THE CUBA PARADOX: An Assessment of Primary and Maternal Healthcare in Cuba Today

Cuba’s healthcare system is lauded on the Global Health stage as renowned. Low mother/infant mortality rates paired with low infectious disease transmission rates have garnered Cuba’s maternal and primary healthcare systems significant fame. In addition to these healthcare feats, Cuban women experience challenges in finding access to basic forms of over-the-counter care. The Cuba Paradox emerges in which a Cuban woman’s healthcare experience in places such as Mayajigua, Cuba (407 km southeast of Havana) is characterized by access to acute care (expensive treatments such as IVF) and lacks of access to active care (over-the-counter products such as Acetaminophen/Ibuprofen and feminine hygiene). This study aims to investigate the primary and reproductive care paradoxes presented to Cuban women today, specifically in rural Mayajigua, Cuba. A Mixed Methods approach that synthesizes information from a 2015 independent research quantitative survey alongside a 2016 independent research ethnographic project were used to assess the Cuban Medical Paradox in a holistic manner. Analysis showed that the Cuba Paradox exists due to a series of recent international developments, notably the 2016 Cuban Special Period. These results have implications on the study of the Cuban healthcare system at large in addition to implications for healthcare policy assessment beyond Cuba

Language, Culture and Spatial Cognition: Bringing anthropology to the table

Languages vary in their semantic partitioning of the world. This has led to speculation that language might shape basic cognitive processes. Spatial cognition has been an area of research in which linguistic relativity – the effect of language on thought – has both been proposed and rejected. Prior studies have been inconclusive, lacking experimental rigor or appropriate research design. Lacking detailed ethnographic knowledge as well as failing to pay attention to intralanguage variations, these studies often fall short of defining an appropriate concept of language, culture, and cognition. Our study constitutes the first research exploring (1) individuals speaking different languages yet living (for generations) in the same immediate environment and (2) systematic intralanguage variation. Results show that language does not shape spatial cognition and plays at best the secondary role of foregrounding alternative possibilities for encoding spatial arrangements

On the pitfalls of conceptualizing excessive physical exercise as an addictive disorder: Commentary on Dinardi et al. (2021).

This commentary challenges some of the proposals made in the opinion paper entitled "The expanded interactional model of exercise addiction" by Dinardi, Egorov, and Szabo (2021). We first question the usefulness of the (expanded) interactional model of exercise addiction to determine the psychological processes underlying distress and functional impairment in excessive physical exercise. We then consider the authors' use of the Self-Determination Theory to model exercise addiction, which risks the misclassification of strenuous, but adaptive, patterns of physical exercise as exercise addiction. We finally address broader concerns regarding the idea that maladaptive exercising could be conceptualized as an addictive disorder

Комплексная оценка показателей изнашивания банкнот украинской гривны в условиях реального оборота

Дослідження банкнот, що перебували в умовах реального обігу, є основою для висновків щодо зносостійкості банкнот в цілому, розподілу банкнот за якістю в готівковій масі, а також кореляції між режимами обробки банкнот в імітаторах зношування та реальним станом банкнот у відповідний період. Для організації досліджень зношування банкнот вкрай важливим є встановлення методів оцінки зношування з найкращими показниками точності. Було досліджено вибірки банкнот 1 грн та 2 грн зі сховища Національного банку України. Розмір кожної вибірки становив 1010 шт. У відповідності з методом відбору - методом комбінованого багатощаблевого відбору, який поєднує стратифікований (районований) відбір та, на останньому етапі, безповторний випадковий відбір. Кожна вибірка була розсортована на десять груп відповідно до ступеню зношування. Було досліджено тринадцять показників зношування (яскравість, пористість, шорсткість, нульова розривна довжина, жорсткість (різними методами), стійкість крайки до надриву тощо) для груп банкнот найкращої якості (New) та найбільш зношених (Absolutely unfit). Було визначено показники точності для всіх показників зношування. Запропоновано встановити рейтинг показників зношування, використовуючи сумісну оцінку, що враховує зміну показника в результаті зношування, відносну похибку для нових банкнот та відносну похибку для зношених банкнот. Найвищу оцінку отримали такі показники зношування як шорсткість (за Бендстеном) та жорсткість (методом резонансу).Research of banknotes, which were in a real use conditions, are the basis for conclusions regarding the durability of banknotes in general, the distribution of the quality of banknotes in the money supply, as well as the correlation between modes of processing of banknotes in simulators and the actual state of wear of banknotes in the period. For organizing research of notes deterioration it is very important to identify the deterioration measurement methods which demonstrate the highest accuracy indices. The samples of taken from central bank stock 1 hryvnia and 2 hryvnia notes have been studied. The size of each sample was 1010 ps. In accordance with sampling method of combination of multistage sampling, which will combine stratified (homologated) selection, and nonrepeating random selection at the last stage. Each sample was sorted to ten groups of quality from the point of view of deterioration. The groups of best quality (New) and the worst quality (Absolutely unfit) were examined by measuring of thirteen deterioration characteristics such as brightness, porosity, surface roughness, zero-span breaking strength, edge tearing resistance, stiffness (different methods) etc. The different accuracy indices for each deterioration characteristics were established. It was proposed to range deterioration characteristics using simultaneous estimation by taking into account the variation of characteristics during deterioration, relative error for new banknote and relative error for absolutely unfit banknote. The best rated methods are surface roughness (Bendsten method) and stiffness (resonance method).Исследования банкнот, находившихся в условиях реального обращения, является основой для выводов о износостойкости банкнот в целом, распределения банкнот по качеству в наличной массе, а также корреляции между режимами обработки банкнот в имитаторах износа и реальным состоянием банкнот в соответствующий период. Для организации исследований износа банкнот крайне важным является установление методов оценки износа с наилучшими показателями точности. Было исследовано выборки банкнот 1 грн и 2 грн из хранилища Национального банка Украины. Размер каждой выборки составил 1010 шт. в соответствии с методом отбора - методом комбинированного многоступенчатого отбора, который сочетает стратифицированный (районированный) отбор и на последнем этапе, бесповторный случайный отбор. Каждая выборка была рассортирована на десять групп согласно степени износа. Было исследовано тринадцать показателей износа (яркость, пористость, шероховатость, нулевая разрывная длина, жесткость (разными методами), устойчивость кромки до надрыва и т.д.) для групп банкнот наилучшего качества (New) и наиболее изношенных (Absolutely unfit). Были определены показатели точности для всех показателей износа. Предложено установить рейтинг показателей износа, используя совместную оценку, учитывающую изменение показателя в результате износа, относительную погрешность для новых банкнот и относительную погрешность для изношенных банкнот. Наивысшую оценку получили такие показатели износа как шероховатость (по Бендстену) и жесткость (методом резонанса)

