Search

Sexual assault (SA) survivors often attend sexual health clinics (SHC) for care relating to their assault. Reported rates of SA amongst SHC attendees can be high. Online sexual health services are becoming increasingly popular. Sexual Health London (SHL) is a large online sexual transmitted infection (STI) screening service. Between 1.1.20– 8.2.20, 0.5% (242/45841) (54% female, 45.6% male) of adults disclosed a recent SA when ordering an online STI testing kit. 79% (192/242) users engaged in a call back discussion initiated by the SHL team: 45% (87/192) users confirmed a SA had occurred and 53% (101/242) users denied an assault (particularly men) stating they had reported this in error. 18% (16/87) users had already reported their SA to the police/sexual assault centre, and one user accepted an onward referral. This study found a low reporting rate of SA amongst SHL users, but despite a high response rate to call backs, >50% cited they reported in error, 25% (22/87) didn’t want to discuss their SA and few accepted onward referrals. Using e-triage to screen for SA followed by service-initiated telephonic support to everyone who discloses, may not be acceptable or offer utility to all. Further evaluation of ways to engage these individuals is required.

To understand the pathogenesis of low level viraemia (LLV) in HIV-infected patients on boosted protease inhibitors (PI/b), we enrolled 34 subjects with a median HIV-RNA 79 copies/mL and followed them for 15 months. Samples for next generation sequencing were collected at three time-points. Two showed resistance-associated mutations (RAMs) in the protease gene, while 95-100% had RAMs in the gag gene, which evolved in approximately a quarter of subjects, suggesting a potential clinical role of these kind of mutations.

Background The epidemic of acute HCV infection among HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM) is ongoing. Transmission of drug-resistant variants (DRVs) after HCV treatment failure could pose a major threat to the effectiveness of future therapies. We determined the baseline prevalence of pre-existing DRVs in the HCV NS3 protease gene and their effects on the addition of telaprevir (TVR) to standard pegylated interferon and ribavirin (PEG-IFN/RBV) for acute HCV infection in individuals enrolled in a multicentre randomized controlled trial (2013 and 2014). Methods The HCV NS3 viral protease was analyzed using Sanger and next-generation sequencing (NGS) for DRVs at baseline (n = 31), and at viral breakthrough following TVR-based treatment (n = 3) or PEG-IFN/RBV alone (n = 2). Results Sequence analysis indicated that all individuals were infected with HCV genotype 1a. Complete (100%) concordance was seen between Sanger and NGS for high levels of mutant viral populations. The simeprevir-associated Q80K variant was present at high frequency in the German samples (7/11-64%) and infrequently in the UK samples (1/20-5%). In the three TVR-based treatment failures, V36M/l and R155K/T emerged, but not R155G which was detectable at low levels in two individuals at baseline. Failure rate at week 24 was 26.7% (with baseline DRVs) vs. 6.3% (without baseline DRVs), p = 0.17). Comparison of sequences pre- and post-therapy in 5 who failed therapy revealed the emergence of not previously described variants V193G, E176K, P189S (on TVR), and V181S in one instance each. Conclusion The presence of baseline DRVs for the NS3 protease gene of HCV genotype 1a did not appear to predict treatment failure in our patient cohort. Where detected, Q80K was present at high levels (>98%), but had no effect on outcomes and remained high after failure.

