435 research outputs found

    The Historical Influence of Politics and Society on Women\u27s Experiences of Abortion

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    One out of every three women in the United States will experience abortion (Guttmacher Institute, 2008). The purposes of this feminist qualitative research were to: 1) examine historically the context of legal abortion in the United States, 2) describe and explore women\u27s experiences of abortion and 3) better understand the historical impact of the sociopolitical climate on women\u27s perceptions of their abortion experiences. An historical review of political, legislative, and social contexts surrounding legal abortion revealed an increasingly hostile environment toward women seeking abortion since 1973. By challenging existing abortion laws in state and federal courts, anti-abortion legislators have removed federal and state funding for abortions, including insurance coverage. States have imposed mandatory waiting periods, biased counseling and consent procedures, parental involvement and/or notification for minors, and bans on funding and insurance coverage. All of these intrusions on women\u27s right to choose abortion have resulted in the need for more than one clinic visit and delays in obtaining abortion services. Through violence, intimidation, and harassment, pro-life activists and extremists have successfully driven medical personnel out of the practice of abortion and intimidated women seeking abortion by exposing them to fetal images, calling them baby killers , and forcing them to believe that life begins at conception. Within this historical context, a purposive sampling of ten women, recruited via snowballing techniques, participated in repeated in-depth interviews. A multi-stage narrative strategy was used to analyze textual data. Participants\u27 narrative summaries emphasized dismay at being pregnant, telling others, and making the decision for abortion. Women thoughtfully made the decision for abortion based on the circumstances of their lives at the time of the unintended pregnancy. Seventy percent of participants experienced abortion in the 1980s and recalled the ways in which religion, politics, and society have imposed shame, guilt, and judgement on them, constraining them from talking about their abortion experiences. Silenced, women only revealed their abortion when forced to do so by circumstances or to gain acceptance and understanding from others. Participation in the study allowed women an opportunity to talk about their abortion experiences, initiating conversations with friends, and raising consciousness

    Exposure: A Guide to Sources of Infection

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    Why Injection in a Geothermal Sediment Reservoir Causes Seismicity in Crystalline Basement -It is not just Hydraulics

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    ABSTRACT The increasing number of deep geothermal wells has been accompanied by an increasing number of events of induced seismicity which can be related to the injection of water in geothermal plants. One example is the reinjection well Unterhaching Gt2 near Munich, Germany. Although injection pressures are quite low (below 10 bar), seismic events up to magnitude 2.4 have been recorded. The most striking aspect of these seismic events, however, is their location. The majority are located about 1.5 km below the open hole section of the well, and therefore occur within the crystalline basement well below the geothermal reservoir. This well intersects a steeply inclined fault zone, which provides the necessary hydraulic connection between the reservoir and the basement rock. A simplified numerical model of the geologic setting of the well Unterhaching Gt2 has been designed in order to understand which processes lead to the observed induced seismicity. The aim of this model is not to replicate actual events, but to get a general understanding of the interaction of physical processes in the subsurface. To this end, sensitivity analyses of critical parameters such as injection rate, injection temperature or permeability of the fault zone will be performed

    Effect of Long-Term Low-Dose Arsenic Exposure on DNA Methylation and Gene Expression in Human Liver Cells

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    Millions of people around the world are exposed to elevated levels of arsenic through food or drinking water. Epidemiological studies have linked chronic arsenic exposure to an increased risk of several cancers, cardiovascular disease, central nervous system neuropathies, and genotoxic as well as immunotoxic effects. In addition to the induction of oxidative stress and inhibition of DNA repair processes, epigenetic effects, including altered DNA methylation patterns resulting in aberrant gene expression, may contribute to carcinogenicity. However, the underlying mechanisms by which chronic micromolar concentrations of arsenite affect the methylation status of DNA are not fully understood. In this study, human HepG2 hepatocarcinoma cells were treated with 0.5–10 μM sodium arsenite for 24 h, 10, or 20 days. During these periods, the effects on global DNA methylation, cell cycle phase distribution, and gene expression were investigated. While no impact on DNA methylation was seen after short-term exposure, global hypomethylation was observed at both long-term exposure periods, with concomitant induction of the DNA methyltransferase genes DNMT1 and DNMT3B, while DNMT3A was slightly down-regulated. Pronounced time- and concentration-dependent effects were also seen in the case of genes involved in DNA damage response and repair, inflammation, oxidative stress response, and metal homeostasis. These results suggest that chronic low-dose arsenite exposure can lead to global hypomethylation. As an underlying mechanism, the consistent down-regulation of DNA methyltransferase genes could be excluded; alternatively, interactions at the protein level could play an important role

    Gestaltungsfibel "Nachhaltiger Schulhof": sustainability at school

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    How do food businesses provide information on allergens in non-prepacked foods? A cross-sectional survey in Switzerland

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    Purpose This project aimed to investigate allergen information practices of food businesses selling nonprepacked foods after the implementation of the new Swiss food law in May 2017. Methods A cross-sectional telephone survey was conducted with food businesses selling non-prepacked foods in Switzerland. A short, standardised questionnaire was developed in German, based on previous research and literature. It was subsequently translated into French and Italian. Altogether, 882 businesses (restaurants, dairies, butcher shops and bakeries) were contacted, of which 387 were willing to participate. SPSS® (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA) was used for statistical analyses. Results The vast majority (86.0%) of food businesses provides oral allergen information. Only 14.0% currently provide written allergen information to the customer, either upfront or on request. The most frequently used labelling system in written allergen declaration was naming all ingredients (35.2%). A significant number (39.8%) do not place a notice on how to obtain allergen information, although this is a legal requirement in Switzerland when not providing written information upfront. Conclusion So far, not all food businesses have been complying with the new Swiss food law on allergen information of non-prepacked food. Therefore, awareness of the legal obligations around communicating allergen information as well as the verification of its implementation should be enhanced. To meet the needs of consumers and avoid reactions, some form of written allergen information should be promoted. Giving this information on request might encourage communication between customer and staff, thus providing an extra measure of verification

