Personal, interpersonal and structural challenges to accessing HIV testing, treatment and care services among female sex workers, men who have sex with men and transgenders in Karnataka state, South India.

BACKGROUND: Despite high HIV prevalence rates among most-at-risk groups, utilisation of HIV testing, treatment and care services was relatively low in Karnataka prior to 2008. The authors aimed to understand the barriers to and identify potential solutions for improving HIV service utilisation. METHODS: Focus group discussions were carried out among homogeneous groups of female sex workers, men who have sex with men and transgenders, and programme peer educators in six districts across Karnataka in March and April 2008. RESULTS: 26 focus group discussions were conducted, involving 302 participants. Participants had good knowledge about HIV and HIV voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) services, but awareness of other HIV services was low. The fear of the psychological impact of a positive HIV test result and the perceived repercussions of being seen accessing HIV services were key personal and interpersonal barriers to HIV service utilisation. Previous experiences of discrimination at government healthcare services, coupled with discriminatory attitudes and behaviours by VCT staff, were key structural barriers to VCT service uptake among those who had not been HIV tested. Among those who had used government-managed prevention of parent to child transmission and antiretroviral treatment services, poor physical facilities, long waiting times, lack of available treatment, the need to give bribes to receive care and discriminatory attitudes of healthcare staff presented additional structural barriers. CONCLUSIONS: Embedding some HIV care services within existing programmes for vulnerable populations, as well as improving service quality at government facilities, are suggested to help overcome the multiple barriers to service utilisation. Increasing the uptake of HIV testing, treatment and care services is key to improving the quality and longevity of the lives of HIV-infected individuals

CHALLENGES AND SUCCESS DRIVERS OF MOTORCYCLE SPARE-PARTS PRIVATE LABEL BRANDS IN SOUTHEAST NIGERIA.

The motivation of this study is the observed increase of motorcycle spares parts private labels (PLs) in the southeast Nigeria, therefore warranting empirical probing to identify success factors and major challenges to motorcycle spare parts PL in Nigeria. The study is guided by three objectives and three hypotheses formulated to address the objective. Four point likert scale questionnaire was designed and primary data were drawn from 23 PL managers or owners at Nnewi, Southeast Nigeria. Principal component analysis and tstatistics were adopted for data reduction and for hypothesis testing respectively. The major finding of this study is that to gain control is the major reason for development of private label; self-gratification is the key success factor of PLs; and piracy or absences of regulation is the main challenge of PLs survival. Accordingly, this led to the conceptualization of the Private Label Survival Triangle. Key recommendation is the urgent need for government to regulate the motorcycle spare parts PL sector

Tax Return and Economic Growth: Evidence from Nigerian Experience (2000-2017)

This paper determined the effect of tax return on gross domestic product. Data were collected using secondary source only. The technique employed was multiple regressions as tool of analysis for the study. The findings of the study show that Tax Returns on Customs and Excise Duty, Value Added Tax and Aggregate Tax Revenue have positive significance growth rate on Gross Domestic Product. Based on this, the paper recommended among others that government should also ensure that they remove impediments to investment in form of legal and regulatory barriers. There is need to ensure stable macroeconomic environment. The Government should ensure that Value Added Tax Growth Rate is boosted in order to improve the economy. Keywords:Tax return, Customs and Excise Duty (CED), Value Added Tax (VAT), Aggregated Tax revenue, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Nigerian tax DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/11-18-16 Publication date:September 30th 202

The effect of thermal stimuli on the emotional perception of images

Thermal stimulation is a feedback channel that has the potential to influence the emotional response of people to media such as images. While previous work has demonstrated that thermal stimuli might have an effect on the emotional perception of images, little is understood about the exact emotional responses different thermal properties and presentation techniques can elicit towards images. This paper presents two user studies that investigate the effect thermal stimuli parameters (e.g. intensity) and timing of thermal stimuli presentation have on the emotional perception of images. We found that thermal stimulation increased valence and arousal in images with low valence and neutral to low arousal. Thermal augmentation of images also reduced valence and arousal in high valence and arousal images. We discovered that depending on when thermal augmentation is presented, it can either be used to create anticipation or enhance the inherent emotion an image is capable of evoking

PREVAIL VIII: A CoHOrt Clinical, Viral, and ImmuNOlogic Monitoring Study of People Living with Retroviral Infection in Liberia (HONOR)

This presentation provides an overview of the PREVAIL VIII HONOR study, the goals of which are to: provide a clearer understanding of the HIV epidemic in Liberia, improve health and clinical follow-up of people living with AIDS/HIV, support policy and care through collaborative research, and improve capabilities for independent research

Effect of Investment in Human Capital Development on Organisational Performance: Empirical Examination of the Perception of Small Business Owners in Nigeria

