High Rate of Obesity-Associated Hypertension among Primary Schoolchildren in Sudan

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) frequently has roots in childhood, including following childhood-onset hypertension. Incidence of CVD has increased in developing countries in East Africa during recent urbanization. Effects of these shifts on childhood hypertension are unclear. Our objectives were to (1) Determine the prevalence of hypertension among primary schoolchildren in Khartoum, Sudan; (2) Determine whether hypertension in this setting is associated with obesity. We performed a cross sectional study of 6-12y children from two schools randomly selected in Khartoum, Sudan. Height, weight, BMI, BP and family history of hypertension were assessed. Age-, height- and gender-specific BP curves were used to determine pre-hypertension (90–95%) and hypertension (>95%). Of 304 children, 45 (14.8%) were overweight; 32 (10.5%) were obese; 15 (4.9%) were pre-hypertensive and 15 (4.9%) were hypertensive. Obesity but not family history of hypertension was associated with current hypertension. In multiple logistic regression, adjusting for family history, children who were obese had a relative-risk of 14.7 (CI 2.45-88.2) for systolic hypertension compared to normal-weight children. We conclude that overweight and obesity are highly prevalent among primary schoolchildren in urban Sudan and are strongly associated with hypertension. That obesity-associated cardiovascular sequelae exist in the developing world at young ages may be a harbinger of future CVD in sub-Saharan Africa

The longitudinal association between homelessness, injection drug use, and injection-related risk behavior among persons with a history of injection drug use in Baltimore, MD

AbstractBackgroundFew studies have assessed the temporal association between homelessness and injection drug use, and injection-related risk behavior.MethodsAmong a cohort of 1405 current and former injection drug users in follow-up from 2005 to 2009, we used random intercept models to assess the temporal association between homelessness and subsequent injection drug use, and to determine whether the association between homelessness and sustained injection drug use among active injectors differed from the association between homelessness and relapse among those who stopped injecting. We also assessed the association between homelessness and subsequent injection-related risk behavior among participants who injected drugs consecutively across two visits. Homelessness was categorized by duration: none, <1 month, and ≥1 month.ResultsHomelessness was reported on at least one occasion by 532 (38%) participants. The relationship between homelessness and subsequent injection drug use was different for active injectors and those who stopped injecting. Among those who stopped injecting, homelessness was associated with relapse [<1 month: AOR=1.67, 95% CI (1.01, 2.74); ≥1 month: AOR=1.34 95% CI (0.77, 2.33)]. Among active injectors, homelessness was not associated with sustained injection drug use [<1 month: AOR=1.03, 95% CI (0.71, 1.49); ≥1 month: AOR=0.81 95% CI (0.56, 1.17)]. Among those injecting drugs across two consecutive visits, homelessness ≥1 month was associated with subsequent injection-related risk behavior [AOR=1.61, 95% CI (1.06, 2.45)].ConclusionHomelessness appears to be associated with relapse and injection-related risk behavior. Strengthening policies and interventions that prevent homelessness may reduce injection drug use and injection-related risk behaviors

Characterization of HIV-1 envelopes in acutely and chronically infected injection drug users

BACKGROUND: Mucosally acquired human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection results from a limited number of variants, and these infecting strains potentially have unique properties, such as increased susceptibility to entry blockers, relative interferon-alpha (IFN-α) resistance, and replication differences in some primary cells. There is no data about the phenotypic properties of HIV-1 envelope variants found early after acquisition among subjects infected through injection drug use (IDU). For the first time, we compared the characteristics of virus envelopes among injection drug users sampled prior to seroconversion (HIV RNA+/Ab-), within 1 year (early), and more than 2 years (chronic) after estimated acquisition. RESULTS: Virus envelopes from 7 HIV RNA+/Ab- subjects possessed lower genetic diversity and divergence compared to 7 unrelated individuals sampled during the chronic phase of disease. Replication competent recombinant viruses incorporating the HIV RNA+/Ab- as compared to the chronic phase envelopes were significantly more sensitive to a CCR5 receptor inhibitor and IFN-α and showed a statistical trend toward greater sensitivity to a fusion blocker. The early as compared to chronic infection envelopes also demonstrated a statistical trend or significantly greater sensitivity to CCR5 and fusion inhibitor and IFN- α. The HIV RNA+/Ab- as compared to chronic envelope viruses replicated to a lower extent in mature monocyte derived dendritic cells – CD4+ T cell co-cultures, but there were no significant replication differences in other primary cells among the viruses with envelopes from the 3 different stages of infection. CONCLUSIONS: Similar to mucosal acquisition, HIV-1 envelope quasispecies present in injection drug users prior to seroconversion have unique phenotypic properties compared to those circulating during the chronic phase of disease. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12977-014-0106-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Effect of a liver cancer education program on hepatitis B screening among Asian Americans in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area, 2009-2010

