Area In Oregon Research Articles

Downy brome (Bromus tectorum) management and herbicide resistance in dryland wheat production across northeastern Oregon

Abstract Downy brome (Bromus tectorum L.) is a difficult species to control in the dryland wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production areas of northeastern Oregon. The selection of herbicide-resistant B. tectorum populations has further complicated B. tectorum management. A survey of wheat growers was conducted in 2021 and 2022 to understand B. tectorum management practices. The survey included four questions based on the growing seasons from 2017 to 2022 related to crop rotation, tillage versus no-tillage, irrigation versus dryland, and herbicide programs. To determine the extent of herbicide resistance, seeds were collected from 49 B. tectorum populations in wheat fields in northeastern Oregon and tested for resistance. Herbicides tested were clethodim, glyphosate, imazamox, mesosulfuron, metribuzin, propoxycarbazone, pyroxasulfone, pyroxsulam, quizalofop, and sulfosulfuron. Winter wheat–summer fallow rotation was the most predominant cropping system in the region. Most of the fields were in no-tillage systems, and none were irrigated. Pyroxasulfone applied preemergence and acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitors applied postemergence were the most often used herbicides for B. tectorum control in winter wheat. Glyphosate was the most frequently used herbicide for B. tectorum control in summer fallow. Resistance screenings confirmed that 46 of the 49 B. tectorum populations were resistant to ALS inhibitors with different cross-resistance patterns. Two populations were resistant to metribuzin and exhibited multiple resistance to ALS inhibitors. All populations were susceptible to clethodim, glyphosate, pyroxasulfone, and quizalofop. The widespread occurrence of ALS inhibitor–resistant B. tectorum populations limits effective postemergence herbicide options in winter wheat.

Characterizing the Perceived Need for CRC Screening among the Elderly Living in Rural Areas in the Pacific Northwest US: Roles of Miscommunication, Experience of Discrimination, and Dependence.

Increasing the perceived need for CRC screening can facilitate undertaking CRC screening. This study aims to identify factors associated with the need for CRC screening in rural populations. A cross-sectional online survey. The survey was conducted in June - September 2022 in the rural areas of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, US. The subjects of this study were 250 adults (completion rate: 65%) aged 45-75 residing in rural Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Perceived need for CRC screening, internet usage for health purposes, demographics, and intrapersonal, interpersonal, community, and environmental characteristics. Perceived need for CRC screening were negatively associated with patient-provider miscommunication (β = -.23, P < .001) and perceived discrimination (β = -.21, P < .001), cancer fatalism (β = -.16, P < .05), individualism (β = -.15, P < .05), and dependence on community (β = -.11, P < .05), but positively with compliance with social norms (β = .16, P < .05), trust in health care providers (β = .16, P < .05), knowledge about colorectal cancer (β = .12, P < .05). Our study showed potential individual and situational characteristics that might help increase colorectal cancer screening. Future efforts might consider addressing discrimination in health care settings, improving patient-provider communication, and tailoring messaging to reflect the rural culture.

Access to Chimeric Antigen T-Cell Receptor (CAR-T) Therapies for Patients with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) in the Catchment Area of Oregon

