Search

This chapter examines the benefits and the challenges resulting from refugee resettlement in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Fargo, North Dakota. Before the region began to prosper from a natural gas boom, both communities became refugee resettlement destinations during the 1990s. Using long-term ethnographic research with an emphasis on everyday practices, the chapter reviews the tensions arising in largely white, native-born cities experiencing a significant influx of international migrants. It argues that developing a framework for intercultural policy benefits cities both economically and socially, describing best practices for small cities in accommodating and welcoming international migrants. The chapter also contends that seemingly homogeneous small cities should embrace their urban and diverse identities, resulting in a competitive advantage in an age of intensified global economic exchange and international migration.

Acacia gum (AG) is a non-viscous soluble fiber that is easily incorporated into beverages and foods. To determine its physiological effects in healthy human subjects, we fed 0, 20, and 40 g of acacia gum in orange juice along with a bagel and cream cheese after a 12 h fast and compared satiety, glycemic response, gastrointestinal tolerance, and food intake among treatments. Subjects (n = 48) reported less hunger and greater fullness at 15 min (p = 0.019 and 0.003, respectively) and 240 min (p = 0.036 and 0.05, respectively) after breakfast with the 40 g fiber treatment. They also reported being more satisfied at 15 min (p = 0.011) and less hungry with the 40 g fiber treatment at 30 min (p = 0.012). Subjects reported more bloating, flatulence, and GI rumbling on the 40 g fiber treatment compared to control, although values for GI tolerance were all low with AG treatment. No significant differences were found in area under the curve (AUC) or change from baseline for blood glucose response, although actual blood glucose with 20 g fiber at 30 min was significantly less than control. Individuals varied greatly in their postprandial glucose response to all treatments. AG improves satiety response and may lower peak glucose response at certain timepoints, and it is well tolerated in healthy human subjects. AG can be added to beverages and foods in doses that can help meet fiber recommendations.

Background: Cotard syndrome features nihilistic delusions about one’s body or existence and is typically related to severe depression though is rarely associated with medical or neurological insults. Case presentation: The patient was a 62-year-old male with no past psychiatric history and a past medical history of congestive heart failure and consequent renal failure who presented for scheduled heart and kidney transplantation. He was started on routine post-transplant ganciclovir and steroids. Due to postoperative hypotension, empiric cefepime was initiated to cover for septic shock. One week postoperatively, the patient stated “I am dead.” He elaborated that “an intern overdilated me” during transplantation and declined tacrolimus. The patient also reported visual hallucinations of green algae and bubbles. He denied depression and was attentive and oriented. He had a Bush-Francis score of 9. MRI brain revealed no acute changes. Low-dose haloperidol was initiated for psychosis. Cefepime was discontinued, but ganciclovir and steroids were continued. Two days later, the symptoms fully resolved. Discussion: This is the first reported case of Cotard syndrome as an acute transplant complication. Though corticosteroid-induced psychosis was initially suspected, cefepime neurotoxicity is the more likely explanation given the correlation between the antibiotic and symptom courses. Older age and renal dysfunction were risk factors. Conclusions: Cotard Syndrome can be an acute complication of solid organ transplantation, where renal impairment and polypharmacy are common. Transplantation teams and consult-liaison psychiatrists should work together to manage this syndrome.

This chapter highlights practices of welfare workers in Fargo and compares them to practices of refugee resettlement workers in order to better understand how these institutions have shaped citizenship as well as local race, class, and gender formations in similar and different ways by framing them as siblings in the kinship of neoliberalism. The chapter specifically talks about the Cass County Social Services and the New American Services. Like siblings, workers in both sectors have competed and cooperated as they have worked with New Americans in the city. These institutions and their locations in the public/private borderlands are important loci for understanding varying approaches to citizenship, immigration, race, labor and class, and gender. The chapter also talks about the 1966 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity and Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), or simply “welfare reform”.

This chapter provides data on the beliefs, practices, and discourse about refugees and race beyond refugee resettlement and welfare agencies. It aims to provide a broader, richer context for refugee resettlement in Fargo by highlighting a spectrum of tensions between those who welcome refugees and those who do not. Primarily, it uses the lenses of race and sociality as markers of difference. In doing so, it is able to explain what tensions indicate about the structures within which resettlement work is done — for example, education, police, media, politics, and civil society, and a range of practices surrounding and shaping refugee resettlement in the city. It makes the case that diversity is good for a city, if not also difficult for the trailblazers who embody and support it.

