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• Mississippi (MS) is one of the hardest-hit states with a high cumulative COVID-19 incidence and mortality compared to the US national average.• Educational and economic disadvantages likely resulted in the poor health outcomes of Mississippi Delta residents.• Significant spatial autocorrelation was found in COVID-19 incidence, mortality, and overall CDC SVI rankings.• Subtheme 1, representing socio-economic status, was significantly associated with mortality.• Subtheme 2, household composition and disability, was significantly associated with both incidence and mortality. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than 48 million cases and 800,000 deaths in the United States. Mississippi (MS) is one of the hardest-hit states with a high incidence and mortality compared to the US national average. This paper explores the relationship of MS county-level COVID-19- related incidence and mortality (through December 2, 2021) with the Center for Disease Control's Social Vulnerability Index (CDC SVI). The CDC SVI consists of four major subthemes: [1] socio-economic status, [2] household composition and disability, [3] minority status and language, and finally, [4] housing type and transportation. We found that the overall SVI ranking has a statistically significant association with reported COVID-19 cumulative mortality at the county level. Among the SVI sub-themes, subtheme 1 (socio-economic status) and subtheme 2 (household composition and disability) showed a significant relationship with incidence and mortality (p < 0.05). The results of our analysis will assist in understanding the spatial relationship between CDC SVI themes and the health effects of COVID-19 in MS and the surrounding areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Founded in 1910, The First National Bank of Oxford had been in existence for only about 20 years when the Great Depression struck. While other banks failed, this small bank in rural Mississippi survived, and it is still in operation today as FNB Oxford Bank. But beyond merely surviving, the First National Bank of Oxford appears to have thrived in this harsh financial climate: it doubled the balance of its individual depositors' accounts in the midst of the darkest months of the Great Depression. Using historical documents and extant accounting records, this paper examines how the First National Bank of Oxford was able to persist and prosper through the Great Depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Espresso' (Reg. no. CV‐293, PI 687202) is a lowland ecotype (Gulf sub‐population) of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) developed and released by Mississippi State University and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. Espresso was developed from seven cycles of phenotypic recurrent selection for rapid seed germination without stratification. All cycles of selection were made using seed harvested from open‐pollinated isolation blocks containing approximately 100 mother plants. Germination was assessed in laboratory conditions for 15 years, culminating in 2 years of field‐based germination and emergence evaluation at five locations across Mississippi. Over a 2‐year period, germination and emergence of Espresso was significantly greater (P < 0.05) than seed from 'Alamo' and 'Kanlow'. Field testing revealed Espresso as having significantly (P < 0.05) greater establishment success (mean number of seedlings per linear 30 cm) when compared to Alamo. Espresso was released based on the need for southeastern US‐adapted germplasm that possesses enhanced germination characteristics. Core Ideas: 'Espresso' lowland switchgrass was bred for rapid germination.Phenotypic recurrent selection was used to address/circumvent/eliminate dormancy.'Espresso' outperformed 'Alamo' in field and laboratory experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the racially motivated shootings at an African American church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015, a wave of contentious campaigns around Confederate statuary emerged, or at least intensified, in communities across the country. Yet local struggles have culminated in vastly different alterations to the built environment. This paper develops a framework for differentiating distinct "modes of recontextualization" rooted in the relocation and/or modification of commemorative objects. Building on models of memory as an iterative, path-dependent process, we track recontextualization efforts in three communities—St. Louis, Missouri; Oxford, Mississippi; and Austin, Texas—documenting how each mode alters the meaning of contested symbols. An analysis of local news sources in the year following recontextualization shows how each mode exerts identifiable proximate effects on broader political debates and, through that process, structures the horizon of possibility for longer-range outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2013, physician-researchers announced that a baby in Mississippi had been ‘functionally cured’ of HIV [Persaud, D., Gay, H., Ziemniak, C. F., Chen, Y. H., Piatak, M., Chun, T.-W., … Luzuriaga, K. (2013b, March).Functional HIV cure after very early ART of an infected infant. Paper presented at the 20th conference on retroviruses and opportunistic infections, Atlanta, GA]. Though the child later developed a detectable viral load, the case remains unprecedented, and trials to build on the findings are planned [National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. (2014).