Factors associated with pregnancy and STI among Aboriginal students in British Columbia.

BACKGROUND: Aboriginal adolescents are more likely to become pregnant and contract an STI than other Canadian adolescents. This study provides some of the first data on factors associated with these outcomes among Aboriginal adolescents. METHODS: A secondary analysis was conducted using 2003 data from a large cross-sectional survey of British Columbia secondary school students. 445 young women and 360 young men who identified as Aboriginal and reported ever having sex were included in analyses. Associations between self-reported pregnancy and STI and 11 exposure variables were examined using logistic regression. RESULTS: Of young women, 10.6% reported a pregnancy; 10.5% of young men reported causing a pregnancy. An STI diagnosis was reported by 4.2% of young women and 3.9% of young men. In multivariate analyses for young men, ever having been sexually abused was the strongest consistent risk factor for causing a pregnancy (AOR = 4.30, 95% CI 1.64-11.25) and STI diagnosis (AOR = 5.58, 95% CI 1.61-19.37). For young women, abuse was associated with increased odds of pregnancy (AOR = 10.37, 95% CI 4.04-26.60) but not STI. Among young women, substance use was the strongest consistent risk factor for both pregnancy (AOR = 3.36, 95% CI 1.25-9.08) and STI (AOR = 5.27, 95% CI 1.50-18.42); for young men, substance use was associated with higher odds of STI (AOR = 4.60, 95% CI 1.11-19.14). Factors associated with decreased risk included community, school and family involvement. CONCLUSIONS: Health care professionals, communities and policy-makers must urgently address sexual abuse and substance use. Exploring promotion of school and community involvement and family cohesion may be useful for sexual health interventions with Aboriginal students

Episyemology and Methodology in Case Research: A Comparison Between European and American IS Journals

The case study is an important research method in Information Systems research. It enables us to study contemporary and complex social phenomena in their natural context and is one of the most widely used qualitative research methods in the field. Case studies are used in both the positivist and the interpretist epistemological tradition. Studies on the evaluation of case research tend to focus on only one of these epistemological standpoints and tend to have a North American bias when it comes to journal selection. This study evaluates 62 case studies that have been published in North American and European top journals and that have been conducted from both epistemological stances. In this study I compare papers published in American and European journals on epistemology, methodology and pluralism with respect to other sciences such as sociology, psychology or history. The evaluation is done in the qualitative tradition (because it concerns qualitative studies). In this way it provides IS researchers with a colourful palette with which they can paint their own case study designs and reports

The Effect of Viscosity on Binder Migration

Binder migration has caused many problems in practical applications. There are many variables involved in this field including the base stock, percent solids, the type of pigment and adhesive, and the coat weight. Bind migration seems to be a function of three almost simultaneously occurring events. These are, migration due to capillary action, pressure, and redistribution during drying. The procedures used to determine migration in this study included an embedding technique, an infrared technique, and a technique using the IPC brightness meter. The first two techniques failed and only limited information was obtained using the other technique. The most important development was the embedding procedure. Combining this and the right equipment, valuable results may be obtained

Microwave scattering and emission properties of large impact craters on the surface of Venus

Many of the impact craters on Venus imaged by the Magellan synthetic aperture radar (SAR) have interior floors with oblique incidence angle backscatter cross sections 2 to 16 times (3 dB to 12 dB) greater than the average scattering properties of the planet's surface. Such high backscatter cross sections are indicative of a high degree of wavelength-scale surface roughness and/or a high intrinsic reflectivity of the material forming the crater floors. Fifty-three of these (radar) bright floored craters are associated with 93 percent of the parabolic-shaped radar-dark features found in the Magellan SAR and emissivity data, features that are thought to be among the youngest on the surface of Venus. It was suggested by Campbell et al. that either the bright floors of the parabolic feature parent craters are indicative of a young impact and the floor properties are modified with time to a lower backscatter cross section or that they result from some property of the surface or subsurface material at the point of impact or from the properties of the impacting object. As a continuation of earlier work we have examined all craters with diameters greater than 30 km (except 6 that were outside the available data) so both the backscatter cross section and emissivity of the crater floors could be estimated from the Magellan data

Classification of journal surfaces using surface topography parameters and software methods to compensate for stylus geometry

Measurements made with a stylus surface tracer which provides a digitized representation of a surface profile are discussed. Parameters are defined to characterize the height (e.g., RMS roughness, skewness, and kurtosis) and length (e.g., autocorrelation) of the surface topography. These are applied to the characterization of crank shaft journals which were manufactured by different grinding and lopping procedures known to give significant differences in crank shaft bearing life. It was found that three parameters (RMS roughness, skewness, and kurtosis) are necessary to adequately distinguish the character of these surfaces. Every surface specimen has a set of values for these three parameters. They can be regarded as a set coordinate in a space constituted by three characteristics axes. The various journal surfaces can be classified along with the determination of a proper wavelength cutoff (0.25 mm) by using a method of separated subspace. The finite radius of the stylus used for profile tracing gives an inherent measurement error as it passes over the fine structure of the surface. A mathematical model is derived to compensate for this error

Correlated forward-backward dissociation and neutron spectra as a luminosity monitor in heavy ion colliders

Detection in zero degree calorimeters of the correlated forward-backward Coulomb or nuclear dissociation of two colliding nuclei is presented as a practical luminosity monitor in heavy ion colliders. Complementary predictions are given for total correlated Coulomb plus nuclear dissociation and for correlated forward-backward single neutrons from the giant dipole peak.Comment: 16 pages, latex, revtex source, four postscript figure

Information Leadership: The CIO as Orchestrator and Equilibrist

The dominant interpretation of the function and role of the CIO is technology-related with business-ICT alignment as a core concept. We criticize this vision as a product of the dominant interpretive scheme and show how the logic of this scheme restricts the worldview of CIO’s and researchers. To overcome these restrictions, we adopt an alternative interpretive scheme based on our twenty years of experience with collaboration with information managers. This scheme is essentially generative and synthetic. We define the function and role of the CIO as the orchestrator of the information-related activities of the organization. To be successful, the CIO should further maintain equilibrium between inspiring and innovating the organization and informing and architecturing it. Finally, we argue for the use of a new language that can involve all stakeholders in these activities to make them enthusiastic participants. Based on this new view, the CIO can emanate information leadership