Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States

Under the current H-2 program overseen by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), employers brought about 106,000 guestworkers into this country in 2011 -- approximately 55,000 for agricultural work and another 51,000 for jobs in forestry, seafood processing, landscaping, construction and other non-agricultural industries.The H-2 program, which provides temporary farmworkers and non-farm laborers for a variety of U.S. industries, is rife with labor and human rights violations committed by employers who prey on a highly vulnerable workforce. It harms the interests of U.S. workers, as well, by undercutting wages and working conditions for those who labor at the lowest rungs of the economic ladder. This program should not be expanded or used as a model for immigration reform.It is virtually impossible to create a guestworker program for low-wage workers that does not involve systemic abuse. The H-2 guestworker program should not be expanded in the name of immigration reform and should not be the model for the future flow of workers to this country. If the current H-2 program is allowed to continue, it should be completely overhauled. Recommendations for doing so appear at the end of this report

The Moral High Road in the Undercity: An Examination of Ethics in a Mumbai Slum

As of 2016 1 6 billion people around the globe lacked proper shelter and of these one billion lived in informal settlements also called slums according to data collected by the United Nations UN-Habitat 2016 Investigative journalist Katherine Boo spent four years between 2007 and 2011 interviewing and shadowing the residents of one such slum on the outskirts of Mumbai Her goal was to draw attention to socio-economic inequality Boo 2014 pp 247-248 but in the course of collecting data about the consequences of poverty and residents attempts to rise out of it she also recorded information about their moral choices actions and motivations This paper examines the evidence that Boo provided in her 2014 nonfiction book about this slum Behind the Beautiful Forevers and codifies the complex moral system of its inhabitants a morality that puts to shame those from the higher echelons of society who interact with the

Sacrificial Women – The Unlikely Heroes of Uwem Akpan’s Stories

This paper examines whether the female characters in Fr. Uwem Akpan’s short story collection Say You’re One of Them accurately portray the challenges that African women face in the post-colonial era, particularly when faced with challenges of poverty and violence that threaten the lives of their loved ones. It investigates how these women use the limited devices available to them -- including transactional sex, voluntary starvation, and giving their own lives to protect others – to carry out the traditional role of African women in caring for dependents, including younger siblings. It highlights the impact of societal norms, such as preferential treatment of male children and limited access to education for girls. The study finds that Akpan’s characters are accurate representations of their culture and reveals the silent, unsung heroism that African women practice as they sacrifice their own wellbeing to protect and provide for those they love

The association Between Overnight Fasting and Body Mass index in Older adults: the interaction Between Duration and Timing

BACKGROUND: Circadian rhythms play an important role in the regulation of eating and fasting, and mistimed dietary intakes may be detrimental to metabolic health. Extended overnight fasting has been proposed as a strategy to better align the eating-fasting cycle with the internal circadian clock, and both observational and experimental studies have linked longer overnight fasting with lower body weight. However, it remains unclear if the timing of overnight fasting modifies the relationship between fasting duration and weight outcomes. METHODS: The current study included 495 men and 499 women age 50-74 years. Dietary intake over 12 months was assessed by 24-h dietary recalls every two months, and body-mass index was measured at the beginning, middle and end of the study. Logistic regression was used to estimate the relationship between overnight fasting duration and the likelihood of being overweight or obesity adjusted for multiple confounders, and assessed whether the relationship was modified by the timing of overnight fasting, measured as the midpoint of the fasting period. RESULTS: Among participants with early overnight fasting (midpoint \u3c 02:19 am), a longer fasting duration was associated with lower odds of overweight and obesity; while among those with late fasting (≥02:19 am), longer fasting was associated with higher odds of overweight and obesity. Specifically, when compared to the shortest quintile of overnight fasting duration, the longest quintile was associated with a 53% reduction in the odds of overweight and obesity in the early fasting group (OR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.23, 0.97), but a 2.36-fold increase in the late fasting group (OR = 3.36, 95% CI = 1.48, 7.62). Additionally adjusting for dietary intakes during morning and late evening periods did not affect the observed associations. CONCLUSIONS: Longer overnight fasting was associated with a reduced likelihood of being overweight or obese, but only among those with an early timing of fasting

The Aassociation Between Rest-Activity Rhythms and Glycemic Markers: the Us National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2011-2014

