scholarly journals Commentary: Engaging African Immigrants in Research – Experiences and Lessons from the Field

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 617-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvonne Commodore-Mensah ◽  
Ruth-Alma Turkson-Ocran ◽  
Nwakaego A. Nmezi ◽  
Manka Nkimbeng ◽  
Joycelyn Cudjoe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African Immigrants ◽  
Population Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Full Spectrum ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Effective Community

Global migration from Africa to more economically developed regions such as the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia has reached unprecedented rates in the past five decades. The size of the African immigrant population in the United States has roughly doubled every decade since 1970. However, research has not kept up with the growing size of this vulnerable population. Data from African immigrants have not traditionally been reported sepa­rately from Blacks/African Americans. There is growing interest in increasing the partici­pation of African immigrants in research to understand their unique health needs and the full spectrum of factors impacting their health, ranging from racial, social, environ­mental, and behavioral factors, to individual biological and genetic factors which may also inform health challenges. This line of inquiry may also inform our understanding of health disparities among their African American counterparts. However, little is known about effective community engage­ment and recruitment strategies that may increase the participation of this popula­tion in research studies. The purpose of this commentary is to: 1) describe lessons learned from our experiences engaging Afri­can immigrants in research in the Baltimore, Washington, DC, and Atlanta metropolitan areas; 2) discuss strategies for successful re­cruitment; and 3) consider future directions of research and opportunities to translate research findings into health policy for this population. Ethn Dis. 2019;29(4):617-622; doi:10.18865/ed.29.4.617

An Overview of the Safety Case for Small Modular Reactors

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. Ingersoll
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Plant Design ◽  
Design Features ◽  
Full Spectrum ◽  
Plant Safety ◽  
Safety Margins ◽  
The Individual

Several small modular reactor (SMR) designs emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s in response to lessons learned from the many technical and operational challenges of the large Generation II light-water reactors. After the accident at the Three Mile Island plant in 1979, an ensuing reactor redesign effort spawned the term “inherently safe” designs, which later evolved into “passively safe” terminology. Several new designs were engineered to be deliberately small in order to fully exploit the benefits of passive safety. Today, new SMR designs are emerging with a similar philosophy of offering highly robust and resilient designs with increased safety margins. Additionally, because these contemporary designs are being developed subsequent to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack, they incorporate a number of intrinsic design features to further strengthen their safety and security. Several SMR designs are being developed in the United States spanning the full spectrum of reactor technologies, including water-, gas-, and liquid-metal-cooled ones. Despite a number of design differences, most of these designs share a common set of design principles to enhance plant safety and robustness, such as eliminating plant design vulnerabilities where possible, reducing accident probabilities, and mitigating accident consequences. An important consequence of the added resilience provided by these design approaches is that the individual reactor units and the entire plant should be able to survive a broader range of extreme conditions. This will enable them to not only ensure the safety of the general public but also help protect the investment of the owner and continued availability of the power-generating asset. Examples of typical SMR design features and their implications for improved plant safety are given for specific SMR designs being developed in the United States.

Winning the Argument and Moving the Fight: The Legacy of a Grassroots Humanitarian

Public Voices ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 115
Author(s):  
Mary Coleman
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
Winning Strategy ◽  
Supreme Court Decision ◽  
The United States ◽  
Colleges And Universities ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Trade Offs

The author of this article argues that the two-decades-long litigation struggle was necessary to push the political actors in Mississippi into a more virtuous than vicious legal/political negotiation. The second and related argument, however, is that neither the 1992 United States Supreme Court decision in Fordice nor the negotiation provided an adequate riposte to plaintiffs’ claims. The author shows that their chief counsel for the first phase of the litigation wanted equality of opportunity for historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), as did the plaintiffs. In the course of explicating the role of a legal grass-roots humanitarian, Coleman suggests lessons learned and trade-offs from that case/negotiation, describing the tradeoffs as part of the political vestiges of legal racism in black public higher education and the need to move HBCUs to a higher level of opportunity at a critical juncture in the life of tuition-dependent colleges and universities in the United States. Throughout the essay the following questions pose themselves: In thinking about the Road to Fordice and to political settlement, would the Justice Department lawyers and the plaintiffs’ lawyers connect at the point of their shared strength? Would the timing of the settlement benefit the plaintiffs and/or the State? Could plaintiffs’ lawyers hold together for the length of the case and move each piece of the case forward in a winning strategy? Who were plaintiffs’ opponents and what was their strategy? With these questions in mind, the author offers an analysis of how the campaign— political/legal arguments and political/legal remedies to remove the vestiges of de jure segregation in higher education—unfolded in Mississippi, with special emphasis on the initiating lawyer in Ayers v. Waller and Fordice, Isaiah Madison

scholarly journals Improving Undergraduate Life Science Education for the Biosciences Workforce: Overcoming the Disconnect between Educators and Industry

