19 research outputs found
Processivity and drug-dependence of HIV-1 protease: determinants of viral fitness in variants resistant to protease inhibitors.
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
Author Correction: Diagnostic and therapeutic workup of male infertility: results from a Delphi consensus panel (International Journal of Impotence Research, (2021), 10.1038/s41443-021-00511-x)
No full textThe following acknowledgments have been added: Authors want to acknowledge all collaborators who completed the questionnaire during the first and second round of voting: Paolo Turchi, Gianmartin Cito, Ilaria Natali, Alessandro Natali, Antonio Corvasce, Lucilla Divenuto, Stefano Impedovo, Michele Tedeschi, Francesco Paolo Turri, Antonio Vavallo, Antonio Vitarelli, Francesco Sebastiani, Davide Arcaniolo, Francesco Bottone, Francesco Chiancone, Lorenzo Cirigliano, Michelangelo Sorrentino, Giuseppina Peluso, Ottavio Sicuro, Pietro Paolo Cozza, Manuela Andreozzi, Marco Bitelli, Giorgio Franco, Vincenzo Gentile, Giuseppe La Pera, Andrea Ortensi, Pietro Salacone, Federica Sanna, Giovanni Tuffo, Paola Asero, Danilo Di Trapani, Vincenzo Favilla, Ignazio Gattuccio, Emilio Italiano, Bruno Giammusso, Filippo Montalto, Paolo Panella, Salvatore Privitera, Pietro Russo, Giuseppe Sidoti, Andrea Fabiani, Giorgio Gentile, Alessandro Franceschelli, Carlo Maretti, Edoardo Pescatori, Pasquale Scarano, Massimo Polito, Luigi Quaresima, Andrea Salonia, Gaetano Donatelli, Antonio Avolio, Daniele Tiscione, Andrea Galantini, Matteo Titta, Giorgio Piubello, Luca Boeri, Massimo Iafrate, Filippo Migliorni, Giovanni Liguori, Gioacchino De Giorgi, Emanuele Baldassarre, Giorgio Del Noce, Michele Manica, Carla Pasquale, Maurizio Ruggieri, Paolo Capogrosso, Fabrizio Ildefonso Scroppo, Elisabetta Micelli, Michele Rizzo
A Case Study: Speech recognition ability in noise for a U.S. military veteran with traumatic brain injury (TBI)
No full textabstract: The increase of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) cases in recent war history has increased the urgency of research regarding how veterans are affected by TBIs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of TBI on speech recognition in noise. The AzBio Sentence Test was completed for signal-to-noise ratios (S/N) from -10 dB to +15 dB for a control group of ten participants and one US military veteran with history of service-connected TBI. All participants had normal hearing sensitivity defined as thresholds of 20 dB or better at frequencies from 250-8000 Hz in addition to having tympanograms within normal limits. Comparison of the data collected on the control group versus the veteran suggested that the veteran performed worse than the majority of the control group on the AzBio Sentence Test. Further research with more participants would be beneficial to our understanding of how veterans with TBI perform on speech recognition tests in the presence of background noise
Transmitted HIV Type 1 drug resistance and Non-B subtypes prevalence among seroconverters and newly diagnosed patients from 1992 to 2005 in Italy.
No full textThe patterns of transmitted drug-resistant (TDR) HIV-1 variants, non-B subtype spread, and epidemiological trends were evaluated either in seroconverters or in newly diagnosed individuals in Italy over a 13-year period. We analyzed 119 seroconverters, enrolled from 1992 to 2003 for the CASCADE study, and 271 newly diagnosed individuals of the SPREAD study (2002-2005), of whom 42 had a known seroconversion date. Overall, TDR was 15.1% in the CASCADE and 12.2% in the SPREAD study. In the 1992-2003 period, men having sex with men (MSMs) and heterosexuals (HEs) were 48.7% and 36.8%, respectively; TDR was found to be higher in MSMs compared to HEs (78.9% vs. 21%, p = 0.006). The same groups were 39.1% and 53.3% in the SPREAD study; however, no association was detected between modality of infection and TDR. Overall, 9.2% and 22.1% of individuals harbored a non-B clade virus in the CASCADE and SPREAD study, respectively. As evidence of onward transmission, 40% (24/60) of non-B variants were carried by European individuals in the latter study; among these patients the F1 subtype was highly prevalent (p = 0.00001). One of every eight patients who received a diagnosis of HIV-1 in recent years harbored a resistant variant, reinforcing the arguments for baseline resistance testing to customize first-line therapy in newly infected individuals. The spread of non-B clades may act as a dilution factor of TDR concealing the proportion of TDR in seroconverters and MSMs
Comparing the Italian and North American prospective registries on penile prosthesis surgery: are there relevant differences in treatment indications and patients’ management?
