Advancing Programme Science approaches to understand gaps in HIV prevention programme coverage for key populations in 12 Nigerian states: findings from the 2020 Integrated Biological and Behavioural Surveillance Survey.

Introduction: Effective HIV prevention programme coverage is necessary to achieve Nigeria's goal of ending the epidemic by 2030. Recent evidence highlights gaps in service coverage and utilization across the country. The Effective Programme Coverage framework is a Programme Science tool to optimize a programme's population-level impact by examining gaps in programme coverage using data generated through programme-embedded research and learning.

Validity of dried blood spot testing for sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections: A narrative systematic review.

Testing for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) using dried blood spot (DBS) specimens has been an integral part of bio-behavioural surveillance in Canada for almost two decades, though less is known regarding the use of DBS in surveillance of other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI). A systematic review was conducted using a peer-reviewed search strategy to assess the current evidence regarding the validity of STBBI testing using DBS specimens. Eligibility criteria included studies reporting use of DBS specimens for STBBI testing with either commercially available or "in-house" tests in populations 15 years of age or older.

A validated in-house assay for HIV drug resistance mutation surveillance from dried blood spot specimens.

Despite increasing scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage, challenges related to adherence and HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) remain. The high cost of HIVDR surveillance is a persistent challenge with implementation in resource-constrained settings. Dried blood spot (DBS) specimens have been demonstrated to be a feasible alternative to plasma or serum for HIVDR genotyping and are more suitable for lower resource settings.

HIV acquisition prior to entry into formal sex work: inference from next-generation viral sequencing.

Objective: To infer the timing of HIV acquisition in relation to self-reported events in the sexual life course of adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) who self-identify as female sex workers (FSW) in Mombasa, Kenya.

Design: Next-generation viral sequencing of samples of AGYW living with HIV in the Transitions study, a cross-sectional bio-behavioural survey of AGYW aged 14-24 years in Mombasa, Kenya.

Method: Dried blood spot specimens were collected from study participants ( n  = 37, all FSW).

Personality evaluated: What do people most like and dislike about themselves and their friends?

What do people think their best and worst personality traits are? Do their friends agree? Across three samples, 463 college students ("targets") and their friends freely described two traits they most liked and two traits they most disliked about the target. Coders categorized these open-ended trait descriptors into high or low poles of six trait domains (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness, and honesty-humility) and judged whether targets and friends reported the same specific best and worst traits. Best traits almost exclusively reflected high levels of the major trait domains (especially high agreeableness and extraversion).