Motherhood and decision-making among women living with HIV in developed countries: a systematic review with qualitative research synthesis

Background: Women living with HIV (WLH) lack evidence-based information about reproductive options while man‑ aging pressures from family, clinicians, and communities to give up the idea of having children. As the reproduction intentions of WLH are not well understood, stigmatizing behaviors force them to hide their disease to avoid rejection by their family, partner, and social networks. Compliance with social norms, fear of stigma, and discrimination infu‑ ence their experience. Current research is individual qualitative studies lacking the synthesis perspective necessary to guide intervention development. The purpose of this study was to synthesize the evidence to explain the reproduc‑ tive decision-making process for WLH in developed countries. Methods: A systematic review with qualitative research synthesis was conducted through searches in 10 elec‑ tronic databases (CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Scopus, Social Science Citation Index, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Cuidatge, Cuiden Enfspo, and SciELO). Studies published in journals from 1995 to 2019 with qualitative data about reproductive decision-making among WLH in developed countries were eligible for inclusion. Developed country wasoperationalized by membership in the OECD for comparative conditions of social wellbeing and economic stability. The CASP and JBI checklists for qualitative research were used to assess study quality and methodological integrity. Thematic analysis and qualitative meta-summary techniques were used for the synthesis. Results: Twenty studies from 12 developed countries were included in the synthesis. Findings were organized into 3 meta-themes from 15 themes and 45 subthemes, including: (1) Shattered identity, (2) Barriers, inequities, and misinfor‑ mation, (3) Coping, resiliency, and support. Reproductive decision-making was perceived as a complex process infu‑ enced by facilitators and barriers. The facilitators helped WLH cope with their new situation to become more resilient, while the barriers made their situation more difcult to manage. Conclusion: WLH encounter reproductive decision-making with knowledge defcits and limited social support. An integrated approach to holistic care with comprehensive multidisciplinary counseling is needed to support WLH. Clinicians could beneft from professional development to learn how to be authentically present for WLH, including engaging in conversations, demonstrating compassion, and understanding situations. Evidence-based clinical prac‑ tice guidelines need to be tailored for the family planning and sexual health needs of WLH. Keywords: AIDS, HIV, Decision-making, Pregnancy, Reproductive health, Wome

The Hatillo Limestone, Pueblo Viejo district, Dominican Republic: Marginal reef or impermeable cap?

The Hatillo Limestone and the underlying Los Ranchos Formation are exposed over an east-west distance of 100 km in the eastern Dominican Republic. The lowermost portion of the Hatillo Limestone in the Pueblo Viejo district contains a Late Lower Albian fossil assemblage including corals and rudist bivalves indicative of a near-shore reef environment. Diamond drilling in the Pueblo Viejo district and exposures in the open pits show that the Hatillo Limestone conformably overlies the Early Cretaceous Los Ranchos Formation. Volcanogenic massive sulfide beds, exposed in the Moore pit, provide evidence for an Early Cretaceous, syn-mineralization paleosurface. Altered and mineralized clasts in the epiclastic, sedimentary host-rock section at the Pueblo Viejo mine indicate that the ore deposits were open to erosion during hydrothermal alteration and mineralization. The Hatillo Limestone did not overlie the ore deposits during the mineralizing event and, consequently, could not have acted as an impermeable cap to ascending hydrothermal fluids. Intra-oceanic island arc volcanism (Los Ranchos Formation) overlapped at the Aptian-Albian boundary (112 Ma) with a marginal fringing reef (basal Hatillo Limestone). The marginal reef gradually gave way to deeper-water facies as Hatillo Limestone deposition progressed through the middle Albian. Low-angle reverse faulting, penetrative deformation, and metamorphic recrystallization affected the Hatillo Limestone as well as the Los Ranchos and Maimón formations during the Late Cretaceous. Deformation intensity and metamorphic grade progressed from incipient metamorphism in the Pueblo Viejo district to schists in the Maimón Formation to amphibolite near a faulted contact with the Loma Caribe peridotite

Riparian forests and cattle management problems in Andean subtropical streams: in the search of water quality sustainability

Quiroga, P. A.; H. R. Fernández; M. D. Sirombra; E. Domínguez. 2011. “Riparian forests and cattle management problems in Andean subtropical streams: in the search of water quality sustainability”. Lilloa 48 (1). Subtropical Andes harbor the headwaters of three huge South American basins (Plata, Salí-Dulce and part of the Amazon). They are affected by numerous different human activities, many of them too complex to approach from punctual perspectives. It has been suggested that domestic cattle activities result in a set of direct and indirect impacts. Riverine landscapes in Andean subtropics are affected by the type of cattle management used. Here we present the observed changes in a river and its surrounding area, from a basin studied for ten years. We concluded that cows can be considered as landscape engineers of the riparian zone. The QBR-MR (a modification of the European River Quality Index) is proposed, to include the cattle impact on Mountain Riparian forests. A detailed station by station description of the Riparian forest (percentage of exotic/native species and visual evaluation of different cattle impacts) and biological index based water quality are presented. The information is summarized in a map, easily accessible by policy designers. Combined quality indices for water and riparian areas are promissory tools to identify problems and biomonitoring in subtropical basins

