1,201 research outputs found
Human immunodeficiency virus rebound after suppression to < 400 copies/mL during initial highly active antiretroviral therapy regimens, according to prior nucleoside experience and duration of suppression
This study evaluated 1433 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients starting highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), 409 (28%) of whom had prior nucleoside experience and achieved an HIV load of <400 copies/mL by 24 weeks of therapy. Three hundred seven patients experienced virus rebound during a total of 2773.3 person-years of follow-up. There was a higher rate of virus rebound among the patients with pre-HAART nucleoside experience (relative hazard [RH], 2.86; 95% confidence interval, 2.22-3.84; P < .0001) and a decreasing rate of virus rebound with increasing duration of virus suppression (i.e., time since achieving a virus load of <400 HIV RNA copies/mL) among both the nucleoside-experienced and naive patients (P < .0001), but the difference between the groups persisted into the third year of follow-up (P = .0007). Even patients who had experienced <2 months of nucleoside therapy before beginning HAART had an increased risk of virus rebound (RH, 1.95; P = .009). It appears that only a small period of pre-HAART nucleoside therapy is sufficient to confer a disadvantage, in terms of risk of virus rebound, that persists for several years
Flavor Asymmetry of the Polarized Light Sea: Models vs. Data
The flavor asymmetry of the polarized light sea, , discriminates between different model calculations of helicity densities.
We show that the chiral chromodielectric model, differently from models based
on a expansion, predicts a small value for this asymmetry, what seems
in agreement with preliminary HERMES data.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Evaluating HIV treatment as prevention in the European context
Executive summary The goal of this project is to gather evidence regarding the population-level, and to some extent, individual-level effects of the use of antiretroviral treatment (ART) to prevent HIV infection, and to relate this to current HIV treatment guidelines. To inform the project, formal literature reviews were performed for the three main areas of interest: the effect of antiretroviral therapy in adults on preventing sexual transmission of HIV, prevention of mother-to-child transmission (pMTCT) and post exposure prophylaxis (PEP). The strongest evidence with regard to the effect of treatment of HIV positive individuals to prevent onwards sexual transmission comes from the recent randomised controlled trial (RCT), HPTN052. This study demonstrated that early versus delayed ART led to a 96% relative reduction in onwards linked transmission. Several observational studies of HIV sero-discordant heterosexual couples have also reported that transmission is rare in patients on ART, particularly in those with low HIV-RNA concentrations. However, the findings of HPTN052 and these observational studies are mainly applicable to vaginal heterosexual sex. No direct empirical evidence regarding the relationship between ART use and the risk of HIV transmission through anal intercourse is currently available. Whilst the major HIV treatment guidelines do not explicitly recommend prescribing antiretroviral treatment to prevent onwards transmission, they do not rule out individuals starting ART at a high CD4 count on a case-by-case basis. However, one must also consider the impact of earlier treatment on the HIV positive individual with regard to side effects, and development of drug resistance. Early studies showed that pMTCT regimens containing a single antiretroviral agent (short course zidovudine or single dose nevirapine) or two antiretroviral agents (zidovudine and lamivudine with or without single dose nevirapine) led to clinically important reductions in MTCT rates. However, the most substantial reductions in MTCT rates occurred when combination antiretroviral regimens (more than three antiretroviral drugs) were introduced. These regimens involve the receipt of ART before the third trimester of pregnancy, intrapartum treatment, maternal post-partum treatment and some form of neonatal treatment. There is some evidence from RCTs and extensive evidence from observational studies of the efficacy of these combination regimens, with very low rates of transmission of around 0% to 6%, in settings with no or very little breastfeeding, and 1%-9% when breastfeeding occurs. Furthermore, in settings where avoidance of breastfeeding is not possible, there are a number of studies demonstrating that receipt of maternal and/or neonatal ART during the six months after birth can reduce the risk of perinatal transmissions. All treatment guidelines recommend that HIV-positive pregnant women should receive ART to prevent MTCT, although the exact timing of when ART should begin is not always explicit. Furthermore, where mentioned, use of neonatal ART is also recommended, regardless of whether infants are breastfed. Much of the data supporting the use of PEP are based on animal models, which suggest that PEP is most efficacious if commenced as soon as possible after exposure. When considering occupational exposure to HIV, human studies are limited, as no RCTs exist for ethical reasons. Evidence for efficacy is based on one case control study which demonstrated an 81% reduction in transmission of HIV through the use of zidovudine. Other studies have demonstrated that PEP following occupational exposure is not always effective and there are cases of PEP failure. Similarly, there are also no RCTs assessing the efficacy of PEP for prevention of HIV transmission after sexual exposure, and limited evidence from observational data. Most treatment guidelines agree that PEP is not always effective and PEP policies need to emphasise the importance of risk prevention in the first place in all settings where there is a risk of HIV transmission. Side effects are not uncommon when using PEP, so it is important to consider carefully whether an individual should receive PEP and some studies have suggested that increase in availability of PEP may lead to an increase in risky sex behaviour. Antiretroviral treatment has well documented benefits in reducing transmission of HIV and, in particular, has had a major population level impact on HIV acquisition in children from HIV positive mothers. Further research is needed to help us understand how we can best use ART to prevent HIV infections through other transmission routes, and to develop evidence-based policy recommendations, particularly in the European context
One-loop N-point equivalence among negative-dimensional, Mellin-Barnes and Feynman parametrization approaches to Feynman integrals
We show that at one-loop order, negative-dimensional, Mellin-Barnes' (MB) and
Feynman parametrization (FP) approaches to Feynman loop integrals calculations
are equivalent. Starting with a generating functional, for two and then for
-point scalar integrals we show how to reobtain MB results, using
negative-dimensional and FP techniques. The point result is valid for
different masses, arbitrary exponents of propagators and dimension.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX. To be published in J.Phys.
