Post Art Research Articles

Dominant CD4+ T cell receptors remain stable throughout antiretroviral therapy-mediated immune restoration in people with HIV

In people with HIV (PWH), the post-antiretroviral therapy (ART) window is critical for immune restoration and HIV reservoir stabilization. We employ deep immune profiling and Tcell receptor (TCR) sequencing and examine proliferation to assess how ART impacts Tcell homeostasis. In PWH on long-term ART, lymphocyte frequencies and phenotypes are mostly stable. By contrast, broad phenotypic changes in natural killer (NK) cells, γδ Tcells, B cells, and CD4+ and CD8+ Tcells are observed in the post-ART window. Whereas CD8+ Tcells mostly restore, memory CD4+ T subsets and cytolytic NK cells show incomplete restoration 1.4 years post ART. Surprisingly, the hierarchies and frequencies of dominant CD4 TCR clonotypes (0.1%-11% of all CD4+ Tcells) remain stable post ART, suggesting that clonal homeostasis can be independent of homeostatic processes regulating CD4+ Tcell absolute number, phenotypes, and function. The slow restoration of host immunity post ART also has implications for the design of ART interruption studies.

Creative Art Therapy for Improving Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Patients with Stroke: A Quasi-Interventional Study.

Creative art therapy is a psychotherapeutic approach used to enhance the mental health status of patients. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of creative art therapy on the levels of depression, anxiety, and stress in Jordanian patients following stroke. One-group pretest-posttest design was used; it included four sessions of creative art therapy which were conducted as two sessions for two weeks. This study recruited 85 participants who were within three months poststroke diagnosis. The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale was used to assess the levels of psychological reactions pre and post creative art therapy intervention. The data showed that there was a statistically significant improvement in the levels of depression (t = 37.98; p < .001), anxiety (t = 20.59, p < .001), and stress (t = 35.52, p < .001) post-intervention. There was a statistically significant improvement in the study-related psychological aspects following creative art therapy. The findings of this study suggest that creative art therapy is a valuable method to complement other types of treatments among patients with stroke, resulting in positive patient mental health outcomes. Creative art therapy could be used as a psychotherapeutic approach to manage mental health complexities among patients with stroke. Health policymakers are invited to use the findings of this study to establish tailored counselor services using this new psychotherapeutic approach.

What is post internet art? Toward an understanding of the peculiarities of the revolutionary movement in the new art

What is post internet art? Toward an understanding of the peculiarities of the revolutionary movement in the new art

A Interventional Study of the Carving Art of the Hitching Post Head in Modern Sculpture

Chinese folk art is the embodiment of folkways in China. With the further deepening of people’s ideology, the academic study of folk culture gradually gets away from the previous concept in recent decades, while folk culture has been included in the academic discussion and studied by scholars in depth. The hitching post art carving on the north of Wei River Basin is a representative of folk art. Through in-depth digging and organizing of a large number of documentary materials and historical relics, the hitching post head carving art has become one of the northern folk carving art forms that cannot be ignored in the history of ancient Chinese sculpture. From the study of the artistic expression form of the hitching post head, we see the charm of such folk art form, of which academic value does not only stay in the digging of cultural relics and history, but also has a profound influence on the modern folk carving art.

On Carr’s Eleven-Dimensional Dramaturgy

Contemporary Irish playwright Marina Carr integrates eleven-dimension theory into her post dramatic art creation, forming a unique eleven-dimensional dramaturgy. This unique eleven-dimensional dramaturgy runs through Carr's whole drama creation career, and has different focuses in different periods: in her early drama, Carr concentrated on the expression of the concept of “non-linear time”. In the mid-land drama, she focuses on the creation of “high dimensional space”, while in the later drama of death and fantasy, she focuses on the presentation of “multidimensional worlds”. Finally, with the connection of the eleven-dimensional dramaturgy, Carr created a “non-linear”, “high dimensional” and “multi-dimensional” dynamic post-dramatic theater, and conveyed the eleven-dimensional philosophy of life beyond time and space.

Sarcopenia and Its Association with Vertebral Fractures in People Living with HIV.

