, 1990; Wu et al., 1999; Martínez et al., 2004; Burtnick et al., 2007). In addition to being activated by NtrC, the PatzR promoter is one of the few documented σ54-dependent promoters subjected to negative regulation. This rare phenomenon has been shown to occur by an antiactivation mechanism, in which the repressor prevents productive interactions between the EBP and RNA polymerase (Feng et al., 1995; Martin-Verstraete et al., 1995; Wang et al., 1998; Mao et al., 2007). In contrast, Dabrafenib ic50 AtzR represses its own synthesis by interacting with the PatzR promoter region at a site overlapping PatzR

and competing with σ54-RNA polymerase for DNA binding (Porrúa et al., 2009). Although this is arguably the most common mechanism of repression for σ70-dependent promoters (Rojo, 1999), such a

mechanism has not been described previously for σ54-dependent promoters. There is a clear correlation between the unusual activation and repression mechanisms operating at the PatzR promoter. A repression mechanism involving interference with DNA looping or NtrC binding to DNA, as described for other σ54-dependent promoters, is not expected check details to prevent UAS-independent activation. On the other hand, because of the requirement of a stable closed complex for efficient UAS-independent activation, competition with σ54-RNA polymerase for DNA binding appears to be an adequate repression mechanism. It has been shown that AtzR is present at limiting concentrations in the cell even under inducing conditions (Porrúa et al., 2009). Competition with RNA polymerase for strong binding to the promoter may be a means to ensure that an excess of AtzR is not synthesized under any conditions. As shown above, the architecture of the PatzDEF promoter region is in general similar to that most often observed with LTTR-activated promoters (Fig. 3). In addition, the mechanism of cyanuric acid-dependent activation by AtzR shares the main features of the ‘sliding dimer’ model of inducer-dependent activation as described

for several other LTTRs (Maddocks & Oyston, 2008). However, recent work has revealed some unusual intricacies in the interaction of AtzR with the atzR-atzDEF promoter region (Fig. 4). In the complex AtzR-binding site, the RBS is the primary recognition element (Porrúa et al., 2007), whereas Vildagliptin ABS-3 is the main binding determinant within the ABS (Porrúa et al., 2010). Interaction with the RBS and ABS-3 elements occurs preferentially in the absence of stimuli and causes a sharp bend in DNA. Under these conditions, the ABS-3 subsite acts as a ‘subunit trap’ that prevents signal-independent activation of the PatzDEF promoter by sequestering AtzR in an activation-deficient conformation (Porrúa et al., 2010) (Fig. 4b). Upon interaction with the inducer, the AtzR–DNA complex is stably rearranged into a more compact conformation in which AtzR is bound to the ABS-1 and ABS-2 subsites, the DNA bending angle is relaxed and transcriptional activation occurs (Fig. 4c).

Existing arrangements for monitoring community pharmacies in England: can they have a role in the revalidation of pharmacists? Res Soc Admin Pharm 2013; 9: 166–177. (11) Elvey R, Schafheutle EI, Jacobs S, Jee SD, Hassell K, Noyce PR. Revalidation arrangements for pharmacy professionals

in industry and academia in Great Britain: a qualitative study. Res Soc Admin Pharm 2013; 9: 178–187. (12) Schafheutle EI, Hassell K, Noyce PR. Ensuring continuing fitness to practice in the pharmacy workforce: understanding Selleckchem Pexidartinib the challenges of revalidation. Res Soc Admin Pharm 2013; 9: 199–214. (13) Bradley F, Schafheutle EI, Willis S, Noyce PR. Changes to supervision in community pharmacy: pharmacist and pharmacy support staff views. Health and Social Care in the Community 2013; 21: 644–654. (14) Schafheutle EI, Bradley F, Willis SC, Noyce PR. Can supervision learn more relaxation undermine patient safety in community pharmacy?

Pharm J 2014 Jan 18; 292: 60–61. “
“This study aimed to identify issues in diabetes self-management in an Australian Maltese community with type 2 diabetes mellitus, and to identify opportunities for community pharmacies to offer self-management support to these populations. Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted. A maximum variation sample was recruited from La Vallette Social Centre, Sydney, and interviewed by the investigator. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and iteratively coded into themes by constant comparison using computer software. Cultural predictors of adherence were analysed. Twenty-four participants were interviewed.

