Viral dynamics of primary viremia and antiretroviral therapy in simian immunodeficiency virus infection

Mathematical modeling of viral replication dynamics, based on sequential measurements of levels of virion-associated RNA in plasma during antiretroviral treatment, has led to fundamental new insights into human immunodeficiency virus type 1 pathogenesis. We took advantage of the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected macaque model to perform detailed measurements and mathematical modeling during primary infection and during treatment of established infection with the antiretroviral drug (R)-9-(2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl)adenine (PMPA). The calculated clearance half-life for productively infected cells during resolution of the peak viremia of primary infection was on the order of 1 day, with slightly shorter clearance half-lives calculated during PMPA treatment. Viral reproduction rates upon discontinuation of PMPA treatment after 2 weeks were approximately twofold greater than those obtained just prior to initiation of treatment in the same animals, likely reflecting accumulation of susceptible target cells during treatment. The basic reproductive ratio (R0) for the spread of SIV infection in vivo, which represents the number of productively infected cells derived from each productively infected cell at the beginning of infection, was also estimated. This parameter quantifies the extent to which antiviral therapy or vaccination must limit the initial spread of virus to prevent establishment of chronic disseminated infection. The results thus provide an important guide for efforts to develop vaccines against SIV and, by extension, human immunodeficiency virus.     

Reasons for personnel turnover in a private health facility

In this article 1 describe efforts to build a genetically informative, population-based sample of black twins to study physical frailty and aging in the United States. This project involves the use of governmental registries combined with sampling techniques developed to overcome limitations in the registry data. Two analytical approaches to measures of disability are included to illustrate the types of questions that can be addressed with this sample. These results suggest that physical disability in late life has both genetic and environmental determinants. Only with a genetically informative sample can evidence be collected indicating that frailty may be driven by fixed processes (i.e., disability resulting from activation of senescence genes), fluid processes (i.e., disability resulting from changes in the features of the environment), or a combination of both.     

Polymorphonuclear neutrophil granulocyte chemotactic hyperresponsiveness in a case of canine acromegaly

Growth hormone (GH) has recently been shown to affect polymorphonuclear neutrophil granulocyte (PMN) function and to be secreted by mononuclear cells, indicating that the hormone may be active in an immunophysiologic network, acting as an endo- or paracrine priming agent. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the chemotactic responsiveness of canine peripheral PMN in a dog with acromegaly, caused by spontaneous, progesterone-induced hypersecretion of GH and, secondary to this, a seven-fold increase in insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I). The chemotactic responsiveness towards zymosan-activated serum (ZAS) and leukotriene B4 (LTB4) was evaluated at a time when the dog suffered from acromegaly and again 57 days after corrective surgery (ovariohysterectomy). The experiments showed that PMN from the patient exhibited enhanced chemotactic migration that appeared to be associated with the hypersomatotropic condition as judged from the reversibility of the phenomenon. The glucose intolerance and elevated serum alkaline phosphatase that were observed in the acromegalic dog were also shown to be reversible following surgery.     

Structural and chemical analysis of C : H,O /Si : H,O multilayers deposited by reactive RF sputtering

Hydro-oxygenated carbon (C : H,O) and silicon (Si : H,O) layers are deposited by RF sputtering of graphite and silicon targets in a mixture of argon, hydrogen and oxygen gases. C : H,O/Si : H,O/C : H,O/Si : H,O... multilayers are obtained by sequential deposition of C : H,O and Si : H,O layers. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy, Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction (GIXD) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) techniques have been used to analyse the formed multilayers. The IR spectra made on as deposited structures show the presence of Si---C, Si---O, C---O, Si---H, C---H and C=C bonds. This result indicates an interfacial reactivity between Si : H,O and C : H,O layers. The latter result is confirmed by the XPS measurements. After an annealing at 850°c for two hours under argon atmosphere (10^-3 mbar), the concentration of the Si---C bonds is increased by a factor two while the Si---H and C---H bonds disappear complet The GIXD measurements show that the multilayers are amorphous when annealed below 750°C, and they are crystallized with the formation of the α-SiC phase if the heat treatment is made at 850°C. The mean size of the microcrystallites is 50 Å about.     

