3,044 research outputs found
Oral human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in men who have sex with men: prevalence and lack of anogenital concordance.
To estimate the prevalence of oral detectable human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA in HIV-negative men who have sex with men (MSM) attending a sexual health clinic in London and concordance with anogenital HPV infection. Such data are important to improve our understanding of the epidemiology of oral HPV and the potential use of vaccines to prevent oropharyngeal cancers
On a direct approach to quasideterminant solutions of a noncommutative KP equation
A noncommutative version of the KP equation and two families of its solutions
expressed as quasideterminants are discussed. The origin of these solutions is
explained by means of Darboux and binary Darboux transformations. Additionally,
it is shown that these solutions may also be verified directly. This approach
is reminiscent of the wronskian technique used for the Hirota bilinear form of
the regular, commutative KP equation but, in the noncommutative case, no
bilinearising transformation is available.Comment: 11 page
The EU and Asia within an evolving global order: what is Europe? Where is Asia?
The papers in this special edition are a very small selection from those presented at the EU-NESCA (Network of European Studies Centres in Asia) conference on "the EU and East Asia within an Evolving Global Order: Ideas, Actors and Processes" in November 2008 in Brussels. The conference was the culmination of three years of research activity involving workshops and conferences bringing together scholars from both regions primarily to discuss relations between Europe and Asia, perceptions of Europe in Asia, and the relationship between the European regional project and emerging regional forms in Asia. But although this was the last of the three major conferences organised by the consortium, it in many ways represented a starting point rather than the end; an opportunity to reflect on the conclusions of the first phase of collaboration and point towards new and continuing research agendas for the future
Patterns of impact resulting from a 'sit less, move more' web-based program in sedentary office employees.
PURPOSE: Encouraging office workers to 'sit less and move more' encompasses two public health priorities. However, there is little evidence on the effectiveness of workplace interventions for reducing sitting, even less about the longer term effects of such interventions and still less on dual-focused interventions. This study assessed the short and mid-term impacts of a workplace web-based intervention (Walk@WorkSpain, W@WS; 2010-11) on self-reported sitting time, step counts and physical risk factors (waist circumference, BMI, blood pressure) for chronic disease. METHODS: Employees at six Spanish university campuses (n=264; 42±10 years; 171 female) were randomly assigned by worksite and campus to an Intervention (used W@WS; n=129; 87 female) or a Comparison group (maintained normal behavior; n=135; 84 female). This phased, 19-week program aimed to decrease occupational sitting time through increased incidental movement and short walks. A linear mixed model assessed changes in outcome measures between the baseline, ramping (8 weeks), maintenance (11 weeks) and follow-up (two months) phases for Intervention versus Comparison groups. RESULTS: A significant 2 (group) × 2 (program phases) interaction was found for self-reported occupational sitting (F[3]=7.97, p=0.046), daily step counts (F[3]=15.68, p=0.0013) and waist circumference (F[3]=11.67, p=0.0086). The Intervention group decreased minutes of daily occupational sitting while also increasing step counts from baseline (446±126; 8,862±2,475) through ramping (+425±120; 9,345±2,435), maintenance (+422±123; 9,638±3,131) and follow-up (+414±129; 9,786±3,205). In the Comparison group, compared to baseline (404±106), sitting time remained unchanged through ramping and maintenance, but decreased at follow-up (-388±120), while step counts diminished across all phases. The Intervention group significantly reduced waist circumference by 2.1cms from baseline to follow-up while the Comparison group reduced waist circumference by 1.3cms over the same period. CONCLUSIONS: W@WS is a feasible and effective evidence-based intervention that can be successfully deployed with sedentary employees to elicit sustained changes on "sitting less and moving more"
The Sasa-Satsuma higher order nonlinear Schrodinger equation and its bilinearization and multi-soliton solutions
Higher order and multicomponent generalizations of the nonlinear Schrodinger
equation are important in various applications, e.g., in optics. One of these
equations, the integrable Sasa-Satsuma equation, has particularly interesting
soliton solutions. Unfortunately the construction of multi-soliton solutions to
this equation presents difficulties due to its complicated bilinearization. We
discuss briefly some previous attempts and then give the correct
bilinearization based on the interpretation of the Sasa-Satsuma equation as a
reduction of the three-component Kadomtsev-Petvishvili hierarchy. In the
process we also get bilinearizations and multi-soliton formulae for a two
component generalization of the Sasa-Satsuma equation (the
Yajima-Oikawa-Tasgal-Potasek model), and for a (2+1)-dimensional
