86,217 research outputs found
HIV seroconcordance among heterosexual couples in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: a population-based analysis
Introduction
High levels of HIV seroconcordance at the population level reduce the potential for effective HIV transmission. However, the level of HIV seroconcordance is largely unknown among heterosexual couples in subâSaharan Africa. We aimed to quantify the population level HIV seroconcordance in stable heterosexual couples in rural South Africa.
Methods
We followed adults (â„15 years old) using a populationâbased, longitudinal and open surveillance system in KwaZuluâNatal, South Africa, from 2003 to 2016. Sexual partnerships and HIV status were confirmed via household surveys and annual HIV surveillance. We calculated the proportions of HIV seroconcordance and serodiscordance in stable sexual partnerships and compared them to the expected proportions under the assumption of random mixing using individualâbased microsimulation models. Among unpartnered individuals, we estimated the incidence rates and hazard of sexual partnership formation with HIVâpositive or HIVânegative partners by participants' own timeâvarying HIV status. Competing risks survival regressions were fitted adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical factors. We also calculated Newman's assortativity coefficients.
Results
A total of 18,341 HIVânegative and 11,361 HIVâpositive individuals contributed 154,469 personâyears (PY) of followâup. Overall, 28% of the participants were in stable sexual partnerships. Of the 677 newly formed stable sexual partnerships, 7.7% (95% CI: 5.8 to 10.0) were HIVâpositive seroconcordant (i.e. both individuals in the partnership were HIVâpositive), which was three times higher than the expected proportion (2.3%) in microsimulation models based on random mixing. The incidence rates of sexual partnership formation were 0.54/1000PY with HIVâpositive, 1.12/1000PY with HIVânegative and 2.65/1000PY with unknown serostatus partners. HIVâpositive individuals had 2.39 (95% CI: 1.43 to 3.99) times higher hazard of forming a sexual partnership with an HIVâpositive partner than did HIVânegative individuals after adjusting for age, oppositeâsex HIV prevalence (by 5âyears age groups), HIV prevalence in the surrounding community, ART coverage and other sociodemographic factors. Similarly, forming a sexual partnership with an HIVânegative partner was 1.47 (95% CI: 1.01 to 2.14) times higher in HIVânegative individuals in the adjusted model. Newman's coefficient also showed that assortativity by participant and partner HIV status was moderate (r = 0.35).
Conclusions
A high degree of population level HIV seroconcordance (both positive and negative) was observed at the time of forming new sexual partnerships. Understanding factors driving these patterns may help the development of strategies to bring the HIV epidemic under control
Civil partnership five years on
The Civil Partnership Act 2004, which came into force in December 2005 allowing same-sex couples in the UK to register their relationship for the first time, celebrated its fifth anniversary in December 2010. This article examines civil partnership in England and Wales, five years on from its introduction. The characteristics of those forming civil partnerships between 2005 and 2010 including age, sex and previous marital/civil partnership status are examined. These are then compared with the characteristics of those marrying over the same period. Further comparisons are also made between civil partnership dissolutions and divorce. The article presents estimates of the number of people currently in civil partnerships and children of civil partners. Finally the article examines attitudes towards same-sex and civil partner couples both in the UK and in other countries across Europe
Forming and Dissolving Partnerships in Cooperative Game Situations
A group of players in a cooperative game are partners (e.g., as in the form of a union or a joint ownership) if the prospects for cooperation are restricted such that cooperation with players outside the partnership requires the accept of all the partners. The formation of such partnerships through binding agreements may change the game implying that players could have incentives to manipulate a game by forming or dissolving partnerships. The present paper seeks to explore the existence of allocation rules that are immune to this type of manipulation. An allocation rule that distributes the worth of the grand coalition among players, is called partnership formation-proof if it ensures that it is never jointly profitable for any group of players to form a partnership and partnership dissolution-proof if no group can ever profit from dissolving a partnership. The paper provides results on the existence of such allocation rules for general classes of games as well as more specific results concerning well known allocation rules.cooperative games; partnerships; partnership formation-proof; partnership dissolution-proof
Endogenous Formation of Competing Partnership with Moral Hazard
Published as an article in: Games and Economic Behavior, 2003, vol. 44, issue 1, pages 183-194.endogenous coalition formation, moral hazard, partnerships
In Search of Strategic Solutions: A Funders Briefing on Nonprofit Strategic Restructuring
Analyzes the options and benefits of nonprofit strategic restructuring. Examines the pressures that lead nonprofits to consider strategic restructuring, and the conditions that lead to, or prevent, successful results. Includes recommendations
Change and continuity in family formation among young adults in Britain
Data from the 1958 and 1970 British birth cohorts permit comparison of family formation patterns among young adults. We present evidence of changes in the speed and extent to which young adults enter first partnership, marry and become parents, and the relationships between these events. There remain remarkable continuities in social class differences. The intergenerational perspective demonstrates how persistent class differences in the family formation trajectories of young adults are in part a reflection of social inequalities in access to further and higher education
Not truly partnerless: Non-residential partnerships and retreat from marriage in Spain
In Spain, nearly two-thirds of women aged 20-34 have not yet entered their first union. However, almost half of them have a stable partner in a different household. Hence, the drop in marriage rates and low prevalence of cohabitation cannot be rightly interpreted as a decline in partnership formation, but rather as a postponement of co-residential unions. This paper examines the prevalence and determinants of non-residential stable partnerships among young adults (women aged 20-34), in relation to cohabitation and marriage, using a multinomial logit model of current partnership type. The analysis is based on data from the 1999 Spanish Fertility Survey.cohabitation, LAT, partnerships, Spain, union formation
Growing Pebbles and Conceptual Prisms - Understanding The Source of Student Misconceptions About Rock Formation
Provides pedagogical insight concerning learners' pre-conceptions and misconceptions about the rock cycle The resource being annotated is: http://www.dlese.org/dds/catalog_NASA-Edmall-535.htm
Imag(in)ing Trans Partnerships: Collaborative Photography and Intimacy
In this peer reviewed journal article, Davidmann argues that collaborative photography offers dynamic potential for imag(in)ing trans* intimate partnerships beyond the authority of textual representation. Davidmann presents five photographic and narrative case studies, spanning a range of trans* partnerships in the UK, to demonstrate some of the complex ways in which bodies, genders, sexualities, and time intersect in trans* intimacy. She argues that the photographs create an imaginative resource, both for the people depicted in the photographs and for those viewing the photographs, providing new possibilities for thinking about trans* partnerships, expanding the ways in which trans intimate partnerships are imag(in)ed, and opening up new spaces of possibility for gender and sexual identities
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