Paul Gunderson

Lake Region State College · Dakota Precision Ag Center

ABSTRACT There is significant interest in biomass production ranging from government agencies to the private sector, both inside and outside of the traditional production agricultural setting. This interest has led to an increase in the development and production of biomass crops. Much of this effort has focused on specific segments of the process,...

This decade has provided North American agricultural producers with opportunity to not only produce fiber and food, but also fuel and other industrial products. The drivers incenting this development could be sustained well into the future, therefore workforce safety and health implications are likely to persist for some time. Within production agr...

To compare psychological stress, quality of marital life, and disruptive homelife due to work among rural women of central Wisconsin who take vacations frequently and those who do not. Women were recruited from 1996 to 2001 for a prospective cohort study from the Marshfield Epidemiologic Study area, a geographic area in central Wisconsin. Stratifie...

Agencies serving the estimated 42,000 to 137,000 migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the Lake States (Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota) face distinct challenges, including inadequate access to farmworker data to address their needs. This project developed and evaluated a geographical information system (GIS) database for compiling and displaying...

The aim of the present study is to investigate the association between psychosocial work characteristics and health functioning and cardiovascular disease risk factors among rural women of central Wisconsin and compare psychosocial work characteristics between farm and nonfarm women. Stratified sampling was used to select a random sample (n = 1500)...

The aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of psychological factors on plasma lipid levels among rural women of central Wisconsin and to compare the effects of these variables among normal-weight and overweight women. Stratified sampling was used to select a random sample (n=1500) of farm and non-farm women aged 25 to 71 years from...

Agricultural work is the most prevalent type of employment in the world. In the United States only a few are engaged in creating food and fiber for many. Agriculture includes farming, ranching, fishing, and forestry, and together they carry significant risk for the development of injury or illness. There are numerous special-population issues relat...

To determine the proportion of rural women who met screening recommendations for Pap smears, mammograms, blood cholesterol, and blood pressure measurements. Women aged 25-75 were recruited for a population-based study of chronic diseases in rural residents. In addition to a self-administered health questionnaire and a brief examination, the most re...

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is readily available and widely recommended, yet usage among agricultural workers is largely unknown. A mail survey of 2,483 farmers in six Midwestern states with telephone follow-up addressed PPE usage related to sun exposure, noise abatement, chain saw usage, welding and metal work, handling of large animals in...

The purpose of this paper is to describe the baseline difference in cardiovascular disease risk factors between farm and non-farm women in the Rural Women's Health Study. Women aged 25 to 75 years were recruited from the Central Marshfield Epidemiologic Study Area, a geographically defined area surrounding Marshfield, Wis. (population 19,000), wher...

The long-term capability to evaluate the ecological impact of agronomic practice on the larger ecosystem is essential. Fortunately, these evaluations have been under way for some time. The first was initiated in the mid-1800s with the establishment of the Rothamsted experimental station in England in 1843. Other sites in the English-speaking world...

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between prevalence of respiratory disease in swine and respiratory health of swine farmers. Fourteen farms were selected based on clinical history and slaughtercheck evidence of respiratory problems in pigs. The farms were divided into two groups with either high (n = 7) or low (n =...

The wide spectrum of agricultural diseases and injuries, combined with the changes in health care delivery, underscores the need for rural health care providers to maintain competency in occupational medicine pertaining to agriculture. Educational needs and training preferences of rural health care providers were determined through mail survey rese...

In a continuing effort to explore the application and the reliability of self-reported symptoms and cholinesterase levels over time, 22 ginseng producers in central Wisconsin participated in two years of on-site testing. Each year, the participants reported on farming practices and health-seeking behavior and completed a 20-item questionnaire relat...

A small number of women are the owner/operators of farms and women often participate in the work of production agriculture. Estimates of the percentage of females involved in agricultural injuries range from 11-45% and it is not clear if the risk factors associated with injuries to women are different from those for men. In a two year case-control...

Persons with learning disabilities (mental retardation, hyperactivity disorder, or a language learning disorder) who suffered agricultural injuries during a two-year period of observation were identified. Their charts were reviewed for evidence of injuries both before and after that time period. A spectrum of injuries were seen with the most common...

