HIV Prevalence Determinants Among Young People in Zimbabwe: Sexual Practices Analysis

A decline in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevalence rates have been observed among females ages 15 to 19 years and 20 to 24 years in Zimbabwe between 2005 and 2010. However, for males 15 to 19 years, rising trends were observed, whereas for males ages 20 to 24 years, rates fluctuated between 2005 and 2011. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine relationships between sexual behaviors and practices and HIV prevalence among young males and females ages 15 to 24 years in Zimbabwe. Guided by constructs of proximate determinants framework, extracted data from two National Demographic Health surveys of 2005/06 and 2010/11 were analyzed using chi square and binary logistic regression. This study revealed that sexual practices, relationship status, and education status increase the odds of being HIV positive differently among 15 to 19-year-olds and 20 to 24-year-olds based on gender and changes through time. Significant relationship existed between HIV positive serostatus and total number of life time partners among females 15 to 19 years and 20 to 24 years; lack of condom use among males 20 to 24 years in 2005/06; early sexual debut and lower education status among females 20 to 24 years; and being widowed, separated, or divorced among males and females 20 to 24 years in 2010/11. The Odds of being HIV positive for males ages 15 to 19 years was not predicted by sexual practice, creating a need for future study. This study can contribute to positive social change by providing information about the associations between HIV serostatus and the assessed risk factors, which may help promote awareness about HIV infection risk, thereby helping develop and implement targeted public health interventions to reduce the burden of HIV

The Role of Chronic Sugar Consumption as a Moderating Variable on Acute Sugar Consumption and Aspects of Executive Function

This study explores the relationship between acute sugar consumption and its effect on executive function (EF). Specifically, this study examines the effect of both acute and chronic sugar consumption on EF. An epidemiological survey was given on an online work distribution platform, where participants finished cognitive tasks of EF after completing questionnaires assessing sugar consumption both in the last year and last 24 hours (n = 273). It was hypothesized that acute and chronic sugar intake would significantly predict scores on measures of aspects of EF. Additionally, it was hypothesized that chronic sugar intake would significantly moderate the relationship between acute sugar intake and EF. Neither acute nor chronic sugar consumption predicted EF. This effect was not changed by including chronic sugar consumption as a moderating variable upon acute sugar consumption and EF. This research provides greater evidence about what effect sugar consumption has on EF

Development Of A Dreissena Bioassay To Assess The Toxicity Of Contaminants Across Two Life-History Stages

Dreissenid mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and D. bugensis) have rapidly become widespread and ubiquitous in North America since their introduction into the Great Lakes in the 1980s. The resulting environmental and economic impacts of their invasion have been extensive, negatively affecting biodiversity and costing millions of dollars in control efforts and damage to power generation and water treatment facilities. Although dreissenids are often associated with negative impacts, they may present a practical tool for toxicology studies. The typically sessile behavior of the benthic adults coupled with the planktonic nature of the veligers allow for a more complete evaluation of water quality than previous single species toxicity tests that focus on a single life history stage. Both Dreissenid veliger and adults are relatively easy to collect and maintain in the laboratory, making them useful test organisms for toxicological studies. Current bioassays used to evaluate contaminants typically utilize only the adult stage of a single species. I developed novel acute and chronic bioassays for the veliger stage of dreissenid mussels to evaluate several firefighting foam formulations commonly applied to structural and forest fires: Chemguard First Class, Phoschek First Response, and Phoschek WD881. Toxicity assays using veligers were conducted in 96-well microtiter plates and compared with adults exposed to the same concentrations in 50 mL vials. Adult spawning intensity was also quantified as a sublethal measure of toxicity. Results show veliger stage dreissenids to be significantly more sensitive to these chemicals than their adult counterparts (p\u3c0.01). Each firefighting foam formulation had a significantly different effect on survival time for acute veliger trials (p\u3c0.01). Chemguard caused acute veliger mortality significantly faster than either of the other two chemicals on average (p\u3c0.05), while overall mortality for Phoschek WD881 and Phoschek First Response did not differ significantly (p\u3e0.05). Chronic veliger assays also showed Chemguard to cause the fastest mortality of the three formulas at (p\u3c0.05). Chemguard mortality was higher in acute adult assays compared to Phoschek First Response (p\u3c0.05). Chronic adult exposure of these formulas had no significant effect on mortality or spawning intensity

Information Needs of Women Market Vendors in Kasangati Town Council, Wakiso District, Uganda

Information needs are an awareness of the information gap that exist among a group of people and differ from one group to another. The purpose of this study was to establish the information needs of women market vendors in Kasangati Town Council, Wakiso District in Uganda by establishing the information needs of women market vendors, sources of information that are available, barriers faced when accessing information, and making recommendations on the possible measures that can be put in place to address the information needs barriers. The study used a qualitative exploratory research design. Data was collected using interviews and observation, and analyzed using content analysis method. The findings revealed that the most commonly needed information by women vendors was on sources of funding, saving, land and business opportunities. On sources of information, the most used was mobile phones, followed by radios, and suppliers of products for vending which featured both as an information need and information source. The barriers that respondents faced in accessing information included language barrier; lack of airtime; unreliable information; lack of information infrastructure and communication challenges between them and the local authorities. A number of key implications for policy and practices emerged including among others recognition of women market vendors and their inclusion in urban development planning processes by government, provision of relevant training particularly on information literacy and business, and repackaging and dissemination of information in local languages through channels like radios and televisions

