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This study aimed to examine correlates of lifetime and past-year HIV testing among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Japan. A unique, anonymous online self-report survey was conducted in 2015. A total of 776 participants completed the survey and answered questions on sociodemographic information, HIV-testing experience, history of syphilis, experience talking about HIV, recognition of AIDS-related community-based organization (CBO) materials, and sex behaviors. HIV-testing experience and related factors were assessed for two groups regional cities and Tokyo and Osaka. A Poisson regression analysis revealed that higher lifetime HIV testing was associated with older age, previous syphilis diagnosis, and experience talking about HIV. Moreover, higher HIV testing in the past year was associated with experience talking about HIV with friends and recognition of HIV-related CBO materials. Increased dissemination of HIV-related information provided by CBOs may, therefore, be an effective prevention policy intervention targeted at Japanese MSM to promote regular testing and maintain their interest in HIV issues.ABSTRACT Female sex workers (FSWs) are at increased risk of HIV and face significant barriers to clinic-based HIV testing, including provider stigma and privacy constraints. HIV self-testing (HIVST) has been proven to significantly increase HIV testing among FSWs. Less is known, however, about how FSWs make meaning of oral-fluid HIV self-tests, and the unintended ways they use and understand this novel technology. From October 2016 to March 2017, we conducted 61 in-depth interviews with FSWs (n = 31) in Kampala, Uganda. Eligible participants were female, ≥18 years, exchanged sex for money or goods, and had not recently tested for HIV. We used inductive coding to identify emerging themes and re-arranged these into an adapted framework. Unintended desirable ways FSWs described self-testing included as a means to test others, to bolster their reputation as a health-conscious sex worker, and to avoid bearing witness to suffering at health facilities. Unintended undesirable meanings ascribed to self-testing included misunderstandings about how HIV is transmitted (via saliva versus blood) and whether self-tests also test for other infections. HIVST can increase FSWs' knowledge of their own HIV status and that of their sexual partners, but messaging and intervention design must address misunderstandings and misuses of self-testing. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02846402.People living with HIV (PLWH) often experience mental health concerns as well as difficulties with medication adherence; they also report barriers to receipt of health services. Telephone-delivered interventions can overcome some of these barriers. To obtain patients' perspectives on telephone-delivered behavioral health services, we conducted a qualitative study with patients who participated in one of two telephone-delivered interventions (mindfulness training, health coaching) in a research trial. Patients (N = 42; M age = 46 years, 50% female, 26% Black) participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews after completing the study. They identified several advantages (e.g., being able to schedule sessions more flexibly compared to in-person appointments, ease of developing rapport with interventionists) as well as occasional challenges of phone delivery (e.g., network connectivity). Overall, PLWH view telephone-delivery as a convenient and flexible method to engage in behavioral health interventions.The application of big data, radiomics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms in radiology requires access to large data sets containing personal health information. Because machine learning projects often require collaboration between different sites or data transfer to a third party, precautions are required to safeguard patient privacy. Safety measures are required to prevent inadvertent access to and transfer of identifiable information. The Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR) is the national voice of radiology committed to promoting the highest standards in patient-centered imaging, lifelong learning, and research. The CAR has created an AI Ethical and Legal standing committee with the mandate to guide the medical imaging community in terms of best practices in data management, access to health care data, de-identification, and accountability practices. Part 1 of this article will inform CAR members on principles of de-identification, pseudonymization, encryption, direct and indirect identifiers, k-anonymization, risks of reidentification, implementations, data set release models, and validation of AI algorithms, with a view to developing appropriate standards to safeguard patient information effectively.Humans, wildlife, and domestic animals are intimately linked through shared infections. Many parasites and pathogens use multiple host species, either opportunistically or sequentially, such that managing disease risk frequently requires a broader understanding of the ecological community. The coccidian protozoan Toxoplasma gondii infects more than one hundred species of vertebrates, ranging from bats to beluga whales. In humans, acute toxoplasmosis can have serious health consequences for immunocompromised individuals. Even amongst asymptomatic patients, however, toxoplasmosis has been linked to a range of behavioral alterations and conditions, such as changes in risk tolerance, neuroticism, mental illness, suicide, and accident proneness. Whether such links are causal or simply correlational has been the subject of intense study and debate; from an evolutionary standpoint, selection may favor parasite-induced alterations in host behavior that increase the likelihood a host is consumed by the definitive host-in this case a domestic or wild felid. Here, we examine current evidence for parasite-induced manipulations of host behavior, in both humans and other animals. We critically evaluate proposed mechanisms through which infection might influence host behavior, which range from inflammation in the