How has the COVID-19 epidemic affected the risk behaviors of people who inject drugs in a city with high harm reduction service coverage in Vietnam? A qualitative investigation.

Introduction: The COVID-19 outbreak disproportionally affects vulnerable populations including people who inject drugs (PWID). Social distancing and stay-at-home orders might result in a lack of access to medical and social services, poorer mental health, and financial precariousness, and thus, increases in HIV and HCV risk behaviors. This article explores how the HIV/HCV risk behaviors of PWID in Haiphong, a city with high harm reduction service coverage in Vietnam, changed during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, and what shaped such changes, using the risk environment framework.

Structural and H₂S Sensing Properties of Copper Ferrite Nanoparticles Prepared Through Hydrothermal Method.

In this paper, we report the H₂S sensing properties of partially inverse copper ferrite (CuFe₂O₄) nanoparticles with sizes ranging from 16 nm to few hundreds of nanometers prepared through hydrothermal method. Effects of annealing temperature on the particle size, microstructure and gas-sensing properties of spinel ferrite were studied through scanning electron microscopy, synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction and resistance measurement. Electrical conduction mechanism is discussed based on the cation distribution in the lattice and resistance contribution from the grain boundaries.