AIDS: Genetic Clues From HIV Elite Controllers Could Lead to Better Vaccines, Cancer Treatments (preview)

Feature Articles | Health See Inside

A rare group of HIV-positive individuals need no medicine to keep the virus in check. Their good fortune could point the way to more powerful treatments--and perhaps a vaccine

By Bruce D. Walker ?| June 25, 2012?|

UNIQUE STATUS: The genetic makeup of the individuals shown here has allowed them to fight the virus to a standstill without needing combination anti-HIV therapy. Scott Wafrock (top left) has lived with HIV for 26 years, Bob Massie (top right) for 34 years and Loreen Willenberg (bottom right) for 20 years. Doug Robinson (bottom left) learned he was HIV-positive in 2003.

Image: Richard Renaldi

In Brief

• One out of 300 people infected with HIV are naturally able to control the virus without having to take antiviral medications.
• Investigators believe the key to the good fortune of such elite controllers lies in the complex workings of their immune system.
• Genetic studies reveal the precise reasons why the targeting and destruction of HIV-infected cells occur more quickly in the body of an elite controller.
• Understanding this efficient, powerful immune response in greater detail might one day lead to better methods for preventing and treating AIDS.

One day in early 1995 a man named bob massie walked into my office at the outpatient clinic of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Massie told me he had been infected with HIV?the virus that causes AIDS?for 16 years and yet had never shown any symptoms. My physical examination confirmed he was healthy, in stark contrast to all other patients I saw that day. At that time, a new combination of drugs was being tested that would eventually slow the progressive decline in immune function that HIV caused. In 1995, however, most people who had been infected with HIV for a decade or more had already progressed to AIDS?the stage marked by the inability to fight off other pathogens. The young man standing before me had never taken anti-HIV medication and strongly believed that if I learned the secret to his good fortune, the information could help others to survive what was then generally thought to be a uniformly fatal disease.

Massie was born with hemophilia, a blood-clotting disorder. In those days, nearly all hemophiliacs were HIV-positive because they were infused repeatedly with blood products agglomerated from thousands of donors?none of whom were screened for HIV until the mid- to late 1980s. (Today hemophiliacs receive artificial clotting factors, which pose no risk of HIV contamination.) Some of Massie's blood samples that had been stored for a study revealed that he had contracted HIV in 1978. Yet every test I conducted on him or his stored samples showed that the amount of virus in his blood was vanishingly small and that his immune responses seemed as strong as ever.

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Check Out How Apple Brainwashes Its Store Employees--Turning Them Into Clapping, Smiling Zealots

David Segal of the New York Times takes an excellent look at what it's like to work in an Apple Store--an occupation that has become one of the favorite "McJobs" in our economy for hip college graduates.

The pay sucks (relatively), the stores are busy and crowded, and there's little upward mobility, so it's pretty much a dead-end job.

But 30,000 of the 40,000 Apple employees in the United States work in the stores, so this has now become the defining experience of working at the company.

And Apple is perceived as cool--much cooler than, say, McDonald's or Walmart or Starbucks--so the company is continually deluged with resumes. For every Apple Store employee who quits, disillusioned, after a couple of years, there are many more eager to take his or her place.

Apple picks a small percentage of lucky candidates from the stack, which are submitted online, of course, through Apple's web site. The company screens for "affability" and "self-directedness," not tech savvy: The latter can be learned; the former is innate. Then Apple invites everyone to a "seminar" in a conference room at a hotel.? If you're a few minutes late, you're eliminated.

The people who are offered jobs are often so happy that they burst into tears.

And then the real indoctrination starts.

Training lasts for a few days to a few weeks.

Check out David Segal's description of what happens when you arrive:

Training commences with what is known as a ?warm welcome.? As new employees enter the room, Apple managers and trainers give them a standing ovation. The clapping often bewilders the trainees, at least at first, but when the applause goes on for several lengthy minutes they eventually join in.

?My hands would sting from all the clapping,? says Michael Dow, who trained Apple employees for years in Providence, R.I.

There is more role-playing at Core training, as it?s known, this time with pointers on the elaborate etiquette of interacting with customers. One rule: ask for permission before touching anyone?s iPhone.

?And we told trainees that the first thing they needed to do was acknowledge the problem, though don?t promise you can fix the problem,? said Shane Garcia, the one-time Chicago manager. ?If you can, let them know that you have felt some of the emotions they are feeling. But you have to be careful because you don?t want to lie about that.?

The phrase that trainees hear time and again, which echoes once they arrive at the stores, is ?enriching people?s lives.? The idea is to instill in employees the notion that they are doing something far grander than just selling or fixing products. If there is a secret to Apple?s sauce, this is it: the company ennobles employees. It understands that a lot of people will forgo money if they have a sense of higher purpose.

This brainwashing, by the way, is extraordinarily successful, in many ways.

First, it allows Apple to pay its employees much less than they would make selling similar gear at Verizon stores or AT&T stores. (The average Apple Store employee makes about $30,000 a year. The average Verizon store employee gets nearly twice that.)

