Oriented design and engineering of advanced metal-organic frameworks for light hydrocarbon separations.

Light olefins, such as ethylene (CH) and propylene (CH), are essential feedstocks for the production of chemical products. However, the current purification strategy of distillation is energy-intensive and results in high carbon emissions. Adsorptive separation, the selective capture of gas from mixtures by porous materials, is considered a promising alternative or transitional technology.

Polyelectrolyte Elastomer-Based Ionotronic Electro-Mechano-Optical Devices.

All-solid electrically tunable lenses outperform rigid-body translation-based counterparts in compactness, lightweight, and response speed. However, the large and uneven thickness of conventional lenses exerts substantial mechanical constraints and inhomogeneous deformation. Herein, smart tunable lenses are reported by coupling the optical performance of a Fresnel lens to the electro-mechanical behaviors of a dielectric elastomer actuator.

Regulating the Dynamics of Interpenetrated Porous Frameworks for Inverse CH/CH Separation at Elevated Temperature.

Selective adsorption of ethane (CH) from mixtures containing ethylene (CH) is of interest for the direct production of high purity CH. However, the extremely similar molecular properties of these gases make this process challenging, particularly at elevated temperatures, an implication of saved energy consumption. To address such challenge, we present a new approach for regulating the temperature-dependent dynamics in hydrogen-bonded interpenetrated frameworks.

The associations of IGF2, IGF2R and IGF2BP2 gene polymorphisms with gestational diabetes mellitus: A case-control study.

Objective: To investigate the associations of Insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF2) gene, Insulin-like growth factor-II receptor (IGF2R) gene and Insulin-like growth factor-II binding protein 2 (IGF2BP2) gene polymorphisms with the susceptibility to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in Chinese population.

Methods: A total of 1703 pregnant women (835 GDM and 868 Non-GDM) were recruited in this case-control study. All participants underwent prenatal 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) examinations during 24-28 gestational weeks at the Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province from January 15, 2018 to March 31, 2019.

Strengths and challenges among Black and Latinx people living with HIV during COVID-19: A mixed-methods investigation of the translation of self-management across syndemic health crises.

Black and Latinx people are disproportionately impacted by HIV, COVID-19, and other syndemic health crises with similar underlying social determinants of health. Lessons learned from the HIV pandemic and COVID-19 response have been invoked to improve health equity at the systemic level in the face of other emergent health crises. However, few have examined the potential translation of strategies between syndemics at the individual level.

Increasing Urban African American Women's Readiness for Pre-exposure Prophylaxis: A Pilot Study of the Women Prepping for PrEp Plus Program (WP3+).

Background: African American women are disproportionately at risk for HIV infection. To increase women's readiness to consider taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), we conducted a pilot study of Women Prepping for PrEP Plus (WP3+). Adapted from an evidence-based HIV risk reduction intervention for African American couples who are HIV-serodiscordant, WP3+ is a group-based culturally congruent program designed for African American women without HIV.

Women-Centered Program for Women of Color (WC4WC): A Community-Based Participatory, Culturally Congruent Sexual Health Intervention in Los Angeles County, California.

The Women-Centered Program for Women of Color, a culturally congruent sexual health intervention, was implemented in 2018 in Los Angeles County, California, according to the principles of community-based participatory research: enhancing community capacity, establishing sustainable programs, and translating research findings to community settings. Participants exhibited significantly increased knowledge of and interest in preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) over time, but no significant change in condom use was evident. Booster sessions are needed to maintain interest in PrEP and PEP given concerns about reproductive and sexual health.

Unmet need for mental health services utilization among under-resourced Black and Latinx adults.

Introduction: Substantial unmet need for mental health services (MHS) exists in the United States, with pronounced disparities among people of color. Research highlights the need to identify facilitators and barriers to MHS utilization among Black and Latinx individuals to better promote overall health. We tested an expanded model of MHS use based on Andersen's (1995) conceptual framework of health care utilization.

Condom use consistency among South African HIV serodiscordant couples following an HIV risk-reduction intervention.

Although there are several ways to transmit HIV, condomless sex remains the primary mode in sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa, with KwaZulu-Natal Province being one of the epicentres of HIV infection. This study explored the use of condoms in serodiscordant couples who were exposed to an HIV-risk reduction intervention that aimed to improve condom use and reduce the spread of HIV. A Total of 30 couples completed a paper-based questionnaire on their demographics and general health at baseline and 3 months, plus a semi-structured questionnaire with four domains.

A hybrid effectiveness/implementation trial of an evidence-based intervention for HIV-serodiscordant African American couples.

Couples-based behavioral HIV prevention interventions have demonstrated efficacy, but few are routinely available in community-based settings in the United States. The Eban intervention, designed for heterosexual African American serodiscordant couples and proven efficacious in a cluster randomized trial, was implemented in community-based HIV service organizations in two cities disproportionately affected by the HIV epidemic. This article reports primarily on the effectiveness results related to condom use and results related to retention challenges within a Hybrid Type 2 implementation/effectiveness trial.

Racial/ethnic discrimination: Dimensions and relation to mental health symptoms in a marginalized urban American population.

