This year, MLA, the  professional association for medical librarians, is having its annual conference in Seattle, WA. I’ve never been there and am looking forward to it. At the conference, I’m presenting in a section on building successful collaborations, facilitating a roundtable on librarian involvement in systematic reviews, attending the government relations committee meeting as a member, and am serving as an official conference blogger. My posts on things seen and learned in the conference exhibit hall – my area of coverage – will be up here. Oh, yeah, I’m also attending a tweet up and participating in a zombie hunt, and hoping to see some old friends while I’m there.

I’ve also had recent posts up at Our Bodies Our Blog, on long-term bisphosphonate use, a recent CDC report on teen girls’ sexual activity and use of contraceptives, and recent research into progesterone-alone for menopausal hot flashes. There’s something I’m enthused about coming out of OBOS soon, and after MLA wraps up I’ll share that here as well, but watch the site and blog for news.

I’m also hitting the one-year mark now on being car-free in Nashville, TN. I have it in mind to do one or more posts on that experience soon, as well. Thankfully, I’ll be off work and home for 5 days after returning from the conference, during which there will be some blogging and probably a lot of Diablo III and WoW.

Oh, and lest anybody get any ideas about my being out of town – the house will be guarded by the spouse, the attack kitties, and the huge dog seen in the top left.

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Das Schsische Textilforschungsinstitut Chemnitz (STFI) hat ein Verfahren fr die Wiederverwertung von wertvollen Carbonfaser-Abfllen entwickelt. Ein Kilogramm Carbonfasern kostet je nach Qualitt zwischen 15 und 500 EUR. STFI-Forschungsleiterin Dr. Heike Illing-Gnther prsentierte krzlich anlsslich des 20. Institutsjubilums einen auf der Basis des neuen Recycling-Verfahrens hergestellten Carbonfaser-Vliesstoff sowie daraus gefertigte Verbundmaterialien (Composites). Mit Untersttzung von Industriepartnern investiert das Institut gegenwrtig 1,5 Mio. EUR in den Aufbau eines Carbonfaser-Technikums.

Voraussetzung fr das CFK-Recycling ist die sich unter hohen Temperaturen vollziehende Trennung der Kohlenstofffasern vom Kunstharz (Pyrolyse). Sie erfolgt auerhalb des STFI. Im Institut entsteht aus der in unterschiedlicher Form gelieferten Carbonfasermasse in einem Reiprozess eine so genannte Carbonfaserwirre, die in einer Kardiermaschine in ein loses Vlies aus mglichst langen Fasern verwandelt wird. Dieses Carbonfaservlies, das auch mit thermoplastischen Fasern versetzt werden kann, wird mit der vom STFI in frheren Jahren entwickelten Nhwirktechnik Maliwatt oder mit anderen Verfahren zu Ausgangsmaterialien fr unterschiedliche industrielle Anwendungen verfestigt.

Carbonfaser-Technikum im Aufbau

Der Aufbau eines neuen Carbonfasertechnikums gehrt zu unseren wichtigsten laufenden Vorhaben. In diesem Jahr investieren wir mit Untersttzung von Sponsoren aus der Industrie insgesamt rund 3 Mio. EUR in neue Anlagentechnik unterschiedlicher Bereiche. Das berichtete Andreas Berthel, Geschftsfhrender Direktor des Schsischen Textilforschungsinstituts (STFI), Chemnitz, am 2. Mai 2012 bei einer Festveranstaltung zum 20. Grndungsjubilum des Instituts vor rund 250 Gsten aus dem In- und Ausland. Das STFI bleibe auch in Zukunft ein verlsslicher Partner fr seine 800 Auftraggeber in 60 Lndern der Welt, so der Forschungsmanager. Gegenwrtig bearbeiten die 120 Mitarbeiter des Instituts rund 100 Forschungs- und Entwicklungsprojekte, 14 davon im Auftrag der EU. Jedes Jahr meldet das Institut durchschnittlich 10 Patente bzw. Schutzrechte an. Im Vorjahr belief sich der Umsatz auf 12 Mio. EUR. Das STFI ist An-Institut der TU Chemnitz und Mitglied in mehreren internationalen Wissenschaftsorganisationen. Alljhrlich veranstaltet es Symposien, die zahlreiche Fachbesucher aus vielen Lndern nach Chemnitz ziehen.

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Carbonfasern sinnvoll recyceln

Public release date: 17-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Clare Collins collcx@upmc.edu 412-641-7299 Microbicide Trials Network

PITTSBURGH, May 17, 2012 A change in the formulation of tenofovir gel, an anti-HIV gel developed for vaginal use, may make it safer to use in the rectum, suggests a study published online this week in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. In laboratory tests of rectal tissue, researchers from the Microbicide Trials Network (MTN) found that the reformulated gel was less harmful to the lining of the rectum than the original vaginal formulation, and just as effective in protecting cells against HIV.

“The lining of the rectum is much more fragile than the vaginal epithelium, so we can’t be certain a product like tenofovir gel that is safe for vaginal use will be completely safe to use in the rectum,” said lead study author Charlene Dezzutti, Ph.D., associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and principal investigator of the MTN Network Laboratory. “We are very encouraged by our laboratory data that suggest the reformulated gel could be safer for rectal use, and serve as a dual compartment gel for use in both the vagina and rectum.”

Tenofovir gel has shown some promise in reducing HIV risk in women through vaginal sex. But because the rectal epithelium the lining of the rectum that serves as the first line of defense against HIV is much thinner than the vaginal lining, the gel may not be safe or effective to use rectally. Indeed, unprotected anal sex is 10 to 20 times more likely to result in HIV infection than unprotected vaginal intercourse. By its nature, tenofovir gel is hyperosmolar contains a higher concentration of sugars and salts relative to cells. This quality could have a harmful effect on the rectal lining by causing epithelial cells to shrink as they purge water to achieve balance. Weakened in this manner, the rectal epithelium may be less able to protect against HIV.

To make tenofovir gel safe and more amenable to rectal use, researchers from CONRAD, a research organization which holds the rights to develop the gel, reformulated it with a reduced amount of glycerin, a common additive found in many gel-like products. In laboratory tests conducted by MTN researchers, the reformulated gel was three times less likely to cause cells in rectal tissue to release water, and equally effective against HIV as the vaginal formulation.

