Cognitive and Behavioral Effects of Participatory Sex Education on the Dual Prevention of STI/HIV/AIDS and Unwanted Pregnancies among Adolescents in Kinshasa High Schools, DR Congo

Context: With the view to reorient both STI/HIV/AIDS prevention and adolescents pregnancies, this research study aims at evaluating cognitive and behavioral acquisitions, as well as the process of interactive sex education participatory approach among adolescents in Kinshasa high schools. Methods: Based on a “pre and post” virtually experimental design, two crosswise surveys were conducted in Kinshasa, for six months in 2011-2012 on 484 high school students (pre-survey) and on 441 high school students (post-survey), whose age range from 14 - 19 years including both sexes. Two participatory educational talks (PET) “A” and “B”, covered weekly in two different schools, were compared to a control group school. The PET “A” consisted of interactive interpersonal communication sessions given by an external expert as a substitute for the life education course in one school. The PET “B” carried out in another school, included more educational talk sessions, led by the external expert and supplemented by a close follow-up of teenagers divided into small groups of 10 participants. The subjects’ assessment was based on their knowledge, attitudes and practices relating to STI/HIV/AIDS dual prevention as well as to unwanted pregnancies. Results: The subjects involved in the PET “B” displayed a better/higher performance based on their knowledge, attitudes and practices related to STI/HIV/AIDS dual prevention and unwanted pregnancies. Broadly speaking, knowledge has been improved 6 times with the PET “B” (OR = 6, 10, IC 95%) (3.24 - 11.9), and 3 times with the PET “A” (OR = 3, 45, IC 95%) (1.79 - 6.81), compared to control school. Similarly, findings on subjects’ attitudes show an improvement rated 12 times with the PET”B” (OR = 11, 99, IC 95%) (5.67 - 27.38) and 5 times for the PET “A” (OR = 5.51, IC 95%) (2.54 - 12.87). As far as the subjects’ practices are concerned, an improvement of 6 more times of protected sexual intercourses with the PET “B” compared with the control school group (OR = 6, 52, IC 95%) (3.60 - 12.0). The process assessment records a spontaneous involvement of schools enhanced by the positive contribution of Life Education and Biology teachers;add a massive participation of adolescents who requested permanent PET program. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that school sexual education programs can be improved to increase the quality of apprenticeship. The use of interactive methods and the consideration of the adolescents’ specific needs that take into account the gender approach may bring about beneficial advantages on both educational outcomes and reproductive health of adolescents.

Evaluation of Effectiveness of Diode Laser System (808 nm) versus Intense Pulse Light (IPL) in the Management of Unwanted Hair: A Split Face Comparative Study

We have evaluated and compared the effectiveness of diode laser system (808 nm) and Intense Pulse Light (IPL) system (690 - 1200 nm) by studying the change in hair density, and the time of regrowth the hair. A total of 26 have completed three months’ treatment, aged 16 - 50 years. Patients were treated by diode laser 808 nm and IPL 690 - 1200 nm devices. Pulse repetition rate for both was 1 Hz and short pulse width for diode laser and the IPL pulse width was 15 ms. The fluence was (33 - 41 and 30 - 41) J/cm2 respectively. A split face treatment method was used. The treatment was carried out on monthly bases for three months. Hair density and regrowth duration were recorded before and after each session. After the third session, the hair density was decreased by (58%) for diode laser versus (49%) for IPL p = 0.366. The time of hair regrowth was increased to (327%) for diode laser versus IPL (339%) p = 0.821. Pain appeared more during the treatment with IPL than with diode laser. Post treatment side effects such as erythema, hyper pigmentation, and burn appeared on patients treated with diode laser more than those treated with IPL. In conclusion both diode laser and IPL were effective in reduction of hair density, and prolongation of the time of hair regrowth.

On Unwanted Compliments in FTA - from a Cultural Perspective

Compliments are always sweet to ears,but sometimes,they are burdensome and unwanted.Due to cultural differences,people in different countries have different reactions towards compliments.Facing the unwanted compliments which will cause embarrassment and constitute a FTA(Face-threatening act),interpreters have to take several strategies to deal with them,so as to save faces and images for both the primary interlocutors and themselves and thus make a contribution to the cross-cultural exchanges.

