Examining Mediators of the Relationship Between Community Mobilization and HIV Incidence Among Young South African Women Participating in the HPTN 068 Study Cohort

AIDS and Behavior - We previously demonstrated that village community mobilization (CM) was associated with reduced HIV incidence among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in South Africa....     

An Experimental Study of the Effects of Patient Race,Sexual Orientation,and Injection Drug Use on Providers’ PrEP-Related Clinical Judgments

AIDS and Behavior - Social biases may influence providers’ judgments related to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and patients’ consequent PrEP access. US primary and HIV care providers...     

Mapping Interests in Event-Driven and Long-Acting Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Formulations onto the HIV Risk Environment of Street-Based Female Sex Workers: A Latent Class Analysis

AIDS and Behavior - Despite growing availability, HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake and adherence remains suboptimal among female sex workers (FSW) in the United States. Using...     

Change in Alcohol Use Based on Self-Report and a Quantitative Biomarker,Phosphatidylethanol, in People With HIV

AIDS and Behavior - The timeline followback (TLFB) takes more resources to collect than the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT-C). We assessed agreement of TLFB and AUDIT-C with the...     

Many alphaIIbbeta3 autoepitopes in chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura are localized to alphaIIb between amino acids L1 and Q459

In chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), autoantibodies bind to platelet surface proteins, particularly alphaIIb, resulting in platelet destruction by the reticulo-endothelial system. In order to better localize the autoepitopes on alphaIIb, we studied the binding of antibodies to Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells expressing either alphaIIbbeta3 or alphaIIb-alphavbeta3 chimaeras in which a segment of alphaIIb (either amino acids L1-Q459, L1-F223 or F223-Q459) was substituted for that portion of alphav. We evaluated platelet-associated autoantibodies from 14 ITP patients with alphaIIb-dependent antibodies. Ten of 14 bound to alphaIIb (L1-Q459)-alphavbeta3, showing that autoepitopes were often localized to this region of alphaIIb. In addition, each of the autoantibodies binding to alphaIIb (L1-Q459)-alphavbeta3, also bound to CHO cells expressing either alphaIIb(L1-F223)-alphavbeta3 or alphaIIb(F223-Q459)-alphavbeta3). In two of the three eluates tested, > 95% of the autoantibody binding to alphaIIb could be adsorbed using CHO cells expressing any of the three chimaeras, showing that the epitope(s) have contact points on either side of amino acid F223; in the third eluate, only a portion ( approximately 40%) could be adsorbed by the chimaeric cell lines showing that, in this patient, an additional antibody was also present, directed to a site distal to amino acid Q459. The remaining four eluates bound to CHO cells expressing alphaIIbbeta3 but to none of the chimaeras, suggesting that these epitopes are also distal to amino acid Q459. We conclude that the binding of many anti-alphaIIbbeta3 autoantibodies is dependent on the presence of alphaIIb amino acids L1-Q459.     

Oesophageal candidiasis: clinical and mycological analysis

Oesophageal candidiasis is an epithelial infection which requires an immune deficiency. C. albicans is commonly the cause, although other species may also be responsible. Resistance to fluconazole, drug of choice for treatment, is an emerging problem. The objectives of the current paper were: to determine the frequency of oesophageal candidiasis in patients submitted to upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, analyze risk factors, identify Candida species and determine in vitro susceptibility to fluconazole. During 12 months, 34 patients with oesophageal candidiasis were detected. Out of 1.230 HIV negative and 91 HIV positive patients submitted to upper endoscopy, 11 (0.9%) and 23 (25.3%), respectively, had candidiasis. Risk factors for HIV negative patients were systemic antibiotic therapy in 2, deficient dental cleaning in 2 aged patients, use of proton pump inhibitors in 3, inhaled steroids in 2, malignancy in 1 and oral steroids in 1. The histopathologic diagnosis was confirmed in 48.6% of cases. Cultures were positive in 91.2% C. albicans was prevalent (93.5%), and was associated to other species in 5 cases (16.1%), (3 C. glabrata, 1 C. tropicalis and 1 C. parapsilosis). One case cultured only C. glabrata and 1, only C tropicalis. Out of 31 cultures, 25 were susceptible to fluconazole, 4 dose dependent (1 C. albicans, 3 C. glabrata), and 2 resistant (1 C. albicans, 1 C. glabrata). Frequency of oesophageal candidiasis was low, except for HIV positive patients. The most common etiologic agent was C. albicans, though other Candida species were also found. C. albicans and C. glabrata showed dose dependency and resistance to fluconazole.     

MaSTR™: an effective probabilistic genotyping tool for interpretation of STR mixtures associated with differentially degraded DNA

International Journal of Legal Medicine - The recently developed probabilistic genotyping software package MaSTR™ (SoftGenetics LLC) was used to develop statistical weight estimates for a...     

The views and attitudes of general practitioners and smokers toward provision of smoking cessation advice: a qualitative study.

Objectives: To identify common themes between general practitioners (GP's) and patients on smoking cessation in primary care in order to inform the development of acceptable guidelines, thus maximising the chance that recommendations will be received positively and implemented. Design: Qualitative study using focus groups and individual interviews with GPs and patients. Setting: North East Scotland. Subjects: 10 general practitioners and 20 patients (10 smokers and 10 patients who described themselves as ex-smokers). Results: Both general practitioners and patients agreed that the GP has a key role in providing a range of advice and support for smoking cessation. Both parties expressed views at variance with current guidelines but agreed that, for support and advice to be successful, it needs to comply with four of the five main themes identified; that it should be practical, pertinent to the consultation, personalised to the smoker's clinical need, and should emphasise the positive health gains from quitting. Conclusion: The considerable concordance between the perceptions of GPs and their patients about smoking cessation care suggests potential for a more positive partnership in working towards reduction of smoking in the UK.