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. es12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Thompson ◽  
Joseph Sanchez ◽  
Michael Smith ◽  
Judy Costello ◽  
Amrita Madabushi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Workforce Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
University Graduates ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
College And University ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
Undergraduate Institutions ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Undergraduate Programs

The BioHealth Capital Region (Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC; BHCR) is flush with colleges and universities training students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines and has one of the most highly educated workforces in the United States. However, current educational approaches and business recruitment tactics are not drawing sufficient talent to sustain the bioscience workforce pipeline. Surveys conducted by the Mid-Atlantic Biology Research and Career Network identified a disconnect between stakeholders who are key to educating, training, and hiring college and university graduates, resulting in several impediments to workforce development in the BHCR: 1) students are underinformed or unaware of bioscience opportunities before entering college and remain so at graduation; 2) students are not job ready at the time of graduation; 3) students are mentored to pursue education beyond what is needed and are therefore overqualified (by degree) for most of the available jobs in the region; 4) undergraduate programs generally lack any focus on workforce development; and 5) few industry–academic partnerships with undergraduate institutions exist in the region. The reality is that these issues are neither surprising nor restricted to the BHCR. Recommendations are presented to facilitate improvement in the preparation of graduates for today’s bioscience industries throughout the United States.

scholarly journals “How Do We Actually Do Convergence” for Disaster Resilience? Cases from Australia and the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shefali Juneja Lakhina ◽  
Elaina J. Sutley ◽  
Jay Wilson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Century ◽  
Urban Resilience ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Systemic Risks ◽  
Work Community ◽  
Research Findings

AbstractIn recent years there has been an increasing emphasis on achieving convergence in disaster research, policy, and programs to reduce disaster losses and enhance social well-being. However, there remain considerable gaps in understanding “how do we actually do convergence?” In this article, we present three case studies from across geographies—New South Wales in Australia, and North Carolina and Oregon in the United States; and sectors of work—community, environmental, and urban resilience, to critically examine what convergence entails and how it can enable diverse disciplines, people, and institutions to reduce vulnerability to systemic risks in the twenty-first century. We identify key successes, challenges, and barriers to convergence. We build on current discussions around the need for convergence research to be problem-focused and solutions-based, by also considering the need to approach convergence as ethic, method, and outcome. We reflect on how convergence can be approached as an ethic that motivates a higher order alignment on “why” we come together; as a method that foregrounds “how” we come together in inclusive ways; and as an outcome that highlights “what” must be done to successfully translate research findings into the policy and public domains.

scholarly journals Preparedness and response to an emerging health threat—Lessons learned from Candida auris outbreaks in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Diane Meyer ◽  
Elena K. Martin ◽  
Syra Madad ◽  
Priya Dhagat ◽  
Jennifer B. Nuzzo
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Infection Prevention And Control ◽  
Healthcare Organizations ◽  
Candida Auris ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Healthcare Facilities

Abstract Objective: Candida auris infections continue to occur across the United States and abroad, and healthcare facilities that care for vulnerable populations must improve their readiness to respond to this emerging organism. We aimed to identify and better understand challenges faced and lessons learned by those healthcare facilities who have experienced C. auris cases and outbreaks to better prepare those who have yet to experience or respond to this pathogen. Design: Semi-structured qualitative interviews. Setting: Health departments, long-term care facilities, acute-care hospitals, and healthcare organizations in New York, Illinois, and California. Participants: Infectious disease physicians and nurses, clinical and environmental services, hospital leadership, hospital epidemiology, infection preventionists, emergency management, and laboratory scientists who had experiences either preparing for or responding to C. auris cases or outbreaks. Methods: In total, 25 interviews were conducted with 84 participants. Interviews were coded using NVivo qualitative coding software by 2 separate researchers. Emergent themes were then iteratively discussed among the research team. Results: Key themes included surveillance and laboratory capacity, inter- and intrafacility communication, infection prevention and control, environmental cleaning and disinfection, clinical management of cases, and media concerns and stigma. Conclusions: Many of the operational challenges noted in this research are not unique to C. auris, and the ways in which we address future outbreaks should be informed by previous experiences and lessons learned, including the recent outbreaks of C. auris in the United States.

