Silence Is Not Golden: Invisible Latinas Living with HIV in the Midwest

This qualitative study was conducted to better understand the health needs and concerns of immigrant HIV-infected Latinas residing in the Midwest United States. Individual interviews (n = 18) were conducted in Spanish with Latinas in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. Women were at different stages of acceptance about their HIV diagnosis and four common themes emerged from the data: pregnancy as a death sentence, HIV is taboo, God as their only resource, and living in isolation. Silence was an over-arching theme present throughout all the narratives and many women had never shared their stories about HIV with anyone. Depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation were common. These findings have implications for strategies to address the HIV prevention and HIV-related healthcare needs of this population of women. Results from this study further suggest that efforts are needed to break the silence surrounding HIV and to reduce HIV-related stigma in smaller Midwestern Hispanic communities

MoS₂ Thin Films for Photo-Voltaic Applications

The low dimensional chalcogenide materials with high band gap of ~1.8 eV, specially molybdenum di-sulfide (MoS2), have been brought much attention in the material science community for their usage as semiconducting materials to fabricate low scaled electronic devices with high throughput and reliability, this includes also photovoltaic applications. In this chapter, experimental data for MoS2 material towards developing the next generation of high-efficiency solar cells is presented, which includes fabrication of ~100 nm homogeneous thin film over silicon di-oxide (SiO2) by using radio frequency sputtering at 275 W at high vacuum~10−9 from commercial MoS2 99.9% purity target. The films were studied by means of scanning and transmission electron microscopy with energy disperse spectroscopy, grazing incident low angle x-ray scattering, Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, atom probe tomography, electrical transport using four-point probe resistivity measurement as well mechanical properties utilizing nano-indentation with continuous stiffness mode (CSM) approach. The experimental results indicate a vertical growth direction at (101)-MoS2 crystallites with stacking values of 7-laminates along the (002)-basal plane; principal Raman vibrations at E12g at 378 cm−1 and A1g at 407 cm−1. The hardness and elastic modulus values of H = 10.5 ± 0.1 GPa and E = 136 ± 2 GPa were estimated by CSM method from 0 to 90 nm of indenter penetration; as well transport measurements from −3.5 V to +3.5 V indicating linear Ohmic behavior

Surgery for Valvular Heart Disease: A Population-Based Study in a Brazilian Urban Center

BACKGROUND: In middle income countries, the burden of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remains high, but the prevalence of other heart valve diseases may rise as the population life expectancy increases. Here, we compared population-based data on surgical procedures to assess the relative importance of causes of heart valve disease in Salvador, Brazil. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Medical charts of patients who underwent surgery for valvular heart disease from January 2002-December 2005 were reviewed. Incidence of surgery for valvular heart disease was calculated. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with in-hospital death following surgery. The most common etiologies for valvular dysfunction in 491 valvular heart surgery patients were RHD (60.3%), degenerative valve disease (15.3%), and endocarditis (4.5%). Mean annual incidence for surgeries due to any valvular heart diseases, RHD, and degenerative valvular disease were 5.02, 3.03, and 0.77 per 100,000 population, respectively. Incidence of surgery due to RHD was highest in young adults; procedures were predominantly paid by the public health sector. In contrast, the incidence of surgery due to degenerative valvular disease was highest among those older than 60 years of age; procedures were mostly paid by the private sector. The overall in-hospital case-fatality ratio was 11.9%. Independent factors associated with death included increase in age (odds ratio: 1.04 per year of age; 95% confidence interval: 1.02-1.06), endocarditis (6.35; 1.92-21.04), multiple valve operative procedures (4.35; 2.12-8.95), and prior heart valve surgery (2.49; 1.05-5.87). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: RHD remains the main cause for valvular heart surgery in Salvador, which primarily affects young adults without private health insurance. In contrast, surgery due to degenerative valvular disease primarily impacts the elderly with private health insurance. Strategies to reduce the burden of valvular heart disease will need to address the disparate factors that contribute to RHD as well as degenerative valve disease

The secreted triose phosphate isomerase of Brugia malayi is required to sustain microfilaria production in vivo

