AIDS knowledge and attitudes in a Turkish population: an epidemiological study

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate and present some pertinent comments concerning Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) knowledge, attitudes and misconceptions among the general population in a city of west Turkey. This study was deemed important and relevant due to the increasing importance of AIDS in Turkey and the other countries. METHODS: Using a multistage area sampling method, a random sample of individuals aged 11–83 years, living in 65 different quarters in the city of Eskisehir, Turkey during September, October and November 2004 were interviewed. RESULTS: In all, 1048 respondents completed the survey. In most items, respondents displayed a fairly good to excellent degree of knowledge about HIV/AIDS. Individuals with higher degrees of education indicated more correct responses in all items relating to knowledge of HIV/AIDS. In general, the respondents' attitudes towards AIDS and people with AIDS were found to be tolerant and positive, with one answer choice showing that the majority of the respondents agreed with the statement that those with HIV/AIDS must be supported, treated and helped (90.7%). Moreover, the proportions of the respondents' misconceptions were found to be significantly low for all the items. However, nearly one fourth of the respondents agreed with the misconceptions 'AIDS is a punishment by God' and 'One is not infected with HIV/AIDS if engaged in sport and well nourished'. CONCLUSION: In general HIV/AIDS related knowledge was high and people showed positive attitudes. However, people continue to hold misconceptions about AIDS and these need to be addressed by health education programs targeting those at higher risk

Amyloid and tau pathology associations with personality traits, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and cognitive lifestyle in the preclinical phases of sporadic and autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease

Background Major prevention trials for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are now focusing on multidomain lifestyle interventions. However, the exact combination of behavioral factors related to AD pathology remains unclear. In 2 cohorts of cognitively unimpaired individuals at risk of AD, we examined which combinations of personality traits, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and cognitive lifestyle (years of education or lifetime cognitive activity) related to the pathological hallmarks of AD, amyloid-β, and tau deposits. Methods A total of 115 older adults with a parental or multiple-sibling family history of sporadic AD (PREVENT-AD [PRe-symptomatic EValuation of Experimental or Novel Treatments for AD] cohort) underwent amyloid and tau positron emission tomography and answered several questionnaires related to behavioral attributes. Separately, we studied 117 mutation carriers from the DIAN (Dominant Inherited Alzheimer Network) study group cohort with amyloid positron emission tomography and behavioral data. Using partial least squares analysis, we identified latent variables relating amyloid or tau pathology with combinations of personality traits, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and cognitive lifestyle. Results In PREVENT-AD, lower neuroticism, neuropsychiatric burden, and higher education were associated with less amyloid deposition (p = .014). Lower neuroticism and neuropsychiatric features, along with higher measures of openness and extraversion, were related to less tau deposition (p = .006). In DIAN, lower neuropsychiatric burden and higher education were also associated with less amyloid (p = .005). The combination of these factors accounted for up to 14% of AD pathology. Conclusions In the preclinical phase of both sporadic and autosomal dominant AD, multiple behavioral features were associated with AD pathology. These results may suggest potential pathways by which multidomain interventions might help delay AD onset or progression

The method of lines solution of the discrete ordinates method for radiative heat transfer in enclosures containing scattering media

A radiation code based on the method of lines (MOL) solution of the discrete ordinates method (DOM) for three-dimensional radiative heat transfer in rectangular enclosures containing gray, absorbing, emitting, isotropically and anisotropically scattering media was developed. Predictive accuracy of the code was evaluated by applying the code to 1-D and 3-,D problems containing scattering media and benchmarking its predictions against exact solutions, the zone method, and Monte Carlo solutions. Favorable comparisons reveal that MOL solution of the DOM provides accurate solutions for modeling radiative heat transfer in 3-D rectangular enclosures containing purely scattering or absorbing, emitting, and scattering media with isotropic or anisotropic scattering properties

MOL solution of DOM for transient radiative transfer in 3-D scattering media

A methodology based on the method of lines solution of discrete ordinates method for solution of the 3-D transient radiative transfer equation is introduced. The method is applied to the prediction of transient and steady state transmittances in a cubical enclosure containing purely scattering medium and validated against Monte Carlo solutions from the literature. The flexibility of the method for implementation of linear spatial differencing schemes, flux limiters and weighted essentially non-oscillatory methods is demonstrated. Van Leer flux limiter is found to provide stable, accurate and efficient solutions

Transient simulation of radiating flows

Time-dependent Navier-Stokes equations are solved in conjunction with the radiative transfer equation by coupling a previously developed direct numerical simulation-based computational fluid dynamics code to an existing radiation code, both based on the method of lines approach. The temperature profiles predicted by the coupled code are validated against steady-state solutions available in the literature for laminar, axisymmetric, hydrodynamically developed flow of a gray, absorbing, emitting fluid in a heated pipe. Favorable comparisons show the predictive accuracy and reliability of the coupling strategy employed. Transient solutions for a more realistic heat transfer problem are also demonstrated for simultaneous hydrodynamic and thermal development

Comparison between performances of Monte Carlo method and method of lines solution of.discrete ordinates method

Monte Carlo method was used to predict the incident radiative heat fluxes on the freeboard walls of the METU 0.3 MWt atmospheric bubbling fluidized bed combustor based on the data reported previously. The freeboard was treated as a rectangular enclosure with gray interior walls and gray, absorbing, emitting and isotropically scattering medium. A Monte Carlo solver was developed and the performance of the solver was assessed by comparing its predictions with those of method of lines solution of discrete ordinates method and experimental measurements reported previously. Parametric studies were carried out to examine the effects of particle load and anisotropic scattering on the, predicted incident radiative heat fluxes. The comparisons show that Monte Carlo method reproduces the measured incident radiative heat fluxes reasonably well for the freeboard problem