The increased CD4(+) cellular density in the HIV-uninfected, HSV-2-infected men may help to explain why HSV-2-infected men are at increased risk of HIV acquisition. The absence of this increase in men coinfected with both HIV and HSV-2 is likely in part the result of the progressive loss of CD4(+) cells in HIV infection. Conversely, HIV and HSV-2 coinfection appears to synergistically increase CD8(+) T cell densities.

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A broadly accepted paradigm is that vegetation reduces coastal dune erosion. However, we show that during an extreme storm event, vegetation surprisingly accelerates erosion. In 104-m-long beach-dune profile experiments conducted within a flume, we discovered that while vegetation initially creates a physical barrier to wave energy, it also (i) decreases wave run-up, which creates discontinuities in erosion and accretion patterns across the dune slope, (ii) increases water penetration into the sediment bed, which induces its fluidization and destabilization, and (iii) reflects wave energy, accelerating scarp formation. Once a discontinuous scarp forms, the erosion accelerates further. These findings fundamentally alter the current understanding of how natural and vegetated features may provide protection during extreme events.

The optical properties of human skin have been of interest to researchers for some time. Their interest is based on a need to know for a variety of different applications, which range from spectral imaging for automated or stand-off detection, non-invasive clinical diagnostic tools, improved models for understanding light propagation, to colour-based applications, such as reproduction of skin colour in photography and printing and colour-matching in cosmetics industries. Here we present a summary of a study that aimed to create a large data set of highquality, human-skin reflectance spectra and quantify the variability of the resulting data set.