Human lymphatic filariasis is a major tropical disease transmitted through mosquito vectors which take up microfilarial larvae from the blood of infected subjects. Microfilariae are produced by long-lived adult parasites, which also release a suite of excretory-secretory products that have recently been subject to in-depth proteomic analysis. Surprisingly, the most abundant secreted protein of adult Brugia malayi is triose phosphate isomerase (TPI), a glycolytic enzyme usually associated with the cytosol. We now show that while TPI is a prominent target of the antibody response to infection, there is little antibody-mediated inhibition of catalytic activity by polyclonal sera. We generated a panel of twenty-three anti-TPI monoclonal antibodies and found only two were able to block TPI enzymatic activity. Immunisation of jirds with B. malayi TPI, or mice with the homologous protein from the rodent filaria Litomosoides sigmodontis, failed to induce neutralising antibodies or protective immunity. In contrast, passive transfer of neutralising monoclonal antibody to mice prior to implantation with adult B. malayi resulted in 60–70% reductions in microfilarial levels in vivo and both oocyte and microfilarial production by individual adult females. The loss of fecundity was accompanied by reduced IFNγ expression by CD4+ T cells and a higher proportion of macrophages at the site of infection. Thus, enzymatically active TPI plays an important role in the transmission cycle of B. malayi filarial parasites and is identified as a potential target for immunological and pharmacological intervention against filarial infections

Relationship between mitral leaflets angles, left ventricular geometry and mitral deformation indices in patients with ischemic mitral regurgitation: imaging by echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance

Chronic ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR) is associated with a markedly worse prognosis after myocardial infarction (MI).The study aimed to evaluate the relationship between anterior and posterior mitral leaflet angle (MLA) values, left ventricle remodeling and severity of ischaemic mitral regurgitation (IMR). Methods: Forty-two patients (age 63.5 ± 9.7 years, 36 men) with chronic IMR (regurgitant volume, RV > 20 ml; >6 months after MI) underwent transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging. Anterior and posterior MLA, determined by echocardiography, were correlated with indices of LV remodeling, mitral apparatus deformation and IMR severity by CMR. The anterior and posterior MLA was 25.41 ± 4.28 and 38.37 ± 8.89° (mean ± SD). In 5 patients (11.9%) the posterior MLA was ≥45°. There was a significant correlation between anterior MLA and RV (r = 0.74, P = 0.01). For patients with RV > 30 ml this correlation was stronger (r = 0.97, P = 0.005) and, in addition, there was a correlation between the RV and posterior MLA (r = 0.90, P = 0.037), between tenting area and posterior MLA (r = 0.90, P = 0.04), and between tenting area and anterior MLA (r = 0.82, P = 0.08). With regard to LV remodeling parameters, there was weaker but significant correlation between posterior MLA and LV end-diastolic volume index (r = 0.35, P = 0.031), LV end-systolic volume index (r = 0.37, P = 0.021), stroke volume (r = 0.35, P = 0.03), sphericity index (r = 0.33, P = 0.041). Anterior MLA correlated with wall motion score index (r = 0.41, P = 0.019). Besides, there was a correlation between posterior MLA and left atrial volume (r = 0.41, P = 0.012). Measurement of anterior and posterior MLA may play an important role in evaluating patients with IMR

Beneficial effects of word final stress in segmenting a new language: evidence from ERPs

Background: How do listeners manage to recognize words in an unfamiliar language? The physical continuity of the signal, in which real silent pauses between words are lacking, makes it a difficult task. However, there are multiple cues that can be exploited to localize word boundaries and to segment the acoustic signal. In the present study, word-stress was manipulated with statistical information and placed in different syllables within trisyllabic nonsense words to explore the result of the combination of the cues in an online word segmentation task. Results: The behavioral results showed that words were segmented better when stress was placed on the final syllables than when it was placed on the middle or first syllable. The electrophysiological results showed an increase in the amplitude of the P2 component, which seemed to be sensitive to word-stress and its location within words. Conclusion: The results demonstrated that listeners can integrate specific prosodic and distributional cues when segmenting speech. An ERP component related to word-stress cues was identified: stressed syllables elicited larger amplitudes in the P2 component than unstressed ones

Recording Lifetime Behavior and Movement in an Invertebrate Model

Characterization of lifetime behavioral changes is essential for understanding aging and aging-related diseases. However, such studies are scarce partly due to the lack of efficient tools. Here we describe and provide proof of concept for a stereo vision system that classifies and sequentially records at an extremely fine scale six different behaviors (resting, micro-movement, walking, flying, feeding and drinking) and the within-cage (3D) location of individual tephritid fruit flies by time-of-day throughout their lives. Using flies fed on two different diets, full sugar-yeast and sugar-only diets, we report for the first time their behavioral changes throughout their lives at a high resolution. We have found that the daily activity peaks at the age of 15–20 days and then gradually declines with age for flies on both diets. However, the overall daily activity is higher for flies on sugar-only diet than those on the full diet. Flies on sugar-only diet show a stronger diurnal localization pattern with higher preference to staying on the top of the cage during the period of light-off when compared to flies on the full diet. Clustering analyses of age-specific behavior patterns reveal three distinct young, middle-aged and old clusters for flies on each of the two diets. The middle-aged groups for flies on sugar-only diet consist of much younger age groups when compared to flies on full diet. This technology provides research opportunities for using a behavioral informatics approach for understanding different ways in which behavior, movement, and aging in model organisms are mutually affecting

Pulmonary Hypertension in Elderly Patients with Diastolic Dysfunction and Preserved Ejection Fraction

Abstract: Purpose: Patients with diastolic dysfunction may have a disproportionate degree of elevation in pulmonary pressure, particularly in the elderly. Higher pulmonary vascular resistance in the elderly patients with heart failure but preserved ejection fraction suggests that beyond the post-capillary contribution of pulmonary venous congestion, a pre-capillary component of pulmonary arterial hypertension occurs. We aim to identify if pulmonary vascular resistance in elderly patients with diastolic dysfunction is disproportionately higher than patients with systolic dysfunction independent of filling pressures. Methods: 389 patients identified retrospectively between 2003- 2010; elderly with preserved ejection fraction, elderly with depressed ejection fraction, and primary arterial hypertension who underwent right-heart catheterization at Rush University. Results: No significant difference in pulmonary vascular resistance between systolic and diastolic dysfunction. The mean difference in pulmonary vascular resistance was not statistically significant at 0.40 mmHg·min/l (95 % CI-3.03 to 3.83) with similar left ventricular filling pressures with mean difference of 3.38 mmHg (95 % CI,-1.27 to 8.02). When adjusted for filling pressures, there remained no difference in pulmonary vascular resistance for systolic and diastolic dysfunction. The mean pulmonary vascular resistance is more elevated in systolic heart failure compared to diastolic heart failure with means 3.13 mmHg·min/l and 3.52 mmHg·min/l, respectively

Analysis of Dehydration and Strength in Elite Badminton Players

Background: The negative effects of dehydration on aerobic activities are well established. However, it is unknown how dehydration affects intermittent sports performance. The purpose of this study was to identify the level of dehydration in elite badminton players and its relation to muscle strength and power production. Methodology: Seventy matches from the National Spanish badminton championship were analyzed (46 men?s singles and 24 women?s singles). Before and after each match, jump height and power production were determined during a countermovement jump on a force platform. Participants? body weight and a urine sample were also obtained before and after each match. The amount of liquid that the players drank during the match was also calculated by weighing their individual drinking bottles. Results and Discussion: Sweat rate during the game was 1.1460.46 l/h in men and 1.0260.64 l/h in women. The players rehydrated at a rate of 1.1060.55 l/h and 1.0160.44 l/h in the male and female groups respectively. Thus, the dehydration attained during the game was only 0.3760.50% in men and 0.3260.83% in women. No differences were found in any of the parameters analyzed during the vertical jump (men: from 31.8265.29 to 32.9064.49 W/kg; p.0.05, women: from 26.3664.73 to 27.2564.44 W/kg; p.0.05). Post-exercise urine samples revealed proteinuria (60.9% of cases in men and 66.7% in women), leukocyturia (men = 43.5% and women = 50.0%) and erythrocyturia (men = 50.0% and women = 21.7%). Conclusions: Despite a moderate sweat rate, badminton players adequately hydrated during a game and thus the dehydration attained was low. The badminton match did not cause muscle fatigue but it significantly increased the prevalence of proteinuria, leukocyturia and erythrocyturia

The spectrum of ATM missense variants and their contribution to contralateral breast cancer

Heterozygous carriers of ATM mutations are at increased risk of breast cancer. In this case-control study, we evaluated the significance of germline ATM missense variants to the risk of contralateral breast cancer (CBC). We have determined the spectrum and frequency of ATM missense variants in 443 breast cancer patients diagnosed before age 50, including 247 patients who subsequently developed CBC. Twenty-one per cent of the women with unilateral breast cancer and 17% of the women with CBC had at least one ATM germline missense variant, indicating no significant difference in variant frequency between these two groups. We have found that carriers of an ATM missense mutation, who were treated with radiotherapy for the first breast tumour, developed their second tumour on average in a 92-month interval compared to a 136-month mean interval for those CBC patients who neither received RT nor carried a germline variant, (p = 0.029). Our results indicate that the presence of ATM variants does not have a major impact on the overall risk of CBC. However, the combination of RT and (certain) ATM missense variants seems to accelerate tumour development