Assessing Sexual Differences with the Decision to Remain a Virgin

Assessing Sexual Differences with the Decision to Remain a Virgin Jessica Del Rossi, Depts. of Biology and Sociology, with Dr. Claire Kimberly, Dept. of Internal Medicine, VCU School of Medicine In the transition to adulthood, the loss of virginity can be seen as an important step in personal development. The first sexual experience someone encounters is often memorable with a positive or negative interaction impacting sexual satisfaction and sexual communication in the future. People have different definitions of virginity which can lead to miscommunication in personal relationships, research and/or a therapy setting. People may remain a virgin till marriage due to religious convictions and gender differences. Data was collected from 531 adults through Qualtrics and included questions about demographics, definition of virginity, and sexual satisfaction/communication. Respondents included 62.9% of the people thought at one point in their life they would remain a virgin until marriage while 36.9% reported that they did not. Average responses for sexual communication and satisfaction were reviewed by whether or not the individual decided at some point to be a virgin and demographics. Notable gender differences were found with men who decided not to be a virgin at one point in their life having higher sexual communication when compared to women who had decided not to remain a virgin. However, women who decided to be a virgin at one point had higher sexual satisfaction later on when compared to men and women who did not decide to be a virgin at one point in their lives. In regards to interest in religion, people that stated that religion was unimportant and had not decided to be a virgin had higher sexual satisfaction later on then people who thought religion was important and had decided to be a virgin. The results have the potential to help people in research, education, and therapy. Specifically, it can supplement the knowledge about gender differences and religion when it comes to virginity loss and how it might impact current relationships.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1309/thumbnail.jp

The Republic of Korea ICHpedia wiki and the creation of a new web-based community of practice through online participatory methodologies

This article aims at introducing the classification established by Korea’s ICHpedia for users involved in the inventorying of intangible cultural heritage through the use of Web 2.0 instruments. The analysis moves from the definition of community developed since the adoption of the UNESCO 2003 Convention, and traces the recent shift from object-oriented to person-oriented safeguarding of cultural heritage, in order to understand what changes from the cyberspace are taking place and influencing the field of intangible heritage. The new concept of “heritage of all” is closely connected with collective intelligence theories from the Nineties’. Moving from this theoretical background I try to postulate the necessity of a new shift in the definition of community, which has been strongly influenced by information and communication technologies (ICTs), which provides the cultural heritage sector with new networks of people involved in the identification of ICH elements

Teacher Child Interaction Training as a universal prevention program in preschool and kindergarten classrooms

The current study assessed the effectiveness of Teacher Child Interaction Training (TCIT), an adaptation of Eyberg’s Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), on teacher and child behaviors in preschool and kindergarten classrooms. The sample included four classrooms in urban, socioeconomically disadvantaged and culturally diverse settings. Two preschool classrooms were included in the first study and one preschool and one kindergarten classroom were included in the second study. Both studies used a concurrent multiple baseline design to evaluate the effects of training and coaching on teacher and child behaviors in the classroom. The intervention focused on the development of a friendly attachment relationship, the strategic application of differential social attention and the use of careful discipline, including a “sit-and-watch” timeout procedure for the most challenging inappropriate behavior in the classroom. Teacher and child behavior changes were measured through observations and clinical ratings. Visual analyses of the graphs indicated teachers increased their skills and children decreased their disruptive behavior. Repeated measures ANOVA’s and follow up t-tests indicated changes in increases in protective factors and decreases in maladaptive factors

A Double Hurdle Model of Preferences for a Proposed Capacity Reduction Program in the Atlantic Shark Fishery

The Atlantic shark fishery is considered to be overcapitalized. One approach to capacity management is the purchase and permanent retirement of fishing vessels, fishing permits, or both under voluntary buyback programs. Representatives of the commercial shark fishery have proposed such an approach to manage the overcapacity in their fishery in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic regions. This program would allow owners to submit willingness-to-accept (WTA) bids for their permits and vessels. This study uses econometric modeling to explain the potential participation and bid amounts from a survey of permit owners.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Getting to know Pepper : Effects of people’s awareness of a robot’s capabilities on their trust in the robot

