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BackgroundPatterns of antiretroviral therapy (ART) use and immunologic correlates vary globally, and contemporary trends are not well described.MethodsThe REPRIEVE trial (Randomized Trial to Prevent Vascular Events in HIV) enrolled persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who were aged 40-75 years, receiving ART, and had low-to-moderate cardiovascular disease risk. ART use was summarized within Global Burden of Disease (GBD) super-regions, with adjusted linear and logistic regression analyses examining associations with immune parameters and key demographics.ResultsA total of 7770 participants were enrolled, with a median age of 50 years (interquartile range, 45-55 years); 31% were female, 43% were black or African American, 15% were Asian, 56% had a body mass index >25 (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared), and 49% were current or former smokers. The median CD4 T-cell count was 620/µL (interquartile range, 447-826/ µ L), and the median duration of prior ART use, 9.5 years (5.3-14.8) years. The most common ART regimens were nucleoside/nucleotide reverse-transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) plus nonnucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor (43%), NRTI plus integrase strand transfer inhibitor (25%), and NRTI plus protease inhibitor (19%). Entry ART varied by GBD region, with shifts during the trial enrollment period. In adjusted analyses, entry CD4 cell count and CD4/CD8 ratio were associated with GBD region, sex, entry regimen, duration of ART, and nadir CD4 cell count; CD4 and CD8 cell counts were also associated with body mass index and smoking status.ConclusionsThere were substantial variations in ART use by geographic region and over time, likely reflecting the local availability of specific medications, changes in treatment guidelines and provider/patient preferences. The analyses of CD4 cell counts and CD4/CD8 ratios may provide valuable insights regarding immune correlates and outcomes in people living with HIV.Clinical trials registrationNCT02344290.

We describe a novel biosafety aerosol chamber equipped with state-of-theart instrumentation for bubble-bursting aerosol generation, size distribution measurement, and condensation-growth collection to minimize sampling artifacts when measuring virus infectivity in aerosol particles. Using this facility, we investigated the effect of relative humidity (RH) in very clean air without trace gases (except ~400 ppm CO2) on the preservation of influenza A virus (IAV) infectivity in saline aerosol particles. We characterized infectivity in terms of 99%-inactivation time, t99, a metric we consider most relevant to airborne virus transmission. The viruses remained infectious for a long time, namely t99 > 5 h, if RH < 30% and the particles effloresced. Under intermediate conditions of humidity (40% < RH < 70%), the loss of infectivity was the most rapid (t99 ∾ 15-20 min, and up to t99 ∾ 35 min at 95% RH). This is more than an order of magnitude faster than suggested by many previous studies of aerosol-borne IAV, possibly due to the use of matrices containing organic molecules, such as proteins, with protective effects for the virus. We tested this hypothesis by adding sucrose to our aerosolization medium and, indeed, observed protection of IAV at intermediate RH (55%). Interestingly, the t99 of our measurements are also systematically lower than those in 1-mL droplet measurements of organic-free saline solutions, which cannot be explained by particle size effects alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El artículo tiene como objetivo, analizar si la toma de decisión para cambiar de banco presenta diferencias significativas entre mujeres y hombres. Para su realización, se ha utilizado una encuesta como técnica de investigación, distribuida a 209 personas, inspirada en la que realiza la Universidad de Michigan sobre el índice de confianza del consumidor. Como variables explicativas se determinan la situación bancaria actual, la situación de las finanzas en el momento actual, el grado de rentabilidad de los productos bancarios, la situación bancaria retrospectiva y la situación bancaria prospectiva. La metodología de estudio utilizada, se basa en dos modelos econométricos, lineal y no lineal, modelo probit y logit estimado a partir de las encuestas recopiladas. Como principal conclusión se precisa que sí existen diferencias significativas entre mujeres y hombres en la toma de decisión de cambiar o permanecer en su banco.|| The article aims to analyze, if the decision to change the banks present significant differences between women and men. For the purpose, a general survey distributed to 209 people was used, inspired by the one conducted by the University of Michigan on the consumer confidence index. As explanatory variables, the following are determined: the current banking situation, the current financial situation, the degree of profitability of banking products, the retrospective banking situation and the prospective banking situation. The study methodology used is based on an econometric model estimated logit model from the surveys collected. The main conclusion is that there are significant differences between women and men in the decision to change or remain in their bank being the most conservative and risk-averse women.