139 research outputs found
Supplemental material for Pharmacokinetic interaction of riociguat and antiretroviral combination regimens in HIV-1-infected adults
No full textSupplemental Material for Pharmacokinetic interaction of riociguat and antiretroviral combination regimens in HIV-1-infected adults by Edwin DeJesus, Soundos Saleh, Sue Cheng, Dorina van der Mey, Corina Becker, Reiner Frey, Sigrun Unger and Wolfgang Mueck in Pulmonary Circulation</p
Magic of music: a celebration of Latinos in theatre
No full textMany little girls around the world dream of being princesses and wishing upon stars. I was no different, so it’s no surprise to anyone when I say that animated Disney movies were the biggest part of my childhood. So, what better way to end my undergraduate experience than to make my childhood dream come true for one night? I came up with the idea of a bilingual cabaret while listening to “I See the Light” from Tangled, and while listening, I wondered how it would sound if it was mashed up with the Spanish version. I decided that I wanted to hear it, and my very dear friend Andrew Merkle was kind enough to sing it with me for a choir concert, where I sang most of my parts in Spanish and he sang his in English with some overlap in between. In the process of creating this arrangement, I realized that I was bringing together two of the most important parts of my life: my girlhood and my heritage, and I thought it would be the perfect concept for my capstone.Presented at the annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity while the author was an undergraduate student at Rutgers University-Camden
The Effects of Ground Level Ozone on Children with Asthma: An Analysis of Ambient Ozone and its Correlation with Asthma Related Hospitalizations in Children
No full textHigh concentrations of ground level ozone may trigger asthma attacks and worsen asthma symptoms. On days where there is high ozone concentration, there are increased reports of hospitalization visits of children due to asthma. Decadal and interannual variability in ozone concentrations on a national and regional level can be used to project how ozone will change into the future. Future projections of ozone concentrations allows us to predict the frequency of hospitalizations due to asthma by location.Spring 2016Accompanied by video fil
Virologic and immunologic activity of PegIntron in HIV disease
No full textOBJECTIVE: The primary objectives of this study were to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and antiviral activity of pegylated interferon-alpha (PegIntron) in HIV-1 treatment-experienced patients failing their current antiretroviral regimen.
DESIGN: This was a phase II, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
METHODS: Patients were randomized to receive either weekly subcutaneous PegIntron 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, or 3 microg/kg or placebo added to their failing antiretroviral regimen for the first 4 weeks of study. Individuals who achieved more than 0.5 log10 reduction in HIV RNA at week 4 were allowed to continue study medication with optimization of their antiretroviral therapy for an additional 24 weeks.
RESULTS: In the 259 patients included in the intent-to-treat analysis, changes in plasma HIV RNA from baseline to week 4 were -0.25 (P > 0.5), -0.46 (P = 0.024), -0.39 (P = 0.008), -0.53 (P 0.5) log10 copies/ml in the 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 3.0 microg/kg and placebo arms, respectively. No significant changes were seen in CD4 T-cell parameters in any of the treatment or control arms. Adverse events (most commonly fever, flu-like symptoms, other constitutional symptoms, and psychiatric symptoms) resulted in discontinuation of study medication in 13, 17, 16, 28, and 2% of patients in the 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 3.0 microg/kg, and placebo group, respectively.
CONCLUSION: The demonstration of significant antiviral activity in a heavily pretreated patient population with acceptable toxicity and only weekly dosing makes PegIntron a potentially valuable therapy for patients with HIV infection that warrants further investigation in a broader population of patients
Attitudes, perceptions and behaviours towards HIV testing among African-American and East African immigrant women in Washington, DC: Implications for targeted HIV testing promotion and communication strategies
No full textSTI Online First, published on April 20, 2015 as 10.1136/sextrans-2014-051876Objectives: The objective of the study was to examine
and compare the HIV testing attitudes, perceptions and
behaviours between African-American and East African
immigrant women in the Washington, DC metropolitan
area.
