Psychosocial stressors associated with Mexican migrant farmworkers in the midwest United States

Although estimates suggest that there are upwards of 5 million migrant farmworkers in the United States, scant research has explored the stressors associated with their lifestyle. Contrary to previous work, the present study directly explored migrant farmworkers' own perceptions of what is difficult in their lives. The purposes of the present study were to qualitatively explore, from a phenomenological standpoint, the stressors associated with living as a migrant farmworker in the Midwest United States; and to determine the stressors that were most strongly related to symptoms of anxiety and depression. The findings indicated that 18 stressors were commonly experienced by the migrant farmworkers and that the farmworkers experienced overall elevated levels of anxiety and depression. A number of stressors that were not previously reported in the literature were identified. The stressors of rigid work demands and poor housing conditions were significantly associated with higher levels of anxiety and low family income/living in poverty and rigid work demands were significantly associated with depression. Implications of findings and prevention strategies are discussed.     

Polychlorobiphenyls, ΣDDT,and hexachlorocyclohexane isomers in the western North Pacific ecosystem

Polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), DDT (p,p-DDT,p,p-DDD, andp,p-DDE and HCH isomers (hexachlorocyclohexanes including , , and isomers) were determined in a marine food chain, including seawater, zooplankton, myctophid, squid and striped dolphin collected from the western North Pacific waters. The concentrations of these pollutants increased in higher trophic levels, where the highest bioconcentration factors (concentration ratio in organisms to water), as much as 10⁷, were obtained from both PCBs and DDT in striped dolphin. The proportions of highly chlorinated biphenyls,p,p-DDE and -HCH increased in higher-ranking predators. These observations suggest that the bioaccumulation mechanisms in lower trophic levels depend primarily on the physicochemical properties of pollutants, whereas those in higher trophic levels are affected by the biodegradability of the pollutants and the metabolic capacity and life-span of the organisms.     

Levels of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in mothers' milk collected in Osaka prefecture from 1969 to 1976

Long-term investigations of polychlorinated hydrocarbon levels in mothers' milk were made from 1969 to 1976. The levels ofp,p-DDE, p,p DDT, dieldrin and PCB in mothers' milk were within the range reported by others. However, -BHC(Hexachlorocyclohexane) levels in the milk were 10 times that found in non-Japanese. A gradual decrease in the -BHC level in the milk was observed during this period. In contrast, the levelsof p,p-DDE,p,p-DDT, dieldrin and PCB were consistent for the 7-year period. A significant correlation between the levels of PCB andp,p-DDE in mothers' milk and blood was observed in the 1974–1976 samples. However, after prohibition of the use of chlorinated hydrocarbons, this relationship was less apparent in the 1972–1973 samples.     

Dimensionen der Zufriedenheit im Alter

Zusammenfassung In einer Interview-Studie von 480 Betagten in städtischen Verhältnissen wurden neben anderen Fragen auch solche zur Zufriedenheit gestellt. Eine Faktoranalyse der Antworten erlaubt die Unterscheidung eines Faktors Depressivität von einem Faktor Zufriedenheit mit Sozial-kontakten und einer gesundheitlichen Dimension.

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Dimensions of satisfaction among old people

Summary In an interview study of 480 aged persons, questions on satisfaction with several aspects of life were included. A factor analysis allows to distinguish a factor relating to depressivity from a factor satisfaction with social contacts and a health-related dimension.

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Dimensions de la satisfaction des personnes âgées

Résumé Das une enquête d'un échantillon de 480 personnes âgées, des questions concernant leur satisfaction ont été inclues dans l'interview. Une analyse factorielle permet de distinguer un facteur associé à la dépressivité d'un facteur satisfaction avec les contactes sociaux et d'une dimension santé.

     

Managing for health: why health care?

Health and health care are increasingly big business. The challenge is to apply our knowledge and skills to meet people's needs, if not their demands as efficiently, effectively and beneficially as possible. Value for money is the slogan. For those who deliver the goods as required, the converse, money for value should equally apply, and not only in a market driven system. This paper offers a very personal view of these issues in the light of recent UK policy developments.     

Peroxidase-catalyzed oxidation of chlorophenols to polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans

Chlorophenols are transformedin vitro to polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/ Fs) by peroxidase-catalyzed oxidations. This is demonstrated with bovine lactoperoxidase as well as horseradish peroxidase, and with 3,4,5- and 2,4,5-trichlorophenol (TrCP). The yield of total PCDD/Fs with lactoperoxidase was 11 g per g 345-TrCP and 10 g per g 245-TrCP, of which 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDD/Fs constituted 8.5 and 2.2 g/g, respectively, corresponding to 0.85 and 1.2 g/g of Nordic TCDD-equivalents.     

