In the intention-to-treat analysis involving 16,402 subjects, there was a trend toward the prevention of HIV-1 infection among the vaccine recipients, with a vaccine efficacy of 26.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], −4.0 to 47.9; P = 0.08). In the perprotocol analysis involving 12,542 subjects, the vaccine efficacy was 26.2% (95% CI, −13.3 to 51.9; P = 0.16). In the modified intention-to-treat analysis involving 16,395 subjects (with the exclusion of 7 subjects who were found to have had HIV-1 infection at baseline), the vaccine efficacy was 31.2% (95% CI, 1.1 to 52.1; P = 0.04). Vaccination did not affect the degree of viremia or the CD4+ T-cell count in subjects in whom HIV-1 infection was subsequently diagnosed. Conclusions This ALVAC-HIV and AIDSVAX B/E vaccine regimen may reduce the risk of HIV infection in a community-based population with largely heterosexual risk. Vaccination did not affect the viral load or CD4+ count in subjects with HIV infection. Although the results show only a modest benefit, they offer insight for future research. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00223080.)

/pdf/vaccination-with-alvac-and-aidsvax-to-prevent-hiv-1-31w4icuqp1.pdf

Vaccination with ALVAC and AIDSVAX to Prevent HIV-1 Infection in Thailand

These recommendations for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing are intended for all health-care providers in the public and private sectors, including those working in hospital emergency departments, urgent care clinics, inpatient services, substance abuse treatment clinics, public health clinics, community clinics, correctional health-care facilities, and primary care settings. The recommendations address HIV testing in health-care settings only. They do not modify existing guidelines concerning HIV counseling, testing, and referral for persons at high risk for HIV who seek or receive HIV testing in nonclinical settings (e.g., community-based organizations, outreach settings, or mobile vans). The objectives of these recommendations are to increase HIV screening of patients, including pregnant women, in health-care settings; foster earlier detection of HIV infection; identify and counsel persons with unrecognized HIV infection and link them to clinical and prevention services; and further reduce perinatal transmission of HIV in the United States. These revised recommendations update previous recommendations for HIV testing in health-care settings and for screening of pregnant women (CDC. Recommendations for HIV testing services for inpatients and outpatients in acute-care hospital settings. MMWR 1993;42[No. RR-2]:1-10; CDC. Revised guidelines for HIV counseling, testing, and referral. MMWR 2001;50[No. RR-19]:1-62; and CDC. Revised recommendations for HIV screening of pregnant women. MMWR 2001;50[No. RR-19]:63-85). Major revisions from previously published guidelines are as follows: For patients in all health-care settings HIV screening is recommended for patients in all health-care settings after the patient is notified that testing will be performed unless the patient declines (opt-out screening). Persons at high risk for HIV infection should be screened for HIV at least annually. Separate written consent for HIV testing should not be required; general consent for medical care should be considered sufficient to encompass consent for HIV testing. Prevention counseling should not be required with HIV diagnostic testing or as part of HIV screening programs in health-care settings. For pregnant women HIV screening should be included in the routine panel of prenatal screening tests for all pregnant women. HIV screening is recommended after the patient is notified that testing will be performed unless the patient declines (opt-out screening). Separate written consent for HIV testing should not be required; general consent for medical care should be considered sufficient to encompass consent for HIV testing. Repeat screening in the third trimester is recommended in certain jurisdictions with elevated rates of HIV infection among pregnant women.

/pdf/revised-recommendations-for-hiv-testing-of-adults-2nmotmgow6.pdf

Revised Recommendations for HIV Testing of Adults, Adolescents, and Pregnant Women in Health-Care Settings

To estimate the global illness and deaths caused by rotavirus disease, we reviewed studies published from 1986 to 2000 on deaths caused by diarrhea and on rotavirus infections in children. We assessed rotavirus-associated illness in three clinical settings (mild cases requiring home care alone, moderate cases requiring a clinic visit, and severe cases requiring hospitalization) and death rates in countries in different World Bank income groups. Each year, rotavirus causes approximately 111 million episodes of gastroenteritis requiring only home care, 25 million clinic visits, 2 million hospitalizations, and 352,000–592,000 deaths (median, 440,000 deaths) in children <5 years of age. By age 5, nearly every child will have an episode of rotavirus gastroenteritis, 1 in 5 will visit a clinic, 1 in 60 will be hospitalized, and approximately 1 in 293 will die. Children in the poorest countries account for 82% of rotavirus deaths. The tremendous incidence of rotavirus disease underscores the urgent need for interventions, such as vaccines, to prevent childhood deaths in developing nations.

/pdf/global-illness-and-deaths-caused-by-rotavirus-disease-in-4r3lieayv1.pdf

Global Illness and Deaths Caused by Rotavirus Disease in Children

Random-matrix theories in quantum physics : common concepts

This report is a revision of General Recommendations on Immunization and updates the 2002 statement by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) (CDC. General recommendations on immunization: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and the American Academy of Family Physicians. MMWR 2002;51[No. RR-2]). This report is intended to serve as a general reference on vaccines and immunization. The principal changes include 1) expansion of the discussion of vaccination spacing and timing; 2) an increased emphasis on the importance of injection technique/age/body mass in determining appropriate needle length; 3) expansion of the discussion of storage and handling of vaccines, with a table defining the appropriate storage temperature range for inactivated and live vaccines; 4) expansion of the discussion of altered immunocompetence, including new recommendations about use of live-attenuated vaccines with therapeutic monoclonal antibodies; and 5) minor changes to the recommendations about vaccination during pregnancy and vaccination of internationally adopted children, in accordance with new ACIP vaccine-specific recommendations for use of inactivated influenza vaccine and hepatitis B vaccine. The most recent ACIP recommendations for each specific vaccine should be consulted for comprehensive discussion. This report, ACIP recommendations for each vaccine, and other information about vaccination can be accessed at CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (proposed) (formerly known as the National Immunization Program) website at http//:www.cdc.gov/nip.

