Examining trends in nonâ fatal strangulation among sexual assault survivors seeking Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner care from 2002 to 2017

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154499/1/ijgo13058_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154499/2/ijgo13058.pd

HIV DNA subspecies persist in both activated and resting memory CD4+ T cells during antiretroviral therapy

The latent HIV reservoir is a major impediment to curing HIV infection. The contribution of CD4 T cell activation status to the establishment and maintenance of the latent reservoir was investigated by enumerating viral DNA components in a cohort of 12 individuals commencing antiretroviral therapy (ART) containing raltegravir, an integrase inhibitor. Prior to ART, the levels of total HIV DNA were similar across HLA-DR and HLA-DR (HLA-DR) CD38 memory CD4 T cell phenotypes; episomal two-long terminal repeat (2-LTR) HIV DNA levels were higher in resting (HLA-DR CD38) cells, and this phenotype exhibited a significantly higher ratio of 2-LTR to integrated HIV DNA (P = 0.002). After 1 year of ART, there were no significant differences across each of the memory phenotypes of any HIV DNA component. The decay dynamics of integrated HIV DNA were slow within each subset, and integrated HIV DNA in the resting HLA-DR CD38 subset per mm of peripheral blood exhibited no significant decay (half-life of 25 years). Episomal 2-LTR HIV DNA decayed relative to integrated HIV DNA in resting cells with a half-life of 134 days. Surprisingly, from week 12 on, the decay rates of both total and episomal HIV DNA were lower in activated CD38 cells. By weeks 24 and 52, HIV RNA levels in plasma were most significantly correlated with the numbers of resting cells containing integrated HIV DNA. On the other hand, total HIV DNA levels in all subsets were significantly correlated with the numbers of HLA-DR CD38 cells containing integrated HIV DNA. These results provide insights into the interrelatedness of cell activation and reservoir maintenance, with implications for the design of therapeutic strategies targeting HIV persistence

2017 Research & Innovation Day Program

A one day showcase of applied research, social innovation, scholarship projects and activities.https://first.fanshawec.ca/cri_cripublications/1004/thumbnail.jp

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Multidimensional signals and analytic flexibility: Estimating degrees of freedom in human speech analyses

Recent empirical studies have highlighted the large degree of analytic flexibility in data analysis which can lead to substantially different conclusions based on the same data set. Thus, researchers have expressed their concerns that these researcher degrees of freedom might facilitate bias and can lead to claims that do not stand the test of time. Even greater flexibility is to be expected in fields in which the primary data lend themselves to a variety of possible operationalizations. The multidimensional, temporally extended nature of speech constitutes an ideal testing ground for assessing the variability in analytic approaches, which derives not only from aspects of statistical modeling, but also from decisions regarding the quantification of the measured behavior. In the present study, we gave the same speech production data set to 46 teams of researchers and asked them to answer the same research question, resulting insubstantial variability in reported effect sizes and their interpretation. Using Bayesian meta-analytic tools, we further find little to no evidence that the observed variability can be explained by analysts’ prior beliefs, expertise or the perceived quality of their analyses. In light of this idiosyncratic variability, we recommend that researchers more transparently share details of their analysis, strengthen the link between theoretical construct and quantitative system and calibrate their (un)certainty in their conclusions

Phenotype of CD127+132−, CD127+132+ and CD127−132+based on extra-cellular expression of CCR7 and CD45RO in health and HIV infection at baseline (Group Data).

<p>HIV-associated changes in T-cell populations based on CCR7, CD45RO and IL-7R component expression are shown in a–c) CD4+ and d–f) CD8+ T-cell compartments. PHI = primary HIV infection; CHI = chronic HIV infection. *p<0.05; **p<0.01 and ***p<0.001 as compared with healthy volunteers and determined by the non-parametric Mann-Whitney rank test.</p