Sexual behaviour unsurveyed
Article Abstract:
In Britain an epidemiological survey on sexual attitudes and lifestyles designed to help understand the spread of AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) was cancelled by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Preliminary results from the pilot study survey provided insights into sexual behavior that could contribute to educational programs about ways to prevent infection by the AIDS virus. The pilot survey revealed that, in the last two decades, the median age at which women have their first heterosexual intercourse dropped from 20 to 16 years of age. A quarter of the first sexual encounters of women in the 16-24 years age group occurred without the use of contraceptives. In older age groups, contraceptives were used by half the women. The rate of transmission of AIDS depends on the rate at which people acquire new sexual partners, the frequency at which an infected person infects another person and the behavior of sexually active people. A large number of people are needed in the survey to examine high risk groups, such as homosexual and bisexual men. These studies can generate other research, including tracing AIDS infected sexual partners. The government has the right to choose the projects it will fund. Researchers, on the other hand, have the right to raise private funds to support projects that the government abandons, especially a project such as the epidemiological AIDS survey which has such important social benefits.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1989
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Refining models of nuclear matter
Article Abstract:
Neutron stars are most likely held together by strong nuclear forces, or the same forces that maintain the integrity of the atomic nucleus. As such, the interior of a neutron star consists of quarks held together by gluons. Neutron stars may be a source of neutrinos and strange quarks, which are the products of the interaction of an up quark with a negative electron. This postulated process may form the basis of a new thermonuclear process that liberates energy cheaply. Other speculations on the processes inside a neutron star are rife, but the present data is still not sufficient to confirm them.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1993
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The next step in AIDS treatment
Article Abstract:
The effects of the results of an Anglo-French controlled trial in which it was shown that the drug Zidovudine (AZT) is not effective in retarding the development of AIDS are discussed. The negative opinions against the scientific establishment and the regulatory issue arising from the results of the study are presented. Some positive aspects of the findings are also presented, such as the improvement in the understanding of the behavior of the HIV virus from the outset of infection.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1993
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