Search

Background Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are associated with a wide range of increased risk behaviors and health consequences, they have not been extensively described in all subpopulations. Objective The specific objectives of the study were to describe the prevalence of predefined ACEs among a nationwide sample of men who have sex with men (MSM) and determine associated HIV or sexually transmitted infection (STI) related health outcomes, testing practices, and risk behaviors. Participants and Setting Eligible participants were MSM aged 18 years or older who reported male-male sex in the past 12 months. Methods Data were obtained from the 2015 cycle of the American Men’s Internet Survey, these data were collected between September 2015 and April 2016, and contained questions related to 8 ACE exposure categories. During analyses conducted between September 2017 and April 2018, multiple log-binomial models were fit to assess associations. Results Among 2590 participants, 79.7 % reported exposure to one or more ACE category. Participants exposed to any ACE were more likely to report STI testing (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR]: 1.07; 95 % confidence interval [95 %–CI]: 1.00, 1.15), illicit substance use (aPR: 1.23, 95 %–CI: 1.05, 1.46), and condomless anal intercourse with another man (aPR: 1.13, 95 %–CI: 1.03, 1.21). Conclusions There is a high overall ACE burden among MSM nationally, with potential influences on key HIV/STI behaviors in later life. ACE exposure should be routinely assessed, prevention is ideal but appropriate measures such as trauma informed care should also be considered for adult MSM accessing HIV and STI-related services.

Background: in lung function laboratories, all instruments are subjected to calibration procedures daily. Strangely, for APAP (which carry many measures of patient ventilation) there are not procedures for calibration, it is not easy to check the behaviour of the machine over the time. Methods: we wanted to test the behaviour of 5 APAP of the same manufacturer and the same model. The 5 machines differed in terms of the amount of hours of service. It was made a test circuit provided three different levels of resistance to the flow generated by the device with and without a controlled leak of a similar magnitude to that of the interfaces normally used. We measured the flow generated by each machine at various nominal pressure levels (range 5-20 cm H2O) Results: the measurements have shown that, for the same nominal pressure, flow decrease with the increase of hours of service of APAP (Fig. 1) Fig. 1 Measured flow resistance realized with pipe of 16 mm in two devices Conclusions: from the results obtained, it can be assumed that in the life of a APAP there may be a different behaviour depending on the operating hours of the device itself. This could lead to obtain titrations not correct (e.g. overestimation of therapeutic pressure) with the risk of compromising the compliance to treatment. Further evaluations will be performed on the devices in order to check the linearity and accuracy of the various components of the system (e.g. the flow sensor).

The design of a hardware pipelined system to collect, monitor and broadcast the trigger information in the CERN NA48 high-rate experiment is presented. Implementation details for a VME-based prototype are also presented. The solutions adopted to cope with a synchronous-asynchronous pipelined trigger system are discussed. >

The NA48 experiment aims to measure direct CP violation in the KL0 decays system with an accuracy of 2×10−4. High performances are required to the trigger and acquisition systems. This paper describes the NA48 Trigger Supervisor, a 40 MHz pipelined hardware system which correlates and processes trigger informations from local trigger sources, searching for interesting patterns. The trigger packet include a timestamp information used by the readout systems to retrieve detector data. The design architecture and functionality during 98 data taking are described.

This paper describes the percentile curves for red blood cell (RBC) count, Hb, mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) values of β°-thalassaemia heterozygotes during infancy, childhood and adolescence. Hb values were about 2 g/dl below those of normal controls with a progressive increase with age parallelling the normal developmental trend. The Hb increase with age was due to a progressive rise in the Hb content per cell, the number of RBC remaining nearly constant. MCV and MCH values also increased with age with a pattern parallel to normal control. Because of the high prevalence of α-thalassaemia in the Sardinian population, to which all the subjects investigated belong, the 3rd MCH-MCV percentile curves of normal overlap the 97th curve of β-thalassaemia heterozygotes. The HbA2 levels, however, were always increased as compared to normal. These results confirm in children than screening for heterozygous β-thalassaemia in populations with a high incidence of α and β-thalassaemia by MCV-MCH determination may overlook a sizeable proportion of β-thalassaemia carriers. The knowledge of the extent of variation of RBC indices of β-thalassaemia heterozygotes during infancy, childhood and adolescence, is very useful for the evaluation of a child presenting with a mild microcytic anaemia.

