High Prevalence of Human Papillomavirus Infection among Brazilian Pregnant Women with and without Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1

Objective. To estimate HPV prevalence among pregnant women from Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, and the possible influence of HIV-1 infection on this prevalence. Methods. A cross-sectional study with 44 HIV-positive and 53 HIV-negative pregnant women was conducted. Cervicovaginal specimens were obtained from all women during gynecologic exam. HPV DNA, low and high risk HPV types, was detected using conventional PCR. Statistical analysis used Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney test, Fischer's Exact test, and prevalence ratios with 95% confidence interval. Results. HIV-positive pregnant women had higher proportion of HPV infection than HIV-negative pregnant women (79.5% versus 58.5%; P < .05). HPV positivity prevalence ratio for HIV-positive women was 1.36 (95% CI 1.04–1.8; P = .03). There was significant association between HIV viral load levels and HPV positivity (P < .05). Conclusions. Our results demonstrate higher HPV positivity in HIV-infected pregnant women. Higher values of HIV viral load were associated with HPV positivity

HPV clearance in postpartum period of HIV-positive and negative women: a prospective follow-up study

Abstract\ud \ud \ud \ud Background\ud HPV persistence is a key determinant of cervical carcinogenesis. The influence of postpartum on HPV clearance has been debated. This study aimed to assess HPV clearance in later pregnancy and postpartum among HIV-positive and negative women.\ud \ud \ud \ud Methods\ud We conducted a follow-up study with 151 HPV-positive women coinfected with HIV, in 2007–2010. After baseline assessment, all women were retested for HPV infection using PCR in later pregnancy and after delivery. Multivariable logistic regressions assessed the putative association of covariates with HPV status in between each one of the successive visits.\ud \ud \ud \ud Results\ud Seventy-one women (47%) have eliminated HPV between the baseline visit and their second or third visits. HIV-positive women took a significantly longer time (7.0 ± 3.8 months) to clear HPV, compared to those not infected by HIV (5.9 ± 3.0 months). HPV clearance was significantly more likely to take place after delivery than during pregnancy (84.5% x 15.5%).\ud \ud \ud \ud Conclusions\ud Both HIV-positive and negative women presented a significant reduction in HPV infection during the postpartum period. HIV-positive status was found to be associated with a longer period of time to clear HPV infection in pregnant women.We thank Neilane Bertoni for her feedback in statistical analyses

Prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection among pregnant women infected or not with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 in Ribeirão Preto, SP

A infecção genital pelo Papilomavírus Humano (HPV) é considerada a doença sexualmente transmissível mais freqüente em todo o mundo, representando importante problema de saúde pública devido à sua alta prevalência e transmissibilidade. Estima-se que cerca de 75% da população sexualmente ativa entre em contato com um ou mais tipos de HPV durante sua vida, com prevalência mais elevada entre mulheres jovens. Estudos epidemiológicos têm demonstrado que a infecção pelo vírus da imunodeficiência humana (HIV) está associada a elevadas prevalências da infecção pelo HPV. A literatura acerca da infecção pelo HPV em gestantes é escassa e controversa. O objetivo do trabalho foi identificar a prevalência da infecção pelo HPV em gestantes e identificar a possível influência da infecção pelo HIV-1 nesta prevalência. Foi realizada amostragem de pacientes do Ambulatório de Pré-natal do Setor de Moléstias Infecto-contagiosas e do Pré-natal de Baixo Risco do Departamento de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto da Universidade de São Paulo. Todas as pacientes foram informadas sobre o estudo e assinaram o termo de consentimento livre e esclarecido. Foram coletados lavados cérvico-vaginais, que foram submetidos à extração do DNA utilizando a técnica de salting out. Realizou-se a detecção do HPV nas amostras de DNA através da técnica de reação em cadeia de polimerase (PCR), e as amostras positivas para o HPV foram testadas para os tipos 6, 11, 16 e 18. Foram arroladas ao todo 97 pacientes, sendo 44 portadoras do HIV e 53 sem esta infecção. Do total de pacientes avaliadas, 66 foram positivas para o HPV. A prevalência para a infecção pelo HPV foi de 79,5% e 58,5% nas pacientes portadoras ou não do HIV, respectivamente. A infecção pelo HIV aumentou o risco de ser portadora do HPV, principalmente do tipo oncogênico. Contagem de linfócitos T CD4+ abaixo de 200 células/mm3 e carga viral do HIV maior que 10000 cópias aumentaram o risco de infecção pelo HPV. Este estudo mostrou haver maior prevalência da infecção pelo HPV em grávidas portadoras do HIV, permitindo inferir que a infecção por esse retrovírus seja um fator de risco significativo para o aumento da infecção pelo HPV em gestantes.Genital infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is considered to be the most frequent sexually transmitted disease around the world, representing an important public health problem due to its high prevalence and transmissibility. It is estimated that 75% of the sexually active population gets in contact with one or more HPV types during their lives, with higher prevalence among younger women. Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with a high prevalence of HPV infection. The literature about HPV infection during pregnancy is scarce and controversial. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of HPV infection in pregnant women and identify the possible influence of HIV-1 infection on this prevalence. Patients were selected from the Prenatal Outpatient Clinic of the Infectious Diseases Sector and from the Low-risk Prenatal Outpatient Clinic of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of the University Hospital, Medical School of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo University. All patients were informed about the study and signed an informed consent term. Cervical-vaginal washes were collected and submitted to DNA extraction by the salting-out technique. HPV was detected in the DNA samples by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique and the HPV-positive samples were tested for types 6, 11, 16 and 18. Ninety-seven patients were included in the study, 44 of them being HIV-positive and 53 HIV-negative. Of the patients evaluated, 66 were positive for HPV. The prevalence of HPV infection was 79.5% and 58.5% in HIV-positive and -negative women, respectively. HIV infection increased the risk of harboring HPV, mainly oncogenic types. A CD4+ T-cell count below 200 cells/mm3 and HIV viral load above 10000 copies/mL increased the risk of HPV infection. This study showed a higher prevalence of HPV infection in HIV-positive pregnant women, suggesting that this retrovirus infection is a significant risk factor for the increase of HPV infection in pregnant women