This chapter discusses the histories of North Dakota, Bosnia Herzegovina, and South Sudan. It talks about the North Europeans that settled in the region in the 1860s, how the Dakota territory was formed, the Dakota War of 1862, how Fargo turned into a settlement in 1871, the Dawes General Allotment Act, and how North Dakota turned into a state. It also talks about the Balkan Peninsula and how the region changed throughout history. The chapter discusses how Western Europeans portrayed Balkans as having a handicap of heterogeneity. It also talks about the former Yugoslavia, how it was formed, how it was able to recognize ethnic and religious diversity by downplaying social factors such as gender, ethnicity, religion, level of wealth, and age in political identity and in participation of “Yugoslav identity,” the slow end of the socialist state, the wars the ensued after the death of Josip Broz Tito, and how this divided the country. The chapter also discusses Sudan and how the British tried to control anticolonial sentiments through the policies they implemented and by encouraging missionary work. It talks about refugees, its definition given by the United Nations, the Refugee Act of 1980 signed by President Carter, refugee resettlement and how it brought post-socialist and post-colonial people and practices to Fargo. Finally, the chapter talks about how the surge in refugee resettlement at the turn of the century made refugees more visible and shed light on these global assemblages.

Tracing the history of refugee settlement in Fargo, North Dakota, from the 1980s to the present day, this book focuses on the role that gender, religion, and sociality play in everyday interactions between refugees from South Sudan and Bosnia-Herzegovina and the dominant white Euro-American population of the city. The book outlines the ways in which refugees have impacted this small city over the last thirty years, showing how culture, political economy, and institutional transformations collectively contribute to the racialization of white cities like Fargo in ways that complicate their demographics. The book shows that race, religion, and decorum prove to be powerful forces determining worthiness and belonging in the city and draws attention to the different roles that state and private sectors played in shaping ideas about race and citizenship on a local level. Through the comparative study of white secular Muslim Bosnians and Black Christian Southern Sudanese, the book demonstrates how cross-cultural and transnational understandings of race, ethnicity, class, and religion shape daily citizenship practices and belonging.

This chapter discusses Southern Sudanese forms of citizenship, resettling Christians, social and cultural citizenship, political citizenship, gendered citizenship, and the Lost Boys. It discusses how the Southern Sudanese enacted multi-sited citizenship through religious, social, political, and familial assemblages. The chapter discusses how the Church became an important social service to the Southern Sudanese because social services were not providing enough support. It talks about the New Sudanese Community Association, which was the only Southern Sudanese–led organization registered as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in Fargo Moorhead in 2007–2008. It also discusses women's participation in the community and how men viewed Sudanese women who have lived in the United States. It also discusses The Sudan People's Liberation Army and Sudan People's Liberation Movement formed in 1983 to fight the military domination and political interests, respectively, of the ruling Northern Sudanese elite.

This chapter highlights the challenges Bosnians faced, obstacles they overcame, and ways in which they pushed the boundaries of “normal” in Fargo. It describes relationships between and among Bosnian Muslims, Roma, other people, and institutions in the city. The chapter argues that relationships between Bosnian Muslims and Roma were of mutual misrecognition and that this misrecognition made it more difficult to form a “Bosnian” coalition that could liaison — as other refugee groups did — with the city for more rights, recognition, and entitlements. The case of Bosnians in Fargo challenges the idea that the nation or the state is the primary means of establishing group identity. The chapter encourages the reader to think more about everyday practices as a means to initiate and form greater solidarities.

This chapter explains the policies, politics, and everyday practices of the New American Services. It highlights the tensions surrounding citizenship and the role that nongovernmental (or nonprofit) organizations play in Fargo under neoliberalism by analyzing these practices in terms of the “NGOization” of refugee resettlement. The chapter defines NGOization as the proliferation of NGOs under neoliberalism as extensions, or new faces, of the state. It views NGOs from a feminist's lens, and challenges the master narrative that refugee resettlement was purely humanitarian or simply unaccountable. The chapter provides an overview of everyday resettlement practices and beliefs about resettlement staff, and how their work can be interpreted in regard to the larger social issues laid out in this book: race, citizenship, and diversity. It also talks about the Cooperative Agreement between the Government of the United States (the State Department and the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration) and VOLAGS or voluntary agencies.