The prevalence of chronic diseases is increasing in people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the post ART era. Sarcopenia is prevalent in the elderly and is associated with many chronic diseases. Our study aimed to evaluate the frequency of sarcopenia in PLHIV and its association with bone mineral density and fracture. A cross-sectional study was carried out at Santa Maria, South Brazil. It included PLHV age ≥ 50years and registered to receive antiretroviral therapy. A structured questionnaire was applied, blood samples collected, muscle strength evaluated, body composition measured, and vertebral morphometry performed. Sarcopenia and presarcopenia were defined according to the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People. Of the 101 patients recruited, 83 underwent DXA and muscle strength measurements. The prevalence of sarcopenia and presarcopenia in the individuals studied was 12% and 16.9%, respectively. 66.7% of sarcopenic individuals had morphometric vertebral fractures and there was a tendency towards a higher frequency of multiple vertebral fractures when compared with non-sarcopenic subjects (44.4% vs. 16.2%, p = 0.066). BMI and total hip BMD were significantly lower in sarcopenic than non-sarcopenic individuals (p ≥ 0.035 and 0.032 respectively). In multiple regression analysis, sarcopenia was associated with age and multiple vertebral fractures. Sarcopenia was present in 12% of this population of PLHIV age ≥ 50years and was associated with lower hip BMD and a high prevalence of vertebral fractures.

Dissonant Doppelganger: Performing the Post-Natural Through Modulated Foley Techniques

This mixed media contribution investigates the multiple modes of inscription possible within a practice-based investigation of the Sonic Anthropocene. Drawing upon critical contexts from Geology, Geography and Anthropology, and the relations between writing, bodies and earthly matters, the authors suggest a re-writing occurs in mediated acts such as field recording (phonography). Microphonic translations from the field not only re-inscribe sites, plural; they reveal sound’s itinerant nature to be full of duplicitous and fictive potential. Operating such possibility through the practice of Foley, the post production art of material based sound effects, the authors pivot discussions around their soundwork Decoys (2018) and its attempt to address the urgency of anthropogenic change through a latticing of source and signal, site and studio, subject and observer, human and more-than-human.

The Effect of Time to Postoperative Radiation Therapy on Survival in Resected Merkel Cell Carcinoma.

Delays from surgery to adjuvant radiation therapy (aRT) are associated with poorer prognosis in multiple neoplasms. Presently, no data exist for Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). The authors sought to assess the time interval from surgery to aRT and effect on outcomes in MCC. The National Cancer Database was queried for histologically confirmed nonmetastatic MCC status post resection and aRT diagnosed between 2004 and 2015 who received aRT within 24 weeks of surgery. Kaplan-Meier analysis assessed univariate overall survival (OS); multivariable Cox proportional hazards modeling assessed multivariate OS; χ and logistic regression assessed differences in baseline characteristics and predictors of delayed aRT. Of 5952 patients meeting criteria, 13% commenced aRT within 4 weeks, 48% between 4 and 7 weeks, 23% between 8 and 11 weeks, 11% between 12 and 15 weeks, and 6% between 16 and 24 weeks. There were no differences in OS on the basis of the surgery-aRT interval (P=0.99). Predictors of worse OS on the multivariate analysis included advanced age, greater comorbidities, male sex, lower regional income, earlier year of diagnosis, more advanced tumor and nodal staging, positive margins, head and neck location, and treatment at community facilities (P<0.05 for all). Factors predictive of delayed aRT were identified. Subset analyses on these factors, such as receipt of chemotherapy or positive lymph nodes, did not demonstrate that the timing of aRT affected survival (P≥0.37). This study of a contemporary national database revealed that delays from resection to aRT were not associated with survival in MCC, somewhat discordant from other malignancies such as squamous cell carcinoma.

Brain PET Imaging: Value for Understanding the Pathophysiology of HIV-associated Neurocognitive Disorder (HAND).

The purpose of this review is to summarize recent developments in PET imaging of neuropathologies underlying HIV-associated neurocognitive dysfunction (HAND). We concentrate on the recent post antiretroviral era (ART), highlighting clinical and preclinical brain PET imaging studies. In the post ART era, PET imaging has been used to better understand perturbations of glucose metabolism, neuroinflammation, the function of neurotransmitter systems, and amyloid/tau protein deposition in the brains of HIV-infected patients and HIV animal models. Preclinical and translational findings from those studies shed a new light on the complex pathophysiology underlying HAND. The molecular imaging capabilities of PET in neuro-HIV are great complements for structural imaging modalities. Recent and future PET imaging studies can improve our understanding of neuro-HIV and provide biomarkers of disease progress that could be used as surrogate endpoints in the evaluation of the effectiveness of potential neuroprotective therapies.