Background: NHL is the 8 th most common cancer in the U.S. and exhibits poor survival, particularly among patients with disease resistant to chemotherapy. While CAR-T therapies are now available for patients with advanced disease, access to these therapies has been reported to be inequitable across varied sociodemographic populations. The Knight Cancer Institute is the only academic medical center and facility offering CART therapy in Oregon and nearby region, with the next closest center located 200 miles away. In this retrospective study, we identified baseline demographic and socioeconomic factors of NHL patients treated with CAR-T therapies at our institution, and factors associated with commercial versus investigational product used and overall survival. Methods: Adult patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell NHL referred to the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute for CAR-T therapy between Jan 2016 and May 2023 were included. Data collected included age, gender, race/ethnicity, zip-code, insurance type, disease type and status at time of treatment, and clinical trial participation. Zip-codes were used to estimate poverty level as defined by American Community Survey, rural-urban continuum codes and distance to the treatment center. Results: A total of 154 patients with median age of 62.7 years (range, 23.5-81.6) underwent CAR-T therapy for relapsed/refractory B-cell NHL with 4 commercial (86%) and 6 investigational products (14%). Of these, 43% were older than 65 years, 68% male and 14% self-identified as non-White (including Hispanic). Approximately 66% of those younger than 65 years were privately insured, while 82% of those over 65 years had Medicare. The majority of patients were from Oregon (85%), 12% from neighboring states of Southwest Washington and Idaho, and 2.6% from states outside of the Pacific Northwest region. About 29% of patients came from areas with poverty before the national level, 18% from non-Metropolitan areas (1.3% from remote rural areas). About 52% lived more than 30 miles away and 29% lived &amp;gt; 120 miles from the treatment center. Of the 22 patients receiving investigational products, 59% were males, 27% were older than 65, 18% were Non-white (including Hispanic), 46% had public insurance, 29% lived in areas below the national poverty level, 36% lived in non-Metropolitan areas (9% in remote rural areas), 55% were from areas &amp;gt; 60 miles away and 27% from areas &amp;gt; 120 miles from the treatment center. There were no statistical differences in utilization of commercial vs. research products for patients from racial/ethnic minorities or those living in areas &amp;gt; 30 miles, 60 or 120 miles from the transplant center, as compared to their counterparts. The proportion of patients receiving commercial products (vs. investigational product) was lower for patients from nonmetropolitan areas compared to metropolitan areas (71% vs. 88%, p=0.031) and for those living in areas below the national poverty level (76% vs. 90%, p=0.039), Table 1. With a median follow-up of 303 days (range, 30-1861) for survivors, the overall survival (OS) for the entire cohort is 65.8% (95 thCI, 62.6-68.9%). There were no statistically significant differences in overall survival for patients from racial/ethnic minorities, those living in non-metropolitan areas, living &amp;gt; 30 miles, 60 or 120 miles from the transplant center or in areas below the national poverty level, as compared to their counterparts. Conclusions: Although CAR-T access may vary by region, we have been able to offer this therapy to patients from socioeconomically diverse backgrounds in Oregon and nearby region. Our study highlights the importance of accounting for social determinants of health when implementing CAR-T therapy programs to optimize access to all patients. Participation in clinical trials may expand access to CART therapies, especially for those for which commercial products are less available.

Opportunities for wave energy in bulk power system operations

Wave energy resources have high, yet largely untapped potential as candidate generation technology. In this paper, we perform a data-driven analysis to characterize the impact of wave energy integration on bulk-scale power systems and market operations. Through data-driven sensitivity studies centered on an optimization-based production cost modeling formulation, our work characterizes the inflection point beyond which wave integration starts impacting power system operations, considering present day transmission infrastructure. Furthermore, our analysis also considers the joint effects of wave energy integration and system-wide transmission expansion. Finally, potential resilience scenarios such as wildfire-driven transmission contingencies and heat wave events are investigated, whereby the contributions of grid-integrated wave energy in alleviating the effects of the resilience events are analyzed. As our demonstration test bed, we consider a reduced-order network topology for the U.S. Western Interconnection with wave energy generation integrated at carefully selected sites across the coastal areas of Washington, Oregon, and northern California. Our results indicate that over a representative year of operations, wave energy integration systematically reduces locational marginal prices (LMPs) of energy and price volatility, especially during periods of high wave resource availability (winter months for the U.S. west coast). Average, maximum, and minimum of hourly LMPs over a typical year of operation was reduced by 2.95, 51.28, and 1.13 $/MWh respectively (over a baseline scenario with no wave energy integration), when the selected network model had a total of 5000 MW wave power installed capacity during the representative year of study. The effects of wave energy integration can remain localized with existing transmission infrastructure (identified to be most pronounced in the Pacific Northwest region in the example we studied). However, with concurrent transmission expansion, the impacts of wave energy integration are likely to have a higher geographical spread. Our results also indicate that wave energy may be able to assist power system operations during resilience events such as major transmission contingencies and heat wave events, although such benefits might be dependent on factors such as proximity of affected area to wave resources, availability of adequate resource potential and adequate transmission capacity.

