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The International Food Aid Policies of the United States
No full textThe United States’ (US) current food aid foreign policies do not allow it to fulfill the primary goal of providing food aid to people in other countries who need it. The US’s current policies encourage dumping its agricultural surpluses into other countries’ markets in the form of food aid. Although this practice may further US economic pursuits, it undermines the goals of the US’ food aid programs by distorting markets and undermining producers in recipient countries. These countries then become dependent on US food aid, which further tilts the global market toward US agricultural products. US food aid foreign policy also exhibits structural issues, such as monetization and requirements that food aid be purchased from US farmers and shipped on US vessels. These practices waste money that the US could have spent on feeding more people. Drawing on government statistics, policy experts’ opinions, news reports, and recent examples of food aid policies’ effects, this brief delineates three policy options to more closely align US food aid foreign policy with its intended objectives. It will ultimately recommend that the US resolve its structural mismanagement issues impeding the efficacy of its food aid programs and divert funds away from development projects and toward disaster relief. 
Body Mass Index as a Patient Selection Criterion for Kidney Transplant
No full textThere is currently no consensus on the ideal body mass index (BMI) for kidney transplantation, yet an elevated BMI can limit access to transplantation. This study explored the attitudes of kidney transplant professionals regarding BMI as a selection criterion for kidney transplantation. Brief, in-person interviews were conducted at the 2016 American Transplant Congress. Participants were queried on their views regarding kidney transplant eligibility for patients with classes 1, 2, and 3 obesity, as well as their transplant centers’ BMI-related policies. Most (88%) of the 94 participants did not consider class 1 obesity (BMI 30 to < 35) a contraindication to kidney transplantation, with a greater number of participants reluctant to consider patients with class 2 (BMI 35 to < 40) or class 3 obesity (BMI ³ 40) for transplantation. Participants identified a mean maximum BMI 2.3 points higher than the mean maximum BMI reported in transplant center patient selection criteria policies. Overall, kidney transplant professionals viewed BMI as a useful patient selection criterion when considered within the larger context of the patient’s clinical picture. Future research should assess outcomes for transplant recipients with varying obesity levels
The Use of Non-Surgical Injectable Procedures Among Transgender Communities
No full textEach year, millions of Americans undergo non-surgical injectable procedures to rejuvenate, add volume, and shape the face. These minimally invasive procedures are routinely performed by licensed medical professionals including plastic surgeons and dermatologist using FDA approved substances. Because these procedures alter physical appearance, non-surgical injectable procedures may compliment gender-affirming procedures that some transgender (trans) individuals undergo to affirm their gender identity. However, severe marginalization and discrimination towards trans communities often leaves formalized medical settings inaccessible. Indeed, anecdotal reporting and medical literature indicate that there is a market for performing these procedures in unregulated medical settings using dangerous non-FDA approved materials outside of safe medical settings. The practice, referred to often as “pumping”, happens particularly within trans communities, largely because of social and political factors that make formalized medicine inaccessible. Even though pumping can be an affirming experience for trans individuals, an unfortunate number of those who undergo non-FDA approved non-surgical injectable procedures experience uncorrectable adverse outcomes including death. Despite indications that trans individuals may benefit from FDA approved non-surgical injectable procedures and the growing literature detailing irreversible outcomes of non-FDA approved non-surgical injectable procedures, the medical and scientific communities do not fully understand how trans individuals conceptualize and engage with non-surgical injectable procedures. A brief overview of factors that may contribute to this underground practice is presented in this narrative review and synthesized to inform suggestions for future socio-behavioral and epidemiological approaches that ultimately aim to expand access to safe and affirming healthcare settings for trans individuals.
