Media involvement in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women/Girls (MMIWG) epidemic

The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) epidemic was created to raise awareness about the high rates of violence against Indigenous women and girls. Media coverage for MMIWG survivors in United States and Canada remains lacking, as mainstream reporting is almost non-existent for Indigenous women and girls. Out of 506 MMIWG cases, only one-quarter were reported by local, regional, or national media (UIHI, 2018). These victims are commonly overshadowed by other cases comprised of non-Hispanic White (NHW) women who go missing. In Canada's local press, missing and murdered NHW women were referred to 511 times compared to 82 times for Indigenous women (Gilchrist, 2010). Further, Indigenous women and girls who are abuse survivors and are reported in the media are usually depicted in negative and stereotypical contexts like sex-work and criminal behavior, which is in stark contrast to their NHW counterparts. However, advocates of the MMIWG epidemic have created increased social media exposure by sharing survivors' stories. During an 11-month study using data from Twitter, over 107,400 tweets included #MMIW and #MMIWG; these hashtags were used to shift perceptions of Indigenous women/girls and to apply political pressure to increasing news coverage of current rates of MMIWG (Moeke-Pickering et al., 2018). Increasing Indigenous representation and exposure via the media creates the opportunity to generate discussions, encourage activism, and ultimately, promote systemic-level changes for justice among Indigenous women and girls. The purpose of this poster presentation is to highlight the impact of media involvement in relation to the MMIWG epidemic.Psycholog

Literature review of the traditional use of tobacco as a cultural practice and harm reduction effort for Indigenous communities

This literature review aims to highlight cultural strengths and protective health factors associated with traditional/ceremonial tobacco (versus commercial tobacco) use among Indigenous communities. While commercial cigarette smoking rates have decreased over the past 50+ years in the US, Indigenous communities continue to smoke commercial tobacco at higher rates compared to other racial/ethnic groups, and thus, experience significantly higher tobacco-related health inequities. Traditional use of the tobacco plant, most often Nicotiana rustica or Nicotiana tabacum, may include smoking (but not inhaling), burning for offering, smudging in ceremonies, or sprinkling on the bed of an ill person for healing among Indigenous communities. Unlike traditional tobacco, commercial tobacco refers to a product (i.e., cigarettes, chewing tobacco) containing thousands of added chemical compounds associated with cancer-related disparities. Furthermore, the negative health outcomes associated with commercial tobacco use, such as premature death, remain a significant cause for concern in public health efforts. Contemporarily, an issue arises from the use of commercial tobacco use in traditional practices, out of convenience or lack of knowledge about the cultural significance, which can result in earlier initiation of tobacco use, and reduce cultural respect for the plant. Interventions developed with predominantly non-Hispanic White (NHW) populations are typically less effective for Indigenous populations due to a lack of cultural considerations. Recent research suggests that Indigenous populations benefit from culturally inclusive adaptations for tobacco control and tobacco dependence interventions. This literature review will identify effective ways to address the need for culturally inclusive efforts to reduce tobacco-related health disparities while also acknowledging the unique difference between using traditional tobacco and commercial tobacco use. In addition, it will discuss results from previous studies that suggest protective factors associated with engaging in these cultural practices. These findings will inform future studies that investigate whether traditional tobacco use could be promoted for Indigenous communities as a way that supports traditional tobacco use in tandem with reducing the harm of commercial cigarette smoking and chewing tobacco for Indigenous communities.Psycholog

Mobilising and mediating global medicine and health citizenship : the politics of AIDS knowledge production in rural South Africa

The paper investigates the ways in which global health messages and forms of health citizenship are mediated by AIDS activists in rural South Africa. It focuses on how international health agencies and NGOs engage with local communities through AIDS prevention and treatment programmes. Some critics regard such global health programmes as conduits for the medicalisation of social life and social problems. From this perspective global medicine is an all-encompassing process that results in systematic normalisation, depoliticisation and disempowerment of patients and citizens. However, this case study draws attention to the agency of the ‘targets’ of biomedicine. It also highlights the observation that AIDS activists and treatment literacy practitioners are not only concerned with biomedical matters, but are also committed to recruiting new members into their biopolitical projects and epistemic communities. These mobilisation processes involve translating and mediating biomedical ideas and practices into vernacular forms that can be easily understood and acted upon by the ‘targets’ of these recruitment strategies. However, these processes of ‘vernacularisation’ or localisation of biomedical knowledge often occur in settings where even the most basic scientific understandings and framings of medicine can not be taken for granted. This ethnographic case study shows that global health programmes, and their local NGO and social movement mediators, often encounter considerable ‘friction’ not only from powerful national state actors, who may view such programmes as challenges to national sovereignty, but also from the most marginalised village-level actors. Keywords: HIV/AIDS; mediation; global health; citizenship; knowledge production; South Africa