We explored the putative inhibitory effects of losartan, a potent nonpeptide, AT1 receptor antagonist, against thromboxane A2 (TxA2)/prostanoid (TP) receptor-mediated transcapillary shift of plasma fluid and proteins. The effects of the TP receptor agonist U-46619 (1.25 or 10 microg/kg intravenously) on hematocrit (Hct), albumin extravasation (AE), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were evaluated in anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats. U-46619 dose-dependently increased Hct (by 4.5% +/- 0.7% and 7.5% +/- 1.0% at the low and high dose, respectively; both P < .05 v vehicle-infused group) and decreased MAP (by 7.9% +/- 4.1% and 16.8% +/- 5.7% at the low and high dose, respectively; P = NS and P < .05 v vehicle-infused group, respectively). In these experiments, using a quantitative Evans blue technique, we showed that U-46619 dose-dependently increased AE in kidney, lung, spleen, and testis (by approximately 31%, 172%, 52%, and 57% at the highest dose) but not in adipose tissue, brain, liver, mesentery, and skeletal muscle. In the heart, AE was maximally increased by the low dose of U-46619. The U-46619 (10 microg/kg)-induced increases in Hct and AE and decreases in MAP were blocked by pretreatment with the TP receptor antagonist SQ 29,548 (2.5 mg/kg intravenously + 2.5 mg/kg/h) and the high dose of losartan (40 mg/kg intravenously). The low dose of losartan (10 mg/kg intravenously) did not significantly alter the responses to U-46619 except for the AE, which was reduced in some but not all tissues. Furthermore, the U-46619-induced changes in Hct (+6.3% +/- 1.7%), MAP (-13.9% +/- 8.4%) and AE were not affected in rats pretreated with the converting-enzyme inhibitor enalapril. Thus, selective activation of TP receptors by U-46619 induced plasma fluid and protein exudation; these responses were specifically attenuated by the relatively high dose of losartan, suggesting that this compound acts as a TP receptor antagonist in this experimental model.

Within the scope of a Swiss national research project, the load carrying behaviour of one hundred Swiss spruce columns was examined. The columns were chosen randomly from different regions of Switzerland and tested under combined axial and lateral loading.

A physiologic and metabolic assessment was carried out on eight patients six months after total proctocolectomy with ileal reservoir for ulcerative colitis and familial adenomatosis coli. All patients were continent and able to defecate spontaneously, stool frequency ranging from two to five per 24 hours. Anal sphincter resting pressures (35 +/- 14 mmHg) and squeeze pressures (88 +/- 24.2 mmHg) were similar to those of a healthy population, with the exception of one patient's complaint of nocturnal mucous leakage per anus. Biopsies of the ileal mucosa of the reservoirs showed a mild inflammation in seven patients; in one a subtotal villous atrophy (plus glandular pattern) was found. Anthropometric measurements, lymphocyte counts, hemoglobin, albumin, transferrin, iron, B12, and folate were normal in all. In the majority of patients there was no evidence of bacterial overgrowth. Vitamin B12 absorption was reduced slightly in only one patient. Lipid absorption (as judged by the 14C-Triolein breath test) was abnormal in three patients. Fecal clearance of alpha 1 antitrypsin as protein losses index was abnormal in three patients. Bile acid malabsorption was the most important ileal dysfunction observed in the patients.

The quantitative and/or qualitative distribution of liver iron was assessed in 81 transfusion-dependent thalassemia major patients with chronic liver disease (36 with chronic active hepatitis, 23 with chronic persistent hepatitis, 22 with siderosis). Viral marker studies showed only 3 cases with both HBsAg and anti-HBc positivity in the serum, while the others had anti-HBc and anti-HBs or only anti-HBs or no B viral markers. A significantly higher iron overload was found in chronic hepatitis, particularly chronic active hepatitis, than in siderosis. The increased iron overload may be due to less intensive chelation treatment, higher intestinal absorption secondary to lower mean Hb levels, and/or to liver inflammation-dependent iron deposition. The liver iron overload in turn amy facilitate the development or persistence of chronic progressive liver disease.

This study on serum ferritin levels in urinary iron excretion after 12h subcutaneous infusion of desferrioxamine in 10 thalassemia intermedia patients shows that even nontransfusion-dependent patients may have positive iron balance resulting in iron overload from 5 years of age. However, the iron overload found in these patients appears to be much lower than in age matched patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia major. Iron overload increases with advancing age, as shown by increasing serum ferritin levels and desferrioxamine-induced urinary iron elimination. After a six month trial of 12h continuous subcutaneous desferrioxamine administration there was a significant decline in serum ferritin levels. From this study it seems that iron chelation is indicated in thalassemia intermedia patients over 5 years of age in order to prevent iron accumulation. However, the appropriate treatment schedule should be tailored to the individual needs of each patients, established by close monitoring of serum ferritin levels and desferrioxamine-induced urinary iron elimination.

A versatile FASTBUS board that is based on fast digital signal processors (DSPs) and analog-to-digital converters is described. It has been developed for the real-time acquisition and online processing of signals produced in different electromagnetic calorimeters of the DELPHI detector at the LEP (Large Electron Positron) collider. The board contains six TMS32010 DSPs, six piggyback cards for the analog-to-digital conversion, a set of 512-word FIFO memories for data exchange between contiguous DSPs and with external devices and a 16 K*16 random-access memory for data storage, accessible both to the DSPs and to FASTBUS in an asynchronous way, with override privilege granted to the DSPs. >

A medium speed (∼1 μs) hardware pre-analyzer for the selection of events detected in four planes of drift chambers in the magnetic field of the Omicron Spectrometer at the CERN SC is described. Specific geometrical criteria determine patterns of hits in the four planes of vertical wires that have to be recognized and that are stored as patterns of “1”s in random access memories. Pairs of good hits are found sequentially, then the RAMs are used as look-up tables.