Thesis (MPH.) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / Background: In South Africa, the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act (CTOP) (No. 92 of 1996) promotes a woman's reproductive right and choice to have an early, safe and legal abortion. Pregnancy termination among young women constitutes a public health problem particularly in South Africa where high prevalence of abortion has been recently recorded. HIV acquisition is increased two to four-fold during pregnancy, due to biological and behavioural factors including immunological changes, hormonal changes affecting the genital tract mucosa, higher frequency of unprotected sex and incident sexually transmitted infections (STIs) during pregnancy. There is a growing interest in exploring maternal mental health effects of unintended pregnancies. However, the evidence base from a small number of available studies is characterized by considerable variability, inconsistency and inconclusive findings. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of HIV and its association with termination of pregnancy at Seshego Zone 4 clinic in Limpopo Province. Methodology: A cross-section descriptive retrospective review study in which convenience sampling of the records of women who terminated pregnancies was used in this study. The key variable of interest in this study was HIV results and all patients records without evidence of HIV testing, and the associated results were excluded. A self-designed data extraction tool was used to extract the data from patients records and tool covered variables such as the age of the women, educational status, marital status, occupational status, year and month of termination of pregnancy, gestational age, parity, and gravidity, method of contraceptive used, HIV status, ARV and ARV regimens. Data analysis was done using the STATA statistical software version 12 for Windows (STATA Corporation, College Station, Texas). vi Results: The mean age was 24.98 years SD±14.4 and majority of women who terminated pregnancies were in the age group 20 – 24 years at 35.7% and the least number of women who terminated pregnancies were in the age groups ≥ 40 years and ≤ 14 years at 2.3% and 0.3% respectively. Majority of the women who terminated pregnancies had parity of 1 – 2 at 47.4% followed by parity of zero at 42.3% and 3 – 4 at 9.9%. Majority of the women who terminated pregnancies were in gravida 1 at 42.8% followed by those with gravida 2 at 27.1% and those who were pregnant between the 3rd and 4th time were 26.9%. There was a statistical significance difference (p<0.001) of the use of contraceptives by age groups and also in relation to parity and similarly to gravidity. The prevalence of HIV amongst women who terminated pregnancies in the current study was found to be 11.6% and this was high in 2018 at 10.5% followed by 2019, 2015 and 2016 at 10.3%, 9.2% and 9.1% respectively. The prevalence of HIV amongst women who terminated pregnancies increased with increasing level of education from 4.1% amongst women who had primary or no educational level the followed by 9,0% and 13.6% in women who had secondary and tertiary educational level respectively. The risk of women who terminate pregnancies being HIV positive in the current study increased significantly with increasing age as older women were 1.9 times more likely to be HIV positive as compared to younger ones (p=0.004) Conclusion: The findings of this study highlight the need to address the structural socio-economic drivers of the HIV epidemic among women of child-bearing age. Women of child-bearing age in this setting have large unmet reproductive health needs. Structural interventions, such as increasing contraceptive use which may be useful for reducing the burden of unplanned pregnancies. Key concepts Human immunodeficiency virus, Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, Termination of pregnancy, Parity and Gravidity.

One of the primary purposes of the investigation was to examine the impact of a number of variables on the incidence of low birth weight in two states, Utah and Nevada, that have divergent low birth weight incidences. The sample size obtained from birth certificate data for this purpose was 51,147 (1969-1974) for Nevada and 26,464 (1970) and 29,422 (1974) for Utah. Additionally, separate analyses were made for Utah and Nevada data available for the year 1974. The respective sample sizes for this year were 29,422 (Utah) and 8,256 (Nevada). Least squares analysis indicated sex of the infant, race of the mother, age of the mother, parity, and county of residence were al l significantly related ( P.O:: 0 . 01) to birth weight of the infant . Examination of the birth certificate data indicated, the unmarried, black adolescent is most apt to bear a low birth weight infant in both Utah and Nevada , but the incidence of young, black, unmarried adolescents is higher in Nevada accounting in part for the divergent overall incidence of l ow birth weight be tween the two states. To supplement birth certificate information, additional questionnaire sampling was conducted in Utah and Nevada. Information on pregravid weight, pregnancy weight gain, protein intake , energy intake, smoking habits, socio -economic status, exercise patterns and over-the -counter drug use was obtained from 184 women (Utah 88, Nevada= 96). Student's t-test, stepwise regress i on and least squares analysis indicated pregravid weight and pregnancy weight gain "ere the on l y variables significantly related (P 1!.. 0.01) to birth weight .

