Sexually transmitted co-infections increase HIV infectiousness through local inflammatory processes. The prevalence of STI among people living with HIV/AIDS has implications for containing the spread of HIV in general and the effectiveness of HIV treatments for prevention in particular. Here we report a systematic review of STI co-infections in people living with HIV/AIDS. We focus on STI contr...

Speech requires the control of complex movements of orofacial structures to produce dynamic variations in the vocal tract transfer function. The nature of the underlying motor control processes has traditionally been investigated by employing measures of articulatory movements, including movement amplitude, velocity, and duration, at selected points in time. An alternative approach, first used ...

BACKGROUND Men having sex with men (MSM) remain the largest high-risk group involved in on-going transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STI), including HIV, in the Netherlands. As risk behaviour may change with age, it is important to explore potential heterogeneity in risks by age. To improve our understanding of this epidemic, we analysed the prevalence of and risk factors for selec...

OBJECTIVES To explore how the cost effectiveness of a behaviour-change prevention programme for sexually transmitted infection (STI) varies with the phase of an STI epidemic. METHODS A model of STI transmission and standard methods of cost-effectiveness analysis was used to examine the cost effectiveness of a hypothetical, behaviour-change intervention initiated at various phases of an STI ep...

BACKGROUND Migrants from sub-Saharan Africa (MisSA) are a relevant sub-group for HIV-transmission in Germany. A total of 10-15 % of all newly diagnosed cases are MisSA, and approximately one third acquired HIV in Germany. There is limited information on knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and practices (KABP) regarding sexual health in African communities residing in Germany. METHODS From October...

BACKGROUND Antiretroviral therapy (ART) markedly reduces HIV transmission, and testing and treatment programs have been advocated as a method for decreasing transmission at the population level. Little is known, however, about the extent to which sexually transmitted infections (STIs), which increase the HIV infectiousness of untreated individuals, may decrease the effectiveness of treatment as...

BACKGROUND Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are known risk factors for HIV infection. GOAL The goal of this study was to assess the current and potential future role that community pharmacists in Western Cape, South Africa play in the treatment of STIs. STUDY DESIGN A cross-sectional survey of community pharmacists in the Western Cape region of South Africa. A face-to-face interview t...

This research investigates the hedging effectiveness of stock index futures markets in Malaysia and Singapore by employing various hedge ratio estimation methods, which comprises of the conventional OLS model, VECM, EGARCH and bivariate GARCH. The empirical results indicate that the Kuala Lumpur Futures Index (KLFI) provides higher hedging effectiveness compared to the Straits Times Index (STI)...