Greater Exposure Research Articles

Alkali and epoxy-silane surface modified pine cone flour reinforced polypropylene/poly (lactic acid) blend: viscoelastic and morphological characterization

The main aim of this work was to study the effect of surface modification on the characteristics of local Pine cone flour (PCF) and on the interfacial adhesion in polypropylene/poly(lactic acid)/Pine cone (PP/PLA/PCF) blend composites. For this purpose, alkali, silane, and a combination of both treatments were applied to impart a hydrophobic character to the PCF flour. Treated and untreated flour samples were subjected to several investigations, such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-rays diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results revealed a reduction in the contents of hemicellulose, lignin, and wax upon treatments, as evidenced by the disappearance or reduction in the intensity of some characteristic bands, such as that related to the carbonyl groups (C = O) at 1730 cm−1. Also, the treatments were seen to enhance the surface roughness, thermal stability, and crystallinity of the flour, as a result of greater exposure to cellulose. The dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) showed that the storage modulus of blend composites with modified flour is higher than that of the unfilled blend. In this sense, the Alkali-GPTMS 5%-PCF composite exhibited a higher value by 20, 9, and 16% compared to Untreated-, Alkali-, and GPTMS-PCF composites, respectively. Surface treatments increased the interfacial adhesion, as it was perceived from the decrease in the height of tan δ peak owing to PP/PLA/PCF blend composites. Finally, the combination of both silane and alkali treatments was found to provide composites with a more cohesive microstructure owing to the improved compatibility.

Grid Integrated Charging Station for Electric Vehicles

This paper deals with an idea of grid integrated charging station for electric vehicles with flyback converters. Keeping union budget 2021 in mind, as older engine based vehicles are going to be converted into electric vehicles, we believe that this project will provide us great exposure to the current technology, electric vehicles. This paper will help a lot in charging the electric vehicles in a simple way. This paper also proposes the idea that, whenever there are no electric vehicles for charging, then the power will be fed to the grid, similarly when there is a need for more power, then the power from the grid can be used. It helps us to design a simple and efficient charging station to charge electric vehicles. This paper deals with solar-based applications, hence it helps us to prevent the environment from pollution. It is also integrated with the grid to meet the current trend. Making use of flyback converters have many advantages like few components compared to other converters, a wide range of input voltage, single control, makes the system more simple and efficient

Negative spillovers from parental conflicts and implied inequality: evidence from China

ABSTRACT This study estimates how students suffering from parental conflicts could affect their classmates in Chinese middle schools. We show that children with quarreling parents are more likely to misbehave. Negative spillovers from these potentially troubled peers concentrate on students from economically disadvantaged families. With greater exposure to classmates from troubled families, disadvantaged students would score lower in academic tests, commit more disciplinary infractions, feel less satisfied with being at school, and spend less time on after-school studying activities. In contrast, we find limited effects on advantaged students. These results imply a persistent inequality passing through generations.

Public Awareness of Communication Disorders and Speech-Language Therapy in Malaysia

ABSTRACT Speech-language therapy is a growing field in many Asian countries, including Malaysia. Yet, no studies have examined the general public’s awareness towards communication disorders and speech-language therapy in Malaysia. A total of 535 respondents completed a questionnaire, using Google form or paper-pencil format, to assess their awareness and attitudes about communication disorders and speech-language therapists. Public awareness towards communication disorders was generally positive, though negative trends were observed for some items related to the speech-language therapy services. Public awareness also differed according to age, education level, and occupation. Specifically, older individuals, individuals with higher levels of education and health professionals tended to have greater exposure to communication disorders and speech-language therapy. Awareness and attitudes towards speech-language therapy and speech-language therapist profession are still developing in Malaysia. We recommend continuous promotion of the profession of speech-language therapist to the public in order to improve community access to our therapy services.

