In the shadow of the population bomb: the campaign for abortion reform in Seattle, 1962-1970

In November 1970, fifty-six percent of Washington State voters approved Referendum 20. With this act, a state legalized abortion by popular vote for the first and only time in the history of the United States. This study explains how and why Washington State reformed its abortion law. The successful political campaign, led by Washington Citizens for Abortion Reform (WCAR), based in Seattle, constituted an unusual alliance of conservatives and liberals, men and women, Protestants and Catholics, often forgotten from the history of reproductive politics and certainly from the public debate on the issue during the twenty-first century. In the shadow of the population bomb-a postwar metaphor which conflated fears of atomic annihilation and overpopulation-a heterogeneous alliance of supporters for reform was built by Seattleites to meet their needs of a changing urban landscape. Members of the WCAR were professionals in law, medicine, politics, theology, and social work as well as citizen lobbyists. This study posits that their motivation to support the reform was shaped by their identity as a Seattleite (place identity), profession identity, and middle-class values in democracy, education, economic mobility, and family. Their understanding of the dilemma of unwanted pregnancies and illegal abortions was influenced by stories women told them about their need for abortion. These stories played a central role in the mobilization of the reform movement. Furthermore, messages about overpopulation and healthy sexuality informed the WCAR\u27s advertisement campaign to solicit voter-approval for Referendum 20. This work argues that the science of ecology created a new lexicon and schema with which to consider population issues at the same time as a growing women\u27s movement posited a challenging critique of gender roles. Therefore, the abortion reform movement was aided by two powerful, concurrent social movements during this era-the environmental and women\u27s movements-in order to remake laws to reflect the changing needs of women in a post-industrial economy

Land Suitability for Biological Wastewater Treatment in Lebanon and the Litani River Basin Using Fuzzy Logic and Analytical Hierarchy Process

Biological wastewater treatment (BWWT) has been demonstrated to be a suitable procedure to degrade organic pollutants by utilizing natural processes. This paper presents a validated model to map land suitability for BWWT systems under the climatic conditions of Lebanon and the Litani River basin, using the Geographic Information System (GIS) and a machine learning approach for the Litani River Basin and Lebanon. The model was validated using fuzzy theory and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) modeling theory, and a final suitability map was created in Lebanon that combined potential areas for Biological Wastewater Treatment (BWWT) based on particular criteria. Results show that spatial distribution of the suitable areas for BWWT sites differs for each of the criteria and the total extent of these potential areas is 162.94 km2 all over Lebanon and 42.62 km2 in the Litani basin areas. This area covers around 1.55% of the Lebanese areas and can help more than 30 regions while the total number of beneficiaries can reach a minimum of 60,000 and a maximum of 180,000 which represents between 1.5% and 3.75% of the total population. These potential areas are identified through land suitability classes to sustain the remaining BWWT areas and can contribute to the riparian forest ecosystem and mitigate the impact of climate change

Itinerary of a researcher-stakeholder tested in his own identity challenges: an intervation in a Lebanese school

Neste artigo, apoiando-se em certos elementos de uma intervenção realizada, ao longo de três anos (2012-2015) em um estabelecimento escolar libanês, o autor deseja analisar, em retrospectiva, seu posicionamento de pesquisador-interveniente ligado à evolução de suas questões de identidade, tanto no aspeto intrapsíquico quanto no profissional. Primeiramente, o autor apresentará algumas características do cenário escolar libanês.Con base en determinados aspectos de una intervención llevada a cabo en una escuela en Líbano durante tres años, 2012 a 2015, en este texto el autor pretende analizar retrospectivamente su postura como investigador-interviniente desde la evolución de sus cuestionamientos sobre identidad, tanto en el ámbito intrapsíquico cuanto en el ámbito profesional. En primer lugar, el autor presentará algunas características del escenario escolar libanés.Based on certain elements of a three-year (2012-2015) intervention at a Lebanese school, in this study the author wishes to analyze in retrospect his researcher-stakeholder position linked to the evolution of his identity issues, both in the intrapsychic and professional aspects. The author will present at first some characteristics of the Lebanese school scene

Estudo dos protozoários ciliados psamófilos do litoral brasileiro

Estudaram-se diferentes características (granulometria, temperatura, salinidade e quantidade de cálcio) das areias de algumas regiões do litoral brasileiro. Descrevem-se sumariamente 75 espécies de ciliados mesopsâmicos, tôdas pela primeira vez na América do Sul, das quais três são novas: Prorodon brasiliensis sp.n., Scaphiodon sawayai, sp.n. e Diophrys tetramronuncleata sp. n

RAINFALL VARIABILITY AND SOIL EROSIVITY IN SEMI-ARID REGIONS: CASE OF THE WESTERN ALGERIAN REGION

Résumé                                                                                                                         Cette étude analyse la variabilité spatiale des précipitations mensuelles à partir de données provenant de 42 stations du bassin versant de Macta sur 41 ans. En se basant sur les relations entre plusieurs variables géographiques et les indices de précipitations. Nous avons estimé l'indice de précipitation (Ip), la concentration de précipitation (PCI), l'indice de Fournier modifié (MFI) et la dégradation spécifique (E). Des tests statistiques multifactoriels ont été utilisés pour évaluer les relations entre différentes variables géographiques et paramètres de précipitation. Les résultats obtenus ont montré des relations significatives de l'ordre de 82%, justifiant la grande hétérogénéité spatiale des variables climatiques dans la zone d'étude. L'analyse multifactorielle a montré des relations significatives entre les variables étudiées en les regroupant avec les mêmes tendances dans les axes factoriels. Nous notons le groupe de longitude-latitude-indice de Fournier et la dégradation spécifique d'un côté, et les précipitations annuelles d'altitude moyenne de l'autre côté. L’altitude et la latitude sont les variables les plus importantes qui régissent la distribution spatiale et la variation des précipitations annuelles et intraannuelles. Cependant, la dégradation des sols est fortement influencée par le régime pluviométrique annuel moyen. L'utilisation des pluies mensuelles nous a permis de surmonter les contraintes d'intensité des précipitations, la relation R-IFM s'est révélée utile, montrant l'importance des pluies moyennes dans l'amplification de l'érosivité. L’altitude et la latitude sont les variables les plus importantes qui régissent la distribution spatiale et la variation des précipitations annuelles et intraannuelles. Cependant, la dégradation des sols est fortement influencée par le régime pluviométrique annuel moyen. L'utilisation des pluies mensuelles nous a permis de surmonter les contraintes d'intensité des précipitations, la relation R-IFM s'est révélée utile, montrant l'importance des pluies moyennes dans l'amplification de l'érosivité. L’altitude et la latitude sont les variables les plus importantes qui régissent la distribution spatiale et la variation des précipitations annuelles et intraannuelles. Cependant, la dégradation des sols est fortement influencée par le régime pluviométrique annuel moyen. L'utilisation des pluies mensuelles nous a permis de surmonter les contraintes d'intensité des précipitations, la relation R-IFM s'est révélée utile, montrant l'importance des pluies moyennes dans l'amplification de l'érosivité.Mots-clés: précipitation, érosivité, analyse multifactorielle, semi-aride, ouest algérie

Diabetic eye: associated diseases, drugs in clinic, and role of self-assembled carriers in topical treatment

Introduction: Diabetes is a pandemic disease that causes relevant ocular pathologies. Diabetic retinopathy, macular edema, cataracts, glaucoma, or keratopathy strongly impact the quality of life of the patients. In addition to glycemic control, intense research is devoted to finding more efficient ocular drugs and improved delivery systems that can overcome eye barriers. Areas covered: The aim of this review is to revisit first the role of diabetes in the development of chronic eye diseases. Then, commercially available drugs and new candidates in clinical trials are tackled together with the pros and cons of their administration routes. Subsequent sections deal with self-assembled drug carriers suitable for eye instillation combining patient-friendly administration with high ocular bioavailability. Performance of topically administered polymeric micelles, liposomes, and niosomes for the management of diabetic eye diseases is analyzed in the light of ex vivo and in vivo results and outcomes of clinical trials. Expert opinion: Self-assembled carriers are being shown useful for efficient delivery of not only a variety of small drugs but also macromolecules (e.g. antibodies) and genes. Successful design of drug carriers may offer alternatives to intraocular injections and improve the treatment of both anterior and posterior segments diabetic eye diseasesThis project is funded by Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions [grant agreement – No 813440]S

