Kankakee County in Deindustrialization: An Oral History Approach

The City of Kankakee was an industrialized city which prospered economically for decades. Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, economic trends shifted for Kankakee and the surrounding communities. The major factories, such as Roper Corporation and A.O. Smith, migrated their source of production from Kankakee to other regions of the United States and abroad. As a result, the declining industrial economic activity led to changing community perceptions. Kankakee is an example of the “Rust Belt” region, a region in the Midwestern and Northeastern States of the United States where declining industrial activity occurred throughout the 1970s and 1980s. The paper uses an Oral History Approach to investigate the changing economic landscape and community and individual perceptions of Kankakee during the Deindustrialization period

Towards a National Housing Strategy for Homeless Youth

This policy brief, "Towards a National Housing Strategy for Homeless Youth", is part of a series developed by the Hollywood Homeless Youth Partnership (HHYP) to advance policy and practice recommendations focused on preventing and ending youth homelessness. This brief emerges from "No Way Home: Understanding the Needs and Experiences of Homeless Youth in Hollywood", a report released by the HHYP in November 2010 presenting findings from a multi-method needs assessment conducted with 389 homeless youth ages 12 to 25 in the Hollywood community.The purpose of this brief is to address the inadequacies of prioritizing permanent housing as the only solution for homeless youth, identify the major limitations of our existing housing programs, and advocate for developing a national housing strategy and funding a full housing continuum for homeless young people that is responsive to their unique needs and circumstances. This brief is being released at a time of unprecedented interest in the issue of youth homelessness -- we hope it will inform federal and local planning and decision-making and help advance our national agenda of preventing and ending youth homelessness

Adolescent Alcohol Usage in Vermont State: A Review of Underage Drinking and its Associations with Suicidality

Objective To understand adolescent alcohol usage in Vermont and its associations with suicidality. Methods A cross-sectional study, utilizing 2017 high school VT YRBS data. Multiple logistic regression and chi-square tests were run using SPSS 25 software. Two groups of survey respondents were selected to represent alcohol usage, Binge Drinkers and Non-Binge Drinkers. Suicidality was analyzed by group, controlling for the predictor variables: age of first drink, grade level, gender, mental health/depression diagnosis, other drug usage, socioeconomic status, and ease of access to alcohol. Results This study provides state-specific data regarding increased likelihoods of suicide and underage drinking in Vermont. Conclusions Binge drinking activity amongst Vermont’s high school aged youth was associated with a two-fold increase in the odds of making a suicide plan. Policy Implications The association between suicidality and binge drinking among Vermont high school-aged youth should be used to inform education and policies to decrease teen binge drinkin

Poverty and Obesity in the Developed World

In the past three decades worldwide obesity rates have skyrocketed, contributing to a myriad of health problems in the affected regions. We have tested for the effects of various factors on obesity, primarily the effect of poverty on obesity rates. At first we used a single regression model to compare country GDP and average population BMI in 162 different countries with the assumption that the two will be positively correlated. Next we focused on the developed world to draw conclusions about the correlations between obesity, poverty, and factors such as education levels using a single and multiple regression model. We found significance between per capita income and prevalence of obesity in the United States in our single regression model at the 10% level but were unable to find meaningful data correlation in our multiple regression; however, we did find a very significant negative impact of high school graduation rates on obesity rates and a positive correlation between the percentage of non-Hispanic white population and obesity rates by state

Envisioning the South End of Tomorrow: Live, Work and Recreate in a Transforming Neighborhood

ENVISIONING THE SOUTH END OF TOMORROW – Live, Work and Recreate in a Transforming Neighborhood Background and Challenges Downtown Springfield is currently undergoing a substantial change of the physical urban fabric. The most visible examples are the construction of the MGM Casino Resort and the renovated Union Station into a multimodal transportation hub. The MGM Casino Resort is the first one in the country that is integrated in a core downtown area. It is obvious that downtown and its adjacent districts will change substantially. How can different uses next to each other coexist productively or can negative influences be being mitigated? How can people that live in the South End benefit from urban development? Will their neighborhood become a healthier, more beautiful and more social place? How can the South End maintain its diversity while obtaining more space for expressing culture in a positive way? Method This design studio was a community service learning experience with goals and objectives that derived from informal interviews with people on the streets, stakeholder meetings, personal observations, sketching and case study research. The design solutions can be synthesized with these recommendations: Project Goals: • Create a multi-scalar greenway system for the whole neighborhood that creates a network of green squares and green streets. • Plant big street trees throughout the neighborhood to filter air and make the streets more walkable. • Create a system small places to sit and gather. • Redesign residential streets that prioritizes bicycle and foot traffic. • Create pedestrian crossings for Main Street and East Columbus Avenue to slow traffic down. • Design East and West Columbus Avenue as pedestrian-and bicycle-friendly corridors through a road diet and speed reduction. • Foster Connections underneath I-91 and across the Railroad to engage the Connecticut River and the Riverfront Park. • Create infill development on Main Street that supports local commerce and services. • Use vacant lots in the neighborhood for new housing that is green, innovative and attractive for diverse demographics. • Reduce the impact of stormwater runoff through swales along streets and underused land. • Address the diversity in the neighborhood and embrace the diversity of cultures through visual and performative art and ethnic food. Project Significance: This studio will advise the City of Springfield mitigating the impact of the casino through the media of Landscape Architecture