Second, it's great for customers--and, therefore, for Apple's reputation. More than 1 billion people have visited an Apple store--more than 80 million per quarter. Apple "specialists" (Apple's brilliant term for its retail salespeople) are often the only human from the company a customer will ever interact with. The fact that these folks have been trained in etiquette and feel a sense of mission is a huge asset to the company. There's nothing that will destroy a company's reputation and image faster than a cadre of salespeople who look like they'd rather be anywhere but in the store.

Perhaps in response to inquiries from the New York Times, Apple recently gave some of its store employees a raise--a decision for which the company deserves a lot of praise. It is rare in our economy for companies to pay employees more than they have to, and if our country is to recover from its slump, more companies have to do this.

Like other retailers, Apple can afford to pay its store employees more (Apple is now one of the most profitable companies in the world), so the company will barely miss the money.

The next problem Apple--and the rest of the country--needs to solve is how to make these jobs become (or, at least, lead to) more of an actual occupation.

SEE ALSO: Corporate Profits Just Hit An All-Time High, Wages Just Hit An All-Time Low

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BREAKING (talking-points-memo)

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NY Giants DE Justin Tuck's Facemask Sweeping NFL, Not Inspired by Chris Canty

Last week, the New York Giants tweeted a photo of Justin Tuck's facemask, and the likeness to Shredder, or some such character, struck many around the world of sports as very intimidating, if a bit over the top:

As Dan Salamone of Giants.com wrote, the facemask was not designed just to look like a scary cartoon or comic book figure. The mask was designed by Giants equipment director Joe Skiba in union with Tuck, and the inspiration actually came from a 19th century invention by Charles Babbage.?

When Tuck was asked about it on Thursday after the last minicamp practice, he told Salamone, ?You see the old school trains, the grilles on the old school trains? That?s what I was going for.?

Tuck is actually referring to a "cowcatcher," also known as a "pilot," which Merriam-Webster defines as "an inclined frame on the front of a railroad locomotive for throwing obstacles off the track."

Basically, if there was a cow on the tracks, the cowcatcher would send it flying off before making a significant impact with the locomotive engine. Sadly, video of this is not available.

Tuck actually came up with this design so as not to have his facemask grabbed by opposing linemen. Joe Skiba worked with Schutt, who manufactured the helmet, to make it lightweight despite the extra bars on the mask.

So they made it out of titanium, which is the same metal they made Lieutenant Dan's new legs out of. "It's what they use on the space shuttle," as Lt. Dan told Forrest Gump.

Some have noted that design is similar to the facemask already worn by teammate Chris Canty, but Canty's design is not only different, it was a necessity for him to be able to play football at all.

As Canty told Sam Borden of the New York Times last season, just prior to the 2005 NFL combine, Canty was at an Arizona bar with some other draft hopefuls when a fight erupted across the room.

When Canty and his friends were trying to leave, he was struck in the side of the head with a flying bottle, and woke up in the hospital to find that doctors had been forced to operate on his detached retina.

The injury contributed to Canty's draft stock falling from being a potential first-rounder to getting selected in the fourth round by Dallas.

Canty's eye injury forced him to innovate a mask which would prevent him from getting poked in the eye by offensive lineman trying to block him. ?I always say I should have gotten a patent on it...If I don?t wear it, I don?t play,? he told Borden.

The facemask became so iconic, it even has its own Facebook page with over 1,400 "likes."

Canty started all 16 games at defensive tackle for the Giants in 2011, recording a career-high four sacks, including a pivotal safety when he brought down the Jets' Mark Sanchez in the end zone in Week 16.

Last season, Tuck struggled through numerous injuries, playing in only 12 games and managing just five sacks after recording 11.5 the previous season. But he comes into 2012 reinvigorated, healthy and with a brand new protective cowcatcher on his helmet.

So that makes two defensive linemen on the New York Giants who look like Shredder. And with the rest of the foot soldiers on the defense, opposing quarterbacks may need the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to protect them.

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Enterprise Resource Planning Is Vital For Business Management ...

Enterprise Resource Planning, or ERP, is an integrated system which merges numerous managerial functions inside a single programme. Offering an easy form of management, ERP systems can be scaled, customising themselves to any type, or size, of business.

The Facts About ERP

The global value of ERP is massive and suggests that the number of actual ERP applications would be excessively high, with firms recognizing that these systems are an excellent way to enhance their business.

For those not familiar with the concept of Enterprise Resource Planning, it basically means that all the systems that are set up to run a business, are gathered together to form one complete service. This makes it easier, and more hassle-free, to use.

An ERP system contains a variety of systems including payroll, finance, sales, inventories and CRM programmes. The number of functions which can be authorised from an ERP system is extensive, with multiple currency accounting, sales forecasting, commission tracking, sales tracking, employee expenses tracking, email interaction tracking and recurrent billing all possible. Scalability is an ERP?s great strength, with many different ways to customize the system and speaking to ERP consultants can also help you develop the right service for you.

