UK Renal Registry 18th Annual Report: Chapter 3 Demographic and Biochemistry Profile of Kidney Transplant Recipients in the UK in 2014: National and Centre-specific Analyses.

There was a 2% fall in overall renal transplant numbers in 2014, with a significant fall in kidney donation from donors after circulatory death (10%). In 2014, death-censored renal transplant failure rates in prevalent patients were similar to previous years at 2.4% per annum. Transplant patient death rates remained stable at 2.3 per 100 patient years. The median age of incident and prevalent renal transplant patients in the UK was 50.6 and 53.3 years respectively. The median eGFR of prevalent renal transplant recipients was 52.5 ml/min/1.73 m2. The median eGFR of patients one year after transplantation was 57.4 ml/min/1.73 m2 post live transplant, 53.6 ml/min/1.73 m2 post brainstem death transplant and 50.1 ml/min/1.73 m2 post circulatory death transplant. In 2014, 13% of prevalent transplant patients had eGFR ,30 ml/min/1.73 m2. The median decline in eGFR slope beyond the first year after transplantation was −0.48 ml/min/1.73 m2/year.In 2014, malignancy (26%) and infection (24%) remained the commonest causes of death in patients with a functioning renal transplant

Low-energy models for correlated materials: bandwidth renormalization from Coulombic screening

We provide a prescription for constructing Hamiltonians representing the low energy physics of correlated electron materials with dynamically screened Coulomb interactions. The key feature is a renormalization of the hopping and hybridization parameters by the processes that lead to the dynamical screening. The renormalization is shown to be non-negligible for various classes of correlated electron materials. The bandwidth reduction effect is necessary for connecting models to materials behavior and for making quantitative predictions for low-energy properties of solids.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Hexatic and mesoscopic phases in the 2D quantum Coulomb system

We study the Wigner crystal melting in a two dimensional quantum system of particles interacting via the 1/r Coulomb potential. We use quantum Monte Carlo methods to calculate its phase diagram, locate the Wigner crystal region, and analyze its instabilities towards the liquid phase. We discuss the role of quantum effects in the critical behavior of the system, and compare our numerical results with the classical theory of melting, and the microemulsion theory of frustrated Coulomb systems. We find a Pomeranchuk effect much larger then in solid helium. In addition, we find that the exponent for the algebraic decay of the hexatic phase differs significantly from the Kosterilitz-Thouless theory of melting. We search for the existence of mesoscopic phases and find evidence of metastable bubbles but no mesoscopic phase that is stable in equilibrium

Efficacy of non-surgical periodontal therapy in reducing periodontal indexes in kidney-transplant patients

Efficacy of non-surgical periodontal therapy in reducing periodontal indexes in kidney-transplant patients. I. Casula, L. Zanardini*, M. Bianchi, V. Spotti, E. Marchesini Department of Medical and Surgical Specialties and Public Health Dentale - Dental School – University of Brescia, Italy Aim: kidney-transplant patient must take cyclosporine-A and calcium channel blockers chronically. Both medicines involve a gingival overgrowth (G.O.) as a collateral effect and this is due to their dosage: it appears 1-3 months after the beginning of the therapy. The prevalence of the G.O. is 84%. The G.O. originates from anterior interdental papilla and it appears as a red and soft tumefaction, that becomes more fibrinous as time goes by. The G.O. takes place in apical-coronal verse and also in vestibular-lingual verse and it looks like a gingival hypertrophy and hyperplasia, which is due to an abnormal increase of the number of fibroblasts into gingival connective tissue. The G.O. involves a great aggregation of extracellular Matrix, or less degradation of it, or both these processes simultaneously. The G.O. leads to the formation of pseudopockets, which interfere with the correct oral hygiene practices. This condition gives rise to mature plaque retention , that leads to infection, inflammation and the increase of the G.O. This condition becomes worse because of bad pre-transplant oral hygiene state. The aim of this study is to estimate the efficacy of non-surgical periodontal therapy in reducing the G.O. in kidney-transplant patient. Materials and methods: a sample of 32 simple random kidney transplant subjects was enrolled in this study (mean age: 58,44; range: 33-81, 21 m., 11f.). All of them were taking cyclosporine A and calcium channel blockers. Patients taking idantoine, pregnant women, patients suffering from diabetes mellitus or people who have undergone gingival surgery were excluded. The study started on November 2012 and finished on September 2013. Periodontal indexes and Professional oral hygiene practices were performed by the same dental hygienist. The plaque, calculus, bleeding, G.O. and probing depth indexes were evaluated at T0, T1, T2, T3 (at 0, 2, 4, 6 months respectively). Every time the same oral hygiene protocol was applied: non-surgical periodontal therapy with ultrasonic instruments above and below the gum. Results: 787 teeth analysed and 4722 periodontal sites probed. Plaque index (PI), calculus index (CI) and bleeding index (BoP) show significant statistical reduction (p<0,0001). T-test was used for statistic analysis. PI at T0=82,09%, at T3=29,89%/ CI at T0=53,44%, at T3=23,70%/ BoP at T0=71,98%, at T3=26,18%. Probing depth (PD), at six-monthly control , shows a significant statistical reduction (p<0,0001). PD 1-3 mm at T0=16,58%, at T3=30,45%. PD 4-6mm at T0=74,06%, at T3=64,70%. PD 7-9 mm at T0=9,36%, at T3=4,85%. G.O. At T0=54,93%, at T3=44,98%, with a significant statistical reduction (p<0,0001). Conclusions: the applied oral hygiene protocol is simple but effective in reducing drug-induced gingival overgrowth in kidney-transplant patient taking Cyclosporine-A. These clinic results assure a better oral health, improving the quality of life form an aesthetic and functional point of view

