Hildesheim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 104,230 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about 30 km southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Leine River; the Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Pious founded the Bishopric of Hildesheim in 815 and created the first settlement with a chapel on the so called Domhügel. Hildesheim is situated on autobahn route 7, hence is at the connection point of the North with the South of Europe. With the Hildesheim Cathedral and the St. Michael's Church, Hildesheim became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985. In 2015 the city and the diocese celebrated their 1200th anniversary. Hildesheim, one of the oldest cities in Northern Germany, became the seat of the Bishopric of Hildesheim in 815 and may have been founded when the bishop moved from Elze to the ford across the River Innerste, an important market on the Hellweg trade route; the settlement around the cathedral quickly developed into a town and was granteded market rights by King Otto III in 983.

The market was held in a street called Alter Markt which still exists today. The first market place was laid out around the church St. Andreas; when the city grew further, a larger market place became necessary. The present market place of Hildesheim was laid out at the beginning of the 13th century when the city had about 5,000 inhabitants; when Hildesheim obtained city status in 1249, it was one of the biggest cities in Northern Germany. For four centuries the clergy ruled Hildesheim, before a town Hall was built and the citizens gained some influence and independence. Construction of the present Town Hall started in 1268. In 1367 Hildesheim became a member of the Hanseatic League. A war between the citizens and their bishop cost dearly in 1519 -- 23. Hildesheim became Lutheran in 1542, only the cathedral and a few other buildings remained in Imperial hands. Several villages around the city remained Roman Catholic as well. In 1813, after the Napoleonic Wars, the town became part of the Kingdom of Hanover, annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia as a province after the Austro-Prussian War in 1866.

In 1868 a valuable trove of about 70 Roman silver vessels for eating and drinking, the so-called Hildesheim Treasure, was unearthed by Prussian soldiers. The city was damaged by air raids in 1945 on 22 March. Although it had little military significance, two months before the end of the war in Europe the historic city was bombed as part of the Area Bombing Directive in order to undermine the morale of the German people. 28.5% of the houses were destroyed and 44.7% damaged. 26.8% of the houses remained undamaged. The centre, which had retained its medieval character until was levelled; the city as a whole was destroyed by 20 - 30%. As in many cities, priority was given to rapid building of badly needed housing, concrete structures took the place of the destroyed buildings. Most of the major churches, two of them now UNESCO World Heritage Sites, were rebuilt in the original style soon after the war. During the war, valuable world heritage materials had been hidden in the basement of the city wall.

In 1978, the University of Hildesheim was founded. In the 1980s a reconstruction of the historic centre began; some of the unattractive concrete buildings around the market place were torn down and replaced by replicas of the original buildings. In the autumn of 2007, a decision was made to reconstruct the Umgestülpter Zuckerhut, an iconic half-timbered house famous for its unusual shape. In 2015 the city and the diocese celebrates their 1200 anniversary with the Day of Lower Saxony. In 1542 most of the inhabitants became Lutherans. Today, 28.5 % of the inhabitants identify themselves as 38.3 % as Protestants. 33.0 % of the inhabitants do not have a religion at all. The Serbian Orthodox Bishop of Frankfurt and all of Germany has his seat in Himmelsthür; the Marktplatz was reconstructed in 1984–1990 after its destruction in the March 1945 air raid. The more noteworthy buildings in the square are: The Knochenhaueramtshaus built in 1529 and destroyed in 1945, it was reconstructed from 1987 to 1989 according to original plans.

The façade is sumptuously decorated with German proverbs. Today the building houses the City Museum; the Bäckeramtshaus is a half-timbered house, built in 1825. It was destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt 1987-89. Today, it houses a café; the Town Hall, erected in the 13th century in Gothic style. Destroyed in 1945, it was rebuilt and inaugurated in 1954; the Tempelhaus, a late-Gothic 14th-century patrician house, which today houses the tourist information office. It suffered some damage during the Second World War but was restored and inaugurated in 1950; the Wedekindhaus, a 16th-century patrician house, is characterised by its high, ornately carved storeys including their ledges with depictions of allegorical figures. The adjoining Lüntzelhaus was built in 1755 in Baroque style; the Rolandhaus was built in the 14th century in Gothic style. In 1730, the house was remodelled, a Baroque portal and a large bay window were added; the Stadtschänke is a large half-timbered house, built in 1666. The smaller adjoining Rococcohaus was built in 1730 in rococo style.

