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Introdução: A relação entre cães, gatos e seres humanos é antiga e ainda polêmica ,principalmente, nos aspectos referentes à questão da saúde. O desequilíbrio na população animal levou a excessos populacionais, que junto com a falta de saneamento e o crescimento desordenado das cidades, propiciaram a disseminação de zoonoses, principalmente, nas metrópoles. Ainda não é claro o risco dos animais à população humana frente aos benefícios possíveis. Justificativa: As freqüentes interações entre o homem e animais de estimação propiciam surgimento de novas zoonoses, tornando fundamental o conhecimento da dinâmica populacional de cães e gatos nas diferentes cidades brasileiras. A análise desses parâmetros, através de um inquérito domiciliar, abrirá um novo leque de opções, que permitirá novos conhecimentos técnicos e poderá ser um norteador de políticas públicas para essa área tão carente de informação. Objetivo: Analisar o perfil da população domiciliada de cães e correlacionando com as condições dos domicílios e do seu entorno e o nível sócio- econômico dos proprietários de animais. Material e Método: Foram utilizados dados de estudos de corte transversal e base populacional, com uso de questionários aplicados em entrevistas domiciliares. A área estudada foi o município de São Paulo, as entrevistas foram realizadas em 2003, como parte do “Inquérito de Saúde no Município de São Paulo – ISA - CAPITAL". O presente projeto analisou o bloco de entrevistas que versa sobre a questão de cães e gatos nos domicílios. A análise geral dos dados foi realizada pelos softwares SPSS e STATA. Resultados: Em 42,77 % dos lares há presença de cães e/ou gatos. A média de idade dos cães nas residências é de 4,28 anos e a dos gatos é de 3,44 anos. Houve predominância de fêmeas na população felina e de machos na canina. Foi notada uma alta porcentagem, 90,13 % dos cães e 71,93% dos gatos, de vacinação contra a Raiva , nos últimos 12 meses. As clínicas particulares têm grande importância na vacinação contra a Raiva com 29,8 % dos cães vacinados em clínicas e 55,5 % dos gatos. Conclusões Finais: Há necessidade de um sistema de informação entre clínicas particulares e serviço público, principalmente no tocante à vacinação contra a raiva; maior número de estudos sobre a população felina na cidade; programas educativos para a população em geral e para os “cuidadores" de cães. / The relationship between dogs or cats with human is ancient and nevertheless controversy. The imbalance in the animal population drove to an overpopulation that allied to the lack of sanitation and disordered increase of the cities enabled the dissemination of zoonoses especially in the metropolises. It is still not clear the risk of the animals to the human population compared to the plausible benefits. Justification: The frequent interactions between man and domestic animals results in new zoonoses emergences, and in this context the information of dog and cats population dynamics in different Brazilian cities is crucial. The analysis of these parameters, through a health survey, will raise new options that could allow improvement in technical information. As an effect, this development could have a leading role in public politics for an area with such scarce knowledge.Objective: To analyze the profile of dogs an cats and its parameters related (vaccination, population dynamics), with the household and surroundings conditions by making use of a health survey. Materials and Methods: Transversal cut study and populational basis investigation with use of inquiries applied on household interviews were performed. The examined area was São Paulo city in 2003, as part of the “Health Survey in São Paulo municipality"- Inquérito de Saúde no Município de São Paulo – ISA - CAPITAL". The present survey analyzed the segment of the interviews that comprised the information on the dogs and cats in the domiciles. The general data analysis was performed with the softwares SPSS and STATA. Results: Our results indicated that 42,77% of the domiciles have either dogs, cats or both. The average age of the dogs is 4,28 years and of the cats 3,44 years. There was a predominance of females in the canine population and males in the feline one. A high level of rabies vaccination was noticed (90,13 % of dogs and 71,93% of cats) in the last 12 months. The private practices were responsible for a significant participation in the rabies vaccination with 29,8% of the dogs and 55,5% of the cats. Final conclusions: There is a need for an information network between private practices and public service specially regarding vaccination against rabies, and also a requirement for more studies on the feline population of the city, as well as educational programs for the general population and the animal caretakers.

