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A polycrisis of climate and non-climate related shocks and stresses are straining U.S. health systems and affecting mental health. In contrast to negative rhetoric surrounding immigrants and immigration, immigrants make contributions that are fundamental to ensuring health system resilience. As in many other countries, in the United States foreign born compensate for health care worker shortages; help subsidize health programs with their labor; and support response, recovery, and rebuilding following disaster. However, immigrants are often trapped in political inflammatory narratives and public’s clashing sentiments. To harness the power of immigrants’ contributions in facilitating health system resilience, policies that help pair the pool of global talent with the needs of America’s public health systems are needed. This may require redressing harmful policies that reduce participation on the labor pool and crafting more humane policies that encourage migration. Doing so may result in a stronger health system better able to weather converging crises.

Summary: Little is known on how community-based responses to planetary health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can integrate concerns about livelihoods, equity, health, wellbeing, and the environment. We used a translocal learning approach to co-develop insights on community-based responses to complex health and environmental and economic crises with leaders from five organisations working with communities at the front line of intersecting planetary health challenges in Finland, India, Kenya, Peru, and the USA. Translocal learning supports collective knowledge production across different localities in ways that value local perspectives but transcend national boundaries. There were three main findings from the translocal learning process. First, thanks to their proximity to the communities they served, community-based organisations (CBOs) can quickly identify the ways in which COVID-19 might worsen existing social and health inequities. Second, localised CBO actions are key to supporting communities with unique challenges in the face of systemic planetary health crises. Third, CBOs can develop rights-based, ecologically-minded actions responding to local priorities and mobilising available resources. Our findings show how solutions to planetary health might come from small-scale community initiatives that are well connected within and across contexts. Locally-focused globally-aware actions should be harnessed through greater recognition, funding, and networking opportunities. Globally, planetary health initiatives should be supported by applying the principles of subsidiarity and translocalism.

Abstract Background Open-door laminoplasty (ODL) and French-door laminoplasty (FDL) are the main laminoplasty techniques used to treat cervical ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (C-OPLL). However, few studies have compared the outcomes of ODL and modified FDL (mFDL) for C-OPLL. We explored the differences in outcomes between ODL and mFDL for C-OPLL and analyzed the technical efficacy of each procedure in patients with K-line (+) or (−) C-OPLL. Methods From January 2010 to December 2015, 202 patients with K-line (+) or (−) C-OPLL were retrospectively recruited from 4 institutions. Clinical outcomes were evaluated using the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score, JOA score recovery rate, operative time, blood loss, and complications. Univariate analysis and binary logistic regression models were adjusted for confounding factors. Results Two hundred patients (mFDL, n = 69; ODL, n = 131) with a median follow-up of 42 months (range 36–54 months) were included. The postoperative JOA score significantly improved in both groups (P 0.05). The stratified analysis of the K-line status showed more blood loss in K-line (+) patients who underwent mFDL, but there was no significant difference in the postoperative JOA score, JOA score recovery rate, or operative time between the ODL and mFDL groups. Additionally, there was no significant difference in blood loss, postoperative JOA score, JOA score recovery rate, or operative time among all patients with K-line (+) or (−) C-OPLL in both groups. Conclusions Both ODL and mFDL are effective for patients with C-OPLL. However, more blood loss tends to occur during mFDL. This study showed no significant difference in the operative time or incidence of complications between the two techniques. The efficacy of ODL and mFDL was not affected by the K-line status (+ or −) in patients with C-OPLL.

Abstract Humanitarian policymaking is a form of ‘networked governance,’ involving many different stakeholders working in parallel to influence each other and to shape policy agendas. This article uses social network analysis (SNA), a research technique used to understand complex structures of relations between stakeholders, to begin to understand policymaking from this networked governance perspective. To do so, we examine one of the most significant refugee policy processes in recent history, the 2016–2018 efforts to formulate and adopt the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR). Starting with the policy network of one stakeholder involved in GCR, the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Community, we survey 24 representatives of organizations involved in the GCR policymaking process. In doing so, we identify the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, World Vision, and the International Council of Voluntary Agencies as three influential stakeholders in this network of mostly international NGOs. We note limited engagement of local and private sector actors but argue that this may or may not be problematic from a perspective of networked governance and equity. Through examining the Joint Learning Initiative policy network, this article offers new evidence concerning who is influential in international refugee policymaking space and contributes to an understanding of humanitarian action as a networked governance enterprise. We also show, as proof of concept, the ways SNA can be used to gain an understanding of the dynamics of policymaking systems and the patterns of influence within them.