Comparing Support for Dog Regulations Among Adjacent Households and Other Visitors at a Multiple-Use Recreation Area

Ongoing management and research interest in dog-related issues at recreation areas necessitates examining support for relevant management strategies among different visitor groups. Using data collected from an onsite survey of nonadjacent visitors (n=1,257) and a household mail survey of visitors who live adjacent (n=74) to a multiple-use recreation area (referred to as the Forests) in Oregon, we compare visitation characteristics and attitudes about dog-related management strategies among these two visitor groups. Nearly half of all respondents reported bringing dogs with them. Overall, respondents supported providing more dog waste bags and trash cans and requiring leashes in busy areas. They opposed requiring leashes everywhere. Compared to non-adjacent respondents, adjacent respondents have been recreating at the Forests longer, used stricter leash behavior with their dogs, and supported stricter leash regulations and increased enforcement of regulations. However, effect sizes for these statistically significant differences were small. Thus, communication and management strategies that aim to mitigate unwanted impacts from dogs may not need to be targeted uniquely to adjacent visitors compared to those who travel to the Forests. We discuss other pertinent management and communication implications.

First Record and Long-Term Establishment of the Order Embioptera in Washington State

Specimens of Haploembia sp. (Embioptera: Oligotomidae) were found in 2005 in a rural area of the Columbia Basin next to the Snake River. This is the first verified record of Embioptera in Washington State and one of the northernmost in the world. Subsequent collections 16 years later at the same site show that the population is still present. In 2005, specimens were found only at the original locality. However, starting in 2020, specimens of Haploembia were reported in multiple nearby urban and suburban areas of Washington State and Oregon on the citizen science website iNaturalist.org. Characters of collected specimens and a lack of males across 2005 and 2021 suggest the species in the Columbia Basin region is Haploembia cf. tarsalis (Ross).

Regional Decision-Making in Oregon’s Area Commissions on Transportation

Long after other areas of Oregon had already done so, the local agencies in the Portland region served by the Oregon Department of Transportation decided to form a regional Area Commission on Transportation. Why they decided to do so and what caused local agencies to delay forming one until long after other regions was not immediately clear. In this article, I examine the policy documents around the formation of the Region 1 ACT and how its policy history represents wider historical trends on regional transportation decision making nationally. To do so, I describe Oregon’s regional policy making structure followed by an overview of the organization, composition, and authority of the ACT system. I then examine broad national transportation policy trends and regional governance literature in the United States, concluding with an evaluation of the ACT system based on this analysis. I use this evaluation to identify improvement opportunities and future research needs. While the ACT system exhibits many characteristics of an inclusive regional process, there remain opportunities to improve and clarify ACT decision-making authority and regional stakeholder participation.

Supporting rural public health practice to address local-level social determinants of health across Northwest states: Development of an interactive visualization dashboard

BackgroundRural local health departments (LHDs) lack adequate capacity and funding to effectively make data-driven decisions to support their communities that face greater health disparities compared to urban counterparts. The need, therefore, exists for informatics solutions to support rural LHDs. PurposeWe describe the user-centered design (UCD) of SHARE-NW: Solutions in Health Analytics for Rural Equity across the Northwest, a website (sharenw.nwcphp.org) with data visualization dashboards for rural LHD practitioners in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington to help them identify health disparities in their jurisdictions. MethodsIn this UCD study guided by Munzner’s Nested Model for Visualization Design and Validation, we (1) completed a needs assessment, (2) created and evaluated mockups, and (3) conducted usability testing of a functional alpha testing website. Potential end-users (rural LHD practitioners) and Equity Advisory Committee members (public health experts from state, rural local, and tribal public health agencies) across our four-state catchment area were engaged throughout the website development and testing. We adapted traditional in-person UCD methods to be remote to reach participants across a large geographic area and in rural/frontier areas of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. ResultsWe recruited participants from all four states to engage in each stage of the project. Needs assessment findings informed the mockup development, and findings from the mockup evaluations informed the development of the functional website. Usability testing of the website overall was positive, with priority usability issues identified. ConclusionsBy applying Munzner’s Nested Model and UCD, we could purposefully and intentionally design evidence-based solutions, specifically for rural LHD practitioners. Adaptations of traditional UCD methods were successful and allowed us to reach end-users across a large geographic area. Future work on SHARE-NW will involve the evaluation of the website. We provide insights on our lessons learned to support future public health informatics solution development.