Methods: Adopting an inductive, qualitative
methodological approach, we conducted a total of 40
in-depth, semistructured interviews between October
2012 and March 2013. Qualitative thematic analysis
was used to analyse the data.
Results: Overall, African-American women held more
favourable views towards HIV testing than East African
immigrant women. Very few East African immigrant
women sought HIV testing intentionally. The majority of
East African participants were tested inadvertently, while
others tested for immigration-related or employmentrelated
purposes. There were many barriers that impede
women from seeking an HIV test including negative
assumptions (eg, "Getting an HIV test implies that I am
HIV positive"), negative emotions (eg, "Fear of being
diagnosed with HIV and what this will mean for me")
and potential negative reactions from partner or others
(eg, "Getting an HIV test can signal distrust, disrespect,
or infidelity"). There were nuances in how each group
articulated some of these barriers and East African
women expressed unique concerns that originated from
experiences in their home countries.
Conclusions: The study shed light into the complexity
of factors that constrain women from presenting
themselves voluntarily for an HIV test and highlighted
the nuances between African-American and East African
perceptions. Implications of findings for effective
targeted HIV screening promotion and communication
strategies among these groups of women are discussed
‘Getting tested is almost like going to the Salem witch trials’: Discordant discourses between western public health messages and sociocultural expectations surrounding HIV testing among East A
No full textPublished in final edited form as: AIDS Care. 2015 ; 27(5): 604–611. doi:10.1080/09540121.2014.1002827.Washington, DC has the highest AIDS diagnosis rate in the United States and Black women are disproportionately affected. Although HIV testing is the first entryway into vital treatment services, evidence reveals that foreign-born blacks have a lower rate of recent HIV testing than U.S.-born blacks. To date, however, there are no studies that examine the culture-specific perceptions of HIV testing among East African immigrant women (who comprise a large share of Black Africans in DC) to better understand their potential barriers to testing. Adopting the PEN-3 cultural model as our theoretical framework, the main objective of this study was to examine East African women’s HIV testing perceptions and partner communication norms. Between October 2012 and March 2013, trained interviewers conducted a total of 25 interviews with East African women in the Washington DC Metropolitan area. For triangulation purposes, data collection consisted of both in-depth, semi-structured interviews and cognitive interviews, in which participants were administered a quantitative survey and assessed on how they interpreted items. Qualitative thematic analysis revealed a systematic pattern of discordant responses across participants. While they were aware of messages related to western public health discourse surrounding HIV testing (e.g., Everyone should get tested for HIV; One should talk to one’s spouse about HIV testing), divergent sociocultural expectations rooted in cultural and religious beliefs prevailed (e.g., Getting an HIV test brings shame to the person who got tested and to one’s family; it implies one is engaging in immoral behavior; One should not talk with one’s spouse about HIV testing; doing so breaks cultural norms). Implications of using a culture-centered model to examine the role of sociocultural expectations in HIV prevention research and to develop culturally responsive prevention strategies are discussed.
Keyword
Tenofovir alafenamide plus emtricitabine versus abacavir plus lamivudine for treatment of virologically suppressed HIV-1-infected adults: A randomised, double-blind, active-controlled, non-inferiority phase 3 trial
No full textBackground
Abacavir and tenofovir alafenamide offer reduced bone toxicity compared with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate. We aimed to compare safety and efficacy of tenofovir alafenamide plus emtricitabine with that of abacavir plus lamivudine.
Methods
In this randomised, double-blind, active-controlled, non-inferiority phase 3 trial, HIV-1-positive adults (≥18 years) were screened at 79 sites in 11 countries in North America and Europe. Eligible participants were virologically suppressed (HIV-1 RNA <50 copies per mL) and on a stable three-drug regimen containing abacavir plus lamivudine. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) by a computer-generated allocation sequence (block size 4) to switch to fixed-dose tablets of tenofovir alafenamide (10 mg or 25 mg) plus emtricitabine (200 mg) or remain on abacavir (600 mg) plus lamivudine (300 mg), with matching placebo, while continuing to take the third drug. Randomisation was stratified by the third drug (boosted protease inhibitor vs other drug) at screening. Investigators, participants, and study staff giving treatment, assessing outcomes, and collecting data were masked to treatment group. The primary endpoint was the proportion of participants with virological suppression (HIV-1 RNA <50 copies per mL) at week 48 (assessed by snapshot algorithm), with a 10% non-inferiority margin. We analysed the primary endpoint in participants enrolled before May 23, 2016 (when target sample size was reached), and we analysed safety in all enrolled participants who received at least one dose of study drug (including patients enrolled after these dates). This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02469246.
