Comparison of Adverse Effects of Two SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines Administered in Workers of the University of Padova.

: In Italy, on December 2020, workers in the education sector were identified as a priority population to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The first authorised vaccines were the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA (BNT162b2) and the Oxford-AstraZeneca adenovirus vectored (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19) vaccines. : To investigate the adverse effects of two SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in a real-life preventive setting at the University of Padova.

Disengagement and reengagement of HIV continuum of care in a single center cohort in northern Italy.

Despite the progress in HIV care, adherence to follow up remains critical. Disengagement impairs the benefit of HIV care and the increasing number of data that associates failed retention with worse outcomes has led public health institutions to consider retention in care as a new tool to fight against HIV pandemic. The aim of this retrospective, observational study was to estimate the burden of disengagement and reengagement in care in our HIV cohort and to identify the characteristics of our LTFU and reengaged patients.

Comparison of high intensity focused ultrasound and radioiodine for treating toxic thyroid nodules.

Purpose: We compared the effectiveness of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and radioiodine (RAI) to treat patients carrying toxic thyroid nodule (TTN). Normalization of serum thyrotropin (TSH) 1 year after treatment was the primary end-point; concurrent changes in nodules' volume and scintigraphic pattern were also evaluated as secondary end-points.

Materials And Methods: Among patients ≥18 years old with TTN observed at our centre between January 1st, 2016 and December 31th, 2016 we prospectively enrolled 17 and 15 age and sex-matched patients treated with RAI and HIFU, respectively.

The impact of antiretroviral therapy on iron homeostasis and inflammation markers in HIV-infected patients with mild anemia.

Background: Anemia is frequent during HIV infection and is predictive of mortality. Although cART has demonstrated to reduce its prevalence, several patients still experience unresolved anemia. We aimed to characterize iron homeostasis and inflammation in HIV-infected individuals with mild anemia in relation to cART.

Risk of Chronic Kidney Disease among Patients Developing Mild Renal Impairment during Tenofovir-Containing Antiretroviral Treatment.

Background: Tenofovir (TDF) can cause kidney injury through tubular dysfunction, with or without drop of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Whether mild eGFR reductions during treatment should be considered a reason for prompt TDF discontinuation, however, remains unclear.

Methods: Patients with normal pre-TDF eGFR levels, who had developed mild renal impairment (i.

Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio and Cardiovascular Disease Incidence in HIV-Infected Patients: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been shown to predict occurrence of cardiovascular events in the general population. The aim of our study was to evaluate the role of NLR to predict major cardiovascular disease (CVD) events in HIV-infected subjects. We performed a retrospective cohort study of HIV-infected patients residing in the Local Health Authority (LHA) of Brescia, northern Italy, from 2000 to 2012.

Systemic Inflammation-Based Biomarkers and Survival in HIV-Positive Subject With Solid Cancer in an Italian Multicenter Study.

Background: Recently, some systemic inflammation-based biomarkers have been demonstrated useful for predicting risk of death in patients with solid cancer independently of tumor characteristics. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic role of systemic inflammation-based biomarkers in HIV-infected patients with solid tumors and to propose a risk score for mortality in these subjects.

Methods: Clinical and pathological data on solid AIDS-defining cancer (ADC) and non-AIDS-defining cancer (NADC), diagnosed between 1998 and 2012 in an Italian cohort, were analyzed.

Predictors of clinical progression among HIV-1-positive patients starting HAART with CD4+ T-cell counts > or =200 cells/mm3.

Background: Baseline and follow-up predictors of new AIDS-defining events (ADE) or death among patients who started HAART with CD4+ T-cell counts > or =200 cells/mm3 have rarely been assessed simultaneously.

Methods: A prospective observational cohort study (1996-2002) is reported. HIV-infected patients initiating HAART with a CD4+ T-cell count > or =200 cells/mm3 were studied.

Predictors of AIDS-defining events among advanced naïve patients after HAART.

Background: Baseline and follow-up predictors of new AIDS-defining events or death (ADE/death) among patients who started HAART late in their disease history have rarely been assessed simultaneously.

Method: ADE and mortality rates were assessed using Cox regression analyses. Variables were tested for prediction of ADE/death within the first 3 months of therapy and from month 3, thereafter.

Diagnostic efficacy of SonoVue, a second generation contrast agent, in the assessment of extracranial carotid or peripheral arteries using colour and spectral Doppler ultrasound: a multicentre study.

