A Phenomenological Study of Acceptability of Preexposure Prophylaxis Therapy within the Lived Experiences of HIV Negative Male-to-Female Transgender Young Adults

The male-to-female transgender (MtF-TG) are individuals assigned a male gender at birth but self identify as female. MtF-TG young adults experience discrimination, stigmatization, isolation, and homelessness as a result of gender identity and gender expression. The transgender populations are linked to high rate of new HIV infection. The use of Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) therapy demonstrated a decrease in HIV infection risk ranging from 42% to 73% among sexual minority individuals. The goal of this three-part study was achieved through concept analysis, data collection, and analysis. The following aims were addressed; analyze the concept of transgender, explore currently used HIV prevention practices and knowledge of PrEP therapy, explore the potential of acceptability of PrEP therapy, and explore facilitators and barriers to acceptance of PrEP therapy. The findings resulted in three manuscripts: Transgender: Concept Analysis focused on analysis of the concept of transgender; A Phenomenological Study of Acceptability of Preexposure Therapy within the Lived Experiences of HIV Negative Male-To-Female Transgender young Adults utilized in-depth semi-structured interviews of 15 self-identified HIV negative MTF-TG young adults and Colaizzi\u27s seven steps of data analysis to identify related themes; It\u27s Deal Breaker: Safe Sex Practices Among Homeless Male-To-Female Young Adults focused on thematic findings of secondary results of primary study. Thematic findings were attributes of MtF-TG, essence of life as MtF-TG, motivators and barriers for PrEP acceptability. Findings have potential to inform practice, policy changes, and future research. Key Words: male-to-female transgender (MtF-TG), phenomenology, transgender, gender dysphoria, transwomen

Extracellular release of acid phosphatase from blood stream forms of Trypanosoma brucei brucei .

Acid phosphatase (ACP) activity was demonstrated in blood stream form of Trypanosoma brucei brucei harvested from infected Wister rats by Ion Exchange DEAE Cellulose 52 chromatography. Whole parasite extract (WPE) and Excretory Secretory Extract (ESE) were prepared and analyzed for acid phosphatase activity. A higher ACP activity (85.5 \u3bcmol/min) was recorded in WPE compared to ESE (36.8 \u3bcmol/min). ACP activity in ESE is suggestive of the presence of a cell rich enzyme. Phase separation of the extracts using the detergent Triton X-114 (TX-114), resulted in protein partitioning into aqueous and detergent phases. ACP activity was higher in the detergent phases (56.2 \u3bcmol/min and 28.8 \u3bcmol/min) of WPE and ESE respectively. ACP activity recorded in the aqueous phases of WPE and EPE was 27.8 and 7.6 \u3bcmol/min respectively. On a Size Exclusion chromatography column using Sephacryl-300, ESE emerged as five distinct protein peaks. ACP activity of the eluted fractions showed two peaks of relative molecular weights 195 and 325 KD. This study shows that T. brucei releases acid phosphatase extracellularly via a yet to be determined mechanism. Acid phosphatase activity in ESE is indicative of a soluble enzyme within the cell matrix which may also play an important role in the pathology of African Trypanosomiasis

COVID-19 in Africa:Contextualizing impacts, responses, and prospects

It has become a truism that COVID-19 has impacted all countries and all people around the world, but in different ways. Yet this contextual diversity in the pandemic’s impacts, the responses by governments and other actors, and the prospects for recovery are only beginning to be understood. This is especially so for Africa, where, on the whole, the pandemic had a late start compared to other regions, but where the complex interactions among the disease, local health systems, and preexisting vulnerabilities linked to poverty, inequality, and fragile governance make such understanding particularly important. “Africa could become the next epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic,” though thankfully the rate of infections has slowed in most parts of the continent in August and September. Yet the risk of a second wave of infections remains high, and in any case, the effects of the global recession and of governments’ lockdown regulations are layered upon a context of widespread poverty and constrained states, resulting in severe humanitarian, economic, and social impacts, with long-term implications for sustainable development on the continent. Setbacks to Africa’s sustainable development agenda have global implications, and this is true for the pandemic also. As argued by the United Nations Secretary General, “Only victory in Africa can end the pandemic everywhere

A Mutant Ahr Allele Protects the Embryonic Kidney from Hydrocarbon-Induced Deficits in Fetal Programming

Background: The use of experimental model systems has expedited the elucidation of pathogenetic mechanisms of renal developmental disease in humans and the identification of genes that orchestrate developmental programming during nephrogenesis

Photocurrent response of B12As2 crystals to blue light, and its temperature-dependent electrical characterizations

Citation: Gul, R., Cui, Y., Bolotnikov, A. E., Camarda, G. S., Egarievwe, S. U., Hossain, A., . . . James, R. B. (2016). Photocurrent response of B12As2 crystals to blue light, and its temperature-dependent electrical characterizations. Aip Advances, 6(2), 6. doi:10.1063/1.4941937With the global shortage of He-3 gas, researchers worldwide are looking for alternative materials for detecting neutrons. Among the candidate materials, semiconductors are attractive because of their light weight and ease in handling. Currently, we are looking into the suitability of boron arsenide (B12As2) for this specific application. As the first step in evaluating the material qualitatively, the photo-response of B12As2 bulk crystals to light with different wavelengths was examined. The crystals showed photocurrent response to a band of 407- and 470- nm blue light. The maximum measured photoresponsivity and the photocurrent density at 0.7 V for 470 nm blue light at room temperature were 0.25 A.W-1 and 2.47 mA.cm(-2), respectively. In addition to photo current measurements, the electrical properties as a function of temperature (range: 50-320 K) were measured. Reliable data were obtained for the low-temperature I-V characteristics, the temperature dependence of dark current and its density, and the resistivity variations with temperature in B12As2 bulk crystals. The experiments showed an exponential dependence on temperature for the dark current, current density, and resistivity; these three electrical parameters, respectively, had a variation of a few nA to mu A, 1-100 mu A.cm(-2) and 7.6x10(5)-7.7x10(3) Omega.cm, for temperature increasing from 50 K to 320 K. The results from this study reported the first photoresponse and demonstrated that B12As2 is a potential candidate for thermal-neutron detectors. (C) 2016 Author(s)

