BODY COMPOSITION CHANGES IN MEN WITH HIV/HCV COINFECTION, HIV MONOINFECTION, AND HCV MONOINFECTION.

Context: Both human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection represent systemic diseases that may develop metabolic complications, thus HIV/HCV coinfection metabolic changes need to be depicted.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the body composition changes in patients with either HIV and HCV monoinfections or HIV/HCV coinfection.

Methods: 123 young men divided into three groups: 41 with HIV/HCV coinfection, 42 with HIV-monoinfection, and 40 with HCV-monoinfection were evaluated for total and regional bone and soft tissue body composition assessments using a Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and were compared with 40 healthy men with age and body mass index similar to the study groups.

Liver fibrosis progression in a cohort of young HIV and HIV/ HBV co-infected patients: A longitudinal study using non-invasive APRI and Fib-4 scores.

Background: The risk of liver fibrosis increases over time in HIV and HIV-HBV individuals even under antiretroviral treatment (ART), warranting a rigorous and periodic monitorization. Given the lower availability of transient elastography, we aimed to assess the longitudinal variation of two non-invasive liver fibrosis scores, APRI and Fib-4, in cases with HIV monoinfection, HIV-HBV co-infection and individuals with HBsAg-seroclearance.

Methods: We performed an observational retrospective study between 2013 and 2019 on 212 HIV patients including 111 individuals with HIV mono-infection, 62 individuals with HIV-HBV co-infection and positive HBsAg and 39 cases with HIV-HBV infection and HBsAg-loss.

Thresholds of Basal- and Calcium-Stimulated Calcitonin for Diagnosis of Thyroid Malignancy.

Since medullary thyroid carcinoma is an aggressive cancer, it is important to have an early detection based on stimulated calcitonin (CT), especially when basal-CT is slightly elevated. The objective of this work was to set specific thresholds for basal-CT- and calcium-stimulated calcitonin for prediction of thyroid malignancy in female population. The study included 2 groups: group A-women with elevated basal-CT (>9.

Safety of calcitonin stimulation tests with calcium.

Introduction: Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is an aggressive form of thyroid cancer. Early detection is essential because only complete resection of the thyroid tumor and any local metastases can cure MTC. Calcitonin (CT) is a marker used for diagnosis of MTC.

Calcitonin Stimulation Tests: Rationale, Technical Issues and Side Effects: A Review.

Calcitonin (CT) stimulation tests have great value and could help to: differentiate thyroid causes of elevated CT apart from non-thyroid sources, determine whether the patients with slightly elevated basal CT could/could not be candidates for surgery, and indicate the right moment for prophylactic thyroidectomy in children with MEN syndromes when with normal basal CT. This triggered the requests for development of CT stimulation tests, taking into consideration their safety and aimed us to write a systematic review of literature regarding the rationale, technical issues, and side effects of CT stimulating tests used for diagnosis of MTC. After a thorough review of the literature, we classified the reported side effects by severity, as defined by United States Food and Drug Administration.

SmartHerd management: A microservices-based fog computing-assisted IoT platform towards data-driven smart dairy farming.

Internet of Things (IoT), fog computing, cloud computing, and data-driven techniques together offer a great opportunity for verticals such as dairy industry to increase productivity by getting actionable insights to improve farming practices, thereby increasing efficiency and yield. In this paper, we present SmartHerd, a fog computing-assisted end-to-end IoT platform for animal behavior analysis and health monitoring in a dairy farming scenario. The platform follows a microservices-oriented design to assist the distributed computing paradigm and addresses the major issue of constrained Internet connectivity in remote farm locations.

Safety assessment in Child A cirrhotic patients treated with Ombitasvir/Paritaprevir/Ritonavir and Dasabuvir with Ribavirin.

Background: In our country, the national program for hepatitis C virus treatment with ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir and dasabuvir was approved for patients with stage four of liver fibrosis and stage three associated with specific comorbidities. Our aim was to analyze the characteristics associated with the presence of adverse events in patients receiving this antiviral regimen, with ribavirin in cirrhotic patients.

