Report of two cases of influenza virus A/H1N1v and B co-infection during the 2010/2011 epidemics in the Italian Veneto Region

From October 2010 to April 2011, in the Italian Veneto Region, 1403 hospitalized patients were tested for influenza virus infection by specific real time RT-PCR. Overall, 327 samples were positive for either influenza A (75%) or B (25%) viruses. Among these positive patients two resulted co-infected by A/H1N1v and B viruses. Even though co-infection with both influenza A and B viruses appears to be a rare event, it occurs naturally and may play a role in epidemiology and pathogenicity. In the present study the two co-infected patients were a transplant recipient immunocompromised adult and a child displaying a severe respiratory illness. The co-infection was confirmed by inoculation of the nasopharyngeal swabs in MDCK.2 cells, followed by immunofluorescence and real time RT-PCR assays. Moreover, in the case of the adult patient, the immune system response against both viruses was assayed by hemoagglutination inhibition test against reference influenza virus strains. Both patients fully recovered from infection, without significant differences with mono-infected patients

Intrinsic neural timescales in the temporal lobe support an auditory processing hierarchy

During rest, intrinsic neural dynamics manifest at multiple timescales, which progressively increase along visual and somatosensory hierarchies. Theoretically, intrinsic timescales are thought to facilitate processing of external stimuli at multiple stages. However, direct links between timescales at rest and sensory processing, as well as translation to the auditory system are lacking. Here, we measured intracranial electroencephalography in 11 human patients with epilepsy (4 women), while listening to pure tones. We show that in the auditory network, intrinsic neural timescales progressively increase, while the spectral exponent flattens, from temporal to entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. Within the neocortex, intrinsic timescales exhibit spatial gradients that follow the temporal lobe anatomy. Crucially, intrinsic timescales at baseline can explain the latency of auditory responses: as intrinsic timescales increase, so do the single-electrode response onset and peak latencies. Our results suggest that the human auditory network exhibits a repertoire of intrinsic neural dynamics, which manifest in cortical gradients with millimeter resolution and may provide a variety of temporal windows to support auditory processing.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT:Endogenous neural dynamics are often characterized by their intrinsic timescales. These are thought to facilitate processing of external stimuli. However, a direct link between intrinsic timing at rest and sensory processing is missing. Here, with intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG), we show that intrinsic timescales progressively increase from temporal to entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. Intrinsic timescales at baseline can explain the variability in the timing of iEEG responses to sounds: cortical electrodes with fast timescales also show fast and short-lasting responses to auditory stimuli, which progressively increase in the hippocampus and amygdala. Our results suggest that a hierarchy of neural dynamics in the temporal lobe manifests across cortical and limbic structures and can explain the temporal richness of auditory responses

Genome sequence analysis of the first human West Nile virus isolated in Italy in 2009.

In 2009, six new human cases of West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND) were identified in Veneto region, following the six cases already reported in 2008. A human West Nile virus (WNV) isolate was obtained for the first time from an asymptomatic blood donor. Whole genome sequence of the human WNV isolate showed close phylogenetic relatedness to the Italy-1998-WNV strain and to other WNV strains recently isolated in Europe, with the new acquisition of the NS3-Thr249Pro mutation, a trait associated with avian virulence, increased virus transmission, and the occurrence of outbreaks in humans

Clinical and virological findings in the ongoing outbreak of West Nile virus Livenza strain in northern Italy, July to September 2012.

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Human cases of West Nile Virus infection in north-eastern Italy, 15 June to 15 November 2010.