Data from an early phase clinical trial of the reduced glycerin gel presented in March 2012 at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), suggested it was safe and acceptable in 65 HIV-negative men and women who used it rectally once a day for one week. Results from this study, called MTN-007, and future studies will have important implications for the development of a rectal microbicide that could help protect against HIV or other sexually transmitted infections during anal sex.

As follow-up to MTN-007, researchers are now planning a Phase II, multi-site trial called MTN-017 that will involve 186 men who have sex with men, and transgender women at clinical sites in Peru, South Africa, Thailand, and the U.S. Participants will cycle through three study regimens: reduced glycerin tenofovir gel used daily, reduced glycerin tenofovir gel used before and after anal sex, and daily use of the antiretroviral tablet Truvada. MTN-017 will allow researchers to collect additional information

In addition to Dr. Dezzutti, other authors of the study are Lisa Rohan, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh; Lin Wang, M.D., Ph.D., Magee-Womens Research Institute ; Kevin Uranker, Magee-Womens Research Institute; Cory Shetler, Magee-Womens Research Institute; Marilyn Cost, Magee-Womens Research Institute; J.D. Lynam, Magee-Womens Research Institute; and David Friend, Ph.D., CONRAD, Arlington, Va.

Tenofovir gel contains the antiretroviral tenofovir, which is commonly used in the treatment of HIV. The vaginal formulation of tenofovir gel was found safe and effective in reducing the risk of HIV in women who used it before and after vaginal sex in a study called CAPRISA 004. More recently, however, MTN researchers conducting the VOICE Study closed the tenofovir gel arm of the trial after a routine review of study data determined that the gel, while safe, was not effective in preventing HIV among the women in that study group, who were asked to apply it vaginally every day. In the meantime, a Phase III trial called FACTS 001 is currently evaluating the vaginal formulation of tenofovir gel using the same regimen as CAPRISA 004, with results expected in 2014.

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Reduced glycerin formulation of tenofovir vaginal gel safe for rectal use

If you are a nonprofit organization and wish to have an item in the LANCASTER SCENE column of the Sunday News, send a note to the Sunday News sports department, P.O. Box 1328, Lancaster, PA 17608. The email address is sunnewssports@lnpnews.com. The fax number is 291-4950. Items must be mailed, faxed, or emailed by Thursday to be included in the column. Banquets The Manheim Touchdown Club Awards Banquet will be held Thursday, May 24, at the Lancaster Host Resort and Convention Center beginning with a reception at 5:30 p.m. Dr. David Joyner, Penn State’s acting athletic director, will be the featured speaker. The L-L League Player of the Year will be named. College awards will be presented and L-L League coaches and players participating in the Tri-County All-Star Game will be introduced. Tickets can be obtained on the MTC website, manheimtouchdownclub.com. Click on Banquet Information; then click on Reservation Form and print form, or you can call Mike Williams at 665-3385. Baseball Ephrata Post 429 will host an American Legion 19U baseball tournament the weekend of June 22-24. Tournament is a three-game guarantee (weather permitting), limited to the first eight teams. Entry fee is $375. Interested teams should contact Derek Sipe at dsipe18@gmail.com or 519-7550 for more information. Basketball CATS basketball program will hold its annual Wildcats Hoop Challenge June 1-3 at Stevens College and surrounding schools. Tournament is open to all U11-U17 teams and high school teams. For more information and to register, see leaguelineup.com/svw or call Rich Hinnenkamp at 341-9536.

Boys and girls basketball tournament June 2-3 in Harrisburg area. Grades 4-11. Cost is $275 per team. First place wins fee back. To register, see teamsupernatural.net. For more information, call Coach Craig at 215-2419.

Hempfield Girls Basketball Camp for girls entering grades 2-9 will be held from 9 a.m.-noon Monday-Thursday, June 25-28, in the main gymnasium. Instruction will be provided by the Hempfield coaching staff and current players. Registration is $60 per camper. Forms can be picked up at any Hempfield elementary or middle school building or downloaded from the district website under the girls basketball webpage under activities/athletics. Questions can be answered by contacting Brian Rife at brian_rife@hempfieldsd.org or 361-0195.

CV Lady Buckskin Youth Basketball Camp for girls entering grades 3-9 will be held from 9 a.m.-noon June 18-21 at Conestoga Valley High School. Cost is $75. Each camper will receive a T-shirt if they register by June 2. Camp will be run by the CV coaching staff and varsity players. There will be a mix of skill stations, games, and contests daily. For a camp brochure/registration form, see cvladybuckskinbasketball.sh… or contact head coach Amy MacDonald at amy_macdonald@cvsd.k12.pa.us. Instructions on how to register online bit.ly/cvgirlsbball or how to send in your registration by mail are found in the brochure.

Penn Manor Boys Basketball Camp will be held from June 18-21. Next year’s grades 3-5 session will be held at the Penn Manor East gym from 8-11 a.m. Grades 6-9 session will be held from noon-3 p.m. in the West gym. Cost for camp is $75, which will include a camp T-shirt. For an application, call coach Dell Jackson at 872-2384.

Manheim Township Blue Streaks Boys’ Basketball Camp for boys going into grades 3-9 will be held July 9-13. Camp for grades 3-7 will run from 8:30 a.m.-noon and grades 8-9 from 12:45-4:15 p.m. Camp will be run by the varsity coaching staff along with varsity players. Camp will feature fundamental skill instruction, game play and daily competitions. Registration forms are available at mtwp.net or by contacting Coach Johns at johnsma@mtwp.net or 742-0282.

Lititz recCenter offers men’s basketball leagues. Registration forms and league payments due by Wednesday, May 20. Games are 6:30-9:30 p.m. Wednesdays, May -August. New men’s Over-30 basketball league from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesdays. Contact Chris at 725-7155 or see lititzrec.com

Lititz recCenter women’s basketball league registration forms and league payments are due by Wednesday, May 20. Game are 6:30-9:30 p.m. Mondays, May -August. Contact Chris at 725-7155 or lititzrec.com.