IntroductionAsian Americans have the highest incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the major form of primary liver cancer, of all ethnic groups in the United States. Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the most common cause of HCC, and as many as 1 in 10 foreign-born Asian Americans are chronically infected with HBV. We tested the effectiveness of a culturally tailored liver cancer education program for increasing screening for HBV among Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese Americans residing in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area, from November 2009 through June 2010. MethodsWe used a cluster randomized controlled trial to recruit volunteer participants from community-based organizations (CBOs) in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. We selected 877 participants by using a pretest survey. People were eligible to participate if they had not attended a hepatitis B–related education program in the past 5 years. The intervention group (n = 441) received a 30-minute educational program, and the control group (n = 436) received an educational brochure. After attending the educational program, the intervention group completed a post-education survey. Six months later, participants in both groups were followed up by telephone. Receipt of HBV screening was the outcome measure. ResultsApproximately 79% (n = 688) of participants completed the 6-month follow-up telephone survey. Among those who had not had HBV screening at baseline (n = 446), the adjusted odds of self-reported receipt of HBV screening at the 6-month follow-up to the educational program were significantly higher for the intervention group than for the control group (odds ratio = 5.13; 95% confidence interval, 3.14–8.39; P \u3c .001). Chinese Americans and Vietnamese Americans had significantly higher odds of having HBV screening in the 6-month period than Korean Americans. ConclusionCulturally tailored education programs that increase liver cancer awareness can be effective in increasing HBV screening among underserved Asian American populations

Prevalence and Factors Associated With Liver Fibrosis Among Adult HIV-Infected Patients Attending Urban and Rural Care Clinics in Uganda.

BACKGROUND: Liver fibrosis is common among HIV-infected patients. Risk factors vary by location. Understanding this variation may inform prevention strategies. We compared the prevalence and correlates of liver fibrosis among HIV-infected patients attending care clinics in Uganda. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study involving 2030 HIV-infected patients attending care clinics in urban and rural Uganda. Liver fibrosis was defined as liver stiffness measurement (LSM) >7.1 KPa. Proportions and correlates of liver fibrosis were assessed and compared using logistic regression stratified by gender and site. RESULTS: Prevalence of liver fibrosis was higher among participants in the rural clinic (15% vs 11%; P = .017). History of tobacco use (urban P = .022; rural P = .035) and serologic evidence of hepatitis C infection (HCV; urban P = .028; rural P = .03) was associated with liver fibrosis in all men. Elevated liver transaminases (urban P = .002; rural P = .028) and increasing age (urban P = .008; rural P = .052) were risk factors among all women. Tobacco use among women was only a risk factor in those attending the rural clinic (P = .003), and detectable HIV viral load (P = .002) for men in the urban clinic. CONCLUSIONS: Liver fibrosis is prevalent among HIV-infected persons in Uganda. HIV viral suppression and avoiding tobacco may be strategies to prevent liver fibrosis and cancer risk

An analysis of fast photochemistry over high northern latitudes during spring and summer using in-situ observations from ARCTAS and TOPSE

Observations of chemical constituents and meteorological quantities obtained during the two Arctic phases of the airborne campaign ARCTAS (Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites) are analyzed using an observationally constrained steady state box model. Measurements of OH and HO2 from the Penn State ATHOS instrument are compared to model predictions. Forty percent of OH measurements below 2 km are at the limit of detection during the spring phase (ARCTAS-A). While the median observed-to-calculated ratio is near one, both the scatter of observations and the model uncertainty for OH are at the magnitude of ambient values. During the summer phase (ARCTAS-B), model predictions of OH are biased low relative to observations and demonstrate a high sensitivity to the level of uncertainty in NO observations. Predictions of HO2 using observed CH2O and H2O2 as model constraints are up to a factor of two larger than observed. A temperature-dependent terminal loss rate of HO2 to aerosol recently proposed in the literature is shown to be insufficient to reconcile these differences. A comparison of ARCTAS-A to the high latitude springtime portion of the 2000 TOPSE campaign (Tropospheric Ozone Production about the Spring Equinox) shows similar meteorological and chemical environments with the exception of peroxides; observations of H2O2 during ARCTAS-A were 2.5 to 3 times larger than those during TOPSE. The cause of this difference in peroxides remains unresolved and has important implications for the Arctic HOx budget. Unconstrained model predictions for both phases indicate photochemistry alone is unable to simultaneously sustain observed levels of CH2O and H2O2; however when the model is constrained with observed CH2O, H2O2 predictions from a range of rainout parameterizations bracket its observations. A mechanism suitable to explain observed concentrations of CH2O is uncertain. Free tropospheric observations of acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) are 2–3 times larger than its predictions, though constraint of the model to those observations is sufficient to account for less than half of the deficit in predicted CH2O. The box model calculates gross O3 formation during spring to maximize from 1–4 km at 0.8 ppbv d−1, in agreement with estimates from TOPSE, and a gross production of 2–4 ppbv d−1 in the boundary layer and upper troposphere during summer. Use of the lower observed levels of HO2 in place of model predictions decreases the gross production by 25–50%. Net O3 production is near zero throughout the ARCTAS-A troposphere, and is 1–2 ppbv in the boundary layer and upper altitudes during ARCTAS-B