Eating and oral hygiene habits in a population of young adults: An observational study

Aim: Eating Disorders (ED) are a group of psychological disorders affecting patients’ relationship with food and their own body. In particular, they have an impact on teeth and oral mucosa and may cause dental caries, erosions, xerostomia, salivary glands modifications and perioral tissue metabolic impairment. The aim of this paper is to investigate the risk factors associated with ED in a population of young adults by considering the impact such disorders have on oral health, particularly in view of the increased rate of tooth erosion recorded in recent years. Materials and methods: An observational study was conducted by submitting, to a population of young adults in the Brescia area, an anonymous questionnaire (39 questions) to reveal their behaviours regarding their eating habits and lifestyles. The areas investigated were oral hygiene and eating habits. Results: A total of 212 young people were interviewed (M/F 18-25 in Brescia and its province) and the sample is at risk of developing ED in general owing to their eating habits and lifestyles: 65% of the respondents think diligently about food, and 57% of them worry about putting on weight, both these characteristics are typical to all EDs; 14% of the sample stated not eating in the company of family and friends in the way they would like out of embarrassment and shame. After eating, 8% of them “nearly always” feel remorse, and 41% “only on some occasions”. After having ‘transgressed’, 22% will fast or go on a diet to compensate for their excesses. Conclusions: EDs are a continually growing and evolving pathological problem. Informing and training healthcare professionals and citizens about the damage caused by EDs to the entire body could help to understand the importance of making a multidisciplinary evaluation from the outset of the problem and right from the first contact with the patient. To this end, dentists and dental hygienists are in the delicate situation of being among the first health professionals able to see early signs and symptoms of ED in the mouth and elsewhere

Exact quantum Monte Carlo study of one dimensional trapped fermions with attractive contact interactions

Using exact continuous quantum Monte Carlo techniques, we study the zero and finite temperature properties of a system of harmonically trapped one dimensional spin 1/2 fermions with short range interactions. Motivated by experimental searches for modulated Fulde-Ferrel-Larkin-Ovchinikov states, we systematically examine the impact of a spin imbalance on the density profiles. We quantify the accuracy of the Thomas-Fermi approximation, finding that for sufficiently large particle numbers (N > 100) it quantitatively reproduces most features of the exact density profile. The Thomas-Fermi approximation fails to capture small Friedel-like spin and density oscillations and overestimates the size of the fully paired region in the outer shell of the trap. Based on our results, we suggest a range of experimentally tunable parameters to maximize the visibility of the double shell structure of the system and the Fulde-Ferrel-Larkin-Ovchinikov state in the one dimensional harmonic trap. Furthermore, we analyze the fingerprints of the attractive contact interactions in the features of the momentum and pair momentum distributions.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure

Monitoraggio e controllo dei beni monumentali: formazione e certificazione del personale

