Aspirin for primary prevention of cardiovascular events in people with diabetes: meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Objective To evaluate the benefits and harms of low dose aspirin in people with diabetes and no cardiovascular disease

In vitro activity of tigecycline and comparators against carbapenem-susceptible and resistant Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates in Italy

Background: In a recent multi-centre Italian survey (2003-2004), conducted in 45 laboratories throughout Italy with the aim of monitoring microorganisms responsible for severe infections and their antibiotic resistance, Acinetobacter baumannii was isolated from various wards of 9 hospitals as one of the most frequent pathogens. One hundred and seven clinically significant strains of A. baumannii isolates were included in this study to determine the in vitro activity of tigecycline and comparator agents. Methods: Tests for the susceptibility to antibiotics were performed by the broth microdilution method as recommended by CLSI guidelines. The following antibiotics were tested: aztreonam, piperacillin/tazobactam, ampicillin/sulbactam, ceftazidime, cefepime, imipenem, meropenem tetracycline, doxycycline, tigecycline, gentamicin, amikacin, ciprofloxacin, colistin, and trimethoprim/sulphametoxazole. The PCR assay was used to determine the presence of OXA, VIM, or IMP genes in the carbapenem resistant strains. Results: A. baumannii showed widespread resistance to ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin and aztreonam in more than 90% of the strains; resistance to imipenem and meropenem was 50 and 59% respectively, amikacin and gentamicin were both active against about 30% of the strains and colistin about 99%, with only one strain resistant. By comparison with tetracyclines, tigecycline and doxycycline showed a higher activity. In particular, tigecycline showed a MIC90 value of 2 mg/L and our strains displayed a unimodal distribution of susceptibility being indistinctly active against carbapenem-susceptible and resistant strains, these latter possessed OXA-type variant enzymes. Conclusion: In conclusion, tigecycline had a good activity against the MDR A. baumannii strains while maintaining the same MIC90 of 2 mg/L against the carbapenem-resistant strains. © 2008 Mezzatesta et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

iALMA Cryofacility Dry Run Report

The iALMA Cryofacility consist of a 2x1 squared meters surface chamber that will permit to test the ALMA band 2+3 cartridge at operational conditions. The Cryofacility is setup at the CryoWaves Lab at INAF/IASF-Bologna

bivalirudin inhibits thrombin mediated tissue factor expression in human endothelial cells

Thrombosis is the main pathophysiological mechanism in Acute Coronary Syndromes (ACS), and involves the activation of platelets and of Tissue Factor (TF)-dependent extrinsic coagulation pathway. TF-mRNA and antigen are detectable in the adventitia of normal vessels. On the contrary, little TF immunoreactivity is measurable in the smooth muscle cells of uninjured vessels and unperturbed endothelial cells, being in contact with circulating blood, usually do not express TF activity. However, several stimuli are able to induce TF in endothelial cells, including thrombin. Thus in an acute "scenario", thrombin might be responsible for creating a prothombotic milieau. Bivalirudin (BIVA) is a synthetic, reversible direct thrombin inhibitor actually considered a valuable alternative to heparins in patients who need anticoagulation in the setting of ACS and percutaneous coronary intervention to avoid acute thrombotic events. In the present study we have investigated whether BIVA, by inhibiting thrombin, might have effects on TF expression and procoagulant activity in endothelial cells. Human Umbilical Endothelial Cells (HUVEC) were stimulated with thrombin or with the activated coagulation factors FVIIa/FXa for 2 hrs to evaluate TF-mRNA transcription by real-time PCR and for 6 hrs to measure TF expression/activity on cell surface by FACs analysis and procoagulant activity. In additional experiments HUVEC were pre-treated with BIVA for 1 hr before being stimulated and processed as above. Thrombin induced TF-mRNA transcription as well TF expression/activity on HUVEC shifting them to a procoagulant phenotype. On the contrary, the activated coagulation factors FVIIa/FXa did not affect TF expression/activity, indicating that thrombin plays a pivotal role in mediating this phenomenon. BIVA was able to prevent these thrombin deleterious effects. Data of the present study, although in vitro, suggest that BIVA, in the context of ACS, might significantly reduce thrombogenicity not only by acting as direct thrombin inhibitor but through its effects on TF expression/activity too. </p