Themes included diabetes knowledge, self-management behaviours, cultural predictors of adherence and interest in community pharmacy disease management services. Diabetes knowledge was generally limited. Although most participants practised some self-monitoring of blood glucose they lacked knowledge of practice recommendations. Participants generally undertook regular physical activity, though adherence to diet varied according to social influences. Cultural influences on perceptions included attitudes to practitioners, treatment and peer experiences. Enablers included attitudes towards financial independence and social integration while nurturers included family and community support. Participants expressed interest in accessing more support from their community Carbohydrate pharmacy due to ease of access and interest in learning more about diabetes. Patients from different backgrounds experience unique barriers to care, including poor written literacy and limited access to diabetes education, many of which are unrecognised by patients or practitioners. Pharmacists should become more proactive in offering culturally appropriate diabetes self-management support to these populations. Research into pharmacist perspectives of patient issues could identify training needs and guide strategies to improve their cultural competence.

g. ‘I’d like a packet of ibuprofen’, yet this type of consultation occurs most www.selleckchem.com/products/Rapamycin.html frequently.[7] Conversely, consultations that involve greater

communication between the patient and staff member, such as advice requests, e.g. ‘I need something for thrush’, are more likely to result in more counselling behaviour and an appropriate outcome.[1] A systematic review of communication between patients and health professionals about medicine taking and prescribing in general,[8] found that few patients ask pharmacists (or pharmacy staff) about their medicines, with one of the reasons being that they lack awareness about which questions they could or should ask. Most patients did not expect to be questioned when purchasing a NPM, but agreed that it was important for pharmacy staff to ask about the condition for which Vincristine mouse they were buying the medicine, and who would be using

the medicine.[8] A linguistic analysis of consultations for NPMs confirmed that patients provide information when asked for it, but this relies upon pharmacy staff asking the relevant questions.[9] In the UK, most consultations for NPMs are dealt with by medicine counter assistants (MCAs)[1] who are trained members of the pharmacy team. In the early 1990s, a mnemonic called ‘WWHAM’ was introduced to promote more structured information gathering during consultations for NPMs.[10] WWHAM refers to Who is the medicine for?; What are the symptoms?; How long have the symptoms been present?; Any other medication tried?; and

other Medication currently used? Similar frameworks are used in other countries. Much of the empirical research by Watson et al.,[11] which informed this current study explored the use of WWHAM[11] and a positive association was shown between the extent of counselling and the number of WWHAM questions asked or elicited and the likelihood of ADP ribosylation factor an appropriate outcome.[11] Interventions are needed to promote better communication between patients and pharmacy staff during consultations for NPMs and thus improve outcome. However, without knowing the key factors that influence patient communication during these consultations, a systematic approach to intervention development and evaluation would not be possible. For example, interventions could be developed to target patient knowledge about medicines, but if knowledge was not the major factor involved in sharing information during these consultations, the intervention would be ineffective. The value of having an explicit, evidence-based theoretical model has been emphasised in the Medical Research Council (MRC) Framework for the development of complex interventions.[12, 13] This incremental approach to development and evaluation is effective and efficient in targeting interventions at behaviours or factors that are most likely to result in the desired outcome.

Moreover, in this TEM analysis, the lipC mutant revealed no significant differences in piliation (Fig. 2). The cells used for a series of TEM experiments were taken from swarming plates because this motility form requires both cell appendages, respectively. The fact that both were present in the lipC mutant in combination with the residual, but the considerable level of all motility forms suggests that LipC does not affect the biosynthesis of type IV pilus and flagella, but is required for the proper function of these organelles. Rhamnolipids as self-produced biosurfactants have been

shown to be involved in the modification of the cell surface properties of P. aeruginosa and influence Selleckchem Enzalutamide motility (Al-Tahhan et al., 2000; Caiazza et al., 2005). In the presence of hydrophobic compounds, rhamnolipids mediate the release of lipopolysaccharide molecules from the cell surface (Al-Tahhan et al., 2000). A reduction in cell surface hydrophobicity observed for the lipC mutant (data not shown) may therefore indicate an altered production level of rhamnolipids. Hence, we have analysed and quantified the rhamnolipids present

