Search for new phenomena in monophoton final states in proton-proton collisions at root s=8 TeV

Peer reviewe

Adherence to antiretroviral HIV drugs: how many doses can you miss before resistance emerges?

The question of determining how many doses may be skipped before HIV treatment response is adversely affected by the emergence of drug-resistance is addressed. Impulsive differential equations are used to develop a prescription to minimize the emergence of drug-resistance for protease-sparing regimens. A threshold for the maximal number of missable doses is determined. If the number of missed doses is below this threshold, then resistance levels are negligible and dissipate quickly, assuming perfect adherence subsequently. If the number of missed doses exceeds this threshold, even for 24 h, resistance levels are extremely high and will not dissipate for weeks, even assuming perfect adherence subsequently. After this interruption, the minimum number of successive doses that should be taken is determined. Estimates are provided for all protease-sparing drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Estimates for the basic reproductive ratios for the wild-type and mutant strains of the virus are also calculated, for a long-term average fractional degree of adherence. There are regions within this fraction of adherence where the outcome is not predictable and may depend on a patient's entire history of drug-taking

Tuberculosis infection control in a high drug-resistance setting in rural South Africa: Information, motivation, and behavioral skills

Summary: Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is transmitted in resource-limited facilities where TB infection control (IC) is poorly implemented. Theory-based behavioral models can potentially improve IC practices. Methods: The present study used an anonymous questionnaire to assess healthcare worker (HCW) TB IC information, motivation, and behavioral skills (IMB) and implementation in two resource-limited rural South African hospitals with prevalent drug-resistant TB. Results: Between June and August 2010, 198 surveys were completed. Although the respondents demonstrated information proficiency and positive motivation, 22.8% did not consider TB IC to be worthwhile. Most tasks were rated as easy by survey participants, but responding HCWs highlighted challenges in discrete behavioral skills. The majority of responding HCWs reported that they always wore respirators (54.3%), instructed patients on cough hygiene (63.0%), and ensured natural ventilation (67.4%) in high-risk areas. Most respondents (74.0%) knew their HIV status. Social support items correlated with the implementation of the first three aforementioned practices but not with the respondents’ knowledge of their HIV status. In most cases, motivation and behavioral skills, but not information, were associated with implementation. Conclusion: HCWs in rural South African hospitals with high drug-resistance demonstrated moderate IMB and implementation of TB IC. Improvement efforts should emphasize the development of HCW motivation and behavioral skills as well as social support from colleagues and supervisors. Such interventions should be informed by baseline IMB assessments. In the present study, a trimmed/modified IMB model helped characterize TB IC implementation. Keywords: Infection control, Tuberculosis, MDR/XDR-TB, South Africa, Information–motivation–behavioral skill

An investigation into support for restrictions on HIV carriers in the Chicago metropolitan area Investigação sobre restrições impostas a portadores de HIV em área metropolitana de Chicago, EUA

An investigation into support for restrictions on people testing seropositive for HIV is reported on. Data were collected during telephone interviews with two-hundred adults aged eighteen to sixty-five in the Chicago metropolitan area. Using the analytic technique of LISREL, six models which attempt to explain support for restrictions were tested. It was found that the model best supported by the data indicates that two groups contribute to support for restrictions on HIV carriers - one due to intolerance of homosexuality and one to mistrust of public health officials regarding their control and management of the AIDS epidemic. The relevance of these findings for public health policy makers is discussed.<br>São discutidas possíveis explicações para as restrições impostas a pacientes aidéticos e indivíduos HIV positivos nas várias esferas da vida social. A diversidade de interesses e valores que permeiam as atitudes em relação a este grupo da população foram analisados através da técnica de LISREL. Coletaram-se informações de 200 adultos (idade entre 18 e 65 anos) residentes em Chicago, Illinois, USA, através de entrevistas telefônicas. Conclui-se que os dados apontam como explicação à observada discriminação, a intolerância à homossexualidade e a falta de credibilidade nas intervenções originárias das políticas de saúde do processo para controle da epidemia de AIDS. São discutidas as conseqüências destes achados para o estabelecimento de prioridades e de possíveis programas