Factors associated with pregnancy and STI among Aboriginal students in British Columbia.

BACKGROUND: Aboriginal adolescents are more likely to become pregnant and contract an STI than other Canadian adolescents. This study provides some of the first data on factors associated with these outcomes among Aboriginal adolescents. METHODS: A secondary analysis was conducted using 2003 data from a large cross-sectional survey of British Columbia secondary school students. 445 young women and 360 young men who identified as Aboriginal and reported ever having sex were included in analyses. Associations between self-reported pregnancy and STI and 11 exposure variables were examined using logistic regression. RESULTS: Of young women, 10.6% reported a pregnancy; 10.5% of young men reported causing a pregnancy. An STI diagnosis was reported by 4.2% of young women and 3.9% of young men. In multivariate analyses for young men, ever having been sexually abused was the strongest consistent risk factor for causing a pregnancy (AOR = 4.30, 95% CI 1.64-11.25) and STI diagnosis (AOR = 5.58, 95% CI 1.61-19.37). For young women, abuse was associated with increased odds of pregnancy (AOR = 10.37, 95% CI 4.04-26.60) but not STI. Among young women, substance use was the strongest consistent risk factor for both pregnancy (AOR = 3.36, 95% CI 1.25-9.08) and STI (AOR = 5.27, 95% CI 1.50-18.42); for young men, substance use was associated with higher odds of STI (AOR = 4.60, 95% CI 1.11-19.14). Factors associated with decreased risk included community, school and family involvement. CONCLUSIONS: Health care professionals, communities and policy-makers must urgently address sexual abuse and substance use. Exploring promotion of school and community involvement and family cohesion may be useful for sexual health interventions with Aboriginal students

Millimeter Wave Substrate Integrated Waveguide Antennas: Design and Fabrication Analysis

The paper presents a new concept in antenna design, whereby a photo-imageable thick-film process is used to integrate a waveguide antenna within a multilayer structure. This has yielded a very compact, high performance antenna working at high millimeter-wave (mm-wave) frequencies, with a high degree of repeatability and reliability in antenna construction. Theoretical and experimental results for 70 GHz mm-wave integrated antennas, fabricated using the new technique are presented. The antennas were formed from miniature slotted waveguide arrays using up to 18 layers of photo-imageable material. To enhance the electrical performance a novel folded waveguide array was also investigated. The fabrication process is analysed in detail and the critical issues involved in the fabrication cycle are discussed. The losses in the substrate integrated waveguide have been calculated. The performance of the new integrated antenna is compared to conventional metallic, air-filled waveguide antennas, and also to conventional microstrip antenna arrays operating at the same frequencies

Young women's accounts of factors influencing their use and non-use of emergency contraception: in-depth interview study.

OBJECTIVES: To explore young women's accounts of their use and non-use of emergency contraception. DESIGN: Qualitative study using in-depth interviews. PARTICIPANTS: 30 women aged 16-25; participants from socially deprived inner city areas were specifically included. SETTING: Community, service, and educational settings in England. RESULTS: Young women's accounts of their non-use of emergency contraception principally concerned evaluations of the risk conferred by different contraceptive behaviours, their evaluations of themselves in needing emergency contraception, and personal difficulties in asking for emergency contraception. CONCLUSIONS: The attitudes and concerns of young women, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, may make them less able or willing than others to take advantage of recent increases in access to emergency contraception. Interventions that aim to increase the use of emergency contraception need to address the factors that influence young women's non-use of emergency contraception

NASA AND ESA Partnership on the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Service Module

In March 2011, NASA and ESA made a decision to partially offset the European obligations deriving from the extension of the ISS Program until the end of 2020 with different means than ATVs, following the ATV-5 mission foreseen in mid-2014. NASA and ESA considered a number of barter options, and concluded that the provision by ESA of the Service Module and Spacecraft Adaptor for the NASA Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) was the barter element with the most interest. A joint ESA - NASA working group was established to assess the feasibility of Europe developing this Module based on ATV heritage. The working group was supported by European and US industry namely Astrium, TAS-I and Lockheed-Martin. This paper gives an overview of the results of the on-going study as well as its projected utilization for the global space exploration endeavour

