Identification of a New Promising BAG3 Modulator Featuring the Imidazopyridine Scaffold.

The antiapoptotic BAG3 protein plays a crucial role in cellular proteostasis and it is involved in several signalling pathways governing cell proliferation and survival. Owing to its multimodular structure, it possesses an extensive interactome including the molecular chaperone HSP70 and other specific cellular partners, which make it an eminent factor in several pathologies, particularly in cancer. Despite its potential as a therapeutic target, very few BAG3 modulators have been disclosed so far.

Methanolic Extract of the Nutritional Plant ( Thunb.) Exhibits Anticancer Activity by Inducing Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Colorectal Cancer Cells.

, the most widely cultivated species of persimmon, has been long used in traditional medicine since its leaves' extracts contain high amounts of flavonoids and terpenoids, endowed with several beneficial effects. However, its anticancer activity towards colorectal cancer (CRC) has not been investigated in depth. The effect of a methanolic extract of leaves, rich in kaempferol and quercetin derivatives, have been evaluated on an E705 CRC cell line, representative of most CRC patients, and on SW480 cells, carrying a KRAS-activating mutation.

Magnetic Memory Effects in BaFe(AsP) Superconducting Single Crystal.

Among many iron-based superconductors, isovalently substituted BaFe(AsP) displays, for ≈ 0.3, apart from the quite usual Second Magnetization Peak (SMP) in the field dependence of the critical current density, an unusual peak effect in the temperature dependence of the critical current density in the constant field, which is related to the rhombic-to-square (RST) structural transition of the Bragg vortex glass (BVG). By using multi-harmonic AC susceptibility investigations in three different cooling regimes-field cooling, zero-field cooling, and field cooling with measurements during warming up-we have discovered the existence of a temperature region in which there is a pronounced magnetic memory effect, which we attributed to the direction of the structural transition.

Three-Dimensional Printed Nanocomposites with Tunable Piezoresistive Response.

This study explores a novel approach to obtaining 3D printed strain sensors, focusing on how changing the printing conditions can produce a different piezoresistive response. Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) filled with different weight concentrations of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was printed in the form of dog bones via fused filament fabrication (FFF) using two different raster angles (0-90°). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) in TUNA mode (TUNA-AFM) were used to study the morphological features and the electrical properties of the 3D printed samples.

Solar Light Elimination of Bacteria, Yeast and Organic Pollutants by Effective Photocatalysts Based on Ag/Cr-TiO and Pd/Cr-TiO.

This study focused on searching for more effective nanomaterials for environmental remediation and health protection; thus, coliform bacteria, yeast and the organic food dye sunset yellow were selected as target pollutants to be eliminated under solar light by Ag/Cr-TiO and Pd/Cr-TiO. Firstly, Cr was in situ incorporated into the anatase crystalline lattice by the sol-gel method; then, Ag or Pd nanoparticles were deposited on Cr-TiO by chemical photoreduction. The scientific challenge addressed by the development of these composites was to analyse the recovery of Cr, to be employed in photocatalyst formulation and the enhancement of the TiO photocatalytic activity by addition of other noble metals.

Nanosomes in Precision Nanomedicine.

Nanosomes are vesicles that can be used in precision nanomedicine to deliver active pharmaceutical ingredients to specific cells or tissues; they are designed to improve the efficacy and safety of drug delivery systems [...

Metabolomics of Withania somnifera L. extracts by an integrated LC-MS and NMR approach and evaluation of their tyrosinase inhibitory activity.

Withania somnifera L. (Solanaceae), for over 3000 years, has been considered an essential herb in Ayurvedic medicine. The roots of W.

Blueberry extract loaded into rice milk/alginate-based hydrogels as pH-sensitive systems to monitor the freshness of minced chicken.

Hydrogel beads from rice milk and blueberry (BB) skins were fabricated as novel bio-based pH-sensitive devices. The encapsulation of BB into rice milk/alginate beads was achieved through a simple methodology. The colourimetric response of beads in different pH media was evaluated along with the proof of reusability, showing appropriate reversibility.

Effect of electrostatic confinement on the dome-shaped superconducting phase diagram at the LaAlO/SrTiO interface.

The two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the LaAlO[Formula: see text]/SrTiO[Formula: see text] (LAO/STO) interface exhibits gate-tunable superconductivity with a dome-like shape of critical temperature as a function of electron concentration. This behavior has not been unambiguously explained yet. Here, we develop a microscopic model based on the Schrödinger-Poisson approach to determine the electronic structure of the LAO/STO 2DEG, which we then apply to study the principal characteristics of the superconducting phase within the real-space pairing mean-field approach.

Dirac-Like Fermions Anomalous Magneto-Transport in a Spin-Polarized Oxide 2D Electron System.

