Selling safe smut… a research project exploring the effectiveness of sexually explicit HIV/AIDS prevention education campaigns in engaging Sydney gay men

This project critically examines the question Are HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns more effective at engaging gay men if they use colloquial language and sexually explicit imagery? by investigating the impact of sexually explicit campaigns on the Sydney gay community. The project approaches the question in three parts: 1. A review of literature exploring the circumstances in which and for what reasons sexually explicit HIV/AIDS campaigns are produced. 2. An analysis of seven interviews with producers of HIV prevention campaigns exploring how, why, where and for what reasons explicit campaigns are produced. 3. An analysis of eight interviews with homosexually active Sydney men exploring how HIV prevention campaigns are viewed, consumed and understood. The interviews were in-depth, semi-structured and conducted over one hour per interviewee. The findings are dominated by two interrelated and at times conflicting themes. First, that there is a strongly held belief by campaign producers that the most effective HIV prevention campaigns targeting gay men are produced by the community and reflect that community and as a result must at times be sexually explicit. Second, that it is no longer sufficient for HIV prevention campaigns to rely on explicit sex to attract attention. In an environment where visual images, and sexually explicit visual images especially, are becoming more accessible, and media and communication is more prevalent and complex, safe sex campaigns are forced to deliver ever more sophisticated and stimulating creative materials in order to maintain the engagement of gay men. The interviews revealed that both campaign producers and consumers participated in the production of a visual literacy of safe sex campaigns. This literacy was necessary to both effectively produce and comprehend the campaigns. The interviews showed that while HIV prevention campaigns that use sexually explicit language and imagery can be highly effective at engaging gay men, the success of sexually explicit campaigns is contextual that is, dependent on where, to whom and in what circumstances the materials are delivered. The audience’s accumulation of knowledge and cultural experience when viewing the campaigns, in other words their safe sex campaign literacy, significantly influenced their capacity to understand, appreciate and be engaged with sexually explicit HIV prevention campaigns

Conversation as an Outcome of Aphasia Treatment: A Systematic Scoping Review

PURPOSE: Conversation-focused speech-language pathology services are a top priority for people living with aphasia, but little is known about how researchers measure conversation as an outcome of treatment. This scoping review was undertaken to systematically review the evidence regarding the measurement of conversation in aphasia studies and to identify current practices and existing gaps. METHOD: A systematic literature search was conducted for studies published between January 1995 and September 2019 in multiple electronic databases. Covidence software was used to manage search results, study selection, and data charting processes. Data were extracted from each study and then collated and organized to elucidate the breadth of approaches, tools, or procedures oriented to measuring conversation as an outcome and identify gaps in the existing literature. RESULTS: The systematic search of the literature resulted in 1,244 studies. A total of 64 studies met inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The review summarizes the various tools and procedures used to measure conversation as an outcome of aphasia intervention, including variations in data collection and analysis procedures. The review also evaluates the quality of conversation measures in terms of psychometric properties and informal measures of validity. There was a total of 211 measures used across the 64 studies. CONCLUSIONS: While there was no clear measure that was objectively superior, several measures show promise and warrant future exploration. Some of the orientations, conceptualizations, and procedures we have presented can be seen as options that might be included in a future conversation-focused core outcome set. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.21514062

In vitro digestion of Pickering emulsions stabilized by soft whey protein microgel particles: influence of thermal treatment

Emulsions stabilized by soft whey protein microgel particles have gained research interest due to their combined advantages of biocompatibility and a high degree of resistance to coalescence. We designed Pickering oil-in-water emulsions using whey protein microgels by a facile route of heat-set gel formation followed by mechanical shear and studied the influence of heat treatment on emulsions stabilized by these particles. The aim of this study was to compare the barrier properties of the microgel particles and heat-treated fused microgel particles at the oil–water interface in delaying the digestion of the emulsified lipids using an in vitro digestion model. A combination of transmission electron microscopy and surface coverage measurements revealed an increased coverage of heat-treated microgel particles at the interface. The heat-induced microgel particle aggregation and, therefore, a fused network at the oil–water interface were more beneficial to delay the rate of digestion in the presence of pure lipase and bile salts compared to intact whey protein microgel particles, as shown by the measurements of zeta potential and free fatty acid release, plus theoretical calculations. However, simulated gastric digestion with pepsin impacted significantly on such barrier effects, due to the proteolysis of the particle network at the interface irrespective of the heat treatment, as visualized using sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacryl amide gel electrophoresis measurements

