Predictors of Health Among Refugee Adults from Myanmar and the Development of Their Children.

The objective of this study is to attempt to understand predictors of health among adult migrants from Myanmar to Thailand and predictors of development among their children. EQ5D5L scores and sociodemographic data were obtained among adult household members of children from two schools on the Thai/Myanmar border. Children were administered Ages and Stages questionnaires (ASQs). OLS and logistic regressions were used to examine predictors (e.g., witnessing gunfire) of various outcome measures (e.g., ASQ scores among children). In logistic regression analyses, maternal literacy proved to be a very strong predictor of the child's ASQ communication [17 ASQ points out of 60; 95% confidence interval (CI) 3, 31 points], problem solving (25 points; 95% CI 4, 45 points), and social skills (12 points; 95 % CI 1, 23 points) scores. A lower number of habitants/room predicted significantly better dentition among children [odds ratio (OR) 1.08, 95% CI 1.01, 1.67] and better social skills on the child's ASQ (12 points; 95% CI 1, 23 points). Appliance ownership was a weak predictor of adult health, with those who own a refrigerator having about an 8% higher score on the EQ5D5L (1.08; 95% CI 1.01, 1.16). Finally, parents who witnessed gunfire tended to have children with ASQ scores that were 14 points lower than average in problem solving (95% CI -24, -4). Maternal education programs may have a very large impact on the development of their children. However, identifying those households at greatest need of resources is not a simple task, and will require a more complete census of communities at risk.

The sky is falling: chemical characterization and corrosion evaluation of deposition produced during the static testing of solid rocket motors.

Static tests of horizontally restrained rocket motors at the ATK facility in Promontory UT, USA result in the deposition of entrained soil and fuel combustion products, referred to as Test Fire Soil (TFS), over areas as large as 30-50 mile (80-130 km) and at distances up to 10-12 miles (16-20 km) from the test site. Chloride is the main combustion product generated from the ammonium perchlorate-aluminum based composite propellant. Deposition sampling/characterization and a 6-month field corrosivity study using mild steel coupons were conducted in conjunction with the February 25th 2010 FSM-17 static test. The TFS deposition rates at the three study sites ranged from 1 to 5 g/min/m. TFS contained significantly more chloride than the surface soil collected from the test site. The TFS collected during two subsequent tests had similarly elevated chloride, suggesting that the results obtained in this study are applicable to other tests assuming that the rocket fuel composition remains similar. The field-deployed coupons exposed to the TFS had higher corrosion rates (3.6-5.0 mpy) than paired non-exposed coupons (1.6-1.8 mpy). Corrosion rates for all coupons decreased over time, but coupons exposed to the TFS always had a higher rate than the non-exposed. Differences in corrosion rates between the three study sites were also observed, with sites receiving more TFS deposition having higher corrosion rates.

Risk of mistaken DNR orders.

A questionnaire study was carried out among attendants at a community cancer center to determine the subjects' preferences and understanding of the meaning of do-not-resuscitate (DNR). Only 34% correctly understood the meaning of DNR, and 66% thought that DNR was administered only to prolong life without realizing that a DNR decision would result in not being resuscitated even if the cause of the sudden death was potentially reversible. We then determined the subjects' preferences if they had developed a treatment complication needing resuscitation and be put on the ventilator machine temporarily. When the subject was not expected to be alive in 6 months, the preference for resuscitation was not related to correct understanding. However, when the chance of cure was 30%, a preference for resuscitation was related to an incorrect understanding of the meaning of DNR. About 70% of respondents who would accept ventilator care had an incorrect understanding of DNR. The adjusted odds for the correct understanding of DNR were less for respondents who preferred resuscitation. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) was 0.58 (CI: 0.35-0.93) (p=0.02) after adjusting for age and 0.53 (CI: 0.32-0.86) (p=0.01) after adjusting for both age and treatment group. These results suggest that physicians should be open to the possibility that patients may not always understand what DNR means, and they may be placed on DNR by mistake.