3,049 research outputs found
Male Circumcision in the General Population of Kisumu, Kenya: Beliefs about Protection, Risk Behaviors, HIV, and STIs
Using a population-based survey we examined the behaviors, beliefs, and HIV/HSV-2 serostatus of men and women in the traditionally non-circumcising community of Kisumu, Kenya prior to establishment of voluntary medical male circumcision services. A total of 749 men and 906 women participated. Circumcision status was not associated with HIV/HSV-2 infection nor increased high risk sexual behaviors. In males, preference for being or becoming circumcised was associated with inconsistent condom use and increased lifetime number of sexual partners. Preference for circumcision was increased with understanding that circumcised men are less likely to become infected with HIV
"After my husband's circumcision, I know that I am safe from diseases": Women's Attitudes and Risk Perceptions Towards Male Circumcision in Iringa, Tanzania.
While male circumcision reduces the risk of female-to-male HIV transmission and certain sexually transmitted infections (STIs), there is little evidence that circumcision provides women with direct protection against HIV. This study used qualitative methods to assess women's perceptions of male circumcision in Iringa, Tanzania. Women in this study had strong preferences for circumcised men because of the low risk perception of HIV with circumcised men, social norms favoring circumcised men, and perceived increased sexual desirability of circumcised men. The health benefits of male circumcision were generally overstated; many respondents falsely believed that women are also directly protected against HIV and that the risk of all STIs is greatly reduced or eliminated in circumcised men. Efforts to engage women about the risks and limitations of male circumcision, in addition to the benefits, should be expanded so that women can accurately assess their risk of HIV or STIs during sexual intercourse with circumcised men
Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision: An Introduction to the Cost, Impact, and Challenges of Accelerated Scaling Up
Catherine Hankins, Steven Forsythe, and Emmanuel Njeuhmeli provide an overview of the “Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention: The Cost, Impact, and Challenges of Accelerated Scale-Up in Southern and Eastern Africa” Collection, calling for leadership and vision to help halt the HIV epidemic
Molecular Gas in the Host Galaxy of a Quasar at Redshift z=6.42
Observations of the molecular gas phase in quasar host galaxies provide
fundamental constraints on galaxy evolution at the highest redshifts. Molecular
gas is the material out of which stars form; it can be traced by spectral line
emission of carbon--monoxide (CO). To date, CO emission has been detected in
more than a dozen quasar host galaxies with redshifts (z) larger 2, the record
holder being at z=4.69. At these distances the CO lines are shifted to longer
wavelengths, enabling their observation with sensitive radio and millimetre
interferometers. Here we present the discovery of CO emission toward the quasar
SDSS J114816.64+525150.3 (hereafter J1148+5251) at a redshift of z=6.42, when
the universe was only 1/16 of its present age. This is the first detection of
molecular gas at the end of cosmic reionization. The presence of large amounts
of molecular gas (M(H_2)=2.2e10 M_sun) in an object at this time demonstrates
that heavy element enriched molecular gas can be generated rapidly in the
earliest galaxies.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures. To appear in Nature, July, 200
Implementing Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention in Nyanza Province, Kenya: Lessons Learned during the First Year
In 2007, the World Health Organization endorsed male circumcision as an effective HIV prevention strategy. In 2008, the Government of Kenya (GoK) launched the national voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) program in Nyanza Province, the geographic home to the Luo, the largest non-circumcising ethnic group in Kenya. Currently, several other African countries are in the early stages of implementing this intervention.This paper uses data from a health facility needs assessment (n = 81 facilities) and a study to evaluate the implementation of VMMC services in 16 GoK facilities (n = 2,675 VMMC clients) to describe Kenya's experience in implementing the national program. The needs assessment revealed that no health facility was prepared to offer the minimum package of services as outlined by the national guidelines, and partner organizations were called upon to fill this gap. The findings concerning human resource shortages facilitated the GoK's decision to endorse trained nurses to provide VMMCs, enabling more facilities to offer the service. Findings from the evaluation study resulted in replacing voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) with provider-initiated testing and counseling (PITC) and subsequently doubling the proportion of VMMC clients tested for HIV.This paper outlines how certain challenges, like human resource shortages and low HIV test rates, were addressed through national policy changes, while other challenges, like large fluctuations in demand, were addressed locally. Currently, the program requires significant support from partner organizations, but a strategic plan is under development to continue to build capacity in GoK staff and facilities. Coordination between all parties was essential and was facilitated through the formation of national, provincial, and district VMMC task forces. The lessons learned from Kenya's VMMC implementation experience are likely generalizable to other African countries
Regular Incidence Complexes, Polytopes, and C-Groups
Regular incidence complexes are combinatorial incidence structures
generalizing regular convex polytopes, regular complex polytopes, various types
of incidence geometries, and many other highly symmetric objects. The special
case of abstract regular polytopes has been well-studied. The paper describes
the combinatorial structure of a regular incidence complex in terms of a system
of distinguished generating subgroups of its automorphism group or a
flag-transitive subgroup. Then the groups admitting a flag-transitive action on
an incidence complex are characterized as generalized string C-groups. Further,
extensions of regular incidence complexes are studied, and certain incidence
complexes particularly close to abstract polytopes, called abstract polytope
complexes, are investigated.Comment: 24 pages; to appear in "Discrete Geometry and Symmetry", M. Conder,
A. Deza, and A. Ivic Weiss (eds), Springe
Holographic Roberge-Weiss Transitions
We investigate N=4 SYM coupled to fundamental flavours at nonzero imaginary
quark chemical potential in the strong coupling and large N limit, using
gauge/gravity duality applied to the D3-D7 system, treating flavours in the
probe approximation. The interplay between Z(N) symmetry and the imaginary
chemical potential yields a series of first-order Roberge-Weiss transitions. An
additional thermal transition separates phases where quarks are bound/unbound
into mesons. This results in a set of Roberge-Weiss endpoints: we establish
that these are triple points, determine the Roberge-Weiss temperature, give the
curvature of the phase boundaries and confirm that the theory is analytic in
mu^2 when mu^2~0.Comment: 37 pages, 13 figures; minor comments added, to appear in JHE
Male Circumcision at Different Ages in Rwanda: A Cost-Effectiveness Study
Agnes Binagwaho and colleagues predict that circumcision of newborn boys would be effective and cost-saving as a long-term strategy to prevent HIV in Rwanda
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