We studied a sample of homeless and marginally housed adults to examine whether a history of imprisonment was associated with differences in health status, drug use, and sexual behaviors among the ...homeless.
We interviewed 1426 community-based homeless and marginally housed adults. We used multivariate models to analyze factors associated with a history of imprisonment.
Almost one fourth of participants (23.1%) had a history of imprisonment. Models that examined lifetime substance use showed cocaine use (odds ratio OR=1.67; 95% confidence interval CI=1.04, 2.70), heroin use (OR=1.51; 95% CI=1.07, 2.12), mental illness (OR=1.41; 95% CI=1.01, 1.96), HIV infection (OR=1.69; 95% CI=1.07, 2.64), and having had more than 100 sexual partners were associated with a history of imprisonment. Models that examined recent substance use showed past-year heroin use (OR = 1.65; 95% CI = 1.14, 2.38) and methamphetamine use (OR=1.49; 95% CI=1.00, 2.21) were associated with lifetime imprisonment. Currently selling drugs also was associated with lifetime imprisonment.
Despite high levels of health risks among all homeless and marginally housed people, the levels among homeless former prisoners were even higher. Efforts to eradicate homelessness also must include the unmet needs of inmates who are released from prison.
Angiopoietin-1 (Ang1) is a vascular protective ligand that acts through the receptor tyrosine kinase Tie2 to enhance endothelial survival and quiescence. In sepsis, diabetic retinopathy, and a range ...of other diseases, Ang2, an antagonist of Tie2, increases markedly. This antagonist suppresses Ang1 protective effects leading to vascular destabilization, inflammation, and endothelial death. Administration of recombinant Ang1 can counter Ang2 antagonism and restore vascular function. However, recombinant Ang1 is needed at sufficiently high concentrations to block Ang2, and the protein is difficult to produce, requires mammalian expression systems, and is prone to aggregation. Here we present an engineered synthetic Tie2 ligand that is not antagonized by Ang2 but is easy to produce and more robust than Ang1. Using a peptide phage display, we isolated a heptameric sequence that binds Tie2-ectodomain and fused this to the coiled:coil domain of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein. This pentameric protein is 60 kDa in size, expressed in E. coli, and facile to purify. The protein, designated TSL1, binds to Tie2-ectodomain in vitro and on the cell surface. TSL1 inhibits endothelial apoptosis. Crucially, TSL1 binds at a site on Tie2 distinct from the angiopoietin-binding site and is resistant to antagonism by Ang2. This engineered ligand has several advantages over recombinant Ang1 for potential therapeutic applications. The study also highlights the value of orthogonal ligands for regulating cellular receptors without being subject to antagonism or modulation by endogenous ligands.
Generalised Mersenne Numbers (GMNs) were defined by Solinas in 1999 and feature in the NIST (FIPS 186-2) and SECG standards for use in elliptic curve cryptography. Their form is such that modular ...reduction is extremely efficient, thus making them an attractive choice for modular multiplication implementation. However, the issue of residue multiplication efficiency seems to have been overlooked. Asymptotically, using a cyclic rather than a linear convolution, residue multiplication modulo a Mersenne number is twice as fast as integer multiplication; this property does not hold for prime GMNs, unless they are of Mersenne's form. In this work we exploit an alternative generalisation of Mersenne numbers for which an analogue of the above property -- and hence the same efficiency ratio -- holds, even at bitlengths for which schoolbook multiplication is optimal, while also maintaining very efficient reduction. Moreover, our proposed primes are abundant at any bitlength, whereas GMNs are extremely rare. Our multiplication and reduction algorithms can also be easily parallelised, making our arithmetic particularly suitable for hardware implementation. Furthermore, the field representation we propose also naturally protects against side-channel attacks, including timing attacks, simple power analysis and differential power analysis, which is essential in many cryptographic scenarios, in constrast to GMNs.