Motivated by recent successes in linking the kinetic power of relativistic jets in active galactic nuclei (AGN) to the low-frequency, isotropic lobe emission, I have re-examined the blazar and radio-loud AGN unification scheme through careful analysis of the four parameters we believe to be fundamental in producing a particular jet spectral energy distribution (SED): the kinetic power, accretion power, accretion mode, and orientation. In particular, I have compiled a multi-wavelength database for hundreds of jet SEDs in order to characterize the jet spectrum by the synchrotron peak output, and have conducted an analysis of the steep lobe emission in blazars in order to determine the intrinsic jet power. This study of the link between power and isotropic emission is likely to have a wider applicability to other types or relativistic jet phenomena, such as microquasars. Based on a well-characterized sample of over 200 sources, I suggest a new unification scheme for radio-loud AGN (Meyer et al. 2011) which compliments evidence that a transition in jet power at a few percent of the Eddington luminosity produces two types of relativistic jet (Ghisellini, et al., 2009). The `broken power sequence' addresses a series of recent findings severely at odds with the previous unification scheme. This scheme makes many testable predictions which will can be addressed with a larger body of data, including a way to determine whether the coupling between accretion and jet power is the currently presumed one-to-one correspondence, or whether accretion power forms an upper bound, as very recent observations suggest (Fernandes et al. 2011). This work is a first step toward a unified understanding of the relativistic jets found in radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) and their connection to accretion onto the super-massive black holes from which they emanate.

Western nations continue to face potential attacks from violent extremist organizations waging a campaign of violence in the name of political Islam. Though these attacks are traditionally labeled as originating from abroad, leaders of these extremist organizations are utilizing a new tactic of radicalizing native or naturalized citizens from within Western countries in an effort to bypass the massive defensive security apparatus Western governments have put in place since the September 11 attacks. These undistinguishable citizens turned radical jihadists, better known as homegrown terrorists, represent a clear and present danger to the security of the United States. In an effort to understand the problem, this paper seeks to identify patterns common amongst these individuals and addresses the question "How does a Muslim youth become radicalized into a homegrown terrorist?" This research will use a case study approach to identify patterns of radicalization in convicted homegrown terrorist and test the hypothesis that a failure of integration will cause some Western Muslim youth to radicalize and in some cases, commit violent crimes of terrorism.

Conducting representative surveys of older people is challenging. This thesis aims to analyze a) the characteristics of individuals at risk of being underrepresented in surveys of older people, b) the systematic errors likely to occur as a result of these selections, and c) whether these systematic errors can be minimized by weighting adjustments.   In Study I, we investigated a) who would be missing from a survey that excluded those living in institutions and that did not use indirect interviews, b) how prevalence rates would be affected by these exclusions, and c) whether post-stratifying the data by sex and age (weighting adjustment) would correct for any systematic measurement error. In Study II, we compared mortality and hospitalization rates in those who responded to a postal questionnaire with rates in the target population. In addition, we tested whether a weighting variable created with a number of auxiliary variables could correct for the differences.   In Study III, we followed a longitudinal cohort sample for 43 years. By recalculating baseline characteristics at each follow-up, we investigated how the sample changed after a) selective mortality and b) survey non-participation. In Study IV, we investigated whether the systematic non-participation that is likely to occur in surveys of older people affects the association between education and health. In sum, the results of these four studies show that people in the oldest age groups, women, those of low socioeconomic position, and those with the poorest health tend to be underrepresented in surveys of older people. This systematic underrepresentation might lead to an underestimation of poor health and function, a bias that is unlikely to be corrected by weighting adjustments, and to an underestimation of health inequality between educational groups. The results also show that the selective mortality that occurs in longitudinal samples might be compounded by selective non-participation among the most disadvantaged groups. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript. Paper 2: Manuscript.</p>

HIV prevalence remains a critical health concern particularly amongst the youth of South Africa. The demographic health survey suggests that open communication about sex is essential to delaying the onset of sexual activity, reducing teenage pregnancy and the spread of HIV/AIDS. Previous research has also indicated that parent-adolescent communication has positive influences on sexual behaviours. Further to that studies show that communication is the most effective way of helping teenagers understand their surroundings and make better decisions about sexually related issues. This study investigates the level of parent-adolescent communication about sexual related issues and identifies the main sources of sexuality information for adolescents. The study adopted a qualitative research approach using in-depth interviews with ten adolescents and their parents. This study reveals that both adolescents and parents view communication as important in the era of HIV/AIDS. More mothers than fathers communicate with adolescents about sexual related topics. Mothers viewed sexual communication as one of the ways they were fulfilling parental responsibility. Adolescents viewed growing up in an era of HIV/AIDS as a challenge due to the pressures they received from their peers. As a result adolescents trusted the information obtained from parents and teachers compared to the information from peers. The conclusion drawn from this study is that communication helps to create a bond between the parent and the adolescent. Adolescents felt important and cared for when parents were taking their time to talk to them about sexual related issues. Parent-adolescent communication was important in decreasing early sexual behaviour and preventing HIV/AIDS. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Recent studies on marriage patterns in South Africa have revealed a clear trend towards decreasing proportions of married women and an increase in age at first marriage (Udjo, 2001; Budlender et al., 2004). Despite marriage being one of the most important proximate determinants of fertility, the role of these nuptiality changes on the country’s decreasing fertility levels has not been adequately explored. Using data from the 1998 South African Demographic Survey, this paper fills this research gap by examining the marriage and fertility trends among African women in South Africa. The decision to focus on African women hinged on two basic factors; (1) available evidence shows that changes in marriage patterns are most notable in this racial group, and (2) African women have the highest fertility level relative to other racial groups. The results show that marriage patterns have been changing over time. The proportions married are low and late among African and rural women. There is an increase in the proportion of women who are cohabiting and never-married. Fertility levels are different for marital status, with the married and widowed women having the highest mean number of children ever born and the least number of children ever born is among the never-married women. Furthermore, the mean number of children ever born is among the highest in the older ages for all women. Kaplan-Meier estimates indicate that half of the divorced and widowed women have their first birth as early as age 18 years, compared to age 20 for the never-married and the cohabiting women, and age 22 for the married women. The mean age at first birth for African women is 19.7 years compared to 21.2 years for non-African women. Overall, socio-economic and demographic factors such as educational attainment, place of residence, marital status, race, and age have a significant effect on the age of a woman at first birth. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