Cumulative sun exposure has been linked to about 95 percent of all skin cancers. Farmers and their families, by nature of their occupations, are exposed to an abundance of sun over a long period of time and, therefore, are at an increased risk for skin cancer. Because education is known to be a primary means of health, Future Farmers of America (FF...

To assess the characteristics of rural emergency medical services providers involved in the prehospital care of victims of agricultural injuries and determine which aspects of an agricultural rescue course were perceived as most useful. A questionnaire was sent to participants of a course designed for agricultural prehospital providers who had atte...

Results from a quasi-experimental project indicate that skin cancer prevention and sun protection education can successfully be promoted by using peer educators. Senior high students (40) facilitated and taught a sun protection curriculum to third-grade students (508) enrolled at the experimental sites. The curriculum's effects were assessed with p...

Established methods of health promotion for the general population are not as effective with rural populations, in part because conventional health education delivery systems may not penetrate isolated rural areas. In particular, the self-reliant behaviors of farmers make them less likely to seek traditional forms of health care, including health p...

Proxy respondents have often been used in case-control studies of cancer and pesticides. To evaluate the effect of exposure misclassification, we compared data collected during 1981-1983 from participants interviewed for a case-control study of leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with data collected during 1990-1991 from proxy respondents for parti...

School-based clinics in St. Paul have provided comprehensive health services, including reproductive health care, for almost two decades. This study examines the effects of those clinics on the birthrates in their respective schools, using a newly developed methodology with numerous advantages over previous methods for estimating student birthrates...

Using birth-registration data, a case-control study was done to investigate the possible associations of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with birth characteristics and maternal reproductive history. The data included cases born and diagnosed in Minnesota since 1969. Matched analyses were conducted using 337 cases and 1336 birth year-ma...

The purpose of this study is to describe pesticide exposure in the population of callers to Minnesota Regional Poison Centers. Case files from 1988 reporting pesticide exposure to humans were identified in cooperation with the Minnesota Center for Health Statistics. Data analysis was conducted by computer using SAS statistical package. Of the 1,428...

A descriptive study of adolescent work injuries was undertaken using information from Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry workers' compensation files. During the two-year period, 1986-1987, 1,607 work-related injuries were reported in adolescents ages 12 through 17. The largest proportions of injuries occurred in wholesale and retail trade (...

We conducted a population-based study of drownings in Minnesota from 1980 through 1985. Five hundred and forty-one drownings (2.1 per 100,000 person-years) were identified from death certificates and from incident reports filed with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Most drownings (334, 62 percent) occurred during summer months (May-Au...

Information on agricultural trauma is limited and difficult to find. Planning for effective prevention strategies and evaluation is compromised by lack of a good surveillance system. Several agencies and organizations have provided some data. Although their summation is at best an approximation of the real situation, a critical review of current da...

Neuroblastoma is the most common neoplasm in children less than 1 year of age and has one of the earliest incidence peaks of all childhood cancers. Using birth registration data, a matched case-control study was undertaken to investigate potential prenatal and perinatal risk factors. Ninety-seven neuroblastoma patients who were born in Minnesota we...

The trends in mortality from aortic aneurysms in the United States from 1951 through 1981 were studied. Annual age-specific and age-adjusted mortality for aortic aneurysms were calculated for white males, white females, nonwhite males, and nonwhite females. For all four groups, a constant increase in age-adjusted mortality was noted for the period...

Increased birth weight previously has been reported to be associated with childhood acute leukemia although the etiologic importance of this finding remains unclear. To further assess birth weight and associated parameters as a risk factor for childhood leukemia, a case/control study was performed using children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (A...

Malignant mesothelioma is a sentinel neoplasm for population exposure to asbestiform fibers. Public health officials may be alerted to temporal or spatial clustering of malignant mesothelioma through analyses of vital records, such as death certificates. Hence, the maintenance of the integrity of the vital statistics system, particularly the cause...

Studied suicide rates of farm and ranch residents in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. 1,352 cases were identified. The rate among farmers was the highest, followed by farm laborers and farm women. Child and adolescent farm residents had the lowest suicide rates. South Dakota and Montana reported proportionately more su...

The OSHA Power Generation Standard states that power generation employees shall be trained in specific applications of the standard that apply to individual job requirements. The intent of the project objective, then, is to create a tailored course that identifies standard requirements that apply to wind energy technicians.The purpose of this proje...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Minnesota. Bibliography: leaves 194-203.