A Patient-Centered Approach: Applicability of Harm Reduction Principles in Various Healthcare Settings

The public health framework of harm reduction was evaluated in one care setting to determine its potential for use in other fields of healthcare. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 11 clients of the HIV Alliance’s needle exchange program. Analysis of client responses revealed three themes: 1) harm reduction methods work well for the HIV Alliance’s clientele, 2) conventional methods of healthcare outside of the HIV Alliance are not as constructive as they could be, and 3) the patient-provider relationship is critical in all healthcare settings. It was determined that harm reduction methods would be suitable for healthcare settings because of its patient-centered, non-coercive approach and view of patients as capable of deciding their health-related behaviors and care. Key words: Harm reduction, needle exchange program, healthcare, qualitative researc

Recommendations of the DNA Commission of the International Society for Forensic Genetics (ISFG) on short tandem repeat sequence nomenclature

Funding Information: The authors are grateful to Peter de Knijff and Sascha Willuweit for their early contributions to this DNA Commission. Additionally, Peter M. Schneider served on this DNA Commission until his passing in 2022, and we honor his contribution with posthumous authorship. NIST: This DNA Commission of the ISFG has sole responsibility for the contents of this report and the questions, findings, and recommendations within. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Commerce or the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Certain commercial entities are identified in order to specify experimental procedures as completely as possible. In no case does such identification imply a recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor does it imply that any of the entities identified are necessarily the best available for the purpose. FBI: This DNA Commission of the ISFG has sole responsibility for the contents of this report and the questions, findings, and recommendations within. Names of commercial manufacturers are provided for identification purposes only, and inclusion does not imply endorsement of the manufacturer, or its products or services by the FBI. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the FBI or the U.S. Government. Publisher Copyright: © 2023The DNA Commission of the International Society for Forensic Genetics (ISFG) has developed a set of nomenclature recommendations for short tandem repeat (STR) sequences. These recommendations follow the 2016 considerations of the DNA Commission of the ISFG, incorporating the knowledge gained through research and population studies in the intervening years. While maintaining a focus on backward compatibility with the CE data that currently populate national DNA databases, this report also looks to the future with the establishment of recommended minimum sequence reporting ranges to facilitate interlaboratory comparisons, automated solutions for sequence-based allele designations, a suite of resources to support bioinformatic development, guidance for characterizing new STR loci, and considerations for incorporating STR sequences and other new markers into investigative databases.Peer reviewe

The major genetic determinants of HIV-1 control affect HLA class I peptide presentation.

Infectious and inflammatory diseases have repeatedly shown strong genetic associations within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC); however, the basis for these associations remains elusive. To define host genetic effects on the outcome of a chronic viral infection, we performed genome-wide association analysis in a multiethnic cohort of HIV-1 controllers and progressors, and we analyzed the effects of individual amino acids within the classical human leukocyte antigen (HLA) proteins. We identified >300 genome-wide significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the MHC and none elsewhere. Specific amino acids in the HLA-B peptide binding groove, as well as an independent HLA-C effect, explain the SNP associations and reconcile both protective and risk HLA alleles. These results implicate the nature of the HLA-viral peptide interaction as the major factor modulating durable control of HIV infection