Primary Skull Base Chondrosarcomas: A Systematic Review

From MDPI via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: accepted 2021-11-25, pub-electronic 2021-11-26Publication status: PublishedBackground: Primary skull base chondrosarcomas (SBCs) can severely affect patients’ quality of life. Surgical-resection and radiotherapy are feasible but may cause debilitating complications. We systematically reviewed the literature on primary SBCs. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Web-of-Science, and Cochrane were searched following the PRISMA guidelines to include studies of patients with primary SBCs. Clinical characteristics, management strategies, and treatment outcomes were analyzed. Results: We included 33 studies comprising 1307 patients. Primary SBCs mostly involved the middle-fossa (72.7%), infiltrating the cavernous-sinus in 42.4% of patients. Cranial-neuropathies were reported in 810 patients (62%). Surgical-resection (93.3%) was preferred over biopsy (6.6%). The most frequent open surgical approaches were frontotemporal-orbitozygomatic (17.6%) and pterional (11.9%), and 111 patients (21.3%) underwent endoscopic-endonasal resection. Post-surgical cerebrospinal-fluid leaks occurred in 36 patients (6.5%). Radiotherapy was delivered in 1018 patients (77.9%): photon-based (41.4%), proton-based (64.2%), and carbon-based (13.1%). Severe post-radiotherapy complications, mostly hypopituitarism (15.4%) and hearing loss (7.1%) were experienced by 251 patients (30.7%). Post-treatment symptom-improvement (46.7%) and reduced/stable tumor volumes (85.4%) showed no differences based on radiotherapy-protocols (p = 0.165; p = 0.062). Median follow-up was 67-months (range, 0.1−376). SBCs recurrences were reported in 211 cases (16.1%). The 5-year and 10-year progression-free survival rates were 84.3% and 67.4%, and overall survival rates were 94% and 84%. Conclusion: Surgical-resection and radiotherapy are effective treatments in primary SBCs, with acceptable complication rates and favorable local tumor control

Relationships, love and sexuality: what the Filipino teens think and feel

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In order to achieve a change among teens' sexual behavior, an important step is to improve our knowledge about their opinions concerning relationships, love and sexuality.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A questionnaire including topics on relationships, love and sexuality was distributed to a target population of 4,000 Filipino students from third year high school to third year college. Participants were obtained through multi-stage sampling of clusters of universities and schools. This paper concentrates on teens aged 13 to 18.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Students reported that they obtained information about love and sexuality mainly from friends. However, they valued parents' opinion more than friends'. They revealed few conversations with their parents on these topics. A majority of them would like to have more information, mainly about emotion-related topics. Almost half of respondents were not aware that condoms are not 100% effective in preventing STIs or pregnancies. More girls, compared to boys, were sensitive and opposed to several types of sexism. After adjusting for sex, age and institution, the belief of 100% condom effectiveness and the approval of pornography and sexism were associated with being sexually experienced.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There is room for further encouraging parents to talk more with their children about sexuality, specially aspects related to feelings and emotions in order to help them make better sexual choices. Indeed, teens wish to better communicate with their parents on these issues. Condoms are regarded as safer than what they really are by almost half of the participants of this study, and such incorrect knowledge seems to be associated with sexual initiation.</p

Ste20-Related Proline/Alanine-Rich Kinase (SPAK) Regulated Transcriptionally by Hyperosmolarity Is Involved in Intestinal Barrier Function

The Ste20-related protein proline/alanine-rich kinase (SPAK) plays important roles in cellular functions such as cell differentiation and regulation of chloride transport, but its roles in pathogenesis of intestinal inflammation remain largely unknown. Here we report significantly increased SPAK expression levels in hyperosmotic environments, such as mucosal biopsy samples from patients with Crohn's disease, as well as colon tissues of C57BL/6 mice and Caco2-BBE cells treated with hyperosmotic medium. NF-κB and Sp1-binding sites in the SPAK TATA-less promoter are essential for SPAK mRNA transcription. Hyperosmolarity increases the ability of NF-κB and Sp1 to bind to their binding sites. Knock-down of either NF-κB or Sp1 by siRNA reduces the hyperosmolarity-induced SPAK expression levels. Furthermore, expression of NF-κB, but not Sp1, was upregulated by hyperosmolarity in vivo and in vitro. Nuclear run-on assays showed that hyperosmolarity increases SPAK expression levels at the transcriptional level, without affecting SPAK mRNA stability. Knockdown of SPAK expression by siRNA or overexpression of SPAK in cells and transgenic mice shows that SPAK is involved in intestinal permeability in vitro and in vivo. Together, our data suggest that SPAK, the transcription of which is regulated by hyperosmolarity, plays an important role in epithelial barrier function