Effects Of A Rest-Rotation Grazing System On Wintering Elk Distributions On The Wall Creek, Montana Winter Range

Understanding livestock grazing effects on wildlife remains an important conservation issue. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effects of a rest-rotation grazing system on elk resource selection within the Wall Creek winter range in southwest Montana. We collected bi-weekly observations of elk (Cervus elaphus) number and distributions across the winter range from 1988-2007. Using a matched-case control logistic regression model to estimate selection coefficients, we evaluated the effects of annual green-up conditions, winter conditions, landscape features, and grazing treatment on elk resource selection within the grazing system. We found that within the grazing system, elk preferentially selected for rested pastures over pastures that were grazed the previous summer. The strength of selection against the pasture grazed during the growing season was strongest, and pastures grazed during the early and late summer were selected for over the pasture grazed during the growing season. The number of elk utilizing the grazing system increased in the 19 years following implementation of the grazing system; however, total elk herd size also increased during this time. We found no evidence that the proportion of the elk herd utilizing the grazing system changed following implementation of the rest-rotation grazing system. Our results provide support for the principals of rest-rotation grazing systems. Wintering elk preference for rested pastures suggests rested pastures play an important role in rotation grazing systems by conserving forage for wintering elk. We recommend wildlife managers maintain rested pastures within rotation grazing systems existing on ungulate winter range

Polyamide profiles of porcine milk and of intestinal tissue of pigs during suckling.

Previous studies have suggested that luminal polyamines can directly influence intestinal differentiation of neonatal rats. The present investigation has demonstrated the presence of high levels of polyamines in porcine milk and in the intestinal tissues of suckling pigs. The quantities of polyamines in sow's milk sampled between weeks 1 and 8 of lactation were determined using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The concentration of milk spermidine (SPD) remained constant over the first three to four weeks of lactation but increased four-fold between weeks 4 and 7. Neither putrescine nor spermine (SPN) were detected in any of the milk samples. During intestinal development the mucosal SPD/SPN ratio was elevated between weeks 1 and 3, and weeks 5 and 7. The latter period of increase corresponded with the surge in milk SPD concentration. It is suggested that milk SPD is taken up from the intestinal lumen and is involved in potentiating intestinal differentiation during the latter part of the suckling period

Polymerisation of S2N2 to (SN)(x) as a tool for the rapid imaging of fingerprints removed from metal surfaces

Polymerisation of S2N2 to (SN)x on metallic surfaces is induced by interaction with the minute corrosion signatures of removed (by washing) fingerprints; as vapour-phase S2N2 is employed, it follows that the process has the potential to rapidly screen large/convoluted metal pieces, such as explosive device fragments whose prints were wiped by the detonation

Setting policy priorities to address eating disorders and weight stigma: views from the field of eating disorders and the US general public

Background: The prevalence and health consequences of eating disorders and weight stigmatization have prompted increasing discussion of potential policy actions to address these public health issues. The present study aimed to assess support for policy strategies to address eating disorders and weight stigmatization among the general public and relevant health professionals. Methods: An Internet survey was fielded to a national sample of 944 US adults and 1,420 members of professional organizations specializing in eating disorders to examine their support for 23 potential policy strategies to address eating disorders and weight stigma. Participants also rated policy actions according to their potential for positive impact and feasible implementation. Results: Support for the majority of health and social policies was high in both samples. For example, strategies to 1) improve school-based health curriculum to include content aimed at preventing eating disorders, 2) require training for educators and health providers on the prevention and early identification of eating disorders, and 3) implement school-based anti-bullying policies that that protect students from being bullied about their weight, were supported by over two-thirds of participants. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that both health and social policy actions will be important in broader policy initiatives to address eating disorders and weight stigma

Experiences With Parents and Youth Physical Health Symptoms and Cortisol: A Daily Diary Investigation

Using daily diary data, this study examined the associations between positive and negative parent-youth experiences and youth cortisol and physical health symptoms among a sample of adolescents (N=132, Mean Age = 13.39). On days when girls reported more negative experiences than usual, they exhibited more physical health symptoms and flatter evening cortisol slopes than usual. Negative experiences with mothers were associated with higher dinner and bedtime youth cortisol levels (between-person). Daily positive experiences with fathers were linked with lower dinner cortisol levels. Youth with high levels of negative experiences, on average, were less sensitive to daily variation in negative experiences than youth who experienced lower parental negativity. We discuss the benefits of a daily diary approach

Setting the stage for culturally responsive counseling: an experimental investigation of White counselors broaching race and racism

