AIDS Optimism and Condom Usage Among Men who Have Sex With Men in Australia, The Netherlands and United States.

This study investigates the literary discourse of AIDS optimism about men who have sex with men in Australia, The Netherlands and the United States. Six interviews consisting HIV-positive men who have sex with men, AIDS-activists and AIDS consultants were conducted. The study was analyzed through both the literary data and interviews. The analysis focused on AIDS optimism topics, such as HIV as a threat and viral load, and target groups. The result of this study is an AIDS optimism model that is sensitive to Dutch culture

3D Scene Annotation for Efficient Rendering on Mobile Devices

This paper presents a new approach for efficient 3D rendering on mobile devices, where selective rendering can be achieved with the help of 3D scene annotation. By taking advantage of first person environments in most 3D applications, we are able to annotate the flooring details of the 3D space. This allows 3D environments to be interfaced using a higher level view of objects. With the higher level of scene understanding, it is possible to determine which 3D objects are not required for loading or rendering based on the viewer’s location and its surrounding constraints

Chinese Law on Protection of the Marine Environment Caused by Ship Oil Pollution - Lessons Learned for Vietnam

With the natural characteristics, geographic location, Vietnam maritime operations have favorable conditions development for the purposes of trade, tourism, services, exploration..., bring a lot of value to the development of the country.However, with the development of the maritime, the Vietnam sea is facing marine pollution by maritime operations, the marine resources are diminished. Although there are many solutions but the real effect is not high. Law on pollution control in the marine operations is limited.Thus the study of international law as well as law of some countries in the region to learn experience is necessary and urgent now. This article mainly study the Chinese law on oil pollution from ships as well as the actual situation of Vietnam law on protection of marine environment caused by oil pollution from ships. From which point out some lessons learned for Vietnam to improve the system of law protection of the marine environment caused by oil pollution from ships. Keywords: Ship oil pollution, Protection of marine environment, Law, Chinese la

Prediction of Change in Quality of 'Cripps Pink' Apples during Storage

The goal of this research was to investigate changes in the physiological properties including firmness, stiffness, weight, background colour, ethylene production and respiration of ‘Cripps Pink’ apple stored under different temperature and atmosphere conditions,. This research also seeks to establish mathematical models for the prediction of changes in firmness and stiffness of the apple during normal atmosphere (NA) storage. Experiments were conducted to determine the quality changes in ‘Cripps Pink’ apple under three sets of storage conditions. The first set of storage conditions consisted of NA storage at 0oC, 2.5oC, 5oC, 10oC, 20oC and 30oC. In the second set of conditions the apples were placed in NA cold storage at 0oC for 61 days, followed by NA storage at the aforementioned six temperatures. The third set of conditions consisted of controlled atmosphere (CA) (2 kPa O2 : 1 kPa CO2) at 0oC storage for 102 days followed by NA storage at the six temperatures mentioned previously. The firmness, stiffness, weight loss, skin colour, ethylene and carbon dioxide production of the apples were monitored at specific time intervals during storage. Firmness was measured using a HortPlus Quick Measure Penetrometer (HortPlus Ltd, Hawke Bat, New Zealand); stiffness was measured using a commercial acoustic firmness sensor-AFS (AWETA, Nootdorp, The Netherlands). Experimental data analysis was performed using the GraphPad Prism 4.03, 2005 software package. The Least-Squares method and iterative non-linear regression were used to model and simulate changes in firmness and stiffness in GraphPad Prism 4.03, 2005 and DataFit 8.1, 2005 softwares. The experimental results indicated that the firmness and stiffness of ‘Cripps Pink’ apple stored in NA decreased with increases in temperature and time. Under NA, the softening pattern was tri-phasic for apples stored at 0oC, 2.5oC and 5oC for firmness, and at 0oC and 2.5oC for stiffness. However, there were only two softening phases for apples stored at higher temperatures. NA at 0oC, 2.5oC and 5oC improved skin background colour and extended the storage ability of apples compared to higher temperatures. CA during the first stage of storage better maintained the firmness and stiffness of the apples. However, it reduced subsequent ethylene and carbon dioxide (CO2) production after removal from storage. Steep increases in ethylene and CO2 production coincided with rapid softening in the fruit flesh and yellowing of the skin background colour, under NA conditions. The exponential decay model was the best model for predicting changes in the firmness, stiffness and keeping quality of the apples. The exponential decay model satisfied the biochemical theory of softening in the apple, and had the highest fitness to the experimental data collected over the wide range of temperatures. The softening rate increased exponentially with storage temperature complying with the Arrhenius equation. Therefore a combination of the exponential decay model with the Arrhenius equation was found to best characterise the softening process and to predict changes in the firmness and stiffness of apples stored at different temperatures in NA conditions

