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Background: Despite advances in biomedical HIV prevention modalities such as pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent the transmission of HIV, racial/ethnic and sexual/gender minority populations are disproportionately impacted by HIV epidemic. Alarming rates of HIV have persisted among Black gay and bisexual men, particularly in Southern states. Methods: Utilizing data from the ViiV ACCELERATE! initiative, we explored the impact of As Much As I Can, an immersive theatre production, on HIV-related stigma behaviors. A self-administered post-performance survey was conducted with a cohort (n = 322) of randomly selected audience members. Results: Overall, the results showed participants had a highly favorable experience, rating the performance with a mean score of 9.77/10. Respondents indicated they intended to change behaviors to promote HIV prevention education and to reduce stigma and discrimination including: (1) Say something if I hear stigmatizing language against people living with HIV (75.4%), (2) Say something if I hear anti-gay language (69.7%) and (3) Tell others about HIV prevention options (e.g., PrEP, PEP, condoms (64.1%). The findings show there is an association between HIV-related behavior intention and linkage to HIV care. Respondents who reported they were more likely to say something about HIV stigma were almost three times (O.R. 2.77; 95% C.I. 0.98–7.8) more likely to indicate they would follow up with a healthcare professional. Conclusions: This study suggests that immersive theatre is an effective method for communicating HIV prevention education and reducing HIV-related structural stigma and discrimination that increases HIV vulnerability for Black sexual minority men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to explore how people's differentiated privileged and marginalised positions in society create instances of inclusion and exclusion in tourism. Eight authors utilised their diverse disciplinary and theoretical bases to engage in individual autoethnography and collaborative reflections of their personal experiences of being tourists and hosts. Through our Western and non-Western, White and non-White experiences, we reveal experiences from a multitude of perspectives, and problematise the dominant White racial frame. The methodology illustrates unquestioned privileges and feelings of discomfort when personally faced with exclusionary practices and creates an understanding of how individuals have different experiences of enchantment and the tourist gaze. The experience of marginalisation is serial and dialectical, which illustrates the complexity of tourism. The paper contributes to an enhanced and multifaceted understanding of tourism experiences and proposes measures to reveal issues of exclusion. Also, the use of autoethnography and collaborative reflection as methodological tools provide opportunities for researchers and practitioners to engage in reflexive conversation on discriminatory practices, and how they hinder certain individuals and groups from enjoying tourism products and services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports findings of Moi University's geography students' assessment of their internship, which underscore the importance of internship in bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and its application in the real world of work. Not only were the majority of the students able to apply geographical knowledge and skills in their work situations, they also acquired new competences, gained work experience and were able to map their career paths and make contacts with relevant professionals and potential employers. As a result, most students came out of internship more upbeat about the geography programme and their career and job prospects.

This study assessed the success or failure of plan implementation in Kenya by investigating the extent to which planned estimates for educational projects were actually attained. Using six sets of five-year national development plans, we calculated an implementation ratio for each program showing actual expenditure as a ratio of planned expenditure. Our results indicated that out of the 78 implementation cases examined, there were 73 cases of overspending, and only five, of balanced spending, an indication of 93.3% implementation failure rate. We concluded that there is a persistent and substantial shortfall in the attainment of plan targets, a situation that calls for restructuring of the entire planning process.

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Gastropod-nematode associations are underreported worldwide. In the present study, juvenile and adult nematodes were found in the freshwater gastropod Burnupia stenochorias (Melvill & Ponsonby, 1903), from the Vaal River, South Africa. The nematodes were confirmed to belong to the genus Daubaylia chitwood & chitwood, 1934 (Daubayliidae). This is the first report of Daubaylia from a snail belonging to the family Burnupiidae, and the first report of this nematode taxon in southern Africa. Like D. pearsoni and D. malayanum from Australia and Malaysia respectively, adult females of the current species possess multiple well-developed eggs in the uteri, with larvae developing in utero. Morphological and molecular characteristics showed that the nematodes are distinct from all the described species of Daubaylia. Thus, they are considered a new species, Daubaylia burnupiae n. sp. The species differs from its congeners based on spicule shape, the short tail of the male, an anal cuticular knob-like protrusion on the female, and oesophagi with short isthmi and short glandular basal bulbs in both sexes. Three club-shaped pharyngeal lobes, extending slightly above the surface of the cephalic lips in both sexes and a pre-cloacal median papilla on the male were described using scanning electron microscopy, the first of such observations for the daubayliids. Genetic analyses showed that partial sequences of D. burnupiae n. sp. differed from species for which genetic data are available, by at least 26 and 9 base pair differences for 28S and 18S rDNA, respectively. Our results show that low prevalence and abundance of nematodes in the snails, corresponded with increased pollution in the river. We suspect that exposure to pollutants reduces the viability of the infective gravid female nematode during transmission. Therefore, the nematode is a potential bioindicator for aquatic pollution. [Display omitted] • Description of a parasitic nematode Daubaylia burnupiae n. sp. from snail Burnupia stenochorias. • This is only the second species of Daubaylia reported in Africa. • Additional features of the family Daubayliidae are highlighted by scanning electron microscopy. • Inclusion of Daubaylia bonaerensis Camino and Gonzalez (2011) in the genus is questionable. • Reduced nematode prevalence and abundance corresponded with increased pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, the high level of nitrate in tailwater of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has continued to cause serious environmental problems. In current study, wood chips and bark, serving as natural solid carbon source (NSCS), were applied to enhance the denitrification capacity of lakeshore sediment to remove superabundant nitrate in tailwater. The results show that NSCS had a positive effect on denitrification process for lakeshore sediment and increased the total phosphorus removal capacity by 212%–601%. Comparatively, wood chips were better in enhancing denitrification ability of lakeshore sediment for a longer time. At the 70th day, the nitrate elimination (NEL) of the wood chip-sediment integrated system (WSIS) was 20% and 9% higher than the control system (CS) and bark-sediment integrated system (BSIS), respectively. For the WSIS, the microbial activity and the abundance of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) were significantly increased, and the sediment anaerobic zone was rapidly formed, which were conducive to the denitrification of the sediment. At the DNA level, both groups presented an inconsistency in the abundance of functional denitrification genes with the NEL. At the enzyme level, wood chips significantly increased the nitrate and nitrite reductase activities of the sediment, and promoted denitrification. From the perspective of microbial communities, wood chips highly promoted the abundance of norank_f_BIrii41 Proteobacteria and Ruminclostridum more than other denitrifying and potential denitrifying bacteria in the process of sediment denitrification enhancement. [Display omitted] • Natural Solid carbon sources promote simultaneous removal of nitrogen and phosphorus in effluent. • Wood chips are a better carbon source replenisher for lake sediment than bark. • Wood chips up-regulated nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide abundance and microbial activities. • Wood chips enhanced anaerobic zone formation in lakeshore sediment. • There was higher abundance of norank_f_BIrii41 Proteobacteria and Ruminclostridum in wood chip-sediment integrated systems than in other systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]