Exploring brain network features in borderline personality disorder: a graph-based analysis of MR images

A network approach to the modelling and the analysis of functional and structural Magnetic Resonance (MR) images is an increasingly popular technique, because of the solidity of the mathematical theory at its basis, the graph theory, which allows to explore a wide range of network properties. For this work, both Functional Connectivity (FC) and Structural Covariance (SC) networks were constructed. The cohort of participants to this study was composed of 27 subjects affected by the Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), a mental disorder causing behavioral and emotional dysregulation, and a matching group of 28 healthy controls. Brain networks were analyzed using the methods provided by graph theory, both at global and nodal level, by exploring their topological and organizational properties mainly in terms of centrality, efficiency in information transfer and modularity. The outcomes obtained from such measures, in patients and controls separately, were compared in order to find statistically significant differences between the two groups, that may be characteristic of the disease. Additionally, the outcomes of the topological quantities were correlated with a series of clinical scores, evaluating the neuro-psychological condition of the subjects. The results show significant differences between patients and controls mostly in the FC networks and especially located in the limbic system of the brain, which indeed has a fundamental role in emotion regulation. Node-specific variations tend to involve the amygdala, the caudal anterior cingulate cortex, the entorhinal cortex and the temporal pole. Such evident results were not retrieved from the SC networks, though they still supported a greater variability within the limbic system. Therefore, the analysis of brain graphs allowed to achieve the detection of topological alterations in a young psychiatric population, which would be interesting to monitor in time

Switching to nevirapine-based HAART in virologically-suppressed patients: influence of a longer twice-daily induction period on once-a-day dosing

We are conducting a multicenter, randomized, controlled, prospective, open trial to evaluate both the efficacy and toxicity of nevirapine (NVP) (given twice [BID] or once daily [QD]) in virologically-suppressed patients on a PIbased HAART. NVP BID dosing is maintained for 2 months after the switch in both groups

Self-reported history of Pap-smear in HIV-positive women in Northern Italy: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: The incidence of invasive cervical cancer in HIV-positive women is higher than in the general population. There is evidence that HIV-positive women do not participate sufficiently in cervical cancer screening in Italy, where cervical cancer is more than 10-fold higher in women with AIDS than in the general population. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the history of Pap-smear in HIV-positive women in Italy in recent years. We also examined the sociodemographic, clinical, and organizational factors associated with adherence to cervical cancer screening.METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted between July 2006 and June 2007 in Emilia-Romagna region (Northern Italy). All HIV-positive women who received a follow-up visit in one of the 10 regional infectivology units were invited to participate. History of Pap-smear, including abnormal smears and subsequent treatment, was investigated through a self-administered anonymous questionnaire. The association between lack of Pap-smear in the year preceding the interview and selected characteristics was assessed by means of odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals adjusted for study centre and age.RESULTS: A total of 1,002 HIV-positive women were interviewed. Nine percent reported no history of Pap-smear, and 39% had no Pap-smear in the year prior to the date of questionnaire (last year). The lack of Pap-smear in the last year was significantly associated with age <35 years (OR = 1.4, compared to age > or =45 years), lower education level (OR = 1.3), first HIV-positive test in the last 2 years (OR = 1.4), and CD4 count <200 cells/microl (OR = 1.6). Conversely, when women were advised by a gynecologist rather than other health workers to undergo screening, it significantly increased adherence. Non-significantly higher proportions of lack of Pap-smear in the last year were found in women born in Central-Eastern Europe (OR = 1.8) and Africa (OR = 1.3). No difference in history of Pap-smear emerged by mode of HIV-acquisition or AIDS status.Three hundred five (34%) women reported a previous abnormal Pap-smear, and of the 178 (58%) referred for treatment, 97% complied.CONCLUSIONS: In recent years the self-reported history of Pap-smear in HIV-positive women, in some public clinics in Italy, is higher than previously reported, but further efforts are required to make sure cervical cancer screening is accessible to all HIV-positive women

