Provision of STD Services in Community Settings After the Loss and Return of State Funding to Support Service Provision: Observations From Select Providers in Massachusetts, 2010 and 2013.

Context: In 2008, the $1.2 M sexually transmitted disease (STD) services line item supporting STD clinical services by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health was eliminated, forcing the cessation of all state-supported STD service delivery.

Objective: To determine the impact on community provision of STD services after the elimination of state funds supporting STD service provision.

Get In, Get Tested, Get Care: STD Services in Urban Urgent Care Centers.

Background: Recent evidence indicates increased use of urgent care centers (UCCs) for sexually transmitted disease (STD) testing. We sought to learn more about STD services in UCCs in a large metropolitan area.

Method: Using a modified rapid gap assessment approach, we interviewed staff from 19 UCCs in metro Atlanta, GA.

A platform for discovery of functional cell-penetrating peptides for efficient multi-cargo intracellular delivery.

Cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) offer great potential to deliver therapeutic molecules to previously inaccessible intracellular targets. However, many CPPs are inefficient and often leave their attached cargo stranded in the cell's endosome. We report a versatile platform for the isolation of peptides delivering a wide range of cargos into the cytoplasm of cells.

Social Vulnerability in Congenital Syphilis Case Mothers: Qualitative Assessment of Cases in Indiana, 2014 to 2016.

Background: Congenital syphilis occurs when a pregnant woman with syphilis is not diagnosed or treated and the infection is passed in utero, causing severe infant morbidity and mortality. Congenital syphilis is easily prevented if women receive timely and adequate prenatal care. Cases of congenital syphilis are considered indicators of problems in the safety net.

Pathways to Congenital Syphilis Prevention: A Rapid Qualitative Assessment of Barriers, and the Public Health Response, in Caddo Parish, Louisiana.

Background: Congenital syphilis (CS) disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minority women, especially in the US South. Although CS is relatively easy and inexpensive to prevent through screening and treatment of pregnant women, CS cases have continued to rise and are concentrated in relatively few US counties and states. In 2010, Louisiana had the highest case rate in the country for primary, secondary, and CS, with the highest number of CS cases in northwest Louisiana, where Shreveport is located.

Increase in Urgent Care Center Visits for Sexually Transmitted Infections, United States, 2010-2014.

During 2010-2014, urgent care centers saw a ≈2-fold increase in the number of visits for chlamydia and gonorrhea testing and a >3-fold increase in visits by persons with diagnosed sexually transmitted infections. As urgent care becomes more popular, vigilance is required to ensure proper management of these diseases.

Sexually Transmitted Disease Program Evolution in Response to Changes in the Public Health Environment: A Massachusetts Example.

Background: In 2008, the line item supporting sexually transmitted disease (STD) services in the Massachusetts state budget was cut as a result of budget shortfalls. Shortly thereafter, direct provision of STD clinical services supported by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) was suspended. Massachusetts Department of Public Health requested an initial assessment of its internal response and impact in 2010.

Assessment: A Core Function for Implementing Effective Interventions in Sexually Transmitted Disease Control Programs.

Assessment is a core function in sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention and control programs. Assessment is more than reviewing case report data; it includes taking into consideration an array of data of various sources and types to be able to respond to emerging disease threats, align human and financial resources, and plan for the future. In this article, we outline key assessment domains, data sources, activities, and methods for STD programs.

GFP-complementation assay to detect functional CPP and protein delivery into living cells.

Efficient cargo uptake is essential for cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) therapeutics, which deliver widely diverse cargoes by exploiting natural cell processes to penetrate the cell's membranes. Yet most current CPP activity assays are hampered by limitations in assessing uptake, including confounding effects of conjugated fluorophores or ligands, indirect read-outs requiring secondary processing, and difficulty in discriminating internalization from endosomally trapped cargo. Split-complementation Endosomal Escape (SEE) provides the first direct assay visualizing true cytoplasmic-delivery of proteins at biologically relevant concentrations.

Internet-Based Partner Services in US Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention Programs: 2009-2013.

Background: Social networking sites have become increasingly popular venues for meeting sex partners. Today, some sexually transmitted disease (STD) programs conduct Internet-based partner services (IPS). The purpose of the study was to explore how the Internet is being used by STD prevention programs to perform partner services.

HIV risk perception and behavior among sex workers in three major urban centers of Mozambique.

HIV risk perceptions and behaviors of 236 commercial sex workers from three major Mozambican urban centers were studied using the International Rapid Assessment, Response and Evaluation (I-RARE) methodology. All were offered HIV testing and, in Maputo, syphilis testing was offered as well. Sixty-three of the 236 opted for HIV testing, with 30 (48%) testing positive for HIV.

Mobility, Latino Migrants, and the Geography of Sex Work: Using Ethnography in Public Health Assessments.

Recent studies have documented frequent use of female sex workers among Latino migrant men in the southeastern United States, yet little is known about the context in which sex work takes place, or the women who provide these services. As anthropologists working in applied public health, we use rapid ethnographic assessment as a technical assistance tool to document local understandings of the organization and typology of sex work and patterns of mobility among sex workers and their Latino migrant clients. By incorporating ethnographic methods in traditional public health needs assessments, we were able to highlight the diversity of migrant experiences and better understand the health needs of mobile populations more broadly.

