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Over the last three years considerable progress has been made in various areas related to measles virus and infection. A meeting to discuss the currently available data on the molecular biology of measles virus, measles immunology, immunopathology, as well as animal models for measles infection, and to identify studies that need to be carried out towards developing new vaccines was organized jointly by WHO and the U.S. National Institutes of Health and held in Montreux, Switzerland, on 20-21 April 1993. This Memorandum summarizes the discussions and recommendations made by the participants.

OBJECTIVES: Perinatal single-dose nevirapine (sdNVP) selects for resistance mutations. The objective of this trial was to compare two maternal sdNVP-sparing regimens with standard zidovudine (ZDV)/sdNVP prophylaxis. DESIGN: PHPT-5 was a randomized, partially double-blind placebo-controlled, noninferiority trial in Thailand (NCT00409591). Study participants were women with CD4 of at least 250 cells/mul and their infants. METHODS: All women received ZDV from 28 weeks' gestation and their newborn infants for one week. Women were also randomized to receive NVP-NVP (reference): maternal intrapartum sdNVP with a 7-day 'tail' of ZDV along with lamivudine, and infant NVP (one dose immediately, another 48 h later); infant-only NVP: maternal placebos for sdNVP and the 'tail', with infant NVP; LPV/r: maternal LPV/r starting at 28 weeks. Infants were formula-fed. HIV-diagnosis was determined by DNA-PCR. RESULTS: Four-hundred and thirty-five women were randomized between January 2009 and September 2010. Accrual was terminated prematurely following a change in Thai guidelines recommending antiretroviral combination therapy for all pregnant women. Data on 405 mothers and 407 live-born children were analyzed. Baseline characteristics were similar between arms. Intent-to-treat transmission rates were 3.8% (95% confidence interval: 1.2-8.6) in NVP-NVP, 1.6% (0.2-5.6) in infant-only NVP, and 1.4% (0.4-5.1) in LPV/r arms. As-treated rates were 2.2% (0.5-6.4), 3.2% (0.9-7.9), and 1.5% (0.2-5.2), respectively. Factors independently associated with transmission were prophylaxis duration less than 8 weeks (adjusted odds ratio 15.5; 3.6-66.1) and viral load at baseline at least 4 log10copies/ml (adjusted odds ratio 10.9; 1.3-91.5). Regimens appeared well tolerated. CONCLUSION: Transmission rates in all arms were low but noninferiority was not proven. Antiretroviral prophylaxis for at least 8 weeks before delivery is necessary to minimize transmission risk.

29th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 666-671, The interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar cells developed at ANU have resulted in an independently confirmed designated-area efficiency of 24.4 ± 0.7%, featuring short-circuit current density of 41.95 mA/cm2, opencircuit voltage of 703 mV and 82.7% fill-factor. The cell, 2 x 2 cm2 in area, was fabricated on a 230 μm thick 1.5 Ω.cm n-type Cz wafer, utilising PECVD SiNx front surface passivation without front surface diffusion, rear side thermal oxide / LPCVD Si3N4 passivation stack and evaporated aluminium contacts with a finger-to-finger pitch of 500 μm. This paper describes the design and fabrication of lab-scale high-efficiency IBC cells. Characterisation of optical and electronic properties of the best produced cell is made, with subsequent incorporation into 3D device modelling used to accurately quantify all losses. Loss analysis demonstrates that bulk and emitter recombination, bulk resistive and optical losses are dominant, and suggests a clear route to efficiencies in excess of 25%. Additionally, laser processing is explored as a means to simplify the manufacture of IBC cells, with a confirmed efficiency of 23.5% recorded for cells fabricated using damage-free deep UV laser ablation for contact formation. Meanwhile alllaser doped cells, where every doping and patterning step is performed by lasers, are demonstrated with a preliminary result of 19.1% conversion efficiency recorded.

In recent years there have been concerns in initial teacher education regarding the lack of attention given to developing students’ attitudes and beliefs to prepare them for inclusive education. New Scottish initiatives, such as the Inclusive Practice Project (University of Aberdeen, 2011) have recently been carried out to address such issues and reform teacher education. Although, it is too soon to determine the extent to which these initiatives have been successful, observational evidence suggests that Newly Qualified Teachers’ (NQTs) effective use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) within their inclusive practices is mixed. Since both physical and virtual environments can convey affordances of educational exclusion, it is important that student teachers are prepared for inclusion using ICT. This paper describes a pilot survey which was conducted to develop a clear picture of student teachers’ beliefs and attitudes towards inclusive education when using ICT. The findings from the survey suggest that student teachers’ perceive their inclusive practices as not affected by the use of ICT. However, the findings also show that they are unsure about the extent to which ICT can affect inclusive pedagogies.