Microbial Translocation and Immune Activation in HIV-1 Infected Pregnant Women.

Immune Activation (IA) has been previously documented in both pregnant (PG) and non-PG HIV-1 infected (HIV+) women as well as in HIV- uninfected PG women; the latter as a result of the fetal allograft. To determine whether the combined effects of HIV and pregnancy result in increased IA and whether IA is associated with Microbial Translocation (MT), we performed a prospective, longitudinal, controlled study during pregnancy and the postpartum (PP) period. HIV+ PG women had biomarkers of IA and MT tested at 12-20 weeks (T1), and 24-36 weeks (T2) of pregnancy and at 6-8 weeks Postpartum (T3). HIV+, non-PG women were tested at comparable time points. HIV- PG women were tested at T1 only. HIV+ women were not started on antiretroviral therapy (ART) until T1. Biomarkers of IA assessed included: CD4DR+, CD4CD38+, CD4DR+CD38+, CD8DR+, CD8CD38+, and CD8DR+CD38+. Biomarkers of MT included LPS, sCD14, and 16SrDNA. 30 HIV+PG women, 18 HIV+ non-PG and 10 HIV-PG were enrolled. In the HIV+ women, there were no differences in median age, viral load, % or absolute CD4 at entry. Significant differences between T1 and T2 and between T1 and T3 were noted in CD8DR+CD38+ in HIV+PG women after ART. CD4DR+, CD4DR+CD38+, and CD8DR+ decreased post ART in HIV+PG women but a decline in IA was less evident in HIV+ non-PG. LPS decreased post ART by T3 in both HIV+PG and HIV+ non-PG groups; 16SrDNA was elevated at all time points in both groups when compared to control values, and declined post ART in the HIV+PG group. A subgroup of HIV-PG at T1 had IA and MT as evidenced by several IA markers and increased LPS. The degree of IA and MT was similar among HIV+PG and HIV+ non-PG women followed longitudinally. There was no incremental increase due to the combined effects of HIV and pregnancy. Several markers of IA and MT (LPS, 16SrDNA) decreased post ART. IA and MT occurred in a subgroup of HIV-PG women during the 1st trimester. Further study must be done to confirm whether MT consistently occurs in some healthy women during PG.

The effect of nutritional status on the response to highly active antiretroviral therapy in human immunodeficiency virus-infected children at regional antiretroviral therapy centre in Northern India

Background: Effect of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on growth in children is well established but influence of prior nutritional status on the response to HAART is not well known. Objective: To determine the influence of prior nutritional status on the response to HAART in terms of growth and CD4 counts. Methods: It was a retrospective record review based study conducted at a regional ART centre at a tertiary care, teaching hospital in Northern India. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive children who were naïve to antiretroviral therapy and were initiated on treatment from January 2006 to December 2007 were included in this study. Age, weight, height and CD4 cell counts were recorded at the initiation of HAART and after 24 months of therapy. Data was analyzed using paired t-tests within the groups, Chi-square tests, and one-way analysis of variance. Results: Seventy-nine HIV positive children were included in the study. At baseline, 29% of children were normal weight, 27% moderately underweight and 44% severely underweight with mean CD4 counts 243.30±178.50, 282.95±173.69 and 215.11±85.71 respectively. After 24 months of HAART, mean CD4 cell counts as well as weight for age z scores increased significantly in all 3 groups with mean CD4 counts being 913.61±401.46, 931.24±363.54 and 775.31±424.43 respectively in the groups. There were no significant differences in CD4 counts in the groups both pre and post ART. Conclusion: Underlying malnutrition does not adversely affect growth and immunologic response (increase in CD4 count) to HAART in HIV-infected children.

