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This paper evaluates an intervention in India that engaged adolescent girls and boys in classroom discussions about gender equality for two years, aiming to reduce their support for societal norms that restrict women’s and girls’ opportunities. Using a randomized controlled trial, we find that the program made attitudes more supportive of gender equality by 0.18 standard deviations, or, equivalently, converted 16 percent of regressive attitudes. When we resurveyed study participants two years after the intervention had ended, the effects had persisted. The program also led to more gender-equal self-reported behavior, and we find weak evidence that it affected two revealed-preference measures.

The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted urban transportation mobility throughout the world. In this paper, we investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the urban mobility network’s structural characteristics. We contribute to the literature by discussing how various community areas in the city traffic network are impacted by the pandemic. We analyze a large dataset on urban mobility from the city of Chicago and derive various insights. Our analysis of the mobility network structure is important because a better understanding of such networks can help control the spread of the disease by reducing interactions among individuals. We find that the pandemic significantly impacted the structure of the mobility network of taxis in Chicago. Our study reveals some important pointers for policymakers that could potentially aid in developing urban transportation policies during the pandemic.

Hispanic women have lower rates of use of infertility services than non-Hispanic White women. There are many barriers that impede access to infertility care including economic, geographic, cultural, and societal factors and there are disparities in treatment outcomes. Hispanic women are less likely to seek infertility care than non-Hispanic White women and even after infertility evaluation, Hispanic women are less likely to receive treatment for their infertility. Lower use of infertility treatments among Hispanic women is unlikely to be driven solely by economic factors. There is disappointingly little data on in-vitro fertilization treatment outcomes including the population of Hispanic women, and existing data has yielded conflicting results. Incomplete and variable reporting of race data across clinics raises the potential for misclassification bias and invalid study conclusions. Addressing disparities in access to reproductive medicine in the Hispanic population will required a multifaceted approach including expanded insurance coverage, improved education for both patients and providers, and additional research on barriers to care.

Isolated sub-2 nm nanopores in graphene exhibit diverse transport behaviours that are reminiscent of biological ion channels and arise from electrostatic and hydration interactions between ions and the pores. Graphene and other two-dimensional materials offer a new class of ultrathin membranes that can have atomically defined nanopores with diameters approaching those of hydrated ions 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 . These nanopores have the smallest possible pore volumes of any ion channel, which, due to ionic dehydration 8 and electrokinetic effects 9 , places them in a novel transport regime and allows membranes to be created that combine selective ionic transport 10 with ultimate permeance 11 , 12 , 13 and could lead to separations 14 , 15 and sensing 16 applications. However, experimental characterization and understanding of sub-continuum ionic transport in nanopores below 2 nm is limited 17 , 18 . Here we show that isolated sub-2 nm pores in graphene exhibit, in contrast to larger pores, diverse transport behaviours consistent with ion transport over a free-energy barrier arising from ion dehydration and electrostatic interactions. Current–voltage measurements reveal that the conductance of graphene nanopores spans three orders of magnitude 8 and that they display distinct linear, voltage-activated or rectified current–voltage characteristics and different cation-selectivity profiles. In rare cases, rapid, voltage-dependent stochastic switching is observed, consistent with the presence of a dissociable group in the pore vicinity 19 . A modified Nernst–Planck model incorporating ion hydration and electrostatic effects quantitatively matches the observed behaviours.

