Exploring the acceptability of two self-sampling devices for human papillomavirus testing in the cervical screening context: a qualitative study of Muslim women in London

Objectives We explored Muslim women's attitudes to self-sampling for human papillomavirus (HPV) in the context of cervical cancer screening and their responses to two self-sampling devices.Setting A Muslim community centre in north-east London.Methods Following a talk given on the subject of cervical cancer and HPV at the community centre, 28 women were recruited to take part in three focus group discussions. The discussion covered cervical screening, self-sampling and HPV testing. Women were also asked for their responses to a swab self-sampling kit and a cervico-vaginal lavage device. Discussions were recorded and transcribed verbatim and the qualitative data were analysed using Framework Analysis.Results Participants were generally positive about cervical screening but acknowledged that some women in their community were reluctant to offend because of embarrassment, language difficulties, fear or because they were unmarried and did not want to communicate implicit messages about being sexually active. Self-sampling met a mixed response - women were concerned about not doing the test correctly, but thought that it might overcome barriers to screening for some women. HPV testing itself was thought to raise potentially difficult issues relating to trust and fidelity within marriages. Although most women said they would prefer to continue to have screening by a health professional, if they were to perform self-sampling, there was overwhelming preference for the swab over the lavage kit.Conclusions There was limited enthusiasm for self-sampling in this group of Muslim women who had mostly attended for cervical screening, but a clear preference for a swab rather than a cervico-vaginal lavage

The life-history and cytology of didymium nigripes

The life-history and cytology of Didymium nigripes have been worked out in detail. The organism grows well in carrot-agar and takes about a fortnight to six weeks to complete its life- history, the time required depending very largely on external conditions.The spore coat is ruptured by osmotic pressure and the single nucleus then divides karyokinetically, four chromosomes being present. The centrosome arises in the nucleus and passes outwards, leaving behind it the 'Verbindungstuck'. Division of centrosome and Verbindungstuck precede the nuclear division. Nuclear division is followed by division of the protoplast, and two swarm:- cell emerge from the spore coat. The centrosome subsequently functions as the blepharoplast.After three or four divisions the swarm -cell withdraws the flagellum, 'Verbindungsttick' and blepharoplast and becomes a myxamoeba. The rnyxamoebae fuse in pairs to form the zygote or young plasmodium.The young plasmodium can ingest swarm-cells and unfused myxamoebae, and can also coalesce with smaller plasmodia. About five or six days after germination, the larger plasmodia exert a distinct attraction on the uninucleate plasmodia in their neighbourhood and these coalesce with them in large numbers,Nuclear divisions are 'comparatively rare in the young plasmodium. The division is karyokinetic; intracuclear, and no centrosomes are present, Eight chromosomes are formed. The plasmodium increases in size by coalescing with any small plasmodia it encounters,The stalk of the sporangium is formed by the degeneration of large masses of protoplasm. The wall- and ca._ pilitium probably arise as a result of a chemico-physical action taking place on the surface of protoplasm exposed to air and controlled by the protoplasm itself.Cleavage of the sporogenous protoplasm and meiosis proceed. simultaneously, The meiosis is typical and consists of the usual heterotype and homo - type divisions, Both divisions are intra-nuclear, without centrosomes and with four chromosomes. In the heterotype division. the chromosomes are U-shaped, in the homotype one they are spherical, The final cleavage into singel spores takes place during the concluding stages of the homotype division.Didymium Whines is considered to be a more advanced type than Reticularia Lycoperdon, because of the presence of myxamoebae, the fusion of amoeboid gametes, and the formation of a true capillitium,

Awareness of human papillomavirus among women attending a well woman clinic

Objectives: To assess the level and accuracy of public understanding of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the United Kingdom.Methods: Women attending a well woman clinic were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing HPV awareness and specific knowledge about the virus.Results: Questionnaires were completed by 1032 women, of whom 30% had heard of HPV. Older women, non-smokers, and those with a history of candida, genital warts, or an abnormal smear result were more likely to have heard of HPV. Even among those who had heard of HPV, knowledge was generally poor, and fewer than half were aware of the link with cervical cancer. There was also confusion about whether condoms or oral contraceptives could protect against HPV infection.Conclusions: In this relatively well educated sample, awareness and knowledge of HPV were poor. Public education is urgently needed so that women participating in cervical cancer screening are fully informed about the meaning of their results, especially if HPV testing is soon to be introduced

Testing positive for human papillomavirus in routine cervical screening: examination of psychosocial impact

Objective To examine the psychosocial impact of testing positive for high risk human papillomavirus (HPV) among women attending primary cervical screening.Design Cross sectional survey.Measures were taken at baseline and one week after the receipt of HPV and cytology screening results.Setting Well women's clinic in London, UK.Population or Sample Four hundred and twenty-eight women aged 20-64 years.Methods Postal questionnaire survey.Main outcome measures Psychosocial and psychosexual outcomes were anxiety, distress and feelings about current, past and future sexual relationships.Results Women with normal cytology who tested positive for HPV (HPVdivided by) were significantly more anxious and distressed than women who were negative (HPV-) using both a state anxiety measure [F(1,267)=29, P<0.0001] and a screening specific measure of psychological distress [F(1,267)=69, P<0.0001]. Women with an abnormal or unsatisfactory smear result, who tested HPV,. were significantly more distressed than HPV- women with the same smear result [F(1,267)=8.8, P=0.002], but there was no significant difference in state anxiety. Irrespective of cytology result, HPV women reported feeling significantly worse about their sexual relationships. Approximately one-third of women who tested positive reported feeling worse about past and future sexual relationships compared with less than 2% of HPV- women.Conclusion The findings suggest that testing positive for HPV may have an adverse psychosocial impact, with increased anxiety., distress and concern about sexual relationships. Psychosocial outcomes of HPV testing need further investigation and must be considered alongside clinical and economic decisions to include HPV testing in routine cervical screening