‘Mississippi baby’ now has detectable HIV, researchers find. Retrieved fromhttp://www.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2014/pages/mississippibabyhiv.aspx]. Whether addressing HIV ‘cure’ or ‘remission’, scrutiny of this case has focused largely on scientific questions, with only introductory attention to ethics. The social inequalities and gaps in care that made the discovery possible – and their ethical implications for paediatric HIV remission – have gone largely unexamined. This paper describes structural inequalities surrounding the ‘Mississippi baby’ case and a parallel case in South Africa, where proof-of-concept studies are in the early stages. We argue that an ethical programme of research into infant HIV remission ought to be ‘structurally competent’, and recommend that paediatric remission studies consider including a research component focused on social protection and barriers to care. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses different presentations made at the ninth annual conference of the MidSouth Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Society, held in Oxford, Mississippi, on February 17-18, 2012. At the event, keynote speaker Michael Gribskov, from Purdue University, delivered the opening address, "After the Deluge: Bioinformatics meets big data." William Slikker, director at the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, talked about the progress in Regulatory Science.

Mineral system modeling approach is useful for assessing the likelihood of occurrences of a type of mineral deposit, which are described using two characteristics: spatial scales modeling and relevant geochemical processes. Possible spatial scales include the craton, region, district, and deposit scales. At each scale, geological modeling is an important aid to exhibit favorable features of mineralization at two-dimension (2D) and three-dimension (3D). Commonly, 3D geometry can be used to restructure geological anomaly at deposit and district/camp scales for quantitative mineral resources assessment. However, they are sensitive to input datasets. Thus, in a sense, the reliability of a 3D geological model depends on how much data have been collected at both ground surface and depth. In addition, the components of dataset also constrain what geological modeling method can be used. In this paper, dynamic updatability is considered as one of the metrics to assess 3D geological modeling methods. This paper discusses different 3D geological modeling processes and compares the ease ability to update. A case study was conducted to analyze the ore-bearing formations and structure of a potential Mississippi valley-type (MVT) Pb–Zn deposit in the Huayuan–Malichang District, Hunan Province, China. The contributions of this study include (1) analyzing what kinds of datasets must be collected for geological modeling at deposit and district scales; (2) the use of multiple 3D modeling processes; and (3) comparing metric what updatability between different 3D modeling processes is. Finally, this paper discusses an integration model based on the above demonstration and other studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data for Mississippi, this paper revisits Burkey and Simkins' (2004) work on factors determining the number of payday lenders and banks. With data at two levels of geographic aggregation, the paper discovers whether empirical results are robust and allows for uncertainty in geographic definition of markets. Demand factors of population, income, and wealth have important impacts. Percentage of population with college education depresses numbers of payday lenders. Evidence indicates that banks are less likely to locate in African American areas, but the results show that race is neither a positive nor a statistically significant determinant of location for payday lenders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most prolific tornado outbreaks ever documented occurred on 26–27 April 2011 and comprised three successive episodes of tornadic convection that primarily impacted the southeastern United States, including two quasi-linear convective systems (hereinafter QLCS1 and QLCS2) that preceded the notorious outbreak of long-track, violent tornadoes spawned by numerous supercells on the afternoon of 27 April. The ∼36-h period encompassing these three episodes was part of a longer multiday outbreak that occurred ahead of a slowly moving upper-level trough over the Rocky Mountains. Here in Part I, we detail how the environment evolved to support this extended outbreak, with particular attention given to the three successive systems that each exhibited a different morphology and severity. The amplifying upper-level trough and attendant jet streak resulted from a Rossby wave–breaking event that yielded a complex tropopause structure and supported three prominent shortwave troughs that sequentially moved into the south-central United States. QLCS1 formed ahead of the second shortwave and was accompanied by rapid flow modifications, including considerable low-level jet (LLJ) intensification. The third shortwave moved into the lee of the Rockies early on 27 April to yield destabilization behind QLCS1 and support the formation of QLCS2, which was followed by further LLJ intensification and helped to establish favorable deep-layer shear profiles over the warm sector. The afternoon supercell outbreak commenced following the movement of this shortwave into the Mississippi Valley, which was attended