High-coverage methylation data of a gene model before and after DNA damage and homologous repair

Genome-wide methylation analysis is limited by its low coverage and the inability to detect single variants below 10%. Quantitative analysis provides accurate information on the extent of methylation of single CpG dinucleotide, but it does not measure the actual polymorphism of the methylation profiles of single molecules. To understand the polymorphism of DNA methylation and to decode the methylation signatures before and after DNA damage and repair, we have deep sequenced in bisulfite-treated DNA a reporter gene undergoing site-specific DNA damage and homologous repair. In this paper, we provide information on the data generation, the rationale for the experiments and the type of assays used, such as cytofluorimetry and immunoblot data derived during a previous work published in Scientific Reports, describing the methylation and expression changes of a model gene (GFP) before and after formation of a double-strand break and repair by homologous-recombination or non-homologous-end-joining. These data provide: 1) a reference for the analysis of methylation polymorphism at selected loci in complex cell populations; 2) a platform and the tools to compare transcription and methylation profiles

Oxidized Low-Density Lipoproteins Induce Tissue Factor Expression in T-Lymphocytes via activation of Lectin-Like Oxidized Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor-1

T-lymphocytes plays an important role in the pathophysiology of acute coronary syndromes (ACS). T-cell activation in vitro by pro-inflammatory cytokines may lead to functional Tissue Factor (TF) expression, indicating a possible contribution of immunity to thrombosis. Oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDLs) are found abundantly in atherosclerotic plaques. We aimed at evaluating the effects of oxLDLs on TF expression in T-cells and the role of the lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (LOX-1)

Performance analysis of the GR712RC dual-core LEON3FT SPARC V8 processor in an asymmetric multi-processing environment

In this paper we present the results of a series of performance tests carried out on a prototype board mounting the Cobham Gaisler GR712RC Dual Core LEON3FT processor. The aim was the characterization of the performances of the dual core processor when used for executing a highly demanding lossless compression task, acting on data segments continuously copied from the static memory to the processor RAM. The selection of the compression activity to evaluate the performances was driven by the possibility of a comparison with previously executed tests on the Cobham/Aeroflex Gaisler UT699 LEON3FT SPARC™ V8. The results of the test activity have shown a factor 1.6 of improvement with respect to the previous tests, which can easily be improved by adopting a faster onboard board clock, and provided indications on the best size of the data chunks to be used in the compression activity

Incidence of bloodstream infections, length of hospital stay and survival in patients with recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection treated with fecal microbiota transplantation or antibiotics: a prospective cohort study

Background: Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a risk factor for bloodstream infections (BSI). Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is more effective than antibiotics in treating recurrent CDI, but its efficacy in preventing CDI-related BSI is uncertain. Objective: To assess incidence of primary BSI in patients with recurrent CDI treated with FMT compared with patients treated with antibiotics. Design: Prospective cohort study. FMT and antibiotic treated patients were matched using propensity score. Setting: Single academic medical center. Patients: 290 inpatients with recurrent CDI; 57 patients per treatment in matched cohort. Interventions: FMT or antibiotics. Measurements: Our primary outcome was the development of primary BSI within a 90-day follow-up. Secondary outcomes were length of hospitalization, and overall survival (OS) at 90 days. Results: 109 patients were treated with FMT, and 181 received antibiotics. Five patients in the FMT group and 40 in the antibiotic group developed BSI. Due to differences in the patients treated with FMT and antibiotics in a number of baseline characteristics including the number of recurrences and CDI severity, comparative analyses were limited to the matched cohort. Subjects in the FMT group experienced a 23% lower risk of developing BSI (95% confidence interval 10-35%), 14 fewer days of hospitalization (95% confidence interval 9-20 days), and a 32% increase in OS (95% confidence interval 16-47%) compared with the antibiotic group. Limitations: Non-randomized study with potential for unmeasured/residual confounding. Limited generalizability of the propensity score-matched cohort. Conclusion: In a propensity score-matched cohort, patients with recurrent CDI treated with FMT were less likely to develop primary BSI