Condom Use among Young African American Men: Implications for Planning Interventions

Condom Use among Young African American Men: Implications for Planning Interventions Sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, continue to present significant public health problems affecting young people in the United States, especially African Americans. While African Americans make up about 12% of the U.S. population, in 2010 they accounted for 44% of new HIV infections in 2010 and 48% of all persons living with AIDS in 2007. The 2010 data shows that of these new cases, 38% occurred among African American males ages 13-24 years old. Correct condom use remains a challenge in this population and efforts to increase condom use among minority males has been a formidable challenge. This paper reports the results of formative research conducted in order to guide the development of an intervention to increase consistent, effective condom use for young African American males. Methods: A snowball sampling approach was used to recruit participants. African American males, ages 18-24, who self-reported as sexually active were eligible to participate in one of four focus groups or one of six individual interviews. All study events were conducted at community locations. Each event was audiotaped and notes were taken. Analysis was performed using using NVivo-9. The coding strategy included emic and etic codes and a coding tree was developed which was used to identify themes. Results: A total of 36 African American males between the ages of 18-24 (mean 20.7 years) took part. In general, participants felt condom use was highly influenced by contextual factors including partner interest, partner communication, length of relationship and trust. Condom use was also influenced by a sense of invincibility and being caught up in the moment. Notably, most sexual activity occurred outside of a relationship, most often within the party scene or as quickly arranged hook-ups. Analysis: In order to ensure maximum impact on the development of the intervention, the results from this formative phase were viewed through the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (TTM) and most participants would be described as being in the pre-contemplation or contemplation stages of behavioral change. While all participants expressed some understanding of the risks of unprotected sex, many did not connect risks to consequences. While the data did not indicate that condom use behavior was likely to change in the short-term (less than 6 months), several participants were contemplating making a change. Discussion: The snowball sampling approach allowed us to understand the participants’ social network and allowed us to consider social influences as well as about individual attitudes and beliefs. In the TTM frame, interventions designed for this population need to include contemplators and pre-contemplators and should focus on modification of cognition, affect and behaviors. Our research also shows that several of the underlying assumptions of TTM are at odds with the framework within which sex often occurs for this population and condom use decisions are highly influenced by the social context. In light of the results, the intervention placed condom use into a health promotion context. It combines group activities and one-on-one interaction. Group activities can impact shared values and beliefs and, thus, the intervention builds social support for behavior changes while addressing individual capacity

A roadmap for regulatory survival in the 1990s

There have been many changes over the last several years in the ways that we're required to label, handle, and dispose of the products of our manufacturing processes...and we all know there will be more, not fewer, environmental regulations to deal with in the years to come. It is important to be aware of how a chemical is listed by federal or state regulations or recommending bodies. For example, if a chemical has been listed by OSHA, IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer), or NTP (the National Toxicology Program) as a carcinogen, this listing will trigger hazard communication requirements. It may cause restrictions on the levels of a chemical that you may release into the air or water as well as how you manage your plant wastes. Understanding how a chemical is listed is the first critical step in overall compliance. Once a chemical makes one of these lists as a hazardous material or a carcinogen, your emissions, labelling, or MSD sheets may need to be changed in order to comply with federal or state regulations. Being fully aware of how the chemicals you use are listed by all pertinent bodies is the essential compass that you must have to follow the regulatory road map

Macrospin approximation and quantum effects in models for magnetization reversal

The thermal activation of magnetization reversal in magnetic nanoparticles is controlled by the anisotropy-energy barrier. Using perturbation theory, exact diagonalization and stability analysis of the ferromagnetic spin-s Heisenberg model with coupling or single-site anisotropy, we study the effects of quantum fluctuations on the height of the energy barrier. Opposed to the classical case, there is no critical anisotropy strength discriminating between reversal via coherent rotation and via nucleation/domain-wall propagation. Quantum fluctuations are seen to lower the barrier depending on the anisotropy strength, dimensionality and system size and shape. In the weak-anisotropy limit, a macrospin model is shown to emerge as the effective low-energy theory where the microscopic spins are tightly aligned due to the ferromagnetic exchange. The calculation provides explicit expressions for the anisotropy parameter of the effective macrospin. We find a reduction of the anisotropy-energy barrier as compared to the classical high spin-s limit.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure

A Biochemical Genomics Screen for Substrates of Ste20p Kinase Enables the In Silico Prediction of Novel Substrates

The Ste20/PAK family is involved in many cellular processes, including the regulation of actin-based cytoskeletal dynamics and the activation of MAPK signaling pathways. Despite its numerous roles, few of its substrates have been identified. To better characterize the roles of the yeast Ste20p kinase, we developed an in vitro biochemical genomics screen to identify its substrates. When applied to 539 purified yeast proteins, the screen reported 14 targets of Ste20p phosphorylation. We used the data resulting from our screen to build an in silico predictor to identify Ste20p substrates on a proteome-wide basis. Since kinase-substrate specificity is often mediated by additional binding events at sites distal to the phosphorylation site, the predictor uses the presence/absence of multiple sequence motifs to evaluate potential substrates. Statistical validation estimates a threefold improvement in substrate recovery over random predictions, despite the lack of a single dominant motif that can characterize Ste20p phosphorylation. The set of predicted substrates significantly overrepresents elements of the genetic and physical interaction networks surrounding Ste20p, suggesting that some of the predicted substrates are in vivo targets. We validated this combined experimental and computational approach for identifying kinase substrates by confirming the in vitro phosphorylation of polarisome components Bni1p and Bud6p, thus suggesting a mechanism by which Ste20p effects polarized growth

Drug-related mutational patterns in hepatitis B virus (HBV) reverse transcriptase proteins from Iranian treatment-Naïve chronic HBV patients

Background: Immunomodulators and Nucleotide analogues have been used globally for the dealing of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. However, the development of drug resistance is a major limitation to their long-term effectiveness. Objectives: The aim of this study was to characterize the hepatitis B virus reverse transcriptase (RT) protein variations among Iranian chronic HBV carriers who did not receive any antiviral treatments. Materials and Methods: Hepatitis B virus partial RT genes from 325 chronic in active carrier patients were amplified and directly sequenced. Nucleotide/amino acid substitutions were identified compared to the sequences obtained from the database. Results: All strains belonging to genotype D.365 amino-acid substitutions were found. Mutations related to lamivudine, adefovir, telbivudine, and entecavir occurred in (YMDD) 4% (n = 13), (SVQ) 17.23% (n = 56), (M204I/V + L180M) 2.45% (n = 8) and (M204I) 2.76% (n = 9) of patients, respectively. Conclusions: RT mutants do occur naturally and could be found in HBV carriers who have never received antiviral therapy. However, mutations related to drug resistance in Iranian treatment-naïve chronic HBV patients were found to be higher than other studies published formerly. Chronic HBV patients should be monitored closely prior the commencement of therapy to achieve the best regimen option. © 2013, KOWSAR Corp

Computational modeling of ovarian cancer dynamics suggests optimal strategies for therapy and screening

High-grade serous tubo-ovarian carcinoma (HGSC) is a major cause of cancer-related death. Treatment is not uniform, with some patients undergoing primary debulking surgery followed by chemotherapy (PDS) and others being treated directly with chemotherapy and only having surgery after three to four cycles (NACT). Which strategy is optimal remains controversial. We developed a mathematical framework that simulates hierarchical or stochastic models of tumor initiation and reproduces the clinical course of HGSC. After estimating parameter values, we infer that most patients harbor chemoresistant HGSC cells at diagnosis and that, if the tumor burden is not too large and complete debulking can be achieved, PDS is superior to NACT due to better depletion of resistant cells. We further predict that earlier diagnosis of primary HGSC, followed by complete debulking, could improve survival, but its benefit in relapsed patients is likely to be limited. These predictions are supported by primary clinical data from multiple cohorts. Our results have clear implications for these key issues in HGSC management

