Seventy years of sex education in Health Education Journal: a critical review

This paper examines key debates and perspectives on sex education in Health Education Journal (HEJ), from the date of the journal’s first publication in March 1943 to the present day. Matters relating to sexuality and sexual health are revealed to be integral to HEJ’s history. First published as Health and Empire (1921 – 1942), a key purpose of the journal since its inception has been to share information on venereal disease and its prevention within the UK and across the former British Empire. From 1943 to the present day, discussions on sex education in the newly-christened HEJ both reflect and respond to evolving socio-cultural attitudes towards sexuality in the UK. Changing definitions of sex education across the decades are examined, from the prevention of venereal disease and moral decline in war-time Britain in the 1940s, to a range of responses to sexual liberation in the 1960s and 1970s; from a focus on preventing sexually-transmitted infections, teenage pregnancy and HIV in the 1980s, to the provision of sexual health services alongside sex education in the 2000s. Over the past 70 years, a shift from prevention of pre-marital sexual activity to the management of its outcomes is apparent; however, while these changes over time are notable, perhaps the most striking findings of this review are the continuities in arguments for and against the discussion of sexual issues. After more than 70 years of debate, it would seem that there is little consensus concerning motivations for and the content of sex education

Three-Quark Potential in SU(3) Lattice QCD

The static three-quark (3Q) potential is measured in the SU(3) lattice QCD with $12^3 \times 24$ and $\beta=5.7$ at the quenched level. From the 3Q Wilson loop, the 3Q ground-state potential $V_{\rm 3Q}$ is extracted using the smearing technique for the ground-state enhancement. With accuracy better than a few %, $V_{\rm 3Q}$ is well described by a sum of a constant, the two-body Coulomb term and the three-body linear confinement term $\sigma_{\rm 3Q} L_{\rm min}$, where $L_{\rm min}$ denotes the minimal length of the color flux tube linking the three quarks. By comparing with the Q-$\bar {\rm Q}$ potential, we find a universal feature of the string tension, $\sigma_{\rm 3Q} \simeq \sigma_{\rm Q \bar Q}$, as well as the one-gluon-exchange result for the Coulomb coefficient, $A_{\rm 3Q} \simeq \frac12 A_{\rm Q \bar Q}$.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figur

Comment on Higgs Inflation and Naturalness

We rebut the recent claim (arXiv:0912.5463) that Einstein-frame scattering in the Higgs inflation model is unitary above the cut-off energy Lambda ~ Mp/xi. We show explicitly how unitarity problems arise in both the Einstein and Jordan frames of the theory. In a covariant gauge they arise from non-minimal Higgs self-couplings, which cannot be removed by field redefinitions because the target space is not flat. In unitary gauge, where there is only a single scalar which can be redefined to achieve canonical kinetic terms, the unitarity problems arise through non-minimal Higgs-gauge couplings.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure V3: Journal Versio

Odderon and Pomeron from the Vacuum Correlator Method

Glueball masses with J<=7 are computed both for C=+1 and C=-1 using the string Hamiltonian derived in the framework of the Vacuum Correlator Method. No fitting parameters are used, and masses are expressed in terms of string tension $\sigma$ and effective value of $\alpha_s$. We extend the calculations done for J<=3 using the same Hamiltonian, which provided glueball masses in good agreement with existing lattice data, to higher mass states. It is shown that 3^{--}, 5^{--} and 7^{--} states lie on the odderon trajectories with the intercept around or below 0.14. Another odderon trajectory with 3g glueballs of Y-shape, corresponds to 11% higher masses and low intercept. These findings are in agreement with recent experimental data, setting limits on the odderon contribution to the exclusive $\gamma p$ reactions.Comment: 16 pages. Journal version. To be published in Phys.Lett.

Beyond-Constant-Mass-Approximation Magnetic Catalysis in the Gauge Higgs-Yukawa Model

Beyond-constant-mass approximation solutions for magnetically catalyzed fermion and scalar masses are found in a gauge Higgs-Yukawa theory in the presence of a constant magnetic field. The obtained fermion masses are several orders of magnitude larger than those found in the absence of Yukawa interactions. The masses obtained within the beyond-constant-mass approximation exactly reduce to the results within the constant-mass approach when the condition $\nu \ln (\frac{1}{\hat{m}^{2}})\ll 1$ is satisfied. Possible applications to early universe physics and condensed matter are discussed.Comment: Revised numerical results. New figures. Several sections rewritte

Non-perturbative Euler-Heisenberg Lagrangian and Paraelectricity in Magnetized Massless QED

In this paper we calculate the non-perturbative Euler-Heisenberg Lagrangian for massless QED in a strong magnetic field $H$, where the breaking of the chiral symmetry is dynamically catalyzed by the external magnetic field via the formation of an electro-positron condensate. This chiral condensate leads to the generation of dynamical parameters that have to be found as solutions of non-perturbative Schwinger-Dyson equations. Since the electron-positron pairing mechanism leading to the breaking of the chiral symmetry is mainly dominated by the contributions from the infrared region of momenta much smaller than $\sqrt{eH}$, the magnetic field introduces a dynamical ultraviolet cutoff in the theory that also enters in the non-perturbative Euler-Heisenberg action. Using this action, we show that the system exhibits a significant paraelectricity in the direction parallel to the magnetic field. The nonperturbative nature of this effect is reflected in the non-analytic dependence of the obtained electric susceptibility on the fine-structure constant. The strong paraelectricity in the field direction is linked to the orientation of the electric dipole moments of the pairs that form the chiral condensate. The large electric susceptibility can be used to detect the realization of the magnetic catalysis of chiral symmetry breaking in physical systems.Comment: 18 pages, to be published in NP

Challenging or reshaping heteronormativity with public policies? A case study from Bogotá, Colombia

On 28 December 2007 the then Mayor of Bogotá signed a Decree which established the guidelines of the public policy for the full guarantee of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the city. This legal measure was the end point of a long lobbying and advocacy strategy implemented by activists and organisations working on gender and sexual diversity. This Working Paper presents that experience as part of the process in which subordinated social sectors, such as gender diverse and sexually diverse people make themselves political subjects. In spite of the novelty in Colombia and in Latin America of this kind of public policy targeting LGBT people as subjects of rights, it is also an opportunity for normative systems to readjust and to create new ways to normalise people. The promotion of certain queer people as proper citizens, the regulation of ways to interact with the state, the co-option of social mobilisations and the transformation of grassroots organisations into private service providers, are just some of the risks that a scheme like this faces. The author was part of the social mobilisation that motivated this particular public policy scheme in the early 2000s and was involved in its design, planning and initial implementation between 2007 and 2010. This paper is situated in a problematic position between political activism, consultancy work and construction of knowledge based on the practice. It is a contribution to the memory of a rich, and in many ways unique, experience

New Constraints (and Motivations) for Abelian Gauge Bosons in the MeV-TeV Mass Range

We survey the phenomenological constraints on abelian gauge bosons having masses in the MeV to multi-GeV mass range (using precision electroweak measurements, neutrino-electron and neutrino-nucleon scattering, electron and muon anomalous magnetic moments, upsilon decay, beam dump experiments, atomic parity violation, low-energy neutron scattering and primordial nucleosynthesis). We compute their implications for the three parameters that in general describe the low-energy properties of such bosons: their mass and their two possible types of dimensionless couplings (direct couplings to ordinary fermions and kinetic mixing with Standard Model hypercharge). We argue that gauge bosons with very small couplings to ordinary fermions in this mass range are natural in string compactifications and are likely to be generic in theories for which the gravity scale is systematically smaller than the Planck mass - such as in extra-dimensional models - because of the necessity to suppress proton decay. Furthermore, because its couplings are weak, in the low-energy theory relevant to experiments at and below TeV scales the charge gauged by the new boson can appear to be broken, both by classical effects and by anomalies. In particular, if the new gauge charge appears to be anomalous, anomaly cancellation does not also require the introduction of new light fermions in the low-energy theory. Furthermore, the charge can appear to be conserved in the low-energy theory, despite the corresponding gauge boson having a mass. Our results reduce to those of other authors in the special cases where there is no kinetic mixing or there is no direct coupling to ordinary fermions, such as for recently proposed dark-matter scenarios.Comment: 49 pages + appendix, 21 figures. This is the final version which appears in JHE

Heel raises versus prefabricated orthoses in the treatment of posterior heel pain associated with calcaneal apophysitis (Sever's Disease): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Posterior Heel pain can present in children of 8 to 14 years, associated with or clinically diagnosed as Sever's disease, or calcaneal apophysitis. Presently, there are no comparative randomised studies evaluating treatment options for posterior heel pain in children with the clinical diagnosis of calcaneal apophysitis or Sever's disease. This study seeks to compare the clinical efficacy of some currently employed treatment options for the relief of disability and pain associated with posterior heel pain in children.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>Design: Factorial 2 × 2 randomised controlled trial with monthly follow-up for 3 months.</p> <p>Participants: Children with clinically diagnosed posterior heel pain possibly associated with calcaneal apophysitis/Sever's disease (n = 124).</p> <p>Interventions: Treatment factor 1 will be two types of shoe orthoses: a heel raise or prefabricated orthoses. Both of these interventions are widely available, mutually exclusive treatment approaches that are relatively low in cost. Treatment factor 2 will be a footwear prescription/replacement intervention involving a shoe with a firm heel counter, dual density EVA midsole and rear foot control. The alternate condition in this factor is no footwear prescription/replacement, with the participant wearing their current footwear.</p> <p>Outcomes: Oxford Foot and Ankle Questionnaire and the Faces pain scale.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This will be a randomised trial to compare the efficacy of various treatment options for posterior heel pain in children that may be associated with calcaneal apophysitis also known as Sever's disease.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Trial Number: ACTRN12609000696291</p> <p>Ethics Approval Southern Health: HREC Ref: 09271B</p