7 research outputs found
mHealth versus face-to-face: study protocol for a randomized trial to test a gender-focused intervention for young African American women at risk for HIV in North Carolina
Abstract
Background
Disparities in the prevalence of HIV persist in the southern United States, and young African American women have a disproportionate burden of HIV as compared with young women of other racial/ethnic backgrounds. As a result, engaging young African American women in the HIV care continuum through HIV testing is imperative. This study is designed to reach this key population at risk for HIV. The study seeks to test the efficacy of two formats of a gender-focused, evidence-based, HIV-risk reduction intervention—the Young Women’s CoOp (YWC)—relative to HIV counseling and testing (HCT) among young African American women between the ages of 18 and 25 who use substances and have not recently been tested for HIV.
Methods
Using a seek-and-test framework, this three-arm cross-over randomized trial is being conducted in three county health departments in North Carolina. Each county is assigned to one of three study arms in each cycle: in-person (face-to-face) YWC, mobile Health (mHealth) YWC, or HCT. At study enrollment, participants complete a risk behavior survey via audio computer-assisted self-interview, and drug, alcohol, and pregnancy screening tests, and are then referred to HIV, gonorrhea, and chlamydia testing through their respective health departments. Participants in either of the YWC arms are asked to return approximately 1Â week later to either begin the first of two in-person individual intervention sessions or to pick up the mHealth intervention preloaded on a tablet after a brief introduction to using the app. Participants in all arms are asked to return for a 6-month follow-up and 12-month follow-up, and repeat the survey and biological testing from baseline.
Discussion
The findings from this study will demonstrate which delivery format (mHealth or face-to-face) is efficacious in reducing substance use and sexual risk behaviors. If found to be efficacious, the intervention has potential for wider dissemination and reach.
Trial registration
ClinicalTrials.gov:
NCT02965014
. Registered November 16, 2016
Spontaneous vortices in the formation of Bose-Einstein condensates
Phase transitions are ubiquitous in nature, ranging from protein folding and
denaturisation, to the superconductor-insulator quantum phase transition, to
the decoupling of forces in the early universe. Remarkably, phase transitions
can be arranged into universality classes, where systems having unrelated
microscopic physics exhibit identical scaling behaviour near the critical
point. Here we present an experimental and theoretical study of the
Bose-Einstein condensation phase transition of an atomic gas, focusing on one
prominent universal element of phase transition dynamics: the spontaneous
formation of topological defects during a quench through the transition. While
the microscopic dynamics of defect formation in phase transitions are generally
difficult to investigate, particularly for superfluid phase transitions,
Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) offer unique experimental and theoretical
opportunities for probing such details. Although spontaneously formed vortices
in the condensation transition have been previously predicted to occur, our
results encompass the first experimental observations and statistical
characterisation of spontaneous vortex formation in the condensation
transition. Using microscopic theories that incorporate atomic interactions and
quantum and thermal fluctuations of a finite-temperature Bose gas, we simulate
condensation and observe vortex formation in close quantitative agreement with
our experimental results. Our studies provide further understanding of the
development of coherence in superfluids, and may allow for direct investigation
of universal phase-transition dynamics.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in Nature.
Supplementary movie files are available at
http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/people/mdavis/spontaneous_vortice
mHealth versus face-to-face: study protocol for a randomized trial to test a gender-focused intervention for young African American women at risk for HIV in North Carolina
Abstract Background Disparities in the prevalence of HIV persist in the southern United States, and young African American women have a disproportionate burden of HIV as compared with young women of other racial/ethnic backgrounds. As a result, engaging young African American women in the HIV care continuum through HIV testing is imperative. This study is designed to reach this key population at risk for HIV. The study seeks to test the efficacy of two formats of a gender-focused, evidence-based, HIV-risk reduction intervention—the Young Women’s CoOp (YWC)—relative to HIV counseling and testing (HCT) among young African American women between the ages of 18 and 25 who use substances and have not recently been tested for HIV. Methods Using a seek-and-test framework, this three-arm cross-over randomized trial is being conducted in three county health departments in North Carolina. Each county is assigned to one of three study arms in each cycle: in-person (face-to-face) YWC, mobile Health (mHealth) YWC, or HCT. At study enrollment, participants complete a risk behavior survey via audio computer-assisted self-interview, and drug, alcohol, and pregnancy screening tests, and are then referred to HIV, gonorrhea, and chlamydia testing through their respective health departments. Participants in either of the YWC arms are asked to return approximately 1 week later to either begin the first of two in-person individual intervention sessions or to pick up the mHealth intervention preloaded on a tablet after a brief introduction to using the app. Participants in all arms are asked to return for a 6-month follow-up and 12-month follow-up, and repeat the survey and biological testing from baseline. Discussion The findings from this study will demonstrate which delivery format (mHealth or face-to-face) is efficacious in reducing substance use and sexual risk behaviors. If found to be efficacious, the intervention has potential for wider dissemination and reach. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02965014. Registered November 16, 2016
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Restriction of intestinal stem cell expansion and the regenerative response by YAP
A remarkable feature of regenerative processes is their ability to halt proliferation once an organ’s structure has been restored. The Wnt signaling pathway is the major driving force for homeostatic self-renewal and regeneration in the mammalian intestine. The mechanisms that counterbalance Wnt-driven proliferation are poorly understood. We demonstrate here that YAP, a protein known for its powerful growth-inducing and oncogenic properties(1-2), has an unexpected growth-suppressive function restricting Wnt signals during intestinal regeneration. Transgenic expression of YAP reduces Wnt target gene expression and results in the rapid loss of intestinal crypts. In addition, loss of YAP results in Wnt hypersensitivity during regeneration, leading to hyperplasia, expansion of intestinal stem cells (ISCs) and niche cells, and formation of ectopic crypts and microadenomas. We find that cytoplasmic YAP restricts elevated Wnt signaling independently of the APC/Axin/GSK3β complex partly by limiting the activity of Dishevelled (DVL). DVL signals in the nucleus of ISCs and its forced expression leads to enhanced Wnt signaling in crypts. YAP dampens Wnt signals by restricting DVL nuclear translocation during regenerative growth. Finally, we provide evidence that YAP is silenced in a subset of highly aggressive and undifferentiated human colorectal carcinomas (CRC) and its expression can restrict the growth of CRC xenografts. Collectively, our work describes a novel mechanistic paradigm for how proliferative signals are counterbalanced in regenerating tissues. Additionally, our findings have important implications for the targeting of YAP in human malignancies