Percepção de autoeficácia, assertividade sexual e uso do preservativo em jovens colombianos

El uso correcto y consistente del condón en las relaciones sexuales es un procedimiento altamente eficaz para la prevención del VIH/SIDA, así como para otras infecciones de transmisión sexual (ITS). Algunos estudios reportan que las habilidades psicosociales y de interrelación favorecen el desarrollo de prácticas sexuales protegidas, como con el uso de preservativos. El objetivo del presente estudio fue determinar en qué medida la percepción de autoeficacia y la asertividad sexual predicen el uso del condón en las relaciones sexuales en un grupo de jóvenes. Se realizó un estudio descriptivo correlacional y predictivo con una muestra de 631 jóvenes con edades entre 19 y 26 años que reportaron haber tenido relaciones o ser activos sexualmente. Los resultados muestran que la percepción de autoeficacia y la asertividad sexual fueron fuertes predictores del uso del condón en las relaciones sexuales de las mujeres, mientras que para el caso de los hombres, solo la asertividad sexual predijo su uso.O uso correto e consistente do preservativo nas relações sexuais é um procedimento altamente eficaz para a prevenção do HIV/ Aids, bem como para outras infecções de transmissão sexual (ITS). Alguns estudos mostram que as habilidades psicossociais e de inter-relação favorecem o desenvolvimento de práticas sexuais protegidas, como com o uso do preservativo. O objetivo do presente estudo foi determinar em que medida a percepção de autoeficácia e a assertividade sexual predizem o uso do preservativo nas relações sexuais em um grupo de jovens. Realizou-se um estudo descritivo correlacional e preditivo com uma amostra de 631 jovens com idades entre 19 e 26 anos que relataram ter tido relações ou ser ativos sexualmente. Os resultados mostram que a percepção de autoeficácia e a assertividade sexual foram fortes indicadores do uso do preservativo nas relações sexuais das mulheres, enquanto para o caso dos homens, só a assertividade sexual predisse seu uso.The correct and consistent use of condoms during sexual intercourse is a highly effective procedure for the prevention of HIV / AIDS as well as other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Some studies report that psychosocial skills and interaction promote the development of safe sexual relations by using condoms. The objective of this study was to determine to what extent the perception of self-efficacy and sexual assertiveness predicts condom use in sexual activity in a group of young people. The study was descriptive correlational and predictive.The sample consisted of 645 young people aged between 19 and 26 years who reported having had sex or being sexually active. Results showed that, unlike men, the perception of selfefficacy coupled with sexual assertiveness are strong predictors of condom use in women's sexual relations, whereas for men only sexual assertiveness predicts condom use in sexual relations

Novel ulcerative leg lesions in yearling lambs: Clinical features, microbiology and histopathology

Here we report an outbreak of an atypical, ulcerative dermatitis in North Country mule lambs, located in South Gloucestershire, UK. The lesions, which appeared to be contagious, occured between the coronary band and the carpal joint as a focal, well demarcated, circular, ulcerative dermatitis. Histopathological examination of the lesion biopsies revealed areas of ulceration, epidermal hyperplasia, suppurative dermatitis and granulation tissue. Clumped keratohyalin granules and intracellular keratinocyte oedema (ballooning degeneration) were evident within lesion biopsies, consistent with an underlying viral aetiology. A PCR-based microbiological investigation failed to detect bovine digital dermatitis-associated treponeme phylogroups, Dichelobacter nodosus, Staphylococcus aureus, Dermatophilus congolensis or Chordopoxvirinae virus DNA. However, 3 of the 10 (30 %) and 6 of 10 (60 %) lesion samples were positive for Fusobacterium necrophorum and Streptococcus dysgalactiae DNA, respectively. Contralateral limb swabs were negative by all standard PCR assays. To better define the involvement of F. necrophorum in the aetiology of these lesions, a qPCR targeting the rpoB gene was employed and confirmed the presence of F. necrophorum DNA in both the control and lesions swab samples, although the mean F. necrophorum genome copy number detected in the lesion swab samples was ∼19-fold higher than detected in the contralateral control swab samples (245 versus 4752 genome copies/μl, respectively; P < 0.001). Although we have not been able to conclusively define an aetiological agent, the presence of both F. necrophorum and S. dysgalactiae in the majority of lesions assayed supports their role in the aetiopathogenesis of these lesions