Acceptability of unsupervised HPV self-sampling using written instructions

Objectives The study measured the acceptability of self-sampling for human papillomavirus (HPV) testing in the context of cervical cancer screening. Women carried out self-sampling unsupervised, using a written instruction sheet.Setting Participants were women attending either a family planning clinic or a primary care trust for routine cervical screening.Methods Women (n=902) carried out self-sampling for HPV testing and then a clinician did a routine cervical smear and HPV test. Immediately after having the two tests, participants completed a measure of acceptability for both tests, and answered questions about ease of using the instruction sheet and willingness to use self-sampling in the future.Results The majority of women found self-sampling more acceptable than the clinician-administered test, but there was a lack of confidence that the test had been done correctly. Significant demographic differences in attitudes were found, with married women having more favourable attitudes towards self-sampling than single women, and Asian women having more negative attitudes than women in other ethnic groups. Intention to use self-sampling in the future was very high across all demographic groups.Conclusion Self-sampling for HPV testing was highly acceptable in this large and demographically diverse sample, and women were able to carry out the test alone, using simple written instructions. Consistent with previous studies, women were concerned about doing the test properly and this issue will need to be addressed if self-sampling is introduced. More work is needed to see whether the demographic differences we found are robust and to identify reasons for lower acceptability among single women and those from Asian background

Attitudes to self-sampling for HPV among Indian, Pakistani, African-Caribbean and white British women in Manchester, UK

Objective: To examine attitudes to self-sampling for human papillomavirus (HPV) testing among women from contrasting ethnic groups.Setting: Manchester, UK.Methods: Two hundred women of Indian, Pakistani, African-Caribbean and white British origin were recruited from social and community groups to participate in a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire included items on attitudes to self-sampling and intention to use the test.Results: Willingness to try to use the test was high, and women did not foresee religious or cultural barriers to self-sampling; however, a large proportion of women were concerned about doing the test properly. This concern was greatest in the Indian and African-Caribbean groups.Conclusions: Although women's willingness to try self-sampling for HPV is encouraging, worries about carrying out the procedure correctly must be addressed if women are to feel confident about the results of self-sampling methods and reassured by a negative result

Rapid prototyping of waveguide and horn antennas

In this paper we review how fused deposition modelling (FDM) can be deployed for the rapid prototyping of microwave waveguide componentry and antennas. Additive manufacture of such objects allows new, novel and complex structures to be fabricated with lower impact on the environment relative to current manufacturing processes, plus the fast turnaround of design to manufacture and test. Additionally while the resulting physical antenna properties may not be perfect compared to the design or what can be machined, their RF/microwave performance can be quite forgiving thereby allowing the antenna design engineer to fully exploit the rapid prototyping concept

Additively manufactured profiled conical horn antenna with dielectric loading

The world's first additively manufactured dielectric loaded profiled conical horn antenna is presented in this letter. With a smooth profiled flare and two loaded dielectric core materials, this horn offers symmetrical patterns, wideband gain, low sidelobe level, and low cross polarization. Additive manufacturing, including electroplating, has been employed to address the fabrication challenges. The measurement results show that the fabrication process produces a horn antenna with reduced mass and volume (<;200 g with three-dimensional-printed flange) and high antenna performance with realized gain 16-20 dBi, sidelobe level -22 to -19 dB across the frequency range from 9 to 15 GHz

Fused deposition modelling for microwave circuits & antennas

Additive Manufacturing, or 3D printing, is moving from the research labs and into both consumer and commercial manufacturing markets. As the systems, processes and materials available are becoming more mature we are seeing them being tested for new application areas such as electronics. In this paper we review how fused deposition modelling (FDM) is being explored for creating microwave circuits and componentry, their RF performance and the materials challenges faced. In recent years such microwave circuits and components have included antennas, lenses, antireflective coatings, transmission lines and planar circuits, waveguide terminations, performing at frequencies ranging from low GHz up to tens of GHz. Additive manufacture of such objects allows new, novel and complex structures to be fabricated with lower impact on the environment relative to current manufacturing processes, plus the rapid prototyping of circuits. Additionally it currently offers reasonable RF performance that can be competitive through further advances in manufacturing processes and materials

Awareness of human papillomavirus among women attending a well woman clinic

Objectives: To assess the level and accuracy of public understanding of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the United Kingdom. Methods: Women attending a well woman clinic were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing HPV awareness and specific knowledge about the virus. Results: Questionnaires were completed by 1032 women, of whom 30% had heard of HPV. Older women, non-smokers, and those with a history of candida, genital warts, or an abnormal smear result were more likely to have heard of HPV. Even among those who had heard of HPV, knowledge was generally poor, and fewer than half were aware of the link with cervical cancer. There was also confusion about whether condoms or oral contraceptives could protect against HPV infection. Conclusions: In this relatively well educated sample, awareness and knowledge of HPV were poor. Public education is urgently needed so that women participating in cervical cancer screening are fully informed about the meaning of their results, especially if HPV testing is soon to be introduced