Socio-demographic determinants of coinfections by HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses in central Italian prisoners

BACKGROUND: The coinfections HIV/HCV/HBV are an important health issue in penitentiary communities. The aim of the study was to examine HIV, HBV and HCV coinfections determinants amongst prisoners in the jails of Southern Lazio (Central Italy), in the period 1995-2000. METHODS: Diagnosis of seropositivities for HIV, HBV and HCV was made using ELISA method. A multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to verify the influence of socio-demographic factors on the HIV/HBV/HCV coinfections. RESULTS: HIV/HCV, HBV/HCV and HIV/HBV coinfections were detected in 42 (4%), 203 (17.9%) and 31 (2.9%) inmates, respectively. These coinfections are significantly associated with the status of drug addiction (OR = 16.02; p = 0.012; OR = 4.15; p < 0.001; OR = 23.57; p = 0.002), smoking habits (OR = 3.73; p = 0.033; OR = 1.42; p = 0.088; OR = 4.25; p = 0.053) and Italian nationality (OR = 7.05; p = 0.009; OR = 2.31; p < 0.001; OR = 4.61; p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of HIV, HBV and HCV seropositivity in jails suggests that information and education programs for inmates could be useful to reduce the spread of such infections

Drug use and related precautions prior to imprisonment, inside prison and intentions after release among Greek inmates

The prevalence of drug use, the related precautions prior to, during incarceration and after release, and their social cognitive predictors were examined in a sample of Greek prison inmates (IDUs). Results showed that inside prison, IDUs tended to inject less, but share more. Use of new syringes was the precaution of preference prior to incarceration and intended to be also after release. During imprisonment, most IDUs reported use of sterilised works and reduction in sharing as precautions. Behavioural Intention (BI) x Perceived Behavioural Control ( PBC), Health Value ( HV) x Multidimensional Health Locus of Control ( MHLC) interactions and susceptibility to AIDS were the most significant predictors of IDUs’ reported injection inside. BI x PBC and past behaviour predicted the reported cessation of sharing inside. Susceptibility, HV, Internal Health Locus of Control ( IHLC), total time in prison and past behaviour were the most significant predictors of inmates’ reported intention to use new syringes when released. Results are discussed, in relation to theoretical requirements, similar patterns of drug-use behaviour inside prison, identified in previous Greek and international research and on implications on health policy for Greek inmates (injectors)

Injecting drug use amongst inmates in Greek prisons

We present a national cross-sectional comparative study of injecting drug use amongst male inmates in Greek prisons in relation to demographic and penal variables. A representative sample of 1.000 inmates were randomly selected from ten correctional institutions. 861 questionnaires were included in the analysis. 290 inmates (33.6%) reported injecting drugs, of whom 174 (60%) had injected while in prison, and 146 (50.3%) had shared sometime while in prison. Inmate injectors were predominately aged 25 to 34 years; they were incarcerated mostly due to drug offences (54.7%) and offences against property (30.5%); they were characterised by a multiplicity of previous sentences and a long duration of total time in prison. Most of the injectors had been convicted for drug offences in the past. Injectors, compared to non-injectors, were more likely to have had an HIV blood test. Regarding their sexual behaviour during the twelve months prior to imprisonment, injectors were more likely to have multiple female sexual partners - other than their wives or regular partners. Results are discussed, in the European context in particular in relation to the apparent relatively low level of injecting drug use among the Greek population in general yet similar rates of injecting drug use among inmates as in other European countries

Synchronization patterns in LIF neuron networks: merging nonlocal and diagonal connectivity

Abstract: The effects of nonlocal and reflecting connectivities have been previously investigated in coupled Leaky Integrate-and-Fire (LIF) elements, which assimilate the exchange of electrical signals between neurons. In this work, we investigate the effect of diagonal coupling inspired by findings in brain neuron connectivity. Multi-chimera states are reported both for the simple diagonal and combined nonlocal–diagonal connectivities, and we determine the range of optimal parameter regions where chimera states appear. Overall, the measures of coherence indicate that as the coupling range increases (below all-to-all coupling) the emergence of chimera states is favored and the mean phase velocity deviations between coherent and incoherent regions become more prominent. A number of novel synchronization phenomena are induced as a result of the combined connectivity. We record that for coupling strengths σ < 1 the synchronous regions have mean phase velocities lower than the asynchronous, while the opposite holds for σ > 1. In the intermediate regime, σ ~ 1, the oscillators have common mean phase velocity (i.e., are frequency-locked) but different phases (i.e., they are phase-asynchronous). Solitary states are recorded for small values of the coupling strength, which grow into chimera states as the coupling strength increases. We determine parameter values where the combined effects of nonlocal and diagonal coupling generate chimera states with two different levels of synchronous domains mediated by asynchronous regions. © 2018, EDP Sciences, SIF and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature