Journals
2014 EN
Fu Biao · Sahakyan Aleksandr B. · Camilloni Carlo
+5 more
Almost (all atom molecular simulation toolkit) is an open source computational package for structure determination and analysis of complex molecular systems including proteins, and nucleic acids. Almost has been designed with two primary goals: to provide tools for molecular structure determination using various types of experimental measurements as conformational restraints, and to provide methods for the analysis and assessment of structural and dynamical properties of complex molecular systems. The methods incorporated in Almost include the determination of structural and dynamical features of proteins using distance restraints derived from nuclear Overhauser effect measurements, orientational restraints obtained from residual dipolar couplings and the structural restraints from chemical shifts. Here, we present the first public release of Almost, highlight the key aspects of its computational design and discuss the main features currently implemented. Almost is available for the most common Unix-based operating systems, including Linux and Mac OS X. Almost is distributed free of charge under the GNU Public License, and is available both as a source code and as a binary executable from the project web site at http://www.open-almost.org. Interested users can follow and contribute to the further development of Almost on http://sourceforge.net/projects/almost.
Journals
2014 EN
Stroh Mark · Talaty Jennifer · Sandhu Punam
+13 more
Ridaforolimus, a unique non‐prodrug analog of rapamycin, is a potent inhibitor of mTOR under development for cancer treatment. In vitro data suggest ridaforolimus is a reversible and time‐dependent inhibitor of CYP3A. A model‐based evaluation suggested an increase in midazolam area under the curve (AUC 0– ∞ ) of between 1.13‐ and 1.25‐fold in the presence of therapeutic concentrations of ridaforolimus. The pharmacokinetic interaction between multiple oral doses of ridaforolimus and a single oral dose of midazolam was evaluated in an open‐label, fixed‐sequence study, in which cancer patients received a single oral dose of 2 mg midazolam followed by 5 consecutive daily single oral doses of 40 mg ridaforolimus with a single dose of 2 mg midazolam with the fifth ridaforolimus dose. Changes in midazolam exposure were minimal [geometric mean ratios and 90% confidence intervals: 1.23 (1.07, 1.40) for AUC 0–∞ and 0.92 (0.82, 1.03) for maximum concentrations (C max ), respectively]. Consistent with model predictions, ridaforolimus had no clinically important effect on midazolam pharmacokinetics and is not anticipated to be a perpetrator of drug–drug interactions (DDIs) when coadministered with CYP3A substrates. Model‐based approaches can provide reasonable estimates of DDI liability, potentially obviating the need to conduct dedicated DDI studies especially in challenging populations like cancer patients.
Journals
2014 EN
Venturini Massimo · Zambon Massimo · Cristel Giulia
+7 more
Cardiac surgery can have severe neurologic complications. The noninvasive monitoring of intracranial circulation during heart surgery is usually performed with transcranial Doppler ultrasonography. We present the case of a 66‐year‐old man who underwent elective cardiac surgery for aortic valve replacement and coronary artery bypass graft, in whom monitoring was performed by simultaneously assessing blood flow velocity in the central retinal artery and vein. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 42 :112–115, 2014
Journals
2014 EN
Bertolotto Michele · Borsato Antonio · Derchi Lorenzo E.
Primary lymphoma of the spermatic cord is a rare disease accounting for about 1.6% of primary spermatic cord tumors. We hereby present a new case in which color Doppler ultrasound (US), contrast‐enhanced US, and MRI suggested a specific diagnosis that was subsequently confirmed pathologically. Color Doppler US revealed mostly hypoechoic, slighly hypervascular tissue surrounding the normal spermatic vessels, which was markedly hypervascular at contrast‐enhanced US. MRI showed diffuse infiltration by homogeneously enhancing tissue surrounding the spermatic vessels hypointense to testis on T2‐weighted images, isointense on T1‐weighed images, lacking fat tissue, with relatively high signal intensity on diffusion‐weighted images. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 42 :509–512, 2014
Journals
2014 EN
Diana Michele · Pessaux Patrick · Marescaux Jacques
Laparoendoscopic single‐site surgery (LESS) aims to reduce incision‐related complications by using a single surgical access through which multiple instruments are inserted simultaneously. First descriptions of LESS procedures date back to the early 90s, but the approach initially failed to gain popularity because of technical challenges that markedly impair the principles of laparoscopic ergonomics. In recent years LESS has been increasingly applied to hepatobiliary procedures including cholecystectomies and liver resections. However, the uptake of LESS in hepatobiliary is limited. The surgical robotic platform might play a fundamental role in facilitating the uptake of LESS by the surgical community since robotic science made it possible to develop adequate technology to deal with some of the LESS issues such as restoring surgical triangulation. In this paper the current state‐of‐the‐art for robotic LESS applied to the hepatobiliary system and emerging technologies enabling safer LESS procedures have been reviewed and future perspectives commented on the light of our experience.
