MindMover
MindMover's JournalStudies of Substance Abuse with Interventions for the Youth of Native American Indian Community #10
Descriptions #5Research suggests that the etiologic influences of American Indian adolescent substance use are similar to those found for other ethnic groups. Higher levels of alcohol and drug use among American Indian youth can be attributed to poverty and extremely poor social conditions that have exposed them to significantly more risk factors, which may directly or indirectly lead to more alcohol and drug use (Beauvais & LaBoueff, 1985). Life stress is a demonstrated risk factor for substance use (Dick et al., 1993; King et al., 1992; King & Thayer, 1993; LeMaster et al., 2002; Wills, McNamara, Vaccaro, & Hirky, 1997), and adolescence is a period of time when stress pertaining to social, physical, cognitive, and academic growth is enhanced (Dick et al., 1993). As a result, youth are particularly vulnerable to developing potentially harmful methods of coping with stressors that arise within themselves, their immediate environment, or their cultural milieu.
Factors rooted within an individual, such as beliefs and attitudes, tendency to engage in risk behaviors, and psychological distress, contribute to increased rates of adolescent substance use. Among American Indian teens, the perception that substance use is an indicator of adulthood has been suggested as an explanation for an increased tendency to use (Schinke et al., 1985). Similarly, positive expectancies of alcohol’s effects were predictive of higher rates of alcohol problems among urban American Indian teens ( Hawkins, 2002). High-risk behaviors and psychological distress potentially serve as both risk factors for and consequences of substance use. Inhalant users in a sample of urban American Indian youth exhibited higher rates of lifetime conduct disorder and alcohol dependence, more aggressive behavior, more sensation seeking, greater negative emotionality, and lower perceived self-worth than did nonusers (Howard et al., 1999). In another study, distressing life events of death and loss were linked to increased use of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco (LeMaster et al., 2002).
Environmental contexts (including community, family, and peer variables) have great impact on the development of substance use and misuse among American Indian and Alaskan Native youth. These sources of primary socialization directly and indirectly communicate social norms and values. The community, which includes elders, schools, law enforcement, and health agencies, among other institutions, plays a vital role in the transmission of what is considered acceptable substance use behavior (Oetting & Donnermeyer, 1998). Youth learn which actions are tolerated or even sanctioned, as well as the consequences for engaging in behavior that falls outside the community’s norms. Likewise, the family conveys powerful messages to youth regarding substance use. Adult models of substance abuse (LeMaster et al., 2002; Weibel-Orlando, 1984) and lack of clear-cut familial sanctions against substance abuse (Oetting, Beauvais, & Edwards, 1988) are associated with increased rates of use among youth.
Some researchers have noted that drinking within families may be one way of maintaining a sense of cohesion and solidarity (O’Nell, 1992–1993; Spicer, 1997). Studies have also suggested that a lack of stability in the home (Garcia-Mason, 1985) and disorientation within family relationships (Albaugh & Albaugh, 1979) are risk factors for substance use. During adolescence, peer influences may be as or more important than family variables in the development of substance use problems. Participation in positive peer clusters is less likely to lead to deviant behaviors, whereas antisocial peer associations and pressures can serve as risk factors for substance use (Oetting, Swaim, Edwards, & Beauvais, 1989).
Dr. Stamatoyannopoulos ... 'Junk DNA' Debunked
The deepest look into the human genome so far shows it to be a richer, messier and more intriguing place than was believed just a decade ago, scientists said Wednesday.
While the findings underscore the challenges of tackling complex diseases, they also offer scientists new terrain to unearth better treatments.
The new insight is the product of Encode, or Encyclopedia of DNA Elements, a vast, multiyear project that aims to pin down the workings of the human genome in unprecedented detail.
Encode succeeded the Human Genome Project, which identified the 20,000 genes that underpin the blueprint of human biology. But scientists discovered that those 20,000 genes constituted less than 2% of the human genome. The task of Encode was to explore the remaining 98%—the so-called junk DNA—that lies between those genes and was thought to be a biological desert.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443589304577633560336453228.html?mod=e2tw
I certainly hope the Experts are correct ...
Beverly Hills quakes at intersection of two faultsThe shallow, magnitude 3.2 and 3.4 quakes are probably not foreshocks to a larger quake, experts say.
The two earthquakes that struck Beverly Hills and shook a good portion of Los Angeles this week occurred at the intersection of two dangerous faults.
Although both faults are capable of producing a 7.0 temblor, experts said the quakes are probably not foreshocks to a larger quake.
U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Doug Given said the quakes occurred near the junction of the Santa Monica fault, which runs underneath Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, Westwood and Beverly Hills, and the Newport-Inglewood fault, which produced the deadly 1933 Long Beach quake.
The earthquakes that hit this week — a 3.2 on Monday, centered near Doheny Drive and Wilshire Boulevard — and a 3.4 after midnight Friday, centered near Wilshire Boulevard and Beverly Drive — were shallow.
"As a result, they were strongly felt," Given said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-earthquake-20120908,0,1049664.story
Don't ya just love guns ...
POLICE: NEV. MAN SHOT GOLFER AFTER BALL HIT HOMERENO, Nev. (AP) -- A man has been arrested on suspicion of shooting and wounding a golfer after an errant ball broke a window at his home.
