Parents, teens, and online privacy

This report looks at some steps parents are taking to observe, discuss, and check up on their children’s digital footprints. Most parents of teenagers are concerned about what their teenage children do online and how their behavior could be monitored by others.  81% of parents of online teens say they are concerned about how much information advertisers can learn about their child’s online behavior, with some 46% being “very” concerned. 72% of parents of online teens are concerned about how their child interacts online with people they do not know, with some 53% of parents being “very” concerned

A summary of research in reading readiness

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston UniversityPurpose: To measure the various abilities presented in the readiness workbooks of basal reading series and to relate the findings to reading achievement of Grade One in January; to measure, also, the knowledge of letter names and sounds and relate the findings to reading achievement of Grade One in January. Materials Used: Workbooks of nine systems were analyzed to discover types and frequency of suggested exercises. Four general areas were in evidence; auditory discrimination, language development, motor skills, and visual discrimination. Groups tests were constructed to include exercises comparable to the published ones with ceilings in all areas beyond the workbook material. In addition to these four tests, the Boston University Individual Test and the Boston University First Grade Success Study (January Test) were given. Intelligence was measured by the Otis Quick Scoring Mental Ability Test which had been given in October [TRUNCATED

A qualitative study of factors affecting mental health amongst low-income working mothers in Bangalore, India.

BackgroundLow-income urban working mothers face many challenges in their domestic, environmental, and working conditions that may affect their mental health. In India, a high prevalence of mental health disorders has been recorded in young women, but there has been little research to examine the factors that affect their mental health at home and work.MethodsThrough a primarily qualitative approach, we studied the relationship between work, caring for family, spousal support, stress relief strategies and mental health amongst forty eight low-income working mothers residing in urban slums across Bangalore, India. Participants were construction workers, domestic workers, factory workers and fruit and vegetable street vendors. Qualitative data analysis themes included state of mental health, factors that affected mental health positively or negatively, manifestations and consequences of stress and depression, and stress mitigators.ResultsEven in our small sample of women, we found evidence of extreme depression, including suicidal ideation and attempted suicide. Women who have an alcoholic and/or abusive husband, experience intimate partner violence, are raising children with special needs, and lack adequate support for child care appear to be more susceptible to severe and prolonged periods of depression and suicide attempts. Factors that pointed towards reduced anxiety and depression were social support from family, friends and colleagues and fulfilment from work.ConclusionThis qualitative study raises concerns that low-income working mothers in urban areas in India are at high risk for depression, and identifies common factors that create and mitigate stress in this population group. We discuss implications of the findings for supporting the mental health of urban working women in the Indian context. The development of the national mental health policy in India and its subsequent implementation should draw on existing research documenting factors associated with negative mental health amongst specific population groups in order to ensure greater impact

Reclaiming virginity, liberating desire : a study of three women's novels

Bibliography: p. 145-151.In my study of Brontë's Jane Eyre and Rhys's Voyage in the Dark and Wide Sargasso Sea, I adopt a reading of Luce Irigaray's concept of virginity to explore these writer's search for an identity beyond that defined by patriarchy. Traditionally, virginity is informed by a series of dichotomies (for example, man/woman, active/passive, day/night, etc.) associated with silence and stasis, which I term static virginity. In her project of resymbolisation, Irigaray reconceives this definition in terms of a utopic goal that will provide women with the mobility or incentive to represent and articulate themselves in their own terms, which I distinguish as dynamic virginity. This paradigm allows me to interpret the dual roles that the female characters of these novels assume, on the one hand miming a discourse which implicates while it alienates them, and on the other hand struggling to articulate an authentic 'voice' beyond the confines of patriarchy. The discovery of an autoerotic awareness linked to the motherdaughter relationship, introduces virginity as a legacy of spiritual embodiment enjoyed by all women at all stages of their lives. The autoerotic becomes a means of distinguishing, representing, and therefore liberating feminine desire from its current predicate position within language. In the novels I study this process can be traced in metaphorical transformations which allow these women writers to simultaneously redeem their sexual identities from a negative patriarchal definition and speak from a dignified collective

Online Learning Communities : Motivational Factors for Success

The Author would like to acknowledge the challenging discussion which took place with fellow lecturers at the University of Aberdeen and thank them for their counsel and support.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Teens and Technology 2013