scholarly journals Longer Residence in the United States is Associated With More Physical Function Limitations in African Immigrant Older Adults

2020 ◽  
pp. 073346482097760
Author(s):  
Manka Nkimbeng ◽  
Yvonne Commodore-Mensah ◽  
Jacqueline L. Angel ◽  
Karen Bandeen-Roche ◽  
Roland J. Thorpe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Physical Function ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
African Immigrants ◽  
The United States ◽  
African Immigrant ◽  
High Discrimination ◽  
The Mean

Acculturation and racial discrimination have been independently associated with physical function limitations in immigrant and United States (U.S.)-born populations. This study examined the relationships among acculturation, racial discrimination, and physical function limitations in N = 165 African immigrant older adults using multiple linear regression. The mean age was 62 years ( SD = 8 years), and 61% were female. Older adults who resided in the United States for 10 years or more had more physical function limitations compared with those who resided here for less than 10 years ( b = −2.62, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [–5.01, –0.23]). Compared to lower discrimination, those with high discrimination had more physical function limitations ( b = −2.51, 95% CI = [–4.91, –0.17]), but this was no longer significant after controlling for length of residence and acculturation strategy. Residing in the United States for more than 10 years is associated with poorer physical function. Longitudinal studies with large, diverse samples of African immigrants are needed to confirm these associations.

scholarly journals Evolving oxygenation management reasoning in COVID-19

Diagnosis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-383
Author(s):  
Steven Liu ◽  
Cara Sweeney ◽  
Nalinee Srisarajivakul-Klein ◽  
Amanda Klinger ◽  
Irina Dimitrova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Initial Phase ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure ◽  
Hospital Wards

AbstractThe initial phase of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in the United States saw rapidly-rising patient volumes along with shortages in personnel, equipment, and intensive care unit (ICU) beds across many New York City hospitals. As our hospital wards quickly filled with unstable, hypoxemic patients, our hospitalist group was forced to fundamentally rethink the way we triaged and managed cases of hypoxemic respiratory failure. Here, we describe the oxygenation protocol we developed and implemented in response to changing norms for acuity on inpatient wards. By reflecting on lessons learned, we re-evaluate the applicability of these oxygenation strategies in the evolving pandemic. We hope to impart to other providers the insights we gained with the challenges of management reasoning in COVID-19.

Marcus Cunliffe Writes America

2005 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-382
Author(s):  
MICK GIDLEY
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
American Studies ◽  
Academic Career ◽  
The United States ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
George Washington ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Washington University

Marcus Cunliffe (1922–1990) was incontestably an important figure in American studies. In the early part of his academic career he helped to found the subject area in Britain, and he was later both awarded professorial appointments at the Universities of Manchester and Sussex and elected to the chairmanship of the British Association for American Studies, from which positions he served as a personal inspiration and professional mentor to several “generations” of UK American studies academics. Those who knew him and worked with him were invariably struck by his tall good looks, charisma and charm – characteristics that no doubt also contributed to his successful career, in Britain and in the United States, first as a visiting scholar, and later, during his final years, as the occupant of an endowed chair at George Washington University in Washington, DC. As the correspondence in his papers attest, he was held in high – and warm – regard by many of the leading US historians of his heyday. More might be said about his charm here because it also permeates his writing and persists there as a kind of afterglow, and not only for those who encountered him in person – but this essay is a critical reconsideration of his published work that, though appreciative, at least aspires towards objectivity.

Searching and Making Meaning of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Perspectives of African Immigrants in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 002216782110224
Author(s):  
Angela U. Ekwonye ◽  
Nina Truong
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
African Immigrants ◽  
The United States ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Making Meaning ◽  
The Impact

African immigrants continue to be disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is unclear how they are searching for and finding meaning in the face of this adversity. This study sought to understand how African immigrants in the United States are searching for and making meaning of the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted in-depth interviews remotely with 20 immigrants from West Africa (Nigeria and Ghana), East Africa (Somali and Rwanda), and Central Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo). The meaning-making model was used as a framework to understand the processes of coping during a significant, adverse life event. The study found that some participants attempted to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their global meaning by seeking answers as to why the pandemic occurred and creating positive illusions. Some redefined their priorities and reframed the pandemic in a positive light. Participants found meaning in the form of accepting the pandemic as a reality of life, appreciating events previously taken for granted, and making positive changes in their lives. This study’s findings can inform health care providers of the meaning-making processes of African immigrants’ and the need to assist them in their search for meaning.

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