Snapshot of Rural Appalachian High School Students\u27 College-Going and STEM Perceptions

We examined 892 high school student’s perceptions related to college-going and science, technology, engineering, math, and medical (STEMM) careers. Students were 10th and 11th graders attending three rural Appalachian high schools in the Southeastern U.S. Social Cognitive Career Theory was used to examine group differences in perceptions related to gender, perspective first-generation college student (PFGCS) status, and the presence or absence of aspirations to pursue a STEMM career. Young women and men scored similarly on all but one dependent variable, college-going self-efficacy, where young women scored higher. Students who plan to pursue a STEMM career had higher scores on every measure than those who do not plan to pursue a STEMM career. There was an emergence of a third PFGCS status group, students who were unsure of their parent’s education level, indicating that this group of students should be examined in future research as a distinct group

Alley Cropping of Maize with Nine Leguminous Trees

A maize-leguminous tree alley cropping system was studied on an N-deficient Vertic Haplustoll in Hawaii. Nine tree species were evaluated for green manure (GM) and intercropped maize yields. They included: Calliandra calothvrsus, Caianus caian, Cassia siamea, Gliricidia sepium, KX1— Leucaena hybrid (L. pallida X L. diversifolia), L. leucocephala. L. pallida. L. salvadorensis, and Sesbania sesban. S. sesban, G. sepium, L. pallida, and KX1 showed high potential for use as a hedge, producing between 5 and 12 dry t/ha GM with N yields between 140 and 275 kg N/ha in 4 prunings. Maize yields responded linearly to nitrogen applied as green manure. Maize yield increased 12 kg for each kg of nitrogen applied. Addition of prunings from hedge rows was able to support maize grain yield at about 1800 kg/ha for two consecutive cropping seasons, while control plot yields averaged less than 600 kg/ha. S. sesban hedges produced the most GM and yielded the highest maize yields. Maize yields reflected the amount of N applied as GM, regardless of tree species from which the N was derived. Green manure at five rates (0, 0.5x, lx, lx + 60 N from urea and 2x the amount produced by the hedge) were applied in the G. sepium and L. pallida plots. The full green manure plus urea treatment was the most efficient in increasing yields. These plots produced significantly more maize, with less total N applied, than the double G. sepium and L. pallida treatments. Significant reductions in maize yields were seen in maize rows near the hedge relative to those in the middle of the alley. Increasing the distance away from the hedge and coppicing the hedge earlier in maize growth significantly improved maize yields in the maize row closest to the trees

A Case Study: The Development of Safety Tip Sheets for ATV Use in Ranching

Use of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) has become standard practice on the modern ranch. The unique operating conditions present on a ranch, subject the occupational ATV user to hazards requiring awareness and specialized training. The purpose of this study was to apply social marketing methods to address a specific environmental health and safety issue present in the agricultural industry. A series of four ATV tip sheets were created in topic areas specific to the challenges that ATV operators encounter on a ranch. In order to evaluate the intended audiences’ perception of the tip sheets, a questionnaire was administered to all agriculture operators and producers throughout McCone County, Montana, USA. Questionnaire responses indicated that the tip sheets contained quality information and were relevant to the occupational hazards present when using ATVs for agricultural purposes. Future work should focus on the dissemination of this information and continued emphasis on industry specific training for ATV operators

ATV-Related Workers’ Compensation Claims in Montana, 2007–2012

The objective of this study was to analyze workers’ compensation injury and fatality data associated with the occupational use of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) in Montana. Data were provided by the Montana Department of Labor and Industry Workers’ Compensation Injury and Occupational Disease Database. Claims were identified based on a search of injury codes related to vehicular claims and then narrowed by a keyword search for events related to ATVs. Two hundred and fifteen ATV-related claims were identified between 2007 and 2012. The majority of claimants were identified as male (85%), with 23% of total claims between the ages 20–29 at the time of injury. The agriculture industry accounted for 59% of all claims. The results of this investigation indicated that the cost of occupational ATV injuries and deaths during the study period totaled nearly $2,600,000. The agriculture industry is disproportionally represented in ATV workers’ compensation claims in Montana. Characterizing and understanding the risk factors associated with occupational-related ATV injuries is critical for developing strategies and programs aimed at injury prevention. Evaluating the gaps in data acquisition and reporting could aid in ensuring comprehensive and complete future investigations of ATV incidents

Understanding risk factor patterns in ATV fatalities: A recursive partitioning approach

Although there are hundreds of ATV-related deaths each year in the United States, contributing factors have not been clearly identified. The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between factors contributing to ATV fatalities using the agent–host–environment epidemiological triangle. Method: Incident reports of ATV fatalities occurring between 2011 and 2013 were obtained from the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Narrative reports included details of the decedent and a description of the ATV crash. A chi-square automatic interaction detector (CHAID) analysis was performed for three major risk factors representing each facet of the epidemiologic triangle: helmet use (host), type of crash (agent), and location where death occurred (environment). The output of the CHAID analysis is a classification tree that models the relationship between the predictor variables and a single outcome variable. Results: A total of 1193 ATV fatalities were reported to the CPSC during the 3-year study period. In cases with known helmet and/or drug and alcohol use status, descriptive statistics indicated helmets were not worn in 88% of fatalities and use of alcohol or drugs was present in 84% of fatalities. Reoccurring factors within the CHAID analysis included age, helmet use, geographic region of the country, and location (e.g., farm, street, home, etc.) at the time of death. Within the three CHAID models, there were seven significant partitions related to host, one related to agent, and eight related to the environment. Conclusions: This research provides a model for understanding the relationship between risk factors and fatalities. The combination of the CHAID analysis method and the epidemiologic triangle allows for visualization of the interaction between host–agent–environment factors and fatalities. Practical applications: By modeling and characterizing risk factors associated with ATV fatalities, future work can focus on developing solutions targeted to specific factions of ATV users