One-day symposium “Mapping the landscapes of abortion, birth control and power in the United States since the 1960s”.

United-States, reproductive rights, reproductive justice, abortion, women’s rights, women’s healt

Re-municipalization of public services: trend or hype?

Re-municipalization is part of a broader set of reverse privatization reforms. We argue the term re-municipalization lacks conceptual clarity, confusing municipal level reversals from national ones, new service delivery from reversals, and mixed market positions from full public control. This conceptual confusion makes measurement of re-municipalization difficult. While more case studies are being discovered, quantitative time series studies do not show re-municipalization is increasing. Much case study based research argues re-municipalization is politically transformative, but quantitative research generally finds re-municipalization to be part of a pragmatic market management process, a position confirmed by the papers in this special issue

Development of a state wide tobacco treatment specialist training and certification programme for Massachusetts

OBJECTIVE: To describe the research conducted to structure and develop a statewide tobacco training and certification programme for tobacco treatment specialists (TTSs) in Massachusetts. DESIGN: Qualitative research strategies were used to obtain information on certification development and opinions regarding TTS training and certification from key informants. A role definition and validation study was then conducted to determine the core competencies for TTSs. A comprehensive training programme was developed, piloted, and finalised, and a certification programme was initiated. PARTICIPANTS: Key informants included: individuals involved in the development of their professional certification programmes; tobacco treatment providers from across Massachusetts; and national tobacco treatment experts. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants\u27 opinions about the need for and structure of a training and certification programme for individuals specialising in the provision of moderate to intensive tobacco treatment; delineation of core competencies for TTSs, using the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (now the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) clinical practice guideline as a foundation for the development of evidence based standards of practice for the treatment of nicotine dependence. RESULTS: The data support a comprehensive training and certification programme for TTSs in Massachusetts. Main concerns include the cost of obtaining certification, the potential to exclude uncertified healthcare professionals from delivering basic tobacco treatment, and the role of the TTS in the healthcare delivery system and the community. The training programme developed for Massachusetts was piloted, and the structure of a statewide training and certification programme for TTSs was finalised. CONCLUSIONS: The research provides support for the need and acceptance of a training and certification programme for TTSs in Massachusetts, and presents the challenges to be addressed. We demonstrated the feasibility of developing and implementing an evidence based training programme, and of initiating a statewide certification programme in Massachusetts. This work will add to a national dialogue on the development of a training and certification programme for tobacco treatment providers and encourage further research into the potential impact of statewide and national certification

Re-municipalization of public services: trend or hype?

Re-municipalization is part of a broader set of reverse privatization reforms. We argue the term re-municipalization lacks conceptual clarity and often confuses municipal level reversals from national ones, new service delivery from reversals, and mixed market positions (such as corporatization) from full public control. This conceptual confusion makes measurement of re-municipalization difficult. While more case studies are being discovered, studies based on quantitative time series do not show re-municipalization as an increasing trend. Much case study based research argues re-municipalization is politically transformative, but quantitative research generally finds re-municipalization to be part of a pragmatic market management process, a position confirmed by the papers in this special issue

\u3ci\u3eAmicus Curiae\u3c/i\u3e Brief of the Hon. Judith Fitzgerald (Bankruptcy Judge, Ret.), and Law Professors Pamela Foohey, George Kuney, Robert Lawless, Jonathan Lipson, Bruce A. Markell, Nancy Rapoport, Richard Squire, Ray Warner and Jack Williams, In Support of the Petitioner

Professor Pamela Foohey filed an amicus brief with a group of law professors and a former bankruptcy judge in MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC

Effectiveness of interventions to promote healthy diet in primary care: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Background A diet rich in fruit, vegetables and dietary fibre and low in fat is associated with reduced risk of chronic disease. This review aimed to estimate the effectiveness of interventions to promote healthy diet for primary prevention among participants attending primary care.<p></p> Methods A systematic review of trials using individual or cluster randomisation of interventions delivered in primary care to promote dietary change over 12 months in healthy participants free from chronic disease or defined high risk states. Outcomes were change in fruit and vegetable intake, consumption of total fat and fibre and changes in serum cholesterol concentration.<p></p> Results Ten studies were included with 12,414 participants. The design and delivery of interventions were diverse with respect to grounding in behavioural theory and intervention intensity. A meta-analysis of three studies showed an increase in fruit consumption of 0.25 (0.01 to 0.49) servings per day, with an increase in vegetable consumption of 0.25 (0.06 to 0.44) serving per day. A further three studies that reported on fruit and vegetable consumption together showed a pooled increment of 0.50 (0.13 to 0.87) servings per day. The pooled effect on consumption of dietary fibre, from four studies, was estimated to be 1.97 (0.43 to 3.52) gm fibre per day. Data from five studies showed a mean decrease in total fat intake of 5.2% of total energy (1.5 to 8.8%). Data from three studies showed a mean decrease in serum cholesterol of 0.10 (-0.19 to 0.00) mmol/L.<p></p> Conclusion Presently-reported interventions to promote healthy diet for primary prevention in primary care, which illustrate a diverse range of intervention methods, may yield small beneficial changes in consumption of fruit, vegetables, fibre and fat over 12 months. The present results do not exclude the possibility that more effective intervention strategies might be developed.<p></p&gt

PenQuest Volume 3, Number 1

The Table of Contents for this Volume: Untitled by R. Bruce Warner Seeing the Unseen by Sharon Gresham Untitled by Helen Hagadorn Untitled by Steve Balunan Happy Holidays by Donna Kaluzniak River-walking, Night-talking by William Slaughter Ribbon of Light by Judith Mizrahi Love in Parentheses by Sharon Gresham Untitled by Steve Balunan Protohistory by Patricia Kraft Untitled by Bruce Abbey Untitled by Rick Wagner Thanatopsis by Pat Kraft Untitled by Sue Hightower Untitled by Rick Wagner Conversations of a Woman by Sharon Gresham Thur, Fri, Sat, at Mr. B\u27s by Patricia Kraft Untitled by Rick Wagner Untitled by Cindy Carlisle Untitled by Win Lyons Untitled by Cindy Carlisle Untitled by Modesta Matthews Untitled by James Tutten A Light at Mill Pond Crossing by Joe Palmer Untitled by Rick Wagner Two People by Kathleen Gay Untitled by Rick Wagner American Dream (Russian Version) by William Slaughter Untitled by Judith Mizrahi Untitled by Linda Willco

Whole Earth Telescope Observations of the Helium Interacting Binary PG 1346+082 (CR Bootis)

We present our analysis of 240 hr of white-light, high-speed photometry of the dwarf nova-like helium variable PG 1346+082 (CR Boo). We identify two frequencies in the low-state power spectrum, at 679.670 ± 0.004 μHz and 669.887 ± 0.008 μHz. The 679.670 μHz variation is coherent over at least a 2 week time span, the first demonstration of a phase-coherent photometric variation in any dwarf nova-like interacting binary white dwarf system. The high-state power spectrum contains a complex fundamental with a frequency similar, but not identical, to the low-state spectrum, and a series of harmonics not detected in low state. We also uncover an unexpected dependence of the high-frequency power\u27s amplitude and frequency structure on overall system magnitude. We discuss these findings in light of the general AM CVn system model, particularly the implications of the high-order harmonics on future studies of disk structure, mass transfer, and disk viscosity