Understanding the Debate Over Necessity: Unanswered Questions and Future Implications of Annulments in the Argentine Gas Cases

This paper analyses possible effects on total employment, and the distribution between agency work and regular contracts as a consequence of the Swedish implementation of the EU Temporary and Agency Workers Directive in a dual labour market Mortensen-Pissarides search model. The directive states that the basic working and employment conditions for agency workers should be equal to those for a comparable employee at the client firm, and that all parties should actively facilitate the transition from agency employment to employment directly at the client firm. Even though the results suggest a negative net effect on total employment, the implementation is shown to have a positive impact on overall welfare, and that an increased transition probability from the agency sector into regular employment would contribute even more

Applying the COM-B model to creation of an IT-enabled health coaching and resource linkage program for low-income Latina moms with recent gestational diabetes: the STAR MAMA program.

BACKGROUND:One of the fastest growing risk groups for early onset of diabetes is women with a recent pregnancy complicated by gestational diabetes, and for this group, Latinas are the largest at-risk group in the USA. Although evidence-based interventions, such as the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), which focuses on low-cost changes in eating, physical activity and weight management can lower diabetes risk and delay onset, these programs have yet to be tailored to postpartum Latina women. This study aims to tailor a IT-enabled health communication program to promote DPP-concordant behavior change among postpartum Latina women with recent gestational diabetes. The COM-B model (incorporating Capability, Opportunity, and Motivational behavioral barriers and enablers) and the Behavior Change Wheel (BCW) framework, convey a theoretically based approach for intervention development. We combined a health literacy-tailored health IT tool for reaching ethnic minority patients with diabetes with a BCW-based approach to develop a health coaching intervention targeted to postpartum Latina women with recent gestational diabetes. Current evidence, four focus groups (n = 22 participants), and input from a Regional Consortium of health care providers, diabetes experts, and health literacy practitioners informed the intervention development. Thematic analysis of focus group data used the COM-B model to determine content. Relevant cultural, theoretical, and technological components that underpin the design and development of the intervention were selected using the BCW framework. RESULTS:STAR MAMA delivers DPP content in Spanish and English using health communication strategies to: (1) validate the emotions and experiences postpartum women struggle with; (2) encourage integration of prevention strategies into family life through mothers becoming intergenerational custodians of health; and (3) increase social and material supports through referral to social networks, health coaches, and community resources. Feasibility, acceptability, and health-related outcomes (weight loss, physical activity, consumption of healthy foods, breastfeeding, and glucose screening) will be evaluated at 9 months postpartum using a randomized controlled trial design. CONCLUSIONS:STAR MAMA provides a DPP-based intervention that integrates theory-based design steps. Through systematic use of behavioral theory to inform intervention development, STAR MAMA may represent a strategy to develop health IT intervention tools to meet the needs of diverse populations. TRIAL REGISTRATION:ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02240420

Helping Diminish the College Knowledge and Access Divide: Development of a College Outreach Camp to Serve Community Needs

This descriptive case study examined the development of a college outreach summer camp at a university in Texas. The camp aims to diminish the college knowledge and access divide that exists between first generation college-going, lower-income, and underrepresented students and their counterparts in the region in which the university is located. Drawing on one year of survey data, interviews with program personnel, program documents, and newspaper articles about the camp, this study highlights some of the camp’s early successes, as well as growing pains of starting such an effort to serve community needs

Novel pollen analogue technique shows bumblebees display low floral constancy and prefer sites with high floral diversity

This project was funded by the Leverhulme Trust and the Eva Crane Trust.Context There have been dramatic global declines in pollinating insects. A common land management intervention to support wild pollinators is to plant non-crop flowering plants (‘pollinator planting’). However, there are limited data on which species or spatial arrangement of planting provide maximum benefit to wild pollinators. Objectives Here we investigate which flowering species and locations are visited by free-foraging Bombus terrestris (buff-tailed bumblebees) in species-rich semi-natural grassland and woodland. Methods Two study nests of buff-tailed bumblebees were established in Wytham Woods, UK. Pollen analogue pigments were sprayed on open flowers in the study area over a period of two months, with unique colours used to identify separate sections of the study area. Pollen load analysis was used to identify forage species and foraging locations. Results Bumblebees showed low flower constancy, visiting five flower species per trip on average, and as a group the sampled bumblebees visited 36 of the 49 plant species identified in study area surveys. Many individuals foraged in multiple, spatially-discrete locations during single trips. Conclusions The positive relationship between floral diversity and pollen load species diversity, and the positive relationship between site floral diversity and frequency of visitation, suggest behavioural strategies that maximize the diversity of flower species visited, in line with the energetic costs and benefits hypothesis. This supports recommendations for pollinator plantings with high species diversity, potentially spread across many small forage areas across the landscape.Peer reviewe

