Theortetical Models of Extrasolar Giant Planets

The recent discoveries of giant planets around nearby stars have galvanized the planetary science community, astronomers, and the public at large. Since {\it direct} detection is now feasible, and is suggested by the recent acquisition of Gl229 B, it is crucial for the future of extrasolar planet searches that the fluxes, evolution, and physical structure of objects from Saturn's mass to 15 Juipter masses be theoretically investigated. We discuss our first attempts to explore the characteristics of extrasolar giant planets (EGPs), in aid of both NASA's and ESA's recent plans to search for such planets around nearby stars.Comment: LaTeX, using espcrc2.sty style files from Elsevier, 10 pages, 4 figures, to be published in the Proceedings of the International Conference on "Sources and Detection of Dark Matter in the Universe," ed. by D. Sanders et al. (Nuclear Physics B Supplement), 199

The effectiveness evaluation of a multimedia hepatitis C prevention program for Hispanic HIV-infected individuals

Introduction—With the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has became a primary health problem among individuals suffering from HIV/ AIDS in Puerto Rico, principally those who are injecting drug users (IDUs). A multimedia educational intervention, based on the Health Beliefs Model and Social Cognitive Theory was developed and implemented to reduce HCV associated risk behaviors among IDUs. Methods—A pre- and post- intervention study evaluated the knowledge and behavioral changes in a group of HIV-infected persons recruited from February 2006 through December 2008. Results—A total of 110 participants were recruited; all were IDUs; 82% were men; 86.3% were HIV/HCV co-infected and 24.5% had active injected drugs in the last month (prior to recruitment). The group mean age was 42.2 ± 9.2 years and mean educational level was 10th grade. Knowledge of HCV risk behaviors, perception of HCV susceptibility, and perception of disease severity increased after the intervention. Knowledge of HCV clinical manifestations and HIV co-infection complications and treatment also improved. In addition, HCV risk behaviors and injecting drug practice decrease significantly among IDUs. Conclusions—This new multimedia intervention captured and maintained the participants' attention and interest, in that way facilitating their educational process. Thus, a greater of attention and interest leads to greater knowledge and prevention improvement

Hepatitis-C Multimedia Prevention Program in Poor Hispanic HIV-Infected Injecting drug users: Six Months after Intervention

In order to prevent the spread of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) amongst Hispanic injecting drug users (IDUs), we developed, validated, and implemented a multimedia educational intervention program

Morbidity and mortality profile of human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients with and without hepatitis C co-infection

Purpose—Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection is an important and frequent scenario, predominantly in injecting drug users (IDUs). The present study evaluated morbidity and mortality variation in HIV infected patients with and without HCV coinfection. Methods—Coinfection prevalence was determined in 356 HIV infected persons. Their clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, risk factors, HIV therapies and mortality rates were evaluated. Results—HCV prevalence was 54% in the overall group and 81% in IDUs, with predominance of HCV genotype 1. Mortality rates were similar in patients with and without coinfection; however coinfected patients had significantly higher liver damage as a cause of mortality when compared with those who were not coinfected. Conclusions—The high HCV prevalence and the emerging mortality from liver diseases, revealed the significance of this coinfection in HIV epidemic. Primary and secondary prevention are necessary to reduce the expanding impact of HCV infection in HIV patients

Life-Expectancy Disparities Among Adults With HIV in the United States and Canada: The Impact of a Reduction in Drug- and Alcohol-Related Deaths Using the Lives Saved Simulation Model.

Improvements in life expectancy among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLWH) receiving antiretroviral treatment in the United States and Canada might differ among key populations. Given the difference in substance use among key populations and the current opioid epidemic, drug- and alcohol-related deaths might be contributing to the disparities in life expectancy. We sought to estimate life expectancy at age 20 years in key populations (and their comparison groups) in 3 time periods (2004-2007, 2008-2011, and 2012-2015) and the potential increase in expected life expectancy with a simulated 20% reduction in drug- and alcohol-related deaths using the novel Lives Saved Simulation model. Among 92,289 PLWH, life expectancy increased in all key populations and comparison groups from 2004-2007 to 2012-2015. Disparities in survival of approximately a decade persisted among black versus white men who have sex with men and people with (vs. without) a history of injection drug use. A 20% reduction in drug- and alcohol-related mortality would have the greatest life-expectancy benefit for black men who have sex with men, white women, and people with a history of injection drug use. Our findings suggest that preventing drug- and alcohol-related deaths among PLWH could narrow disparities in life expectancy among some key populations, but other causes of death must be addressed to further narrow the disparities

First occurrence of diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and hypertension among North American HIV-infected adults, 2000-2013