27th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 552-556, Development of all-back-contact (ABC) silicon solar cells at the Australian National University (ANU), as part of a collaboration between Trina Solar and the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS), is progressing, and 22.6% efficient ABC cells, based on the aperture-area of 13 cm2 that excludes busbars, were recently fabricated at ANU. When measured using the 16 cm2 aperture-area that includes busbars, the cells are 21.7% efficient. In this paper, we demonstrate the technique of removing shunts, associated in the development of ABC cells, by laser-assisted means. The laser that we use for the shunt removal is 532 nm diode pump solid state (DPSS) laser. The shunts are caused by residual boron (p+) diffusion within the phosphorus (n+) diffused region following the trench etch that separates the p and n regions. Photoluminescence (PL) imaging showed that apparent shunt regions were removed following this process. Analysis of ABC solar cells by dark IV characterisation further confirmed that the shunt resistance was increased by about 30-fold (350 to 11500 Ω.cm2). The effective removal of shunts has increased the cell efficiency by 0.5% absolute. Carrier recombination induced by laser damage appears to be minimal since open-circuit voltage of the ABC cells barely changes for pre- and post-laser ablation, although more detailed investigations are required.

Intelligent assistants are handling increasingly critical tasks, but until now, end users have had no way to systematically assess where their assistants make mistakes. For some intelligent assistants, this is a serious problem: if the assistant is doing work that is important, such as assisting with qualitative research or monitoring an elderly parent’s safety, the user may pay a high cost for unnoticed mistakes. This paper addresses the problem with WYSIWYT/ML (What You See Is What You Test for Machine Learning), a human/computer partnership that enables end users to systematically test intelligent assistants. Our empirical evaluation shows that WYSIWYT/ML helped end users find assistants’ mistakes significantly more effectively than ad hoc testing. Not only did it allow users to assess an assistant’s work on an average of 117 predictions in only 10 minutes, it also scaled to a much larger data set, assessing an assistant’s work on 623 out of 1,448 predictions using only the users’ original 10 minutes’ testing effort.

Our objective was to analyze, in formula-fed infants, correlates of HIV mother-to-child transmission, including cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. HIV-infected infants were matched with HIV uninfected by maternal HIV RNA in a case-control design. Infant CMV infection was determined by CMV IgG at 18 months and timed by earlier CMV IgM or CMV DNA. Correlations were assessed using logistic regression. In utero HIV infection was independently associated with congenital CMV infection (P - 0.01), intrapartum HIV infection with congenital-plus-intrapartum/neonatal CMV infection (P = 0.01), and overall HIV with overall CMV infection (P = 0.001), and prematurity (P = 0.004). Congenital and acquired CMV infections are strong independent correlates of mother-to-child HIV transmission.

Background: WHO recommends starting therapy with a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) and two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), i.e. nevirapine or efavirenz, with lamivudine or emtricitabine, plus zidovudine or tenofovir. Few studies have compared resistance patterns induced by efavirenz and nevirapine in patients infected with the CRF01_AE Southeast Asian HIV-subtype. We compared patterns of NNRTI-and NRTI-associated mutations in Thai adults failing first-line nevirapine-and efavirenz-based combinations, using Bayesian statistics to optimize use of data. Methods and Findings: In a treatment cohort of HIV-infected adults on NNRTI-based regimens, 119 experienced virologic failure (

The evolution of hematological parameters in HIV-1-exposed uninfected infants according to various durations of perinatal zidovudine exposure was studied. We used data prospectively collected among 1122 HIV-uninfected formula-fed infants born to HIV-infected mothers who participated in a clinical trial to prevent perinatal transmission in Thailand (PHPT-1). Infants were exposed to different durations of zidovudine both in utero and after birth. Hemoglobin level and leukocyte, absolute neutrophil, and lymphocyte counts were measured at birth and at 6 weeks of age. The association between hematological parameters at birth and the duration of zidovudine exposure in utero was studied using a linear regression model, and changes between birth and 6 weeks of age and the duration of postnatal zidovudine exposure using mixed effects models. At birth, the hemoglobin level was lower in newborns exposed to zidovudine for more than 7.5 weeks in utero (adjusted regression coefficient: -0.6 g/dl; 95% confidence interval: -1.1 to -0.1). Six weeks after birth, the hemoglobin level had decreased faster in infants administered zidovudine for more than 4 weeks (adjusted regression coefficient: -0.1 g/dl; 95% confidence interval: -0.2 to -0.1). The duration of perinatal zidovudine exposure was not associated with the evolution of leukocyte, neutrophil, and lymphocyte counts. Despite the differences in hemoglobin levels, grade 3 or 4 anemia did not significantly differ by maternal or infant zidovudine duration. The clinical impact appeared modest, but longer exposure may warrant close monitoring.

