The prevalence of child sexual abuse in community and student samples: A meta-analysis

Background: Studies conducted internationally confirm that child sexual abuse is a much more widespread problem than previously thought, with even the lowest prevalence rates including a large number of victims that need to be taken into account. Objective: To carry out a meta-analysis of the prevalence of child sexual abuse in order to establish an overall international figure. Methods: Studies were retrieved from various electronic databases. The measure of interest was the prevalence of abuse reported in each article, these values being combined via a random effects model. A detailed analysis was conducted of the effects of various moderator variables. Results: Sixty-five articles covering 22 countries were included. The analysis showed that 7.9% of men (7.4% without outliers) and 19.7% of women (19.2% without outliers) had suffered some form of sexual abuse prior to the age of eighteen. Conclusions: The results of the present meta-analysis indicate that child sexual abuse is a serious problem in the countries analysed.

Right ventricular dysfunction in children and adolescents conceived by assisted reproductive technologies.

Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) predispose the offspring to vascular dysfunction, arterial hypertension, and hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. Recently, cardiac remodeling and dysfunction during fetal and early postnatal life have been reported in offspring of ART, but it is not known whether these cardiac alterations persist later in life and whether confounding factors contribute to this problem. We, therefore, assessed cardiac function and pulmonary artery pressure by echocardiography in 54 healthy children conceived by ART (mean age 11.5 ± 2.4 yr) and 54 age-matched (12.2 ± 2.3 yr) and sex-matched control children. Because ART is often associated with low birth weight and prematurity, two potential confounders associated with cardiac dysfunction, only singletons born with normal birth weight at term were studied. Moreover, because cardiac remodeling in infants conceived by ART was observed in utero, a situation associated with increased right heart load, we also assessed cardiac function during high-altitude exposure, a condition associated with hypoxic pulmonary hypertension-induced right ventricular overload. We found that, while at low altitude cardiac morphometry and function was not different between children conceived by ART and control children, under the stressful conditions of high-altitude-induced pressure overload and hypoxia, larger right ventricular end-diastolic area and diastolic dysfunction (evidenced by lower E-wave tissue Doppler velocity and A-wave tissue Doppler velocity of the lateral tricuspid annulus) were detectable in children and adolescents conceived by ART. In conclusion, right ventricular dysfunction persists in children and adolescents conceived by ART. These cardiac alterations appear to be related to ART per se rather than to low birth weight or prematurity.

REGSTATTOOLS: freeware statistical tools for the analysis of disease population databases used in health and social studies

Background: The repertoire of statistical methods dealing with the descriptive analysis of the burden of a disease has been expanded and implemented in statistical software packages during the last years. The purpose of this paper is to present a web-based tool, REGSTATTOOLS http://regstattools.net intended to provide analysis for the burden of cancer, or other group of disease registry data. Three software applications are included in REGSTATTOOLS: SART (analysis of disease"s rates and its time trends), RiskDiff (analysis of percent changes in the rates due to demographic factors and risk of developing or dying from a disease) and WAERS (relative survival analysis). Results: We show a real-data application through the assessment of the burden of tobacco-related cancer incidence in two Spanish regions in the period 1995-2004. Making use of SART we show that lung cancer is the most common cancer among those cancers, with rising trends in incidence among women. We compared 2000-2004 data with that of 1995-1999 to assess percent changes in the number of cases as well as relative survival using RiskDiff and WAERS, respectively. We show that the net change increase in lung cancer cases among women was mainly attributable to an increased risk of developing lung cancer, whereas in men it is attributable to the increase in population size. Among men, lung cancer relative survival was higher in 2000-2004 than in 1995-1999, whereas it was similar among women when these time periods were compared. Conclusions: Unlike other similar applications, REGSTATTOOLS does not require local software installation and it is simple to use, fast and easy to interpret. It is a set of web-based statistical tools intended for automated calculation of population indicators that any professional in health or social sciences may require.