/pdf/general-recommendations-on-immunization-recommendations-of-34ozxz9s84.pdf

General recommendations on immunization; recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)

We describe a robust system to retrieve the phase using a temporal phase unwrapping approach. Combining the polarization Michelson interferometer with a polarizing sensor and temporal phase unwrapping algorithms the phase unwrapping procedure is not only simplified, but also the computing time is reduced one order of magnitude compared with other algorithms and we can analyze dynamic events in real-time, i.e., 7.4fps. In the approach taken, each pixel is processed independently obtaining the phase difference for a specific time opening the possibility of real-time analysis and the masking process is avoided limiting the noise propagation in spatial manner. Validation experiments are presented.

Pixelated polarizing system for dynamic interferometry events employing a temporal phase unwrapping algorithm

The study of diseases that affect the mobility of patients requires precise measurements that provide information that allows the specialist to classify the progress and severity of the disease. In the case of the evaluation of ankylosing spondylitis the Schober’s test or modified Schober’s test is commonly used to evaluate the subject. The test is based on a set of physical exercises providing an index of mobility; some of the tests are the lower back under flexion, neck mobility, Occiput-to-Wall measurement, and leg-split capacity. The obtained indexes are used to evaluate the current condition of the subject. Traditionally these measurements are obtained manually by the specialist and there are questions related to the correct execution of each activity, subject by subject. In order to provide a more accurate method that can be used to assess the full range of movements, a tridimensional tracking system based on the Kinect v2 sensor is proposed and evaluated in this work.

Computer vision system for evaluating the Schober’s test

Chagas disease is an endemic protozoan disease with high prevalence in Latin America. Of those infected, 20–30% will develop chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCC) however, prediction using existing clinical criteria remains poor. In this study, we investigated the utility of left ventricular (LV) echocardiographic speckle-tracking global longitudinal strain (GLS) for early detection of CCC. 139 asymptomatic T. cruzi seropositive subjects with normal heart size and normal LV ejection fraction (EF) (stage A or B) were enrolled in this prospective observational study and underwent paired echocardiograms at baseline and 1-year follow-up. Progressors were participants classified as stage C or D at follow-up due to development of symptoms of heart failure, cardiomegaly, or decrease in LVEF. LV GLS was calculated as the average peak systolic strain of 16 LV segments. Measurements were compared between participants who progressed and did not progress by two-sample t-test, and the odds of progression assessed by multivariable logistic regression. Of the 139 participants, 69.8% were female, mean age 55.8 ± 12.5 years, with 12 (8.6%) progressing to Stage C or D at follow-up. Progressors tended to be older, male, with wider QRS duration. LV GLS was −19.0% in progressors vs. –22.4% in non-progressors at baseline, with 71% higher odds of progression per +1% of GLS (adjusted OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.20–2.44, p = 0.003). Baseline LV GLS in participants with CCC stage A or B was predictive of progression within 1-year and may guide timing of clinical follow-up and promote early detection or treatment. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcha.2022.101060

Early identification of patients with Chagas disease at risk of developing cardiomyopathy using 2-D speckle tracking strain

The arguments of Kubo and Gor'kov-Eliashberg concerning the level fluctuations of small metallic particles (s.m.p.) are reviewed. We make plausible that Random Matrix Theory is not applicable to be s.m.p. problem within the free electron picture and when Dirichlet boundary conditions are used. Next, in the frame of an exactly soluble two-dimensional model, we determine the level-spacing-distribution which shows no level repulsion. Finally we calculate numerically the specific heat C, at finite temperature for an assembly of spectra following the random distribution law.

/pdf/on-the-statistical-properties-of-the-electronic-levels-of-mslas4c11h.pdf

On the statistical properties of the electronic levels of small metallic particles

The k-body Gaussian Embedded Ensemble of Random Matrices is considered for N bosons distributed on two single-particle levels. When k = N, the ensemble is equivalent to the Gaussian Orthogonal Ensemble (GOE), and when k = 2 it corresponds to the Two-body Random Ensemble (TBRE) for bosons. It is shown that the energy spectrum leads to a rank function which is of the form of a discrete generalized beta distribution. The same distribution is obtained assuming N non-interacting quasiparticles that obey the fractional exclusion statistics introduced by Haldane two decades ago.

Jorge Flores

Papers

Pixelated polarizing system for dynamic interferometry events employing a temporal phase unwrapping algorithm

Computer vision system for evaluating the Schober’s test

Early identification of patients with Chagas disease at risk of developing cardiomyopathy using 2-D speckle tracking strain

On the statistical properties of the electronic levels of small metallic particles

Fractional exclusion statistics and the Random Matrix Boson Ensemble