Background: There remains concern regarding the occurrence of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) among individuals aging with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), but few studies have described whether disparities between demographic subgroups are present among individuals on antiretroviral therapy (ART) with access to care. Methods: We assessed the first documented occurrence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), chronic kidney disease (CKD), and treated hypertension (HTN) by age, sex, and race within the North American AIDS Cohort Collaboration on Research and Design (NA-ACCORD). HIV-infected adults (≥18 years) who initiated ART were observed for first NCD occurrence between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2013. Cumulative incidences as of age 70 were estimated accounting for the competing risk of death; Poisson regression was used to compare rates of NCD occurrence by demographic subgroup. Results: We included >50000 persons with >250000 person-years of follow-up. Median follow-up was 4.7 (interquartile range, 2.4–8.1) years. Rates of first occurrence (per 100 person-years) were 1.2 for DM, 0.6 for CKD, and 2.6 for HTN. Relative to non-black women, the cumulative incidences were increased in black women (68% vs 51% for HTN, 52% vs 41% for DM, and 38% vs 35% for CKD; all P < .001); this disparity was also found among men (73% vs 60% for HTN, 44% vs 34% for DM, and 30% vs 25% for CKD; all P < .001). Conclusions: Racial disparities in the occurrence of DM, CKD, and HTN emphasize the need for prevention and treatment options for these HIV populations receiving care in North America

The Genomic and Immune Landscapes of Lethal Metastatic Breast Cancer

TCR repertoire; Breast cancer; Clade mutationsRepertori TCR; Càncer de mama; Mutacions cladeRepertorio TCR; Cáncer de mama; Mutaciones cladoThe detailed molecular characterization of lethal cancers is a prerequisite to understanding resistance to therapy and escape from cancer immunoediting. We performed extensive multi-platform profiling of multi-regional metastases in autopsies from 10 patients with therapy-resistant breast cancer. The integrated genomic and immune landscapes show that metastases propagate and evolve as communities of clones, reveal their predicted neo-antigen landscapes, and show that they can accumulate HLA loss of heterozygosity (LOH). The data further identify variable tumor microenvironments and reveal, through analyses of T cell receptor repertoires, that adaptive immune responses appear to co-evolve with the metastatic genomes. These findings reveal in fine detail the landscapes of lethal metastatic breast cancer

HIV Infection, Immunosuppression, and Age at Diagnosis of Non-AIDS-Defining Cancers

Background: It is unclear whether immunosuppression leads to younger ages at cancer diagnosis among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLWH). A previous study found that most cancers are not diagnosed at a younger age in people with AIDS, with the exception of anal and lung cancers. This study extends prior work to include all PLWH and examines associations between AIDS, CD4 count, and age at cancer diagnosis. Methods: We compared the median age at cancer diagnosis between PLWH in the North American AIDS Cohort Collaboration on Research and Design and the general population using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program. We used statistical weights to adjust for population differences. We also compared median age at cancer diagnosis by AIDS status and CD4 count. Results: After adjusting for population differences, younger ages at diagnosis (P < .05) were observed for PLWH compared with the general population for lung (difference in medians = 4 years), anal (difference = 4), oral cavity/pharynx (difference = 2), and kidney cancers (difference = 2) and myeloma (difference = 4). Among PLWH, having an AIDS-defining event was associated with a younger age at myeloma diagnosis (difference = 4; P = .01), and CD4 count <200 cells/µL (vs ≥500) was associated with a younger age at lung cancer diagnosis (difference = 4; P = .006). Conclusions: Among PLWH, most cancers are not diagnosed at younger ages. However, this study strengthens evidence that lung cancer, anal cancer, and myeloma are diagnosed at modestly younger ages, and also shows younger ages at diagnosis of oral cavity/pharynx and kidney cancers, possibly reflecting accelerated cancer progression, etiologic heterogeneity, or risk factor exposure in PLWH

Modern optical astronomy: technology and impact of interferometry

The present `state of the art' and the path to future progress in high spatial resolution imaging interferometry is reviewed. The review begins with a treatment of the fundamentals of stellar optical interferometry, the origin, properties, optical effects of turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere, the passive methods that are applied on a single telescope to overcome atmospheric image degradation such as speckle interferometry, and various other techniques. These topics include differential speckle interferometry, speckle spectroscopy and polarimetry, phase diversity, wavefront shearing interferometry, phase-closure methods, dark speckle imaging, as well as the limitations imposed by the detectors on the performance of speckle imaging. A brief account is given of the technological innovation of adaptive-optics (AO) to compensate such atmospheric effects on the image in real time. A major advancement involves the transition from single-aperture to the dilute-aperture interferometry using multiple telescopes. Therefore, the review deals with recent developments involving ground-based, and space-based optical arrays. Emphasis is placed on the problems specific to delay-lines, beam recombination, polarization, dispersion, fringe-tracking, bootstrapping, coherencing and cophasing, and recovery of the visibility functions. The role of AO in enhancing visibilities is also discussed. The applications of interferometry, such as imaging, astrometry, and nulling are described. The mathematical intricacies of the various `post-detection' image-processing techniques are examined critically. The review concludes with a discussion of the astrophysical importance and the perspectives of interferometry.Comment: 65 pages LaTeX file including 23 figures. Reviews of Modern Physics, 2002, to appear in April issu