Efficacy of a group-based multimedia HIV prevention intervention for drug-involved women under community supervision: project WORTH.

IMPORTANCE: This study is designed to address the need for evidence-based HIV/STI prevention approaches for drug-involved women under criminal justice community supervision. OBJECTIVE: We tested the efficacy of a group-based traditional and multimedia HIV/STI prevention intervention (Project WORTH: Women on the Road to Health) among drug-involved women under community supervision. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, AND INTERVENTION: We randomized 306 women recruited from community supervision settings to receive either: (1) a four-session traditional group-based HIV/STI prevention intervention (traditional WORTH); (2) a four-session multimedia group-based HIV/STI prevention intervention that covered the same content as traditional WORTH but was delivered in a computerized format; or (3) a four-session group-based Wellness Promotion intervention that served as an attention control condition. The study examined whether the traditional or multimedia WORTH intervention was more efficacious in reducing risks when compared to Wellness Promotion; and whether multimedia WORTH was more efficacious in reducing risks when compared to traditional WORTH. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Primary outcomes were assessed over the 12-month post-intervention period and included the number of unprotected sex acts, the proportion of protected sex acts, and consistent condom use. At baseline, 77% of participants reported unprotected vaginal or anal sex (n = 237) and 63% (n = 194) had multiple sex partners. RESULTS: Women assigned to traditional or multimedia WORTH were significantly more likely than women assigned to the control condition to report an increase in the proportion of protected sex acts (ß = 0.10; 95% CI = 0.02-0.18) and a decrease in the number of unprotected sex acts (IRR = 0.72; 95% CI = 0.57-0.90). CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE: The promising effects of traditional and multimedia WORTH on increasing condom use and high participation rates suggest that WORTH may be scaled up to redress the concentrated epidemics of HIV/STIs among drug-involved women in the criminal justice system. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01784809.

Novel oxysterols activate the Hedgehog pathway and induce osteogenesis.

Localized induction of bone formation is essential during orthopedic procedures that involve skeletal repair, such as surgical treatment of non-union bone fractures and degenerative disk disease. Herein we disclose the synthesis and biological evaluation of novel oxysterol derivatives designed as anabolic bone growth agents. Structure-activity relationship studies of oxysterol 4 have identified analogues such as 18, 21 and 30. These new analogues are characterized by higher potency in an osteoblast differentiation assay and/or by increased metabolic stability in human liver microsomes. Oxysterols 4, 18 and 21 were evaluated in vivo in a rat spinal fusion model.

Novel ketooxazole based inhibitors of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH).

Efforts to improve the properties of the well studied ketooxazole FAAH inhibitor OL-135 resulted in the discovery of a novel propylpiperidine series of FAAH inhibitors that has a modular design and superior properties to OL-135. The efficacy of one of these compounds was demonstrated in a rat spinal nerve ligation model of neuropathic pain in rats.