Computation of spectroscopic parameters is rapidly evolving from a highly specialized research field into a versatile tool, capable of providing a crucial aid for the interpretation of experimental ...information. The present paper focuses on the application of computed spectroscopic parameters in organic chemistry, both in terms of assignment of observed transitions, and also in the more demanding task of discrimination among alternative structural hypotheses. The impact of dynamical and environmental effects, and some computational approaches that allow to properly take into account their influence on specific spectroscopic parameters, are also discussed based on some recent examples from the authors’ experience.
To evaluate outcomes of patients with high risk prostate cancer (PCa) who underwent radical prostatectomy (RP) in a context of a multidisciplinary approach including adjuvant radiation (RT) + ...androgen deprivation therapy (ADT).
244 consecutive patients with high risk localized PCa underwent RP and bilateral extended pelvic lymph node dissection at our institution. Adjuvant RT + 24 months ADT was carried out in subjects with pathological stage ≥ T3N0 and/or positive surgical margins or in patients with local relapse.
After a median follow-up was 54.17 months (range 5.4-117.16), 13 (5.3%) subjects had biochemical progression, 21 (8.6%) had clinical progression, 7 (2.9%) died due to prostate cancer and 15 (6.1%) died due to other causes. 136 (55.7%) patients did not receive any adjuvant treatment while 108 (44.3%) received respectively adjuvant or salvage RT+ADT. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis showed that pre-operative PSA value at diagnosis is a significant predictive factor for BCR (HR: 1.04, p < 0.05) and that Gleason Score 8-10 (HR: 2.4; p < 0.05) and PSMs (HR: 2.01; p < 0.01) were significant predictors for clinical progression. Radical prostatectomy group was associated with BPFS, CPFS, CSS and OS at 5-years of 97%, 90%, 95% and 86% respectively, while adjuvant radiation + androgen deprivation therapy group was associated with a BPFS, CPFS and CSS at 5-years of 91%, 83%, 95% and 88%, without any statistical difference.
Multimodality tailored treatment based on RP and adjuvant therapy with RT+ADT achieve similar results in terms of OS after 5-years of follow-up.
In a prospective study on 44 cases of T-cell origin acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 20 patients were found to display an immature immunophenotype (CD7+, CD4-, CD8-, CD1-) and were classified as T-stem ...cell leukemia (T-SCL). Twenty-four patients expressed CD4 and/or CD8 antigens on their blast cells, designated T acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). The T-SCL subset showed a significantly higher median age, a more frequent incidence of extramedullary leukemia, a morphology L1 in most cases, and a poor response to treatment in terms of either complete remission rate or median survival duration. In addition, significant differences between the two groups were found in evaluating the number of days of blast disappearance from peripheral blood, of CR achievement, and of neutrophils and platelets recovery. We conclude that T-SCL represents a distinct clinical entity, characterized by a poor response to ALL conventional chemotherapy. Alternative therapeutic approaches should be developed for patients suffering from this form of leukemia, to modify its severe prognosis.
Several long chain
N-acylethanolamines, including the proposed endogenous ligands of cannabinoid receptors, anandamide (
N-arachidonoylethanolamine, C20:4 NAE) and
N-palmitoylethanolamine (C16:0 ...NAE), as well as some of their putative biosynthetic precursors, the
N-acyl-phosphatidylethanolamines, were found in lipid extracts of five species of bivalve molluscs, including
Mytilus galloprovincialis, commonly used as sea food. The amounts of these metabolites, the most abundant being C16:0 NAE and
N-stearoylethanolamine, appeared to increase considerably when mussels were extracted 24
h post-mortem, but were not significantly affected by boiling the tissue prior to extraction. In particulate fractions of homogenates from
Mytilus, where the existence of a highly selective cannabinoid receptor with an immunomodulatory function has been previously described, an enzymatic activity capable of catalyzing the hydrolysis of C20:4 NAE amide bond, and displaying similar pH dependency and inhibitor sensitivity profiles as the recently characterized `fatty acid amide hydrolase' was found. The enzyme
K
m and
V
max for C20:4 NAE were 29.6
μM and 73
pmol/mg
protein/min, respectively. These findings support the hypothesis that C20:4 NAE, never reported before in the phylum Mollusca, may be a mollusc physiological mediator, and suggest that edible bivalves may be a dietary, albeit limited, source of C16:0 NAE, whose anti-inflammatory properties, when administered orally in amounts higher than those reported here, have been previously reported.
We describe a case of a patient affected by a chronic myeloproliferative disorder with t(8;21)(q22;q22) and trisomy 8 at diagnosis. At the time of blastic metamorphosis, 2 months later, trisomy 8 ...metaphases were significantly reduced, while a predominance of t(8;21) was present. Finally, in the phase of leukemic regrowth following chemotherapy administration, monosomy 8 associated with der(21)t(8;21) was the predominant cytogenetic abnormality.
