The price of sex: condom use and the determinants of the price of sex among female sex workers in eastern zimbabwe.

Background. Higher prices for unprotected sex threaten the high levels of condom use that contributed to the decline in Zimbabwe's human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic. To improve understanding of financial pressures competing against safer sex, we explore factors associated with the price of commercial sex in rural eastern Zimbabwe. Methods. We collected and analyzed cross-sectional data on 311 women, recruited during October–December 2010, who reported that they received payment for their most-recent or second-most-recent sex acts in the past year. Zero-inflated negative binomial models with robust standard errors clustered on female sex worker (FSW) were used to explore social and behavioral determinants of price. Results. The median price of sex was $10 (interquartile range [IQR],$5–$20) per night and$10 (IQR, $5–$15) per act. Amounts paid in cash and commodities did not differ significantly. At the most-recent sex act, more-educated FSWs received 30%–74% higher payments. Client requests for condom use significantly predicted protected sex (P < .01), but clients paid on average 42.9% more for unprotected sex. Conclusions. Within a work environment where clients' preferences determine condom use, FSWs effectively use their individual capital to negotiate the terms of condom use. Strengthening FSWs' preferences for protected sex could help maintain high levels of condom use

Acetylsalicylic acid interferes with embryonic kidney growth and development by a prostaglandin-independent mechanism

AIM: To evaluate the effects of the non-selective, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), on ex vivo embryonic kidney growth and development. METHODS: Pairs of fetal mouse kidneys at embryonic day 12.5 were cultured ex vivo in increasing concentrations of ASA (0.04-0.4 mg/mL) for up to 7 d. One organ from each pair was grown in control media and was used as the internal control for the experimental contralateral organ. In some experiments, organs were treated with ASA for 48 h and then transferred either to control media alone or control media containing 10 μmol/L prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) for a further 5 d. Fetal kidneys were additionally obtained from prostaglandin synthase 2 homozygous null or heterozygous (PTGS2-/- and PTGS2-/+) embryos and grown in culture. Kidney cross-sectional area was used to determine treatment effects on kidney growth. Whole-mount labelling to fluorescently detect laminin enabled crude determination of epithelial branching using confocal microscopy. RESULTS: Increasing ASA concentration (0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 mg/mL) significantly inhibited metanephric growth (P < 0.05). After 7 d of culture, exposure to 0.2 mg/mL and 0.4 mg/mL reduced organ size to 53% and 23% of control organ size respectively (P < 0.01). Addition of 10 μmol/L PGE2 to culture media after exposure to 0.2 mg/mL ASA for 48 h resulted in a return of growth area to control levels. Application of control media alone after cessation of ASA exposure showed no benefit on kidney growth. Despite the apparent recovery of growth area with 10 μmol/L PGE2, no obvious renal tubular structures were formed. The number of epithelial tips generated after 48 h exposure to ASA was reduced by 40% (0.2 mg/mL; P < 0.05) and 47% (0.4 mg/mL; P < 0.01). Finally, growth of PTGS2-/- and PTGS2+/- kidneys in organ culture showed no differences, indicating that PTGS2 derived PGE2 may at best have a minor role. CONCLUSION: ASA reduces early renal growth and development but the role of prostaglandins in this may be minor

The price of sex: condom use and the determinants of the price of sex among female sex workers in eastern zimbabwe.

BACKGROUND: Higher prices for unprotected sex threaten the high levels of condom use that contributed to the decline in Zimbabwe's human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic. To improve understanding of financial pressures competing against safer sex, we explore factors associated with the price of commercial sex in rural eastern Zimbabwe. METHODS: We collected and analyzed cross-sectional data on 311 women, recruited during October-December 2010, who reported that they received payment for their most-recent or second-most-recent sex acts in the past year. Zero-inflated negative binomial models with robust standard errors clustered on female sex worker (FSW) were used to explore social and behavioral determinants of price. RESULTS: The median price of sex was $10 (interquartile range [IQR],$5-$20) per night and$10 (IQR, $5-$15) per act. Amounts paid in cash and commodities did not differ significantly. At the most-recent sex act, more-educated FSWs received 30%-74% higher payments. Client requests for condom use significantly predicted protected sex (P < .01), but clients paid on average 42.9% more for unprotected sex. CONCLUSIONS: Within a work environment where clients' preferences determine condom use, FSWs effectively use their individual capital to negotiate the terms of condom use. Strengthening FSWs' preferences for protected sex could help maintain high levels of condom use

Excess maternal salt or fructose intake programmes sex-specific, stress- and fructose-sensitive hypertension in the offspring

