Who Are America's Poor Children? Examining Health Disparities by Race and Ethnicity

Good health in childhood both reflects and predicts full social and economic participation. Conversely, social divisions by race and income are often associated with health disparities, which inhibit children from achieving their full potential. Although many would agree that health is a fundamental right, children subject to exclusion by race and class are less likely to enjoy this right. An earlier report in the NCCP Who are America's Poor Children? series examined child health disparities by poverty status. In the introduction to that report two points were made. First, "the relationship between socioeconomic status and health is one of the most robust and well documented findings in social science." Second, the relationship is also reciprocal, as poverty detracts from resources used to maintain health, while poor health detracts from the educational and employment paths to income mobility. This report goes one step further to consider health disparities among poor children by race and ethnicity. As in the earlier report, it identifies a list of publicly available indicators found in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). It examines selected disparities in six domains of health risk and health status: family composition and poverty, food insecurity, environmental conditions, health insurance coverage, access to healthcare services, and health outcomes. It offers a short introduction to a dozen indicators, explaining how each reflects one of the six dimensions of heath and how public policies might help to reduce relevant disparities. Intended for a generalist audience, this report summarizes and references primary research resources

Nation and archipelago

This chapter explores John Milton's Observations upon the Articles of Peace with the Irish Rebels (1649), a 25,000-word treatise that is a touchstone text for a turning point in British and Irish history, a telling account of the tensions between colonialism and republicanism, and a tipping point in Milton's thinking around Archipelagic interdependence – the tied fates of the nations that make up the emerging British state. This multi-authored work, exemplary in its many-sided depiction of a pivotal point in the history of the three Stuart kingdoms of England, Ireland, and Scotland, depicts different national and religious communities responding to the execution of Charles I on January 30, 1649. Milton's commission was to address the “complication of interests” in Ireland in the wake of the killing of the king. His protean polemic captures the contradictions of a poet against empire countering a challenge to metropolitan government from a complex planter society

Health, ethics and environment: A qualitative study of vegetarian motivations

This qualitative study explored the motivations of vegetarians by means of online ethnographic research with participants in an international message board. The researcher participated in discussions on the board, gathered responses to questions from 33 participants, and conducted follow-up e-mail interviews with eighteen of these participants. Respondents were predominantly from the US, Canada and the UK. Seventy per cent were female, and ages ranged from 14 to 53, with a median of 26 years. Data were analysed using a thematic approach. While this research found that health and the ethical treatment of animals were the main motivators for participants’ vegetarianism, participants reported a range of commitments to environmental concerns, although in only one case was environmentalism a primary motivator for becoming a vegetarian. The data indicates that vegetarians may follow a trajectory, in which initial motivations are augmented over time by other reasons for sustaining or further restricting their diet

A Value-Belief-Norm Theory of Support for Social Movements: The Case of Environmentalism

We present a theory of the basis of support for a social movement. Three types of support (citizenship actions, policy support and acceptance, and personal-sphere behaviors that accord with movement principles) are empirically distinct from each other and from committed activism. Drawing on theoretical work on values and norm-activation processes, we propose a value-belief-norm (VBN) theory of movement support. Individuals who accept a movement\u27s basic values, believe that valued objects are threatened, and believe that their actions can help restore those values experience an obligation (personal norm) for pro-movement action that creates a predisposition to provide support; the particular type of support that results is dependent on the individual\u27s capabilities and constraints. Data from a national survey of 420 respondents suggest that the VBN theory, when compared with other prevalent theories, offers the best available account of support for the environmental movement

Cultural Representation of Problem Animals in National Geographic

AbstractLinda Kalof and Ramona Fruja Amthor, Cultural Representations of Problem Animals in National Geographic The cultural representations of animals and nature are important sources of meaning-making, and nowhere are those representations more pervasive than in National Geographic magazine. We examine the representation of animals as dangerous and threatening, a notion widespread in our risk-focused society. Analysis of a random sample of animal photographs published between 1900 and 2000 documents that animals depicted as problems fall into three categories: 1) Animals as dangerous and disruptive to humans and their property (35.6%); 2) Humans as dangerous and disruptive to the natural world (34.9%); 3) Animals as dangerous and disruptive to the natural world (29.6%). We conclude that National Geographic iconography contributes to a discourse of animality as noxious and invasive, a discourse that also includes human animals as harmful to the natural world.RésuméLes représentations des animaux et de la nature sont porteuses de sens, et nulle part ces représentations ne sont plus éloquentes que dans la revue National Geographic. Nous examinons ici les représentations d’animaux considérés comme dangereux et menaçants, une notion largement répandue dans nos sociétés, pour lesquelles le risque est une préoccupation majeure. L’analyse d’un échantillon aléatoire de photographies d’animaux dits problématiques, prises entre 1900 et 2000, permet de les classer en trois catégories : 1) les animaux dangereux et qui perturbent les hommes et leurs biens (35,6 %) ; 2) les humains dangereux et qui perturbent le milieu naturel (34,9 %) ; 3) les animaux dangereux et qui perturbent le milieu naturel (29,6 %). L’iconographie de National Geographic contribue ainsi à présenter les animaux comme nocifs et « invasifs » et à inclure, dans la catégorie des nuisibles, l’animal qu’est l’être humain