Climate vulnerability and economic determinants: Linkages and risk reduction in Sagar Island, India; A geospatial approach

Climate vulnerability is the propensity to be adversely affected by climatic variability and natural hazards. People of low-lying islands face accelerating physical and non-physical stresses due to their greater exposure, higher sensitivity, and lower adaptive capacity towards climate change. Being home to over 0.2 million people, Sagar Island, the largest Island of Sundarban, is highly susceptible to coastal erosion, cyclonic storm surges, flooding, and embankment breaching, causing loss of land, property, and livelihood that eventually lead to displacements and induced migration. Over the past two decades, residents of this fragile sinking island of this world's largest mangrove forest have seen their homes engulfed, farmlands salinized and livelihood depleted by the rising sea. This study investigates the association between socio-economic vulnerabilities through the contextual indicators of land loss, productivity loss, loss of livelihood, and induced migration through regression modeling to find out linkages and scopes of risk reduction. The result reflects a significant positive correlation between land loss and loss of livelihood (p 0.0494*) that negatively correlates with the occurrence of in-migration (z −0.826), while the correlation between productivity loss and loss of livelihood is 0.6318. Mouzas like Dhablat, Shibpur, Beguakhali show outlier characteristics due to severe rates of erosion and embankment failure. The secondary data from the India Meteorological Department, National Centre for Ocean Information Services, have been used to identify considerable changes from cumulative erosion and accretion employing statistical and GIS techniques. This bottom-up assessment can contribute to disaster management and policy implications by identifying the particular intercession at the mouza level that increases the resilience of these vulnerable communities to climate change.

Contemporary trends for urological training and management of stress urinary incontinence in Ireland

Introduction and hypothesisThe aim of this study is to evaluate the trends in stress urinary incontinence (SUI) surgery since the 2018 pause on use of the polypropylene (PP) mid-urethral sling (MUS) and to quantify the effect this has had on surgical training.MethodsTwo anonymous surveys were sent to all current urology trainees and to all consultant surgeons who specialise in stress urinary incontinence surgery.ResultsPrior to the pause, 86% (6 out of 7) of consultant urologists and 73% (11 out of 15) of consultant gynaecologists would “always”/“often” perform MUS for SUI. After that, 100% (22 out of 22) of consultants reported that they “never” perform MUS. There has been a modest increase in the use of urethral bulking agent (UBA) procedures among urologists, with 43% (3 out of 7) now “often” performing this, compared with 71% (5 out of 7) “never” performing it pre-2018. Trainee exposure to SUI surgery reduced by 75% between 2016 and 2020. Despite a ten-fold increase in UBA procedures logged by trainees, the decline in MUS has resulted in a major reduction in total SUI surgeries. Coinciding with this decrease in surgeries, there was a 56% reduction in trainees’ self-assessed competence at SUI surgery. Thirteen percent of trainees are interested in specialising in Female Urology and those trainees had significantly greater exposure to SUI procedures during their training than those who did not (p = 0.0072).ConclusionsThis study has identified a downward trend in SUI surgery, which is concerning for the undertreatment of females with SUI. A decline in SUI surgery training has resulted in reduced trainee confidence and interest in this subspecialty.

Analysis of Dynamic Interference Constraints in Cognitive Radio Cloud Networks

To analyze the security performance of a cloud network integrated with a cognitive radio. Cognitive Radio Cloud Network (CRCN) have a resilient potential for dynamic operation for energy saving. Integrating this Cognitive Radio Network (CRN) along with that of a cloud network produces great network exposure, spectrum usage and reduced power consumption. The problem arises for secure transmission and safe storage of huge amount of data in the cloud-based Cognitive Radio (CR) network. This paper, shows a study on preventing the CRCN from some advanced jamming techniques. An adversarial machine learning approach is introduced to launch jamming attacks on wireless communications and a defense strategy is presented. A cognitive transmitter uses a pre-trained classifier to predict the current channel status based on recent sensing results and decides whether to transmit or not, and then uses a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN), for generating synthetic data or false data, thus misleading the jammer to sense false data. The transmitter systematically selects when to take wrong actions and adapts the level of defense to mislead the jammer into making prediction errors and consequently increase its throughput. And to use the conventional cryptographic protocols for protecting the stored database in the cloud network from unauthorized users.

