Evolution of experimental design and research techniques in HIV-1 reservoir studies : a systematic review

Although HIV-1 has evolved from a deadly to a chronic disease over the past 20 years, an HIV-1 cure is still lacking due to the presence of persisting cellular viral reservoirs which are spread throughout the body in different anatomical compartments. Hence, the identification and characterization of these HIV-1 reservoirs were the focus of many studies during the past decades. In this review, a systematic literature screening and text mining approach were implemented to assess the evolution in experimental design of these HIV-1 reservoir studies. For this purpose. the online databases PubMed, Web of Science. and ClinicalTrials.gov were consulted and 1768 articles were identified, of which 106 are included in this review. We observed several evolutions that indicate a more structured approach of recent HIV-1 reservoir studies. This includes the use of well-characterized patient cohorts, tissue sampling at several time points and anatomical compartments, the inclusion of patients with different treatment status (on and off antiretroviral therapy), and the implementation of state-of-the-art research techniques such as single genome sequencing. In addition, there is an increased interest and sampling of lymphoid tissues and cerebrospinal fluid together with methods to investigate cellular subsets and HIV-1 sequences. Overall, this review describes an observed shift from detecting and quantifying HIV-1 toward a qualitative in-depth assessment of anatomical reservoirs and cellular subsets playing a role in H1V-1 persistence/latency. These trends coincide with the evolution in focus from controlling HIV-1 replication by currently available antiretroviral therapy toward HIV-1 curative strategies

For the eye altering, alters the all

C

Storytelling:The Effects of Corporate Stories on the Appreciation of Organizations

Organizations increasingly resort to corporate stories in order to positively influence their stakeholders' perceptions. However, no substantive results are available that prove the effects of corporate stories. Apart from that, recommendations on which content elements should be included in corporate stories, nearly all rely on conceptual theories and not on empirical studies. The first goal of this study is to test whether corporate stories have more positive effects on the appreciation of organizations than a plain, factual summary of corporate information. The second goal is to take the first steps towards composing guidelines on what comprises a good story. Based on an online experiment among 201 participants, the effects of corporate stories as compared to corporate information on the appreciation of organizations were measured, in the context of a for-profit and a not-for-profit organization. Subsequently, the effects of including the elements `conflict' and `character' were examined. The results indicated that the effects of a story were less beneficial than expected. Statistical tests showed only a few differences between participants who read corporate information and those who read a story. In addition to that, no effects were found for the presence of a conflict and a character in a corporate story

Protein expression from unintegrated HIV-1 DNA introduces bias in primary in vitro post-integration latency models

To understand the persistence of latently HIV-1 infected cells in virally suppressed infected patients, a number of in vitro models of HIV latency have been developed. In an attempt to mimic the in vivo situation as closely as possible, several models use primary cells and replication-competent viruses in combination with antiretroviral compounds to prevent ongoing replication. Latency is subsequently measured by HIV RNA and/or protein production after cellular activation. To discriminate between pre- and post-integration latency, integrase inhibitors are routinely used, preventing novel integrations upon cellular activation. Here, we show that this choice of antiretrovirals may still cause a bias of pre-integration latency in these models, as unintegrated HIV DNA can form and directly contribute to the levels of HIV RNA and protein production. We further show that the addition of reverse transcriptase inhibitors effectively suppresses the levels of episomal HIV DNA (as measured by 2-LTR circles) and decreases the levels of HIV transcription. Consequently, we show that latency levels described in models that only use integrase inhibitors may be overestimated. The inclusion of additional control conditions, such as 2-LTR quantification and the addition of reverse transcriptase inhibitors, is crucial to fully elucidate the actual levels of post-integration latency

Implantation of an endoluminal prosthesis at the distal anastomosis of a bypass graft for abrupt closure following balloon angioplasty

Abstract A coronary Wallstent® was implanted in a 10-year-old saphenous vein bypass graft following a PTCA that was complicated by abrupt closure. Anterograde flow was restored and no myocardial necrosis resulted. One week later, bypass surgery was performed due to a bleeding complication associated with the anticoagulation regimen

Exercising in times of lockdown : an analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on levels and patterns of exercise among adults in Belgium

Countries all over the world implemented lockdowns to counteract COVID-19. These lockdowns heavily limited people’s exercise possibilities. At the same time, experts advocated to remain physically active to prevent future health problems. Based on an online survey, this study examines adults’ exercise levels and patterns during the COVID-19 lockdown in Belgium. Ordinal logistic regression analyses of 13,515 valid and population-weighted responses indicate a general increase in exercise frequencies, as well as in sedentary behavior. Except for people aged 55+, previously low active adults self-reported to exercise more during the lockdown. Among the people who were already high active before COVID-19, those above 55 years old, those with low education, those used to exercise with friends or in a sport club, and those who were not using online tools to exercise, self-reported to exercise less during the lockdown. Having less time, sitting more, and missing the familiar way and competitive element of exercising were the main reasons for a self-reported exercise reduction. Given the health risks associated with physical inactivity, results imply that governments should consider how those who were not reached can be encouraged to exercise during a lockdown. After all, additional COVID-19 lockdowns might be implemented in the future