It is now well established that human-induced species extinctions and habitat degradation are currently occurring at unprecedented rates. To halt and reverse this decline, the international community ...adopted the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), as part of the Kunming–Montreal Biodiversity Package, in December 2022. We clarify what this new framework means for conservation zoos and aquariums in their mission to prevent species extinction by highlighting areas of focus. We explain why it is necessary that conservation zoos and aquariums establish the appropriate mechanisms for contributing towards such a framework to help validate their role in the 21st Century. Conservation zoos and aquariums should be reassured that much of their work already fits within the GBF. However, the current mechanisms for individual zoos and aquariums to directly contribute to the implementation of the GBF mostly rely on close collaboration with individual national governments and/or are only possible at a national level. It is therefore critical that national, regional, and global zoo membership organisations take a leading role in championing the work of their members. Equally, adequately linking the efforts of zoos and aquariums to the national implementation of international instruments, such as the GBF, is imperative to ensure that these organizations’ contributions feed into the understanding we have of global progress towards the implementation of international instruments.
Surveillance for hepatitis C virus (HCV) is limited by the challenge of differentiating between acute and chronic infections. In this study, we evaluate a cross-sectional testing strategy that ...identifies individuals with acute HCV infection and we estimate HCV incidence. Anti-HCV-negative persons from four populations with various risks, i.e., blood donors, Veterans Administration (VA) patients, young injection drug users (IDU), and older IDU, were screened for HCV RNA by minipool or individual sample nucleic acid testing (NAT). The number of detected viremic seronegative infections was combined with the duration of the preseroconversion NAT-positive window period (derived from analysis of frequent serial samples from plasma donors followed from NAT detection to seroconversion) to estimate annual HCV incidence rates. Projected incidence rates were compared to observed incidence rates. Projected HCV incidence rates per 100 person-years were 0.0042 (95% confidence interval 95% CI, 0.0025 to 0.007) for blood donors, 0.86 (95% CI, 0.02 to 0.71) for VA patients, 39.8 (95% CI, 25.9 to 53.7) for young IDU, and 53.7 (95% CI, 23.4 to 108.8) for older IDU. Projected rates were most similar to observed incidence rates for young IDU (33.4; 95% CI, 28.0 to 39.9). This study demonstrates the value of applying a cross-sectional screening strategy to detect acute HCV infections and to estimate HCV incidence.
Sugammadex produces recovery from neuromuscular blockade more rapidly and reliably than neostigmine. We sought to determine if sugammadex is associated with improved perioperative efficiency when ...compared to traditional neuromuscular blockade reversal with neostigmine, potentially offsetting the higher medication cost. This retrospective analysis involved patients receiving either neostigmine or sugammadex for reversal of neuromuscular blockade at a single academic tertiary care hospital. The final propensity-matched groups consisted of 4060 in each group (neostigmine or sugammadex). The primary outcome measured was total time in the operating room. Secondary outcomes included specific measures of perioperative efficiency as well as postoperative pulmonary failure. The average operating room time for patients was 169.59 1.27 minutes for neostigmine and 157.06 1.33 minutes for sugammadex (P < 0.001). The difference was primarily accounted for by shorter surgical times (121.45 1.18 vs 109.62 1.22 minutes, P < 0.011). Sugammadex was also associated with a shorter post-anesthesia care unit length of stay (102.47 1.04 vs 98.67 1.02 minutes, P < 0.001). For 8120 patients, sugammadex use was associated with shorter operating room and surgical durations as well as shorter post-anesthesia care unit stay. The favorable pharmacodynamic profile of sugammadex may improve surgical and perioperative efficiency and offset higher medication cost.
