BACKGROUND: Amine transaminases have been extensively used for synthesizing various pharmaceutically relevant compounds, mainly in aqueous media. However, their applications are often limited by poor substrate solubility, low productivity and difficult product separation. This paper reports the use of Jeffamine ® ED-600, a novel polyether amine donor, for the transaminase-catalyzed synthesis of 4-phenyl-2-butylamine in non-aqueous media.RESULTS: Enzymatic transamination was performed in the presence of a non-polar organic solvent (n-heptane), in which the selected amine donor is not soluble, thus a two-liquid-phase system was achieved. Coupling the reaction system with membrane-assisted extraction resulted in simultaneous recovery of product, without any consistent contamination of the unreacted substrates. Moreover, a product yield of 60% was reached, compared with 15% without product extraction. The reaction was also successfully conducted without addition of any organic solvent, thus providing the first example of a solvent-free transamination system. In the presence of only enzyme and substrates, up to 6-fold higher product concentrations were achieved compared with the reaction performed in organic solvent. CONCLUSION: The use of the Jeffamine ® ED-600 in non-aqueous media resulted beneficial for 4-phenyl-2-butylamine synthesis. Enzymatic transamination in organic solvent with membrane-assisted product extraction enabled shifting of the equilibrium and selective product extraction. Solvent-free transamination minimized the required volume of the reactor and minimized the environmental impact. Extension to other substrate/enzyme solvent-free systems could open new possibilities and perspectives in transaminase-catalyzed chiral amine synthesis. Two-liquid-phase transaminationTransamination was performed in 10 mL glass vials (diameter 2.5 cm), in which a biphasic system was built (Fig. 1, left side). According to our previous studies, 16 0.05 g of TA-v2 enzyme was wetted with 100 μL of 0.5 mmol L −1 PLP/water mixture. The amine donor (AD) Jeffamine ED-600 was then added to the vials (either J Chem Technol Biotechnol 2020; 95: 604-613

Background Most symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections produce mild to moderate symptoms. Although most patients are managed in the outpatient setting, little is known about the effect of general practitioners’ (GP) management strategies on the outcomes of COVID-19 outpatients in Italy. Objectives Describe the management of Italian GPs of SARS-CoV-2 infected adult patients and explore whether GP active care and monitoring are associated with reducing hospitalisation and death. Methods Retrospective observational study of SARS-CoV-2 infected adult outpatients managed by GPs in Modena (Italy) from March 2020 to April 2021. Information on management and monitoring strategies, patients’ socio-demographic characteristics, comorbidities, and outcomes (hospitalisation and death due to COVID-19) were retrieved through an electronic medical record review and analysed descriptively and through multiple logistic regression. Results Out of the 5340 patients from 46 GPs included in the study, 3014 (56%) received remote monitoring, and 840 (16%) had at least one home visit. More than 85% of severe or critical patients were actively monitored (73% daily) and 52% were visited at home. Changes over time in patients’ therapeutic management were observed in concordance with the guidelines’ release. Active daily remote monitoring and home visits were strongly associated with reduced hospitalisation rate (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.33–0.80 and OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.33–0.78 respectively). Conclusion GPs effectively managed an increasing number of outpatients during the first waves of the pandemic. Active monitoring and home visits were associated with reduced hospitalisation in COVID-19 outpatients.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different rearing densities during brooding (0 to 2 weeks) and growth (3 to 15 weeks) on performance and egg quality of laying hens (Hy-line W-36) during production phase (18 to 42 weeks). In the brooding phase, a total of 3250 day-old chicks were allocated in wire cages, distributed in a completely randomized design composed of 5 treatments (63.57; 66.38; 69.44; 72.80 and 76.50 cm²/bird) with 10 replications each. At the beginning of the growth phase, floor space in each treatment was increased. Therefore, a total of 750 birds were selected from the original treatments, which represented 237.57, 265.52, 300.92, 347.22, and 410.35 cm²/bird. At the end of the growing phase, 390 pullets were transferred to production facilities and distributed, according to their original treatment, in conventional cages with 430.76 cm²/bird (13 birds/cage). For this phase, only 6 replications per treatment were adopted. Experimental data were subjected to analysis of variance and, in the case of significant differences, means were analyzed using polynomial regression test. Body weight, weight gain and uniformity were compared during the brooding and growth phases. First-egg weight, age at first egg, age at 50% daily production, weights of egg, albumen, yolk and shell, egg mass, yolk diameter, yolk height, yolk index, albumen height, percentages of shell, albumen and yolk, shell thickness, Haugh unit, and egg specific gravity were analyzed during the production stage. In conclusion, raising pullets on 63.57 cm2/bird (71 birds/cage) does not affect chicks’ performance during the brooding phase. However, for the growth phase, the recommendation is to provide 410.35 cm2/bird, which corresponded to 11 birds/cage in this research. For the production period, the recommendation is to utilize pullets raised on 265.52 cm2/bird, which corresponded to 17 birds/cage on this research.

L'emergenza sanitaria della epidemia da Covid-19 ha sollecitato la condivisione di dati scientifici dapprima dai focolai maggiormente colpiti fino a coinvolgere le comunità scientifiche di diversi continenti a causa della diffusione pandemica della infezione. Numerosi articoli apparsi nella Medline sono basati su informazioni provenienti dalle schede di dimissione ospedaliera o da ampi database in cui i dati clinici sono stati reperiti indirettamente. L'obiettivo del presente studio è identificare i determinanti dell'esito clinico dell'ospedalizzazione presso l'Unità di Medicina per Covid-19 dell'Ospedale di Manerbio (BS), all'epicentro dell'epidemia in Italia, tramite la valutazione di dati direttamente ottenuti dalle cartelle cliniche di 92 pazienti positivi all'infezione da Sars-CoV-2 esaminate retrospettivamente. 21/92 pazienti (22.8%) sono deceduti durante il periodo di osservazione. Rispetto ai pazienti dimessi a domicilio o presso strutture residenziali o riabilitative, i pazienti deceduti presentavano più frequentemente una anamnesi positiva per broncopneumopatia cronica ostruttiva (BPCO) (4.8 vs. 2.8%) e per patologie psichiatriche (19.5 vs. 7.1%). La durata dei sintomi (quali iperpiressia o dispnea) prima del ricovero ospedaliero era stata superiore nei pazienti con prognosi infausta (6.3±5.9 vs. 3.5±3 giorni, p = 0.021). I modelli di regressione logistica (aggiustati per genere ed età) hanno mostrato un rischio di mortalità significativamente aumentato in presenza di patologie psichiatriche (OR = 5.9; CI 95%: 1.1-30.7). Ulteriori approfondimenti sono necessari per valutare potenziali interazioni tra alcuni psicofarmaci ed i meccanismi patogenetici nella infezione da Sars-CoV-2.