THE SKIN, THE LAW, AND WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES FROM THE 1600S TO THE 1960S

For a country that has been built on the legacy of freedom and the idea of individual rights, the United States has a history of legalizing oppressive policies and denying rights and freedom based on the color of one’s skin. As scholars take on the issue of Colorism within the American society, this thesis works to examine the origins of white supremacy and its legalization through the institutions of American enslavement and the era of Jim Crow. First examining the portrayal of those of African descent and its connection to white supremacy during the period of enslavement, this thesis relies of the records of travel logs, slave codes, federal laws such as the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, wills, advertisements, and photographs. Next this thesis analyzes the preservation of white supremacy following the end of enslavement through the analysis of individual state Jim Crow laws surrounding voting, marriage, public institutions, and more in addition to the Supreme Court cases Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Finally, this thesis looks at the connection between the beauty industry and the legal frameworks surrounding skin. Advertisements of popular soaps such as Procter and Gamble and Pears’ Soap, during the era of enslavement and Jim Crow, exhibit the beauty industry’s capitalization of skin color and its connection to civilization. It will also rely on the advertisements of skin lighteners and face powders from popular brands of the different respective eras to examine the pressures to appear lighter considering the current legal frameworks. The thesis will also rely on popular magazines such as Jet and Ebony as well as the literary works of Nella Larson and Toni Morrison to analyze to legacy of white supremacy in the United States

Manchus: A Horse of a Different Color

The question of identity has been one of the biggest questions addressed to humanity. Whether in terms of a country, a group or an individual, the exact definition is almost as difficult to answer as to what constitutes a group. The Manchus, an ethnic group in China, also faced this dilemma. It was an issue that lasted throughout their entire time as rulers of the Qing Dynasty (1644- 1911) and thereafter. Though the guidelines and group characteristics changed throughout that period one aspect remained clear: they did not sinicize with the Chinese Culture. At the beginning of their rule, the Manchus implemented changes that would transform the appearance of China, bringing it closer to the identity that the world recognizes today. In the course of examining three time periods, 1644, 1911, and the 1930’s, this paper looks at the significant events of the period, the changing aspects, and the Manchus and the Qing Imperial Court’s relations with their greater Han Chinese subjects. The Manchus were considered, at least to its newly conquered subjects, to be the foreign (or more commonly used) “alien” force. Outnumbered, the Manchus had every opportunity to assimilate, classifying themselves as “Chinese” rather than the standard “Banner” or Manchu. However, as this paper will exhibit through the very definition of who the Manchus were, and the events that surrounded them, as well as their poor relations with their nonbanner subjects, the Manchus remained separated from the Han Chinese, continuously classifying themselves as Manchu until their official recognition in 1949

Effect of a Robust Electronic Medical Record Order Set on Hepatitis C Screening Rate at a Community Hospital

Background: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection is a liver infection that typically begins as an acute infection and if left untreated, can become a chronic infection. One-time HCV testing is recommended by the CDC and United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) for asymptomatic individuals based on evaluated exposure or other circumstances that increase HCV exposure (HCV Guidance, 2018); (CDC, 2012). Patients with severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorders are particularly at risk for HCV infection with past studies finding approximately 6.2 - 29.8% of patients with severe mental disorders having comorbid HCV (Ayano et al., 2018) – up to 9 times higher than the general US population (Rifai, Gleason, & Sabouni, 2010). This study focuses on the effectiveness of an established universal HCV screening protocol utilizing the electronic medical record (EMR) “EPIC” in the Psychiatric and Addiction Recovery Center (PARC) at Pen Bay Medical Center (PBMC) for an at-risk population, evaluating the rate of screening, diagnosis, and follow-up care of HCV

Understanding barriers to women seeking and receiving help for perinatal mental health problems in UK general practice: development of a questionnaire