Les mesures des propriétés du boson de Higgs dans le canal en 4 leptons sont rapportées dans cette thèse. Les données prises avec le détecteur CMS dans des collisions proton-proton à 13 TeV dans le centre de masse sont utilisées. Des améliorations importantes, touchant plusieurs aspects de l'analyse, ont été apportées. Mes contributions principales portent sur deux grands axes: amélioration de la mesure d'efficacité de sélection des électrons et analyse des données 2017 en tant qu'analyseur et éditeur principal.Les résultats sont montrées pour les données du Run II, collectées en 2016 et 2017, correspondant à des luminosités intégrées de 35.9 fb-1 et 41.5 fb-1, respectivement.Les modifications de l'intensité de signal, relative aux prédictions du Modèle Standard (MS), la masse et la largeur du boson de Higgs ainsi que les sections efficaces de production inclusives et différentielles sont mesurées. Tous les résultats sont en bon accord avec les prédictions du MS pour un boson de Higgs avec une masse de 125 GeV.Finalement, une mesure des modificateurs de l'intensité du signal est effectuée en combinant les données 2016 et 2017, pour un total de 77 fb-1. Une nouvelle fois, ces mesures sont en accord avec le MS. De nouvelles frontières sont désormais atteintes, les incertitudes statistiques et systématiques sont désormais d'égale contribution à l'incertitude totale sur les mesures inclusives de section efficace de production. / This thesis reports on measurements of Higgs boson properties in the four-lepton channel in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the CMS detector. Significant improvements in many aspects of the analysis are introduced. My contribution is twofold, improving the electron selection efficiency measurements and leading the analysis of data recorded in 2017 as the main author. Results of the analysis of Run II data are presented for two data sets recorded in 2016 and 2017, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 35.9 fb−1 and 41.5 fb−1, respectively. The signal strength modifiers relative to the standard model prediction, the mass and decay width of the boson, differential and inclusive cross sections are measured. All results are in good agreement with standard model expectations for a 125 GeV Higgs boson within the uncertainties. Finally, a measurement of the signal strength modifiers on combined 77.4 fb−1 of data collected in 2016 and 2017 is also performed and is again found to be compatible with the SM predictions. New frontiers are reached as the statistical and systematical contributions to the total uncertainty on the inclusive signal strength measurement are found to be of the similar size.

Ett flertal teorier försöker förklara de starka fluktuationer växelkurser under rörlig regim uppvisar vid monetära policychocker. En av dessa teorier, Rüdiger Dornbusch:s överreaktionsmodell, menar att fluktuationer kan förklaras av skillnader i den tid varurespektive kapitalmarknaden behöver för att anpassa sig till det förändrade penningutbudet. Denna studie avser utreda modellens empiriska förklaringsförmåga genom att applicera den på fallet Schweiz 2015, där en stor och oväntad centralbanksåtgärd skapade kraftiga reaktioner på valutamarknaden. Genom ett t-test testas den potentiella överreaktionens signifikans. T-statistikan påvisar starkt stöd för att växelkursen rör sig i enlighet med Dornbusch:s modell. Diverse känslighetstester genomförs, om vilket samtliga vidimerar resultaten.

Education for refugee adolescent girls has faced formidable barriers in transit countries during Covid-19. This thesis is a qualitative case study of the effects of Covid-19 on refugee adolescent girls' education in a transit country (Egypt). The study is based on a conversational interview with Non-Governmental Organization NGO staff in Egypt and a systematic review of NGO reports and field studies of refugee children's education in transit countries to assist the case study with parallel and complementary knowledge from other transit countries. To analyze the interview findings, an Economic Framework for the impact of economic crisis on educational outcomes together with the Sense of Coherence and Waiting concept was used. The case study findings and the literature review summary demonstrated two typologies of vulnerabilities, i.e., general vulnerabilities and specific vulnerabilities. The elements included in the vulnerability category existed before Covid-19; however, Covid-19 caused the intensification of these vulnerability elements, which as a result affected the education of the refugee adolescent girls.