by a deep tropopause fold, cold front aloft, and dryline that promoted two prominent bands of tornadic supercells over the Southeast. Significance Statement: The tornado outbreak that impacted the United States on 26–27 April 2011 was part of an extended outbreak that produced 343 tornadoes and numerous fatalities. This paper is Part I of a study that describes the meteorological factors supporting such a prolific event. We focus on a 36-h period encompassing three convective episodes that impacted the Southeast and culminated in the widespread formation of long-track, violent tornadoes. Flow enhancements accompanying the first two episodes and the movement of a cold front aloft into the Southeast were found to contribute to the evolution of the final and most devastating episode. Part II describes how the first two episodes directly modified the environment to enhance the severity of this outbreak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the Southern Demographic Association Conference at the University of Mississippi, from November 3 to 5, 2005. Invitation to submit abstracts for papers and/or sample papers for the 2005 annual meeting; Presentations of research in both applied and academic demography; Structure of presentations.

This paper employs the concept of food sovereignty, as conceived by La Via Campesina and developed by First Nations in North America and peasant farmer groups around the world, as a lens to assess the level of local control over the production, distribution, and consumption of food in the Mississippi Delta. We present research conducted through site visits, participant observation, focus groups, and surveys of communities affiliated with the Delta EATS public school garden program currently operating in three Mississippi public elementary schools. Our findings demonstrate low levels of food sovereignty but high levels of agency and ingenuity in accessing and obtaining desired foods, along with abundant interest in preserving and passing on traditional foodways. Community members express the desire to exert greater local control over food production, distribution, and consumption through community gardens, farmers markets, and cooking and food preservation classes. While food sovereignty is constrained by the current agria-food system of the Delta, programs such as Delta EATS and farmers cooperatives are enhancing local food sovereignty through farm-to-school programs that strengthen relationships between farmers and the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design and operation of flood control systems are always subjected to different uncertainties. In general, uncertainty occurs due to the inherent randomness of natural events (aleatory) or the lack of information (epistemic). In this paper, the optimal design of flood control levees was considered with respect to different types of uncertainties. For this purpose, a stochastic model was developed in which the hydrologic, hydraulic, geotechnical, and economic uncertainties were considered. The probability theory and the evidence theory were utilized along with the Monte Carlo simulation for quantifying the uncertainties. A computational strategy was developed based on the Latin hypercube sampling and Cholesky decomposition to propagate the uncertainties using the real and site-specific data of the Leaf River in Hattiesburg city, Mississippi, USA. Optimization models were solved using a differential evolutionary algorithm. While the deterministic case resulted from the single value for each output such as the total cost (10.36 × 105 $) and height of the levees (2.46 and 3.28 m, for left and right levees, respectively), the stochastic case results from multiple values or an interval for each output variable as a probability distribution such as CCDF or quantile curves and decision-makers could select the system layout based on their desire risk; for example, with 50% epistemic risk, the total cost of system with a 90% confidence interval falls within [12.09 × 105, 28.62 × 105] $, and a corresponding height of the left and right levees falls within [4.23, 4.73] m, and [4.12, 4.75] m, respectively. On the other hand, the belief and plausibility curves (CCBF and CCPF) in evidence theory provide lower and upper bounds of probabilities or equivalently lower and upper bounds of an output value with a given risk. For example, results showed that with 90% confidence interval, the total cost falls within [0.325 × 105, 3.75 × 105] $ and [14.13 × 105, 24.47 × 105] $ based on CCBF and CCPF, respectively. Several codes were developed for calculating the probability quantiles, PDF, CCDF, CCBF, and CCPF curves, and proper tables and charts to summarize the results. This study is an attempt to involve the several uncertainties in the design and analysis of flood control systems and it seems if appropriate methods and tools are used, this purpose can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes a critical reading of the themes of grief and loss reflected in the memoir Memorial Drive A Daughter's Memoir by Natasha Trethewey. Loss of a beloved one overturns the cyclic routine of a person. It disrupts the normalcy of life. The memoir is set in 1960s in the town of Mississippi were racial conflicts dominated the cultural scenario of America. The study is conducted with a view on racism and domestic violence that is perpetuated in society till date. History is replete with such instances of voices being subdued by the patriarchy. However, Trethewey gives voice to her