Generalised quantum weakest preconditions

Generalisation of the quantum weakest precondition result of D'Hondt and Panangaden is presented. In particular the most general notion of quantum predicate as positive operator valued measure (POVM) is introduced. The previously known quantum weakest precondition result has been extended to cover the case of POVM playing the role of a quantum predicate. Additionally, our result is valid in infinite dimension case and also holds for a quantum programs defined as a positive but not necessary completely positive transformations of a quantum states.Comment: 7 pages, no figures, added references, changed conten

Brachial and central blood pressure in HIV-infected subjects

HIV infected subjects present an unfavorable cardiovascular (CV) risk profile that is determined by the infection itself, highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) and other factors, such as chronic kidney disease (CKD). Information is scant and contradictory on whether these factors are associated with arterial stiffness and blood pressure (BP) alteration. Our study aimed to evaluate those parameters in HIV-positive subjects both with and without HAART and with and without CKD, which was defined as the presence of microalbuminuria with a normal glomerular filtration rate. We enrolled 94 HIV-infected subjects without known CV risk factors and compared them with 37 control subjects. We recorded brachial and central BP (pulse wave analysis) and pulse wave velocity ( SphygmoCor). HIV-positive subjects of similar ages and with similar BP values showed central pulse pressure values that were significantly greater than those of controls; this was also the case for the Aix value. Central systolic and pulse pressure values and Aix were significantly greater in HIV-positive subjects with HAART and CKD than in the other HIV-positive subgroups and control subjects. PWV was also superimposable between groups when the data were analyzed relative to the presence of HAART and CKD. Our study shows that the unfavorable CV risk profile associated with HIV infection includes an increase in both central BP and Aix. The central BP increase seems to be favored by renal damage, which apparently has a role in the early stages of the disease

Impress 2 (International multicentric prospective study on pregnancy in systemic sclerosis). Prospective, case-control study of pregnancy in systemic sclerosis

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Metabolic syndrome in human immunodeficiency virus-positive subjects: prevalence, phenotype, and related alterations in arterial structure and function

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection itself and highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) have been proposed to be associated with a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome, but, to date, prevalence and phenotype of metabolic syndrome among HIV subjects and the related structural and functional vascular alterations are not conclusively defined. Methods: We analyzed the data of 108 HIV-infected subjects without known cardiovascular risk factors: 72 were on HAART (group A, age 46.57.5 years, clinical blood pressure 125.7/74.911.6/7.8mmHg) and there 36 in a naive group (group B, age 40.7 +/- 7.9 years, blood pressure 126/75.8 +/- 9.8/7.7mmHg). A total of 224 healthy subjects served as controls (group C, age 44.9 +/- 6.9 years, blood pressure 123.7/75.7 +/- 9.8/7.1mmHg). Arterial stiffness was measured by aorto-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV, sfigmocor), and carotid intima media thickness (IMT) was measured by a semiautomatic echotracking system (Esaote-WTS). Results: Metabolic syndrome was more frequent in HIV-positive subjects than in controls (19.4%, 13.8%, 4.5% for groups A, B, and C; P<0.001), with no significant difference between HAART and naive. In metabolic syndrome subjects, group A displayed lipid profile alterations more frequently (91%, 50%, 57% for groups A, B, and C; P<0.05), whereas others metabolic syndrome components were equally represented in the three groups. In metabolic syndrome subjects, IMT was similar [556 +/- 108, 542 +/- 164, and 564 +/- 110.4 m for groups A, B, and C; P=not significant (NS)], whereas PWV was significantly greater in HAART subjects when compared with controls (10.8 +/- 1.8, 9.+/- 1.1, 9.3 +/- 1cm/sec for groups A, B, and C; P=0.02 for A vs. C). Moreover, in this group (metabolic syndrome+HAART), PWV was higher than in subjects on HAART but without metabolic syndrome. Conclusions: HIV subjects showed a higher prevalence and a different pattern of metabolic syndrome components. HAART, more than HIV infection per se, appeared to be responsible for the increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome and arterial function derangement