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Human activities have often altered sediment dynamics in rivers, leading to aquatic habitat degradation. The dominant paradigm in fish–sediment interactions focuses on excessive fine sediments as indicators of habitat and water quality degradation. In contrast, geomorphologists have provided frameworks linking altered sediment dynamics to much broader and more complex changes to channel morphology and stream habitats across spatial scales.In this paper we use an interdisciplinary approach with historical and contemporary channel morphology and fish community datasets to examine how altered sediment dynamics have affected stream fish community evolution in the Bayou Pierre, Mississippi, U.S.A.Erosional process regimes have advanced upstream consistent with models of knickpoint propagation and channel evolution, leaving most of the catchment in a state of increased sediment transport and local sediment deficits. Fish communities in modern samples have less α and β diversity and fewer habitat specialist taxa than in historical samples.Whole‐community analysis via non‐metric multidimensional scaling found a strong gradient of homogenisation towards a fauna comprised of small‐bodied taxa adapted to large rivers.Comparisons of community and geomorphic change on this gradient found that reaches that transitioned between process regimes had more community change, and that local habitat factors relating to advanced channel evolution were strongly positively related to total community change.These results demonstrate that a catchment‐scale geomorphic analysis provided a strong tool for understanding fish community change on a decadal scale. Our findings further demonstrate concordant ecological responses to a complex sequence of disturbances and suggest that a broader view of sediment dynamics offers a rich toolkit for ecological analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Videoconferencing technology (VCT) is rapidly increasing in the mental healthcare industry and is becoming an attractive option to reach justice‐involved populations. This paper first highlights the need for alternative service delivery solutions and reviews current literature on the use of VCT for correctional clients. We then outline the specific timeline, procedures, and barriers associated with the initiation of a virtual, multidisciplinary telemental health clinic for jailed and community‐released offenders in a rural Mississippi county aimed at reducing criminogenic and psychiatric risks. Finally, we summarize generalizable recommendations for establishing community partnerships, developing structural and logistical processes, and delivering VCT while accounting for unique client factors and integrating evidence‐based intervention strategies. We hope other community leaders will feel empowered to initiate similar programs that address needs within in their own jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an abstract of the study `Reconstruction of Mississippian Diet in the American Bottom: Stable, Isotopic Analysis of Bone Collagen and Apatite' by V. Williams, K. Hedman and E. Hargrave.

It has been nearly 50 years since Robert Kennedy's iconic trips to the Mississippi Delta (1967) and Appalachian Kentucky (1968). What he found shocked him. 'It's unacceptable in this country that we should have this kind of poverty. And I think we need to do something about it.' This paper explores whether the conditions that produce health have improved in these two areas 50 years later. Are people healthier? A comparative case study examining health in these two regions is a unique way to understand the progress and shortcomings of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). I use the social ecological framework as a guide to focus on the social determinants of health in two of the least healthy places in the United States. Access to insurance and medical care is important, but will not produce health if housing is unsafe, food systems are inadequate, and poverty remains pervasive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Claims of environmental injustice, human neglect, and racism dominated the popular and academic literature after Hurricane Katrina struck the United States in August 2005. A systematic analysis of environmental injustice from the perspective of the survivors remains scanty or nonexistent. This paper presents, therefore, a systematic empirical analysis of the key determinants of Katrina-induced environmental injustice attitudes among survivors in severely affected parishes (counties) in Louisiana and Mississippi three years into the recovery process. Statistical models based on a random sample of survivors were estimated, with the results revealing significant predictors such as age, children in household under 18, education, homeownership, and race. The results further indicate that African-Americans were more likely to perceive environmental injustice following Katrina than their white counterparts. Indeed, the investigation reveals that there are substantial racial gaps in measures of environmental injustice. The theoretical, methodological, and applied policy implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Domestic structures at Parchman Place are characterized by rectangular magnetic anomalies of high value, surrounded by haloes of low magnetic value. Site-wide magnetic gradiometer survey reveals discrete clusters of these anomalies, indicating the presence of at least three residential groups or neighbourhoods. However, the empty spaces on the map, the magnetically clean areas bounded by architecture, are also important for structuring daily interactions among individuals and groups. This paper explores the spaces between geophysical anomalies - the intimate landscapes of courtyards, plazas and paths that are common yet rarely investigated spatial components of Mississippi Period ( ad 1000-1541) sites in the southeastern USA. Magnetic gradiometer data from Parchman illustrate how attributes of empty spaces - size, shape, orientation, visibility and proximity to other features - promoted different types of social interaction in the past. These data, supplemented by traditional archaeological data, indicate that early in the site's history, the focus of community members was inward - at the neighbourhood level toward courtyards and the lineages associated with them, and at the site level toward the central plaza and other social groups living at the site. Later, at least some community members became oriented away from the rest of the community and toward monumental architecture instead. As a result of this reorientation, many people were excluded from participating in mound-top activities. