Bilateral multifocal inner retinitis following a viral illness, likely Covid-19.

Purpose: To describe a young female patient who presented with unilateral vision loss with multiple bilateral inner retinal lesions after a non-specific viral illness, likely Covid -19.

Methods: Case Report: We reviewed the medical record, examined the retina, OCT images and fundus fluorescein angiogram of the patient along with the relevant medical literature.

Results: The patient presented to our Emergency Department at Moorfields Eye Hospital with a two-week history of new onset floaters and blurred vision in her right eye.

The activity of early-life gene regulatory elements is hijacked in aging through pervasive AP-1-linked chromatin opening.

A mechanistic connection between aging and development is largely unexplored. Through profiling age-related chromatin and transcriptional changes across 22 murine cell types, analyzed alongside previous mouse and human organismal maturation datasets, we uncovered a transcription factor binding site (TFBS) signature common to both processes. Early-life candidate cis-regulatory elements (cCREs), progressively losing accessibility during maturation and aging, are enriched for cell-type identity TFBSs.

Empowering people living with HIV (PLHIV): unveiling care gaps and identifying opportunities for improving care for PLHIV in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Introduction: This study explored the behaviours of people living with HIV in Singapore and Hong Kong in terms of achieving and maintaining their physical and psychological wellbeing in relation to HIV, to identify the challenges and support needed in HIV care.

Methods: This qualitative study involved 90-minute interviews among Singapore and Hong Kong people living with HIV aged ≥18 years to explore health-related quality of life perceptions and gaps in patient empowerment in HIV care during February-May 2022. The COM-B (C: Capability; O: Opportunity; M: Motivation; B: Behaviour) framework was used during data analysis to identify behaviour facilitators and barriers for people living with HIV to achieve and maintain their wellbeing.

Evaluating an Innovative HIV Self-Testing Service With Web-Based, Real-Time Counseling Provided by an Artificial Intelligence Chatbot (HIVST-Chatbot) in Increasing HIV Self-Testing Use Among Chinese Men Who Have Sex With Men: Protocol for a Noninferiority Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Counseling support for HIV self-testing (HIVST) users is essential to ensure support and linkage to care among men who have sex with men (MSM). An HIVST service with web-based real-time instruction, pretest, and posttest counseling provided by trained administrators (HIVST-OIC) was developed by previous projects. Although the HIVST-OIC was highly effective in increasing HIVST uptake and the proportion of HIVST users receiving counseling along with testing, it required intensive resources to implement and sustain.

An Online Intervention Promoting HIV Testing Service Utilization Among Chinese men who have sex with men During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A quasi-experimental Study.

The COVID-19 pandemic created disruptions in HIV testing service utilization among men who have sex with men (MSM). The present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an online health promotion program implemented by a community-based organization (CBO) in increasing the uptake of any type of HIV testing and home-based HIV self-testing (HIVST) over a six-month follow-up period. Participants of an observational prospective cohort study conducted during the same period served as the comparison group.

Would Chinese Men Who Have Sex With Men Take Up Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Screening as an Alternative Prevention Strategy to HPV Vaccination?

Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are at high risk for human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. A community-based organization (CBO)-private clinic service model promoting HPV vaccination among MSM was implemented in Hong Kong. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of this service model in increasing HPV screening among MSM.

Disruption of HIV Service Provision and Response in Hong Kong During COVID-19: Issues of Privacy and Space.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sexual and reproductive health and rights is a significant public health issue. HIV/AIDS related services have been severely disrupted during the pandemic in different aspects. This paper highlights how privacy concerns affected HIV service provision during COVID-19 in Hong Kong, by sharing the experience of AIDS Concern Hong Kong.

Effectiveness of a Community-Based Organization-Private Clinic Service Model in Promoting Human Papillomavirus Vaccination among Chinese Men Who Have Sex with Men.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the community-based organization (CBO)-private clinic service model in increasing human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination uptake among unvaccinated men who have sex with men (MSM) in Hong Kong during a 12-month follow-up period. A CBO-private clinic model was implemented to promote HPV vaccination among Chinese MSM. A CBO with good access to MSM approached MSM aged 18-45 years who had never received an HPV vaccination, invited them to receive an online health promotion, and referred them to receive HPV vaccination at gay-friendly private clinics.

Factors Predicting Uptake of Sexually Transmitted Infections Testing among Men Who Have Sex with Men Who Are "Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Tourists"-An Observational Prospective Cohort Study.

The term "Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) tourists" refers to individuals who obtain PrEP in other countries and use it in their home countries. A prospective observational cohort study was conducted among a group of men who have sex with men (MSM) who obtained PrEP in private clinics in Thailand and used it in Hong Kong. Participants completed two web-based self-administered surveys when obtaining PrEP in Thailand and three months afterwards.

Effectiveness of a Novel HIV Self-Testing Service with Online Real-Time Counseling Support (HIVST-Online) in Increasing HIV Testing Rate and Repeated HIV Testing among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Hong Kong: Results of a Pilot Implementation Project.

HIV self-testing (HIVST) with online real-time counseling (HIVST-online) is an evidence-based intervention to increase HIV testing coverage and to ensure linkage to care for men who have sex with men (MSM). A community-based organization (CBO) recruited 122 MSM who had ever used HIVST-online (ever-users) and another 228 new-users from multiple sources and promoted HIVST-online. A free oral fluid-based HIVST kit was sent to all the participants by mail.

Gelatin-Based 3D Microgels for In Vitro T Lineage Cell Generation.