Isomer-specific analysis and toxic evaluation of polychlorinated biphenyls in striped dolphins affected by an epizootic in the western Mediterranean sea

Isomer-specific concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) including planar, mono- and di-ortho congeners and concentrations of DDT were determined in striped dolphins affected by a morbillivirus epizootic in the western Mediterranean in 1990. Extremely high concentrations of PCBs ranging from 94 to 670 g/g (wet wt) were detected in the blubber. Similarly, DDT concentrations were high, between 22 and 230 g/g (wet wt). The concentrations of three non-ortho coplanar PCBs were 43 (3,3,4,4-T₄CB), 6.8 (3,3,4,4,5-P₅CB), and 7.8 (3,3,4,4,5,5-H₆CB) ng/g (wet wt), respectively, the highest residue levels reported to date. The estimated 2,3,7,8-TCDD toxic equivalents of non-, mono- and di-ortho PCB congeners in striped dolphins were several times higher than those observed for other marine mammals and humans. Mono-ortho congeners contributed greater 2,3,7,8-TCDD toxic equivalents than non-ortho members. The higher ratio of 3,3,4,4,5,5-H₆CB/3,3,4,4,5-P₅CB (IUPAC 169/126) suggested a strong induction of mixed function oxidase enzymes and highlighted the possibility of using this ratio as an index for risk assessment of PCB contamination in marine mammals. Elevated concentrations of PCBs may have played a role in the immune depression in striped dolphins, ultimately leading to the development of morbillivirus disease.     

Internal exposure to organic substances in a municipal waste incinerator

Summary Fifty-three persons occupied in a municipal waste incinerator were examined with respect to their internal exposure to organic substances which may be produced during pyrolysis of organic matter. For this purpose the levels of benzene in blood, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in plasma, and mono- (MCPs), di- (DCPs), tri- (TCPs), tetra-(TECPs) and pentachlorophenol (PCP) and hydroxypyrene in urine were determined. For control purposes, 431 men and women were examined. Significantly higher values for the workers were found for the excretion of hydroxypyrene [median (m): 0.24vs 0.11 g/l; non-smokers], 2,4/2,5-DCP (m: 10.5 vs 3.9 g/l) and 2,4,5-TCP (m: 1.2 vs 0.8 g/l) and for the HCB level in plasma (m: 4.4 vs 2.8 g/l). For the concentrations of 4-MCP and 2,3,4,6/2,3,5,6-TECP, the controls had significantly higher concentrations in urine than did the workers in the incineration plant (m: 4-MCP 1.7 vs 1.2; 2,3,4,6/2,3,5,6-TECP: 1.2 vs 0.3 g/l). No significant differences between workers and controls were detected with respect to benzene in blood (m: 0.20 vs 0.28 g/l; non-smokers), 2,4,6-TCP and PCPs in urine (m: 0.85 vs 0.60 and 2.2 vs 2.2 g/l) or the levels of PCB congeners in plasma (m: 138, 153, 180: 5.6 vs 4.1 g/l). The elevated levels of hydroxypyrene, 2,4/2,5-DCP, 2,4,5-TCP and HCB in biological material may be related to the incineration of the waste. These elevations, however, are very small and are of interest more from the environmental than from the occupational point of view.     

Correlation between vibration-induced white finger and symptoms of upper and lower extremities in vibration syndrome

Summary The correlation was investigated between the frequency of attacks of vibration-induced white finger (VWF) and numbness or coldness of the fingers and legs in patients with vibration syndrome. Some 1687 patients with vibration syndrome were examined and of these 342 chain-saw operators and 277 rock-drill operators had no disease other than vibration snydrome. Then subjects were matched by age and period of treatment within three years. In the last analysis, 20 in the VWF almost everyday group or in the never group, and 40 in the occasionally group were selected from the chain-saw operators, and from the rock-drill operators 32 in the VWF everyday or the never group and 64 in the occasionally group. The present study showed that, with the frequency of VWF attacks, patients had a higher prevalence of coldness not only in the fingers but also in the legs. These findings suggest a correlation between the severity of circulatory disturbances of the upper extremities and that of the lower ones in patients with vibration syndrome. Further studies on circulatory disturbances in the leg are required.     

Prevention's technology

This paper describes each of the tools preventionists use to promote health and reduce the incidence of illness. Examples of each tool in use are provided.     

