1,604 research outputs found
Soluble levels of receptor for advanced glycation endproducts and dysfunctional high-density lipoprotein in persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus: ACTG NWCS332.
The role of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) function and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in HIV-related atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) is unclear. Both glycation and oxidation (HDLox) are major modifications of HDL that can alter its composition and function. Therefore, we explored the longitudinal association of HDLox with progression of glycation, as evaluated by measurement of circulating forms of receptor for AGE that predict morbidity (soluble Receptors for Advanced Glycation Endproducts [sRAGE], endogenous secretory Receptors for Advanced Glycation Endproducts [esRAGE]), in people with HIV-1 (PWH; HIV-1) and uninfected (HIV-1) individuals.We retrospectively assessed if levels of plasma sRAGE and esRAGE and HDL function (reduced antioxidant function is associated with increased HDL lipid hydroperoxide content; HDLox) in a subset of participants (n = 80) from a prospective 3-year study (AIDS Clinical Trials Group A5078). Primary outcomes were baseline and yearly rates of change over 96 of 144 weeks (Δ) in HDLox in HIV-1 versus uninfected HIV-1 controls (noted as HIV-1).Higher baseline levels of sRAGE in PWH on effective anti-retroviral therapy and with low CVD risk, but not in HIV-1 persons, were independently associated with higher HDLox. EsRAGE, but not sRAGE, had consistent inverse relationships with ΔHDLox in both HIV-1 and HIV-1 persons at baseline. In HIV-1 but not in HIV-1 persons, ΔHDLox had positive and inverse relationships with ΔRAGE and ΔesRAGE, respectively.Glycation and oxidation of HDL may contribute to impaired HDL function present in PWH
Diversity in the US Infectious Diseases Workforce: Challenges for Women and Underrepresented Minorities
Research documents significant gender-based salary inequities among physicians and ongoing inadequacies in recruitment and promotion of physicians from underrepresented minority groups. Given the complexity of the social forces that promote these disparities, their elimination will likely require quantitative and qualitative research to understand the pathways that lead to them and to develop effective solutions. Interventions to combat implicit bias will be required, and structural interventions that hold medical school leadership accountable are needed to achieve and maintain salary equity and racial and gender diversity at all levels
Anharmonicity-induced isostructural phase transition of Zirconium under pressure
We have performed a detailed x-ray diffraction structural study of Zr under
pressure and unambiguously identify the existence of a first-order
isostructural bcc-to-bcc phase transition near 58 GPa. First-principles quantum
molecular dynamics lattice dynamics calculations support the existence of this
phase transition, in excellent agreement with experimental results, triggered
by anharmonic effects. Our results highlight the potential ubiquity of
anharmonically driven isostructural transitions within the periodic table under
pressure and calls for follow-up experimental and theoretical studies
Energy averages and fluctuations in the decay out of superdeformed bands
We derive analytic formulae for the energy average (including the energy
average of the fluctuation contribution) and variance of the intraband decay
intensity of a superdeformed band. Our results may be expressed in terms of
three dimensionless variables: , ,
and . Here is
the spreading width for the mixing of a superdeformed (SD) state with the
normally deformed (ND) states whose spin is the same as 's. The
have mean level spacing and mean electromagnetic decay width
whilst has electromagnetic decay width .
The average decay intensity may be expressed solely in terms of the variables
and or, analogously to statistical
nuclear reaction theory, in terms of the transmission coefficients and
describing transmission from the to the SD band via and
to lower ND states.
The variance of the decay intensity, in analogy with Ericson's theory of
cross section fluctuations depends on an additional variable, the correlation
length
\Gamma_N/(\Gamma_S+\Gamma^{\downarrow})=\frac{d}{2\pi}T_N/(\Gamma_S+\Gamma^{\d
ownarrow}). This suggests that analysis of an experimentally obtained variance
could yield the mean level spacing as does analysis of the cross section
autocorrelation function in compound nuclear reactions.