Understanding measures of racial discrimination and microaggressions among American Indian and Alaska Native college students in the Southwest United States

BackgroundRacial discrimination, including microaggressions, contributes to health inequities, yet research on discrimination and microaggressions has focused on single measures without adequate psychometric evaluation. To address this gap, we examined the psychometric performance of three discrimination/microaggression measures among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) college students in a large Southwestern city.MethodsStudents (N = 347; 65% female; ages 18–65) completed the revised-Everyday Discrimination Scale, Microaggressions Distress Scale, and Experiences of Discrimination measure. The psychometric performance of these measures was evaluated using item response theory and confirmatory factor analyses. Associations of these measures with age, gender, household income, substance use, and self-rated physical health were examined.ResultsDiscrimination and microaggression items varied from infrequently to almost universally endorsed and each measure was unidimensional and moderately correlated with the other two measures. Most items contributed information about the overall severity of discrimination and collectively provided information across a continuum from everyday microaggressions to physical assault. Greater exposure to discrimination on each measure had small but significant associations with more substance use, lower income, and poorer self-rated physical health. The Experiences of Discrimination measure included more severe forms of discrimination, while the revised-Everyday Discrimination Scale and the Microaggressions Distress Scale represented a wider range of severity.ConclusionsIn clinical practice, these measures can index varying levels of discrimination for AI/ANs, particularly for those in higher educational settings. This study also informs the measurement of racial discrimination and microaggressions more broadly.

The real effects of bank taxation: Evidence for corporate financing and investment

This paper examines how bank taxation affects the financing decisions and investment activities of corporates. Exploiting exogenous tax variation at the bank level, we show that taxing banks' gross profits leads to higher bank leverage, and results in lower risk and credit supply. The contraction in credit supply has implications for corporate debt financing and investment activity. Corporates more exposed to banks subject to gross profit tax exhibit lower leverage and rely less on bank debt. Corporates partly offset lower bank financing by switching to bond financing. The cost of bond financing increases with corporate exposure to the tax. A greater exposure also impacts negatively on corporate investment activity. Overall, our results highlight the importance of bank taxation for corporate financing and investment decisions.

Integrative Medicine Clinical Centers Keys to Success: Innovative Programming, Education, and Collaboration

Integrative Medicine Clinical Centers Keys to Success: Innovative Programming, Education, and Collaboration

Abstract P080: Lifetime Trauma Is Associated With Elevated Blood Pressure In Middle-aged And Older Latinas

Introduction: Latina women are more likely than non-Latina White women to have uncontrolled and undertreated hypertension. Prior research suggests greater exposure to traumatic experiences (such as interpersonal violence) is associated with elevated blood pressure and higher cardiovascular disease risk in women. However, few studies have investigated these associations among Latina women, a population that is at increased risk for hypertension. The purpose of this pilot study was to fill knowledge gaps by examining the associations of lifetime trauma (including childhood and adulthood) with blood pressure in middle-aged and older Latinas. Hypothesis: We assessed the hypothesis that lifetime trauma is associated with elevated blood pressure in middle-aged and older Latinas. Methods: Participants were recruited from an existing study in New York City called the Washington Heights/Inwood Comparative Effectiveness Research Project. Data collection consisted of a questionnaire administered by a research coordinator and in-office assessment of two blood pressure readings using recommended guidelines. The average systolic and diastolic blood pressures were calculated from these two measurements. Lifetime trauma was assessed with the Life Events Checklist which assesses 17 potentially traumatic experiences. We summed responses to the Life Events Checklist to create a count of lifetime trauma. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were assessed with the PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version that assess presence and severity of 17 PTSD symptoms in the last month. We used linear regression models to separately examine the associations of lifetime trauma with systolic and diastolic blood pressure adjusted for demographic characteristics, health behaviors, PTSD symptoms, sociocultural factors (such as discrimination and acculturation). Results: The final sample included 50 Latina women (ages 42-77, mean=63.1 [9.7]). All women reported at least one traumatic experience with an average of 4.8 traumatic experiences in their lifetimes (range 1-10). A higher count of lifetime trauma (B [SE] = 5.56 [2.63], p = 0.04) was positively associated with greater systolic blood pressure in adjusted regression models. Although women who reported a higher count of lifetime trauma had higher diastolic blood pressure, this association was not statistically significant (B [SE] = 2.14 [1.67], p = 0.21). Conclusion: Findings indicate a higher count of lifetime trauma is associated with elevations in systolic blood pressure among Latina women. This is consistent with results of studies that have examined associations of lifetime trauma with blood pressure among women in the general population. There is a need for larger studies that incorporate longitudinal designs to investigate the associations of trauma and other sociocultural factors with blood pressure among Latina women.

