Nonequilibrium Josephson-like effects in wide mesoscopic S-N-S junctions

Mesoscopic superconducting-normal-metal-superconducting (S-N-S) junctions with a large separation between the superconducting electrodes (i.e. wide junctions) exhibit nonequilibrium supercurrents, even at temperatures for which the equilibrium Josephson effect is exponentially small. The second harmonic of the Josephson frequency dominates these currents, as observed in recent experiments. A simple description of these effects, in the spirit of the Resistively-Shunted-Junction model, is suggested here. It is used to calculate dc I-V characteristics, and to examine the effects of various types of noise and of external microwave radiation (Shapiro steps). It is found that the nonequilibrium supercurrents are excited when the junction is driven by a dc bias or an ac bias, or even by external noise. In the case of junctions which are also long in the direction perpendicular to the current flow, thermodynamic phase fluctuations (thermal noise) alone can drive the quasiparticles out of local equilibrium. Magnetic flux is then predicted to be trapped in units of Phi_0 /2 = hc/4e.Comment: 10 pages, to appear in a special issue of Superlattices & Microstructure

Gemeldete HIV-Erstdiagnosen 2021 – 2022

Gemäß § 7 Abs. 3 Infektionsschutzgesetz (IfSG) ist der direkte oder indirekte Nachweis einer Infektion mit dem Humanen Immundefizienz-Virus (HIV) nichtnamentlich unmittelbar an das Robert Koch-Institut (RKI) zu melden. Dem RKI wurden für das Jahr 2021 insgesamt 2.258 gesicherte HIV-Neudiagnosen gemeldet und bis zum 1.5.2023 für das Jahr 2022 insgesamt 3.239 gesicherte HIV-Neudiagnosen. Im Vergleich dazu wurden dem RKI 2.468 gesicherte HIV-Neudiagnosen für das Jahr 2020 gemeldet. Dies entspricht einem Rückgang um 9 % von 2020 auf 2021 und einer Zunahme um 43% von 2021 auf 2022. Für das Meldejahr 2022 ist zu berücksichtigen, dass nach Februar 2022 in erheblichem Umfang HIV-Meldungen von aus der Ukraine nach Deutschland geflüchteten Personen erfolgten. Bei den meisten dieser Geflüchteten erfolgten die HIV-Diagnosen und der Behandlungsbeginn bereits in der Ukraine. Deshalb handelt es sich bei den meisten dieser Fälle nicht um tatsächliche Neudiagnosen einer HIV-Infektion, sondern um einen erstmaligen Nachweis in Deutschland. Von den 3.239 Neudiagnosen im Jahr 2022 entfal¬len 724 auf Menschen aus der Ukraine.Peer Reviewe

Problems and consequences of aging societies. Theoretical considerations, methodological issues and empirical analyses

Dieser Band versammelt Beiträge zu verschiedenen grundlegenden Problemen, welche nachhaltig alternde Gesellschaften mit sich bringen. Die einzelnen Artikel entstanden im Rahmen des Forschungspraktikums im Fach Bevölkerungswissenschaft an der Universität Bamberg. Die ersten beiden Beiträge beschäftigen sich mit der selbstberichteten Gesundheit. Der erste Beitrag thematisiert die subjektive Gesundheit in Abhängigkeit vom Übergang in den Ruhestand. Im zweiten Beitrag stehen mit der internationalen Vergleichbarkeit subjektiver Gesundheitsmessung methodische Aspekte im Vordergrund. Der dritte Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit geschlechtsspezifischen Aspekten intergenerationaler Hilfeleistungen. Diese aktuellen sozialwissenschaftlichen Fragestellungen werden anhand der Daten der ersten beiden Wellen des Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) empirisch untersucht.This volume brings together selected contributions on fundamental challenges of population ageing. All of the articles evolved from an empirical research training course in population studies at the University of Bamberg. The first two contributions deal with self-perceived health measures. The first article analyses the effect of transition into retirement on self-perceived health. The second contribution focuses on methodological issues concerning the comparability of self-perceived health and discusses different strategies to account for cross-national variation in scaling subjective health. The last contribution deals with gender-related aspects of intergenerational transfers. These up-to-date research questions are empirically investigated using the first two waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)

International trends in new HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men in North America, Western Europe and Australia 2000-2014

An increase in HIV diagnoses in men who have sex with men (MSM) in high-income countries was identified from 2000-2005. We sought to investigate recent trends through 2014 to better inform treatment and prevention strategies.N/

Antiretroviral treatment indications and adherence to the German-Austrian treatment initiation guidelines in the German ClinSurv HIV Cohort between 1999 and 2016

