Wnt16 Increases Bone-to-Implant Contact in an Osteopenic Rat Model by Increasing Proliferation and Regulating the Differentiation of Bone Marrow Stromal Cells.

Osseointegration is a complex biological cascade that regulates bone regeneration after implant placement. Implants possessing complex multiscale surface topographies augment this regenerative process through the regulation of bone marrow stromal cells (MSCs) that are in contact with the implant surface. One pathway regulating osteoblastic differentiation is Wnt signaling, and upregulation of non-canonical Wnts increases differentiation of MSCs on these titanium substrates.

Mortality Among Persons With HIV in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Population-Level Analysis.

Background: Whether the COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on mortality among persons with diagnosed HIV (PWDH) in the United States is unclear. Through our macroscale analysis, we seek to better understand how the COVID-19 pandemic affected mortality among PWDH.

Methods: We obtained mortality and population data for the years 2018-2020 from the National HIV Surveillance System for the US PWDH population and from publicly available data for the general population.

Bone marrow stromal cells generate an osteoinductive microenvironment when cultured on titanium-aluminum-vanadium substrates with biomimetic multiscale surface roughness.

Osseointegration of titanium-based implants possessing complex macroscale/microscale/mesoscale/nanoscale (multiscale) topographies support a direct and functional connection with native bone tissue by promoting recruitment, attachment and osteoblastic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells (MSCs). Recent studies show that the MSCs on these surfaces produce factors, including bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2) that can cause MSCs not on the surface to undergo osteoblast differentiation, suggesting they may produce an osteogenic environment. This study examined if soluble factors produced by MSCs in contact with titanium-aluminum-vanadium (Ti6Al4V) implants possessing a complex multiscale biomimetic topography are able to induce osteogenesis ectopically.

Assessing concordance of HIV risk behaviors collected by different surveillance systems.

Objectives: Assess concordance of assigned transmission category between National HIV Surveillance System (NHSS) and Medical Monitoring Project (MMP); assess persistence of behaviors by comparing transmission category to current behavior.

Design: Retrospective analysis of HIV surveillance data.

Methods: For 4034 participants in the 2016 MMP cycle, transmission category was assigned in NHSS and MMP by applying a hierarchy to acquisition risk behaviors and selecting the most likely risk behavior that led to HIV acquisition.

Change in unemployment by social vulnerability among United States counties with rapid increases in COVID-19 incidence-July 1-October 31, 2020.

Objective: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the unemployment rate in the United States peaked at 14.8% in April 2020. We examined patterns in unemployment following this peak in counties with rapid increases in COVID-19 incidence.

Clinical Outcomes of Adults With Diagnosed HIV Living in Ending the HIV Epidemic Priority Areas, Medical Monitoring Project, 2018.

Objectives: The Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative prioritizes treatment and prevention efforts in counties where most new HIV diagnoses occur and states with substantial incidence of new HIV diagnoses in rural areas. Understanding the characteristics of adults with HIV living in EHE priority areas, and how these characteristics compare with adults with HIV living in non-EHE priority areas, can inform EHE efforts.

Methods: We analyzed data from the 2018 Medical Monitoring Project (MMP) to understand the characteristics of adults with HIV living in 36 of 48 EHE priority counties; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and 1 of 7 EHE priority states.

Estimated Annual Number of HIV Infections ─ United States, 1981-2019.

The first cases of Pneumocystis carinii (jirovecii) pneumonia among young men, which were subsequently linked to HIV infection, were reported in the MMWR on June 5, 1981 (1). At year-end 2019, an estimated 1.2 million persons in the United States were living with HIV infection (2).

Benchtop plasma treatment of titanium surfaces enhances cell response.

Objective: Modifications to implant surface properties, including topography, chemistry, and wettability, alter immune response, osteoblast differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells (MSCs), and implant integration in vivo. Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma treatment has been used to sterilize surfaces and remove adsorbed carbon, improving wettability. However, unless it is used immediately prior to placement, ambient atmospheric hydrocarbons rapidly adhere to the surface, thereby reducing its hydrophilicity.

Vital Signs: Deaths Among Persons with Diagnosed HIV Infection, United States, 2010-2018.

Background: Life expectancy for persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection who receive recommended treatment can approach that of the general population, yet HIV remains among the 10 leading causes of death among certain populations. Using surveillance data, CDC assessed progress toward reducing deaths among persons with diagnosed HIV (PWDH).

Methods: CDC analyzed National HIV Surveillance System data for persons aged ≥13 years to determine age-adjusted death rates per 1,000 PWDH during 2010-2018.

Growth factors produced by bone marrow stromal cells on nanoroughened titanium-aluminum-vanadium surfaces program distal MSCs into osteoblasts via BMP2 signaling.

