Creating Health Membership in a Health Commons

Persons living in the margins may be separated or isolated because of poverty, disability, gender, and ethnicity. Isolation, along with exposure to at-risk environments and barriers to accessing health care, contributes to adverse health outcomes. Nurses must be open to learning essential transcultural skills to work with persons living in the margins to provide culturally appropriate care that addresses health inequities. Students in a Doctor of Nursing Practice program at Augsburg University developed an innovative approach to care for people living in the margins. The Health Commons, a nursing-led drop-in center in Rochester, MN, and grounded in Newman\u27s (1999) Health is Expanding Consciousness Nursing Theory, is a safe space for people experiencing marginalization to develop relationships. The Rochester Health Commons (RHC) provides a place for guests experiencing resource insecurity to meet with nurses, receive basic personal care supplies, and discuss identified health concerns. The RHC engages with the community using transcultural nursing skills, creating nurse and citizen agency, and builds relationships by creating an environment of belonging and fostering health membership. Tracking the number of guests visiting the RHC helped gauge the success of the RHC. An increase in the number of returning guests was a positive measurable outcome because it reflects the connections and trust developing within the RHC. In the RHC nurses actively advocate for social justice and join guests on their healthcare journey through accompaniment. The RHC fosters a sense of belonging within a community and promotes health outcomes that negate ill effects of inequities and isolationism

Dirty Recycling: Auto Salvage and Its Potential Impacts on Marginalized Populations

The salvage yard represents the final waypoint in the cradle-to-grave cycle of the automobile. Residual amounts of petroleum hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and acids used in automobiles can be extremely harmful to human health and the environment if not managed correctly. The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which minority populations were exposed to the hazards of the auto salvage industry. Census data for population, income, race/ethnicity, sex, and age were organized using ArcGIS software. Population demographics were analyzed in the areas surrounding 98 auto salvage yards found in Philadelphia and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania. In Philadelphia County, the results showed that low-income minorities, females, and 65+ individuals are over represented groups near auto salvage yards. Conversely, Adams County showed few spatial relationships in demographic distribution. Our findings suggest that in urban counties, such as Philadelphia, depressed property values have resulted in a large percentage of below average income minorities inhabiting areas in close proximity to auto salvage yards. On the other hand, auto salvage yards in rural areas, such as Adams County, do not appear to have the same effect because population density and racial diversity are much lower

Growth Model Evaluations: Possibilities and Pitfalls

In response to Race to the Top mandates, student academic growth models are being incorporated into teacher evaluation processes across the country. Illinois’ version of the reform is the Performance Evaluation Reform Act. This paper briefly summarizes the new law and its impact to date. Further, the paper provides reflection upon the current research related to VAMs, and the possible legal consequences of relying on student growth models as a significant component of teacher personnel decisions

End of mission, 957th Field-Artillery Battalion

Battalion Adjust From the cities, villages, hamlets and farms of almost every State in the Union came the fighting men of the 957th Field Artillery Battalion -- a 155 mm Howitzer unit which contributed prompt, accurate and devastating fire support for every major campaign against the German enemy in France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and Germany. The pages of this organization history, pictures and statistics are dedicated to the men and officers who gave unstintingly of their blood, life, time and talents to assure the success of the Continental Campaign and the Cause -- the Cause of International Freedom. It is our desire that this volume will be to all who peruse its pages a friendly reminder of the devotion and singleness of purpose which marked the years of Training, Preparation and Combat. THE EDITORhttps://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1124/thumbnail.jp

Killing Them with Kindness? In-Hive Medications May Inhibit Xenobiotic Efflux Transporters and Endanger Honey Bees

Background: Honey bees (Apis mellifera) have recently experienced higher than normal overwintering colony losses. Many factors have been evoked to explain the losses, among which are the presence of residues of pesticides and veterinary products in hives. Multiple residues are present at the same time, though most often in low concentrations so that no single product has yet been associated with losses. Involvement of a combination of residues to losses may however not be excluded. To understand the impact of an exposure to combined residues on honey bees, we propose a mechanism-based strategy, focusing here on Multi-Drug Resistance (MDR) transporters as mediators of those interactions. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using whole-animal bioassays, we demonstrate through inhibition by verapamil that the widely used organophosphate and pyrethroid acaricides coumaphos and t-fluvalinate, and three neonicotinoid insecticides: imidacloprid, acetamiprid and thiacloprid are substrates of one or more MDR transporters. Among the candidate inhibitors of honey bee MDR transporters is the in-hive antibiotic oxytetracycline. Bees prefed oxytetracycline were significantly sensitized to the acaricides coumaphos and t-fluvalinate, suggesting that the antibiotic may interfere with the normal excretion or metabolism of these pesticides. Conclusions/Significance: Many bee hives receive regular treatments of oxytetracycline and acaricides for prevention and treatment of disease and parasites. Our results suggest that seasonal co-application of these medicines to bee hives coul

Research Notes: Interactions of cultural practices with insect-induced stress on soybeans

Numerous reports exist which characterize yield loss and defoliation relationships. Management guidelines and decisions regarding defoliating pests have been based largely upon findings from one or more of those studies . The use of such studies as decision-making criteria may be limited since most defoliation yield-related research has been conducted in the Midwest with varieties , growth habits and environmental conditions widely divergent from those found in other areas of production

Effects on Monarch Butterfly Larvae (Lepidoptera: Danaidae) After Continuous Exposure to Cry1Ab-Expressing Corn During Anthesis

Effects on monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus L., after continuous exposure of larvae to natural deposits of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and non-Bt pollen on milkweed, were measured in five studies. First instars were exposed at 3–4 and 6–7 d after initial anthesis, either directly on milkweed plants in commercial cornfields or in the laboratory on leaves collected from milkweeds in corn plots. Pollen exposure levels ranging from 122 to 188 grains/cm2/d were similar to within-field levels that monarch butterfly populations might experience in the general population of cornfields. Results indicate that 23.7% fewer larvae exposed to these levels of Bt pollen during anthesis reached the adult stage. A risk assessment procedure used previously was updated with a simulation model estimating the proportion of second-generation monarch butterflies affected. When considered over the entire range of the Corn Belt, which represents only 50% of the breeding population, the risk to monarch butterfly larvae associated with long-term exposure to Bt corn pollen is 0.6% additional mortality. Exposure also prolonged the developmental time of larvae by 1.8 d and reduced the weights of both pupae and adults by 5.5%. The sex ratio and wing length of adults were unaffected. The ecological significance of these sublethal effects is discussed relative to generation mortality and adult performance