That racial/ethnic discrimination has adverse physical and psychological consequences, including stress, anxiety, depression, and their attendant health effects, is well documented. However, the particular dimensions within the broad construct of discrimination and their role in mental health are less well understood. This study investigates the dimensions of discrimination and explores their relation to depression and posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms.

Barriers to Testing for Sexually Transmitted Infections among HIV-Serodiscordant Couples: The Influence of Discrimination.

Objectives: African Americans face challenges in accessing services for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). From 2012-2016, the EBAN II intervention was funded by the NIH to test the effectiveness of implementing a culturally congruent, evidence-based HIV/AIDS prevention program in Los Angeles and Oakland, California. This study examined the impact of personal characteristics and experiences of discrimination on the likelihood of being tested for STIs.

Effectiveness of an HIV-risk reduction intervention to reduce HIV transmission among serodiscordant couples in Durban, South Africa. A randomized controlled trial.

Lack of condom use by married or cohabiting couples in populations with high rates of HIV infection has become a significant public health issue. This study investigated whether an HIV risk-reduction intervention (RRI) would increase condom use when delivered to serodiscordant couples as a unit. Of the 62 couples that were screened, 30 serodiscordant couples were enrolled in the study, and randomized 2:1 to an immediate intervention-waitlist control study.

Predictors of somatic symptom severity: The role of cumulative history of trauma and adversity in a diverse community sample.

Objective: Somatic symptoms are often reported among victims of trauma, and place a significant burden on primary care health providers. We examined the relationship between lifetime histories of trauma and adversity, including aspects not previously studied (i.e.

A longitudinal study of the aftermath of rape among rural South African women.

Objective: Sexual assaults against women are a global health crisis, with alarmingly high rates in South Africa. However, we know very little about the circumstances and the aftermath of these experiences. Further, there is limited information about how factors specific to the rape (e.

Towards a culturally appropriate trauma assessment in a South African Zulu community.

Objective: To develop a culture specific screening tool for trauma, and to determine whether it would significantly increase the probability of eliciting traumatic events and associated symptoms when added to a Western diagnostic tool for trauma.

Method: A convenience sample of 1 hundred Zulu speaking volunteers was recruited in the North-Eastern KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa. A demographic questionnaire, the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) section of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders, Axis I, Research Version (SCID-I RV), and a Zulu Culture-Specific Trauma Experience Questionnaire (Z-CTEQ) designed for this study were administered to the participants.

Risk factors for PTSD and depression in female survivors of rape.

Objective: To investigate association of the sociodemographic factors, characteristics of rape and social support to the development of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder at 6 months after the rape.

Method: A cross-sectional survey with female survivors of rape was carried out in 3 provinces of South Africa 6 months after the rape.

Results: One hundred female survivors s of sexual assault were interviewed.

Depressive and post-traumatic stress symptoms following termination of pregnancy in South African women: A longitudinal study measuring the effects of chronic burden, crisis support and resilience.

Background: Termination of pregnancy (TOP) remains a controversial issue, regardless of legislation. Access to services as well as psychological effects may vary across the world.

Objectives And Methods: To better understand the psychological effects of TOP, this study describes the circumstances of 102 women who underwent a TOP from two socioeconomic sites in Johannesburg, South Africa, one serving women with few economic resources and the other serving women with adequate resources.

Development of a composite trauma exposure risk index.

The high burden of exposure to chronic life adversities and trauma is quite prevalent, but assessment of this risk burden is uncommon in primary care settings. This calls for a brief, multiple dimensional mental health risk screening tool in primary care settings. We aimed to develop such a screening tool named the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Life Adversities Screener (LADS).

Cumulative burden of lifetime adversities: Trauma and mental health in low-SES African Americans and Latino/as.

This study examined the utility of a lifetime cumulative adversities and trauma model in predicting the severity of mental health symptoms of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder. We also tested whether ethnicity and gender moderate the effects of this stress exposure construct on mental health using multigroup structural equation modeling. A sample of 500 low-socioeconomic status African American and Latino men and women with histories of adversities and trauma were recruited and assessed with a standard battery of self-report measures of stress and mental health.

Who Improved in a Trauma Intervention for HIV-Positive Women with Child Sexual Abuse Histories?

The Healing Our Women Program, an 11-week integrated trauma/HIV intervention designed for HIV-positive women with child sexual abuse histories, has been found to reduce psychological distress in treatment groups compared to wait-list controls (Chin et al., 2004; Wyatt et al., 2011).

Associations between intimate partner violence and posttraumatic stress symptom severity in a multiethnic sample of men with histories of childhood sexual abuse.

Objective: Little research exists identifying risk factors for posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among men with histories of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) who have been exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV).

Methods: One hundred and fifty African American, Latino and non-Latino White men with histories of CSA participated in this study.

Results: An ordinary least squares regression model with race/ethnicity, HIV serostatus, and CSA severity treated as cofounders and with IPV as the predictor was fitted to predict level of PTSS.

Intimate partner violence: associations with low infant birthweight in a South African birth cohort.

Violence against women is a global public health problem. Exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy has been associated with a number of adverse maternal and fetal outcomes, including delivery of a low birthweight (LBW) infant. However, there is a paucity of data from low-middle income countries (LMIC).