Electronic Cigarettes in Maine: Health Effects, Marketing, Use, and Regulation

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are electronic nicotine-delivery systems (ENDS) that deliver a vapor of nicotine and other potentially dangerous chemicals to the user; nonusers are also exposed. Driven by a well-funded advertising campaign, use of e-cigarettes has increased in Maine until it now exceeds the use of combustible cigarettes among youth. In 2015, 14.5 percent of female high school students and 18.8 percent of male high school students in Maine reported current use of e-cigarettes. Maine laws and city ordinances restrict e-cigarette use in some places where combustible cigarettes are banned, but legislative gaps remain. Most Maine schools, colleges, and hospitals also ban e-cigarettes, but again gaps remain. This article explores the marketing and use of e-cigarettes nationwide and in Maine and proposes policies to restrict access and use, particularly by youth

Outdoor Smoke-Free Policies in Maine

Incontrovertible evidence of the deadly impacts from both direct tobacco use and environmental exposure to tobacco smoke has led to the institution of smoking bans, first in indoor venues and, more recently, in some outdoor area. This article reviews the science behind smoking bans as well as the history and policy implications of smoking bans with an emphasis on the experience in Maine. As examples we focus on recent outdoor smoking bans in South Portland (parks and beaches) and smoke-free campus rules at a Maine hospital (Franklin Memorial Hospital) and a part of the University of Maine system (University of Southern Maine). Our conclusions highlight the interconnections among federal, state, municipal, and public institutional efforts to limit smoking and suggest pathways by which smoke-free areas can be expanded in Maine and elsewhere

Larval food limitation in a speyeria butterfly (Nymphalidae): How many butterflies can be supported?

For herbivorous insects the importance of larval food plants is obvious, yet the role of host abundance and density in conservation are relatively understudied. Populations of Speyeria butterflies across North America have declined and Speyeria adiaste is an imperiled species endemic to the southern California Coast Ranges. In this paper, we study the link between the food plant Viola purpurea quercetorum and abundance of its herbivore Speyeria adiaste clemencei to better understand the butterfly’s decline and aid in restoration of this and other Speyeria species. To assess the degree to which the larval food plant limits adult abundance of S. a. clemencei in 2013, we compared adult population counts to population size predicted from a Monte Carlo simulation using data for number of V. pur. quercetorum plants, number of leaves per plant, and leaf area per plant, with lab estimates of leaf area consumed to reach pupal stage on the non-native host V. papilionacea. Results indicated an average estimate of 765 pupae (median = 478), with 77% of the distribution being \u3c1000 pupae. However, this was heavily dependent on plant distribution, and accounting for the number of transect segments with sufficient host to support a pupa predicted 371 pupae. The adult population empirical estimate was 227 individuals (95% CI is 146 to 392), which lies near the first quartile of the simulated distribution. These results indicate that the amount of host available to larvae was more closely linked to adult abundance than the amount of host present, especially when considering assumptions of the analyses. The data also indicate that robust populations require host density well in excess of what is eaten by larvae, in combination with appropriate spacing, to mitigate factors such as competition, starvation from leaving host patches, or unrelated to food plant, such as mortality from drought, predators, parasites, or disease

Sustainable development of smallholder crop-livestock farming in developing countries

Meeting the growing demand for animal-sourced food, prompted by population growth and increases in average per-capita income in low-income countries, is a major challenge. Yet, it also presents significant potential for agricultural growth, economic development, and reduction of poverty in rural areas. The main constraints to livestock producers taking advantage of growing markets include; lack of forage and feed gaps, communal land tenure, limited access to land and water resources, weak institutions, poor infrastructure and environmental degradation. To improve rural livelihood and food security in smallholder crop-livestock farming systems, concurrent work is required to address issues regarding efficiency of production, risk within systems and development of whole value chain systems. This paper provides a review of several forage basedstudies in tropical and non-tropical dry areas of the developing countries. A central tenet of this paper is that forages have an essential role in agricultural productivity, environmental sustainability and livestock nutrition in smallholder mixed farming systems

