A Struggle for Dignity on the Land: Living Histories of Southern Agricultural Exploitation and Farmworker Resistance in North Carolina

In this thesis, I explore the idea of farmworker dignity as a potential form of resistance to the ongoing history of agricultural exploitation in the U.S. South. I offer accounts of the history and present-day realities of farm labor in the South, employing the dual theoretical lenses of plantation space and the space of nonexistence as tools to unearth the underlying historical power structures and lineage of labor relations in which farmworkers today are situated. An analysis of the linguistic roots of the word dignity and the ways it is invoked in various relevant contexts helps me delve deeply into the plurality of meanings, responses to history, and visions for the future that the term has been understood to carry. I draw upon interviews conducted with members of the farmworker movement in North Carolina to better understand the notion of farmworker dignity as they use it in their work. I conclude by putting the concept of farmworker dignity in conversation with the themes and continuities of agricultural labor in the South throughout time, using this dialogue to explore the nuanced subversive implications of dignity as a means of reckoning with the past to envision a more just future for agriculture in the South

Addressing Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Needs in Androscoggin County

Public health and social equity hinge upon the accessibility of medical services to all. Lack of access to transportation for routine and non-emergency medical appointments poses a significant barrier to appointment attendance, a barrier that disproportionately impact low income people and other marginalized groups. Healthcare providers also suffer major financial losses when patients are unable to attend their appointments. Prior research and community forums in Androscoggin County, Maine have identified several shortcomings to existing local non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) services, illuminating the need for transportation options that better address the specific needs of the local population. In this report, we identify unmet transportation needs in Androscoggin County, detail the findings of our research on alternative models of NEMT across the United States, and propose a pilot program for a NEMT system tailored to the local needs and resources in Androscoggin County. This project is conducted in collaboration with Community Concepts Inc. (CCI). We build on the work of a previous Environmental Studies Capstone group from Bates College that identified the specific shortcomings of the current NEMT ride brokerage system from the perspective of the New Mainer community. Through consultations and scholarly research, we found a number of elevated transportation barriers faced by New Mainer users, rural users, users with disabilities, and non-MaineCare users. Our comparative study of different NEMT programs in Maine, New York, Minnesota, and Oregon allowed us to identify the range of different vehicles, transport styles, scheduling services and payment options that exist in NEMT services on a national scale. We synthesize the findings of this research into a proposal for a six month NEMT pilot program to be implemented in Androscoggin County. The pilot program we propose would be operated by CCI as a means of testing out the viability of an alternative to the current LogistiCare system. The program would operate two vans, one as a demand responsive, taxi-style service, and one on a fixed route with pick-up points in the downtown Lewiston-Auburn area and drop-off points at major healthcare providers. In order to address local and cultural needs present in Androscoggin County, our proposal recommends a multilingual ride-scheduling service, driver trainings on implicit bias and mental health first aid, and a representative community board to receive feedback and implement changes in the program moving forward. Fare options and potential funding options are also discussed. We conclude with a set of recommendations for next steps for working towards more accessible, culturally appropriate NEMT services in Androscoggin County

A Review of Structural MRI and Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Schizotypal Personality Disorder

Individuals with schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) share genetic, phenomenologic, and cognitive abnormalities with people diagnosed with schizophrenia. To date, 15 structural MRI studies of the brain have examined size, and 3 diffusion tensor imaging studies have examined white matter connectivity in SPD. Overall, both types of structural neuroimaging modalities have shown temporal lobe abnormalities similar to those observed in schizophrenia, while frontal lobe regions appear to show more sparing. This intriguing pattern suggests that frontal lobe sparing may suppress psychosis, which is consistent with the idea of a possible neuroprotective factor. In this paper, we review these 18 studies and discuss whether individuals with SPD who both resemble and differ from schizophrenia patients in their phenomenology, share some or all of the structural brain imaging characteristics of schizophrenia. We attempt to group the MRI abnormalities in SPD into three patterns: 1) a spectrum of severity—abnormalities are similar to those observed in schizophrenia but not so severe; 2) a spectrum of region—abnormalities affecting some, but not all, brain regions affected in schizophrenia; and 3) a spectrum of compensation—abnormalities reflecting greater-than-normal white matter volume, possibly serving as a buffer or compensatory mechanism protecting the individual with SPD from the frank psychosis observed in schizophrenia

Association of interleukin-6 with suicidal ideation in veterans: a longitudinal perspective

IntroductionStudies showing associations between inflammation in suicide are typically cross-sectional. Present study investigated how cytokine levels track with suicidal ideation and severity longitudinally.MethodsVeterans with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD) with or without suicide attempt history (MDD/SA n = 38, MDD/NS n = 41) and non-psychiatric non-attempter controls (HC n = 33) were recruited, MDD/SA and HC groups were followed longitudinally at 3 months and 6 months. Blood plasma was collected and processed using Luminex Immunology Multiplex technology.ResultsSignificant differences in depression severity (BDI) and suicidal ideation severity (SSI) were observed across all groups at study entry, wherein MDD/SA group had the highest scores followed by MDD/NS and HC, respectively. Cytokines IL-1β, IL-4, TNF-α, IFN-γ, and IL-6 were examined at study entry and longitudinally, with IL6 levels differing significantly across the groups (p = 0.0123) at study entry. Significant differences in changes in cytokine levels between depressed attempters and the control group were detected for IL-6 (interaction F1,91.77 = 5.58, p = 0.0203) and TNF-α (F1,101.73 = 4.69, p = 0.0327). However, only depressed attempters showed a significant change, in IL-6 and TNF-α levels, decreasing over time [IL-6: b = −0.04, 95% CI = (−0.08, −0.01), p = 0.0245 and TNF-α: b = −0.02, 95% CI = (−0.04, −0.01), p = 0.0196]. Although IL-6 levels were not predictive of suicidal ideation presence [OR = 1.34, 95% CI = (0.77, 2.33), p = 0.3067], IL-6 levels were significantly associated with suicidal ideation severity (b = 0.19, p = 0.0422).DiscussionIL-6 was not associated with presence of suicidal ideation. IL-6 however, was associated with severity of ideation, suggesting that IL-6 may be useful in clinical practice, as an objective marker of heightened suicide risk

Longitudinal Assessment of Gray and White Matter in Chronic Schizophrenia: A Combined Diffusion-Tensor and Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Previous studies have reported continued focal gray matter loss after the clinical onset of schizophrenia. Longitudinal assessments in chronic illness, of white matter in particular, have been less conclusive

Cognitive and mood functioning in borderline and schizotypal personality disorders

Research suggests many shared clinical features across individuals with Schizotypal Personality Disorder (SPD) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), including problems with attention/ executive functioning and mood. Therefore, aspects of these areas of functioning were compared in SPD and BPD to better characterize their respective difficulties. BPD, SPD, and healthy control (HC) participants were administered measures of cognitive and mood functioning. Compared with healthy controls, SPD patients performed significantly worse on aspects of the Delayed-Matching- to-Sample task, a measure of short-term visual memory abilities; however, the individuals with BPD did not differ from healthy controls. Neither of the patient groups differed from HC’s on measures of processing speed or planning. With regard to mood functioning, the BPD group exhibited significantly higher levels of affective disturbance (e.g., sadness, fear, anger) compared with the SPD patients and HCs. Overall, findings suggest different patterns of fronto-subcortical weakness in each patient group. While SPD patients exhibited relative weakness with short-term memory, BPD patient performance on such measures did not reveal relative weakness compared with HCs but did implicate problems with mood

Diffusion tensor imaging of frontal lobe white matter tracts in schizophrenia

We acquired diffusion tensor and structural MRI images on 103 patients with schizophrenia and 41 age-matched normal controls. The vector data was used to trace tracts from a region of interest in the anterior limb of the internal capsule to the prefrontal cortex. Patients with schizophrenia had tract paths that were significantly shorter in length from the center of internal capsule to prefrontal white matter. These tracts, the anterior thalamic radiations, are important in frontal-striatal-thalamic pathways. These results are consistent with findings of smaller size of the anterior limb of the internal capsule in patients with schizophrenia, diffusion tensor anisotropy decreases in frontal white matter in schizophrenia and hypothesized disruption of the frontal-striatal-thalamic pathway system