Medical service shortages, rural residence, and socioeconomic and cultural factors may pose barriers to breast and cervical cancer screening among women living in the Appalachian region of the United States. This study determined the rates of breast and cervical cancer screening in Appalachia and identified factors associated with screening. Data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Sys...

Fire-maintained ecosystems and associated species are becoming increasingly rare in the southern Appalachian Mountains because of fire suppression policies implemented in the early 20th century. Restoration of these communities through prescribed fire has been hindered by a lack of information on historical fire regimes. To characterize past fire regimes, we collected and absolutely dated the t...

CONTEXT In 11 counties in Appalachian Ohio, the self-reported prevalence of diabetes mellitus (11.3%) is higher than the state (7.8%) or national (7.2%) average. Direct medical costs for diabetes in the United States are estimated at $176 billion annually. Indirect costs from disability, work loss, and premature death add up to another $69 billion. OBJECTIVE To determine the effectiveness of ...

INTRODUCTION In Appalachia, youth tobacco-use rates remain higher than the U.S. national average. Past research has indicated that several factors are related to high rates of tobacco use among Appalachian youth (e.g. low socioeconomic status, rural lifestyles). Of the Appalachian states, Kentucky has one of the highest rates of youth tobacco use. The aim of this study was to explore views of t...

The Allatoona thrust fault in the southernmost hinterland of Appalachian Blue Ridge-Piedmont megathrust sheet is among latest structures kinematic sequence events along west flank orogen. It an out-of-sequence, craton-directed that cuts metamorphic isograds and earlier thrusts, it has a nearly linear trace ≥280 km, making one major faults On northwest, Pennsylvanian or younger(?) regional cross...

BACKGROUND Significant shifts in climate are considered a threat to plants and animals with significant physiological limitations and limited dispersal abilities. The southern Appalachian Mountains are a global hotspot for plethodontid salamander diversity. Plethodontids are lungless ectotherms, so their ecology is strongly governed by temperature and precipitation. Many plethodontid species in...

Objectives. This study investigated the associations between poverty rates, Appalachian mountaintop coal mining, and age-adjusted total mortality rates to determine if persons exposed to this form of mining experience greater poverty and higher death rates compared to other types of mining or other areas of Appalachia. Methods. Mortality rates, poverty rates, Appalachian designation and mining ...

OBJECTIVE The objective of our study of oral health disparities in Appalachia was to use existing data sources to geographically analyze suspected disparities in oral health status in the 420 counties of Appalachia, and to make sub-state comparisons within Appalachia and to the rest of the nation. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe the methods used to overcome challenges associated w...

The Lapland–Kola Orogen (LKO; former Kola craton) in the northern Fennoscandian Shield comprises a collage of partially reworked late Archaean terranes with intervening belts of Palaeoproterozoic juvenile crust including the classic Lapland Granulite Terrane. Rifting of Archaean crust began at c 2.5–2.4 Ga as attested by layered mafic and anorthositic intrusions developed throughout the norther...