Injection drug use, unknown HIV positive status, and self-reported current PrEP use among Black men who have sex with men attending U.S. Black pride events, 2014–2017

Objective: Black gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (BMSM) are at elevated risk for HIV infection in the United States. BMSM who inject drugs may be face even higher HIV risk. Methods: Random time-location sampling was used to survey BMSM attending Black Pride events in 6 U.S. cities about HIV risk and protective behaviors, including injection drug use, prior HIV testing, and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). 3429 individuals who reported a HIV negative/unknown serostatus at enrollment were included in the analysis. HIV status was determined by in-field rapid HIV testing. Results: 3.6% of BMSM had injected drugs in their lifetime and 58.5% of BMSM who had injected drugs reported sharing syringes in the past six months. BMSM who had injected drugs more commonly reported current PrEP use than BMSM who had never injected (32.5% vs. 8.2%, p < 0.001). BMSM who had injected drugs were 3.6-fold (95% CI: 2.4, 5.4) more likely to report currently using PrEP than BMSM who had never injected after adjustment for sociodemographic, substance use, and sexual risk characteristics. Among BMSM who reported ever injecting drugs (n = 123), 31.7% tested HIV positive. HIV prevalence did not differ by self-reported PrEP use among BMSM who had injected drugs (p = 0.59). Conclusions: BMSM who inject drugs who reported currently using PrEP were no less likely to test positive for HIV than those who did not use PrEP. Wrap-around services to support consistent PrEP use and long-acting PrEP formulations may improve the effectiveness of PrEP among BMSM who inject drugs

Arbeitslosigkeit und Stellenannahmebereitschaft: Erste Ergebnisse eines Faktoriellen Survey Moduls

Matching individuals to jobs is a fundamental problem in any labour market. This paper focuses on job characteristics, such as wages, job quality, and distance from the current place of residence, and the impact of these characteristics on the willingness of employed and unemployed individuals to accept new job offers. Using an experimental factorial survey module (FSM) implemented in the fifth wave of a large population survey (Panel Study Labour Market and Social Security), the willingness of employed and unemployed labour market participants to accept new job offers was compared while considering job characteristics like gain of income or commuting distance. In this study, unemployed and employed individuals received the same set of hypothetical job offers. Consistent with theoretical arguments, the about 20,000 evaluations provided by about 4,000 respondents showed that unemployed participants generally exhibit a greater willingness to accept new job offers than employed ones. Moreover, unemployed individuals were likely to make more concessions than employed individuals with respect to job quality, such as accepting fixed-term job offers. Interestingly, little evidence for different decision-making or weightings of mobility costs was found, which enables us to conclude that interregional unemployment disparities can scarcely be explained by unemployed individuals lacking the willingness to work or relocate

Phase Behavior of Aqueous Na-K-Mg-Ca-CI-NO3 Mixtures: Isopiestic Measurements and Thermodynamic Modeling

A comprehensive model has been established for calculating thermodynamic properties of multicomponent aqueous systems containing the Na{sup +}, K{sup +}, Mg{sup 2+}, Ca{sup 2+}, Cl{sup -}, and NO{sub 3}{sup -} ions. The thermodynamic framework is based on a previously developed model for mixed-solvent electrolyte solutions. The framework has been designed to reproduce the properties of salt solutions at temperatures ranging from the freezing point to 300 C and concentrations ranging from infinite dilution to the fused salt limit. The model has been parameterized using a combination of an extensive literature database and new isopiestic measurements for thirteen salt mixtures at 140 C. The measurements have been performed using Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL) previously designed gravimetric isopiestic apparatus, which makes it possible to detect solid phase precipitation. Water activities are reported for mixtures with a fixed ratio of salts as a function of the total apparent salt mole fraction. The isopiestic measurements reported here simultaneously reflect two fundamental properties of the system, i.e., the activity of water as a function of solution concentration and the occurrence of solid-liquid transitions. The thermodynamic model accurately reproduces the new isopiestic data as well as literature data for binary, ternary and higher-order subsystems. Because of its high accuracy in calculating vapor-liquid and solid-liquid equilibria, the model is suitable for studying deliquescence behavior of multicomponent salt systems