Ecology of Ixodes pacificus Ticks and Associated Pathogens in the Western United States.

Lyme disease is the most important vector-borne disease in the United States and is increasing in incidence and geographic range. In the Pacific west, the western black-legged tick, Ixodes pacificus Cooley and Kohls, 1943 is an important vector of the causative agent of Lyme disease, the spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi. Ixodes pacificus life cycle is expected to be more than a year long, and all three stages (larva, nymph, and adult) overlap in spring. The optimal habitat consists of forest cover, cooler temperatures, and annual precipitation in the range of 200–500 mm. Therefore, the coastal areas of California, Oregon, and Washington are well suited for these ticks. Immature stages commonly parasitize Western fence lizards (Sceloporus occidentalis) and gray squirrels (Sciurus griseus), while adults often feed on deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) and black-tailed deer (Odocoileus h. columbianus). Ixodes pacificus carry several pathogens of human significance, such as Borrelia burgdorferi, Bartonella, and Rickettsiales. These pathogens are maintained in the environment by many hosts, including small mammals, birds, livestock, and domestic animals. Although a great deal of work has been carried out on Ixodes ticks and the pathogens they transmit, understanding I. pacificus ecology outside California still lags. Additionally, the dynamic vector–host–pathogen system means that new factors will continue to arise and shift the epidemiological patterns within specific areas. Here, we review the ecology of I. pacificus and the pathogens this tick is known to carry to identify gaps in our knowledge.

Sugarbeet Processing Lime Effects on High‐pH Soils and Crops in the Northwest U.S.

AbstractPrecipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) is a by‐product of sucrose extraction from sugarbeet and is considered a good lime material for acidic soil treatment. In the sugarbeet‐growing area in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, most soils have a pH of 7.5–8.5 and do not require lime applications to adjust soil pH. However, there is a need to find more offsite beneficial use or disposal methods for PCC, and agricultural land application is a practical method to dispose of PCC. A study was conducted to assess the effects of added PCC to a common alkaline soil on yields and soil chemical properties in a sugarbeet–dry bean–barley rotation. The data will be used to help determine if PCC can be land‐applied on high‐pH soils. Earn 0.5 CEUs in Soil &amp; Water Management by reading the article and taking the quiz at https://bit.ly/3dkUh3N. View all CEUs online at https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning‐Center/Courses.

HIGH PREGNANCY RATES IN TWO-YEAR-OLD WILD HORSES

In November 2018, we screened 315 feral Horse mares via veterinary rectal palpation and trans-rectal ultrasound, approximately 1 mo after their capture and removal from the Warm Springs herd management area in Oregon. We documented a pregnancy rate (58.3%) in 2-y-old mares that was nearly 3 times higher than previously published results. For 1-y-old mares (10.8% pregnant), and for mares pooled over all ages (64.4% pregnant), pregnancy rates were within the range of pregnancy rates reported from other feral Horse populations. High pregnancy rates in 2-y-old mares could contribute to higher than expected herd growth rates in feral Horses.

Abstract 11667: Factors Associated With No-Show and Cancellations at Adult Congenital Heart Disease Clinic

