OAS Gene Family Expression Is Associated with HIV-Related Neurocognitive Disorders.

HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders are common in HIV-infected individuals, even in the combination antiretroviral therapy (c-ART) era. Several mechanisms are involved in neuronal damage, including chronic inflammation immune activation. Mammalian 2'-5'-oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS) genes are produced in response to interferon (IFN), mainly by monocytes, and exert their antiviral functions by activation of RNase L that degrades viral and cellular RNAs.

PEDOT(PSS) as Solid Contact for Ion-Selective Electrodes: The Influence of the PEDOT(PSS) Film Thickness on the Equilibration Times.

To understand the rate determining processes during the equilibration of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrenesulfonate-based (PEDOT(PSS)-based) solid contact (SC) ion-selective electrodes (ISEs), the surfaces of Pt, Au, and GC electrodes were coated with 0.1, 1.0, 2.

Can healthcare utilization data reliably capture cases of chronic respiratory diseases? a cross-sectional investigation in Italy.

Background: Healthcare utilization data are increasingly used for chronic disease surveillance. Nevertheless, no standard criteria for estimating prevalence of high-impact diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, are available. In this study an algorithm for recognizing COPD/asthma cases from HCU data is developed and implemented in the HCU databases of the Italian Lombardy Region (about 10 million residents).

Bone Substitutes in Le Fort I Osteotomy to Promote Bone Union and Skeletal Stability.

Maxillary advancement by Le Fort I osteotomy has become the standard procedure to restore function and facial esthetics, correct skeletal and occlusal discrepancies, and treat obstructive sleep apnea in patients with facial deformities. Incomplete ossification between the bone segments at the jaw osteotomy site has proven to be a major problem in these patients. There are several studies in the literature that address orthognathic surgery, but only a limited number that discuss the use of graft materials in maxillary osteotomy.

Measurements of the associated production of a Z boson and b jets in pp collisions at .

Measurements of the associated production of a boson with at least one jet originating from a b quark in proton-proton collisions at are presented. Differential cross sections are measured with data collected by the CMS experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.8 .

Modern tools for the chemical ligation and synthesis of modified peptides and proteins.

The ability to improve nature's capacity by introducing modification of biological interest in proteins and peptides (P&P) is one of the modern challenges in synthetic chemistry. Due to the unfavorable pharmacokinetic properties, many native P&P are of little use as therapeutic agents. Today, few methods for the preparation of modified proteins are available.

Concurrent repeatability and reproducibility analyses of four marker placement protocols for the foot-ankle complex.

Multi-segment models of the foot have been proposed in the past years to overcome limitations imposed by oversimplified traditional approaches used to describe foot kinematics, but they have been only partially validated and never compared. This paper presents a unique comparative assessment of the four most widely adopted foot kinematic models and aims to provide a guidance for the clinical interpretation of their results. Sensitivity of the models to differences between treadmill and overground walking was tested in nine young healthy adults using a 1D paired t-test.

Study of Glycemic Variability Through Time Series Analyses (Detrended Fluctuation Analysis and Poincaré Plot) in Children and Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes.

Background: Time series analysis provides information on blood glucose dynamics that is unattainable with conventional glycemic variability (GV) indices. To date, no studies have been published on these parameters in pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes. Our aim is to evaluate the relationship between time series analysis and conventional GV indices, and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels.

The effects of growing up on a farm on adult lung function and allergic phenotypes: an international population-based study.

Rationale: Evidence has suggested that exposure to environmental or microbial biodiversity in early life may impact subsequent lung function and allergic disease risk.

Objectives: To investigate the influence of childhood living environment and biodiversity indicators on atopy, asthma and lung function in adulthood.

Methods And Measurements: The European Community Respiratory Health Survey II investigated ∼10 201 participants aged 26-54 years from 14 countries, including participants' place of upbringing (farm, rural environment or inner city) before age 5 years.

Optogenetically enhanced pituitary corticotroph cell activity post-stress onset causes rapid organizing effects on behaviour.

The anterior pituitary is the major link between nervous and hormonal systems, which allow the brain to generate adequate and flexible behaviour. Here, we address its role in mediating behavioural adjustments that aid in coping with acutely threatening environments. For this we combine optogenetic manipulation of pituitary corticotroph cells in larval zebrafish with newly developed assays for measuring goal-directed actions in very short timescales.

Versatile Picklocks To Access All Opioid Receptors: Tuning the Selectivity and Functional Profile of the Cyclotetrapeptide c[Phe-d-Pro-Phe-Trp] (CJ-15,208).

Recently, the tryptophan-containing noncationizable opioid peptides emerged with atypical structure and unexpected in vivo activity. Herein, we describe analogs of the naturally occurring mixed κ/μ-ligand c[Phe-d-Pro-Phe-Trp] 1 (CJ-15,208). Receptor affinity, selectivity, and agonism/antagonism varied upon enlarging macrocycle size, giving the μ-agonist 9 or the δ-antagonist 10 characterized by low nanomolar affinity.

Boceprevir or telaprevir in hepatitis C virus chronic infection: The Italian real life experience.

Aim: To check the safety and efficacy of boceprevir/telaprevir with peginterferon/ribavirin for hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 in the real-world settings.

Methods: This study was a non-randomized, observational, prospective, multicenter. This study involved 47 centers in Italy.