Vietnam Law on Marine Environment Protection and the Implementation of Marpol Convention 73/78 in Current Period

With the development of the maritime, the Vietnam sea is facing marine pollution by maritime operations, the marine resources are diminished. Although there are many solutions but the real effect is not high. Law on pollution control in the marine operations is limited. Maritime law of 2005 only has 4 rules stipulate the prevention of environmental pollution. Environmental Protection law of 2005 only stipulates principle of the protection of the marine environment in general. Management state system of control marine pollution in Vietnam has many shortcomings. So, the signing, approving and implementing the treaties, international laws on maritime as well as apply appropriate international maritime law system has an important role in the completion of laws system on protection of the marine environment of Vietnam in maritime operations. Therefore, the past time, Vietnam has signed, approved treaties and international agreements on marine protection in general and the marine environment in particular.Within the scope of this paper, mainly refers to the need to modify the Law on the protection of the marine environment in Vietnam to ready for approving fully MARPOL Convention 73/78. Keywords: Vietnam Law on Marine Environmental Protection, Oil Pollution

Differences in Access to Care and Healthcare Utilization Among Sexual Minorities: A Master\u27s Thesis

BACKGROUND: The barriers in accessing healthcare for gay, lesbian and bisexuals individuals are not well explored. These challenges as well as a lack of knowledge concerning this understudied group has prompted the Institute of Medicine to create a research agenda to build a foundational understanding of gay, lesbian and bisexual health and the barriers they encounter.1 the primary aim of this study will be to compare the differences in health care access and utilization between gay/lesbian, bisexual and heterosexual individuals using a large, nationally representative dataset of the U.S. population. METHODS: Data from 2001 to 2012 from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was pooled. Using logistic regression, we calculated the unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios of having health insurance, having a routine place and seeing a provider at least one in the past year. RESULTS: We found that gay men were more likely to have health insurance coverage (ORadj:2.13 95%CI: 1.15,3.92), while bisexual men were at a small disadvantage in having health insurance coverage (ORadj:0.82 95%CI: 0.46,1.46). Bisexual men were more likely to have received health care in the past 12 months (ORadj:3.11 95%CI: 1.74,5.55). Lesbian women were less likely to have health insurance coverage (ORadj-lesbian:0.58 95%CI: 0.34,0.97). CONCLUSION: This study contributed to the limited knowledge on understanding the health care access and utilization among gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals, which was classified as a high priority by the Institute of Medicine. Expanding health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act and Universal Partnership Coverage may reduce the disparities among gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals

NEW CHALLENGES FOR MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION LAWS OF VIETNAM: APPROVE FULL MARPOL CONVENTION 73/78

Is a coastal country, with the natural characteristics, geographic location, Vietnam maritime operations have favorable conditions development for the purposes of trade, tourism, services, exploration and exploitation of natural resources and geodetic survey..., bring a lot of value to the development of the country. However, with the development of the maritime, the Vietnam sea is facing marine pollution by maritime operations, the marine resources are diminished. Although there are many solutions but the real effect is not high. Law on pollution control in the marine operations is limited. Maritime law of 2005 only has 4 rules stipulate the prevention of environmental pollution. Environmental Protection law of 2005 only stipulates principle of the protection of the marine environment in general. Management state system of control marine pollution in Vietnam has many shortcomings. So, the signing, approving and implementing the treaties, international laws on maritime as well as apply appropriate international maritime law system has an important role in completing the laws system on protection of the marine environment of Vietnam in maritime operations. Within the scope of this paper, mainly refers to the need to modify the Law on the protection of the marine environment in Vietnam to ready for approving fully MARPOL Convention 73/78.&nbsp

THE EFFECT OF ECOLOGICAL FACTORS ON GROWTH OF Sterculia foetida L. IN BUON DON AND EA SUP DISTRICTS, DAK LAK PROVINCE

Accurate and reliable assessment of site suitability for the growth of selected plant species is critical for afforestation projects and programs to improve rural livelihoods. This research examines the relationship between growth of Sterculia foetida L. and six ecological factors in Buon Don and Ea Sup districts, Dak Lak Province. The purpose of the research is to predict the growth in average height and trunk diameter of the trees using ecological factors that are easy to measure and observe. These include topography (slope) and soil characteristics (clay ratio, depth of soil layer, surface and subsurface rock concentrations, and agglomeration ratio). The ecological factors were evaluated by multivariable regression analysis of growth data from 31 experimental plots, 16 in Buon Don district and 15 in Ea Sup district. The results show that four of the six factors affect average growth in tree height and that five factors affect average trunk diameter growth. The findings are of practical value for households and agricultural extension officers to consider before planting Sterculia foetida L. in the two areas