brain to changes in hormones or neurotransmitters. Considering estimates that T. gondii may infect up to one-third of the global human population, we conclude by examining the implications of these changes for human behavior, individual fitness, and emergent cultural properties.This cross-sectional clinical study was designed to explore the impact of tryptophan-kynurenine and tryptophan-serotonin (5 HT) pathways on reproductive performance during in vitro fertilization (IVF). Paired serum and follicular fluid (FF) samples were obtained from 64 consecutive IVF patients. The analysis was done by using LC-MS/MS. Ovarian hyperstimulation resulted in decreased serum tryptophan (p less then 0.004), 5-HT (p less then 0.049) and kynurenine (p less then 0.001). click here FF levels of tryptophan (R=0.245, p less then 0.051), kynurenine (R=0.556, p less then 0.001) and 5-HT (R=0.523, p less then 0.001) were positively related to their respective serum levels. Clinical pregnancy was associated with higher serum 5-HT (p less then 0.045) and FF 5-HT (p less then 0.020) and lower kynurenine to 5-HT ratio (p less then 0.024). Chemical pregnancy was also positively related to FF 5-HT (R=0.362, p less then 0.024). Moreover, there was a direct relationship of the number of mature oocytes to the FF 5-HT (R=0.363, p less then 0.020) but it was inversely related to FF tryptophan to 5-HT and FF kynurenine to 5-HT ratios (R=-0.389, p less then 0.016 and R=-0.337, p less then 0.036, respectively). Multivariate logistic regression revealed that the number of mature oocytes was significantly influenced by FF 5-HT (?=0.473, p less then 0.001). In IVF patients ovarian hyperstimulation results in a reduction of the availability of tryptophan to catabolic pathways to kynurenine and 5-HT. Outcome measures improved significantly when 5-HT predominated over kynurenine.A compact low-cost cryocooling system has been designed, constructed, and tested at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The cooling power is provided by natural convection and phase change of the liquid nitrogen. The initial application was to cool silicon crystal optics to the sub-100 K range. A silicon crystal of dimension (width × depth × height) 50 × 50 × 30 mm3 has been used with an electric heater on the top surface in this prototyping test. This system can effectively provide more than 80 W of cooling power to the optics with a consumption of liquid nitrogen less than 2.1 l/h. The vibration of the silicon crystal was monitored during the tests with added electric heater power on the crystal. The vibration of the silicon crystal due to liquid nitrogen boiling is negligible.In order to supplement manufacturers' information, this department will welcome the submission by our readers of brief communications reporting measurements on the physical properties of materials that supersede earlier data or suggest new research applications.In this paper, an external magnetic driving method of a maglev ball based on force imbalance is first proposed to meet the requirement that the maglev ball is moved linearly in the axis direction of the electromagnetic actuator in the non-liquid environment. This method is expected to be better applied in the fields of industrial and medical miniature curved tube. The maglev ball is a magnetic levitated object. Based on the interpolation algorithm, the two-dimensional stepwise levitation motion trajectory of the maglev ball is designed as the target curve of the motion. The maglev ball can be driven with a large range along a specified motion path. Compared with the 1.0 mm step input, the overshoot of a 0.2 mm step input is decreased by 73.7% and 73.6% in the descending phase and the ascending phase, respectively. Therefore, fluctuation of the step response of the maglev ball is improved by smaller step control. However, the larger the step input, the faster the speed and the larger the levitation gap. Under the condition of a 1.0 mm step input, the maximum levitation gap can be up to 20.487 mm, and the speed of the maglev ball can reach 3.086 mm/s. Compared with static levitation control, the position of the maglev ball is fluctuated severely due to radial runout under motion control conditions, and the position accuracy can reach ±0.03 mm.This paper presents a stick-slip piezoelectric actuator with high consistency in performances of forward and reverse motions. It is achieved by developing an integrated stator which bonds two lead zirconate titanate ceramic plates to a symmetrical flexible hinge mechanism. The working principle of the actuator was introduced, and the stator was optimized by finite-element analysis. Experimental results showed that the proposed actuator had an excellent consistency in output performances of forward and reverse motions with or without an external load. The positioning resolution, maximum speed, and maximum loading capacity of the actuator were 0.061 µm, 2195.29 µm/s, and 1.1 N, respectively. This study provides a solution for improving the forward and reverse motion consistency of stick-slip piezoelectric actuators.A four-electrode plasma based triggered spark gap switch is designed for pulsed power applications, which consists of an anode and cathode of a main spark gap switch and an anode and cathode for a trigger pin. The anode and cathode of the trigger pin are coaxially arranged, and the gap between electrodes is 25 μm. A trigger voltage of 200 V is applied across the trigger gap with the help of a switching insulated gate bipolar transistor. With the breakdown of the trigger gap, plasma is generated, which is injected into the main gap. The trigger pin is placed axisymmetric to the main spark gap in the cathode. The main discharge channel of the spark gap has 0.6 mm space between two electrodes, which is charged to 1000 V. When the spark gap is triggered, the discharge current has a peak value of 6.1 kA with a quarter cycle time period of 0.97 µs. The four-electrode spark gap switch results are compared with those of a three-electrode trigatron switch, which has the peak current of 6 kA with 1.01 µs as quarter-cycle time period.
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