Il presente lavoro costituisce una proposta per la formazione e la certificazione del personale che opera nel campo dei controlli e del monitoraggio dei beni monumentali ubicati in area sismica. Per bene Monumentale si intende qualsiasi manufatto con connotati a valenza storico-artistica, realizzato prevalentemente in muratura, con eventuali elementi in calcestruzzo armato e/o legno. L'articolo scaturisce da una proposta di formazione da sviluppare nell'ambito del Progetto PON denominato MASSIMO, acronimo di "Monitoraggio in Area Sismica Sistemi Monumentali" e dal quale estrarre mirati percorsi di addestramento da inserire in un preciso contesto di certificazione, secondo gli usuali livelli di conoscenza previsti dalla norma UNI EN ISO 9712 "Prove non distruttive - Qualificazione e certificazione del personale addetto alle prove non distruttive". Il contributo espone il percorso formativo relativo al progetto di ricerca e illustra le peculiarità e gli obbiettivi di alcune attività di controllo e monitoraggio basate su tecniche NDT. Per le tecniche maggiormente utilizzate nel processo di controllo, sono elencate le conoscenze minime richieste e le ore di attività necessarie, a giudizio di chi scrive, per poter giungere ad una conoscenza più o meno approfondita del metodo, in base ai diversi livelli di competenza ed al fine di sostenere gli esami di certificazione.Published53-613T. Pericolosità sismica e contributo alla definizione del rischioN/A or not JCRrestricte

Transcranial evoked potentials can be reliably recorded with active electrodes

Electroencephalographic (EEG) signals evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) are usually recorded with passive electrodes (PE). Active electrode (AE) systems have recently become widely available; compared to PE, they allow for easier electrode preparation and a higher-quality signal, due to the preamplification at the electrode stage, which reduces electrical line noise. The performance between the AE and PE can differ, especially with fast EEG voltage changes, which can easily occur with TMS-EEG; however, a systematic comparison in the TMS-EEG setting has not been made. Therefore, we recorded TMS-evoked EEG potentials (TEPs) in a group of healthy subjects in two sessions, one using PE and the other using AE. We stimulated the left primary motor cortex and right medial prefrontal cortex and used two different approaches to remove early TMS artefacts, Independent Component Analysis and Signal Space Projection—Source Informed Recovery. We assessed statistical differences in amplitude and topography of TEPs, and their similarity, by means of the concordance correlation coefficient (CCC). We also tested the capability of each system to approximate the final TEP waveform with a reduced number of trials. The results showed that TEPs recorded with AE and PE do not differ in amplitude and topography, and only few electrodes showed a lower-than-expected CCC between the two methods of amplification. We conclude that AE are a viable solution for TMS-EEG recording

Role of the EGF +61A>G polymorphism in melanoma pathogenesis: an experience on a large series of Italian cases and controls

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A single nucleotide polymorphism (61A>G) in the epidermal growth factor (<it>EGF</it>) gene has been implicated in both melanoma pathogenesis and increased melanoma risk. To further evaluate this association, we conducted a case-control study in a clinic-based Italian population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Individuals with less than 10 (N = 127) or more than 100 (N = 128) benign nevi, and patients with cutaneous melanoma (N = 418) were investigated for the <it>EGF </it>+61A>G polymorphism, using an automated sequencing approach.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall, no difference in <it>EGF </it>genotype frequencies was observed among subjects with different number of nevi as well as when non-melanoma healthy controls were compared with the melanoma patients. However, a heterogeneous distribution of the frequencies of the G/G genotype was detected among cases and controls originating from North Italy (21.1 and 18.3%, respectively) vs. those from South Italy (12.6 and 17.1%, respectively).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings further suggest that <it>EGF </it>+61A>G polymorphism may have a limited impact on predisposition and/or pathogenesis of melanoma and its prevalence may vary in different populations.</p

Application of a New Method for GWAS in a Related Case/Control Sample with Known Pedigree Structure: Identification of New Loci for Nephrolithiasis

In contrast to large GWA studies based on thousands of individuals and large meta-analyses combining GWAS results, we analyzed a small case/control sample for uric acid nephrolithiasis. Our cohort of closely related individuals is derived from a small, genetically isolated village in Sardinia, with well-characterized genealogical data linking the extant population up to the 16th century. It is expected that the number of risk alleles involved in complex disorders is smaller in isolated founder populations than in more diverse populations, and the power to detect association with complex traits may be increased when related, homogeneous affected individuals are selected, as they are more likely to be enriched with and share specific risk variants than are unrelated, affected individuals from the general population. When related individuals are included in an association study, correlations among relatives must be accurately taken into account to ensure validity of the results. A recently proposed association method uses an empirical genotypic covariance matrix estimated from genome-screen data to allow for additional population structure and cryptic relatedness that may not be captured by the genealogical data. We apply the method to our data, and we also investigate the properties of the method, as well as other association methods, in our highly inbred population, as previous applications were to outbred samples. The more promising regions identified in our initial study in the genetic isolate were then further investigated in an independent sample collected from the Italian population. Among the loci that showed association in this study, we observed evidence of a possible involvement of the region encompassing the gene LRRC16A, already associated to serum uric acid levels in a large meta-analysis of 14 GWAS, suggesting that this locus might lead a pathway for uric acid metabolism that may be involved in gout as well as in nephrolithiasis