No full textPrevious studies have shown discrepancies among countries in terms of treatment indications and patients’ management due to different health care policies. Penile prosthesis implantation (PPI) is a highly effective treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED), which may have different accessibility according to the type of health system. We compared clinical characteristics of patients included in two national registries on PPI to investigate the influence of different health care systems on treatment indication and accessibility. The multicenter Italian Nationwide Systematic Inventarization of Surgical Treatment for ED (INSIST-ED) Registry and the multicenter Prospective Registry of Outcomes with Penile Prosthesis for Erectile Restoration (PROPPER), respectively for Italy and North America were considered. Clinical characteristics of patients included in both registries were compared using Wilcoxon Rank Sum test and the Pearson’s Chi square test. Patients submitted to PPI in Italy are significantly younger (age: 61.2 vs. 63.8 years; p ≤ 0.001) compared with North America. The majority of patients are treated for post-radical prostatectomy ED in both registries (Italy: 31%; North America: 27%), although diabetes and cardiovascular diseases are more frequent reasons for PPI in the PROPPER registry (p ≤ 0.001), reflecting differences in disease prevalence among countries. In North America a non-hydraulic implant is considered only in 1% of cases as compared with 3% in Italy (p ≤ 0.001). In terms of postoperative management, a compressive surgical dressing (98% vs. 24%; p ≤ 0.001) is a more common strategy in North America. Finally, in Italy most surgeries are performed in a public hospital (82%), while the private setting (70.8%) is more common in North America (p ≤ 0.001). These findings suggest differences in health care systems between Italy and North America. A system like the American one would guarantee easier access to PPI in countries where the National Health System is mainly based on reimbursement to public hospital settings and where patients choosing private settings have to pay by themselves. © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited
Multidisciplinary interobserver agreement in the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
No full textThe purpose of the present study was to evaluate the accuracy of the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) by respiratory physicians in six European countries, and to calculate the interobserver agreement between high-resolution computed tomography reviewers and histology reviewers in IPF diagnosis.The diagnosis of usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) was assessed by a local investigator, following the American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society consensus statement, and confirmed when a minimum of two out of three expert reviewers from each expert panel agreed with the diagnosis. The level of agreement between readers within each expert panel was calculated by weighted kappa.The diagnosis of UIP was confirmed by the expert panels in 87.2% of cases. A total of 179 thoracic high-resolution computed tomography scans were independently reviewed, and an interobserver agreement of 0.40 was found. Open or thoracoscopic lung biopsy was performed in 97 patients, 82 of whom could be reviewed by the expert committee. The weighted kappa between histology readers was 0.30.It is concluded that, although the level of agreement between the readers within each panel was only fair to moderate, the overall accuracy of a clinical diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in expert centres is good (87.2%).The members of the Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis International Group Exploring N-Acetylcysteine I Annual
(IFIGENIA) study group are as follows.
