Improvements in Raman Lidar Measurements Using New Interference Filter Technology

Narrow-band interference filters with improved transmission in the ultra-violet have been developed under NASA-funded research and used in the Raman Airborne Spectroscopic Lidar (RASL) in ground-based, upward-looking tests. Measurements were made of atmospheric water vapor, cirrus cloud optical properties and carbon dioxide that improve upon any previously demonstrated using Raman lidar. Daytime boundary and mixed layer profiling of water vapor mixing ratio up to an altitude of approximately 4 h is performed with less than 5% random error using temporal and spatial resolution of 2-minutes and 60 - 210, respectively. Daytime cirrus cloud optical depth and extinction-to-backscatter ratio measurements are made using 1 -minute average. Sufficient signal strength is demonstrated to permit the simultaneous profiling of carbon dioxide and water vapor mixing ratio into the free troposphere during the nighttime. A description of the filter technology developments is provided followed by examples of the improved Raman lidar measurements

Effect of early tranexamic acid administration on mortality, hysterectomy, and other morbidities in women with post-partum haemorrhage (WOMAN): an international, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background Post-partum haemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal death worldwide. Early administration of tranexamic acid reduces deaths due to bleeding in trauma patients. We aimed to assess the effects of early administration of tranexamic acid on death, hysterectomy, and other relevant outcomes in women with post-partum haemorrhage. Methods In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, we recruited women aged 16 years and older with a clinical diagnosis of post-partum haemorrhage after a vaginal birth or caesarean section from 193 hospitals in 21 countries. We randomly assigned women to receive either 1 g intravenous tranexamic acid or matching placebo in addition to usual care. If bleeding continued after 30 min, or stopped and restarted within 24 h of the first dose, a second dose of 1 g of tranexamic acid or placebo could be given. Patients were assigned by selection of a numbered treatment pack from a box containing eight numbered packs that were identical apart from the pack number. Participants, care givers, and those assessing outcomes were masked to allocation. We originally planned to enrol 15 000 women with a composite primary endpoint of death from all-causes or hysterectomy within 42 days of giving birth. However, during the trial it became apparent that the decision to conduct a hysterectomy was often made at the same time as randomisation. Although tranexamic acid could influence the risk of death in these cases, it could not affect the risk of hysterectomy. We therefore increased the sample size from 15 000 to 20 000 women in order to estimate the effect of tranexamic acid on the risk of death from post-partum haemorrhage. All analyses were done on an intention-to-treat basis. This trial is registered with ISRCTN76912190 (Dec 8, 2008); ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00872469; and PACTR201007000192283. Findings Between March, 2010, and April, 2016, 20 060 women were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive tranexamic acid (n=10 051) or placebo (n=10 009), of whom 10 036 and 9985, respectively, were included in the analysis. Death due to bleeding was significantly reduced in women given tranexamic acid (155 [1·5%] of 10 036 patients vs 191 [1·9%] of 9985 in the placebo group, risk ratio [RR] 0·81, 95% CI 0·65–1·00; p=0·045), especially in women given treatment within 3 h of giving birth (89 [1·2%] in the tranexamic acid group vs 127 [1·7%] in the placebo group, RR 0·69, 95% CI 0·52–0·91; p=0·008). All other causes of death did not differ significantly by group. Hysterectomy was not reduced with tranexamic acid (358 [3·6%] patients in the tranexamic acid group vs 351 [3·5%] in the placebo group, RR 1·02, 95% CI 0·88–1·07; p=0·84). The composite primary endpoint of death from all causes or hysterectomy was not reduced with tranexamic acid (534 [5·3%] deaths or hysterectomies in the tranexamic acid group vs 546 [5·5%] in the placebo group, RR 0·97, 95% CI 0·87-1·09; p=0·65). Adverse events (including thromboembolic events) did not differ significantly in the tranexamic acid versus placebo group. Interpretation Tranexamic acid reduces death due to bleeding in women with post-partum haemorrhage with no adverse effects. When used as a treatment for postpartum haemorrhage, tranexamic acid should be given as soon as possible after bleeding onset. Funding London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Pfizer, UK Department of Health, Wellcome Trust, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Advances in Raman Lidar Measurements of Water Vapor, Cirrus Clouds and Carbon Dioxide

Narrow-band interference filters with improved transmission in the ultraviolet have been developed under NASA-funded research and used in the Raman Airborne Spectroscopic Lidar (RASL) in ground- based, upward-looking tests. RASL is an airborne Raman Lidar system designed to measure water vapor mixing ratio, and aerosol backscatter/extinction/depolarization. It also possesses the capability to make experimental measurements of cloud liquid water and carbon dioxide. It is being prepared for first flight tests during the summer of 2006. With the newly developed filters installed in RASL, measurements were made of atmospheric water vapor, cirrus cloud optical properties and carbon dioxide that improve upon any previously demonstrated using Raman lidar. Daytime boundary layer profiling of water vapor mixing ratio is performed with less than 5% random error using temporal and spatial resolution of 2-minutes and 60 - 210, respectively. Daytime cirrus cloud optical depth and extinction- to-backscatter ratio measurements are made using 1-minute average. Sufficient signal strength is demonstrated to permit the simultaneous profiling of carbon dioxide and water vapor mixing ratio into the free troposphere during the nighttime. Downward-looking from an airborne RASL should possess the same measurement statistics with approximately a factor of 5 - 10 decrease in averaging time. A description of the technology improvements are provided followed by examples of the improved Raman lidar measurements

The Impact of Music and Exercise on Learning and Memory

Research has demonstrated the benefits of moderate aerobic exercise on cognitive function (Coles & Tomporowski, 2008; Skriver et al., 2014). One explanation for why exercise improves cognition is arousal. Davey (1973) saw exercise as a stressor which would induce increases in arousal as intensity rose and moderate intensity exercise would induce a level of arousal related to optimal cognitive performance relative to high and low intensity activity. The present study compared the arousal effects of music and exercise on cognitive abilities. In the study, participants were placed in one of four conditions: listen to arousing music for 6 minutes; listen to arousing music for 20 minutes; run on a treadmill for 6 minutes; or run on a treadmill for 20 minutes. Participants’ level of arousal was assessed before and after completing their condition. Following each condition, participants performed a paired-associates learning (PAL) task. In the task, participants were presented with 40 word pairs to learn and later recall. Our results compare learning rate on the PAL task and long-term recall between the four conditions

Sexual activity and function in women with and without pelvic floor disorders

We describe differences in sexual activity and function in women with and without pelvic floor disorders (PFDs)

Pleasure and distance: exploring sexual cultures in the classroom

Teaching sexually explicit materials to undergraduate students is fraught with questions of what ought to be taught when we introduce sessions on pornography, cybersex, explicit representations of gay and lesbian sexuality and the politics of representation more generally. This article will address some of those concerns through a meditation on some of my own teaching experiences offered, not as an example of best practice, but as a further contribution to the provocative discussions elsewhere in this issue. I argue that teaching about sexually explicit representations has the potential for reaching beyond the examination of hegemonic meanings or the exposition of generic repetitions to more innovative exploration of the cultural discourses of sexuality. Keywords: classroom strategies, pornography, teaching sexualitie

Planetary Lovers: On Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens's Water Makes Us Wet

This chapter examines Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens’s “sexecology,” a multi-year art and activist project that presents the earth as lover, source, and receiver of polymorphous pleasures. Through the close reading of writings, performances, and the documentary Water Makes Us Wet—An Ecosexual Adventure (2017), the essay shows how Sprinkle and Stephens contribute to queering the ecological imagination. In addition to complicating the gendered trope of Mother Earth, they draw attention to social ecologies of dirt and sanitation that are connected to hierarchies of race and sex. However, while Sprinkle and Stephens complicate Mother Earth, they rely on the notion of partnership between humans and the planet. The chapter concludes with an exploration of a different notion of care that takes alterity, rather than reciprocity, as its point of departure

Does vaginal size impact sexual activity and function?

This study seeks to determine if total vaginal length (TVL) or genital hiatus (GH) impact sexual activity and function