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the improvement in diagnostic quality and diagnostic accuracy of SonoVue microbubble contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CE-US) versus unenhanced ultrasound imaging during the investigation of extracranial carotid or peripheral arteries. 82 patients with suspected extracranial carotid or peripheral arterial disease received four SonoVue doses (0.3 ml, 0.

SonoVue (BR1), a new long-acting echocontrast agent, improves transcranial colour-coded duplex ultrasonic imaging.

Background And Purpose: Visualization of normal or pathological flow in the intracranial arteries using transcranial colour-coded duplex sonography (TCCS) is occasionally obstructed by insufficient temporal bone windows, unfavourable insonation angles, or low flow velocities or volumes. SonoVue (BR1) is a new, long-acting echocontrast agent, which could be helpful in these instances.

Methods: SonoVue was studied in two separate multicentre investigations of patients with insufficient bone windows (BR1-014 with 73 patients and BR1-017 with 40 patients) using an identical protocol.

Hepatitis B virus co-infection in human immunodeficiency virus-infected subjects.

Shared epidemiological risks have resulted in HIV-infected populations having a high prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) co-infection. Several prospective studies have investigated the impact of HBV co-infection on HIV disease progression; most of them were negative. On the contrary, there is evidence that HIV may modify the natural history of HBV infection.

Multi-centre clinical study evaluating the efficacy of SonoVue (BR1), a new ultrasound contrast agent in Doppler investigation of focal hepatic lesions.

Objectives: SonoVue is a new ultrasound contrast agent, which consists of stabilised microbubbles of a sulphur hexafluoride gas. The aim of the study was to assess its efficacy in the Doppler investigation of focal hepatic lesions.

Materials And Methods: Seventy patients with focal liver tumours were studied.

Developmental effects of modifiers of the vg mutant in Drosophila melanogaster.

An analysis of the modifiers affecting the expression of the vg gene was performed. We selected for weak and strong expression of the vg mutant in F2 segregating populations obtained by crossing a vestigial stock with an Oregon laboratory stock (O) and with a wild strain (B) captured near Bologna, Italy. The selection for enlarged wings was more effective in the vg B population where wild wings appeared from the 10th generation.

Pathologic study of the cervix after cold coagulation.

In 20 patients Semm cold coagulation was performed on the exocervix to determine the depth of tissue necrosis and destruction of glandular crypts. Cold coagulation at 120 degrees C for 30 seconds achieves a depth of destruction of at least 4 mm.

Lack of mutagenic activity of ademetionine in vitro and in vivo.

Studies on the mutagenic activity of ademetionine (S-adenosylmethionine) tested in vitro at concentrations of 2 mg/sample and in vivo at doses up to 1500 mg/kg always gave negative responses. Moreover, a patent lack of abnormal methylated bases in the liver DNA of ademetionine-treated rats suggests that, if abnormal methylation occurs by exogenously administered ademetionine, the amount of formed methylated residues must be quite lower than that removable by the transmethylase enzymes responsible for the in vivo repair.

Temperature-Related Divergence in Experimental Populations of DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER. I. Genetic and Developmental Basis of Wing Size and Shape Variation.

The effects of environmental temperature on wing size and shape of Drosophila melanogaster were analyzed in populations derived from an Oregon laboratory strain kept at three temperatures (18 degrees , 25 degrees , 28 degrees ) for 4 yr. Temperature-directed selection was identified for both wing size and shape. The length of the four longitudinal veins, used as a test for wing size variations in the different populations, appears to be affected by both genetic and maternal influences.

Age-related modification of dopaminergic and beta-Adrenergic receptor system: restoration to normal activity by modifying membrane fluidity with S-adenosylmethionine.

Microviscosity of membranes prepared from striata and cortex of 3 or 30-month-old rats was measured by fluorescence polarization and electron spin resonance. The viscosity of the hydrophobic core of the lipid bilayer was significantly increased in striatal but not in cortical membranes of old rats. In old rats the incorporation of methyl groups into phosphatidylcholine was significantly lower than in young rats.

S-adenosylmethionine protects against erythrocyte membrane alterations induced in rabbits by cholesterol-rich diet.

In the erythrocyte membranes of rabbits fed a cholesterol rich diet for two months the cholesterol/phospholipid ratio was twice higher than in controls. The same diet induced a significant decrease in membrane fluidity and acetylcholinesterase activity. Two daily administrations of 25 mg X kg-1 b.

Endometrial pathological changes after Fallopian ring tubal ligation.

Endometrial biopsy was used to study the luteal phase in patients with Fallopian ring (Yoon ring) tubal ligation. Luteal phase insufficiency was found in 9.3% of patients in the study group and in 3.