Anomalously strong westward winds during the first phase of the equatorial mesospheric semi-annual oscillation (MSAO) have been attributed to unusual filtering conditions producing exceptional ...gravity-wave fluxes. We test this hypothesis using meteor-radar measurements made over Ascension Island (8° S, 14° W). An anomalous wind event in 2002 of −85.5 ms−1 occurred simultaneously with the momentum fluxes of high-frequency gravity waves reaching the largest observed westward values of −29 m2 s−2 and strong westward wind accelerations of −510 ms−1 day−1. However, despite this strong wave forcing during the event, no unusual filtering conditions or significant increases in wave-excitation proxies were observed. Further, although strong westward wave-induced accelerations were also observed during the 2006 MSAO first phase, there was no corresponding simultaneous response in westward wind. We thus suggest that strong westward fluxes/accelerations of high-frequency gravity waves are not always sufficient to produce anomalous first-phase westward MSAO winds and other forcing may be significant.
Over 70 million cage‐birds are kept across 12 million households on the island of Java, Indonesia, fuelling serious concerns for the health of regional wild bird populations. Understanding the ...behaviours, preferences and demographic profiles of bird‐keepers will guide attempts to reduce demand for wild birds and hence the impact of trade on wild populations and their host ecosystems.
We profile three songbird‐keeping user‐groups based on interviews of nearly one thousand people across Java: hobbyists, who own birds primarily as pets; contestants, who own birds to enter in singing contests; and breeders, who own birds to breed and train for resale or as a pastime.
User‐groups diverged in their bird‐keeping habits and preferences. Hobbyists tended to own small numbers of inexpensive and typically native birds, while contestants and breeders owned larger numbers of often valuable birds. Hobbyists were far less likely to consider origin when buying a bird, owned a larger proportion of both potentially wild‐caught and globally threatened birds, but showed no preference for any taxon. By contrast, owning relatively large numbers of lovebirds Agapornis spp. and Zebra Doves Geopelia striata were key characteristics of contestants, while breeders owned the largest number of birds and species, in particular White‐rumped Shamas Kittacincla malabarica. Within a 2‐year period, user‐group membership was fluid, with much transitioning between non‐bird ownership and hobbyists, recruitment of non‐bird owners to contestants and movement both in and out of the breeder group.
Our study provides behavioural change efforts with demographic and geographic profiles to target bird‐keepers, who tended to be more affluent and urban and to live in the eastern provinces. Among bird‐keepers, hobbyists tended to be middle‐aged and lived in the western provinces, contestants were younger urban bird‐keepers employed in business and breeders were commoner in the eastern provinces, reflecting the cultural importance of bird‐keeping among the Javanese.
Efforts to increase the sustainability of bird‐keeping in Java should focus on emphasizing the importance of captive‐bred birds, in particular to hobbyists, the largest user‐group, whose bird‐keeping behaviour poses the biggest threat to wild bird populations, whilst also incentivizing legitimate breeding enterprises among contestants and breeders.
Abstrak
Lebih dari 70 juta burung dipelihara di sangkar oleh 12 juta keluarga di Pulau Jawa, Indonesia, memicu kekhawatiran mendalam tentang kondisi burung liar di pulau ini. Pemahaman tentang profil perilaku, preferensi dan demografi pemelihara burung.akan menjadi panduan untuk mengurangi permintaan akan burung liar dan karenanya juga dampak perdagangan burung liar dan ekosistem tempat hidupnya.
Kami menggambarkan tiga kelompok‐pengguna pemelihara burung berdasarkan pada wawancara dengan hampir tiga ribu orang di seluruh Jawa: penggemar, mereka yang memiliki burung sebagai hewan peliharaan; kontestan, mereka yang memiliki burung untuk lomba burung berkicau; dan peternak, mereka yang memiliki burung untuk diternak dan dilatih untuk dijual atau untuk hiburan.
