Objectives Our aim was to explore readiness to engage in exercise among people living with HIV and multimorbidity. Design We conducted a descriptive qualitative study using face-to-face semistructured interviews with adults living with HIV. Setting We recruited adults (18 years or older) who self-identified as living with HIV and 2 or more additional health-related conditions from a specialty hospital in Toronto, Canada. Participants 14 participants with a median age of 50 years and median number of 9 concurrent health-related conditions participated in the study. The majority of participants were men (64%) with an undetectable viral load (71%). Outcome measures We asked participants to describe their readiness to engage in exercise and explored how contextual factors influenced their readiness. We analysed interview transcripts using thematic analysis. Results We developed a framework to describe readiness to engage in exercise and the interplay of factors and their influence on readiness among adults with HIV and multimorbidity. Readiness was described as a diverse, dynamic and fluctuating spectrum ranging from not thinking about exercise to routinely engaging in daily exercise. Readiness was influenced by the complex and episodic nature of HIV and multimorbidity comprised of physical impairments, mental health challenges and uncertainty from HIV and concurrent health conditions. This key factor created a context within which 4 additional subfactors (social supports, perceptions and beliefs, past experience with exercise, and accessibility) may further hinder or facilitate an individual's position along the spectrum of readiness to exercise. Conclusions Readiness to engage in exercise among people living with HIV is a dynamic and fluctuating construct that may be influenced by the episodic nature of HIV and multimorbidity and 4 subfactors. Strategies to facilitate readiness to exercise should consider the interplay of these factors in order to enhance physical activity and subsequently improve health outcomes of people with HIV and multimorbidity.

Testing via home-sampling kits ordered online (dry-blood-spot testing) was felt to be an acceptable and convenient method for accessing a HIV test. Many individuals undertook HIV testing where they would otherwise not have been tested at all. Expansion of similar services may increase the uptake of HIV testing.

Coulomb blockade ͑CB͒ was observed in Al/aluminum oxide/Ni nanowire single-junction arrays fabricated by electrochemical deposition of Ni into porous aluminum oxide nanotemplates. The bias dependence of the tunneling current and the temperature dependence of the zero-bias anomalies observed in the tunneling spectra are shown to accord well with the theory of Nazarov for CB in systems where the leads play a significant role. Direct scanning tunneling microscopy measurements of the nanowire leads resistance confirms it to be the regime required by the theory. ͓S0163-1829͑98͒02521-1͔

Background/Aims: Many people living with HIV do not engage in regular physical activity and it is unclear how perceptions of physical activity and exercise influence participation. Our aim was to explore individual perceptions of physical activity and exercise in people living with HIV. Methods: We conducted a descriptive qualitative study using face-to-face semi-structured interviews. We recruited adults who self-identified as living with HIV from a speciality hospital in Toronto, Canada. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings: A total of 14 participants with a median age of 50 years participated in the study. Four themes (and subsequent sub-themes) emerged relating to physical activity and exercise. These included: (1) perceptions of physical activity and exercise (seeing them as a continuum of activity, as a health-promoting behaviour, and that they ‘should’ be a greater priority); (2) benefits (restores physical function, improves mental health, and prevents isolation); (3) risks (physical injury, pain, and fear of ‘overdoing it’); and (4) recommendations for engagement (education, graded activity, and an individualised approach). Conclusions: Findings suggest health care professionals should consider exploring perceptions of physical activity and exercise among people living with HIV to ensure physical activity interventions are individualised to meet their diverse health and wellbeing needs.

We propose a new concept of binary superimposed gratings (BSG's) as multiwavelength grating reflectors and show it as an effective structural improvement over the existing designs, to both the fabrication process and device performance. We also present a study of key design issues for widely tunable lasers based on grating mirrors with a comb-like reflection spectrum and summarize simple design rules for the grating part of the laser, based on analytical and numerical analysis. The binary supergrating consists of elements of equal size whose refractive index is allowed to be one of two possible values, which are sequenced according to a binary optics formalism to effect a spatial superposition of multiple sets of single-frequency gratings, and its implementation is well within the standard ebeam lithography limits. The calculations of lasing frequency, mode, and side-mode suppression ratio of the tunable laser are formulated and presented along with numerical examples.