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Faculty of Humanities School of Social Sciences 0513951x RWEGAL@yahoo.fr / Most studies indicate that women’s education plays a very important role in driving demographic transition. This study aims at exploring the effect of women’s education on fertility in Rwanda. The study is based on the analysis of the 2000 Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey and employs both direct and indirect methods of estimating fertility. Bongaarts proximate determinants model and such statistical analyses as PATH analysis. The major finding of the study is that although fertility is still high in Rwanda there is some evidence of fertility decline and marriage is the most important proximate determinant of fertility in the country. The study recommends that more studies are needed to find out socioeconomic variables that affect fertility and contribute to low contraceptive use in the country.

Scholars have proposed numerous explanations as to why the Department of Homeland Security has struggled to mature as an organization and effectively conduct its core mission. We propose an alternative viewpoint that the department lacks key legal authorities and necessitates key organizational transfer in order to rationalize its portfolio. We examine these points through review of legal authorities in select mission areas and through a resource analysis of activities conducted throughout the federal government to execute the homeland security mission. The analysis leads to specific recommendations for transfers and authorities and suggestions as to how the political environment might coalesce around engendering these changes. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts; / Graduate Center for Social and Public Policy / MA; / Thesis;

Background: Sexual and reproductive health education and services are often of poor quality in Indonesia and although sexual intercourse among adolescents is not socially accepted, a change of norms is observable, putting adolescents at risk to acquire unwanted health outcomes. Aim: To analyse associations of behavioural, sociodemographic and informational factors with engaging in sexual intercourse among never-married adolescents aged 15 - 24 in Indonesia and to analyse potential differences in age groups. Methods: Data from 19,649 never-married male and female adolescents who ever went to school, obtained from the 2012 Indonesian Demographic and Health Survey, was used for analysis. Multiple logistic regression was applied to test for significance separately and after adjusting for variables. Results: Among all adolescents, factors associated with engaging in sexual intercourse were: older age, male sex, ever drank alcohol, smoking and ever used drugs. After stratifying for age, the same associations were found for older and younger adolescents. Additionally, among younger adolescents (15 - 19 years), those from poorer households, with a higher educational level and those currently attending school were more likely to engage in sexual intercourse. Among older adolescents (20 - 24 years), those from poorer households and rural areas were more likely to engage in sexual intercourse. Conclusions: Interventions are needed to equip male adolescents, those who ever drank alcohol, were currently smoking or ever used drugs with sufficient knowledge and tools to make informed decisions. Further qualitative research is needed to investigate the behaviour of adolescents towards sexual intercourse more in depth.

Background: Among clinic based studies, intimate partner violence (IPV) has been shown to contribute to HIV/AIDS among young girls and women. Results from studies among the general population have been less consistent. This study evaluated the associations between HIV infection, any sexually transmitted infections, and IPV in a population based sample of Togolese women. Methods: Data from the Togo 2013-2014 Demographic and Health Surveys were utilized for these analyses. Women aged 15-49 who were currently married, had HIV test results and answered the Domestic Violence Module were analyzed (n = 2386). Generalized linear mixed-models adjusting for sociodemographic variables, risk behaviors, and cluster effect were used to estimate HIV and STI risks with experience of IPV. Results: HIV prevalence was 2.8%. Prevalence of IPV was 39% among HIV positive women and 38% among HIV negative women. Significant associations between IPV and HIV infection were not detected. Adjusted models found significant associations between experience of any IPV and having had STIs (OR 2.05, 95% CI 1.25-3.35). Conclusions: The high rates of violence in this setting warrants community-based interventions that address abuse and gender inequity. These interventions should also discuss the spectrum of STIs in relation to IPV.

Introduction HIV infection is a global health concern and the epidemic is particularly serious in sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding HIV-related knowledge, attitude and behavior is a key element for prevention programs. Because of rural-urban variations in social and economic factors, this study was conducted to assess urban-rural disparities in HIV-related knowledge, attitude and behavior in Burkina Faso. Methods This study is based on a nationally representative data from the 2010 Burkina Faso Demographic and Health Survey. Odds ratios from the logistic regression analyses were used to determine the association between HIV-related knowledge, attitude and behaviors with residence (urban /rural). Results More rural residents were uneducated (82.13%), illiterates (80.13%), and poor (94.54%) compared to urban residents with values of 17.87%, 19.87% and 5.45%, respectively. The prevalence of HIV residents was significantly lower among rural residents (0.65%) as compared with urban residents (1.88%). Rural residents compared to urban residents were more likely to have incomplete knowledge or inappropriate HIV-related attitude and behavior: incomplete knowledge about HIV (OR = 3.38, 95% CI 3.15 – 3.63), incomplete knowledge of MTCT prevention methods (OR = 2.01, 95% CI 1.88 – 2.16), non-accepting attitude toward people living with HIV (OR = 3.01, 95% CI 2.78 – 3.26), unfavorable for youth education on condom use (OR = 1.53, 95% CI 1.41 – 1.65), first sex before 15 years old (OR = 1.54, 95% CI 1.96 – 1.21), multiple sex partnership among men (OR = 1.52, 95% CI 1.33 – 1.75), don’t know any source of condoms (OR = 3.02, 95% CI 2.67 – 3.42) and don’t know any source of female condoms (OR = 3.27 95% CI 3.04 – 3.51). Conclusion Compared to urban residents, Burkina Faso rural residents tend to have limited HIV knowledge, limited access to condom. Also, compared to urban residents, more Burkina Faso rural residents had inappropriate HIV attitude and behavior. However, the HIV prevalence was lower among rural residents. The disparities between urban and rural residents of Burkina Faso with respect to HIV knowledge, attitude and behaviors calls for appropriate public health measures to increase HIV awareness in rural areas.