generalization.Comment: 13 pages in RevTex, added reference
Performance of human papillomavirus DNA detection in residual specimens taken for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae nucleic acid amplification testing in men who have sex with men
OBJECTIVES: Rectal swab specimens, either alone or pooled with first-void urine (FVU) and pharyngeal swab specimens, are used to test for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) infection in men who have sex with men (MSM). Following introduction of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for MSM attending UK sexual health services (SHSs), HPV testing of residual CT/NG test specimens has been proposed to monitor HPV prevalence in this population. Performance of HPV detection in such specimens has not been evaluated previously. METHODS: MSM attending a UK SHS provided three specimens: (1) rectal swab for CT/NG, (2) pooled rectal/pharyngeal/FVU specimen for CT/NG and (3) dedicated anal swab for HPV. Specimen 3 and residual material from specimens 1 and 2 were tested for type-specific HPV DNA. HPV detection was by an in-house multiplex PCR and luminex-based genotyping assay. RESULTS: A total of 129 MSM were recruited with a mean age of 38.1 years; 24% were HIV-positive. Of the 129 MSM, 92 (71%) had any type-specific HPV DNA in ≥1 specimen; 80 (62%) had high risk (HR) HPV. Of 123 participants with sufficient residual pooled and dedicated specimens, 70 (56.9%) had detectable HPV on both, and 40 (32.5%) were negative on both; overall concordance was 89% (95% CI 83% to 94%), and kappa statistic was 0.78 (95% CI 0.66 to 0.89). Pooled samples had a 4.1% (95% CI -1.9% to 10.0%) higher test positivity rate than dedicated samples.Of 125 participants with sufficient residual rectal and specimens, 74 (59.2%) had detectable HPV on both, and 36 (28.8%) were negative on both; overall concordance was 88% (95% CI 81% to 93%), and kappa statistic was 0.74 (95% CI 0.61 to 0.86). Residual rectal samples had 5.6% (95%CI -0.6% to 11.8%) higher test positivity than dedicated samples. CONCLUSIONS: We observed high concordance between the dedicated and residual STI test specimens. Our data support the strategy of testing residual specimens for HPV prevalence monitoring in MSM to evaluate the impact of the targeted vaccination programme
Practicing governance towards equity in health systems: LMIC perspectives and experience
The unifying theme of the papers in this series is a concern for understanding the everyday practice of governance
in low- and middle-income country (LMIC) health systems. Rather than seeing governance as a normative health
system goal addressed through the architecture and design of accountability and regulatory frameworks, these papers
provide insights into the real-world decision-making of health policy and system actors. Their multiple, routine decisions
translate policy intentions into practice – and are filtered through relationships, underpinned by values and norms,
influenced by organizational structures and resources, and embedded in historical and socio-political contexts. These
decisions are also political acts – in that they influence who accesses benefits and whose voices are heard in decisionmaking,
reinforcing or challenging existing institutional exclusion and power inequalities. In other words, the everyday
practice of governance has direct impacts on health system equity.
The papers in the series address governance through diverse health policy and system issues, consider actors located
at multiple levels of the system and draw on multi-disciplinary perspectives. They present detailed examination of
experiences in a range of African and Indian settings, led by authors who live and work in these settings. The overall
purpose of the papers in thisISIScopu
Human papillomavirus DNA in men who have sex with men: type-specific prevalence, risk factors and implications for vaccination strategies.
BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination of girls will have relatively little effect on HPV-related disease in men who have sex with men (MSM). We determined HPV prevalence and risk factors in MSM to inform the potential effectiveness of vaccinating MSM. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 522 MSM aged 18-40 attending a London sexual health clinic who completed a computer-assisted self-interview. Urine and two swabs (anal and penile/scrotal/perianal) were collected and tested using an in-house Luminex-based HPV genotyping system. RESULTS: Prevalence of DNA of the vaccine-preventable HPV types in ano-genital specimens of men was 87/511 (17.0%), 166/511 (32.5%) and 232/511 (45.4%) for the bivalent (HPV16/18), quadrivalent (HPV6/11/16/18) and nonavalent (HPV6/11/16/18/31/33/45/52/58) vaccine types, respectively. A total of 25.1% had one of the quadrivalent types, and 7.4% had 2+ types. Median age at first anal sex was 19 (IQR 17-23) and at first clinic attendance was 24 (IQR 20-27). The increase in the odds of any HPV infection per year of age was 4.7% (95% CI 1.2-8.4). CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of the current infection status, most MSM, even among a high-risk population attending a sexual health clinic, are not currently infected with the vaccine-type HPV. A targeted vaccination strategy for MSM in the UK could have substantial benefits
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