In a 2D electron system (2DES) the breaking of the inversion, time-reversal and bulk crystal-field symmetries is interlaced with the effects of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) triggering exotic quantum phenomena. Here, epitaxial engineering is used to design and realize a 2DES characterized simultaneously by ferromagnetic order, large Rashba SOC and hexagonal band warping at the (111) interfaces between LaAlO, EuTiO, and SrTiO insulators. The 2DES displays anomalous quantum corrections to the magneto-conductance driven by the time-reversal-symmetry breaking occurring below the magnetic transition temperature.

Chemical Profiling of Polar Lipids and the Polyphenolic Fraction of Commercial Italian Seeds by UHPLC-HRMS and Biological Evaluation.

The common bean ( L.) is one of the oldest food crops in the world. In this study, the ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) technique was used to characterize the polar lipid composition and polyphenolic fraction of five bean varieties commonly consumed in Italy: Cannellino (PVCA), Controne (PVCO), Borlotti (PVBO), Stregoni (PVST), and Vellutina (PVVE).

Silver-Doped Reduced Graphene Oxide/PANI-DBSA-PLA Composite 3D-Printed Supercapacitors.

This study presents a novel approach to the development of high-performance supercapacitors through 3D printing technology. We synthesized a composite material consisting of silver-doped reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid (DBSA)-doped polyaniline (PANI), which was further blended with polylactic acid (PLA) for additive manufacturing. The composite was extruded into filaments and printed into circular disc electrodes using fused deposition modeling (FDM).

Evaluating microplastic emission from takeaway containers: A Micro-Raman approach across diverse exposure scenarios.

Based on inconsistencies observed in literature regarding microplastic levels released by takeaway plastic containers, this study investigates the release from takeaway containers composed of polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). To simulate real-world conditions, experiments were conducted using Milli-Q water at room temperature, 100 °C, and at pH 4.5.

Leveraging the potential of 1.0-mm i.d. columns in UHPLC-HRMS-based untargeted metabolomics.

Untargeted metabolomics UHPLC-HRMS workflows typically employ narrowbore 2.1-mm inner diameter (i.d.

Domain embeddings for generating complex descriptions of concepts in Italian language.

In this work, we propose a Distributional Semantic resource enriched with linguistic and lexical information extracted from electronic dictionaries. This resource is designed to bridge the gap between the continuous semantic values represented by distributional vectors and the discrete descriptions provided by general semantics theory. Recently, many researchers have focused on the connection between embeddings and a comprehensive theory of semantics and meaning.

Analysis of single vehicle noise emissions in the frequency domain for two different motorizations.

Environmental noise, primarily attributed to the road transportation system, poses a significant challenge in Europe, impacting the quality of life for millions. Therefore, a thorough characterization of noise emissions from road transportation sources is needed to stem this problem. This investigation aims to fill a gap in the literature regarding single-vehicle noise emissions in the frequency domain.

Thermo- and Photoresponsive Smart Nanomaterial Based on Poly(diethyl vinyl phosphonate)-Capped Gold Nanoparticles.

A new nanodevice based on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) capped with poly(diethylvinylphosphonate) (PDEVP) has been synthesized, showing interesting photophysical and thermoresponsive properties. The synthesis involves a properly designed Yttriocene catalyst coordinating the vinyl-lutidine (VL) initiator active in diethyl vinyl phosphonate polymerization. The unsaturated PDEVP chain ending was thioacetylated, deacetylated, and reacted with tetrachloroauric acid and sodium borohydride to form PDEVP-VL-capped AuNPs.

Synthesis and Characterization of β-Myrcene-Styrene and β-Ocimene-Styrene Copolymers.

The structure-properties relationships of sustainable materials derived from biomass-based monomers are investigated, focusing on hybrid styrene/terpene-based copolymers with blocky microstructures, such as β-myrcene- and β-ocimene-styrene copolymers. The samples show complex glass transition dynamics, as evidenced by the physical aging experienced by the amorphous phase in styrene-rich copolymers. The tendency of styrene- and terpene-rich sequences to give heterogeneous morphologies with correlation strength extending over 10-40 nm is outlined, through small-angle X-ray scattering analysis.

Identification of Honokiol-Based Scaffold to Design Tankyrase 1/2 Inhibitors by In Silico and In Vitro Studies.

Recently, we identified magnolol bioinspired derivatives as new Tankyrase 1/2 (TNKS1/2) inhibitors by our Inverse Virtual Screening protocol. Based on these findings, in the present contribution, we enlarged our investigation of neolignans to the natural product honokiol (1) and a group of its analogues (2-8). By integrating in silico analysis and Surface Plasmon Resonance experiments, we investigated the binding of tested compounds against biological target under investigations.