Risk practice of HIV in men who have sex with men are a gender practice. A training of health professional in a transcultural perspective

Relations between men who have sex with men (MSM) are power relations between different masculinities. A qualitative study with health professionals assisting MSM looked into HIV prevention in Spain. Barriers were observed in the HIV test at three levels: institutions, social and individual. Deficiencies appeared in public policies: lack of knowledge about MSM realities; lack of tools to assist diversity by health professionals; stigma and prejudice; difficulties to access health. Migration, poverty and vulnerability influence MSM health and the presence of risk practices. We suggest health professionals training in gender transcultural perspective integrated within educative programs to improve MSM's health

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVE COVERINGS FOR COOLING TOWERS IN BRAZILIAN CAPITALS THROUGH NUMERICAL MODELING

A cooling tower is a heat removal device used to transfer waste heat to the atmosphere process. Today, commercial cooling towers use plastic coverings, specially developed for this application. It is known that alternative coverings have been an increasingly viable solution thanks to its performance and cost. The purpose of this study was to evaluate, through numerical simulation, the performance of different alternative coverings under different climatic conditions. Therefore, we used, as reference, the climate of the state capitals and their respective geographic regions. The performance of these coverings was evaluated through observation of three parameters: effectiveness, approach and cooling. The main input data used by the software EES (Engineering Equation Solver) for the calculation of evaluation parameters were: experimental NUT of each covering, average local temperature, local air pressure and relative humidity. The flow of water and air were set at 0.33 L / s and 170 L / s, respectively. We concluded that the air inlet temperature and relative humidity at each location greatly influence the performance of the coverings. The alternative covering that showed the best results was the "cross-fiber and neck", with an efficiency about 35% lower than the industrial covering. The Brazilian capital city with the best performances for alternative coverings was Palmas (TO). This is due to the very low relative humidity found in the city in the summer. Air humidity is also responsible for the poor performance of coverings in the capitals of the North. In general, the region with the best performance was the South, due to the characteristics of the sub-tropical climate. Regions that had the worst results were North / Northeast because of the weather that combines high temperatures with high / moderate humidity, respectively. Thus, the study of climate conditions is indispensable for the operation prevision of a cooling tower. Alternative coverings will be viable depending on the location

A new approach to bad news effects on volatility: the Multiple-Sign-Volume sensitive regime EGARCH model (MSV-EGARCH)

In this paper, using daily data for six major international stock market indexes and a modified EGARCH specification, the links between stock market returns, volatility and trading volume are investigated in a new nonlinear conditional variance framework with multiple regimes and volume effects. Volatility forecast comparisons, using the Harvey-Newbold test for multiple forecasts encompassing, seem to demonstrate that the MSV-EGARCH complex threshold structure is able to correctly fit GARCH-type dynamics of the series under study and dominates competing standard asymmetric models in several of the considered stock indexes.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

The discrimination capabilities of Micromegas detectors at low energy

The latest generation of Micromegas detectors show a good energy resolution, spatial resolution and low threshold, which make them idoneous in low energy applications. Two micromegas detectors have been built for dark matter experiments: CAST, which uses a dipole magnet to convert axion into detectable x-ray photons, and MIMAC, which aims to reconstruct the tracks of low energy nuclear recoils in a mixture of CF4 and CHF3. These readouts have been respectively built with the microbulk and bulk techniques, which show different gain, electron transmission and energy resolutions. The detectors and the operation conditions will be described in detail as well as their discrimination capabilities for low energy photons will be discussed.Comment: To be published in the proceedings of the TIPP2011 conference (Physics Procedia