The Construction of National Identity and Historicity in the Tourist Attractions of Taipei and Beijing
No full textHeritage tourism, or tourism to sites which authentically represent the past and present lives of the people of a nation (National Trust for Historic Preservation, 2010), is indelibly tied to nationalism, and is an important tool which nations and governments use to collectively construct a national identity and narrative. Nationalism uses an imagined common heritage to construct and unite diverse citizens and construct a single, unified national identity (Morais et al., 2010), so heritage sites are the de facto canvasses onto which the collective national identity is created, synthesized, or confirmed. This is especially important in cases of nations which have experienced upheaval and changes in government and social dynamics, such as mainland China and Taiwan. In order to create a synergized and easily digestible version of a complex history, sites are constructed or contextualized to suit a particular narrative. Those which do not suit that narrative may be destroyed, de- emphasized, or reimagined as a new type of heritage. For this reason, the creation and preservation of heritage tourism sites cannot simply be regarded as a politically inert action; instead, we must consider heritage sites as subject to biased selection and interpretation, whose creators utilize history as a tool to further a particular narrative (Morais et al., 2010). This paper sets out to analyze the ways in which heritage tourism sites have been selectively interpreted in Taipei and Beijing to manipulate and modify ideas of historicity, ethnic identity, and national identity in their citizens
Legislative Bodies Legislating Bodies: Cultural and Religious Conceptions of Sex Work in Spain and the Netherlands
No full textSex commerce is perhaps the most widely-contested exchange of goods and services across the world. Although there is a lack of cohesion on how to govern and regulate the sex industry, common legal frameworks emerge across borders. The four traditional legal frameworks of sex work are abolitionism, prohibitionism, decriminalization, and legalization, but each nation-state shapes their own nuanced legal framework based on one of these four general models. Legal frameworks of sex work vary across borders and even within them due to cultural, ethic, moral, and religious differences among constituencies. Overall, “historical, geographical, cultural, psychic, and imaginative boundaries” define the way societies approach the legal structures that govern sex work.1 For example, “some politicians understand sex work as deviant and undesirable, which in turn justifies laws, policies, and regulations intended to control where and how sex commerce takes place.”2 Spain and the Netherlands, two Western European countries with religious and cultural differences, regulate sex work differently due to cultural and religious practices. These societal differences toward conceptions of criminality and sex work highlight the varied approaches governments take towards sex commerce based on their construction of citizenship, work, and dignity
Collaboration in International Policy for the Climate Displaced
No full textThis essay analyzes the problem of displacement caused by climate change, focusing on issues of climate justice and the protection of climate displaced peoples (CDPs) and arguing for the creation of a collaborative cross-UN framework for CDPs, the numbers of whom are projected to grow drastically in the next thirty years. Informed by a critical analysis of documents from international organizations like the World Bank and UNHCR, among others, it articulates a set of criteria for successful integration of resettled CDPs to be utilized in the formation of a CDP framework. These criteria are formulated based on an understanding of the literature on the topic and the gaps present in current policy regarding CDPs. The essay then analyzes two cases of resettlement, one past and one ongoing, in order to demonstrate past issues in resettlement and to hypothesize the positive impacts that such a framework could have on climate displacement in the future by helping to fill gaps in policy. Based on this research and analysis, this essay concludes that a cross-UN framework could feasibly be pursued in order to provide CDPs with comprehensive protectio
Methods of On-Site Electricity Generation with Landfill Gas
Get PDFThe US consumes large quantities of electricity. As a result, there is a growing concern that energy may not be readily available in the future. This worry is compounded by the depletion of traditional sources such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Municipal solid waste in landfills is a resource the country may utilize as a renewable source of energy, as the gas produced from landfills can be used to power generators for electricity production, rather than wasted and flared to comply with Resource Conservation and Recovery Act standards. Systems that utilize reciprocating internal combustion engines, microturbines, and molten carbonate fuel cells can feasibly and cleanly reduce landfill gas emissions while producing electricity. However, these methods require input work and initial investments. The main economic goal is to maximize energy production. After economic analysis, the molten carbonate fuel cell system was determined to be the most efficient due to its versatility and low emissions. The successful implementation of the system may result in the propagation of the system, the increase in value of landfill gas, and the waste that produces landfill gas. This may also lead to restructuring of municipal waste system to enhance the usage of landfill gas. Keywords: municipal solid waste, MSW, landfill gas, reciprocating internal combustion engines, microturbines, molten carbonate fuel cells, MCFCs, siloxanes, emissions, greenhouse gases