Perceptions of door-to-door HIV counselling and testing in Botswana.

Prevalence of HIV infection in Botswana is among the highest in the world, at 23.9% of 15 - 49-year-olds. Most HIV testing is conducted in voluntary counselling and testing centres or medical settings.

Female sex work within the rural immigrant Latino community in the southeast United States: an exploratory qualitative community-based participatory research study.

Background: Little is known about the structure and context of, and the risks encountered in, sex work in the United States.

Objective: This community-based participatory research (CBPR) study explored female sex work and the feasibility of conducting a larger study of sex work within the immigrant Latino community in North Carolina.

Methods: Twelve abbreviated life story interviews were conducted with Latina women who sold sex, other women who sold sex to Latino men, and Latino men who hired sex workers.

Sex, drugs, and HIV: rapid assessment of HIV risk behaviors among street-based drug using sex workers in Durban, South Africa.

South Africa is experiencing significant changes in patterns of illicit drug use, including increasing injection and non-injection drug use, and the use of drugs by persons engaged in sex work, both of which could further expand the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In 2005, a rapid ethnographic assessment was conducted in Durban, South Africa, to learn more about patterns of drug use and HIV risk behaviors among drug-using, street-based sex workers. Field teams recruited 52 current injection and non-injection drug users for key informant interviews and focus groups, and they conducted mapping and observation in identified high-risk neighborhoods.

Rapid assessment of HIV risk behavior in drug using sex workers in three cities in South Africa.

A rapid assessment was undertaken with drug using commercial sex workers (CSWs) to investigate practices putting them at risk for contracting HIV. It included key informant (KI) (N = 67) and focus group (N = 10) interviews in locations with a high prevalence of drug use in Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria, South Africa. HIV testing of KIs was conducted.

Rapid assessment of drug-related HIV risk among men who have sex with men in three South African cities.

The current assessment was undertaken to examine the link between drug use and sexual risk behavior among men who have sex with men (MSM) in locations known to have high prevalence rates of drug use and sexual risk behavior in Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria, South Africa. Street intercepts and purposive snowball sampling were used to recruit drug-using MSM. A rapid assessment was undertaken which included observation, mapping, key informant interviews and focus group interviews with MSM.

Study of G-protein-coupled receptor-protein interactions by bioluminescence resonance energy transfer.

Complex networks of protein-protein interactions are key determinants of cellular function, including those regulated by G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Formation of either stable or transitory complexes are involved in regulating all aspects of receptor function, from ligand binding through to signal transduction, desensitization, resensitization and downregulation. Today, 50% of all recently launched drugs are targeted against GPCRs.

alpha(v)beta(3) Integrin interacts with the transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta) type II receptor to potentiate the proliferative effects of TGFbeta1 in living human lung fibroblasts.

The alpha(v)beta(3) integrin is known to cooperate with receptor tyrosine kinases to enhance cellular responses. To determine whether alpha(v)beta(3) regulates transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta) 1-induced responses, we investigated the interaction between alpha(v)beta(3) and TGFbeta type II receptor (TGFbetaIIR) in primary human lung fibroblasts. We report that TGFbeta1 up-regulates cell surface and mRNA expression of alpha(v)beta(3) in a time- and dose-dependent manner.

Receptors for hypothalamic releasing hormones TRH and GnRH: oligomerization and interactions with intracellular proteins.

Studies of TRH and GnRH receptors have revealed much information about the roles of G-proteins and beta-arrestins, as well as receptor residues important for signaling, desensitization and internalization. However, the proteins involved are only just beginning to be identified and characterized. Additional complexity now exists with the observation that these receptors form oligomers in live cells.

Preassociation of nonactivated STAT3 molecules demonstrated in living cells using bioluminescence resonance energy transfer: a new model of STAT activation?

Signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) are crucial molecules in cytokine signaling. In the conventional model of STAT activation, STAT molecules are recruited from a latent pool of cytoplasmic monomers to the activated cytokine receptor. After binding to the receptor, they get tyrosine-phosphorylated, dissociate from the receptor, and translocate to the nucleus as activation-induced dimers.

G-protein coupled receptor oligomerization in neuroendocrine pathways.

Protein-protein interactions are fundamental processes for many biological systems including those involving the superfamily of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). A growing body of biochemical and functional evidence supports the existence of GPCR-GPCR homo- and hetero-oligomers. In particular, hetero-oligomers can display pharmacological and functional properties distinct from those of the homodimer or oligomer thus adding another level of complexity to how GPCRs are activated, signal and traffick in the cell.

Applications of novel resonance energy transfer techniques to study dynamic hormone receptor interactions in living cells.

Many aspects of hormone receptor function that are crucial for controlling signal transduction of endocrine pathways can be monitored more accurately with the use of non-invasive, live cell resonance energy transfer (RET) techniques. Fluorescent RET (FRET), and its variation, bioluminescent RET (BRET), can be used to assess the real-time responses to specific hormonal stimuli, whilst preserving the cellular protein network, compartmentalization and spatial arrangement. Both FRET and BRET can be readily adapted to the study of membrane proteins.