Background. Intrapartum single-dose nevirapine plus third trimester maternal and infant zidovudine are essential components of programs to prevent mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in resource-limited settings. The persistence of nevirapine in the plasma for 3 weeks postpartum risks selection of resistance mutations to nonnucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs). We hypothesized that a 1-month zidovudine-didanosine course initiated at the same time as single-dose nevirapine (sdNVP) would prevent the selection of nevirapine-resistance mutations. Methods. HIV-infected pregnant women in the PHPT-4 cohort with CD4 cell counts >250 cells/mm(3) received antepartum zidovudine from the third trimester until delivery, sdNVP during labor, and a 1-month zidovudine-didanosine course after delivery. These women were matched on the basis of baseline HIV load, CD4 cell count, and duration of antepartum zidovudine to women who received sdNVP in the PHPT-2 trial (control subjects). Consensus sequencing and the more sensitive oligonucleotide ligation assay were performed on samples obtained on postpartum days 7-10, 37-45, and 120 (if the HIV load was >500 copies/mL) to detect K103N/Y181C/G190A mutations. Results. The 222 PHPT-4 subjects did not differ from matched control subjects in baseline characteristics except for age. The combined group median CD4 cell count was 421 cells/mm(3) (interquartile range [IQR], 322-549 cells/mm3), the median HIV load was 3.45 log(10) copies/mL (IQR, 2.79-4.00 log(10) copies/mL), and the median duration of zidovudine prophylaxis was 10.4 weeks (IQR, 9.1-11.4 weeks). Using consensus sequencing, major NNRTI resistance mutations were detected after delivery in 0% of PHPT-4 subjects and 10.4% of PHPT-2 controls. The oligonucleotide ligation assay detected resistance in 1.8% of PHPT-4 subjects and 18.9% of controls. Major NNRTI resistance mutations were detected by either method in 1.8% of PHPT-4 subjects and 20.7% of controls (P

Objectives: To respond to the primary safety objective of the Perinatal HIV Prevention Trial 1 (PHPT-1) by studying the evolution of haematological parameters according to zidovudine exposure duration in HIV-1-infected pregnant women. Design: Multicenter, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial of different durations of zidovudine prophylaxis. Setting: 27 hospitals in Thailand. Participants: 1,436 HIV-infected pregnant women in PHPT-1. Intervention: Zidovudine prophylaxis initiation at 28 or 35 wk gestation. Outcome measures: Haemoglobin level, leucocytes, total lymphocyte counts, and absolute neutrophil counts were measured at 26, 32, and 35 wk and at delivery. The evolution of haematological parameters was estimated between 26 and 35 wk (zidovudine/placebo) and between 35 wk and delivery to compare a long versus short zidovudine exposure. For each parameter, linear mixed models were adjusted on baseline sociodemographic variables, HIV clinical stage, CD4 count, and viral load. Results: Between 26 and 35 wk, haemoglobin, leucocytes, and absolute neutrophil counts decreased in zidovudine-exposed compared to unexposed women ( mean difference [95% CI] - 0.4 [ - 0.5 to - 0.3], - 423 [ - 703 to - 142], - 485 [ - 757 to - 213], respectively). However, between 35 wk and delivery, the haematological parameters increased faster in women exposed to long rather than short durations of zidovudine (0.1 [ 0.0 to 0.1]; 105 [ 18 to 191]; 147 [ 59 to 234], respectively). At delivery, the differences were not statistically significant, except for mean haemoglobin level, which remained slightly lower in the long zidovudine treatment group ( difference: 0.2 g/dl). Zidovudine had no negative impact on the absolute lymphocyte counts. Conclusion: Zidovudine initiated at 28 wk gestation rather than 35 wk had a transient negative impact on the evolution of haematological parameters, which was largely reversed by delivery despite continuation of zidovudine. This result provides reassurance about the safety of early initiation of zidovudine prophylaxis during pregnancy to maximize prevention of perinatal HIV.