Introduction: Many adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) do not regularly access cardiology care; this has been associated with adverse outcomes. Clinic no-shows and cancellations limit access to care, and identify a population in need of intervention to improve engagement with care. We investigated factors associated with no-shows and cancellations in our academic ACHD clinic which draws from a large catchment area in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California. Methods: The electronic medical record was queried to identify individuals ≥ 18 years of age with a scheduled appointment in the ACHD clinic from 2017-2020. Demographic and scheduling characteristics were recorded. Multivariate logistic regression was used to test for an association between variables and either no-show or patient-initiated cancellation. Results: Our sample included 7616 scheduled visits, and 4191 (55.0%) were completed. There were 332 (4.4%) no-shows and 1320 were canceled by the patient (17.3%). Factors associated with an increased risk of no-show to clinic were Medicaid (OR=1.86 (95% CI: 1.39, 2.49), p&lt;0.001), prior no-show (OR per 1% increase in prior no-show rate 1.13 (95% CI: 1.13, 1.45), p&lt;0.001), and an appointment at an off-site clinic (OR 2.16 (95% CI: 1.32, 3.45), p=0.002). Factors associated with an increased risk of a cancellation were in-person vs. virtual visits (OR 1.89 (95% CI 1.44, 2.53), p&lt;0.001) and being an established patient (OR 1.38 (95% CI 1.17, 1.63), p&lt;0.001). Patient age, day of the week, and appointment time were not associated with no-shows or cancellations. Discussion: Medicaid insurance, prior no-show, and off-site clinics are associated with a higher risk of no-show to ACHD clinic. As ACHD remains a limited resource, and lack of ACHD follow-up is associated with adverse events, limiting no-shows and canceled visits is an important goal. This study identifies a high-risk population which may benefit from targeted interventions to improve access to care.

Changes in Relationships between the USDA Forest Service and Small, Forest-Based Communities in the Northwest Forest Plan Area amid Declines in Agency Staffing

AbstractThis article explores the changing relationships between the USDA Forest Service and 10 small, forest-based communities in the Northwest Forest Plan area in Washington, Oregon, and California. Interviews with 158 community members and agency personnel indicated that community member interviewees were largely dissatisfied with the agency’s current level of community engagement. Interviewees believed that loss of staff was the primary factor contributing to declining engagement, along with increasing turnover and long-distance commuting. Interviewees offered explanations for increasing employee turnover and commuting, including lack of housing, lack of employment for spouses, lack of services for children, social isolation, improving road conditions making long-distance commuting easier, agency incentives and culture, decreasing social cohesion among agency staff, unpaid overtime responsibilities, and agency hiring practices. Community member perceptions regarding long-term changes in community well-being and agency-community relationships were more negative than agency staff’s perceptions.

Diameter limits impede restoration of historical conditions in dry mixed‐conifer forests of eastern Oregon, USA

AbstractThe U.S. Forest Service is reconsidering policies that limit the size of trees that can be removed in the course of restoration treatments in dry forests of eastern Oregon. To evaluate the effects of diameter limits on the ability of managers to meet restoration objectives, we used an existing network of long‐term research plots to summarize historical and contemporary structure and composition of mixed‐conifer forests within a one million‐ha study area in eastern Oregon. Then, we used a novel thinning simulation procedure to quantify the degree to which thinning using different diameter limits restored stands to historical conditions. Contemporary mixed‐conifer forests within the study area are significantly denser, have more basal area, and have a greater proportion of shade‐tolerant species than historical conditions. Our simulations of thinning under current policy that prohibits cutting of trees ≥53 cm show that a quarter of mixed‐conifer stands cannot be restored to within the historical range of basal area or density. Those stands that could be restored to within historical basal area ranges still had a substantially higher component of shade‐tolerant trees than historical stands. Permitting larger shade‐tolerant trees to be removed allowed restoration of all or most of stands to within historical structural and compositional ranges. Forest conditions in the late 1800s may not necessarily provide the best template for management because climate and disturbance projections suggest that eastern Oregon forests will be less well suited to shade‐tolerant species in the future. Adapting stands to future conditions will require robust monitoring of forest structural and compositional response to restoration treatments.

Direct and indirect pathways between childhood instability and adult homelessness in a low-income population

Abstract There is a homelessness crisis in the United States. Many investments have been made to reverse this crisis including building more affordable housing and providing rent subsidies, which create mechanisms to support people who are currently experiencing homelessness. However, less is known about how to invest upstream to prevent homelessness in the first place. In this paper, we explore the pathway to adult homelessness from childhood instability through potentially modifiable adolescent experiences including running away, school dropout, and abuse of drugs or alcohol. We used results from our life course survey of a Medicaid population (N = 2,348) in a large metropolitan area in Oregon to create a structural equation model that measured the relationships between these experiences and adult homelessness. The overall effect of childhood instability on adult homelessness was 0.475 (p

Rapid Invasion by The Annual Grass Ventenata dubia into Protected-Area, Low-Elevation Sagebrush Steppe