Ephrata Girls Basketball Mini Mounts Camp will be held from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. June 18-21 at Ephrata Middle School gym. Cost is $55. Camp will be run by head coach Mike Garman and his assistant coaches along with varsity players. Camp is for girls entering grades 4-9 in fall 2012. A camp brochure can be obtained at ladymountshoops.com or picked up at the Ephrata Rec Center, high school athletic office or Ephrata Middle School office. Any questions can be directed to coach Garman at coach.garman@yahoo.com or 656-2175.

YMCA offers competitive men’s outdoor summer basketball league at Strasburg’s Jaycee Park on Thursday nights beginning May 17. ‘A’ and ‘B’ divisions available for 24-team league. For details, contact Ron Stief at 464-4000, ext. 212, or rstief@lancasterymca.org.

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Lancaster Scene

[05/09/12 - 04:44 PM] Development Update: Series Pick Up – “Ben & Kate,” “The Goodwin Games,” “It’s Messy” (FOX) By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) — The latest development news, culled from recent wire reports:

Looking to keep track of all the various projects in development? Click here to visit our signature “Devwatch” section. There visitors can view our listings by network, genre, studio and even development stage (ordered to pilot, cast-contingent, script, etc.). It’s updated every day!

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Development Update: Series Pick Up – "Ben & Kate," "The Goodwin Games," "It's Messy" (FOX)

BANGOR, Maine (NEWS CENTER) –Women for Obama launched a statewide campaign Thursday to reach out to women voters in an effort to get the president re-elected. Events were held in Bangor and Portland . The Bangor event took place at the Obama for America Headquarters on Exchange Street. Flyers are printed, Posters stacked, and phone banks opened. Volunteers are already manning those phones and calling women voters across the state. They say the president’s efforts to expand access to health care and promote equal pay demonstrate his support for women. Among those at the event, Emily Cain, the democratic house minority leader, and mom and small business owner Linda Mckinney.

“I got involved with the campaign truthfully because when i first arrived to Maine we just moved here a few months back, and the moms thatI was meeting did not support President Obama after all the good that was happening and all the changes that were made I was really surprised to hear that.” and thought maybe i just need to get out and educate women in Maine,” McKinney Said.

“Today is about energizing women across maine to stand up and help us re-elect president obama. president obama has a track record of making womens issues americas issues,” Cain added.

There are many conservative women in Maine and the nation who oppose Obama and his healthcare law, including State Senator Deb Plowman who is running for US senate and supports a repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Voices for Conservative Women and Independent Womens Voice also opposethe health care law.

NEWS CENTER

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Women for Obama launches Maine campaign

Two students from Sacramento State have joined approximately 14 others statewide for a hunger strike to protest tuition hikes and budget cuts until the California State University Board of Trustees complies with a four-demand proposal.

After a denial from CSU Board of Trustees Chair Bob Linscheid and Chancellor Charles Reed to meet and discuss concerns and solutions, Students for Quality Education started the statewide hunger strike.

Senior social work major Mildred Garcia and senior ethnic studies major Yeimi Lopez began their hunger strike on Thursday for Sac State, joining students from six other California State Universities.

The strikers demands include a five-year suspension on student tuition hikes, reversal of executive and administrative salaries to 1999 levels, elimination of all 23 CSU presidents housing and car allowances and freedom of speech areas to expand to entire campuses.

Students are already starving, having to eat ramen on a daily basis because they cannot afford the costs of living while studying at a university, Garcia said in a press release. This hunger strike is not extreme; it is a harsh reality that the CSU Board of Trustees needs to wake up to.

The Students for Quality Education members ate their final meal of pizza and announced their efforts on Wednesday at Occupy Sacramento. Their diet will consist of water, juice and tea during the strike.

People are surprised we are willing to take it to that extent, but at the same time weve gotten a lot of support, Garcia said. Its something to help us inform more students about the CSU budget.

Students for Quality Education sent a letter to Linscheid and Reed on March 20 informing them of the demands and asking for a meeting to discuss the issues.

Time and time again, you show where your priorities lie and it is due to your callous and unacceptable leadership that we presented the following demands, wrote Erika Flores, representing Students for Quality Education.

Linscheid sent a reply back to the Students for Quality Education on April 18 denying the request of a meeting about the demands.

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Sac State students join hunger strike in protest of tuition increases

Paul Ryan is nothing if not indefatigable. On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Republican introduced yet another budget bill. The targets of his cuts a long list of Democratic priorities are painfully familiar. But this time around Ryan wrapped them up in a new package of urgency: preserving national security!

Ryan and his fellow Republicans (and a not inconsiderable number of Democrats) are desperate to find a way to avoid the dreaded sequester a package of around $600 billion in defense spending cuts that are scheduled to start kicking in at the end of this year. Never mind the holy grail of deficit reduction: When the beggar with his hand stuck out is the Pentagon, entitlement isnt such a dirty word, after all.

As usual, the suffocating stench of Washington kabuki permeates the whole affair. The only reason defense cuts are on the table in the first place dates back to the failure of Republicans and Democrats to come to a real agreement on long-term deficit reduction at the end of last summers debt ceiling debacle. The threat of looming defense cuts that would automatically take effect in 2013 was supposed to force a bipartisan agreement before that dire day arrived. But the chances that Ryans newest salvo will get through the Democratic-controlled Senate during an election year are even more unlikely now than they were a year ago. The most realistic scenario? After the election, a lame-duck Congress will kick the can forward, again, to the new Congress and whomever inhabits the White House in 2013.

But a close look at the insidious nature of proposed cuts is still revealing, even in the midst of all the posturing. Ever since the midterm elections of 2010, House Republicans have been honing a new approach to government. Forget about old school starve the beast politics, the simple-minded belief that lowering taxes and depriving the government of revenue will ultimately topple the social welfare state. The new school tactic is sabotage. Break the government. Pour sugar into the gas tank. Steal the spark plugs.

Ryans new package of cuts takes aim at the heart of the two biggest pieces of legislation Democrats passed during the Obama administration, bank reform and healthcare reform. The details are wonky, but the goal is clear. By defunding crucial mechanisms designed to ensure that the laws actually work as intended, Republicans achieve two goals simultaneously: They avoid the anathema of cuts to defense spending, while rendering the legislation that they hate so much not just toothless, but incapacitated.