Jeff Fleming, 53, is accused of firing at a pair of golfers at the 16th hole on Thursday, striking the one who hit the home in Reno. The golfer was treated for minor injuries to an arm and both legs.
The suspect's neighbors told investigators that it was a "common, everyday deal" for stray golf balls to hit their homes, police Lt. Keith Brown said.
"The neighbors were shaking their heads, and we were shaking our heads, and no one could put rhyme or reason to this (shooting). It's crazy," Brown told The Associated Press. "I've been an officer for 25 years, and if you're here long enough, I guess you've seen everything."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GOLF_COURSE_SHOOTING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Surrogate Mother, 61, Gives Birth to Her Grandson
Kristine Casey is not just any grandmother to her grandson, Finnean. She is also his surrogate mother.
Casey, then 61, gave birth to Finnean in February 2011 after her daughter, Sara Connell, struggled with infertility. Connell’s egg and husband Bill’s sperm were used in the in vitro fertilization procedure, making the couple Finnean’s biological parents, and Casey the gestational carrier of their child.
“The idea, we never could have fathomed,” Connell, 36, said today on “Good Morning America.” “I felt so connected with Finn and with my mom and yet it was a completely surreal, really fantastic situation.”
Connell tells the story of their family’s unconventional journey to motherhood in a new book, “Bringing in Finn: An Extraordinary Surrogacy Story.”
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/09/04/surrogate-mother-61-gives-birth-to-her-grandson/
Best Care at Lower Cost
Health care in America has experienced an explosion in knowledge, innovation, and capacity to manage previously fatal conditions. Yet, paradoxically, it falls short on such fundamentals as quality, outcomes, cost, and equity. Each action that could improve quality—developing knowledge, translating new information into medical evidence, applying the new evidence to patient care—is marred by significant shortcomings and inefficiencies that result in missed opportunities, waste, and harm to patients.The full extent of these shortcomings is visible when considering how other industries routinely operate compared with many aspects of health care.
Builders rely on blueprints to coordinate the work of carpenters, electricians, and plumbers. Banks offer customers financial records that are updated in real time. Automobile manufacturers produce thousands of vehicles that are standardized at their core, while tailored at the margins. While health care must accommodate many competing priorities and human factors unlike those in other industries, the health care system could learn from these industries how to better meet specific needs, expand choices, and shave costs. Americans would be better served by a more nimble health care system that is consistently reliable and that constantly, systematically, and seamlessly improves. In short, the country needs health care that learns by avoiding past mistakes and
adopting newfound successes.
http://www.iom.edu/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2012/Best-Care/BestCareReportBrief.pdf
What Caused the Yosemite Hantavirus Outbreak?
Earlier this week the World Health Organization issued a global warning to travelers who might have come into contact with the deadly hantavirus while staying in Yosemite National Park in California. So far, three* people have died and at least half a dozen more have been sickened by the virus, which causes pulmonary distress. The outbreak is unusual in that cases of the virus are usually solitary and most have come from the high desert areas in or near New Mexico.
Most victims likely picked up the infection while staying in insulated tent cabins that were infested with mice, which carry the disease. The U.S. National Park Service estimates that as many as 10,000 people might be at risk of having been exposed to the disease since early June. And it has urged anyone who stayed in the "Signature Tent Cabins" in Yosemite’s Curry Village to be vigilant about looking for flulike symptoms, which can signal the onset of the illness. The virus can take as long as six weeks to incubate.
The infection was initially described in New Mexico about 20 years ago. It is exceedingly rare, with only about 600 documented cases in the U.S. But it is extremely deadly, killing more than one in three people who contract it.
The deer mice (Peromyscus) and other rodents that have been known to carry the disease, however, are by no means limited to high desert or mountainous areas and can be found throughout North America. So does that mean hantavirus could spread to other parts of the country?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=yosemite-hantavirus-outbreak&WT.mc_id=SA_DD_20120907
Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb ....
Romney Endorses Ultraconservative CongressmanRep. Steve King takes a hard line on issues like abortion and Islam.The Obama campaign seizes opportunity to cast Romney as extreme on social issues.
ORANGE CITY, Iowa — At a rally in the most conservative county in Iowa, Mitt Romney enthusiastically endorsed conservative lightning rod Rep. Steve King — prompting the Obama campaign to renew its claim that the Republican supports an extreme social agenda.
"I'm looking here at Steve King," Romney declared about halfway through his speech. "He needs to be your Congressman again. I want him as my partner in Washington!"
The crowd in the Northwestern College gymnasium roared with approval, but on Twitter liberals seized on the comments. Within an hour, Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith issued a statement decrying the endorsement.
"And, if his speech today praising Rep. Steve King — who has questioned whether women get pregnant from rape and incest and said hateful things about immigrants — is any indication, we know he wouldn’t stand up to the most strident voices in his party," Smith wrote. "Bringing back the failed policies that crashed the economy and pandering to the most extreme voices in his party isn’t a recipe for strength and it won’t move us forward.”
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/romney-endorses-ultraconservative-congressman#HTWF2
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/41483660@N04/7951191430/][img]
[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/41483660@N04/7951191430/]tumblr_m8pf8tSBJ11r1incio3_500[/url]
Profile Information
Member since: Sun Jul 31, 2011, 05:36 PMNumber of posts: 5,016
