Impact of HIV Testing and Counseling (HTC) Knowledge on HIV Prevention Practices Among Traditional Birth Attendants in Nigeria

Nigeria is second in the world for the number of people with HIV and has a high rate of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT). Over 60% of births in Nigeria occur outside of health care facilities, and because of this, Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) play a significant role in maternal and child health. It is important that TBAs be knowledgeable about HIV prevention. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of HIV testing and counseling (HTC) knowledge on the HIV prevention practices among TBAs in Nigeria. Five hundred TBAs were surveyed. Chi-square and logistic regression were used to assess differences in HIV prevention practices between TBAs with and without HTC knowledge. TBAs with HTC knowledge are significantly more likely to engage in HIV prevention practices than TBAs without HTC. Prevention practices included: wearing gloves during delivery (p \u3c 0.01), sterilization of delivery equipment (p \u3c 0.01), participation in blood safety training (p \u3c 0.01), and disposal of sharps (p \u3c 0.01). As long as a high percent of births occur outside health care facilities in Nigeria, there will be a need for TBAs. Providing TBAs with HTC training increases HIV prevention practices and can be a key to improve maternal and child health

Accessibility evaluation of chats and forums in e-learning environments

Proceedings of: 2013 International Conference on Frontiers in Education: Computer Science & Computer Engineering (FECS'13): WORLDCOMP'13, July 22-25, 2013, Las Vegas, Nevada (USA)Collaborative learning is useful for students in their learning process. Nowadays, most e-learning systems include Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) tools like chats and forums; however, are they accessible for everybody? This paper presents a heuristic evaluation of accessibility of two CSCL tools (chat and forum) in four web-based, open-source Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS): Moodle, ATutor, dotLRN and Claroline. The evaluation results show that the CSCL tools evaluated present accessibility barriers which are a handicap for many students who want to use the LCMSs Moreover, some recommendations are offered in order to improve the accessibility of the evaluated tools. Considering these recommendations in the development of the evaluated tools, all students could participate actively in the collaborative tasks proposed by teachersThis research work has been supported by the Regional Government of Madrid under the Research Network MA2VICMR (S2009/TIC-1542) and by the Spanish Ministry of Economy under the project MULTIMEDICA (TIN2010-20644-C03-01)Publicad

On the Impact of Partial Shading on PV Output Power

It is a well-documented fact that partial shading of a photovoltaic array reduces it output power capability. However, the relative amount of such degradation in energy production cannot be determined in a straight forward manner, as it is often not proportional to the shaded area. This paper clarifies the mechanism of partial PV shading on a number of PV cells connected in series and/or parallel with and without bypass diodes. The analysis is presented in simple terms and can be useful to someone who wishes to determine the impact of some shading geometry on a PV system. The analysis is illustrated by measurements on a commercial 70 W panel, and a 14.4 kW PV array

University of San Diego Baseball Media Guide 2009

72 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 21.5 x 28 cmhttps://digital.sandiego.edu/amg-baseball/1025/thumbnail.jp

President Barack Obama Responds to Gun Violence: A Rhetoric of Transformation.

Over the course of his presidency Barack Obama responded to 15 incidents of gun violence. Moments of tragedy serve as one of the greatest tests of presidential leadership as they require the chief executive to articulate a definition of tragedy that enables citizens both to understand and to work through the experience. It is through the act of definition that presidents increase their rhetorical power, thereby allowing them to advocate or advance specific policy proposals. This thesis examines seven of President Obama’s memorial speeches: Fort Hood, TX (2009); Tucson, AZ (2011); Newtown, CT (2012); Washington, D.C. Navy Yard (2013); Fort Hood, TX (2014); Charleston, SC (2015); and Orlando, FL (2016). Faced with a divided government and an increasingly polarized political scene, President Obama turned toward the American people to resolve the issue of gun violence. A close reading of the texts reveals that he constructed a rhetoric of transformation which aimed to transform the audience from passive spectators of tragedy to agents of change. President Obama sought to initiate his audiences’ transformation through the use of agency, identification, Scripture, and grace, framing tragedies generally and gun violence more specifically as events amenable to collective action

Selling civil defense: The politics and commerce of preparedness, 1950--1963

This thesis, by examining how business, government, and civic leaders promoted civil defense, shows how a policy of self-help merged the roles of citizen and consumer and how family-centered preparedness equated the survival of the nuclear family with the victory of the US in the Cold War. Civil defense officials helped reinforce messages about gender roles by stressing the value of nuclear families and the crucial role each family member played in the defense of America. Public information campaigns emphasized the importance of free enterprise and privatization by endorsing a policy of self-help for American families whereby individual families were responsible for the purchase of their own means of survival. This thesis will help us better understand the early years of the Cold War by showing how consumption became entwined with civic duty through the efforts of civil defense officials. These efforts created an image of civil defense that centered on a model citizen in the marketplace purchasing the products needed to guarantee his and his family\u27s own survival

Tensile deformation, corrosion and crack-growth characterization of a nickel-base alloy

Austenitic Alloy C-22 exhibited reduced failure strain (ef) and serrations under tensile loading within susceptible temperature regimes, indicating the occurrence of dynamic-strain-aging (DSA) phenomenon. A maximum dislocation density was observed at 600°C at which the lowest ef was noted. An average activation energy of 46 kJ/mole was liable for diffusion of solute elements, causing serrations. A maximum work hardening was observed at the slowest strain rate. A slope of 4.0 was determined from crack-growth testing, satisfying the Paris law. A combination of elevated temperature and acidic pH resulted in enhanced cracking tendency. More noble (positive) applied potential led to greater susceptibility to cracking in the acidic solution. The critical potentials became more active (negative) at higher temperatures. The increased wedge-loads caused greater cracking tendency of double-cantilever-beam (DCB) specimens. C-ring and U-bend specimens did not show any cracking in an acidic solution. The cylindrical specimens, used in tensile and environmental-cracking studies, showed ductile failures