in culture supernatants IDH inhibitor obtained from the wild type and the lipC mutant of P. aeruginosa (Fig. 3). Compared with the wild type, the lipC mutant showed reduced levels of rhamnolipids, which were found to be statistically significant. Interestingly, the total yield of rhamnolipid increased over wild-type levels when LipC was overexpressed from the plasmid pBBLCH, indicating that the amount of LipC enzyme present within the cells directly influences rhamnolipid production. Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm formation depends on several cellular functions. Flagella and type IV pili have been described to be essential for initial adhesion, spreading of the cells on the substratum and maturation of the typical mushroom-like structures of P. aeruginosa Metalloexopeptidase biofilms, respectively (Klausen et al., 2003). In addition, rhamnolipids play a role in the development and maintenance of these structures (Davey et al., 2003). Because the lipC mutant was also impaired in motility, we assumed that biofilm formation would also be affected. Analysis

by CLSM revealed major qualitative and quantitative differences in the three-dimensional composition of biofilms formed by P. aeruginosa wild type and the lipC mutant. Whereas the wild type formed well-structured biofilms after 4 days of growth, the biofilms of the lipC mutant were smooth, with most of the cells being evenly spread on the substratum (Fig. 4). In these biofilms, only a few isolated very large colony-like structures silhouetted against an otherwise flat, but dense layer of cells. These mound-like structures lacked the apical caps of typical mushroom-like structures and appeared with a considerable space between each other. The biomass of the mutant biofilms measured with the comstat analysis software was increased by a factor of two (Table 2).

, 2004) injected into the cortex transduces almost exclusively

neurons locally near the injection site. The GFP is soluble and diffuses along the dendrites and axons of the transduced neurons, including long-range axonal projections. Lenti-GFP can therefore be used as an unequivocal anterograde anatomical tracer (Ferezou et al., 2007; Broser et al., 2008a). Whereas VSV-G pseudotyped lentivirus only transduces neurons with somata MG-132 research buy within a few hundred microns of the cortical injection site, other viral vectors behave quite differently. Adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) are physically much smaller, so they can diffuse further, transducing neurons across larger brain regions. Different serotypes of AAV have different properties and, like adenovirus and rabies virus, some AAVs can be retrogradely transported after axonal uptake of vector (Taymans et al., 2007; Hollis et al., 2008). AAV serotype 6 (AAV6; Grimm et al., 2003) binds to heparin (like AAV serotype 2, but different from other serotypes) and probably because of this binding it diffuses less in the brain than many other AAV serotypes. Nonetheless, neurons transduced with AAV6 are found

far from the injection site, presumably because of retrograde transport (Kaspar et al., 2003; Towne et al., 2008, 2010). Injection of AAV6 encoding a ‘humanized’ cre-recombinase (AAV6-Cre; MDV3100 Shimshek et al., 2002; Fig. 3F) into Rosa floxed-LacZ cre-reporter mice (Soriano, 1999), allows staining of transduced neurons with the blue XGal chromogenic substrate. If the AAV6-Cre vector is injected into the neocortex, it is taken up

Abiraterone concentration by axon boutons near the injection site (while also transducing neurons with somata near the injection site). The AAV6-Cre is then retrogradely transported to the nucleus of neurons with axonal projections to the injection site, and the subsequent expression of cre-recombinase can be monitored in cre-reporter mice. AAV6-Cre can therefore be used as a retrograde vector for anatomical labelling of neurons projecting to the injection site. Both the classical anatomical tracers and the viral vectors can be injected simultaneously to allow labelling of both anterograde and retrograde connectivity from a single well-defined injection site. Voltage-sensitive dye imaging reveals that activity within the C2 barrel column rapidly propagates to neighboring cortical columns (Fig. 2). This spread is likely to be mediated, at least in part, by the extensive local axonal projections of the pyramidal neurons located in the C2 barrel column. Injections into the C2 barrel column of the anterograde tracers Lenti-GFP (Fig. 4A and B; Dittgen et al., 2004) or BDA (Fig. 4C) indicate that C2 barrel cortex neurons extend axonal arborizations into layers 2/3 and layers 5/6, almost across the entire extent of S1 barrel cortex. The density of axons is highest close to the C2 barrel column and decreases across the neighboring cortical columns (Brecht et al.