ABSTRACT Background: The Rwandan government has set family planning (FP) as one of the goals and strategies to improve the health of the population. However, unmet needs for modern contraceptive methods are still a problem, as is the variance of modern contraceptive use among the five regions of Rwanda.   Aim: This study aimed at assessing key factors that contribute to the variance of modern contraceptive use between five regions of Rwanda. Methods: This study was a secondary analysis of the Rwanda Demographic health survey, 2010. A total of 492 clusters (urban/rural), composed by 12,792 households were selected in the survey; 13,790 women of reproductive age were systematically selected from selected households and interviewed about maternal and reproductive health issues. 6834 married women or living with their partners at the time of the survey were selected for this study. Results: Socio-economic and demographic characteristics of women, access to family planning (FP) information and women’s empowerment were associated with the variance of modern contraceptive use between the regions. Women’s empowerment was positively associated with modern contraceptive use in all regions. Access to information was associated with modern contraceptive use in all regions except in the North region (AOR: 1.24, 95%CI: O.8- 1.92). Conclusion: This study highlights that the variance of modern contraceptive use was associated to the way in which FP factors are associated with modern contraceptive use vary between regions and how different FP factors occur among regions. Further researches are needed to investigate potential factors on supply side that influence such variance.

Kelly Michael Donovan is an M.F.A. Candidate in Transmedia in the Department of Art and Art History. Kelly Donovan creates artwork that examines our relationship to digital culture and technology, particularly the Internet. Following the global security disclosures in June 2013, Kelly Donovan created a series of work utilizing webcams, Internet search engines and a list of keywords used for monitoring social media to curate information and images relating to surveillance, privacy and national security. / text

This project was the very beginning of research into the chemistry of eastern Australian banksia flowers. Using dynamic headspace sampling (DHS) analysis, differences in volatile components, consistent with detection of differences in odour, were detected among three different species and one commercial cultivar. Infraspecific variation was also observed between two known subspecies of Banksia ericifolia and between differently coloured forms of Banksia spinulosa var. collina. The cultivar, Banksia 'Giant Candles', was shown to have some of the chemical components of each of its supposed ancestors. The absence of known wound-response chemicals indicated that this DHS method was successful in leaving the inflorescences undamaged throughout the sampling procedure. The Likens-Nickerson modification of classical hydrodistillation methods was useful. The static headspace method (SHS) was easily automated and was shown to be chemically robust and sufficiently sensitive to detect volatile compounds from only a few flowers. The milder DHS method, which minimised mechanical and heat damage to the plant tissue, produced a different set of results. From the results of this project, a suite of volatile compounds has been proposed that may be useful in future behavioural studies to help determine whether animals are attracted to components of banksia odours. These candidates include some compounds that have been reported in animal secretions, wound-response chemicals that may be produced by the plant to aid its communication with other organisms, and a compound (suggested to be sulfanylmethyl acetate) not previously reported from natural sources. The mildest of the three analytical methods used, dynamic headspace sampling, was shown to be suitable for the potential chemotaxonomic evaluation of some members of the Banksia genus. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites, which are transmitted via the bite of infected female anopheles mosquitoes. There were 217 million cases of malaria worldwide, and about 435,000 malaria related deaths in 2017. WHO Africa region accounted for 92% and 93% of malaria cases and deaths worldwide. According to The Gambia National Malaria Strategic Plan 2013-2020, malaria is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to identify factors influencing attitude towards the use of mosquito nets in households in The Gambia using Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data. The current study is a secondary data analysis with a, cross-sectional study design. The source of the data for this study is the DHS, which was conducted by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) together with the Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBOS) in 2013. The study sample is representative of The Gambian population. The sample size for the study was 5276 subjects. Statistical Analysis System (SAS 9.3) was used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics were generated for the factors been tested. These included area of residence, presence of electricity, indoor residual spraying, highest level of education and wealth index. The outcome variable measured was household use of mosquito nets (Yes/No). Logistic regression analysis was done to determine whether area of residence, wealth index, education level, presence of electricity and indoor residual spraying influence attitude towards use of mosquito nets in households. Stepwise binary logistic regression was used to determine the final model with the most significant predictors. Odds ratios and corresponding confidence intervals were reported. Most of the study participants were poor (46%). Those with no education made up 45.5% of the study population and 58% of dwellings had no indoor residual spraying done in the past year. 76.6% and 59.1% of respondents lived in households that had at least one mosquito net and no electricity supply, respectively. 50.6% of the respondents resided in rural areas. Logistic regression analysis showed that wealth index, indoor residual spraying and area of residence were significant factors (p<0.05) influencing attitude towards use of mosquito nets in households. Indoor residual spraying (OR=2.00; 95% C.I. 1.71-2.36), primary school education (OR=1.1; 95% C.I. 0.94-1.32), middle class wealth index (OR=1.32; 95% C.I. 1.05-1.67) and rural residence (OR=1.29; 95% C.I. 1.01-1.64) are all independent factors that increased likelihood of mosquito net usage in households. Identifying factors that influence the usage of mosquito nets in households, can be useful in developing target interventions to further reduce malaria morbidity and mortality in The Gambia. Knowledge from this study can be used to further strengthen the national malaria strategic plan. To further establish causality and increase strength of association between factors and outcome, a case control or cohort study design will be needed, since that is one of the limitations of a cross sectional study.