Wireless E-Business Applications in ICT Industry

Sähköisen liiketoiminnan sovelluksia on voitu toistaiseksi käyttää useimmissa tapauksissa vain langallisen yhteyden kautta. Uudet langattomat teknologiat, jotka ovat kehittyneet nopeasti muutaman viimeisen vuoden aikana, mahdollistavat näiden sovellusten käytön ajasta ja paikasta riippumatta. Tämän työn tavoitteena oli tutkia langattomien sähköisen liiketoiminnan sovellusten käyttöä ja hyötyjä tieto- ja viestintäteollisuudessa. Työssä keskitytään tutkimaan tätä tietotekniikan evoluutioaskelta yksittäisen yrityksen kannalta: rajoittuen omassa toiminnassa käytettäviin sovelluksiin. Tutkimus luo viitekehyksen mobiilisuuden evoluutioon, uuden tietotekniikan vaikutuksiin ja hyötyihin sekä tarkemmin langattomiin sähköisen liiketoiminnan sovelluksiin. Tätä viitekehystä käytetään analysoitaessa nykyistä käyttöä tutkimuksen kohteena olevissa yrityksissä. Tutkimuksen johtopäätökset niin nykyisestä käytöstä kuin myös tulevasta ovat syntyneet viitekehyksen, nykyisen käytön, sekä tehtyjen haastattelujen pohjalta.

Cardan Gear Mechanism versus Slider-Crank Mechanism in Pumps and Engines

In machine design we always want to save space, save energy and produce as much power as possible. We can often reduce accelerations, inertial loads and energy consumption by changing construction. In this study the old cardan gear mechanism (hypocycloid mechanism) has been compared with the conventional slider-crank mechanism in air pumps and four-stroke engines. Comprehensive Newtonian dynamics has been derived for the both mechanisms. First the slidercrank and the cardan gear machines have been studied as lossless systems. Then the friction losses have been added to the calculations. The calculation results show that the cardan gear machines can be more efficient than the slider-crank machines. The smooth running, low mass inertia, high pressures and small frictional power losses make the cardan gear machines clearly better than the slider-crank machines. The dynamic tooth loads of the original cardan gear construction do not rise very high when the tooth clearances are kept tight. On the other hand the half-size crank length causes high bearing forces in the cardan gear machines. The friction losses of the cardan gear machines are generally quite small. The mechanical efficiencies are much higher in the cardan gear machines than in the slider-crank machines in normal use. Crankshaft torques and power needs are smaller in the cardan gear air pumps than in the equal slider-crank air pumps. The mean crankshaft torque and the mean output power are higher in the cardan gear four-stroke engines than in the slider-crank four-stroke engines in normal use. The cardan gear mechanism is at its best, when we want to build a pump or an engine with a long connecting rod (≈ 5⋅crank length) and a thin piston (≈ 1.5⋅crank length) rotating at high angular velocity and intermittently high angular acceleration. The cardan gear machines can be designed also as slide constructions without gears. Suitable applications of the cardan gear machines are three-cylinder half-radial engines for motorcycles, sixcylinder radial engines for airplanes and six-cylinder double half-radial engines for sport cars. The applied equations of Newtonian dynamics, comparative calculations, calculation results (tables, curves and surface plots) and recommendations presented in this study hold novelty value and are unpublished before. They have been made and written by the author first time in this study.

Fetal laser therapy: applications in the management of fetal pathologies.

Fetoscopic coagulation of placental anastomoses is the treatment of choice for severe twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. In the present day, fetal laser therapy is also used to treat amniotic bands, chorioangiomas, sacrococcygeal teratomas, lower urinary tract obstructions and chest masses, all of which will be reviewed in this article. Amniotic band syndrome can cause limb amputation by impairing downstream blood flow. Large chorioangiomas (>4 cm), sacrococcygeal teratomas or fetal hyperechoic lung lesions can lead to fetal compromise and hydrops by vascular steal phenomenon or compression. Renal damage, bladder dysfunction and lastly death because of pulmonary hypolasia may be the result of megacystis caused by a posterior urethral valve. The prognosis of these pathologies can be dismal, and therapy options are limited, which has brought fetal laser therapy to the forefront. Management options discussed here are laser release of amniotic bands, laser coagulation of the placental or fetal tumor feeding vessels and laser therapy by fetal cystoscopy. This review, largely based on case reports, does not intend to provide a level of evidence supporting laser therapy over other treatment options. Centralized evaluation by specialists using strict selection criteria and long-term follow-up of these rare cases are now needed to prove the value of endoscopic or ultrasound-guided laser therapy.

