A unique collaboration of female medical providers within the United States Armed Forces: rehabilitation of a marine with post-concussive vestibulopathy

Uncle Sam's loyal nieces have come a long way from the days of World War I. The development of occupational and physical therapy was heavily influenced by an early relationship with medical specialists during the First World War. This relationship can be considered largely responsible for the eventual acceptance (by the Armed Forces) of women working in this area. Over the past decade active duty women have seen many changes in opportunities to serve and are now stationed aboard aircraft carriers, performing roles previously considered for male personnel. We report a case study of the medical care provided by both military and civilian women working for the United States Armed Forces. Initial assessment was conducted in a battalion aid station of a United States Marine Corp base and the subject was then referred to a military medical center with highly technical vestibular assessment and rehabilitation services. The subject's case represents a unique collaboration of women therapists, enabling a Marines' access to timely and accurate assessment, treatment and ultimately, successful return to active duty. This case study is one of many examples of the acceptance and successful integration of women as providers of medical care within the Military's medical framework.     

Meeting report: 4th European Congress of Biogerontology

The 4th European Congress of Biogerontology took place in Newcastle upon Tyne in November 2004. Leading figures in the biology of aging presented their recent work, providing new insights into fundamental mechanisms of aging as it occurs in organisms ranging from yeast to the human species. Highlights of these presentations are presented here.     

Language usage and fertility in the Mexican-origin population of the United States

This article examines the effects of English proficiency and female education on cumulative and recent fertility within the Mexican-origin population in the U.S. To ascertain whether the cultural or the human capital aspects of linguistic variables have the greater salience for fertility behavior, fertility patterns of bilingual women are compared with those of monolingual women speaking English or Spanish. Using the 1980 U.S. Census 5 percent Public Use Microdata Sample for ever-married Mexican-origin women aged 15-44, we find that for almost all age cohorts, the effects of English proficiency are negative and increase with rising education. The strength of the interaction is greater in younger age groups. Greater English proficiency is also associated with a more negative impact of education for native- than foreign-born women. Overall, the influence of "opportunity cost," as opposed to cultural factors, is more important in shaping the fertility behavior of these women.     

Traceability and Risk Analysis Strategies for Addressing Counterfeit Electronics in Supply Chains for Complex Systems

Within the microelectronics industry, there is a growing concern regarding the introduction of counterfeit electronic parts into the supply chain. Even though this problem is widespread, there have been limited attempts to implement risk‐based approaches for testing and supply chain management. Supply chain risk management tends to focus on the highly visible disruptions of the supply chain instead of the covert entrance of counterfeits; thus counterfeit risk is difficult to mitigate. This article provides an overview of the complexities of the electronics supply chain, and highlights some gaps in risk assessment practices. In particular, this article calls for enhanced traceability capabilities to track and trace parts at risk through various stages of the supply chain. Placing the focus on risk‐informed decision making through the following strategies is needed, including prioritization of high‐risk parts, moving beyond certificates of conformance, incentivizing best supply chain management practices, adoption of industry standards, and design and management for supply chain resilience.     

Popularity: Does it magnify associations between popularity prioritization and the bullying and defending behavior of early adolescent boys and girls?

We investigated the contribution of popularity, popularity prioritization, and gender to the explanation of bullying and defending behavior. Participants were 191 early adolescents (124 girls and 67 boys), aged from 10.9 to 13.6 years. Results revealed that adolescents high on popularity were more likely to bully others. Greater popularity prioritization was also associated with more bullying among boys with high levels, and girls with low levels, of popularity. In addition, popularity was positively related to defending among girls, but not boys. Lower popularity prioritization also contributed to greater defending overall. The implications of these findings for understanding bullying and defending are discussed.     

Making Research Count: What Australian Social Work Researchers Think

A central question in the research utilisation literature is what happens to research evidence once it is produced. In social work, this has frequently translated to questions of whether and how social workers use research in practice. Despite these questions, relatively little is known about the ways in which research comes to be used in social work practice. This paper reports on a study of research utilisation in social work, which examined researchers’ perceptions of the factors impacting on research use in social work. The specific focus of this study was on the impact of interaction between researchers and practitioners on research use in practice. The study replicated a scale used in prior studies on knowledge utilisation to collect data from 60 Australian researchers publishing in social work journals, all of whom reported some level of research use by practitioners. Key variables were coproduction, engagement, and research utilisation. Implications for future use of the survey instrument for the measurement and implementation of research use in social work are discussed.     

Multiple Coordination Patterns in Infant and Adult Vocalizations

The study of vocal coordination between infants and adults has led to important insights into the development of social, cognitive, emotional, and linguistic abilities. We used an automatic system to identify vocalizations produced by infants and adults over the course of the day for fifteen infants studied longitudinally during the first 2 years of life. We measured three different types of vocal coordination: coincidence‐based, rate‐based, and cluster‐based. Coincidence‐based coordination and rate‐based coordination are established measures in the developmental literature. Cluster‐based coordination is new and measures the strength of matching in the degree to which vocalization events occur in hierarchically nested clusters. We investigated whether various coordination patterns differ as a function of vocalization type, whether different coordination patterns provide unique information about the dynamics of vocal interaction, and how the various coordination patterns each relate to infant age. All vocal coordination patterns displayed greater coordination for infant speech‐related vocalizations, adults adapted the hierarchical clustering of their vocalizations to match that of infants, and each of the three coordination patterns had unique associations with infant age. Altogether, our results indicate that vocal coordination between infants and adults is multifaceted, suggesting a complex relationship between vocal coordination and the development of vocal communication.     

The difficulties of women living with HIV infection.

Eighty women described the most difficult aspects of living with HIV infection. Content analysis revealed four themes: fear, limitation, symptoms, and emotions. Fears related to disclosure and stigma were more frequently described than fears of dying. Limitations were financial, sexual/reproductive, and physical. The physical limitations were related to the presence of symptoms leading to a wide range of emotions.     

Continuity and change in the Community Development Employment Projects Scheme (CDEP)

The Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) scheme is an example of an Indigenous‐specific program that combines community development and labour market program elements. This paper describes the nature of CDEP employment in 2008 and the extent to which it changed between 1994 and 2008. The paper also compares a selection of economic and social outcomes of CDEP participants with those of persons who were employed outside of CDEP, unemployed and not‐in‐the‐labour‐force (NILF) in 2008 and the extent to which these associations changed between 1994 and 2008. This paper also aims to assess the extent to which CDEP participation is consistent with the community development objectives of the scheme. The analysis shows that the nature of the jobs in which CDEP participants work and the experiences it provides to workers have changed little despite substantial changes in underlying policy settings. CDEP participation is associated with the maintenance of language and culture as well as facilitating an ongoing connection to traditional lands. Participation in the scheme is associated with better social and economic outcomes compared to those of the unemployed or those NILF, but much worse outcomes than those for people working in non‐CDEP employment.