Greater Means Research Articles

Effectiveness of a School Intervention Based on Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Soil-Transmitted Helminths.

More than 1.5 billion people are infected by soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) worldwide, comprising one of the world's most serious public health problems. School-age children are the most affected as a result of precarious hygienic habits, especially in economically poor areas that lack appropriate sanitation. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate a didactic method via a health education approach as a complement to the school curriculum of the sixth-grade students of public schools, distributed among six cities in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. For this, a didactic booklet was elaborated with educational explanatory activities about worms, their life cycle, and how to avoid infections. The intervention was measured by the change caused by knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP), in students before and after using the notebook, through a questionnaire with high validity and internal consistency. Schools were assigned randomly into intervention and control groups, receiving both the didactic material and the questionnaires, versus the questionnaires only, respectively. The results were submitted to an analysis of covariance that revealed a significant difference pre- and postintervention for knowledge (P < 0.001), with greater means (0.54) compared with the control group (0.44); attitude (P < 0.005), with respective means of 0.56 versus 0.48; and practice (P < 0.001), with means of 0.75 versus 0.57. These findings set the didactic material as a potential tool to complement the school curriculum through KAP without disrupting the teaching system, in addition to assisting teachers in health education at schools aiming to prevent children's infections by STHs.

CBCT Analysis of Edentulous Mandibular Symphysis in Iraqi Patients for Treatment with Implant-Supported Overdentures. Cross-Sectional Single-Center Study.

Overdentures supported by dental implants are a useful treatment strategy for patients with edentulous mandibles. The aim of this study was to evaluate certain characteristics of the mandibular symphyseal edentulous cases for dental implant treatment using CBCT; and if it is associated with gender differences. Ninety patients (45 females and 45 males) were included in this investigation. A section along the midline of each CBCT image was chosen for the edentulous symphyseal area. Symphysis height, width, and cortical thickness was measured for each patient. Bone density were calculated at four points A two-sample Student's t-test and Pearson correlation were used for statistical analysis. Males had a considerably greater symphysis height (26.66±6.21 mm) than females (24.07±5.00 mm) (p = 0.02). Similar results were found for bone width; males had greater means than females. In case of cortical bone thickness; males had thicker bone cortex in the buccal region than females (p = 0.01). While the difference in bone density between genders was small. However, a positive relationship was recorded between symphysis height and width. Height and width of the mandibular symphysis were influenced by gender in edentulous patients, with men showing higher measurements. The reduction of symphyseal height decreased concurrently with the width after teeth were lost, while bone density was maintained in both genders with no difference between them. The lingual cortical bone is significantly thicker than the buccal cortex at the lower part of the symphysis.

Virtual Reality to Evaluate the Impact of Colorful Interventions and Nature Elements on Spontaneous Walking, Gaze, and Emotion

Green environments are said to have a positive impact on spontaneous physical activity and well-being. However, high quality psychological measures in natural settings are difficult to collect. In the present study, we offer a detailed report on how virtual reality may provide a controlled environment for immersive user testing. Virtual Reality (VR) was here used to test the impact of colorful floor markings on the spontaneous speed of walking, gaze behaviour, as well as perceived changes in and physiological mesures of affective states. The reactions of 36 adult participants were evaluated in Grey and Green VR environments of an urban university campus. Results in VR revealed similar results than that reported in natural settings: participants walked slower and had higher heart rates in Green than in Grey urban settings, indicating more pleasurable experiences. VR results provided nevertheless more detailed description of user experience with the possibility to quantify changes in gaze strategy as a function of the presence or absence of color designs. Spontaneous walking was slower with colorful designs than without. Gaze behaviour presented longer fixation times with colorful designs than without. Finally, physiological responses indicated that mean heart rates were similar across environments and predicted the physical effort of the task. However, greater means in heart rates were observed in the environments presenting colorful designs, suggesting that colors may be a powerful tool to trigger alertness and pleasure in Grey urban cities. Virtual reality is reported here as an innovative method to quantify psychological experiences during free exploration in gait. Applicable to a broad range of research topics in the psychological sciences, explicit guidelines are made available to share computer code and data sets for further exploitation.