In vitro and in vivo ocular biocompatibility of electrospun poly(ɛ-caprolactone) nanofibers.

Biocompatibility is a requirement for the development of nanofibers for ophthalmic applications. In this study, nanofibers were elaborated using poly(ε-caprolactone) via electrospinning. The ocular biocompatibility of this material was investigated. MIO-M1 and ARPE-19 cell cultures were incubated with nanofibers and cellular responses were monitored by viability and morphology. The in vitro biocompatibility revealed that the nanofibers were not cytotoxic to the ocular cells. These cells exposed to the nanofibers proliferated and formed an organized monolayer. ARPE-19 and MIO-M1 cells were capable of expressing GFAP, respectively, demonstrating their functionality. Nanofibers were inserted into the vitreous cavity of the rat's eye for 10days and the in vivo biocompatibility was investigated using Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), histology and measuring the expression of pro-inflammatory genes (IL-1β, TNF-α, VEGF and iNOS) (real-time PCR). The OCT and the histological analyzes exhibited the preserved architecture of the tissues of the eye. The biomaterial did not elicit an inflammatory reaction and pro-inflammatory cytokines were not expressed by the retinal cells, and the other posterior tissues of the eye. Results from the biocompatibility studies indicated that the nanofibers exhibited a high degree of cellular biocompatibility and short-term intraocular tolerance, indicating that they might be applied as drug carrier for ophthalmic use.

High prevalence of PRPH2 in autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa in france and characterization of biochemical and clinical features.

PURPOSE: To assess the prevalence of PRPH2 in autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP), to report 6 novel mutations, to characterize the biochemical features of a recurrent novel mutation, and to study the clinical features of adRP patients. DESIGN: Retrospective clinical and molecular genetic study. METHODS: Clinical investigations included visual field testing, fundus examination, high-resolution spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT), fundus autofluorescence imaging, and electroretinogram (ERG) recording. PRPH2 was screened by Sanger sequencing in a cohort of 310 French families with adRP. Peripherin-2 protein was produced in yeast and analyzed by Western blot. RESULTS: We identified 15 mutations, including 6 novel and 9 previously reported changes in 32 families, accounting for a prevalence of 10.3% in this adRP population. We showed that a new recurrent p.Leu254Gln mutation leads to protein aggregation, suggesting abnormal folding. The clinical severity of the disease in examined patients was moderate with 78% of the eyes having 1-0.5 of visual acuity and 52% of the eyes retaining more than 50% of the visual field. Some patients characteristically showed vitelliform deposits or macular involvement. In some families, pericentral RP or macular dystrophy were found in family members while widespread RP was present in other members of the same families. CONCLUSIONS: The mutations in PRPH2 account for 10.3% of adRP in the French population, which is higher than previously reported (0%-8%) This makes PRPH2 the second most frequent adRP gene after RHO in our series. PRPH2 mutations cause highly variable phenotypes and moderate forms of adRP, including mild cases, which could be underdiagnosed.

A Pragmatic Intellectual: Dutch Fabians, Boekman, and Cultural Policy in the Netherlands, 1890-1940

Around 1900, the notion of community art (gemeenschapskunst) served to crystallize Dutch social democratic thinking about the role of the arts in society. Drawing on the pragmatism of leading social democrats like Wibaut, and drawing on his formal education in economics and statistics, the self‐made social democrat Emanuel Boekman redressed the utopian meaning of community art to signify the dissemination of "good" culture over all layers of society in his influential 1939 dissertation on the relation of the state to the arts. Being about facts rather than opinions, Boekman set the boundaries of his work to exclude a substantial discussion of the meaning of "good" culture. On the one hand, this pragmatism helped Boekman to gain support for government intervention for the arts over most of the political spectrum. On the other hand, Boekman thus pre‐empted discussions about the tension between "quality" and "accessibility" of the arts that haunts cultural policy in the Netherlands to this day.

