Using Intervention Mapping to develop a programme to prevent sexually transmittable infections, including HIV, among heterosexual migrant men

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is little experience with carefully developed interventions in the HIV/STI prevention field aimed at adult heterosexual target groups in the Netherlands. The ability to apply intervention development protocols, like Intervention Mapping, in daily practice outside of academia, is a matter of concern. An urgent need also exists for interventions aimed at the prevention of STI in migrant populations in the Netherlands. This article describes the theory and evidence based development of HIV/STI prevention interventions by the Municipal Public Health Service Rotterdam Area (MPHS), the Netherlands, for heterosexual migrant men with Surinamese, Dutch-Caribbean, Cape Verdean, Turkish and Moroccan backgrounds.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>First a needs assessment was carried out. Then, a literature review was done, key figures were interviewed and seven group discussions were held. Subsequently, the results were translated into specific objectives ("change objectives") and used in intervention development for two subgroups: men with an Afro-Caribbean background and unmarried men with a Turkish and Moroccan background. A matrix of change objectives was made for each subgroup and suitable theoretical methods and practical strategies were selected. Culturally-tailored interventions were designed and were pre-tested among the target groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This development process resulted in two interventions for specific subgroups that were appreciated by both the target groups and the migrant prevention workers. The project took place in collaboration with a university center, which provided an opportunity to get expert advice at every step of the Intervention Mapping process. At relevant points of the development process, migrant health educators and target group members provided advice and feedback on the draft intervention materials.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This intervention development project indicates that careful well-informed intervention development using Intervention Mapping is feasible in the daily practice of the MPHS, provided that sufficient time and expertise on this approach is available. Further research should test the effectiveness of these interventions.</p

Videos of liquid-solid fluidisation experiments of calcite pellets and glass beads in water

20 videos of liquid-solid fluidisation experiments in a university laboratory. You see a 5.7 cm PVC column where tap water is pumped in an upward direction causing particles to elevate into a fluidised state. Particles are calcite grains obtained from a full-scale drinking water softening reactor or perfectly round monodispersed glass beads. The reason to show these videos is to demonstrate that homogeneous flow regime not always occurs whilst this is often assumed regarding liquid-solid fluidisation systems. The viewer can observe open voids of water between the particles and water which choose a path of least resistance through the particle bed. Besides laminar-turbulent regime also homogeneous-heterogeneous distinction is relevant. These observations brought us to revise the standard drag relations used to predict the bed porosity

Relationship of sensation seeking with the neural correlates of appetitive conditioning

Finanziert aus dem DFG-geförderten Open-Access-Publikationsfonds der Universität Siegen für ZeitschriftenartikelPrevious research has linked sensation seeking with a heightened risk for drug abuse and other risk-taking behavior. As appetitive conditioning presents a model for the etiology and maintenance of addictive behavior, investigating sensation seeking in a classical conditioning paradigm might elucidate possible pathways toward addiction within this model. Furthermore, the theoretical concept underlying sensation seeking proposes a negative relationship between reward processing and sensation seeking in only moderately arousing situations, which has been neglected by previous research. This study aimed to investigate this inverse relationship in moderately stimulating situations entailing reward processing using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Subjects (N = 38) participated in a classical conditioning paradigm in which a neutral stimulus (CS+) was repeatedly paired with a monetary reward, while another neutral stimulus (CS−) was not. Imaging results revealed a negative relationship between sensation seeking and neural responses in the insula, amygdala and nucleus accumbens during the early phase and in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex during the late phase of conditioning. These findings suggest reduced reward learning and consequently diminished processing of outcome expectancy in appetitive conditioning in subjects with high sensation seeking scores. The results are discussed with respect to clinical implications

Videos: terminal settling experiments in water: path instabilities

24 path trajectories of grains setting in water in an advanced TU Delft experimental setup. More technical information can be found here: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:cbaf6de1-dcf9-41ab-a5bc-3a4d364bfd45 Path Instabilities of a Rising or Falling Sphere in a Fluid at Rest - An Experimental Study Author: Kaveripuram Ramasamy, Shravan Raaghav And related videos: https://data.4tu.nl/repository/uuid:1b685d9e-4441-4a53-865c-86622ba49b25 File: Set 1 - Calcium Pellets 1.4-1.7 mm.mp4 File: Set 1 - Glass beads - 1.5 mm.mp4 File: Set 1 - Glass beads - 2.0 mm.mp4 File: Set 1 - Glass beads - 2.5 mm.mp4 File: Set 1 - Glass beads - 3.0 mm.mp4 File: Set 1 - Glass beads - 3.5 mm.mp4 File: Set 1 - Glass beads - 4.0 mm.mp4 File: Set 1 - Rapid Filter Sand 1.0-2.0 mm.mp4 File: Set 1 - Steel shots 3.0 mm.mp4 File: Set 1 – Zirconium balls 2.0 mm.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 1-1.12 mm-case-1.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 1-1.12 mm-case-2.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 1-1.12 mm-case-3.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 1.12-1.25 mm-case-1.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 1.12-1.25 mm-case-2.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 1.12-1.25 mm-case-3.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 1.25-1.4 mm-case-1.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 1.25-1.4 mm-case-2.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 1.25-1.4 mm-case-3.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 1.4-1.7 m-case-2.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 1.4-1.7 mm-case-1.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 1.4-1.7 mm-case-3.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 1.7-2 mm-case-1.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 1.7-2 mm-case-2.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 1.7-2 mm-case-3.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 2-2.36 mm-case-1.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 2-2.36 mm-case-2.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 2-2.36 mm-case-3.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 2.36-2.8 mm-case-1.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 2.36-2.8 mm-case-2.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 2.36-2.8 mm-case-3.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 2.8+mm-case-1.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 2.8+mm-case-2.mp4 File: Set 2 - Calcite pellets 2.8+mm-case-3.mp4 File: Set 3 - Terminal settling 10mm glass bead.MP4 Project This research is part of the project “Hydraulic modelling of liquid-solid fluidisation in drinking water treatment processes” carried out by Waternet, Delft University of Technology, and HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht. Financial support came from Waternet Drinking Water Production Department. The videos were recorded at TU Delft, Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineerin

Videos – CFD-DEM simulations: fluidisation of calcite-pellets in water

Videos – CFD-DEM simulations fluidisation calcium carbonate granules (calcite-pellets 0.8-0.9mm and 1.4-1.7mm) in wate

A pattern of disperse plaque microcalcifications identifies a subset of plaques with high inflammatory burden in patients with acute myocardial infarction

Inflammation plays a crucial role in plaque vulnerability. Calcifications can be detected by means of in vivo imaging techniques. The study purpose is to assess a potential association between tissue localization of calcifications and the inflammatory biomarkers, C-reactive protein (CRP), osteopontin and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2), in plaque tissue of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Thrombectomy materials obtained from patients with electrocardiographically documented ST-segment elevation type of AMI (STEMI) were histologically screened for presence of thrombus, plaque tissues and calcifications. Size of calcifications was measured morphometrically, and their colocalization with the inflammatory biomarkers macrophages, CRP, osteopontin and Lp-PLA2 was assessed with immunostaining. A total of 171 samples containing plaque tissues were obtained from 562 thrombectomy procedures. Calcifications were observed in 67 (39%) plaque fragments, with diameters ranging from 4 to 170 μm. Plaque tissues with calcifications contained more frequently extracellular CRP and intracellular CRP in macrophages than those without calcifications (85%, 59% vs. 64%, 32%, P=0.012 and 0.005 respectively). Similar results were obtained with osteopontin immunostaining (98%, 76% vs. 56%, 40%; P <0.001 both). Furthermore, samples with calcifications were immunostained for CRP more intensely than those without calcifications (P=0.001). Finally, 96% of the plaque tissues stained positively for Lp-PLA2, but there was no association with presence of microcalcifications. A pattern of disperse microcalcifications is positively associated with presence of the inflammatory biomarkers macrophages, CRP and osteopontin in thrombectomy materials of STEMI patients. Based on these findings, we speculate that such microcalcifications could have the potential to serve as a surrogate marker for plaques with high inflammatory burde

Dataset underlying the research of: a submerged cylindrical object in a liquid-solid fluidised bed - measuring local voidage and profile using a hydraulic weighing technique

A new soft-sensor was developed to measure a hydraulics pressure gradient in a liquid-solid fluidised bed (LSF). LSF is frequently encountered in drinking water treatment processes, often to obtain a large liquid-solid interfacial surface area. A large surface area is crucial for optimal seeded crystallisation in full-scale softening reactors. Due to crystallisation, particles grow and migrate to a lower zone in the reactor which leads to a stratified bed. Larger particles adversely affect the surface area. To maintain optimal process conditions in the fluidised beds, information is needed about the distribution of particle size, local voidage and available surface area, over the reactor height. This data set contains 54 individual measurements of calciet pellets (0.8-0.9mm), (0.9-1.0mm) and a mixture (0.5-0.63mm+1.25-1.4mm) and 3 mm glass beads for various water flow rates

Dataset underlying the research of: a submerged cylindrical object in a liquid-solid fluidised bed - measuring local voidage and profile using a hydraulic weighing technique

A new soft-sensor was developed to measure a hydraulics pressure gradient in a liquid-solid fluidised bed (LSF). LSF is frequently encountered in drinking water treatment processes, often to obtain a large liquid-solid interfacial surface area. A large surface area is crucial for optimal seeded crystallisation in full-scale softening reactors. Due to crystallisation, particles grow and migrate to a lower zone in the reactor which leads to a stratified bed. Larger particles adversely affect the surface area. To maintain optimal process conditions in the fluidised beds, information is needed about the distribution of particle size, local voidage and available surface area, over the reactor height. This data set contains 54 individual measurements of calciet pellets (0.8-0.9mm), (0.9-1.0mm) and a mixture (0.5-0.63mm+1.25-1.4mm) and 3 mm glass beads for various water flow rates