Pulmonary histoplasmosis requires a high index of suspicion in travelers coming back within a few days from an endemic area, especially if a group of patients is symptomatic, if they practiced caving, and if most of them developed pulmonary

selleck chemical nodules and micronodules. The authors state that they have no conflicts of interest to declare. “
“To describe HIV testing behaviour and context of MSM in Portugal participating in the European MSM Internet Survey (EMIS). Data for the Portuguese sample were extracted and those for 5187 participants were analysed. Multivariate logistic regression models were fitted to quantify the association between participants’ characteristics and HIV testing behaviour and context. Seventy-two percent of the participants had ever been tested for HIV and among those ever tested, 11% were diagnosed with HIV. Primary care was the most common testing setting for HIV-negative men (37%). Compared to those never tested, men who had ever taken an HIV test had higher educational level (aOR 1.89, 95% CI 1.67-2.14) and identified themselves as gay/homosexual more frequently (aOR 1.94 , 95% CI 1.70-2.20). HIV testing odds significantly increased with the number of sexual Ibrutinib ic50 partners in the previous 12 months. Those who reported unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) with a partner of unknown or serodiscordant HIV status in the previous 12 months were less

likely to report

an HIV test (aOR 0.38, 95% CI 0.33–0.44). Among those never tested or who tested negative, 41% and 22% reported UAI with a partner of unknown or serodiscordant status in the previous 12 months, respectively. Among men with diagnosed HIV, 72% were currently on antiretroviral therapy and 58% reported an undetectable viral load. More than one third (38%) of those who had detectable or unknown/undisclosed viral load reported at least one episode of UAI with a partner of unknown or serodiscordant HIV status in the last 12 months. Actual interventions should focus on: improving testing uptake and counselling; increasing treatment coverage; achieving and maintaining an undetectable viral Oxymatrine load; and intensifying prevention efforts focused on consistent condom use. The European HIV epidemic is largely concentrated in certain sub-populations, including men who have sex with men (MSM), migrants, injecting drug users and sex workers [1]. Although injecting drug has been an important driver of the HIV epidemic in Portugal, cases associated with injection of drugs have strongly declined over the past decade and the proportion of cases attributed to sex between men has increased. For the 776 new cases diagnosed and notified in 2012 in Portugal, 63.1% (n = 490) were attributed to heterosexual transmission, 24.1% (n = 187) to sex between men and 10.2% (n = 79) to injecting drug use [2].

Branched-chain fatty acids are important membrane compounds to ensure membrane fluidity at changing temperatures (Klein et al., 1999). Deep cDNA sequencing identified 2337 genes with significantly differentially expression 2 h after the cultures had been cooled down from 30 to 10 °C. The abundance of proteins in the proteome had significantly changed for 59 proteins by >1.5-fold (Table 1), although in total over 1000 proteins could be identified by LTQ-FT-ICR-MS. For all those proteins, the quantitation data showed low SDs, high P-values and ratios of 1 : 1 between the two biological replicates of 10 and 30 °C, which indicated

a high reproducibility FK866 supplier for the two experiments. The corresponding data can be found in the Supporting Information (Tables S2 and S3). A reasonable explanation for this comparably low number of proteins would

be the simple fact that the downshift by 20 °C is a strong stressor that leads to an accumulation of cold-unadapted nontranslatable ribosomes. Thus, buy Talazoparib the protein profile did not change within these first 2 h – metaphorically, the protein profile was ‘frozen’. Upon conversion into cold-adapted translatable ribosomes, translation would start again. This was furthermore reflected by the reduced growth rate at 10 °C (μ30 °C=0.9 h−1, μ10 °C=0.1 h−1, data not shown). In accordance with this interpretation, the most remarkable change of the proteome from 30 to 10 °C ambient temperature was the increased abundance of proteins that are involved in ribosome processing, assembly and maintenance (Table 1). Prominent examples were RbfA, the ribosome-binding factor mentioned above, the GTP-binding proteins EngA and BipA and the translation Carteolol HCl initiation factor IF-3. The increased level of IFs after

cold shock is due to the fact that the genes were activated at the transcriptional level by rarely used promoters and synthesized de novo (Giangrossi et al., 2007; Giuliodori et al., 2007). Outer membrane proteins such as OmpA, OprQ, OprH, OprL, OprI and OprF proteins were the second class of more abundant proteins during cold adaptation (Table 1). The increased expression of cell envelope proteins most likely reflects the stress response of the bacterial cell to maintain homeostasis by transport control. The 49 upregulated proteins were grouped into functional categories, and the respective distribution is shown in Fig. 2. The functional genomics of cold adaptation has been investigated in depth in the two bacterial model organisms B. subtilis and E. coli. This study exploited the recent developments in transcriptome sequencing and proteome peptide profiling to unravel the cold adaptation of a further major model organism of environmental microbiology, the biological safety strain P. putida KT2440. According to the RNA-seq and proteome data, P. putida adapts to lower ambient temperatures by the activation of ribosome-associated functional modules that facilitate translational efficiency.

