Is Helicobacter Pylori Associated with a Migraine?

Objective: To determine whether Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is associated with migraine headache. Design: Case-control study. Settings: Local tertiary Hospitals in Cairo, Egypt and in HaferAlbaten, Saudi Arabia. Participants: A total of 70 patients with migraine who were 7 to 17 years old and who fulfilled the International Headache Society criteria for migraine and a total of 50 controls without migraine who were matched by the country of origin, age, sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status to the 70 migraine cases. Main Outcome Measures: Antibody levels to H. pylori (IgG) and H. pylori stool antigens were compared between the two groups. Results: Significant association was found between H. pylori and migraine and of the total of 70 migraineur cases, 55.7% were positive for H. pylori stool antigen testing compared to 20% in control group (P value=0.0002). Joint pain was reported in 44.3% and 18.0% of cases and controls respectively (P value=0.0034). Conclusion: H. pylori is associated with migraine without aura and may be a causative factor. Moreover, H. pylori may induce joint pain in the migraineur patients

Conformal mapping of unbounded multiply connected regions onto canonical slit regions

We present a boundary integral equation method for conformal mapping of unbounded multiply connected regions onto five types of canonical slit regions. For each canonical region, three linear boundary integral equations are constructed from a boundary relationship satisfied by an analytic function on an unboundedmultiply connected region. The integral equations are uniquely solvable. The kernels involved in these integral equations are the modified Neumann kernels and the adjoint generalized Neumann kernels

Religious affiliation and extramarital sex among men in Brazil.

CONTEXT: Since 1990, HIV infection in Brazil has spread among the heterosexual population, particularly in the north. Containment of the epidemic can be informed by a better understanding of men's sexual risk behavior. METHODS: Logistic, Poisson and multilevel logit models were applied to data on married and cohabiting men who had participated in the 1996 Brazilian Demographic and Health Survey. RESULTS: Twelve percent of married or cohabiting men reported having had at least one extramarital partner in the previous 12 months; half of these had had two or more. The majority (77%) of partners were described as friends or lovers; 4% had been prostitutes and 15% strangers. Among men who had had sex with an extramarital partner in the last year, 40% reported having used condoms during last extramarital sex. Compared with members of evangelical religions, other men were significantly more likely to report having had an extramarital partner (odds ratios, 3.0-4.7) and unprotected extramarital sex in the last 12 months (3.4-7.9). Region of residence was also strongly correlated with extramarital sex: Compared with men in southern or central Brazil, those in the north had more than three times the odds of having had extramarital sex and unprotected extramarital sex in the last year (3.1-3.8). CONCLUSION: In Brazil, religious affiliation and region of residence exert a major influence on risk behavior

Employee attitudes as a mediator between HRM and organizational performance

Attitude is a power that controls human behaviour. When employee Attitude is positive, it can give impact positive to organization performance. A proper human resource management (HRM) managed by organization, the employee attitude will be affected. HRM practices influence employee attitude positively and there is a mediating role of employee attitude between training and development dimension of HRM practices and organizational performance. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore employee atttiude as a mediator between HRM and organizational performance. A sample of this study was 219 respondents from employee construction in Libya. The data was analyzed using structural equation modelling (SEM) approach. This study showed that employee attitudes is a full mediator between relationship HRM and organizational performance. Therefore, HRM practices influence employee attitude and its give impact to organizational performance for more effective and efficient in achieving organization goal

An optical nanocavity incorporating a fluorescent organic dye having a high quality factor

We have fabricated an L3 optical nanocavity operating at visible wavelengths that is coated with a thin-film of a fluorescent molecular-dye. The cavity was directly fabricated into a pre-etched, free-standing silicon-nitride (SIN) membrane and had a quality factor of Q = 2650. This relatively high Q-factor approaches the theoretical limit that can be expected from an L3 nanocavity using silicon nitride as a dielectric material and is achieved as a result of the solvent-free cavity-fabrication protocol that we have developed. We show that the fluorescence from a red-emitting fluorescent dye coated onto the cavity surface undergoes strong emission intensity enhancement at a series of discrete wavelengths corresponding to the cavity modes. Three dimensional finite difference time domain (FDTD) calculations are used to predict the mode structure of the cavities with excellent agreement demonstrated between theory and experiment

Long term trends in behaviour to protect against adverse reproductive and sexual health outcomes among young single African women.

BACKGROUND: HIV and unintended pregnancy are major interrelated concerns in sub-Saharan Africa. Focussing on single women aged 15-24 years we assess trends in key behaviours that affect both outcomes. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of public-access data sets from 112 surveys from 36 countries in the region, conducted between 1991 and 2015. We examined trends over 20 years in primary abstinence (virginity), secondary abstinence (no sex in past 3 months) among sexually experienced women, current use of modern contraception and condom use at most recent coitus among sexually active women. RESULTS: Little change occurred in primary or secondary abstinence. Over the 20 year period, contraceptive use in the region rose from 14.7 to 33.4%, with significant increases observed in 18 of 30 countries with multiple surveys. Since 2001-2005, the proportion of contraceptive users reporting condoms as their method fell from 61.1 to 51.3%, while use of oral contraceptives or injectables rose from 19.9 to 24.0%. Between 1996 and 2000 and 2006-2010, condom use at last coitus rose from 21.3 to 40.5% but then plateaued. A strong correlation between condom use and national HIV prevalence was found. About half of condom users at last sex had earlier in interviews reported this method for pregnancy-prevention. CONCLUSIONS: Though condoms tend to be overlooked by both HIV and family planning agencies, their contribution to the health of single women remains central. Current efforts to promote non-barrier contraceptive methods may inadvertently increase HIV risk. Condom promotion for pregnancy-prevention should be re-invigorated by social marketing campaigns and other means

International spectrum management regime : is gridlock blocking flexible spectrum property rights?

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the influence of the international spectrum management regime on the introduction of flexibility in the national allocation of radiocommunication services. This is achieved through focusing on the main elements of the international regime. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative inductive methodology is adopted that examines the different elements of the international radiocommunication service allocation framework. Data are drawn from 66 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders who are actively involved in International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector discussions. Findings: The international radio regulations (RR) are perceived to be more of a framework for harmonisation that does not constrain the flexibility of countries. Countries are only restricted on their borders with their neighbours, and flexibility is already facilitated through a range of different measures. Moreover, several elements of the RR can be used to achieve both, i.e. to promote flexibility and to restrict the decisions of others. Practical implications: The international spectrum management regime is not one of the reasons for the unsuccessful practical application of the flexible spectrum property rights concept. This suggests the need for reviewing whether there still is a need for such a concept given the increasing importance of global harmonisation and economies of scales. Originality/value: This paper sheds light on spectrum property rights from the perspective of the international spectrum management regime. Such a perspective is largely overlooked in the on-going current debate