Reproductive Coercion and Relationship Abuse Among Adolescents and Young Women Seeking Care at School Health Centers.

ObjectiveTo investigate demographic differences and evaluate how reproductive coercion and relationship abuse influences young females' care-seeking and sexual health behaviors.MethodsWe conducted a secondary analysis of cross-sectional baseline survey data from sexually active female students (aged 14-19 years) who sought care from school health centers. Outcomes included recent (previous 3 months) reproductive coercion, physical or sexual adolescent relationship abuse, and nonpartner sexual violence victimization. Cluster-adjusted χ tests compared demographics and generalized linear mixed models estimated associations among reproductive coercion, adolescent relationship abuse (physical and sexual abuse in romantic relationships), and care-seeking and sexual health behaviors.ResultsOf 550 sexually active high school females, 12% reported recent reproductive coercion and 17% reported physical or sexual adolescent relationship abuse, with no significant demographic differences. Prevalence of recent nonpartner sexual violence was 17%. There were no observed significant differences in care-seeking behaviors among those with recent reproductive coercion compared with those without. Physical or sexual adolescent relationship abuse was associated with increased odds of seeking testing or treatment for sexually transmitted infections (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.08, 95% CI 1.05-4.13). Females exposed to both adolescent relationship abuse and reproductive coercion had higher odds of having a partner who was 5 or more years older (aOR 4.66, 95% CI 1.51-14.4), having two or more recent sexual partners (aOR 3.86, 95% CI 1.57-9.48), and using hormonal contraception only (aOR 3.77, 95% CI 1.09-13.1 vs hormonal methods with condoms).ConclusionAlmost one in eight females experienced recent reproductive coercion. We did not observe significant demographic differences in reproductive coercion. Partner age and number of sexual partners may elevate risk for abusive relationships. Relationship abuse is prevalent among high school students seeking care, with no clear pattern for case identification. By failing to identify factors associated with harmful partner behaviors, our results support universal assessment for reproductive coercion and relationship abuse among high school-aged adolescents, involving education, resources, and harm-reduction counseling to all patients.Clinical trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01678378

Pricing European Options with a Log Student's t-Distribution: a Gosset Formula

The distribution of the returns for a stock are not well described by a normal probability density function (pdf). Student's t-distributions, which have fat tails, are known to fit the distributions of the returns. We present pricing of European call or put options using a log Student's t-distribution, which we call a Gosset approach in honour of W.S. Gosset, the author behind the nom de plume Student. The approach that we present can be used to price European options using other distributions and yields the Black-Scholes formula for returns described by a normal pdf.Comment: 12 journal pages, 9 figures and 3 tables (Submitted to Physica A

Executive Summary of Propulsion on the Orion Abort Flight-Test Vehicles

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Orion Flight Test Office was tasked with conducting a series of flight tests in several launch abort scenarios to certify that the Orion Launch Abort System is capable of delivering astronauts aboard the Orion Crew Module to a safe environment, away from a failed booster. The first of this series was the Orion Pad Abort 1 Flight-Test Vehicle, which was successfully flown on May 6, 2010 at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This report provides a brief overview of the three propulsive subsystems used on the Pad Abort 1 Flight-Test Vehicle. An overview of the propulsive systems originally planned for future flight-test vehicles is also provided, which also includes the cold gas Reaction Control System within the Crew Module, and the Peacekeeper first stage rocket motor encased within the Abort Test Booster aeroshell. Although the Constellation program has been cancelled and the operational role of the Orion spacecraft has significantly evolved, lessons learned from Pad Abort 1 and the other flight-test vehicles could certainly contribute to the vehicle architecture of many future human-rated space launch vehicle

Identifying the genetic basis of antigenic change in influenza A(H1N1)

