Lactation Support on Low-Income Women Exclusively Breastfeeding

Low-socioeconomic-status new mothers who wish to exclusively breastfeed, face significant challenges associated with available resources, finances, and maternal leave. To address this issue, the authors explored the following evidence-based PICOT question: among low-socioeconomic-status new mothers that breastfeed, does access to lactation supports in the workplace, compared to no or limited access, affect their ability to exclusively breastfeed for the baby’s first six months? This project conducted a search of the literature in CINAHL and PubMed databases using the terms breastfeeding, low-socioeconomic-status, and workplace lactational support. Inclusion criteria included peer-reviewed articles published between 2017 to present, containing keywords/phrases used in the search. Articles that did not discuss lactation support for low-socioeconomic-status breastfeeding women were excluded. Longer maternity leave is associated with increased breastfeeding duration. The literature highlights for working new mothers, lactation support in the workplace includes breastfeeding breaks, flexible work arrangements, private spaces, and facilities for expressing breast milk (Dinour & Szaro, 2017). For women of low-socioeconomic status an extended maternity leave may not be feasible, presenting women with challenges to exclusively breastfeed for the first six months. Additionally, research indicates that for women returning to work, workplace lactational supports are needed to improve the duration of exclusive breastfeeding. Low-income mothers are significantly less likely to have access to extended maternity leave, and lack necessary accommodations within the workplace, including break time and/or a private space to express breast milk. When workplace lactation is supported there is a positive influence on exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months

Rose to The Rescue

My research matters because, gathering dirt samples form Kansas and conducting tests to find possible new species of bacteria that could bring another antibiotic to another strain of MRSA. My research is important because it\u27s going into a database to see if my dirt has been discovered and tested to further find any other strands of MRSA. I have named my bacterium Rose after The Golden Girls. Rose was resistant to a lot of safe relative microbes except one. I found Rose at the end of my driveway in Shawnee, KS, under where I usually keep my trash can. I believe that Rose could be in close relation to Staph. epidermidis and could be a potential new antibiotic for MRSA which is a new, exciting discovery for everyone because everyone is at risk to contracting MRSA at any point in their life, so it is important to find out where your potential antibiotic comes from

Rose to The Rescue

My research matters because, gathering dirt samples form Kansas and conducting tests to find possible new species of bacteria that could bring another antibiotic to another strain of MRSA. My research is important because it\u27s going into a database to see if my dirt has been discovered and tested to further find any other strands of MRSA. I have named my bacterium Rose after The Golden Girls. Rose was resistant to a lot of safe relative microbes except one. I found Rose at the end of my driveway in Shawnee, KS, under where I usually keep my trash can. I believe that Rose could be in close relation to Staph. epidermidis and could be a potential new antibiotic for MRSA which is a new, exciting discovery for everyone because everyone is at risk to contracting MRSA at any point in their life, so it is important to find out where your potential antibiotic comes from

Receipts, A Source of Bisphenol A

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a synthetic chemical that is used to produce resilient plastics. This compound was once found in beverage containers until its removal in 2012. However, it still is used in compact discs, plastic dinnerware, toys, and other household plastics. BPA is a known endocrine disruptor that can affect the reproductive systems of individuals and cause hormonal disturbance. Due to its prevalence in our everyday lives and the plethora of health concerns surrounding BPA, it should be a topic of concern for the public. A primary source of BPA that is under-researched is the use of color developers in thermal paper receipts. Thermal paper receipts are used worldwide by organizations, and consequently, individuals have high contact with them. This study was conducted to determine the presence of BPA in grocery and restaurant receipts collected. To examine the levels of BPA, the receipts were submerged in 10 mL of room-temperature water for 60 minutes. The resulting liquid was analyzed for BPA levels using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detection. The concentration of BPA was determined after optimizing a calibration curve for BPA with a detection limit of 200 ng/mL. It was hypothesized that the receipts would contain a significant amount of BPA, potentially posing health risks to individuals who have frequent contact with receipts

Receipts, A Source of Bisphenol A

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a synthetic chemical that is used to produce resilient plastics. This compound was once found in beverage containers until its removal in 2012. However, it still is used in compact discs, plastic dinnerware, toys, and other household plastics. BPA is a known endocrine disruptor that can affect the reproductive systems of individuals and cause hormonal disturbance. Due to its prevalence in our everyday lives and the plethora of health concerns surrounding BPA, it should be a topic of concern for the public. A primary source of BPA that is under-researched is the use of color developers in thermal paper receipts. Thermal paper receipts are used worldwide by organizations, and consequently, individuals have high contact with them. This study was conducted to determine the presence of BPA in grocery and restaurant receipts collected. To examine the levels of BPA, the receipts were submerged in 10 mL of room-temperature water for 60 minutes. The resulting liquid was analyzed for BPA levels using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detection. The concentration of BPA was determined after optimizing a calibration curve for BPA with a detection limit of 200 ng/mL It was hypothesized that the receipts would contain a significant amount of BPA, potentially posing health risks to individuals who have frequent contact with receipts. BPA was found in the receipts, but at lower levels compared to other global studies. There was no statistically significant difference in the amounts of BPA between sources of receipts

Validation of Simplified Level 2 Prototype Processor Sentinel-2 fraction of canopy cover, fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation and leaf area index products over North American forests

Canopy biophysical variables such as the fraction of canopy cover (fCOVER), fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (fAPAR), and leaf area index (LAI) are widely used for ecosystem modelling and monitoring. The Sentinel-2 mission was designed for systematic global mapping of these variables at 20 m resolution using imagery from the MultiSpectral Instrument. The Simplified Level 2 Prototype Processor (SL2P) is available as a baseline mapping solution. Previous validation over limited sites indicates that SL2P generally satisfies user requirements for all three variables over crops, but underestimates LAI over forests. In this study, Sentinel-2 fAPAR, fCOVER, and LAI products, from SL2P, were validated over 281 sites representative of most North American forest ecozones and also compared to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) and Copernicus Global Land Service (CGLS) products. In addition to meeting the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites Stage 3 validation requirements for these areas, our study also explores the relationship between bias in SL2P products and canopy clumping and provides empirical bias correction functions for each variable. SL2P was implemented within the Landscape Evolution and Forecasting Toolbox in Google Earth Engine both for efficiency and due to bugs in the Sentinel Application Platform implementation. SL2P was found to underestimate LAI by 20% to 50% over forests with LAI > 2; in agreement with other studies and with comparisons to MODIS and CGLS products. SL2P bias for fCOVER and fAPAR transitions from ∼0.1 at low values to ∼ − 0.1 at high values. Precision error, at one standard deviation, was ∼0.5 for LAI and slightly less than ∼0.1 for fCOVER and fAPAR. Total uncertainty was dominated by bias for LAI and was slightly greater than precision error for fCOVER and fAPAR. Target user requirements were satisfied for 51% of LAI, 37% of fCOVER and 31% of fAPAR comparisons to in-situ measurements. For all variables, accuracy exhibited weak to moderate linear relationships to clumping (r2 ≤0.52), but scatter plots indicated larger negative LAI biases over northern latitude sites where canopies exhibited greater clumping. With the exception of evergreen broadleaf forests, empirical bias correction using in-situ data reduced accuracy error by 40% for fCOVER, 57% for fAPAR and, 92% for LAI and increased the agreement rate with uncertainty requirements by up to 8%. Users of SL2P LAI over forests are recommended to apply bias correction or consider recalibrating SL2P with spatially heterogenous radiative transfer model simulations