    Serotypes, intimin variants and other virulence factors of eae positive Escherichia coli strains isolated from healthy cattle in Switzerland. Identification of a new intimin variant gene (eae-η2)

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    BACKGROUND: Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) and Shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) share the ability to introduce attaching-and-effacing (A/E) lesions on intestinal cells. The genetic determinants for the production of A/E lesions are located on the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE), a pathogenicity island that also contains the genes encoding intimin (eae). This study reports information on the occurrence of eae positive E. coli carried by healthy cattle at the point of slaughter, and on serotypes, intimin variants, and further virulence factors of isolated EPEC and STEC strains. RESULTS: Of 51 eae positive bovine E. coli strains, 59% were classified as EPEC and 41% as STEC. EPEC strains belonged to 18 O:H serotypes, six strains to typical EPEC serogroups. EPEC strains harbored a variety of intimin variants with eae-β1 being most frequently found. Moreover, nine EPEC strains harbored astA (EAST1), seven bfpA (bundlin), and only one strain was positive for the EAF plasmid. We have identified a new intimin gene (η2) in three bovine bfpA and astA-positive EPEC strains of serotype ONT:H45. STEC strains belonged to seven O:H serotypes with one serotype (O103:H2) accounting for 48% of the strains. The majority of bovine STEC strains (90%) belonged to five serotypes previously reported in association with hemolytic uremic syndrom (HUS), including one O157:H7 STEC strain. STEC strains harbored four intimin variants with eae-ε1 and eae-γ1 being most frequently found. Moreover, the majority of STEC strains carried only stx1 genes (13 strains), and was positive for ehxA (18 strains) encoding for Enterohemolysin. Four STEC strains showed a virulence pattern characteristic of highly virulent human strains (stx2 and eae positive). CONCLUSION: Our data confirm that ruminants are an important source of serologically and genetically diverse intimin-harboring E. coli strains. Moreover, cattle have not only to be considered as important asymptomatic carriers of O157 STEC but can also be a reservoir of EPEC and eae positive non-O157 STEC, which are described in association with human diseases

    Estoque de nutrientes em consĂłrcios de Eucalyptus urograndis, Acacia mearnsii e Zea mays

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    http://dx.doi.org/10.5902/1980509810543This study aimed to determine the nutrient pool in monospecific and mixed stands of Eucalyptus urograndis and Acacia mearnsii in a consortium with Zea mays.The amount determination of nutrients of forest species was carried out in the treatments: 100E (100% of eucalyptus); 100A (100% of black wattle) and 50E:50A (50% of eucalyptus + 50% of black-wattle). On the other hand, for corn, it was carried out in all treatments (100E; 100A, 50E:50A; 75E:25A – 75% of eucalyptus + 25% black-wattle and 25E:75A – 25% of eucalyptus + 75% of black wattle). The delimitation adopted was the one of a randomized block with three replications. The magnitude of the nutrient pool in the agrossilvicultural systems biomass was: N> K > Ca > Mg > P > S, for macronutrients, and Mn > Fe > Zn > B > Cu, for micronutrients. Due to the great export of nutrients through the corn harvest, residues should be kept and it is necessary to make a nutritional reposition, mainly with P, N, K, S and Zn in the following crops, because of the higher amount that are exported with the extraction of the corn tang, which reaches 75.3; 60.6; 59.9; 55.8 e 53.8%, respectively, in relation to the total stocked in the biomass. http://dx.doi.org/10.5902/1980509810543Este estudo teve como objetivo determinar o estoque de nutrientes em povoamentos monoespecíficos e mistos de Eucalyptus urograndis e Acacia mearnsii em consórcio com Zea mays. A determinação da quantidade de nutrientes das espécies florestais foi realizada nos tratamentos: 100E (100% de eucalipto); 100A (100% de acácia-negra) e 50E:50A (50% de eucalipto + 50% de acácia-negra). Já, para o milho foi realizada em todos os tratamentos (100E; 100A; 50E:50A; 75E:25A - 75% de eucalipto + 25% de acácia-negra e 25E:75A - 25% de eucalipto + 75% de acácia-negra). O delineamento adotado foi de blocos ao acaso com três repetições. A magnitude do estoque de nutrientes na biomassa total do sistema agrossilvicultural foi: N > K > Ca > Mg > P > S, para os macronutrientes, e Mn > Fe > Zn > B > Cu, para os micronutrientes. Devido à grande exportação de nutrientes pela colheita da espiga do milho, devem-se manter os resíduos culturais nos sistemas agrossilviculturais e fazer reposição nutricional, principalmente de P, N, K, S e Zn, em cultivos seguintes, em decorrência da grande quantidade que é exportada pela extração da espiga, a qual chega a 75,3; 60,6; 59,9; 55,8 e 53,8%, respectivamente, em relação ao total estocado na biomassa agrícola
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