This article examines the development of competing forms of fiscal citizenship in Oregon tax-related ballot initiative campaigns between 1970 and 2010. Antitax advocates constructed a “taxpayer identity politics” that positioned a privatized “taxpayer” against representatives of the state, recipients of public services, and public sector unions. In response, a progressive coalition produced an alternative citizen—the “Oregonian,” a socially responsible taxpayer/citizen who supports and defends public services and values a “common good.” “Incipient commoning” emerges as support for “the common good” through discourse about community and belonging that is more and other than, though in relation to, the state. Attention to how “publics” conceive of themselves suggests that concepts like the “the commons” already circulate in the imaginaries and vocabularies of advocates resisting neoliberal policies.

This article uses intersectional theory to explain violence against Romani women in post-war (1992–95) Bosnia-Herzegovina and the social marginalization of Bosnian Romani refugees in Fargo, North Dakota. I show how race/ethnicity, class, and gender are relational and become salient in different ways and contexts, but depend on overlapping institutional contexts and state histories to create limitations and possibilities with regards to marginalization and inclusion. Romani women in post-war Bosnia experienced high levels of violence because they were Roma, poor, and women. Understanding violence in this context meant interrogating how (post)socialism, ethnonationalism, war, and anti-Gypsy attitudes influenced Romani women specifically. Bosnian Romani refugees in Fargo were stigmatized due to racialized social practices, like early marriage and scrap metal businesses. Understanding marginalization in this context meant taking into account a history of racism against people of color in the United States, ca...

Pulses are a dry, edible variety of beans, peas, and lentils that have been consumed for 10,000 years. Pulses are rich in plant-based protein and fiber, as well as micronutrients such as iron and potassium. The satiating effect of both fiber and protein assists in managing weight and combating obesity. The high fiber content and low glycemic index of pulses aid people with diabetes in maintaining blood glucose and insulin levels. Pulse consumption may improve serum lipid levels to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Pulses developed as a member of both the protein and vegetable food groups as a result of its high content of plant-based protein and dietary fiber. The last two revisions of the Dietary Guidelines saw the transformation from the MyPyramid "meat and beans group" to the MyPlate "protein foods group," a nutrient name rather than a food source. Research suggests that consumers better identify with food source examples rather than nutrient names. The 2015 Dietary Guidelines also came with a new area: sustainable diets. Encouraging the consumption of sustainable food sources, like pulses, is imperative to ensuring a secure, healthy food supply for the U.S. population over time and for future generations.

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a NASA Small Explorer X-ray astrophysics mission being implemented by a geographically dispersed team. The IXPE collaboration and Observatory complexity provide both unique challenges and advantages for Project V&V. A rigorous and iterative V&V process is essential to ensuring the successful realization of reliable and cost effective IXPE Mission System. The IXPE verification, validation and characterization (V&V) process starts at the component/unit level and rolls up to appropriate higher levels. V&V compliance is assured by collaborative development by the V&V Team which spans all project organizations. The V&V process provides a framework, with appropriate confidence, to show that all needs and expectations are met by the as-built system. Proof is in the form of traceable detailed evidence of compliance at every level rolling up to and including the overall system and architecture levels. The detailed verification approach for IXPE components/units/subassemblies/subsystems is the responsibility of the applicable subsystem RE supported by systems and the I&T team. All verification processes, analyses and steps are documented. IXPE is using a V&V threads process which is ideal for use in showing compliance when a requirements set is dependent on a complex set of actions/processes. It's a system engineering graphics method to ensure all ‘contributors’ and ‘influencers’ are included. When applicable, verification threads are provided to support the verification compliance/sell-off process. This paper summarizes the IXPE mission and describes the verification, validation and characterization activities planned for the IXPE mission including the use of V&V threads.