A Meta-Analysis of the Incidence of Non-AIDS Cancers in HIV-Infected Individuals

To estimate summary standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) of non-AIDS cancers among HIV-infected individuals compared to general population rates overall and stratified by gender, AIDS and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era

The Jacobi Factoring Circuit: Quantum Factoring with Near-Linear Gates and Sublinear Space and Depth

We present a compact quantum circuit for factoring a large class of integers, including some whose classical hardness is expected to be equivalent to RSA (but not including RSA integers themselves). To our knowledge, it is the first polynomial-time circuit to achieve sublinear qubit count for a classically-hard factoring problem; the circuit also achieves sublinear depth and nearly linear gate count. We build on the quantum algorithm for squarefree decomposition discovered by Li, Peng, Du and Suter (Nature Scientific Reports 2012), which relies on computing the Jacobi symbol in quantum superposition. Our circuit completely factors any number $N$, whose prime decomposition has distinct exponents, and finds at least one non-trivial factor if not all exponents are the same. In particular, to factor an $n$-bit integer $N=P^2 Q$ (with $P$ and $Q$ prime, and $Q<2^m$ for some $m$), our circuit uses $\widetilde{O}(m)$ qubits and has depth at most $\widetilde{O}(m + n/m)$, with $\widetilde{O}(n)$ quantum gates. When $m=\Theta(n^a)$ with $2/3 < a < 1$, the space and depth are sublinear in $n$, yet no known classical algorithms exploit the relatively small size of $Q$ to run faster than general-purpose factoring algorithms. We thus believe that factoring such numbers has potential to be the most concretely efficient classically-verifiable proof of quantumness currently known. The technical core of our contribution is a new space-efficient quantum algorithm to compute the Jacobi symbol of $A$ mod $B$, in the regime where $B$ is classical and much larger than $A$. Crucially, our circuit reads the bits of the classical value $B$ in a streaming fashion, never storing more than $\widetilde{O}(\log A)$ qubits of quantum information at one time. In the context of the larger Jacobi algorithm for factoring $N = P^2Q$, this reduces the overall qubit count to be roughly proportional to the length of $Q$, rather than the length of $N$. Our circuit for computing the Jacobi symbol is also highly gate-efficient and parallelizable, achieving gate count $\widetilde{O}(\log B)$ and depth at most $\widetilde{O}(\log A + \log B/\log A)$. Finally, we note that our circuit for computing the Jacobi symbol generalizes to related problems, such as computing the greatest common divisor, and thus could be of independent interest

Estimating the Effects of Multiple Time-varying Exposures Using Joint Marginal Structural Models: Alcohol Consumption, Injection Drug Use, and HIV Acquisition

The joint effects of multiple exposures on an outcome are frequently of interest in epidemiologic research. In 2001, Hernán, Brumback, and Robins (JASA 2001; 96: 440–448) presented methods for estimating the joint effects of multiple time-varying exposures subject to time-varying confounding affected by prior exposure using joint marginal structural models. Nonetheless, the use of these joint models is rare in the applied literature. Minimal uptake of these joint models, in contrast to the now widely used standard marginal structural model, is due in part to a lack of examples demonstrating the method. In this paper, we review the assumptions necessary for unbiased estimation of joint effects as well as the distinction between interaction and effect measure modification. We demonstrate the use of marginal structural models for estimating the joint effects of alcohol consumption and injection drug use on HIV acquisition, using data from 1,525 injection drug users in the AIDS Link to Intravenous Experience cohort study. In the joint model, the hazard ratio (HR) for heavy drinking in the absence of any drug injections was 1.58 (95% confidence interval= 0.67–3.73). The HR for any drug injections in the absence of heavy drinking was 1.78 (1.10–2.89). The HR for heavy drinking and any drug injections was 2.45 (1.45–4.12). The P values for multiplicative and additive interaction were 0.7620 and 0.9200, respectively, indicating a lack of departure from effects that multiply or add. However, we could not rule out interaction on either scale due to imprecision