The beliefs and willingness of men who have sex with men to comply with a one-year blood donation deferral policy: a cross-sectional study.

Background: In 2016, the US Food and Drug Administration ended the lifetime blood donation deferral for men who have sex with men (MSM) and replaced it with a 1-year deferral period. It is currently unknown how many MSM may meet the new deferral policy and how many are willing to comply with it.

Study Design And Methods: An anonymous survey was shared on MSM-focused social media sites between May and July 2016 and enrolled self-identified American MSM who were at least 18 years old.

The Demographics and Rates of Tattoo Complications, Regret, and Unsafe Tattooing Practices: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Tattoos have become increasingly common in the United States; however, there are limited data on the rates of tattoo complications and tattoo regret.

Objective: To determine the rates of infectious and allergic complications after tattooing, rates of tattoo regret, the perception of dermatologists among people with tattoos, and the demographics of people with tattoos.

Materials And Methods: An 18-question cross-sectional survey was fielded in New Orleans in January 2015.

The rates, perceptions, and willingness of men who have sex with men to donate blood.

Background: Since 1983 in the United States, any man who has had sex with another man (MSM) at any time since 1977 has been deferred from donating blood for life. Although there has been a push to change the deferral, there is a paucity of information on both the rates of MSM blood donation and the willingness of MSMs to donate if the deferral were changed.

Study Design And Methods: A 15-question survey was given at two lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender festivals in Chicago and New Orleans.

Effects of mutations in the highly conserved DRY motif on binding affinity, expression, and G-protein recruitment of the human angiotensin II type-2 receptor.

The signaling pathways for the seven transmembrane G-protein coupled angiotensin II receptors (AT(1) and AT(2)) are just beginning to be understood. While these receptors play an important role in the development and differentiation of many tissues, including the cardiovascular and central nervous systems, information about amino acid motifs involved in angiotensin II-mediated signaling is only available for the AT(1) receptor subtype. In the present study, we mutated the conserved DRY(141-143) motif in the AT(2) receptor, which is thought to be involved in G-protein recruitment.