Improved Efficiency

ERP applications are a good way for businesses to increase their efficiency. This is achieved through the systems simplistic, integrated style which allows chosen areas of the business to be controlled and managed from a single location. Whatever the size or type of a business, this means operations are more streamlined and therefore easier to control. This gives the business the efficiency it craves, which in turn leads to additional benefits such as improved profitability and lower expenses.

Increased Profitability

To a business, the bottom line is perhaps the single most important factor and this is the reason why increased profitability is a massive benefit provided by ERP systems. Naturally, a period of adjustment is needed before results become evident but, once the system is fully integrated, businesses should see profit increases thanks to a more efficient managerial system. ERP consultants are qualified professionals who can advise businesses on the best type of system for their needs. Speaking to these professionals can give you a better idea on how to customise an ERP system, ensuring you don?t spend more than is required and thus increasing your profitability further.

If you are asking yourself Why Use Sage??, or want to learn more about ERP Accounting, make sure that you visit Salesorder.com today.

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Toshiba Excite 13

Toshiba's new 13.3-inch tablet?isn't a desk, or a serving tray, or even really a tablet. After a couple of days of using it, I realized what it is. It's a TV. The Toshiba Excite 13 ($649.99 for 32GB, $749.99 for 64GB) would make a great portable TV. But it's too expensive to become a mainstream hit, and it's missing the apps which could deliver good-looking HD content to its huge screen.?

Physical Design and Networking
The largest tablet we've ever seen, the Excite 13 is awkward to hold, and even a little awkward in my lap. There's a reason this thing comes with a stand, a completely separate squarish chunk of metal that the tablet sits in. The tablet is slim, though, and slides easily into a backpack for transport.

As for actual numbers, the Excite 13 is 13.5 by 8.5 by .4 inches and 2.2 pounds. It's very well-built, with the same aluminum body found on the Excite 7.7 ($499, 3.5 stars) and Excite 10 ($449.99, 3.5 stars) tablets and a flat glass screen. There's a micro USB port for syncing, but to charge the tablet, you need the included unique, laptop-style power brick. The tablet also has a microHDMI port, full-sized SD card slot and headphone jack.

You have to think differently to figure out where to use the Excite 13, but once you get into the mindset, it becomes easy: You'd prop it up in the kitchen for recipes, you might stick it on a side table in a hotel room, or prop it up at the end of a dorm room bed.

One thing you don't really want to do is put it in your lap. The Excite 13 is a long, skinny rectangle, and it's just awkward to hold. When I put it in portrait mode on my lap to play a game, the end of the tablet went off the edge of my knees.?

Other than video playback, there's another potential market for this tablet. Because the 13.3-inch, 1,600-by-900 LCD screen packs a relatively low 133 dots per inch, text is pretty large, and the touch keyboard is just plain huge. That makes the Excite 13 a good choice for people with mildly impaired mobility or vision. The flip side of that, of course, is that some graphics (especially in games) look jaggy if you have your nose right up to the screen.?

The Excite 13 is a Wi-Fi-only tablet and connects to 802.11b/g/n networks, albeit only at 2.4GHz. You also get Bluetooth and?GPS, although the idea of tacking this monster to your dashboard is pretty funny.

Apps and Performance
Running on Nvidia's latest quad-core Tegra 3 processor, the Excite 13's benchmark results are absolutely killer. This is one of the fastest Android devices we've tested, and performance is impeccable. Tegra-enhanced games like Zen Pinball THD and Riptide GP play very smoothly.

But, as I mentioned earlier, the large, relatively low-DPI screen can make some graphics look poor. Some of this is the developers' fault; I downloaded some games from Nvidia's Tegra Zone, and it became painfully obvious that some of the images in the game Princess Punt THD were being scaled up, for instance. But I also found diagonal lines on the Zen Pinball flippers a bit jaggier than usual.

The 133 pixels per inch is actually higher density than the iPad 2's 9.7-inch 1024-by-768 131-ppi?screen. But it's lower than most 10-inch Android tablets, which have around 150 ppi, and much lower than most phones, smaller tablets, and the New iPad, which generally clock in between 215 and 330 ppi. Whether you see the screen as low-res depends on where your expectations are, and devices like the 215-ppi Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 ($699, 3.5 stars) and upcoming 224-ppi Asus and Acer tablets have raised my expectations.?None of this mumbling about pixels per inch matters if you're sitting more than about two feet away from the tablet, though.?

Toshiba didn't do much to alter Android 4.0 here, only adding some pre-loaded apps, most of which you can ignore. There's a Flipboard-like news app, a Blio-powered book store, a file manager, and a custom DLNA-enabled media player with a better file viewing layout than the standard Android media player.

The Excite 13's size means it can pack a very large battery, and we got excellent battery life results?8 hours and 38 minutes playing a video with the screen on maximum brightness and Wi-Fi turned on. That's longer than the new iPad, which only managed five and a half hours on max brightness. The difference? The new iPad's super-high-res screen is a power hog.

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