We compare our results with those of Gu and Weidenm\"uller.Comment: revtex4, 14 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Physical Review
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Oral Cytokine Levels Are More Linked to Levels of Plasma and Oral HIV-1 RNA Than to CD4+ T-Cell Counts in People With HIV.
BackgroundWe determined the levels of 11 soluble immune mediators in oral washings of AIDS Clinical Trials Group A5254 participants with varying degrees of plasma viremia and CD4 T-cell counts to characterize the mucosal immune response at different stages of HIV-1 infection.MethodsA5254 was a multicenter, cross-sectional study in people with HIV (PWH) recruited into 4 strata based on CD4 count and levels of plasma viremia: stratum (St) A: CD4 ≤200 cells/mm3, HIV-1 RNA (viral load [VL]) >1000 cps/mL; St B: CD4 ≤200, VL ≤1000; St C: CD4 >200, VL >1000; St D: CD4 >200, VL ≤1000. Oral/throat washings were obtained from all participants. Soluble markers were tested in oral/throat washings using a multibead fluorescent platform and were compared across strata. Linear regression was used to determine the associations between cytokines and HIV-1 in plasma and oral fluid.ResultsSt A participants had higher levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-17, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), and interferon gamma (IFNγ) compared with St B and D (P = .02; P < .0001) but were not different from St C. IL-8, IL-10, and IL-12 were elevated in St A compared with the other 3 strata (P = .046; P < .0001). Linear regression demonstrated that oral HIV-1 levels were associated with IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and TNFα production (R > .40; P < .001) when controlling for CD4 count and opportunistic infections.ConclusionsOur results show that high levels of oral HIV-1, rather than low CD4 counts, were linked to the production of oral immune mediators. Participants with AIDS and uncontrolled viremia demonstrated higher levels of pro- and anti-inflammatory soluble immune mediators compared with participants with lower HIV-1 RNA. The interplay of HIV-1 and these immune mediators could be important in the oral health of PWH
A measure of majorisation emerging from single-shot statistical mechanics
The use of the von Neumann entropy in formulating the laws of thermodynamics
has recently been challenged. It is associated with the average work whereas
the work guaranteed to be extracted in any single run of an experiment is the
more interesting quantity in general. We show that an expression that
quantifies majorisation determines the optimal guaranteed work. We argue it
should therefore be the central quantity of statistical mechanics, rather than
the von Neumann entropy. In the limit of many identical and independent
subsystems (asymptotic i.i.d) the von Neumann entropy expressions are recovered
but in the non-equilbrium regime the optimal guaranteed work can be radically
different to the optimal average. Moreover our measure of majorisation governs
which evolutions can be realized via thermal interactions, whereas the
nondecrease of the von Neumann entropy is not sufficiently restrictive. Our
results are inspired by single-shot information theory.Comment: 54 pages (15+39), 9 figures. Changed title / changed presentation,
same main results / added minor result on pure bipartite state entanglement
(appendix G) / near to published versio
Neonatal Blood Methylation Marks Associated with Obstetric Pain Relief
The placenta, responsible for intrauterine development, can facilitate modifications within the placental epigenome in response to changes in the mother. In turn these changes have the potential to also influence the neonate1. Pain relief during delivery is widely used and frequently involves the use of nitrous oxide (N2O, commonly referred to as laughing gas), and pudendal blocks. These treatments, alone or in combination, are generally accepted as safe methods of providing pain relief to mothers. However, laughing gas and local anesthetics such as the ones used during pudendal blocks have been known to cross the placental barrier from mother to child2,3. Furthermore, although current literature about the effects of laughing gas and pudendal blocks on the epigenome, when used as maternal pain relief, is very limited, some evidence implicates effects of obstetric anesthesia on the neonatal methylome2,4,5. Thus, it is reasonable to hypothesize that obstetric pain relief administered to the mother during childbirth may affect the methylome of the child. In conclusion, we detected methylome-wide significantly associated loci for laughing gas and pudendal block treatment when studied in combination, but not for either of the treatments separately.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1421/thumbnail.jp
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