Smoking and New-Onset Asthma in a Prospective Study on Italian Adults.

Background: The existence of a cause-effect relation between active smoking and new-onset asthma in adults, although supported by several studies, has not been proven yet.

Aims: We aimed to prospectively study asthma incidence as a function of smoking habits in the Italian adult population.

Methods: A population-based cohort of 5,241 non-asthmatics was enrolled in Verona and Sassari in 1998-2000.

Event generator tunes obtained from underlying event and multiparton scattering measurements.

New sets of parameters ("tunes") for the underlying-event (UE) modelling of the pythia8, pythia6 and herwig++ Monte Carlo event generators are constructed using different parton distribution functions. Combined fits to CMS UE proton-proton ([Formula: see text]) data at [Formula: see text] and to UE proton-antiproton ([Formula: see text]) data from the CDF experiment at lower [Formula: see text], are used to study the UE models and constrain their parameters, providing thereby improved predictions for proton-proton collisions at 13[Formula: see text]. In addition, it is investigated whether the values of the parameters obtained from fits to UE observables are consistent with the values determined from fitting observables sensitive to double-parton scattering processes.

Measurement of the [Formula: see text] production cross section in the all-jets final state in pp collisions at [Formula: see text][Formula: see text].

The cross section for [Formula: see text] production in the all-jets final state is measured in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 [Formula: see text] at the LHC with the CMS detector, in data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 18.4 [Formula: see text]. The inclusive cross section is found to be [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text].

Evidence of double layer/capacitive charging in carbon nanomaterial-based solid contact polymeric ion-selective electrodes.

This paper presents the first direct spectroscopic evidence for double layer or capacitive charging of carbon nanomaterial-based solid contacts in all-solid-state polymeric ion-selective electrodes (ISEs). Here, we used synchrotron radiation-X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (SR-XPS) and SR valence band (VB) spectroscopy in the elucidation of the charging mechanism of the SCs.

Electrochemical Ion Transfer with Thin Films of Poly(3-octylthiophene).

We report on the limiting conditions for ion-transfer voltammetry between an ion-exchanger doped and plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) membrane and an electrolyte solution that was triggered via the oxidation of a poly(3-octylthiophene) (POT) solid-contact (SC), which was unexpectedly related to the thickness of the POT SC. An electropolymerized 60 nm thick film of POT coated with a plasticized PVC membrane exhibited a significant sodium transfer voltammetric signal whereas a thicker film (180 nm) did not display a measurable level of ion transfer due to a lack of oxidation of thick POT beneath the membrane film. In contrast, this peculiar phenomenon was not observed when the POT film was in direct contact with an organic solvent-based electrolyte.

Abdominoplasty With Scarpa Fascia Preservation.

The plane of dissection used during a full abdominoplasty has been implicated on the seroma rate. Avoiding the classic plane of dissection on top of the rectus fascia and using a more superficial plane of dissection has been suggested as a strategy to improve recovery and lower the complication rate. The authors have been applying this principle in their practice for more than a decade, and they performed 2 prospective comparative studies to evaluate the clinical effects of using a more superficial plane of dissection (with Scarpa fascia preservation) during a full abdominoplasty.

Measurement of Long-Range Near-Side Two-Particle Angular Correlations in pp Collisions at sqrt[s]=13 TeV.

Results on two-particle angular correlations for charged particles produced in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV are presented. The data were taken with the CMS detector at the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of about 270  nb^{-1}. The correlations are studied over a broad range of pseudorapidity (|η|<2.

Persistence with inhaled corticosteroids reduces the risk of exacerbation among adults with asthma: A real-world investigation.

Background And Objective: Real-world evidence suggests that persistence with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), the mainstay of asthma drug therapy, is generally poor. The effect of persistence with ICS on the risk of asthma exacerbation was addressed in a population-based study.

Methods: The cohort of 2335 beneficiaries of the National Health Service provided by the Italian Region of Lombardy, aged 18-40 years and newly treated with ICS during 2005-2008, was followed from their first ICS dispensation until 2010.

Redoubling the ring size of an endomorphin-2 analog transforms a centrally acting mu-opioid receptor agonist into a pure peripheral analgesic.

The study reports the synthesis and biological evaluation of two opioid analogs, a monomer and a dimer, obtained as products of the solid-phase, side-chain to side-chain cyclization of the pentapeptide Tyr-d-Lys-Phe-Phe-AspNH2 . The binding affinities to the mu, delta, and kappa opioid receptors, as well as results obtained in a calcium mobilization functional assay are reported. Tyr-[d-Lys-Phe-Phe-Asp]2 -NH2 1 was a potent and selective full agonist of mu with sub-nanomolar affinity, while the dimer (Tyr-[d-Lys-Phe-Phe-Asp]2 -NH2 )2 2 showed a significant mixed mu/kappa affinity, acting as an agonist at the mu.

An Interleukin 13 Polymorphism Is Associated with Symptom Severity in Adult Subjects with Ever Asthma.

Different genes are associated with categorical classifications of asthma severity. However, continuous outcomes should be used to catch the heterogeneity of asthma phenotypes and to increase the power in association studies. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to evaluate the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in candidate gene regions and continuous measures of asthma severity, in adult patients from the general population.