The role of viral and bacterial infections in the pathogenesis of IPF: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic progressive lung disease. Several risk factors such as smoking, air pollution, inhaled toxins, high body mass index and infectious agents are involved in the pathogenesis of IPF. In the present study, this meta-analysis study investigates the prevalence of viral and bacterial infections in the IPF patients and any possible association between these infections with pathogenesis of IPF. Methods: The authors carried out this systematic literature review from different reliable databases such as PubMed, ISI Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar to December 2020.Keywords used were the following �Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis�, �Infection�, �Bacterial Infection� and �Viral Infection�, alone or combined together with the Boolean operators "OR�, �AND� and �NOT� in the Title/Abstract/Keywords field. Pooled proportion and its 95 CI were used to assess the prevalence of viral and bacterial infections in the IPF patients. Results: In this systematic review and meta-analyses, 32 studies were selected based on the exclusion/inclusion criteria. Geographical distribution of included studies was: eight studies in American people, 8; in European people, 15 in Asians, and one in Africans. The pooled prevalence for viral and bacterial infections w ere 53.72 (95 CI 38.1�69.1) and 31.21 (95 CI 19.9�43.7), respectively. The highest and lowest prevalence of viral infections was HSV (77.7 95 CI 38.48�99.32), EBV (72.02, 95 CI 44.65�90.79) and Influenza A (7.3, 95 CI 2.66�42.45), respectively. Whereas the highest and lowest prevalence in bacterial infections were related to Streptococcus sp. (99.49, 95 CI 96.44�99.9) and Raoultella (1.2, 95 CI 0.2�3.08), respectively. Conclusions: The results of this review were confirmed that the presence of viral and bacterial infections are the risk factors in the pathogenesis of IPF. In further analyses, which have never been shown in the previous studies, we revealed the geographic variations in the association strengths and emphasized other methodological parameters (e.g., detection method). Also, our study supports the hypothesis that respiratory infection could play a key role in the pathogenesis of IP. © 2021, The Author(s)

Seroepidemiology of hepatitis C in Kermanshah (West of Iran, 2006)

Background and Aims: Chronic and serious outcomes of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection impose remarkable economic burden to the health system. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of HCV infection in the general population of Kermanshah in the year 2006. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 1721 residents from Kermanshah were chosen by systematic and cluster sampling in the year 2006. After interview, serum samples were taken and evaluated for HCV-Ab using ELISA method (3rd generation). Positive samples were confirmed by Western Blot (WB) and PCR if necessary. Results: The prevalence of HCV was 0.87 (male: 1.4 vs. female: 0.3). There was 88.2 coordination between ELISA and WB results. Statistical relationship was observed between HCV infection and male sex (P<0.018), history of addiction (P<0.0001), shared needle (P<0.0001), unsafe sexual contact (P<0.008), history of blood and blood products transfusion (P<0.0001), tattooing (P<0.0001), history of incarceration (P<0.0001), and hemophilia (P<0.0001). On the other hand, stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that hemophilia, shared needle, IV addiction, transfusion and addiction were the most important risk factors for HCV infection in a descending order. The rate of HCV infection increased in cases with multiple risk factors. Conclusions: We estimate that among 967196 people, who live in Kermanshah, nearty 8400 individuals may have HCV infection and this will be a major problem in the near future. Addicts especially IV drug users and cases with the history of blood and blood products transfusion are high risk groups who need special attention regarding HCV infection

Sperm bank creation of Caspian Sea trout (Salmo trutta caspius) breeders

The Caspian Sea trout (Salmo trutta caspius) is distributed in southern basin of the sea and the natural stocks of this fish is critically endangered. The present study was conducted through the breeding seasons of Caspian Sea trout in January 2012. Estimation of sperm male potential was carried on samples collected from a total of 12 male spawners which included 8 samples (caught 3 years ago) and 4 samples (freshly caught). Semen samples were collected after anesthetized with clove powder for 10 minutes at water temperature of 9-9.4 °C. The differences of mean semen volumes, sperm motility time, sperm density and the percentage of sperm motility from freshly caught spawners (5.5±3.4 ml, 35.5±8.7 sec, 4.3±0.7×109 ml^-1, 32.5 ± 8.5% respectively) were significantly higher than 3 years caught spawners (1.5±0.93 ml, 26.5± 2.8 sec, 1.98±1.6×109 ml^-1, 25.7±9.7 % respectively) (P0.05)