Men who have sex with men who do not access sexual health clinics nor disclose sexual orientation are unlikely to receive the HPV vaccine in the UK

Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are recommended the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination due to their higher risk of genital warts and anal cancer. Purpose: To examine HPV vaccine acceptability amongst MSM in the UK. Methods: Using advertisements via Facebook, MSM were recruited to an online survey measuring motivations for HPV vaccination. Logistic regression was performed to identify predictors of HPV vaccine acceptability. Results: Out of 1508 MSM (median age = 22, range: 14–63 years) only 19% had good knowledge of HPV. Overall, 55% of MSM were willing to ask for the HPV vaccine and 89% would accept it if offered by a healthcare professional (HCP). Access to sexual health clinics (SHCs) [OR = 1.82, 95% CI 1.29–2.89], the disclosure of sexual orientation to a HCP [OR = 2.02, CI 1.39–3.14] and HIV-positive status [OR = 1.96, CI 1.09–3.53] positively predicted HPV vaccine acceptability. After receiving information about HPV, perceptions of HPV risk [OR = 1.31, CI 1.05–1.63], HPV infection severity [OR = 1.89, CI 1.16–3.01), HPV vaccination benefits [OR = 1.61, CI 1.14–3.01], HPV vaccine effectiveness [OR = 1.54, CI 1.14–2.08], and the lack of perceived barriers to HPV vaccination [OR = 4.46, CI 2.95–6.73] were also associated with acceptability. Conclusions: Although nearly half of MSM would not actively pursue HPV vaccination, the vast majority would accept the vaccine if recommended by HCPs. In order to achieve optimal uptake, vaccine promotion campaigns should focus on MSM who do not access SHCs and those unwilling to disclose their sexual orientation

Lepton Polarization in Neutrino-Nucleon Interactions

We derive generic formulas for the polarization density matrix of leptons produced in neutrino and antineutrino collisions and briefly consider some important particular cases. Next we employ the general formalism in order to include the final lepton mass and spin into the popular model by Rein and Sehgal for single pion neutrinoproduction.Comment: Talk given at 10th International Workshop on High-Energy Spin Physics (SPIN 03), Dubna, Russia, 16-20 Sep 2003. 12 pages; extended version, typos remove

The acceptability and feasibility of using a 3D body size scale to initiate conversations about weight in toddlerhood: a mixed-methods study

Background: Health Care Professionals struggle to initiate conversations about overweight in toddlerhood. A novel 3D body size scale (3D BSS) may facilitate engagement with this topic during pediatric appointments. Objectives: To explore barriers and facilitators to using the 3D BSS through a mixedmethods design. Methods: For the qualitative phase, parents of toddlers (n = 38) participated in semistructured interviews introducing the 3D BSS of 4–5-year-old children. For the quantitative phase, pre- and post-interview questionnaires were administered to ascertain the acceptability of the 3D BSS. Results: Parents rated the 3D BSS as “very” (n = 20, 52.6%) to “moderately” (n = 12, 31.6%) acceptable. Thematic analysis revealed four barriers to acceptability: i) the sensitive nature of child weight, ii) the belief that weight does not determine health, iii) the visual normalisation of overweight and iv) the need to account for individual variation in growth patterns. However, these barriers could be overcome through three facilitators: i) the provision of expert guidance ii) the value of simple tools, and iii) tailoring conversations to familial needs. Conclusions: Parents considered the 3D BSS an acceptable visual resource to discuss child weight during routine appointments. However, the acceptability of the tool was conditional on a sensitive, collaborative, and tailored delivery approach

Polarization of Tau Leptons Produced in Quasielastic Neutrino--Nucleon Scattering

A numerical analysis of the polarization vector of tau leptons produced through quasielastic neutrino and antineutrino interactions with free nucleons is given with two models for vector electromagnetic form factors of proton and neutron. The impact of G parity violating axial and vector second-class currents is investigated by applying a simple heuristic model for the induced scalar and tensor form factors.Comment: Thesis of a talk given at the 8th Scientific Conference (SCYSS-04), Dubna, Russia, 2 - 6 Feb 2004. 11 pages, 6 figures; added references, figures and discussion; conclusions unchange