Evaluating machine learning techniques for archaeological lithic sourcing: a case study of flint in Britain

It is 50 years since Sieveking et al. published their pioneering research in Nature on the geochemical analysis of artefacts from Neolithic flint mines in southern Britain. In the decades since, geochemical techniques to source stone artefacts have flourished globally, with a renaissance in recent years from new instrumentation, data analysis, and machine learning techniques. Despite the interest over these latter approaches, there has been variation in the quality with which these methods have been applied. Using the case study of flint artefacts and geological samples from England, we present a robust and objective evaluation of three popular techniques, Random Forest, K-Nearest-Neighbour, and Support Vector Machines, and present a pipeline for their appropriate use. When evaluated correctly, the results establish high model classification performance, with Random Forest leading with an average accuracy of 85% (measured through F1 Scores), and with Support Vector Machines following closely. The methodology developed in this paper demonstrates the potential to significantly improve on previous approaches, particularly in removing bias, and providing greater means of evaluation than previously utilised.

Academic identities in Ukrainian research universities under conditions of means-ends decoupling at the state level

ABSTRACTThe article explores academic identities in Ukrainian research universities whilst means–ends decoupling takes place at the state level. The latter term implies that the practices of state policies are disconnected from the state’s core goal of creating public welfare. Such means–ends decoupling occurs in oligarchic economies, Ukraine being one. Data for research were collected through semi-structured interviews with 38 academics from the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences affiliated with 2 Ukrainian research universities. The findings reveal that while institutional complexity caused by means–ends decoupling at the state level results in means–ends decoupling at the organisational level which leads to cultural complexity, both institutional and cultural complexities experienced by academics trigger them to sustain means–ends decoupling at the individual level. As a consequence, academics are able neither to adopt practices/roles prescribed by the organisational identities of the global model of the research university nor to attain synergy among them. The greater means–ends decoupling at the individual level implies a larger gap between constructed academic identities and identities prescribed by the global model of the research university. The greater awareness of academics about their practices being either loosely related or not related at all to their core goal (aspirational identity) and the larger number of practices which they compartmentalise the greater the dissonance they experience. As means–ends decoupling at all the aforementioned levels implies a severe diversion of human intellectual capital in Ukraine, it entails grave consequences for the Ukrainian society and economy.

Atopic Dermatitis and its Severity Correlation With Absolute Eosinophil Counts

Background: Atopic dermatitis is one of the common skin disease affecting children and adults. Atopic dermatitis is a common and difficult to manage allergic condition. Till date severity of atopic dermatitis is graded only by clinical findings, which has greater means of individual variation, so a laboratory value may uniform the grading and eosinophils are always thought to be associated with allergic conditions.&#x0D; Objectives: To assess the severity of atopic dermatitis by peripheral blood eosinophil count and SCORAD index, and also to explore relationship between personal history of atopy, family history of atopy, severity of disease and absolute eosinophil count.&#x0D; Material and Method: This study is a hospital based Cross sectional descriptive study conducted in the Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology of Nepalgunj Medical College Teaching Hospital, Kohalpur between March 2017 to February 2018. Total of 53 patients fulfilling the criteria of UK refinement of Hanifin and Rajka's criteria for atopic dermatitis presented to the OPD of dermatology department at Kohalpur were included in the study.&#x0D; Result: A total of 53 patients were enrolled, mean age of the patients was 6.08 (SD 2.83) years and mean age of onset of disease was2.95 (SD 1.57) years. Mean AEC was 537.17(SD 343.92)/mm3 and higher mean AEC was significantly (P&lt;0.001) associated with greater severity of disease and similarly presence of personal history of respiratory atopy was also significantly (P&lt;0.001) associated with higher mean AEC. Per patient AEC and severity of disease according to SCORAD index showed reasonable positive correlation (r=0.514 and P&lt;0.001). Conclusion: Severity of disease and presence of respiratory atopy are important factors determining peripheral blood eosinophilia inAD patients. Although larger studies are require to replicate these findings.

Bioecological Aspects and Heavy Metal Contamination of the Mollusk Donax denticulatus in the Colombian Caribbean Coastline.

