Motivations and Barriers to Routine HIV Testing Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in New York City

AIDS and Behavior - In-depth qualitative interviews explored the experiences and understandings of men 18–39 years old who have sex with men that could facilitate or prevent HIV...     

Description and Validation of an Innovative and Effective Hand-Shaped Suture-Training Model for Medical Students

During medical education, medical students are often frustrated by difficulties in translating theoretical anatomical knowledge and basic surgical skills (suturing, tissue and instrument handling, and local anesthetic administration) into practice. A common etiological factor for this difficulty, among others, is lack of a low-cost and easy-to-assemble low fidelity suturing model. The purpose of this study is the demonstration of a validated, practical, inexpensive, hand-shaped anatomy training model. It is addressed to medical students and graduates that wish to get acquainted with neurovascular anatomy of the hand and improve their basic surgical skills. The model requires only two latex gloves, cotton, and two different color markers per trainee to draw the course of large nerve and vessels. Construction requires less than 15 minutes. For validation, 80 students participated as volunteers in the demonstration course. They evaluated course usefulness and their own confidence after the course. According to the 5-point Likert scale, the participants’ confidence increased in a statistically significant way ( p < 0.05). All participants (100%) stated that their skills were “significantly improved” in terms of instrument handling, anatomy studying, performing digital anesthesia, and suturing technique. Overall experience was rated as “satisfactory” or above. The proposed model enables safe gentle soft-tissue handling, and it resembles a realistic human tissue. Low cost, availability, and fast construction are the most important characteristics, making this validated training model appropriate for acquiring fundamental local anesthesia, respect for hand neurovascular anatomy, and suturing skills.     

A Mortality-Based Description of EHDV and BTV Prevalence in Farmed White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Florida,USA

Hemorrhagic disease (HD) caused by bluetongue virus (BTV) and epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) is the most important viral disease of farmed and wild white-tailed deer (WTD; Odocoileus virginianus) and can cause substantial mortality in susceptible hosts. Captive cervid farming is an emerging industry in Florida, an HD-enzootic region. Morbidity and mortality due to HD are major concerns among deer farmers, but the impact of HD on Florida’s cervid farming industry is unknown. Our primary objective was to determine the prevalence of epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) and bluetongue virus (BTV) among WTD submitted to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Cervidae Health Research Initiative (CHeRI) for post-mortem diagnostics. Our secondary objectives were to identify the predominant circulating EHDV serotypes during each sampling year and to determine the age class with the greatest proportion of EHDV- and BTV-positive post-mortem specimens. From 2016 to 2020, spleen samples from 539 farmed WTD with unexplained mortality were tested for the presence of EHDV and BTV by RT-qPCR. Overall, the prevalence of EHDV, BTV, or EHDV/BTV coinfection was 26%, 16%, and 10%, respectively, and 44% of deer (237/539) were diagnosed with HD by RT-qPCR. The predominant circulating EHDV serotype varied by year. Overall, EHDV-2 was the most commonly identified serotype (55% of PCR-positive cases), and EHDV-1 was the least frequently identified serotype (16% of PCR-positive cases). The greatest proportion of EHDV/BTV positives among mortality cases was observed in young WTD aged 3–6 months (50%–82% positive). There was a significant difference in the prevalence of EHDV/BTV by age when comparing specimens from WTD over 1 year old (p = 0.029, n = 527). Among these samples, the number of reported mortalities and the prevalence of EHDV/BTV were highest in yearling animals (56%). These data provide the first estimate of EHDV and BTV prevalence and virus serotypes among farmed WTD in Florida, identify the WTD age groups with the greatest proportions of EHDV- and BTV-positive specimens, and suggest that HD caused by these two viruses may be a major source of mortality challenging the captive cervid farming industry in Florida.     

Risk and protective factors for mental health at a youth mass gathering

Background

Mass gatherings are well-documented for their public health risks; however, little research has examined their impact on mental health or focused on young people specifically. This study explores risk and protective factors for mental health at mass gatherings, with a particular focus on characterising attendees with high levels of psychological distress and risk taking.

Method

Data collection was conducted in situ at “Schoolies”, an annual informal week-long mass gathering of approximately 30,000 Australian school leavers. Participants were 812 attendees of Schoolies on the Gold Coast in 2015 or 2016 (74% aged 17 years old).

Results

In both years, attendee mental health was found to be significantly better than population norms for their age peers. Identification with the mass gathering predicted better mental health, and this relationship became stronger across the course of the mass gathering. Attendees with high levels of psychological distress were more likely to be male, socially isolated, impulsive, and in a friendship group where risk taking was normative.

Conclusions

Mass gatherings may have a net benefit for attendee mental health, especially for those attendees who are subjectively committed to the event. However, a vulnerable subgroup of attendees requires targeted mental health support.