Aim To develop a questionnaire to measure quantitatively barriers and facilitators to women’s disclosure of perinatal mental health problems in UK primary care. To pilot and evaluate the questionnaire for content validity and internal consistency. Background Around 15% of women develop a mental illness in the perinatal period, such as depression, anxiety or PTSD. In the United Kingdom, 90% of these women will be cared for in primary care, yet currently in as many as 50% of cases, no discussion of this issue takes place. One reason for this is that women experience barriers to disclosing symptoms of perinatal mental illness in primary care. These have previously been explored qualitatively, but no tool currently exists with which to measure these barriers quantitatively. Methods Questionnaire items, drawn from qualitative literature and accounts of women’s experiences, were identified, refined iteratively, and arranged in themes. The questionnaire was piloted using cognitive debriefing interviews to establish content validity. Women completed a refined version online. Responses were analysed using descriptive statistics. Internal consistency of subscales was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha. Findings Cognitive debriefing interviews with five women showed the majority of questionnaire items were relevant, appropriate and easy to understand. The final questionnaire was completed by 71 women, and the majority of subscales had good internal consistency. The barrier scoring most highly was fear and stigma, followed by willingness to seek help and logistics of attending an appointment. Family/partner support and GPs’ reaction were the lowest scoring barriers. Factors facilitating disclosure were GPs being empathetic and non-judgemental, and listening during discussions. In the future this questionnaire can be used to examine which barriers are most important for particular groups of women. This may enable development of strategies to improve acknowledgement and discussion, and prevent under-recognition and under-treatment, of perinatal mental health problems in primary care

Subjective Mapmaking: Visual Interviews in Spitalfields

The maps represent a method of co-creating maps with members of the public through interview. Working with illustrator Hannah McNally we visualised a series of conversations live with members of the public that explored their experiences of space, history and community in and around Spitalfields Market. Over the days we built up over multiple layers of mapped information about Spitalfields. The maps were on display to the public in the market space for the 4 days of the event. They generated conversations, debate and differences of opinion. They also allowed people to look at the area from other people’s perspective, offering alternative narratives, histories and experiences of the same space

Trends in silicosis prevalence and the healthy worker effect among gold miners in South Africa: a prevalence study with follow up of employment status.

BACKGROUND: Given the intimate association between silicosis and tuberculosis, understanding the epidemiology of the South African gold mining industry silicosis epidemic is essential to current initiatives to control both silicosis and tuberculosis in this population, one of the most heavily affected globally. The study's objectives were to compare the prevalence of silicosis among working black gold miners in South Africa during 2004-2009 to that of previous studies, including autopsy series, and to analyse the influence of silicosis and/or tuberculosis on exiting employment. METHODS: Routine chest radiographs from a cohort of gold miners were read for silicosis by an experienced reader (I), and a subset re-read by a B-trained reader (II). Two methods of presenting the readings were used. Additionally, with baseline status of silicosis and previous or active tuberculosis as predictors, survival analysis examined the probability of exiting the workforce for any reason during 2006-2011. RESULTS: Reader I read 11 557 chest radiographs and reader II re-read 841. Overall, silicosis prevalence (ILO ≥ 1/0: 5.7 and 6.2% depending on reader method) was similar to the age adjusted prevalence found in a large study in 1984 (5.0%). When comparison was restricted to a single mine shaft previously studied in 2000, a decline in prevalence (ILO ≥ 1/1) was suggested for one of the reading methods (duration adjusted 20.5% vs. 13.0% in the current study). These findings are discordant with a long-term rising autopsy prevalence of silicosis over this period. Overall, relative to miners with neither disease, the adjusted hazard ratio for exiting employment during the follow-up period was 1.54 for baseline silicosis [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.17, 2.04], 1.71 for tuberculosis (95% CI 1.51, 1.94) and 1.53 for combined disease (95% CI 1.20, 1.96). CONCLUSIONS: This study found, a) there was no significant decline in overall silicosis prevalence among working black miners in the South African gold mining industry between 1984 and 2004-2009, and b) a possible decline at one mine shaft more recently. In the absence of evidence of declining respirable silica concentrations between the 1980s and 2000s, the trends found are plausibly due to a healthy worker survivor effect, which may be accelerating

Correlating incidences of Dreissena polymorpha colonization with trematode larvae infection in Stagnicola emarginata snails.

General EcologyThe invasive zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha), has negatively impacted many northern Michigan aquatic species in the past 20 years (Strayer, 2009). One of the species affected has been Stagnicola emerginata, a freshwater snail. This species of snail also acts as the intermediate host for the larvae of a number of trematode species which increase the size of the snail, possibly making them more vulnerable to zebra mussel colonization (Horak and Adema, 2002).The purpose of this study was the determination of a correlation between schistosome parasitism, and Dreissena polymorpha colonization on Stagnicola emerginata. Over 2000 snails were collected from Burt Lake MI, and where individually examined for cercarial emergence using fluorescent lighting to induce shedding. Rates of schistosome parasitism were correlated with presence or absence of D. polymorpha on each specimen. Based upon the analysis of these data, it has been concluded that no link, positive or negative, between schistosome parasitism and D. polymorpha colonization on the snails may be supported. The lack of negative effects on the S. emerginata seems to indicate prudent parasitism by the larvae.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64865/1/Boumediene_Zackariah_2009.pd