The food environment is changing, with consumers being more health conscious and concerned about the wholesomeness of their food than ever before. Consumers are looking for nutritious whole food alternatives to fill their plates and stomachs. Pulse grains, rich in both protein and fiber, may be the ideal candidate to promote satiety at meals. In a crossover feeding study, participants consumed calorie-matched fruit smoothies prepared with either an ice cream base or pureed red lentils. Self-reported satiety, blood glucose response, and ad libitum food intake at a secondary meal were all measured along with breath hydrogen and methane and gastrointestinal tolerance. While there was no significant difference in satiety response or energy intake at the secondary meal, the nutrient profile of the lentil smoothie was improved with increased protein and fiber and dramatically lower fat content. Blood glucose response was not statistically different between the 2 treatments. Both smoothies were generally well tolerated; however, there was a slightly elevated AUC for perceived gastrointestinal tolerance over 24 h in the lentil smoothie. No difference in breath hydrogen or methane response was seen between treatments. The substitution of lentils into a meal is not likely to improve satiety; however lentils are a good source of fiber and protein and can greatly improve nutritional content of the meal.

The World Health Organization promotes physical activity (PA) as important for successful maintenance of health, but many individuals are inactive. Despite the potential for public service announcements (PSAs) to communicate health information and promote behavior change, no previous research on developing video PSAs to promote PA was found. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine how video PSAs designed for public health campaigns affect future levels of intention to engage in PA. The PSAs assessed perceived effectiveness of message foci and the impact of stage of change readiness. They were developed specifically for this study using the model of goal directed behavior as the foundation. Participants were recruited via SurveyMonkey, an Internet-based survey research platform that included an option for referral sampling to view PSAs with the message foci of empathy, fear, information, and combination to determine which focus area was perceived as most persuasive for promoting PA. The present study examined moderating effects of current PA habits, stage of change readiness, and affect at time of viewing PSA. Differences in perceived effectiveness between the different message foci were found with participants perceiving the empathy video as most effective, followed by combination videos, with fear and information being perceived least effective. For participants who met the World Health Organization recommendations for PA, the PSA based on fear was most effective. Many participants (61%) had a positive affect while watching the four PSA videos. Stages of change indicated over 28% of participants were in precontemplation and 11% were in action. Social implications are based on improving public health communication to promote healthy behavior and physical exercise

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a space-based observatory that will have the capability to measure the polarization of X-rays from astrophysical sources. IXPE will improve sensitivity over OSO-8, the only previous X-ray polarimeter, by two orders of magnitude in required exposure time. IXPE will yield insight into our understanding of X-ray production in objects such as neutron stars as well as stellar and supermassive black holes. IXPE measurements will provide new dimensions for probing a wide range of cosmic X-ray sources — including active galactic nuclei (AGN) and microquasars, pulsars and pulsar wind nebulae, magnetars, accreting X-ray binaries, supernova remnants, and the Galactic center. Addressing NASA's Science Mission Directorate's science goal “to probe the origin and destiny of our universe, including the nature of black holes, dark energy, dark matter, and gravity.” IXPE will introduce the capability for X-ray polarimetric imaging, uniquely enabling the measurement of X-ray polarization with scientifically meaningful spatial, spectral, and temporal resolution. These polarization measurements will help answer fundamental questions regarding 1) the geometries of the flows, emission regions, and magnetic fields, 2) the physical process that lead to particle acceleration and X-ray emission, and 3) the physical effects of gravitational, electric, and magnetic fields at their extreme limits. This scientific mission, IXPE, is being developed by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), Ball Aerospace, the Italian Space Agency (ASI), the Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology (IAPS)/ National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF), the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), the University of Colorado Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), Stanford University, McGill University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The IXPE partners each provide unique capabilities and experience which are utilized to design, build and launch the IXPE observatory resulting in the collection of on-orbit scientific data measurements which are transmitted to ground stations and analyzed. The established systems engineering (SE) methods and teaming approach to achieve the IXPE mission goals will be discussed. For this paper, the focus is the IXPE observatory and the collaboration of NASA MSFC, Ball Aerospace and IAPS/INAF. Our current focus is on requirements development and analysis along with definition of the interface control documents (ICD). Of particular note are requirements and ICDs between major flight elements and between organizations. This paper will describe the SE philosophy being used to ensure complete inter-organizational understanding and agreement as the Project moves towards SRR in September 2017 and PDR in June 2018. Current status and future milestones will be discussed.