Projecting the Potential Clinical and Economic Impact of HIV Prevention Resource Reallocation in Tennessee.

Background: In 2023, Tennessee replaced $6.2 M in US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention funding with state funds to redirect support away from men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender women (TGW), and heterosexual Black women (HSBW) and to prioritize instead first responders (FR), pregnant people (PP), and survivors of sex trafficking (SST).

Methods: We used a simulation model of HIV disease to compare the clinical impact of Current, the present allocation of condoms, preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and HIV testing to CDC priority risk groups (MSM/TGW/HSBW); with Reallocation, funding instead increased HIV testing and linkage of Tennessee-determined priority populations (FR/PP/SST).

High-resolution single-particle cryo-EM of samples vitrified in boiling nitro-gen.

Based on work by Dubochet and others in the 1980s and 1990s, samples for single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) have been vitrified using ethane, propane or ethane/propane mixtures. These liquid cryogens have a large difference between their melting and boiling temperatures and so can absorb substantial heat without formation of an insulating vapor layer adjacent to a cooling sample. However, ethane and propane are flammable, they must be liquified in liquid nitro-gen immediately before cryo-EM sample preparation, and cryocooled samples must be transferred to liquid nitro-gen for storage, complicating workflows and increasing the chance of sample damage during handling.

Integrated sample-handling and mounting system for fixed-target serial synchrotron crystallography.

Serial synchrotron crystallography (SSX) is enabling the efficient use of small crystals for structure-function studies of biomolecules and for drug discovery. An integrated SSX system has been developed comprising ultralow background-scatter sample holders suitable for room and cryogenic temperature crystallographic data collection, a sample-loading station and a humid `gloveless' glovebox. The sample holders incorporate thin-film supports with a variety of designs optimized for different crystal-loading challenges.