67 research outputs found
Evaluation of personality and motivations in women waiting for mammography in Bari National Cancer Institute.
No full textRisk factors for HIV/AIDS in a low HIV prevalence site of sub-Saharan Africa
No full textWe conducted a hospital-based survey on prevalence and risk factors of HIV-1/2 and other viral infections in Zanzibar archipelago. Blood samples, socio-demographic and behavioural data were collected from 2697 patients. The overall HIV prevalence was 2.9%. About 1.4%, 2.1%, 4.2% of antenatal clinic (ANC) attendees and 2.1%, 3.7%, 5.3% of blood donors were, respectively, HIV-Abs-, HTLV-Abs- and HBs-Ag-positive; 5.5% of blood donors were HCV-affected. Co-infections were rare. Exactly 3.4% of the children aged 6-10 years were HIV-positive. People aged 26-35 years [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 4.4, 95% CI (confidence interval) 1.72-11.22; P = 0.002], illiterate subjects (AOR 3.6, 95% CI 1.65-7.98; P = 0.001) mobile workers (AOR 7.0, 95% CI 1.41-34.62; P = 0.02) and previously operated patients (AOR 1.9, 95% CI 1.02-3.66; P = 0.04) were at higher risk for HIV/AIDS. Any of the examined factors were associated with hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus and human T lymphotropic virus type 1/2 transmission. HIV/AIDS prevention strategies must primarily be addressed to traditional high-risk groups and secondarily to unsafe health care procedures in relatively preserved sub-Saharan areas
Percutaneous Nephrostomy in supine position
No full textPercutaneous nephrostomy has traditionally been performed with the patient in the prone
position, probably to reduce the risk of injury to adjacent visceral organs, particularly the colon.
The prone position, however, is associated with disadvantages such as patient discomfort and
circulatory and ventilatory difficulties, particularly in obese patients. We describe a technique of
percutaneous nephrostomy with the patient in the supine anterolateral position using local
anesthesia, ultrasound-guided puncture, and fluoroscopy-controlled placement.
TECHNICAL
CONSIDERATIONS The supine anterolateral position was obtained by placing towels under the ipsilateral shoulder
and gluteus to elevate the flank approximately 30°, thus providing enough space for ultrasound
scanning and ultrasound-guided puncture of the collecting system. The ipsilateral arm was placed
over the thorax, and the contralateral arm was used for intravenous perfusion. The ipsilateral leg
was flexed slightly, and the contralateral leg was flexed and abducted so that its lateral aspect lay
on the table, providing adequate space in case of concomitant transurethral manipulation. In this
supine position, the colon falls anteromedially and thus well apart from the puncture paths. In
contrast, in the prone position, it is pushed against the lateral surface of the kidney in the way
of possible puncture paths.
CONCLUSIONS Our experience with 12 consecutive patients showed this technique to be easy, safe, and effective
and to prevent the discomfort and ventilation difficulties of the prone position, particularly in
obese patients or those in poor general condition or with respiratory problems
Evidence of differential selection of HIV-1 variants carrying drug-resistant mutations in seroconverters
No full textObjectives: To est. the relative efficiency of transmission of different HIV-1 drug-resistance mutations from patients failing treatment, considered as potential transmitters (PTs), to seroconverters (SCs). Design: Ecol. cross-sectional study. Methods: HIV-1 protease and reverse transcriptase (RT) sequence data, obtained from 155 SCs and 2,690 PTs at the Department of Mol. Biol. of the University of Siena, Italy, in the period 1997-2004 were used. The efficiency of transmission was studied by odds ratio (OR) anal. and evaluation of 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). For mutations not detected in viruses from SCs, a binomial probability model was used, assuming P-values <0.05 as indicative of a neg. selection at transmission. Results: The overall prevalence of drug mutations assocd. with nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), non-NRTIs (NNRTIs) and protease inhibitors (PIs) was 13.2%, 4.6% and 2.0% in SCs, and 69.9%, 27.6% and 33.7% in PTs, resp. Among RT mutations present both in PTs and SCs, M184I/V and T215F/Y had the lowest relative efficiency of transmission, whereas V118I, Y181C/I and K219E/Q showed the highest relative efficiency. Of the three major protease mutations that could be evaluated by this approach, M46I/L had a lower rate of transmission than I84V and L90M. Among the mutations not detected in viruses from SCs, the RT E44D, V108I, Q151M and Y188C/H/L, and the protease D30N, G48V and V82A/F/S/T substitutions appeared to be neg. selected. Conclusions: The transmission rate of drug-resistant HIV-1 variants may be differentially affected by the mutational pattern. The binomial model enabled to evaluate the neg. selection against specific substitutions. Given the low prevalence of some resistance mutations in SCs, very large data sets are required to evaluate the potential selection of such mutations. [on SciFinder (R)
La contaminazione microbica del succo gastrico come fattore di rischio neoplastico per lo stomaco resecato.