Radio para la democracia vol. I: Festival de la Solidaridad Latinoamericana 1982

Las producciones radiofónicas denominadas Radio para la democracia vol. I, II y III son una iniciativa producida por la Prosecretaría Académica en articulación con el Taller de estrategias de comunicación sonora y radial cátedra II, el Taller de edición y realización de proyectos radiofónicos, y el Taller de producción de contenidos y narrativas sonoras y radiales de la Facultad de Periodismo y Comunicación Social; en el marco de la celebración de los 40 años de democracia ininterrumpida en Argentina. En este sentido y en consonancia con los contenidos curriculares, los equipos docentes junto a los/as estudiantes de las asignaturas mencionadas pudieron explorar y producir nuevos conocimientos en relación a dicho hecho central de la vida institucional del país. De este modo se realizaron 40 piezas comunicacionales en formato radioteatro, mesa redonda, informe, columna radial, entrevistas, entre otras; abordando las siguientes temáticas: la censura durante la dictadura, la evolución de la música nacional durante los 40 años de democracia, el juicio a las Juntas Militares, el legado de Néstor Kirchner, la lucha feminista por la Ley de interrupción legal del embarazo, el rol de los medios de comunicación, el atentado a la vicepresidenta Cristina Fernández de Kirchner y, casos emblemáticos como el de Miguel Bru o Jorge Julio López, entre otros. Los equipos docentes a cargo de la producción de los podcasts estuvieron conformados por: María Eugenia García, Carina Calvo, Rosario Sandoval, Rodrigo García y Leonardo Meiorin; Viviana Vila y Verónica Bustos; y Sandra Gabay, Mariano Cattáneo, Marisol Morzilli, Juan Manuel Aravena y Julieta Nava; quienes contaron con la operación técnica de Mariano y Martín Fernández. Las cuarenta piezas además se encuentran publicadas en el canal de Spotify de la Facultad: Perio UNLP Podcast. Este podcast ofrece un análisis de la censura artística del gobierno de facto durante la última dictadura, con el enfoque puesto en el Festival de la Solidaridad Latinoamericana 1982. Fue producido por estudiantes de la Cátedra II del Taller de Estrategias de Comunicación Sonora y Radial, a cargo de los docentes Rodrigo Garcia y Leonardo Meiorin. Autores: Leslie Cairo, Antonela Calonge, Manuela Gatti, Stacy Abigail Palomino Rojas Equipo de producción Pro Secretaría Académica FPyCS: Jimena Espinoza, Maria Juliana Franceschi, Malena Escalante Sánchez, Camilo González Balducchi y Julián Cáneva.Facultad de Periodismo y Comunicación Socia

Barriers and facilitators to PrEP for transwomen in Brazil

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an important biomedical intervention that may help reduce the risk of HIV transmission among transwomen. To date, little research is available to inform interventions to increase uptake and adherence to PrEP among transwomen, especially in places outside the U.S. We conducted a qualitative study in 2015 with 34 adult transwomen in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and assessed awareness, interest, barriers and facilitators to PrEP uptake and adherence for transwomen. Almost one third of participants had heard of PrEP, and most were interested and thought it would be beneficial for transwomen in their community. Barriers to PrEP included fear of being HIV positive resulting in low HIV testing and concerns about the ability to adhere to a daily PrEP regimen. The most prominent barrier to uptake was past experiences of transgender-identity related discrimination in the universal health care system that reduced willingness to seek PrEP or health care in general. Participants recommended technological solutions to PrEP health education information that could address uptake and adherence. This study informs efforts to increase PrEP use among transwomen in Brazil

