The Education Prescription: Exploring the Potential of Patient Education to Reduce Mental Health Issues in Hormonal Contraceptive Users

The many birth control options available impact a woman’s life, as hormonal contraceptives are commonly used but often misunderstood. These contraceptives, which contain progestin only, or estrogen and progestin combined, can come in various forms such as pills, implants, IUDs, injections, the vaginal ring, and skin patches. They offer benefits such as reduced menstrual cramps and ectopic pregnancy risk. However, they may lead to adverse side effects which can include increased blood pressure, nausea, headaches, breakthrough bleeding, and a higher risk of blood clots, with research indicating a potential link between oral contraceptive use and a decline in the user’s mental health. Given how important the issue of depression is, especially in women, it is prevalent for healthcare providers, educators, and nurses to offer detailed education about the many birth control options there are as well as the potential side effects on one\u27s mental health. This research aims to investigate whether educating adolescent women about hormonal contraception could impact the knowledge of women using it and how it connects to addressing gaps contributing to poor mental health. An educated nurse will provide a pre-education assessment, which will then be followed by education to the teenage girls about the difference between hormonal and non-hormonal contraceptives, the advantages and disadvantages of both, as well as potential side effects of using contraceptives.The means of the two differing variables will be compared using a t-test to ascertain if the education has an effect on the population that was sampled

An analytical approach to the multiply scattered light in the optical images of the extensive air showers of ultra-high energies

One of the methods for studying the highest energy cosmic rays is to measure the fluorescence light emitted by the extensive air showers induced by them. To reconstruct a shower cascade curve from measurements of the number of photons arriving from the subsequent shower track elements it is necessary to take into account the multiple scatterings that photons undergo on their way from the shower to the detector. In contrast to the earlier Monte-Carlo work, we present here an analytical method to treat the Rayleigh and Mie scatterings in the atmosphere. The method consists in considering separately the consecutive 'generations' of the scattered light. Starting with a point light source in a uniform medium, we then examine a source in a real atmosphere and finally - a moving source (shower) in it. We calculate the angular distributions of the scattered light superimposed on the not scattered light registered from a shower at a given time. The analytical solutions (although approximate) show how the exact numerical results should be parametrised what we do for the first two generations (the contribution of the higher ones being small). Not allowing for the considered effect may lead to an overestimation of shower primary energy by ~15% and to an underestimation of the primary particle mass.Comment: 23 pages, 18 figures, submited to Astroparticle Physic

Tierras secas, desertificación y recursos hídricos

Las tierras secas abarcan una amplia gama de situaciones ambientales, comprendiendo desde los desiertos extremos (hiperárido) hasta los ecosistemas subhúmedos secos. Una rápida mirada a la etimología de las palabras permite identificar diferencias en este amplio rango. Así, tierras secas, proviene de la raíz indoeuropea sic = sequedad (sin precipitaciones, aludiendo a la causa) y de allí el latín siccus ( i ) = seco. Árido deriva del latín aridus ( a-um) adjetivo que significa seco, sediento, árido y del sustantivo ariditas (atis) que significa aridez, sequedad. Finalmente la etimología de la palabra desierto viene de deserta, que en latín clásico significa deshabitado y de desertum que en latín vulgar significa lugar desocupado, desertado.Fil: Abraham, Elena Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas; Argentin

Conservación de servicios ecosistémicos en humedales altoandinos: la participación social en la creación de un área natural protegida

