Factors determining gender ratio in the Maltese population

Introduction: The Male/Female ratio at birth has been described to favour the male conceptus, a situation that persists throughout most of childhood and into the reproductive phase of life. The reasons behind this preferential male-favouring remain elusive. Methodology: The various relevant obstetric and population national registers kept by the Department of Health information and the National Statistics Office of the Maltese Islands were reviewed to elucidate the age-related M/F ratios differences in the population starting with the third trimester of the antenatal period. In addition, third trimester M/F ratios in women with specific metabolic-related disorders were assessed and compared to the on-affected individuals. The role of foetal congenital malformations was also investigated. Results: It would appear that the M/F ratio starts favouring the male conceptus as early as the third trimester of the antenatal period. It remains favoured right through the reproductive age reaching par after the age of 45 years when it shifts to favour the female. This relationship was significantly altered during the 1930s as a result of the emigration patters prevalent during that period. The results further show that the maternal nutritional and biochemical milieu may influence the M/F ratio at the beginning of the third trimester with women suffering from adiposity, diabetes and thyroid disease having higher M/R ratios. In spite of this preference to the male conceptus, malts have a higher mortality throughout life with mortality rates being higher for males from the third trimester up to the age of 75 years. On the other hand, female foetuses with malformations appear to have a higher mortality during intrauterine life than corresponding male foetuses. Conclusion: The M/F ratio appears to favour the male conceptus during antenatal life and is definitely evident by the beginning of the third trimester of pregnancy, the selection mechanism possibly being a greater predisposition of female foetal loss in the presence of malformations. These biological observations may present advantages within the breath of human reproductive ecology, ensuring a healthy reproductive female individual who has the option of choosing her mate from a competing male community.peer-reviewe

Intermediate age open clusters: Collinder 110

We present CCD BV photometry of the intermediate age open cluster Collinder 110, a nearby, scarcely populated, and poorly studied system. There is no literature information on the metallicity, so we tested several possibilities, and found a slight evidence of sub-solar abundances. Using the synthetic Colour - Magnitude Diagrams technique we estimate the following parameters: age between 1.1 and 1.5 Gyr, reddening 0.38 <~ E(B-V) <~ 0.45, distance modulus (m-M)o between 11.45 and 11.7 if the cluster metallicity is sub-solar.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, MNRAS, in pres

Orbit decidability, applications and variations

We present the notion of orbit decidability into a more general framework, exploring interesting generalizations and variations of this algorithmic problem. A recent theorem by Bogopolski-Martino-Ventura gave a renovated protagonism to this notion and motivated several interesting algebraic applications

A Comparison of Prenatal Alcohol, Tobacco, and other Drug Use Between San Luis Obispo County and Ventura County

Prenatal substance abuse is a growing issue in America. It can lead to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, long term growth, behavior, and executive functioning problems, and creates a predisposition for drug use for the child. This project summarizes the statistical analyses comparing alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use by pregnant women between San Luis Obispo County and Ventura County. The main goal of these analyses is to determine if there is a difference between San Luis Obispo County and Ventura County. This is an interesting comparison because these counties are neighboring counties, and past data have shown that the rate of alcohol abuse during pregnancy is higher in San Luis Obispo than Ventura. The analyses done are based on the 4P’s+© screen collected from both counties between the years of 2008 and 2012. Based on these analyses, there was not a significant difference between San Luis Obispo County and Ventura County in alcohol use in the month before screening, but there was a significant difference in cigarette use dependent on race, in marijuana use, and in drug use dependent on year. This indicates that San Luis Obispo County’s focus on alcohol has closed the gap between the two counties for alcohol use. Though there has been progress in reduction of alcohol use, use of other substances is prevalent. In light of this, it is advisable that there be a refocusing onto substance abuse in general

Traveling Justice: Providing Court Based Pro Se Assistance to Limited Access Communities

This Article discusses one Southern California court\u27s attempt to provide greater access to underrepresented litigants in a mixed urban and rural county northwest of Los Angeles. The Article explores Ventura County Superior Court\u27s outreach program designed to increase court access through pro se self-help services, educational outreach, specialty courts, and collaboration with social service organizations. The Article hopes to inspire others to try creative methods to improve access in their jurisdictions

Aligning business processes and work practices

Current business process modeling methodologies offer little guidance regarding how to keep business process models aligned with their actual execution. This paper describes how to achieve this goal by uncovering and supervising business process models in connection with work practices using BAM. BAM is a methodology for business process modeling, supervision and improvement that works at two dimensions; the dimension of processes and the dimension of work practices. The business modeling component of BAM is illustrated with a case study in an organizational setting