Through professional advocacy, counselors created a mandate to provide accessible, culturally responsive services to all clients, particularly clients from traditionally underserved racial/ethnic minority groups. Existing research demonstrates the merits of pursuing multicultural competence (MCC) and a disposition of cultural humility, with implications for establishing a positive working alliance, minimizing the occurrence of harmful microaggressions in session, and ultimately boosting client outcomes (Hook, Davis, Owen, Worthington, & Utsey, 2013; Hook et al., 2016; Tao, Owen, Pace, & Imel, 2015). Much less is understood about exactly how counselors can enact culturally responsive practices in session with clients and how counselor educators can prepare trainees in the area of cross-cultural skills. One such skill, perhaps the most behaviorally defined skill within the literature to date, is broaching. Broaching refers to the counselor’s authentic and ongoing consideration of relevant cultural factors in session, often as an invitation to discuss issues of identity and power with the client (Day-Vines et al., 2007). Most researchers have examined conversations about race, racism, and race difference, raising important social justice issues related to White counselors’ relatively infrequent broaching compared with Black counselors (Knox, Burkard, Johnson, Suzuki, & Ponterotto, 2003) and the greater benefit that racial/ethnic minority clients have reported receiving from this intervention (Zhang & Burkard, 2008). There are also established empirical relationships between broaching and strengthening rapport, increasing counselor credibility, and client continuation and satisfaction with services (Fuertes, Mueller, Chauhan, Walker, & Ladany, 2002; Knox et al., 2003; Zhang & Burkard, 2008). Despite the promise of this intervention, counselors in general and White counselors in particular employ broaching at low rates and express hesitance about how exactly to approach these conversations (Jones & Welfare, 2017; Maxie, Arnold, & Stephenson, 2006). Two components of broaching contested in the literature are its goals and focus on similarities and/or differences. Debates about goals of broaching center on whether or not broaching should be focused on content and information gathering or on the relationship and addressing interpersonal dynamics of identity (Cardemil & Battle, 2003; Owen, Tao, Drinane, Hook, Davis, & Kune, 2016). When counselors choose to broach for the relationship there are differing perspectives on whether to emphasize cultural differences alone or a combination of similarities and differences (i.e., bridging and broaching) they share with the client (Fuertes et al., 2002; La Roche & Maxie, 2003). Accordingly, I plan to begin an evidence base for broaching techniques that illuminate when and how White counselors can most effectively broach race and racism with Black clients, with respect to broaching goals and similarities and/or differences, as well as the moderating effect of participant-clients’ race centrality. I made use of an experimental analogue design consisting of four videos of an interaction between a White counselor and Black client set in an intake counseling session depicting variations on the broaching intervention. Participants viewed one of the four possible interactions and provided their evaluation, connecting the relative importance of these broaching components to participant-client interest in continuing services, counselor cultural humility, counselor (missed) opportunities for addressing culture, cross-cultural counseling competence, and the working alliance. Results suggest the following: (a) participants-clients’ race/ethnicity impact ratings of the counselors’ culturally missed opportunities, with White individuals viewing the counselor more favorably on average than Persons of Color; (b) broaching conditions offer a therapeutic benefit above the control condition on culture-centered variables only; (c) cross-cultural counseling competence is the variable most impacted by variations on broaching, such that the relationship conditions are superior to the content focused condition; and finally (d) broaching for the relationship that includes attention to similarities is markedly preferred over the other broaching styles. This project reaffirms the importance of addressing race, racism, and race difference for improving culturally responsive practices and begins to resolve debates about broaching components. I will also discuss implications for guiding counselors in beginning broaching dialogues with clients and preparing counselor trainees for enacting broaching as a skill

Tulsa Oklahoma Oktoberfest Tent Collapse Report

Background. On October 17, 2007, a severe weather event collapsed two large tents and several smaller tents causing 23 injuries requiring evacuation to emergency departments in Tulsa, OK. Methods. This paper is a retrospective analysis of the regional health system's response to this event. Data from the Tulsa Fire Department, The Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA), receiving hospitals and coordinating services were reviewed and analyzed. EMS patient care reports were reviewed and analyzed using triage designators assigned in the field, injury severity scores, and critical mortality. Results. EMT's and paramedics from Tulsa Fire Department and EMSA provided care at the scene under unified incident command. Of the 23 patients transported by EMS, four were hospitalized, one with critical spinal injury and one with critical head injury. One patient is still in ongoing rehabilitation. Discussion. Analysis of the 2007 Tulsa Oktoberfest mass casualty incident revealed rapid police/fire/EMS response despite challenges of operations at dark under severe weather conditions and the need to treat a significant number of injured victims. There were no fatalities. Of the patients transported by EMS, a minority sustained critical injuries, with most sustaining injuries amenable to discharge after emergency department care

How do existing HIV-specific instruments measure up? Evaluating the ability of instruments to describe disability experienced by adults living with HIV

Background: Despite the multitude of health challenges faced by adults living with HIV, we know of no HIV-specific instrument developed for the purpose of describing the health-related consequences of HIV, a concept known as disability. In a previous phase of research, adults living with HIV conceptualized disability as symptoms/ impairments, difficulties carrying out day-to-day activities, challenges to social inclusion, and uncertainty that may fluctuate on a daily basis and over the course of living with HIV. In this paper, we describe the extent to which existing HIV-specific health-status instruments capture the experience of disability for adults living with HIV. Methods: We searched databases from 1980 to 2006 for English language, HIV-specific, self-reported questionnaires consisting of at least two items that were tested for reliability and validity. We then conducted a content analysis to assess how well existing questionnaires describe disability as defined by the Episodic Disability Framework, a framework that conceptualizes this experience from the perspective of adults living with HIV. We matched items of the instruments with categories of the framework to evaluate the extent to which the instruments capture major dimensions of disability in the framework. Results: We reviewed 4274 abstracts, of which 30 instruments met the inclusion criteria and were retrieved. Of the four major dimensions of disability, symptoms/impairments were included in all 30 instruments, difficulties with day-to-day activities in 16, challenges to social inclusion in 16, and uncertainty in 9. Seven instruments contained at least 1 item from all 4 dimensions of disability (breadth) however, the comprehensiveness with which the dimensions were represented (depth) varied among the instruments. Conclusions: In general, symptoms/impairments and difficulties carrying out day-to-day activities were the disability dimensions characterized in greatest depth while uncertainty and challenges to social inclusion were less well represented. Although none of the instruments described the full breadth and depth of disability as conceptualized by the Episodic Disability Framework, they provide a foundation from which to build a measure of disability for adults living with HIV