Interactive Actor Analysis for Rural Water Management in The Netherlands

Recent developments in the policy sciences emphasize the social environment in which decisions are made. The ‘network metaphor’ is often used to describe the key role of interactions between interdependent actors involved in decision making. These interactions take place in a policy arena drawn up by actors with an interest in and control over decisions on the issues addressed. Interdependencies, caused by the need for actors to increase their means of realizing objectives, are the driving force behind these interactions. Dependency relations are of special interest to water management and river basin management because of the fundamental asymmetrical interdependencies that exist in river basins between upstream and downstream stakeholders. Coleman’s linear system of action models decision making process involving dependencies between multiple stakeholders as exchange of control over issues, while interactions are required to negotiate exchanges of control. We developed an interactive method for actor analysis based on Coleman’s linear system of action and applied it to the national rural water management policy domain in The Netherlands. The method is firmly rooted in mathematical sociology and defies the criticism that methods for actor and stakeholder analysis do not specify a theoretical basis explaining the causal relations between the variables analyzed and policy change. With the application to the rural water management policy arena we intended to increase our insight into the practical applicability of this analyticmethod in an interactive workshop, the acceptability of the approach for the participating actors, its contribution to the process of decision making and our understanding of the rural water management policy arena in The Netherlands. We found that the Association of Water Authorities, the Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Agriculture are the most powerful actor in the policy domain, while governance and cost and benefits of rural water management are the most salient issues. Progress in policy development for rural water management is probably most promising for the issues governance, costs and benefits, safety and rural living conditions through improved interaction between the Association of Water Authorities, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Rural Credit Bank. Besides these analytic results the interactive approach implemented increased the participants understanding of their dependency on other actors in the rural water management policy domain and supported them in developing a sound perspective on their dependency position. We concluded that the method developed is acceptable to real-world policy decision makers, can successfully be applied in an interactive setting, potentially contributes to the process of decision making by increasing the participants understanding of their dependency position, has the potential to delivers valuable advice for future decision-making and increases our understanding of policy development for rural water management in general

Mammalian Circadian Period, But Not Phase and Amplitude, Is Robust Against Redox and Metabolic Perturbations

$\textit{Aims:}$ Circadian rhythms permeate all levels of biology to temporally regulate cell and whole-body physiology, although the cell-autonomous mechanism that confers ~24-h periodicity is incompletely understood. Reports describing circadian oscillations of over-oxidized peroxiredoxin abundance have suggested that redox signaling plays an important role in the timekeeping mechanism. Here, we tested the functional contribution that redox state and primary metabolism make to mammalian cellular timekeeping. $\textit{Results:}$ We found a circadian rhythm in flux through primary glucose metabolic pathways, indicating rhythmic NAD(P)H production. Using pharmacological and genetic perturbations, however, we found that timekeeping was insensitive to changes in glycolytic flux, whereas oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) inhibition and other chronic redox stressors primarily affected circadian gene expression amplitude, not periodicity. Finally, acute changes in redox state decreased PER2 protein stability, phase dependently, to alter the subsequent phase of oscillation. $\textit{Innovation:}$ Circadian rhythms in primary cellular metabolism and redox state have been proposed to play a role in the cellular timekeeping mechanism. We present experimental data testing that hypothesis. $\textit{Conclusion:}$ Circadian flux through primary metabolism is cell autonomous, driving rhythmic NAD(P)(+) redox cofactor turnover and maintaining a redox balance that is permissive for circadian gene expression cycles. Redox homeostasis and PPP flux, but not glycolysis, are necessary to maintain clock amplitude, but neither redox nor glucose metabolism determines circadian period. Furthermore, cellular rhythms are sensitive to acute changes in redox balance, at least partly through regulation of PER protein. Redox and metabolic state are, thus, both inputs and outputs, but not state variables, of cellular circadian timekeeping.M.P. was supported by the Dutch Cancer Foundation (KWF, BUIT-2014-6637) and EMBO (ALTF-654-2014). J.S.O. was supported by the Medical Research Council (MC_UP_1201/4) and the Wellcome Trust (093734/Z/10/Z)

Apollo: a sequence annotation editor

The well-established inaccuracy of purely computational methods for annotating genome sequences necessitates an interactive tool to allow biological experts to refine these approximations by viewing and independently evaluating the data supporting each annotation. Apollo was developed to meet this need, enabling curators to inspect genome annotations closely and edit them. FlyBase biologists successfully used Apollo to annotate the Drosophila melanogaster genome and it is increasingly being used as a starting point for the development of customized annotation editing tools for other genome projects

Dominant mutations of the Notch ligand Jagged1 cause peripheral neuropathy

Notch signaling is a highly conserved intercellular pathway with tightly regulated and pleiotropic roles in normal tissue development and homeostasis. Dysregulated Notch signaling has also been implicated in human disease, including multiple forms of cancer, and represents an emerging therapeutic target. Successful development of such therapeutics requires a detailed understanding of potential on-target toxicities. Here, we identify autosomal dominant mutations of the canonical Notch ligand Jagged1 (or JAG1) as a cause of peripheral nerve disease in 2 unrelated families with the hereditary axonal neuropathy Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2 (CMT2). Affected individuals in both families exhibited severe vocal fold paresis, a rare feature of peripheral nerve disease that can be life-threatening. Our studies of mutant protein posttranslational modification and localization indicated that the mutations (p.Ser577Arg, p.Ser650Pro) impair protein glycosylation and reduce JAG1 cell surface expression. Mice harboring heterozygous CMT2-associated mutations exhibited mild peripheral neuropathy, and homozygous expression resulted in embryonic lethality by midgestation. Together, our findings highlight a critical role for JAG1 in maintaining peripheral nerve integrity, particularly in the recurrent laryngeal nerve, and provide a basis for the evaluation of peripheral neuropathy as part of the clinical development of Notch pathway–modulating therapeutics