Donax denticulatus is akey mollusk for the ecology of sandy beaches, serving as a controller of organic matter, microorganisms, and as bioindicator of heavy metals pollution. The goal of this study was to characterize some ecological aspects of D. denticulatus and its relationship with the content of heavy metals in their tissue, in three beaches of the Caribbean coast of Colombia. The results showed the study populations were different in terms of morphological characteristics and density (Berrugas-Sucre < Cartagena-Bolívar < Riohacha-Guajira), but not in sexual proportion; although density was clearly related to beach occupancy by tourists. Analysis of metals revealed tissue concentrations varied depending on the location (Greater means: Hg = 0.018 ± 0.004 in Riohacha; Pb = 0.110 ± 0.060 in Berrugas and Cd = 0.040 ± 0.010µg/g in Cartagena). No relationships were found between morphometric variables and heavy metals content. Principal components analysis highlighted Riohacha for presenting differences respecting to Bocagrande and Berrugas in terms of physicochemical water parameters such aspH, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and conductivity. Results suggest tourism rather than environmental pollution could be a sensitive factor for biota survival in Caribbean beaches.

Comparing open wound measuring methods popularly used in experimental studies

&lt;p&gt;O reparo tecidual surge em resposta às lesões e constitui-se de um processo dinâmico para manutenção da integridade do organismo. Nos estudos sobre cicatrização de feridas, tem se utilizado várias técnicas buscando-se uma avaliação da eficácia de meios de tratamento local. Sendo assim, o presente trabalho objetivou comparar três métodos de avaliação experimental de áreas de feridas, sendo eles: o método do relógio, papel milimetrado e avaliação computadorizada. Para realização do experimento, foram utilizados 30 ratos Wistar em condições de bem-estar. Após realizada a anestesia, foram confeccionadas duas lesões no dorso de cada animal com punch de 8 mm, sendo as feridas avaliadas após quatro, sete e 14 dias de tratamento. Observou-se que aos quatro dias de tratamento, todos os métodos apresentaram o mesmo desempenho, enquanto aos sete e 14 dias, o método do relógio, apresentou maior média de área, perdendo precisão, e aos 14 dias, a avaliação computadorizada apresentou resultados mais precisos em relação a ambos os outros métodos. Concluiu-se que a avaliação computadorizada através de &lt;em&gt;software &lt;/em&gt;de áreas de feridas cutâneas apresenta resultados mais precisos em relação aos métodos do relógio e papel milimetrado, principalmente em lesões menores.&lt;/p&gt;

Radiographic study on the anatomical characteristics of the proximal femur in Brazilian adults

ObjectiveTo ascertain the geometry of the femur in the Brazilian population by means of a radiographic study and to correlate the values with regard to sex and right/left side. MethodsFive hundred anteroposterior radiographs of the pelvis of skeletally mature patients (250 of each sex) who did not present any osteoarthrosis, fractures or tumoral or infectious lesions were analyzed. The length and width of the femoral neck, length of the femoral axis, neck-shaft angle and femoral offset were measured. ResultsThe following means were observed: 36.54mm for the length of the femoral neck; 37.48mm for the width of the femoral neck; 108.42mm for the length of the femoral axis; 130.47° for the neck-shaft angle; and 44.4mm for the femoral offset. ConclusionThe mean values for the main measurements on the proximal femur in Brazilians differed from those of previous studies. It could also be shown that there was a statistically significant mean difference between men and women for all the variables, both on the left and on the right side, and that the men had greater means than the women.

Estudo radiográfico dos aspectos anatômicos do fêmur proximal dos adultos brasileiros

ObjectiveTo ascertain the geometry of the femur in the Brazilian population by means of a radiographic study and to correlate the values with regard to sex and right/left side. MethodsFive hundred anteroposterior radiographs of the pelvis of skeletally mature patients (250 of each sex) who did not present any osteoarthrosis, fractures or tumoral or infectious lesions were analyzed. The length and width of the femoral neck, length of the femoral axis, neck‐shaft angle and femoral offset were measured. ResultsThe following means were observed: 36.54mm for the length of the femoral neck; 37.48 mm for the width of the femoral neck; 108.42 mm for the length of the femoral axis; 130.47° for the neck‐shaft angle; and 44.4 mm for the femoral offset. ConclusionThe mean values for the main measurements on the proximal femur in Brazilians differed from those of previous studies. It could also be shown that there was a statistically significant mean difference between men and women for all the variables, both on the left and on the right side, and that the men had greater means than the women.