Machiavelli would applaud. Republicans may have lost the 2008 presidential election, but their insurgency-style guerrilla tactics ever since have ensured that the war is far from over. In 2012, the politics of sabotage rule Washington.

Ryans new bill, the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012, is constructed from recommendations formulated by six different House committees. The targeted cuts reflect familiar GOP priorities. One of the ways the Agriculture Committee, for example, proposes to save $33.2 billion over 10 years is by slashing food stamp assistance. The House Judiciary Committee put forward medical malpractice liability reforms that would theoretically cut federal reimbursements for spending on defensive medicine such as medical tests ordered by doctors simply to protect against lawsuits. And so on.

But for our purposes the two most provocative proposed cuts are the House Financial Services Committees plan to defund the orderly liquidation authority mechanism in the Dodd-Frank bank reform act, and the House Energy and Commerce Committees effort to defund federal support for the construction of the health insurance exchanges at the heart of the Affordable Care Act.

Lets break it down. The orderly liquidation authority also known as the resolution authority is the mechanism by which the Dodd-Frank Act aims to avoid the bailout chaos of the financial crisis of 2008. The Dodd-Frank Act includes a vast array of new rules for the financial sector, some of which are more far-reaching than others. But the resolution authority is crucial: its the laws primary attempt at solving the Too Big To Fail problem the frustrating reality that our biggest financial institutions are now so large that their failure routinely threatens to crash the entire U.S. economy. As was demonstrated by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, simply standing by and watching as a major Wall Street financial firm collapses into bankruptcy is an untenable solution. But mindlessly injecting billions of taxpayer dollars without accountability into the likes of Citigroup or the Bank of America or A.I.G. is equally irresponsible.

The Dodd-Frank Act set up a process for determining whether the collapse of a financial institution posed a systemic threat to the economy, putting that company into federal receivership, and guiding it through a government-managed liquidation process. The cost would be recouped by asset sales after the fact. A crucial point: The funding for the resolution authority can only be used to liquidate a financial firm, not to preserve it.

More:
Sabotage: The new GOP plan

Each Year, Nearly 500,000 Babies Born Prematurely in U.S.

By Charlene Laino WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

May 2, 2012 — Preterm birth rates are higher in the United States than in 130 other countries, including many poorer nations, according to a new report from the March of Dimes Foundation, the World Health Organization, and other leading health agencies.

The report, which provides the first-ever estimates of preterm birth rates by country, ranks the U.S. 131st out of 184 countries — ranking between the Congo and Nigeria — with a preterm birth rate of 12.0 per 100 live births. Each year in the U.S., nearly half a million babies are born before 37 weeks’ gestation.

The March of Dimes has set a U.S. goal of a 9.6% preterm birth rate by 2020.

Worldwide, more than 1 in 10 — 15 million — babies are born prematurely each year, and more than 1 million die from preterm complications.

That makes preterm birth the leading cause of newborn death worldwide, and the second-leading cause of death after pneumonia for children under 5, says Chris Howson, PhD, vice present for global programs at the March of Dimes and an author of the report. Those who do survive often face the risk of lifelong health problems.

Of the 65 countries with reliable trend data, all but three show an increase in preterm birth rates over the past 20 years, the report says. The U.S. rate rose to a peak of 12.8% in 2006, after which it started to drop.

Asked why the U.S. ranked so poorly, Howson cites obesity, which increases the risk of gestational diabetes and high blood pressure; increasing numbers of uninsured women; and the rising rate of elective C-sections, some of which may be scheduled too early.

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U.S. Ranks 131st in Preterm Births

NEW YORK (WABC) — Women are often so busy that they sometimes put themselves last.

However, Pamela Adegun is proof that when it comes to your health, you need to put yourself first. She ignored her heavy menstrual periods for 6 months.

“I’m like, it’s nothing – it’s a monthly, thing it’s a woman thing,” Pamela said.

Another embarrassing question that Dr. Banks gets a lot is whether she can treat urinary incontinence, or leaking of the urine. The answer is yes.

“Talking about loss of urine is important because it affects the quality of life for women,” said Dr. Banks.

Question number three that women must ask their doctor is why their sexual intercourse is painful.

Dr. Banks says that painful intercourse can sometimes represent some medical conditions such as endometriosis or fibroids.

After menopause, it is often a sign of low estrogen. This is normal, and can be treated with medication.

Two big reasons why women don’t ask these questions are because they may not want to know the answer, they may think it is difficult, depending on their doctor’s personality.

“You don’t really want to go in there like, ‘you know what, doc, I’ve been bleeding down there.’” adds Pamela.

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Bringing up sensitive topics with your doctor

All over the country, it’s the same story. Instead of working to improve education, the economy, and other issues that could benefit the whole country, the mostly-Republican-led legislators have focused their agenda on enacting laws to strip rights from women, from voters, from workers.

This Saturday, protests are going on around the country to object to the part of that agenda that is focused primarily on the reproductive rights of cis women, in the Unite Women demonstrations taking place in many, many states around the country.

In Tennessee:
Saturday, April 28
Rally on the North Lawn at the Belvedere. Rally for Women’s Rights, HealthCare, and Equality. There will be Speakers, Music, and protesting! Come Join Us!
Keynote Speaker: Ms. Park Overall
There’s an event page on Facebook.

Other state events may also have Facebook pages, and events across the country can be found at UniteWomen.org

Filed under: Abortion, Access, Rights, & Choice, Government, Laws, Legislation, & Courts Source:
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This week, Forbes named Knoxville, TN (home of Stacey Campfield) #3 in its list of Most Unfair Cities To Be A Working Woman because of disparities in pay between men and women.

And I missed this last month, but the blogger at Lavender and Cheese writes about another embarrassing finding that got basically no media attention here – Black women die more from breast cancer than white women, and that’s more true in Memphis, Tennessee than in any of the nation’s other largest cities. In Memphis, a Black woman is more than twice as likely to die as a white woman.

As that blogger explains:

We know what these numbers mean: black women are not getting the same access to cancer treatment that white women are. This is not a genetics problem; it’s a care problem, it’s an education problem, and it’s a socioeconomic problem.