Ancient DNA from Early Human Burials in the Argentine Puna: Insights into Burial Practices and South American Population History

Although the earliest archaeological sites in South America date to the late Pleistocene, little is known about the genetic makeup or mortuary behavior of early hunter-gatherer populations in South America. To help shed light on the burial practices of these hunter-gatherers, as well as the early population history of this region, we extracted ancient DNA from the remains of 13 individuals excavated from early and mid-Holocene archaeological sites in the southern Argentine Puna. These remains are from four locations in the Antofagasta de la Sierra region of northwestern Argentina, and date between 9200 and 3200 YBP. We sequenced 372 base pairs of the first hypervariable region of the mitochondrial DNA to define maternally-inherited genetic lineages, and analyzed a length dimorphism in the amelogenin gene to investigate the sex of each individual. We found that maternally related individuals were sometimes buried together, and several individuals exhibited a mtDNA lineage that is rare in indigenous American populations today. Our results shed light on the early population history of this region and help elucidate the genetic affinities between the prehistoric inhabitants of the Puna and other regions in South America.Fil: Bolnick, Deborah A.. Austin Community College; Estados UnidosFil: Pintar, Elizabeth. Austin Community College; Estados UnidosFil: Martinez, Jorge Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Estudios Sociales. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Estudios Sociales; ArgentinaFil: Díaz Matallana, Marcela. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; ColombiaFil: Mata Miguez, Jaime. University of Texas at Austin; Estados Unidos79th Meeting for the Society for American ArchaeologyAustinEstados UnidosSociety for American Archaeolog

Pre-vaccination prevalence of anogenital and oral human papillomavirus in young HIV-infected men who have sex with men.

The aims of this study were to: 1) determine prevalence of anogenital and oral HPV, 2) determine concordance between HPV at anal, perianal, scrotal/penile, and oral sites; and 3) describe factors associated with anogenital HPV types targeted by the 9-valent vaccine. Data were collected from 2012 to 2015 among men who have sex with men 18-26 years of age enrolled in a vaccine trial (N = 145). Penile/scrotal, perianal, anal, and oral samples were tested for 61 HPV types. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with types in the 9-valent vaccine. Participants' mean age was 23.0 years, 55.2% were African-American, and 26.2% were Hispanic; 93% had anal, 40% penile, and 6% oral HPV. Among those with anogenital infection, 18% had HPV16. Concordance was low between anogenital and oral sites. Factors independently associated with a 9-valent vaccine-type HPV were: race (African-American vs. White, OR=2.67, 95% CI=1.11-6.42), current smoking (yes vs. no, OR=2.37, 95% CI=1.03-5.48), and number of recent receptive anal sex partners (2+ vs. 0, OR=3.47, 95% CI=1.16-10.4). Most MSM were not infected with HPV16 or HPV18, suggesting that they may still benefit from HPV vaccination, but anogenital HPV was very common, highlighting the importance of vaccinating men before sexual initiation. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: NCT01209325

Exploring strategies to sustain teacher agency in the context of 'hyper-accountability': Reflections from ten experienced chemistry school teachers in Chile

We explored teacher agency in a policy context of hyper-accountability drawing on interviews with ten experienced secondary school chemistry teachers in Chile. Constraints included successive reforms of the national curriculum, a resource-poor and high-surveillance education culture, and a low-priority culture of professional learning. Strategies enacted to sustain teacher agency included identifying 'pockets of possibility' to realise authentic chemistry education for all, developing trusting relationships with students and proactively nurturing their own professional development. These strategies have the potential to enhance the practice of teachers and teacher educators, and to inform a reorientation of policy away from high-stakes accountability