Continued Decay of HIV Proviral DNA Upon Vaccination With HIV-1 Tat of Subjects on Long-Term ART: An 8-Year Follow-Up Study

Introduction: Tat, a key HIV virulence protein, has been targeted for the development of a therapeutic vaccine aimed at cART intensification. Results from phase II clinical trials in Italy (ISS T-002) and South Africa (ISS T-003) indicated that Tat vaccination promotes increases of CD4+ T-cells and return to immune homeostasis while reducing the virus reservoir in chronically cART-treated patients. Here we present data of 92 vaccinees (59% of total vaccinees) enrolled in the ISS T-002 8-year extended follow-up study (ISS T-002 EF-UP, ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02118168).Results: Anti-Tat antibodies (Abs) induced upon vaccination persisted for the entire follow-up in 34/92 (37%) vaccinees, particularly when all 3 Ab classes (A/G/M) were present (66% of vaccinees), as most frequently observed with Tat 30 μg regimens. CD4+ T cells increased above study-entry levels reaching a stable plateau at year 5 post-vaccination, with the highest increase (165 cells/μL) in the Tat 30 μg, 3 × regimen. CD4+ T-cell increase occurred even in subjects with CD4+ nadir ≤ 250 cells/uL and in poor immunological responders and was associated with a concomitant increase of the CD4+/CD8+ T-cell ratio, a prognostic marker of morbidity/mortality inversely related to HIV reservoir size. Proviral DNA load decreased over time, with a half-life of 2 years and an estimated 90% reduction at year 8 in the Tat 30 μg, 3 × group. In multivariate analysis the kinetic and amplitude of both CD4+ T-cell increase and proviral DNA reduction were fastest and highest in subjects with all 3 anti-Tat Ab classes and in the 30 μg, 3 × group, irrespective of drug regimens (NNRTI/NRTI vs. PI). HIV proviral DNA changes from baseline were inversely related to CD4+/CD8+ T-cell ratio and CD4+ T-cell changes, and directly related to the changes of CD8+ T cells. Further, HIV DNA decay kinetics were inversely related to the frequency and levels of intermittent viremia. Finally, Tat vaccination was similarly effective irrespective of the individual immunological status or HIV reservoir size at study entry.Conclusions: Tat immunization induces progressive immune restoration and reduction of virus reservoirs above levels reached with long-term cART, and may represent an optimal vaccine candidate for cART intensification toward HIV reservoirs depletion, functional cure, and eradication strategies

Exploring the Pulse Shape Discrimination capabilities of the dE silicon detectors of the EUCLIDES array

EUCLIDES is a Silicon-ball detector used as an ancillary device of the gamma-ray spectrometer GALILEO at Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro (LNL). The main function of EUCLIDES is to maximize the selectivity and the efficiency of GALILEO through the simultaneous detection of charged particles and gamma rays in fusion-evaporation processes. EUCLIDES consists of 55 dE-E telescopes of hexagonal and pentagonal shapes, whose thicknesses are about 130 and 1000 micron for dE and E layers, respectively, and whose surfaces are 10 cm^2 each. In typical fusion-evaporation processes, the 5 most forward positioned telescopes have to deal with higher counting rates with respect to the others, thus they are segmented in 4 equal parts, which have individual electronic processing circuits, to reduce the probability of pile-up. In December 2017, the EUCLIDES array was used in an in-beam experiment, during which a CAEN V1730B, which is a VME 500 MS/s digitizer, housing 16 channels, was employed to readout 3 segments of one of the most forward telescopes. An additional channel was connected to the OR signal of the Neutron Wall array, which, in this experiment, presents the advantage of being a high efficiency gamma-ray detector with a fast response. The aim of the implementation of the digitizer in the read-out chain of EUCLIDES is to have the possibility to disentangle alpha particles and protons stopping in the dE layer, which can represent more than 50% of the detected particles: being able to benefit from this huge statistic, in coincidence with the GALILEO events, would certainly be a great advantage. The methods used in this work for the data analysis are the trapezoidal filter technique, for the esteem of the energy, and the CFD difference between two signals, for the evaluation of the time resolution