A family of modified regularizing circulant preconditioners for image reconstruction problems

Regularizing iterative methods for image restoration problems with 2D band Toeplitz matrices are examined. They often require the use of suitable preconditioners. Circulant preconditioners, which can be applied with a low cost and can be easily adapted to cope with the noise, are widely used. In this paper three of them are taken into consideration and modified in order to obtain a better convergence rate, still retaining regularizing properties. A large numerical experimentation validates the theoretical results

Italian National Health Service immunized by Covid-19?

not required for Letter to the Edito

Contribution to the knowledge of fungal diversity of the Marmore Waterfalls (Umbria, central Italy)

A list of the macrofungi collected from the Marmore Waterfalls (Umbria, Italy) is reported. In particular, a list of basidiomycetes and ascomycetes collected over a period of about ten years was compiled. A total of 125 species belonging to 78 genera, 46 families, and 15 orders were identified. Forty-four species are recorded in Umbria for the first time. Marmore Waterfalls may represent an important area for the conservation of fungal diversity, due to the presence of 34 species matching those included in Red Lists of several European countries

Positive allosteric modulation of GABAB receptors ameliorates sensorimotor gating in rodent models

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Frau, R., Bini, V., Pillolla, G., Malherbe, P., Pardu, A., Thomas, A. W., Devoto, P. and Bortolato, M. (2014), Positive Allosteric Modulation of GABAB Receptors Ameliorates Sensorimotor Gating in Rodent Models. CNS Neurosci Ther, 20: 679–684. doi:10.1111/cns.12261, which has been published in final form at http://doi.org/10.1111/cns.12261. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.BACKGROUND: Converging evidence points to the involvement of γ-amino-butyric acid B receptors (GABABRs) in the regulation of information processing. We previously showed that GABABR agonists exhibit antipsychotic-like properties in rodent models of sensorimotor gating deficits, as measured by the prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle reflex. The therapeutic potential of these agents, however, is limited by their neuromuscular side effects; thus, in the present study we analyzed whether rac-BHFF, a potent GABABR positive allosteric modulator (PAM), could counter spontaneous and pharmacologically induced PPI deficits across various rodent models. METHODS: We tested the antipsychotic effects of rac-BHFF on the PPI deficits caused by the N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptor antagonist dizocilpine, in Sprague-Dawley rats and C57BL/6 mice. Furthermore, we verified whether rac-BHFF ameliorated the spontaneous PPI impairments in DBA/2J mice. RESULTS: rac-BHFF dose-dependently countered the PPI deficits across all three models, in a fashion akin to the GABABR agonist baclofen and the atypical antipsychotic clozapine; in contrast with these compounds, however, rac-BHFF did not affect startle magnitude. CONCLUSIONS: The present data further support the implication of GABABRs in the modulation of sensorimotor gating, and point to their PAMs as a novel promising tool for antipsychotic treatment, with fewer side effects than GABABR agonists

Human endogenous retrovirus, HERV-P and HERV-R in pediatric leukemia patients

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Correlates of spinal deforming index (SDI) in HIV-positive patients naive and on treatment

Methods HIV-infected subjects naive or on stable HAART were included. Vertebral deformities were identified using SDI (according to semiquantitative method by Genant), calculated by summing the deformity grades of all vertebrae (T4 to L4); pathological deformities are defined as follow: grade 1 between 20–25%, grade 2 between 26–40%, and grade 3 > >40%. According to WHO criteria, osteopenia and osteoporosis were diagnosed in patients having spine BMD calculated as -1 << T-score << -2.5 and T-score ≤≤2.5, respectively. The correlation between SDI and spine BMD was evaluated by univariate and multivariate linear regression. [Other variables considered: gender, age, current CD4 count, CD4 nadir, BMI, lipid parameters, alcohol intake, smoking habit, physical activity, family history for bone fracture, months of ARV exposure, and co-infection with hepatitis viruses; only the variables with p <<0.2 in univariate analyses were included in the final model.