The Qweak experiment has taken data to make a 2.5 percent measurement of parity violating elastic ep asymmetry in the four momentum transfer region of 0.0250 (GeV/c)2. This asymmetry is proportional to the weak charge of the proton, which is related to the weak mixing angle, sin2(thetaW). The final Qweak measurement will provide the most precise measurement of the weak mixing angle below the Z° pole to test the Standard Model prediction. A description of the experimental apparatus is provided in this dissertation. The experiment was carried out using a longitudinally polarized electron beam of up to 180 microampere on a 34.5 cm long unpolarized liquid hydrogen target. The Qweak target is not only the world’s highest cryogenic target ever built for a parity experiment but also is the least noisy target. This dissertation provides a detailed description of this target and presents a thorough analysis of the target performance. Statistical analysis of Run 1 data, collected between Feb - May 2011, is done to extract a blinded parity violating asymmetry of size--299.7 +/- 13.4 (stat.) +/- 17.2 (syst.) +/- 68 (blinding) parts-per-billion. This resulted in a preliminary proton’s weak charge of value 0.0865 +/- 0.0085, a 9% measurement. Based on this blinded asymmetry, the weak mixing angle was determined to be sin2(thetaW) = 0.23429 +/- 0.00211.

No description available.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death of women in the United States, warranting further investigation into preventative therapies. It has been well documented that early pregnancy results in a lifetime decreased risk of breast cancer in humans and mounting evidence suggests that the retinoic acid pathway may play an important role in this protective effect. Cellular retinol binding protein-1 (CRBP1) is an essential component of the retinoic acid pathway and we propose that it plays an important role in pregnancy-induced protection against breast cancer. In order to investigate the role of CRBP1 in parity-induced protection against breast cancer, we utilized both mouse and human mammary epithelial cells. We examined the effect that pregnancy has on CRBP1 expression, how CRBP1 is regulated by growth promoting and inhibiting agents, if loss of CRBP1 is essential for the induction of the apoptotic pathway, and how CpG methylation of key breast cancer genes relates to known risk factors for the disease. Based on our study, CRBP1 is persistently upregulated in response to pregnancy in the mouse mammary gland at both the RNA and protein levels. Using a cell culture model, we established that CRBP1 is regulated by chemical agents that both promote and inhibit cellular growth. Utilizing CRBP1 knockout mice, we demonstrated that CRBP1 is not essential for induction of radiation induced apoptosis in parous mice. Finally, through methylation analysis, we examined how known breast cancer risk factors correlate to CpG methylation of three important genes for breast cancer and noted interesting trends that warrant future study.

Through verbal and nonverbal dyadic engagement with caregivers, infants acquire two critical capacities for social engagement: joint attention and language. Children initiate joint attention (IJA) when they use eye contact and pointing (IJA bids) to direct the attention of a social partner to objects of common interest, which then helps children acquire object labels from their social partners. The present study was designed to examine differences in the effect of the number of children in the household (also known as “parity”) on the relationship between IJA and language development. We reasoned that infants who are only children (i.e., in uniparous homes), relative to infants who have one or more siblings (i.e., in multiparous homes), would have more opportunity to engage in IJA, and would, therefore, acquire a larger number of object labels. We tested the hypotheses that: 1) there would be a positive correlation between the number of IJA bids and language overall, and 2) parity would moderate the IJA-language relationship such that in uniparous households, the aforementioned correlation would be stronger than in multiparous homes. For this study, 73 primarily white, middle-class infants ranging from 12 to 20 months of age (30 uniparous, 40 multiparous, 3 missing) visited the lab. Using the Picture Book Task of the Early Social Communication Scales, IJA behaviors were coded when children made eye contact with the experimenter (lower IJA) or pointed to pictures in the book (higher IJA) without elicitation. Productive and receptive vocabulary was measured through parental report using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory. Preliminary analyses showed that older children had larger productive [r(30) = .50, p = .000] but not receptive vocabularies relative to younger children. Also, we were surprised to find that the ages of the infants in our investigation were not associated with the number of siblings in their homes since older infants would have been more likely to have younger siblings. In terms of our hypotheses, it was found that IJA was not associated with either language measure. To test for a moderation effect, we conducted a moderated regression analysis in which each language measure was regressed on IJA, the number of siblings in the home, and the interaction term for these two variables. The interaction term was statistically significant, indicating a moderation effect [B = -8.09, SD = 4.00, t = -2.02, p = .047]. However, this association disappeared after controlling for child age. Overall, our hypotheses were not supported. Although it is possible that parity has no moderating effect of on the IJA-language relationship, our sample size did not provide for large amounts of statistical power to make such a strong claim in this direction. Still, these null findings may provide positive reassurance for families with multiple children that their younger children are not at an IJA/language acquisition disadvantage.

A new computing platform, the General Purpose Reprsentation and Association Machine is studied and simulated. GPRAM machines use vague measurements to do a quick and rough assessment on a task; then use approximated message-passing algorithms to improve assessment; and finally selects ways closer to a solution, eventually solving it. We illustrate concepts and structures using simple examples.