To God Be the Glory: Discussing Sex in Evangelical Communities in Southern Nigeria

Many people hold stereotypes and assumptions about religious communities in regards to their feelings and beliefs about sex and the impact it has on the lived experiences of religious people. However, stereotypes and assumptions are not often grounded in reality, and many people are hesitant to address the issue head on. This qualitative ethnographically informed preliminary grounded theory study aimed to engage an Evangelical Pentecostal community in Southern Nigeria with the ultimate goal of understanding how communities conceptualize and discuss sexuality topics, the factors influencing sexual decision making amongst youth and young adults, and to identify research needs that will better inform innovative and efficacious research utilizing religious communities in sexuality research. Results showed that this population was highly interested in discussing sexuality in their community including major threats to their ideal sexual behavior path, reasons why people stray from this ideal and how to keep people on this ideal path. This research demonstrates that religious communities are interested in conducting sexuality research so long as the research takes their values and beliefs into account and respects their limitations when it comes to research intent and methods.Keywords: Sexuality, faith-based, Nigeria, community based research, qualitativ

Grid-Enabling a Vibroacoustic Analysis Application

This paper describes the process of grid-enabling a vibroacoustic analysis application using the Globus Toolkit 3.2.1. This is the first step in a project intended to grid-enable a suite of tools being developed as a service-oriented architecture for spacecraft telemetry analysis. Many of the applications in the suite are compute intensive and would benefit from significantly improved performance. In this paper we show the advantage of using Globus to grid-enable a single tool in a vibroacoustic analysis flow, with the result that using as few as eleven nodes, that tool’s runtime improved by a factor of eight. While communication overhead does affect performance, these results also indicate that coordinated communication and execution scheduling as part of workflow management would be able to significantly improve overall efficiency. In the larger context, our experience also shows that the service-oriented architecture approach, using grid computing tools, can provide a more flexible system design, in addition to improved performance and increased utilization of resources. We also provide some lessons learned in using the Globus Toolkit

Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptive Users’ Knowledge, Conversations with Healthcare Providers, and Condom Use: Findings from a U.S. Nationally Representative Probability Survey

To describe long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) users’ knowledge, patient-provider interactions, and condom use associated with LARC use. Methods: Data are from the 2018 National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior, a probability survey of Americans aged 14–49. Results: Of 1,451 sexually active women, 11.2% used intrauterine devices, and 3.1% used implants. Approximately 19-26% of LARC users reported inaccurately on LARC longevity, and 30% reported relying on their provider to indicate the timing of intrauterine device removal. Consistent condom use among LARC users was rare (6.1%). Conclusions: Our findings have implications for how clinicians educate patients on LARC and condom use

The effect of HIV infection and HCV viremia on Inflammatory Mediators and Hepatic Injury-The Women\u27s Interagency HIV Study.

Hepatitis C virus infection induces inflammation and while it is believed that HIV co-infection enhances this response, HIV control may reduce inflammation and liver fibrosis in resolved or viremic HCV infection. Measurement of systemic biomarkers in co-infection could help define the mechanism of inflammation on fibrosis and determine if HIV control reduces liver pathology. A nested case-control study was performed to explore the relationship of systemic biomarkers of inflammation with liver fibrosis in HCV viremic and/or seropositive women with and without HIV infection. Serum cytokines, chemokines, growth factors and cell adhesion molecules were measured in HIV uninfected (HIV-, n = 18), ART-treated HIV-controlled (ARTc, n = 20), uncontrolled on anti-retroviral therapy (ARTuc, n = 21) and elite HIV controllers (Elite, n = 20). All were HCV seroreactive and had either resolved (HCV RNA-; \u3c50IU/mL) or had chronic HCV infection (HCV RNA+). In HCV and HIV groups, aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio (APRI) was measured and compared to serum cytokines, chemokines, growth factors and cell adhesion molecules. APRI correlated with sVCAM, sICAM, IL-10, and IP-10 levels and inversely correlated with EGF, IL-17, TGF-α and MMP-9 levels. Collectively, all HCV RNA+ subjects had higher sVCAM, sICAM and IP-10 compared to HCV RNA-. In the ART-treated HCV RNA+ groups, TNF-α, GRO, IP-10, MCP-1 and MDC were higher than HIV-, Elite or both. In ARTuc, FGF-2, MPO, soluble E-selectin, MMP-9, IL-17, GM-CSF and TGF-α are lower than HIV-, Elite or both. Differential expression of soluble markers may reveal mechanisms of pathogenesis or possibly reduction of fibrosis in HCV/HIV co-infection

Injury Rates in Age-Only Versus Age-and-Weight Playing Standard Conditions in American Youth Football

