Early Stages of Homopolymer Collapse

Interest in the protein folding problem has motivated a wide range of theoretical and experimental studies of the kinetics of the collapse of flexible homopolymers. In this Paper a phenomenological model is proposed for the kinetics of the early stages of homopolymer collapse following a quench from temperatures above to below the theta temperature. In the first stage, nascent droplets of the dense phase are formed, with little effect on the configurations of the bridges that join them. The droplets then grow by accreting monomers from the bridges, thus causing the bridges to stretch. During these two stages the overall dimensions of the chain decrease only weakly. Further growth of the droplets is accomplished by the shortening of the bridges, which causes the shrinking of the overall dimensions of the chain. The characteristic times of the three stages respectively scale as the zeroth, 1/5 and 6/5 power of the the degree of polymerization of the chain.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Evaluation of uptake and attitude to voluntary counseling and testing among health care professional students in Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) is a corner stone for successful implementation of prevention, care and support services among HIV negative and positive individuals. VCT is also perceived to be an effective strategy in risk reduction among sexually active young people.. This study aimed to assess the acceptability of VCT and its actual uptake among young health care professional students at KCM College of Tumaini University and Allied health schools.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a cross-sectional study. A structured questionnaire was used among health care professional students aged 18–25 years who were enrolled in degrees, diplomas and certificates courses at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College and all other Allied health schools</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 309 students were recruited, among these 197 (63.8%) were females. All respondents were aware of the benefits of VCT. Only 107 (34.6%) of students have had VCT done previously. About 59 (19.1%) of the students had negative for health care professional to attend VCT. Risk perception among the students was low (37.2%) even though they were found to have higher risk behaviors that predispose them to get HIV infection.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Awareness of VCT services and willingness to test is high among students; however its uptake is low. In order to promote these services, a comprehensive training module on VCT needs to be included in their training curricula. In particular, more emphasis should focus on the benefits of VCT and to help the students to internalize the risk of HIV so that they can take preventive measures.</p