Geometrically induced modification of surface plasmons in the optical and telecom regimes

We demonstrate that the introduction of a subwavelength periodic modulation into a metallic structure strongly modifies the guiding characteristics of the surface plasmon modes supported by the system. Moreover, it is also shown how a new type of a tightly confined surface plasmon polariton mode can be created by just milling a periodic corrugation into a metallic ridge placed on top of a metal surface

Subharmonic bifurcation cascade of pattern oscillations caused by winding number increasing entrainment

Convection structures in binary fluid mixtures are investigated for positive Soret coupling in the driving regime where solutal and thermal contributions to the buoyancy forces compete. Bifurcation properties of stable and unstable stationary square, roll, and crossroll (CR) structures and the oscillatory competition between rolls and squares are determined numerically as a function of fluid parameters. A novel type of subharmonic bifurcation cascade (SC) where the oscillation period grows in integer steps as $n (2\pi)/(\omega)$ is found and elucidated to be an entrainment process.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Characterization of Escherichia coli Carrying mcr-1-Plasmids Recovered From Food Animals From Argentina

In this study, we found mcr-1.1 and mcr-1.5 genes carried by IncI2 plasmids in a subset of Escherichia coli isolates recovered from commercial broiler farms in Argentina. The comparative analysis of the sequences of these plasmids with those described in human clinical isolates suggests that this replicon-type is one of the main mcr-disseminator sources in Argentina

A beam-beam monitoring detector for the MPD experiment at NICA

The Multi-Purpose Detector (MPD) is to be installed at the Nuclotron Ion Collider fAcility (NICA) of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR). Its main goal is to study the phase diagram of the strongly interacting matter produced in heavy-ion collisions. These studies, while providing insight into the physics of heavy-ion collisions, are relevant for improving our understanding of the evolution of the early Universe and the formation of neutron stars. In order to extend the MPD trigger capabilities, we propose to include a high granularity beam-beam monitoring detector (BE-BE) to provide a level-0 trigger signal with an expected time resolution of 30 ps. This new detector will improve the determination of the reaction plane by the MPD experiment, a key measurement for flow studies that provides physics insight into the early stages of the reaction. In this work, we use simulated Au+Au collisions at NICA energies to show the potential of such a detector to determine the event plane resolution, providing further redundancy to the detectors originally considered for this purpose namely, the Fast Forward Detector (FFD) and the Hadron Calorimeter (HCAL). We also show our results for the time resolution studies of two prototype cells carried out at the T10 beam line at the CERN PS complex.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures. Updated to published version with added comments and correction

Quarkonium dissociation by anisotropy

We compute the screening length for quarkonium mesons moving through an anisotropic, strongly coupled N=4 super Yang-Mills plasma by means of its gravity dual. We present the results for arbitrary velocities and orientations of the mesons, as well as for arbitrary values of the anisotropy. The anisotropic screening length can be larger or smaller than the isotropic one, and this depends on whether the comparison is made at equal temperatures or at equal entropy densities. For generic motion we find that: (i) mesons dissociate above a certain critical value of the anisotropy, even at zero temperature; (ii) there is a limiting velocity for mesons in the plasma, even at zero temperature; (iii) in the ultra-relativistic limit the screening length scales as $(1-v^2)^\epsilon$ with \epsilon =1/2, in contrast with the isotropic result \epsilon =1/4.Comment: 39 pages, 26 figures; v2: minor changes, added reference

Evaluation of spacial resolution of a PET scanner through the simulation and experimental measurement of the Recovery coefficient

Purpose: In order to measure spatial resolution of a PET tomograph in clinical conditions, this study describes and validates a method based on the recovery coefficient, a factor required to compensate underestimation in measured radioactivity concentration for small structures. Methods: In a PET image, the recovery factors of radioactive spheres were measured and their comparison with simulated recovery coefficients yielded the tomographic spatial resolution. Following this methodology, resolution was determined in different surrounding media and several conditions for reconstruction, including clinical conditions for brain PET studies. All spatial resolution values were compared with those obtained using classical methods with point and line sources. Results: In each considered condition, spatial resolution of the PET image estimated using the recovery coefficient showed good agreement with classical methods measurements, validating the procedure. Conclusion: Measurement of the recovery coefficient provides an assessment of tomographic spatial resolution, particularly in clinical studies conditions