Young adults generally have been identified as one of the groups of individuals who are particularly at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and under-graduates constitute a very significant subset among these young adults. T...Young adults generally have been identified as one of the groups of individuals who are particularly at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and under-graduates constitute a very significant subset among these young adults. Therefore this research was designed to study the specific factors that put undergraduates in ten selected tertiary institutions in southwest Nigeria at risk of contracting HIVAIDS, as well as determine HIV prevalence in these campuses and the viral load of positive subjects. 1000 undergraduates were enrolled in the study, over a period of forty-two months. Baseline retroviral screening was carried out, using a rapid commercial test-kit, DETERMINE®. Confirmatory tests were carried out on positive samples using Enzyme Immuno Assay (EIA) technique. The viral load of the positive samples was determined using Real Time PCR, while the CD4+ count was assayed using Cyflow technique. Four out of the 1000 subjects were confirmed to be positive, thus representing an overall prevalence rate of 0.4%. The CD4 count of the positive subjects were 479/L, 368/L, 420/L and 1063/L. Molecular analysis of the positive subjects’ samples using RT-PCR revealed that the level of viral RNA in two of the subjects’ was too low for detection, while the other two positive subjects had 20 cp/ml and 325 cp/ml of viral RNA in their samples. Analyses of both the negative and positive subjects’ questionnaires were carried out, so as to determine the probable risk-factors that predisposed the positive subjects to infection. Hypotheses tested at p < 0.05 revealed that there was a significant difference in the rate at which the subjects were infected with HIV among the age-groups.展开更多
In November 2015, the Israeli Ministry of Education declared that the matriculation exam in history would no longer include the Holocaust, and instead students would be required to write a research paper. Following th...In November 2015, the Israeli Ministry of Education declared that the matriculation exam in history would no longer include the Holocaust, and instead students would be required to write a research paper. Following this decision, we wished to test the level of knowledge concerning the Holocaust among undergraduate students （excluding those who study contemporary history, which includes Holocaust studies）. For this purpose, 145 participants were sampled, students at four Israeli academic institutions： two universities and two colleges. The research question referred to remembering information about the Holocaust and the study took into account students＇ different personal, family, and academic background （having participated in the journey to Poland or not, having relatives who had died or survived the Holocaust, being religious or secular）. The knowledge survey refers to terms from four areas： people, historical events during the Holocaust era, organizations that operated in that period, and places and methods of killing. In general, the level of knowledge was found to be very low （general knowledge score： 42.6 of 100）. No significant differences were found in scores by religion or participation in the journey to Poland, aside from knowledge about places and methods of killing, where we found a significant difference between those who participated in the journey to Poland and those who did not. In addition, no significant differences were found between participants whose relatives had died in or had survived the Holocaust, or by either the number of years since high school graduation or gender. From the respondents＇ answers, it appears that high school studies play an essential role as the main perceived source of knowledge （90.4% referred to school as a main or additional knowledge source）. When asked about the new exam format, the majority （52.1%） replied that they would prefer writing a research paper to taking an exam. The low level of knowledge that we found raises practical questions： Are the schools teaching correctly？ Should the study program be reviewed？ Are we providing the right highlights？ What is the contribution of the journey to Poland if 60% of the participants are not familiar, for example, with Mordechai Anielewicz？ What can be done to improve the situation？ Will the decision to exclude Holocaust topics from the high school finals in history and to require students to write a research paper, improve the situation？ What is the future of remembrance in a generation that will have no Holocaust survivors to tell their personal story？ It is necessary to check the importance of the school as a primary source of knowledge and how to improve the study methods so that the knowledge will be preserved. Perhaps the informal teaching that includes the journey to Poland plays an important role and should be used more often. Furthermore, despite students＇ support of the reform and the conception that writing a research paper is better than taking an exam about the Holocaust, there is a need to check what is included in this research paper and whether writing it on a specific subject connected to the Holocaust won＇t cause a situation where the students are only proficient in that subject with regard to the Holocaust. In addition, the student＇s ability to prepare a research paper should be considered. Indeed, the students replied that they would be capable of writing such a paper, but the question is whether high school students indeed have the necessary proficiency and tools.展开更多