Determining phenotype from genetic data is a fundamental challenge. Influenza A viruses undergo rapid antigenic drift and identification of emerging antigenic variants is critical to the vaccine selection process. Using former seasonal influenza A(H1N1) viruses, hemagglutinin sequence and corresponding antigenic data were analyzed in combination with 3-D structural information. We attributed variation in hemagglutination inhibition to individual amino acid substitutions and quantified their antigenic impact, validating a subset experimentally using reverse genetics. Substitutions identified as low-impact were shown to be a critical component of influenza antigenic evolution and by including these, as well as the high-impact substitutions often focused on, the accuracy of predicting antigenic phenotypes of emerging viruses from genotype was doubled. The ability to quantify the phenotypic impact of specific amino acid substitutions should help refine techniques that predict the fitness and evolutionary success of variant viruses, leading to stronger theoretical foundations for selection of candidate vaccine viruses

Cluster randomized controlled trial protocol: addressing reproductive coercion in health settings (ARCHES)

Background\ud Women ages 16–29 utilizing family planning clinics for medical services experience higher rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) and reproductive coercion (RC) than their same-age peers, increasing risk for unintended pregnancy and related poor reproductive health outcomes. Brief interventions integrated into routine family planning care have shown promise in reducing risk for RC, but longer-term intervention effects on partner violence victimization, RC, and unintended pregnancy have not been examined.\ud \ud Methods/Design\ud The ‘Addressing Reproductive Coercion in Health Settings (ARCHES)’ Intervention Study is a cluster randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of a brief, clinician-delivered universal education and counseling intervention to reduce IPV, RC and unintended pregnancy compared to standard-of-care in family planning clinic settings. The ARCHES intervention was refined based on formative research. Twenty five family planning clinics were randomized (in 17 clusters) to either a three hour training for all family planning clinic staff on how to deliver the ARCHES intervention or to a standard-of-care control condition. All women ages 16–29 seeking care in these family planning clinics were eligible to participate. Consenting clients use laptop computers to answer survey questions immediately prior to their clinic visit, a brief exit survey immediately after the clinic visit, a first follow up survey 12–20 weeks after the baseline visit (T2), and a final survey 12 months after the baseline (T3). Medical record chart review provides additional data about IPV and RC assessment and disclosure, sexual and reproductive health diagnoses, and health care utilization. Of 4009 women approached and determined to be eligible based on age (16–29 years old), 3687 (92 % participation) completed the baseline survey and were included in the sample.\ud \ud Discussion\ud The ARCHES Intervention Study is a community-partnered study designed to provide arigorous assessment of the short (3-4 months) and long-term (12 months) effects of a brief, clinician-delivered universal education and counseling intervention to reduce IPC, RC and unintended pregnancy in family planning clinic settings. The trial features a cluster randomized controlled trial design, a comprehensive data collection schedule and a large sample size with excellent retention.\ud \ud Trial Registration\ud ClinicialTrials.gov NCT01459458. Registered 10 October 2011

The Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) Mission: Design, Execution, and First Results

The NASA Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) mission was conducted in two 3-week deployments based in Alaska (April 2008) and western Canada (June–July 2008). Its goal was to better understand the factors driving current changes in Arctic atmospheric composition and climate, including (1) influx of mid-latitude pollution, (2) boreal forest fires, (3) aerosol radiative forcing, and (4) chemical processes. The June–July deployment was preceded by one week of flights over California (ARCTAS-CARB) focused on (1) improving state emission inventories for greenhouse gases and aerosols, (2) providing observations to test and improve models of ozone and aerosol pollution. ARCTAS involved three aircraft: a DC-8 with a detailed chemical payload, a P-3 with an extensive aerosol and radiometric payload, and a B-200 with aerosol remote sensing instrumentation. The aircraft data augmented satellite observations of Arctic atmospheric composition, in particular from the NASA A-Train. The spring phase (ARCTAS-A) revealed pervasive Asian pollution throughout the Arctic as well as significant European pollution below 2 km. Unusually large Siberian fires in April 2008 caused high concentrations of carbonaceous aerosols and also affected ozone. Satellite observations of BrO column hotspots were found not to be related to Arctic boundary layer events but instead to tropopause depressions, suggesting the presence of elevated inorganic bromine (5–10 pptv) in the lower stratosphere. Fresh fire plumes from Canada and California sampled during the summer phase (ARCTAS-B) indicated low $NO_x$ emission factors from the fires, rapid conversion of $NO_x$ to PAN, no significant secondary aerosol production, and no significant ozone enhancements except when mixed with urban pollution.Engineering and Applied Science