Wiregrass (Ventenata dubia [Leers] Coss.), an annual grass from the Mediterranean region of North Africa and Eurasia that has aggressive invasion potential in many North American plant communities, has only recently been reported in low-elevation sagebrush steppe. We first encountered wiregrass in 2014 in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, a low-elevation steppe protected area in central Oregon. This discovery was incidental to formal vegetation monitoring that was initiated in the monument in 2009. We first encountered wiregrass in monitoring plots in 2016, and, from plot data, we documented rapid spread during 2017–2019. Wiregrass infestation increased within our 4674-ha monitored area from 21 ha (95% CI, 3 to 106 ha) in 2016 to 138 ha (95% CI, 31 to 265 ha) in 2018, and declined to 63 ha (95% CI, 13 to 119 ha) in 2019, representing a cumulative increase of 300% over the 4-year period. Variation in weather may explain this annual variation in wiregrass. We examined mean monthly water balance deficit during the autumn, winter, and spring preceding each survey year and found evidence of a potential correlation between winter deficit and wiregrass. The lowest winter deficit occurred in 2018 prior to the survey documenting the largest wiregrass increase. Wiregrass exhibited a broad ecological niche within our survey area, occurring across all surveyed elevations and on all but steep southern slopes. Invaded sites were in well-drained clay soils in association with other invasive annual grasses. Our observations contribute to the growing evidence that wiregrass poses a greater threat to low-elevation sagebrush ecosystems than previously recognized. It also illustrates the kinds of external stressors that are impacting sagebrush steppe protected areas and the need for continued early detection and rapid response measures, as well as long-term monitoring of invasions and response effectiveness.

Editorial Introduction

Editorial Introduction Patti Duncan I began drafting this introduction while sheltering in place in Oregon early in the COVID-19 pandemic, writing in small moments of time between zoom meetings, remote teaching, and helping my child adjust to distance learning. I returned to it following the racist police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, Nina Pop, and others, amidst mass protests across the nation and around the world, and feelings of deep, collective grief. I finally finish it during a transnational uprising against racist state violence and white supremacy, while we continue to live with deep uncertainty, precarity, and trauma. Writing this brief introduction has taken me much longer than usual because it's difficult to focus. I don't know what the future holds for my community, my family, my students, or my university. I write as someone with an auto-immune syndrome that places me in a high-risk category in a moment when campuses are announcing that they will reopen in the fall. I write as a non-Black woman of color committed to the Black Lives Matter movement. I write from my home in the Clackamas area of Oregon, on the land of the Clackamas people who traditionally lived along the Clackamas River until being forcibly removed. I don't know how we will all weather this storm, and what our collective losses will ultimately be. I write this while still grieving my mother's passing, a few months before we all became aware of COVID-19, from a rare form of cancer that was diagnosed just months before her death. Like many of you, during these months I've been learning new things about grief, getting familiar with loss, and pausing to try to gather my stories and my loved ones close. But still, there is so much work to do. The authors in this issue of Feminist Formations highlight this point, offering questions, frameworks, and theories that provide meaning during these difficult times. Through their critiques of settler colonial and carceral logics, arguments about racism, white supremacy, xenophobia, and Islamophobia, and discussions of the connections among gender, sexuality, race, and disability, these writers move us forward in important new directions. Their articles are timely and urgent. They offer theoretical frameworks and analyses that help us make sense of the world right now. In this moment when we are learning that nothing in our world will ever be the same, I share them with the hopes that they offer you some meaning, comfort, and hope. [End Page vii] We begin this issue with "Black Feminist Thought and the Gender, Women's, and Feminist Studies PhD: A Roundtable Discussion," by Grace Adeniyi-Ogunyankin, Moya Bailey, Karen Flynn, Bettina Judd, Ayana K. Weekley, Jennifer Musial, and Melissa Autumn White. This piece is based on a roundtable discussion that took place at the National Women's Studies Association (NWSA) Conference in 2017. In the discussion, participants reflect on their work as Black feminist scholars in Gender, Women's, and Feminist Studies (GWFS) programs and departments, their experiences earning the PhD in this discipline, and their hopes for the future of GWFS. Their collaboration "serves as part wake-up call, part warning, and part 'truth telling' about the realities of being a Black woman intellectual navigating GWFS PhD training and post-PhD faculty life." Adeniyi-Ogunyankin, Bailey, Flynn, Judd, and Weekley describe both interpersonal and structural forms of violence that they have encountered in the academy. They theorize how the logics of slavery continue to shape institutional spaces, contexts, and structures. And in describing and analyzing painful experiences of anti-Black racism, microaggressions, exclusionary practices, and feelings of "push out," the authors also offer their collaboration as a call to action, pointing to "the importance of making Black Feminist Thought more explicitly central to the very possibility of the field of GWFS." Building on the work of other Black feminist intellectuals, they ask, "How do/can Black women survive the GWFS PhD?" In "Amplifying Our Voices: Feminist Scholars Writing for the Public," Carrie N. Baker, Aviva Dove-Viebahn, Michele Tracy Berger, Carmen Rios, and Karon Jolna describe their work writing for Ms. Magazine, and argue...