Anticipatory disaster risk reduction (DRR) is an essential human right for the ~1 billion people living in informal settlements who are disproportionately exposed to climate-related hazards due to their high vulnerability. Participatory approaches are recognized as being critical for effective and sustainable disaster prevention, mitigation, and preparation through to response, but research on how to coproduce anticipatory DRR with people living and working in informal settlements is scant. Their exclusion is even more pronounced in challenging contexts, such as those characterized by social-political fragility and violence. As a result, a significant portion of the global population is left behind in best practices tied to global DRR ambitions, with DRR actions working neither with nor for the people most at risk. The signal case of urban informal settlements controlled by territorial gangs in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, illustrates the need for new thinking on how to inclusively mitigate, prepare for, and respond to natural hazard-related disasters. Our research examines the coproduction of early warning systems linked with response capacities for floods and landslides through the case study of the international NGO GOAL's work across the city with a focus on nine urban informal settlements with high levels of territorial gang violence. We explore how GOAL navigated informality and violent conflict to support the early warning and response system as an inclusive social process rather than a technical exercise. We identify four cross-cutting strategies employed by GOAL in support of local vulnerability reduction and capacity building based on a local systems approach. This research breaks new ground in identifying how to bridge the gap between knowledge and action in designing inclusive and sustainable early warning and response systems together with the millions of people around the world affected by the intersection of informality, violence, and disaster risks.

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to compromise the ability of critical infrastructure utilities to respond to or mitigate natural hazards like wildfires and hurricanes. This article describes the ways that an energy organization, the regional transmission operator PJM, is preparing for hurricanes during the COVID-19 pandemic. PJM is using a combination of technological and organizational processes to prepare for hurricanes during the pandemic. Activities include the development of a third control room to increase redundancy and maintaining social distance at control center, investment in more resilient communications technology to maintain connectivity, and taking a holistic approach to identifying issues related to supply chain and fuel security. With this mix of organizational and technological processes, we argue that critical infrastructure resilience should be understood as a sociotechnical construct and identify several recommendations for improving resilience. The article has implications for policymakers working to maintain infrastructure resilience to natural hazards during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mass migration driven by climate change-related shocks and stresses is already occurring. We argue for a need for resilient health systems to ensure migration is adaptive, not detrimental, to health. We make this argument for two reasons. First, without resilience, large and sudden population increases such as from migration may strain health systems. Second, while health system resilience-building efforts are occurring, these tend to focus on crises that are substantially different from climate change-related mass migration—most notably because migrants are not threats but instead people with resources and capacity as well as needs. Then, articulating a health system as a large and complex sociotechnical infrastructure, we outline three salient features of health systems resilient to climate change-related mass migration: rapid ability to shift and adapt, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and transformation. We conclude by suggesting the resources, which policymakers need for achieving health system resilience from this sociotechnical perspective.

This article proposes an urban governance framework for including environmental migrants in sustainable cities. It outlines the links among environmental migration, vulnerability, and sustainability, showing how vulnerability and sustainability are not about the environment or the human condition as snapshots in space and time, but rather are long-term, multi-scalar, ever-evolving processes. This theoretical baseline is followed by a description of some practical approaches already applied for including environmental migrants in sustainable cities. The wide variety and lack of cohesion justifies the need for a framework, leading to three principal characteristics of a governance framework suitable for addressing vulnerability and environmental migration for urban sustainability: horizontally and vertically networked, inclusive, and evidence-based. As the framework’s three dimensions represent principles or overarching structural solutions rather than presenting operational guidance, the concluding discussion covers the framework’s limitations and a research agenda.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) has helped to reduce global disaster risk, but there has been a lack of progress in disaster risk reduction (DRR) for people living in fragile and conflict affected contexts (FCAC). Given the mounting evidence that DRR cannot be implemented through conventional approaches in FCAC, serious efforts must be made to understand how to meet SFDRR's goals. This paper offers a case study of international non-governmental organization GOAL's programming that responds to the protracted crisis in Syria, with a critical discussion on SFDRR and how to adapt humanitarian relief and disaster resilience.

Absract Background Paraspinal muscles are crucial for vertebral stabilization and movement. These muscles are prone to develop fatty infiltration (FI), fibrosis, and atrophy in many spine conditions. Fibro‐adipogenic progenitors (FAPs), a resident muscle stem cell population, are the main contributors of muscle fibrosis and FI. FAPs are involved in a complex interplay with satellite cells (SCs), the primary myogenic progenitor cells within muscle. Little is known about the stem cell composition of the multifidus. The aim of this study is to examine FAPs and SCs in the multifidus in disc herniation patients. Multifidus muscle samples were collected from 10 patients undergoing decompressive spine surgery for lumbar disc herniation. Hamstring muscle was collected from four patients undergoing hamstring autograft ACL reconstruction as an appendicular control. Multifidus tissue was analyzed for FI and fibrosis using Oil‐Red‐O and Masson's trichrome staining. FAPs and SCs were visualized using immunostaining and quantified with fluorescence‐activated cell sorting (FACS) sorting. Gene expression of these cells from the multifidus were analyzed with reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction and compared to those from hamstring muscle. FI and fibrosis accounted for 14.2%± 7.4% and 14.8%±4.2% of multifidus muscle, respectively. The multifidus contained more FAPs (11.7%±1.9% vs 1.4%±0.2%; P