Following Lives Undergoing Change (Flux) study: Implementation and baseline prevalence of drug use in an online cohort study of gay and bisexual men in Australia

Background: Drug use among gay and bisexual men (GBM) is higher than most populations. The use of crystal methamphetamine, erectile dysfunction medication (EDM), and amyl nitrite have been associated with sexual risk behaviour and HIV infection among gay and bisexual men (GBM). Objective: This paper describes an online prospective observational study of licit and illicit drug use among GBM and explores baseline prevalence of drug use in this sample. Capturing these data poses challenges as participants are required to disclose potentially illegal behaviours in a geographically dispersed country. To address this issue, an entirely online and study specific methodology was chosen. Methods: Men living in Australia, aged 16.5 years of age or older, who identified as homosexual or bisexual or had sex with at least one man in the preceding 12 months were eligible to enrol. Results: Between September 2014 and July 2015, a total of 2250 participants completed the baseline questionnaire, of whom, 1710 (76.0%) consented to six-monthly follow-up. The majority (65.7%) were recruited through Facebook targeted advertising. At baseline, over half (50.5%) the men reported the use of any illicit drug in the previous six months, and 28.0% had used party drugs. In the six months prior to enrolment, 12.0% had used crystal methamphetamine, 21.8% had used EDM, and 32.1% had used amyl nitrite. Among the 1710 men enrolled into the cohort, 790 men had used none of these drugs. Conclusion: Ease of entry and minimal research burden on participants helped ensure successful recruitment into this online cohort study. Study outcomes will include the initiation and cessation of drug use, associated risk behaviours, and health consequences, over time. Results will provide insights into the role gay community plays in patterns of drug use among GBM

Increase in Depression and Anxiety Among Australian Gay and Bisexual Men During COVID-19 Restrictions: Findings from a Prospective Online Cohort Study

We examined depression and anxiety prior to and during COVID-19 restrictions in Australian gay and bisexual men (GBM). In an online cohort, a COVID-19-focused survey was conducted in April 2020. During 2019 and in April 2020, 664 GBM completed the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9, measuring depression) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7, measuring anxiety). Increased depression and anxiety were defined as a ≥ 5 point increase on the respective scales. Mean PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores increased between 2019 and 2020 (PHQ-9: from 5.11 in 2019 to 6.55 in 2020; GAD-7: from 3.80 in 2019 to 4.95 in 2020). The proportion of participants with moderate-severe depression (PHQ-9 ≥ 10) increased from 18.8% (n = 125) to 25.5% (n = 169), while the proportion of participants with moderate-severe anxiety (GAD-7 ≥ 10) increased from 12.7% (n = 84) to 17.3% (n = 115). Almost one-quarter of participants (n = 158, 23.8%) had increased depression; in these men, mean PHQ-9 increased from 2.49 in 2019 to 11.65 in 2020 (p < 0.001). One-in-five (20.6%) participants (n = 137) had increased anxiety; among these men, mean GAD-7 increased from 2.05 in 2019 to 10.22 in 2020 (p < 0.001). Increases were associated with concerns about job security, reduction in social and sexual connections and opportunities, and being personally concerned about COVID-19 itself. COVID-19 appeared to have a sudden and pronounced impact on depression and anxiety in Australian GBM, with a significant minority showing sharp increases. Ongoing monitoring is required to determine longer-term impacts and GBM need access to appropriate and sensitive supports both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

MeCP2 binds to nucleosome free (linker DNA) regions and to H3K9/H3K27 methylated nucleosomes in the brain

Methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) is a chromatin-binding protein that mediates transcriptional regulation, and is highly abundant in brain. The nature of its binding to reconstituted templates has been well characterized in vitro. However, its interactions with native chromatin are less understood. Here we show that MeCP2 displays a distinct distribution within fractionated chromatin from various tissues and cell types. Artificially induced global changes in DNA methylation by 3-aminobenzamide or 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine, do not significantly affect the distribution or amount of MeCP2 in HeLa S3 or 3T3 cells. Most MeCP2 in brain is chromatin-bound and localized within highly nuclease-accessible regions. We also show that, while in most tissues and cell lines, MeCP2 forms stable complexes with nucleosome, in brain, a fraction of it is loosely bound to chromatin, likely to nucleosome-depleted regions. Finally, we provide evidence for novel associations of MeCP2 with mononucleosomes containing histone H2A.X, H3K9me2 and H3K27me3 in different chromatin fractions from brain cortex and in vitro. We postulate that the functional compartmentalization and tissue-specific distribution of MeCP2 within different chromatin types may be directed by its association with nucleosomes containing specific histone variants, and post-translational modifications

The harmonized INFOGEST in vitro digestion method: From knowledge to action

Within the active field of in vitro digestion in food research, the COST Action INFOGEST aimed to harmonize in vitro protocols simulating human digestion on the basis of physiologically inferred conditions. A harmonized static in vitro digestion (IVD) method was recently published as a primary output from this network. To validate this protocol, inter-laboratory trials were conducted within the INFOGEST network. A first study was performed using skim milk powder (SMP) as a model food and served to compare the different in-house digestion protocols used among the INFOGEST members. In a second inter-laboratory study applying the harmonized protocol, the degree of consistency in protein hydrolysis was investigated. Analysis of the hydrolyzed proteins, after the gastric and intestinal phases, showed that caseins were mainly hydrolyzed during the gastric phase, whereas β-lactoglobulin was, as previously shown, resistant to pepsin. Moreover, generation of free amino acids occurred mainly during the intestinal phase.The study also showed that a few critical steps were responsible for the remaining inter-laboratory variability. The largest deviations arose from the determination of pepsin activity. Therefore, this step was further clarified, harmonized, and implemented in a third inter-laboratory study.The present work gives an overview of all three inter-laboratory studies, showing that the IVD INFOGEST method has led to an increased consistency that enables a better comparability of in vitro digestion studies in the future

Effective HIV prevention and health promotion among Asian gay and homosexually active men in New South Wales

Asian gay and homosexually active men are a dynamic and changing population with diverse health needs who comprise a growing proportion of the Sydney gay community. Asian gay and homosexually active men continue to face particular barriers to appropriate health promotion and HIV prevention, treatment and care. Previous experiences of criminalisation, fear of disclosure, visa precariousness, Medicare ineligibility, experiences of racism and isolation all affect people’s ability to negotiate safe sex and access testing and treatment options. Changing patterns of migration and the wide variety of nationalities, cultures, languages and faiths within this group call for a multi-faceted policy response, including improved data collection, translated resources, training for service providers and migration reform

Biochemical Properties of Tissue-Engineered Cartilage

OBJECTIVE: Microtia is treated with rib cartilage sculpting and staged procedures; though aesthetically pleasing, these constructs lack native ear flexibility. Tissue-engineered (TE) elastic cartilage may bridge this gap; however, TE cartilage implants lead to hypertrophic changes with calcification and loss of flexibility. Retaining flexibility in TE cartilage must focus on increased elastin, maintained collagen II, decreased collagen X, with prevention of calcification. This study compares biochemical properties of human cartilage to TE cartilage from umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSCs). Our goal is to establish a baseline for clinically useful TE cartilage. METHODS: Discarded cartilage from conchal bowl, microtic ears, pre-auricular tags, rib, and TE cartilage were evaluated for collagen I, II, X, calcium, glycosaminoglycans, elastin, fibrillin I and III. Human UCMSCs were chondroinduced on 2-D surfaces and 3-D D, L-lactide-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) fibers. RESULTS: Cartilage samples demonstrated similar staining for collagens I, II, X, elastin, fibrillin I, and III, but differed from rib. TE pellets and PLGA-supported cartilage were similar to auricular samples in elastin and fibrillin I staining. TE samples exclusively stained for fibrillin III. Only microtic samples demonstrated calcium staining. CONCLUSIONS: TE cartilage expressed similar levels of elastin, fibrillin I, collagens I and X when compared to native cartilage. Microtic cartilage demonstrated elevated calcium, suggesting this abnormal tissue may not be a viable cell source for TE cartilage. TE cartilage appears to recapitulate the embryonic development of fibrillin III, which is not expressed in adult tissue, possibly providing a strategy to control TE elastic cartilage phenotype