The evaluation of pornography: Effects of attitude and perceived physiological reaction

Twenty-three medical and 28 nonmedical male student Ss read four erotic prose passages and then rated each on obscenity, censorship, and four semantic differential evaluation scales. Ss were given varying levels of false (experimenter-controlled) GSR feedback for each stimulus passage, as well as different explanations of the significance of this arousal feedback. Four-way analyses of variance showed that low Stolerance of erotica, pedophelic passage content, and GSR feedback indicating physiological arousal resulted in passages being labeled as more obscene and unfavorable. Explanations to Ss that GSR feed-back indicated sexual arousal resulted in more favorable ratings by the medical Ss and interacted with passage type for the nonmedical Ss. Concurrently monitored heart rate was not significantly influenced by any of the experimental variables and was (with one marginal exception) uncorrelated with any of the dependent labeling variables. An earlier version of this article was presented at the XVIIth International Congress of Applied Psychology, Liege, Belgium, July 1971.     

Making sense of illness: late-in-life migration as point of departure for elderly Iranian immigrants' explanatory models of illness

This article is based on data gathered through 60 qualitative interviews conducted within the realm of three research projects that have used culture-appropriate lenses to study the postmigration situation of late-in-life Iranian immigrants to Sweden. The findings gathered through these studies were interpreted against the backdrop that culturally appropriate nursing theories provide. This meant that it was, at times, these elders backgrounds as cultural others that were implicitly used to make sense of the various issues that were brought to the fore by these studies. The particular issue with which this article is concerned is the unusualness of these elders explanatory models of illness. Inspired by the concept definition of situation in the symbolic interactionist perspective and by the feeling that this perspective might bring about a different interpretation of the original findings regarding their understandings of illness and disease, we set out to conduct a secondary analysis of these elders explanatory models of illness. The findings presented in this article will show how the elderly Iranian immigrants interviewed in these three studies utilize the process of late in life migration as a point of reference for their understandings of what has caused the illnesses from which they suffered. Hereby we will suggest that the unusualness of their explanatory models of illness might be best understood if we focus on what they shared as immigrants (i.e., the fact that the process of late-in-life migration has made their culture obsolete) as opposed to what they shared as Iranians (i.e., their culture of origin).     

Levels of β-HCH,HCB, p,p′-DDE,p,p′-DDT and PCBs in human milk from a continental town in Croatia,Yugoslavia

Summary Concentrations of -HCH, HCB, p,p-DDE, p,p-DDT and PCBs were determined by gas chromatography in 50 human milk samples collected from the general population during 1981/1982 in a continental town in Croatia (Yugoslavia). The samples were collected between one and 22 weeks after delivery from mothers breast-feeding one child only. The mothers' age was 18 to 31 years, and they were nursing their first or second child. All 50 samples contained -HCH, HCB, p,p-DDE and PCBs, whereas p,p-DDT was present in 37 samples. The concentrations of -HCH, HCB, p,p-DDE, p,p-DDT and PCBs expressed on a whole milk basis were (median in g/kg): 11, 7.1, 67, 7.3 and 22 respectively, and expressed on a fat basis (median in mg/kg): 0.28, 0.21, 1.9, 0.18 and 0.62 respectively. The fat content was 3.7% (median). PCBs were present in a mixture containing penta-, hexa- and heptachlorobiphenyls.     

Media reviews

Of the three films reviewed in this issue, only the first, All Women Have Periods, deals with both areas of sexuality and disability. The second film, A Masturbatory Story, deals with sexuality but not disability. The third film, A Different Approach, deals with disability but not sexuality. The reason I have included the last two films are that A Masturbatory Story is one of the best, most permission giving films I have seen on the subject of masturbation and A Different Approach while focusing on employment of the disabled, is one of the most entertaining and effective films I have seen dealing with attitudes.     

Evaluation of nicotine,cotinine, thiocyanate,carboxyhemoglobin, and expired carbon monoxide as biochemical tobacco smoke uptake parameters

Summary In a cross-sectional study on 236 individuals in Japan (174 males, 62 females; 149 smokers, 87 non-smokers) plasma nicotine (pnic), cotinine (pcot) and thiocyanate (pSCN), urinary creatinine ratios of nicotine (unic), cotinine (ucot) and thiocyanate (uSCN) as well as carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) and expired carbon monoxide (COex) were determined. All tobacco smoke uptake parameters (TSUP) were significantly elevated in smokers as compared to non-smokers. The discriminant power (smokers vs non-smokers) rank in the following order: ucot pcot unic > pSCN COHb pnic > COex uSCN. All parameters except for pnic are significantly correlated with the self-reported number of cigarettes smoked per day. The reason for the poor correlation of pnic with daily cigarette consumption is the short half-life of pnic coupled with the arbitrary time of blood drawing in relation to the last time of smoking.Dr. Muranaka, the chief author of this paper, was the director of our hospital. He died suddenly on 18 April 1986. This article is therefore the last monument to be planned and achieved under the late Dr. Muranaka's direction.     

