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Summary This study aims at proposing seismic reliability‐based relationships between the behavior factors and the displacement demand for nonlinear hardening and softening structures isolated by friction pendulum system devices considering several structural properties. An equivalent 2dof model having both a hardening and softening postyield slope is used to describe the superstructure behavior, whereas a velocity‐dependent model is adopted for the friction pendulum system response. The yielding characteristics of the superstructures, related to life safety limit state, are designed according to the seismic hazard of L'Aquila site (Italy) for increasing behavior factors, as provided from NTC08. Considering natural seismic records and several elastic and inelastic building properties, different postyield hardening and softening stiffness values, different seismic intensity levels, and modeling the friction coefficient as a random variable, incremental dynamic analyses are performed to evaluate the seismic fragility of these structural systems. By means of the convolution integral between the fragility curves and the seismic hazard curves corresponding to L'Aquila site (Italy), the reliability curves of the equivalent hardening and softening base‐isolated structural systems, with a lifetime of 50 years, are defined. Specifically, seismic reliability‐based linear and multilinear regression expressions between the displacement ductility demand and the behavior factors for the superstructure as well as seismic reliability‐based design abacuses for the friction pendulum devices are proposed.

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Background: Herpes simplex 1 co-infections in patients with COVID-19 are considered relatively uncommon; some reports on re-activations in patients in intensive-care units were published. The aim of the study was to analyze herpetic re-activations and their clinical manifestations in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, performing HSV-1 PCR on plasma twice a week. Methods: we conducted a prospective, observational, single-center study involving 70 consecutive patients with severe/critical SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia tested for HSV-1 hospitalized at Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria of Modena. Results: of these 70 patients, 21 (30.0%) showed detectable viremia and 13 (62%) had clinically relevant manifestations of HSV-1 infection corresponding to 15 events (4 pneumonia, 5 herpes labialis, 3 gingivostomatitis, one encephalitis and two hepatitis). HSV-1 positive patients were more frequently treated with steroids than HSV-1 negative patients (76.2% vs. 49.0%, p = 0.036) and more often underwent mechanical ventilation (IMV) (57.1% vs. 22.4%, p = 0.005). In the unadjusted logistic regression analysis, steroid treatment, IMV, and higher LDH were significantly associated with an increased risk of HSV1 re-activation (odds ratio 3.33, 4.61, and 16.9, respectively). The association with the use of steroids was even stronger after controlling for previous use of both tocilizumab and IMV (OR = 5.13, 95% CI:1.36–19.32, p = 0.016). The effect size was larger when restricting to participants who were treated with high doses of steroids while there was no evidence to support an association with the use of tocilizumab Conclusions: our study shows a high incidence of HSV-1 re-activation both virologically and clinically in patients with SARS-CoV-2 severe pneumonia, especially in those treated with steroids.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has significantly improved life expectancy of infected subjects, generating a new epidemiological setting of people aging withHuman Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). People living with HIV (PLWH), having longer life expectancy, now face several age-related conditions as well as side effects of long-term exposure of ART. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a common comorbidity in this population. CKD is a relentlessly progressive disease that may evolve toward end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and significantly affect quality of life and risk of death. Herein, we review current understanding of renal involvement in PLWH, mechanisms and risk factors for CKD as well as strategies for early recognition of renal dysfunction and best care of CKD.