PurposeThe aim of the study was to assess guideline adherence to combined antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the German ClinSurv HIV Cohort and the real-life impact of the Strategic Timing of Antiretroviral Therapy (START) study, to identify patients not treated as recommended by new guidelines.MethodsWe used data from the multicenter ClinSurv cohort of the Robert-Koch-Institute (RKI) between 1999 and 2016. Inclusion criteria were people living with HIV/AIDS, 18years of age and cART naive at the first visit (FV). Adherence was defined as starting cART within 6 months of crossing the CD4(+) T cell threshold as suggested by the German-Austrian treatment guidelines. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with non-adherence.Results11,817 patients met the inclusion criteria. We observed an overall adherence rate of 60%, in patients with treatment indication who started cART timely between 2002 and 2015. Adherence rate increased constantly, demonstrating a potential increase in patients, with treatment indication, starting cART within 6 months of presentation from 55% in 2008 to 94% in 2015. Patients reporting injection drug use (OR 2.18, 95% CI 1.70-2.95) and patients between 18years and 39years of age at the time of their first visit (OR 2.89, 95% CI 1.35-6.18) were identified as risk groups associated with non-adherence.ConclusionThe majority of patients below the CD4(+) T cell count threshold of applicable guidelines initiated treatment within 6 months. We observed a slowly diminishing proportion of patients not starting cART timely. Delayed treatment was more frequent in patients reporting injection drug use

Treatment modification after starting cART in people living with HIV: retrospective analysis of the German ClinSurv HIV Cohort 2005-2017

Objective Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has markedly increased survival and quality of life in people living with HIV. With the advent of new treatment options, including single-tablet regimens, durability and efficacy of first-line cART regimens are evolving. Methods We analyzed data from the prospective multicenter German Clinical Surveillance of HIV Disease (ClinSurv) cohort of the Robert-Koch Institute. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards models were run to examine the factors associated with treatment modification. Recovery after treatment initiation was analyzed comparing pre-cART viral load and CD4+ T-cell counts with follow-up data. Results We included 8788 patients who initiated cART between 2005 and 2017. The sample population was predominantly male (n = 7040; 80.1%), of whom 4470 (63.5%) were reporting sex with men as the transmission risk factor. Overall, 4210 (47.9%) patients modified their first-line cART after a median time of 63 months (IQR 59-66). Regimens containing integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTI) were associated with significantly lower rates of treatment modification (adjusted hazard ratio 0.44; 95% CI 0.39-0.50) compared to protease inhibitor (PI)-based regimens. We found a decreased durability of first-line cART significantly associated with being female, a low CD4+ T-cell count, cART initiation in the later period (2011-2017), being on a multi-tablet regimen (MTR). Conclusions Drug class and MTRs are significantly associated with treatment modification. INSTI-based regimens showed to be superior compared to PI-based regimens in terms of durability

Treatment modifcation after starting cART in people living with HIV: retrospective analysis of the German ClinSurv HIV Cohort 2005-2017 (vol 48, pg 723, 2020)

Correction to: Infection (2020) 48:723–733 https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-020-01469-6. The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. In this article the authors Dirk Schürmann at affiliation Charité, University Medicine, Berlin, Olaf Degen at affiliation University Clinic Hamburg Eppendorf, Hamburg and Heinz-August Horst at affiliation University Hospital Schleswig–Holstein, Kiel, Germany were missing from the author list. The original article has been corrected

Trends in human immunodeficiency virus diagnoses among men who have sex with men in North America, Western Europe, and Australia, 2000-2014

Purpose: The aim of the article was to investigate recent trends in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) diagnosis rates among men who have sex with men (MSM) in high-income countries in North America, Western Europe, and Australia. Methods: Data on annual rates of HIV diagnoses among MSM aged 15 to 65 years from 2000 to 2014 were collected from 13 high-income countries. Joinpoint regression software was used to empirically determine country-specific trend periods. Trends in HIV diagnosis rates and in the proportion of diagnoses occurring in young MSM aged 15 to 24 years were analyzed using Poisson regression and log-binomial regression, respectively. Results: Six countries experienced an increasing trend from 2000 to 2007-08 followed by either a stable or declining trend through 2014. Five countries had recently increasing trends, and two countries had one stable trend from 2000 to 2014. All 13 countries experienced increases in the proportion of diagnoses occurring in young MSM. Conclusions: Since 2008, half of the 13 high-income countries examined experienced stable or decreasing trends. Still, some countries continue to experience increasing HIV trends, and young MSM are increasingly represented among new diagnoses. Efforts to support early sexual health promotion, reduce barriers to pre-exposure prophylaxis, and improve care engagement for young MSM are critical to addressing current HIV trends.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Needs for an Integration of Specific Data Sources and Items - First Insights of a National Survey Within the German Center for Infection Research.

State-subsidized programs develop medical data integration centers in Germany. To get infection disease (ID) researchers involved in the process of data sharing, common interests and minimum data requirements were prioritized. In 06/2019 we have initiated the German Infectious Disease Data Exchange (iDEx) project. We have developed and performed an online survey to determine prioritization of requests for data integration and exchange in ID research. The survey was designed with three sub-surveys, including a ranking of 15 data categories and 184 specific data items and a query of available 51 data collecting systems. A total of 84 researchers from 17 fields of ID research participated in the survey (predominant research fields: gastrointestinal infections n=11, healthcare-associated and antibiotic-resistant infections n=10, hepatitis n=10). 48% (40/84) of participants had experience as medical doctor. The three top ranked data categories were microbiology and parasitology, experimental data, and medication (53%, 52%, and 47% of maximal points, respectively). The most relevant data items for these categories were bloodstream infections, availability of biomaterial, and medication (88%, 87%, and 94% of maximal points, respectively). The ranking of requests of data integration and exchange is diverse and depends on the chosen measure. However, there is need to promote discipline-related digitalization and data exchange