文摘Young adults generally have been identified as one of the groups of individuals who are particularly at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and under-graduates constitute a very significant subset among these young adults. Therefore this research was designed to study the specific factors that put undergraduates in ten selected tertiary institutions in southwest Nigeria at risk of contracting HIVAIDS, as well as determine HIV prevalence in these campuses and the viral load of positive subjects. 1000 undergraduates were enrolled in the study, over a period of forty-two months. Baseline retroviral screening was carried out, using a rapid commercial test-kit, DETERMINE®. Confirmatory tests were carried out on positive samples using Enzyme Immuno Assay (EIA) technique. The viral load of the positive samples was determined using Real Time PCR, while the CD4+ count was assayed using Cyflow technique. Four out of the 1000 subjects were confirmed to be positive, thus representing an overall prevalence rate of 0.4%. The CD4 count of the positive subjects were 479/L, 368/L, 420/L and 1063/L. Molecular analysis of the positive subjects’ samples using RT-PCR revealed that the level of viral RNA in two of the subjects’ was too low for detection, while the other two positive subjects had 20 cp/ml and 325 cp/ml of viral RNA in their samples. Analyses of both the negative and positive subjects’ questionnaires were carried out, so as to determine the probable risk-factors that predisposed the positive subjects to infection. Hypotheses tested at p < 0.05 revealed that there was a significant difference in the rate at which the subjects were infected with HIV among the age-groups.
文摘In November 2015, the Israeli Ministry of Education declared that the matriculation exam in history would no longer include the Holocaust, and instead students would be required to write a research paper. Following this decision, we wished to test the level of knowledge concerning the Holocaust among undergraduate students （excluding those who study contemporary history, which includes Holocaust studies）. For this purpose, 145 participants were sampled, students at four Israeli academic institutions： two universities and two colleges. The research question referred to remembering information about the Holocaust and the study took into account students＇ different personal, family, and academic background （having participated in the journey to Poland or not, having relatives who had died or survived the Holocaust, being religious or secular）. The knowledge survey refers to terms from four areas： people, historical events during the Holocaust era, organizations that operated in that period, and places and methods of killing. In general, the level of knowledge was found to be very low （general knowledge score： 42.6 of 100）. No significant differences were found in scores by religion or participation in the journey to Poland, aside from knowledge about places and methods of killing, where we found a significant difference between those who participated in the journey to Poland and those who did not. In addition, no significant differences were found between participants whose relatives had died in or had survived the Holocaust, or by either the number of years since high school graduation or gender. From the respondents＇ answers, it appears that high school studies play an essential role as the main perceived source of knowledge （90.4% referred to school as a main or additional knowledge source）. When asked about the new exam format, the majority （52.1%） replied that they would prefer writing a research paper to taking an exam. The low level of knowledge that we found raises practical questions： Are the schools teaching correctly？ Should the study program be reviewed？ Are we providing the right highlights？ What is the contribution of the journey to Poland if 60% of the participants are not familiar, for example, with Mordechai Anielewicz？ What can be done to improve the situation？ Will the decision to exclude Holocaust topics from the high school finals in history and to require students to write a research paper, improve the situation？ What is the future of remembrance in a generation that will have no Holocaust survivors to tell their personal story？ It is necessary to check the importance of the school as a primary source of knowledge and how to improve the study methods so that the knowledge will be preserved. Perhaps the informal teaching that includes the journey to Poland plays an important role and should be used more often. Furthermore, despite students＇ support of the reform and the conception that writing a research paper is better than taking an exam about the Holocaust, there is a need to check what is included in this research paper and whether writing it on a specific subject connected to the Holocaust won＇t cause a situation where the students are only proficient in that subject with regard to the Holocaust. In addition, the student＇s ability to prepare a research paper should be considered. Indeed, the students replied that they would be capable of writing such a paper, but the question is whether high school students indeed have the necessary proficiency and tools.
