Army women's reasons for not using condoms in relationships

Purpose: The purpose of this secondary analysis was two-fold: 1) to examine condom use practices among military women; and 2) to compare their reasons for condom use and disuse based on relationship status. Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are at pandemic proportions globally. Women are disproportionately affected both in incidence of STIs and in developing complications from these infections. Military women are a special sub-population of women in relation to STIs. The incidence of STIs is four times higher in military populations than civilian populations. Little is known about military women’s use of condoms, which could protect them from contracting STIs. Subjects: Army women (N=131) from military posts around the country participated in this study. They ranged in age from 18-68 years (M = 29.5, SD = 14.4). The sample was of mixed ethnicity (Caucasian 52.5%). The average age of vaginal sexual debut was 17 years (SD = 2.5) with an average lifetime number of vaginal sexual partners of 9 (SD = 8.8). Women were divided into two subgroups. The first consisted of women who were either married or in an ongoing relationship (n=97) and the second group was either single or divorced (n=30). The average number of sexual partners in the past year from married/ongoing relationship women was 1.43 (SD=1.6) and 2.3 (SD = 2.3) for single/divorced women. Methods: After IRB approval, questionnaires were distributed to Army posts around the country. Women returned the questionnaires directly to the PI of the primary study. No identifying information was taken on the questionnaires. Participants completed a series of open-and closed-ended questions regarding condom use practices and reasons for condom use and disuse. Closed-ended questions were analyzed with descriptive statistics and open-ended responses were content analyzed (McLaughlin & Marascuilo, 1990). Nonparametric statistics and t-tests were used to examine differences. Results: Women rated their general use of condoms (scale 0 (never) – 4 (all the time) for vaginal sex at 1.8 (SD = 1.5) in the married/ongoing relationship group and 2.7 (SD = 1.2) in the single/divorced group. A greater number of women used condoms with the last casual partner (50.8% married/ongoing relationship and 73.1% single/divorced) than with the last regular partner (21.5% married/ongoing relationship and 39.3% single/divorced). Single women were significantly less likely to use condoms during vaginal sex (p = .003), have more anal sex partners (p = .01), more likely to use condoms during anal sex (p = .01), and have more casual sex partners (p = .04) than married/ongoing relationship women. Reasons why married/ongoing relationship women did not use condoms included having the same partner (79.7%) and using other forms of birth control (18.6%). Reasons why single/divorced women did not use condoms included having the same partner (41.7%) and abstinence from sex (33.3%). The most often cited reasons for using condoms between the groups was contraception (married/ongoing = 68.0%; single/divorced = 23.1%) and protection from STIs (married/ongoing = 36.0%; single/divorced = 61.5%). Conclusions: Results can help practitioners tailor current education programs to the needs of this population.TriService Nursing Research Progra

Molecular barcoding of Australian ticks

Globally, ticks (Acari: Ixodida) are one of the most important vectors of disease due to their ability to transmit a wide variety of pathogenic bacteria, protozoa, and viruses during blood feeding. The microbes transmitted by ticks varies by species, and so it is essential that ticks are able to be identified correctly. However, the identification and discrimination of tick species still relies on traditional morphological techniques, which can at times be ambiguous, particularly in the case of subadult ticks. This study tested previously developed molecular barcoding assays to facilitate the identification of Australian ticks using DNA sequences in the case that morphology is inconclusive. Using reference ticks from eight native species of medical and veterinary importance (Amblyomma triguttatum, Bothriocroton auruginans, Haemaphysalis bancrofti, Haemaphysalis humerosa, Ixodes cornuatus, Ixodes hirsti, Ixodes holocyclus and Ixodes tasmani), four potential barcoding genes were trialled (Cytochrome c oxidase (COI), Internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2), 16S rRNA and 12S rRNA). Amplification was successful in 98.3% of samples (n=58) for COI, 89.6% (n=48) of samples for ITS2, and 100% of samples for both 16S rRNA and 12S rRNA (n=58 and n=48 respectively). Following Sanger sequencing, all four genes were found to be suitable for specimen identification using BLAST when genetic data was available. However, analysis of the sequences generated using Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD) indicated that COI was the most efficient gene for species delimitation. This analysis revealed three new species group hypotheses and pairwise distances confirmed high levels of genetic divergence within these species. Further research is required to investigate the validity of these species groups, and to ensure that the assays tested in this study are suitable for all Australian ticks. Lastly, this study provided new genetic information for nine species based on 17 sequences, and these data will become publicly available on the genetic database, GenBank

College hookup culture: student perceptions and the implications for individual well being

The normalization of casual sexual encounters on college campuses has led to the concept of the hookup culture. In this culture, undergraduate students engage in non-committed sexual acts with the perception of little to no negative effect. This project surveyed students at Ball State University in order to gain an understanding of the presence of hookup culture on campus as well as students’ feelings and perceptions. This paper examines that research and connects the findings to those of current professional research. The study found that 75% of the sample population surveyed had at least one collegiate hookup experience. Regarding perceptions, the study found that 78% of participants indicated that hooking up is normal and 63% indicated that most college students hook up. These findings are consistent with current scholarship.Honors CollegeThesis (B.?

Effective engagement of conservation scientists with decision-makers

This chapter offers advice on how the conservation science community can effectively engage with decision-makers. The rationales for why we, as scientists, need to do this have been widely discussed in the literature. Often, the reasons offered are normative, pragmatic, or instrumental (de Vente, 2016); in other words, there is a belief that engaging with decision-makers leads to better informed, more acceptable decisions. Indeed, better engagement may lead to the greater uptake of evidence for conservation decisions, something which some scholars argue is a priority for effective management (e.g. Gardner et al., 2018; Sutherland and Wordley, 2017)