Next Generation Solar Array Technologies for Small Satellites

Recent advances in Shape Memory Alloy (SMA), Elastic Memory Composites (EMC), and ultra- light composites along with thin-film Copper-Indium- Diselinide (CIS) photovoltaics have offered the potential to provide solar array systems for small satellites that are significantly lighter than the current state of the practice. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and Lockheed Martin are jointly sponsoring an effort that will develop and, in partnership with AeroAstro, demonstrate advanced technologies for solar array applications. These technologies will result in advances that include cost, weight, risk, reliability, and power. Conventional state-of-the-practice solar arrays utilize rigid honeycomb panels to provide the structural support for the crystalline Silicon (Si) or Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) solar cells. Rigid composite panel structural and manufacturing methods have placed a practical producible limit on the power to weight efficiency of today’s solar panels. This limit is about 60 Watts per kilogram (W/kg). New technologies are needed to break this power to weight barrier and meet future DOD and NASA space power requirements. A potential solution to this problem, are the technologies that are being developed under the Lightweight Flexible Solar Array (LFSA) program. The LFSA will demonstrate key technologies on four space flights. The first space opportunity consisted of a flight experiment of a Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) deployment hinge that was demonstrated on the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-93) in July 1999. The second flight opportunity consisted of a sub-scale twopanel solar array that was demonstrated on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 spacecraft in November 2000. The third and fourth flight opportunities will transition thin-film solar arrays into SSC02-II-2 Fosness, Eugene 2 16th Annual/USU Conference on Small Satellites operational spacecraft systems, specifically on the AeroAstro/Astronautic Technology Sdn. Bhd. (ATSB) Small Payload ORbit Transfer (SPORT™) vehicle in 2003 and the Team Encounter solar sail in 2004. The synergistic merging of the new, innovative technologies into an advanced lightweight thin- film solar array will meet the requirements of the emerging next generation of small satellites. The implementation of these new techno logies directed at lightweight solar arrays will result in significant weight and volume reductions over current satellite systems. The SMA devices will provide a controlled shock-less deployment of the solar array and improved testability due to mechanism re-set capability. Additionally, the SMA actuators will eliminate or minimize deployment motors, mechanisms, and part count. The LFSA program is a pathfinder for next generation rollout arrays that increase specific power densities to \u3e200 W/kg

Pregnancy and Delivery Costs in Georgia Medicaid: PCCM Versus Fee-for-Service Enrollees

This study examines the enrollment, resource utilization, and prenatal care cost patterns among pregnant black and white women in Georgia’s PCCM program, Georgia Better Health Care (GBHC), compared with those acquiring pregnancy and delivery services through Georgia’s Fee for Service (FFS) sector. Birth certificate data from 1998 were linked with Medicaid enrollment and claims data from 1997 and 1998 to construct a retrospective pregnancy history for each Medicaid woman giving birth in Georgia hospitals in 1998. Total payments for pregnancy and delivery services and on the total number of prenatal care visits were derived for each woman in the sample. Multivariate logistic analyses were employed to assess the role of PCCM versus FFS in determining total payments and the likelihood of a prenatal hospitalization, length of hospital stay longer than 2 days following delivery, and cesarean section delivery. While prenatal pregnancy services and delivery costs were higher for those in PCCM than FFS, PCCM women had fewer prenatal care visits and were less likely to have delivery stays longer than 2 days postpartum compared with FFS women. The higher costs under PCCM are apparently related to the finding that this delivery system was highly associated with having more prenatal hospitalizations compared with FFS. In similar analyses conducted separately for white and black pregnant women, black women served by PCCM followed these overall results across delivery systems while there were no differences in the likelihood of a prenatal hospitalization or total prenatal care visits for whites served by PCCM versus FFS. In light of Georgia’s turn toward full capitation under its new managed care initiative, many issues regarding pregnancy services and delivery such as earlier program enrollment, coordination of care, payment policies and capitation rates will need to be addressed

