Premature sexual activity has become a norm in South African society, often resulting in teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STD). Occurrence of premature sexual activity is related to insufficient education, gender inequalities, household poverty and place of residence. The Stepping Stones project uses a 10-session programme to educate learners about relationships, HIV-prevention and teenage pregnancy. The purpose was to measure and describe learners' sexual knowledge and activities in a rural technical secondary school in North-west Province, South Africa.
A cross-sectional survey. Questionnaires were distributed to learners in grade 8 to 12. Descriptive statistics was used in analysis.
Seventy-nine questionnaires were analysed. Despite a young sample, 26.6% were sexually active and 24.1% engaged in sexual activity. The mean age for first-time sexual intercourse was 15.2±2.3 years. The use of contraceptives was low (41.2%) and participants reported difficulty in talking to partners abby incorporating social media and emphasising gender equality and negotiation skills in sexually vulnerable situations.
Availability and affordability of sachet liquor has significantly increased adolescents' access to alcohol in Nigeria. This study investigated use of sachet alcohol and sexual behavior among adolescents in Ibadan South-East Local Government Area(IBSE-LGA), Oyo state, Nigeria.
A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with three-stage random sampling technique to select 390 adolescents in IBSE-LGA, Oyo state; using quantitative and qualitative instruments(5 IDIs).
There were more male adolescents (61.8%); with 14.7±2.6 as mean age; equal proportion of early (10-14years) and late(15-19years) adolescents. Findings show that about 16% of the respondents have not completed Primary School education; half(50%) of the respondents had ever taken alcohol, while 39.5% are current users of sachet alcohol (more males, older adolescents and working class). Many respondents are sexually active(30.5%), out of which 63% did not use any protection in their last sex episode, and 33.6% tok sachet alcohol before sex. There was an association between sachet alcohol use and risky sexual behaviours(p<0.05). Participants of IDI believe alcohol boosts sexual performance.
Sex, age and school/work status were related to alcohol use among adolescents. Higher proportion of the adolescents associated alcohol use with heightened sexual performance. Health education strategies (public enlightenment, peer education and life skills training) against adolescent alcohol use is recommended.
Sex, age and school/work status were related to alcohol use among adolescents. Higher proportion of the adolescents associated alcohol use with heightened sexual performance. check details Health education strategies (public enlightenment, peer education and life skills training) against adolescent alcohol use is recommended.
Infections caused by Extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL) producing bacterial are global challenge. There is limited information on the magnitude of bacteriospermia, ESBL producing Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) causing bacteriospermia and factors associated with male infertility. This study determined magnitude of bacteriospermia, ESBL-GNB and other factors association with infertility among presumptive infertile men in Mwanza, Tanzania.
A cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted between May 2017 and July 2018 among 137 presumptive infertile men. Semen specimens were self-collected by masturbation into clean, sterile and none-spermicidal containers and processed following laboratory standard operating procedures (SOPs). Data analysis was done using STATA 13.0.
Gram-negative bacteria were predominantly isolated (86.4%), of which 31.6% were ESBL producers. In a total 44 bacteria were isolated from semen culture. The
CTX-M gene was detected in 75% of phenotypically confirmed ESBL producers. Infertility was independently found to be associated with abnormal spermatozoa morphology (OR (95%CI) 14.48(3.17-66.05)) and abnormal spermatozoa motility (OR (95%CI) 0.05(0.01-0.24)). However, neither bacteriospermia (OR (95%CI) 0.86(0.29-2.59)) nor ESBL bacteriospermia (OR (95%CI) 0.13(0.01-1.22)) was found to be associated with infertility.
One third of bacteriospermia is due to ESBL-producers with history of antibiotic use being protective factor for infertility. Abnormal spermatozoa morphology and poor spermatozoa forward motility independently predicted infertility.
One third of bacteriospermia is due to ESBL-producers with history of antibiotic use being protective factor for infertility. Abnormal spermatozoa morphology and poor spermatozoa forward motility independently predicted infertility.
Seminal hyperviscosity has been shown to be associated with male infertility. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of hyperviscosity in semen of Malawian males seeking infertility treatment.
A total of 120 men visiting our laboratory for fertility assessment donated semen samples. The semen samples were assessed for hyperviscosity, volume, concentration, total motility, progressive motility, viability, and morphology.
Out of the 120 samples analyzed, 34 samples were hyperviscous representing 28.3%. No significant statistical difference in semen volume between samples with normal viscosity compared to those with hyperviscosity (p>0.05). Sperm concentration, progressive motility, total motility, viability, and normal morphology were significantly higher in the normal viscosity group when compared to the abnormal viscocity group (p<0.05).
Hyperviscosity affects a significant number of men in Malawi and may be the cause of decreased fertility as it was associated with poor sperm concentration, total motility, progressive motility, viability, and morphology.
Hyperviscosity affects a significant number of men in Malawi and may be the cause of decreased fertility as it was associated with poor sperm concentration, total motility, progressive motility, viability, and morphology.
Certain environmental toxins permanently damage the thymic epithelium, accelerate immune senescence and trigger secondary immune pathologies. However, the exact underlying cellular mechanisms and pathways of permanent immune intoxication remain unknown. The aim of the present study was to demonstrate gene expressional changes of apoptosis-related cellular pathways in human thymic epithelial cells following exposure to snake venom from
and
Snake venoms were characterized by analytical methods including reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography and sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, then applied on human thymic epithelial cells (1889c) for 24 h at 10 μg/mL (as used in previous TaqMan Array study). Gene expressional changes restricted to apoptosis were assayed by TaqMan Array (Human Apoptosis Plate).
The most prominent gene expressional changes were shown by
(≈ 2.5 million-fold, confirmed by dedicated quantitative polymerase chain reaction) and
(0.016-fold) for
and
(6.check details
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