Association Between Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Myocardial Infarction Among People Living With HIV in the United States.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is common among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLWH). Extrahepatic manifestations of HCV, including myocardial infarction (MI), are a topic of active research. MI is classified into types, predominantly atheroembolic type 1 MI (T1MI) and supply-demand mismatch type 2 MI (T2MI). We examined the association between HCV and MI among patients in the Centers for AIDS Research (CFAR) Network of Integrated Clinical Systems, a US multicenter clinical cohort of PLWH. MIs were centrally adjudicated and categorized by type using the Third Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction. We estimated the association between chronic HCV (RNA+) and time to MI while adjusting for demographic characteristics, cardiovascular risk factors, clinical characteristics, and history of injecting drug use. Among 23,407 PLWH aged ≥18 years, there were 336 T1MIs and 330 T2MIs during a median of 4.7 years of follow-up between 1998 and 2016. HCV was associated with a 46% greater risk of T2MI (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 1.46, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.09, 1.97) but not T1MI (aHR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.58, 1.29). In an exploratory cause-specific analysis of T2MI, HCV was associated with a 2-fold greater risk of T2MI attributed to sepsis (aHR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.25, 3.24). Extrahepatic manifestations of HCV in this high-risk population are an important area for continued research

Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set

We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2, -1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012

Innovation, low energy buildings and intermediaries in Europe: systematic case study review

As buildings throughout their lifecycle account for circa 40% of total energy use in Europe, reducing energy use of the building stock is a key task. This task is, however, complicated by a range of factors, including slow renewal and renovation rates of buildings, multiple non- coordinated actors, conservative building practices, and limited competence to innovate. Drawing from academic literature published during 2005-2015, this article carries out a systematic review of case studies on low energy innovations in the European residential building sector, analysing their drivers. Specific attention is paid to intermediary actors in facilitating innovation processes and creating new opportunities. The study finds that qualitative case study literature on low energy building innovation has been limited, particularly regarding the existing building stock. Environmental concerns, EU, national and local policies have been the key drivers; financial, knowledge and social sustainability and equity drivers have been of modest importance; while design, health and comfort, and market drivers have played a minor role. Intermediary organisations and individuals have been important through five processes: (1) facilitating individual building projects, (2) creating niche markets, (3) implementing new practices in social housing stock, (4) supporting new business model creation, and (5) facilitating building use post construction. The intermediaries have included both public and private actors, while local authority agents have acted as intermediaries in several cases

Variation in carbon and nitrogen concentrations among peatland categories at the global scale

Publisher Copyright: © 2022 This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.Peatlands account for 15 to 30% of the world's soil carbon (C) stock and are important controls over global nitrogen (N) cycles. However, C and N concentrations are known to vary among peatlands contributing to the uncertainty of global C inventories, but there are few global studies that relate peatland classification to peat chemistry. We analyzed 436 peat cores sampled in 24 countries across six continents and measured C, N, and organic matter (OM) content at three depths down to 70 cm. Sites were distinguished between northern (387) and tropical (49) peatlands and assigned to one of six distinct broadly recognized peatland categories that vary primarily along a pH gradient. Peat C and N concentrations, OM content, and C:N ratios differed significantly among peatland categories, but few differences in chemistry with depth were found within each category. Across all peatlands C and N concentrations in the 10-20 cm layer, were 440 ± 85.1 g kg-1 and 13.9 ± 7.4 g kg-1, with an average C:N ratio of 30.1 ± 20.8. Among peatland categories, median C concentrations were highest in bogs, poor fens and tropical swamps (446-532 g kg-1) and lowest in intermediate and extremely rich fens (375-414 g kg-1). The C:OM ratio in peat was similar across most peatland categories, except in deeper samples from ombrotrophic tropical peat swamps that were higher than other peatlands categories. Peat N concentrations and C:N ratios varied approximately two-fold among peatland categories and N concentrations tended to be higher (and C:N lower) in intermediate fens compared with other peatland types. This study reports on a unique data set and demonstrates that differences in peat C and OM concentrations among broadly classified peatland categories are predictable, which can aid future studies that use land cover assessments to refine global peatland C and N stocks.Peer reviewe

Myocarditis in CD8-Depleted SIV-Infected Rhesus Macaques after Short-Term Dual Therapy with Nucleoside and Nucleotide Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors

Background: Although highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has dramatically reduced the morbidity and mortality associated with HIV infection, a number of antiretroviral toxicities have been described, including myocardial toxicity resulting from the use of nucleotide and nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs). Current treatment guidelines recommend the use of HAART regimens containing two NRTIs for initial therapy of HIV-1 positive individuals; however, potential cardiotoxicity resulting from treatment with multiple NRTIs has not been addressed. Methodology/Principal Findings: We examined myocardial tissue from twelve CD8 lymphocyte-depleted adult rhesus macaques, including eight animals infected with simian immunodeficiency virus, four of which received combined antiretroviral therapy (CART) consisting of two NRTIs [(9-R-2-Phosphonomethoxypropyl Adenine) (PMPA) and (+/−)-beta-2′,3′-dideoxy-5-fluoro-3′-thiacytidine (RCV)] for 28 days. Multifocal infiltrates of mononuclear inflammatory cells were present in the myocardium of all macaques that received CART, but not untreated SIV-positive animals or SIV-negative controls. Macrophages were the predominant inflammatory cells within lesions, as shown by immunoreactivity for the macrophage markers Iba1 and CD68. Heart specimens from monkeys that received CART had significantly lower virus burdens than untreated animals (p<0.05), but significantly greater quantities of TNF-α mRNA than either SIV-positive untreated animals or uninfected controls (p<0.05). Interferon-γ (IFN-γ), IL-1β and CXCL11 mRNA were upregulated in heart tissue from SIV-positive monkeys, independent of antiretroviral treatment, but CXCL9 mRNA was only upregulated in heart tissue from macaques that received CART. Conclusions/Significance: These results suggest that short-term treatment with multiple NRTIs may be associated with myocarditis, and demonstrate that the CD8-depleted SIV-positive rhesus monkey is a useful model for studying the cardiotoxic effects of combined antiretroviral therapy in the setting of immunodeficiency virus infection

Packages of Care for Depression in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

In the first in a series of six articles on packages of care for mental disorders in low- and middle-income countries, Neerja Chowdary and colleagues discuss the treatment of depression

The ATLAS Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT) proportional drift tube: design and performance

A straw proportional counter is the basic element of the ATLAS Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT). Its detailed properties as well as the main properties of a few TRT operating gas mixtures are described. Particular attention is paid to straw tube performance in high radiation conditions and to its operational stability

The possible role of local air pollution in climate change in West Africa

The climate of West Africa is characterized by a sensitive monsoon system that is associated with marked natural precipitation variability. This region has been and is projected to be subject to substantial global and regional-scale changes including greenhouse-gas-induced warming and sea-level rise, land-use and land-cover change, and substantial biomass burning. We argue that more attention should be paid to rapidly increasing air pollution over the explosively growing cities of West Africa, as experiences from other regions suggest that this can alter regional climate through the influences of aerosols on clouds and radiation, and will also affect human health and food security. We need better observations and models to quantify the magnitude and characteristics of these impacts