mother's suffering through dedication of this memoir. The article attempts to explain how the racial prejudices in America had formed an impression upon the mind of Trethewey. It attempts to evaluate how a sense of isolation pervades into the Trethewey's world following the brutal murder of her mother when Trethewey was nineteen. Trethewey was severed from her mother which deepened her emotional wounds. Instead of absolutely being devastated from within, the author beautifully purges her emotions of sorrow and suffering in the form of this memoir. The study seeks to analyze the idea that intense mourning can lead to catharsis or relief from the burden of sadness. This memoir is the outcome of the intense grief she experienced and involves a close textual analysis along with a brief study of the history of racism in America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twain's relationship to and understanding of place is characterized by robust sense of nostalgic identification and attachment. Yet Twain demonstrates in Life on the Mississippi that place is inherently open and always in process. For Twain, place is more event than static object, more verb than noun. Rather than fixed and unchanging, it is an articulated moment in an ongoing and neverending process of change (both social and "natural") and a constant reordering of a constellation of social relations. Through an investigation of Life on the Mississippi, this paper explores Twain's articulation of a nostalgic and portable sense of place that ultimately resists what he sees as the inherent instability and inevitable dissolution of place. In doing so, Twain anticipates presentday geographers like Doreen Massey by recognizing the radical openness and constant changeability of place. Indeed, by detailing the physical and cultural history of the Mississippi river, and through his elaborate description of his education as a riverboat pilot, Twain suggests that place itself can be preserved only in memory and only by those properly trained to read it. In addition, the paper will explore recent critical debates on the nature of space and place, the relationship between temporality and spatiality, human interactions with landscape and environment, as well as the tensions between the local and the global. [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.

Increasingly, health inequities are being addressed by diversifying the nursing workforce to represent better the populations served. Despite slow improvements, the diversity of the nursing workforce lags behind the diversity of the United States population. Nurses from underrepresented backgrounds represent 19.4% of the registered nurse (RN) workforce. Inclusive educational policies, procedures, and teaching practices should be adopted to recruit and retain the next generation of diverse faculty and students. This paper will detail initiatives of how the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) school of nursing (SON) focuses on recruiting students from rural, underrepresented, and otherwise disadvantaged backgrounds as a pathway for success to build a more inclusive student population that represents the state of Mississippi. Clinical experiences in medically underserved areas (MUAs) which allow students the opportunity to provide care to diverse populations, will also be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policymakers have suggested and implemented work requirements for safety-net programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). If these work requirements impact program participation, they may lead to greater food insecurity. This paper investigates the effects of implementing the work requirement for the SNAP on emergency food assistance usage. Data were used from a cohort of food pantries in Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi, which imposed the SNAP work requirement in 2016. Event study models were run in 2022, leveraging geographic variation in exposure to the work requirement to measure changes in the number of households served by the food pantries. The 2016 introduction of the SNAP work requirement increased the number of households served by food pantries. The impact is concentrated among urban food pantries. On average, an urban agency exposed to the work requirement served 34% more households in the 8 months after the work requirement than an agency with no exposure. Individuals who lose SNAP eligibility owing to the work requirement remain in need of assistance and seek other sources of food. SNAP work requirements thus increase the burden on emergency food assistance programs. Work requirements for other programs may also lead to increased emergency food assistance use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conflicts based on race and ethnicity have been documented in CSD programs. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a racially based conflict that occurred in a speech-language pathology graduate program at a Historically Black University and how the program director, the university's chief diversity officer, the program faculty, and students worked together to address it. The paper discusses, in detail, the racially based conflict and the specific steps that the program took to address the conflict and to maintain a racially inclusive atmosphere in the program. Details of five specific activities that were used are discussed. The paper concludes with ten suggestions for other programs who may experience racially based conflicts among students.

