Re-infection with a different SARS-CoV-2 clade and prolonged viral shedding in a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation patient

Immunocompromised patients who have a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection pose many clinical and public health challenges. We describe the case of a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation patient with lymphoma who had a protracted illness requiring three consecutive hospital admissions. Whole genome sequencing confirmed two different SARS-CoV-2 clades. Clinical management issues and the unanswered questions arising from this case are discussed

Radio frequency measurements of tunnel couplings and singlet–triplet spin states in Si:P quantum dots

Spin states of the electrons and nuclei of phosphorus donors in silicon are strong candidates for quantum information processing applications given their excellent coherence times. Designing a scalable donor-based quantum computer will require both knowledge of the relationship between device geometry and electron tunnel couplings, and a spin readout strategy that uses minimal physical space in the device. Here we use radio frequency reflectometry to measure singlet–triplet states of a few-donor Si:P double quantum dot and demonstrate that the exchange energy can be tuned by at least two orders of magnitude, from 20 μeV to 8 meV. We measure dot–lead tunnel rates by analysis of the reflected signal and show that they change from 100 MHz to 22 GHz as the number of electrons on a quantum dot is increased from 1 to 4. These techniques present an approach for characterizing, operating and engineering scalable qubit devices based on donors in silicon

Global, regional, and national sex-specific burden and control of the HIV epidemic, 1990-2019, for 204 countries and territories: the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2019.

BACKGROUND: The sustainable development goals (SDGs) aim to end HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Understanding the current state of the HIV epidemic and its change over time is essential to this effort. This study assesses the current sex-specific HIV burden in 204 countries and territories and measures progress in the control of the epidemic. METHODS: To estimate age-specific and sex-specific trends in 48 of 204 countries, we extended the Estimation and Projection Package Age-Sex Model to also implement the spectrum paediatric model. We used this model in cases where age and sex specific HIV-seroprevalence surveys and antenatal care-clinic sentinel surveillance data were available. For the remaining 156 of 204 locations, we developed a cohort-incidence bias adjustment to derive incidence as a function of cause-of-death data from vital registration systems. The incidence was input to a custom Spectrum model. To assess progress, we measured the percentage change in incident cases and deaths between 2010 and 2019 (threshold >75% decline), the ratio of incident cases to number of people living with HIV (incidence-to-prevalence ratio threshold <0·03), and the ratio of incident cases to deaths (incidence-to-mortality ratio threshold <1·0). FINDINGS: In 2019, there were 36·8 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 35·1-38·9) people living with HIV worldwide. There were 0·84 males (95% UI 0·78-0·91) per female living with HIV in 2019, 0·99 male infections (0·91-1·10) for every female infection, and 1·02 male deaths (0·95-1·10) per female death. Global progress in incident cases and deaths between 2010 and 2019 was driven by sub-Saharan Africa (with a 28·52% decrease in incident cases, 95% UI 19·58-35·43, and a 39·66% decrease in deaths, 36·49-42·36). Elsewhere, the incidence remained stable or increased, whereas deaths generally decreased. In 2019, the global incidence-to-prevalence ratio was 0·05 (95% UI 0·05-0·06) and the global incidence-to-mortality ratio was 1·94 (1·76-2·12). No regions met suggested thresholds for progress. INTERPRETATION: Sub-Saharan Africa had both the highest HIV burden and the greatest progress between 1990 and 2019. The number of incident cases and deaths in males and females approached parity in 2019, although there remained more females with HIV than males with HIV. Globally, the HIV epidemic is far from the UNAIDS benchmarks on progress metrics. FUNDING: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Institute on Aging of the NIH

Fruit and vegetable consumption among adults in Saudi Arabia, 2013

Charbel El Bcheraoui,1 Mohammed Basulaiman,2 Mohammad A AlMazroa,2 Marwa Tuffaha,1 Farah Daoud,1 Shelley Wilson,1 Mohammad Y Al Saeedi,2 Faisal M Alanazi,2 Mohamed E Ibrahim,2 Elawad M Ahmed,2 Syed A Hussain,2 Riad M Salloum,2 Omer Abid,2 Mishal F Al-Dossary,2 Ziad A Memish,2 Abdullah A Al Rabeeah,2 Ali H Mokdad1 1Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; 2Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Background: Dietary risks were the leading risk factors for death worldwide in 2010. However, current national estimates on fruit and vegetable consumption in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) are nonexistent. We conducted a large household survey to inform the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) on a major modifiable risk factor: daily consumption of fruits and vegetables. Methods: The Saudi Health Interview Survey is a national multistage survey of individuals aged 15 years or older. It includes questions on sociodemographic characteristics, tobacco consumption, diet, physical activity, health care utilization, different health-related behaviors, and self-reported chronic conditions. We used a backward elimination multivariate logistic regression model to measure association between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-recommended daily consumption of fruits and vegetables and different factors. Results: Between April and June 2013, a total of 10,735 participants completed the survey. Overall, 2.6% of Saudis aged 15 years or older met the CDC guidelines for daily consumption of fruits and vegetables. The likelihood of meeting the CDC guidelines increased with age; among women; among persons who graduated from elementary or high school or had a higher education; among residents of Makkah, Al Sharqia, Ha&rsquo;il, or Jizan; among those who consumed at least two servings of meat or chicken per day; among those who visited a health care facility for a routine medical exam within the last 3 years; and among those who have been diagnosed with hypertension. Conclusion: We have showed that KSA is in dire need of improving the diet of its population. Our findings call for urgent research to understand the reasons for low fruit and vegetable consumption, focusing on price or preference in order to develop and implement culturally and country-relevant solutions to increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables. Keywords: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, fruits, vegetables, dietary risks, die