A One-Dimensional Nonlocal Damage-Plasticity Model for Ductile Materials

This paper presents a new 1-D non-local damage-plasticity deformation model for ductile materials. It uses the thermodynamic framework described in Houlsby and Puzrin (2000) and holds, nevertheless, some similarities with Lemaitre’s (1971) approach. A 1D finite element (FE) model of a bar fixed at one end and loaded in tension at the other end is introduced. This simple model demonstrates how the approach can be implemented within the finite element framework, and that it is capable of capturing both the pre-peak hardening and post-peak softening (generally responsible for models instability) due to damage-induced stiffness and strength reduction characteristic of ductile materials. It is also shown that the approach has further advantages of achieving some degree of mesh independence, and of being able to capture deformation size effects. Finally, it is illustrated how the model permits the calculation of essential work of rupture (EWR), i.e. the specific energy per unit cross-sectional area that is needed to cause tensile failure of a specimen.     

Influence of the preparation conditions on the size and morphology of nanocrystalline lanthanum orthoferrite

Nanocrystalline LaFeO₃ is prepared by the dehydration of coprecipitated lanthanum and iron(III) hydroxides. It is shown that the behavior of the samples during heating and the size distribution of LaFeO₃ nanocrystals can be considerably different depending on the scheme used for coprecipitation of lanthanum and iron hydroxides; independently of the method employed for coprecipitation of the initial compounds, sintering of the samples at 950°C leads to the formation of lanthanum orthoferrite crystals up to 100 nm in size.     

Tunable laser-based design and analysis for fractional lambda switches

Fractional lambda switching (FlambdaS) is a novel approach for traffic management over all-optical networks with sub-wavelength provisioning capability. The unique characteristic of FlambdaS is the utilization of UTC (coordinated universal time) for switching with minimum or no buffers. Several central research issues are still open in FlambdaS and need to be formally defined and analyzed. In this paper, we introduce three novel switch designs that are based on the use of tunable lasers (which can be replaced in the future with wavelength converters). First, the paper presents analytical results of scheduling feasibility, which measures the total number of possible different schedules for each switch design. Then it is shown that the architecture with the highest scheduling feasibility is strictly non blocking in the space domain. Next, the paper provides a closed form analysis of the blocking probability in the time domain, which is applicable for any strictly non-space blocking switch, using combinatorics. In addition, the paper provides measures of the switching hardware complexity, which, for the strictly non-blocking architecture, has the same switching complexity as Clos interconnection network, i.e., O(N'radic(N')) where N' is the number of optical channels.     

Modelling the FEBEX THM experiment using a state surface approach

Buffer materials being considered as engineered barriers in nuclear fuel waste (NFW) disposal systems possess a pronounced nonlinear behaviour in the unsaturated state. In order to simulate such non-linear responses,the authors adopted an incrementally nonlinear poro-elastic approach where the coefficients of the governing equations are assumed to be functions of suction and the void ratio. These functions are in turn developed from a state-surface equation obtained from suction-controlled oedometric tests. In this paper we show the derivation of the governing equations of the poro-elastic model. A finite element computer code, FRACON, was developed by the authors to numerically solve the above equations. We first use the code to simulate laboratory tests to characterize the swelling properties of a typical bentonite. That same bentonite was used in the FEBEX in-situ heater experiment, conducted at the Grimsel site, Switzerland. The FRACON code was also used to perform blind predictions of the FEBEX heater experiment. It is shown that the model correctly predicts drying of the bentonite near the heaters and re-saturation near the rock interface. The evolution of temperature and the heater thermal output were also reasonably well predicted by the model. The trends in the total stresses developed in the bentonite were correctly predicted; the absolute values however were underestimated probably due to the omission of pore pressure build-up in the rock mass.