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Load Testing (load + testing)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	40%

Selected Abstracts

Prevalence of drug resistance and importance of viral load measurements in Honduran HIV-infected patients failing antiretroviral treatment

HIV MEDICINE, Issue 2 2010
W Murillo
Objective The Honduran HIV/AIDS Program began to scale up access to HIV therapy in 2002. Up to May 2008, more than 6000 patients received combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). As HIV drug resistance is the major obstacle for effective treatment, the purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of antiretroviral drug resistance in Honduran HIV-1-infected individuals. Methods We collected samples from 138 individuals (97 adults and 41 children) on cART with virological, immunological or clinical signs of treatment failure. HIV-1 pol sequences were obtained using an in-house method. Resistance mutations were identified according to the 2007 International AIDS Society (IAS)-USA list and predicted susceptibility to cART was scored using the anrs algorithm. Results Resistance mutations were detected in 112 patients (81%), 74% in adults and 98% in children. Triple-, dual- and single-class drug resistance was documented in 27%, 43% and 11% of the study subjects, respectively. Multiple logistic regression showed that resistance was independently associated with type of treatment failure [virological failure (odds ratio (OR)=1) vs. immunological failure (OR=0.11; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.030,0.43) vs. clinical failure (OR=0.037; 95% CI 0.0063,0.22)], route of transmission (OR=42.8; 95% CI 3.73,491), and years on therapy (OR=1.81; 95% CI 1.11,2.93). Conclusion The prevalence of antiretroviral resistance was high in Honduran HIV-infected patients with signs of treatment failure. A majority of study subjects showed dual- or triple-class resistance to nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors and protease inhibitors. Virologically defined treatment failure was a strong predictor of resistance, indicating that viral load testing is needed to correctly identify patients with treatment failure attributable to resistance. [source]

A study of ground-structure interaction in dynamic plate load testing

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 12 2002
Bojan B. Guzina
Abstract A mathematical treatment is presented for the forced vertical vibration of a padded annular footing on a layered viscoelastic half-space. On assuming a depth-independent stress distribution for the interfacial buffer, the set of triple integral equations stemming from the problem is reduced to a Fredholm integral equation of the second kind. The solution method, which is tailored to capture the stress concentrations beneath footing edges, is highlighted. To cater to small-scale geophysical applications, the model is used to investigate the near-field effects of ground-loading system interaction in dynamic geotechnical and pavement testing. Numerical results indicate that the uniform-pressure assumption for the contact load between the composite disc and the ground which is customary in dynamic plate load testing may lead to significant errors in the diagnosis of subsurface soil and pavement conditions. Beyond its direct application to non-intrusive site characterization, the proposed solution can be used in the seismic analysis of a variety of structures involving annular foundation geometries. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Two Photon Polymerization of Polymer,Ceramic Hybrid Materials for Transdermal Drug Delivery

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED CERAMIC TECHNOLOGY, Issue 1 2007
A. Ovsianikov
Three-dimensional microneedle devices were created by femtosecond laser two photon polymerization (2PP) of organically modified ceramic (Ormocer®) hybrid materials. Arrays of in-plane and out-of-plane hollow microneedles (microneedle length=800 ,m, microneedle base diameter=150,300 ,m) with various aspect ratios were fabricated. The fracture and penetration properties of the microneedle arrays were examined using compression load testing. In these studies, the microneedle arrays penetrated cadaveric porcine adipose tissue without fracture. Human epidermal keratinocyte viability on the Ormocer® surfaces polymerized using 2PP was similar to that on control surfaces. These results suggest that 2PP is able to create microneedle structures for transdermal drug delivery with a larger range of geometries than conventional microfabrication techniques. [source]

An Assessment of Herpesvirus Co-infections in Patients with CMV Disease: Correlation with Clinical and Virologic Outcomes

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 2 2009
A. Humar
The effect of herpesvirus co-infections (HHV-6, HHV-7) on cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease and its response to therapy is unknown. We prospectively analyzed herpesvirus co-infections in transplant recipients with CMV disease. All patients received 3 weeks of antiviral therapy. Samples were collected at baseline (day 0) and then day 3, 7, 14 and 21 poststart of therapy. Viral load testing for CMV, HHV-6 and HHV-7 was done using quantitative PCR assays in 302 patients of whom 256 had documented symptomatic CMV viremia. In this subset, day 0 HHV-6 co-infection was present in 23/253 (9.1%) and HHV-7 in 17/253 (6.7%). Including those positive at any time point raised the prevalence to 79/256 (30.9%) for HHV-6 and 75/256 (29.3%) for HHV-7. Viral co-infection did not influence the response of CMV disease to antiviral therapy. Baseline CMV viral loads, time to eradication and risk of recurrence were similar in patients with and without HHV-6 or HHV-7 co-infection. Ganciclovir and valganciclovir had no clear effect on HHV-6 and HHV-7 viremia. In conclusion, herpesvirus co-infections are common in patients with CMV disease but with standard antiviral therapy, no clear clinical effects are discernable. Routine monitoring for viral co-infection in patients with CMV disease is not indicated. [source]