Response of Tannat (<i>Vitis vinifera</i> L.) to pre-flowering leaf removal in a humid climate

The aim of this study was to test the effect of pre-flowering leaf removal (PFD) on grape sanitary status, yield, source-sink balance and berry composition. A completely random block design experiment was conducted over four seasons in a commercial vineyard of the Tannat/SO4 combination located in the south of Uruguay (34° 35´30 S, 56° 15´23 O). The PFD treatment was compared with a commercial defoliation (CC) comprising partial leaf removal between the fruit set and cluster closure stages (four leaves from the first node), a traditional practice carried out by winegrowers. Both treatments received equal phytosanitary management during the study. The results were conditioned by seasonal meteorological conditions, particularly rainfall, temperature and evapotranspiration. The seasonal effect was significant for yield components, berry composition and source-sink balance. The PFD treatment resulted in the lowest yields in all four years and modified the primary and secondary composition of berries. It also showed a higher anthocyanin potential in 2016, 2017 and 2019, related to a higher percentage of exposed clusters, lower yield and/or higher leaf to fruit ratio. In 2017, environmental conditions were more favourable for the development of bunch rot, and lower values of incidence (3 %) were recorded for the PFD treatment compared to CC (22 %), due to greater exposure of bunches and less compact bunches. The PFD vines showed a steady reduction in dry matter production capacity, mainly explained by the steady reduction in yields. The Tannat variety showed a differential response to PFD depending on the weather during the growth cycle. Under humid climate conditions, pre-flowering defoliation proved to be effective for yield control, by reducing bunch rot incidence, and for improving some attributes in terms of grape composition. This work provides useful information for grape growers in humid regions on how to improve the sanitary status and quality of their production.

Heart rate variability in late pregnancy: exploration of distinctive patterns in relation to maternal mental health

Exploration of photoplethysmography (PPG), a technique that can be translated to the clinic, has the potential to assess the autonomic nervous system (ANS) through heart rate variable (HRV) in pregnant individuals. This novel study explores the complexity of mental health of individuals in a clinical sample responding to a task in late pregnancy; finding those with several types of past or current anxiety disorders, greater trait anxiety, or greater exposure to childhood traumatic events had significantly different HRV findings from the others in the cohort. Lower high frequency (HF), a measure of parasympathetic activity, was found for women who met the criteria for the history of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) (p = 0.004) compared with women who did not meet the criteria for OCD, and for women exposed to greater than five childhood traumatic events (p = 0.006) compared with those exposed to four or less childhood traumatic events. Conversely higher low frequency (LF), a measure thought to be impacted by sympathetic system effects, and the LF/HF ratio was found for those meeting criteria for a panic disorder (p = 0.006), meeting criteria for social phobia (p = 0.002), had elevated trait anxiety (p = 0.006), or exposure to greater than five childhood traumatic events (p = 0.004). This study indicates further research is needed to understand the role of PPG and in assessing ANS functioning in late pregnancy. Study of the impact of lower parasympathetic functioning and higher sympathetic functioning separately and in conjunction at baseline and in relation to tasks during late pregnancy has the potential to identify individuals that require more support and direct intervention.

Specific exposure of ICU staff to SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity: a wide seroprevalence study in a French city-center hospital

BackgroundMost hospital organizations have had to face the burden of managing the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. One of the challenges in overcoming the influx of COVID-19 patients is controlling patient-to-staff transmission. Measuring the specific extent of ICU caregiver exposure to the virus and identifying the associated risk factors are, therefore, critical issues. We prospectively studied SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in the staff of a hospital in Lyon, France, several weeks after a first epidemic wave. Risk factors for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were identified using a questionnaire survey.ResultsThe overall seroprevalence was 9% (87/971 subjects). Greater exposure was associated with higher seroprevalence, with a rate of 3.2% [95% CI 1.1–5.2%] among non-healthcare staff, 11.3% [8.9–13.7%] among all healthcare staff, and 16.3% [12.3–20.2%] among healthcare staff in COVID-19 units. The seroprevalence was dramatically lower (3.7% [1.0–6.7%]) in the COVID-19 ICU. Risk factors for seropositivity were contact with a COVID-19-confirmed household (odds ratio (OR), 3.7 [1.8–7.4]), working in a COVID-19 unit (OR, 3.5 [2.2–5.7], and contact with a confirmed COVID-19 coworker (OR, 1.9 [1.2–3.1]). Conversely, working in the COVID-19-ICU was negatively associated with seropositivity (OR, 0.33 [0.15–0.73]).ConclusionsIn this hospital, SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence was higher among staff than in the general population. Seropositivity rates were particularly high for staff in contact with COVID-19 patients, especially those in the emergency department and in the COVID-19 unit, but were much lower in ICU staff.Clinical trial registration NCT04422977