Steering committee: J. Behr (Grosshadern Clinic, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany); R. Buhl (Johannes
Gutenberg University Clinic, Mainz, Germany); U. Costabel (Ruhrland Clinic, Essen, Germany); R. Dekhuijzen (Radboud
University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands); M. Demedts (Chairman) and M. Thomeer
(University Hospitals, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium); H.M. Jansen (Academic Medical Centre,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands); W. MacNee (University of Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh, UK); and B. Wallaert
TABLE 4 Overview of studies addressing interobserver agreement on thoracic computed tomography (CT) in various forms of
pulmonary fibrosis
First author [Ref.] Year Interobserver agreement k coefficient Study population Subjects n Observers n Comments
GRENIER [10] 1991 0.64–0.78 Sarcoidosis 53 3 Definition of IPF unclear Pulmonary fibrosis 33 Histiocytosis X 17
Other ILD 37 WELLS [19] 1993 0.58–0.76 Systemic sclerosis 35 2 Interobserver agreement for grading CT appearance
IPF 21 and change in nature and extent of disease COLLINS [8] 1994 0.48 Systemic sclerosis 63 4 Interobserver agreement for CT pattern type
IPF 63 KAZEROONI [20] 1997 0.51–0.83 UIP; DIP 24; 1 4 Interobserver agreement for pattern type in different lobes
MACDONALD [9] 2001 0.40 NSIP 21 4 Interobserver agreement for NSIP and UIP UIP 32
HUNNINGHAKE [7] 2001 0.54 IPF 54 4 Interobserver agreement for IPF versus non-IPF;
Non-IPF 37 criteria for IPF diagnosis not mentioned FLAHERTY [3] 2003 0.43 NSIP 23 2 Interobserver agreement for NSIP and UIP
UIP 73 AZIZ [21] 2004 0.50 DPLD 131 11 Interobserver agreement for first-choice diagnosis of IPF
Present study 0.40 UIP 156 3 Interobserver agreement for IPF versus non-IPF; Non-UIP 23 IPF patients included following ATS/ERS criteria
ILD: interstitial lung disease; IPF: idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; UIP: usual interstitial pneumonia; DIP: desquamative interstitial pneumonia; NSIP: nonspecific interstitial
pneumonia; DPLD: diffuse parenchymal lung disease; ATS: American Thoracic Society; ERS: European Respiratory Society.
M. THOMEER ET AL. INTEROBSERVER AGREEMENT IN IPF DIAGNOSIS c EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY JOURNAL VOLUME 31 NUMBER 3 589
(Calmette Hospital, Lille Regional University Hospital, Lille, France).
Country coordinators: P. de Vuyst (Erasmus University Hospital, Brussels, Belgium); B. Wallaert (France); J. Behr
(Germany); S. Petruzzelli (Cardiothoracic Dept, Pisa University, Pisa, Italy); J.M.M. van den Bosch (St Antonius
Hospital, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands); E. Rodrı´guez-Becerra (Virgen del Rocı´o University Hospital, Seville, Spain); W.
MacNee (UK).
Radiology review committee: C.D.R. Flower (Evelyn Hospital, Cambridge, UK); J. Verschakelen (University Hospitals,
Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium); F. Laurent (Cardiological Hospital, Bordeaux University Hospital,
Bordeaux, France).
Histology review committee: A.G. Nicholson (Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK); E.K. Verbeken (University Hospitals,
Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven); F. Capron (Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital, Paris, France).
Local investigators. Belgium: M. Demedts, P. de Vuyst, E. Michiels (East Limburg Hospital, Genk), H. Slabbynck
(Middelheim General Hospital, Antwerp), M. Thomeer.
France: A. Bourdin and P. Chanez (Arnaud de Villeneuve Hospital, Montpellier), J. Cadranel (Tenon Hospital, Paris), P.
Camus (Le Bocage University Hospital, Dijon), P. Delaval (Pontchaillou Hospital, Rennes), N. Just and B. Wallaert
(Calmette Hospital, Lille Regional University Hospital, Lille, France), J.F. Muir (Bois Guillaume Hospital, Rouen). Germany:
U. Costabel, R. Baumgartner (Grosshadern Clinic, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich), J. Behr, R. Bonnet and I
Ma¨der (Bad Berka Central Clinic, Bad Berka), R. Buhl, A.M. Kirsten (Johannes Gutenberg University Clinic, Mainz), R.
Loddenkemper (Heckeshorn Lung Clinic, Zehlendorf Clinic, Berlin), A. Meyer (Eppendorf University Hospital, Hamburg),
J. Mu¨ ller-Quernheim (Borstel Research Centre, Medical Clinic, Borstel), H. Steveling (Ruhrland Clinic, Essen, Germany), T.
Welte (Magdeburg University Clinic, Magdeburg), H. Worth (Clinic Fu¨ rth, Fu¨ rth). Italy: G. Anzalone (Prato Hospital, Prato),
G.B. Bottino (DIMI, Genoa University, Genoa), G. Bustacchini (S. Maria delle Croci Hospital, Ravenna), M. Dottorini (R.