Availability of pharmacist prescription of contraception in rural areas of Oregon and New Mexico

ObjectiveTo determine the availability of pharmacist prescribing of hormonal contraception in rural areas of two states. Study designCross-sectional survey. ResultsOverall, 42% of pharmacies prescribed contraception (Oregon: 46% and New Mexico 19%). A similar proportion of rural pharmacies reported offering pharmacist prescription of 37 contraception as urban locations (39% vs 46%, p = 0.26). Nearly 53% of rural and 45% of urban pharmacies report billing women, rather than insurance, directly for the cost of the pharmacist consultation. Over 80% of pharmacists in both rural and urban locations did not know if Medicaid covered the cost. ConclusionPharmacists in rural areas are as willing as their urban counterparts to prescribe hormonal contraception. Financial barriers remain a concern.

Understanding the Socioeconomic and Health Challenges of the Medicaid Expansion Population in Oregon.

Following the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Medicaid eligibility in the United States expanded to include low-income adults. One key challenge for organizations and providers serving the Medicaid population was predicting if and how this change would alter the composition of enrollees. This study characterized demographics, socioeconomic challenges, and health of the expansion and non-expansion Medicaid populations in a metropolitan area in Oregon using a survey and Medicaid claims. Results showed that the expansion population has more men and non-English speakers than the non-expansion population. They also have greater education and employment, but face similar socioeconomic challenges including struggling to meet basic needs and housing instability. This study also found comparable self-reported physical and mental health, but lower prevalence of physical or mental health diagnoses and several ambulatory care reactive conditions including hypertension, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. The authors concluded that expansion and non-expansion populations differ in sex, language, education, employment, and health, but they face similar socioeconomic challenges. This information is useful for organizations coordinating and providing care to Medicaid members so they can understand the needs of the population and set appropriate population health management strategies.

A Bridge in Flux: Narratives and the Policy Process in the Pacific Northwest

AbstractPolicy narratives play an important role in the policy process. Often policy narratives originate from advocacy coalitions seeking increased support from the public for their policy stance. Although most Narrative Policy Framework studies have focused on national policy issues, this study examines a state and local economic development project by exploring the policy narratives from competing coalitions in favor and opposed to the project. Specifically, in the Portland–Vancouver area of Oregon and Washington, local policy discussions have been dominated by a proposal for a new mega bridge on Interstate‐5 connecting the two cities across the Columbia River. A new government agency (CRC—Columbia River Crossing) was formed for the implementation of this project. Upon approval of a proposal, CRC experienced heavy backlash from citizens, local businesses, community leaders, and other stakeholders leading to the formation of two competing coalitions in opposition and support of the bridge. This study, using content analysis of 370 public documents, finds that competing coalitions utilize policy narratives in strategic ways to characterize the opposing coalition, themselves, and other actors in the policy subsystem. This study also suggests that the strength and cohesion of a coalition's narrative contributes to its policy success and the winning/losing status of a coalition potentially determines the types of strategies they will use. Last, this study introduces and tests a new narrative strategy called the impotent shift testing a coalition's strategic use of the victim character.