Epidemiological trends of HIV/HCV coinfection in Spain, 2015-2019

Altres ajuts: Spanish AIDS Research Network; European Funding for Regional Development (FEDER).Objectives: We assessed the prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies and active HCV infection (HCV-RNA-positive) in people living with HIV (PLWH) in Spain in 2019 and compared the results with those of four similar studies performed during 2015-2018. Methods: The study was performed in 41 centres. Sample size was estimated for an accuracy of 1%. Patients were selected by random sampling with proportional allocation. Results: The reference population comprised 41 973 PLWH, and the sample size was 1325. HCV serostatus was known in 1316 PLWH (99.3%), of whom 376 (28.6%) were HCV antibody (Ab)-positive (78.7% were prior injection drug users); 29 were HCV-RNA-positive (2.2%). Of the 29 HCV-RNA-positive PLWH, infection was chronic in 24, it was acute/recent in one, and it was of unknown duration in four. Cirrhosis was present in 71 (5.4%) PLWH overall, three (10.3%) HCV-RNA-positive patients and 68 (23.4%) of those who cleared HCV after anti-HCV therapy (p = 0.04). The prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies decreased steadily from 37.7% in 2015 to 28.6% in 2019 (p < 0.001); the prevalence of active HCV infection decreased from 22.1% in 2015 to 2.2% in 2019 (p < 0.001). Uptake of anti-HCV treatment increased from 53.9% in 2015 to 95.0% in 2019 (p < 0.001). Conclusions: In Spain, the prevalence of active HCV infection among PLWH at the end of 2019 was 2.2%, i.e. 90.0% lower than in 2015. Increased exposure to DAAs was probably the main reason for this sharp reduction. Despite the high coverage of treatment with direct-acting antiviral agents, HCV-related cirrhosis remains significant in this population

Effect of a capping layer on the magnetic properties of island nanostructured Fe(110)

We present a study on the magnetic anisotropy and magnetization reversal of Fe(110) islands grown on Al2O3 versus the island size, the island size distribution, and the magnetic interaction between islands. For small islands magnetically connected via a polarizable capping layer, the samples behave as a uniform film with an induced uniaxial in-plane anisotropy. Magnetically isotropic samples are obtained when the islands size is increased. Transverse susceptibility measurements show that the magnetic anisotropy of the particles is macroscopically averaged due to the interisland magnetic interaction. The island size distribution is correlated to the magnetic anisotropy field dispersion. When the capping layer material is Al, a superparamagnetic behavior is found due to the absence of the interisland interaction.The Spanish Commission of Science and Technology is acknowledged for financial support. One of the authors sY.H.d thanks the “Ramón y Cajal” program.Peer reviewe

Morphological and magnetic properties of Co nanoparticle thin films grown on Si3N4

The morphological and magnetic properties of Co nanoparticles deposited by triode sputtering on Si3N4 at 550 °C are reported. The nominal thickness of Co ranges from 2 up to 15 nm, and two different capping layers, Au and Pt, are used. The nanoparticles were characterized by x-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. Morphological and structural studies show that the nanoparticles grow in a well-defined nanostructured pattern and adopt a hexagonal closed packed crystalline structure. Moreover, the average particle size and the particle size dispersion increase as the thickness increases, due to percolation. Experimental characterization of effective anisotropy field was carried out with transverse susceptibility. Transverse susceptibility measurements reveal an in-plane isotropic magnetic behavior. Both the effective anisotropy field and the coercive field increase as the particle size increases, following a D6 dependence, which is typical for three-dimensional structures in the framework of the random anisotropy model. The relationship between the particle size distribution and the anisotropy field distribution is shown, explaining the significant dependence of the magnetic behavior on the Co layer thickness. On the other hand, different capping layers give rise to a change in the magnetic response due to the modification of the interparticle interaction.This work was supported in part by Universidad de Oviedo. One of the authors (B.P.) gratefully thanks Dr. Luis Eugenio Fernandez-Outon and Dr. Gonzalo Vallejo- Fernandez for the support received in the particle size analysis. Also, B.P. acknowledges financial support received from Gobierno del Principado de Asturias under Grant No. BP05-015. J.M.G.M. wishes to thank the financial support from CSIC under Project No. PIE 200650 130. C.C. acknowledges the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia and FPI program for financial support.Peer reviewe

Structural and magnetic properties of V/Cofcc and Cohcp/V bilayers grown on MgO(100): A comparative study

A detailed study of the structure and magnetic properties of V/Co versus Co/V bilayers grown on MgO(001) substrates with cubic and hexagonal Co crystal structures is presented. Co is found to adopt fcc structure when grown on MgO(001), while it adopts hcp structure when grown on V(001). The different magnetocrystalline anisotropy associated with each structure gives rise to different magnetic properties for the otherwise equivalent symmetric Co–V bilayers.The Spanish Commission of Science and Technology (CICyT) is acknowledged for financial support. One of the authors (Y.H.) acknowledges the Ramón y Cajal program and Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) for financial support. Another author (B.P.) acknowledges Plan Investigación, Desarrollo Tecnológico e Innovación de Asturias 2001–2004 for financial support.Peer reviewe

The inheritance of the hulled and hull-less characters in Avena species

Thesis (M. Sc. Agric) -- University of Stellenbosch, 1946.Full text to be digitised and attached to bibliographic record

A multi-parameter nuclear-fission experiment: why and how to measure all at once?

Plenary and semiplenary session