And it’s exactly this kind of care inequality that the healthcare reform bill is supposed to alleviate.

The fact that this study has gone unreported and apparently unnoticed in Tennessee has to be a result of two things: laziness and cowardice.

I was born and raised in Tennessee. I chose to come back here after college. Like B, there are absolutely things I love about this state, from the big beauty of the landscape to smaller pleasures of local businesses and institutions and people. It’s not all about politics – but our politics are seriously messed up here right now.

We have Democrats in power who can’t bring themselves to denounce a State Rep when he publicly threatened to “stomp” any transgender woman he encounters. We have bills specifically trying to shame and intimidate women getting legal abortions and their providers, transformed into a bill to limit access in another dishonest way.

We have serious economic problems and disparities, a long list of problems that are getting us on other people’s “worst of” lists that we could tackle. Meanwhile, our state legislators are focused on saggy pants, making sure it’s okay for creationism to be discussed seriously in science classes, and pushing the racism and classism of trying to drug test all welfare recipients. And our Governor, Republican Bill Haslam, had the nerve to blame the media for covering this nonsense, instead of doing his job as a leader and taking on the state legislators for introducing and pushing said nonsense.

Welcome to Tennessee. Although we need you here, if you’re a woman, or poor, or not white and straight and cis and Christian, or you have a decent handle on science, you might want to pass on through, unless you have a lot of energy and patience for the fight. At least for now.

Filed under: Access, Rights, & Choice, Cancer, Ethics, Government, Laws, Legislation, & Courts Source:
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Sign on to Support Native American Women’s Access to Emergency Contraception – OTC access to emergency contraception is very limited for Native American women through the Indian Health Service. Learn more and sign a petition to enforce access.

DES Action Collecting Information on Health Issues in People Exposed to DES – A DES education and advocacy organization wants to learn more about the health issues faced by women who took DES during pregnancy, and their children and grandchildren. All of those groups are invited to complete a survey.

Breastfeeding in African American Communities – Black women start and continue breastfeeding at lower rates than other women in America. Explore writings about why, see the stats, and get some resources for supporting Black women breastfeeding in this post.

“Pervasive” Problems in Studies Linking Abortion to Mental Health Issues – Last month a journal’s editor criticized a previously published article claiming a link between abortion and bad mental health outcomes, but problems with the literature anti-choice folks use to support this claim go far beyond this one article. Learn more and find out why calling out bad science matters. (Even if sometimes we’re not sure if our legislators know anything at all about science…)

See also Christine’s Health Benefits: What Women Won, and May Lose, in the Supreme Court’s Dark, Dark, Place on healthcare reform and the Supreme Court.

Filed under: Abortion, Abuse, Rape, & Safety, Access, Rights, & Choice, Cancer, Drugs, Government, Laws, Legislation, & Courts, Miscellaneous Source:
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The bill was amended by removing the requirements related to collecting and releasing information on the women getting abortions and their providers. However, it has the following, problematic provisions as passed:

(1) A physician may not perform an abortion unless the physician has
admitting privileges at a hospital licensed under title 68 that is located:
(A) In the county in which the abortion is performed; or
(B) In a county adjacent to the county in which the abortion is
performed

Admitting privileges bills have been introduced across the country as a means of restricting abortion access. As is often the case with bills intended to restrict abortion access, the typical claim is that it’s needed for women’s safety. The frequency of such complications and mortality with early abortions (the majority of them), is extremely low, and is much lower now that Roe is in effect and the procedure is legal. No compelling evidence is available that women in Tennessee are suffering medical harm because of the status of individual abortion providers and their hospital admitting status.

When a need for emergency hospital care arises, there are two ways to get admitted to get that care – 1) your provider has admitting privileges to a certain hospital and checks you in that way, and individually continues your care; 2) you go through the emergency department. Nothing about the potential complications of abortion requires the specific abortion provider to be the one to follow up, or to be able to admit you directly to a specific hospital.

Like many ob/gyn complications, it is normal practice for women to follow up via the closest emergency department – if you have an ectopic pregnancy, complication of a home birth, or other abnormal vaginal bleeding, you go to the emergency department, and they and their associated hospitals should either have the expertise to treat you, or the ability to stabilize you until they can transfer you to a more advanced hospital. In none of these cases is the expertise of a single, identified-in-advance provider necessary in order for a woman to receive appropriate medical care.

Additionally, other “ambulatory surgical centers” in Tennessee are not required to have their providers individually have admitting privileges. They have to have a “transfer agreement” in place with a hospital, meaning that the clinic has a general agreement in place with a local hospital that they may send patients there. This is different from requiring individual providers to have admitting privileges, in that it puts a plan in place for any transfers between the clinic and the hospital, without having to set arrangements for every possible provider.

It’s particularly notable that Tennessee abortion clinics are now being held to a higher standard than outpatient surgery facilities, because one recent approach to trying to restrict abortion has been to try to implement standards for ambulatory surgical centers that may not be appropriate or necessary for the type of care provided at abortion clinics. These are called TRAP laws (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers), and that HB 3808 meets the characteristics of a TRAP law is another tip-off that it’s about abortion restriction, not women’s health.

In some parts of the country, there are no providers so one from another state flies in on certain days to provide this legal medical service to women. It is very unusual for a hospital to grant admitting privileges to a provider who is based out-of-state. HB 3808, then, is partially meant to keep women in Tennessee from having access to an abortion provider who might come in from elsewhere if the state succeeds in reducing our access to this degree. An example of the effect is happening right now – in Mississippi, where only one clinic in the whole state provides abortion, a similar hospital admitting law may cause that clinic to shut down completely.

As Representative Gary Odom observed:

“I think it’s intended to do one thing and one thing only, and that is to place another requirement on a physician that makes it more difficult for a woman to seek out the services that they want that are legal in the state of Tennessee.”

It’s clear what this is about, and it’s not about women’s safety. As Representative Jeanne Richardson concluded:

We have made it painfully clear to the women and men in Tennessee who is in charge of women’s bodies and their health care decisions, and the decisions ultimately about their lives

Tip: it’s not the women themselves, according to the Tennessee state legislature.