BACKGROUND: American youth football leagues are typically structured using either age-only (AO) or age-and-weight (AW) playing standard conditions. These playing standard conditions group players by age in the former condition and by a combination of age and weight in the latter condition. However, no study has systematically compared injury risk between these 2 playing standards. PURPOSE: To compare injury rates between youth tackle football players in the AO and AW playing standard conditions. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2. METHODS: Athletic trainers evaluated and recorded injuries at each practice and game during the 2012 and 2013 football seasons. Players (age, 5-14 years) were drawn from 13 recreational leagues across 6 states. The sample included 4092 athlete-seasons (AW, 2065; AO, 2027) from 210 teams (AW, 106; O, 104). Injury rate ratios (RRs) with 95% CIs were used to compare the playing standard conditions. Multivariate Poisson regression was used to estimate RRs adjusted for residual effects of age and clustering by team and league. There were 4 endpoints of interest: (1) any injury, (2) non-time loss (NTL) injuries only, (3) time loss (TL) injuries only, and (4) concussions only. RESULTS: Over 2 seasons, the cohort accumulated 1475 injuries and 142,536 athlete-exposures (AEs). The most common injuries were contusions (34.4%), ligament sprains (16.3%), concussions (9.6%), and muscle strains (7.8%). The overall injury rate for both playing standard conditions combined was 10.3 per 1000 AEs (95% CI, 9.8-10.9). The TL injury, NTL injury, and concussion rates in both playing standard conditions combined were 3.1, 7.2, and 1.0 per 1000 AEs, respectively. In multivariate Poisson regression models controlling for age, team, and league, no differences were found between playing standard conditions in the overall injury rate (RRoverall, 1.1; 95% CI, 0.4-2.6). Rates for the other 3 endpoints were also similar (RRNTL, 1.1 [95% CI, 0.4-3.0]; RRTL, 0.9 [95% CI, 0.4-1.9]; RRconcussion, 0.6 [95% CI, 0.3-1.4]). CONCLUSION: For the injury endpoints examined in this study, the injury rates were similar in the AO and AW playing standards. Future research should examine other policies, rules, and behavioral factors that may affect injury risk within youth football

Techniques for Restoring Gorgonians to Coral Reef Injury Areas

Great attention and energy has been spent investigating reattachment techniques for dislodged and fragmented scleractinian corals; however there has been a lack of controlled experimentation on how to restore dislodged gorgonians following a disturbance event, such as a ship grounding. Unfortunately, reef damage events occur frequently off southeast Florida. As an example, since 1998 at least five freighters have grounded on the reefs near Ft. Lauderdale, Broward County. These freighters dislodged many scleractinian and gorgonian corals and often destroyed thousands of square feet of reef habitat. After these events, restoration efforts concentrated on stabilizing loose debris and rubble, and reattaching scleractinian coral fragments and dislodged colonies. Although southeast Florida’s reefs are dominated by gorgonian corals, which are also sheared from the reef when ships ground, restoration efforts generally do not place much emphasis on reattaching dislodged gorgonian colonies. In order to determine effective techniques for restoring gorgonian populations, 94 gorgonian clippings were transplanted to a reef area in Broward County, Florida in June 2004. The 15-cm clippings were cut from naturally occurring loose colonies of Pseudopterogorgia americana, Plexaura flexuosa and Muricea muricata, common gorgonians in the southeast Florida reef system. Half of these clippings were attached to the reef substrate using Portland II cement; the other half were transplanted to the reef with two-part marine epoxy. These clippings will be monitored quarterly for a minimum of one year to measure growth and health, and whether the colonies form attachments to the reef over the cement or epoxy. Clipping growth data will be compared to control, 15-20 cm naturally attached, colonies of the same species to determine whether transplant growth is similar to naturally occurring small gorgonian colonies. Data will also be collected on loose control colonies, which are tethered to small pins in the substrate. These controls will indicate whether dislodged colonies left loose on the reef will die, or whether they will reattach and continue to grow. The goal of this study is to determine effective techniques to restore gorgonian populations. This study aims to create a protocol that resource managers and scientists may follow when determining the most effective way to restore gorgonians to reef habitats following events such as ship groundings. This protocol will take into consideration the condition of each gorgonian colony and the resources available (equipment, money, and time) for restoration

Signaling from β1- and β2-adrenergic receptors is defined by differential interactions with PDE4

β1- and β2-adrenergic receptors (βARs) are highly homologous, yet they play clearly distinct roles in cardiac physiology and pathology. Myocyte contraction, for instance, is readily stimulated by β1AR but not β2AR signaling, and chronic stimulation of the two receptors has opposing effects on myocyte apoptosis and cell survival. Differences in the assembly of macromolecular signaling complexes may explain the distinct biological outcomes. Here, we demonstrate that β1AR forms a signaling complex with a cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase (PDE) in a manner inherently different from a β2AR/β-arrestin/PDE complex reported previously. The β1AR binds a PDE variant, PDE4D8, in a direct manner, and occupancy of the receptor by an agonist causes dissociation of this complex. Conversely, agonist binding to the β2AR is a prerequisite for the recruitment of a complex consisting of β-arrestin and the PDE4D variant, PDE4D5, to the receptor. We propose that the distinct modes of interaction with PDEs result in divergent cAMP signals in the vicinity of the two receptors, thus, providing an additional layer of complexity to enforce the specificity of β1- and β2-adrenoceptor signaling