Is physician assessment of alcohol consumption useful in predicting risk of severe liver disease among people with HIV and HIV/HCV co-infection?

Background: Alcohol consumption is a known risk factor for liver disease in HIV-infected populations. Therefore, knowledge of alcohol consumption behaviour and risk of disease progression associated with hazardous drinking are important in the overall management of HIV disease. We aimed at assessing the usefulness of routine data collected on alcohol consumption in predicting risk of severe liver disease (SLD) among people living with HIV (PLWHIV) with or without hepatitis C infection seen for routine clinical care in Italy. Methods: We included PLWHIV from two observational cohorts in Italy (ICONA and HepaICONA). Alcohol consumption was assessed by physician interview and categorized according to the National Institute for Food and Nutrition Italian guidelines into four categories: abstainer; moderate; hazardous and unknown. SLD was defined as presence of FIB4 > 3.25 or a clinical diagnosis of liver disease or liver-related death. Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between level of alcohol consumption at baseline and risk of SLD. Results: Among 9542 included PLWHIV the distribution of alcohol consumption categories was: abstainers 3422 (36%), moderate drinkers 2279 (23%), hazardous drinkers 637 (7%) and unknown 3204 (34%). Compared to moderate drinkers, hazardous drinking was associated with higher risk of SLD (adjusted hazard ratio, aHR = 1.45; 95% CI: 1.03-2.03). After additionally controlling for mode of HIV transmission, HCV infection and smoking, the association was attenuated (aHR = 1.32; 95% CI: 0.94-1.85). There was no evidence that the association was stronger when restricting to the HIV/HCV co-infected population. Conclusions: Using a brief physician interview, we found evidence for an association between hazardous alcohol consumption and subsequent risk of SLD among PLWHIV, but this was not independent of HIV mode of transmission, HCV-infection and smoking. More efforts should be made to improve quality and validity of data on alcohol consumption in cohorts of HIV/HCV-infected individuals

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Parameter translation for single-diode PV models based on explicit identification

The need for real-time identification techniques for photovoltaic (PV) model parameters has pushed the research toward the development of methods that employ explicit equations for identifying the five parameters of the PV single diode model (SDM). In this paper, the use of suitable translation methods in association to two explicit identification methods, previously validated under Standard Test Conditions (STC), is analyzed for a specific class of PV panels, namely panels whose SDMs have negligible series resistance. The study demonstrates that the proposed methods allow the SDM parameters to be properly determined under any operating condition using explicit formulas. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is assessed on the basis of experimental data concerning two commercial PV panels

Diagnosis of a commercial PEM fuel cell stack via incomplete spectra and fuzzy clustering

International audienceTo realize the commercialization of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, durability and reliability remain big challenges. This paper aims to develop a fault detection, identification and analysis methodology based on a commercial fuel cell system. Effect of air stoichiometry is studied using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Relevant faults are: oxygen starvation, water flooding and drying. Based on the EIS measurements, a non-model based methodology is proposed consisting of four parts: feature extraction based on the spectra, feature selection, fuzzy clustering and fault analysis. Validity of the proposed diagnostic methodology is verified experimentally

A geostatistical approach for identifying the shadowing conditions affecting a PV plant

Geostatistical approaches are commonly used in many disciplines, but they can be also useful also in identifying the operating conditions of a photovoltaic field, especially when solar irradiance hits differently its modules or when partial shading occurs. Despite some applications has been presented in literature, different aspects related to the accuracy of the operating condition identification process have been not yet analyzed into detail. This paper is aimed at discussing the dependence of the process with respect to the parameters of the geostatistical method. Moreover, a method for the prediction of the shadow motion is proposed and verified in simulation. The interest of this work relies in opening the on-line application of the proposed methods, e.g. in the dynamic photovoltaic systems reconfiguration

Infliximab in treatment of Crohn's disease : the Milan experience

BACKGROUND: Efficacy of infliximab in treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe refractory and fistulizing Crohn's disease has been shown in controlled clinical trials. Moreover, audit data from North America and North Europe have confirmed efficacy in clinical practice comparable to that in clinical trials. AIM: To report clinical experience using infliximab in treatment of Crohn's disease in Italy, comparing efficacy and safety with those reported in clinical trials and other published series. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study population comprised 63 patients (31 males and 32 females, median age 33 years) treated with infliximab for refractory/inflammatory (31 patients) and/or fistulizing Crohn's disease (32 patients). All patients received an infusion of infliximab at a dose of 5 mg/kg at weeks 0, 2 and 6. After the first infusion, clinical and laboratory assessments were repeated at weeks 2, 6 and 10. For refractory inflammatory Crohn's disease, clinical remission was defined as a Crohn's Disease Activity Index of or = 70 points in comparison to baseline. For fistulizing Crohn's disease, a complete response was defined as closure of any draining fistulae at week 10. A fistula was defined as closed when it no longer drained despite gentle finger pressure. A partial response was defined as reduction in number, size or drainage of fistulae, at the same visit. RESULTS: According to an intention-to-treat evaluation on the 31 patients with refractory/inflammatory Crohn's disease, at week 2, 42.5% (14 patients) had a clinical response and 31.3% of patients (10 patients) were in clinical remission. At week 10 (4 weeks after the end of third infusion), 80.6% (25 patients) had a clinical response and 71% (22 patients) were in clinical remission and 14/19 (74%) had discontinued steroid treatment. Of the 32 patients with fistulizing Crohn's Disease, 15 (46.9%) had a complete response, 8 (25%) a partial response, and 9 (28.1%) no response at week 10 check-up. The incidence of side-effects was low (16%) and not influenced by concurrent immunomodulatory therapy. CONCLUSION: The present experience with infliximab in clinical practice confirms its efficacy, in particular in inflammatory/refractory Crohn's disease and its safety, at least, in short-term follow-up

Follow-up dei pazienti sottoposti a terapia chirurgica per adenomi ipofisari non secernenti.

Viene discusso il follow-up dei pazienti sottoposti a terapia chirurgica per adenomi ipofisari non secernenti