At station

6 (15°12.0′N, 67°00.0′E), an additional set of enrichment cultures were set up with water sampled from a deep cast of 2501 m. An additional set was also taken at 250 m, station 8 (20°55.0′N, 63°40.0′E), together with a final additional set at station 11 (26°00.0′N, 56°35.0′E) at the salinity maximum. One hundred microlitres of the filtrate suspension was added to each of 12 pre-prepared 25-mL, crimp-sealed, gas-tight, PD0332991 chemical structure enrichment vials containing 5 mL of 0.1× ammonium nitrate mineral salts (ANMS) medium (Whittenbury et al., 1970) with 3.5% (w/v) NaCl, trace element solution SL-10 (Widdel et al., 1983) and 0.02 mg L−1 folic acid, 1 mg L−1 p-aminobenzoic acid and 1 mg L−1 cyanocobalamine. Twelve different carbon sources were added to the vials in different combinations and concentrations: 86 μM (0.1% v/v) CH3Br; 430 μM (0.5% v/v) CH3Br; 860 μM (1% v/v)

CH3Br; 50 mM ‘Aristar’ methanol; 430 μM CH3Br plus 50 mM methanol; 10 mM methylamine; 430 μM CH3Br plus 10 mM see more methylamine; 430 μM (0.5%) CH3Br plus 10 mM formate; 140 μM (10% v/v) methane; 1540 μM (2% v/v) CH3Cl; 430 μM CH3Br plus 10 mM l-methionine. Aqueous-phase concentrations of gases were calculated using the Henry’s Law constants (DeBruyn & Saltzman 1997). Enrichment cultures were incubated at 20 °C in the dark to prevent the growth of photosynthetic organisms, for approximately 2 months. After incubation, the cultures were scored qualitatively for turbidity. The Orotic acid presence or absence of headspace methyl halides (CH3X) was tested using gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection as described previously (Schäfer et al., 2005). Two mL of each enrichment was centrifuged for 5 min at 14 000  g , the supernatant removed and the pellet resuspended in 10 μL of sterile deionised water. The solution was then boiled for 10 min in a water bath and 1 μL was used as template in PCR. Seawater was collected from the Western Channel Observatory site L4 (Fig. 1) in the English Channel during routine sampling on the 18

April (L4.1), 20 June (L4.2) and 30 July (L4.3) 2002 using 5-L manually operated Niskin bottles from surface waters at approximately 1 m depth. On each date, 300 mL of seawater was transferred to 1.15-L crimp-seal flasks with butyl-rubber stoppers and 0.2% (v/v) headspace CH3Br added (142 μM CH3Br). L4.1 consumed 313 μmol CH3Br in total; L4.2 and L4.3 consumed 188 μmol each. PCR template from enrichment culture L4.1 was prepared as for the Arabian Sea enrichment cultures. PCR products were cloned using the TOPO TA cloning kit (Invitrogen) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Plasmid mini-preps were carried out from 2 mL of overnight culture using the alkaline lysis mini-prep procedure (Sambrook & Russell, 2001). Plasmid DNA was resuspended in 50 μL of sterile deionised water.

