Agricultural and Farmland Protection Planning: A Case Study in Orange County, New York

The Agricultural Protection Act, passed by the State Legislature in 1992, strengthened New York State's Agricultural Districts Law. One component of the Act provides for county Agricultural and Farmland Protection Boards to develop county agricultural and farmland protection plans. The Department of Agriculture and Markets encourages the development of such plans through a matching grants program. This paper discusses the tools and strategies county Agricultural and Farmland Protection Boards may use in their plan development process. It incorporates an overview of the evolution of state policy, social and economic trends affecting agriculture throughout the state, and resources currently available which may be brought to bear on the local planning process. Using Orange County as a case study, the tools and strategies defined include both an agricultural structure/profitability component as well as land protection techniques

Food Safety Issues Across the Food Chain and the Contaminants Involved

Variety of food contaminants, toxicants and adulterants have been found to be responsible for certain health challenges such as poor utilization of nutrients upon consuming contaminated foods which ultimately results in the deficiency of essential nutrients required by the body. Sequel to this, several food borne disease outbreaks and problems of ill health in humans and animals have gained wide international recognition. Majority of food contamination occurs through naturally occurring toxins and environmental pollutants or during processing, packaging, preparing, storage, and transportation of food. At normal levels of food consumption, there is little potential for toxicity from natural food toxins. Nevertheless, there is always the possibility of an idiosyncratic response of undetected contamination. As technology advances, the detection of such contaminants becomes easier. However, there are several contaminants that are still unknown. This review provides current insight on the effects elicited by food contaminants on the body’s ability to utilize nutrients upon consuming contaminated foods. Keywords: Contaminants, Nutrients, Health Hazards, Food, Toxicants, Health hazards. DOI: 10.7176/FSQM/118-04 Publication date:August 31st 202

Enecarbamates as platforms for the synthesis of diverse polycyclic scaffolds

The efficient and continued exploration of novel chemical space is vital for the discovery of new drugs, with the construction of sp3-rich scaffolds being of particular interest. This thesis describes the elaboration of a common intermediate, via a toolkit of techniques, to access structurally diverse, novel, and highly three-dimensional polycyclic scaffolds, based on pharmaceutically valuable N-heterocyclic cores. Chapter one discusses the importance of properties and structure at several stages in the drug discovery process, including those for leads and fragments. Common motifs are highlighted and associated modern synthetic approaches discussed. Chapter two describes the delivery of a library of enecarbamate and hemiaminal ether-based building blocks through a unified approach. A toolkit of α- and β-functionalisation methods are applied for their elaboration. Chapter three describes the development and use of the β-functionalisation toolkit for enecarbamates, through the photocatalysed construction of spirocyclic systems. Herein, five exemplary spirocyclic structures are accessed based on two scaffolds. Chapter four evaluates the versatility of the photoredox toolkit via its application in the synthesis of ten bicyclic amides and five bicyclic anilines, from enecarbamates, through a modular approach. The resulting structural distortion regarding N lone pair and π-system overlap is assessed, via their physical properties, including measured nonaqueous pKaH. The subsequent impact on reactivity and bioactivity is evaluated. Chapter five discusses the use of enecarbamates in annulative technologies for the preparation of a series of fused motifs including two bicyclic lactams, seven oxetanes and nine cyclic aminals. A fully diastereoselective, photochemical synthesis of oxetanes is described and cyclic aminals have been highlighted as structures bearing a potential novel warhead. Chapters six and seven present the thesis conclusion and all associated experimental details, including full characterisation of synthesised compounds

Effects of the Helping Mothers Survive Bleeding after Birth training on near miss morbidity and mortality in Uganda: A cluster-randomized trial.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of Helping Mothers Survive Bleeding after Birth training on postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) near miss and case fatality rates in Uganda. METHODS: Training was evaluated using a cluster-randomized design between June 2016 and September 2017 in 18 typical rural districts (clusters) in Eastern and Central Uganda of which nine districts were randomly assigned to the intervention. The main outcome was PPH near miss defined using the World Health Organization's disease and management-based approach. Interrupted time series analysis was performed to estimate the difference in the change of outcomes. RESULTS: Outcomes of 58 000 and 95 455 deliveries during the 6-month baseline and 10-month endline periods, respectively, were included. A reduction of PPH near misses was observed in the intervention compared to the comparison districts (difference-in-difference of slopes 4.19, 95% CI, -7.64 to -0.74); P<0.05). There was an increase in overall reported near miss cases (difference-in-difference 1.24, 95% CI, 0.37-2.10; P<0.001) and an increase in PPH case fatality rate (difference-in-difference 2.13, 95% CI, 0.14-4.12; P<0.05). CONCLUSION: This pragmatic cluster-randomized trial conducted in typical rural districts of Uganda indicated a reduction of severe PPH cases while case fatality did not improve, suggesting that this basic training needs to be complemented by additional measures for sustained mortality reduction. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PACTR201604001582128

Exploring staff perceptions of the utility of clinician connections when working with emotionally dysregulated clients

Background: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is considered to be a challenging condition for clinicians to treat. Clinicians routinely working with individuals who experience severe emotional dysregulation often do not receive appropriate training and support to work with this client group. This article describes an intervention, Clinician Connections (CC), which was developed to support practitioners who work with individuals with BPD. CC aims to increase practitioner’s knowledge of BPD, develop a skillset to work with emotionally dysregulated individuals and enhance practitioner’s self-efficacy with regard to working effectively with this client group. The aim of this study is to investigate the perceived utility and acceptability of CC, and identify areas for further development of the intervention. Method: A seven-hour CC workshop was provided to Emergency Department and community mental health clinicians. Three focus groups were completed following completion of the intervention with 13 clinicians (12 female; 1 male) and were audio recorded. The study utilised a thematic analysis framework. Results:Six master themes emerged from the focus group data which included 10 subordinate themes. The master themes identified were: the need for training; a new understanding; validation; barriers to applying new skills; overcoming barriers to skill application; and future direction: practical application of skills. Participants reflected on how their new understanding of transactions and their own experiences affects their practice. They also noted improved client interactions and client relationships resulting from the use of validation. While there was an increase in participants’ self-efficacy in working with individuals with BPD, a need for further skills and practice was also highlighted. Conclusion:The evidence presented here suggests that CC is both beneficial and feasible. Qualitative feedback suggests there is a need for further support in the strengthening and generalisation of skills. Suggestions were made by practitioners regarding potential improvements to the delivery of the workshop. Future research could evaluate the changes made to CC and focus on a quantitative approach to quantify the impact of CC

Building an Ecosystem of Support: An Evaluation of North Dakota’s Community School Programs

Community school programs respond to students’ nonacademic needs so that they can focus on their learning. This session highlights a collaboration of organizations across North Dakota as they implement two community school programs. A shared evaluation plan supports the implementation of the two programs and will provide data to improve services provided to students