Shrinking and boundedly complete Schauder frames in Fréchet spaces

We study Schauder frames in Fréchet spaces and their duals, as well as perturbation results. We define shrinking and boundedly complete Schauder frames on a locally convex space, study the duality of these two concepts and their relation with the reflexivity of the space. We characterize when an unconditional Schauder frame is shrinking or boundedly complete in terms of properties of the space. Several examples of concrete Schauder frames in function spaces are also presented.This research was partially supported by MEC and FEDER Project MTM2010-15200 and GVA Prometeo II/2013/013. The authors are thankful to D. Freeman for pointing out several relevant references to them. They also want to thank the referees for their careful reading of the manuscript and for their helpful suggestions.Bonet Solves, JA.; Fernandez, C.; Galbis, A.; Ribera Puchades, JM. (2014). Shrinking and boundedly complete Schauder frames in Fréchet spaces. Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications. 410(2):953-966. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmaa.2013.09.010S953966410

HIV testing history and access to treatment among migrants living with HIV in Europe.

Migrants are overrepresented in the European HIV epidemic. We aimed to understand the barriers and facilitators to HIV testing and current treatment and healthcare needs of migrants living with HIV in Europe. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 57 HIV clinics in nine countries (Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and United Kingdom), July 2013 to July 2015. HIV-positive patients were eligible for inclusion if they were as follows: 18 years or older; foreign-born residents and diagnosed within five years of recruitment. Questionnaires were completed electronically in one of 15 languages and linked to clinical records. Primary outcomes were access to primary care and previous negative HIV test. Data were analysed using random effects logistic regression. Outcomes of interest are presented for women, heterosexual men and gay/bisexual men. A total of 2093 respondents (658 women, 446 heterosexual men and 989 gay/bisexual men) were included. The prevalence of a previous negative HIV test was 46.7%, 43.4% and 82.0% for women, heterosexual and gay/bisexual men respectively. In multivariable analysis previous testing was positively associated with: receipt of post-migration antenatal care among women, permanent residency among heterosexual men and identifying as gay rather than bisexual among gay/bisexual men. Access to primary care was found to be high (>83%) in all groups and was strongly associated with country of residence. Late diagnosis was common for women and heterosexual men (60.8% and 67.1%, respectively) despite utilization of health services prior to diagnosis. Across all groups almost three-quarters of people on antiretrovirals had an HIV viral load <50 copies/mL. Migrants access healthcare in Europe and while many migrants had previously tested for HIV, that they went on to test positive at a later date suggests that opportunities for HIV prevention are being missed. Expansion of testing beyond sexual health and antenatal settings is still required and testing opportunities should be linked with combination prevention measures such as access to PrEP and treatment as prevention

Leftward Lateralization of Auditory Cortex Underlies Holistic Sound Perception in Williams Syndrome

BACKGROUND: Individuals with the rare genetic disorder Williams-Beuren syndrome (WS) are known for their characteristic auditory phenotype including strong affinity to music and sounds. In this work we attempted to pinpoint a neural substrate for the characteristic musicality in WS individuals by studying the structure-function relationship of their auditory cortex. Since WS subjects had only minor musical training due to psychomotor constraints we hypothesized that any changes compared to the control group would reflect the contribution of genetic factors to auditory processing and musicality. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using psychoacoustics, magnetoencephalography and magnetic resonance imaging, we show that WS individuals exhibit extreme and almost exclusive holistic sound perception, which stands in marked contrast to the even distribution of this trait in the general population. Functionally, this was reflected by increased amplitudes of left auditory evoked fields. On the structural level, volume of the left auditory cortex was 2.2-fold increased in WS subjects as compared to control subjects. Equivalent volumes of the auditory cortex have been previously reported for professional musicians. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: There has been an ongoing debate in the neuroscience community as to whether increased gray matter of the auditory cortex in musicians is attributable to the amount of training or innate disposition. In this study musical education of WS subjects was negligible and control subjects were carefully matched for this parameter. Therefore our results not only unravel the neural substrate for this particular auditory phenotype, but in addition propose WS as a unique genetic model for training-independent auditory system properties

Circulating microRNAs in sera correlate with soluble biomarkers of immune activation but do not predict mortality in ART treated individuals with HIV-1 infection: A case control study

Introduction: The use of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) has dramatically reduced HIV-1 associated morbidity and mortality. However, HIV-1 infected individuals have increased rates of morbidity and mortality compared to the non-HIV-1 infected population and this appears to be related to end-organ diseases collectively referred to as Serious Non-AIDS Events (SNAEs). Circulating miRNAs are reported as promising biomarkers for a number of human disease conditions including those that constitute SNAEs. Our study sought to investigate the potential of selected miRNAs in predicting mortality in HIV-1 infected ART treated individuals. Materials and Methods: A set of miRNAs was chosen based on published associations with human disease conditions that constitute SNAEs. This case: control study compared 126 cases (individuals who died whilst on therapy), and 247 matched controls (individuals who remained alive). Cases and controls were ART treated participants of two pivotal HIV-1 trials. The relative abundance of each miRNA in serum was measured, by RTqPCR. Associations with mortality (all-cause, cardiovascular and malignancy) were assessed by logistic regression analysis. Correlations between miRNAs and CD4+ T cell count, hs-CRP, IL-6 and D-dimer were also assessed. Results: None of the selected miRNAs was associated with all-cause, cardiovascular or malignancy mortality. The levels of three miRNAs (miRs -21, -122 and -200a) correlated with IL-6 while miR-21 also correlated with D-dimer. Additionally, the abundance of miRs -31, -150 and -223, correlated with baseline CD4+ T cell count while the same three miRNAs plus miR- 145 correlated with nadir CD4+ T cell count. Discussion: No associations with mortality were found with any circulating miRNA studied. These results cast doubt onto the effectiveness of circulating miRNA as early predictors of mortality or the major underlying diseases that contribute to mortality in participants treated for HIV-1 infection

Barriers to health care services for migrants living with HIV in Spain

BACKGROUND: In Spain, migrants are disproportionately affected by HIV and experience high rates of late diagnosis. We investigated barriers to health care access among migrants living with HIV (MLWH) in Spain. METHODS: Cross sectional electronic survey of 765 adult HIV-positive migrants recruited within 18 health care settings between July 2013 and July 2015. We collected epidemiological, demographic, behavioral and clinical data. We estimated the prevalence and risk factors of self-reported barriers to health care using multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: Of those surveyed, 672 (88%) had information on health care access barriers: 23% were women, 63% from Latin America and Caribbean, 14% from Sub-Saharan Africa and 15% had an irregular immigration status. Men were more likely to report barriers than women (24% vs. 14%, P = 0.009). The main barriers were: lengthy waiting times for an appointment (9%) or in the clinic (7%) and lack of a health card (7%). Having an irregular immigration status was a risk factor for experiencing barriers for both men (OR: (4.0 [95%CI: 2.2–7.2]) and women (OR: 10.5 [95%CI: 3.1–34.8]). Men who experienced racial stigma (OR: 3.1 [95%CI: 1.9–5.1]) or food insecurity (OR: 2.1 [95%CI: 1.2–3.4]) were more likely to report barriers. Women who delayed treatment due to medication costs (6.3 [95%CI: 1.3–30.8]) or had a university degree (OR: 5.8 [95%CI: 1.3–25.1]) were more likely to report barriers. CONCLUSION: Health care barriers were present in one in five5 MLWH, were more common in men and were associated to legal entitlement to access care, perceived stigma and financial constraints