Shared Ethnicity in Transracial Adoption

The discussion of transracial adoption of black infants by white parents calls into question the distinction between race and ethnicity for these children and their families. Research on the overall success of these adoption indicate that most of the children are well-adjusted, have healthy self esteem, and do not have problems with issues of racial identity. This paper suggest that the concept of shared ethnicity might be useful construction for understanding these multiracial families

The novel adiponectin-resistin (AR) and insulin resistance (IR~AR~) indexes

Serum hypoadiponectinemia and hyperrestinemia independently links insulin resistance to type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and metabolic syndrome (MS). Thus, the aim of this study was propose a novel adiponectin-resistin (AR) index by unifying the effect of adiponectin and resistin. Then, a novel insulin resistance (IR~AR~) index was proposed by taking into account the AR index. Serum adiponectin and resistin levels as well as other insulin resistance, T2DM and MS risk factors were tested. Experimental results showed the AR index was more stronger correlated with insulin resistance risk factors and had stronger association (df=5; F=51.154; P<0.001) with T2DM and MS susceptibility rather than the serum adiponectin (df=5; F=15.680; P<0.001) and resistin (df=5; F=40.648; P<0.001) levels alone. Therefore, the AR index looks very strongly links insulin resistance to T2DM and MS. Meanwhile, the IR~AR~ index (df=5; F=78.396; P<0.001) is a potent useful index of insulin sensitivity in subjects with T2DM and MS

FAKTOR FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHI TINGKAT KECACATAN PADA PASIEN MORBUS HANSEN DI KOTA BANDA ACEH

ABSTRAKPenyakit Morbus Hansen tidak hanya menimbulkan kerusakan pada kulit penderita, tetapi juga dapat menimbulkan kecacatan sehingga penderita di isolasi secara sosial. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh tipe Morbus Hansen, deteksi dini, dan kepatuhan berobat pasien terhadap tingkat kecacatan pasien Morbus Hansen. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian analitik. Sampel penelitian diambil dari data rekam medis pasien Morbus Hansen yang menjalani pengobatan di RSUD dr. Zainoel Abidin dan puskesmas yang terdapat di Kota Banda aceh periode tahun 2008 s.d tahun 2011. Hasil uji statistik menunjukkan tidak terdapat hubungan (p>0,05) antara tipe Morbus Hansen dengan tigkat kecacatan (p=0,220). Terdapat hubungan (

Transsexualism in Spain: a Cultural and Legal Perspective

In this paper I will present an overview of the current legal, social and political situation of transsexual and transgendered people in Spain. The study is based on qualitative data gathered from in-depth interviews with transsexual people, transgendered activists and legal experts in Spain, including some aspects of a cross-cultural comparison between Spain and the UK. The empirical study accounts for the development of social policies related to sex-reassignment and their evolution in the last decade in Spain, as well as for transsexual associations and activism, issues of social exclusion and prostitution. The study on transsexuals consists of qualitative interviews with selected individuals of the transsexual community in Scotland and Catalonia about their life experiences. The analysis of the qualitative data explores the cultural assumptions underlying the legal aspects of sex-reassignment. Amongst other issues, the paper will deal with Spanish juridical procedures for documental reorientation and its potential role as incentive for undergoing sex-reassignment operation, and the performative character of transsexualism as a scientific category and folk gender myths in the shaping of gender. The cross-cultural comparison concerns scientific terminology, funding, cultural and legal aspects of sex-reassignment. The study reveals the performative character of scientific categories, the mobilisation of conflicting discourses in the negotiation of meaning, the circularity and self-referentiality of the terms used both in expert and folk discourse. Moreover, the cross-cultural comparison demonstrates the conventionality of transsexualism as a scientific category and some of the ways in which social institutions act to perpetuate the erasure of gender fluidity.Gender, Performativity, Sex-Reassignment, Social Policy, Transgenderism, Transsexuality, Spain