Parallel declines in species and genetic diversity driven by anthropogenic disturbance: a multispecies approach in a French Atlantic dune system.

Numerous studies assess the correlation between genetic and species diversities, but the processes underlying the observed patterns have only received limited attention. For instance, varying levels of habitat disturbance across a region may locally reduce both diversities due to extinctions, and increased genetic drift during population bottlenecks and founder events. We investigated the regional distribution of genetic and species diversities of a coastal sand dune plant community along 240 kilometers of coastline with the aim to test for a correlation between the two diversity levels. We further quantify and tease apart the respective contributions of natural and anthropogenic disturbance factors to the observed patterns. We detected significant positive correlation between both variables. We further revealed a negative impact of urbanization: Sites with a high amount of recreational infrastructure within 10 km coastline had significantly lowered genetic and species diversities. On the other hand, a measure of natural habitat disturbance had no effect. This study shows that parallel variation of genetic and species diversities across a region can be traced back to human landscape alteration, provides arguments for a more resolute dune protection, and may help to design priority conservation areas.

Serological and virological surveys of the influenza A viruses in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic penguins

To evaluate the avian influenza virus (AIV) circulation in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic penguins we carried out a serosurvey on six species from Livingston, Marion and Gough islands. Seropositivity against AIV was performed on serum samples using a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and haemagglutination and neuraminidase inhibition assays. Some oropharyngeal and cloacal swabs were also assayed to detect influenza virus genomes by real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Overall, 12.1% (n = 140) penguins were seropositive to AIV. By species, we detected 5% (n = 19) and 11% (n = 18) seroprevalence in sub-Antarctic rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes spp.) from Gough and Marion islands, respectively, 42% (n = 33) seroprevalence in macaroni penguins (Eudyptes chysolophus Brandt), but no positives in the three other species, gentoo (Pygoscelis papua Forster; n = 25) and chinstrap penguins (P. antarctica Forster; n = 16), from Livingston Island and king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus Miller; n = 27) from Marion Island. While seropositivity reflected previous exposure to the AIV, the influenza genome was not detected. Our results indicate that AIV strains have circulated in penguin species in the sub-Antarctic region, but further studies are necessary to determine the precise role that such penguin species play in AIV epidemiology and if this circulation is species (or genus) specific.

Adaptive optimization schemes for mobile VoIP applications Battery life and call quality aspects

In this thesis programmatic, application-layer means for better energy-efficiency in the VoIP application domain are studied. The work presented concentrates on optimizations which are suitable for VoIP-implementations utilizing SIP and IEEE 802.11 technologies. Energy-saving optimizations can have an impact on perceived call quality, and thus energy-saving means are studied together with those factors affecting perceived call quality. In this thesis a general view on a topic is given. Based on theory, adaptive optimization schemes for dynamic controlling of application's operation are proposed. A runtime quality model, capable of being integrated into optimization schemes, is developed for VoIP call quality estimation. Based on proposed optimization schemes, some power consumption measurements are done to find out achievable advantages. Measurement results show that a reduction in power consumption is possible to achieve with the help of adaptive optimization schemes.

