Cigarette smoking and drug use among a nationally representative sample of HIV-positive individuals

Background and Objectives: Among HIV-positive populations, the prevalence of cigarette smoking remains disproportionately high and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Little is known about this topic among HIV-positive persons in the general population. Methods: Data came from the 2005 to 2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) public use data files. Unadjusted and adjusted multinomial logistic regression analyses explored the associations between socio-demographic, drug and alcohol use, and drug and/or alcohol treatment characteristics with smoking status among HIV-positive individuals (n = 349). Results: More than 40% of the sample was current smokers. In adjusted analyses, females (aRRR = .11, 95% CI = .03–.41) and participants who had never been married (aRRR = .19, 95% CI = .05–.58), were more likely to be former smokers than never smokers. Females (aRRR = .37, 95% CI = .14–.96) and individuals older than age 35 (aRRR = .37, 95% CI = .16–.89) were less likely to be current smokers than never smokers. Conversely, previously married persons (aRRR = 5.72, 95% CI = 1.40–23.31), participants reporting binge drinking (aRRR = 5.96, 95% CI = 2.27–15.64), and lifetime drug or alcohol treatment (aRRR = 5.12, 95% CI = 2.09–12.55) were more likely to be current smokers than never smokers. Conclusions: Findings help confirm the high prevalence of smoking among HIV-positive persons suggesting the need for integrated substance use and smoking cessation treatment among HIV-positives. Scientific Significance: The present findings have implications for the development and implementation of targeted smoking cessation programs for HIV-positive smokers

Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (HSV-1) Infected Cell Protein 0 (ICP0) Targets of Ubiquitination during Productive Infection of Primary Adult Sensory Neurons

Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) enters sensory neurons with the potential for productive or latent infection. For either outcome, HSV-1 must curtail the intrinsic immune response, regulate viral gene expression, and remove host proteins that could restrict viral processes. Infected cell protein 0 (ICP0), a virus-encoded E3 ubiquitin ligase, supports these processes by mediating the transfer of ubiquitin to target proteins to change their location, alter their function, or induce their degradation. To identify ubiquitination targets of ICP0 during productive infection in sensory neurons, we immunoprecipitated ubiquitinated proteins from primary adult sensory neurons infected with HSV-1 KOS (wild-type), HSV-1 n212 (expressing truncated, defective ICP0), and uninfected controls using anti-ubiquitin antibody FK2 (recognizing K29, K48, K63 and monoubiquitinated proteins), followed by LC-MS/MS and comparative analyses. We identified 40 unique proteins ubiquitinated by ICP0 and 17 ubiquitinated by both ICP0 and host mechanisms, of which High Mobility Group Protein I/Y (HMG I/Y) and TAR DNA Binding Protein 43 (TDP43) were selected for further analysis. We show that ICP0 ubiquitinates HMG I/Y and TDP43, altering protein expression at specific time points during productive HSV-1 infection, demonstrating that ICP0 manipulates the sensory neuronal environment in a time-dependent manner to regulate infection outcome in neurons

Rethinking the History of Churches of Christ: Responses to Richard Hughes

Foster, Douglas A.; Harrell, David E. Jr.; and Hill, Samuel S. (1996) Rethinking the History of Churches of Christ: Responses to Richard Hughes, Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 38 : No. 1. This repository hosts selected Restoration Quarterly articles in downloadable PDF format. For the benefit of users who would like to browse the contents of RQ, we have included all issue covers even when full-text articles from that issue are unavailable. All Restoration Quarterly articles are available in full text in the ATLA Religion Database, available through most university and theological libraries or through your local library’s inter-library loan service

Incorporating Reflective Writing into the Clerkship

During the last decade, medical schools have turned to writing exercises as a means for encouraging students to reflect on their learning experiences during clinical clerkships. The reasons for the increased popularity of reflective writing are broad. Approaches to encouraging reflective writing are quite varied. Recently, three internal medicine clerkships (University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine, and University of Massachusetts Medical School) independently implemented reflective writing activities in the clerkship curriculum

Questions to Ask Before You Join a Club

Despite the recent flurry of large transactions in which a consortium of private equity firms have teamed up to make joint bids and acquisitions, “club deals” themselves are not breaking news. In fact, they have been a staple of small- and middle-sized private equity M&A transactions for years. Recently, however, there has been a growing trend toward large club deals with enterprise values over $1 billion.1 Due to their size, complexity and, often, international dimension, these transactions have generated considerable attention in the business press and have prompted much discussion among private equity professionals and the limited partners whose money they manage

Interrelationships Among Changes in Leptin, Insulin, Cortisol and Growth Hormone and Weight Status in Youth

Objective: While acute alterations in leptin, insulin, cortisol and growth hormone (GH) levels have been reported in children following weight change interventions, little is known about natural hormonal changes as children grow and how these changes are affected b