© 2018 Association for Computing MachineryThis work investigates how human awareness about a social robot’s capabilities is related to trusting this robot to handle different tasks. We present a user study that relates knowledge on different quality levels to participant’s ratings of trust. Secondary school pupils were asked to rate their trust in the robot after three types of exposures: a video demonstration, a live interaction, and a programming task. The study revealed that the pupils’ trust is positively affected across different domains after each session, indicating that human users trust a robot more the more awareness about the robot they have

Gendered Violence, HIV Acquisition, and Clinical/Behavioral Research

HIV incidence and prevalence rates for US women continue to increase, especially among Black and Latina women. In addition, the link between violence and HIV acquisition has been well documented. However, the interaction between violence, HIV risk, and HIV acquisition remains an under-addressed issue in current clinical and behavioral HIV research designs. Because violence against women plays an important role in HIV acquisition and transmission, it is imperative for clinical research to address violence in trial design and implementation. In this article, we discuss the prevalence of violence in women’s lives; the role violence plays in HIV acquisition; and the absence of violence in clinical research designs. We conclude with recommendations for integrating concerns about HIV and violence against women into sponsor- and investigator-driven HIV research priorities and clinical trial design

Fat fraction mapping using bSSFP Signal Profile Asymmetries for Robust multi-Compartment Quantification (SPARCQ)

Purpose: To develop a novel quantitative method for detection of different tissue compartments based on bSSFP signal profile asymmetries (SPARCQ) and to provide a validation and proof-of-concept for voxel-wise water-fat separation and fat fraction mapping. Methods: The SPARCQ framework uses phase-cycled bSSFP acquisitions to obtain bSSFP signal profiles. For each voxel, the profile is decomposed into a weighted sum of simulated profiles with specific off-resonance and relaxation time ratios. From the obtained set of weights, voxel-wise estimations of the fractions of the different components and their equilibrium magnetization are extracted. For the entire image volume, component-specific quantitative maps as well as banding-artifact-free images are generated. A SPARCQ proof-of-concept was provided for water-fat separation and fat fraction mapping. Noise robustness was assessed using simulations. A dedicated water-fat phantom was used to validate fat fractions estimated with SPARCQ against gold-standard 1H MRS. Quantitative maps were obtained in knees of six healthy volunteers, and SPARCQ repeatability was evaluated in scan rescan experiments. Results: Simulations showed that fat fraction estimations are accurate and robust for signal-to-noise ratios above 20. Phantom experiments showed good agreement between SPARCQ and gold-standard (GS) fat fractions (fF(SPARCQ) = 1.02*fF(GS) + 0.00235). In volunteers, quantitative maps and banding-artifact-free water-fat-separated images obtained with SPARCQ demonstrated the expected contrast between fatty and non-fatty tissues. The coefficient of repeatability of SPARCQ fat fraction was 0.0512. Conclusion: The SPARCQ framework was proposed as a novel quantitative mapping technique for detecting different tissue compartments, and its potential was demonstrated for quantitative water-fat separation.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Magnetic Resonance in Medicin

Sedimentation of Nanoparticles in in vitro Toxicity Assays

Attached extended abstract published in the conference proceedingsJRC.DG.I.5-Nanobioscience

Habitual Joint Dislocations and Recurrent Multiple Hernias: An Unusual Connective Tissue Disease?

Purpose: Joint laxity and hernia defects are two well-defined conditions that are rarely described in association in literature. The purpose of this study is to describe a peculiar case of connective tissue disorder, not yet defined, whose features are habitual joint dislocations associated with recurrent and multiple hernias. Methods: This is an unusual case regarding a 22 years old male adult, who presented shoulder, patellar, mandibular habitual joint dislocations associated with groin, femoral, epigastric, umbilical, spigelian and lumbar hernias. His phenotype, consisting of tall stature and joint laxity, recalls a similar-marfanoid habitus. Results: Marfan Syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, MEN-2B were excluded by specific assessments. The aspecific clinical features of the patient do not consent the identification of an exact diagnosis. Conclusion: This medical case, characterized by joint hypermobility and multiple recurrent hernias, probably consists in an unacknowledged peculiar case of connective tissue disorder. Further investigations and identification of subjects with similar features could be surely useful to diagnostic research and definitive characterization of patient’s disease