See Also:
Tennesee House Passes Bill Requiring Admitting Privileges for Doctors Who Perform Abortions – Robin Marty at RH Reality Check.
Red State Round Up: Tennessee – at Trust Women
Thanks to both national sites for bringing attention to this bill.

Another update: I previously sent an open letter on the bill to all of the House Health and Human Resources Committee members and officers, including my own Representative, Mary Pruitt. I also sent it to my Senator, Douglas Henry, who could be expected to support the bill. I did not get a response from any of them, including my own Representatives.

Filed under: Abortion, Access, Rights, & Choice, Government, Laws, Legislation, & Courts Source:
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Chance of…

Media Contact: Rachel Pinkstone-Marx | (484) 708-1809 | rmarx@lbbc.org

HAVERFORD, Pa., March 27, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) has announced it will host its annual conference for women with metastatic breast cancer at the Loews Hotel in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29, 2012. This event, now entering its sixth year promoting the theme Enhancing Your Health and Quality of Life, is designed to address the unique challenges faced by women diagnosed with metastatic disease, their families and their caregivers. Breast cancer is considered metastatic (often referred to as Stage IV) when it spreads from the breast to other parts of the body, such as the lungs, bones, liver or brain.

Women living with metastatic disease face ongoing decisions depending on chosen treatment plans. Approximately 151,600 women in the United States are currently living with metastatic breast cancer and this number is projected to increase to over 164,000 by the year 2015.1

Attendees from across the country will join together for this two-day event featuring a variety of workshops that focus exclusively on the specific needs of women living with this type of cancer. The program includes topics such as ways to manage stress and anxiety, triple-negative breast cancer, end-of-life care, and intimacy and sexuality. Workshops for caregivers will also be conducted. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions about research, treatment and quality-of-life concerns to an expert panel composed of the nation’s top healthcare providers with a special interest in metastatic disease. Additionally, attendees are given the chance to meet, connect and network with hundreds of women facing the same choices and challenges. “Women living with metastatic breast cancer need targeted information that will help them make informed decisions and improve their quality of life,” said Jean A. Sachs, MSS, MLSP, chief executive officer of Living Beyond Breast Cancer. “It is easier to find resources for early stage disease. LBBC is committed to meeting the needs of women facing metastatic breast cancer by producing this national conference.”

Travel grants and fee waivers for financial hardship, generously provided by Susan G. Komen for the Cure, are available to eligible individuals. The conference is presented by Celgene Corporation and Eisai Oncology. To register or for more information, visit lbbc.org or call Living Beyond Breast Cancer at (610) 645-4567.

Additional resources can be found through LBBC’s Understanding Guides: Metastatic Breast Cancer Series. Titles include: Treatment Options for Today and Tomorrow, Managing Stress and Anxiety, Symptoms and Treatment Side Effects and Understanding Palliative Care. Later this year, LBBC will produce a guide for women newly diagnosed with advanced disease.

Anyone interested in attending the conference can register online at lbbc.org or call (610) 645-4573.

Annual Conference for Women with Metastatic Breast Cancer Panelists

Adam M. Brufksy, MD, PhD is director of academic medical oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Centers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and an associate professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Brufsky also serves as director of the Comprehensive Breast Cancer Center at Magee-Womens Hospital/University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and as associate division chief of the division of hematology/oncology of the department of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. This year, Dr. Brufsky is serving as moderator as well as a panelist.

Helen L. Coons,* PhD, ABPP is the President and Clinical Director of Women’s Mental Health Associates, Philadelphia. Dr. Coons is a Clinical Psychologist and board certified Clinical Health Psychologist who specializes in women’s health and mental health. She is also a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Drexel University College of Medicine, and is Adjunct Faculty, Department of Psychiatry, Pennsylvania Hospital, University of Pennsylvania Health System. Dr. Coons received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Temple University in 1990 after interning in Medical Psychology at the Duke University Medical Center. In 2005, she represented the American Psychological Association at the DHHS Primary Health Care Policy Fellowship.

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Philadelphia to Host Conference for Women Living With Metastatic Breast Cancer

BEAUMONT Chickens and rabbits and goats, oh my.

Fans of baby chickens and goats, turkeys and rabbits flocked to the Childrens Barnyard at the South Texas State Fair for a chance to get up close to the critters. The barnyard area is located in the livestock barn area to the south of the carnival midway.

Donna Volrie, of Beaumont, held her nephew Kaleb Predium, 3, on her hip as she petted a baby goat on Saturday. Volries sons, Donnell and Terrell Bowie stood nearby as Volrie coaxed the tot to touch the animal.

We love to come see the animals, Volrie said. When you live in the city you dont get to see the animals very often.

Elsie Morris Thomas of the Jefferson County 4-H Club was one of several students in the pen keeping an eye on the mother goat and her two kids.

Adjacent to the goat pen were cages containing chickens, electric fans pointed at the fowl to keep them cool, a Texas Longhorn laid down for a break and Rhett Wilson of Barbers Hill FFAs grand champion turkey pecked at sawdust.

Over in the livestock barn Ashley Olson petted and scratched her 2-year-old Brahman Heifer Momma.

Olson, 18, of Beaumont, is not new to the cattle business, her mother Kellie Olson said.

Shes been involved (with the animals) for the past five years, Kellie Olson said. All three of my girls have been involved with lambs and chickens and Ashley with the Brahmans.

The teen recently took fourth place in her class at a Houston livestock show, her mother said.

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Barnyard, livestock big draw at South Texas State Fair

In Texas, where womens health issues have become a lightening rod rising from the middle of the abortion fight, many women are wondering how they will afford basic medical care.

Last week the federal government announced it would cease funding the Texas Medicaid Womens Health Program. The announcement was a result of Texas Gov. Rick Perrys plans to enforce a state law prohibiting tax dollars from going to clinics performing elective abortions, or those affiliated with such clinics.

The cuts have resulted from an effort to eliminate state support for Planned Parenthood, a private non-profit group that has been targeted for performing elective abortions at some of its clinics.

The Texas Womens Health Program provides cares for about 130,000 low income women in the state.

According to program guidelines, women between the ages of 18 and 44 earning less than $20,000 annually, or less than $41,000 for a family of four, are eligible to participate.