Statement of Clinical Significance: There remains the need to develop materials and surfaces that can increase the rate of implant osseointegration. Though osteoanabolic agents, like bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), can provide signaling for osteogenesis, the appropriate design of implants can also produce an innate cellular response that may reduce or eliminate the need to use additional agents to stimulate bone formation. Studies show that titanium implant surfaces that mimic the physical properties of osteoclast resorption pits regulate cellular responses of bone marrow stromal cells (MSCs) by altering cell morphology, transcriptomes, and local factor production to increase their differentiation into osteoblasts without osteogenic media supplements required for differentiation of MSCs on tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS).

Brief Report: Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Sustained Viral Suppression and Transmission Risk Potential Among Persons Aged 13-29 Years Living With Diagnosed HIV Infection, United States, 2016.

Background: In 2016, persons aged 13-29 years represented 23.1% of the US population, yet accounted for 41.7% of HIV diagnoses.

Informing Data to Care: Contacting Persons Sampled for the Medical Monitoring Project.

Background: Data to care (D2C) is a public health strategy that uses HIV surveillance and other data to identify persons in need of HIV medical care. The Medical Monitoring Project (MMP), which uses similar methods to contact and recruit HIV-positive persons, may inform predictors of successful contact for D2C programs.

Setting: MMP is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded surveillance system that collects nationally representative data on adults with diagnosed HIV in the United States and Puerto Rico.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic Control in the United States: An Assessment of Proposed UNAIDS Metrics, 2010-2015.

Epidemic control is necessary to eliminate human immunodeficiency virus infections. We assessed epidemic control in the United States by applying 4 proposed UNAIDS metrics to national surveillance data collected between 2010 and 2015. Although epidemic control in the United States is possible, progress by UNAIDS metrics has been mixed.

Linking HIV and Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Data: Evaluating a Standard, Deterministic Matching Algorithm Using Data From 6 US Health Jurisdictions.

Accurate interpretations and comparisons of record linkage results across jurisdictions require valid and reliable matching methods. We compared existing matching methods used by 6 US state and local health departments (Houston, Texas; Louisiana; Michigan; New York, New York; North Dakota; and Wisconsin) to link human immunodeficiency virus and viral hepatitis surveillance data with a 14-key automated, hierarchical deterministic matching method. Applicable years of study varied by disease and jurisdiction, ranging from 1979 to 2016.

HIV and viral hepatitis coinfection analysis using surveillance data from 15 US states and two cities.

Coinfection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and viral hepatitis is associated with high morbidity and mortality in the absence of clinical management, making identification of these cases crucial. We examined characteristics of HIV and viral hepatitis coinfections by using surveillance data from 15 US states and two cities. Each jurisdiction used an automated deterministic matching method to link surveillance data for persons with reported acute and chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, to persons reported with HIV infection.

Survival After HIV Infection Stage 3 (AIDS) Diagnosis, by Population Density Areas, United States, 2005-2010.

Objectives: We examined the survival rates after diagnosis of HIV infection stage 3 (AIDS) in the United States by population density area of residence at diagnosis.

Methods: We used data from the National HIV Surveillance System to calculate survival rates among people aged ≥13 with HIV infection stage 3 (AIDS) diagnosed from 2005 through 2010. We determined survival rates for more than 12, 24, and 36 months after diagnosis; overall and by demographic characteristics; and across 3 population density area categories (large metropolitan statistical areas [MSAs, ≥500 000 people], small-to-medium MSAs [50 000 to 499 999 people], and nonmetropolitan areas [<50 000 people]).

Lifetime and age-conditional risk of human immunodeficiency virus diagnosis, Missouri, 1998-2007.

Lifetime and age-conditional probabilities of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) diagnosis risk in Missouri were assessed using cross-sectional HIV diagnosis and mortality rates. An increased lifetime risk of HIV diagnosis was associated with males, blacks, and persons residing in metropolitan areas. The estimates emphasize the disparity in risk by race/ethnicity and area of residence.

Impact of reproductive efficiency over time and mare financial value on economic returns among Thoroughbred mares in central Kentucky.

Reason For Performing Study: There have been no studies reporting the impact of reproductive efficiency and mare financial value on economic returns.

Objective: To explore the economic consequences of differences in reproductive efficiency over time in the Thoroughbred mare.

Methods: Complete production records for 1176 mares were obtained.

Reproductive performance measures among Thoroughbred mares in central Kentucky, during the 2004 mating season.

Reason For Performing Study: To improve efficiency at the farm level, a better understanding of how farm management factors impact reproductive performance is important.

Objective: To assess reproductive efficiency and effectiveness among Thoroughbred mares in central Kentucky.

Methods: A cohort of 1011 mares on 13 farms in central Kentucky was followed during the 2004 mating and 2005 foaling season.