The cosmic evolution of dust-corrected metallicity in the neutral gas

Interpreting abundances of Damped Ly-$\alpha$ Absorbers (DLAs) from absorption-line spectroscopy has typically been a challenge because of the presence of dust. Nevertheless, because DLAs trace distant gas-rich galaxies regardless of their luminosity, they provide an attractive way of measuring the evolution of the metallicity of the neutral gas with cosmic time. This has been done extensively so far, but typically not taking proper dust corrections into account. The aims of this paper are to: i) provide a simplified way of calculating dust corrections, based on a single observed [$X$/Fe], ii) assess the importance of dust corrections for DLA metallicities and their evolution, and iii) investigate the cosmic evolution of iron for a large DLA sample. We have derived dust corrections based on the observed [Zn/Fe], [Si/Fe], or [S/Fe], and confirmed their robustness. We present dust-corrected metallicities in a scale of [Fe/H]$_{\rm tot}$ for 236 DLAs over a broad range of $z$, and assess the extent of dust corrections for different metals at different metallicities. Dust corrections in DLAs are important even for Zn (typically of 0.1-0.2, and up to $0.5$~dex), which is often neglected. Finally, we study the evolution of the dust-corrected metallicity with $z$. The DLA metallicities decrease with redshift, by a factor of 50-100 from today to $\sim12.6$ billion years ago ($z=5$). When including dust corrections, the average DLA metallicities are 0.4--0.5~dex higher than without corrections. The upper envelope of the relation between metallicity and $z$ reaches solar metallicity at $z\lesssim0.5$, although some systems can have solar metallicity already out to $z\sim3$.Comment: Forthcoming in A&A. 16 pages, 5 figures, 3 table

On the (in)variance of the dust-to-metals ratio in galaxies

Recent works have demonstrated a surprisingly small variation of the dust-to-metals ratio in different environments and a correlation between dust extinction and the density of stars. Naively, one would interpret these findings as strong evidence of cosmic dust being produced mainly by stars. But other observational evidence suggest there is a significant variation of the dust-to-metals ratio with metallicity. As we demonstrate in this paper, a simple star-dust scenario is problematic also in the sense that it requires that destruction of dust in the interstellar medium (e.g., due to passage of supernova shocks) must be highly inefficient. We suggest a model where stellar dust production is indeed efficient, but where interstellar dust growth is equally important and acts as a replenishment mechanism which can counteract the effects of dust destruction. This model appears to resolve the seemingly contradictive observations, given that the ratio of the effective (stellar) dust and metal yields is not universal and thus may change from one environment to another, depending on metallicity.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Effect of ovulatory follicle size on bovine pregnancy associated glycoproteins in beef cattle

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on June 14, 2010).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Thesis advisor: Dr. Michael F. Smith.M.S. University of Missouri--Columbia 2010.The GnRH-induced ovulation of small dominant follicles was associated with reduced pregnancy rates and late embryonic/fetal survival around the time of embryo-uterine attachment. PAGs are secreted by binucleated trophoblast cells into the maternal circulation and have been used to monitor placental function and embryo/fetal mortality. The overall objective was to examine the relationship between ovulatory follicle size and circulating concentrations of bPAG. Postpartum cows were treated with the CO-Synch protocol and timed artificial insemination and classified into one of four groups based on the size of the follicle induced to ovulate at GnRH-2. There was an effect of treatment on pregnancy rates at d 30 post insemination with pregnancy rate being higher following GnRH-induced ovulation of 14 to 15 mm compared to 12 to 13 mm follicles. The first increase in bPAG occurred on d 24. There was an effect of day on bPAG but no effect of ovulatory follicle size or ovulatory follicle size by day interaction from d 20 to 60. Furthermore, there was an effect of month on bPAG but no effect of treatment or treatment by month interaction from 3 months of gestation to calving. In summary, there was no effect of ovulatory follicle size on serum concentrations of bPAG in pregnant cows.Includes bibliographical references