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine estimates that fewer than a quarter of infertile couples have sufficient access to infertility care. Insurers in the United States (US) have long considered infertility to be a socially constructed condition, and thus in-vitro fertilization (IVF) an elective intervention. As a result, IVF is cost prohibitive for many patients in the US. State infertility insurance mandates are a crucial mechanism for expanding access to fertility care in the US in the absence of federal legislation. The first state insurance mandate for third party coverage of infertility services was passed by West Virginia in 1977, and Maryland passed the country’s first IVF mandate in 1985. To date, twenty states have passed legislation requiring insurers to cover or offer coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of infertility. Ten states currently have “comprehensive” IVF mandates, meaning they require third party coverage for IVF with minimal restrictions to patient eligibility, exemptions, and lifetime limits. Several studies analyzing the impact of infertility and IVF mandates have been published in the past 20 years. In this review, we characterize and contextualize the existing evidence of the impact of state insurance mandates on access to infertility treatment, IVF practice patterns, and reproductive outcomes. Furthermore, we summarize the arguments in favor of insurance coverage for infertility care and assess the limitations of state insurance mandates as a strategy for increasing access to infertility treatment. State mandates play a key role in the promotion of evidence-based practices and represent an essential and impactful strategy for the advancement of gender equality and reproductive rights.

We present a case of a 38-year-old female with a large colonic lipoma leading to colocolic intussusception. The patient presented with severe intermittent abdominal pain and was diagnosed through ultrasound and CT imaging. Surgical intervention was required to resolve the intussusception and remove the lipoma. Histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of lipoma. Although it is rare for intussusception to occur in adults, this case demonstrates how it may present.

We develop and test gender attitude measures conducted with a school-based sample of adolescents aged 14–17 years in India. We test a measure with survey items and vignettes to capture gender-based value and stereotypes, an Implicit Association Test (IAT) capturing gender-based value, and an IAT capturing gender stereotype. All demonstrate good internal reliability, and both IATs are significantly associated with our survey measure suggesting criterion validity, though not confirming it due to the lack of a gold standard measure on gender attitudes. Finally, construct validity is indicated from the measures’ positive significant associations with higher girls’ mobility and education. The gender-related IAT tools developed are consistent and valid, and modestly correlated with gender-related behavior outcomes such as mobility and school enrolment.

We study how the manufacturer and the supplier collaborate under various pricing and contracting scenarios. We characterize two downstream pricing strategies: (a) where the manufacturer announces the market price before the quality is determined, and (b) where the manufacturer decides the market price after the quality is determined. We also study three different contracting structures: (a) effort levels are both contractible and verifiable, (b) revenue sharing agreement between manufacturer and supplier, and (c) effort dependent contract when effort levels are verifiable but not contractible. We determine under which conditions the manufacturer should implement each of the scenarios.

Background Previous research suggests that some women are using integrative and complementary holistic approaches to optimize their own health and treat infertility. We aimed to determine patterns of integrative medicine use among those seeking fertility optimization by 1) Characterizing patterns of integrative medicine use to increase fertility; 2) Identifying demographic predictors associated with such integrative medicine use; and 3) Exploring cultural and religious influences on use of integrative medicine. Methods Cross-sectional self-reported survey data were collected from 1460 patients presenting to an academic fertility center in Chicago, Illinois. Variables were described with univariate frequencies and proportions, unadjusted bivariate comparisons were made between patient-level factors and reported integrative modality use, and multivariable logistic regression evaluated the strength of covariate-adjusted predictors of reported integrative medicine utilization. Results 80.4% of respondents reported using at least one integrative medicine modality to treat infertility (Acupuncture: 38.5%, Yoga: 27.6%, Massage: 25.8%, Meditation: 16.7%, and Herbal supplements: 18.5%). Diet therapy was the most frequently utilized modality (74.0%) followed by body therapy (45.2%), traditional alternative medicine (42.0%), mind therapy (32.1%), and senses therapy (23.0%). Any integrative medicine modality use was 4.03 times more likely among Hindu respondents compared to participants that identified as not religious (95% CI 1.2–13.7, p  < 0.026). Significant differences in specific modality use were observed by race, religious affiliation, age, income, and insurance coverage. Conclusion Most infertility patients in our study reported using at least one integrative medicine modality to help them conceive. Utilization was associated with age of participant, religious affiliation, annual income, and insurance coverage. Further research is needed to assess the impact of integrative medicine utilization on patient quality of life and outcomes.