Improving post-partum family planning services provided by female community health volunteers in Nepal: a mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: Family planning services in the post-partum period, termed post-partum family planning (PPFP) is critical to cover the unmet need for contraception, especially when institutional delivery rates have increased. However, the intention to choose PPFP methods such as post-partum intrauterine devices (PPIUD) remains low in countries such as Nepal. Community health workers such as Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs) could play an important role in improving the service coverage of PPFP in Nepal. However, their knowledge of PPFP and community-based services related to PPFP remain unclear. This study aims to assess the effect on community-based PPFP services by improving FCHV's knowledge through orientation on PPFP. METHODS: We conducted this mixed-methods study in Morang District in Nepal. The intervention involved orientation of FCHVs on PPFP methods. We collected quantitative data from three sources; via a survey of FCHVs that assessed their knowledge before and after the intervention, from their monthly reporting forms on counseling coverage of women at different stages of pregnancy from the communities, and by interviewing mothers in their immediate post-partum period in two selected hospitals. We also conducted six focus group discussions with the FCHVs to understand their perception of PPFP and the intervention. We performed descriptive and multivariable analyses for quantitative results and thematic analysis for qualitative data. RESULTS: In total, 230 FCHVs participated in the intervention and their knowledge of PPFP improved significantly after it. The intervention was the only factor significantly associated with their improved knowledge (adjusted odds ratio = 24, P < 0.001) in the multivariable analysis. FCHVs were able to counsel 83.3% of 1872 mothers at different stages of pregnancy in the communities. In the two hospitals, the proportion of mothers in their immediate post-partum period whom reported they were counseled by FCHVs during their pregnancy increased. It improved from 7% before the intervention to 18.1% (P < 0.001) after the intervention. The qualitative findings suggested that the intervention improved their knowledge in providing PPFP counseling. CONCLUSION: The orientation improved the FCHV's knowledge of PPFP and their community-based counseling. Follow-up studies are needed to assess the longer term effect of the FCHV's role in improving community-based PPFP services

Angular correlations of lepton pairs from vector boson and top quark decays in Monte Carlo simulations

We explain how angular correlations in leptonic decays of vector bosons and top quarks can be included in Monte Carlo parton showers, in particular those matched to NLO QCD computations. We consider the production of $n$ pairs of leptons, originating from the decays of $n$ electroweak vector bosons or of $n$ top quarks, in the narrow-width approximation. In the latter case, the information on the $n$ $b$ quarks emerging from the decays is also retained. We give results of implementing this procedure in MC@NL

Single-top production in MC@NLO

We match next-to-leading order QCD results for single-top hadroproduction with parton shower Monte Carlo simulations, according to the prescription of the MC@NLO formalism. In this way, we achieve the first practical implementation in MC@NLO of a process that has both initial- and final-state collinear singularities. We show that no difficulties of principle arise from this complication, and present selected results relevant to the Tevatron

Molecular cloning, expression analysis and assignment of the porcine tumor necrosis factor superfamily member 10 gene (TNFSF10) to SSC13q34 -> q36 by fluorescence in situ hybridization and radiation hybrid mapping

We have cloned the complete coding region of the porcine TNFSF10 gene. The porcine TNFSF10 cDNA has an ORF of 870 nucleotides and shares 85 % identity with human TNFSF10, and 75% and 72% identity with rat and mouse Tnfsf10 coding sequences, respectively. The deduced porcine TNFSF10 protein consists of 289 amino acids with the calculated molecular mass of 33.5 kDa and a predicted pI of 8.15. The amino acid sequence similarities correspond to 86, 72 and 70% when compared with human, rat and mouse sequences, respectively. Nor-them blot analysis detected TNFSF10-specific transcripts (similar to 1.7 kb) in various organs of a 10-week-old pig, suggesting ubiquitous expression. Real-time RT-PCR studies of various organs from fetal (days 73 and 98) and postnatal stages (two weeks, eight months) demonstrated developmental and tissue-specific regulation of TNFSF10 mRNA abundance. The chromosomal location of the porcine TNFSF10 gene was determined by FISH of a specific BAC clone to metaphase chromosomes. This TNFSF10 BAC clone has been assigned to SSC13q34 -> q36. Additionally, the localization of the TNFSF10 gene was verified by RH mapping on the porcine IMpRH panel. Copyright (c) 2005S. KargerAG, Basel

Sleep duration and subjective psychological well-being in adolescence: a longitudinal study in Switzerland and Norway