Heritage Quay: What Will You Discover? Transforming the Archives of the University of Huddersfield, Yorkshire, UK

The Heritage Quay project is changing how archive services at the University of Huddersfield are delivered. This article examines how the Staff/Space/Collections dependency model and Customer Service Excellence framework have been used, and what lessons can be drawn for other archives

Economic Value of Dengue Vaccine in Thailand

With several candidate dengue vaccines under development, this is an important time to help stakeholders (e.g., policy makers, scientists, clinicians, and manufacturers) better understand the potential economic value (cost-effectiveness) of a dengue vaccine, especially while vaccine characteristics and strategies might be readily altered. We developed a decision analytic Markov simulation model to evaluate the potential health and economic value of administering a dengue vaccine to an individual (≤ 1 year of age) in Thailand from the societal perspective. Sensitivity analyses evaluated the effects of ranging various vaccine (e.g., cost, efficacy, side effect), epidemiological (dengue risk), and disease (treatment-seeking behavior) characteristics. A ≥ 50% efficacious vaccine was highly cost-effective [< 1× per capita gross domestic product (GDP) ($4,289)] up to a total vaccination cost of$60 and cost-effective [< 3× per capita GDP ($12,868)] up to a total vaccination cost of$200. When the total vaccine series was $1.50, many scenarios were cost saving

Association of Accelerometry-Measured Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Events in Mobility-Limited Older Adults: The LIFE (Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders) Study.

BACKGROUND:Data are sparse regarding the value of physical activity (PA) surveillance among older adults-particularly among those with mobility limitations. The objective of this study was to examine longitudinal associations between objectively measured daily PA and the incidence of cardiovascular events among older adults in the LIFE (Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders) study. METHODS AND RESULTS:Cardiovascular events were adjudicated based on medical records review, and cardiovascular risk factors were controlled for in the analysis. Home-based activity data were collected by hip-worn accelerometers at baseline and at 6, 12, and 24&nbsp;months postrandomization to either a physical activity or health education intervention. LIFE study participants (n=1590; age 78.9±5.2 [SD] years; 67.2% women) at baseline had an 11% lower incidence of experiencing a subsequent cardiovascular event per 500&nbsp;steps taken per day based on activity data (hazard ratio, 0.89; 95% confidence interval, 0.84-0.96; P=0.001). At baseline, every 30&nbsp;minutes spent performing activities ≥500&nbsp;counts per minute (hazard ratio, 0.75; confidence interval, 0.65-0.89 [P=0.001]) were also associated with a lower incidence of cardiovascular events. Throughout follow-up (6, 12, and 24&nbsp;months), both the number of steps per day (per 500&nbsp;steps; hazard ratio, 0.90, confidence interval, 0.85-0.96 [P=0.001]) and duration of activity ≥500&nbsp;counts per minute (per 30&nbsp;minutes; hazard ratio, 0.76; confidence interval, 0.63-0.90 [P=0.002]) were significantly associated with lower cardiovascular event rates. CONCLUSIONS:Objective measurements of physical activity via accelerometry were associated with cardiovascular events among older adults with limited mobility (summary score &gt;10 on the Short Physical Performance Battery) both using baseline and longitudinal data. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01072500

Towards an Understanding of the Interactions between Freshwater Inflows and Phytoplankton Communities in a Subtropical Estuary in the Gulf of Mexico

Subtropical estuaries worldwide face increased pressure on their ecosystem health and services due to increasing human population growth and associated land use/land cover changes, expansion of ports, and climate change. We investigated freshwater inflows (river discharge) and the physico-chemical characteristics of Galveston Bay (Texas, USA) as mechanisms driving variability in phytoplankton biomass and community composition between February 2008 and December 2009. Results of multivariate analyses (hierarchical cluster analysis, PERMANOVA, Mantel test, and nMDS ordination coupled to environmental vector fitting) revealed that temporal and spatial differences in phytoplankton community structure correlate to differences in hydrographic and water quality parameters. Spatially, phytoplankton biomass and community composition responded to nutrient loading from the San Jacinto River in the northwest region of the bay (consistent with nutrient limitation) while hydraulic displacement (and perhaps other processes) resulted in overall lower biomass in the Trinity River delta (northeast region). The influence of inflows on phytoplankton diminished along a north to south gradient in the bay. Temporally, temperature and variables associated with freshwater inflow (discharge volume, salinity, inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations) were major influences on phytoplankton dynamics. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen: phosphorus (DIN:DIP) ratios suggest that phytoplankton communities will be predominately nitrogen limited. Diatoms dominated during periods of moderate to high freshwater inflows in winter/spring and were more abundant in the upper bay while cyanobacteria dominated during summer/fall when inflow was low. Given the differential influences of freshwater inflow on the phytoplankton communities of Galveston Bay, alterations upstream (magnitude, timing, frequency) will likely have a profound effect on downstream ecological processes and corresponding ecosystem services