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Background On the basis of substantial evidence demonstrate that palliative care combined with standard care improves patient, caregiver, and society outcomes, we have developed a new healthcare model called radiotherapy and palliative care (RaP) outpatient clinic were a radiation oncologist and a palliative care physician make a joint evaluation of advanced cancer patients. Methods We performed a monocentric observational cohort study on advanced cancer patients referred for evaluation at the RaP outpatient clinic. Measures of quality of care were carried out. Results Between April 2016 and April 2018, 287 joint evaluations were performed and 260 patients were evaluated. The primary tumor was lung in 31.9% of cases. One hundred fifty (52.3%) evaluations resulted in an indication for palliative radiotherapy treatment. In 57.6% of cases was used a single dose fraction of radiotherapy (8 Gy). All the irradiated cohort completed the palliative radiotherapy treatment. An 8% of irradiated patients received the palliative radiotherapy treatment in the last 30 days of life. A total of 80% of RaP patients received palliative care assistance until the end of life. Conclusion At the first descriptive analysis, the radiotherapy and palliative care model seem to respond to the need of multidisciplinary approach in order to obtain an improvement on quality of care for advanced cancer patients.

Solid-liquid interactions in metal-ceramic systems are extremely important in high temperature brazing processes. These interfacial phenomena are reviewed here, from both the thermodynamic and microstructural viewpoints. At high temperature, the wetting characteristics and the adhesion properties of the joints are strongly related to the high atomic mobility of the different phases, giving rise to different phenomena, ranging from the dissolution of the ceramic in the liquid phase, reactions, formation of new phases and reprecipitation at the solid-liquid interface. The role phase diagrams in guiding the choice of the filler alloys composition and to optimize the brazing procedures is emphasized. In particular, it is shown that the computation of new diagrams and the critical use of the existing ones is essential to understand how to suppress the substrate dissolution and to interpret the evolution of the system. Experimental data are presented and discussed concerning the interactions between liquid metals with early-transition-metal diborides (TiB2, ZrB2, HfB2) as a typical example involving the joining of Ultra-High Temperature Ceramics (UHTCs). Overall, these studies represent the basic step linking the chemical and structural information to the design of industrial processes involving a liquid phase at high temperature, such as the production of metal-ceramic joints or composite materials to be used in highly demanding applications.

Nitric oxide (NO), produced in different cell types through the conversion of L-arginine into L-citrulline by the enzyme NO synthase, has been proposed to exert its action in several physiological and pathological events. The great propensity for nitrosothiol formation and breakdown represents a mechanism which modulates the action of macromolecules containing NO-reactive Cys residues at their active centre and/or allosteric sites. Based on the human haemoglobin (Hb) structure and accounting for the known acid-base catalysed Cys beta 93-nitrosylation and Cys beta 93NO-denitrosylation processes, the putative amino acid sequence (Lys/Arg/His/Asp/Glu)Cys(Asp/Glu) (sites -1, 0, and + 1, respectively) has been proposed as the minimum consensus motif for Cys-NO reactivity. Although not found in human Hb, the presence of a polar amino acid residue (Gly/Ser/Thr/Cys/Tyr/Asn/Gln) at the -2 position has been observed in some NO-reactive protein sequences (e.g., NMDA receptors). However, the most important component of the tri- or tetra-peptide consensus motif has been recognised as the Cys(Asp/Glu) pair [Stamler et at, Neuron (1997) 18, 691-696]. Here, we analyse the three-dimensional structure of several proteins containing NO-reactive Cys residues, and show that their nitrosylation and denitrosylation processes may depend on the Cys-Sy atomic structural microenvironment rather than on the tri- or tetra-peptide sequence consensus motif.

the wetting behavior of Ni on a HfB2/Ta assembly was examined in vacuum using dense HfB2 (99.5% purity) produced, without sintering aids, by HP-HT at 7 GPa. The real-time imaging by a high resolution digital camera and precise temperature control demonstrated solid-state Ni/HfB2 interaction resulòting in metal contact melting at 1300°C. Ongoing heating, the in situ formed Ni-B alloys wets, spreads over HfB2 and penetrates the HfB2/Ta capillary interface to form a joint of complex graded structure and good bonding.

The wetting and spreading of Ni-56Si alloy on SiC ceramic were performed under different temperatures and atmospheres by the sessile drop technique. The microstructure and phase compositions of solidified sessile drop/SiC substrate interface and drop surface were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The results show that good wettability can be obtained in the Ni-56Si/SiC system at 1350°C under a high vacuum, static or flowing atmosphere of Ar + 5% in volume H2 atmospheres, respectively, and the fastest spreading equilibrium can be achieved under vacuum. The wettability at 1350°C is clearly better than those at 1100 and 1200°C in vacuum. The spreading process at 1100°C is different from those at 1200 and 1350°C in vacuum, and two different spreading mechanisms are present at the three different temperatures, which can be attributed to the kinetics of removing the wetting barriers (SiO2 layer) on SiC surface. The non-reactive wetting characteristics are further confirmed by the interface microstructure in this Ni-Si/SiC system.

A study dealing with the reactivity of vitreous silica in contact with various molten silver alloys under different physico-chemical conditions is presented. Contact angle and work of adhesion data of silver-oxygen alloys are presented and the role played by oxygen, germanium, and zirconium in promoting adhesion is widely discussed. A characterization of the resulting interfaces have been performed by means of scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis, and X-Rays diffraction.

In the framework of an extensive study aimed at evaluating the wettability and the interfacial characteristics of different metal-ceramic systems for joining, the behaviour of ZrB2 in contact with liquid Ag and its alloys (Cu, Ti, Zr) has been studied. ZrB2 specimens, sintered pure or with different sintering aids by HIP have been used.

Nitric oxide (NO), produced in different cell types through the conversion of Larginine into Lcitrulline by the enzyme NO synthase, has been proposed to exert its action in several physiological and pathological events. The great propensity for nitrosothiol formation and breakdown represents a mechanism which modulates the action of macromolecules containing NOreactive Cys residues at their active centre and/or allosteric sites. Based on the human haemoglobin (Hb) structure and accounting for the known acidbase catalysed Cys?93-nitrosylation and Cys?93NOdenitrosylation processes, the putative amino acid sequence (Lys/Arg/His/Asp/Glu)Cys(Asp/Glu) (sites 1, 0, and + 1, respectively) has been proposed as the minimum consensus motif for CysNO reactivity. Although not found in human Hb, the presence of a polar amino acid residue (Gly/Ser/Thr/Cys/Tyr/Asn/Gln) at the 2 position has been observed in some NOreactive protein sequences (e.g., NMDA receptors). However, the most important component of the tri or tetrapeptide consensus motif has been recognised as the Cys(Asp/Glu) pair [Stamler et al., Neuron (1997) 18, 691 696]. Here, we analyse the threedimensional structure of several proteins containing NOreactive Cys residues, and show that their nitrosylation and denitrosylation processes may depend on the CysS? atomic structural microenvironment rather than on the tri or tetrapeptide sequence consensus motif.

The distribution of two main Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) agents, borocaptate sodium ( BSH ) and borono-phenylalanine ( BPA ), in C6 rat glioma cells has been investigated by means of radiowave dielectric spectroscopy measurements. Significant differences between cells treated with the two different boron carriers were found in the magnitude of passive electrical cell parameters. This technique offers a new procedure for the measurement of boron compounds interactions with different biological environments at cellular level and is suggested to have the potentiality for becoming an attractive tool for biodistribution studies of BNCT compounds in biological tissues.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a pluripotent regulatory molecule showing, among others, an antiparasitic activity. Moreover, NO inhibits cysteine proteinase action by nitrosylating the Cys catalytic residue. In the present study, the inhibitory effect of the substrate N-alpha-benzyloxycarbonyl-L-phenylalanyl-L-arginine-(7-amino-4-methyl coumarin) and of NO on the catalytic activity of cruzipain, the major papain-like cysteine proteinase from Trypanosoma cruzi (the hemoflagellate protozoan parasite which causes the American trypanosomiasis), is reported. In particular, NO-donors S-nitroso-glutathione (GSNO), (+/-)-(E)-4-ethyl-2-[(E)-hydroxyimino]-5-nitro-3-hexenamide (NOR-3), 3-morpholinosydnonimine (SIN-1), S-nitroso-acetyl-penicillamine (SNAP), and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) dose-dependently inhibited cruzipain, this effect being likely attributable to the S-nitrosylation of the Cys25 catalytic residue. These results were analyzed in parallel with those concerning the inhibitory effect of the substrate and of NO on the catalytic activity of falcipain, the cruzipain-homologous cysteine proteinase from Plasmodium falciparum. The modulation of the cruzipain and falcipain activity by NO may be relevant in developing new strategies against T. cruzi and P. falciparum in human host. As a whole, the NO-mediated S-nitrosylation of pathogenic viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic cysteine proteinases may represent a general mechanism of antimicrobial and antiparasitic host defences.