Methodology for Sampling Women at High Maternal Risk in Administrative Data

Background: In population level studies, the conventional practice of categorizing women into low and high maternal risk samples relies upon ascertaining the presence of various comorbid conditions in administrative data. Two problems with the conventional method include variability in the recommended comorbidities to consider and inability to distinguish between maternal and fetal risks. High maternal risk sample selection may be improved by using the Obstetric Comorbidity Index (OCI), a system of risk scoring based on weighting comorbidities associated with maternal end organ damage. The purpose of this study was to compare the net benefit of using OCI risk scoring vs the conventional risk identification method to identify a sample of women at high maternal risk in administrative data. Methods: This was a net benefit analysis using linked delivery hospitalization discharge and vital records data for women experiencing singleton births in Georgia from 2008 to 2012. We compared the value identifying a sample of women at high maternal risk using the OCI score to the conventional method of dichotomous identification of any comorbidities. Value was measured by the ability to select a sample of women designated as high maternal risk who experienced severe maternal morbidity or mortality. Results: The high maternal risk sample created with the OCI had a small but positive net benefit (+ 0.6), while the conventionally derived sample had a negative net benefit indicating the sample selection performed worse than identifying no woman as high maternal risk. Conclusions: The OCI can be used to select women at high maternal risk in administrative data. The OCI provides a consistent method of identification for women at risk of maternal morbidity and mortality and avoids confounding all obstetric risk factors with specific maternal risk factors. Using the OCI may help reduce misclassification as high maternal risk and improve the consistency in identifying women at high maternal risk in administrative data

Special Section Guest Editorial: Detectors for Astronomy and Cosmology

This guest editorial summarizes the Special Section on Detectors for Astronomy and Cosmology

Intra-pixel response characterization of a HgCdTe near infrared detector with a pronounced crosshatch pattern

The "crosshatch" pattern is a recurring "feature" of HgCdTe arrays, specifically the Teledyne HAWAII family of near infrared detectors. It is a fixed pattern of high frequency QE variations along 3 directions generally thought to be related to the crystal structure of HgCdTe. The pattern is evident in detectors used in Hubble WFC3, WISE, JWST, and in candidate detectors for Euclid and WFIRST. Using undersampled point sources projected onto a HAWAII-2RG detector, we show that the pattern induces photometric variations that are not removed by a flat-field calibration, thus demonstrating that the QE variations occur on scales smaller than the 18 micron pixels. Our testbed is the Precision Projector Laboratory's astronomical scene generator, which can rapidly characterize the full detector by scanning thousands of undersampled spots. If not properly calibrated, detectors showing strong crosshatch may induce correlated errors in photometry, astrometry, spectroscopy, and shape measurements.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, submitted to proceedings of SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 201

April sea ice extent in the Barents Sea, 1850-2001

Three observational data sets are used to construct a continuous record (1850–2001) of April ice edge position in the Barents Sea: two sets of Norwegian ice charts (one from 1850 to 1949 and the other from 1966 to 2001) and Soviet aircraft reconnaissance ice extent charts from 1950 to 1966. The 152-year April ice extent series is subdivided into three sub-periods: 1850–1899, 1900–1949 and 1950–2001. For each of these study sub-periods, a mean April ice edge and a set of anomalies (differences in position between a given April and the mean April ice edge) are computed. The calculations show the mean ice edge position retreated north-eastward over the 152-year period, with the greater retreat seen in the changes from the 1850–1899 sub-period to the 1900–1949 sub-period. The distribution of the standard deviation of the ice edge anomaly over the linear distance along the mean ice edge shows no substantial difference between any of the three periods of the study. Within each study period, the maximum variation is observed in the sector bounded by the 25° E and 49° E meridians, which covers the main pathway of the warmer water flow from the Norwegian Sea

Gender, education, and the labour market in Kinshasa

Abstract This paper uses data from a 2004 survey to study the labour market in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In a context characterized by protracted poor economic performance going back to the mid-1970s and especially severe economic problems in the 1990s, women have become increasingly involved in the labour market and educational attainment of both men and women has increased. The paper examines labour market outcomes, with emphasis on differences by gender and education. Using descriptive and multivariate analyses, we examine labour force participation and labour force status (employed, modern sector; employed, informal sector; unemployed; out of the labour force), first by age and gender and then by education and gender. Our results highlight the difficulties well-educated men and women confront in finding employment in the modern sector, as well as gender differences in favour of males in access to employment in the modern sector.Keywords: Labour market; gender; education; modern sector; informal sector; employment; unemploymentResumé Cet article se base sur les données d’une enquête effectuée en 2004, portant sur le marché du travail dans la ville de Kinshasa, capitale de la République Démocratique du Congo. Dans un contexte caractérisé par une longue période de récession remontant au milieu des années 1970 et de graves problèmes économiques depuis les années 1990, les femmes occupent une part de plus en plus importante sur le marché du travail, tandis que le niveau global d’instruction des hommes et des femmes ne cesse de s’améliorer. Cet article met en lumière les caractéristiques du marché du travail dans la ville de Kinshasa, en mettant un accent particulier sur les différences selon le sexe et le niveau d’instruction. A l’aide d’analyses descriptives et multivariées, nous examinons l’activité économique et le statut sur le marché du travail (employé dans le secteur formel, employé dans le secteur informel, chômeur, inactif), d’abord selon l’âge et le sexe et ensuite selon le niveau d’instruction et le sexe. Nos résultats mettent en évidence les difficultés auxquelles sont confrontés les hommes et les femmes les plus instruits à la recherche d’un emploi dans le secteur formel, aussi bien que l’avantage qu’ont les hommes sur les femmes d’accéder à un emploi dans le secteur formel

The two-parameter soliton family for the interaction of a fundamental and its second harmonic

For a system of interacting fundamental and second harmonics the soliton family is characterized by two independent parameters, a soliton potential and a soliton velocity. It is shown that this system, in the general situation, is not Galilean invariant. As a result, the family of movable solitons cannot be obtained from the rest soliton solution by applying the corresponding Galilean transformation. The region of soliton parameters is found analytically and con rmed by numerical integration of the steady equations. On the boundary of the region the solitons bifurcate. For this system there exist two kinds of bifurcation: supercritical and subcritical. In the rst case the soliton amplitudes vanish smoothly as the boundary is approached. Near the bifurcation point the soliton form is universal, determined from the nonlinear Schrodinger equation. For the second type of bifurcations the wave amplitudes remain nite at the boundary. In this case the Manley-Rowe integral increases inde nitely as the boundary is approached, and therefore according to the VK-type stability criterion, the solitons are unstable