Silvestrini Hospital, Perugia), S. Gasparini (Torrette Hospital, Torrette di Ancona), C. Giuntini (Cardiothoracic Dept, Pisa
University, Pisa), A. Rossi (IRCCS S. Matteo General Hospital, Pavia), G. Simon (Azienda Ospedaliera Villa Sofia, Palermo).
The Netherlands: F. Beaumont (Bosch Medicentrum, Locatie Grootziekengasthuis, Hertogenbosch), M. Drent (Maastricht
University Hospital, Maastricht), H.M. Jansen, J.M.M. van den Bosch, and F.J.J. van den Elshout (Rijnstate Hospital, Arnheim).
Spain: J. Ancochea Bermudez (Hospital Universitario de la Princesa, Madrid), L. Callol Sanchez (Hospital Universitario Del
Aire, Madrid), J.L. Llorente (Hospital De Cruces, Baracaldo-Bilbao), J.M. Rodriguez-Arias and I. Vigil (Hospital Sant Pau,
Barcelona), E. Rodrı´quez-Becerra (Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocı´o, Seville).
Zambon personnel and consultants: A. Ardia (consultant), M. Sardina, G. Corvasce, and I. Lankhorst (consultant)
Evidence of differential selection of HIV-1 variants carrying drug-resistant mutations in seroconverters
No full textObjectives: To estimate 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: Ecological 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 Molecular Biology of the University of Siena, Italy, in the period 1997-2004 were used. The efficiency of transmission was studied by odds ratio (OR) analysis 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 negative selection at transmission. Results: The overall prevalence of drug mutations associated with nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), non-NRTIs (NNRTIs) and protease inhibitors (PIs) was 13.20/0, 4.6% and 2.0% in SCs. and 69.9%, 27.6% and 33.7% in PTs, respectively. 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 184V 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 negatively 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 negative 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.</p
Risk of unfavorable outcomes after penile prosthesis implantation – results from a national registry (INSIST-ED)
No full textLike all surgeries, penile prosthesis implantation (PPI) has the potential for both postoperative complications and suboptimal patient satisfaction. In order to assess risk factors for poor satisfaction, we reviewed patients who had been prospectively recruited in a national multi-institutional registry of penile prostheses procedures (INSIST-ED) from 2014 to 20121. Patient baseline characteristics and postoperative complications were recorded. The primary endpoint of this study was unfavorable outcomes after inflatable PPI, defined as significant postoperative complications (Clavien–Dindo ≥2) and/or Sexuality with Quality of Life and Sexuality with Penile Prosthesis (QoLSPP) scores below the 10th percentile. A total of 256 patients were included in the study. The median age was 60 years (IQR 56–67). The most common cause of erectile dysfunction (ED) was organic (42.2%), followed by pelvic surgery/radiotherapy (39.8%) and Peyronie’s disease (18.0%). Postoperative complications were recorded in 9.6%. High-grade complications (Clavien ≥2) occurred in 4.7%. At 1-year follow-up, the median QoLSPP total score was 71 (IQR 65–76). In all, 14.8% of patients were classified as having experienced unfavorable outcomes because of significant postoperative complications and/or QoLSPP scores below the 10th percentile. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated patient age to be non-linearly associated with the risk of experiencing unfavorable outcomes. A U-shaped correlation showed a lower risk for younger and older patients and a higher risk for middle-aged men. ED etiology and surgical volume were not associated with PPI outcomes. Physicians should, therefore, be aware that middle-aged men may be at higher risk of being unsatisfied following PPI compared to both younger and older patients
Recombination analysis and structure prediction show correlation between breakpoint clusters and RNA hairpins in the pol gene of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 unique recombinant forms
No full textRecombination is recognized as a primary force in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) evolution, increasing viral diversity through reshuffling of genomic portions. The strand-switching activity of reverse transcriptase is required to complete HIV-1 replication and can occur randomly throughout the genome, leading to viral recombination. Some recombination hotspots have been identified and found to correlate with RNA structure or sequence features. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of recombination hotspots in the pol gene of HIV-1 and to assess their correlation with the underlying RNA structure. Analysis of the recombination pattern and breakpoint distribution in a group of unique recombinant forms (URFs) detected two recombination hotspots in the pol region. Two stable and conserved hairpins were consistently predicted corresponding to the identified hotspots using six different RNA-folding algorithms on the URF parental strains. These findings suggest that such hairpins may play a role in the higher recombination rates detected at these positions.</p