O renascimento do elo unificador do real na pintura de Kandinsky e Rothko – à luz da espiritualidade da Nova Era

Em cada época e cultura, a arte representa uma visão do mundo, de apreensão do real objetivo e subjetivo, fortemente determinado pelas crenças religiosas dominantes. Desde o Renascimento que a desmitificação do mundo levou ao seu desencantamento. Na arte, e em particular na pintura, este fato motivou a procura de novos elementos plásticos integradores da totalidade na leitura das obras de arte. Nos tempos presentes, a designada pós-arte enfatiza a arte pela arte e a fragmentação do real, sinalizando a perda do sentido existencial e do espiritual na apreensão do mundo. Ainda assim, tanto quando podemos concluir, encontramos nas obras de arte de Kandinsky e Rothko uma representação de real unificado, cuja plena compreensão só se torna possível à luz da narrativa mítica abstrata, quântica e cosmológica da espiritualidade da Nova Era.

Depression and Anxiety Outcomes Associated with Failed Assisted Reproductive Technologies: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

ObjectiveOur study examined the psychological outcomes associated with failed ART treatment outcomes in men and women.Search StrategyA systematic search for studies published between January 1980 and August 2015 was performed across seven electronic databases.Inclusion CriteriaStudies were included if they contained data on psychosocial outcomes taken pre and post ART treatment.Data Extraction and SynthesisA standardised form was used to extract data and was verified by two independent reviewers. Studies were meta-analysed to determine the association of depression and anxiety with ART treatment outcomes. Narrative synthesis identified factors to explain variations in the size and directions of effects and relationships explored within and between the studies.Main ResultsBoth depression and anxiety increased after a ART treatment failure with an overall pooled standardised mean difference (SMD) of 0.41 (95% CI: 0.27, 0.55) for depression and 0.21 (95% CI: 0.13, 0.29) for anxiety. In contrast, depression decreased after a successful treatment, SMD of -0.24 (95% CI: -0.37,-0.11). Both depression and anxiety decreased as time passed from ART procedure. Nonetheless, these remained higher than baseline measures in the group with the failed outcome even six months after the procedure. Studies included in the narrative synthesis also confirmed an association with negative psychological outcomes in relation to marital satisfaction and general well-being following treatment failure.ConclusionLinking ART failure and psychosocial outcomes may elucidate the experience of treatment subgroups, influence deliberations around recommendations for resource allocation and health policy and guide patient and clinician decision making.

Impact of First Line Antiretroviral Therapy on Clinical Outcomes Among HIV-1 Infected Adults Attending One of the Largest HIV Care and Treatment Program in Nairobi Kenya

Objective: This study evaluated the immunologic (CD4 cell count), virological (HIV RNA viral load), hepatic (alanine and aspartate aminotransferase - ALT and AST), renal (creatinine) and hematological (hemoglobin -HB, White Blood Cell - WBC, Lymphocytes - LYM and platelets - PLT) response to a six months ART treatment among HIV participants in Nairobi Kenya. Methods: Blood samples were obtained from 599 consenting HIV infected participants receiving HIV treatment in Nairobi. CD4 cell counts were measured using flow cytometer and viral load determined using real-time polymerase chain reaction. The blood hematology, liver and kidney function tests were also measured. One-way ANOVA and Linear regression analysis were conducted. Results: The median age at ART initiation was 41 years (IQR 35-47 years). The majority of participants (60.3%) were female and 56.1% started on regimens with 2 NRTIs and efavirenz based NNRTI. About 40% of the participants were failing treatment 6 month post ART initiation. The CD4 count significantly increased at the 6-month post ART initiation (301.7 ± 199.4 to 329.4 ± 305.8; P 5 times the upper limit of normal - ULN) and renal abnormalities (elevated serum creatinine levels) were all high at month 6 compared to baseline; ALT (2.5 to 10.5%), AST (5.3 to 23.4%) and creatinine (63.4 to 68.84%). Fewer participants at month 6 had anemia (29.4% verses 56.4%), leucopenia (42.4% vs. 46.9%) and thrombocytopenia (6.5% vs. 84.1%) compared to baseline. In multivariable models, baseline levels of this parameter, ART regimen and duration with HIV at ART initiation were the most important determinant of month 6 levels. Conclusion: These data demonstrate sustained immunologic/virologic response to ART among participants remaining on therapy. Anemia, leucopenia and thrombocytopenia were minimized with marginal hepatotoxicity and renal impairment seen. Interventions leading to earlier HIV diagnosis and initiation of ART could substantially improve patient outcomes in Kenya.