T cells are predominantly produced by the thymus and play a significant role in maintaining our adaptive immune system. Physiological involution of the thymus occurs gradually with age, compromising naive T cell output, which can have severe clinical complications. Also, T cells are utilized as therapeutic agents in cancer immunotherapies.

Prevalence of and factors associated with behavioral intention to take up home-based HIV self-testing among male clients of female sex workers in China - an application of the Theory of Planned Behavior.

HIV self-testing (HIVST) is a useful means to increase coverage of HIV testing but under-utilized by male clients of female sex workers (MCFSW) in China. This study investigated the prevalence of and factors associated with behavioral intention to take up HIVST in the next year among MCFSW in Hong Kong, China. We recruited Chinse-speaking adult men who had patronized at least one female sex worker in the past six months.

Gender Disparity Impacts on Thymus Aging and LHRH Receptor Antagonist-Induced Thymic Reconstitution Following Chemotherapeutic Damage.

One of the main consequences of thymus aging is the decrease in naïve T cell output. This condition accelerates at the onset of puberty, and presents as a major clinical complication for cancer patients who require cytoablative therapy. Specifically, the extensive use of chemotherapeutics, such as cyclophosphamide, in such treatments damage thymic structure and eliminate the existing naïve T cell repertoire.

Multipotent RAG1+ progenitors emerge directly from haemogenic endothelium in human pluripotent stem cell-derived haematopoietic organoids.

Defining the ontogeny of the human adaptive immune system during embryogenesis has implications for understanding childhood diseases including leukaemias and autoimmune conditions. Using RAG1:GFP human pluripotent stem cell reporter lines, we examined human T-cell genesis from pluripotent-stem-cell-derived haematopoietic organoids. Under conditions favouring T-cell development, RAG1+ cells progressively upregulated a cohort of recognized T-cell-associated genes, arresting development at the CD4+CD8+ stage.

Decreased maternal serum acetate and impaired fetal thymic and regulatory T cell development in preeclampsia.

Maternal immune dysregulation seems to affect fetal or postnatal immune development. Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-associated disorder with an immune basis and is linked to atopic disorders in offspring. Here we show reduction of fetal thymic size, altered thymic architecture and reduced fetal thymic regulatory T (Treg) cell output in preeclamptic pregnancies, which persists up to 4 years of age in human offspring.

Interplay between Follistatin, Activin A, and BMP4 Signaling Regulates Postnatal Thymic Epithelial Progenitor Cell Differentiation during Aging.

A key feature of immune functional impairment with age is the progressive involution of thymic tissue responsible for naive T cell production. In this study, we identify two major phases of thymic epithelial cell (TEC) loss during aging: a block in mature TEC differentiation from the pool of immature precursors, occurring at the onset of puberty, followed by impaired bipotent TEC progenitor differentiation and depletion of Sca-1 cTEC and mTEC lineage-specific precursors. We reveal that an increase in follistatin production by aging TECs contributes to their own demise.

Autoimmune-Mediated Thymic Atrophy Is Accelerated but Reversible in RelB-Deficient Mice.

Polymorphisms impacting thymic function may decrease peripheral tolerance and hasten autoimmune disease. The NF-κB transcription factor subunit, RelB, is essential for the development and differentiation of medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs): RelB-deficient mice have reduced thymic cellularity and markedly fewer mTECs, lacking AIRE. The precise mechanism of this mTEC reduction in the absence of RelB is unclear.

Inflammation and Thymus Ageing.

The thymus is primarily responsible for T cell production. However, it begins to recede in size and function, from early in life. This decreased generation of naive T cells during normal thymus ageing, or linked with pathology (i.

Native thymic extracellular matrix improves in vivo thymic organoid T cell output, and drives in vitro thymic epithelial cell differentiation.

Although the thymus is a primary lymphoid organ, its function is compromised by an age-induced loss of resident epithelial cells, which results in reduced naïve T cell output. This has important implications for immune recovery in aged and elderly patients following damage from cytoablative therapies. As thymic architecture plays a crucial role in naïve T cell development, a tissue specific scaffold that provides essential supporting matrix may assist in stem cell-based thymus regeneration to recreate complex organoids.

A novel Foxn1 mouse model identifies Bmp4-induced maintenance of Foxn1 expression and thymic epithelial progenitor populations.

Although forkhead-box n1 (Foxn1) is a critical thymic epithelial cell regulator in thymus organogenesis, its association with epithelial differentiation and homeostasis in the postnatal and aged thymic microenvironment remains conflicting. Consequently, we have generated a Foxn1 knock-in mouse model that allows for refined investigation of the aging thymic epithelium. This reporter line differs from those previously published in that concomitant expression of enhanced green fluorescent protein enables live cell sorting of Foxn1 cell populations.

Self-in-love versus self-in-stigma: implications of relationship quality and love attitudes on self-stigma and mental health among HIV-positive men having sex with men.

The present study examines the mediating effect of love attitude on the associations between relationship quality with self-stigma and mental health among HIV-positive men having sex with men (MSM). Participants included 211 HIV-positive MSM (M = 41.77 years, SD = 11.

In situ-forming click-crosslinked gelatin based hydrogels for 3D culture of thymic epithelial cells.

Hydrogels prepared from naturally derived gelatin can provide a suitable environment for cell attachment and growth, making them favourable materials in tissue engineering. However, physically crosslinked gelatin hydrogels are not stable under physiological conditions while chemical crosslinking of gelatin by radical polymerization may be harmful to cells. In this study, we attached the norbornene functional group to gelatin, which was subsequently crosslinked with a polyethylene glycol (PEG) linker via the nitrile oxide-norbornene click reaction.