Urogenital atrophy

The British Menopause Society Council aims to aid health professionals to inform and advise women about postreproductive health. This guidance refers to the long-term condition of urogenital atrophy. Treatment choice should be based on up to date information and targeted to individual women's needs. Non-estrogen and estrogen-based treatments are discussed.     

Analysis of recurrent events with non-negligible event duration,with application to assessing hospital utilization

In an attempt to provide tools for assessing hospital utilization, this paper extends well-known models for recurrent events to address non-negligible event duration and presents a procedure for estimating the model parameters. The model extension is natural and easy to understand. Asymptotic properties of the associated inferences are derived adapting the well-developed methods based on the counting process formulation. Several specifications of the proposed modeling are illustrated with the hospitalization records of childhood cancer survivors from a health care insurance system that motivated this research. The usefulness and robustness of the proposed approach is demonstrated numerically via simulation.     

Environmental management scenarios: Ecological implications

The measure of whether a management scenario is capable of establishing regional-scale ecosystem sustainability is the degree to which it recovers the historical characteristics of the regional landscape mosaic. This study examines the ability of alternate management scenarios to recover the defining ecological features of the Everglades and South Florida landscape. Five conceptual scenarios are evaluated for recovering and sustaining the ecological characteristics of the wetland systems in South Florida. First, the regional-scale physical characteristics are identified that created and supported the major organizing and driving forces in the predrainage Everglades and Big Cypress basins. Eight hypotheses are proposed to explain how human-caused modifications to these defining characteristics have been responsible for the substantial level of ecological deterioration that has been documented in South Florida wetlands during the last century. The restoration scenarios are evaluated on their proposed ability to correct the physical and biological problems identified by the hypotheses. Our assessment of the five scenarios shows that all would improve the problems addressed by the eight hypotheses, as all could more effectively move increased volumes of water across broader expanses of contiguous wetlands than do existing management programs. This would result in longer hydroperiods over larger areas, reflecting historical patterns. Two of the scenarios would be successful in increasing flows into Florida Bay and the Gulf coast estuaries because removing internal structures increases the spatial extent of the upstream areas that could be devoted to natural hydropatterns.The benefits of eastern boundary buffer zones include improved flow into the Taylor Slough basin. Using Lake Okeechobee as a site for increased water storage, followed by the addition of eastern buffer zones and portions of the Everglades Agricultural Area, would produce increased flexibility in providing the storage capacity required to meet sustainability goals. Scenarios with maximum areas of buffer not only are more successful in reducing groundwater seepage losses to the east but also are more likely to reduce the level of nutrients and other contaminants entering the natural wetlands.     

Staying the Course: On the Value of Social Studies of Science in Resistance to the “Post‐Truth” Movement

Scientific knowledge has been under attack recently, especially during and from the Trump administration. This article discusses the value of research in social studies of science in relation to scientific practice and post‐truth attacks on science. This literature analyzes the expert work and social values that enter into the production of evidence, the development and testing of methods, and the construction of theoretical and epistemological frames for connecting evidence, methods, and methodologies. Although researchers in this area argue that there are politics in science, this article demonstrates that their analyses of the processes of adjudicating evidence and epistemologies contribute to science. In contrast, post‐truth attacks on scientific expertise exemplify a particular kind of politics aimed at supporting a particular group's political and economic interests.     

Local principal differential analysis: Graphical methods for functional data with covariates

We focus on principal differential analysis (PDA) of functional data for obtaining a low-dimensional representation of a collection of curves. PDA assumes there exists a linear differential operator that results in the zero-function when it is applied to each of the data curves, or equivalently, that the curves belong to a low-dimensional subspace of a normed linear space. PDA sets out to estimate this linear differential operator from the data and proceeds from there. Our contribution is to explain how subject covariates can be incorporated into a PDA analysis for graphical exploration of patterns in the data.     

Evaluating wetlands within an urban context

Coastal regions are among the most rapidly urbanizing places on earth. The numerous effects of urbanization on hydrology, geomorphology, and ecology make wetlands in urban regions likely to function differently from wetlands in non-urban lands. Furthermore, wetlands in urban regions may take on human-related values that they lack in non-urban areas, as they provide some contact with nature, and some opportunities for recrea-tions that are otherwise rare in the urban landscape. Evaluations of the success of restorations in urban regions require that criteria first determine the kinds and intensities of urban influence on the site, and then secondly assess functional performance. The development of success criteria, at both levels of assessment, depends on the proper definition of a reference domain (the set of wetlands to which success criteria will apply), and the documentation of a set of reference sites within the domain; both must be based within the urban context appropriate for the region of interest. An example is presented from a study of urban wetlands in New Jersey of a procedure for establishing the reference domain, the reference set of wetlands, and criteria for the assessment of urban influence.     

The gender gap in the economic well-being of nonresident fathers and custodial mothers

Using a unique sample of couples with children, we estimate the gender gap in economic well-being after marital separation, something that previous studies of individuals who divorce have not been able to do. The income-to-needs levels of formerly married mothers are only 56% those of their former husbands. The postseparation gender gap is reduced if the wife was employed full-time and was an above-average earner before marital disruption. The gap is also relatively small among the least economically independent wives, those who were not employed before separation. For the latter group, the husband's relatively low income tends to reduce the gender gap.     

Love and hooking up in the new millennium: communication technology and relationships among urban African American and Puerto Rican young adults

Communication technology is a central feature of young people's lives, but its role in romantic and sexual relationships has not been thoroughly examined. This article describes how young adults use communication technology for partnering across relationship stages (formation, maintenance, and dissolution) and types (serious/casual), and proposes implications of usage in relationships. This study analyzed qualitative data from a five-week, prospective, coital diary method with related debriefing interviews (N = 70) of African American and Puerto Rican men and women aged 18 to 25 years in Hartford and Philadelphia. Cell phones, including calls, text messaging, and mobile Internet, were the most common forms of communication technology used for partnering goals. Participants reported using cell phones to pursue partnering goals across all relationship stages, including formation (meeting, screening, and getting to know new partners), maintaining existing relationships, and breaking up. Cell phone uses depended on the type of relationship (serious/casual) and the participants' intentions and desires. Results indicated that cell phones are an important element of communication among young adults in romantic and sexual relationships. Specific features of cell phone communication shape the process and context of partnering. Future research should explore emerging communication technologies and implications for psychosocial development, dating violence, and sexual behavior.     

From surviving to thriving: Understanding reunification among African American mothers with histories of addiction

Child maltreatment cases involving substance abuse have increased. Estimates reveal that between 40% and 80% of all families involved with child protection have substance-abuse issues. Only 12%-20% of substance-abusing families regain custody of their children. Little is known about the factors that contribute to substance-abusing women regaining or losing custody of their children. Using the Multiple Embedded Case Study method, this study illuminates the experiences and feelings of mothers struggling to overcome addiction and highlights the main differences between women who regained custody and those who permanently lost custody of their children. In this study, 50% of the women lost custody and 50% regained custody of their children. The women who lost custody of their children tended to be in survival mode, characterized as going through the motions, engaging in acting-out behaviors, and failing to follow treatment recommendations. The women who regained custody of their children tended to thrive, characterized as having internal motivation, taking responsibility, and engaging the material. This study advances our knowledge of the factors contributing to reunification. Understanding these factors can lead to the development of practices that increase the likelihood of reunification for families struggling to overcome addiction.