The epidemic of acute HCV infection among HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM) is ongoing. Transmission of drug-resistant variants (DRVs) after HCV treatment failure could pose a major threat to the effectiveness of future therapies. We determined the baseline prevalence of pre-existing DRVs in the HCV NS3 protease gene and their effects on the addition of telaprevir (TVR) to standard pegylated interferon and ribavirin (PEG-IFN/RBV) for acute HCV infection in individuals enrolled in a multicentre randomized controlled trial (2013 and 2014). The HCV NS3 viral protease was analyzed using Sanger and next-generation sequencing (NGS) for DRVs at baseline (n = 31), and at viral breakthrough following TVR-based treatment (n = 3) or PEG-IFN/RBV alone (n = 2). Sequence analysis indicated that all individuals were infected with HCV genotype 1a. Complete (100%) concordance was seen between Sanger and NGS for high levels of mutant viral populations. The simeprevir-associated Q80K variant was present at high frequency in the German samples (7/11–64%) and infrequently in the UK samples (1/20–5%). In the three TVR-based treatment failures, V36M/l and R155K/T emerged, but not R155G which was detectable at low levels in two individuals at baseline. Failure rate at week 24 was 26.7% (with baseline DRVs) vs. 6.3% (without baseline DRVs), p = 0.17). Comparison of sequences pre- and post-therapy in 5 who failed therapy revealed the emergence of not previously described variants V193G, E176K, P189S (on TVR), and V181S in one instance each. The presence of baseline DRVs for the NS3 protease gene of HCV genotype 1a did not appear to predict treatment failure in our patient cohort. Where detected, Q80K was present at high levels (>98%), but had no effect on outcomes and remained high after failure.

Ayurveda is the Indian trad itional system of medicine which focuses on the medical potential of plants. Catharanthus roseus is one plant recognized well in Ayurveda. It is known for its anti - tumo u r, anti - diabetic, anti - microbial, anti - oxidant and anti - mutagenic effects. It is an eve rgreen plant first originated from islands of Madagascar. The flowers may vary in colo u r from pink to purple and leaves are arranged in opposite pairs. It produces nearly 130 alkaloids mainly ajmalcine, vinceine, resperine, vincristine, vinblastine and rau basin. Vincristine and vinblastine are used for the treatment of various types of cancer such as Hodgkin's dise ase, breast cancer, skin cancer and lymphoblastic leukemia. It is an endangered species and need to be conserved using techniques like micro prop agation. It has high medicinal values which need to be explored extensively .

Background The long-term use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has led to sequelae including lipodystrophy syndrome (LDS). We present the first published case of surgical management of bilateral parotid lipomatosis in a patient with HIV on long-term HAART. Methods We undertook review of the case notes from the time of diagnosis with HIV and literature review of this topic. Results A 45-year-old man with HIV on HAART presented with a 4-year history of increasing bilateral facial swelling. He was asymptomatic apart from the stigmatizing cosmetic deformity. MRI revealed the parotid glands had been replaced by fat. He elected for surgery and parotid lipomatosis was diagnosed on histopathological examination. Conclusion Lipohypertrophy in LDS is rare in the literature and this presentation of bilateral parotid lipomatosis secondary to HAART is only the third reported case, and the first to undergo surgical resection. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2013

We have witnessed a wide range of theoretical as well as experimental investigations to envisage external stimuli induced changes in electronic, optical and magnetic properties in the metal organiccomplexes, while hybrid perovskites have recently joined this exciting league of explorations. Theflexible organic linkers in such complexes are ideal for triggering not only spin transitions but also aplethora of various different responses under the influence of various external stimuli like pressure,temperature and light. A diverse range of applications particularly in thefield of optoelectronics,spintronics and energy scavenging have been manifested. The hysteresis associated with the lightinduced transitions and spin-crossover governed by pressure and temperature, are promisingphenomena for the design principles behind memory devices and optical switches. The pressureinduced optical properties tuning or piezochromism has also emerged as one of the prominent areas inthefield of hybrid perovskite materials family. It is thus imperative to have a clear understanding ofhow the tuning in electronic, optical and magnetic properties occur under various stimuli, andselectivity of the stimulus could be influential behind the maximum efficiency in thefield of energyand optoelectronic research, and in what future directions thisfield could be driven from theperspective of futuristic material properties. This review though primarily focuses on the theoreticalaspects of understanding the different mechanisms of the phenomena, does provide a unique overviewof the experimental literature too, accompanied by the theoretical understanding such that relevantdevice applications can be considered through a future roadmap of tuning paradigm of externalstimuli. It also provides an insight as to how energy and memory storage may be combined by using the principles of spin transition in metal organic complexes