ROBO-SPOT:Detecting Robocalls by Understanding User Engagement and Connectivity Graph

Robo or unsolicited calls have become a persistent issue in telecommunication networks,posing significant challenges to individuals,businesses,and regulatory authorities.These calls not only trick users into disclosing their private and financial information,but also affect their productivity through unwanted phone ringing.A proactive approach to identify and block such unsolicited calls is essential to protect users and service providers from potential harm.Therein,this paper proposes a solution to identify robo-callers in the telephony network utilising a set of novel features to evaluate the trustworthiness of callers in a network.The trust score of the callers is then used along with machine learning models to classify them as legitimate or robo-caller.We use a large anonymized dataset(call detailed records)from a large telecommunication provider containing more than 1 billion records collected over 10 days.We have conducted extensive evaluation demonstrating that the proposed approach achieves high accuracy and detection rate whilst minimizing the error rate.Specifically,the proposed features when used collectively achieve a true-positive rate of around 97%with a false-positive rate of less than 0.01%.

Perception of Condoms and Emergency Contraceptive Pill Use among Students in the University of Bamenda

Background: Globally, university students fall in the youth group prone to unattended sexual risks which may lead to unwanted pregnancy and STI/HIV. In Cameroon, more than a third of maternal deaths occur among adolescent girls and young mothers. Unwanted pregnancies results from the infrequent use of modern contraceptive methods and is one of the main causes of death in this population. Condoms are barrier contraceptive that have a beauty of dual protection-against pregnancy and transmission of STI/HIV, meanwhile emergency contraceptives has just one function which is protection against unwanted pregnancy. Aim: To assess the perception of condoms and emergency contraceptive pill use among students in the university of Bamenda, Cameroon. Materials and Methods: A university-based cross-sectional study was conducted among students in the University of Bamenda, North West Region of Cameroon, a cosmopolitan area approximately about 19 km from Bamenda main town (Commercial Avenue). The study was carried out over a period of three months. Data were collected using a structured interviewer questionnaire administered through Google form. Data collected were extracted into excel sheet and analysed with SPSSv23. Results: The study included 719 students (318 males and 401 females). The rate of male and female condom use was 28.5% and 8.1% respectively. The mean age of our study populations was 24.5 ± 4.97 years with 52.7% of population between 20 to 24 years of age. Knowledge about condoms was high at 98.3%, however, 91.9% of participants have never used the female condoms before. Highest factor recorded for non-utilisation of the male and females condoms were reduction in sexual pleasure (47.4%) and lack of knowledge on usage (44.1%) respectively. 95% of students have knowledge on Emergency Contraceptive Pills (ECPs) but just an average (52.4%) have used it before. Fear of side effects (47.4%) was the main reason for not using ECPs. Conclusion: There is a very high knowledge about condom and emergency contraceptive pill among students. However, the rate of usage recorded was very low with highest source of information being the media/internet and lowest among relatives/family.

Use of Emergency Contraception could Halve Induced Abortion Ratein Shanghai, China

Objective To investigate and estimate the proportion of the induced abortion that could have been prevented by using emergency contraception in Shanghai Method Structured interviews were conducted in 606 women (413 married and 193 unmarried) aged 18-49 years, who were attending three health care centers in Shang- hai for termination of first trimester pregnancy. Results A total of 98.2% of the pregnancies were unwanted, and 63.7% of the women recognized that they were at risk of pregnancy soon after the intercourse. It is estimated that 52.2% of the induced abortion could have been prevented if the women had used levonorgestrel-only emergency contraception. Only 28.5% of the respondents were aware of emergency contraception. The most important sources of information about emergency contraception identified by respondents were books/newspapers/periodicals (38.2%), and relatives/friends (30.6%). Family planning health education on emergency contraception was noted by 28.9% of married women but only by 5.8% of unmarried women. A portion of 85.5% of all respondents reported they would be willing to use emergency contraception when needed. Those more willing to use emergency con- traception included younger, better educated, and unmarried women experiencing their first pregnancy. Women preferred drugstores (60.1%) than hospitals (30.2%) for obtaining emergency contraception. Conclusion Women’s needs for emergency contraception were enormous. Promotion of emergency contraception by providing information and improving service could have a substantial impact on reducing the rate of induced abortion in Shanghai.

Theoretical Optimization of the Production of Heating Layers Using Local Wool Fibers

Science is the basis of the country’s development and wealth. In particular, it is necessary to effectively use advanced scientific developments and technical achievements in order to strengthen the economy in the period when the desire for innovation in all fields is still growing. In theoretical-experimental Scientific Research work, both theoretical and experimental results are achieved, and it is more useful to withstand more theoretical-experimental loads for a longer period of time. The occurrences in the production process of natural wool fiber technologists are a complex of physical and mechanical phenomena, which can be used only by the modern achievements of science and technology. In most cases, the parameter relationship with the factors influencing the technological process or the object can open a curve without any other things.