Health service utilization among widows living with HIV/AIDS: an interview survey in Manipur, India

Widows living with HIV/AIDS (WLHA) are a vulnerable and often overlooked group. The North Eastern Indian state of Manipur, which has one of the highest concentrations of HIV/AIDS cases in India, is not an exception. This paper aims to describe the pattern of and factors contributing to the use of health services by WLHA in Manipur. Structured face-to-face interviews were conducted among 510 respondents. Only 49% of the respondents were aware of available health facilities. The place of residence (67.8%) and appointment at a convenient time (70.8%) were the main factors affecting the use of health services. To improve access to health services, it is imperative that the services of trained health providers are made easily available. Policy makers and organizations working on HIV/AIDs should work together to remove the barriers to the use of health services, making them user friendly for vulnerable groups such as WLHA.     

Attributions of Blame and Responsibility in Sexual Harassment: Reexamining a Psychological Model

Kelley’s (Nebr Symp Motiv 15:192–238, 1967) attribution theory can inform sexual harassment research by identifying how observers use consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness information in determining whether a target or perpetrator is responsible for a sexual harassment situation. In this study, Kelley’s theory is applied to a scenario in which a male perpetrator sexually harasses a female target in a university setting. Results from 314 predominantly female college students indicate that consistency and consensus information significantly affect participants’ judgments of blame and responsibility for the situation. The authors discuss the importance of the reference groups used to derive consensus and distinctiveness information, and reintroduce Kelley’s attribution theory as a means of understanding observers’ perceptions of sexual harassment.     

Spectroscopic characterization of 3,4-methylenedioxypyrrolidinobutyrophenone: a new designer drug with α-pyrrolidinophenone structure

This study presents and discusses the infrared spectroscopic, the nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic and mass spectrometric data of the designer drug 3,4 methylenedioxypyrrolidinobutyrophenone (MDPBP), a homolog of 3,4 methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV). MDPBP was first seized in Germany in the year 2009. The structure elucidation of the aliphatic part of MDPBP was carried out by product ion spectrometry of the immonium ion with m/z=112 formed after electron ionization, and by one- and two-dimensional (1)H- and (13)C NMR spectroscopy.     

El Título en la Mano: The Impact of Titling Programs on Low‐Income Housing in Texas Colonias

This article analyzes the impact of The Community Resources Group Receivership Program undertaken from 1998 to 2002 that provided clean property titles to residents in several informal housing colonias (subdivisions) in South Texas. Survey data were gathered from 260 low‐income households comprising two populations: those who had secure title from the outset, and those who were beneficiaries of the land titling program. Focus group interviews were conducted to explore how the beneficiaries construct the meaning of ownership before and after title “regularization.” Formal titling consolidates understandings of absolute property relations in comparison with de facto rights born of use (legal or not), which strengthens people's sense of self‐esteem and potential for political involvement. We found that, contrary to conventional wisdom, title provision per se appears to have little direct impact either upon home improvement or upon residents' receiving enhanced access to credit and financial services. We also found evidence that informality and illegality is likely to reemerge as owners die intestate, and as they revert to informal land market property transfers.     

Recent Iowa trends in sudden unexpected infant deaths: the importance of public health collaboration with medical examiners' offices

During the winter in 2008, Iowa experienced an increase in sudden unexplained infant deaths (SUIDs). SUIDs and infectious causes of infant deaths generally average 3 monthly (SD = 1.0) in Iowa. However, in January 2008, 9 infant deaths were reported to the Iowa Department of Public Health and the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner. Between January and March of 2008, joint investigation of 22 SUIDs was conducted. The investigations required the involvement of multiple medical examiners from various jurisdictions, testing for pathogens at the University Hygienic Laboratory, epidemiologic support from the Iowa Department of Public Health, and consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The preliminary hypotheses for the increase in the infant mortality included viral respiratory disease and/or possible novel respiratory viral infections being the cause. Collaboration between public health and the medical examiner offices resulted in timely assessment of the cases. While no single causative agent was responsible for the increase seen in the number of infant deaths, respiratory pathogens played a role in the deaths of 15 of 22 children.     

Impact of parental holocaust traumatization on offsprings' reports of parental child-rearing practices

The impact of severe parental traumatization on child rearing was investigated in a nonselective nonclinical group of Israeli adolescents, offspring of Holocaust survivors (N=76). Adolescents' reports of parental behavior were correlated with a measure of severity of parental Holocaust traumatization. For boys, the severity of paternal traumatization (PT) correlated negatively with reported child-rearing practices denoting both paternal nurturance and paternal control. Mothers were perceived by boys as withholding nurturance and exerting hostile control as a function of their spouses' degree of traumatization (PT). Females perceived fathers as being inconsistent socializers, with anxiety-provoking and enforcement overtones as a function of PT. PT is, however, uncorrelated with any maternal practices as reported by girls. The severity of maternal traumatization (MT) was correlated with fathers' refrainment with girls from harsh modes, such as control, hostile control, and instilling anxiety. MT correlated for boys with maternal refrainment from harsh child-rearing practices, such as hostile control and enforcement. The results clearly point to the existence of significant associations between degree of parental traumatization and reported child-rearing experiences. The pattern of correlations indicate specific intragender and intergender transgenerational interactions.Received his Ph.D. at Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1976. Fulbright scholar in Child Development at UCLA (1977). Major interests are personality assessment, personality development, and transgenerational aftermath of holocaust traumatization.Received his M.D. at Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany, in 1952. Major interests are problems of trauma, mourning and bereavement, transgenerational transmission of identity in families, and psychoanalytic aspects of historical processes.     

The role of the high school professional in identifying and managing adolescent suicidal behavior

The ongoing contact of adolescents with high school staff may provide an opportunity for the early identification and effective management of suicidal behavior. In this study, the knowledge, attitude, and experience of 80 high school professionals regarding adolescent suicide were assessed through semistructured personal interviews. Respondents identified more than 30 signs of potential vulnerability — manifestations of depression, verbal and written cues, isolation, and self-destructive behaviors. Among predisposing factors, those related to alienation within the family were most prominent. Other important risk factors were low self-esteem, difficulty in peer relationships, and economic or ethnic differences from other students. When suicidal behaviors occurred, respondents saw students and staff as attempting to be helpful; families were more often viewed as defensive.     

Physische Attraktivität und Wahlerfolg. Eine empirische Analyse am Beispiel der Wahlkreiskandidaten bei der Bundestagswahl 2002

Even if there is a vast body of literature on the attractiveness stereotype, little is known about the effects of the physical attractiveness of politicians. This holds true especially with regard to the relationship between physical attractiveness and electoral success. Taking the German Federal Election of 2002 as an example, the effect of the attractiveness of the candidates in the constituencies on their personal votes is analyzed. The attractiveness is judged by a group of raters on the basis of photographs used by the candidates for their self-representation. By means of multiple linear regression analysis it can be shown that the physical attractiveness of the candidates in the constituencies has a statistically significant and politically relevant impact on the share of votes they receive.