Definitive chemoradiation in patients with inoperable oesophageal carcinoma

We performed a retrospective study of 90 consecutive cases with inoperable carcinoma of the oesophagus treated with definitive chemoradiation at a single cancer centre between 1995 and 2002. For the last 4 years, 73 patients have received therapy according to an agreed protocol. This outpatient-based regimen involves four cycles of chemotherapy, cycles 3 and 4 given concurrently with 50 Gy external beam radiotherapy (XRT) delivered in 25 fractions over 5 weeks. Cisplatin 60 mg m-2 day-1 is given every 3 weeks together with continuous infusional 5-fluorouracil 300 mg m-2 day-1, reduced to 225 mg m-2 day-1 during the XRT. In all, 45 (50%) patients suffered one or more WHO grade 3/4 toxicity, grade 3 in 93% cases. Patients received more than 90% of the planned chemoradiation schedule. The median overall survival was 26 (15, >96) months, 51% (41, 64) and 26% (13, 52) surviving 2 and 5 years, respectively. Advanced stage, particularly T4 disease, was associated with a worse prognosis. Patients considered not suitable for surgery for reasons other than their disease, mainly co-morbidity, had a significantly better outcome, median survival 40 (26, >96) months, 2- and 5-year survivals 67% (54, 84) and 32% (13, 79), respectively (P<0.001). This schedule is a feasible, tolerable and effective treatment for patients with oesophageal cancer considered unsuitable for surgery

Latina and European American Girls’ Experiences with Academic Sexism and their Self-Concepts in Mathematics and Science During Adolescence

The study investigated Latina and European American adolescent girls’ (N = 345, M = 15.2 years, range = 13 to 18) experiences with academic sexism in mathematics and science (M/S) and their M/S perceived competence and M/S value (liking and importance). M/S academic sexism was based on girls’ reported experiences hearing sexist comments about girls’ abilities in math and science. Older European American adolescents, and both younger and older Latina adolescents, who experienced several instances of academic sexism felt less competent in M/S than girls who experienced less sexism (controlling for M/S grades). In addition, among older girls (regardless of ethnicity), those who experienced several instances of academic sexism valued M/S less than girls who experienced less sexism

Living in rural New England amplifies the risk of depression in patients with HIV

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The importance of depression as a complication of HIV infection is increasingly understood, and people living in rural areas are at increased risk for depression. However, it is not known whether living in rural areas amplifies the risk of depression in patients with HIV.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We compared the prevalence of depression between rural and metropolitan HIV patients seen at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock HIV Program in a retrospective cohort study. Using the validated Rural-Urban Commuting Area Score, we categorized patients as living in small town/rural areas, micropolitan or metropolitan towns. Then, using a multivariate logistic regression model to adjust for demographic factors that differed between rural and metropolitan patients, we estimated the impact of living in rural areas on the odds of depression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among 646 patients with HIV (185 small town/rural, 145 micropolitan, 316 metropolitan), rural patients were older, white, male, and men who have sex with men (ANOVA, F-statistic < 0.05). The prevalence of depression was highest in rural patients (59.5 vs. 51.7 vs. 41.2%, F statistic < 0.001), particularly rural patients on antiretroviral therapy (72.4 vs. 53.5 vs. 38.2%, F-statistic < 0.001. A multivariate logistic regression model showed that the odds of depression in rural patients with HIV were 1.34 (P < 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>HIV-infected patients living in rural areas, particularly those on antiretroviral therapy, are highly vulnerable to depression.</p

Reciprocity as a foundation of financial economics

This paper argues that the subsistence of the fundamental theorem of contemporary financial mathematics is the ethical concept ‘reciprocity’. The argument is based on identifying an equivalence between the contemporary, and ostensibly ‘value neutral’, Fundamental Theory of Asset Pricing with theories of mathematical probability that emerged in the seventeenth century in the context of the ethical assessment of commercial contracts in a framework of Aristotelian ethics. This observation, the main claim of the paper, is justified on the basis of results from the Ultimatum Game and is analysed within a framework of Pragmatic philosophy. The analysis leads to the explanatory hypothesis that markets are centres of communicative action with reciprocity as a rule of discourse. The purpose of the paper is to reorientate financial economics to emphasise the objectives of cooperation and social cohesion and to this end, we offer specific policy advice