Numerous extant studies linking human capital and organizational performance abound, but few focused on the small scale business context. Thus a study towards determining the nature of relationship between the two construct among small scale enterprise owners is thoughtful. Drawn from literature, four variable measures – skills, education, knowledge, and training – were used to predict and explain the human capital effectiveness construct. Thus, four hypotheses (one for each variable measure) were formulated linking each variable measure to the human capital effectiveness construct. The construct, organizational performance, was divided into two sub-constructs, financial organizational performance and non-financial organizational performance to formulate two additional hypotheses linking each to human capital effectiveness. Twenty-five small scale business owners were purposively selected in Awka metropolis of Nigeria. A structured five-point likert type questionnaire was designed and distributed and a 100% return rate was recorded. ANOVA, t-test, multiple regression analysis, simple regression analysis, and pearson’s correlation coefficient were all employed to conduct relevant analyses. While keeping constant other factors that can impact on organizational performance, the study singled out human capital and it was shown that a high intercorelation exist among the four variable measure predictors of human capital effectiveness. A key finding of this study is that, training and skill are stronger predictors of human capital effectiveness over and above knowledge and education. This study, in no small measure, provides penetrating insight for small scale business owners in the area of human resources management. Managerial implications, limitations and opportunity for further research are discussed

Assessment of Wind Potential Energy at Height 100 m in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria

The reliance of a developing nation like Nigeria on hydro-electricity over time has led to power shortage which has hampered her economic and technological advancement because of its seasonal variation. The use of fossil fuel will not also be a better alternative since it is not environmental friendly. However, wind energy is free, clean, cheap and does not contribute to acid rain or global warming. The aim of this research is to carry out an assessment of wind potential in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria for power generation. The characteristics of the wind speed and energy potential in Minna, were examined using daily wind speed and direction data of 2 years, obtained using a metrological instrument; Davis 6162 Wireless Vantage Pro2 positioned at 100 m height. The collected data was analysed statistically and summarised in a simple and concise manner. The results show that the most probable wind speed was 0.4 ms-1 with extractable energy density of 25.04 Whm-2 while the wind speed corresponding to the maximum energy was 10.70 ms-1 delivering 45.96 kWh of energy. The average of the annual wind speed was 10.35 ms-1 which produced energy of 38.03 kWh. Though the average wind speed value revealed that the wind is suitable for wind-electric generation but has a low frequency, hence the power generation will do well for irrigation purposes. The prevailing wind direction was in the North-East direction with 14.84 % of the wind direction frequency. So a wind station will be more efficient if it is stationed in this predominant North-East direction. Keywords: Wind speed, wind direction, energy density, power, electricity DOI: 10.7176/APTA/76-01 Publication date:March 31st 201

Multidimensional Energy Poverty in the South-South Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria

This paper analyzed multidimensional energy poverty in the south-south geopolitical zone of Nigeria using theNational Bureau of Statistic 2009-10 National Living Standard Survey (NLSS) data. Whereas results at the zonallevel showed 83.2% of inhabitants are energy poor and are deprived of 90.3% of the weighted indicators statelevel results showed that 92.1%, 96.7%, 91.9%, 76.8% 60.1% and 83.1% of inhabitants in Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa,Cross-rivers, Delta, Edo and Rivers States were energy poor and are deprived of 95%, 85.1%, 95.3%, 88.2%,86.8% and 90.2% of the weighted indicators respectively, thus energy poverty in the zone is both acute andpervasive. Energy poverty in the zone also has rural-urban, educational attainment and occupational dimensions.The study therefore recommended that energy poverty reduction efforts should include education/enlightenmentprogrammes at the work place, schools, rural areas, and in all the states of the zone, and should be all inclusive.Keywords- Headcount, Intensity, Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index, and Relative-risk rati

Drug resistance mediating Plasmodium falciparum polymorphisms and clinical presentations of parasitaemic children in Uganda.

BackgroundPlasmodium falciparum genetic polymorphisms that mediate altered drug sensitivity may impact upon virulence. In a cross-sectional study, Ugandan children with infections mutant at pfcrt K76T, pfmdr1 N86Y, or pfmdr1 D1246Y had about one-fourth the odds of symptomatic malaria compared to those with infections with wild type (WT) sequences. However, results may have been confounded by greater likelihood in those with symptomatic disease of higher density mixed infections and/or recent prior treatment that selected for WT alleles.MethodsPolymorphisms in samples from paired episodes of asymptomatic and symptomatic parasitaemia in 114 subjects aged 4-11 years were followed longitudinally in Tororo District, Uganda. Paired episodes occurred within 3-12 months of each other and had no treatment for malaria in the prior 60 days. The prevalence of WT, mixed, and mutant alleles was determined using multiplex ligase detection reaction-fluorescent microsphere assays.ResultsConsidering paired episodes in the same subject, the odds of symptomatic malaria were lower for infections with mutant compared to WT or mixed sequence at N86Y (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.09-0.79, p = 0.018), but not K76T or D1246Y. However, symptomatic episodes (which had higher densities) were more likely than asymptomatic to be mixed (for N86Y OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.04-4.0, p = 0.036). Excluding mixed infections, the odds of symptomatic malaria were lower for infections with mutant compared to WT sequence at N86Y (OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.11-0.98, p = 0.046), but not the other alleles. However, if mixed genotypes were grouped with mutants in this analysis or assuming that mixed infections consisted of 50% WT and 50% mutant genotypes, the odds of symptomatic infection did not differ between infections that were mutant or WT at the studied alleles.ConclusionsAlthough infections with only the mutant pfmdr1 86Y genotype were associated with symptomatic infection, this association could primarily be explained by greater parasite densities and therefore greater prevalence of mixed infections in symptomatic children. These results indicate limited association between the tested polymorphisms and risk of symptomatic disease and highlight the value of longitudinal studies for assessing associations between parasite factors and clinical outcomes