HIV-1 subtype variability and transmitted drug resistance in a culturally diverse population in Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Unlabelled: Background Transmitted human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) drug resistance (TDR) is an important contributor to antiretroviral treatment failure, and is associated with HIV-1 transmission among men who have sex with men (MSM), non-MSM clusters and individuals diagnosed with concurrent sexually transmissible infections (STI). Western Sydney has a culturally diverse population, with a high proportion of non-Australian-born individuals. This study describes the prevalence of TDR and non-B HIV-1 subtypes in a clinic-based population.

Two-step yielding and directional strain-induced strengthening in dilute colloidal gels.

We investigate the nonlinear rheology of dilute, depletion-induced colloidal gels and report that these systems yield via a two-step process. We propose the two yield points to be associated with interparticle bond rotation and bond breakage, respectively. These distinct yielding mechanisms lead to remarkable creep profiles at intermediate values of the applied stress, highlighted by an anisotropic shear-induced strengthening and flow arrest at very large accumulated strains (γ∼ 80).

Characteristics of pickering emulsion gels formed by droplet bridging.

We experimentally characterize the microstructure and rheology of a carefully designed mixture of immiscible fluids and near-neutral-wetting colloidal particles. Particle bridging across two fluid interfaces provides a route to highly stable gel-like emulsions at volume fractions of the dispersed phase well below the random close-packing limit for spheres. We investigate the microstructural origins of this behavior by confocal microscopy and reveal a percolating network of colloidal particles that serves as a cohesive scaffold, bridging together droplets of the dispersed phase.

Real-time synthesis of sparsely interconnected neural associative memories.

The problem of implementing associative memories using sparsely interconnected generalized Brain-State-in-a-Box (gBSB) network is addressed in this paper. In particular, a "designer" neural network that synthesizes the associative memories is proposed. An upper bound on the time required for the designer network to reach a solution is determined.