ICDS Scheme to the Growth Development in Preschoolers: A Systematic Review of Literature

&lt;p&gt;The health scenario in our country is rapidly changing, both in terms of the public health challenges that we face as well as our response to these challenges. As India becomes more and more developed and we have greater means at our disposal, our response to our health challenges must reflect our changing health and socio-economic status. India faces enormous challenges in the area of women’s and children’s health. These findings point to the importance of investing in various growth factors and sanitation, and educating the public about hygiene to promote health knowledge and better child outcomes. As importantly, such investments have the potential of making the feeding program more effective. ICDS therefore takes holistic view of the development of the child and attempts to improve both his/her prenatal and postnatal environment. Accordingly, besides children in their formative years (0-6 years), women between 15 to 45 years are also covered by the programme as these are child bearing years in the life of a women and her nutrition and health status has a bearing on the development of the child.&lt;/p&gt;

ICDS Scheme to the Growth Development in Preschoolers: A Systematic Review of Literature

&lt;p&gt;The health scenario in our country is rapidly changing, both in terms of the public health challenges that we face as well as our response to these challenges. As India becomes more and more developed and we have greater means at our disposal, our response to our health challenges must reflect our changing health and socio-economic status. India faces enormous challenges in the area of women’s and children’s health. These findings point to the importance of investing in various growth factors and sanitation, and educating the public about hygiene to promote health knowledge and better child outcomes. As importantly, such investments have the potential of making the feeding program more effective. ICDS therefore takes holistic view of the development of the child and attempts to improve both his/her prenatal and postnatal environment. Accordingly, besides children in their formative years (0-6 years), women between 15 to 45 years are also covered by the programme as these are child bearing years in the life of a women and her nutrition and health status has a bearing on the development of the child.&lt;/p&gt;

Incorporating Physical Activity Measures Into Environmental Monitoring of National Parks: An Example From Yosemite

To address increasing prevalence of obesity and associated chronic disease, recent national initiatives have called upon federal agencies to promote healthy lifestyles and provide opportunities for physical activity. In response, the U.S. National Park Service has developed strategies promoting health through physical activity in addition to its well-established biodiversity and landscape conservation mission. Incorporating physical activity measures with routine environmental monitoring would help identify areas where parks can promote active pursuits with minimal environmental impact. This study provides one example of how protocols developed for visitor and environmental monitoring can generate data to evaluate physical activity. Researchers implemented an observational study in high-use meadows of Yosemite National Park during the summer of 2011. Variables measured include the spatial location of visitors and activity type. Metabolic equivalents (METs) were assigned to activity categories and analyzed for average energy expenditure. Mean METs values indicated sedentary to light physical activity across the meadows, with greater means in areas with boardwalks or paved pathways. Data leveraged in this study provide park managers an example of adapting existing monitoring programs to incorporate indicators relevant to physical activity evaluation and how physical activity may impact resource conditions in national parks.

Mergers and Acquisitions: Does it really Enhance Managerial Commitment? Evidence from Commercial Banks in South East Nigeria

Corporate mergers and acquisition has become a highly popular strategy in recent years. Thus, much attention has been focused on its outcomes. It has served as a substitute for innovation, a greater means of diversification. The banking sector is often referred to as an engine growth of the economy. The intermediation role which the sector plays in national development cannot be overemphasized. Thus, given the recent consolidation exercise in the Nigerian banking sector, we explored the impact of mergers and acquisition on managerial commitment in this paper. We adopted the descriptive survey method and primary data were obtained using oral interview and questionnaire. The population of this study comprised all consolidated banks in Nigeria and the total sample size for this study was 384 respondents from commercial banks in South East Nigeria. The Chi-square (X2) non-parametric statistic was used to test the hypotheses. The results revealed that mergers and acquisitions have significant positive effect on managerial role and commitment of managers of commercial banks in Nigerias South East Region. We, therefore, recommend that incentive measures such as improved pay and good working environment should be promoted in commercial banks during mergers and acquisitions as these will further enhance managerial commitment.&#x0D;

Patient experience and attitudes toward addressing the cost of breast cancer care.

