Demand for programs for key populations in Africa from countries receiving international donor assistance

There has been increasing attention in recent years to the HIV prevention, treatment, and care needs of key populations in Africa, in particular men who have sex with men (MSM), injection drug users (IDU), and female sex workers (FSW). While several major donors have undertaken efforts to prioritize these groups, it remains unclear which African countries are actively seeking donor support for these programs. For this analysis, we reviewed publicly available proposal and budget documentation from the US PEPFAR for fiscal years 2007 through 2010 and Rounds 1 through 10 of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for 40 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Of the 164 searchable documents retrieved, nearly two-thirds contained at least one program serving FSW (65%, 107 proposals), less than one-third contained at least one program serving MSM (29%, 47 proposals), and a minority proposed programming for IDU (13%, 21 proposals). Demand for these programs was highly concentrated in a subset of countries. Epidemiological data for at least one key population was included in a majority of these proposals (63%, 67 proposals), but in many cases these data were not linked to programs

Design aspects of flexible institutional buildings : a case study of the main academic buildings at MIT

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil Engineering, 1990.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-100).by Sheila Macom Fleming.M.S

Using Risk-Tracing Snowball Approach to Increase HIV Case Detection Among High-Risk Populations in Cambodia: An Intervention Study

Background: Early HIV diagnosis and initiation onto antiretroviral therapy may prevent ongoing spread of HIV. Risk Tracing Snowball Approach (RTSA) has been shown to be effective in detecting new HIV cases in other settings. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of RTSA in increasing the rate of newly identified HIV cases among high-risk populations. Our second objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of RTSA, as compared to the walk-in group, in increasing the number of HIV tests and early case detection. Methods: This study was conducted from April 1 to September 30, 2016 at two NGO clinics in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Respondent driven sampling method was adapted to develop RTSA to reach high-risk populations, including key populations and the general population who have social connections with key populations. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted. Results: During the implementation period, 721 clients walked in for HIV testing (walk-in group), and all were invited to be seeds. Of the invited clients, 36.6% agreed to serve as seeds. Throughout the implementation, 6195 coupons were distributed to seeds or recruiters, and resulted in 1572 clients visiting the two clinics with coupons (RTSA group), for a coupon return rate of 25.3%. The rate of newly identified HIV cases among the RTSA group was significantly lower compared to that in walk-in group. However, the highest number of newly identified HIV cases was found during the implementation period, compared to both pre- and post-implementation period. Although statistically not significant, the mean CD4 count of newly identified HIV cases detected through RTSA was almost 200 cells/mm3 higher than that in the walk-in group. Conclusions: Although the rate of newly identified HIV cases among the RTSA group was lower than that in the walk-in group, the inclusion of RTSA in addition to the traditional walk-in method boosted new HIV case detection in the two participating clinics. A higher mean CD4 count for the RTSA group may reveal that RTSA may be able to detect HIV cases earlier than the traditional walk-in approach. Further research is needed to understand whether RTSA is a cost-effective intervention to prevent ongoing spread of the HIV among high-risk populations in Cambodia

The Role of FTL_1228 in Erythrocyte Invasion by Francisella tularensis

Francisella tularensis is a gram-negative bacterium and is the causative agent of tularemia- a disease more commonly known as ‘rabbit fever’.  This microbe is extremely virulent as inhalation of fewer than ten bacteria can lead to a lethal infection.  During infection, F. tularensis replicates in cells of the immune system, such as macrophages, as well as other non-phagocytes such as epithelial cells and hepatocytes.  Moreover, this bacterium has been shown to invade erythrocytes – a process that enhances colonization of ticks (a major disease vector).  Our laboratory previously showed that a locus encoding a hypothetical gene, FTL_1228, was induced in the presence of erythrocytes.  Therefore, we hypothesized that this gene may be responsible for invasion of these host cells. In this study, we mutated FTL_1228 of F. tularensis LVS and studies are ongoing to determine the role of this gene in erythrocyte invasion.</jats:p

Utilization of Francisella tularensis LVS to Generate a Plague/ Tularemia Vaccine

Francisella tularensis and Yersinia pestis are bacteria that are classified as potential bioterrorism agents by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  A vaccine that can produce a protective immunity against multiple agents of bioterror would be especially desirable.  Therefore, the overall goal of this research is to create a vaccine that will produce immunity to both Y. pestis and F. tularensis.  We generated a construct in which the coding region for Tul4 (an immunodominant protein of F. tularensis) is linked to OmpA (a protective antigen of Y. pestis) under the control of a robust F. tularensis promoter.  This construct was constructed in E. coli and was subsequently mobilized to F. tularensis LVS (Live Vaccine Strain).  Patients who have been immunized with LVS show an immunological memory of over three decades post-vaccination, so we predict that a similarly lengthy response will be exhibited against the Y. pestis antigen.  The expression of the chimeric Tul4-OmpA protein is currently being verified through western blotting.   After confirmation, mice will be immunized with this recombinant LVS strain then subsequently challenged with both F. tularensis and Y. pestis to determine the efficacy of the recombinant vaccine.  This research will provide information on how to protect against two possible bioterror agents and may even be applied to other bacteria. (Supported by NIH Grant P20GM103434 to the West Virginia IDeA Network for Biomedical Research Excellence and a grant from the NASA WV Space Grant Consortium [NNX10AK62H])</jats:p

RHIANNON MACOM AND JOSEPH HORZEMPA, Dept of Natural Sciences &amp; Mathematics, West Liberty University, West Liberty, WV 26074. Anti-Bioterror Vaccine: Utilization of Francisella tularensis LVS to Generate a Plague/ Tularemia Vaccine

Francisella tularensis and Yersinia pestis are bacteria that are classified as potential bioterrorism agents by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  A vaccine that is capable of producing protective immunity against multiple bioterror agents would be especially desirable.  Therefore, the goal of this research is to create a vaccine that will produce immunity to both F. tularensis and Y. pestis.  We are generating a construct in which the coding region for Tul4 (an immunodominant protein of F. tularensis) is linked to OmpA (a protective antigen of Y. pestis) under the control of a robust F. tularensis promoter.  This construct will be expressed in F. tularensis Live Vaccine Strain.  Patients who have been immunized with this strain show robust immunological memory (over three decades post-vaccination).  After confirming expression of the chimeric Tul4-OmpA protein, mice will be immunized with the recombinant LVS strain and then subsequently challenged with both F. tularensis and Y. pestis to determine the efficacy of the vaccine strain.  This research could lead to the generation and utilization of a bivalent vaccine targeting two possible bioterror agents; the strategy for vaccine construction could potentially be applied toward protection against other pathogens.</jats:p