Wireless Battery Charging System using Radio Frequency Energy Harvesting

It seems these days that everyone has a cellular phone. Whether yours is for business purposes or personal use, you need an efficient way of charging the battery in the phone. But, like most people, you probably don't like being tethered to the wall. Imagine a system where your cellular phone battery is always charged. No more worrying about forgetting to charge the battery. Sound Impossible? It is the focus of this thesis to discuss the first step toward realizing this goal. A system will be presented using existing antenna and charge pump technology to charge a cellular phone battery without wires. In this first step, we will use a standard phone, and incorporate the charging technology into a commercially available base station. The base station will contain an antenna tuned to 915MHz and a charge pump. We will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of such a system, and hopefully pave the way for a system incorporated into the phone for charging without the use of a base station

Hearing Voices. A Response to “Case Study of a Participatory Health-Promotion Intervention in School”

Venka Simovska’s article “Case Study of a Participatory Health-Promotion Intervention in School” provides important insights regarding the active involvement of youths in service programs. This response essay extends Simovska’s discussions and frames them within three key areas: positive youth development, youth voice, and meaningful participation. The paper agrees with Simovska’s assertions that more process-centered research is needed to identify and explain what happens within a program that yields positive development. While many youth workers verbally declare that the focus of their programs is the youths they serve, many fail to carry out this claim with their actions. Youth practitioners must seek to create meaningful relationships with program participants and help children become active agents in their own development

Developmental Considerations in University-School Collaborative Research

Some common complications that arise in collaborative research between school and university researchers, as well as some conditions for successful collaboration are described in this report. Difficulties possibly attributable to developmental levels of the researchers are discussed utilizing Kegans (1982) theory of constructive developmentalism. A collaborative, qualitative study of needs for independence and inclusion in two fifth grade classrooms is described to illustrate the importance of attending to issues of differing perspectives and experiences that may be related to development. The authors suggest that researchers carefully consider issues of role, status, and contextual differences, as well as the developmental maturity of those with whom they engage in collaborative research

Exploring the Social Impacts of a Summer Camp for Youth With Tourette Syndrome

Although a wealth of research exists documenting the positive social outcomes promoted by summer camps, research specifically examining youths with Tourette Syndrome (TS) within the camp context is lacking. This study utilized a phenomenological approach to explore the social impacts of a weeklong camp specifically for youths with TS, involving focus groups with 18 campers aged 10–16, interviews with 10 staff members, and participant observations compiled by the researcher. Multiple themes and sub-themes concerning the social impacts of the camp experience were identified, including (a) relatedness (not alone and self-assurance); (b) social development (friendships, optimism, educational experience, and bullying); (c) programmatic outcomes (unique program opportunities and cabin bonding); and (d) various implications for professional practice and future research are discussed

The Cultural Production of Health Inequalities: A Cross-Sectional, Multilevel Examination of 52 Countries

In a 2001 report, the U.S. National Institutes of Health called for more integration of the social sciences into health-related research, including research guided by theories and methods that take social and cultural systems into consideration. Based on a theoretical framework that integrates Hofstede\u27s cultural dimensions with sociological theory, the authors used multilevel modeling to explore the association of culture with structural inequality and health disparities. Their results support the idea that cultural dimensions and social structure, along with economic development, may account for much of the cross-national variation in the distribution of health inequalities. Sensitivity tests also suggest that an interaction between culture and social structure may confound the relationship between income inequality and health. It is necessary to identify important cultural and social structural characteristics before we can achieve an understanding of the complex, dynamic systems that affect health, and develop culturally sensitive interventions and policies. This study takes a step toward identifying some of the relevant cultural and structural influences. More research is needed to explore the pathways leading from the sociocultural environment to health inequalities

Risk of skin cancer in people with vitiligo: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Vitiligo is a chronic disorder causing skin depigmentation with around 1% global prevalence, affecting people of all ages, skin types and genders.1 Due to the absence of melanin in lesional skin there is a theoretical concern that there might be a higher risk of skin cancer in people with vitiligo. However, some studies have shown that the genetic and autoimmune profiles of vitiligo patients may confer a degree of protection against the development of melanoma and non‐melanoma skin cancer (NMSC).2 Therefore, the aim of this systematic review was to quantify the risk of skin cancer (melanoma and NMSC) in people with vitiligo compared to those without vitiligo

Family Connectedness and Sexual Risk-Taking among Urban Youth attending alternative High Schools

CONTEXT: Youth in alternative high schools engage in risky sexual behavior at higher rates than do their peers in regular schools, placing themselves at an increased risk of sexually transmitted disease and unintended pregnancy. Family connectedness is associated with reduced adolescent sexual risk-taking, although this association has not been tested among alternative school youth. METHODS: A sample of 976 urban, predominantly minority alternative high school students in Houston, Texas, were surveyed in 2000-2002. Survey data were analyzed using logistic regression to determine whether family connectedness is related to sexual risk-taking. RESULTS: Overall, 68% of students reported ever having had sex. Of sexually experienced students, 74% reported having had sex in the past three months and 29% reported ever having been involved in a pregnancy. The higher students scored on a scale of perceived family connectedness, the less likely they were to report ever having had sex, recently having had unprotected sex and having been involved in a pregnancy (odds ratio, 0.97 per unit increase for each outcome). Among females, higher perceived family connectedness was associated with reduced odds of ever having had sex or having initiated sex prior to age 13 (0.96 for each); males who perceived higher family connectedness had reduced odds of having been involved in a pregnancy (0.93). CONCLUSIONS: Family connectedness may be a protective factor related to sexual risk-taking, even among high-risk youth. Including activities that acknowledge the influence of family relationships and facilitate positive parent-child relationships may increase the efficacy of programs for reducing sexual risk-taking among alternative school youth

The Impact of Parental Involvement on a Structured Youth Program Experience: A Qualitative Inquiry

Parental involvement is an often proposed, but rarely researched, key element of youth programs. Questions remain regarding the impact of parental involvement on program processes and outcomes. Qualitative data were collected over a one-year period with youth participants (n=46), parents (n=26), and teachers (n=5) associated with an international immersion/service learning program for adolescents. Three main research questions guided the data analysis: (1) what role does parental involvement play in the youths’ experience in the program; (2) how does parental involvement in the program influence the parent/child relationship; and (3) what role does parental involvement play in terms of the program’s long-term impact on the youth participants? Findings suggest a relationship between parental involvement in youth programs and improved parent/child communication, bonding, and perceptions of one another. Findings also suggest that having a common ground experience prolonged the experience’s positive post-participation effects