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies conducted in mostly homogeneous sociodemographic samples have reported a relationship between weakened and/or disrupted rest-activity patterns and metabolic dysfunction. This study aims to examine rest-activity rhythm characteristics in relation to glycemic markers in a large nationally representative and diverse sample of American adults. METHODS: This study used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011-2014. Rest-activity characteristics were derived from extended cosine models using 24-hour actigraphy. We used multinomial logistic regression and multiple linear regression models to assess the associations with multiple glycemic markers (i.e., glycated hemoglobin, fasting glucose and insulin, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance, and results from the oral glucose tolerance test), and compared the results across different categories of age, gender, race/ethnicity, and body mass index. RESULTS: We found that compared to those in the highest quintile of F statistic, a model-fitness measure with higher values indicating a stronger cosine-like pattern of daily activity, participants in the lowest quintile (i.e, those with the weakest rhythmicity) were 2.37 times more likely to be diabetic (OR Q1 vs. Q5 2.37 (95% CI 1.72, 3.26), p-trend \u3c .0001). Similar patterns were observed for other rest-activity characteristics, including lower amplitude (2.44 (1.60, 3.72)), mesor (1.39 (1.01, 1.91)), and amplitude:mesor ratio (2.09 (1.46, 2.99)), and delayed acrophase (1.46 (1.07, 2.00)). Results were consistent for multiple glycemic biomarkers, and across different sociodemographic and BMI groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support an association between weakened and/or disrupted rest-activity rhythms and impaired glycemic control among a diverse US population

Nurses\u27 Alumnae Association Bulletin - Volume 4 Number 7

Welcome Home Jefferson Unit Honored by Army Sincere Thanks Treasurer Report Calendar of Events Graduate Nurses\u27 Chorus Lest You Forget Attention Hi-Light of the Alumnae Association Meetings Ambitions for Alumnae Association Notice! Items to Remember Baccalaureate Service Graduating Class Private Duty News Central Dressing Room and Transfusion Unit Card Party Held The Clara Melville Scholarship Fund Staff News Notes on Urologic Nursing Capping Exercises The Poet\u27s Corner Pylephlebitis Student Nurse\u27s View Point The Transfusion Unit Improvements in the Nurses\u27 Home Jefferson Medical College Hospital School of Nursing Faculty Nurses Taking Advanced Courses Nurses in Anesthesia The Student Nurses\u27 Loan Fund A New and Improved Department for Diseases of the Chest Miscellaneous Items Jefferson\u27s Main Kitchen Activities Medical College News Purchasing Procedures Pinky Patter Flash! Class of 1932 Condolences Positions Thirty-Eighth General Hospital Nurses\u27 Reunion Engagements Marriages New Arrivals Deaths The Bulletin Committee Attention Alumnae New Addresse

Familial correlates of adolescent girls' physical activity, television use, dietary intake, weight, and body composition

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The family environment offers several opportunities through which to improve adolescents' weight and weight-related behaviors. This study aims to examine the cross-sectional relationships between multiple factors in the family environment and physical activity (PA), television use (TV), soft drink intake, fruit and vegetable (FV) intake, body mass index (BMI), and body composition among a sample of sociodemographically-diverse adolescent girls.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Subjects included girls (mean age = 15.7), 71% of whom identified as a racial/ethnic minority, and one of their parents (dyad n = 253). Parents completed surveys assessing factors in the family environment including familial support for adolescents' PA, healthful dietary intake, and limiting TV use; parental modeling of behavior; and resources in the home such as availability of healthful food. Girls' PA and TV use were measured by 3-Day Physical Activity Recall (3DPAR) and dietary intake by survey measures. BMI was measured by study staff, and body fat by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Hierarchical linear regression models tested individual and mutually-adjusted relationships between family environment factors and girls' outcomes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the individual models, positive associations were observed between family support for PA and girls' total PA (p = .011) and moderate-to-vigorous PA (p=.016), home food availability and girls' soft drink (p < .001) and FV (p < .001) intake, and family meal frequency and girls' FV intake (p = .023). Across the individual and mutually-adjusted models, parental modeling of PA, TV, and soft drink and FV intake was consistently associated with girls' behavior.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Helping parents improve their physical activity and dietary intake, as well as reduce time watching television, may be an effective way to promote healthful behaviors and weight among adolescent girls.</p