Pertaining to Justin Chin's "Undetectable" PDF generated using the open source mwlib toolkit. See http://code.pediapress.com/ for more information. PDF generated at: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:14:57 UTC Contents Articles Viral load 1 Fantastic Voyage 3 B movie 10 Blight 39 References Article Sources and Contributors 40 Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 41 Article Licenses License 42 Viral load 1 Viral load Viral load is a measure of the severity of a viral infection, and can be calculated by estimating the amount of virus in an involved body fluid. For example, it can be given in RNA copies per milliliter of blood plasma. Determination of viral load is part of the therapy monitoring during chronic viral infections, and in immunocompromised patients such as those recovering from bone marrow or solid organ transplantation. Currently, routine testing is available for HIV-1, cytomegalovirus, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus. HIV viral load test Several different HIV viral load tests have been developed, and three are currently approved for use in the US: • Amplicor HIV-1 Monitor test (Hoffman-La Roche), better known as the PCR test • NucliSens HIV-1 QT, or NASBA (bioMerieux) • Versant/Quantiplex HIV-1 RNA, or bDNA (Chiron/Bayer) These tests have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States for use in monitoring the health of people with HIV, in conjunction with other markers. Higher numbers in the viral load tests indicate an increased risk of getting sick from opportunistic diseases. These tests are also approved for monitoring the effects of anti-HIV therapy, to track viral suppression and detect treatment failure. Successful combination antiretroviral therapy should give a fall in viral load of 1.5 to 2 logs (30-100 fold) within six weeks, with the viral load falling below the limit of detection within four to six months.[1] An affordable, largely manual test, which has the European regulatory approval for clinical use, is also used for viral load monitoring (ExaVir Load from Cavidi AB, http:/ / www. cavidi. [2] com). It depends on measuring virus-associated reverse transcriptase (RT) activity and can therefore detect all types and subtypes of HIV. The technology does not require sophisticated laboratories and can therefore make viral load testing more accessible in all parts of the world. [3] [4] Viral load tests can also be used to diagnose HIV infection, especially in children under 18 months born to mothers with HIV, where the presence of maternal antibodies prevents the use of antibody-based (ELISA) diagnostic tests. Persons with HIV are most contagious during the earliest stages of infection, when an antibody test would yield a negative result. Therefore, the importance of viral load testing is deemed important for yielding an earlier HIV diagnosis. Since persons are most contagious during early infection, widespread testing could provide significant public health benefits. Viral load 2 Results The results of these tests are usually given as number of HIV RNA copies per milliliter (ml) of blood. The PCR test may give the number of HIV RNA copies per 0.05 mL, so one would multiply the result by 20 to get the standard result. References [1] DHHS Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents. Guidelines for the Use of Antiretroviral Agents in HIV-1-Infected Adults and Adolescents. May 4, 2006. (available for download from AIDSInfo (http:/ / www. aidsinfo. nih. gov/ OrderPublication/ OrderPubsBrowseSearchResultsTable. aspx?from=G& searchString=& MenuItem=Guidelines)) [2] Malmsten A, Shao XW, Sjödahl S, Fredriksson EL, Pettersson I, Leitner T, Källander CFR, Sandström E, Gronowitz JS: Improved HIV-1 viral load determination based on reverse transcriptase activity recovered from human plasma. J. Med. Virology 76:347-359, 2005. [3] Greengrass VL, Turnball SP, Hocking J, Dunne AL, Tachedjian G, Corrigan GE, Crowe SM. Evaluation of a low cost reverse transcriptase assay for plasma HIV-1 viral load monitoring. Curr HIV Res 3(2):183-190, 2005. [4] Jennings C, Fiscus SA, Crowe SM, Danilovic AD, Morack RJ, Scianna S, Cachafeiro A, Brambilla DJ, Schupbach J, Stevens W, Respess R, Varnier OE, Corrigan GE, Gronowitz JS, Ussery MA, Bremer JW. Comparison of two human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA surrogate assays to the standard HIV RNA assay. J Clin Microbiol. 2005 Dec;43(12):5950-6. Fantastic Voyage 3 Fantastic Voyage Fantastic Voyage film poster by Tom Chantrell Directed by Richard Fleischer Produced by Saul David Written by Story: Jerome Bixby Otto Klement Screenplay: Harry Kleiner Adaptation: David Duncan Starring Stephen Boyd Raquel Welch Edmond O'Brien Donald Pleasence Music by Leonard Rosenman Cinematography Ernest Laszlo, ASC Distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation Release date(s) August 24, 1966 (U.S.A.) Running time 100 minutes Language English Fantastic Voyage is a 1966 science fiction film written by Harry Kleiner. Bantam Books obtained the rights for a paperback novelization based on the screenplay and approached Isaac Asimov to write it.[1] Because the novelization was released six months before the movie, many people mistakenly believed Asimov's book had inspired the movie.[2] According to Fred Schodt's The Astro Boy Essays, FOX also approached NBC to get the rights to an Astro Boy episode which had the same premise, but they never contacted the manga artist or credited him in the final product. The movie inspired an animated television series, as well as a painting of the same name by Salvador Dalí.[3] Fantastic Voyage 4 Plot The United States and the Soviet Union have both developed technology that allowed matter to be miniaturized using a process that shrinks individual atoms, but its value is limited because objects shrunk return to normal size after a period of time - the smaller an object is made, the quicker it reverts. Scientist Jan Benes, working behind the Iron Curtain, has figured out how to make the shrinking process work indefinitely. With the help of the CIA, he escapes to the West, but an attempted assassination leaves him comatose, with a blood clot in his brain. To save his life, Charles Grant (the agent who extracted him, played by Stephen Boyd), pilot Captain Bill Owens (William Redfield), Dr. Michaels (Donald Pleasence), surgeon Dr. Peter Duval (Arthur Kennedy) and his assistant Cora Peterson (Raquel Welch) board a submarine, the Proteus, which is then miniaturized and injected into Benes. The ship is reduced to one micrometre in length, giving the team only one hour to repair the clot; after that, the submarine will begin to revert to its normal size and become large enough for Benes' immune system to detect and attack. The crew faces many obstacles on their journey. They are forced to detour through the heart (a temporary cardiac arrest must be induced to avoid destructive turbulence), the inner ear (all in the lab must remain quiet to prevent similar turbulence) and the alveoli of the lungs (where they replenish their supply of oxygen). When the surgical laser needed to destroy the clot is damaged, it becomes obvious there is a saboteur on the mission. They cannibalize their radio to repair the laser. When they finally reach the brain clot, there are only six minutes remaining to operate and then exit the body. The traitor, Dr. Michaels, knocks Owens out and takes control of the Proteus while the rest of the crew is outside for the operation. Duval successfully removes the clot with the laser. Michaels tries to crash the sub into the clot area to kill Benes, but Grant fires the laser at the ship, causing it to veer away and crash. Michaels is trapped in the wreckage and killed when a white blood cell attacks and destroys the Proteus. Grant saves Owens from the ship, and they all swim desperately to one of the eyes, where they escape via a teardrop. Cast • Stephen Boyd as Grant • Jean Del Val as Jan Benes • Raquel Welch as Cora • Barry Coe as Communications aide • Edmond O'Brien as General Carter • Ken Scott as Secret Service • Donald Pleasence as Dr. Michaels • Shelby Grant as Nurse • Arthur O'Connell as Colonel Donald Reid • James Brolin as Technician • William Redfield as Captain Bill Owens • Brendan Fitzgerald as Wireless operator • Arthur Kennedy as Dr. Duval Fantastic Voyage 5 Production The "whirlpool" scene where the two-inch Proteus miniature was spun around and sucked into a fistula shortly after the sub was injected into Benes' bloodstream was made using a large punch bowl, strawberry-flavored milk, and three cups of Cheerios cereal. According to L.B. Abbott, a bird stole the miniature while it was drying on a window sill following a paint touch-up. It has never been recovered, and Abbott jokingly theorized that it is probably still part of some bird's nest up in some tree. Donald Pleasance's final scene involved a lot of screaming in agony. Much of that turned out to be real, as the soap suds that were used to represent the white blood cells attacking him had gotten into his eyes, and as he was trapped in the command chair as the scene called for, he was unable to wipe his eyes free of the suds or receive medical attention until the scene was safely 'in the can'. Much of the interior scenes of the secret complex were filmed at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena at night. Brief glimpses of the outside playing field area can be seen as General Carter takes Grant through the complex on a small golf cart, as they pass the stairway entrances to each section of the stadium. The entire operating theater, control room, and miniaturization chamber were all one contiguous set.