Immune Reconstitution in HIV-1-Infected Individuals Treated with Potent Antiretroviral Therapy

Potent combination antiretroviral therapy that was introduced in the mid-1990s for treatment of HIV-1 infection has resulted in unprecedented decreases in HIV-1 replication and increases in CD4+ T cell counts in many individuals. Coincident with the introduction of potent combination antiretroviral therapy, substantial declines in AIDS-related morbidity and mortality have been observed. Although these declines strongly suggest that significant immune reconstitution is occurring, increasing evidence suggests that immune reconstitution is neither uniform nor complete in all treated individuals. Clinical data suggest that some HIV-1-associated malignancies have not declined despite the new therapies, and that not all treated individuals reconstitute CD4+ T cell numbers to normal values. Laboratory studies reveal that immune responses to ubiquitous antigens are reconstituted, but that responses to rarely encountered antigens, such as tetanus, are not reconstituted without repeat vaccination. Many questions remain concerning the extent and clinical significance of the immune reconstitution that occurs in the setting of antiretroviral drug therapy. A better understanding of the nature of the immune reconstitution that results from potent antiretroviral therapy is critical to the optimal clinical management of HIV-1-infected individuals, and may provide important insights into the immunopathogenesis of HIV-1 infection as well

Lt. Governor Polito Breaks Ground on $2.5 Million Downtown Revitalization Project in Leominster

MassWorks award supports downtown infrastructure improvements, development effort

The alleged anti-Jewish character of the fourth Gospel

This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

An Analysis of Form and Function of Ceramic Rim Sherds from LA 20,000, A 17th Century Estancia Outside Santa Fe, New Mexico

This thesis examines a sample of ceramic sherds from LA 20,000 to determine the functional uses of the locally made ceramics and their relationship to food preparation, consumption, and identity. LA 20,000, the Sanchez site, is a Spanish colonial estancia, or ranching headquarters, located in La Cienega, New Mexico, roughly 12 miles southwest of Santa Fe and was occupied during the seventeenth century before the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. It is important to understand Pueblo, or native made, ceramics because all ceramic assemblages recovered from 17th-century Spanish sites in New Mexico consist of a majority of native made ceramics. I analyzed the ceramic rim sherds recovered from the site to determine vessel form, vessel size, and vessel function. The results of this study reveal that the inhabitants of LA 20,000 continued to display their Spanish identity by making wheat bread and using individual serving vessels as well as introducing new Spanish vessel forms to the repertoire of locally made ceramics. This study can be used as a comparative tool to other Spanish and Pueblo sites from the same time period in New Mexico

Hybrid ventilation of a room: A theoretical model for the combined effects of mechanically-imposed and buoyancy-induced driving pressures

A supply fan and an extract fan, at identical settings in identical rooms, do not necessarily have the same effect on the ventilation. For a heated room in which the floor-level vents are larger than the ceiling-level vents, we show that an extract fan provides better ventilation than a supply fan. If the ceiling-level vents are larger, we show that a supply fan is more effective; this for the same, constant fan airflow rate. We investigate the hybrid ventilation of a room in which the, otherwise buoyancy-driven, ventilation is augmented by a forced volume flux, provided by a supply or extract fan. In hybrid ventilation, naturally-occurring and mechanically-imposed pressure differences combine to determine the resulting ventilation airflow. Herein, a mathematical model is developed which enables prediction of: the inflow and outflow volume fluxes; the vertical position of the neutral pressure level; and the steady, uniform temperature, with in a single, isolated room in hybrid ventilation. The physical problem is reduced to a mathematical model with two controlling parameters; namely, the effective vent area ratio, R*, and a ratio of forced and natural volume fluxes, Q_F/Q_N. We demonstrate that the volume flux through an open vent can be controlled remotely, by mechanically imposing the volume flux through an entirely separate vent

Photooxidation of Platinum(II) Diimine Dithiolates

The violet color of Pt(bpy)(bdt) (bpy = 2,2‘-bipyridine; bdt = 1,2-benzenedithiolate) is due to a Pt/S → diimine charge-transfer transition; the emission originates from the corresponding triplet state (τ = 460 ns). Photochemical oxidation of Pt(bpy)(bdt) occurs in the presence of oxygen in N,N-dimethylformamide, acetonitrile, or dimethyl sulfoxide solution; the reaction has been investigated by ^1H NMR and UV−visible absorption spectroscopy. Singlet oxygen produced by energy transfer from the excited complex is implicated as the active oxygen species, in sequential formation of sulfinate, Pt(bpy)(bdtO_2), and disulfinate, Pt(bpy)(bdtO_4), products. Both products have been characterized by X-ray crystallography. The rate of photooxygenation is strongly dependent on water concentration, and transient absorption spectra are consistent with the formation of at least one intermediate. As a whole, our data suggest that the photooxidation chemistry of platinum(II) diimine dithiolates is similar to that of organic sulfides

Assessing muscle strength for the purpose of classification in paralympic athletics: a review and recommendations

Objectives: Classification in Paralympic Sport aims to minimize the impact of 10 eligible types of impairment on the outcome of competition. Methods for assessing the extent to which a given body structure or function has been impaired are required, but are challenging because it is not possible to directly measure an absence or loss. Rather, impairment must be inferred by measurement of extant body structures or functions

Patterns of cognitive dysfunction in progressive MS

Background: Progressive MS is associated with a high frequency of cognitive impairment. However, it is not clear to what extent this reflects global dysfunction, or independent deficits in specific functions