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This commentary reflects upon power-knowledge dynamics and matters of epistemic, procedural, and distributive justice that undergird epidemiological knowledge production related to racial health inequities in the U.S. Grounded in Foucault's power-knowledge concepts—"objects", "ritual", and "the privileged"—and guided by Black feminist philosopher Kristie Dotson's conceptualization of epistemic violence, it critiques the dominant positivist, reductionist, and extractivist paradigm of epidemiology, interrogating the settler-colonial and racial-capitalist nature of the knowledge production/curation enterprise. The commentary challenges epidemiology's affinity for epistemological, procedural, and methodological norms that effectively silence/erase community knowledge(s) and nuance in favor of reductionist empirical representations/re-presentations produced by researchers who, often, have never stepped foot inside the communities they aver to model. It also expressly names the structurally racist reality of a "colorblind" knowledge production/curation system controlled by White scholars working from/for an invisibilized White scientific gaze. In this spirit, this commentary engages the public health critical race praxis principle of "disciplinary self-critique", illuminating the inherent contradictions of a racial health equity discourse that fails to interrogate the racialized power dynamics underlying its knowledge production enterprise. In doing so, this commentary seeks to (re)frame and invite discourse regarding matters of epistemic violence and (re)colonization as manifest/legible within epidemiology research, suggesting that the structural racism embedded within – and perpetuated through – our collective work must be addressed to advance antiracist and decolonial public health futures. In this regard, I suggest the value of engaging poetry as praxis—as mode of knowledge production/expression to "center the margins" and offer counternarratives to epidemiology's epistemic violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Forced sex is associated with negative psychological health outcomes. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of forced sex and its predictors. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 800 students of a university in USA using a random sampling method. Reproductive health electronic questionnaire was used for data collection. Due to the sensitive nature of the questionnaires and for anonymity, Qualtrics software was used. To estimate the extent of the effect of each of the independent variables (knowledge, attitude, as well as socio-demographic characteristics) on the dependent variable (forced sex), multivariate logistic regression was used. Results: About one-fifth of students (16.9%) had experienced forced sex. The variables of gender, knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and sexual attitude were among the predictors of forced sex. This kind of sexual relationship was more likely to occur in girls than in boys (OR = 2.94, 95%CI: 1.20 to 1.71). Further, the chance of forced sex significantly increased with growing knowledge of STD (OR = 1.41, 95%CI: 1.61 to 1.71), and sexual attitude (OR = 1.23, 95%CI: 1.04 to 1.21). Conclusion: Considering the impact of gender, knowledge about STD, and sexual attitude on forced sex, educational interventions among the youth especially girls are required to provide complete and proper information about sexual and reproductive health and rights and correct the sexual attitudes of the youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forty-four elementary grade teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students were surveyed about how they taught writing and their beliefs about writing. Beliefs about writing included their self-efficacy to teach writing, attitude toward writing, and epistemological beliefs about writing. These teachers from fifteen different states in the United States slightly agreed that they were efficacious writing teachers and they were slightly positive about their writing. They slightly agreed that learning to write involves effort and process, moderately disagreed that writing development is innate or fixed, slightly disagreed that knowledge about writing is certain, and were equally split about whether writing knowledge comes from authorities and experts. On average, teachers applied the twenty-two instructional writing practices surveyed at least once a month. They reported their students wrote weekly, and their writing was supported through goal setting, feedback, and prewriting activities. Writing instruction mostly focuses on teaching grammar and how to plan compositions. Teacher self-efficacy uniquely and statistically predicted reported teaching practices after attitude toward writing, and epistemological beliefs were first controlled. Recommendations for future research and implications for practice are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The child welfare community's commitment to using research evidence should encompass empirical examination of how to do so effectively. The William T. Grant Foundation is one of the few funders to provide sustained support for research in this area. Findings from the Foundation's Using Research Evidence grant portfolio are presented using three frameworks that describe the work of the child welfare community and the types of knowledge needed to do that work. Opportunities to ensure this emerging body of research evidence is useful to and used by the child welfare community are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article criticizes the Intelligent Community, USA for its failure to provide correct information on Iraq's weapons-of-mass-destruction process in 2002. Knowledge of epistemological skills can help Intelligent analysts in giving the secret information. The author calls for the recruitment of epistemological talent and cultivation of epistemological skills to the Intelligence Community to improve its performance.

Presents views on the importance of knowledge in the industrial safety. Ability of factual application and communication in demand during a certain situation; Need for industry leaders to enhance skills and tools in gathering relevant information; Response of the American Society of Safety Engineers to issues affecting occupational safety.