Thai Massage and Commercial Sex Work: A Phenomenological Study

Many researchers have suggested that commercial sex work in Thailand has gone into massage establishments. This paper explores how the experience of receiving massage in Thailand differs by four types of establishment (street front, massage schools, spas, and high-end resorts) and whether or not unsolicited sexual services are offered. The current study aims to expand our understanding of both massage and prostitution in Thailand and the relationship between these activities. In order to explore this research question, we utilize a phenomenological approach and aim to relate the essence of the massage experience and whether or not unsolicited sexual services were offered. In total, 100 massage establishments were visited in major resort cities in Thailand over a period of several months. We suggest that massage establishments, especially street front establishments, offer clients more than massage especially if one requests an oil massage. Sexual services are much less likely to be offered to massage clients at spas and high-end resorts; however, the massage experience at these establishments is perhaps not as authentically Thai as at other venues. Further work might explore how sexual services differ within street front massage establishments as well as how much discretion therapists have in declining to participate in such activities

Earnings Differences in the South Korean Labor Market: Decomposing the Gender Wage Gap, 1988-98

We examine gender differences in earnings among South Korean workers in 1988 and 1998. In 1988, the South Korean National Assembly enacted the Equal Employment Opportunity Act. Using OWS data, we explore the gender wage gap. Following Ronald Oaxaca's (1973) work, we decompose male female wage differentials. We also calculate a discrimination coefficient. Our work shows that gender earning differences decreased between 1988 and 1998. In 1988, men enjoyed a wage that was 208% of women's wages. In 1998, men earned a wage that was only 165% of women's wages. While men continue to earn a higher wage than women in South Korea, the wage gap has improved over time

Hip Manipulation Under Anesthesia for Post-Hip Arthroscopy Pericapsular Scarring: Indications and Techniques

Hip arthroscopy has become an increasingly common procedure with expanding indications over the last several decades. With the increase in number of procedures performed a complication profile has emerged, although there is yet to be a formal classification system for complications. The most cited complications include lateral femoral cutaneous nerve neuropraxia, other sensory deficits, chondral or labral iatrogenic damage, superficial infection and deep vein thrombosis. One complication that has not yet been well documented in the literature is pericapsular scarring/adhesions resulting in decreased hip range of motion and function. If this complication is noted to persist after adequate impingement resection and a rigorous post-operative physical therapy regimen, the senior author has addressed this with a hip manipulation under anesthesia. Therefore, this techniques paper aims to describe pericapsular scarring as a post hip-arthroscopy condition which may cause pain and demonstrate our technique to address this diagnosis through hip manipulation under anesthesia

Look Who\u27s Talking: Differences in Rates of Interruptions and Proportion of Time Used by Male and Female U.S. Courts of Appeals Judges

During oral arguments, attorneys are given the chance to elaborate on their written briefs and answer questions from the judges deciding the case. Studying oral arguments can be a window into the power dynamics between judges and attorneys, and can shed light onto how factors like gender may affect judicial decision-making. While a growing body of research has examined gender dynamics in oral arguments in the United States Supreme Court, no existing studies have examined whether these findings hold up in the U.S. Court of Appeals, the second highest courts in the country. We collected data on two years of oral arguments from the 4th Circuit in order to test theories about gender and speech patterns, including interruptions and verbosity

Axoneme-specific β-tubulin specialization a conserved C-terminal motif specifies the central pair

AbstractAxonemes are ancient organelles that mediate motility of cilia and flagella in animals, plants, and protists. The long evolutionary conservation of axoneme architecture, a cylinder of nine doublet microtubules surrounding a central pair of singlet microtubules, suggests all motile axonemes may share common assembly mechanisms. Consistent with this, α- and β-tubulins utilized in motile axonemes fall among the most conserved tubulin sequences [1, 2], and the β-tubulins contain a sequence motif at the same position in the carboxyl terminus [3]. Axoneme doublet microtubules are initiated from the corresponding triplet microtubules of the basal body [4], but the large macromolecular “central apparatus” that includes the central pair microtubules and associated structures [5] is a specialization unique to motile axonemes. In Drosophila spermatogenesis, basal bodies and axonemes utilize the same α-tubulin but different β-tubulins [6–13]. β1 is utilized for the centriole/basal body, and β2 is utilized for the motile sperm tail axoneme. β2 contains the motile axoneme-specific sequence motif, but β1 does not [3]. Here, we show that the “axoneme motif” specifies the central pair. β1 can provide partial function for axoneme assembly but cannot make the central microtubules [14]. Introducing the axoneme motif into the β1 carboxyl terminus, a two amino acid change, conferred upon β1 the ability to assemble 9 + 2 axonemes. This finding explains the conservation of the axoneme-specific sequence motif through 1.5 billion years of evolution

