The benefits of participatory methodologies to develop effective community dialogue in the context of a microbicide trial feasibility study in Mwanza, Tanzania

BACKGROUND: As part of a microbicide trial feasibility study among women at high-risk of HIV and sexually transmitted infections in Mwanza City, northern Tanzania we used participatory research tools to facilitate open dialogue and partnership between researchers and study participants. METHODS: A mobile community-based sexual & reproductive health service was established in ten city wards. Wards were divided into seventy-eight geographical clusters and representatives at cluster and ward level elected in a process facilitated by the projects Community Liaison Officer. A city-level Community Advisory Committee (CAC) with representatives from each ward was established. Workshops and community meetings at ward and city-level were conducted to explore project-related concerns using tools adapted from participatory learning and action techniques such as listing, scoring, ranking, chapatti diagrams and pair-wise matrices. RESULTS: Key issues identified included beliefs that blood specimens were being sold for witchcraft purposes; worries about specula not being clean; inadequacy of transport allowances; and delays in reporting laboratory test results to participants. To date, the project has responded by inviting members of the CAC to visit the laboratory to observe how blood and genital specimens are prepared; demonstrated the use of the autoclave to community representatives; raised reimbursement levels; introduced HIV rapid testing in the clinic; and streamlined laboratory reporting procedures. CONCLUSIONS: Participatory techniques were instrumental in promoting meaningful dialogue between the research team, study participants and community representatives in Mwanza, allowing researchers and community representatives to gain a shared understanding of project-related priority areas for intervention

Virtual screening and biological evaluation of piperazine derivatives as human acetylcholinesterase inhibitors

The piperazine derivatives have been shown to inhibit human acetylcholinesterase. Virtual screening by molecular docking of piperazine derivatives 1-(1,4-benzodioxane-2-carbonyl) piperazine (K), 4-(4-methyl)- benzenesulfonyl-1-(1,4-benzodioxane-2-carbonyl) piperazine (S1), and 4-(4-chloro)-benzenesulfonyl-1-(1,4-benzodioxane-2-carbonyl) piperazine (S3) has been shown to bind at peripheral anionic site and catalytic sites, whereas 4-benzenesulfonyl-1-(1,4-benzodioxane-2-carbonyl) piperazine (S4) and 4-(2,5-dichloro)-benzenesulfonyl-1-(1,4-benzodioxane-2-carbonyl) piperazine (S7) do not bind either to peripheral anionic site or catalytic site with hydrogen bond. All the derivatives have differed in number of H-bonds and hydrophobic interactions. The peripheral anionic site interacting molecules have proven to be potential therapeutics in inhibiting amyloid peptides aggregation in Alzheimer's disease. All the piperazine derivatives follow Lipinski's rule of five. Among all the derivatives 1-(1,4-benzodioxane-2-carbonyl) piperazine (K) was found to have the lowest TPSA value

A model for community representation and participation in HIV prevention trials among women who engage in transactional sex in Africa.

Actively engaging communities in effective partnerships for the design and implementation of HIV prevention research is vital to the successful conduct of ethically robust, locally-appropriate clinical trials in developing countries. This is especially true in vulnerable at-risk sub-populations, where definitions of "community", "participation" and "representation" can be difficult to apply. This study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of a participatory model of community liaison among an occupational cohort of women at high-risk of HIV and sexually-transmitted infections in Mwanza City, northwest Tanzania in preparation for a Phase III vaginal microbicide trial. This approach was rooted in participatory action-orientated research and used tools adapted from participatory learning and action techniques. During the feasibility study, a mobile community-based sexual and reproductive health service for women working as informal food vendors or in traditional and modern bars, restaurants, hotels and guesthouses was established in 10 city wards. Participatory mapping was carried out by project fieldworkers and wards divided into 78 geographical clusters of facilities in consultation with community members and study participants. Representatives at cluster and ward level were elected in a process facilitated by the site Community Liaison Officer and a site-level Community Advisory Committee established. A logical framework was used to guide the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the community liaison system (CLS) within the broader feasibility study. The CLS was essential to the successful conduct of the feasibility study and has now been consolidated and expanded as part of the on-going MDP301 Phase III microbicide trial in Mwanza. The participatory model presented in this paper is likely to be generalisable to other vulnerable, stigmatised, at-risk study populations in resource-limited settings