Correction to: Leveraging Geospatial Approaches to Characterize the HIV Prevention and Treatment Needs of Out-of-School Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Ethiopia.

The article "Leveraging Geospatial Approaches to Characterize the HIV Prevention and Treatment Needs of Out-of-School Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Ethiopia" written by Y. Wang, C. A. Comins, A. Mulu, S. A. Abebe, K. Belete, T. T. Balcha, S. Baral, S. R. Schwartz, was originally published electronically on the publisher's internet portal (currently SpringerLink) on 27th May 2019 without open access. With the author(s)' decision to opt for Open Choice the copyright of the article changed on 19th September 2019 to © The Author(s) 2019 and the article is forthwith distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Leveraging Geospatial Approaches to Characterize the HIV Prevention and Treatment Needs of Out-of-School Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Ethiopia.

Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) remain underserved and at risk for HIV acquisition in Ethiopia. However, there is significant risk heterogeneity among AGYW with limited consensus on optimal strategies of identifying vulnerable AGYW. This study assessed the utility of venue-based sampling approaches to identify AGYW at increased risk for HIV infection. Venue mapping and time-location-sampling (TLS) methods were used to recruit AGYW from three sub-cities of Addis Ababa, February-June 2018. Interviewer-administered surveys captured socio-demographic and behavioral characteristics. Measures of AGYW vulnerability were assessed geographically and described by venue type. A total of 2468 unique venues were identified, of which 802 (32%) were systematically selected for validation and 371 (46%) were eligible including many sites that would traditionally not be included as venues in need of HIV prevention services. Overall, 800 AGYW were enrolled across 81 sampled venues. AGYW reached were largely out-of-school (n = 599, 75%) with high proportions of AGYW reporting transactional sex (n = 101, 12.6%), food insecurity (n = 165, 20.7%) and migration (n = 565, 70.6%). Taken together, these data suggest the utility of TLS methods in reaching vulnerable, out-of-school AGYW in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Role of Iron-Bearing Minerals in NO2 to HONO Conversion on Soil Surfaces.

Nitrous acid (HONO) accumulates in the nocturnal boundary layer where it is an important source of daytime hydroxyl radicals. Although there is clear evidence for the involvement of heterogeneous reactions of NO2 on surfaces as a source of HONO, mechanisms remain poorly understood. We used coated-wall flow tube measurements of NO2 reactivity on environmentally relevant surfaces (Fe (hydr)oxides, clay minerals, and soil from Arizona and the Saharan Desert) and detailed mineralogical characterization of substrates to show that reduction of NO2 by Fe-bearing minerals in soil can be a more important source of HONO than the putative NO2 hydrolysis mechanism. The magnitude of NO2-to-HONO conversion depends on the amount of Fe(2+) present in substrates and soil surface acidity. Studies examining the dependence of HONO flux on substrate pH revealed that HONO is formed at soil pH < 5 from the reaction between NO2 and Fe(2+)(aq) present in thin films of water coating the surface, whereas in the range of pH 5-8 HONO stems from reaction of NO2 with structural iron or surface complexed Fe(2+) followed by protonation of nitrite via surface Fe-OH2(+) groups. Reduction of NO2 on ubiquitous Fe-bearing minerals in soil may explain HONO accumulation in the nocturnal boundary layer and the enhanced [HONO]/[NO2] ratios observed during dust storms in urban areas.

Photooxidation of ammonia on TiO2 as a source of NO and NO2 under atmospheric conditions.

Ammonia is the most abundant reduced nitrogen species in the atmosphere and an important precursor in the industrial-scale production of nitric acid. A coated-wall flow tube coupled to a chemiluminescence NOx analyzer was used to study the kinetics of NH3 uptake and NOx formation from photochemistry initiated on irradiated (λ > 290 nm) TiO2 surfaces under atmospherically relevant conditions. The speciation of NH3 on TiO2 surfaces in the presence of surface-adsorbed water was determined using diffuse reflection infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy. The uptake kinetics exhibit an inverse dependence on NH3 concentration as expected for reactions proceeding via a Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism. The mechanism of NOx formation is shown to be humidity dependent: Water-catalyzed reactions promote NOx formation up to a relative humidity of 50%. Less NOx is formed above 50%, where increasing amounts of adsorbed water may hinder access to reactive sites, promote formation of unreactive NH4(+), and reduce oxidant levels due to higher OH radical recombination rates. A theoretical study of the reaction between the NH2 photoproduct and O2 in the presence of H2O supports the experimental conclusion that NOx formation is catalyzed by water. Calculations at the MP2 and CCSD(T) level on the bare NH2 + O2 reaction and the reaction of NH2 + O2 in small water clusters were carried out. Solvation of NH2OO and NHOOH intermediates likely facilitates isomerization via proton transfer along water wires, such that the steps leading ultimately to NO are exothermic. These results show that photooxidation of low levels of NH3 on TiO2 surfaces represents a source of atmospheric NOx, which is a precursor to ozone. The proposed mechanism may be broadly applicable to dissociative chemisorption of NH3 on other metal oxide surfaces encountered in rural and urban environments and employed in pollution control applications (selective catalytic oxidation/reduction) and during some industrial processes.