Avidity maturation of memory CD8 T cells is limited by self-antigen expression

Immune tolerance to self-antigens is a complex process that utilizes multiple mechanisms working in concert to maintain homeostasis and prevent autoimmunity. We developed a system that revealed a population of self-specific CD8 T cells within the endogenous T cell repertoire. Immunization of ovalbumin (OVA)-expressing transgenic mice with recombinant viruses expressing OVA-peptide variants induced self-reactive T cells in vivo that matured into memory T cells able to respond to secondary infection. However, whereas the avidity of memory cells in normal mice increased dramatically with repeated immunizations, avidity maturation was limited for self-specific CD8 T cells. Despite decreased avidity, such memory cells afforded protection against infection, but did not induce overt autoimmunity. Further, up-regulation of self-antigen expression in dendritic cells using an inducible system promoted programmed death-1 expression, but not clonal expansion of preexisting memory cells. Thus, the self-reactive T cell repertoire is controlled by overlapping mechanisms influenced by antigen dose

Understanding Technology Fit Among People with HIV Based on Intersections of Race, Sex, and Sexual Behavior: An Equitable Approach to Analyzing Differences Across Multiple Social Identities

HIV disproportionately impacts individuals based on intersecting categories (e.g. gender, race/ethnicity, behavior), with groups most at-risk deemed priority populations. Using weighted effects coding to account for differential group sizes, this study used multilevel mixed logistic models to investigate differences in eHealth use and willingness to use eHealth for HIVrelated information among priority populations. Compared to the sample average, Black men who had sex with women were less likely to use all technologies except cellphones with text-messaging and less likely to be willing to use computers and tablets. White and Hispanic men who had sex with men were more likely to use all technologies. No significant differences existed for use or willingness to use cellphones with text-messaging. Future research should consider approaches used here to account for equity and multiple intersecting social identities; practitioners may use these findings or similar local data to ensure fit between eHealth programs and priority populations

Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Evolution Using Si Microwire Arrays

Arrays of B-doped p-Si microwires, diffusion-doped with P to form a radial n+ emitter and subsequently coated with a 1.5-nm-thick discontinuous film of evaporated Pt, were used as photocathodes for H_2 evolution from water. These electrodes yielded thermodynamically based energy-conversion efficiencies >5% under 1 sun solar simulation, despite absorbing less than 50% of the above-band-gap incident photons. Analogous p-Si wire-array electrodes yielded efficiencies <0.2%, largely limited by the low photovoltage generated at the p-Si/H_2O junction

The Journal of the Friends' Historical Society vol. 5 No. 2

1. Notices. 2. Notes and Queries. 3. Obituary. 4. Quaker Ministers and French Police. 5. Documents from the Paris National Archives relating to Stephen Grellet I. 6. Presentations of Quakers in Episcopal Visitations, 1662-1679. 7. Bernard Barton's Dream. 8. A Glimpse of Ancient Friends in Dorset II. 9. Death of John Ellis, of Poole, 1707. 10. Hannah Lightfoot. 11. Editors' Notes. 12. Records respecting John and Margaret Lynam in England and Maryland. 13. Islington Road School. 14. Richard Cubham of Bickerstaffe, Yeoman. 15. Certificate respecting James Graham and William Armstrong, from Long Island, 1717. 16. Friends in Current Literature

The Journal of the Friends' Historical Society vol. 5 No. 3

1. Notices. 2. Notes and Queries. 3. Documents from the Paris National Archives relating to Stephen Grellet II. 4. Presentations of Quakers in Episcopal Visitations, 1662-1679. 5. Extracts from the Minute Book of the Women's Quarterly Meeting of Nottingham and Mansfield II. 6. Pennsylvenian Motions. 7. The Quaker Allusions in "The Diary of Samuel Pepys" III. 8. Obituary. 9. An Eighteenth Century Friends - Thomas Pole, M.D. 10. A Glimpse of Ancient Friends in Dorset III. 11. Friends in Current Literature. 12. Some Addenda to First Publishers of Truth in Staffordshire. 13. Officers for the Year 1908-9. 14. Balance Sheet for 1907