Predictors of willingness to participate in HIV vaccine trials among African Americans

African Americans in the United States (U.S.) are disproportionately affected by HIV. Developing an HIV vaccine is an important part of the HIV prevention and treatment toolkit and may help contribute to ending the HIV epidemic. To date, HIV vaccine trials have not engaged representative numbers of African Americans. We evaluated the willingness of African Americans to participate in HIV vaccine trials and identified correlates of willingness to participate (WTP) by surveying African Americans at low- and high-risk of HIV infection in a multi-site, cross-sectional study. We enrolled 1,452 participants; 59% heterosexual women; 21% heterosexual men; 20% men who have sex with men (MSM). Over half of participants (58%) expressed some level of WTP in HIV vaccine trials. Multivariable analyses revealed several variables were positively related to WTP: HIV risk behavior, knowing someone with HIV/AIDS, social support for trial participation, high perception of risk, perceived protection if in a trial, altruism, and greater tolerance for the ambiguous nature of trials (p\u3c0.01). Emphasis on contextual factors related to personal HIV experiences, including knowledge of someone with HIV, and community support for research, may provide effective strategies for engaging African Americans in future HIV vaccine trials

A generalized Hamiltonian Constraint Operator in Loop Quantum Gravity and its simplest Euclidean Matrix Elements

We study a generalized version of the Hamiltonian constraint operator in nonperturbative loop quantum gravity. The generalization is based on admitting arbitrary irreducible SU(2) representations in the regularization of the operator, in contrast to the original definition where only the fundamental representation is taken. This leads to a quantization ambiguity and to a family of operators with the same classical limit. We calculate the action of the Euclidean part of the generalized Hamiltonian constraint on trivalent states, using the graphical notation of Temperley-Lieb recoupling theory. We discuss the relation between this generalization of the Hamiltonian constraint and crossing symmetry.Comment: 35 pp, 20 eps figures; minor corrections, references added; version to appear in Class. Quant. Gra

A Guide to Localized Frames and Applications to Galerkin-like Representations of Operators

This chapter offers a detailed survey on intrinsically localized frames and the corresponding matrix representation of operators. We re-investigate the properties of localized frames and the associated Banach spaces in full detail. We investigate the representation of operators using localized frames in a Galerkin-type scheme. We show how the boundedness and the invertibility of matrices and operators are linked and give some sufficient and necessary conditions for the boundedness of operators between the associated Banach spaces.Comment: 32 page

[coin] Antoninianus, Keulen, Victorinus, Gallisch keizerrijk.

Oud plaatsnummer BRKZ.MUN.362/6/DOud plaatsnummer XXXIXE4Recto: De gedrapeerde buste van Victorinus, met een kuras en een stralenkroon, naar rechts ; rondom, IM[P C VICTO]RINVS P F AVG en een parelcirkel.Verso: De gedrapeerde Pax staat in driekwart vooraanzicht naar links ; ze houdt een olijftak in de geheven rechterhand en lange scepter schuin voor zich met de linker , links in het veld, V ; rechts in het veld, een ster ; rondom, [PAX A]V[G] en een parelcirkel.Cohen, H., Description historique des monnaies frappées sous l'empire romain, communément appelées médailles impériales. Deuxième édition. Tome sixième. Paris/London : Rollin & Feuardent, 1886, p. 77 nr. 79.Webb, P., The roman imperial coinage. Vol. V. Part II. London : Spink & Son Ltd., 1962, p. 397, nr. 118.Sear, D. Roman coins and their values. Second revised edition. London : Seaby's Numismatic Publications Ltd, 1974, nr. 3066.Dewit, H. & Waerzeggers, R., Museum Vanderkelen-Mertens. Inventaris van de numismatische verzameling. Deel 1. De antieke munten, Leuven : 1983, nr. N/AC/579.Bijzondere collectie