Production of high-titer lentiviral particles for stable genetic modification of mammalian cells

Lentiviral gene transfer technologies exploit the natural efficiency of viral transduction to integrate exogenous genes into mammalian cells. This provides a simple research tool for inducing transgene expression or endogenous gene knockdown in both dividing and nondividing cells. This chapter describes an improved protocol for polyethylenimine (PEI)-mediated multi-plasmid transfection and polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation to generate and concentrate lentiviral vectors

Implications of Fiscal and Financial Policies on unlocking Green Finance and Green Investment

ADBI Working Paper Series8611-3

Implications of Fiscal and Financial Policies on Unlocking Green Finance and Green Investment

10.1007/978-981-10-8710-3_32-1Handbook of Green Finance: Energy Security and Sustainable development1-3

HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorder (HAND): Relative Risk Factors

This chapter will address the issue of risk for HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND), focusing on HIV-associated dementia (HAD), among persons living with HIV in relationship to the risk for other dementias. Advances in effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) have led to an increase in the prevalence of older persons surviving with HIV – in addition to older persons who become infected by HIV later in life. Hence, HIV is no longer a disease of younger persons, and additional attention has been brought to bear against the plight of older persons living with HIV – not only as it pertains to treatment but also to prevention. The additional risk caused by aging among older persons living with HIV is complex to asses, and HIV infection is a research area that requires a robust approach to multiple other factors causing neurocognitive impairment with older age. The long-term and potentially neurotoxic exposure to ART and the deleterious consequences of chronic infection with HIV and its associated neuro-inflammation have been described for health. This aids in the understanding of dementia risk factors in this patient population, but the comorbidities (HIV- and non-HIV-associated) occurring among older persons living with HIV must also be addressed to properly assess the overall impact on dementia risk in this group. This need also warrants our examination of the risk factors for other dementias (and comorbid dementias) in persons living with HIV versus the general population through the assessment and quantification of modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors identified as major contributors toward dementia

Flaviviruses: Dengue

Dengue is the world\u27s most important human arboviral disease with indigenous and endemic transmission in more than 100 tropical and subtropical countries. There are numerous other locales that experience non-sustained epidemic transmission with cases in returning travelers or military personnel. More than half the population of the world is at risk of being infected with a dengue virus (DENV). Despite its importance dengue is under-recognized and underreported with current literature estimating 400 million infections each year with 100 million being clinically apparent. The human, community, country, and regional cost of dengue in terms of mortality, morbidity, and health care resource utilization is significant and growing in scope. There are numerous factors that are believed to contribute to the increase in dengue burden, which include (1) rising number of susceptible hosts (population growth), (2) expanding Aedes mosquito vector populations (ineffective vector control, increasing breeding sites, changing ecology), (3) increasing DENV distribution (travel), and (4) the convergence of the these three: urbanization, poverty, and decaying infrastructur