Relapse and post-discharge body composition of children treated for acute malnutrition using a simplified, combined protocol: A nested cohort from the ComPAS RCT

INTRODUCTION: Severe and moderate acute malnutrition (SAM and MAM) affect more than 50 million children worldwide yet 80% of these children do not access care. The Combined Protocol for Acute Malnutrition Study (ComPAS) trial assessed the effectiveness of a simplified, combined SAM/MAM protocol for children aged 6-59 months and found non-inferior recovery compared to standard care. To further inform policy, this study assessed post-discharge outcomes of children treated with this novel protocol in Kenya. METHODS: Six 'combined' protocol clinics treated SAM and MAM children using an optimised mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC)-based dose of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF). Six 'standard care' clinics treated SAM with weight-based RUTF rations; MAM with ready-to-use supplementary food (RUSF). Four months post-discharge, we assessed anthropometry, recent history of illness, and body composition by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Data was analysed using multivariable linear regression, adjusted for age, sex and allowing for clustering by clinic. RESULTS: We sampled 850 children (median age 18 months, IQR 15-23); 44% of the original trial sample in Kenya. Children treated with the combined protocol had similar anthropometry, fat-free mass, fat mass, skinfold thickness z-scores, and frequency of common illnesses 4 months post-discharge compared the standard protocol. Mean subscapular skinfold z-scores were close to the global norm (standard care: 0.24; combined 0.27). There was no significant difference in odds of relapse between protocols (SAM, 3% vs 3%, OR = 1.0 p = 0.75; MAM, 10% vs 12%, OR = 0.90 p = 0.34). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the lower dosage of RUTF for most SAM children in the combined protocol, their anthropometry and relapse rates at 4 months post-discharge were similar to standard care. MAM children treated with RUTF had similar body composition to those treated with RUSF and neither group exhibited excess adiposity. These results add further evidence that a combined protocol is as effective as standard care with no evidence of adverse effects post-discharge. A simplified, combined approach could treat more children, stretch existing resources further, and contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goal Two

Herbaceous Tropical Legume Integration into Small-Holder Crop-Livestock Systems in Eastern Indonesia: Results of 10-Years of Multi-Disciplinary Systems Research

Integration a forage legume into crop-livestock systems of Eastern Indonesia was tested to establish the capacity to improve nitrogen supply and yields of staple cereal crops (maize and rice) and allow for intensification of beef production to ultimately increase farm income and alleviate rural poverty in the region. Species evaluation sites across a diversity of environments showed Clitoria ternatea (butterfly pea) to be the most resilient and adaptable forage legume for use in association with cropping systems. Crop rotation experiments demonstrated that legumes grown in rotation with maize or rice can increase grain yields by 50% where legume was cut and removed, and by 90% where legume biomass was retained – the legume providing the equivalent of 100-150 kg of urea fertiliser. Forage establishment and cutting management were shown to be critical to maximising legume productivity but labour inputs required are important constraints. Lower-labour options can be used effectively without dramatically compromising productivity. Providing legumes as supplements to cattle have been shown to have significant benefits for livestock productivity in various production systems; preventing liveweight losses of reproductive cows during the dry season, doubling calf growth rates and halving calf mortality, and increasing growth rates of growing cattle by 0.3-0.5 kg LW/d. Whole-farm bioeconomic modelling and participatory on-farm evaluation has found that livestock-oriented farmers with available land resources will benefit most from forage legumes with potential increases of farm income of up to 30%. Local seed production is critical for ongoing use of herbaceous forage legumes, and our research has refined locally relevant recommendations for agronomy for seed production methods and processing. Our research has confirmed that herbaceous forage legumes can be integrated into cropping systems to improve crop yields, livestock production and livelihoods of small-holder farmers in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia