Introduction: The high prevalence of HIV in South Africa was confirmed by Department of Health (2005) which reported an HIV prevalence rate of 40.7 percent amongst antenatal clinic attendees at public facilities in KwaZulu-Natal in 2004. Abstinence is one of the strategies used by many different cultures where young unmarried people are encouraged to abstain from sex until marriage, to prevent young girls from getting pregnant and acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate African rural high school learners' choice of sexual abstinence and to compare abstinent versus non-abstinent African rural high school learners in order to be able to develop tailored educational messages. Abstinence was defined as not having penetrative sex, since this is the accepted definition of abstinence in Zulu culture. Objectives: a) To investigate the prevalence of abstinence from sexual intercourse amongst African rural high school learners, b) To assess demographic, psychosocial, and economic determinants of abstinence from sexual intercourse, c) To make recommendations about abstinence interventions. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in a rural area (Ugu District in southern KwaZulu-Natal). One class of Grade 9 learners, ages 14-20 years, was selected from each often randomly selected rural high schools. An anonymous selfreporting semi-structured questionnaire used the I-Change model to investigate demographic and economic information, attitudes, social influences, self-efficacy and intentions towards sexual abstinence. Chi square and T-tests were used for bivariate analysis and Logistic regression was used to develop a model for abstinence from sexual intercourse. Results: A total of 454 learners participated with a mean age of 16.76 years (SD 1.41) age range 14-20 years. Of the sample 208 (45.8%) were male and 246 (54.2%) female. The majority were Christian (84.6% (n=384)) and of this population, 28.3% (n=127) reported that they had 'ever had sex'. Furthermore, 24.5% (n=91) of learners reported that they were currently sexually active. Fifty six percent (n=252) of learners reported that they abstained from sex. When comparing learners reporting abstinence (n= 252) with those not abstinent (n= 202), abstinent learners were significantly more often females, who had never had sex (p / Thesis (M.Med.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

In this mini-dissertation the aim was to explore and describe the safety of infant feeding practices. It is argued that safe infant feeding practices can have a positive and long term effect on the health status and growth development of all infants. World wide, countries but more specific developing countries, are faced with the growing dilemma of high mortality and morbidity rates among infants. The need to find a way to eliminate and prevent the causing factors of life-threatening infectious diseases like diarrhoea and HIV/AIDS is now more important than ever before. A sound nutritional foundation together with safe infant feeding methods play a predominant role in ensuring the very survival of the infant. A cross-sectional, descriptive research design was used in this study. Non-probability sampling was used to identify the sample who complied with the set selection criteria. The research took place in a semi-urban community as the community serves a large group of mothers and infants as well as being accessible to the researcher. The semi-urban community was also identified as an area with health care needs that could be addressed in the research project. A questionnaire was adapted from an existing WHO assessment tool. A pilot study was conducted after which the questionnaire was finalised and the questionnaires were completed with the aid of three fieldworkers. Data collection took place until the sample size (n=155) was achieved according to the calculation of the statistician. The data analysis was done by means of descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation by using the STATISTICA data analysis software system programme. The results of the research study indicated that the majority of participants practice mixed feeding methods which do not comply with safe infant feeding standards. Infant feeding methods are not changed during illness or disease experienced by either the mother or infant, which again may greatly compromise their health status. The uptake of HIV testing and disclosure were relatively high. Recommendations are made for nursing education, nursing research and nursing practice with special focus on establishing safe infant feeding practices. / Thesis (M.Cur.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

This study describes how AIDS prevention education programs were constructed, delivered, and implemented in Vancouver between 1983 and 1994. Biodeterministic models of disease are examined through a historical analysis of documents that include newsletters, minutes of board meetings, policy reviews, annual reports, and personal journals. This study assumes that AIDS is as much a sociocultural phenomenon as it is biological. The findings suggest that present educational guidelines for AIDS prevention are unable to identify what messages should be communicated and fail to identify to whom they should be conveyed. This study does not recommend the use of biodeterministic models of AIDS prevention education which reflect plague metaphors. Instead, culturally relevant strategies need to be developed throughout all aspects of AIDS prevention curricula.

Research on AIDS and women is recent and focuses almost exclusively on the heterosexual population. Despite research on the sexual behavior of young women which asserts that lesbians are at low risk for exposure to HTV, many lesbians engage in high risk practices and are therefore at risk for infection. In order for AIDS education for this population to be effective, it must be designed spedfically to meet identified needs. [...]

Safe Routes to School is a national program funded by the Department of Transportation. The goal of the program is to increase children’s active transport to and from school, primarily by walking, in response to the epidemic of childhood obesity. Implementation at the state and local level has had varying success. In my capstone presentation, I discuss the creation, implementation, and ongoing success of the program at Oak Grove Elementary, a local public school in Georgia. The program is comprised of the 5 Es: Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, Engineering, and Evaluation. Each of these five components will be focused on, as well as ongoing challenges in the struggle to retrofit a school to make it more walker-friendly in a car-dependent environment.

BACKGROUND: Trachoma is a leading cause of avoidable blindness. Currently, trachoma is endemic in 57 countries, infects approximately 84 million people globally, and continues to threaten over 10 % of the world’s population with the risk of blindness. Caused by the bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis, blindness due to trachoma is caused by repeated eye infection resulting in the inflammation of the upper eyelid eventually leading the upper lid to pull inward scratching and tearing the cornea causing it to become opaque resulting in loss of vision. The World Health Organization recommends eliminating trachoma as a public health problem using the SAFE strategy: Surgery, Antibiotic, Face washing and Environmental control. OBJECTIVES: This review examined the benefits of the added value of water, sanitation, and hygiene education interventions on preventive mass drug administration for trachoma. METHODS: Trials were identified from MEDLINE, PubMed, and LISTA EBSCO databases using a series of search terms. No restrictions were put on study date, location, design, or language of publication. The abstracts were examined from each of the searches, and any abstract describing risk factors, survey results of mass drug administration (MDA), or providing a general overview of trachoma were automatically discarded. Full text of papers including the combined use of key words including SAFE, WASH, intervention, impact, added value, MDA, azithromycin/ Zithromax® were obtained for review. Twelve full texts articles were retrieved all relevant information were placed in a standardized data extraction form. MAIN RESULTS: Three studies met the complete criteria for inclusion. All studies found a significant change in reduction of active trachoma prevalence. One study focused on the added benefit of antibiotic and environmental components on hygiene education delivered by radio. Another trial compared two villages; the control community performed MDA and the surgery while the intervention village added the F and E components. The final study as well focused the added benefit of ‘F’ and ‘E’ on ‘A’. Two of the three studies found this reduction was from the added benefit of face washing ‘F’ and environmental control ‘E’ to antibiotic use. CONCLUSIONS: In order to eliminate blinding trachoma as a public health problem, recurrence of the active form of the disease must be interrupted before repeated scarring leads to trichiasis. The antibiotic component of the SAFE strategy is a quick fix to the immediate problem. The ‘F’ and ‘E’ components are the more sustainable interventions, yet little research has been done on the actual amount of added value the individual ‘A’‘F’&’E’ components have to one another. After thorough review of the articles, articles were found which documented the ‘F’ and ‘E’ components provide significant value to the overall decrease of prevalence of active. However, the limited results of the search suggest more research can better elucidate the ability of the ‘F’ and ‘E’ components to reduce trachoma prevalence and ultimately impact blinding.

Magistro darbe nagrinėjamas vaikams su negalia saugios aplinkos teisinio reglamentavimo veiksmingumas. Saugios aplinkos sukūrimas vaikams turintiems negalią Lietuvoje XXI amžiaus pradžioje įžengia į naują kokybinį raidos etapą. Saugi aplinka vaikams su negalia turi būti neatskiriamas nuo mokymo įstaigų, nes šiose įstaigose vaikai ir jaunimas praleidžia didžiąją dalį laiko. Todėl neįgaliųjų vaikų socialinės integracinės politikos svarbiausioji dalis turi apimti formalųjį ikimokyklinį, pradinį, vidurinį, profesinį bei aukštąjį išsilavinimą. Kokybiškų švietimo paslaugų specialiųjų poreikių vaikams ir jaunimui, besiugdantiems drauge su bendraamžiais vieningoje švietimo sistemoje, teikimo užtikrinimas nėra vienalaikis (politiniai lozungai, deklaratyvios teisinės nuostatos, visuomenės narių pasisakymai, teigiami pavyzdžiai ir t.t.), bet sudėtingas, ilgai trunkantis procesas, ne tik reikalaujantis konstruktyvių ir koordinuotų valstybės valdymo ir švietimą administruojančių bei jam talkinančių institucijų veiksmų, bet ir pačios visuomenės sąmoningumo. Lietuvos teisės sistema ir teisės doktrina iš esmės suteikia pakankamai teisinių priemonių apsaugoti neįgaliųjų vaikų ir paauglių teises mokymo įstaigose, tačiau egzistuoja norminio reglamentavimo, teisės normų įgyvendinimo praktikoje neatitikimas. Lietuvos teisinėje sistemoje minėta situacija gali būti detaliau atskleista išskiriant šias problemas susijusias su negalią turintiems vaikams saugios aplinkos kūrimu, mokymo įstaigose... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In Master’s work analysed children’s with disabilities a safe environment for the legal regulation effectiveness. Creation of a safe environment for children with disabilities in Lithuania is entering a new qualitative stage of development of twenty-first century. A safe environment for children with disabilities must be inseparable from the educational institutions because in these institutions children and young people spend most of the time. Therefore, the disabled children's social integration policy must cover the most important part of formal pre-school, primary, secondary, vocational and higher education. Quality education services for children with special needs and young people, studying together with their peers within a single system of education, the provision of protection is not simultaneous (political slogan, declaratory legal provisions, members of the public speeches, the positive examples, etc.), but complex, lengthy process, requiring not only a constructive and coordinate the public administration and education in managing and assisting the authorities of his actions, but also the public awareness. Lithuanian’s legal system and legal doctrine in principle provide sufficient legal instruments to protect disabled children and adolescents in educational establishments, but there is prescriptive regulatory, legal norms practice non-compliance. Lithuanian legal system, said the situation may be disclosed in more detail distinguishing these problems associated... [to full text]

Industry is heavily dependent on the process of combustion and with a projected rapid increase for the demand of combustion-derived energy it is imperative to expose a new age of engineering professionals to the discipline of combustion engineering. One purpose of this study was to modify an existing scaled-down industrial furnace and to retrofit it with the ability to interchange burners for academic application and combustion testing. A number of available industrial burners are presented and their qualities and drawbacks discussed. The modification of an existing scaled-down industrial tunnel furnace is proposed in this work with the objective of providing users with exposure to the control and safe operating strategies associated with industrial combustion. The furnace system simulates a square-shaped tunnel geometry commonly found in industrial applications. A single nozzle mix burner is mounted along the furnace axis and operated with supporting equipment such as a burner control safeguard, a gas train, and an air supply. Details of the furnace are provided in this work. The concept of radiative heat transfer within a combustion enclosure is demonstrated through furnace simulation with Hottel’s Zone Method. / Thesis (Master, Chemical Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-19 09:50:22.797

This study surveyed the sexual behaviors and knowledge of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) among 117 undergraduate students from McGill University, Montreal. The sample consisted of 32 men and 85 women ranging from 18 up to 24 years of age. The total sample was split into three knowledge groups, Low, Medium, and High, based on answers provided to questions about AIDS. The data were analyzed separately for the total sample, men, women, and the three knowledge groups. The findings indicated that these students were relatively knowledgeable about AIDS (73.23% correct responses out of 21 items), but were engaging in high risk sexual activities. It appears that personal concern about contracting AIDS, not knowledge of this disease, is related to behavior change among undergraduate students. It was recommended that AIDS education programs focus more on increasing the personal concern than the AIDS knowledge of adolescents.

The challenge that confronts South Africa 's emerging democracy is that an increasing percentage of its population is being infected with HIV/AIDS daily . The socio-political impact of the disease has resulted in the development of a variety of macro-level interventions. Despite these initiatives, there has been no decline in the spread of the epidemic. The increasing prevalence of HIV infection among young South Africans in particular, has necessitated an exploration into their risky sexual behaviour. A closer study of the social fields of practice, where knowledge is not only produced, but is constantly contested, negotiated, reproduced and embedded, is suggested. This study uses the principles of feminist theory to focus on gender roles and the related issues of power and risky behaviour. The central argument of this work is that the traditional construction of sexuality, which encourages sexual aggression and promiscuity among young men, alongside female sexual passivity and ignorance, are gendered factors which fuel the spread of HIV/AIDS . In order to examine young peoples' perceptions of the role of gender and risky behaviour, I engaged young people, who were already in the field, to conduct the research. An exploration into the processes of enabling young people to conduct research, while linking the production of meaning to the possibility of human agency and transformative social action, formed an evolving methodology in this work. The research was designed to provide young people with a space for active engagement, participation, immersion and reflection, en route to becoming researchers. Young researchers who conducted research in their youth communities served as deep insider researchers, who possessed an awareness of the slogan systems and semiotics which operated within the cultural norms of the community. The young researchers conducted the inquiry by using a multiplicity of methods, which included visual methodologies, individual interviews and questionnaires. They solicited most of the data from a wider group of 15 to 19 year old African and Indian learners . These learners, who were mainly from a lower socio-economic background, attended the co-educational school, in the province ofKwaZulu Natal in South Africa. The findings of this study reveal how young researchers become empowered by acquiring increased competence in doing research and achieving a greater understanding of the influences of gender and power on risky behaviour. The research report offers methodological insights into the training and enablement of young people as researchers. It reveals how catalytic validity enables a transformation in the young researchers, who, having achieved a heightened understanding of the purpose of the research , actively participated in the research process. The study is significant because it reveals the gradual effacement of the main researcher from the research process, as a natural consequence of engaging young researchers to solicit, generate and interpret data. These new insights evolved as a result of taking the risk of allowing oneself, as a main researcher, to "get off track" and to enter uneven social spaces by doing research differently. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.