Adolescents' sleep duration and subjective psychological well-being are related. However, few studies have examined the relationship between sleep duration and subjective psychological well-being longitudinally across adolescence - a time of profound biological and psychosocial change. The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate whether shorter sleep duration in adolescents is predictive of lower subjective psychological well-being 6 months and 12 months later or whether lower subjective psychological well-being is predictive of shorter sleep duration.; Adolescents (age range, 10.02-15.99 years; mean age, 13.05±1.49 years; 51.8%, female) from German-speaking Switzerland (n=886) and Norway (n=715) reported their sleep duration and subjective psychological well-being on school days using self-rating questionnaires at baseline (T1), 6 months (T2), and 12 months from baseline (T3).; Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses revealed that sleep duration decreased with age. Longer sleep duration was concurrently associated with better subjective psychological well-being. Crossed-lagged autoregressive longitudinal panel analysis showed that sleep duration prospectively predicted subjective psychological well-being while there was no evidence for the reverse relationship.; Sleep duration is predictive of subjective psychological well-being. The findings offer further support for the importance of healthy sleep patterns during adolescence

Single-top hadroproduction in association with a W boson

We present the calculation of the Wt single-top production channel to next-to-leading order in QCD, interfaced with parton showers within the MC@NLO formalism. This channel provides a complementary way of investigating the properties of the Wtb vertex, with respect to the s- and t-channels. We pay special attention to the separation of this process from top quark pair production

Nilai Ekonomi Wisata Gunung Sibayak Berdasarkan Metode Biaya Perjalanan (Travel Cost Methode) Di Berastagi Sumatera Utara

Natural tourism consists object and recreational tourism which related any activities that explores the potential of natural resources and its ecosystems. One of the places which required it is Berastagi, Tanah Karo in North Sumatera. The freshness and coolness of Berastagi atmosphere attracts many tourists to visit it. One of the attraction in Berastagi is the famous Mount Sibayak which is still developing until today. The purpose of this research is find out the characteristic of visitors who came for recreation to Sibayak Mountain, to know how much economic value tour of Sibayak Mountain per year based on Travel Cost Methode (TCM), to find out the factors affecting of economic value based on Travel Cost Methode (TCM). Materials and objects of this research is questionnaire sheet. Data collected using SPSS 21 (Statistic Package For Social Science) analyze. The results showed that Sibayak Mountain economic value based on Travel Cost Methode (TCM) of Rp.3.926.520.145,6/ year, with average person of Rp. 103.438,36

Nilai Ekonomi Wisata Gunung Sibayak Berdasarkan Metode Biaya Perjalanan (Travel Cost Methode) Di Berastagi Sumatera Utara

Natural tourism consists object and recreational tourism which related any activities that explores the potential of natural resources and its ecosystems. One of the places which required it is Berastagi, Tanah Karo in North Sumatera. The freshness and coolness of Berastagi atmosphere attracts many tourists to visit it. One of the attraction in Berastagi is the famous Mount Sibayak which is still developing until today. The purpose of this research is find out the characteristic of visitors who came for recreation to Sibayak Mountain, to know how much economic value tour of Sibayak Mountain per year based on Travel Cost Methode (TCM), to find out the factors affecting of economic value based on Travel Cost Methode (TCM). Materials and objects of this research is questionnaire sheet. Data collected using SPSS 21 (Statistic Package For Social Science) analyze. The results showed that Sibayak Mountain economic value based on Travel Cost Methode (TCM) of Rp.3.926.520.145,6/ year, with average person of Rp. 103.438,36

Differences in maladaptive schemas between patients suffering from chronic and acute posttraumatic stress disorder and healthy controls

War, as a stressor event, has a variety of acute and chronic negative consequences, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this context, early maladaptive schema-based problems in PTSD have recently become an important research area. The aim of this study was to assess early maladaptive schemas in patients with acute and chronic PTSD.; Using available sampling methods and diagnostic criteria, 30 patients with chronic PTSD, 30 patients with acute PTSD, and 30 normal military personnel who were matched in terms of age and wartime experience were selected and assessed with the Young Schema Questionnaire-Long Form, Beck Depression Inventory second version (BDI-II), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and the Impact of Events Scale (IES).; Both acute and chronic PTSD patients, when compared with normal military personnel, had higher scores for all early maladaptive schemas. Additionally, veterans suffering from chronic PTSD, as compared with veterans suffering from acute PTSD and veterans without PTSD, reported more impaired schemas related, for instance, to Self-Control, Social Isolation, and Vulnerability to Harm and Illness.; The results of the present study have significant preventative, diagnostic, clinical, research, and educational implications with respect to PTSD

Two-Particle Correlations in Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions

Two-particle momentum correlations between pairs of identical particles produced in relativistic heavy-ion reactions can be analyzed to extract the space-time structure of the collision fireball. We review recent progress in the application of this method, based on newly developed theoretical tools and new high-quality data from heavy-ion collision experiments. Implications for our understanding of the collision dynamics and for the search for the quark-gluon plasma are discussed.Comment: 44 pages, LaTeX, 11 Figures, uses special style files (included), prepared for Ann. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 49 (1999). Error in Chapt. 1 corrected and a few references adde