Light on the Lake by Daniel Goldstein

Recognizing the contribution art has had in the Mayo Clinic environment since the original Mayo Clinic Building was finished in 1914; Mayo Clinic Proceedings features some of the numerous works of art displayed throughout the buildings and grounds on Mayo Clinic campuses. Recognizing the contribution art has had in the Mayo Clinic environment since the original Mayo Clinic Building was finished in 1914; Mayo Clinic Proceedings features some of the numerous works of art displayed throughout the buildings and grounds on Mayo Clinic campuses. Daniel Goldstein was born in Mount Vernon, New York, in 1950, and currently resides in San Francisco, California, where he maintains the Daniel Goldstein Studio. He took undergraduate studies at Brandeis University (1968-1970), in Waltham, Massachusetts, but received his BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 1972.1Daniel Goldstein Studio: Bio. http://danielgoldsteinstudio.com/bio/. Accessed May 18, 2015.Google Scholar He completed post graduate art studies at Saint Martins School of Art, in London, England, where he obtained an MFA, in 1974 (personal communication, May 21, 2015 ). Comprising 1000 anodized, laser-cut aluminum slips suspended together, Light on the Lake (11x30x4 ft), shimmers with light bouncing on simulated waves. Like a single bee in a swarm, or one sparrow in a large flock flittering in the wind, each “wave” compiled together provides the sensation of lapping water on the shore and summer breezes feeding the swells, or schools of minnows fighting upstream. Paradox is the word that best describes Goldstein’s exploration of this “large-scale minimalism.”2Daniel Goldstein Studio: Exhibits. http://danielgoldsteinstudio.com/exhibits/. Accessed May 18, 2015.Google Scholar Small things gathered together as one can create grand, powerful things. Goldstein noted his goal with this work was to capture Monet’s Water Lillies in 3-D.3Water Lillies, Claude Monet, WikiArt. http://www.wikiart.org/en/claude-monet/water-lilies-40. Accessed May 21, 2015.Google Scholar He also noted the installation took 3.5 days with assistance from Mayo Clinic staff (personal communication, May 21, 2015). Light on the Lake is located in the lower level lobby of the Jacobson Building on the Rochester campus of Mayo Clinic, and is sponsored by Margaret Shea in honor of her husband, James Shea.

Threats of Life: a review of post biopolitical art

Threats of Life: a review of post biopolitical art

Endothelial function and CNS measures in primary HIV infection pre-and post early ART (P2.314)

Endothelial function and CNS measures in primary HIV infection pre-and post early ART (P2.314)

Studying wall paintings in Berati Castle (Albania): Comparative examination of materials and techniques in XIVth and XVIth century churches

Abstract In this paper the study is focused on the continuation of the Byzantine wall painting iconography in Albania through the study of two characteristic churches of the 14th and 16th centuries situated in the Castle of Berati. The town of Berati has a long history that goes back to the Bronze Age, and the old castle, situated on top of a hill, has always been the nucleus of the town and is still inhabited. Several churches within the castle walls are decorated with beautiful wall paintings and icons, beautiful examples of Byzantine and post Byzantine art and architecture. The techniques used to analyze the samples were optical microscopy, TXRF, micro-FTIR and SEM-EDS. Similar materials were used in the construction of the wall paintings of both churches, marking a continuation in the Byzantine technology in the construction of wall paintings. The presence of calcium carbonate reveals the use of the fresco technique. Colors were rendered by the application of calcite, azurite, green earth, cinnabar, ochres and carbon black. Plaster was composed in all cases mainly of calcite with small amounts of silicates and organic fibers while there were characteristic differences between the plaster samples of the church of the 16th century in the presence of gypsum, originating to its use by the painter as a constituent element. All painted samples suffered from deterioration, identified even visually.

News Reports

AbstractThe Midwestern College Art Conference met on October 30 and 31 at the University of Illinois with eighteen accredited members and twenty-four guests present. President Stanley Sessler of Notre Dame University was chairman. Wallace S. Baldinger and Laurentza Schantz-Hansen presented papers on post war planning and art in the war. William H. Varnum talked about the meetings of other regional art associations. The minimum requirements for the accrediting of art teachers at the elementary and high school levels was the subject of a report by James G. Van Derpool. His recommendations were approved by the conference.