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Objectives We assessed the prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies and active HCV infection (HCV-RNA-positive) in people living with HIV (PLWH) in Spain in 2019 and compared the results with those of four similar studies performed during 2015-2018. Methods The study was performed in 41 centres. Sample size was estimated for an accuracy of 1%. Patients were selected by random sampling with proportional allocation. Results The reference population comprised 41 973 PLWH, and the sample size was 1325. HCV serostatus was known in 1316 PLWH (99.3%), of whom 376 (28.6%) were HCV antibody (Ab)-positive (78.7% were prior injection drug users); 29 were HCV-RNA-positive (2.2%). Of the 29 HCV-RNA-positive PLWH, infection was chronic in 24, it was acute/recent in one, and it was of unknown duration in four. Cirrhosis was present in 71 (5.4%) PLWH overall, three (10.3%) HCV-RNA-positive patients and 68 (23.4%) of those who cleared HCV after anti-HCV therapy (p = 0.04). The prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies decreased steadily from 37.7% in 2015 to 28.6% in 2019 (p < 0.001); the prevalence of active HCV infection decreased from 22.1% in 2015 to 2.2% in 2019 (p < 0.001). Uptake of anti-HCV treatment increased from 53.9% in 2015 to 95.0% in 2019 (p < 0.001). Conclusions In Spain, the prevalence of active HCV infection among PLWH at the end of 2019 was 2.2%, i.e. 90.0% lower than in 2015. Increased exposure to DAAs was probably the main reason for this sharp reduction. Despite the high coverage of treatment with direct-acting antiviral agents, HCV-related cirrhosis remains significant in this population.

Coinfecció pel VIH/VHC; Sistema immunitari; Teràpia amb interferó Coinfección por VIH/VHC; Sistema inmunitario; Terapia con interferón HIV/HCV coinfection; Immune system; Interferon therapy Objective To evaluate the impact of hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination via interferon (IFN)-based therapy on gene expression profiles related to the immune system in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients. Methods We conducted a prospective study in 28 HIV/HCV-coinfected patients receiving IFN-based therapy at baseline (HIV/HCV-b) and week 24 after sustained virological response (HIV/HCV-f). Twenty-seven HIV-monoinfected patients (HIV-mono) were included as a control. RNA-seq analysis was performed on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Genes with a fold-change (FC) ≥ 1.5 (in either direction) and false discovery rate (FDR) ≤ 0.05 were identified as significantly differentially expressed (SDE). Results HIV/HCV-b showed six SDE genes compared to HIV-mono group, but no significantly enriched pathways were observed. For HIV/HCV-f vs. HIV/HCV-b, we found 58 SDE genes, 34 upregulated and 24 downregulated in the HIV/HCV-f group. Of these, the most overexpressed were CXCL2, PDCD6IP, ATP5B, IGSF9, RAB26, and CSRNP1, and the most downregulated were IFI44 and IFI44L. These 58 SDE genes revealed two significantly enriched pathways (FDR

Energy harvesting is one of the ways explored nowadays to face the problem associated to electrical power needs. Typical powers involved are limited but the main advantage offered by the harvesting approach is the capability to achieve a localized power generation enabling a reduction in losses due to power distribution. Thermoelectric technology represents one of the solution for energy harvesting allowing the direct conversion of a collected or wasted heat into electrical power. This short lecture wants to provide the basic concepts associated to the thermoelectric harvesting. The work discusses the ideas associated to the optimization of a thermoelectric device and the design of a thermoelectric system for electrical power production. The discussion focuses the attention on the different critical aspects a researcher has to face in order to produce an operating system able to match the constrains of a target application. To conclude, a description of some reference cases is reported introducing the reader to the technological impact, actual and possible, of an old technology living a renewed interest promoted by a new environment based on new paradigms for power generation and distribution, and widespread diffusion of low-power electronic devices.