6551 Background: The American Society of Clinical Oncology has suggested that patient-physician discussion of costs is a component of high quality care. Little data exists on patients’ experience confronting costs or attitudes on how cost should be addressed. Methods: We distributed a self-administered anonymous paper survey to consecutive patients with breast cancer presenting for a routine visit within 5 years of diagnosis at an academic center. Survey questions addressed financial distress, experience and preferences concerning discussions of cost, and views on cost control. Results are primarily descriptive, with comparison among patients on the basis of disease stage using Fisher’s exact test. All p-values are 2-sided. Results: We surveyed 134 patients (response rate 86%). Median age was 61. 72% stage I-III disease, and 28% (n=36) had stage IV disease. 44% (n=57) reported at least a moderate level of financial distress. Only 14% (n=18) reported ever discussing costs with their doctor, though 94% (n=121) felt doctors should talk to patients about costs. 53% (n=69) felt doctors should discuss direct costs with patients but only 38% (n=49) felt doctors should consider costs to society or insurance companies in their decision-making. Patients with metastatic disease were significantly less likely than those with earlier stage disease to want doctors to consider societal costs (33% (n=24) vs 6% (n=2), p&lt;0.01). 88% (n=114) reported concern over costs of cancer care, but there was no consensus on how to control costs. Only 3% (n=4) favored greater cost sharing and 9% (n=11) supported greater means testing. A minority (33%, n=43) supported reducing drug costs through government price controls (33% n=43). The majority endorsed generic substitution (59%, n=75) and preferential selection of drugs which prolong survival 53% (n=69). Conclusions: Although many patients with breast cancer want to discuss costs of care with their doctors, there is little consensus on the ideal content of these discussions. Few patients support consideration of societal costs in clinical decision-making. Further research is needed to evaluate the potential for patient-physician discussions of cost to contribute to affordable high quality cancer care.

Medieval Carved Ship Images Found in Nordic Churches: the poor man's votive ships?

The so-called ship graffiti found inside Catholic churches of the Scando-Baltic region may not only be graffiti. The author suggests that some may have been carved with votive intent in sacred spaces by people without greater means. The reason could have been a particular sea journey feared by sailors or their families. Actual proofs may be difficult to obtain due to the lack of inscriptions stating a particular intention, but in a Gotlandic church one ship image is accompanied by a prayer for what seems to have been its crew. This alternative interpretation appears to be in line with a current archaeological focus on the contextual polysemy of all kinds of ‘prehistoric’ pictures.

The Couplehood Jubilee

The Couplehood Jubilee Christine Sneed (bio) The figure she came up with wasn’t staggering, at least not in terms of the amount that some people might have spent, those with greater means or no fear of credit card debt. Nonetheless, it was much more than she felt comfortable with, and so much more than she had spent on travel and movies and dinners out for herself and Glen in any given year. She did her best to keep track of where her money went, hoping to discourage herself from spending three or four times more on temporary pleasures than she deposited into her retirement and rainy day savings accounts. A dense bubble of resentment began to form beneath her breastbone as she stared at the sum: $24,875. This was the amount that she had spent on friends’ bridal showers, engagement and bachelorette parties, hotels, plane tickets, dresses, and other wedding-related expenses over the past eight and a half years. During that entire time, she had been working as a high school French teacher and had earned an average annual salary of thirty-eight thousand dollars. Twenty-five thousand dollars: well over half of what she earned in a year. The resentment bubble threatened to asphyxiate her. Why had she allowed this to happen? And about half of the people she had shelled out so much money for were already divorced! Eventually the bubble moved up to her head and for a few midday hours, it tried very hard to summon a migraine. At the all-day, end-of-year school meeting where she had surreptitiously added up these wedding-related expenses, she kept thinking, I haven’t even spent a quarter of that amount on my own wedding. Because, in part, she had never had a wedding, nor did she think she would have one anytime soon. Despite their interest in monogamy, she and Glen, her boyfriend of six years, were not interested in marriage nor in what seemed to be the feverish American imperative to marry everyone off, tuck them into minivans, and bring on infant-induced sleep deprivation as soon as biologically possible. “Why don’t you want to get married?” some of Karen’s unhappily unmarried friends had asked. “Do you think that you or Glen can’t be faithful?” “It’s not like we need to be married to cheat on each other,” she had replied. Her friends remained doubtful. “Then what is it? Are you both holding out for someone better?” That wasn’t it either. Their reasons were more complicated than their bemused friends and relatives suspected, but if Karen tried to explain her feelings and convictions, their eyes grew hazy with boredom and suspicion or else they [End Page 62] argued that she was wrong, possibly egomaniacal, to resist this rite of passage that was good enough for millions of other couples. Even so, she did not feel wrong or egomaniacal. She did not understand why she and Glen needed to buy a license and recite certain phrases in front of a judge in order to be declared a committed couple. As if, like someone who wanted a driver’s license, a couple needed to be declared fit and legal to love each other. Karen’s parents, however, were worried about her unmarried status for other reasons. Didn’t she know that if she or Glen ever became sick and choices had to be made about medical care and money, the existence of this license was the only way that they were guaranteed the right to make these critical decisions? “Common law,” Karen would usually reply to her parents and other critics, brandishing the phrase like garlic in front of a vampire. “Sure,” her father said, agreeably enough, “but common law marriages don’t often hold up in court. You’re young now so you don’t care, but wait until the first time one of you has to go into the hospital for something unforeseen, and I guarantee you’ll feel differently.” Despite his depressing predictions, she knew that her father meant well. Almost everyone meant well when they told her to march straight to the nearest courthouse...

Role of public health systems in the present health scenario: Key challenges

The health scenario in our country is rapidly changing, both in terms of the public health challenges that we face as well as our response to these challenges. As India becomes more and more developed and we have greater means at our disposal, our response to our health challenges must reflect our changing health and socio-economic status. India faces enormous challenges in the area of women's and children's health. India is one of the few countries that have recorded substantial decline in maternal mortality. India is still far from achieving the target set in the millennium development goals. Despite several growth-orientated policies adopted by the government, the widening economic, regional, and gender disparities are posing challenges for the health sector. About 75% of health infrastructure, medical manpower, and other health resources are concentrated in urban areas where 27% of the populations live. To reduce this double burden of diseases, public health has to focus on health promotion, and disease prevention and control, while taking into consideration the social determinant of health. The focus of public health is to bring about change at the policy level not only for preventing disease but also for the health promotion through organized action at societal level.

DURABILIDADE DA UNIÃO À CERÂMICA DE ZIRCÔNIA TETRAGONAL POLICRISTALINA CONTENDO ÍTRIO (Y-TZP)

Purpose: This study evaluated in vitro the durability of the bond between resin cement and Y-TZP ceramic, testing the effect of different surface treatments and the previous application of an adhesive system over the ceramic. Methods: Forty Y-TZP ceramic plates were distributed into four experimental groups (n=10) according to the combination between surface treatment (air abrasion or Er:YAG laser irradiation) and adhesive system application (Scotchbond Multi Purpose – catalyst or Single Bond 2) in the plate previously to the use of the resin cement. After the surface treatment, resin cement cylinders were built using 0.8x1mm matrices (diameter x height). In each group, 5 specimens were tested for microshear after 24h, and other 5 specimens were tested after 6 months of water storage. Results: Regardless of the adhesive system or period, greater means were obtained in air abraded groups. No statistically significant difference between adhesive systems or periods. Conclusion: It could be concluded that the air abrasion improves bonding to T-TZP ceramic, regardless of the adhesive system used to coat zirconia ceramic surfaces.

Hypospadias and halogenated organic pollutant levels in maternal mid-pregnancy serum samples

Background Environmental contaminants that disrupt endocrine function may contribute to hypospadias etiology. Objective To compare levels of selected halogenated organic pollutants in women delivering infants with and without hypospadias. Methods This study examined levels of nine polybrominated flame retardants (PBDEs), 30 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and nine persistent pesticides in mid-pregnancy serum samples from 20 women who delivered infants with hypospadias and 28 women who delivered unaffected infants, in California. Analytes were measured using isotope dilution high-resolution mass spectrometry. Values below individual limits of detection (LOD) for each analyte were imputed based on a truncated multivariate normal distribution. Levels of 17 analytes for which at least 50% of cases and controls had values above the LOD were compared using t-tests and by generating odds ratios from logistic regression analyses. Results Means were greater for cases than controls for 11 of the 17 reported analytes (4 of 5 PBDEs, 7 of 9 PCBs, and 0 of 3 other persistent pesticides), but none of the differences were statistically significant. Eleven of the 17 odds ratios exceeded one (the same analytes that had greater means), but none of the confidence intervals excluded one. After adjustment for sample processing time and foreign-born Hispanic race-ethnicity, only four of the odds ratios exceeded one. Conclusions Levels of the PBDEs and PCBs were not statistically significantly different, but the sample size was small. The current study adds to a relatively limited knowledge base regarding the potential association of specific contaminants with hypospadias or other birth defects.