The Influence of Cultural Relativism on International Human Rights Law: Female Circumcision as a Case Study

Helen I. Kelly Awar

Investigating the Knowledge Surrounding Folate and Folic Acid in a Cohort of Vegetarians

BackgroundThe aim is to identify any gaps in the knowledge of folate and folic acid in vegetarians, which is of interest given the increasing adoption of vegetarian type diets. MethodsIn this convenience sample, 106 people answered an online questionnaire regarding folate intake and awareness among vegetarians. This was created using Google Forms and was shared via Facebook, including on various national and college vegetarian group pages. There were 44 questions. Twenty-four participants were excluded, because they reported eating fish, chicken or other meat. Final data analysis included 82 subjects. The majority of these vegetarians were females over the age of 30. ResultsFifty-five percent of those aged23% of those \u3e30, did not know the recommended stage for folic acid supplementation. Thirty-four percent of females, did not know any good food sources of folate compared to 67% of males. ConclusionsThere was an overall lack of knowledge regarding the recommended stage for folic acid intake and the required quantity of folic acid to be taken among vegetarians. This research suggests that more public health campaigns are needed in order to increase the knowledge and intake of folic acid

Cost-effectiveness of structured education in children with type-1 diabetes mellitus

Objectives: Kids in Control OF Food (KICk-OFF) is a 5-day structured education program for 11- to 16-year-olds with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) who are using multiple daily insulin injections. This study evaluates the cost-effectiveness of the KICk-OFF education program compared with the usual care using data from the KICk-OFF trial. Methods: The short-term within-trial analysis covers the 2-year postintervention period. Data on glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), severe hypoglycemia, and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) were collected over a 2-year follow-up period. Sub-group analyses have been defined on the basis of baseline HbA1c being below 7.5 percent (58.5 mmol/mol) (low group), between 7.5 percent and 9.5 percent (80.3 mmol/mol) (medium group), and over 9.5 percent (high group). The long-term cost-effectiveness evaluation has been conducted by using The Sheffield Type 1 Diabetes Policy Model, which is a patient-level simulation model on T1DM. It includes long-term microvascular (retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy) and macrovascular (myocardial infarction, stroke, revascularization, and angina) diabetes-related complications and acute adverse events (severe hypoglycemia and DKA). Results: The most favorable within-trial scenario for the KICk-OFF arm led to an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of £23,688 (base year 2009) with a cost-effectiveness probability of 41.3 percent. Simulating the long-term complications using the full cohort data, the mean ICER for the base case was £28,813 (base year 2011) and the probability of the KICk-OFF intervention being cost-effective at £20,000/QALY threshold was 42.6 percent, with considerable variation due to treatment effect duration. For the high HbA1c sub-group, the KICk-OFF arm was “dominant” (meaning it provided better health gains at lower costs than usual care) over the usual care arm in each scenario considered. Conclusions: For the whole study population, the cost-effectiveness of KICk-OFF depends on the assumption for treatment effect duration. For the high baseline HbA1c sub-group, KICk-OFF arm was estimated to be dominant over the usual care arm regardless of the assumption on the treatment effect duration

Forensic Social Work: Practice and Vision

Forensic social work can bridge the gap between the criminal justice and mental health systems and serve clients who “fall between the cracks.” The authors describe theoretical and clinical issues, utilizing case examples and the literature to develop a conceptual paradigm for the role of social workers in this area

It\u27s Personal: Does Disclosure of Family Circumstances Influence Organizational Response to Employee\u27s Requests for Flexibility?

PDF version of a presentation given at the Community, Work and Family III International Conference, Utrecht, Netherlands, April 2009

Northern Bobwhite Population Structure and Diversity in Texas and the Great Plains

Many northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) populations have been experiencing severe declines. This decline is of concern to wildlife biologists, landowners, and legislators due to the popularity of this species as a game bird. Previous molecular genetic analyses for populations inhabiting intact habitats in South Texas indicate the northern bobwhite population in this region is genetically diverse with low population structure. W[e] assessed whether landscape affects the population structure and diversity for northern bobwhite in Texas and the Great Plains. We extracted DNA from hunter-harvested northern bobwhites from 19 sites in South Texas from 2004 to 2010. We analyzed 7 microsatellites (Quail 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 15). We used FST to measure genetic structure and AMOVA for genetic variation. We built 3 matrices to compare the genetic structure with the landscape. Geographic distances (km) between sample locations were ascertained using Google Earth. A matrix of barriers incorporated large water bodies and highways. We used the Biologist Ranking Information from the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative for the third matrix to identify the number of different habitat patches a quail would need to cross from ranch to ranch. These matrices were compared to the genetic structure (pairwise FST), using Mantel tests with 10,000 permutations. We used partial Mantel tests to test the correlation of pairwise FST to combinations of distance and barriers, distance and habitat, and barriers and habitat. Overall FST was \u3c 0.01, suggesting low levels of population differentiation and AMOVA revealed most variation was within individuals. All Mantel tests had a positive correlation with genetic differentiation; however, barriers appear to be important factors for the observed genetic patterns