Methods: We prospectively studied a cohort of adults with hepatitis C virus infection with Child A cirrhosis, treated for 12 weeks with ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir/dasabuvir and ribavirin, which have been followed in an infectious diseases tertiary-care hospital.

Hepatic Osteodystrophy: A Global (Re)View of the Problem.

Hepatic osteodystrophy is a common and frequently untreated complication, manifested as osteoporosis or osteopenia, encountered in the evolution of chronic liver diseases. This article provides a narrative review of hepatic osteodystrophy. The aim is to revise the prevalence, pathophysiology, diagnosis and management of hepatic osteodystrophy.

Lymphoproliferative disorder in a twin female teenager post kidney transplantation.

Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) is defined as a heterogeneous group of lymphoid and plasmocytic proliferations with variable malignant potential. They often arise in immunocompromised post solid organ transplant (SOT) patients linked with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Clinical manifestations include fever, lymphadenopathy and organ involvement.

Upregulation of Key Molecules for Targeted Imaging and Therapy.

Unlabelled: Targeted diagnosis and therapy enable precise tumor detection and treatment. Successful examples for precise tumor targeting are diagnostic and therapeutic radioligands. However, patients with tumors expressing low levels of the relevant molecular targets are deemed ineligible for such targeted approaches.

Body Composition Changes in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C.

Aims: We aimed to quantify global and regional body composition changes in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients, compare them to healthy controls and identify possible association between body composition changes and CHC. To our knowledge, this study is the first one comparing CHC patients to controls with regard to soft tissue body composition changes.

Methods: We assessed 60 CHC patients and 60 healthy controls by Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry.

Indium-111 labeled gold nanoparticles for in-vivo molecular targeting.

The present report describes the synthesis and biological evaluation of a molecular imaging platform based on gold nanoparticles directly labeled with indium-111. The direct labeling approach facilitated radiolabeling with high activities while maintaining excellent stability within the biological environment. The resulting imaging platform exhibited low interference of the radiolabel with targeting molecules, which is highly desirable for in-vivo probe tracking and molecular targeted tumor imaging.

Fe3O4-PEI-RITC magnetic nanoparticles with imaging and gene transfer capability: development of a tool for neural cell transplantation therapies.

Purpose: To develop Fe(3)O(4)-PEI-RITC magnetic nanoparticles with multimodal MRI-fluorescence imaging and transfection capability, for use in neural cell replacement therapies.

Methods: The Fe(3)O(4)-PEI-RITC MNPs were synthesised through a multi-step chemical grafting procedure: (i) Silanisation of MNPs with 3-iodopropyltrimethoxysilane; (ii) PEI coupling with iodopropyl groups on the MNP surface; and (iii) RITC binding onto the PEI coating. The cell labelling and transfection capabilities of these particles were evaluated in astrocytes derived from primary cultures.

Novel magnetite-silica nanocomposite (Fe3O4-SBA-15) particles for DNA binding and gene delivery aided by a magnet array.

Novel magnetite-silica nanocomposite particles were prepared using SBA-15 nanoporous silica as template. Magnetite nanoparticles were impregnated into the nanopore array of the silica template through thermal decomposition of iron(III) acetylacetonate, Fe(AcAc)3 at 200 degrees C. These composite particles were characterized using TEM, XRD and SQUID magnetometry.

Thrombocytopenia in chronic hepatitis C.

Background And Aims: Thrombocytopenia in patients with chronic hepatitis C may be the result of several factors: bone marrow inhibition, the decrease of liver thrombopoietin production and an autoimmune mechanism. Clinical variables such as age, gender, severity of liver disease and degree of viremia could influence the severity of platelet reduction. The goal of this study is to determine the prevalent mechanism of thrombocytopenia in patients with chronic hepatitis C and the clinical predictors of its severity.