Barriers and facilitators to PrEP for transwomen in Brazil

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an important biomedical intervention that may help reduce the risk of HIV transmission among transwomen. To date, little research is available to inform interventions to increase uptake and adherence to PrEP among transwomen, especially in places outside the U.S. We conducted a qualitative study in 2015 with 34 adult transwomen in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and assessed awareness, interest, barriers and facilitators to PrEP uptake and adherence for transwomen. Almost one third of participants had heard of PrEP, and most were interested and thought it would be beneficial for transwomen in their community. Barriers to PrEP included fear of being HIV positive resulting in low HIV testing and concerns about the ability to adhere to a daily PrEP regimen. The most prominent barrier to uptake was past experiences of transgender-identity related discrimination in the universal health care system that reduced willingness to seek PrEP or health care in general. Participants recommended technological solutions to PrEP health education information that could address uptake and adherence. This study informs efforts to increase PrEP use among transwomen in Brazil

Hardware development for zero crossing of a multilevel single phase rectifier chopper for plug-in electric car battery charger using a PIC microcontroller

This paper focuses on developing the hardware for a controller and of a zero crossing circuit for an electric car battery charger. A novel topology of a battery charger is studied and tested. A conventional rectifier has drawbacks in terms of harmonic currents. This paper describes a five-level single-phase rectifier associated with buck chopper with a control signal which draws a clean sinusoidal line current for the application in a plug-in battery charger. The MATLAB/Simulink results reveal that the proposed battery charger performance is better compared to the conventional method

ALTA VULNERABILIDADE E PREVALÊNCIA DE HIV E OUTRAS ISTS ENTRE JOVENS HSH NO RIO DE JANEIRO: O PROJETO CONECTAD@S

Introdução/Objetivo: A América Latina tem observado um aumento alarmante nas novas infecções pelo HIV entre jovens gays e outros homens que fazem sexo com homens (HSH). No Brasil, houve um aumento expressivo no número de casos de HIV entre pessoas do sexo masculino até 30 anos, mas dados específicos sobre jovens HSH ainda são escassos. Neste trabalho, objetivamos estimar a prevalência de infecções por HIV e outras infecções sexualmente transmissíveis (ISTs) em jovens HSH do Rio de Janeiro. Métodos: Conectad@s é um estudo com amostragem por respondent-driven sampling (RDS), que recrutou jovens HSH de 18-24 anos entre novembro/2021 e outubro/2022. Os participantes realizaram testagem para HIV, sífilis, clamídia e gonorreia (urina, retal e orofaringe), e responderam questionários estruturados sobre aspectos comportamentais e de saúde. Foram avaliados os fatores associados a novas infecções pelo HIV utilizando teste qui-quadrado e de Fisher. Resultados: Foram recrutados 409 jovens HSH, dos quais 370 (90,5%) eram homens cis, 9 (2,2%) homens trans e 30 (7,3%) pessoas não-binárias/queer, com idade média de 21 anos (intervalo interquartil: 20-23). Ao todo, 70,3% (n = 291) se autodeclararam Pretos, Pardos ou Indígenas, e 60,4% (n = 247) tinham ensino médio completo. A prevalência de HIV foi 9,8% (n = 40/409). Dentre os indivíduos vivendo com HIV, 50,0% (n = 20) eram novos diagnósticos. No geral, 54 (13,2%) e 47 (11,5%) indivíduos, respectivamente, testaram positivo para clamídia e gonorreia em pelo menos um dos três locais de coleta. Comparados aos participantes HIV-negativos, os recém-diagnosticados com HIV mais frequentemente reportaram raça/cor Preta/Parda/Indígena (90,0% vs. 69,6%), ter estudado até o ensino médio (80,0% vs. 59,3%), maior número de parcerias sexuais (mediana 9[IQR:5.8-20] vs. 5[IQR:3-10], p-valor < 0.01), maior risco para HIV (60,0% vs. 24,9%, p-valor < 0.001), menor conhecimento sobre o HIV (escala 0-12 pontos; mediana 9,5[IQR:8-11] vs. 11[IQR:9-11], p-valor < 0.05), e maior prevalência de sífilis ativa (50,0% vs. 10,8%, p-valor < 0.001), clamídia (25,0% vs. 14,6%), e gonorreia (45,0% vs. 13,6%), esses últimos em pelo menos um dos locais de coleta. Conclusão: Jovens HSH apresentaram alta vulnerabilidade e taxas desproporcionais de novos diagnósticos de HIV e outras ISTs, apontando para oportunidades de prevenção perdidas. Há uma necessidade urgente de adaptar intervenções específicas e eficazes para alcançar e promover a prevenção ao HIV entre jovens HSH