Body Image and Relationship Satisfaction in Middle-Aged Women

The purpose of this study is to examine the connection between positive body image and relationship satisfaction with middle-aged women. Current research (Ambwani & Strauss, 2007) suggests body image and relationship satisfaction has a bidirectional influence. However, much of the current research focuses on a younger demographic, and middle-aged women are often a neglected population. This study seeks to better understand the interpersonal nature of healthy development in body image and relationships in middle-aged women. A phenomenological approach is utilized to observe the lived experiences of middle-aged women in committed relationships with positive body image. Six participants, between the ages of 36-65, were interviewed regarding positive body image and relationship satisfaction. Themes were identified within the three foci: positive body image, relationship satisfaction, and influence. The identified themes for positive body image include critical thinking, spiritual beliefs, positive relationships, function-focused, and acceptance. The identified themes for relationship satisfaction include commitment, supportive communication, enjoyment, and shared beliefs. The identified themes for influence include positive body image influences romantic relationship satisfaction and romantic relationship satisfaction influences positive body image. Findings suggest that the relationship between body image and relationship satisfaction is indeed cyclical. Most middle-aged women in this study saw the connection between positive body image and relationship satisfaction as integrated

Prompt Beta Spectroscopy as a Diagnostic for Mix in Ignited NIF Capsules

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) technology is designed to drive deuterium-tritium (DT) internal confinement fusion (ICF) targets to ignition using indirect radiation from laser beam energy captured in a hohlraum. Hydrodynamical instabilities at interfaces in the ICF capsule leading to mix between the DT fue l and the ablator shell material are of fundamental physical interest and can affect the performance characteristics of the capsule. In this Letter we describe new radiochemical diagnostics for mix processes in ICF capsules with plastic or Be (0.9%Cu) ablator shells. Reactions of high-energy tritons with shell material produce high-energy $\beta$-emitters. We show that mix between the DT fuel and the shell material enhances high-energy prompt beta emission from these reactions by more than an order of magnitude over that expected in the absence of mix

Proceedings of the Near-Earth-Object Interception Workshop

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Headquarters sponsored the Near-Earth-Object Interception Workshop hosted by the Los Alamos National Laboratory on 14-16 Jan. 1992 at the J. Robert Oppenheimer Study Center in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The Workshop evaluated the issues involved in intercepting celestial objects that could hit the Earth. It covered the technologies for acquiring, tracking, and homing, as well as those for sending interceptors to inspect, rendezvous with, land on, irradiate, deflect, or destroy them. This report records the presentations and technical options reviewed

Coherent X-ray Diffractive Imaging; applications and limitations

The inversion of a diffraction pattern offers aberration-free diffraction-limited 3D images without the resolution and depth-of-field limitations of lens-based tomographic systems, the only limitation being radiation damage. We review our experimental results, discuss the fundamental limits of this technique and future plans.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

Darwin-Lagrangian Analysis for the Interaction of a Point Charge and a Magnet: Considerations Related to the Controversy Regarding the Aharonov-Bohm and Aharonov-Casher Phase Shifts

The classical electromagnetic interaction of a point charge and a magnet is discussed by first calculating the interaction of point charge with a simple model magnetic moment and then suggesting a multiparticle limit. The Darwin Lagrangian is used to analyze the electromagnetic behavior of the model magnetic moment (composed of two oppositely charged particles of different mass in an initially circular orbit) interacting with a passing point charge. The changing mangetic moment is found to put a force back on a passing charge; this force is of order 1/c^2 and depends upon the magnitude of the magnetic moment. It is suggested that in the limit of a multiparticle magnetic toroid, the electric fields of the passing charge are screened out of the body of the magnet while the magnetic fields penetrate into the magnet. This is consistent with our understanding of the penetration of electromagnetic velocity fields into ohmic conductors. Conservation laws are discussed. The work corresponds to a classical electromagnetic analysis of the interaction which is basic to understanding the controversy over the Aharonov-Bohm and Aharonov-Casher phase shifts and represents a refutation of the suggestions of Aharonov, Pearle, and Vaidman.Comment: 33 page

Pan-European early switch/early discharge opportunities exist for hospitalised patients with methicillin-resistant <em>Staphylococcus</em> <em>aureus</em> complicated skin and soft-tissue infections