25). Prolonged durations were noted for carbapenems and for surgical prophylaxis. There were 86 therapy modifications involving indication (36), efficacy (25), safety (18) and route (7). Suboptimal or excessive dosing were common contributors to efficacy and safety modifications, respectively. Infections due to microorganisms with notable resistance included methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (5), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (1). Conclusions 

Antimicrobial utilization and consumption based on DOT/1000PD were prospectively determined providing a comparator for other ICUs. Potential targets identified for antimicrobial stewardship initiatives include empirical therapy, treatment duration, dosing and route. “
“To describe the training undertaken by pharmacists employed in a pharmacist-led information technology-based intervention study to reduce medication errors in primary care (PINCER Selleck ABT-888 Trial), evaluate pharmacists’ assessment of the training, and the time implications

of undertaking the training. Six pharmacists received training, which included training on root cause analysis and educational ZD1839 outreach, to enable them to deliver the PINCER Trial intervention. This was evaluated using self-report questionnaires at the end of each training session. The time taken to complete each session was recorded. Data from the evaluation forms were entered onto a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, independently checked and the summary of results further verified. Frequencies were calculated for responses to the three-point Likert scale questions. Free-text comments from the evaluation forms and pharmacists’ diaries were analysed thematically. All six pharmacists received 22 h of training over five sessions. In four out of the five sessions, the pharmacists who completed an evaluation form (27 out of 30 were completed) stated they were satisfied or very satisfied with the various elements of the training package. Analysis of free-text comments and the pharmacists’ diaries showed that the principles of root cause analysis and educational outreach were viewed as useful tools to help pharmacists

conduct pharmaceutical interventions in both the study and other pharmacy Flavopiridol (Alvocidib) roles that they undertook. The opportunity to undertake role play was a valuable part of the training received. Findings presented in this paper suggest that providing the PINCER pharmacists with training in root cause analysis and educational outreach contributed to the successful delivery of PINCER interventions and could potentially be utilised by other pharmacists based in general practice to deliver pharmaceutical interventions to improve patient safety. “
“The objectives of this study are to explore stroke patients’ and carers’ beliefs and concerns about medicines and identify the barriers to medication adherence for secondary stroke prevention.

Rather than relying on molecular diagnosis based on RNA detection, the point-of-care test Antidiabetic Compound Library for dengue NS1 antigen would be appropriate for travelers’ screen. NS1 sensitivity is highest between the 2nd and 4th

day of illness and would be useful early in acute phase in non-endemic countries.3 Extreme utility of NS1 antigen assay was witnessed in travelers at airports in Taiwan. By NS1 antigen detection, 19 RT-PCR negative travelers could be labeled dengue positive. Two such travelers turned out to be IgM positive on day 17 or 18 of illness.4 Subhash C. Arya 1 and Nirmala Agarwal 1 “
“Cardiovascular disease is an increasing concern among HIV-infected persons and their providers. We determined if fatty liver disease is a marker for underlying coronary atherosclerosis among HIV-infected persons. We performed a cross-sectional study in HIV-infected adults to evaluate the prevalence of and factors, including fatty liver disease, associated with subclinical coronary atherosclerosis. All participants underwent computed tomography for determination of coronary artery calcium (CAC; positive defined as a score >0) and fatty liver disease (defined HSP inhibitor drugs as a liver-to-spleen ratio <1.0). Factors associated with CAC were determined using multivariate logistic regression

models. We included in the study 223 HIV-infected adults with a median age of 43 years [interquartile range (IQR) 36–50 years]; 96% were male and 49% were Caucasian. The median CD4 count was 586 cells/μL and 83% were receiving antiretroviral medications. Seventy-five (34%) had a positive CAC score and 29 (13%) subjects had fatty liver disease. Among those with CAC scores of 0, 1–100 and >100, the percentage with concurrent fatty liver disease was 8, 18 and 41%, respectively (P=0.001). In the multivariate model, CAC was associated with increasing age [odds ratio (OR) 4.3 per 10 years; P<0.01], hypertension (OR 2.6; P<0.01) and fatty liver disease (OR 3.8; P<0.01). Coronary atherosclerosis as detected using CAC is prevalent among young HIV-infected persons. The detection of fatty

liver disease among HIV-infected adults should prompt consideration of assessment for underlying cardiovascular disease and risk factor reduction. As HIV-infected persons are experiencing longer life expectancies, there is increasing concern regarding non-AIDS-defining conditions, including cardiovascular else disease [1,2]. HIV-infected persons appear to have a higher risk of coronary artery atherosclerosis compared with the general population, which may be a result of HIV-induced inflammation, antiretroviral medications, or concurrent medical conditions, such as insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia, hypertension, visceral fat deposition and tobacco abuse [1–10]. Elevated prevalence rates of subclinical cardiovascular disease among HIV-infected persons have recently been demonstrated using computed tomography (CT) coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores [9,11–18].