Centre for International Health

The five factors and the sub-scales of the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) were correlated with assessments of 10 dimensions of management capability of managers (N= 160) taking part in personal profiling exercise. Ten consultants used the data from two in-depth interviews and a battery of personality and ability tests to rate each individual manager. A clear pattern emerged with conscientiousness and extraversion having strongest and most frequent correlations with the ratings and agreeableness least. The ...

Community home-based care (CHBC) plays an integral role in the care of HIV-infected patients living in resource-limited regions. A longitudinal cohort study has recently been conducted, in the Kilimanjaro Region of northern Tanzania, in order to identify the components of an effective CHBC programme. Structured questionnaires were administered to clients over two census rounds. In the second round, follow-up interviews were completed for 226 (87.9%) of the 257 clients included in the first round. The clients included in the first round had a median (range) age of 38 (20-66) years and 182 (75.2%) of them were female. Although only 27 (12.9%) of them were using antiretroviral therapy (ART) when first interviewed, 108 (44.6%) were taking trimethoprimsulfamethoxazole (SXT) prophylaxis. By the time of the follow-up interviews, 102 (45.1%) of the clients included in the first round had died, giving a mortality of 51/100 person-years of observation. The primary cause of death for 87 (85.3%) of the clients who had died was respiratory and/or gastro-intestinal infection, and the most common contributory causes of death were malnutrition (81.4%) and anaemia (42.2%). On bivariable analysis, the following first-round conditions were found to be significantly associated with death by the second census round: weakness for >1 month [odds ratio (OR)=2.64; P=0.008]; oral thrush (OR=2.31; P=0.015); painful swallowing (OR=2.02; P=0.036); staying in bed for part of the day over most of the previous month (OR=1.94; P=0.017); fever for >1 month (OR=1.95; P=0.016); and severe bacterial infections (OR=1.80; P=0.036). The high mortality was associated with advanced, symptomatic HIV disease for which antiretroviral therapy was indicated. Clients who were in the advanced stages of HIV disease (as defined by the World Health Organization's criteria) in the first census round were significantly more likely to have died by the time of the second round than the other clients investigated (log-rank χ 2 =8.115; P=0.044).

A total of 900 participants completed two personality tests (Revised NEO Personality Inventory; Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and reported their managerial level in their organization. Results showed that conscientiousness, extraversion and MBTI intuition were positively correlated with managerial level, and neuroticism, MBTI introversion and sensing were negatively correlated with managerial level. These findings attest to the utility of personality tests used within the occupational community, for selection and assessment of suitability for promotion to senior managerial roles.

Variable regions 1 and 2 (V1/V2) of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) gp120 envelope glycoprotein are critical for viral evasion of antibody neutralization, and are themselves protected by extraordinary sequence diversity and N-linked glycosylation. Human antibodies such as PG9 nonetheless engage V1/V2 and neutralize 80% of HIV-1 isolates. Here we report the structure of V1/V2 in complex with PG9. V1/V2 forms a four-stranded β-sheet domain, in which sequence diversity and glycosylation are largely segregated to strand-connecting loops. PG9 recognition involves electrostatic, sequence-independent and glycan interactions: the latter account for over half the interactive surface but are of sufficiently weak affinity to avoid autoreactivity. The structures of V1/V2-directed antibodies CH04 and PGT145 indicate that they share a common mode of glycan penetration by extended anionic loops. In addition to structurally defining V1/V2, the results thus identify a paradigm of antibody rec...

The relationships among trait emotional intelligence (EI), personality, IQ and sex were investigated in a sample of 585 employees (478 males, 107 females). Participants completed the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, the Bar-On Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) and the Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Personality Inventory Revised. Bivariate correlations revealed significant associations between overall EQ-i and Neuroticism (negative), Agreeableness, Extraversion, Openness and Conscientiousness (all positive). While there were no significant associations between overall EQ-i and sex or IQ, significant correlations were observed when EI components were considered. Male participants scored significantly higher on Adaptability and females scored significantly higher on the Interpersonal facet. Moreover, IQ correlated with the Interpersonal composite in the male' sample. Results are discussed in the context of trait EI structure and its implications for interpretation of sex and IQ effects.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of fluid intelligence (gf) with trait Openness and Conscientiousness. A total of 2658 participants completed the NEO PI-R [Costa Jr, P. T. & MCrae, R. (1985). Revised NEO Personality Inventory and Five-Factor Inventory Professional Manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources] and the GMA: Abstract test of cognitive ability . Graduate and Managerial Assessment Manual and User Guide. Dorchester: Dorset Press]. Correlational analysis showed that only the Ideas and Actions sub-facets of Openness were positively correlated with gf. Order, Self-Discipline and Deliberation sub-facets of Conscientiousness were negatively correlated with gf. Regressions showed that the subfactors of each of the traits accounted for 5% of the total variance in gf. These findings are discussed in an attempt to explain how the relationship between Openness, Conscientiousness and gf may have developed. D

Background-The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the use of clinical staging alone and with total lymphocyte count to identify HIV infected children in need of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in resource-limited settings, when CD4 cell count is not available.

Background: Q fever is a common cause of febrile illness and community-acquired pneumonia in resource-limited settings. Coxiella burnetii, the causative pathogen, is transmitted among varied host species, but the epidemiology of the organism in Africa is poorly understood. We conducted a systematic review of C. burnetii epidemiology in Africa from a ''One Health'' perspective to synthesize the published data and identify knowledge gaps.

Background: Monogamy, together with abstinence, partner reduction, and condom use, is widely advocated as a key behavioral strategy to prevent HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa. We examined the association between the number of sexual partners and the risk of HIV seropositivity among men and women presenting for HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) in northern Tanzania.