Pregnancy Linked to Pelvic Disorders
A new joint UCSD-Kaiser Permanente study has found substantial evidence linking pregnancy and mode of delivery with “pelvic floor disorders” including incontinence, or the inability to control excretory functions, and pelvic organ prolapse, which occurs when organs slip away from their usual positions.
The results found that 42 percent of women who delivered vaginally suffered pelvic floor disorders, compared to only 27 percent of women who underwent Caesarean sections.
The study’s leader, UCSD professor of medicine Emily Lukacz, stated in a press release that the results should not push women to have C-sections, noting the high rate of women who experienced no pelvic floor disorders at all and citing controversy about whether it is pregnancy, mode of delivery or age alone that causes the disorders.
Jumping Walls for Sport, UCSD Style
Ignoring the fact that the shortest distance from point A to point B is a straight line, seven young men — including both UCSD and La Jolla High School students — have bypassed convention, opting instead to leap walls and stairs on Sunday afternoons as part of a contemporary urban agility sport known as “parkour.”
The students, led by Revelle College junior and traceur (the name of a parkour practitioner) Silverton Nguyen, go on weekly “jams” around the UCSD campus by analyzing the steepness of barriers, testing the texture of walls and pacing off the width of concrete barriers as part of the sport, which has been popularized via the Internet.
Parkour, which was developed in France and is featured in the new action movie “District B13,” is about 20 years old and translates very loosely to mean “free running.” The sport focuses on mastering the physical environment through agility while maintaining a smooth flow of motion. It features moves such as “wall pops,” when traceurs run vertically up a wall in order to spring their bodies to the top.
Sectarianism Obstacle for Religious Right
Right-wing religious groups demonstrate negative attitudes toward one another, making the establishment of political coalitions difficult, according to the results of a new UCSD study.
However, the study also found that liberal religious groups are more inclined to build cooperative partnerships with other groups exhibiting similar ideals.
The study was based on surveys of 5,603 people, including those who identify themselves as members of right-wing religious groups such as fundamentalist and evangelical Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. Liberal groups included liberal Judaism, nontraditional Catholicism and liberal and mainline Protestantism.
