Strengthening HIV Knowledge and Awareness among Undergraduate Students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Objective: We describe baseline HIV knowledge among students at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to inform and strengthen HIV education efforts at HBCUs. Methods: We surveyed 1,230 African American HBCU students from 24 HBCUs; 1,051 responses (85.4 %) were analyzable. Results: Although general HIV knowledge was high among respondents (95% of students correctly responded that having sex without a condom constituted unsafe sex), knowledge deficits were noted (only 25% of students reported that multiple sex partners is a form of unsafe sex, while 25% of students reported that withdrawal of the penis before ejaculation reduced HIV risk). Conclusions: Misperceptions about HIV have implications for unintended sexual transmission of HIV. As African American young adults are disproportionately affected by HIV, strengthening HIV prevention efforts at HBCUs may include correcting misperceptions to reduce sexual risk and decrease HIV-related health disparities among young people

The Influence of Religion and Spirituality on HIV Prevention Among Black and Latino Men Who Have Sex with Men, New York City

The influence of religion and spirituality (R/S) on HIV prevention has been understudied, especially for Black and/or Latino men who have sex with men (BLMSM), who bear a disproportionate burden of HIV, and who are part of racial/ethnic communities with high engagement in R/S. The specific aim of this study was to explore perspectives about R/S among BLMSM to inform HIV prevention strategies and reduce HIV-related health disparities. Data from 105 qualitative interviews with BLMSM were analyzed; 58 (55%) stated that R/S had no personal influence on HIV prevention. For those reporting any R/S influence, main themes were: (1) R/S positively influenced decision-making and self-respect, (2) perceived judgment and stigma by religious communities, (3) belief in a higher power, and (4) altruism. These findings can inform faith-based HIV prevention interventions for BLMSM

HIV and STI Risk for Young Blacks in High Prevalence Areas: Implications for Health Equity in Communities Hosting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

Background Every year, thousands of young, black, high school graduates who are seeking higher education, attend one of the 105 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) located primarily in the south and east. The objective of the research was to examine the geographic proximity of HBCUs to areas of high HIV and STI disease burden among college age people to assess infectivity of potential sex partners in the areas surrounding HBCUs. Methods We examined the 14 states reporting the greatest HIV diagnoses burden among persons age 20-24 years old and STI burden among persons age 15 to 24 years old available for 2010. The Geographic Information System was used to create a spatially referenced data base of state level HIV and STI disease rates and HBCU zip codes to answer the question “How many HBCUs are in this location?” Maps were created to show HBCU locations in states along with the associated HIV and STI disease burden. Findings Results suggest high HIV and STI disease burden in the general population of persons ages 15-24 in 10 states with 4 or more Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and an overall high rate of HIV and STI exposure in the pool of potential sex partners. Less risky behavior by minority young adults attending HBCUs could potentially translate to high risk for contracting the diseases because of high prevalence in surrounding communities. Public Health Message Public health agencies may want to consider prioritizing HBCUs for enhanced HIV and STI prevention collaborative efforts in those areas with a high burden of HIV and other STIs

“We hide…”: Perceptions of HIV Risk Among Black and Latino MSM in New York City

Black and Latino men who have sex with men (BLMSM) are disproportionately infected with HIV; they comprised 66% of HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States in 2015. Risk factors for HIV infection among BLMSM include a high community prevalence of diagnosed and undiagnosed HIV/STDs, and dense sex partner networks. Perceptions of HIV risk among BLMSM were explored to inform HIV prevention efforts. During 2011–2012, semistructured interviews were conducted with BLMSM in New York City. Using computer-assisted thematic analyses (NVivo), transcribed interview responses to questions regarding HIV risk for main themes were examined. Interview data were available for 108 BLMSM: 86% Black, 13% Latino, 26% aged 18–24 years, 59% selfidentified as “gay,” and 33% self-identified as “bisexual.” The main emergent theme was stigma. Subthemes related to stigma included: (a) homophobia in the Black and Latino community, (b) fear of losing support from family and friends, and (c) lack of support leading to low self-esteem. Addressing the stigma felt by BLMSM may be an important strategy to facilitate improved HIV prevention efforts, HIV care and treatment, and to decrease HIV-related disparities

“My Sexuality…It Creates a Stress”: HIV-Related Communication Among Bisexual Black and Latino Men, New York City

Men who have sex with men and women (including bisexual men) comprise 35% of all men who have sex with men (MSM) in the U.S. It is estimated that 121,800 men who have been bisexually active within the past year are living with HIV in the U.S. Communication about HIV may result in risk-reduction behaviors. However, little is known about the nature or context for HIV prevention communication among bisexual men, particularly for blacks and Hispanic/Latinos who are disproportionately at greater HIV risk. Therefore, we explored patterns and contexts of HIV-related communications occurring within personal social networks among bisexual black and Hispanic/Latino men. Using respondent-driven sampling methods, we conducted semi-structured interviews from 2011 to 2012 among 36 participants living in New York City. We examined interview responses from participants for main themes using computer-assisted thematic analyses. The three main themes identified were: (1) communication strategies (e.g., “You can tell a lot from how a person responds just by the tone of their voice”), (2) barriers (e.g., “My sexuality…it creates a stress”), and (3) motivations for these communications (e.g., “I know that’s a(n) issue in the black community…if I could help another brother, I will do it”). Our findings can inform HIV prevention efforts such as social messaging campaigns and other risk-reduction interventions designed for bisexual men

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

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Search for gravitational-lensing signatures in the full third observing run of the LIGO-Virgo network

Gravitational lensing by massive objects along the line of sight to the source causes distortions of gravitational wave-signals; such distortions may reveal information about fundamental physics, cosmology and astrophysics. In this work, we have extended the search for lensing signatures to all binary black hole events from the third observing run of the LIGO--Virgo network. We search for repeated signals from strong lensing by 1) performing targeted searches for subthreshold signals, 2) calculating the degree of overlap amongst the intrinsic parameters and sky location of pairs of signals, 3) comparing the similarities of the spectrograms amongst pairs of signals, and 4) performing dual-signal Bayesian analysis that takes into account selection effects and astrophysical knowledge. We also search for distortions to the gravitational waveform caused by 1) frequency-independent phase shifts in strongly lensed images, and 2) frequency-dependent modulation of the amplitude and phase due to point masses. None of these searches yields significant evidence for lensing. Finally, we use the non-detection of gravitational-wave lensing to constrain the lensing rate based on the latest merger-rate estimates and the fraction of dark matter composed of compact objects

Search for eccentric black hole coalescences during the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo

Despite the growing number of confident binary black hole coalescences observed through gravitational waves so far, the astrophysical origin of these binaries remains uncertain. Orbital eccentricity is one of the clearest tracers of binary formation channels. Identifying binary eccentricity, however, remains challenging due to the limited availability of gravitational waveforms that include effects of eccentricity. Here, we present observational results for a waveform-independent search sensitive to eccentric black hole coalescences, covering the third observing run (O3) of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. We identified no new high-significance candidates beyond those that were already identified with searches focusing on quasi-circular binaries. We determine the sensitivity of our search to high-mass (total mass M>70 M⊙) binaries covering eccentricities up to 0.3 at 15 Hz orbital frequency, and use this to compare model predictions to search results. Assuming all detections are indeed quasi-circular, for our fiducial population model, we place an upper limit for the merger rate density of high-mass binaries with eccentricities 0<e≤0.3 at 0.33 Gpc−3 yr−1 at 90\% confidence level