scholarly journals Improving the impact of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis implementation in small urban centers among men who have sex with men: An agent-based modelling study

PLoS ONE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. e0199915 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason R. Gantenberg ◽  
Maximilian King ◽  
Madeline C. Montgomery ◽  
Omar Galárraga ◽  
Mattia Prosperi ◽  
...  
PLoS ONE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. e0226218
Author(s):  
Jason R. Gantenberg ◽  
Maximilian King ◽  
Madeline C. Montgomery ◽  
Omar Galárraga ◽  
Mattia Prosperi ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Marshall

Agent-based modelling provides a mechanism by which complex social phenomena can simulated in order to identify how particular features arise from causes such as demographics, human preferences and their interaction with policy settings. The NetLogo environment has been used to implement a simulation of the New Zealand higher education system, using historical data to calibrate model settings to mirror those of the real-world system. This simulation is used to explore how the introduction of an alternative qualification and education paradigm might disrupt established patterns of education and employment.


Organizacija ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 255-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Halaška ◽  
Roman Šperka

AbstractBackground and Purpose: Agent-based modelling and simulation (ABS) is growing in many areas like, e.g., management, social and computer sciences. However, the similar trend does not seem to occur within the field of business process management (BPM), even though simulation approaches like discrete event simulation or system dynamics are well established and widely used. Thus, in our paper we investigate the advantages and disadvantages of agent-based modelling and simulation in the field of BPM in simulation experiments.Design/Methodology/Approach: In our research, we investigate if there is a necessity for ABS in the field of BPM with our own simulation experiments to compare traditional and ABS models. For this purpose, we use simulation framework MAREA, which is a simulation environment with integrated ERP system. Our model is a complex system of a trading company selling computer cables. For the verification of our model, we use automated process discovery techniques.Results: In our simulations, we investigated the impact of changes in resources’ behavior on the outcome of company’s order to cash process (O2C). Simulations experiments demonstrated that even small changes might have statistically significant effect on outcomes of the processes and decisions based on such outcomes. Simulation experiments also demonstrated that the impact of randomly distributed fluctuations of well-being have a diminishing tendency with the increasing number of sales representatives involved in the process.Conclusions: Our research revealed several advantages and disadvantages of using ABS in business process modelling. However, as we show, many of them were at least partially addressed in the recent years. Thus, we believe that ABS will get more attention in the field of BPM similarly to other fields like, e.g., social sciences. We suggested areas in BPM simulations, e.g., modelling of resources, be it human or technological resources, where there is a need for ABS.


Author(s):  
Richard A. Elion ◽  
Mina Kabiri ◽  
Kenneth H. Mayer ◽  
David A. Wohl ◽  
Joshua Cohen ◽  
...  

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) effectively reduces human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission. We aimed to estimate the impact of different PrEP prioritization strategies among Black and Latino men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States, populations most disproportionately affected by HIV. We developed an agent-based simulation to model the HIV epidemic among MSM. Individuals were assigned an HIV incidence risk index (HIRI-MSM) based on their sexual behavior. Prioritization strategies included PrEP use for individuals with HIRI-MSM ≥10 among all MSM, all Black MSM, young (≤25 years) Black MSM, Latino MSM, and young Latino MSM. We estimated the number needed to treat (NNT) to prevent one HIV infection, reductions in prevalence and incidence, and subsequent infections in non-PrEP users avoided under these strategies over 5 years (2016–2020). Young Black MSM eligible for PrEP had the lowest NNT (NNT = 10) followed by all Black MSM (NNT = 33) and young Latino MSM (NNT = 35). All Latino MSM and all MSM had NNT values of 63 and 70, respectively. Secondary infection reduction with PrEP was the highest among young Latino MSM (53.2%) followed by young Black MSM (37.8%). Targeting all MSM had the greatest reduction in prevalence (14.7% versus 2.9%–3.9% in other strategies) and incidence (49.4% versus 9.4%–13.9% in other groups). Using data representative of the United States MSM population, we found that a strategy of universal PrEP use by MSM was most effective in reducing HIV prevalence and incidence of MSM. Targeted use of PrEP by Black and Latino MSM, however, especially those ≤25 years, had the greatest impact on HIV prevention.


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. e036231
Author(s):  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Xiaojie Huang ◽  
Yaokai Chen ◽  
Hui Wang ◽  
Yonghui Zhang ◽  
...  

IntroductionPre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) reduces the risk of HIV infection among men who have sex with men by up to 99%. However, in real-world settings, PrEP users may exhibit risk compensation after uptake of PrEP, including more condomless anal intercourse (CAI) and increased sexually transmitted infection (STI) acquisition. HIV self-testing (HIVST) decreases CAI among men who have sex with men (MSM) by providing awareness of the HIV status of oneself and one’s sexual partners. Here, we describe the rationale and design of a randomised waitlist-controlled trial to examine the impact of HIVST on risk compensation among PrEP users.Methods and analysisThe study is a two-arm randomised waitlist-controlled trial with 1000 HIV-negative MSM in four major cities in China who will be taking oral PrEP (involving tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine) either daily (n=500) or in an event-driven regimen (n=500). The participants will be randomised (1:1) to either the immediate HIVST intervention arm (HIVST plus standard facility-based counselling and testing from 0 to 12 months) or the waitlist arm (standard facility-based counselling and testing from 0 to 6 months, then crossover to receive the HIVST intervention in months 7–12). Participants will provide blood samples to assess the incidence of syphilis and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) during a follow-up. The primary outcomes will be the occurrence of CAI, number of sexual partners and incidence of syphilis and HSV-2 during a follow-up. The secondary outcomes will be the HIV and STI testing frequency and STI treatment adherence during a follow-up. The planned start and end dates for the study is 26 December 2018 and 31 December 2020.Ethics and disseminationThe Medical Science Research Ethics Committee of The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University has approved the study (IRB(2018)273).Trial registration numberChiCTR1800020374


Complexity ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Deissenroth ◽  
Martin Klein ◽  
Kristina Nienhaus ◽  
Matthias Reeg

The ongoing deployment of renewable energy sources (RES) calls for an enhanced integration of RES into energy markets, accompanied by a new set of regulations. In Germany, for instance, the feed-in tariff legislation for renewables has been successively replaced by first optional and then obligatory marketing of RES on competitive wholesale markets. This paper introduces an agent-based model that allows studying the impact of changing energy policy instruments on the economic performance of RES operators and marketers. The model structure, its components, and linkages are presented in detail; an additional case study demonstrates the capability of our sociotechnical model. We find that changes in the political framework cannot be mapped directly to RES operators as behaviour of intermediary market actors has to be considered as well. Characteristics and strategies of intermediaries are thus an important factor for successful RES marketing and further deployment. It is shown that the model is able to assess the emergence and stability of market niches.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amirkiarash Kiani

The goal of this research was to investigate the possibility of using Agent-based Modelling, a novel approach in computerized simulation, to assess the effects of staff ratio on recovery time and to develop an empirical research plan based on an inpatient unit. By creating a virtual unit, the researcher was able to develop an adjustable model to test several scenarios based on empirical evidence; to comprehend the impact of changes to staff ratio and patient acuity on nurses’ workload and quality of care to patients. This investigation found that acuity indices of patients have no significant effect on available recovery time or the number of unperformed activities. On the contrary, nurse/patient ratio has substantial effects on both available recovery time and the number of unperformed activities; which asserts the significant effect of insufficient nurse staffing on the well-being of nurses as well as quality of care to patients.


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