Health Communication as a Public Health Training and Workforce Development Issue

Effective communication is one of the core competencies for public health professionals and is required for local health department (LHD) accreditation. Public health communication specialists play a critical role as conduits of health information, particularly with regard to managing relationships with media and the message that is ultimately represented by news outlets. However, capacity for engagement with traditional media in community health improvement at the local level has not been well-described. As part of a larger study examining the use and impact of the County Health Rankings in North Carolina, LHD media staffing and interaction with traditional media were examined through a cross-sectional, online survey, administered to North Carolina LHDs. Results indicate that most LHDs in North Carolina have staff designated to work with media, but few have dedicated staff or staff with an educational background in mass communication. Most communication staff enter their position with less than one year of experience, though almost all receive some training once on the job. Press releases are issued relatively infrequently, which implies that media engagement and message management are underdeveloped at the local level. These results suggest that health communication specialists are underutilized in LHDs and these skills should be emphasized in LHD hiring practices and in public health workforce development

The Locomotion of Babakotia radofilai Inferred From Epiphyseal and Diaphyseal Morphology of the Humerus and Femur

Palaeopropithecids, or “sloth lemurs,” are a diverse clade of large-bodied Malagasy subfossil primates characterized by their inferred suspensory positional behavior. The most recently discovered genus of the palaeopropithecids is Babakotia, and it has been described as more arboreal than Mesopropithecus, but less than Palaeopropithecus. In this article, the withinbone and between-bones articular and cross-sectional diaphyseal proportions of the humerus and femur of Babakotia were compared to extant lemurs, Mesopropithecus and Palaeopropithecus in order to further understand its arboreal adaptations. Additionally, a sample of apes and sloths (Choloepus and Bradypus) are included as functional outgroups composed of suspensory adapted primates and non-primates. Results show that Babakotia and Mesopropithecus both have high humeral/femoral shaft strength proportions, similar to extant great apes and sloths and indicative of forelimb suspensory behavior, with Babakotia more extreme in this regard. All three subfossil taxa have relatively large femoral heads, also associated with suspension in modern taxa. However, Babakotia and Mesopropithecus (but not Palaeopropithecus) have relatively small femoral head surface area to shaft strength proportions suggesting that hind-limb positioning in these taxa during climbing and other behaviors was different than in extant great apes, involving less mobility. Knee and humeral articular dimensions relative to shaft strengths are small in Babakotia and Mesopropithecus, similar to those found in modern sloths and divergent from those in extant great apes and lemurs, suggesting more sloth-like use of these joints during locomotion. Mesopropithecus and Babakotia are more similar to Choloepus in humerofemoral head and length proportions while Palaeopropithecus is more similar to Bradypus. These results provide further evidence of the suspensory adaptations of Babakotia and further highlight similarities to both extant suspensory primates and non-primate slow arboreal climbers and hangers

Post-cranial suspensory adaptations of the subfossil lemur Babakotia radofilai

Palaeopropithecids, or ‘loth lemurs’, are a diverse clade of large-bodied Malagasy subfossil primates characterized by their inferred suspensory positional behaviour. The most recently discovered genus of the family is Babakotia. This genus has been described as more arboreal than Mesopropithecus, but less than Palaeopropithecus. For better understanding of arboreal adaptations of Babakotia we compared within-bone and between-bones articular and cross-sectional diaphyseal proportions of limb long bones of this specimen to suspensory hominoids, true sloths (Choloepus and Bradypus) and to present-day lemurs. Results show that Babakotia humeral articular to diaphyseal proportions are generally more similar to those of true sloths than to those of apes. Babakotia femoral proportions are likewise similar to true sloth distributions, but are also comparable to orangutans in their proximal ends (i.e., relative femoral head surface area and superoinferior breadth). Interlimb proportions show that Babakotia’s relative diaphyseal strengths are similar to the mean value for orangutans and in the range of true sloths. As for interlimb articular proportions, Babakotia overlaps with great apes for proximal articulations, but with true sloths for distal articulations. Both principal component analysis (PCA) done on the limb measurements and phylogenetic PCA, show that the limb proportions of Babakotia are very close to those of Bradypus and Choloepus, and very different to those of present-day lemurs (its closest living relatives). These results provide new evidence of the arboreal adaptations of Babakotia and further highlight similarities to both extant suspensory primates and non-primate slow arboreal climbers and hangers, i.e., true sloths