Spaces of Solidarity: Negotiations of Difference and Whiteness among Activists in the Arizona/Sonora Borderlands

Interpersonal conflict poses a serious threat to social justice activism. In the context of multi-racial solidarity activism in southern Arizona, conflicts are often born of the challenges accompanying differentials in social privilege due to differences in race and ethnicity relative to white supremacist settler colonialism. We can see these tensions topologically through the very different relationships white, Latin@, Chican@, and indigenous activists have to on-going processes of white supremacy. This dissertation explores the factors contributing to successes and failures of multi-racial activist ventures in the context of the Arizona/Sonora borderlands, particularly the challenges of negotiating social difference among communities of activists. Arizona occupies a contentious position with regard to securitization practices on the US/Mexico border. Social justice activists come to southern Arizona to involve themselves in humanitarian aid projects that address human rights issues emerging from border securitization processes. Over time, many of these activists connect with other social justice work in southern Arizona, leading to the existence of particularly rich and dedicated networks of activists in Tucson, southern Arizona’s largest city. Subsequently, we see the development of a diverse array of activist ventures deliberately orienting themselves around racial justice. This dissertation examines the paradox of becoming anti-racist for white activists, through which white activists work to address problematic aspects of their socialization as white subjects within the hierarchy of white supremacist society, a process that must co-exist with the knowledge that one cannot ‘unwhiten’ oneself. Tucson has a rich history of social justice activism that contributes to a particularly diverse activist landscape. Since the early 2000s, the primary concern of grassroots political activism in the city has been migrant justice and opposition to the militarization of the US/Mexico border. In the aftermath of Arizona’s notorious 2010 racial profiling legislation, SB 1070, The Protection Network Action Fund (ProNet) was founded as a collaboration between undocumented migrant activists and white allies, with the express goal of fundraising to support migrant led activism in Tucson. Much of ProNet’s success is rooted in the long-term relationship building between migrant activists and white allies, and intentional commitments to bridging gaps between the humanitarian aid and migrant justice communities. Members of ProNet challenge the spatial dynamics of activist networks Tucson, connecting Latin@ and Chican@ activist communities in and surrounding Spanish speaking South Tucson with activists in parts of the city where the effects of the militarized border are less present, and where residents are predominantly white

Oral Reading Fluency Scores as an Indicator of Reading Comprehension in Title I Schools

This study investigated the relationship between second grade students’ oral reading fluency scores as an indicator of reading comprehension achievement. A correlational design was used with a sample of 302 students from three South Carolina Title I schools. The students’ oral reading fluency (DORF) and overall, informational, and literary comprehension scores (MAP) were recorded. The researcher completed three bivariate linear regression analyses to determine if overall, informational, and literary comprehension could be predicted by students’ oral reading fluency rates. The researcher found that that there is a significant predictive relationship between the predictor and criterion variables. The statistical method used concluded a predicative relationship between oral reading fluency and overall reading comprehension, informational comprehension, and literary comprehension (p. \u3c .001). This research adds to the body of knowledge in the field by focusing on students in a Title I setting. In addition, it also shows the variability for each of the three criterion variables. More research needs to be done to investigate what other factors account for the remaining percentage of variability in predicting comprehension outcomes in addition to fluency. In addition, focusing on a different sample population such as special education students would also be beneficial

A "no-biopsy" approach to diagnosing celiac disease

Deputy Editor: Katherine Hale, PharmD, BCPS (Kadlec Regional Medical Center)This noninvasive alternative to the diagnostic gold standard may cut risk and expense for adult patients.Timothy Mott, MD; Carrie Gray, DO; Jon Storey, MD (South Baldwin Regional Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program). Deputy Editor: Katherine Hale, PharmD, BCPS (Kadlec Regional Medical Center)Includes bibliographical reference

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Surveillance of Medication Use During Pregnancy in the Mini-Sentinel Program

OBJECTIVES: Mini-Sentinel is a pilot project sponsored by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to create an active surveillance system to monitor the safety of FDA-regulated medical products. We assessed the capability of the Mini-Sentinel pilot to provide prevalence rates of medication use among pregnant women delivering a liveborn infant. METHODS: An algorithm was developed to identify pregnancies for a reusable analytic tool to be executed against the Mini-Sentinel Distributed Database. Diagnosis and procedure codes were used to identify women ages 10-54 years delivering a liveborn infant between April 2001 and December 2012. A comparison group of age- and date-matched nonpregnant women was identified. The analytic code was distributed to all 18 Mini-Sentinel data partners. The use of specific medications, selected because of concerns about their safe use during pregnancy, was identified from outpatient dispensing data. We determined the frequency of pregnancy episodes and nonpregnant episodes exposed to medications of interest, any time during the pregnant/matched nonpregnant period, and during each trimester. RESULTS: The analytic tool successfully identified 1,678,410 live birth deliveries meeting the eligibility criteria. The prevalence of use at any time during pregnancy was 0.38 % for angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and 0.22 % for statins. For \u3c /=0.05 % of pregnancy episodes, the woman was dispensed warfarin, methotrexate, ribavirin, or mycophenolate. CONCLUSIONS: The analytic tool developed for this study can be used to assess the use of medications during pregnancy as safety issues arise, and is adaptable to include different medications, observation periods, pre-existing conditions, and enrollment criteria

Maternal influenza vaccine strategies in Kenya: Which approach would have the greatest impact on disease burden in pregnant women and young infants?

Recent influenza surveillance data from Africa suggest an important burden of influenza-associated morbidity and mortality. In tropical countries where influenza virus transmission may not be confined to a single season alternative strategies for vaccine distribution via antenatal care (ANC) or semiannual campaigns should be considered.Using data on monthly influenza disease burden in women of child-bearing age and infants aged 0-5 months in Kenya from 2010-2014, we estimated the number of outcomes (illnesses, medical visits, hospitalizations, and deaths) that occurred and that may have been averted through influenza vaccination of pregnant women using: 1) a year-round immunization strategy through ANC, 2) annual vaccination campaigns, and 3) semiannual vaccination campaigns.During 2010-2014, influenza resulted in an estimated 279,047 illnesses, 36,276 medical visits, 1612 hospitalizations and 243 deaths in pregnant women and 157,053 illnesses, 65,177 medical visits, 4197 hospitalizations, and 755 deaths in infants aged 0-5 months in Kenya. Depending on the mode of distribution and the vaccine coverage achieved, 12.8-31.4% of influenza-associated disease in pregnant women and 11.6-22.1% in infants aged 0-5 months might have been prevented through maternal influenza immunization. In this model, point estimates for influenza-associated disease averted through maternal vaccination delivered year-round in ANC or semiannually in campaigns were higher than vaccination delivered in a single annual campaign, but confidence intervals overlapped.Vaccinating pregnant women against influenza can reduce the burden of influenza-associated illness, hospitalization and death in both pregnant women and their young infants. Alternative immunization strategies may avert more influenza-associated disease in countries where influenza virus transmission occurs throughout the year

The Anarchist Roots of Geography: Toward Spatial Emancipation

none11siIn 1882, conservative Parisian journalist Abert Delpit commented on the endorsing speech Élisée Reclus pronounced at the “free union” ceremony of his daughters Magali and Jeannie, who publicly celebrated the fact they went to live with two young men without any legal sanction from a mayor or a priest. Given that this event raised a huge scandal in French mainstream press, Delpit tried to explain the contradiction between the generalized praise of Reclus as a world-famous scientist and his deprecation as an “immoral” anarchist, by addressing Reclus's “psychological profile.” Delpit argued that Reclus's wanderings across mountains and forests, and his studies of the Earth's great phenomena, had thrown him in a sort of psychopathological condition that he called l'ivresse de la géographie (the inebriation of geography).mixedSidaway, James D.; White, Richard J.; Barrera de la Torre, Gerónimo; Ferretti, Federico; Crane, Nicholas Jon; Loong, Shona; Knopp, Larry; Mott, Carrie; Rouhani, Farhang; Smith, Jonathan M.; Springer, SimonSidaway, James D.; White, Richard J.; Barrera de la Torre, Gerónimo; Ferretti, Federico; Crane, Nicholas Jon; Loong, Shona; Knopp, Larry; Mott, Carrie; Rouhani, Farhang; Smith, Jonathan M.; Springer, Simo

Model inputs and data sources.

<p>Model inputs and data sources.</p

Comparison of influenza-associated disease burden potentially averted through different maternal immunization strategies, Kenya, 2010–2014.

<p>Comparison of influenza-associated disease burden potentially averted through different maternal immunization strategies, Kenya, 2010–2014.</p