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Understanding possible barriers and facilitators to effective implementation of evidence-based interventions to help high-risk youth prevent and manage HIV is crucial for their scale-up. This manuscript analyzes qualitative interview data collected during the early phase implementation of a motivational interviewing (MI) based intervention at 10 HIV care clinics in the United States providing services to youth. Using the Exploration-Preparation-Implementation-Sustainment (EPIS) framework to understand the implementation and the dynamic adaptation process (DAP) model to balance notions of intervention fidelity and flexibility, providers and stakeholders at each site (N = 97) were interviewed prior to implementation to gather their perspectives on organizational readiness for the intervention, as well as provider and client characteristics. The interviewers summarized their experience with rapid feedback forms (RFFs). Data extracted from the RFFs highlighted anticipated barriers to and facilitators of the proposed MI-based intervention, with the EPIS framework used to organize these findings. Study findings illustrate the inner and outer contextual factors that affect implementation and denote the points at which the MI-based intervention may be tailored to fit the unique context of a clinic while remaining faithful to the intervention's original design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this study was to evaluate the influence of severe protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) on lipid composition and fatty acid profile in the small intestinal mucosa of lactating pigs. Malnutrition was achieved by 80% protein-energy restriction for 30 d (20% of the food intake in the control group) in 7-d-old newborn piglets. Malnourished piglets had significantly lower concentrations of cholesterol, phospholipid and triglycerides in the jejunum and ileum compared with freely fed controls. Fatty acid composition of the intestinal mucosa was severely affected by malnutrition. A sharp decline in the relative percentages of (n-3) and (n-6) long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) in malnourished piglets paralleled higher (n-9) fatty acid proportions in the total mucosa, microsomes and phospholipids of the jejunum. The structure of the small intestine was severely affected as assessed by light and electron microscopy, and alkaline phosphatase and disaccharidase activities in the intestinal mucosa were also significantly impaired. Plasma from malnourished piglets had significantly lower concentrations of (n-3) and (n-6) LC-PUFA than that of control piglets; however, the fatty acid composition of red blood cell membrane was unaffected. Our results suggest that early severe PEM dramatically modifies intestinal membrane lipid composition. Changes in the lipid composition of the small intestinal mucosa and in phospholipid distribution as well as in the fatty acid profile may alter membrane fluidity and organization. These alterations appear to affect the activity of membrane-bound hydrolytic enzymes. KEY WORDS: fatty acid lipid pigs protein-energy malnutrition small intestine

Background: The authors examined associations between structural characteristics and HIV disease management among a geographically diverse sample of behaviorally and perinatally HIV-infected adolescents and young adults in the United States. Methods: The sample included 1891 adolescents and young adults living with HIV (27.8% perinatally infected; 72.2% behaviorally infected) who were linked to care through 20 Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions Units. All completed audio computer–assisted self-interview surveys. Chart abstraction or blood draw provided viral load data. Geographic-level variables were extracted from the United States Census Bureau (e.g., socioeconomic disadvantage, percent of Black and Latino households, percent rural) and Esri Crime (e.g., global crime index) databases as Zip Code Tabulation Areas. AIDSVu data (e.g., prevalence of HIV among youth) were extracted at the county-level. Using HLM v.7, the authors conducted means-as-outcomes random effects multi-level models to examine the association between structural-level and individual-level factors and (1) being on antiretroviral therapy (ART) currently; (2) being on ART for at least 6 months; (3) missed HIV care appointments (not having missed any vs. having missed one or more appointments) over the past 12 months; and (4) viral suppression (defined by the corresponding assay cutoff for the lower limit of viral load at each participating site which denoted nondetectability vs. detectability). Results: Frequencies for the 4 primary outcomes were as follows: current ART use (n = 1120, 59.23%); ART use for ≥6 months (n = 861, 45.53%); at least one missed HIV care appointment (n = 936, 49.50); and viral suppression (n = 577, 30.51%). After adjusting for individual-level factors, youth living in more disadvantaged areas (defined by a composite score derived from 2010 Census indicators including percent poverty, percent receiving public assistance, percent of female, single-headed households, percent unemployment, and percent of people with less than a high school degree) were less likely to report current ART use (OR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.72–1.00, p = .05). Among current ART users, living in more disadvantaged areas was associated with greater likelihood of having used ART for ≥6 months. Participants living in counties with greater HIV prevalence among 13–24 year olds were more likely to report current ART use (OR: 1.32, 95% CI: 1.05–1.65, p = .02), ≥6 months ART use (OR: 1.32, 95% CI: 1.05–1.65, p = .02), and to be virally suppressed (OR: 1.50, 95% CI: 1.20–1.87, p = .001); however, youth in these areas were also more likely to report missed medical appointments (OR: 1.32, 95% CI: 1.07–1.63, p = .008). Conclusions: The findings underscore the multi-level and structural factors associated with ART use, missed HIV care appointments, and viral suppression for adolescents and young adults in the United States. Consideration of these factors is strongly recommended in future intervention, clinical practice, and policy research that seek to understand the contextual influences on individuals’ health behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a letter to the editor regarding the optimal strategies for diabetic retinopathy screening.

Presents a response to an article on crucial aspects of diabetic retinopathy screening.

Telomere maintenance protects the cell against genome instability and senescence. Accelerated telomere attrition is a characteristic of premature aging syndromes including Dyskeratosis congenita (DC). Mutations in hRTEL1 are associated with a severe form of DC called Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson syndrome (HHS). HHS patients carry short telomeres and HHS cells display telomere damage. Here we investigated how hRTEL1 contributes to telomere maintenance in human primary as well as tumor cells. Transient depletion of hRTEL1 resulted in rapid telomere shortening only in the context of telomerase-positive cells with very long telomeres and high levels of telomerase. The effect of hRTEL1 on telomere length is telomerase dependent without impacting telomerase biogenesis or targeting of the enzyme to telomeres. Instead, RTEL1 depletion led to a decrease in both G-overhang content and POT1 association with telomeres with limited telomere uncapping. Strikingly, overexpression of POT1 restored telomere length but not the overhang, demonstrating that G-overhang loss is the primary defect caused by RTEL1 depletion. We propose that hRTEL1 contributes to the maintenance of long telomeres by preserving long G-overhangs, thereby facilitating POT1 binding and elongation by telomerase.