Introduction: There are two concurrent and novel major research pathways toward strategies for HIV control: 1) long-acting ART formulations, and 2) research aimed at conferring sustained antiretroviral therapy (ART)-free HIV remission, considered a step towards an HIV cure. The importance of perspectives from people living with HIV on the development of new modalities is high but data are lacking. Methods:We administered an online survey in which respondents selected their likelihood of participation or non-participation in HIV cure/remission research based on potential risks and perceived benefits of these new modalities. We also tested the correlation between perceptions of potential risks and benefits with preferences of virologic control strategies and/or responses to scenario choices, while controlling for respondent characteristics.Results: Of the 282 eligible respondents, 42% would be willing to switch from oral daily ART to long-acting ART injectables or implantables taken at 6 month intervals, and 24% to a hypothetical ART-free remission strategy. We found statistically significant gender differences in perceptions of risk and preferences of HIV control strategies, and possible psychosocial factors that could mediate willingness to switch to novel HIV treatment or remission options.Discussion: Our study yielded data on possible desirable product characteristics for future HIV treatment and remission options. Findings also revealed differences in motivations 4 AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses The Dose Response: Perceptions of People Living with HIV in the United States on Alternatives to Oral Daily Antiretroviral Therapy

Every utility serves a unique customer base with its own water use and revenue generation patterns. Knowing its customers in detail helps a water provider customize policies and communication strategies not only for the customer base but also for smaller, targeted groups. This article introduces a relatively inexpensive way that utilities can use existing billing data to learn more about customer use patterns and applies this methodology at five North Carolina utilities. Developing smarter revenue and water use analytics that take into account changes in use behavior helps utilities be proactive in planning for resources changes (and the resulting financial implications) and be more effective in their communications and marketing. By moving away from engaging with residential customers as one homogeneous mass and instead treating them as groups of customers with distinct habits and values, utilities can use targeted messaging and outreach to bring customers on board with new policy rollouts.

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Frequent viral load testing is necessary during analytical treatment interruptions (ATIs) in HIV cure-directed clinical trials, though such may be burdensome and inconvenient to trial participants. We implemented a national, cross-sectional survey in the United States to examine the acceptability of a novel home-based peripheral blood collection device for HIV viral load testing. Between June and August 2021, we distributed an online survey to people with HIV (PWH) and community members, biomedical HIV cure researchers and HIV care providers. We performed descriptive analyses to summarize the results. We received 73 survey responses, with 51 from community members, 12 from biomedical HIV cure researchers and 10 from HIV care providers. Of those, 51 (70%) were cisgender men and 50 (68%) reported living with HIV. Most (>80% overall) indicated that the device would be helpful during ATI trials and they would feel comfortable using it themselves or recommending it to their patients/participants. Of the 50 PWH, 42 (84%) indicated they would use the device if they were participating in an ATI trial and 27 (54%) also expressed a willingness to use the device outside of HIV cure studies. Increasing sensitivity of viral load tests and pluri-potency of the device (CD4 count, chemistries) would augment acceptability. Survey findings provide evidence that viral load home testing would be an important adjunct to ongoing HIV cure-directed trials involving ATIs. Survey findings may help inform successful implementation and uptake of the device in the context of personalized HIV care.

This article tests the importance of cost, demand, institutional, and geographic factors on the bills that consumers pay for water and sewer service in North Carolina and the pricing signals that utilities send to customers. The authors apply spatial regression models to test whether other factors besides costs drive rate-setting practices. Results indicate that cost factors, operating ratio, temperature, the application of “outside” rates, and utilities' primary importance on affordable rates affect combined water and sewer bills at average levels of residential consumption. The study also finds that bills are significantly and positively correlated to bills paid in nearby utilities. Community income and the percent of customers below the poverty line are weakly associated with combined bills. However, utilities facing higher growth rates and those that value conservation are no more likely to send stronger pricing signals than others.