Knowledge of AIDS and HIV risk-related sexual behavior among Nigerian naval personnel

BACKGROUND: The epidemic of HIV continues to grow in Nigeria. Personnel in the military are at increased risk of HIV infection. Although HIV-risk related sexual behavior of Nigerian police officers has been studied, little is known about the sexual behavior of their counterparts in the Navy. This study describes knowledge of AIDS, and HIV-risk sexual behavior of naval personnel in Lagos Nigeria. METHODS: Four hundred and eighty personnel of the Nigerian Navy completed a 70-item questionnaire in 2002. Group discussion and in-depth interviews of four key informants were also conducted to gain insights into the context of risky sexual behaviors and suggestions for feasible HIV primary prevention interventions. RESULTS: The mean age of the respondents was 34 years. Although the overall mean AIDS knowledge score was 7.1 of 10 points, 52.1% of respondents believed that a cure for AIDS was available in Nigeria and that one can get HIV by sharing personal items with an infected person (25.3%). The majority (88.1%) had had lifetime multiple partners ranging from 1–40 with a mean of 5.1; 32.5% of male respondents had had sexual contact with a female sex worker, 19.9% did so during the six months preceding the survey. Forty-one percent of those with sexual contact with a female sex worker did not use a condom during the most recent sexual encounter with these women. Naval personnel who have been transferred abroad reported significantly more risky sexual behaviors than others. Group discussants and key informants believed that sex with multiple partners is a tradition that has persisted in the navy even in the era of AIDS because of the belief that AIDS affects only foreigners, that use of traditional medicine provides protection against HIV infection, and influence of alcohol. CONCLUSION: Many naval personnel report participating in high-risk sexual behavior which may increase their risk of acquiring and spreading HIV. Naval personnel live and interact freely with civilian population and are potential bridging group for disseminating HIV into the larger population. Interventions including sustained educational program, promotion of condoms, changes in transfer policies are recommended to address this problem

Historical emissions of carbonaceous aerosols from biomass and fossil fuel burning for the period 1870–2000

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94787/1/gbc1172.pd

1980 census of population and housing. Michigan.

"PHC80-3-24.""Issued September 1982.""Housing Division"--T.p. verso."Population Division"--T.p. verso.Mode of access: Internet

Anthropogenic Heat Release Into the Environment

This work is intended to systematically study an inventory of the anthropogenic heat produced. This research strives to present a better estimate of the energy generated by humans and human activities, and compare this estimate to the significant energy quantity with respect to climate change. Because the top of atmosphere (TOA) net energy flux was found to be 0.85 ± 0.15 W/m2 the planet is out of energy balance, as studied by the group from NASA in 2005. The Earth is estimated to gain 431 terawatts (TW) from this energy imbalance. This number is the significant heat quantity to consider when studying global climate change, and not the 78,300 TW, the absorbed part of the primary solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface, as commonly cited and used at present in the literature. Based on energy supplied to the boilers (in the Rankine cycle) of at least 13 TW, body energy dissipated by 7 × 109 people and their domestic animals, the value of the total world anthropogenic heat production rate is 15.26 TW or 3.5% of the energy gain by the Earth. Based on world energy consumption and the energy dissipated by 7 × 109 people and their domestic animals, the value of the total world anthropogenic heat production rate is 19.7 TW or about 5% of the energy gain by the Earth. These numbers are significantly different from 13 TW. More importantly, the figures are 3.5–5% of the net energy gained by the Earth, and hence significant. The quantity is not 0.017% of the absorbed part of the main solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface and negligible

WHICH ARE THE LARGEST? WHY LISTS OF MAJOR URBAN AREAS VARY SO GREATLY

Lists of the world's most populous urban areas are surprisingly inconsistent in standard reference sources. These even disagree about which area is the world's largest. We first review the differences found in lists of the 20 largest areas reported by several unofficial sources and by the United Nations. We then demonstrate that variations in the populations and rankings stem mostly from differences in concepts and geographic definitions, and identify six different types of definition in the UN's list. We also offer a set of consistently defined metropolitan areas based on stated guidelines. Case studies for Tokyo, Mexico City, Los Angeles and Beijing include maps to elucidate the administrative areas and statistical definitions in use in each of these urban areas, and illustrate how the varying definitions yield different population totals. We conclude by comparing our consistently defined metropolitan areas with the UN's list of largest urban agglomerations. Copyright (c) 2009 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG.