The Impact of Social Situations on College Students’ Perceptions of Sexual Consent

The majority of research examining sexual consent among college students focuses on how young adults communicate sexual consent during interactions immediately preceding a sexual encounter. However, preliminary research suggests that college students perceive that individuals begin to communicate sexual consent within social settings (e.g., at a bar) and through nonsexual interactions (e.g., text messaging); this has been labeled “outside the bedroom” consent. In order to further explore “outside the bedroom” consent, college students (n= 789) were randomly assigned to read four of sixteen vignettes. Within each vignette, four variables were manipulated: gender of the initiator (male or female), the social setting in which the characters met (bar or library), the communication style used to transition to the home of the initiator (walking home together or exchanging text messages), and the final cue communicated by the characters (nonverbal or verbal) in the moments immediately preceding the sexual encounter. Participants were asked open-ended questions about when they believed the characters first consented to intercourse. Data were coded by two researchers using an inductive approach. Interrater reliability was analyzed via Kappa’s Light; coders were extremely reliable (α \u3e 0.90). Nearly 81 percent of responses (n = 4,602) stated the characters consented “inside the bedroom” (i.e., at the home of the initiator). Regardless of the gender of the character, students most frequently stated that the character communicated consent through the use of an explicit verbal cue. Approximately three percent of responses (n = 182) were coded as cues occurring “outside the bedroom,” indicating that that participants perceived characters consenting at the bar, library, while walking home, or exchanging text messages. The results are inconsistent with previous literature stating that college students most often use implicit nonverbal cues to communicate consent and that consent negotiations are perceived to begin “outside the bedroom.” Participants’ responses may reflect an exposure to contemporary consent education programs that endorse explicit verbal consent. The potential impacts of consent education programs on college student’s perceptions of consent and the methodological implications for future research will be discussed

Virginia\u27s Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act: Constitutional and Policy Challenges

In 1987, Virginia\u27s General Assembly enacted the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act (the Act). Although there is a dearth of official legislative history for the Act, newspaper reports provide some insight as to the intended purpose and scope. Reportedly, the Act was a response to medical malpractice insurers\u27 refusal to provide coverage for obstetricians. Proponents of the Act feared critical shortages of obstetrical services if action was not taken to ensure the availability of liability insurance

Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor Ligands as Regulators of Airway Inflammation and Remodelling in Chronic Lung Disease

Inflammation is a major component in the pathology of chronic lung diseases, including asthma. Anti-inflammatory treatment with corticosteroids is not effective in all patients. Thus, new therapeutic options are required to control diverse cellular functions that are currently not optimally targeted by these drugs in order to inhibit inflammation and its sequelae in lung disease. Peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs), originally characterised as regulators of lipid and glucose metabolism, offer marked potential in this respect. PPARs are expressed in both lung infiltrating and resident immune and inflammatory cells, as well as in resident and structural cells in the lungs, and play critical roles in the regulation of airway inflammation. In vitro, endogenous and synthetic ligands for PPARs regulate expression and release of proinflammatory cytokines and chemoattractants, and cell proliferation and survival. In murine models of allergen-induced inflammation, PPARα and PPARγ ligands reduce the influx of inflammatory cells, cytokine and mucus production, collagen deposition, and airways hyperresponsiveness. The activity profiles of PPAR ligands differ to corticosteroids, supporting the hypothesis that PPARs comprise additional therapeutic targets to mimimise the contribution of inflammation to airway remodelling and dysfunction

Characterisation of the genomic architecture of human chromosome 17q and evaluation of different methods for haplotype block definition

BACKGROUND: The selection of markers in association studies can be informed through the use of haplotype blocks. Recent reports have determined the genomic architecture of chromosomal segments through different haplotype block definitions based on linkage disequilibrium (LD) measures or haplotype diversity criteria. The relative applicability of distinct block definitions to association studies, however, remains unclear. We compared different block definitions in 6.1 Mb of chromosome 17q in 189 unrelated healthy individuals. Using 137 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), at a median spacing of 15.5 kb, we constructed haplotype block maps using published methods and additional methods we have developed. Haplotype tagging SNPs (htSNPs) were identified for each map. RESULTS: Blocks were found to be shorter and coverage of the region limited with methods based on LD measures, compared to the method based on haplotype diversity. Although the distribution of blocks was highly variable, the number of SNPs that needed to be typed in order to capture the maximum number of haplotypes was consistent. CONCLUSION: For the marker spacing used in this study, choice of block definition is not important when used as an initial screen of the region to identify htSNPs. However, choice of block definition has consequences for the downstream interpretation of association study results