Production of tyrosinase defective mutants of Neurospora crassa

We have produced mutants defective in tyrosinase activity using the RIP procedure (Selker et al. 1987 Cell 51:741-752, Marathe et al. 1990 Mol. Cell. Biol. 10:2638-2644). The tyrosinase gene has been shown to be a useful reporter in gene expression experiments (Kothe et al. 1993 FGN 40: 43-45). The availability of tyrosinase mutants will assist in these studies and will also be of use for future protein engineering experiments on tyrosinase (Fuentes et al. 1993 FGN 40:38-39

Initial Coupling of Binding to Gating Mediated by Conserved Residues in the Muscle Nicotinic Receptor

We examined functional consequences of intrasubunit contacts in the nicotinic receptor α subunit using single channel kinetic analysis, site-directed mutagenesis, and structural modeling. At the periphery of the ACh binding site, our structural model shows that side chains of the conserved residues αK145, αD200, and αY190 converge to form putative electrostatic interactions. Structurally conservative mutations of each residue profoundly impair gating of the receptor channel, primarily by slowing the rate of channel opening. The combined mutations αD200N and αK145Q impair channel gating to the same extent as either single mutation, while αK145E counteracts the impaired gating due to αD200K, further suggesting electrostatic interaction between these residues. Interpreted in light of the crystal structure of acetylcholine binding protein (AChBP) with bound carbamylcholine (CCh), the results suggest in the absence of ACh, αK145 and αD200 form a salt bridge associated with the closed state of the channel. When ACh binds, αY190 moves toward the center of the binding cleft to stabilize the agonist, and its aromatic hydroxyl group approaches αK145, which in turn loosens its contact with αD200. The positional changes of αK145 and αD200 are proposed to initiate the cascade of perturbations that opens the receptor channel: the first perturbation is of β-strand 7, which harbors αK145 and is part of the signature Cys-loop, and the second is of β-strand 10, which harbors αD200 and connects to the M1 domain. Thus, interplay between these three conserved residues relays the initial conformational change from the ACh binding site toward the ion channel

A Frequency Tuning Method for a Planar Inverted-F Antenna

A novel method is presented for electrically tuning the frequency of a planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA). A tuning circuit, comprising an RF switch and discrete passive components, has been completely integrated into the antenna element, which is thus free of dc wires. The proposed tuning method has been demonstrated with a dual-band PIFA capable of operating in four frequency bands. The antenna covers the GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, PCS1900 and UNITS frequency ranges with over 40% total efficiency. The impact of the tuning circuit on the antenna's efficiency and radiation pattern have been experimentally studied through comparison with the performance of a reference antenna not incorporating the tuning circuit. The proposed frequency tuning concept can be extended to more complex PIFA structures as well as other types of antennas to give enhanced electrical performance.</p

Access to interpreting services in England: secondary analysis of national data

Background: Overcoming language barriers to health care is a global challenge. There is great linguistic diversity in the major cities in the UK with more than 300 languages, excluding dialects, spoken by children in London alone. However, there is dearth of data on the number of non-English speakers for planning effective interpreting services. The aim was to estimate the number of people requiring language support amongst the minority ethnic communities in England. Methods: Secondary analysis of national representative sample of subjects recruited to the Health Surveys for England 1999 and 2004. Results: 298,432 individuals from the four main minority ethnic communities (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Chinese) who may be unable to communicate effectively with a health professional. This represents 2,520,885 general practice consultations per year where interpreting services might be required. Conclusion: Effective interpreting services are required to improve access and health outcomes of non-English speakers and thereby facilitate a reduction in health inequalities

Modeling and Validation of Local Electrowinning Electrode Current Density Using Two Phase Flow and Nernst-Planck Equations

In this work we demonstrate the validity of a multi-physics model using COMSOL to predict the local current density distribution at the cathode of a copper electrowinning test cell. Important developments utilizing Euler-Euler bubbly flow with coupled Nernst-Planck transport equations allow additional insights into deposit characteristics and topographies