The role of viral introductions in sustaining community-based HIV epidemics in rural Uganda: evidence from spatial clustering, phylogenetics, and egocentric transmission models.

Background: It is often assumed that local sexual networks play a dominant role in HIV spread in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which continued HIV transmission in rural communities--home to two-thirds of the African population--is driven by intra-community sexual networks versus viral introductions from outside of communities.

Methods And Findings: We analyzed the spatial dynamics of HIV transmission in rural Rakai District, Uganda, using data from a cohort of 14,594 individuals within 46 communities.

Short communication: Colony-forming hematopoietic progenitor cells are not preferentially infected by HIV type 1 subtypes A and D in vivo.

HIV subtype C has previously been shown to infect hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) at a significantly higher rate than subtype B. To better understand the subtype-specific nature of HPC infection, we examined the prevalence of HPC infection in vivo by HIV-1 subtypes A and D. HIV-1 infection of HPC was examined in 40 individuals, 19 infected with subtype A and 21 with subtype D, using a single colony assay format.

Factors associated with incorrect identification of recent HIV infection using the BED capture immunoassay.

The BED capture enzyme immunoassay (BED-CEIA) was developed for estimating HIV incidence from cross-sectional data. This assay misclassifies some individuals with nonrecent HIV infection as recently infected, leading to overestimation of HIV incidence. We analyzed factors associated with misclassification by the BED-CEIA.

Responsiveness of 2 procedures for measurement of temporal and spatial gait parameters in older adults.

Objective: To determine the responsiveness of the GAITRite system and a stopwatch-footfall count technique for measurement of walking speed, cadence, and stride length during comfortable and fast-paced walking.

Design: Criterion standard.

Setting: Research laboratory in a physical therapy education program.

Number of strides required for reliable measurements of pace, rhythm and variability parameters of gait during normal and dual task walking in older individuals.

The reliability with which spatiotemporal gait parameters are measured has neither been well-established for variability parameters nor during dual task walking. The purpose of this study was to examine test-retest reliability of three gait parameters representing pace, rhythm and variability in healthy older persons during normal and dual task walking and to determine the number of strides necessary to measure the parameters reliably. Twenty-four healthy adults aged 65 or older participated in the study.