The goal of the present work is synthesizing the process of collective construction developed to protect the high-altitude wetlands of the Blanco River basin, located in the Andes Mountains, Mendoza province. The participatory process arose out of an initiative of basin residents and users, and was conducted by the Integrative Committee for Creation of Potrerillos Municipal Environmental Protected Area (MEPA), composed of civil society organizations, government agencies and scientific institutions. The major pressures affecting the wetlands, identified through participatory assessment of the socio-ecosystem are: water pollution, reduction and total loss of habitat, stoppage of of groundwater flows, artificial drainage, poldering of the meadow, and fragmentation of the wetland system, among other pressures.In order to identify priority sites for conservation of the ecosystem services (ES) wetlands provide, local people identified and prioritized the six most important of them according to their perception: water for human consumption, agriculture and industry; aesthetic, spiritual and non-use representations; recreation and ecotourism; erosion control; water regulation and regulation of the biotic environment. The areas supplying ES were identified on the map of land use and land cover of the basin, with the wetland area, with tourist use and water catchment, and the watershed?s headwaters standing out as areas with higher ES provision. This process culminated in the creation of a protected area to halt the intense degradation affecting the wetland system, promoting maintenance of the natural area and improving its provision of ES. This collective process allowed integrating local and scientific knowledge, becoming an experience to be replicated in other areas in terms of conservation and land management. Among its major strengths is a strong coordination between the different social actors involved, which allowed success in reaching the implementation stage of a public policy for conservation.El objetivo del presente trabajo consiste en sintetizar el proceso de construcción colectiva desarrollado con el fin de proteger los humedales de altura pertenecientes a la cuenca del Río Blanco de Potrerillos, localizados en la Cordillera de Los Andes, Provincia de Mendoza. El proceso participativo surgió ante una iniciativa de los pobladores locales y usuarios de la cuenca, y fue conducido por la Comisión Integradora para la Creación del Área Ambiental Protegida Municipal (AAMP) Potrerillos, integrada por organizaciones de la sociedad civil, instituciones gubernamentales y organismos científicos. Las principales presiones que afectan al humedal, identificadas a través del diagnóstico participativo del socioecosistema son: contaminación del agua, reducción y pérdida total de hábitat, corte del flujo de alimentación, drenaje artificial, polderización definitiva de vegas, fragmentación del sistema hidrológico, entre otras. A fin de determinar los sitios prioritarios para la conservación de servicios ecosistémicos (SE) que brinda el Sistema de humedales, la población local identificó y priorizó los seis más importantes de acuerdo a su percepción: agua para consumo humano, agricultura e industria; representaciones estéticas, espirituales y de no uso; recreación y ecoturismo; regulación de la erosión; regulación del ciclo hídrico y del ambiente biótico. Sobre el mapa de uso y cobertura de la tierra de la cuenca, fueron identificadas sus zonas proveedoras, destacándose el área de humedales con uso turístico y captación de agua, y las cabeceras de cuencas hídricas como las zonas con mayor provisión de SE. Este proceso culminó con la creación de un área natural protegida para detener el proceso de degradación intensiva que afecta al humedal, lo cual promueve el mantenimiento y la mejora de sus SE. Este proceso colectivo permitió integrar saberes locales con conocimiento científico, y se constituyó como una experiencia a replicar en otros territorios en el plano de la conservación y del ordenamiento territorial. Entre sus principales fortalezas se destaca la articulación sólida entre los diferentes actores sociales involucrados, que permitió alcanzar con éxito la etapa de implementación de una política pública de conservación.Fil: Rubio, María Clara. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas; ArgentinaFil: Rubio, María Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas; ArgentinaFil: Salomon, Mario. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ingeniería; ArgentinaFil: Abraham, Elena Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas; Argentin

The Role of the Dielectric Barrier in Narrow Biological Channels: a Novel Composite Approach to Modeling Single-channel Currents

A composite continuum theory for calculating ion current through a protein channel of known structure is proposed, which incorporates information about the channel dynamics. The approach is utilized to predict current through the Gramicidin A ion channel, a narrow pore in which the applicability of conventional continuum theories is questionable. The proposed approach utilizes a modified version of Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) theory, termed Potential-of-Mean-Force-Poisson-Nernst-Planck theory (PMFPNP), to compute ion currents. As in standard PNP, ion permeation is modeled as a continuum drift-diffusion process in a self-consistent electrostatic potential. In PMFPNP, however, information about the dynamic relaxation of the protein and the surrounding medium is incorporated into the model of ion permeation by including the free energy of inserting a single ion into the channel, i.e., the potential of mean force along the permeation pathway. In this way the dynamic flexibility of the channel environment is approximately accounted for. The PMF profile of the ion along the Gramicidin A channel is obtained by combining an equilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) simulation that samples dynamic protein configurations when an ion resides at a particular location in the channel with a continuum electrostatics calculation of the free energy. The diffusion coefficient of a potassium ion within the channel is also calculated using the MD trajectory. Therefore, except for a reasonable choice of dielectric constants, no direct fitting parameters enter into this model. The results of our study reveal that the channel response to the permeating ion produces significant electrostatic stabilization of the ion inside the channel. The dielectric self-energy of the ion remains essentially unchanged in the course of the MD simulation, indicating that no substantial changes in the protein geometry occur as the ion passes through it. Also, the model accounts for the experimentally observed saturation of ion current with increase of the electrolyte concentration, in contrast to the predictions of standard PNP theory