Comparison of attitudes toward transsexuality and homosexuality

Attitudes toward transsexuality and homosexuality were compared in a sample of 318 university students. More people felt that homosexuality was wrong than felt that transsexuality was wrong. This difference in favor of transsexuality was more pronounced in female than in male respondents. In addition, more people rejected the notion that biological factors were responsible for homosexuality than was the case for transsexuality. General attitudes about the morality of transsexuality and homosexuality, however, were not mirrored in response to questions pertaining to job discrimination. To the contrary, male respondents, especially, were more inclined toward equal opportunity for homosexuals than for transsexuals. One hypothesis supported by this study was that homosexual denial and homophobia in some transsexuals may, in part, be a reflection of society's greater moral condemnation of homosexuality relative to transsexuality.     

“Primary” Rationing of Health Services in Ageing Societies—A Normative Analysis

While most of the debate on rationing in health care focusses on the distribution of scarce medical resources among competing needs, which we propose to call secondary rationing, this paper is concerned with primary rationing, i.e., the conscious decision by society to limit the amount of resources devoted to a collectively financed health care system. Based upon a number of transparent normative criteria, we analyze whether primary rationing should be performed and, if so, what type should be chosen (hard vs. soft, explicit vs. implicit). Finally we discuss whether age should be used as a criterion in any systematic attempt at primary rationing of health care.     

Hard hats vs. soft hearts: The conflict between principles and reality in child and adolescent care and treatment programs

Much of child care in volves quick reactions based on one's automatic pilot derived from how we were parented. This paper is about two seemingly universal automatic pilot systems—the hard hats and the soft hearts. Hard hats are behavior management and modification oriented, while soft hearts are psychodynamically and counselling oriented. Typically, the hard hats tend to have the upper hand due to the nature of our culture, and they therefore have the effect of preventing the contributions of the soft hearts from being realized. That all too frequently sets up a dominant culture and a resentful minority situation. To correct this imbalance, a value orientation from the top which emphasizes mutual respect and utilization is suggested.Grateful acknowledgement is made to Ray Peterson for his helpful suggestions in the preparation of this paper.     

Interregional foodborne salmonellosis outbreak due to powdered infant formula contaminated with lactose-fermenting Salmonella virchow

Spain's Salmonella surveillance system backed by regionally-based epidemiologists around the country made it possible to detect and halt the spread of a foodborne salmonellosis outbreak due to powdered infant formula contaminated with a lactose-fermenting strain of Salmonella virchow. Forty-eight cases involving children, mostly under 7 months old, were detected in 14 out of Spain's 17 Regions. The outbreak started in January and ended in June 1994. All cases were microbiologically confirmed. The implicated strain had a 3.6 kb plasmid, was susceptible to all antimicrobials tested except nitrofurantoin and was phagetype 4a. Isolates from 8 of 24 Brand A milk samples tested had the same characteristics as case isolates. All affected/suspect batches of Brand A milk were destroyed and the product withdrawn from sale, which led to the end of the outbreak. This incident underscores the importance of maintaining surveillance systems able to detect and prevent foodborne outbreaks and alert to the possibility of isolating unusual lactose-fermenting Salmonella serotypes in especially sensitive food products.     

An evolutionary perspective of sex-typed toy preferences: pink,blue, and the brain

Large sex differences in children's toy preferences are attributed to gender group identification and social learning. The proposal outlined in this paper is that contemporary conceptual categories of masculine or feminine toys are also influenced by evolved perceptual categories of male-preferred and female-preferred objects. Research on children exposed prenatally to atypical levels of androgens and research on typically developing infants suggest sex-dimorphic preferences exist for object features, such as movement or color/form. The evolution and neurobiology of mammalian visual processing—and recent findings on sex-dimorphic toy preferences in nonhuman primates—suggest further that an innate bias for processing object movement or color/form may contribute to behaviors with differential adaptive significance for males and females. In this way, preferences for objects such as toys may indicate a biological preparedness for a masculine or feminine gender role—one that develops more fully as early perceptual preferences are coupled with object experiences imposed by contemporary gender socialization.