Cancer Initiation,Progression and Resistance: Are Phytocannabinoids from Cannabis sativa L. Promising Compounds?

Cannabis sativa L. is a source of over 150 active compounds known as phytocannabinoids that are receiving renewed interest due to their diverse pharmacologic activities. Indeed, phytocannabinoids mimic the endogenous bioactive endocannabinoids effects through activation of CB1 and CB2 receptors widely described in the central nervous system and peripheral tissues. All phytocannabinoids have been studied for their protective actions towards different biological mechanisms, including inflammation, immune response, oxidative stress that, altogether, result in an inhibitory activity against the carcinogenesis. The role of the endocannabinoid system is not yet completely clear in cancer, but several studies indicate that cannabinoid receptors and endogenous ligands are overexpressed in different tumor tissues. Recently, in vitro and in vivo evidence support the effectiveness of phytocannabinoids against various cancer types, in terms of proliferation, metastasis, and angiogenesis, actions partially due to their ability to regulate signaling pathways critical for cell growth and survival. The aim of this review was to report the current knowledge about the action of phytocannabinoids from Cannabis sativa L. against cancer initiation and progression with a specific regard to brain, breast, colorectal, and lung cancer as well as their possible use in the therapies. We will also report the known molecular mechanisms responsible for such positive effects. Finally, we will describe the actual therapeutic options for Cannabis sativa L. and the ongoing clinical trials.     

Metastability and exponential approach to equilibrium for low-temperature stochastic Ising models

We present a proof of the exponential convergence to equilibrium of single-spin-flip stochastic dynamics for the two-dimensional Ising ferromagnet in the low-temperature case with not too small external magnetic fieldh uniformly in the volume and in the boundary conditions.     

Small random perturbations of finite- and infinite-dimensional dynamical systems: Unpredictability of exit times

We apply previous results on the pathwise exponential loss of memory of the initial condition for stochastic differential equations with small diffusion to the problem of the asymptotic distribution of the first exit times from an attracted domain. We show under general hypotheses that the suitably rescaled exit time converges in the zero-noise limit to an exponential random variable. Then we extend the results to an infinite-dimensional case obtained by adding a small random perturbation to a nonlinear heat equation.     

One-dimensional random Ising systems with interaction decayr −(1+ɛ): A convergent cluster expansion

WE consider a one-dimensional random Ising model with Hamiltonian $$H = \sum\limits_{i\ddag j} {\frac{{J_{ij} }}{{\left| {i - j} \right|^{1 + \varepsilon } }}S_i S_j } + h\sum\limits_i {S_i } $$ , where ε>0 andJ _ij are independent, identically distributed random variables with distributiondF(x) such that i) $$\int {xdF\left( x \right) = 0} $$ , ii) $$\int {e^{tx} dF\left( x \right)< \infty \forall t \in \mathbb{R}} $$ . We construct a cluster expansion for the free energy and the Gibbs expectations of local observables. This expansion is convergent almost surely at every temperature. In this way we obtain that the free energy and the Gibbs expectations of local observables areC ^∞ functions of the temperature and of the magnetic fieldh. Moreover we can estimate the decay of truncated correlation functions. In particular for every ε′>0 there exists a random variablec(ω)m, finite almost everywhere, such that $$\left| {\left\langle {s_0 s_j } \right\rangle _H - \left\langle {s_0 } \right\rangle _H \left\langle {s_j } \right\rangle _H } \right| \leqq \frac{{c\left( \omega \right)}}{{\left| j \right|^{1 + \varepsilon - \varepsilon '} }}$$ , where 〈 〉 _H denotes the Gibbs average with respect to the HamiltonianH.     

Ketene dithioacetal derivatives of 1-phenyl-3,5-dioxopyrazolidine. Synthesis and NMR characterization

1-Phenyl-3,5-dioxopyrazolidine 1 reacts with carbon disufide and alkyl halides in presence of excess of sodium acetate in dimethylformamide to afford the ketene dithioacetals 3a-h . The ¹³C chemical shift assignments of these compounds were made on the basis of two-dimensional nmr studies performed on the N-methylketene dithioacetal derivative 4.     

New aspects of the electroadsorption of ethyl xanthate on copper electrodes

The interaction of the ethyl xanthate (EX) anion with a copper electrode in a borate buffer solution, pH 9.2, has been investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and measurements of contact angle (CA) under controlled potential. The results obtained allow establishing that, in the potential range from -0.80 and -0.60 V, two parallel reactions were characterized. These reactions were the ethyl xanthate electroadsorption and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). This last reaction has not been described by previous authors. Besides, the EIS measurements show that the mechanism of the HER on copper electrodes is not affected by the presence of a ethyl xanthate species. The EQCM study shows that in the electrodesorption process the departure of each ethyl xanthate species from the copper electrode is accompanied with the simultaneous entry of four to five water molecules. This fact is in accordance with the number of copper atoms involved in the adsorption of one ethyl xanthate species.     

First- and second-order multivariate calibration applied to biological samples: determination of anti-inflammatories in serum and urine

First- and second-order multivariate calibration of fluorescence data have been compared as regards the determination of anti-inflammatories and metabolites in the biological fluids serum and urine. The simultaneous resolution of naproxen-salicylic acid mixtures in serum and naproxen-salicylic acid-salicyluric acid mixtures in urine was accomplished and employed for a discussion of the relative advantages of the applied chemometric tools. The analysis of second-order fluorescence excitation-emission matrices was performed using iteratively reweighted generalized rank annihilation method (IRGRAM), parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), and self-weighted alternating trilinear decomposition (SWATLD). The results were compared with first-order fluorescence emission data analyzed with partial least-squares regression (PLS). In all cases, the performance of the methods was improved through the formation of inclusion complexes of the analytes with beta-cyclodextrin. The concentration ranges in which the analytes could be determined were as follows: naproxen, 0-250 ng mL(-1) in serum and 0-200 ng mL(-1) in urine; salicylic acid, 0-500 ng mL(-1) in serum and 0-300 ng mL(-1) in urine, and salicyluric acid, 0-300 ng mL(-1) in urine.     

Droplet dynamics for asymmetric Ising model

Nucleation from a metastable state is studied for an anisotropic Ising model at very low temperatures. It turns out that the critical nucleus as well as configurations on a typical path to it differ from the Wulff shape of an equilibrium droplet.     

Spectrophotometric study of bismuth with N-(2-acetamido)iminodiacetic acid (ADA): Determination of bismuth in pharmaceutical formulations

A new method for the Spectrophotometric determination of bismuth using N-(2-acetamido)iminodiacetic acid as complexometric agent is proposed. The complex is formed in a wide pH range, 5.5–7.5, and has a maximum absorption at 265 nm. Beer's law is obeyed in the interval 3.8–17.9 μg of bismuth(III)/ml, with a minimum photometric error of 2.3. The molar absorptivity is 9.1 × 10³ liters/cm mol. The stoichiometry of the reaction takes place in the metal-to-ligand ratio 1:2. The interferences produced by the more common ions are studied. The method has been successfully applied to the determination of bismuth in pharmaceutical formulations.     

On the existence of thermodynamics for the random energy model

Derrida's random energy model is considered. Almost sure andL ^P convergence of the free energy at any inverse temperature are proven. Rigorous upper and lower bounds to the finite size corrections to the free energy are given.