Occult Hepatitis B virus infection among HIV negative and positive isolated anti-HBc individuals in eastern Ethiopia.

The absence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and the presence of antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) in the blood of apparently healthy individuals may not indicate the absence of circulating hepatitis B virus (HBV) and might be infectious. Despite the risk of HBV transmission, there has been no report from Ethiopia examining this issue; therefore, this study determined occult HBV infection (OBI) among isolated anti-HBc (IAHBc) HIV negative and HIV positive individuals on ART in eastern Ethiopia. A total of 306 IAHBc individuals were included in this study. DNA was extracted, amplified, and detected from plasma using a commercially available RealTime PCR platform (Abbott m2000rt) following the manufacturer's instructions. Data were entered into EPI Data version 3.1, cleaned, and analyzed using Stata version 13. Descriptive analysis was used to calculate prevalence, summarize sociodemographic data and other factors. From the 306 IAHBc individuals (184 HIV positive and 122 HIV negative) included in the study, 183 (59.8%) were female of which 142 (77.6%) were within the reproductive age group. DNA extraction, amplified and detection was conducted in 224 individuals. The overall OBI prevalence was 5.8% (5.6% in HIV negative and 6% in HIV positive) among the IAHBc individuals. The HBV DNA concentration among the occult hepatitis B individuals was < 200 IU/mL, indicating a true occult. This study reported the burden of OBI, which pauses a significant public health problem due to the high burden of HBV infection in the country. OBI may cause substantial risk of HBV transmission from blood transfusion, organ transplantation as well as vertical transmission as screening is solely dependent on HBsAg testing.

Predictors of Success of Workplace Physical Activity Interventions: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Despite holding great potential for addressing concerns regarding public health, recent systematic reviews have found effect sizes for interventions targeting physical activity to be small. Before interventions can be improved, the factors influencing outcomes must be identified. This systematic review aimed to identify predictors of success, measured in terms of engagement (eg, involvement duration) and health behavior change (eg, increased step counts), of workplace interventions targeting physical activity. METHODS: A structured search of 3 databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science) was conducted to identify articles published between January 2000 and April 2017. For inclusion, articles needed to test a workplace intervention targeting physical activity and perform a quantitative analysis, identifying predictors of engagement or health behavior change. RESULTS: Twenty-two studies were identified for review (median quality score = 70%). Demographic variables (eg, gender, age) were inconsistent predictors of success. However, employees in better health and physically active at baseline were found to have a greater likelihood of success. CONCLUSIONS: It appears that achieving successful results among employees at high risk of poor health outcomes remains a significant challenge for interventions. It is hoped that program developers can use this information to create effective interventions particularly for more sedentary employees.

Hepatitis B virus infection among people attending the voluntary counselling and testing centre and anti-retroviral therapy clinic of St Paul's General Specialised Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and its risk factors among people attending the HIV voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) centre and anti-retroviral therapy (ART) clinic at St Paul's General Specialised Hospital. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out on consecutive attendees from 24 January 2007 to 15 February 2007. Blood samples and data on sociodemographic and HBV risk factors were collected from 620 individuals (384 VCT and 236 HIV-infected ART clinic clients). Sera were screened for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg). RESULTS: The prevalence of HBsAg and anti-HBc in VCT clients was 5.7% and 44.8%, respectively. Among HIV-infected persons, 3.9% were seropositive for HBsAg. There was no significant difference in HBsAg or anti-HBc seropositivity between HIV-positive and HIV-negative subjects. Anti-HBc positivity was significantly higher in men, in the age range 40-49 years, and in subjects with a history of catheterisation. CONCLUSION: This study shows a high prevalence and similar distribution of HBV infection in HIV-positive and HIV-negative people. However, with the emphasis given to HIV-positive cases, screening for HBV infection is important.

Effect of Ethiopian multiflora honey on fluconazole-resistant Candida species isolated from the oral cavity of AIDS patients.

This study aimed to determine the antifungal effect of Ethiopian multiflora honey against Candida species isolated from the oral cavity of AIDS patients. Oral rinses were obtained from 13 AIDS patients and cultured on CHROMagar plates at 37°C for 48 hours. Candida species were identified by microbiological and molecular techniques. The antifungal effect of the honey sample on Candida was investigated by an agar dilution technique. Susceptibility of the Candida species to fluconazole was tested following a semi-modified microdilution method. Growth of both fluconazole-susceptible and -resistant Candida species was inhibited with a minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of 35-40% (v/v) honey. The MFC of different Candida species was not significantly different (P > 0.05). From the total of 25 Candida isolates tested for susceptibility, 11 (44%), eight (32%) and six (24%) of the isolates were sensitive (minimum inhibitory concentrations [MICs] < 8 µg/mL), susceptible (dose-dependent: MICs 16-32 µg/mL) and resistant (MICs > 64 µg/mL) to fluconazole, respectively. Ethiopian multiflora honey has antifungal activity against fluconazole-resistant Candida species isolated from the oral cavity of AIDS patients. This supports the existing folkloric practice of using honey to treat oral lesions. Nevertheless, identification of the bioactive agents in honey, their clinical evaluation and pharmacological standardization are crucial.