1.  Peer Reviewed Title: Increasing the acceptability of HIV counseling and testing with three C's: convenience, confidentiality and credibility. Author: Angotti N; Bula A; Gaydosh L; Kimchi EZ; Thornton RL; Yeatman SE Source: Social Science and Medicine. 2009 Jun;68(12):2263-70. Abstract: Agencies engaged in humanitarian efforts to prevent the further spread of HIV have emphasized the importance of voluntary counseling and testing (VCT), and most high-prevalence countries now have facilities that offer testing free of charge. The utilization of these services is disappointingly low, however, despite high numbers reporting that they would like to be tested. Explanations of this discrepancy typically rely on responses to hypothetical questions posed in terms of psychological or social barriers; often, the explanation is that people fear learning that they are infected with a disease that they understand to be fatal and stigmatizing. Yet when we offered door-to-door rapid blood testing for HIV as part of a longitudinal study in rural Malawi, the overwhelming majority agreed to be tested and to receive their results immediately. Thus, in this paper, we ask: why are more people not getting tested? Using an explanatory research design, we find that rural Malawians are responsive to door-to-door HIV testing for the following reasons: it is convenient, confidential, and the rapid blood test is credible. Our study suggests that attention to these factors in VCT strategies may mitigate the fear of HIV testing, and ultimately increase uptake in rural African settings. Language: English Keywords: AFRICA, SUB SAHARAN | RESEARCH REPORT | PREVALENCE | LONGITUDINAL STUDIES | RURAL POPULATION | HIV TESTING | VOLUNTARY COUNSELING AND TESTING | FEAR | Africa | Developing Countries | Measurement | Research Methodology | Studies | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Laboratory Examinations and Diagnoses | Examinations and Diagnoses | Medical Procedures | Medicine | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health | Emotions | Psychological Factors | Behavior Document Number: 342741 |
| 2. Peer Reviewed Title: A longitudinal comparison of body composition changes in adolescent girls receiving hormonal contraception. Author: Bonny AE; Secic M; Cromer BA Source: Journal of Adolescent Health. 2009 Oct;45(4):423-5. Abstract: The objective of this study was to examine body composition changes in adolescent girls initiating depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), oral contraceptives, or no hormonal contraceptive method. At 6 months, DMPA resulted in significant increases in adiposity with concomitant decreases in lean body mass. Supplemental estrogen may lessen these DMPA effects. Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | RESEARCH REPORT | COMPARATIVE STUDIES | LONGITUDINAL STUDIES | CONTROL GROUPS | ADOLESCENTS, FEMALE | DEPO-PROVERA | ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES | BODY WEIGHT | OBESITY | ESTROGENS | Developed Countries | North America | Americas | Studies | Research Methodology | Adolescents | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Medroxyprogesterone Acetate | Contraceptive Agents, Progestin | Contraceptive Agents, Female | Contraceptive Agents | Contraception | Family Planning | Contraceptive Methods | Physiology | Biology | Hormones | Endocrine System Document Number: 342847 |
| 3. Peer Reviewed Title: Advances in development reverse fertility declines. Author: Myrskyla M; Kohler HP; Billari FC Source: Nature. 2009 Aug 6;460(7256):741-3. Abstract: During the twentieth century, the global population has gone through unprecedented increases in economic and social development that coincided with substantial declines in human fertility and population growth rates. The negative association of fertility with economic and social development has therefore become one of the most solidly established and generally accepted empirical regularities in the social sciences. As a result of this close connection between development and fertility decline, more than half of the global population now lives in regions with below-replacement fertility (less than 2.1 children per woman). In many highly developed countries, the trend towards low fertility has also been deemed irreversible. Rapid population ageing, and in some cases the prospect of significant population decline, have therefore become a central socioeconomic concern and policy challenge. Here we show, using new cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of the total fertility rate and the human development index (HDI), a fundamental change in the well-established negative relationship between fertility and development as the global population entered the twenty-first century. Although development continues to promote fertility decline at low and medium HDI levels, our analyses show that at advanced HDI levels, further development can reverse the declining trend in fertility. The previously negative development-fertility relationship has become J-shaped, with the HDI being positively associated with fertility among highly developed countries. This reversal of fertility decline as a result of continued economic and social development has the potential to slow the rates of population ageing, thereby ameliorating the social and economic problems that have been associated with the emergence and persistence of very low fertility. Language: English Keywords: GLOBAL | RESEARCH REPORT | LONGITUDINAL STUDIES | ESTIMATION TECHNIQUES | SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT | ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT | FERTILITY DECLINE | BELOW REPLACEMENT FERTILITY | TOTAL FERTILITY RATE | DEMOGRAPHIC AGING | POPULATION REPLACEMENT | INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION | Studies | Research Methodology | Economic Factors | Fertility Changes | Fertility | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Population Decrease | Fertility Rate | Birth Rate | Fertility Measurements | Migration Document Number: 342781 |