The Western diet is typically high in salt and fructose, which have pressor activity. Maternal diet can affect offspring blood pressure, but the extent to which maternal intake of excess salt and fructose may influence cardiovascular function of the offspring is unknown. We sought to determine the effect of moderate maternal dietary intake of salt and/or fructose on resting and stimulated cardiovascular function of the adult male and female offspring. Pregnant rats were fed purified diets (±4 % salt) and water (±10 % fructose) before and during gestation and through lactation. Male and female offspring were weaned onto standard laboratory chow. From 9 to 14 weeks of age, cardiovascular parameters (basal, circadian and stimulated) were assessed continuously by radiotelemetry. Maternal salt intake rendered opposite-sex siblings with a 25-mmHg difference in blood pressure as adults; male offspring were hypertensive (15 mmHg mean arterial pressure (MAP)) and female offspring were hypotensive (10 mmHg MAP) above and below controls, respectively. Sex differences were unrelated to endothelial nitric oxide activity in vivo, but isolation-induced anxiety revealed a significantly steeper coupling between blood pressure and heart rate in salt-exposed male offspring but not in female offspring. MAP of all offspring was refractory to salt loading but sensitive to subsequent dietary fructose, an effect exacerbated in female offspring from fructose-fed dams. Circadian analyses of pressure in all offspring revealed higher mean set-point for heart rate and relative non-dipping of nocturnal pressure. In conclusion, increased salt and fructose in the maternal diet has lasting effects on offspring cardiovascular function that is sex-dependent and related to the offspring’s stress–response axis

Hydrologic function of a moderate-rich fen watershed in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region of the Western Boreal Plain, northern Alberta

The final publication is available at Elsevier via https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.12.043 © 2019. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Peatlands are a dominant land feature in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) of the Western Boreal Plain (WBP), comprising >50% of the total land area, many of which are moderate-rich fens. The carbon stocks of moderate-rich fens in the WBP are susceptible to degradation through anthropogenic- and climate-related factors, yet, few studies have aimed to understand their hydrologic function. This study, located in a meltwater channel belt characterized by relatively thin outwash sand and gravel (∼6 m) underlying the peat, provides the first hydrological assessment of a moderate-rich fen in the AOSR. The lithology, hydrological function and groundwater geochemistry all point to the dominance of a local flow system supplying groundwater to the fen areas, evidenced by a thick (∼16 m) and shallow (∼7 m below ground surface) aquitard underlying the outwash, restricting hydrological connectivity between the fen and underlying regional aquifers. Vertical hydraulic gradients between the peat and underlying outwash aquifer, and horizontal hydraulic gradients between the fen and upland varied in response to both short-term and seasonal precipitation trends. Groundwater discharge to the fen was enhanced during wet periods characterized by high rainfall. Conversely, flow reversals (groundwater recharge; fen to underlying aquifer and upland), and subsequently, enhanced fen water table drawdown persisted during extended dry periods. This local groundwater flow-system influences recharge/discharge patterns at Poplar Fen, with hydraulic head in the underlying outwash aquifer highly susceptible to fluctuations in the presence and absence of precipitation-driven recharge from adjacent uplands. Moderate-rich fens similar to that studied here will likely become more susceptible to drying in the future due to a changing climate, leading to enhanced water table drawdown, peat oxidation and subsequent decomposition, vulnerability to wildfire, and seral succession to a more ombrogenous peatland system.We gratefully acknowledge funding from a grant to Jonathan S. Price from the National Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of the Canada Collaborative Research and Development Program, co–funded by Suncor Energy Inc., Imperial Oil Resources Limited, and Shell Canada Energy

The effect of maternal dietary fat content and omega-6 to omega-3 ratio on offspring growth and hepatic gene expression in the rat

© The Authors 2020. Omega-6 fatty acids have been shown to exert pro-adipogenic effects whereas omega-3 fatty acids work in opposition. Increasing intakes of LA (linoleic acid; omega-6) vs ALA (alpha-linolenic acid; omega-3) in Western diets has led to the hypothesis that consumption of this diet during pregnancy may be contributing to adverse offspring health. This study investigated the effects of feeding a maternal dietary LA:ALA ratio similar to that of the Western diet (9:1) compared to a proposed 'ideal' ratio (∼1:1.5), at two total fat levels (18% vs 36% fat w/w), on growth and lipogenic gene expression in the offspring. Female Wistar rats were assigned to one of the four experimental groups throughout gestation and lactation. Offspring were culled at 1 and 2 weeks of age for sample collection. Offspring of dams consuming a -36% fat diet were ∼20% lighter than those exposed to a 18% fat diet (

Conservation of co‐evolved interactions: understanding the Maculinea–Myrmica complex

1. The six papers in this Special Issue of Insect Conservation and Diversity are presented as a gedenkschrift honouring ground‐breaking contributions made by the late Graham Elmes towards understanding the biology of Myrmica ants and their social parasites. 2. A common theme is that each research paper contributes new knowledge applicable to the future survival of Maculinea (= Phengaris) species of butterflies, which have become flagships for insect conservation across Europe. All Maculinea species are highly specialised, with larvae that feed briefly on a specific foodplant before living underground for 11–23 months as social parasites of Myrmica colonies. 3. This introductory overview provides a brief history of the research that has led to the current collection, with emphasis on Graham Elmes' life and work. It is followed by three research papers that illustrate the diversity, socio‐biology and ecology of Myrmica ants. A fourth describes an extreme adaptation that increases the efficiency with which some populations of Maculinea larvae exploit the resources within Myrmica nests. A fifth, more theoretical, paper models the constraints that typically lead to host specificity among social parasites and explores why host switches are rare and quick

Effect of oleic acid supplementation on prostaglandin production in maternal endometrial and fetal allantochorion cells isolated from late gestation ewes

Elevated circulating non-esterified fatty acids including oleic acid (OA) are associated with many pregnancy related complications. Prostaglandins (PGs) play crucial roles during parturition. We investigated the effect of OA supplementation on PG production using an in vitro model of ovine placenta