Objective: There are a lack of consistency among articles in regards to the evolution of peripheral immune biomarkers after HCV therapy. We aimed to detect the most relevant changes in peripheral immune biomarkers among HIV/HCV-coinfected patients who achieved sustained virologic response (SVR) following peg-IFN-alpha/ribavirin therapy and to evaluate its normalization with respect to an HIV-monoinfected control group. Methods: We performed a prospective cohort study in 99 HIV/HCV-coinfected patients with samples at baseline (HIV/HCV-b-group) and at week 24 after SVR (HIV/HCV-f-group). We also used a control group of 39 HIV-monoinfected patients (HIV-group) negative for HCV and HBV infections, and who had undetectable HIV viral load and CD4(+) >500 cells/mm(3). Peripheral T cell subsets were assessed by flow cytometry and plasma biomarkers by immunoassays. Results: HIV/HCV-coinfected patients had higher values of in IL-10, IL-4, IP-10, IL-8, IL-1 beta, IL-18, IL-6, IFN-gamma, IL-12p70, TNF-alpha, sVCAM-1, sICAM-1, and sTNFR-1 than HIV control subjects, both at the beginning and at the end of follow-up. Moreover, three biomarkers (CD4(+)CD38(+), telomere length, and IL-1RA) were normalized in relation to the control group at the end of follow-up (the HIV/HCV-b group had higher values and the HIV/HCV-f group had similar values as the HIV-group). Additionally, LPS, IL-2, and IL-17A levels were higher in the HIV/HCV-f group than the HIV-group (24 weeks after SVR). During the follow-up, HIV/HCV-coinfected patients had a significant decrease by the end of follow-up in CD8(+)CD45RA(-)CD28(+), CD4(+)CD38(+), CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(-/lo)(w), CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(-/low) CD45RA(-), FABP2, LBP, IP-10, sVCAM1. Only CD4(+)CD38(+) was normalized. Conclusion: HIV/HCV-patients showed a slight improvement in the overall profile of immune biomarkers after achieving SVR. (C) 2019 The British Infection Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The increasing interest in the miniaturization of electromechanical devices and the resulting need for micropower generation (in the range of milliwatts to watts) have driven the development of microscale combustor. Since hydrocarbon fuels have a very high specific energy, miniaturized power supply devices with low weight and long duration have received an increasing interest as suitable alternative to common batteries. However, as the size decreases, effects of flame-wall interaction and the related heat losses become more significant in micro and meso-scale combustor compared to traditional systems. oreover, reducing the flow residence time is also responsible of a decrease in the chemical efficiency of the micropower generation device. The catalytic ombustor is particularly appealing for combustion stability and safety. Considering a meso-scale thermoelectric generator, operating temperatures lower than those typical of traditional combustion make the catalytic combustion more suitable for coupling with conventional thermoelectric modules, preventing the modules degradation. In this work, two meso-scale thermoelectric generator configurations are developed and characterized. The generators consist of a catalytic combustor coupled with conventional thermoelectric modules (TE). The combustors are fueled with propane/air mixture at stoichiometric conditions and are filled with commercially available catalytic pellets of Alumina-Platinum (1 wt%) catalysts. The TE modules are positioned in a thermal chain with the catalytic combustor and the water-cooled heat sinks. The system is electrically characterized in different ranges of fuel flow rates at constant power and temperature conditions. The energetic characterization is performed considering the balance between power input (combustion) and power output (electrical power produced and dissipated power). Measuring water and gas flow rate and input/output temperature, mbient and wall temperature, the dissipated power components (water cooling, wall heat losses, exhaust gas) are evaluated. In order to obtain chemical efficiency, the exhaust gas composition is measured with FT-IR spectroscopy. The values of the chemical efficiency obtained in different experimental conditions are discussed in relation to the overall efficiency of the thermoelectric generators under study.

