University of Zimbabwe

About: University of Zimbabwe is a education organization based out in Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The organization has 4378 authors who have published 6800 publications receiving 160720 citations. The organization is also known as: UZ & University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

The Regai Dzive Shiri project: results of a randomized trial of an HIV prevention intervention for youth.

Abstract: Background: HIV prevention among young people in southern Africa is a public health priority. There is little rigorous evidence of the effectiveness of different intervention approaches. We describe findings of a cluster randomized trial of a community-based, multicomponent HIV, and reproductive health intervention aimed at changing social norms for adolescents in rural Zimbabwe.Methods: Thirty rural communities were randomized to early or deferred implementation of the intervention in 2003. Impact was assessed in a representative survey of 18-22-year-olds after 4 years. Participants self-completed a questionnaire and gave a dried blood spot sample for HIV and herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) antibody testing. Young women had a urinary pregnancy test. Analyses were by intention-to-treat and were adjusted for clustering.Findings: Four thousand six hundred and eighty-four, 18-22-year-olds participated in the survey (97.1% of eligible candidates, 55.5% women). Just over 40% had been exposed to at least 10 intervention sessions. There were modest improvements in knowledge and attitudes among young men and women in intervention communities, but no impact on self-reported sexual behavior. There was no impact of the intervention on prevalence of HIV or HSV-2 or current pregnancy. Women in intervention communities were less likely to report ever having been pregnant.Interpretation: Despite an impact on knowledge, some attitudes, and reported pregnancy, there was no impact of this intervention on HIV or HSV-2 prevalence, further evidence that behavioral interventions alone are unlikely to be sufficient to reverse the HIV epidemic. The challenge remains to find effective HIV prevention approaches for young people in the face of continued and unacceptably high HIV incidence, particularly among young women. (C) 2010 Wolters Kluwer Health vertical bar Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Revisiting Forever Gained: Income Dynamics in the Resettlement Areas of Zimbabwe, 1983-96.

Abstract: This study examines income dynamics for a panel of households resettled on former white‐owned farms in the aftermath of Zimbabwe's independence. There are four core findings: (i) over a 13‐year period (1983–96) there has been an impressive accumulation of assets and a dramatic increase of crop incomes; (ii) the rise of crop incomes is partly due to asset accumulation but largely to increased asset returns; (Hi) differences between households in initial conditions, such as previous farming experience, have few persistent effects; and (iv) income growth has been widely shared, income inequality has fallen sharply and the largest percentage increases in incomes are recorded by households that initially had the lowest incomes.

Volatile fatty acid production during anaerobic mesophilic digestion of solid potato waste

Abstract: The production of volatile fatty acids by anaerobic digestion of solid potato waste was investigated using a batch solid waste reactor with a working capacity of 2 dm(-3) at 37degreesC. Solid potato waste was packed into the digester and the organic content of the waste was released by microbial activity by circulating water over the bed, using batch loads of 500g or 1000 g potato waste. The sequence of appearance of the volatile fatty acids was (acetic, propionic); (n-butyric); (n-valeric, iso-valeric, caproic); (iso-butyric). After 300 h digestion of potato waste on a small scale, the fermentation products were chiefly (mg g(-1) total VFAs): acetic acid (420), butyric acid (310), propionic acid (140) and caproic acid (90), with insignificant amounts of iso-butyric acid, n-valeric and iso-valeric acids. When the load of potato solids was increased, the volatile fatty acid content was similar, but butyric acid constituted 110 mg g(-1) and lactic acid 400 mg g(-1) of the total volatile fatty acids. The maximum soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD) achieved under the experimental conditions used was 27 and 37 g COD dm(-3) at low and high loadings of potato solids, respectively. The total volatile fatty acids reached 19 g dm(-3) of leachate at both loads of potato solid waste. Gas production was negligible, indicating that methanogenic activity was effectively inhibited. (C) 2004 Society of Chemical Industry. (Less)

Aeromagnetic survey design

Abstract: Aeromagnetic surveys are flown with a wide variety of terrain clearances, sampling rates, and line spacings. The results are generally presented as contour maps, implying that the survey grid defines the continuous magnetic field sufficiently well to justify interpolation.