The Importance of Social Engagement in the Development of an HIV Cure : A Systematic Review of Stakeholder Perspectives

Funding Information: This research has been funded by Aidsfonds under Grant P-53001. Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Apiezon L-type grease coating of 8-µm Nuclepore Polycarbonate coarse filters used in GENT aerosol sampling units.

Coarse stage Nuclepore filters used in GENT aerosol sampling units were coated with a thin film of Apiezon L-type grease in order to minimise the loss of particles on the filters due to 'bounce off'. Originally Freon was used as the solvent to dissolve the Apiezon grease in the coating process. Because of the environmental impact, Freon was discontinued and replaced with Fluorinert. Apiezon grease did not dissolve freely in the Fluorinert and it was replaced by Fomblin grease in 1995. This increased production costs and coated Nuclepore coarse filters ceased production in 2004. Users were concerned that their stocks of coated Nuclepore filters were diminishing and as no alternative supply was available the feasibility of coating the coarse filters in house needed to be investigated. This report describes experiments conducted at ANSTO and the results obtained during the investigation of the coating process under laboratory conditions. Apiezon grease and Toluene were used in this process. Experiments were based on the procedure proposed by Prof P. Hopke and Dr A. Markwitz [1] with modification to this technique to increase the uniformity of the grease layer across the filter surface and to achieve approximately 100 µg of Apiezon grease per filter

Thermal shape fluctuation effects in the description of hot nuclei

The behavior of several nuclear properties with temperature is analyzed within the framework of the Finite Temperature Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (FTHFB) theory with the Gogny force and large configuration spaces. Thermal shape fluctuations in the quadrupole degree of freedom, around the mean field solution, are taken into account with the Landau prescription. As representative examples the nuclei $^{164}$Er, $^{152}$Dy and $^{192}$Hg are studied. Numerical results for the superfluid to normal and deformed to spherical shape transitions are presented. We found a substantial effect of the fluctuations on the average value of several observables. In particular, we get a decrease in the critical temperature ($T_c$) for the shape transition as compared with the plain FTHFB prediction as well as a washing out of the shape transition signatures. The new values of $T_c$ are closer to the ones found in Strutinsky calculations and with the Pairing Plus Quadrupole model Hamiltonian.Comment: 17 pages, 8 Figure

A tale of two worlds:assessing the vulnerability of enclave shielding runtimes

status: publishe

Peritoneal macrophage heterogeneity is associated with different peritoneal dialysis outcomes

Peritonitis remains the major obstacle for the maintenance of long-term peritoneal dialysis and dysregulated host peritoneal immune responses may compromise local anti-infectious defense, leading to treatment failure. Whilst, tissue mononuclear phagocytes, comprising macrophages and dendritic cells, are central to a host response to pathogens and the development of adaptive immune responses, they are poorly characterized in the human peritoneum. Combining flow cytometry with global transcriptome analysis, the phenotypic features and lineage identity of the major CD14+ macrophage and CD1c+ dendritic cell subsets in dialysis effluent were defined. Their functional specialization was reflected in cytokine generation, phagocytosis, and antigen processing/presentation. By analyzing acute bacterial peritonitis, stable (infection-free) and new-starter patients receiving peritoneal dialysis, we identified a skewed distribution of macrophage to dendritic cell subsets (increasing ratio) that associated with adverse peritonitis outcomes, history of multiple peritonitis episodes, and early catheter failure, respectively. Intriguingly, we also noted significant alterations of macrophage heterogeneity, indicative of different maturation and activation states that were associated with different peritoneal dialysis outcomes. Thus, our studies delineate peritoneal dendritic cells from macrophages within dialysate, and define cellular characteristics associated with peritoneal dialysis treatment failure. These are the first steps to unravelling the detrimental adaptive immune responses occurring as a consequence of peritonitis