Criminal Prosecution and HIV-related Risky Behavior

We evaluate the consequences of prosecuting HIV+ people who expose others to the risk of infection. We show that the effect of aggressive prosecutions on the spread of HIV is a priori ambiguous. Aggressive prosecutions tax risky behavior and thus deter unsafe sex and limit the number of sexual partners. However, such penalties might also create unique incentives for having sex with more promiscuous partners such as prostitutes and consequently increase the spread of HIV. We test these predictions using unique nationally representative data on the sexual activity and prosecutions of HIV+ persons. We find that more aggressive prosecutions are associated with a reduction in the number of sexual partners and increased likelihood of safe sex. However, they are also associated with increased likelihood of having sex with prostitutes and not disclosing HIV+ status. Overall, our estimates imply that doubling the prosecution rate could decrease the number of new HIV infections by 12% over a ten-year period.

Moderation and Mediation of an Effective HIV Risk-Reduction Intervention for South African Adolescents

Let Us Protect Our Future is a sexual risk-reduction intervention for sixth-grade adolescents in South Africa. Tested in a cluster-randomized controlled trial, the intervention significantly reduced self-reported intercourse and unprotected intercourse during a 12-month follow-up period. The present analyses were conducted to identify moderators of the intervention\u27s efficacy as well as, which theory-based variables mediated the intervention\u27s effects. Intervention efficacy over the 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up was tested using generalized estimating equation models. Living with their father in the home, parental strictness, and religiosity moderated the efficacy of the intervention in reducing unprotected intercourse. Self-efficacy to avoid risky situations and expected parental disapproval of their having intercourse, derived from Social Cognitive Theory, significantly mediated the intervention\u27s effect on abstinence. This is the first study to demonstrate that Social Cognitive variables mediate the efficacy of a sexual risk-reduction intervention among South African adolescents. --author-supplied descriptio

Evolutionary analysis of the firm and internal selection

Evolutionary approaches of the firm devote a part of their analysis to firm behavior and to some processes acting inside the firm , however the internal workings of firms are, most of the time, not deeply analyzed. In this perspective, this paper attemps to investigate whether &quotwe can drop internal selection in the evolutionary analysis of the firm". In ordre to answer this question, we propose a micro-simulation model of internal selection where firms are engaged in production and R&D activities. They carry out two kinds of R&D and do not run any imitation process. Internal selection acts on R&D projects and we measure the impact of the selection mechanism on the firm's performances. The model generates persistent differences between firms according to their internal selection process.Innovation, internal selection, market dynamics, R&D, technological performance.

Premarital sexual behaviour among unmarried college students of Gujarat, India

The aim of this report is to explore experiences of sexual relations and factors (including, for example, those at the individual, parental, peer, and college levels) associated with premarital sex, safe and otherwise, among college-going male and female students in Gujarat, India. Findings suggest that awareness of sexual and reproductive matters was relatively limited, attitudes to premarital sex typically gendered, and fewer than half of all students had been exposed to sexuality education in school or college. Romantic partnerships and physical intimacy were reported by considerable proportions of male and female students; premarital sex among notable minorities; and unsafe sex, and even the experience of abortion characterized many sexual relationships among young students. In this context, it is critical that policies and programs for students work toward ensuring that in forming partnerships, youth are fully informed and equipped to make safe choices. These findings suggest at least four areas for intervention that are outlined in the report

Public Health Rep

Analyses of a nationally representative survey of 1,880 15- to 19-year-old men were conducted to examine factors associated with (a) the age when first sexual intercourse occurred and (b) whether a condom or other contraceptive method was used at first intercourse. Discrete time-event history models assessed factors influencing their age until first intercourse. Black males began sexual activity significantly earlier than white or Hispanic males. Males who had been held back in school also began sexual activity earlier. If a respondent's mother had been a teenager when she first gave birth, or if his mother was employed during his childhood, he was more likely to initiate intercourse early. A variety of combinations of AIDS and sex education topics were examined for their association with one's age at the time of first intercourse: two topics were associated with earlier intercourse, and one was associated with delays in first intercourse. Logistic regression models examined correlates of using a condom or any effective male or female method of contraception at first intercourse: having received education about birth control was marginally associated with increased probability of using a condom or any effective male or female contraceptive method at first intercourse. These findings indicate the relevance of integrated approaches to school-based sex and AIDS education in delaying intercourse and promoting use of contraceptive methods.1RO1 HD23172/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/United States8265752PMCnul

The Relationship Between Parental and Adolescent Religiosity Factors and Adolescent Sexual Risk-Taking Among Older Adolescents in the Anglophone/Latin Caribbean

Problem: Sexually active youth across the Anglophone/Latin Caribbean have been identified as among the most-at-risk for HIV infection. Studies conducted in the United States have identified parental and religiosity factors associated with adolescent sexual risk-taking, but these relationships remain largely unexplored in the Caribbean region. Method: This cross-sectional study, based on survey data generated by the Seventh-day Adventist Caribbean Youth Survey, investigated the relationship between parental and adolescent religiosity factors and sexual at-risk behaviors reported by adolescents ages 16-18 years attending Seventh-day Adventist Church-operated secondary schools across the region. Pearson correlations and multiple regression analyses were used to assess the significance and strength of these factors as predictors of adolescent sexual risk-taking, alone and together as a set of predictors. Predetermined criteria for statistical significance and explanatory power were used to evaluate the usefulness of each predictor in prediction model-building for specific sexual at-risk behaviors. Results: Five predictors achieved statistical significance in relation to one or more sexual at-risk behaviors and met established levels of predictive strength required for inclusion in a prediction model. Parental monitoring was the most consistent overall predictor of adolescent sexual risk-taking, and parental disapproval of adolescent sex the strongest, contributing 22% to explained variance in a prediction model for recent sexualpartnering. The increased presence of all these predictors was consistently related to reduced levels of sexual risk-taking. The other five predictors investigated did not demonstrate sufficient explanatory power to be considered useful as model components. The prediction model for number of sexual partners in the last three months, comprised of parental disapproval of adolescent sex, parental monitoring, and importance ascribed to religion, was the strongest, explaining 39% of the variance. The prediction model for sexual experience, comprised of parental disapproval of adolescent sex,parental monitoring, and SDA Church affiliation, explained 25% of the variance. The model for predicting lifetime number of sexual partners, explaining 17% of the variance, included parental disapproval of adolescent sex,parental monitoring, and father connectedness. The prediction model for timing of sexual debut explained 6% of the variance and was comprised of father connectedness and parental monitoring. Conclusions: Study findings are consistent with conclusions of other researchers that parental and adolescent religiosity factors are important predictors of adolescent sexual risk-taking in the Caribbean region. The prediction models developed here provide focus for efforts toward better protecting youth from life-altering consequences associated with adolescent sexual risk-taking. The predominance of parental monitoring and parental disapproval of adolescent sex as significant predictors across the spectrum of sexual at-risk behaviors suggests that appropriate behavioral control and the conveyance of life-affirming sexual values constitute essential parental skills. Study findings also draw attention to the importance of father connectedness, even as the region moves toward more positive engagement of fathers with their children. The unique contributions of both SDA Church affiliation and importance ascribed to religion suggest value in further investigation into the relationship between adolescent religiosity and sexual risk-taking. Culturally sensitive programs and resources are needed to equip parents as primary agents in the sexualsocialization of youth. Such programs should concentrate on enhancing father connectedness and developing skills for effective monitoring, communication of life-affirming sexual values, and the spiritual nurture of adolescents. Longitudinal studies to determine causality, studies utilizing more sophisticated measures to further test the relationship between adolescent religiosity and sexual at-risk behavior, and studies exploring the etiology of adolescent condom use constitute priorities for future research

The control of state regional aids by the European competition policy and its effects on economic and social cohesion

The economic activity of the countries which make up the European Union (EU) is being profoundly affected by the advance in the process of integration. The consolidation of the Single European Market (SEM) and the process of transition towards Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) are two elements which affect the economic evolution of all of teh countries and regions of the EU. The impact of this greater economic integration is expected to be reflected with different intensity in each of them, according to their own economic structures and their capacity of adaptation to the necessary convergence. The effect of this process on the development of the regions, in itself already unequal, has caused growing concern about the reinforcement of economic and social cohesion within the EU, as was reflected in the Treaty of the European Union. In this way, the steps taken towards a growing integration are complemented by a greater development of structural policies. The reinforcement of these policies, and in particular of regional policy, confers special importance to the analysis of its instruments, above all, to that of the programs for regional economic incentives. Economic incentive programs constitute one of the most widely used tools of regional policy among the member nations of the EU. Given the fact that this assistance is aimed at companies, it is subject to meet Community regulations on competition and, at the same time, as a measure for regional development, play a role in the attainment of economic and social cohesion. In this paper the most important aspects of this last component will be analyzed in terms of regional assistance in order to then proceed to the study of its effects on the correction of interregional inequality.

A Backward Analysis for Constraint Logic Programs

One recurring problem in program development is that of understanding how to re-use code developed by a third party. In the context of (constraint) logic programming, part of this problem reduces to figuring out how to query a program. If the logic program does not come with any documentation, then the programmer is forced to either experiment with queries in an ad hoc fashion or trace the control-flow of the program (backward) to infer the modes in which a predicate must be called so as to avoid an instantiation error. This paper presents an abstract interpretation scheme that automates the latter technique. The analysis presented in this paper can infer moding properties which if satisfied by the initial query, come with the guarantee that the program and query can never generate any moding or instantiation errors. Other applications of the analysis are discussed. The paper explains how abstract domains with certain computational properties (they condense) can be used to trace control-flow backward (right-to-left) to infer useful properties of initial queries. A correctness argument is presented and an implementation is reported.Comment: 32 page