Smartphone adoption among American teens has increased substantially and mobile access to the internet is pervasive. One in four teens are "cell-mostly" internet users, who say they mostly go online using their phone and not using some other device such as a desktop or laptop computer.In overall internet use, youth ages 12-17 who are living in lower-income and lower-education households are still somewhat less likely to use the internet in any capacity -- mobile or wired. However, those who fall into lower socioeconomic groups are just as likely and in some cases more likely than those living in higher income and more highly educated households to use their cell phone as a primary point of access

The effect of muscle glycogen status on control of substrate metabolism during exercise

Glycogen depletion has frequently been shown to result in a decrease in respiratory exchange ratio (RER). However, the metabolic response to glycogen depletion has generally been studied in overnight fasted subjects or in subjects who were already fatigued, or hypoglycaemic, or both, raising the question of whether the differences seen were due to general "carbohydrate deficiency" or due specifically to muscle or liver glycogen depletion. If euglycaemia and especially hyperglycaemia is maintained, the " carbohydrate deficiency" is overcome. In addition, because insulin stimulates muscle glucose uptake and not liver glucose uptake during euglycaemia (except at very high concentrations), insulin infusion would differentiate between liver and muscle glycogen depletion, since if the decrease in RER previously observed is abolished with insulin infusion while euglycaemia is maintained, this would indicate that the decrease is specifically due to muscle glycogen depletion. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the metabolic effect of glycogen content while an adequate amount or an excess of carbohydrate was provided in the form of an intravenous glucose infusion and when plasma insulin concentrations are raised

Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptive Methods, Same-Day Initiation and Early Removal

Objective: The study was conducted to identify the early removal rate of Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptive (LARC) methods and factors associated with early removal. Study Design: A non-experimental descriptive design based upon retrospective chart review of electronic medical records (EMR) was used. There was a total of 96 subjects, ages 15-47 years who had a LARC method inserted within a 12-month time period and subsequent removal within 6-months of insertion date. Subjects were grouped according to same-day insertion versus non-same-day insertion. Results: Seventy percent of study subjects with early removal had their LARC method inserted under a same-day protocol. Most subjects were over 20 years of age, single, and of Hispanic ethnicity. The overall early removal rate for all LARC methods was 5%. Implant was the method most commonly removed followed by the levonorgesterel intrauterine system (IUS). Pain and bleeding were the most commonly cited reasons for removal. Oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) were the most commonly selected birth control method after removal of the LARC. Conclusion: A strategy to reduce barriers to contraceptive initiation is same-day insertion of the requested LARC method. However, research on LARC methods in conjunction with same-day initiation and continuation rates has not been done. This pilot study demonstrates a low early removal rate for LARC methods and offers support for a same-day initiation protocol

FQPA IMPLEMENTATION TO REDUCE PESTICIDE RESIDUE RISKS: PART I: AGRICULTURAL PRODUCER CONCERNS

The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA) transforms the regulation of pesticide residues on food in the United States. Three changes are prominent. First, under the FQPA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is authorized to develop uniform pesticide residue tolerances for both fresh and processed foods. These tolerances must be based on a conservative standard appropriate for infants and children, rather than the adult-based tolerances that prevailed previously for fresh-market produce. Second, under the FQPA, pesticide registration will be based upon aggregate risk to the most susceptible consumers from all pesticides sharing a common biochemical mode of action in humans. Third, the FQPA expands the scope of health effects included in risk assessment decisions to include potential endocrine and reproductive effects of pesticidal chemicals. As the EPA has moved to develop implementation guidelines for the FQPA, agricultural producers and input suppliers have become concerned about its impact on them. Even if the FQPA's implementation results only in a restriction of the pesticides used on some crops, producers still have four major concerns: (1) the potential loss of farm profitability, especially for farms specializing in fruit and vegetable production; (2) unfair competition if foreign competitors can use pesticides forbidden to domestic producers; (3) the impact of the FQPA on consumer purchases, (i.e., if reduced pesticide use results in more blemishes or lower quality product, will consumers refuse to purchase the product?); and (4) excessive reliance on a few remaining pest control weapons, possibly resulting in accelerated pest resistance. Because these uncertainties potentially impact producers' livelihoods, many argue for a go-slow, long transition for any major changes in the way they farm or the pest control products they use. Competing with these agricultural concerns, however, are a parallel set of concerns, expressed by consumer and environmental groups, that the FQPA's promise to protect infants and children from pesticide risks will be sabotaged by lax or ineffective implementation. There are many uncertainties with respect to the impacts related to alternative FQPA implementation strategies. Research to resolve these concerns is fragmentary and frequently inconclusive. The common element that emerges from this review of producer concerns is: Impacts on producers will depend on how the FQPA is implemented.Crop Production/Industries, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,