No full textProcessivity and drug-dependence of HIV-1 protease : determinants of viral fitness in variants resistant to protease inhibitors
No full textOBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of processivity and drug-dependence of HIV-1 protease as fitness determinants in variants resistant to protease inhibitors (PI). DESIGN AND METHODS: HIV-1 protease sequences from 32 infected subjects (27 patients who failed PI-treatments and five PI-naive controls) were evaluated using a recombinant method. The HIV-1 phenotype to seven PI was analysed together with the replication capacity of recombinants and the processivity and drug-dependence of the HIV-1 proteases. Protease mutants (positions 10, 46, 54, 82, 84, 90, and combinations thereof) were generated in vitro and studied under identical experimental conditions. RESULTS: In the absence of PI, 24 of 27 (89%) resistant proteases from treated subjects showed decreased processivity compared with the wild type. Processivity was lower in sequences bearing fewer mutations, than in more mutated ones. Twelve sequences (44%) conferred slower replication kinetics to the recombinant viruses. Seven sequences (26%) showed higher processivity levels in the presence of PI than in their absence, suggesting that drug-dependence influences PI-resistant variants. Among the mutants generated in vitro, mutations 82A and 90M determined broad cross-resistance to PI in association with 10I. A drop of processivity was observed for the 82A+90M variants; 10I allowed partial recovery for 82A and 84V, and marked recovery for 90M mutants. CONCLUSIONS: A decrease in HIV-1 protease processivity parallels early selection of primary mutations, whereas its recovery is driven by compensatory mutations. Furthermore, a PI may select drug-dependent, besides resistant, HIV-1 protease variants. Changes in processivity and drug-dependence of HIV-1 proteases have implications in the replication capacity of PI-resistant viruses
Processivity and drug-dependence of HIV-1 protease: determinants of viral fitness in variants resistant to protease inhibitors.
No full textApparatus for simultaneous dynamic light scattering–small angle neutron scattering investigations of dynamics and structure in soft matter
No full textDynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) are two key tools to probe the dynamic and static structure factors, respectively, in soft matter. Usually, DLS and SANS measurements are performed separately, in different laboratories, on different samples, and at different times. However, this methodology has particular disadvantages for a large variety of soft materials, which exhibit a high sensitivity to small changes in fundamental parameters, such as waiting times, concentration, pH, and ionic strength. Here, we report on a new portable DLS-SANS apparatus that allows one to simultaneously measure both the microscopic dynamics (through DLS) and the static structure (through SANS) on the same sample. The apparatus has been constructed as a collaboration between two laboratories, each an expert in one of the scattering methods, and was commissioned on the LOQ and ZOOM SANS instruments at the ISIS Pulsed Neutron and Muon Source, U.K
Evidence of differential selection of HIV-1 variants carrying drug-resistant mutations in seroconverters
No full textObjectives: Among the factors that drive the transmission of HIV-1-resistant variants, we evaluated i) the proportion of drug resistance mutations in seroconverters (SCs) and
patients who showed a virological failure to antiretrovirals and ii) the transmissibility of viruses carrying resistant mutations over the last 7 years, by using an ecological case
control study.
Methods: We studied 139 RT and 140 protease (PR)
sequences from 147 SCs and 4736 RT and 4430 PR
sequences from 2156 and 2065 patients who failed treatment, respectively. The transmission efficiency of variants with drug mutations was assessed by evaluating the odds ratio (OR) between SC and individuals failing therapy at
each RT and major PR mutations listed by the IAS-USA Panel, 2003. In this analysis, OR values were inversely related to the efficiency of transmission. The absence of mutations in SC was tested as a random event by a binomial
probability model.
Results: Overall prevalence of any major drug mutations was 16% in SCs. Class resistance in SCs and failing patients for NRTIs, NNRTs and PIs was as follows: 14%, 3% and 3%, and 70%, 25% and 34%, respectively. A number of RT and PR mutations were absent in SCs. Among these, the
proportion of RT mutations 44D and 69D, and PR mutations 48V, 82A and 84V in failing patients allowed to establish that their absence was due to a negative selection (P<0.005). The transmission of RT mutations present in
SCs and the degree of its efficiency was as follows: 118I (OR: 3.9, CI: 1.7–8.9), 67N (OR: 6.6, CI: 3.1–14.1), 210W (OR: 8.6, CI: 3.2–23.3), 103N (OR: 9.3, CI: 2.3–37.5), 70R (OR: 12.8, CI: 4.7–34.8), 41L (OR: 13.8, CI: 5.7–33.9), 215Y/F (OR: 22.7, CI: 8.4–61.5), 184V (OR: 23.9, CI: 7.6–75). For PR mutations 46I and 90M, the odds
ratios were 7.2 (CI: 1.8–29.1) and 19.7 (CI: 4.9–79.6),respectively.
Conclusions: HIV-1 variants carrying specific drug-resistant mutations seem to have a selective advantage in establishing new infections, as evaluated by odds ratio analysis and a binomial probability model. The analysis of larger databases may further investigate the transmission efficiency of low prevalent mutations
Apparatus for simultaneous dynamic light scattering–small angle neutron scattering investigations of dynamics and structure in soft matter
No full textDynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) are two key tools to probe the dynamic and static structure factors, respectively, in soft matter. Usually, DLS and SANS measurements are performed separately, in different laboratories, on different samples, and at different times. However, this methodology has particular disadvantages for a large variety of soft materials, which exhibit a high sensitivity to small changes in fundamental parameters, such as waiting times, concentration, pH, and ionic strength. Here, we report on a new portable DLS-SANS apparatus that allows one to simultaneously measure both the microscopic dynamics (through DLS) and the static structure (through SANS) on the same sample. The apparatus has been constructed as a collaboration between two laboratories, each an expert in one of the scattering methods, and was commissioned on the LOQ and ZOOM SANS instruments at the ISIS Pulsed Neutron and Muon Source, U.K
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