The United States occupies a unique position amongst countries around the world when it comes to gun rights. While the United States is one of three countries that provides its people the constitutional right to bear arms, it is the only country that has more guns per capita than residents. Further, because of the saturation of guns in the United States, the country significantly leads in the amount of gun-related homicides than any other developed nation. Nevertheless, state legislatures have circumscribed gun rights within the bounds of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution to curb gun violence. This note weighs California and Mississippi's gun control laws against rates of gun violence in the respective states. Using critical race theory, the paper concludes that while there is a direct correlation between stricter gun control laws and lower gun violence, gun violence disproportionately affects Black Americans. These findings are grounded in social, historical, political, and constitutional analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the civil rights movement, more than eighty Freedom Libraries were established throughout the Deep South, with the vast majority in Mississippi. They provided library services and materials for many Black citizens who had no access to public libraries that, even if desegregated, found ways of refusing service. In October 1964 the Freedom House in Vicksburg was bombed and its Freedom Library effectively destroyed. Volunteer librarian Bryan Dunlap wrote to his father, Joseph Dunlap of Leonia, New Jersey, for assistance in rebuilding the library. Dunlap responded by sending eight boxes of books and forming the Leonia-Vicksburg Committee to support the work in Vicksburg. Early the next year, members of the Committee and others formed the Friends of Freedom Libraries "to disseminate information about these libraries and to encourage assistance for their needs." This article examines their motivations, activities, and results utilizing social dominance theory and identity theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vultures (Cathartidae and Accipitridae) play an important role in ecosystem balance by rapidly disposing animal carcasses and thus preventing the potential spread of pathogens. Blood chemistry values provide a means of assessing the health of wildlife and wild animal populations; however, there are significant differences in chemistries among species and when comparing captive and free-living New and Old World vultures. In 2007, we collected blood serum from 30 female and 14 male wild, healthy black vultures (Coragyps atratus) live-trapped by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services from a power substation in Lowndes County, Mississippi, USA. We analyzed the blood serum to provide serum chemistry base values for use in clinical pathology. The chemical analytes we measured included sodium, chloride, potassium, carbon dioxide, anion gap, glucose, creatinine, calcium, phosphorus, total protein, albumin, globulin, and aspartate aminotransferase. In general, blood chemistry values of black vultures were similar to those found in New and Old World vultures and raptor species. Average chemistry values for males were lower than females for sodium, chloride, creatinine, calcium, total protein, albumin, and globulin. The serum chemistry values we describe in this paper can be important indicators of avian health by gender for the black vulture. Our study provided important blood chemistry values from a large sample size, which is rarely available in free-ranging black vultures. These values could be used by scientists, veterinary pathologists, wildlife rehabilitation centers, and other researchers for baseline data for wild and free-ranging birds. Furthermore, the use of such parameters in assessing population health may enable conservationists to further research environmental conditions affecting species reproduction and survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

This paper presents as a discussion of "Performance Evaluation of a Highway Slope on Expansive Soil in Mississippi" by Mohammad Sadik Khan, Masoud Nobahar, Mike Stroud, Sean Ferguson, and John Ivoke. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0002240. Repairs to the failed section of the slope were undertaken a few months following the initial slope construction and were carried out by removing the failed soil and replacing it with a backfill that was less plastic, and therefore, not as swell-prone as the original soil. This approach versus the traditional approach when determining the factor of safety of slopes that used the limit-equilibrium method was considered more appropriate to account for the physical changes within the soil matrix that would occur during its wetting and drying cycles. [Extracted from the article]