Cystic lymphangioma of the pancreas

Lymphangioma is a benign form of neoplasm arising from the lymphatic system. It occurs as a result of congenital malformations of the lymphatics leading to the obstruction of local lymph flow and the development of lymphangiectasia. Lymphangiomas are common in pediatric patients, in the soft tissues of the neck and the axillae, but lymphangioma of the pancreas is extremely rare, accounting for less than 1% of these tumors. It occurs more frequently in females and is often located in the distal pancreas. Although extremely rare, cystic lymphangioma of the pancreas should be taken into consideration as a differential diagnosis of pancreatic cystic or retroperitoneal lesions, especially in women. Herein, we report on a case of cystic lymphangioma of the distal pancreas in a 37-year-old woman who was treated with complete surgical resection with a review of the literature

Kaposiform hemangioendothelioma in tonsil of a child associated with cervical lymphangioma: a rare case report

Kaposiform hemangioendothelioma (KHE) is an uncommon vascular tumor of intermediate malignant potential, usually occurs in the extremities and retroperitoneum of infants and is characterized by its association with lymphangiomatosis and Kasabach-Merritt phenomenenon (KMP) in certain cases. It has rarely been observed in the head and neck region and at times, can present without KMP. Herein, we present an extremely uncommon case of KHE occurring in tonsil of a child, associated with a neck swelling, but unassociated with KMP. A 2-year-old male child referred to us with history of sore throat, dyspnoea and right-sided neck swelling off and on, since birth, was clinicoradiologically diagnosed with recurrent tonsillitis, including right sided peritonsillar abscess, for which he underwent right-sided tonsillectomy, elsewhere. Histopathological sections from the excised tonsillar mass were reviewed and showed a tumor composed of irregular, infiltrating lobules of spindle cells arranged in kaposiform architecture with slit-like, crescentic vessels. The cells displayed focal lumen formation containing red blood cells (RBCs), along with platelet thrombi and eosinophilic hyaline bodies. In addition, there were discrete foci of several dilated lymphatic vessels containing lymph and lymphocytes. On immunohistochemistry (IHC), spindle cells were diffusely positive for CD34, focally for CD31 and smooth muscle actin (SMA), the latter marker was mostly expressed around the blood vessels. Immunostaining for HHV8 was negative and Ki-67 (proliferation marker) displayed focal positivity. Diagnosis of KHE was made. Platelet count was towards lower side of range. Postoperative imaging showed discrete, multiple fluid containing lesions in the right neck that were high on T2-weighed sequences, on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ipsilateral intraoral mucosal growth. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) smears from neck swelling showed blood, fluid and lymphocytes. Possibility of a coexisting lymphangioma was considered. The patient was offered sclerotherapy and is on follow-up. This case forms the second documented case of KHE at this site, along with its unique association with neck lymphangioma. KHE has distinct histopathological features and can be sorted out from its other differentials like juvenile hemangioma and Kaposi's sarcoma. IHC stains are useful in substantiating a definite diagnosis

Humanity’s Best Friend: A Dog-Centric Approach to Addressing Global Challenges

No other animal has a closer mutualistic relationship with humans than the dog (Canis familiaris). Domesticated from the Eurasian grey wolf (Canis lupus), dogs have evolved alongside humans over millennia in a relationship that has transformed dogs and the environments in which humans and dogs have co-inhabited. The story of the dog is the story of recent humanity, in all its biological and cultural complexity. By exploring human-dog-environment interactions throughout time and space, it is possible not only to understand vital elements of global history, but also to critically assess our present-day relationship with the natural world, and to begin to mitigate future global challenges. In this paper, co-authored by researchers from across the natural and social sciences, arts and humanities, we argue that a dog-centric approach provides a new model for future academic enquiry and engagement with both the public and the global environmental agenda