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Mississippi (MS) Delta adults and youth report obesity rates far exceeding those of the state and nation. State law requires in-school physical activity and nutrition practices to address childhood obesity but does not require evaluation of outcomes, specifically the impact on weight-related outcomes. This paper offers 3 things: (1) describes the weight status of elementary school-age children in the MS Delta; (2) explains the importance of including waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) values when reporting body mass index (BMI); and (3) provides impetus for policy that requires weight-related health risk, as measured by WHtR, to be assessed regularly as a means to evaluate school health policy. METHODS: We took anthropometric measures in a cross-sectional investigation of 1136 children from 11 public elementary schools in the MS Delta. Measures included BMI, waist circumference (WC) and WHtR. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight and obesity (BMI ≥85th percentile) was 47.1% (18.3% overweight and 28.8% obese). In this sample, 59.9% and 42.0% were 'at risk' for weight-related chronic disease based on WC (≥75th percentile) and WHtR (>0.5), respectively. The differences in these proportions were statistically significant. The predominantly black districts reported higher on all of the weight-related measures. CONCLUSIONS: Investigators recommend the assessment of health policy include measures of health risk in addition to BMI, namely WHtR as it accounts for growth in both WC and height over age. Furthermore, WHtR is a more accurate indicator of fat distribution and health risk than WC alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field studies at well-instrumented research sites have provided extensive data sets and important insights essential for development and testing of transport theories and mathematical models. This paper provides an overview of over 25 years of research and lessons learned at one of such field research sites on the Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi, commonly known as the Macrodispersion Experiment (MADE) site. Since the mid-1980s, field data from the MADE site have been used extensively by researchers around the world to explore complex contaminant transport phenomena in highly heterogeneous porous media. Results from field investigations and modeling analyses suggested that connected networks of small-scale preferential flow paths and relative flow barriers exert dominant control on solute transport processes. The classical advection-dispersion model was shown to inadequately represent plume-scale transport, while the dual-domain mass transfer model was found to reproduce the primary observed plume characteristics. The MADE site has served as a valuable natural observatory for contaminant transport studies where new observations have led to better understanding and improved models have sprung out analysis of new data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the case of chronic health problems such as hypertension, treatment often causes more stress for the family than does the disorder itself. Because of this stress, hypertension patients often do not comply with treatment regimens. Using models developed by Hill, McCubbin, and others, this paper examines the ways hypertension therapy-related stress is mediated by extended family-based self-help groups in rural, central Mississippi. The primary conclusion is that these self-help groups are the best means of controlling hypertension in this area because they are built upon an existing family structure and involve the entire extended family in adapting to recommended behavioral changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are captured frequently for research purposes using wire cage and various restraining traps, and gender biases exist in the animals' response to traps. Previous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness and humaneness of the EGG™ (EGG Trap Company, Springfield, S.D.) trap compared to foothold traps, but researchers primarily use wire cage traps to capture raccoons. In this paper we compare performance of wire cage traps and EGG traps for capturing male and female raccoons and discuss cost-effectiveness of using both trap types during a 3-year field study in Mississippi. EGG traps were more likely to capture raccoons than cage traps; both genders also were more likely to be captured in EGG traps. EGG traps were particularly more effective at capturing male raccoons than cage traps. Events in which traps were sprung but no raccoons were captured were greater when using cage traps. Purchase costs were considerably lower for EGG traps. Our findings suggest that EGG traps perform better at capturing raccoons than wire cage traps. Given our findings, and earlier studies demonstrating reductions in injuries with EGG traps relative to foothold traps, we recommend that researchers consider using EGG traps to capture raccoons in field studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]