Studio Recital

Studio recital presenting the students of Charlotte Petersen. Featuring cellists and string ensembles.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/music_programs/1124/thumbnail.jp

Acidic Polysaccharide Extracts from Gastrodia Rhizomes Suppress the Atherosclerosis Risk Index through Inhibition of the Serum Cholesterol Composition in Sprague Dawley Rats Fed a High-Fat Diet

Obesity is associated with a broad spectrum of cardio-metabolic disturbances, including atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (CDV). A high-fat diet has been shown to cause an elevation of the plasma cholesterol levels in humans, and the control of serum cholesterol has been demonstrated to be important in the prevention of CVD and atherosclerosis. The aims of this study were to demonstrate that crude and acidic polysaccharide extracts from Gastrodia rhizomes suppress atherosclerosis through the regulation of serum lipids in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats fed a high-fat diet. We examined the concentrations of serum lipids, including total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol, and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) cholesterol, in SD rats fed a high-fat diet and evaluated the atherogenic index. Here, we show that both crude and acidic polysaccharide extracts from Gastrodia rhizomes inhibited the total cholesterol and LDL levels. Moreover, there was a significantly suppressed atherosclerosis risk due to the acidic polysaccharide extract from Gastrodia rhizome. Taken together, our results suggested that acidic polysaccharide extracts from Gastrodia rhizomes might be beneficial for lowering the incidence of CVD and atherosclerosis by reducing the de novo synthesis of total cholesterol and the LDL levels

Time-resolved, defect-hosted, trace element mobility in deformed Witwatersrand pyrite

© 2018 China University of Geosciences (Beijing) and Peking University The Pb isotopic composition of rocks is widely used to constrain the sources and mobility of melts and hydrothermal fluids in the Earth's crust. In many cases, the Pb isotopic composition appears to represent mixing of multiple Pb reservoirs. However, the nature, scale and mechanisms responsible for isotopic mixing are not well known. Additionally, the trace element composition of sulphide minerals are routinely used in ore deposit research, mineral exploration and environmental studies, though little is known about element mobility in sulphides during metamorphism and deformation. To investigate the mechanisms of trace element mobility in a deformed Witwatersrand pyrite (FeS2), we have combined electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and atom probe microscopy (APM). The results indicate that the pyrite microstructural features record widely different Pb isotopic compositions, covering the entire range of previously published sulphide Pb compositions from the Witwatersrand basin. We show that entangled dislocations record enhanced Pb, Sb, Ni, Tl and Cu composition likely due to entrapment and short-circuit diffusion in dislocation cores. These dislocations preserve the Pb isotopic composition of the pyrite at the time of growth (~3 Ga) and show that dislocation intersections, likely to be common in deforming minerals, limit trace element mobility. In contrast, Pb, As, Ni, Co, Sb and Bi decorate a high-angle grain boundary which formed soon after crystallisation by sub-grain rotation recrystallization. Pb isotopic composition within this boundary indicates the addition of externally-derived Pb and trace elements during greenschist metamorphism at ~2 Ga. Our results show that discrete Pb reservoirs are nanometric in scale, and illustrate that grain boundaries may remain open systems for trace element mobility over 1 billion years after their formation

Gender differences in disability after sickness absence with musculoskeletal disorders: five-year prospective study of 37,942 women and 26,307 men

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gender differences in the prevalence and occupational consequences of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are consistently found in epidemiological studies. The study investigated whether gender differences also exist with respect to chronicity, measured as the rate of transition from sickness absence into permanent disability pension (DP).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Prospective national cohort study in Norway including all cases with a spell of sickness absence > eight weeks during 1997 certified with a MSD, 37,942 women and 26,307 men. The cohort was followed-up for five years with chronicity measured as granting of DP as the endpoint. The effect of gender was estimated in the full sample adjusting for sociodemographic factors and diagnostic distribution. Gender specific analyses were performed with the same explanatory variables. Finally, the gender difference was estimated for nine diagnostic subgroups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The crude rate of DP was 22% for women and 18% for men. After adjusting for all sociodemographic variables, a slightly higher female risk of DP remained. However, additional adjustment for diagnostic distribution removed the gender difference completely. Having children and working full time decreased the DP risk for both genders, whereas low socioeconomic status increased the risk similarly. There was a different age effect as more women obtained a DP below the age of 50. Increased female risk of chronicity remained for myalgia/fibromyalgia, back disorders and "other/unspecified" after relevant adjustments, whereas men with neck disorders were at higher risk of chronicity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Women with MSDs had a moderately increased risk of chronicity compared to men, when including MSDs with a traumatic background. Possible explanations are lower income, a higher proportion belonging to diagnostic subgroups with poor prognosis, and a younger age of chronicity among women. When all sociodemographic and diagnostic variables were adjusted for, no gender difference remained, except for some diagnostic subgroups.</p