Predictors of loneliness in gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth

This study examined predictors of loneliness in a sample of 76 gay, lesbian, or bisexual (GLB) youth living in the Midwest. Participants completed measures to assess levels of gender nonconformity, outness, positive sexual identity, victimization, perceived campus climate, social support from family, social support from GLB peers, GLB community involvement, and loneliness. Results showed that GLB peer support was the strongest predictor of loneliness, with higher levels of support predicting lower levels of loneliness. Family support was a marginally significant predictor of loneliness. Contrary to predictions, no evidence was found that social support or positive sexual identity moderated the effects of victimization or negative campus climate on loneliness. Similarly, contrary to prediction, no evidence was found that the effects of gender nonconformity or outness on loneliness were mediated by victimization or negative campus climate. Implications of this and other findings were discussed, specifically regarding GLB youth living in rural areas

Treatment of mine water with colloidal suspensions

Groote Eylandt Mining Company (GEMCO) mines manganese from leases of land with Arhnem Land’s traditional owners. The open cut mining operation requires dewatering of quarries, with some of the quarries being located in areas of montmorillonite (commonly known as smectite) clay. Through the action of groundwater infiltration through, and stormwater runoff over the exposed clay surface surrounding the quarry, the clay becomes finely dispersed which results in highly turbid quarry water. This colloidal suspension of clay in the water is attributed to the surface of the clay particles carrying a negative surface charge leading to a stable colloidal system of ultra fine particles. The particles do not settle out over time

Understanding the Impacts of Medical Tourism on Health Human Resources in Barbados: A Prospective, Qualitative Study of Stakeholder Perceptions

Background Medical tourism is a global health practice where patients travel internationally with the intention of receiving medical services. A range of low, middle, and high income countries are encouraging investment in the medical tourism sector, including countries in the Caribbean targeting patients in North America and Europe. While medical tourism has the potential to provide economic and employment opportunities in destination countries, there are concerns that it could encourage the movement of health workers from the public to private health sector. Methods We present findings from 19 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders across the public health care, private health care, government, allied business, and civil society sectors. These interviews were conducted in-person in Barbados and via phone. The interview transcripts were coded and a thematic analysis developed. Results Three themes were identified: 1) Stakeholder perceptions of the patterns and plans for health human resource usage by current and planned medical tourism facilities in Barbados. We found that while health human resource usage in the medical tourism sector has been limited, it is likely to grow in the future; 2) Anticipated positive impacts of medical tourism on health human resources and access to care in the public system. These benefits included improved quality control, training opportunities, and health worker retention; and 3) Anticipated negative impacts of medical tourism on health human resources and access to care in the public system. These impacts included longer wait times for care and a shift in planning priorities driven by the medical tourism sector. Conclusions Stakeholders interviewed who were connected to medical tourism expansion or the tourism sector took a generally positive view of the likely impacts of medical tourism on health human resources in Barbados. However, stakeholders associated with the public health system and health equity expressed concern that medical tourism may spread inequities in this country. The mechanisms by which observed negative health equity impacts in other countries will be avoided in Barbados are unclear. Continued study in Barbados and comparison with the regulatory frameworks in other countries is needed to help enhance positive and mitigate negative impacts of medical tourism on health human resources in Barbados. These findings will likely have import for other Caribbean nations investing in medical tourism and beyond

Identification of Penicillium species in the South African litchi export chain

Penicillium species have been studied for over 200 years and the genus was first described by Link in 1809. Initially, morphological identification methods were used however, much diversity within the genus resulted in researchers seeking alternative techniques and approaches to improve accuracy. These methods involved biochemical analysis of secondary metabolites in conjunction with morphological examination. With the emergence of more accurate and rapid molecular identification tools, scientists embraced modem technology to address diversity challenges. In order to provide a more holistic approach towards the taxonomy of complex genera, morphological analysis remains an essential component in Penicillium identification. Penicillium species are omnipresent, dominant and problematic in postharvest environments. They are known to cause major losses in export markets due to fruit decay. The aim of this study was to identify species within the South African litchi export chain and develop a rapid method for Penicillium identification. This study used morphological as well as molecular identification methods in order to develop PCR-RFLP restriction maps for a number of dominant Penicillium species. Seventeen species of Penicillium were identified using conventional morphological methodology and DNA sequencing, both of which are laborious and time-consuming. Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism provided reliability and repeatability as well as being a cost-effective and rapid identification alternative. A combined phylogenetic study indicated that the taxonomic position of several species may need to be reconsidered. Fourteen species were differentiated from one another through digestion of the â-tubulin gene region with five restriction enzymes. Banding patterns correlated well with phylogenetic and biochemical data of related studies, indicating that this method holds promise as a rapid identification procedure for Penicillium species.Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2008.Microbiology and Plant Pathologyunrestricte