Reflective Pedagogies and the Metacognitive Approach to Reading Comprehension

The Department of Rhetoric and Composition has a strong pedagogical culture of fostering reading and critical thinking in its curriculum. Yet teaching AUC students to reflect on how they read remains challenging. Such reflection is a metacognitive skill and requires the most effective teaching resources available because literacy is foundational for all learning

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY (ICT) ACCESS FOR PRACTICALS AMONG SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS IN AN OPEN DISTANCE LEARNING UNIVERSITY

This study utilised a non-experimental, quantitative research design to describe the ICT experiences of fourth-year Social Work students of the University of South Africa. Non-probability purposive sampling was used to select a sample of 317 students for the study. A questionnaire was used as a data-collection instrument and the data collected were analysed using SPSS. The study’s findings indicated that the majority of the students (83.5%) have access to computers, but some of them could not access the internet because of inadequate knowledge of computer usage, lack of financial resources to buy a laptop, and the cost of commuting to a computer centre

THE PERCEPTIONS OF STUDENTS IN AN OPEN DISTANCE LEARNING (ODL) INSTITUTION ON LIFE SKILLS AS AN HIV AND AIDS PREVENTION STRATEGY

Most people, including university students, are faced with the challenge of preventing infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). There is a need to ensure that students, future graduates and the future workforce enter the workforce as health-conscious citizens. This descriptive, explorative, qualitative study was conducted among students of the University of South Africa (Unisa), and it explored the students’ perceptions of developing life skills as an HIV and AIDS prevention strategy. Focus group discussions were used as a means of data collection. The data collected were subjected to content analysis. The perception of the students showed that life skills may play a crucial role in the prevention of HIV and AIDS. The study revealed that learning about life skills is absent from the students’ curriculum, and students want it to be included in their education. Some recommendations were made: the inclusion of HIV and AIDS education in the students’ curricula and qualification; student support services should provide services that go beyond the provision of medication and condoms to include counselling services for students on mental health, behaviour and general health; compulsory life skills workshops and educational sessions should be made available to students at the beginning of registration cycles; and topics for the life skills workshops should encompass aspects that are related to HIV and AIDS as well as those that are not HIV- and AIDS-related

Factors that motivate young people aged 14 - 25 years to go for voluntary counseling and testing for HIV in Malawi

The study sought to identify factors motivating young people aged 14-25 years to use voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) for HIV in Malawi by interviewing 145 young people. The study identified barriers affecting and strategies promoting young people's access to VCT. The research results indicate that young people go for VCT mainly to know their HIV status. The availability of VCT services, and the provision of VCT services by peers motivate young people to access VCT. Some young people do not access VCT services due to fears of being found HIV+ve and because of the poor attitudes of the health service providers. Providing more information about VCT, involving young people as VCT providers, using youth friendly health service providers, providing VCT in a separate room for young people and through mobile services will increase young people's access to VCT services in Malawi.Health StudiesM.A. (Public Health

From empathy to compassion fatigue : a narrative review of implications in healthcare

Evidence is clear regarding the importance of empathy in the development of effective relationships between healthcare professionals (HCPs) and patients in the delivery of successful healthcare. HCPs have pledged to relieve patient suffering, and they value the satisfaction felt from caring for their patients. However, empathy may lead to negative consequences for the empathiser. If there is a personal identification with the emotions of the distressed person, empathic concern may evolve into personal distress leading to compassion fatigue over time. A narrative review was used to explore the connection between empathy and compassion fatigue. A search of MEDLINE, PsychINFO and CINAHL resulted in 141 articles meeting the inclusion criteria. The results included in this chapter explore the practical implications of empathy in relation to compassion fatigue, examining the impact on HCPs as well as the potential risk factors and effective strategies to reduce compassion fatigue. The negative impact of compassion fatigue can have a severe impact on HCP well-being and can in turn impact the care received by the patient. Nevertheless, and despite existing effective strategies to support and manage those experiencing compassion fatigue, more needs to be done to prevent its development in HCPs

Observation of Field Practice Rubric: Establishing Content Validity and Reliability

Most teacher education assessments are criticized for lacking validity and reliability. This study describes the process of developing the Observation of Field Performance rubric to assess initial teacher candidates’ classroom performance and establishing the content validity as well as reliability of the rubric. A panel of content area experts determined that 10 out of 12 items of the rubric were essential and the CVR was above the acceptable range for all 12 items, indicating that the rubric had a strong content validity. Additionally, the analysis of instructors’ ratings on the rubric showed that the rubric had good level of internal consistency and inter-rater reliability. Thus, this study determined that the OFP is a reliable and valid measure of candidate performance during field practice. Establishing validity and reliability not only enables teacher education programs to collect high quality assessment data, it is also crucial for program approval and accreditation decisions by national and state agencies