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4-H, as a research-based positive youth development program, should be affirming and inclusive for all youths, including those who are members of LGBTQ+ communities. This article provides 4-H youth development professionals with a series of checklists for supporting LGBTQ+ participation, focusing on systemic advocacy, guidance and protocols, programming, and professional development and dispositions. Using these checklists, 4-H professionals can identify areas of strength and growth for themselves and their programs. Further, they can enable youth thriving, increase protective factors, and reduce risk factors by cultivating inclusive and affirming 4-H spaces.

First year students, like all students at a university, comprise a diverse mixture of personal traits, backgrounds, experiences, and assorted learning styles. Each of these unique student characteristics can either enhance or inhibit successful integration to the campus community. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of various first year programs on student retention. The study examined nine first year programs. The presence or absence of these first year programs were compared to the retention rate of first year students at several liberal arts colleges in the southern Appalachian Mountains of the United States.

Introduction The US Army Burn Center, the only burn center in the Department of Defense provides comprehensive burn care. The Burn Flight Team (BFT) provides specialized burn care during transcontinental evacuation. During Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom, burn injuries accounted for approximately 5% of all injuries in military personnel. To augment BFT capacity, US Air Force Critical Care Air Transport Teams (CCATTs) mobilized to transport burn patients. The purpose of this study was to describe critically ill, burn injured patients transported to the US Army Burn Center by BFT or CCATT, to compare and contrast characteristics, evacuation procedures, in-flight treatments, patient injuries/illnesses, and outcomes between the two groups. Materials and Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study of CCATT and BFT patients, admitted to the burn ICU between January 1, 2001 and September 30, 2018. Patients with total body surface area burned (TBSA) >30% were evacuated by BFT, while CCATT evacuated patients with ≤ 30% TBSA. Results Ninety-seven patients met inclusion criteria for this study. Of these, 40 (41%) were transported by the BFT and 57 (59%) were transported by CCATTs. Compared with patients transported by CCATTs, patients transferred by the BFT had higher median TBSA and full-thickness burn size, higher prevalence of chest, back and groin burns, and higher prevalence of inhalation injury. BFT patients had increased hospital days (62 vs. 37; P  = .08), ICU days (29 vs. 12; P  = .003) and ventilator days (14 vs. 6; P  < .001). TBSA was the only variable significantly associated with ARDS (aOR = 1.04; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.08; P  = 0.04), renal failure (aOR = 1.07; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.11; P  = .002), and mortality (aOR = 1.08; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.13; P  = .001). Conclusions Evacuation by the BFT was associated with increased ICU and ventilator days, increased mortality, and a greater risk for developing renal failure. The severity of injury/TBSA likely accounted for most of these differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AMERICAN EDUCATORS ARE NOT IN THE BUSINESS of preparing all children for the twenty-first century. Instead, they are paid to decide who can learn at high levels, and who cannot. [...]

The precautionary principle which is constantly invoked in international environmental protocols and agreements and in national and local environmental disputes are discussed. The nasty surprises as they call all environmental problems are endless and increasing.