What explains variation in how committed postwar Democrats were to civil rights? I use evidence from state delegation behavior at national party conventions to assess this. I examine two types of issues: challenges to the credentials of all-white southern delegations and efforts to change the platform language on civil rights issues. While the latter is widely known, the former are more obscure but, I argue, important indicators of how strongly committed some state delegations were to civil rights. I use archival materials to trace the story of how these issues came onto the party committee's agenda in the first place and then assess the correlates of state delegation voting behavior. In 1948, the strongest predictor of being willing to unseat the all-white Mississippi delegation was the increase in Black population percentage in a state. More states, however, were willing to strengthen the civil rights platform language, and here state population size was the strongest predictor. These results, though, obscure important variation, with a number of relatively smaller, whiter states in the upper Midwest playing a key role. Taken together, these findings elucidate variation in the civil rights preferences of non-southern Democrats, shed new light on debates about the civil rights realignment, and demonstrate the potential of using state delegation voting behavior as evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the fall of 2009, three women faculty members in the Bagley College of Engineering and the College of Business at Mississippi State University initiated a leadership development program for female faculty members in those colleges. This paper provides a summary of the first two years of that program. In this paper we describe the motivation for establishing this program, the environment in which the program was conducted, and the discussion topics for the sessions that were held. We also provide feedback from the participants who responded to a survey about the program. We conclude with some general observations about the program and plans for its continuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a method of geo-referencing the video data acquired by a small low-cost UAV, which is specifically designed as an economical, moderately functional, small airborne platform intended to meet the requirement for fast-response to time-critical events in many small private sectors or government agencies for the small areas of interest. The developed mathematical model for geo-locating video data can simultaneously solve the video camera's interior orientation parameter (lOP) (including lens distortion), and the exterior orientation parameters (EOP5) of each video frame. With the experimental data collected by the UAV at the established control field located in Picayune, Mississippi, the results reveal that the boresight matrix, describing the relationship between attitude sensor and video camera, in a low-cost UAV system will not be able to remain a constant. This result is inconsistent with the calibrated results from the previous airborne mapping system because the boresight matrix was usually assumed to be a constant over an entire mission in a traditional airborne mapping system. Thus, this paper suggests that the exterior orientation parameters of each video frame in a small low-cost UAV should be estimated individually. With the developed method, each video is geo-orthorectified and then mosaicked together to produce a 2-D planimetric mapping. The accuracy of the 2-D planimetric map can achieve 1-2 pixels, i.e., 1-2 m, when comparing with the 43 check points measured by differential GPS (DGPS) survey. Note to Practitioners-This paper was motivated by the fact that the existing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system, including hardware and software, cannot meet the requirement of real-time response to time-critical disasters due to the barriers of UAVs mobile operation capability in remote site and huge time-consuming of data postprocessing and computation. This paper presented an end-to-end, systematic design, and implementation of a small and low-cost UAV system, including hardware and software. The entire UAV system is housed on a mobile vehicle (called field control station) for providing command, control and data recording to and from the UAV platform, and real-time data processing in order to meet the requirement of fast-response to time-critical disaster. The field control station houses the data stream monitoring and UAV position interface computer, radio downlinks, antenna array and video terminal. All data (GPS data, UAV position and attitude data, and video data) are transmitted to the ground receiver station via wireless communication, with real-time data processing in field. The processed geo-referenced video flow, with an accuracy of 1-2 pixels, can be immediately merged with GIS data, so that the real-time response to disaster can be promptly deployed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oktibbeha County (Mississippi) is among the highest food cost and food insecure counties in the nation. In 2016, a group of scholars from a land-grant university held periodic meetings to address food insecurity, food access, and