IMPACT OF TARGET MATERIAL ACTIVATION ON PERSONNEL EXPOSURE AND RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION IN THE NATIONAL IGNITION FACILITY

Detailed activation analyses are performed for the different materials under consideration for use in the target capsules and hohlraums used during the ignition campaign on the National Ignition Facility. Results of the target material activation were additionally used to estimate the levels of contamination within the NIF target chamber and the workplace controls necessary for safe operation. The analysis examined the impact of using Be-Cu and Ge-doped CH capsules on the external dose received by workers during maintenance activities. Five days following a 20 MJ shot, dose rates inside the Target Chamber (TC) due to the two proposed capsule materials are small ({approx} 1 {micro}rem/h). Gold and depleted-uranium (DU) are considered as potential hohlraum materials. Following a shot, gold will most probably get deposited on the TC first wall. On the other hand, while noble-gas precursors from the DU are expected to stay in the TC, most of the noble gases are pumped out of the chamber and end up on the cryopumps. The dose rates inside the TC due to activated gold or DU, at 5 days following a 20 MJ shot, are about 1 mrem/h. Dose rates in the vicinity of the cryo-pumps (containing noble 'fission' gases) drop-off to about 1 mrem/h during the first 12 hours following the shot. Contamination from activation of NIF targets will result in the NIF target chamber exceeding DOE surface contamination limits. Objects removed from the TC will need to be managed as radioactive material. However, the results suggest that airborne contamination from resuspension of surface contamination will not be significant and is at levels that can be managed by negative ventilation when accessing the TC attachments

The self in prejudice

Abstract: The self as a psychological construct, and the self in relation to the other has been discussed in psychological and sociological literature for decades, but not much attention has been given to the psychological development of the self in relation to the social construction of prejudice. The primary aim of this article is to explore the self in prejudice and thus the psychological processes involved in the development of self within the social context. Consequently, the aim is to explore the self in the construction and expression of prejudice from both a social and psychological approach, and to explain selfhood influences at the individual, group and community levels. I use the conceptual framework of Kohut’s self psychology as a lens to present the development of the self and thus the idea of the development of the self in relation to the other. In such exploration of self in prejudice, I present some of my ideas which include prejudice as an outcome of self-definition in the context of the other, as well as linking self in prejudice and group dynamics to attachment theory and the notion of “selfgroup’ in terms of overidentification with the in-group. While the social and the psychological in terms of the development of the self cannot be separated, I have therefore attempted to merge at some point the two bodies of thought in relation to the self in prejudice

Religion and Self: Notions from a Cultural Psychological Perspective

After a brief introduction of a cultural psychological perspective, this paper turns to the concept of self. The paper proposes to conceive of that reality to which the concepts of self refer as a narrative, employing especially autobiographies and other ego-documents in empirical exploration. After discussing some psychological theories about “self,” the paper points out that they may well be applied in research on personal religiosity