The main targets for neutralizing anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies (HCV-nAbs) are the E1 and E2 envelope glycoproteins. We have studied the characteristics of HCV-nAbs through a retrospective study involving 29 HIV/HCV-coinfected patients who achieved sustained virological response (SVR) with peg-IFN alpha + ribavirin anti-HCV therapy. Plasma samples at baseline and week 24 after SVR were used to perform neutralization assays against five JFH1-based HCV recombinant viruses coding for E1 and E2 from genotypes 1a (H77), 1b (J4), 2a (JFH1), 3a (552) and 4a (ED43). At baseline, the majority of plasma samples neutralized 1a, 1b, 2a, and 4a, but not 3a, genotypes. Twenty-four weeks following SVR, most neutralizing titers declined substantially. Furthermore, titers against 3a and 2a were not detected in many patients. Plasma samples with high HCV-nAb titers neutralized all genotypes, and the highest titers at the starting point correlated with the highest titers at week 24 after SVR. In conclusion, high titers of broad-spectrum HCV-nAbs were detected in HIV/HCV-coinfected individuals, however, those titers declined soon after SVR.

Additive manufacturing allows producing three-dimensional components, layer by layer, directly from the mathematical model of the object. It includes a large family of technologies each of them dedicated to a single material (metal, plastic, concrete,...), even if hybrid equipment are also available. In this work, Selective Laser Melting (SLM, am400 Renishaw plc., with SS316L metal powder) and Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM, Stratasys, with ABSplus material) technologies are implemented in order to produce a Thermoelectric Generator (TEG) which consists of a miniature combustor prototype coupled to thermoelectric modules

Tetrahedrite mineral family, one of the most widespread sulfosalts on Earth's crust, seems to meet the right features for an attractive sustainable p-Type Pb-free thermoelectric material, showing relatively high conversion efficiency, achieving a figure of merit value of almost 1 at 450°C [1,2]. In this work, Ni-Zn co-doped tetrahedrite samples were prepared by Open Die Pressing one step reactive consolidation method [3], employing previously ball milled sulphide powder precursors, in order to identify a simple cheap scalable fast production route for thermoelectric pellets. The influence of dopant presence and reactive consolidation process parameters on the tetrahedrite phase content, stoichiometry and density of the samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope (equipped with energy dispersive Xray spectroscopy), and thermogravimetric analysis. Laser Flash Analysis, electrical conductivity, and Seebeck coefficient measurements were carried out for obtaining a complete thermoelectric characterization.

International audience; Skutterudites are a class of compounds promising in thermoelectric field. They are among the most studied thermoelectric materials of the last decade because related to the concept of electron-phonon-glass crystal. In literature there are many studies on Co-based skutterudites filled with Rare Earths (RE) (Ballikaya et al. 2012, Daniel et al. 2015, Zhang et al. 2015, Lili et al. 2015, Bhaskar et al. 2015) and Fe,Co-based (REFe4 -xCoxSb12) (Jacobsen et al. 2014, Zhang et al. 2015, Rogl et al. 2010a), while very few are the studies on Fe,Ni–based skutterudites (REFe4-xNixSb12) (Tan et al. 2013a, Kaltzoglou et al. 2012, Morimura et al. 2003).The name “Skutterudite” comes from a small mining town, Skutterud, in Norway where it was extracted and classified for the first time in 1845. The natural Skutterudite is a cobalt arsenide mineral that contains variable amounts of Ni and Fe, substituting for cobalt, having the general formula: (Co,Ni,Fe)As3. Its orogeny is hydrothermal, in moderate-high temperature; it is often found associated with other minerals such as Arsenopyrite, native Silver, Erythrite, Annabergite, Nickeline, Cobaltite, Silver sulfosalts, native Bismuth, Calcite, Siderite, Barite and Quartz. Its density is about 6.5 g/cm3 and the Mohs hardness is 6 but these values strictly depend on the composition.Synthetic skutterudites are now produced in laboratory. They include compounds having the composition MX3, where M is a transition metal of the VIII, IX, X group and X represents a pnitogen atom belonging to the XV group. Oftedal in 1928 identified CoAs3 as the first synthetic skutterudites and determined its structure as a cubic body-centered cell and space group . CoAs3 is now reported as the prototype compound for skutterudites. The modelling of skutterudite properties has been the subject of a large number of publications over the past decades. In this review we will only consider a limited set of results pertaining to Fe- or Ni-based skutterudites. This choice aims at preserving coherence with the experimental section of this chapter that mainly deals with these types of compounds.