Observações sôbre a reprodução de Blepharisma sinuosum Sawaya, 1940 (Ciliata - Heterotricha)

Este artigo não contém resumo

Extraneural metastases from cranial meningioma: a case report

Extracranial metastases from brain meningiomas is a rare, but well-documented entity. Metastases occur mostly in the lungs, pleura and liver, but may also affect lymph nodes and bones. We report here on a patient who was treated for an atypical brain meningioma with multiple surgeries and multiple sessions of stereotactic radiosurgery with good control of his brain disease. Thirteen years after diagnosis, he developed bilateral large sacroiliac and abdominal metastases

Niosomes-based gene delivery systems for effective transfection of human mesenchymal stem cells

Gene transfer to mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has arisen as a powerful approach to increase the therapeutic potential of this effective cell population. Over recent years, niosomes have emerged as self-assembled carriers with promising performance for gene delivery. The aim of our work was to develop effective niosomes-based DNA delivery platforms for targeting MSCs. Niosomes based on 1,2-di-O-octadecenyl-3-trimethylammonium propane (DOTMA; 0, 7 or 15%) as cationic lipid, cholesterol as helper lipid, and polysorbate 60 as non-ionic surfactant, were prepared using a reverse phase evaporation technique. Niosomes dispersions (filtered or not) and their corresponding nioplexes with a lacZ plasmid were characterized in terms of size, charge, protection, and complexation abilities. DOTMA concentration had a large influence on the physicochemical properties of resulting nioplexes. Transfection efficiency and cytotoxic profiles were assessed in two immortalized cell lines of MSCs. Niosomes formulated with 15% DOTMA provided the highest values of β-galactosidase activity, being similar to those achieved with Lipofectamine®, but showed less cytotoxicity. Filtration of niosomes dispersions before adding to the cells resulted in a loss of their biological activities. Storage of niosomes formulations (for 30 days at room temperature) caused minor modification of their physicochemical properties but also attenuated the transfection capability of the nioplexes. Differently, addition of the lysosomotropic agent sucrose into the culture medium during transfection or to the formulation itself improved the transfection performance of non-filtered niosomes. Indeed, steam heat-sterilized niosomes prepared in sucrose medium demonstrated transfection capabilityThe work was supported by MICINN [RTI2018-099389-A-100; PID2020-113881RB-I00], Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) Spain, Xunta de Galicia [ED431C 2020/17], and FEDER. A. Rey-Rico acknowledges MICINN for the Ramón y Cajal Fellowship [RYC2018-025617-I] and Universidade da Coruña/CISUG for the funding for open access charge. This project was also funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions grant agreement N° 813440 (ORBITAL–Ocular Research by Integrated Training And Learning)S

Automated Quantification of Traffic Particulate Emissions via an Image Analysis Pipeline

Traffic emissions are known to contribute significantly to air pollution around the world, especially in heavily urbanized cities such as Singapore. It has been previously shown that the particulate pollution along major roadways exhibit strong correlation with increased traffic during peak hours, and that reductions in traffic emissions can lead to better health outcomes. However, in many instances, obtaining proper counts of vehicular traffic remains manual and extremely laborious. This then restricts one's ability to carry out longitudinal monitoring for extended periods, for example, when trying to understand the efficacy of intervention measures such as new traffic regulations (e.g. car-pooling) or for computational modelling. Hence, in this study, we propose and implement an integrated machine learning pipeline that utilizes traffic images to obtain vehicular counts that can be easily integrated with other measurements to facilitate various studies. We verify the utility and accuracy of this pipeline on an open-source dataset of traffic images obtained for a location in Singapore and compare the obtained vehicular counts with collocated particulate measurement data obtained over a 2-week period in 2022. The roadside particulate emission is observed to correlate well with obtained vehicular counts with a correlation coefficient of 0.93, indicating that this method can indeed serve as a quick and effective correlate of particulate emissions