A Novel Device for the Evaluation of Hemostatic Function in Critical Care Settings.

Major surgical procedures often result in significant intra- and postoperative bleeding. The ability to identify the cause of the bleeding has the potential to reduce the transfusion of blood products and improve patient care. We present a novel device, the Quantra Hemostasis Analyzer, which has been designed for automated, rapid, near-patient monitoring of hemostasis. The Quantra is based on Sonic Estimation of Elasticity via Resonance Sonorheometry, a proprietary technology that uses ultrasound to measure clot time and clot stiffness from changes in viscoelastic properties of whole blood during coagulation. We present results of internal validation and analytical performance testing of the technology and demonstrate the ability to characterize the key functional components of hemostasis.

Menstruation and School Absenteeism: Evidence from Rural Malawi.

The provision of toilets and menstrual supplies has emerged as a promising programmatic strategy to support adolescent girls' school attendance and performance in less developed countries. We use the first round of the Malawi Schooling and Adolescent Survey (MSAS) to examine the individual- and school-level factors associated with menstruation-related school absenteeism. The MSAS is a school-based longitudinal survey of adolescent students enrolled in coed public primary schools in the southern districts of Machinga and Balaka who were aged 14-16 in 2007. Although one-third of female students report missing at least one day of school at their last menstrual period, our data suggest that menstruation only accounts for a small proportion of all female absenteeism and does not create a gender gap in absenteeism. We find no evidence for school-level variance in menstruation-related absenteeism, suggesting that absenteeism is not sensitive to school environments. Rather, co-residence with a grandmother and spending time on school work at home reduce the odds of absence during the last menstrual period.

Marriage and childbirth as factors in dropping out from school: an analysis of DHS data from sub-Saharan Africa.

Leaving school prematurely is often claimed to be among the most negative consequences of early marriage and pregnancy for girls in less developed countries. However, an analysis of the relative frequency with which these events actually occur or are named as reasons for leaving school reveals that, at least in the case of francophone Africa, they explain no more than 20 per cent of dropouts. To the extent that demographic events trump school or family factors as determinants of school-leaving, our data indicate that it is union formation--defined by the DHS as first marriage or cohabitation--rather than childbirth that is more likely to have this effect. 'Schoolgirl pregnancy' typically accounts for only between 5 and 10 per cent of girls' departures from school. Furthermore, the risks of leaving school because of pregnancy or marriage have declined over time with the decline in rates of early marriage and childbearing.

Associations between premarital sex and leaving school in four sub-Saharan African countries.

With the spread of formal schooling in sub-Saharan Africa and delays in the age at marriage, a growing proportion of adolescents remain enrolled in school when they "come of age." As a consequence, more and more adolescents have to negotiate sexual maturation and sexual initiation in a vastly different context from that of prior generations. Using data from the 2004 National Survey of Adolescents conducted in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, and Uganda, we investigate the empirical association between premarital sex and leaving school among those who were enrolled in school at the outset of adolescence (age 12). Discrete-time logistic regression models show that, in general, girls are more likely than boys to leave school before completing secondary school, before completing primary school, and, among those completing primary school, before progressing to secondary school. Girls who complete primary school, however, do so at the same age as or a younger age than their male peers. Girls appear more vulnerable to leaving school once they engage in premarital sex. These findings can assist researchers, policymakers, program managers, and educators in understanding and addressing the challenges to educational attainment posed by the increasing proportion of school-aged adolescents engaging in premarital sex.

The effects of improved child survival on family planning practice and fertility

Better Health for Women and Children through Family Planning. Population Council; 5-9 Oct. 1987

. World Health Organization

. International Planed Parenthood Federation

. UNICEF

. UNDP

. PNUD

. World Bank

. Banco Mundial

Educación de la mujer y fecundidad: un decenio de cambios en cuatro países latinoamericanos / Woman education and fertility: a decade of changes in four latinoamerican countries

Los datos obtenidos a raíz de nuevos estudios revelan que ha habido uma rapida disminución de la fecundidad en cuatro paises latinoamericano. Además, en tres de ellos (Colombia, Equador y la Republica Dominicana), la brecha en la fecundidad entre mujeres instruidas y no instruidas, que había sido muy amplia en los años 70, comezaba a reducirse. No obstante, los diferenciales de la fecundidad por nivel de escolaridad siguen siendo substantivos, particularmente en el Perú, donde no se han modificado pese a la disminución de la fecundidad general. En estos cuatro países, las mujeres de edad fertil tienen una escolaridad media de entre seis y siete años completos, aunque la proporción de no instruidas o escasamente instruidas (uno a tres años de escolaridad) oscila del 23 al 31 por cientro. Además de tener una fecundidad menor y desear familias menos numerosas, las mujeres de mayor educación suelen casarse más tarde y mostrarese más propensas a practicar la anticoncepción que las menos instruidas.(AU)