Link risk degree aided routing protocol based on weight gradient for health monitoring applications in vehicular ad-hoc networks

Recently Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (VANET) has gained great exposure for its emerging applications and becoming an essential part of human daily life. VANET can broadcast safety and control messages to neighbors and intended destinations on time. But due to the frequent topology change and high mobility of vehicles imposes a major challenge in VANET communications. Designing an efficient routing algorithm for maintaining adequate network performance in health monitoring applications is the necessity of today’s life. Wireless technology and positioning system make geographic routing protocol a more suitable and effective solution for VANET applications. High-quality medical facilities and respond promptly needed to the patient in an emergency or disaster situation. Therefore, using efficient routing, a patient’s health can be monitored through communication between vehicles and the patient. Greedy Perimeter Stateless Routing protocol can be a suitable routing protocol that can help in best route selection in an emergency. The work presented in this paper analyzes the advantages and shortcomings of GPSR and proposes an improved link risk degree aided Greedy Perimeter Stateless Routing protocol based on Weight Gradient (GPSR-WG) protocol. GPSR-WG improves the greedy forwarding by considering multiple routing criteria such as direction, distance degree, link risk degree, and normalized speed factor. GPSR-WG implements the weight gradient on these criteria for selecting the next-hop node within the communication range to maximize the routing performance. We have evaluated the work mathematically and simulated it using the NS-3 network simulator. Simulation results have proved that the GPSR-WG protocol performs better when compared with GPSR, GPSR-M, and MM-GPSR in an urban vehicular environment.

Bringing Lived Lives to Swift’s Asylum: a psychiatric hospital perspective

Background: Few “interventions” around suicide and stigma have reached into psychiatric institutions. Lived Lives is a science-arts approach to addressing suicide and stigma, informed by a psychobiographical and visual arts autopsy. The resulting artworks and mediated exhibition (Lived Lives), with artist, scientist and the Lived Lives families, co-curated by communities, has facilitated dialogue, response and public action around stigma-reduction, consistent with a community intervention. Recent evidence from Lived Lives moved us to consider how it may situate within a psychiatric institution, where stigma is chronically apparent. Methods: Lived Lives manifested in St. Patrick’s University Hospital (Ireland’s oldest and largest psychiatric hospital) in November 2017. The mediated exhibition was open to the public for 4 days. Audiences included service users, policy makers, health professionals, senior hospital administrators and members of the public. Opinions and feelings were collected. The event was documented. Bereavement support was available. A Clinician and an artist provided independent evaluation. Results: 86 participants engaged with the exhibition. 62% of participants were suicide-bereaved; 46% had experienced a mental health difficulty, and 35% had been suicidal in the past. 91% thought Lived Lives could be of benefit in the aftermath of a suicide death. Half of participants thought Lived Lives could help reduce suicidal feelings, whereas 88% thought it could benefit those with Mental Health difficulties. The emotional response was of a visceral nature, including fear, anger, sadness, disgust and anxiety. Bereavement support was occasionally called upon in a supportive capacity. Conclusions: Lived Lives sits comfortably in discomfort, unafraid to call out the home-truths about stigma and its pervasive and pernicious impact, and with restoring identity at its core. Lived Lives can operate within a psychiatric hospital, as well as in community. The challenge is to move it forward for greater exposure and impacts in at-risk communities.

Examining Interprofessional Collaboration across case managers, peer educators, and counselors in New York City

ABSTRACT Many individuals who are vulnerable to HIV infection and People Living with HIV (PLWH) experience fragmented prevention and care. Prevention and care service integration, pivotal for the HIV care continuum, depends on relationships among service providers and agencies offering HIV services. Case managers, counselors, and peer educators often work together to provide integrated services through interprofessional collaboration (IPC) in HIV prevention and care. Although these providers have distinct job titles, they typically offer complementary services on the HIV care continuum. To better train and allocate professional development resources for these providers, research is needed to assess the overall differences between provider-type and their demographics, intrapersonal factors, and job characteristics most likely to predict IPC engagement. We administered a cross-sectional survey to 75 counselors, 80 peer educators, and 112 case managers in 36 agencies in New York City. We performed a series of linear mixed effects models. Most of the HIV-service providers identified as Black and female and had been working for their agencies for less than a year. Knowledge and skills, self-efficacy, understanding of the community, and greater work hours (> 35 hours) were significant predictors of endorsement of IPC. Peer educators compared to case managers were more likely to reflect on the process as they provide myriad services. Eliciting perspectives from providers allows us to explore interventions, both intra-agency (trainings, greater exposure to collaborative initiatives, and supervision) and interagency (retention programs and websites promoting provider collaboration), that could facilitate IPC engagement and integrated services across the HIV care continuum.

Racism and oral health inequities; an introduction.

Contemporary evidence shows that: (i) racial minorities often bear the greatest burden of oral diseases; (ii) there are notable differences between socially advantaged and disadvantaged racial groups and; (iii) racial inequities in oral health persist over time and across space. In the four papers that follow, we seek to contribute to the discourse around oral health and racial inequities through recognition that racism has a structural basis and is embedded in long-standing social policy in almost every developed (and developing) nation. The papers formed the basis of a symposium entitled 'Racism and oral health inequities' at the 99th General Session of the International Association of Dental Research held July 2021 in Boston, United States. The authors responded to the international Black Lives Matter movement that gained momentum in 2019, responding in many calls to arms for greater exposure to the insidious impacts on racism on all facets of health and wellbeing, and the regulatory regimes in which they operate. The papers provide an overview of the history of racism in oral health inequities at an international level, with a specific focus on the implications of addressing (or not addressing) racism in population oral health at an international level. This includes the role of advocacy and engaging with health policymakers to both minimize racism and to increase comprehension of its residual effects that may lead to misinformed policy.

The Legacy of Colonial Medicine in Central Africa

Between 1921 and 1956, French colonial governments organized medical campaigns to treat and prevent sleeping sickness. Villagers were forcibly examined and injected with medications with severe, sometimes fatal, side effects. We digitized 30 years of archival records to document the locations of campaign visits at a granular geographic level for five central African countries. We find that greater campaign exposure reduces vaccination rates and trust in medicine, as measured by willingness to consent to a blood test. We examine relevance for present-day health initiatives; World Bank projects in the health sector are less successful in areas with greater exposure. (JEL F54, I12, I15, I18, N37, N47, Z13)

Conhecimento, atitude e prática de adolescentes escolares em relação ao uso do preservativo masculino

OBJETIVO: Avaliar conhecimentos, atitudes e práticas de adolescentes escolares em relação ao preservativo masculino, como método contraceptivo de primeira escolha para os adolescentes. MÉTODO: Estudo com abordagem quantitativa, realizado com 143 adolescentes de uma escola estadual de ensino médio, no perído de outubro a novembro de 2019. Para a coleta de dados, aplicou-se o inquérito Conhecimento, Atitude e Prática (CAP) sobre o uso do preservativo masculino. RESULTADOS: Evidenciou-se que 133 (93%) dos adolescentes apresentaram conhecimento inadequado, 105 (73,4%) atitude inadequada e 130 (90,9%) prática inadequada a respeito do uso do preservativo masculino. Esses desfechos se mostram preocupantes, uma vez que a atividade sexual na adolescência está cada vez mais precoce, gerando, também, maior exposição a riscos, como IST/HIV/Aids e gravidez indesejada, principalmente quando esta prática é realizada sem uso ou com uso inadequado do preservativo.CONCLUSÃO: As fragilidades nas informações obtidas pelos adolescentes refletem o conhecimento inadequado pela quase totalidade deles, seguidas pela atitude e prática inadequadas quanto ao uso do preservativo masculino. Dessa forma, visualiza-se a necessidade de potencializar estratégias educativas, com intuito de ampliar o conhecimento de adolescentes acerca do uso do preservativo masculino e, consequentemente, desenvolver prática adequada desse método contraceptivo.