Thin-film Bulk Acoustic Resonators on Integrated Circuits for Physical Sensing Applications

Merging chemical and biomolecular sensors with silicon integrated circuits has the potential to push complex electronics into a low-cost, portable platform, greatly simplifying system- level instrumentation and extending the reach and functionality of point of use technologies. One such class of sensor, the thin-film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR), has a micron-scale size and low gigahertz frequency range that is ideally matched with modern complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technologies. An FBAR sensor can enable label-free detection of analytes in real time, and CMOS integration can overcome the measurement complexity and equipment cost normally required for detection with acoustic resonators. This thesis describes a body of work conducted to integrate an array of FBAR sensors with an active CMOS substrate. A monolithic fabrication method is developed, which allows for FBAR devices to be built directly on the top surface of the CMOS chip through post-processing. A custom substrate is designed and fabricated in 0.18 µm CMOS to support oscillation and frequency measurement for each sensor site in a 6×4 array. The fabrication of 0.8-1.5 GHz FBAR devices is validated for both off-chip and on-chip devices, and the integrated system is characterized for sensitivity and limit of detection. On-chip, parallel measurement of multiple sensors in real time is demonstrated for a quantitative vapor sensing application, and the limit of detection is below 50 ppm. This sensor platform could be used for a broad scope of label-free detection applications in chemistry, biology, and medicine, and it demonstrates potential for enabling a low-cost, point of use instrument

Promoting Medical Tourism to India: Messages, Images, and the Marketing of International Patient Travel

The practice of medical tourism depends on successfully informing potential patients about procedure options, treatment facilities, tourism opportunities, travel arrangements, and destination countries. The promotion of medical tourism includes a wide range of marketing materials such as flyers, booklets, and websites. Yet, there is a paucity of knowledge about the dissemination, content, and reception of these promotional materials. Drawing on   a thematic content analysis of the promotional print material distributed at the first medical tourism trade show in Canada in 2009, the main purpose of this article is to identify and understand the messages and images that companies use to market India as a global destination. While researchers and news media frequently cite low cost procedures as a key determinant for international patient travel, particularly to developing nations, our analysis reveals few low cost- related images or messages in the promotional materials distributed at the trade show. To help explain this surprising disjuncture, we  consider four related issues: (1)  promotional materials may be  designed to be  circulated amongst potential patients’ concerned family and friends who privilege knowing about things such as  the use of  advanced technologies; (2)   developing nations need to portray safe   and advanced treatment facilities in  order to dispel potential patients’ suspicions that their medical care is inferior; (3)  companies may avoid making cost saving claims that cannot be  fulfilled for  all  of  their international patients, especially those traveling from developing nations; and (4)  messages of low cost may detract from and even undermine messages about quality.  We conclude by identifying numerous avenues for  future research by  social and health scientists, and by  considering the implications of  our findings for  existing knowledge gaps and debates within health geography specifically

Missing.... presumed at random: cost-analysis of incomplete data

When collecting patient-level resource use data for statistical analysis, for some patients and in some categories of resource use, the required count will not be observed. Although this problem must arise in most reported economic evaluations containing patient-level data, it is rare for authors to detail how the problem was overcome. Statistical packages may default to handling missing data through a so-called complete case analysis, while some recent cost-analyses have appeared to favour an available case approach. Both of these methods are problematic: complete case analysis is inefficient and is likely to be biased; available case analysis, by employing different numbers of observations for each resource use item, generates severe problems for standard statistical inference. Instead we explore imputation methods for generating replacement values for missing data that will permit complete case analysis using the whole data set and we illustrate these methods using two data sets that had incomplete resource use information