In 2010, for the third consecutive year, human cases of West Nile virus (WNV) infection, including three confirmed cases of neuroinvasive disease and three confirmed cases of West Nile fever, were identified in north-eastern Italy. While in 2008 and 2009 all human cases of WNV disease were recorded in the south of the Veneto region, cases of WNV disease in 2010 additionally occurred in two relatively small northern areas of Veneto, located outside those with WNV circulation in the previous years. WNV IgG antibody prevalence in blood donors resident in Veneto was estimated as ranging from 3.2 per 1,000 in areas not affected by cases of WNV disease to 33.3 per 1,000 in a highly affected area of the Rovigo province. No further autochthonous human cases of WNV disease were notified in Italy in 2010. The recurrence of human cases of WNV infection for the third consecutive year strongly suggests WNV has become endemic in north-eastern Italy

Machine Learning approaches in Neuroscience:behavioral and sleep classification

The understanding of sleep is of paramount importance from a scientific and clinical point of view. Brain disorders, such as Autism and Alzheimer, show disrupted sleep patterns that contribute to the progression of the disease. To obtain efficacious drugs, an important step is to study and test them in rodents, with the hope to extrapolate the findings to humans. In such preclinical studies, it is fundamental to correctly identify and classify sleep phases in order to compare them to the ones found in humans. However, very few works have been carried out in this regard. This Master thesis work is aimed at critically studying this aspect through an approach based on Machine Learning techniques applied to EEG and accelerometer signals. This work will lay the foundation to investigate the differences between wildtype and transgenic mice with the purpose of characterizing the sleep impairment biomarkers of the disease and its trajectory throughout the rodent's life

Realizzazione di un ricevitore in fibra per Distribuzione Quantistica di Chiave. Realization of a fiber receiver for Quantum Key Distribution

La Tesi ha lo scopo di realizzare e testare un dispositivo per la rivelazione di stati a singolo fotone necessari per la Distribuzione Quantistica di Chiave (QKD). Il dispositivo verrà realizzato con componentistiche in fibra ottica. Nella tesi lo studente inizialmente dovrà studiare il modello teorico di QKD e lo schema che verrà utilizzato per rivelare la polarizzazione dei singolo fotoni. In seguito, lo studente studierà in laboratorio un prototipo di analizzatore di qubit in polarizzazione. La tesi si concluderà con i test del dispositivo. La Tesi si inquadra nel Gruppo di Ricerca QuantumFuture del DEI, attivo nella sperimentazione della Comunicazione e dell'Informazione Quantistica. The Thesis aims to realize and test a device for the detection of single photon states necessary for Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). The device will be made with fiber optic components. In the thesis the student will initially have to study the theoretical model of QKD and the scheme that will be used to reveal the polarization of single photons. Afterwards, the student will study a prototype of a polarization qubit analyzer in the laboratory. The thesis will end with the device tests. The Thesis is part of the DEI QuantumFuture Research Group, active in the experimentation of Quantum Communication and Information

Effectiveness of hydrogen peroxide and electron-beam irradiation treatment for removal and inactivation of viruses in equine-derived xenografts

: Bone grafting is a common procedure for bone reconstruction in dentistry, orthopedics, and neurosurgery. A wide range of grafts are currently used, and xenografts are regarded as an interesting alternative to autogenous bone because all mammals share the same bone mineral component composition and morphology. Antigens must be eliminated from bone grafts derived from animal tissues in order to make them biocompatible. Moreover, the processing method must also safely inactivate and/or remove viruses or other potential infectious agents. This study assessed the efficacy of two steps applied in manufacturing some equine-derived xenografts: hydrogen-peroxide and e-beam sterilization treatments for inactivation and removal of viruses in equine bone granules (cortical and cancellous) and collagen and pericardium membranes. Viruses belonging to three different human viral species (Herpes simplex virus type 1, Coxsackievirus B1, and Influenzavirus type A H1N1) were selected and used to spike semi-processed biomaterials. For each viral species, the tissue culture infective dose (TCID50) on cell lines and the number of genome copies through qPCR were assessed. Both treatments were found to be effective at virus inactivation. Considering the model viruses studied, the application of hydrogen peroxide and e-beam irradiation could also be considered effective for processing bone tissue of human origin