A study of temperature-related non-linearity at the metal-silicon interface

In this paper, we investigate the temperature dependencies of metal-semiconductor interfaces in an effort to better reproduce the current-voltage-temperature (IVT) characteristics of any Schottky diode, regardless of homogeneity. Four silicon Schottky diodes were fabricated for this work, each displaying different degrees of inhomogeneity; a relatively homogeneous NiV/Si diode, a Ti/Si and Cr/Si diode with double bumps at only the lowest temperatures, and a Nb/Si diode displaying extensive non-linearity. The 77–300 K IVT responses are modelled using a semi-automated implementation of Tung's electron transport model, and each of the diodes are well reproduced. However, in achieving this, it is revealed that each of the three key fitting parameters within the model display a significant temperature dependency. In analysing these dependencies, we reveal how a rise in thermal energy “activates” exponentially more interfacial patches, the activation rate being dependent on the carrier concentration at the patch saddle point (the patch's maximum barrier height), which in turn is linked to the relative homogeneity of each diode. Finally, in a review of Tung's model, problems in the divergence of the current paths at low temperature are explained to be inherent due to the simplification of an interface that will contain competing defects and inhomogeneities

Preparation of Poly(vinyl chloride) Latexes Using a Dual Surfactant System: The Effect in the Particle Size Distribution

The control of the average particle size and size distribution in the emulsion polymerization of vinyl chloride monomer is an important parameter to determine, not only the latex characteristics, but also the properties of the final dispersion powder in several industrial applications. It is possible to manipulate the particle size distribution (PSD) by applying a mixture of an anionic surfactant-fatty alcohol before the start of the free radical polymerization. Contrary to the procedures of the miniemulsion and the derivative diffusional swelling techniques, no kind of high shear is applied to the monomer and/or surfactant mixtures. In fact, the concentration and selection of the anionic surfactant, together with the fatty-alcohol, can play an interesting role on the final PSD of the polymer's particlesFCT; contract grant number SFRH/BDE/15534/200

First-principles calculation of intrinsic defect formation volumes in silicon

We present an extensive first-principles study of the pressure dependence of the formation enthalpies of all the know vacancy and self-interstitial configurations in silicon, in each charge state from -2 through +2. The neutral vacancy is found to have a formation volume that varies markedly with pressure, leading to a remarkably large negative value (-0.68 atomic volumes) for the zero-pressure formation volume of a Frenkel pair (V + I). The interaction of volume and charge was examined, leading to pressure--Fermi level stability diagrams of the defects. Finally, we quantify the anisotropic nature of the lattice relaxation around the neutral defects.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Si/SiC bonded wafer: a route to carbon free SiO2 on SiC

This paper describes the thermal oxidation of Si/SiC heterojunction structures, produced using a layer-transfer process, as an alternative solution to fabricating SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) devices with lower interface state densities (Dit). Physical characterization demonstrate that the transferred Si layer is relatively smooth, uniform, and essentially monocrystalline. The Si on SiC has been totally or partially thermally oxidized at 900–1150 °C. Dit for both partially and completely oxidized silicon layers on SiC were significantly lower than Dit values for MOS capacitors fabricated via conventional thermal oxidation of SiC. The quality of the SiO2, formed by oxidation of a wafer-bonded silicon layer reported here has the potential to realize a number of innovative heterojunction concepts and devices, including the fabrication of high quality and reliable SiO2 gate oxides

Hypoglycemic effect of Berberis microphylla G Forst root extract

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of the root extract of Berberis microphylla on glucose uptake and AMPK-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activity in non-resistant and insulin-resistant HepG2 cells.Methods: B. microphylla root was extracted with absolute ethanol, filtered, concentrated and lyophilized. Subsequently, liver cells, HepG2 (resistant and non-insulin resistant), were exposed for 24 h to different concentrations of the extract (10, 5, 2.5 and 1.25 x 10-3 μg/μL) to determine the stimulation of glucose uptake and phosphorylation of AMPK.Results: In HepG2 cells without resistance exposed to B. microphylla root extract, glucose uptake varied from 34 to 59 % of the available glucose while AMPK phosphorylation was 1.9 to 3.6 times the phosphorylation of the control. In insulin-resistant HepG2 cells, glucose uptake varied from 68 to 95 % of available glucose while AMPK phosphorylation was 1.8 to 3.3 times the phosphorylation of the control.Conclusion: The root extract of B. microphylla possesses hypoglycemic effects and stimulates glucose uptake in HepG2 cells with and without resistance by activating AMPK protein.Keywords: Calafate, Diabetes, Antihyperglycemic effect, Phytomedicine, Berberis, Insulin resistanc