Life, Liberty, and the Lack of Paid Parental Leave: Media Framing of Parental Leave in the United States

In this study, I examine how the media frame parental leave in the United States. To do so, I conducted a content analysis of over 200 news articles from the New York Times, and also created a survey distributed to introductory political science classes. In the content analysis, I find that parental leave is both an episodic and thematic news issue, has less negative coverage than most news issues, and evolved from a merely mentioned issue to an economic issue over time. This research also shows that female and male authors do not frame parental leave differently; in fact, women frame parental leave more negatively than men do. In the survey experiment, I conclude that women are more favorable than men towards parental leave, but it appears that the frames in the survey did not have a large effect on attitudes toward parental leave policies, either for women or men

Life, Liberty, and the Lack of Paid Parental Leave: An Analysis of Media Framing of Parental Leave in the United States

Because the United States is the only developed country without mandatory paid maternity leave, I felt called to study unpaid maternity leave in the U.S. for my research in the Political Science Honors Program. The study, “Life, Liberty, and the Lack of Paid Parental Leave,” is an analysis of media framing of parental leave in the United States. In the study, I conducted a content analysis of over 200 news articles of the New York Times, and also created an Institutional Review Board-approved survey distributed to introductory political science classes. In the content analysis, I found that maternity leave is both an episodic and thematic news issue, has less negative coverage than most news issues, and evolved from a merely mentioned issue to an economic issue over time. This research also showed that female and male authors do not frame maternity leave differently; in fact, women frame maternity leave more negatively than men do. In the survey experiment, I found that women were more favorable than men towards maternity leave in across all conditions, but it appears that the frames in the survey did not have a large effect on the whole sample, or by sex

Community involvement in dengue vector control: cluster randomised trial

Objective To assess the effectiveness of an integrated community based environmental management strategy to control Aedes aegypti, the vector of dengue, compared with a routine strategy

Empathy deficits and adolescent sexual offending: A systematic review of the evidence base

Although empathy deficits are commonly assumed to contribute to adolescent sex offending, no systematic review of the evidence base has been undertaken. To rectify this omission, this review examines whether current evidence supports the existence of a relationship between empathy and adolescent sexual offending. A systematic search of the evidence base found sixteen relevant empirical studies, which provided evidence that was inconclusive or subject to methodological limitations. The review suggests that further systematic and methodologically-sound research is required to determine the extent and nature of the relationship between empathy and adolescent sex offending, that any relationship between the two is unlikely to be straightforward, and that explanations of the mechanisms involved should be integrated into wider multifactorial explanations for this behavior

Interventions for the control of Aedes aegypti in Latin America and the Caribbean: systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: To determine the effectiveness and degree of implementation of interventions for the control of Aedes aegypti in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) as reported in scientific literature. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, SOCINDEX, and LILACS, for experimental and observational studies, economic assessments and qualitative experiences carried out in LAC from 2000 to 2016. We assessed incidence and morbimortality of Aedes aegypti-related diseases and entomological indices: Breteau (containers), House, and Pupae per Person. We used GRADE methodology for assessing quality of evidence. Results: Of 1826 records retrieved, 75 were included and 9 cluster randomised clinical trials could be meta-analysed. We did not identify any intervention supported by a high certainty of evidence. In consistency with qualitative evidence, health education and community engagement probably reduces the entomological indices, as do the use of insecticide-treated materials, indoor residual spraying and the management of containers. There is low certainty of evidence supporting the use of ovitraps or larvitraps, and the integrated epidemiological surveillance strategy to improve indices and reduce the incidence of dengue. The reported degree of implementation of these vector control interventions was variable and most did not extend to whole cities and were not sustained beyond 2 years. Conclusions: We found a general lack of evidence on effectiveness of vector control in the region, despite a few interventions that showed moderate to low certainty of evidence. It is important to engage and educate the community, apart from achieving the implementation of integrated actions between the health and other sectors at national and regional level.Fil: Bardach, Ariel Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública; ArgentinaFil: García Perdomo, Herney Andrés. Universidad del Valle; ColombiaFil: Alcaraz, Andrea. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Tapia López, Elena. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Ruano Gandara, Ruth Amanda. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; ArgentinaFil: Ruvinsky, Silvina. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital de Pediatría "Juan P. Garrahan"; ArgentinaFil: Ciapponi, Agustín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria. Centro de Investigaciones en Epidemiología y Salud Pública; Argentin