Caracterização molecular do marcador SCAR SCC8 e avaliação de sua utilização como marcador para seleção assistida em cruzamentos entre cultivares apirĂȘnicas.
o marcador PCR-especlfico scca estĂĄ ligado ao principal loeus envolvido na expressĂŁo da apirenia e do peso de bagas em videiras, denominado sdl. A naturezacodominante do marcador scca possibilita uma melhor avaliação dos genĂłtipospara o locus scca e assim uma estimativa de sua contribuição para a variaçAo fenotipica da apirenia em uma progĂȘnie.Resumo
Identification of a gene for an ancient cytokine, interleukin 15-like, in mammals; interleukins 2 and 15 co-evolved with this third family member, all sharing binding motifs for IL-15Rα
Interleukins 2 and 15 (IL-2 and IL-15) are highly differentiated but related cytokines with overlapping, yet also distinct functions, and established benefits for medical drug use. The present study identified a gene for an ancient third IL-2/15 family member in reptiles and mammals, interleukin 15-like (IL-15L), which hitherto was only reported in fish. IL-15L genes with intact open reading frames (ORFs) and evidence of transcription, and a recent past of purifying selection, were found for cattle, horse, sheep, pig and rabbit. In human and mouse the IL-15L ORF is incapacitated. Although deduced IL-15L proteins share only ~21 % overall amino acid identity with IL-15, they share many of the IL-15 residues important for binding to receptor chain IL-15Rα, and recombinant bovine IL-15L was shown to interact with IL-15Rα indeed. Comparison of sequence motifs indicates that capacity for binding IL-15Rα is an ancestral characteristic of the IL-2/15/15L family, in accordance with a recent study which showed that in fish both IL-2 and IL-15 can bind IL-15Rα. Evidence reveals that the species lineage leading to mammals started out with three similar cytokines IL-2, IL-15 and IL-15L, and that later in evolution (1) IL-2 and IL-2Rα receptor chain acquired a new and specific binding mode and (2) IL-15L was lost in several but not all groups of mammals. The present study forms an important step forward in understanding this potent family of cytokines, and may help to improve future strategies for their application in veterinarian and human medicine
Evolution of ground state and upper critical field in R(1-x)GdxNi2B2C (R = Lu, Y): Coexistence of superconductivity and spin-glass state
We report effects of local magnetic moment, Gd3+, doping (x =< 0.3) on
superconducting and magnetic properties of the closely related Lu(1-x)GdxNi2B2C
and Y(1-x)GdxNi2B2C series. The superconducting transition temperature
decreases and the heat capacity jump associated with it drops rapidly with
Gd-doping; qualitative changes with doping are also observed in the
temperature-dependent upper critical field behavior, and a region of
coexistence of superconductivity and spin-glass state is delineated on the x -
T phase diagram. The evolution of superconducting properties can be understood
within Abrikosov-Gor'kov theory of magnetic impurities in superconductors
taking into account the paramagnetic effect on upper critical field with
additional contributions particular for the family under study
Polarized deep inelastic scattering at high energies and parity violating structure functions
A comprehensive analysis of deep inelastic scattering of polarized charged
leptons on polarized nucleons is presented; weak interaction contributions,
both in neutral and charged current processes, are taken into account and the
parity violating polarized nucleon structure functions are studied. Possible
ways of their measurements and their interpretations in the parton model are
discussed.Comment: (slightly modified version, includes a few new references and
corrects few misprints for publication), 14 pages in TeX (needs harvmac) no
figure, DFTT 80/9
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