In the last seven to eight years, Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) has received an increasing amount of attention internationally. It has come to be viewed as an important way of preventing new HIV infections and prolonging HIV-positive peoples' lives. In late 2003 the increased attention, amongst other factors, led the South African government to publish a comprehensive health care plan stating that all citizens in South Africa who need ART should receive it by year 2009. Patients' adherence and their sexual behavior are crucial to the success of ART. This thesis focuses on what factors influence patients' sexual behavior after commencing ART. It will especially look at ART patients' perception of their own infectiousness, as studies have suggested that lower viral loads caused by ART will increase their sexual risk behaviour. The research was conducted on patients attending Ithembalabantu Clinic in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Qualitative and quantitative data were used in the study. The quantitative data involved 271 face-to-face interviews based on a survey. The qualitative data involved conducting 20 semistructured interviews. The results indicated that consistent condom use was high among the sample population (72%), and only two females and seven males having multiple partners (7%). However, due to ART just recently having been introduced in South Africa, the average time spent on ART was 14 months. The findings reveal that a partner's attitude to HIV/AIDS and the levels of communication and openness in a relationship influenced consistent use of condoms. The use of condoms was significantly related to knowledge of partners' status. A high level of sexual assertiveness amongst the females in the sample might have made it easier for them to negotiate condom use. The stage at which members of the sample population entered the relationship was also a predictor of condom use. People who were unemployed and over 35 years in age were less likely to use condoms consistently. The study also examined the respondents' perception of their own infectiousness. The results indicate that respondents and participants felt that it was just as, or even more dangerous, to have sexual intercourse without a condom when they are on ART. Few of the participants in the study understood the concept of viral load. They used the same explanation for both viral load and CD4 count. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

This study was conducted in order to explore the experiences of survivors of gender based violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The aim was to determine the impact of gender based violence on the reproductive health of women. The study was carried out at a hospital in the eastern province of the country. In-depth interviews were conducted with women survivors of rape and informant interviews with staff at the hospital. A total of twenty one participants participated in the study. The findings show that women suffered humiliation, physical and psychological torture during their rape. Some women were raped by a number of men. The rape also had serious consequences for their sexual and reproductive health. Some of the effects of their rape were long-term: it resulted in an unwanted pregnancy or HIV/AIDS. Many of the women expressed their fears for the future. They were particularly worried about their children, especially those who were divorced following their rape and those who lived with HIV/AIDS. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2010.

The transition to adulthood is a significant period in the lives of many young people throughout the world. HIV/AIDS continues to attract much attention from researchers as it is a matter of particular concern for young people. Recent data suggests that the HIV prevalence among females aged 15-24 in South Africa is 12.7%, and 4% among males. Increasingly there has been a major outcry especially among international donor agencies that despite widespread HIV/AIDS campaigns in South Africa behaviour change has not been realised. Given the fact that in South Africa HIV/AIDS is fuelled by heterosexual intercourse, it is imperative to monitor trends in sexual behaviour among young adults in order to be able to identify and understand those sexual behaviours that fuel the epidemic. This study uses the Cape Area Panel Study (CAPS) data conducted in the Cape Town Metropolitan between 2002 and 2005. It tracks trends in sexual behaviour, and determines the predictors of risky sexual behaviour among these young adults. The study reveals that condom use is extremely high among all population groups, except among Coloured males whose condom use actually declined between 2002 and 2005. The study also reveals that the percentage of young adults engaging in risky sexual behaviour, such as having multiple sexual partners has declined between 2002 and 2005. Early sexual onset determines risky sexual behaviour later in life. This suggests that in order to equip young adults to act in a sexually responsible manner later in life, protective factors such as family involvement, schooling, peer influence and selfesteem must be strengthened before sexual onset. The conclusion drawn from this study is that in order to curtail rising trends in inconsistent condom use and multiple sexual partners and to increase the age at first sex, early intervention programs are necessary. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.