Recovery of interleukin-17 production from interleukin-15-stimulated CD4+ mononuclear cells in HIV-1-infected patients with sustained viral suppression

Interleukin-17 (IL-17) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that is mainly produced by CD4 + T cells. The role of Th17 during the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infection is still unclear, but HIV-1 infection can cause a preferential depletion of Th17 cells. It has been shown that IL-15 elicits IL-17 production from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. We studied the effect of IL-15 stimulation in vitro on IL-17 production from CD4 + mononuclear cells of HIV-infected patients. We observed that IL-15 triggers, in a dose-dependent manner, IL-17 secretion. This effect was blocked by anti-IL-15 monoclonal antibody (P = 0.01). Interestingly, IL-17 production was significantly lower in patients with detectable plasma viremia when compared with successfully treated HIV-infected patients (P = 0.02) and healthy controls, respectively (P < 0.001). We also noticed a significant difference in IL-17 production between naive HIV-infected patients and patients with virological failure on combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) (P = 0.02). Our results suggest that IL-15 can induce IL-17 production from peripheral CD4 + mononuclear cells of HIV-infected patients. Persistent HIV plasma viremia could cause a severe perturbation of IL-17 production from CD4 + mononuclear cells. IL-17 production in HIV-infected patients could be recovered through a sustained suppression of the viral replication in the peripheral blood through cART

Hydraulic contacts identification in the aquifers of limestone ridges: tracer tests in the Montelago pilot area (Central Apennines)

The investigated area, located in the inner part of the Marche region (central Italy) and belonging to the carbonate Umbria- Marche ridges in the central Apennines, is characterised by very complex geo-structural setting and widespread karst phenomena that make difficult the definition of the relation among the aquifers basing only on the hydrogeological survey. Hence, the presence of different flowpaths among aquifers of the Umbria-Marche hydrostratigraphic sequence and of tectonic contacts among the different structures is verified using tracer tests. In particular, the tests showed that the Calcare Massiccio and the Maiolica aquifers are connected under certain tectonic conditions. A new tracer given by a single stranded DNA molecule and traditional fluorescent dyes have been injected into the Montelago sinkhole in different periods (during the recharge and during the discharge) and recovered in several points along the expected hydrogeological basin, using either manual and automatic sampling. Fluorescent traps were positioned in creeks, rivers and springs. The DNA molecule is useful to trace surface water and groundwater, is detectable even at very low concentrations, no significant change in water density and viscosity can be observed and its use is not dangerous for the environment. The results stress the suitability of DNA as hydrogeological tracer, capable to identify connections among aquifers and study different flowpaths even in high flow conditions when traditional tracers are more and more diluted. Moreover, fluorescein tracer allowed for the transport parameter determination, giving mean velocities ranging from 100 to 3000 m/day and mean residence time from some tens to hundreds of hours, and determining the aquifer volumes

Parabolic equations and the bounded slope condition

Abstract In this paper we establish the existence of Lipschitz-continuous solutions to the Cauchy Dirichlet problem of evolutionary partial differential equations { ∂ t u − div D f ( D u ) = 0 in Ω T , u = u o on ∂ P Ω T . The only assumptions needed are the convexity of the generating function f : R n → R , and the classical bounded slope condition on the initial and the lateral boundary datum u o ∈ W 1 , ∞ ( Ω ) . We emphasize that no growth conditions are assumed on f and that – an example which does not enter in the elliptic case – u o could be any Lipschitz initial and boundary datum, vanishing at the boundary ∂Ω, and the boundary may contain flat parts, for instance Ω could be a rectangle in R n

Modelling Shallow Groundwater Evaporation Rates from a Large Tank Experiment

AbstractA large tank (1.4 m x 4.0 m x 1.3 m) filled with medium-coarse sand was employed to measure evaporation rates from shallow groundwater at controlled laboratory conditions, to determine drivers and mechanisms. To monitor the groundwater level drawdown 12 piezometers were installed in a semi regular grid and equipped with high precision water level, temperature, and electrical conductivity (EC) probes. In each piezometer, 6 micro sampling ports were installed every 10 cm to capture vertical salinity gradients. Moreover, the soil water content, temperature and EC were measured in the unsaturated zone using TDR probes placed at 5, 20 and 40 cm depth. The monitoring started in February 2020 and lasted for 4 months until the groundwater drawdown became residual. To model the groundwater heads, temperature, and salinity variations SEAWAT 4.0 was employed. The calibrated model was then used to obtain the unknown parameters, such as: maximum evaporation rates (1.5-4.4 mm/d), extinction depth (0.90 m), mineral dissolution (5.0e-9 g/d) and evaporation concentration (0.35 g/L). Despite the drawdown was uniformly distributed, the increase of groundwater salinity was rather uneven, while the temperature increase mimicked the atmospheric temperature increase. The initial groundwater salinity and the small changes in the evaporation rate controlled the evapoconcentration process in groundwater, while the effective porosity was the most sensitive parameter. This study demonstrates that shallow groundwater evaporation from sandy soils can produce homogeneous water table drawdown but appreciable differences in the distribution of groundwater salinity

Groundwater-surface water interaction revealed by meteorological trends and groundwater fluctuations on stream water level

The importance of considering groundwater (GW) and surface water (SW) as a single resource of two interconnected components has rapidly increased during the last decades. To investigate GW-SW interaction in an aquifer system exploited by several pumping wells, an integrated continuous monitoring of the hydrological conditions was carried out. The sub-catchment (14 km2), located in the Aspio basin near Ancona (Central Italy), is drained by a small stream named Betelico, and it is characterised by the presence of an unconfined alluvial aquifer and a semi-confined limestone aquifer. The aim of this study is to evaluate the drivers of stream drying up occurred during the last couple of years. This has been achieved by applying a trend analysis on rainfall, air temperatures, piezometric and stream level, and well pumping rates. Precipitation trends were analysed over a 30-years period through the calculation of the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) and through heavy rainfall events frequency plots, while the correlation between piezometric stream levels and pumping rate was analysed during the last six years. The groundwater level was compared with the stream baseflow level, highlighting the interconnection between GW-SW over the years. The analysis on the water surplus (WS) trend, together with the rainfall events characterisation, supports the hypothesis of the decrease in recharge rate as the main driver of the stream drying up. This case study stresses the importance of studying GW-SW interactions in a continuously changing climatic context characterised by a decreasing precipitation trend, coupling both the advantages of a robust method like trend analysis on time series and the field continuous monitoring

INFN ScienzaPerTutti: 20 years of science for society

A groundbreaking and ambitious project took shape within the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nuclare (INFN) community 20 years ago. The driving aim was the intent to popularize physics, and all this started through a web portal. Since then, the general public and, in particular, students and teachers have been engaged with cutting edge topics of modern research in particle and nuclear physics, astroparticle, theoretical and applied physics. During the 20 years from its birth, the ScienzaPerTutti project evolved in many different directions, becoming a reference point in the Italian landscape, with an average of 3000 contacts every day on the web pages and thousands of followers on the facebook profile. The project encompasses a variety of multimedia products like didactic units, research materials, infographics, interviews, book reviews, and, more recently, podcasts. A particular feature of many of these activities is a constant call to action to directly involve the audience, providing a continuous challenge for the ScienzaPerTutti editorial board to improve contents and devise new approaches. This contribution focuses on some of these activities, even if it does not provide an exhaustive description of all the programmes and opportunities that are offered to our public for lack of space. Finally, we provide an outlook on new activities

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI