Your Body is a Temple: Type-2 Diabetes in Mississippi and the Potential Role of the Black Church in Diabetes Education and Intervention

Type-2 diabetes and obesity are two major health complications that are affecting many Mississippians, namely the African American population. A substantial amount of research has been conducted that explains the high prevalence rate of type-2 diabetes and obesity in the African American community as partially due to many secondary factors, including the Southern cuisine, food scarcity, physical inactivity, and poverty. Recently, efforts to reach the African American population about diabetes education and prevention in other Southern states have been directed to faith-based organizations. Researchers have hoped that faith-based intervention might be better suited at helping a wider audience in a more sustainable and long-term manner. Such studies of faith-based intervention, however, have been rare in Mississippi. This study aims to qualitatively assess the current landscape of health ministry and nutritional awareness in the African American churches of Mississippi. Pastors from eight churches were interviewed about their church\u27s food service, their experience with health, their opinions on health and the Bible, and their willingness to incorporate change. These interviews were then used to pinpoint potential obstacles, novel ideas, and predictors of success in future studies using faith-based intervention in Mississippi churches. Through this research, I hope to generate much needed dialogue and scientific analysis of nutritional health and reveal the potential impact that the African American church can play in preventative health initiatives. By using non-traditional, culturally competent methods, preventative health programs may be able to produce more effective and longer lasting results by utilizing the power of culture and community to instigate change in the incidence and prevalence rates of type-2 diabetes in Mississippi\u27s African American population

"Your Body is a Temple": Type-2 Diabetes in Mississippi and the Potential Role of the Black Church in Diabetes Education and Intervention

Type-2 diabetes and obesity are two major health complications that are affecting many Mississippians, namely the African American population. A substantial amount of research has been conducted that explains the high prevalence rate of type-2 diabetes and obesity in the African American community as partially due to many secondary factors, including the Southern cuisine, food scarcity, physical inactivity, and poverty. Recently, efforts to reach the African American population about diabetes education and prevention in other Southern states have been directed to faith-based organizations. Researchers have hoped that faith-based intervention might be better suited at helping a wider audience in a more sustainable and long-term manner. Such studies of faith-based intervention, however, have been rare in Mississippi. This study aims to qualitatively assess the current landscape of health ministry and nutritional awareness in the African American churches of Mississippi. Pastors from eight churches were interviewed about their church’s food service, their experience with health, their opinions on health and the Bible, and their willingness to incorporate change. These interviews were then used to pinpoint potential obstacles, novel ideas, and predictors of success in future studies using faith-based intervention in Mississippi churches. Through this research, I hope to generate much needed dialogue and scientific analysis of nutritional health and reveal the potential impact that the African American church can play in preventative health initiatives. By using non-traditional, culturally competent methods, preventative health programs may be able to produce more effective and longer lasting results by utilizing the power of culture and community to instigate change in the incidence and prevalence rates of type-2 diabetes in Mississippi’s African American population

An Experimental Study of Unconfined Hydrogen/Oxygen and Hydrogen/Air Explosions

Development tests are being conducted to characterize unconfined Hydrogen/air and Hydrogen/Oxygen blast characteristics. Most of the existing experiments for these types of explosions address contained explosions, like shock tubes. Therefore, the Hydrogen Unconfined Combustion Test Apparatus (HUCTA) has been developed as a gaseous combustion test device for determining the relationship between overpressure, impulse, and flame speed at various mixture ratios for unconfined reactions of hydrogen/oxygen and hydrogen/air. The system consists of a central platform plumbed to inject and mix component gasses into an attached translucent bag or balloon while monitoring hydrogen concentration. All tests are ignited with a spark with plans to introduce higher energy ignition sources in the future. Surrounding the platform are 9 blast pressure "Pencil" probes. Two high-speed cameras are used to observe flame speed within the combustion zone. The entire system is raised approx. 6 feet off the ground to remove any ground reflection from the measurements. As of this writing greater than 175 tests have been performed and include Design of Experiments test sets. Many of these early tests have used bags or balloons between approx. 340L and approx. 1850L to quantify the effect of gaseous mixture ratio on the properties of interest. All data acquisition is synchronized between the high-speed cameras, the probes, and the ignition system to observe flame and shock propagation. Successful attempts have been made to couple the pressure profile with the progress of the flame front within the combustion zone by placing a probe within the bag. Overpressure and impulse data obtained from these tests are used to anchor engineering analysis tools, CFD models and in the development of blast and fragment acceleration models

An Experimental Study of Launch Vehicle Propellant Tank Fragmentation

In order to better understand launch vehicle abort environments, Bangham Engineering Inc. (BEi) built a test assembly that fails sample materials (steel and aluminum plates of various alloys and thicknesses) under quasi-realistic vehicle failure conditions. Samples are exposed to pressures similar to those expected in vehicle failure scenarios and filmed at high speed to increase understanding of complex fracture mechanics. After failure, the fragments of each test sample are collected, catalogued and reconstructed for further study. Post-test analysis shows that aluminum samples consistently produce fewer fragments than steel samples of similar thickness and at similar failure pressures. Video analysis shows that there are several failure 'patterns' that can be observed for all test samples based on configuration. Fragment velocities are also measured from high speed video data. Sample thickness and material are analyzed for trends in failure pressure. Testing is also done with cryogenic and noncryogenic liquid loading on the samples. It is determined that liquid loading and cryogenic temperatures can decrease material fragmentation for sub-flight thicknesses. A method is developed for capture and collection of fragments that is greater than 97 percent effective in recovering sample mass, addressing the generation of tiny fragments. Currently, samples tested do not match actual launch vehicle propellant tank material thicknesses because of size constraints on test assembly, but test findings are used to inform the design and build of another, larger test assembly with the purpose of testing actual vehicle flight materials that include structural components such as iso-grid and friction stir welds

An Overview of the Launch Vehicle Blast Environments Development Efforts

NASA has been funding an ongoing development program to characterize the explosive environments produced during a catastrophic launch vehicle accident. These studies and small-scale tests are focused on the near field environments that threaten the crew. The results indicate that these environments are unlikely to result in immediate destruction of the crew modules. The effort began as an independent assessment by NASA safety organizations, followed by the Ares program and NASA Engineering and Safety Center and now as a Space Launch Systems (SLS) focused effort. The development effort is using the test and accident data available from public or NASA sources as well as focused scaled tests that are examining the fundamental aspects of uncontained explosions of Hydrogen and air and Hydrogen and Oxygen. The primary risk to the crew appears to be the high-energy fragments and these are being characterized for the SLS. The development efforts will characterize the thermal environment of the explosions as well to ensure that the risk is well understood and to document the overall energy balance of an explosion. The effort is multi-path in that analytical, computational and focused testing is being used to develop the knowledge to understand potential SLS explosions. This is an ongoing program with plans that expand the development from fundamental testing at small-scale levels to large-scale tests that can be used to validate models for commercial programs. The ultimate goal is to develop a knowledge base that can be used by vehicle designers to maximize crew survival in an explosion

DRONE DELIVERY OF CBNRECy – DEW WEAPONS Emerging Threats of Mini-Weapons of Mass Destruction and Disruption (WMDD)

Drone Delivery of CBNRECy – DEW Weapons: Emerging Threats of Mini-Weapons of Mass Destruction and Disruption (WMDD) is our sixth textbook in a series covering the world of UASs and UUVs. Our textbook takes on a whole new purview for UAS / CUAS/ UUV (drones) – how they can be used to deploy Weapons of Mass Destruction and Deception against CBRNE and civilian targets of opportunity. We are concerned with the future use of these inexpensive devices and their availability to maleficent actors. Our work suggests that UASs in air and underwater UUVs will be the future of military and civilian terrorist operations. UAS / UUVs can deliver a huge punch for a low investment and minimize human casualties.https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/1046/thumbnail.jp

An Experimental Study of Launch Vehicle Propellant Tank Fragmentation

No abstract availabl

Bisabolene, a sesquiterpene from the essential oil extract of opoponax (Commiphora guidottii), exhibits cytotoxicity in breast cancer cell lines

The essential oils from Commiphora species have for centuries been recognized to possess medicinal properties. Here, we performed gas chromatography-mass spectrometry on the essential oil from opoponax (Commiphora guidotti) and identified bisabolene isomers as the main constituents of this essential oil. Opoponax essential oil, a chemical component; β-bisabolene and an alcoholic analogue, α-bisabolol, were tested for their ability to selectively kill breast cancer cells. Only β-bisabolene, a sesquiterpene constituting 5% of the essential oil, exhibited selective cytotoxic activity for mouse cells (IC50 in normal Eph4: >200 µg/ml, MG1361: 65.49 µg/ml, 4T1: 48.99 µg/ml) and human breast cancer cells (IC50 in normal MCF-10A: 114.3 µg/ml, MCF-7: 66.91 µg/ml, MDA-MB-231: 98.39 µg/ml, SKBR3: 70.62 µg/ml and BT474: 74.3 µg/ml). This loss of viability was because of the induction of apoptosis as shown by Annexin V-propidium iodide and caspase-3/7 activity assay. β-bisabolene was also effective in reducing the growth of transplanted 4T1 mammary tumours in vivo (37.5% reduction in volume by endpoint). In summary, we have identified an anti-cancer agent from the essential oil of opoponax that exhibits specific cytotoxicity to both human and murine mammary tumour cells in vitro and in vivo, and this warrants further investigation into the use of β-bisabolene in the treatment of breast cancers

An initial assessment of SMAP soil moisture retrievals using high-resolution model simulations and in situ observations

At the end of its first year of operation, we compare soil moisture retrievals from the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission to simulations from a land surface model with meteorological forcing downscaled from observations/reanalysis and in situ observations from sparse monitoring networks within continental United States (CONUS). The radar failure limits the duration of comparisons for the active and combined products (~3 months). Nevertheless, the passive product compares very well against in situ observations over CONUS. On average, SMAP compares to the in situ data even better than the land surface model and provides significant added value on top of the model and thus good potential for data assimilation. At large scale, SMAP is in good agreement with the model in most of CONUS with less-than-expected degradation over mountainous areas. Lower correlation between SMAP and the model is seen in the forested east CONUS and significantly lower over the Canadian boreal forests.United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNX14AH92G)United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNX13AI44G

Prospectus, February 25, 1991

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1991/1003/thumbnail.jp