Gender differences in sexual risk and sexually transmitted infections correlate with gender differences in social networks among San Francisco homeless youth.

Purpose: To explore whether gender differences in sexual risk and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among homeless youth may be explained in part by gender differences in their social networks.

Methods: Our sample includes 258 youth (64% male) recruited in San Francisco from street venues and transitional programs. Participants completed an audio computer-administered self-interview survey regarding their housing status and risk behaviors and an interviewer-administered survey regarding their social networks, and were tested for STIs (chlamydia and gonorrhea).

The role of fructose in the pathogenesis of NAFLD and the metabolic syndrome.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most frequent liver disease worldwide, and is commonly associated with the metabolic syndrome. Secular trends in the prevalence of these diseases may be associated with the increased fructose consumption observed in the Western diet. NAFLD is characterized by two steps of liver injury: intrahepatic lipid accumulation (hepatic steatosis), and inflammatory progression to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) (the 'two-hit' theory).