The interest in thermoelectric materials raised in the recent years due to the possibility to design thermoelectric generators (TEGs), reliable solid-state devices for waste heat recovery valuable in particular contexts where the employment of other technologies results inconvenient. Nowadays, the challenge in the thermoelectric field seems to be the identification of efficient thermoelectric materials which should be also inexpensive, easy to synthesize, and comprised of earth-abundant elements. On this basis, tetrahedrite mineral family (Cu12-xTrxSb4S13 where, for instance, Tr could be Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, or Zn), one of the most widespread sulfosalts on Earth's crust, seems to meet the right features for an attractive sustainable p-Type Pb-free thermoelectric material showing relatively high conversion efficiency [1,2]. The sulphide precursor powders were ball milled and then one-step simultaneous synthesis and sintering process was performed by open die pressing (ODP) [3]. By this simple, fast, and easy scalable route, thermoelectric pellets with a whole process lasting less than 6 hours. Both Zn and Ni cations were added as partial substituents of Cu in Cu12Sb4S13 permitting to considerably improve the thermoelectric performances of the undoped material prepared by ODP. The influence of precursor ratio on the tetrahedrite phase, secondary phase content and stoichiometry were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The density and mechanical stability of samples were evaluated as a function of the chemical composition and processing parameters. A complete thermoelectric characterization was carried out for samples with different Zn and Ni substitution up to 400 °C.

The interest in thermoelectric materials raised in the recent years due to the possibility to design thermoelectric generators (TEGs), reliable solid-state devices for waste heat recovery valuable in particular contexts where the employment of other technologies results inconvenient. Nowadays, the challenge in the thermoelectric field seems to be the identification of efficient thermoelectric materials, which should be also inexpensive, easy to synthesize, and comprised of earth-abundant elements. On this basis, tetrahedrite mineral family (Cu12-xTrxSb4S13 where Tr= Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn), one of the most widespread sulfosalts on Earth's crust, seems to meet the right features for an attractive sustainable p-Type Pb-free thermoelectric material showing relatively high conversion efficiency. The sulphide precursor powders were ball milled and then one-step simultaneous synthesis and sintering process was performed by open die pressing (ODP). By this simple, fast, and easy scalable route, thermoelectric pellets with a whole process lasting less than 6 hours. Both Zn and Ni cations were added as partial substituents of Cu in Cu12Sb4S13 permitting to considerably improve the thermoelectric performances of the undoped material prepared by ODP. The influence of precursors ratio on the tetrahedrite phase, secondary phase content and stoichiometry were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The density and mechanical stability of samples were evaluated as a function of the chemical composition and processing parameters. A complete thermoelectric characterization was carried out for samples with different Zn and Ni substitution up to 400°C.

Many conventional thermoelectric materials are anisotropic: the structural complexity, useful to improve the material efficiency, often leads to a strong dependence of the material properties on the different spatial direction considered. This aspect, lately subject of increasing interest, has been often neglected in the study of polycrystalline samples, because of their randomly oriented grain structure. Recently, looking for further improvements in thermoelectric efficiency, techniques for the sintering of polycrystalline samples able to preserve the natural anisotropy of the compounds have been studied and developed. The common target is to produce bulk samples easier to deal with as respect to single crystals, with improved thermal and mechanical properties, preserving the optimal electrical characteristics. In some cases, the latter depending on the crystallographic direction considered. The present work reports the results obtained for material fast sintering and texture inducing using open die pressing technique, focusing on the effects produced by the mechanical processing. The open die pressing results to be effective in the fast sintering of different classes of materials. The process is easily scalable and does not require special expensive facilities. It also induces a strong texturing effect in the polycrystalline bulks preserving the anisotropy of electrical properties. Both structural analyses and microscopy display strong orientation of the material after sintering. Here, recent results obtained on sintering SnSe and tetrahedrites powders are reported.