Findings
Study enrolment began on June 29, 2015, and the cutoff enrolment date for the week 48 primary endpoint analysis was May 23, 2016. 501 participants were randomly assigned and treated. At week 48, virological suppression was maintained in 227 (90%) of 253 participants receiving tenofovir alafenamide plus emtricitabine compared with 230 (93%) of 248 receiving abacavir plus lamivudine (difference −3·0%, 95% CI −8·2 to 2·0), showing non-inferiority. Few participants discontinued treatment because of adverse events: 12 (4%) of 280 participants in the tenofovir alafenimide plus emtricitabine group and nine (3%) of 276 in the abacavir plus lamivudine group. Three participants had serious, treatment-related adverse events: one each with renal colic and neutropenia in the tenofovir alafenamide plus emtricitabine group, and one myocardial infarction in the abacavir plus lamivudine group. There were no treatment-related deaths.
Interpretation
Tenofovir alafenamide, in combination with emtricitabine and various third drugs, maintained high efficacy with a renal and bone safety profile similar to that of abacavir. In virologically suppressed patients, a regimen containing tenofovir alafenamide could be an alternative to those containing abacavir, without concern for new onset of renal or bone toxicities or hyperlipidaemia
Documentation Status as a Contextual Determinant of HIV Risk Among Young Transgender Latinas
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the contextual factors that determine or mitigate vulnerability to HIV among Latina transgender women. Documentation status (legal authorization to live in the United States) has been cited by other studies as a barrier to recruitment or engagement in HIV-related care among immigrant Latinos, but not explored as a determinant of HIV risk for transgender immigrant Latinas.
Methods: We collaborated with a community-based organization to explore these contextual, including social and structural, factors. In-depth interviews in Spanish captured life histories of eight 18- to 29-year-old transgender Latinas, who collectively self-identify as chicas trans. Codes were assigned deductively from the interview guide, and emerging themes were identified throughout data collection.
Results: Most participants migrated to the United States from Central America after experiencing discrimination and violence in their countries of origin. Participants emphasized documentation status as a critical factor in three areas related to social and structural determinants of HIV risk: gender identity expression, access to services, and relationship power dynamics. Chicas trans who gained legal asylum reported greater control over sexual relationships, improved access to services, and less risky employment.
Conclusions: Documentation status emerged as a key HIV risk factor for this population. For undocumented transgender Latinas, legal asylum appears to be a promising HIV-related protective factor. Further research could assess whether legal assistance combined with wraparound support services affects HIV prevention for this population
When gender matters in scientific communication: The role of generic language
No full textPrior research has documented gender differences in self-presentation and self-promotion. For example, a recent analysis of scientific publications in the biomedical sciences reveals that articles with women in lead author positions (first and last) included fewer positive words to describe their results than articles with men in lead author positions. Here we examined the role of gender in peer-reviewed publications in psychology, with a focus on generic language. When authors describe their results using generic statements (e.g., “Introverts and extraverts require different learning environments”), those statements gloss over variability, frame an idea as broad, timeless, and universally true, and have been judged to be more important. In a sample of 1,149 psychology articles published in 2015-16 from 11 journals, we found that women in lead author positions were less likely to employ generic language than men in lead author positions, and that publications with more generic language received more citations (as did publications authored by men). We discuss how a subtle gender difference in self-presentation may have direct consequences for how a scientific finding is interpreted and cited, with potential downstream consequences for career advancement for women and men
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