials, alternatives to traditional ones must be researched. In this work, two different kinds of zeolites, i.e.

Immune-Boosting and Antiviral Effects of Antioxidants in COVID-19 Pneumonia: A Therapeutic Perspective.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has profoundly impacted global health, with pneumonia emerging as a major complication in severe cases. The pathogenesis of COVID-19 is marked by the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and an excessive inflammatory response, resulting in oxidative stress and significant tissue damage, particularly in the respiratory system. Antioxidants have garnered considerable attention for their potential role in managing COVID-19 pneumonia by mitigating oxidative stress and modulating immune responses.

Three Unrelated Patients of Roma Ethnicity from a Single Center Carrying the Same Deletion in Gene: A Founder Effect?

MyD88 deficiency is a rare inborn error of immunity (IEI) characterized by susceptibility to pyogenic infections without overt signs of inflammation. Half of the reported patients belong to Roma descent, an itinerant ethnic group living mostly in Europe, with an increased risk of childhood mortality due to limited access to healthcare services. We describe three unrelated patients from the Campania region in Italy with MyD88 deficiency, all belonging to Roma descent and displaying severe or recurrent infections in early infancy.

New Record of and Confirmed Occurrence of (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) as Parasitoids of (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) in Italy.

(Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) is recorded here for the first time in Italy as a parasitoid of the whitefly (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), one of the most invasive alien pests of exotic species. originating from the Oriental region, has established a global presence. Monitoring of the whitefly and its parasitoids was conducted in the southern areas of Italy, providing crucial insights into their distribution and interactions.

The Role of Butirprost as an Adjuvant in Enhancing the Effect of Antibiotics in Patients Affected by Chronic Bacterial Prostatitis: A Randomized Prospective Trial.

Bacterial prostatitis (BP) is a common prostatic infection characterized by pain and urinary symptoms, often with negative bacterial cultures from prostatic secretions. It affects young and older men bimodally and impacts quality of life (QoL) significantly. : Treatment typically involves antibiotics, but a multimodal approach with additional nutraceuticals may enhance outcomes.

Technical Report on the New Ultrasound Lateral Mid-Shaft Approach to the Sciatic Nerve: A Never-Ending Story.

The anatomy of the sciatic nerve allows it to be blocked at different levels using various anesthetic approaches. However, for several reasons, performing these approaches may be challenging or disadvantageous in specific categories of patients, particularly in obese patients. The objective of this brief technical report is to describe a new technical approach to sciatic nerve block, designed to simplify the procedure for certain categories of patients and less experienced practitioners.

Tracheostomy Practice in the Italian Intensive Care Units: A Point-Prevalence Survey.

: A tracheostomy is a frequently performed surgical intervention in intensive care units (ICUs) for patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation. This procedure can offer significant benefits, including reduced sedation requirements, improved patient comfort, and enhanced airway management. However, it is also associated with various risks, and the absence of standardized clinical guidelines complicates its implementation.