Ground-state Spectrum of Light-quark Mesons

A confining, Goldstone theorem preserving, separable Ansatz for the ladder kernel of the two-body Bethe-Salpeter equation is constructed from phenomenologically efficacious $u$, $d$ and $s$ dressed-quark propagators. The simplicity of the approach is its merit. It provides a good description of the ground-state isovector-pseudoscalar, vector and axial-vector meson spectrum; facilitates an exploration of the relative importance of various components of the two-body Bethe-Salpeter amplitudes, showing that sub-leading Dirac components are quantitatively important in the isovector-pseudoscalar meson channels; and allows a scrutiny of the domain of applicability of ladder truncation studies. A colour-antitriplet diquark spectrum is obtained. Shortcomings of separable Ans\"atze and the ladder kernel are highlighted.Comment: 30 pages, LaTeX/REVTEX 3.0, no figure

Home sampling for sexually transmitted infections and HIV in men who have sex with men: A prospective observational study

To determine uptake of home sampling kit (HSK) for STI/HIV compared to clinic-based testing, whether the availability of HSK would increase STI testing rates amongst HIV infected MSM, and those attending a community-based HIV testing clinic compared to historical control. Prospective observational study in three facilities providing STI/HIV testing services in Brighton, UK was conducted. Adult MSM attending/contacting a GUM clinic requesting an STI screen (group 1), HIV infectedMSM attending routine outpatient clinic (group 2), and MSM attending a community-based rapid HIV testing service (group 3) were eligible. Participants were required to have no symptomatology consistent with STI and known to be immune to hepatitis A and B (group 1). Eligiblemen were offered a HSK to obtain self-collected specimens as an alternative to routine testing. HSK uptake compared to conventional clinicbased STI/HIV testing in group 1, increase in STI testing rates due to availability of HSK compared to historical controls in group 2 and 3, and HSK return rates in all settings were calculated. Among the 128 eligible men in group 1, HSK acceptance was higher (62.5% (95%CI: 53.5-70.9)) compared to GUM clinic-based testing (37.5% (95% CI: 29.1-46.5)), (p = 0.0004). Two thirds of eligibleMSM offered an HSK in all three groups accepted it, but HSK return rates varied (highest in group 1, 77.5%, lowest in group 3, 16%). HSK for HIV testing was acceptable to 81%of men in group 1. Compared to historical controls, availability of HSK increased the proportion ofMSM testing for STIs in group 2 but not in group 3. HSK for STI/ HIV offers an alternative to conventional clinic-based testing for MSM seeking STI screening. It significantly increases STI testing uptake in HIV infected MSM. HSK could be considered as an adjunct to clinic-based services to further improve STI/HIV testing in MSM

Generalized Contour Dynamics: A Review

Contour dynamics is a computational technique to solve for the motion of vortices in incompressible inviscid flow. It is a Lagrangian technique in which the motion of contours is followed, and the velocity field moving the contours can be computed as integrals along the contours. Its best-known examples are in two dimensions, for which the vorticity between contours is taken to be constant and the vortices are vortex patches, and in axisymmetric flow for which the vorticity varies linearly with distance from the axis of symmetry. This review discusses generalizations that incorporate additional physics, in particular, buoyancy effects and magnetic fields, that take specific forms inside the vortices and preserve the contour dynamics structure. The extra physics can lead to time-dependent vortex sheets on the boundaries, whose evolution must be computed as part of the problem. The non-Boussinesq case, in which density differences can be important, leads to a coupled system for the evolution of both mean interfacial velocity and vortex sheet strength. Helical geometry is also discussed, in which two quantities are materially conserved and whose evolution governs the flow

The Coupled Cluster Method in Hamiltonian Lattice Field Theory: SU(2) Glueballs

The glueball spectrum within the Hamiltonian formulation of lattice gauge theory (without fermions) is calculated for the gauge group SU(2) and for two spatial dimensions. The Hilbert space of gauge-invariant functions of the gauge field is generated by its parallel-transporters on closed paths along the links of the spatial lattice. The coupled cluster method is used to determine the spectrum of the Kogut-Susskind Hamiltonian in a truncated basis. The quality of the description is studied by computing results from various truncations, lattice regularisations and with an improved Hamiltonian. We find consistency for the mass ratio predictions within a scaling region where we obtain good agreement with standard lattice Monte Carlo results.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure