Intervention strategies suggested by the Nigerian segment of the SAREC program on sexual networking, STDs and AIDS

The primary purpose of this paper is to survey the behavioural findings of the Nigerian program and to draw conclusions about the most needed interventions, and those most likely to be successful, in combating sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. The emphasis is on the reduction of transmission of these diseases, partly because the number of Nigerian AIDS cases is as yet much smaller than was feared when the research program began. The Nigerian program began in 1989. It has always had two components. The first is a field research program, largely but not entirely focused on Ondo State; it was originally based in the Faculty of Social Science, Ondo State University, Ado-Ekiti, and has since been transferred to the University's Centre for Population and Health Research. Parallel to this work, there had been developed a research program initiated by the West African Research Group on Sexual Networking (WARGSN). This Group has comprised 20 researchers based in 15 institutions, mostly in Nigeria and Ghana. Finally, the paper refers briefly to experience reported by the SAREC programs in Ghana and Uganda which have as yet no parallel in Nigeria, but which are important for a comprehensive examination of the situation

Men's sexual behaviour in urban and rural Southwest Nigeria: its cultural, social and attitudinal context

Not supplie

The cultural, social and attitudinal context of male sexual behaviour in urban south-west Nigeria

From 1989 onward a research program based at Ondo State University, Nigeria, investigated the social and behavioural context of the sexually transmitted disease and AIDS epidemics (Orubuloye et al. 1994). Between 1989 and 1993 the researchers reached the conclusion that premarital and extramarital sexual activities were on a sufficient scale in Ondo State to maintain an STD epidemic and possibly to maintain an AIDS epidemic. The reason for caution with regard to AIDS arose from an awareness of the current relatively low seroprevalence levels in Nigeria and the demonstration by the program that much of the premarital and extramarital sexual activity was not with prostitutes but diffused more widely. The researchers also concluded that the economic returns to young women from commercial sex were so substantial and the current and later social sanctions so weak that no government intervention was likely to reduce the inflow of recruits to the occupation sufficiently to stem the STD epidemic or reduce the risk of a major AIDS epidemic. Clearly something would be achieved by a program aimed at increasing the practice of safe sex, especially the use of condoms, by everyone participating in sexual networking, particularly prostitution. There was little evidence that specific planned intervention was already achieving much, although some evidence that government and media AIDS publicity was raising the level of condom use in prostitution. There also seemed to be a need for STD education and curative interventions on a much greater scale. Nevertheless, until the achievement of decisive biomedical breakthroughs to halt the AIDS epidemic, the research increasingly suggested that the best chance of halting the AIDS epidemic and mitigating the impact of STDs was a change in male sexual behaviour

Las Vegas Commercial Contractors\u27 Mitigation Techniques for Inflationary Impacts

Recent rises in inflation have impacted global business. The construction industry in particular has experienced a decrease in already slim margins due to a plethora of factors. Employers have had difficulty affording increased labor rates to accommodate higher costs of living, ultimately leading to a labor shortage in many areas. Supply chain issues are a product of this labor shortage, but also a myriad of other inflation related issues like the price of gas and global trade agreements. This has led to dramatically increased lead times and has posed major supply chain management issues for project management teams. Construction professionals, whether they are general or subcontractors, must address these issues if their company is to remain profitable. In this study, three commercial general contractors and three commercial subcontractors from Las Vegas have been interviewed to examine how their target markets have been impacted by inflation and their implemented techniques to mitigate those challenges. Each interview was conducted in semi-structured fashion with each question addressed throughout the session. The results (degree of depth in technique) from each interview demonstrate an overall objective success as each company has maintained profitable margins and balanced employee retainment

A note on suspect practices during the AIDS epidemic: vaginal drying and scarification in southwest Nigeria

Vaginal drying and scarification have been reported as possible risk factors. Published research on the former has been confined to East and Middle Africa. This paper reports on research in West Africa employing a survey of 1,976 females in southwest Nigeria, where they reported on their own vaginal drying, the scarification of their sons, and their participation in blood oaths. It was concluded that vaginal drying is not a risk-factor for AIDS in southwest Nigeria, and probably more broadly in West Africa, that scarification may be in the few cases when group scarification is practised, and that the practice of blood oaths probably puts those involved in danger

Identification of photons in double beta-decay experiments using segmented germanium detectors - studies with a GERDA Phase II prototype detector

The sensitivity of experiments searching for neutrinoless double beta-decay of germanium was so far limited by the background induced by external gamma-radiation. Segmented germanium detectors can be used to identify photons and thus reduce this background component. The GERmanium Detector Array, GERDA, will use highly segmented germanium detectors in its second phase. The identification of photonic events is investigated using a prototype detector. The results are compared with Monte Carlo data.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, to be submitted to NIM-

Cosmology with velocity dispersion counts: an alternative to measuring cluster halo masses

The evolution of galaxy cluster counts is a powerful probe of several fundamental cosmological parameters. A number of recent studies using this probe have claimed tension with the cosmology preferred by the analysis of the Planck primary CMB data, in the sense that there are fewer clusters observed than predicted based on the primary CMB cosmology. One possible resolution to this problem is systematic errors in the absolute halo mass calibration in cluster studies, which is required to convert the standard theoretical prediction (the halo mass function) into counts as a function of the observable (e.g., X-ray luminosity, Sunyaev-Zel'dovich flux, optical richness). Here we propose an alternative strategy, which is to directly compare predicted and observed cluster counts as a function of the one-dimensional velocity dispersion of the cluster galaxies. We argue that the velocity dispersion of groups/clusters can be theoretically predicted as robustly as mass but, unlike mass, it can also be directly observed, thus circumventing the main systematic bias in traditional cluster counts studies. With the aid of the BAHAMAS suite of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, we demonstrate the potential of the velocity dispersion counts for discriminating even similar $\Lambda$CDM models. These predictions can be compared with the results from existing redshift surveys such as the highly-complete Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey, and upcoming wide-field spectroscopic surveys such as the Wide Area Vista Extragalactic Survey (WAVES) and the Dark Energy Survey Instrument (DESI).Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. New section on cosmological forecasts adde

Pulse shape simulation for segmented true-coaxial HPGe detectors

A new package to simulate the formation of electrical pulses in segmented true-coaxial high purity germanium detectors is presented. The computation of the electric field and weighting potentials inside the detector as well as of the trajectories of the charge carriers is described. In addition, the treatment of bandwidth limitations and noise are discussed. Comparison of simulated to measured pulses, obtained from an 18-fold segmented detector operated inside a cryogenic test facility, are presented.Comment: 20 pages, 16 figure