Phase Transitions of the First Kind as Radiation Processes

Crystallization and vapor condensation are considered as processes of sequential entering of single atoms/molecules into condensate. The latent heat can be carry away by radiation of characteristic frequencies generated in the course of transition. The estimated dependences of latent (radiated) energy of boiling on temperature confirm and prove the well-known empirical Trouton's rule applicable to many simple substances. It leads to the estimation of interrelation of critical parameters of corresponding substances. Experimental results of the authors and other researchers concerning crystallization from the melt of different substances (alkali halides, sapphire, tellurium, ice, copper) are presented, as well as condensation of water vapor, the correspondence to the offered model is established. It allows developing of the spectroscopy of phase transitions, and can lead to control of crystallization process, to crystallization stimulated by the characteristic radiation, etc. Formation of clouds in our atmosphere should be accompanied by characteristic radiation detectable for meteorological warnings.Comment: 17 page

Effect of maternal obesity and preconceptional weight loss on male and female offspring metabolism and olfactory performance in mice

© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. According to the “developmental origins of health and disease” (DOHaD) concept, maternal obesity predisposes the offspring to non-communicable diseases in adulthood. While a preconceptional weight loss (WL) is recommended for obese women, its benefits on the offspring have been poorly addressed. We evaluated whether preconceptional WL was able to reverse the adverse effects of maternal obesity in a mouse model, exhibiting a modification of foetal growth and of the expression of genes encoding epigenetic modifiers in liver and placenta. We tracked metabolic and olfactory behavioural trajectories of offspring born to control, obese or WL mothers. After weaning, the offspring were either put on a control diet (CD) or a high-fat (HFD). After only few weeks of HFD, the offspring developed obesity, metabolic alterations and olfactory impairments, independently of maternal context. However, male offspring born to obese mother gained even more weight under HFD than their counterparts born to lean mothers. Preconceptional WL normalized the offspring metabolic phenotypes but had unexpected effects on olfactory performance: a reduction in olfactory sensitivity, along with a lack of fasting-induced, olfactory-based motivation. Our results confirm the benefits of maternal preconceptional WL for male offspring metabolic health but highlight some possible adverse outcomes on olfactory-based behaviours

The Bridgwater Infant Welfare Centre, 1922-1939: from an authoritarian concern with 'welfare mothers' to a more inclusive community health project?

The infant welfare movement in Britain has received considerable scholarly attention but continues to generate controversy and debate. Many of the services began with nineteenth-century voluntary initiative but were later developed by local authorities. Critics have drawn attention to the limitations of such provision; arguing that it was predicated on unattractive assumptions about class and gender roles. Under this interpretation working-class mothers were viewed with suspicion and targeted for advice aimed at inculcating middle-class standards of childcare and housekeeping. This paper accepts that there was an authoritarian character to much of the early welfare work but suggests that over time this gave way to more inclusive approaches that sought to provide clients with the services that met their real rather than assumed needs. This paper reviews the recent historiography, develops an overview of national trends, and then takes a detailed look at the Bridgwater Infant Welfare Centre. The case study benefi ts from unusually comprehensive records and, by drawing on evidence from a small Somerset town, adds to our understanding of infant welfare work that has previously been developed from research on major urban centres.Wellcome Trust Fellowshi

Economic Value of Dengue Vaccine in Thailand

With several candidate dengue vaccines under development, this is an important time to help stakeholders (e.g., policy makers, scientists, clinicians, and manufacturers) better understand the potential economic value (cost-effectiveness) of a dengue vaccine, especially while vaccine characteristics and strategies might be readily altered. We developed a decision analytic Markov simulation model to evaluate the potential health and economic value of administering a dengue vaccine to an individual (≤ 1 year of age) in Thailand from the societal perspective. Sensitivity analyses evaluated the effects of ranging various vaccine (e.g., cost, efficacy, side effect), epidemiological (dengue risk), and disease (treatment-seeking behavior) characteristics. A ≥ 50% efficacious vaccine was highly cost-effective [< 1× per capita gross domestic product (GDP) ($4,289)] up to a total vaccination cost of$60 and cost-effective [< 3× per capita GDP ($12,868)] up to a total vaccination cost of$200. When the total vaccine series was $1.50, many scenarios were cost saving