Journals
2014 EN
Lambertini Francesca · Di Lallo Valentina · Catellani Dante
+3 more
Primary aromatic amines (PAAs) can migrate from packaging into food from different sources such as polyurethanic adhesives used for the manufacture of multilayer films, which may contain residual aromatic isocyanates, or recycled paperboard, because of the presence of azo dyes in the printed paper massively used in the recycling process. In the present work, a reliable analytical method, exploiting a conventional high‐performance liquid chromatography‐(selected ion monitoring)‐mass spectrometry system, for PAAs compliance assessment in food contact materials was developed as an effective alternative to the current standard spectrophotometric one, moving in this way from the screening to the accurate and selective quantitation perspective for the analysis of PAAs both in aqueous and acidic food simulants. The main validation parameters were verified achieving very satisfactory results in terms of linearity range, limit of detection (ranging from 0.1 to 1.0 µg kg −1 ) and quantitation (ranging from 0.1 to 3.6 µg kg −1 ), repeatability and accuracy. Suitability of the method was demonstrated for a wide range of commercial samples, chosen among different producers of the most common used food packaging plastic and paperboard categories and then analyzed to assess the risk related to PAAs migration. Finally, the method was also successfully exploited to monitor the evolution of potential PAAs migration during the industrial curing process of multilayer plastic laminates, prior to their release for delivery to the food industry end user. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Journals
2014 EN
Ciccozzi Massimo · Ciccaglione Anna Rita · Lo Presti Alessandra
+9 more
Hepatitis B virus (HBV), is the leading cause of liver diseases infecting an estimated 240 million persons worldwide. The HBV prevalence rates are variables between different countries, with an high level of endemicity in the south‐eastern part of Europe. Seven main HBV‐D subgenotypes have been described until now (D1–D7). Turkey, seems to have played an important role in the penetration of HBV‐D1 in the Mediterranean area. The importance of Turkey in the European epidemiology of HBV is also suggested by the observation that the highest spread of HBV infection in the Continent are reported in Turkey with Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania and some southern regions of Italy. In this paper the molecular epidemiology and the epidemiological history of HBV‐D in Turkey was studied, by characterizing 34 new Turkish isolates and performing a phylogeographic reconstruction. By using a phylodynamic and phylogeographic Bayesian approach, the analysis suggested that HBV‐D1 originated in Turkey about in the early 1940s. The large prevalence of D1 in comparison to the other subgenotypes in Turkey confirms the importance of this Country as epidemiological reservoir of HBV‐D1 dispersion. The phylogeny suggests that after each initial introduction of the virus in a specific population, separate transmission clusters have been evolving along independent phylogenetic lineages. Better characterization and continuous monitoring of such groups are going to be crucial to understand in detail the epidemiology of HBV‐D1 subgenotype in Turkey and to assess the efficacy of prevention, vaccination and therapy in controlling the epidemic. J. Med. Virol. 86:109–116, 2014 . © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Journals
2014 EN
Bastos Michele S. · Lessa Natália · Naveca Felipe G.
+5 more
Acute infections of the central nervous system (CNS) can be caused by various pathogens. In this study, the presence of herpesviruses (HHV), enteroviruses (EVs), and arboviruses were investigated in CSF samples from 165 patients with suspected CNS viral infection through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse transcriptase PCR. The genomes of one or more viral agents were detected in 29.7% (49/165) of the CSF samples. EVs were predominant (16/49; 32.6%) followed by Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV) (22.4%), Varicella‐Zoster virus (VZV) (20.4%), Cytomegalovirus (CMV) (18.4%), herpes simplex virus (HSV‐1) (4.1%), (HSV‐2) (4.1%), and the arboviruses (14.3%). Four of the arboviruses were of dengue virus (DENV) and three of oropouche virus (OROV). The detection of different viruses in the CNS of patients with meningitis or encephalitis highlight the importance of maintaining an active laboratory monitoring diagnostics with rapid methodology of high sensitivity in areas of viral hyperendemicity that may assist in clinical decisions and in the choice of antiviral therapy. J. Med. Virol. 86:1522–1527, 2014 . © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Journals
2014 EN
Battaglia Luigi · Gallarate Marina · Peira Elena
+12 more
The major obstacle to glioblastoma pharmacological therapy is the overcoming of the blood–brain barrier (BBB). In literature, several strategies have been proposed to overcome the BBB: in this experimental work, solid lipid nanoparticles ( SLN ), prepared according to fatty acid coacervation technique, are proposed as the vehicle for doxorubicin ( D ox), to enhance its permeation through an artificial model of BBB. The in vitro cytotoxicity of D ox‐loaded SLN has been measured on three different commercial and patient‐derived glioma cell lines. D ox was entrapped within SLN thanks to hydrophobic ion pairing with negatively charged surfactants, used as counterions. Results indicate that D ox entrapped in SLN maintains its cytotoxic activity toward glioma cell lines; moreover, its permeation through h CMEC / D 3 cell monolayer, assumed as a model of the BBB, was increased when the drug was entrapped in SLN . In conclusion, SLN proved to be a promising vehicle for the delivery of D ox to the brain in glioblastoma treatment. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 103:2157–2165, 2014
Journals
2014 EN
Dias Liara S · Menis Michele E C · Jorge Neuza
BACKGROUND Plant extracts have been used as an alternative to the use of synthetic antioxidants in order to preserve oils from oxidative degradation. Additionally, these extracts add special flavors and aromas to the food. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of hydroethanolic extracts of fresh and freeze‐dried rosemary in the oxidative stability of soybean oil under accelerated storage in an oven. RESULTS The application of the extracts in the oil showed that that freeze‐dried extract was better in reducing the formation of oxidation products, showing 8.6 meq kg −1 of peroxides after 20 days of storage. On the other hand, the mixture of the natural extract with t ‐butylhydroquinone conferred better oxidative stability index until the 20th day, 9.7 h. Both extracts prevented the loss of tocopherol, not differing between each other ( P > 0.05), and present approximately 505 mg kg −1 of residual tocopherols. The sensory evaluation revealed that consumers accepted equally the oils added and not added of the rosemary extracts. CONCLUSION The extracts are therefore potential sources of natural antioxidants and they would be well accepted by consumers if applied by the food industry to replace synthetic antioxidants. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry