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This study was aimed at assessing the anti-HBs persistence and immune memory 18–19 y after vaccination against hepatitis B in healthy individuals primed as infants or adolescents. We enrolled 405 teenagers (Group A) vaccinated as infants, and 409 young adults (Group B) vaccinated as adolescents. All vaccinees were tested for anti-HBs and anti-HBc antibodies; those found anti-HBc positive were further tested for HBsAg and HBV DNA. Eight individuals belonging to Group B were positive for anti-HBc alone, and were excluded from analysis. Individuals with anti-HBs concentration ≥ 10 mIU/ml were considered protected while those with anti-HBs concentration

A Consensus Conference on Specific Learning Disorders has been promoted by the Italian National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, ISS). The Consensus Conference consisted in a systematic review of the international literature addressing the issues of diagnosis, risk factors and prognosis, treatment, service delivery and organizational models for Specific Learning Disorders (reading, spelling/writing, calculation). Selected papers were examined by a group of Evaluators and then discussed by a Scientific and Technical Committee, whose conclusions were examined and approved by a Jury Panel. The part on diagnostic issues is presented here, encompassing a systematic discussion of the use and appropriateness of diagnostic criteria, parameters, tasks and psychometric indexes as illustrated in the literature, and providing recommendations for clinical practice. Special attention has been devoted to the collection, analysis and discussion of published data concerning languages with transparent orthography. Controversial issues such as discrepancy criteria, role of reading comprehension and importance of accuracy and fluency are discussed.

Il rene policistico rappresenta a tutt'oggi la malattia ereditaria più importante per il nefrologo a causa della sua ampia diffusione tra i pazienti con insufficienza renale e tra quelli in trattamento emodialitico. Inoltre, la malattia è gravata da importanti comorbidità che complicano la vita dei pazienti ed è caratterizzata da un invalidante corredo sintomatologico (dolore acuto o cronico, ingombro addominale, disturbi gastrointestinali). Tuttavia è ancora sconosciuta la storia naturale della malattia e questo rende ancora più difficile pianificare e progettare modalità di approccio che possano coinvolgere tutte le strutture sanitarie, sia territoriali che ospedaliere. La possibilità di creare un network attraverso i moderni mezzi informatici e quindi avere in modo semplice ed economico un database in grado di raccogliere numerose informazioni (sia cliniche sia epidemiologiche) sui pazienti affetti potrebbe rappresentare un valido strumento che consentirà di individuare più facilmente i pazienti affetti dalla malattia e di migliorarne la gestione clinica.

Caspase-dependent cleavage of antigens associated with apoptotic cells plays a prominent role in the generation of CD8⁺ T cell responses in various infectious diseases. We found that the emergence of a large population of autoreactive CD8⁺ T effector cells specific for apoptotic T cell-associated self-epitopes exceeds the antiviral responses in patients with acute hepatitis C virus infection. Importantly, they endow mixed polyfunctional type-1, type-2 and type-17 responses and correlate with the chronic progression of infection. This evolution is related to the selection of autoreactive CD8⁺ T cells with higher T cell receptor avidity, whereas those with lower avidity undergo prompt contraction in patients who clear infection. These findings demonstrate a previously undescribed strict link between the emergence of high frequencies of mixed autoreactive CD8⁺ T cells producing a broad array of cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-17, IL-4, IL-2…) and the progression toward chronic disease in a human model of acute infection.

We present the first results from the Web Epoch of Reionization Ly α Survey (WERLS), a spectroscopic survey of Ly α emission using Keck I/MOSFIRE and LRIS. WERLS targets bright ( J < 26) galaxy candidates with photometric redshifts of 5.5 ≲ z ≲ 8 selected from pre-JWST imaging embedded in the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) within three JWST deep fields: CEERS, PRIMER, and COSMOS-Web. Here, we report 11 z ∼ 7–8 Ly α emitters (LAEs; three secure and eight tentative candidates) detected in the first five nights of WERLS MOSFIRE data. We estimate our observed LAE yield is ∼13%, which is broadly consistent with expectations assuming some loss from redshift uncertainty, contamination from sky OH lines, and that the Universe is approximately half-ionized at this epoch, whereby observable Ly α emission is unlikely for galaxies embedded in a neutral intergalactic medium. Our targets are selected to be UV-bright, and span a range of absolute UV magnitudes with −23.1 < M _UV < −19.8. With two LAEs detected at z = 7.68, we also consider the possibility of an ionized bubble at this redshift. Future synergistic Keck+JWST efforts will provide a powerful tool for pinpointing beacons of reionization and mapping the large-scale distribution of mass relative to the ionization state of the Universe.