AbstractThe objective of this study was to document pan-European real-world treatment patterns and healthcare resource use and estimate opportunities for early switch (ES) from intravenous (IV) to oral antibiotics and early discharge (ED) in hospitalized patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) complicated skin and soft tissue infections (cSSTIs). This retrospective observational medical chart review study enrolled 342 physicians across 12 European countries who collected data from 1542 patients with documented MRSA cSSTI who were hospitalized (July 2010 to June 2011) and discharged alive (by July 2011). Data included clinical characteristics and outcomes, hospital length of stay (LOS), MRSA-targeted IV and oral antibiotic use, and ES and ED eligibility according to literature-based and expert-validated criteria. The most frequent initial MRSA-active antibiotics were vancomycin (50.2%), linezolid (15.1%), clindamycin (10.8%), and teicoplanin (10.4%). Patients discharged with MRSA-active antibiotics (n = 480) were most frequently prescribed linezolid (42.1%) and clindamycin (19.8%). IV treatment duration (9.3 ± 6.5 vs. 14.6 ± 9.9 days; p <0.001) and hospital LOS (19.1 ± 12.9 vs. 21.0 ± 18.2 days; p 0.162) tended to be shorter for patients switched from IV to oral treatment than for patients who received IV treatment only. Of the patients, 33.6% met ES criteria and could have discontinued IV treatment 6.0 ± 5.5 days earlier, and 37.9% met ED criteria and could have been discharged 6.2 ± 8.2 days earlier. More than one-third of European patients hospitalized for MRSA cSSTI could be eligible for ES and ED, resulting in substantial reductions in IV days and bed-days, with potential savings of €2000 per ED-eligible patient

Geometric Phases and Mielnik's Evolution Loops

The cyclic evolutions and associated geometric phases induced by time-independent Hamiltonians are studied for the case when the evolution operator becomes the identity (those processes are called {\it evolution loops}). We make a detailed treatment of systems having equally-spaced energy levels. Special emphasis is made on the potentials which have the same spectrum as the harmonic oscillator potential (the generalized oscillator potentials) and on their recently found coherent states.Comment: 11 pages, harvmac, 2 figures available upon request; CINVESTAV-FIS GFMR 11/9

Professional development in teaching and learning for early career academic geographers: Contexts, practices and tensions

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Geography in Higher Education on 16th May 2011, available online: doi: 10.1080/03098265.2011.563380This paper provides a review of the practices and tensions informing approaches to professional development for early career academic geographers who are teaching in higher education. We offer examples from Britain, Canada, Nigeria and the USA. The tensions include: institutional and departmental cultures; models that offer generic and discipline-specific approaches; the credibility of alternative settings for professional development in teaching and learning; the valuing of professional development and of teaching in academic systems of reward and recognition; and the challenges of balancing professional and personal life. We summarize concepts of good practice and suggest opportunities for future research

Weight-based antibiotic dosing in a real-world European study of complicated skin and soft-tissue infections due to methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>

AbstractWe aimed to characterize real-world dosing of weight-based intravenous (IV) antibiotic therapy in patients hospitalized for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) complicated skin and soft-tissue infections (cSSTIs). This was a subgroup analysis of a retrospective chart review that captured data from 12 European countries. The study included patients ≥18 years old, hospitalized with an MRSA cSSTI between 1 July 2010 and 30 June 2011 and discharged alive by 31 July 2011. Patients treated with IV vancomycin, teicoplanin or daptomycin at any stage during hospitalization were included in this analysis. Analyses were conducted at the regimen level (dosing in mg/kg or in mg, frequency, and total daily dose (TDD)), with potentially multiple regimens per patient, and the patient level, categorizing patients into low, standard (labelled) and high dosing groups according to their initial MRSA-targeted regimen. Among the 1502 patients in the parent study, 998 patients contributed a total of 1050 daptomycin, teicoplanin or vancomycin regimens. Across all regimens, the mean initial TDDs were 6.3 ± 1.9 mg/kg for daptomycin, 10.5 ± 4.9 mg/kg for teicoplanin and 28.5 ± 11.5 mg/kg for vancomycin. A total of 789 patients received first-line therapy with one of the above antibiotics. The majority of patients receiving first-line teicoplanin and daptomycin (96% and 80%, respectively) received higher than labelled cSSTI doses, whereas vancomycin doses were lower than labelled doses in >40% of patients. These real-world data reveal significant deviation from labelled antibiotic dosing in 12 European countries and the potential for suboptimal outcomes in patients with MRSA cSSTIs