Federal funds pay about 90 percent of the program costs while state funding covers the rest. Last year, it cost about $41 million to fund the program. Of that, federal funding provided about $34 million, the Associated Press reported.

Perry has vowed the state will pick up the tab so the program can continue.

At least one local clinic is hoping the funding will come through, so basic health care provided by the program wont be lost.

The Womens Health Program is a big deal it fills a gap for those who do not qualify for Medicaid and those who either dont have insurance, or their insurance does not pay for items such as contraceptives, Tim Sayle, executive director of Port Arthurs Gulf Coast Center.

Anita Juarez, 19, of Port Arthur is among the women who use the program for basic womens health needs.

Continue reading here:
Womens health: Abortion battle puts critical programs in jeopardy

NEW YORK (WABC) — A new study found that many obstetrician-gynecologists do not ask their patients enough questions when it comes to their sex lives.

Almost two-thirds of ob-gyns regularly ask their patients about their sexual activity. The ones that do not are missing out on information that could provide clues to their patients overall health.

40% ask questions to diagnose a patient’s sexual problems or dysfunction.

In fact, only 28% of doctors say they know their patient’s sexual orientation.

Researchers from the University of Chicago say the findings show the need for stronger guidelines.

Some women assume because their doctor doesn’t ask them about a certain topic, it’s not important or not something the doctor deals with regularly.

One-third of women below middle age and half of older women experience problems such as pain, lack of pleasure, or low desire.

The study was published March 22 in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.

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Ob-gyns not asking patients enough questions

I am writing to express my opposition to HB 3808, the so-called “Life Defense Act,” which requires the collection and reporting of detailed data about women having abortions and their providers.

Data is already collected about the number of abortions provided in the state. It is reasonable to make that data available in aggregate, as the state already does. Reporting more specific data by the county level is much more likely to allow identification and targeting of specific women and their families, as Tennessee has many rural counties in which crossing the categories of race, education, age, and other demographics can get you close or exactly to a specific woman if you have an interest in terrorizing her. Such identification is a violation of privacy, and likely to incite harassment of women and their families.

Although the proposed law includes some provisions that are superficially intended to protect privacy, it also makes clear that the consequences of disclosing such data is simply a misdemeanor, a relatively mild consequence when we’re talking about people whose plans may include harassment, stalking, and violence. The barrier between collection and disclosure is thin, and the consequences for any leaker of the data are small. Regardless of the final form of the actual data reporting, though, the law will serve the purpose of intimidating women seeking a legal medical procedure with implied threats of these consequences.

Publishing the names of all providers is also likely to result in violent consequences. Just in case you think that people who provide abortions are bad, made a choice, and deserve whatever consequences they suffer – these are not “shunned at the church supper” consequences. These are “shot in the face at home” consequences.

Anti-abortion extremists are well-known to have threatened, stalked, kidnapped, assaulted, and murdered providers and have committed crimes against their homes and family members. They make online hit lists of providers to make it easier for anti-abortion terrorists to target, harass, and murder doctors throughout the country.

These expected violent consequences will not just affect abortion providers themselves – they will affect spouses, children, and other loved ones. The children of known providers have been barricaded into their homes, stalked at school, and subjected to other harassment and threats, and this bill endangers them, their friends, and their families. While supporters of bills like this often claim to be protecting “babies,” HB 3808 could in reality incite a threat against the born children of both women choosing abortion and their providers.

It would also not just affect the much-demonized providers at Planned Parenthood. When a woman experiences a pregnancy complication, in some cases a non-clinic provider will perform a necessary abortion out of compassion for and duty to the patient. This might occur in a hospital or private medical practice. These are providers who have not elected to life a life of wearing bullet-proof vests and constantly worrying about threats of violence. They are physicians who provide a legal service to a single woman in a time of need. Making their names potentially public will cause some of these providers, their spouses, their children, their everyday non-abortion patients, and their coworkers to be subjected to the same threats of and actual violence.

This is of course the point of this provision in the bill – to intimidate doctors into not providing needed medical care, and it is unacceptable. When a physician is deciding how to best provide care for a woman with a pregnancy complication, his or her first thought should never be, “If I provide needed and legal medical care, that my patient and I both agree is the best course of action, will I be putting myself and my family in danger because of the Tennessee state legislature?”

There are other problems with this bill. Because threats of violence have so limited the number of providers in the first place, many areas of the country only have providers who travel in to perform this legal medical service. The admitting privileges provision is not for a medical purpose, as facilities and providers capable of handling unexpected complications exist throughout the state. This provision is specifically designed to prevent such providers from offering legal abortions to under-served areas.

I urge you to reject HB 3808. Let’s be clear – the intent of this bill and bills like it has never been to collect better data about abortion. It has always been to intimidate women and providers making personal, legal choices with implied threats of privacy violation and violence. The Tennessee state legislature should not be in the business of harassing its citizens and making them targets for anti-abortion terrorists. Vote no on HB 3808.

I’ll be sending this letter to the members of the Health and Human Resources Committee, who are expected to consider it tomorrow (including bill sponsor Matthew Hill), as well as my own House reps. Find your TN legislator here.

Filed under: Abortion, Abuse, Rape, & Safety, Access, Rights, & Choice, Ethics, Government, Laws, Legislation, & Courts Source:
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I am writing to express my disappointment that you chose not to publish this week’s Doonesbury strips in the print edition of the paper. You explained that the Wednesday strip was not published due to “graphic wording,” but it is baffling as to what the supposedly offensively graphic word might have been. I can only assume it was “transvaginal,” but The Tennessean has previously permitted this word in at least three previous articles, including a recent one on papers electing not to carry the strip.

Tuesday’s installment, in which a woman is called a “slut,” was obviously not too provocative to carry in print, yet the proper name of a medical procedure being forced upon women seeking abortion apparently offended your sensibilities. It’s okay to call women seeking abortion disparaging names, but it’s not okay to mention their vaginas?