The Wollenwebergildehaus was built in 1600. The Romanesque St. Mary's Cathedral (Hildesheim

Vpx is a virion-associated protein encoded by human immunodeficiency virus type 2 HIV-2 and most simian immunodeficiency virus strains, but, absent from HIV-1. It is similar in structure to the protein Vpr, carried by SIV and HIV-2 as well as HIV-1. Vpx is one of five accessory proteins carried by lentiviruses that enhances viral replication by inhibiting host antiviral factors. Vpx enhances HIV-2 replication in humans by counteracting the host factor SAMHD1. SAMHD1 is a host factor found in human myeloid cells, such as dendritic cells and macrophages, that restricts HIV-1 replication by depleting the cytoplasmic pool of deoxynucleoside triphosphates needed for viral DNA production. SAMHD1 does not, restrict HIV-2 replication in myeloid cells due to the presence of viral Vpx. Vpx counteracts restriction by inducing the ubiquitin-proteasome-dependent degradation of SAMHD1. Vpx-mediated degradation of SAMHD1 therefore decreases deoxynucleoside triphosphate hydrolysis, thereby increasing the availability of dNTPs for viral reverse transcription in the cytoplasm.

It has been postulated that SAMHD1 degradation is required for HIV-2 replication because the HIV-2 reverse transcriptase is less active than the HIV-1 RT, which would be the reason for the absence of Vpx from HIV-1. Because Vpx is required for HIV-2 reverse transcription and the early stages of the viral life cycle, it is packaged into virions in significant amounts. Vpx is involved in the nuclear import of the HIV-2/SIV genomes and associated proteins, but the specific mechanisms and interactions are unknown. Although Vpr and Vpx are similar in size and structure, they serve different roles in viral replication. Vpx targets a host restriction factor for proteasomal degradation, while Vpr arrests the host cell cycle in the G2 phase. However, they are both involved in the import of the viral preintegration complex into the host nucleus

Joseph Patrick Brennan was an Irish Clann na Poblachta politician and medical doctor. He was born in 1889 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, U. S.. He was the son of Patrick Brennan and Julia O'Connor who married in Boston in 1888, he moved back from the US to his mother's native Knocknagoshel, County Kerry at around the age of six years. His father had received communication from his brothers in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia regarding the Gold Rush and decided to join them in Australia and made his fortune with his brothers in the drapery business; the Brennan Building still stands today in Kalgoorlie. On his father's return to Ireland in either 1908 or 1912 he brought an estate called Delbrook Park in Dublin, he was educated at Rockwell College. He qualified as a doctor in 1917, he married Anne Elizabeth Bulloch in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1914. He entered the British Army in 1917 as a Medical officer serving in Turkey, he became a General practitioner in Blackrock, County Dublin. He became Coroner for South County Dublin.

Brennan was involved in the Republican movement sometime in 1918. He was Head of Medical Services during the Irish Civil War. During the civil war, a group of insurgents that included Brennan had occupied part of the Gresham Hotel in O'Connell Street and were holding out against the Free State army, their position became the group decided to surrender. The surrender was underway but Cathal Brugha refused to surrender himself came out brandishing a revolver and was shot by the Free State troops. Brennan attended his wounds but Brugha died two days later, he was Vice President of the Irish Christian Front which held its inaugural meeting at the Mansion House, Dublin on 22 August 1936. The Irish Independent invited the formation of a committee to make a decision to support pro-Franco citizens of Spain in their war effort. Support was given by the Catholic Church. Brennan was a founding member of Clann na Poblachta, he was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1948 general election as a Clann na Poblachta Teachta Dála for the Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown constituency.

He was not re-elected. He stood unsuccessfully as a Labour Party candidate at the 1954 general election, he presided over the International Congress of Catholic Doctors which took place at University College Dublin in 1954. He was President of the Irish Bridge Union in 1955, he was elected as the first President of the Medico Legal Society of Ireland in 1956. He is buried at Deans Grange Cemetery in Dublin. Kevin O'Connor 2006, The descendants of the O'Connors of Carrigafoyle stemming from the Datheenachs line O'Connor History Ltd, pages 60–67,110-115. ISBN 0-9552990-0-4. 978-0-9552990-0-1 Padraic O'Farrell. 1997, Who's Who in the Irish War of Independence and Civil War 1916-1923, The Lilliput Press, Dublin. Obituary, Dr Joe Brennan. Journal of the Irish Medical Association, Volume 61. June 1968. No.372 The Medico-Legal Society of Ireland. History, Formation of the Society Irish Bridge Union, Golden Jubilee 1955-2005