Kelompok‐pengguna tersebut berbeda dalam kebiasaan dan kecenderungan memelihara burung. Penggemar cenderung memiliki sedikit burung yang tidak mahal dan umumnya jenis burung asli/lokal, sementara kontestan dan peternak memiliki banyak burung dan sering kali burung yang sangat mahal. Para penggemar sangat jarang mempertimbangkan asal‐usul ketika membeli burung, sebagian besar memiliki burung yang mungkin berasal dari penangkapan di alam dan terancam secara global, tetapi tidak menunjukkan preferensi pada jenis tertentu. Sebaliknya, ciri utamakontestan adalah memiliki jumlah dan jenis burung paling banyak, terutama burung Kucica hutan Kittacincla malabarica. Dalam periode dua tahun, keanggotaan kelompok‐pengguna berubah‐ubah, dengan banyak transisi antara yang tidak memiliki burung dan penggemar; penambahan kelompok yang tidak memiliki burung ke konstestandan pergerakan masuk dan keluar dari kelompok peternak.
Penelitian kami menyajikan upaya perubahan perilaku dengan profil demografik dan geografik dengan sasaran pemelihara burung, yang cenderung lebih makmur, urban dan tinggal di wilayah bagian timur. Di antara pemelihara burung, penggemar cenderung paruh baya, dan tinggal di Jawa bagian barat, kontestan adalah pemelihara burung yang lebih muda, urban, berwirausaha, dan peternak lebih umum di Jawa bagian timur, menunjukkan pentingnya aspek budaya dalam pelihara burung pada orang Jawa.
Usaha‐usaha untuk meningkatkan kelestarian pemeliharaan burung di Jawa harus fokus pada penekanan pentingnya burung hasil ternak di kandang, terutama untuk penggemar, kelompok pengguna terbesar, yang perilakunya memelihara burung telah menimbulkan ancaman terbesar pada populasi burung liar. Sementara itu perlu juga memberi insentif kepada para kontestan dan peternak yang berternak burung sesuai peraturan yang berlaku di Indonesia.
A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Newborn skin wounding causes an upregulation of NT-3 and cutaneous sensory hyperinnervation that contributes to the increased pain and sensitivity associated with wounding.
Neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) is a ...target-derived neurotrophic factor that regulates sensory neuronal survival and growth. Here we report that NT-3 plays a critical permissive role in cutaneous sensory nerve sprouting that contributes to pain and sensitivity following skin wounding in young animals. Sensory terminal sprouting in neonatally wounded dermis and epidermis is accompanied by increased NT-3 transcription, NT-3 protein levels, and NT-3 protein release 3-7days post skin injury in newborn rats and mice. Functional blockade of NT-3 activity with specific antibodies greatly reduces sensory neurite outgrowth induced by wounded skin, but not by naïve skin, in dorsal root ganglion/skin co-cultures. The requirement for NT-3 for sensory terminal sprouting in vivo is confirmed by the absence of wound-induced hyperinnervation in heterozygous transgenic mice (NT-3+/−lacZ). We conclude that upregulation of NT-3 in neonatally wounded skin is a critical factor mediating the sensory nerve sprouting that underlies hypersensitivity and pain following skin injury.
Abstract Neuropathic pain, arising from nerve injury or secondary to other diseases, occurs in young children as well as adults but little is known about its postnatal development. Neonatal rat pups ...do not display mechanical allodynia following nerve injury and young rats recover faster from spinal nerve damage. Since both spinal microglia and astrocytes are strongly implicated in the maintenance of persistent pain, we hypothesized that the magnitude and time course of spinal cord glial activation following nerve injury change throughout postnatal development. To test this, we have compared the time course and intensity of the microglial and astrocytic response in the spinal cord dorsal horn at various times following spared nerve injury in postnatal day 3, 10, 21 and adult rats. The levels of the microglial markers OX-42 and IBA-1 and of the astrocytic marker GFAP were analysed using immunohistochemistry and Western blots. We show that in the adult SNI evokes clear dorsal horn microglial activation at 5 days and astrocytic activation at 7 days post surgery. In contrast, SNI in young animals evokes a weak microglial response but a robust astrocytic response with an early onset at day 1 that is not observed in adults, followed by a second activation at day 7. These results highlight the differential development of the glial response to nerve injury which may explain the lack of neuropathic allodynia in young animals.
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