Towards an Integrative Information Society: Studies on Individuality in Speech and Sign

The flow of information within modern information society has increased rapidly over the last decade. The major part of this information flow relies on the individual’s abilities to handle text or speech input. For the majority of us it presents no problems, but there are some individuals who would benefit from other means of conveying information, e.g. signed information flow. During the last decades the new results from various disciplines have all suggested towards the common background and processing for sign and speech and this was one of the key issues that I wanted to investigate further in this thesis. The basis of this thesis is firmly within speech research and that is why I wanted to design analogous test batteries for widely used speech perception tests for signers – to find out whether the results for signers would be the same as in speakers’ perception tests. One of the key findings within biology – and more precisely its effects on speech and communication research – is the mirror neuron system. That finding has enabled us to form new theories about evolution of communication, and it all seems to converge on the hypothesis that all communication has a common core within humans. In this thesis speech and sign are discussed as equal and analogical counterparts of communication and all research methods used in speech are modified for sign. Both speech and sign are thus investigated using similar test batteries. Furthermore, both production and perception of speech and sign are studied separately. An additional framework for studying production is given by gesture research using cry sounds. Results of cry sound research are then compared to results from children acquiring sign language. These results show that individuality manifests itself from very early on in human development. Articulation in adults, both in speech and sign, is studied from two perspectives: normal production and re-learning production when the apparatus has been changed. Normal production is studied both in speech and sign and the effects of changed articulation are studied with regards to speech. Both these studies are done by using carrier sentences. Furthermore, sign production is studied giving the informants possibility for spontaneous speech. The production data from the signing informants is also used as the basis for input in the sign synthesis stimuli used in sign perception test battery. Speech and sign perception were studied using the informants’ answers to questions using forced choice in identification and discrimination tasks. These answers were then compared across language modalities. Three different informant groups participated in the sign perception tests: native signers, sign language interpreters and Finnish adults with no knowledge of any signed language. This gave a chance to investigate which of the characteristics found in the results were due to the language per se and which were due to the changes in modality itself. As the analogous test batteries yielded similar results over different informant groups, some common threads of results could be observed. Starting from very early on in acquiring speech and sign the results were highly individual. However, the results were the same within one individual when the same test was repeated. This individuality of results represented along same patterns across different language modalities and - in some occasions - across language groups. As both modalities yield similar answers to analogous study questions, this has lead us to providing methods for basic input for sign language applications, i.e. signing avatars. This has also given us answers to questions on precision of the animation and intelligibility for the users – what are the parameters that govern intelligibility of synthesised speech or sign and how precise must the animation or synthetic speech be in order for it to be intelligible. The results also give additional support to the well-known fact that intelligibility in fact is not the same as naturalness. In some cases, as shown within the sign perception test battery design, naturalness decreases intelligibility. This also has to be taken into consideration when designing applications. All in all, results from each of the test batteries, be they for signers or speakers, yield strikingly similar patterns, which would indicate yet further support for the common core for all human communication. Thus, we can modify and deepen the phonetic framework models for human communication based on the knowledge obtained from the results of the test batteries within this thesis.

Experiences in using a structured method in finding and defining new innovations: the strategic options approach

Investment decision-making on far-reaching innovation ideas is one of the key challenges practitioners and academics face in the field of innovation management. However, the management practices and theories strongly rely on evaluation systems that do not fit in well with this setting. These systems and practices normally cannot capture the value of future opportunities under high uncertainty because they ignore the firm’s potential for growth and flexibility. Real options theory and options-based methods have been offered as a solution to facilitate decision-making on highly uncertain investment objects. Much of the uncertainty inherent in these investment objects is attributable to unknown future events. In this setting, real options theory and methods have faced some challenges. First, the theory and its applications have largely been limited to market-priced real assets. Second, the options perspective has not proved as useful as anticipated because the tools it offers are perceived to be too complicated for managerial use. Third, there are challenges related to the type of uncertainty existing real options methods can handle: they are primarily limited to parametric uncertainty. Nevertheless, the theory is considered promising in the context of far-reaching and strategically important innovation ideas. The objective of this dissertation is to clarify the potential of options-based methodology in the identification of innovation opportunities. The constructive research approach gives new insights into the development potential of real options theory under non-parametric and closeto- radical uncertainty. The distinction between real options and strategic options is presented as an explanans for the discovered limitations of the theory. The findings offer managers a new means of assessing future innovation ideas based on the frameworks constructed during the course of the study.