A study was conducted to address the wind energy potential over Lake Michigan to support a commercial wind farm. Lake Michigan is an inland sea in the upper mid-western United States. A laser wind sensor mounted on a floating platform was located at the mid-lake plateau in 2012 and about 10.5 kilometers from the eastern shoreline near Muskegon Michigan in 2013. Range gate heights for the laser wind sensor were centered at 75, 90, 105, 125, 150, and 175 meters. Wind speed and direction were measured once each second and aggregated into 10 minute averages. The two sample t-test and the paired-t method were used to perform the analysis. Average wind speed stopped increasing between 105 m and 150 m depending on location. Thus, the collected data is inconsistent with the idea that average wind speed increases with height. This result implies that measuring wind speed at wind turbine hub height is essential as opposed to using the wind energy power law to project the wind speed from lower heights. Average speed at the mid-lake plateau is no more that 10% greater than at the location near Muskegon. Thus, it may be possible to harvest much of the available wind energy at a lower height and closer to the shoreline than previously thought. At both locations, the predominate wind direction is from the south-southwest. The ability of the laser wind sensor to measure wind speed appears to be affected by a lack of particulate matter at greater heights. Article History: Received June 15th 2016; Received in revised form January 16th 2017; Accepted February 2nd 2017 Available online How to Cite This Article: Standridge, C., Zeitler, D., Clark, A., Spoelma, T., Nordman, E., Boezaart, T.A., Edmonson, J., Howe, G., Meadows, G., Cotel, A. and Marsik, F. (2017) Lake Michigan Wind Assessment Analysis, 2012 and 2013. Int. Journal of Renewable Energy Development, 6(1), 19-27. http://dx.doi.org/10.14710/ijred.6.1.19-27

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to evaluate a collaborative workflow aimed at decreasing prescription abandonment. Setting: A federally qualified health center and a 340B contracted grocery store-based community pharmacy. Practice Workflow: An ambulatory care clinic with an established partnership with a community pharmacy chain identified a need to decrease prescription abandonment rates. A process was developed whereby an ambulatory care pharmacy technician received a report from the pharmacy of prescriptions filled for at least 7 days since the initial fill date and at risk for abandonment at the community pharmacy. The pharmacy technician identified health-system barriers, attempted to remedy any identified barriers, and conducted patient reminder phone calls. Health-system barriers were classified by the following categories: incorrect contact information at the community pharmacy, incorrect 340B copayment, incorrect insurance information at the community pharmacy, and need for prior authorization. Evaluation: A prospective cohort study was conducted from February 2016 to April 2016 in order to evaluate the effectiveness of this workflow. Results: 551 prescriptions and 350 patients were included in this cohort. Of the 551 prescriptions, 362 had at least one identified barrier that may have led to prescription abandonment. There were 111 health-system identified barriers, and 96 of these barriers were acted upon. Additionally, there were 459 patient identified barriers, and 179 of these barriers were acted upon. When a pharmacy technician was able to identify and act upon at least one barrier, 106 prescriptions (46.9%) were picked-up from the pharmacy. Conclusion: From the information gathered in this quality improvement project, operational changes have been implemented at the ambulatory care clinic and community pharmacy as a means to further decrease modifiable health-system barriers that may lead to prescription abandonment. Article Type: Clinical Experience

La Malagueña, conocida mundialmente por las interpretaciones de Roy Clark, Liberace y los Boston Pops, fue una creación del compositor cubano Ernesto Lecuona. La obra de Lecuona conserva bien la esencia de la malagueña folklórica, una variante regional del fandango popularizado por Juan Breva a finales del s. XIX e inmortalizada en el canon de la música clásica por Isaac Albéniz. Está claro que Lecuona conocía y fue influido por la “Malagueña” para piano de Albéniz y su Suite Andalucía donde aparece la obra. Este artículo repasa la historia de la malagueña desde Breva a Lecuona, para después analizar su impacto en el ámbito de la cultura popular global.

La Malagueña, conocida mundialmente por las interpretaciones de Roy Clark, Liberace y los Boston Pops, fue una creación del compositor cubano Ernesto Lecuona. La obra de Lecuona conserva bien la esencia de la malagueña folklórica, una variante regional del fandango popularizado por Juan Breva a finales del s. XIX e inmortalizada en el canon de la música clásica por Isaac Albéniz. Está claro que Lecuona conocía y fue influido por la Malagueña para piano de Albéniz y su Suite Andalucía donde aparece la obra. Este artículo repasa la historia de la malagueña desde Breva a Lecuona, para después analizar su impacto en el ámbito de la cultura popular global.

Enrique Granados (nacido en 1867 en Lérida) llegó a su fin en las aguas frías del Canal de la Mancha después que la nave en que navegaba fuera atacada por un submarino alemán el 24 de marzo de 1916. El compositor regresaba de Nueva York, donde su ópera Goyescas se estrenó en el Metropolitan Opera. Su carrera estaba en pleno apogeo, y cosas aún más grandes le iban a suceder, sin duda. No obstante, a pesar del hecho de que este incidente llegó a ser un escándalo internacional y provocó mucha controversia apasionada, el mismo ataque muchas veces ha sido imprecisamente relatado y mal interpretado. Ahora, más de noventa años después de la muerte de Granados, es apropiado examinar una vez más este incidente y clarifi car exactamente qué pasó y qué no pasó, y juzgar el impacto de su espantoso fallecimiento entonces y ahora.