local food systems development, creating the Oktibbeha Food Policy Council (OFPC). A large body of literature on food justice, intersectionality, food policy councils, and agri-environmental assemblage highlights the importance of these types of collaborative initiatives to facilitate better availability and access to fresh and healthy food among historically marginalized groups. However, little has been studied on how food policy councils can be generated and evolve in historically marginalized rural communities of the South. By analyzing the OFPC, this paper aims to contribute to this gap in the existing literature, exploring what factors led to its creation and development. Results of this study show how food justice and the intersection of race and socioeconomic status with local agri-food problems influenced the assemblage and work of this group, creating new opportunities, for low-income families and limited resource Black farmers. Discussions and conclusions center on the lessons, opportunities, and challenges learned from this experience and critical aspects that may be contemplated by similar initiatives and contexts. [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]

Purpose: Using two main research questions, the purpose of this paper is to examine well-being and preparedness among Cambodian and Laotian immigrants living near the Gulf Coast of the USA, and the ways in which indicators such as sense of community and risk perception are related to these constructs. Design/methodology/approach: This study employed a cross-sectional prospective design to examine disaster preparedness and well-being among Laotian and Cambodian immigrant communities. Quantitative survey data using purposive snowball sampling were collected throughout several months in Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana. Findings: Results from two multiple regressions revealed that sense of community and age contributed to well-being and were significant in the model, but with a negative relationship between age and well-being. Risk perception, confidence in government, confidence in engaging household preparedness and ability to cope with a financial crisis were significant predictors and positively related to disaster preparedness. Practical implications: Well-being and disaster preparedness can be bolstered through community-based planning that seeks to address urgent needs of the people residing in vulnerable coastal locations. Specifically, immigrants who speak English as a second language, elder individuals and households in the lowest income brackets should be supported in disaster planning and outreach. Originality/value: Cambodian and Laotian American immigrants rely upon the Gulf Coast's waters for fishing, crab and shrimp income. Despite on-going hazard and disasters, few studies address preparedness among immigrant populations in the USA. This study fills a gap in preparedness research as well as factors associated with well-being, an important aspect of long-term resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: African American men have poorer health outcomes compared to their white counterparts despite medical advancements and early detection of diseases. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent the constructs of the multi theory model (MTM) explain the intention for initiation and sustenance of the consumption of fruits and vegetables among African American adult men in Mississippi. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design a valid and reliable paper survey was administered during November and December of 2019. The target population for the study consisted of African American adult men (18 or older) that had not consumed recommended levels of fruits and vegetables within 24 hours of taking the questionnaire. A convenience quota sample of African American men from select barbershops in Jackson, Mississippi, were asked to complete the 40-item questionnaire on preventive health screening behavior (n = 134). Results: The mean total number of fruits and vegetables consumed by participants within 24 hours of the taking the survey was 1.63 (SD =1.47). The mean intention to initiate consuming 5 or more cups of fruits and vegetables per day score was 2.13 (SD=1.17) as measured on a 5-point scale (0-4). Behavioral confidence (β = 0.495, P < 0.0001), and changes in physical environment (β = 0.230, P < 0.0001) accounted for 40.8% of the variance in predicting the intention to initiate behavioral change regarding the daily consumption of fruits and vegetables. Practice for change (β = 0.462, P< 0.001) and emotional transformation (β = 0.215, P< 0.0001) accounted for 37.5% of the variance in the intention to sustain fruits and vegetables consumption behavior. Conclusion: Based on data found in the study, MTM appears to predict the intention to initiate and sustain fruit and vegetable intake of African American men. Further research studies of suitable interventions to target African American men are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]