Doonesbury is meant to be provocative, political, and satirical, something you surely realize in carrying the strip. Many papers place it in the opinion section for this very reason. There is an argument to be made, I think, about not carrying Thursday’s strip in the comics sections, given the concluding line about rape. Many people believe that rape should never be a punchline. There is legitimate debate to be had about whether its use in this instance is inappropriately meant to be “funny” or is simply a reflection many women’s expressed perspective – that being forced to have an object inserted in one’s vagina for non-medical purposes to serve the agendas of anti-abortion politicians is indeed a form of rape or assault.

The Tennessean did not choose to run the strip and allow it to foster debate about this question or questions of abortion, politics, or the ethics of forced ultrasound. Instead, The Tennessean decided it was important to protect print readers from being exposed to medical terminology and a real rights issue facing women who choose to terminate pregnancies. When our local newspaper is deciding that its readers can’t handle the subject of a national debate, concerning itself more perhaps with advertisers sharing space with even slightly provocative content, and determining that “slut” is okay but “transvaginal” is not, it simply reinforces the perception that real Tennesseans are not being served by the newspaper sharing their name.

You can see the strips over at Slate, write your paper with thanks if they’re carrying it or complaints if they’re not. The Center for Reproductive Rights, which has been fighting the Texas forced ultrasound law, is asking people to sign a letter of thanks to papers that are carrying the strip, and to let them know about papers that aren’t.

I also have a post on the Doonesbury controversy over at the Our Bodies Ourselves blog.

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UK Feminista made the call in a joint letter and a report arguing that adverts for the cosmetic surgery industry deliberately entice women to feel insecure about their bodies in order to drive up demand to go under the knife.

Based on surveys of adverts in magazines and other media, the report, Cut It Out, claims that the adverts trivialise invasive surgery which carries “inherent health risks, including blood clots, post operative infection and heart attack”. It also cites cases in which patients have died of complications from cosmetic surgery, yet says cosmetic surgery businesses target women at vulnerable points in their life, for example new mums.

Their report and letter, which has been signed by numerous womens’ groups and plastic surgeons, comes in the wake of the PIP breast implants scandal, in which 30,000 women in France were advised to have their breast implants removed amid health fears. Another 40,000 British women were thought to have received PIP silicone implants.

Their calls are backed by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. BAAPS past president, consultant plastic surgeon Nigel Mercer, told Channel 4 News: “Ultimately, the advertising is there to sell a product. It is not there to inform.

“We apply a different set of values to the advertising of cosmetic surgery then we do with any other area of medicine. We have found, particularly with the PIP scandal, that people have been lured into taking decisions about having surgery done, and it’s about the business, not about providing medical care for a patient.”

Facebook advertising?

The report also criticised the use of social media such as Facebook to promote surgery businesses. It quotes a message posted on the Harley Medical Group’s Facebook page: “Think about this if you’re having your lunch at your desk (again!) – new research shows that fat cells can build up on those areas of the body under pressure when we sit for long periods of time. This fat can be almost impossible to shift through diet and exercise…if you are stuck with stubborn pockets of fat that no amount of diet or exercise can rid you of, then liposuction might be an option.”

The UK’s cosmetic surgery industry is now estimated to be worth 2.3bn, the report claims. It said that the market for such procedures has flourished by 17 per cent between 2008 to 2010, and that of an estimated 100,000 cosmetic surgical procedures carried out each year, 90 per cent are for women.

The report says that cosmetic surgery advertising should be subject to the same levels of scrutiny as the sale of prescription medicines. Advertising for prescription medicines is strictly regulated under specific legislation – the Medicines (Advertising) Regulations, 1994, and the Medicines (Monitoring of Advertising) Regulations, 1994.

But UK Feminista insisted that it was not intending to specifically target women who had undergone cosmetic surgical procedures. Elli Moody, policy and campaigns manager at the organisation, told Channel 4 News: “We are looking at messages that adverts send out, where advertising is promoting invasive surgery, that has inherent risks, to promote a ‘beauty body’ ideal.”

Link:
Plastic surgeons call for ban on cosmetic surgery adverts

Thursday, March 15, 2012 Elon, N.C. Trending: This week’s edition of The Pendulum will come out on Thursday, instead of today

The morning was bright and crisp Saturday for the fourth annual Barbara Sullivan Race for Womens Health 5k Race. The event, which has been sponsored by Elon University School of Laws Womens Law Association since the organization was formed, was held at Northeast Park in Gibsonville and brought out 130 participants the largest number of attendees since the race began in 2009.

We begin by choosing a health issue that impacts women in our community, and then we choose a corresponding nonprofit organization to sponsor, said Courtney Roller, the philanthropy chairperson of the organization.

This year, WLA partnered with Alzheimers North Carolina to raise money and awareness. Roller said it was important to choose a charity that had a state-wide impact, rather than a national impact, as WLA focuses its philanthropy on community charity.

See clips from the run and hear from Courtney Roller, Philanthropy Chair for the event. Video by Ashley Fahey and Sheryl Davis.

The race is named for Barbara Sullivan, the mother of an Elon Law graduate who passed away in November 2009 from a brain tumor. Her daughter, Elon Law alumna Ann Sullivan, assisted in starting the annual 5K race and naming the race in honor of her mother was a way to commemorate her, according to Danielle Kennedy, WLA president.

Since then, WLA has attempted to increase awareness and raise more money each year for the sponsored charity.

In the past, the races have been very successful in raising thousands of dollars for charities that are benefiting womens health, said Kennedy. Last year alone, our small race raised over $1,500 for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

This fourth annual Barbara Sullivan Race for Women’s Health 5k Race brought out 130 participants the largest number of attendees since the race began in 2009. Photo by Sara Hudak, staff photographer.

As the years progress, WLA hopes to meet higher fundraiser goals for the 5K.

The rest is here:
Elon Law races raises awareness, funds for Alzheimer’s organization

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilfbe9os_ic

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Women’s Health Care Caught in Texas Vs. Gov’t Showdown – Video

[03/12/12 - 11:52 PM] Development Update: Monday, March 12 By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) — The latest development news, culled from recent wire reports:

Looking to keep track of all the various projects in development? Click here to visit our signature “Devwatch” section. There visitors can view our listings by network, genre, studio and even development stage (ordered to pilot, cast-contingent, script, etc.). It’s updated every day!

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Development Update: Monday, March 12