| 4. Title: Influence of family planning services on contraceptive failure: evidence from the Kanchanaburi demographic surveillance system. Author: Wattansupt N; Isarabhakdi P; Thongthai V; Casterline JB; Matthew SA Source: Journal of Population and Social Studies. 2009 Jan;17(2):47-82. Abstract: This study aimed to examine the effect of access to and quality of family planning services on contraceptive failure among married women in the Kanchanaburi Demographic Surveillance System (KDSS). Data on contraceptive failure is from the contraceptive calendar of KDSS, implemented by the Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, Thailand. Retrospective service provision according to the time of contraceptive calendar data obtained from “the Contextual History Calendar”. Cost weight distance and kernel density are geographic information system (GIS) techniques using for measure a spatial accessibility at the individual level and cost allocation technique is used to measure availability of contraceptive method at the nearest public health facility. Event history analysis, using the discrete-time hazard model, was applied to examine factors affecting contraceptive failure. The results indicated that statistically significant associations were found only between the likelihood of contraceptive failure and a proxy of quality of family planning services, the number of contraceptive methods provided at the nearest public health service facility. Travel time to the nearest family planning service facility and density of family planning facilities within 10 kilometers, is not statistically related to contraceptive failure. Therefore, the policy implications derived from this study is to increase the diversity of methods available in the family planning program in order to decrease the likelihood of contraceptive failure. Language: English Keywords: THAILAND | RESEARCH REPORT | DEMOGRAPHIC SURVEYS | LONGITUDINAL STUDIES | FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAMS | PROGRAM ACCESSIBILITY | DISTANCE | QUALITY OF HEALTH CARE | CONTRACEPTION FAILURE | PREGNANCY, UNPLANNED | CONTRACEPTIVE HISTORY | Developing Countries | Asia, Southeastern | Asia | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Studies | Research Methodology | Family Planning | Program Evaluation | Programs | Organization and Administration | Geographic Factors | Health Services Evaluation | Contraceptive Usage | Contraception | Reproductive Behavior | Fertility Document Number: 339865 |
| 5. Title: Further data concerning the normal variability of the menstrual cycle during adolescence and factors associated with age of menarche. Author: Reymert ML; Jost H Source: Child Development. 1947 Dec;18(4):169-179. Abstract: For the past ten years the Mooseheart Laboratory for Child Research, in cooperation with the Mooseheart Hospital, has kept careful records concerning the menstruation of the female adolescent population. As the average Mooseheart girl remains in the community from the time of admission, which is usually before puberty, until graduation from high school at the average age of 18.5 years, it has been possible for the Laboratory to obtain objective records of the menstrual cycles of these girls for approximately five years during the adolescent period. The first paper in this series appeared in 1940 (16). (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | RESEARCH REPORT | LONGITUDINAL STUDIES | CLINICAL RESEARCH | ADOLESCENTS, FEMALE | SIBLINGS | MENSTRUAL CYCLE | MENARCHE | AGE FACTORS | SEASONAL VARIATION | TIME FACTORS | North America | Americas | Developed Countries | Studies | Research Methodology | Adolescents | Youth | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Menstruation | Reproduction | Population Dynamics Document Number: 303574 |
| 6. Title: Sexual maturation and the growth of fat, muscle and bone in girls. Author: Reynolds EL Source: Child Development. 1946 Sep;17(3):121-144. Abstract: In a previous paper, a method was described for comparing children in terms of the breadths of bone, muscle mass and superficial fat in the leg. Measurements of these three tissue components in this anatomical area were based on a longitudinal series of roentgenograms, taken specifically for the study of tissue differentiation. Growth changes, sex differences and individual variations in tissue distribution were discussed. It was also suggested that differential tissue distribution may be related to such characteristics as sexual maturation, and a preliminary report on this problem has been made. The present paper is concerned with the relationship of breast development in girls to the growth of fat, muscle and bone in the leg. In broader terms it is thus a study of the relationships between sexual maturation and body structure, as they are reflected by a single maturational criterion and by the tissue distributions in a single body area. Although this report is concerned for the most part with girls between the ages of 7 ½ and 12 ½ years of age, certain observations on boys are included. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: OHIO | RESEARCH REPORT | CLINICAL RESEARCH | LONGITUDINAL STUDIES | ADOLESCENTS, FEMALE | CHILD DEVELOPMENT | PUBERTY | GROWTH | SKELETAL EFFECTS | MUSCULAR EFFECTS | ANTHROPOMETRY | AGE FACTORS | United States of America | North America | Americas | Developed Countries | Research Methodology | Studies | Adolescents | Youth | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Biology | Reproduction | Physiology | Measurement Document Number: 303573 |
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