Empowering Choices: Patient Education for Contraceptive Confidence

The complexity of birth control options significantly impacts women\u27s lives, with hormonal contraceptives being commonly used but often misunderstood. These contraceptives, which contain estrogen and progestin or progestin only, come in various forms such as pills, implants, IUDs, injections, the vaginal ring, and skin patches, offering benefits such as reduced menstrual cramps and ectopic pregnancy risk. However, they can also lead to adverse effects including increased blood pressure, nausea, headaches, breakthrough bleeding, and heightened risk of blood clots, with research indicating a potential link between their use and a decline in mental health. Given the prevalence of depression, particularly in women, compounded by hormonal factors, it is crucial for healthcare providers, nurses, and educators to offer comprehensive education about the various birth control options and their potential effects on mental health. This research aims to investigate whether educating adolescent women about hormonal contraception could impact the knowledge of women using it and how it connects to addressing gaps contributing to poor mental health. An appointed nurse will provide a pre-education assessment, followed by education to adolescent women about hormonal birth control and its side effects, and will also administer a post-education assessment. The means of the two differing variables will be compared using a t-test to ascertain if the education has an effect on the population that was sampled.https://scholar.dominican.edu/nursing-student-research-posters/1039/thumbnail.jp

On the analysis of tuberculosis studies with intermittent missing sputum data

In randomized studies evaluating treatments for tuberculosis (TB), individuals are scheduled to be routinely evaluated for the presence of TB using sputum cultures. One important endpoint in such studies is the time of culture conversion, the first visit at which a patient’s sputum culture is negative and remains negative. This article addresses how to draw inference about treatment effects when sputum cultures are intermittently missing on some patients. We discuss inference under a novel benchmark assumption and under a class of assumptions indexed by a treatment-specific sensitivity parameter that quantify departures from the benchmark assumption. We motivate and illustrate our approach using data from a randomized trial comparing the effectiveness of two treatments for adult TB patients in Brazil.Fil: Scharfstein, Daniel. University Johns Hopkins; Estados UnidosFil: Rotnitzky, Andrea Gloria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. Departamento de Economía; ArgentinaFil: Abraham, Maria. Statistics Collaborative; Estados UnidosFil: McDermott, Aidan. University Johns Hopkins; Estados UnidosFil: Chaisson, Richard. University Johns Hopkins; Estados UnidosFil: Geiter, Lawrence. Otsuka Novel Products; Estados Unido

A Web Implementation of A Generalized NEP

The Networks of Evolutionary Processors (NEPs) are computing mechanisms directly inspired from the behavior of cell populations more specifically the point mutations in DNA strands. These mechanisms are been used for solving NP-complete problems by means of a parallel computation postulation. This paper describes an implementation of the basic model of NEP using Web technologies and includes the possibility of designing some of the most common variants of it by means the use of the web page design which eases the configuration of a given problem. It is a system intended to be used in a multicore processor in order to benefit from the multi thread use

Psychometric analysis of child language pragmatic aspect evaluation: icra-a battery

ResumenEl estudio que se informa describe el análisis psicométrico de la validación y confiabilidad de los instrumentos que conforman la Batería ICRA-A (Investigación de la Competencia Comunicativa para la Realización de Actos de Habla - Abraham & Brenca, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2009a, 2013), la cual fue diseñada para evaluar sistemáticamente el aspecto pragmático del lenguaje infantil en el marco de la evaluación neurolingüística. La batería está conformada por cuatro instrumentos: (1) Análisis y Registro de Actos de Habla, (2) Observación Pragmática del Juego, (3) Cuestionario para Padres y (4) Guía para Padres. Fueron evaluados 155 niños, 100 de ellos tenían compromisos del lenguaje no verbal y/o verbal, y 55, con desarrollo típico del lenguaje. Se realizó el análisis de la validez de constructo utilizando Análisis Factorial con Componentes Principales y Rotación Varimax, la confiabilidad entre jueces, aplicando Coeficiente de Correlación Intraclase con acuerdo absoluto y la consistencia interna, mediante el coeficiente de Alpha de Cronbach. Se determinaron percentiles y valores de corte empleando la Curva ROC, como así también valores de especificidad, sensibilidad, predictibilidad y razón de probabilidad. La validez de constructo para el instrumento 1 fue igual a 65.5% y para el instrumento 2, igual a 73.7 % y la correlación intraclase fue igual a .90 y .89 respectivamente. Los resultados de la Curva ROC fueron: .92 para el instrumento 1 y .89 para el 2. Para el instrumento 1, el valor de sensibilidad fue igual a 81%, el de especificidad 90.9%, de seguridad (VP + 94.2%; VP - 72.5%) y de predictibilidad (CP + 8.47; CP - .21). Los instrumentos 3 y 4 brindan información preponderantemente cualitativa, ya que registran la percepción que tiene cada uno de los padres sobre la competencia comunicativa del niño. Los resultados obtenidos muestran la fortaleza de la Batería ICRA-A para evaluar el aspecto pragmático del lenguaje infantil en la clínica fonoaudiológica.In this paper we describe the psychometric analysis of the validation and reliability of the instruments which constitute ICRA-A Battery (Communicative Competence for Speech Acts Production Research - Abraham & Brenca, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2009a, 2013). It was designed for systematic assessment of child language pragmatic aspect, with a progression criterion, within the framework of neurolinguistic evaluation, in River Plate Spanish speeking children. In this way, it allows to register and analyze pragmatic development rigorously, with variables control, what is added to the analysis made in the other dimensions (phonological, lexical-semantic and morphosyntactic), so permitting to get a whole profile of the child linguistic competence. ICRA-A Battery is applied to little children who show pragmatic impairment. It is also useful with older children with a lower communicative or intellectual range. It is composed of four instruments. (1) Speech Acts Analysis and Register: it allows to evaluate in a quantitative and a qualitative mood pre and paralinguistic manifestations of the seven speech acts basic in children language development. (2) Playing Pragmatic Observation: information can be obtained about communicative competence, fundamentally non verbal, taking into consideration shared referenciality, protodeclaring and protoimperative conducts, prelinguistic functions, basic speech acts precursors, ludic interaction type and mode, analyzed into six communicative dimensions. (3) Parents Questionnaire: useful to get information on the perception each parent has about his / her child communicative competence. (4) Parents Guide: to give parents guidance on their child communicative behavior in three daily routines within the familiar context. ICRA-A Battery includes created ad hoc concrete and figurative material, as well as Register and Results forms. It is incorporated into the ICRA Method, which, from a systematic and progressive fashion, allows to formulate the pragmatic objectives of treatment plan and intervention strategies. One hundred and fifty five children were assessed: 100 with verbal and/or non verbal language impairment, and 55 with normal language development. Construct validity analysis was made through Factorial Analysis with Principal Components and Varimax Rotation. For reliability between judges we applied Intraclass Correlation Coefficient with absolute agreement; and internal consistency through Cronbach Alpha - Coefficient. Percentiles and cut values were determined through ROC Curve, and so specificity, sensibility, predictability values and probability ratio. Construct validity for instrument 1 was of 65.5%; for 2, of 73.7%; intraclass correlation was of .90 and .89, respectively. ROC Curve results were of .92 for instrument 1 and .89 for 2. For instrument 1, sensitivity value was of 81%, specificity of 90.9%,security (VP + 94.2%; VP - 72.5%); predictability (CP + 8.47; CP - .21). Instruments 3 and 4 give a preponderantly qualitative information, as they register the perception that each parent has on their child communicative competence. These results show the Battery ICRA-A fortitude to evaluate the child language pragmatic aspect in phono-audiological work. Speech acts systematic study is a relevant tool in phonoaudiological treatment to obtain greater precision in language analysis of children with communicative competence development difficulties, in differential diagnosis and consequent treatment. The psychometric results that have been achieved show ICRA-A Battery fortitude for its use in the phonological work with neurolinguistic orientation.Fil: Abraham, Maria del Valle. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones En Psicología Matemática y Experimental Dr. Horacio J.a Rimoldi; ArgentinaFil: Brenca, Rosa María. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones En Psicología Matemática y Experimental Dr. Horacio J.a Rimoldi; Argentin

Drylands development model in Argentina's central west: the case of Mendonza Province

Argentina’s central west encompasses a vast dryland territory, organized on the basis of a great contradiction: the confrontation between oasis and rainfed area (desert lands with no irrigation). Within a territory under arid conditions with different desertification levels, Mendoza is a paradigmatic case. Development model fostered at the end of the 19th century was based on the supremacy of strategic resources: water and soil. A mode of regional development reliant on irrigated lands was since then supported to consolidate the wine export model. Nowadays, Mendoza’s non-irrigated lands and their people are marginal, not merely by the effect of a restrictive environment but also by the combined action of a fragile environment and the weightier social, political and economic forces that have banished them to the system’s margins. Analysis of the region’s history informs that non-irrigated spaces provided both strategic natural resources for development of irrigated areas and labor for starting productive activities. Simultaneously, non-irrigated lands were curtailed in their right of access to strategic resources for their social reproduction: water and land.This report delves further into the analysis of the dynamics of territory construction whereby some territories stand as central while others are relegated to marginal positions. The analysis goes deeper into a case study with signs of a serious process of territory impoverishment, social exclusion and progress of desertification.Fil: Abraham, Elena Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas; ArgentinaFil: Torres, Laura María del Rosario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas; Argentin