The correlates of natural method use in Moldova: is natural method use associated with poverty and isolation?

Natural method use is often associated with high levels of unwanted births and induced abortions. This study investigates the correlates of natural method use in Moldova, a country with one of the highest proportions of natural contraceptive users in Europe. We hypothesize that economic and spatial disadvantage increase the reliance on natural methods whereas exposure to FP programs decreases the probability of natural method use. The analysis considers a sub-sample of 5860 sexually-active women from the 2005 Demographic and Health Survey. Results from multilevel multinomial models, controlling for relevant characteristics and data structure, show that economic disadvantage increases the probability of natural method use; but the overall effect is small. Higher FP media exposure reduces natural method use; however this effect attenuates with age. We conclude that FP efforts directed towards the poorest may have limited impact, but interventions targeted at older women could reduce the burden of unwanted pregnancies

A comparison between word analysis and prompting in oral reading.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Raman Response in Doped Antiferromagnets

The resonant part of the $B_{1g}$ electronic Raman scattering response is calculated within the $t-J$ model on a planar lattice as a function of temperature and hole doping, using a finite-temperature diagonalization method for small systems. Results, directly applicable to experiments on cuprates, reveal on doping a very pronounced increase of the width of the two-magnon Raman peak, accompanied by a decrease of the total intensity. At the same time the peak position does not shift substantially in the underdoped regime.Comment: 11 pages revtex, 3 postscript figures. Minor corrections and changes from previous version, to be published in Phys. Rev.

The Use of CFSE-like Dyes for Measuring Lymphocyte Proliferation : Experimental Considerations and Biological Variables

The measurement of CFSE dilution by flow cytometry is a powerful experimental tool to measure lymphocyte proliferation. CFSE fluorescence precisely halves after each cell division in a highly predictable manner and is thus highly amenable to mathematical modelling. However, there are several biological and experimental conditions that can affect the quality of the proliferation data generated, which may be important to consider when modelling dye dilution data sets. Here we overview several of these variables including the type of fluorescent dye used to monitor cell division, dye labelling methodology, lymphocyte subset differences, in vitro versus in vivo experimental assays, cell autofluorescence, and dye transfer between cells.This work was supported by a Project Grant to BQ and CP and a Program Grant to CP from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia

Synesthesia for manual alphabet letters and numeral signs in second-language users of signed languages

Many synesthetes experience colors when viewing letters or digits. We document, for the first time, an analogous phenomenon among users of signed languages who showed color synesthesia for fingerspelled letters and signed numerals. Four synesthetes experienced colors when they viewed manual letters and numerals (in two cases, colors were subjectively projected on to the hands). There was a correspondence between the colors experienced for written graphemes and their manual counterparts, suggesting that the development of these two types of synesthesia is interdependent despite the fact that these systems are superficially distinct and rely on different perceptual recognition mechanisms in the brain

Fluid/solid transition in a hard-core system

We prove that a system of particles in the plane, interacting only with a certain hard-core constraint, undergoes a fluid/solid phase transition

Raman Scattering and Anomalous Current Algebra: Observation of Chiral Bound State in Mott Insulators

Recent experiments on inelastic light scattering in a number of insulating cuprates [1] revealed a new excitation appearing in the case of crossed polarizations just below the optical absorption threshold. This observation suggests that there exists a local exciton-like state with an odd parity with respect to a spatial reflection. We present the theory of high energy large shift Raman scattering in Mott insulators and interpret the experiment [1] as an evidence of a chiral bound state of a hole and a doubly occupied site with a topological magnetic excitation. A formation of these composites is a crucial feature of various topological mechanisms of superconductivity. We show that inelastic light scattering provides an instrument for direct measurements of a local chirality and anomalous terms in the electronic current algebra.Comment: 18 pages, TeX, C Version 3.