Introduction Limited information is available on the usefulness of the PIMA™ analyser in predicting antiretroviral treatment eligibility and outcome in a primary healthcare clinic setting in disadvantaged communities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Materials and methods The study was conducted under the eThekwini Health Unit, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. Comparison of the enumeration of CD4+ T-cell...

CONTEXT Growing evidence challenges the concept that high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) is cardioprotective after menopause. HDL particle concentration (HDL-P) and cholesterol efflux capacity (CEC) might be better predictors of cardiovascular risk. OBJECTIVE Quantify alterations in HDL-P and CEC during menopause, correlating those changes with alterations in estradiol (E2) and FSH. ...

Mycobacterial phosphatidylinositol mannosides (PIMs) and metabolically derived cell wall lipoglycans play important roles in host-pathogen interactions, but their biosynthetic pathways are poorly understood. Here we focus on Mycobacterium smegmatis PimA, an essential enzyme responsible for the initial mannosylation of phosphatidylinositol. The structure of PimA in complex with GDP-mannose shows...

RATIONALE Coronary endothelial dysfunction (ED)-an early marker of atherosclerosis-increases the risk of cardiovascular events. OBJECTIVE We tested the hypothesis that cholesterol efflux capacity and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) particle concentration predict coronary ED better than HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C). METHODS AND RESULTS We studied 80 subjects with nonobstructive (<30% stenosis) cor...

Introduction Access to CD4+ testing remains a common barrier to early initiation of antiretroviral therapy among persons living with HIV/AIDS in low- and middle-income countries. The feasibility of task-shifting of point-of-care (POC) CD4+ testing to lay health workers in Namibia has not been evaluated. Methods From July to August 2011, Pima CD4+ analysers were used to improve access to CD4+ ...

UNLABELLED BACKGROUND In resource limited settings non-availability of CD4 count facility at the site could adversely affect the ART roll out programme. Point of care CD4 enumerating equipments can make the CD4 count available at the site of care and improve the patients' management considerably. This study is aimed at determining the utility of a Point of Care PIMA CD4 analyzer (Alere, Germ...

In 2009 SIAP made a site visit to the Tucson Pima Arts Council (TPAC) to collaborate on a plan to document TPAC’s impact on civic engagement in Tucson and Pima County. The report begins with a review of the policy context in which the project was undertaken, including the findings of the Pima Cultural Plan. This is followed by a discussion of the proposed strategy and specific recommendations f...

Advanced lines of Pima cotton {Gossypium barbadense L.) bred for higher yield potential and heat resistance have higher stomatal conductance and smaller leaf areas than those of obsolete !ines. In controlled experiments, five commercial lines of Pima cotton having increasing lint yield and heat resistance showed a gradient of increasing stomatal conductance and decreasing leaf size. In field ex...

An evaluation was commissioned to generate evidence on the impact of PIMA point-of-care CD4+ count machines in maternal and new-born child health settings in Zimbabwe; document best practices, lessons learned, challenges, and recommendations related to scale up of this new technology. A mixed methodology approach that included 31 in-depth interviews with stakeholders involved in procurement, di...

BACKGROUND The Alere point-of-care (POC) Pima™ CD4 analyzer allows for decentralized testing and expansion to testing antiretroviral therapy (ART) eligibility. A consortium conducted a pooled multi-data technical performance analysis of the Pima CD4. METHODS Primary data (11,803 paired observations) comprised 22 independent studies between 2009-2012 from the Caribbean, Asia, Sub-Saharan Afric...