HIV, Stigma, and Rates of Infection: A Rumour without Evidence

The modern concept of a social stigma comes from the work of American sociologist Erving Goffman, who described it as a response to a deeply discrediting attribute that devalues the person [1]. In the medical literature, stigma is almost inevitably written about in terms of adverse social sequelae of a disease—such as leprosy, tuberculosis, epilepsy, schizophrenia, or filariasis [2–6]—or a physical characteristic or functional loss, such as obesity, deafness, or paraplegia [7–9]. The consequences of stigma range from moderate opprobrium at one end of the spectrum to death [10]

Disentangling the stigma of HIV/AIDS from the stigmas of drugs use, commercial sex and commercial blood donation – A factorial survey of medical students in China

Background: HIV/AIDS related stigma interferes with the provision of appropriate care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS. Currently, programs to address the stigma approach it as if it occurs in isolation, separate from the co-stigmas related to the various modes of disease transmission including injection drug use (IDU) and commercial sex (CS). In order to develop better programs to address HIV/AIDS related stigma, the inter-relationship (or 'layering') between HIV/AIDS stigma and the co-stigmas needs to be better understood. This paper describes an experimental study for disentangling the layering of HIV/AIDS related stigmas. Methods: The study used a factorial survey design. 352 medical students from Guangzhou were presented with four random vignettes each describing a hypothetical male. The vignettes were identical except for the presence of a disease diagnosis (AIDS, leukaemia, or no disease) and a cocharacteristic (IDU, CS, commercial blood donation (CBD), blood transfusion or no cocharacteristic). After reading each vignette, participants completed a measure of social distance that assessed the level of stigmatising attitudes. Results: Bivariate and multivariable analyses revealed statistically significant levels of stigma associated with AIDS, IDU, CS and CBD. The layering of stigma was explored using a recently developed technique. Strong interactions between the stigmas of AIDS and the co-characteristics were also found. AIDS was significantly less stigmatising than IDU or CS. Critically, the stigma of AIDS in combination with either the stigmas of IDU or CS was significantly less than the stigma of IDU alone or CS alone. Conclusion: The findings pose several surprising challenges to conventional beliefs about HIV/ AIDS related stigma and stigma interventions that have focused exclusively on the disease stigma. Contrary to the belief that having a co-stigma would add to the intensity of stigma attached to people with HIV/AIDS, the findings indicate the presence of an illness might have a moderating effect on the stigma of certain co-characteristics like IDU. The strong interdependence between the stigmas of HIV/AIDS and the co-stigmas of IDU and CS suggest that reducing the co-stigmas should be an integral part of HIV/AIDS stigma intervention within this context

A six-node pentagonal assumed natural strain solid-shell element

In this paper, a six-node pentagonal solid-shell element is formulated. Particular attention is focused on alleviating shear, trapezoidal and thickness lockings that plagues the conventional element. While assumed natural strain method is employed to alleviate shear and trapezoidal lockings, a modified generalized laminate stiffness matrix is proposed to circumvent thickness locking. Unlike the commonly adopted plane stress assumption, the modified laminate stiffness matrix enables the element to reproduce the exact thickness stress and transverse displacement when the element is loaded by thickness stress. Numerical examples reveal that the element is close in accuracy with other state-of-the-art three-node degenerated shell elements. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V.postprin

Poisson-Boltzmann calculations of ions in charged capillaries

The Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) equation of ions inside an infinitely long charged pore is solved using two different boundary conditions of the electric field due to the pore wall. The results show that the boundary condition generally adopted in the literature leads to a violation of electroneutrality in the ion-pore system. © 1994 American Institute of Physics.published_or_final_versio

Synthesis and characterization of self-assembled monolayer and bilayer carboxyl-group functionalized magnetic nanoparticles

This journal issue contains selected papers from the 2012 International Magnetics (INTERMAG) ConferenceMagnetic nanoparticles functionalized with carboxyl-group have considerable potential to be used as bio-labels due to their conjugation abilities with proteins. Here, we synthesized the iron oxide nanoparticles functionalized with carboxyl groups through self-assembled monolayer coating using citric acid and self-assembled bilayer coating using fatty acids. Their dimension, hydrodynamic size, surface property, and magnetic behavior were characterized through transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, and vibrating sample magnetometry. We also confirmed the binding ability of these nanoparticles with bovine serum albumin on thin gold film. © 2012 IEEE.published_or_final_versionThe IEEE International Magnetics Conference (INTERMAG 2012), Vancouver, BC., 7-11 May 2012. In IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, 2012, v. 48 n. 11, p. 3299-330

Microbiologically induced corrosion of 70Cu-30Ni alloy in anaerobic seawater

The corrosion of 70Cu-30Ni alloy induced by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in seawater was investigated by microscopic and electrochemical methods. Under anaerobic conditions, the SRB attached on the alloy surface formed blotchy biofilms, as observed by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Intergranular corrosion of the alloy occurred after immersion in SRB-containing seawater for 7 days, as observed by atomic force and scanning electron microscopy. Compared to the control experiment in the absence of SRB, a 330 mV shift of open-circuit potential resulted in the active direction and the polarization resistance decreased by a factor of 10. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy data revealed that the impedance had remarkable capacitive characteristics. The response of the impedance was determined by two time constants for both the media with and without SRB. Analyses of concentrations of bacteria, metabolites, Cu, and Ni showed that the variation of concentrations of metabolites coincided with the growth of bacteria, and copper and nickel precipitated due to the production of metal sulfide, The effect of bacteria growth was the precipitation of cuprous sulfide to lower the potential of the anodic reaction and the reduction of hydrogen sulfide as the possible cathodic reaction. © 2004 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.published_or_final_versio

Synthesis of ozone from air via a polymer-electrolyte-membrane cell with a doped tin oxide anode

The generation of ozone from air using an electrochemical cell consisting of an air cathode, a polymer-electrolyte-membrane (PEM), and a doped tin oxide anode is reported. This synthesis is environmentally friendly compared to the conventional high-voltage corona discharge process since NOx formation is eliminated; a higher ozone concentration is generated; and lower energy may be required. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2006.postprin

Carbonization over PFA-protected dispersed platinum: An effective route to synthesize high performance mesoporous-carbon supported Pt electrocatalysts

An alternative and effective route of synthesizing mesoporous carbon supported Pt nanoparticles is introduced. In reverse order to the conventional synthetic route, carbonization occurs after dispersion of platinum. In this process, H2PtCl6 acts as a Pt source and also serves as a catalyst for the polymerization of furfuryl alcohol (FA). The polymerized FA around the H2PtCl6 nanoparticles functions as a protecting agent and prevents the growth of Pt nanoparticles in the later high temperature carbonization step. The resulting Pt nanoparticles are highly dispersed in the mesoporous carbon structure, CMK3, and give a much higher methanol oxidation current when compared with Pt/CMK3 electrocatalysts prepared via the conventional route. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011.postprin

The direct correlation functions and bridge functions for hard spheres near a large hard sphere

The recent Monte Carlo data of Degrève and Henderson for the density profiles of hard spheres near a large hard sphere are used to obtain direct correlation functions and bridge functions for this system both directly, using the Ornstein-Zernike relation and an approximation, due to Verlet, for the bridge function. © 1994 American Institute of Physics.published_or_final_versio