HIV-1 genotypic resistance profile of patients failing antiretroviral therapy in Paraná, Brazil

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has reduced morbidity and mortality related to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, but in spite of this advance, HIV mutations decrease antiretroviral susceptibility, thus contributing to treatment failure in patients. Genotyping HIV-1 allows the selection of new drugs after initial drug failure. This study evaluated the genotypic profile of HIV-1 isolates from treated (drug-experienced) patients in Paraná, Brazil. The prevalence of mutations in reverse transcriptase (RT) and protease (PR) genes were assessed. We analyzed 467 genotypes of patients with HIV-1 viral loads above 1,000 copies/mL. Mutations at HIV-1 RT and PR genes and previously used ART regimens were recorded. The most prevalent RT mutations were: 184V (68.31%), 215YF (51.6%), 103NS (46%), 41L (39.4%), 67N (38.54%), 210W (23.5%), 190ASE (23.2%), and 181C (17.4%). PR mutations were 90M (33.33%), 82ATFS (29%), 46I (26.8%) and 54V (22.2%). The prevalence of mutations was in line with previous national and international reports, except to nonnucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitors related mutations, which were more prevalent in this study. Previous exposure to antiretroviral drugs was associated with genotypic resistance to specific drugs, leading to treatment failure in HIV patients

Modelling dinoflagellates as an approach to the seasonal forecasting of bioluminescence in the North Atlantic

Bioluminescence within ocean surface waters is of significant interest because it can enhance the study of subsurface movement and organisms. Little is known about how bioluminescence potential (BPOT) varies spatially and temporally in the open ocean. However, light emitted from dinoflagellates often dominates the stimulated bioluminescence field. As a first step towards forecasting surface ocean bioluminescence in the open ocean, a simple ecological model is developed which simulates seasonal changes in dinoflagellate abundance. How forecasting seasonal changes in BPOT may be achieved through combining such a model with relationships derived from observations is discussed and an example given. The study illustrates a potential new approach to forecasting BPOT through explicitly modelling the population dynamics of a prolific bioluminescent phylum. The model developed here offers a promising platform for the future operational forecasting of the broad temporal changes in bioluminescence within the North Atlantic. Such forecasting of seasonal patterns could provide valuable information for the targeting of scientific field campaigns

Building bonds: A pre-registered secondary data analysis examining linear and curvilinear relations between socio-economic status and communal attitudes

A large body of research points to differences in the communal orientation of people from a lower and higher socio-economic status (SES) background. However, direct evidence for differences in communal attitudes remains scant. In this pre-registered report, we test the hypothesis that SES impacts the incentive value of cues associated with bonding and social relations, thereby fostering differences in implicit and explicit communal attitudes. We further speculate that for people at the low end of the SES spectrum, the prevalence of discrimination, exclusion, and conflict means that relationships may have less of an incentive value. Thus, we hypothesise that the association between SES and communal attitudes follows a curvilinear trajectory and peaks at medium levels of SES. Testing these predictions in a dataset derived from the Attitudes, Identities, and Individual Differences (AIID) Study (Hussey, Hughes, & Nosek, 2018), we found no evidence supporting a linear or a curvilinear association between SES and communal attitudes. Instead, implicit and explicit communal attitudes did not vary across the SES spectrum. We discuss the implications of these findings and avenues for future research