Contraceptive and Condom Use Adoption and Maintenance: A Stage Paradigm Approach

The Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change was examined for its applicability to contraceptive and condom use adoption and maintenance using N = 248 heterosexually active college-age men and women. The model posits that individuals do not go directly from old behaviors to new behaviors, but progress through a sequence of stages: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. The stages of change offer a temporal dimension that provides information regarding when a particular shift in attitudes, intentions, and behavior may occur. The model also postulates a set of constructs that act as sensitive intervening or outcome variables—the pros and cons of change and self-efficacy. The results demonstrated that individuals were furthest along in the stages of change for general contraceptive use, followed closely by condom use with other (e.g., casual) partners, and then condom use with main partners. Although no sex differences were found for the stages for the three separate contraceptive behaviors, males and females differed on the pros and cons and levels of self-efficacy when engaging in intercourse with the two types of partners. MANOVA/ANOVA results indicated that the relationship between stages and other constructs follows predicted patterns suggesting that the transtheoretical model may provide a useful framework or paradigm for understanding contraceptive and condom use behavior

THE EFFECT OF DELIVERY METHOD ON CRICKET BATTING UPPER-BODY KINEMATICS

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of delivery method on upper-body kinematics in cricketers playing a front foot drive and a back foot pull shot. Fourteen male cricketers were played both shots against a bowler, bowling machine, and SidearmTM ball thrower. The availability of pre-release visual cues appears to affect upper-body kinematics during the pull shot but not the drive other than at the back shoulder. The SidearmTM may represent a compromise between bowler and bowling machine when training the pull shot but coaches should consider differences in upper-body proximal-distal joint dominance

Atomic Structure of Domain and Interphase Boundaries in Ferroelectric HfO₂

Though ferroelectric HfO₂ thin films are now well characterized, little is currently known about their grain substructure. In particular, the formation of domain and phase boundaries requires investigation to better understand phase stabilization, switching, and phase interconversion. Here, scanning transmission electron microscopy is applied to investigate the atomic structure of boundaries in these materials. It is found that orthorhombic/orthorhombic domain walls and coherent orthorhombic/monoclinic interphase boundaries form throughout individual grains. The results inform how interphase boundaries can impose strain conditions that may be key to phase stabilization. Moreover, the atomic structure near interphase boundary walls suggests potential for their mobility under bias, which has been speculated to occur in perovskite morphotropic phase boundary systems by mechanisms similar to domain boundary motion

Analysis of Performance Instabilities of Hafnia-Based Ferroelectrics Using Modulus Spectroscopy and Thermally Stimulated Depolarization Currents

The discovery of the ferroelectric orthorhombic phase in doped hafnia films has sparked immense research efforts. Presently, a major obstacle for hafnia's use in high-endurance memory applications like nonvolatile random-access memories is its unstable ferroelectric response during field cycling. Different mechanisms are proposed to explain this instability including field-induced phase change, electron trapping, and oxygen vacancy diffusion. However, none of these is able to fully explain the complete behavior and interdependencies of these phenomena. Up to now, no complete root cause for fatigue, wake-up, and imprint effects is presented. In this study, the first evidence for the presence of singly and doubly positively charged oxygen vacancies in hafnia–zirconia films using thermally stimulated currents and impedance spectroscopy is presented. Moreover, it is shown that interaction of these defects with electrons at the interfaces to the electrodes may cause the observed instability of the ferroelectric performance

Effects of partially dismantling the CD4 binding site glycan fence of HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein trimers on neutralizing antibody induction

Previously, VLPs bearing JR-FL strain HIV-1 Envelope trimers elicited potent neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) in 2/8 rabbits PLoS Pathog 11(5): e1004932) by taking advantage of a naturally absent glycan at position 197 that borders the CD4 binding site (CD4bs). In new immunizations, we attempted to improve nAb responses by removing the N362 glycan that also lines the CD4bs. All 4 rabbits developed nAbs. One targeted the N197 glycan hole like our previous sera. Two sera depended on the N463 glycan, again suggesting CD4bs overlap. Heterologous boosts appeared to reduce nAb clashes with the N362 glycan. The fourth serum targeted a N362 glycan-sensitive epitope. VLP manufacture challenges prevented us from immunizing larger rabbit numbers to empower a robust statistical analysis. Nevertheless, trends suggest that targeted glycan removal may improve nAb induction by exposing new epitopes and that it may be possible to modify nAb speciUcity using rational heterologous boosts

Describing hospital utilisation and associated factors following stroke using linked clinical registry and hospital administrative data.

Introduction Survivors of stroke have complex needs from ongoing disabilities and have increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. The societal costs are therefore substantial. Person-level longitudinal data on the longer-term hospital utilizations of patients with stroke in Australia, and the factors that may influence usage in this setting, are rarely reported. Objectives and Approach We used person-level linkages between the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry (AuSCR: 2009-2013) and hospital admission and Emergency Department (ED) data from four states to examine determinants of hospital utilisation following stroke. The index event was the first event recorded in AuSCR. The rate of hospital contacts/person/year was calculated from contacts 30-365 days post-discharge. Disability was determined from responses to EQ-5D-3L data collected at 90-180 days post-stroke. Comorbidities were identified using ICD-10 discharge diagnosis codes (5 year look back including the index event). Negative binomial regression was used adjusting for patient clustering by hospital and pre-stroke contacts and stratified by disability. Results Among 10,082 adults with acute stroke (55% male, median age 74 years, 81% ischaemic, 14% hemorrhagic, 5% undetermined, 44% with disability) from 39 hospitals, 57% had a hospital admission or ED contact in the first 30-365 days post-hospital discharge, with median contacts/person/year post-stroke of 1.09 (Q1, Q3: 0, 3.27) compared to a pre-contact rate of 0 (Q1, Q3: 0, 2.18). The strongest associations with subsequent hospital contacts were prior contacts (IRR:1.10, 95%CI:1.07, 1.13), not able to walk on admission (stroke severity) (IRR:1.19, 95%CI 1.07, 1.31) and having a higher comorbidity index score (IRR:1.18, 95%CI:1.14, 1.22). Within stratified cohorts younger age was associated with increased contacts in those with disability ( Conclusion/Implications In a large linked cohort of patients we have demonstrated the substantial ongoing burden that stroke imposes on hospital systems, particularly regarding survivors with other comorbidities and younger survivors with disability. Knowledge of disability and comorbidity burden may assist with targeting community and hospital interventions to reduce post-stroke hospital usage