KRISTINA PODNAR is a digital policy innovator. For over two decades, she has worked with some of the most high-profile companies in the world and has helped them see policies as opportunities to free the organization from uncertainty, risk, and internal chaos. Podnar’s approach brings in marketing, human resources, IT, legal, compliance, security, and procurement to create digital policies and practices that comply with regulations, unlock opportunity, strengthen the brand and liberate employees.
Podnar speaks regularly at industry conferences, contributes articles to publications, and delivers masterclasses on digital policy. Podnar is the Principal of NativeTrust Consulting, LLC. She has a BA in international studies and an MBA in international business from the Dominican University of California and is certified as both a Change Management Practitioner (APMG International) and a Project Management Professional (Project Management Institute). Her new book, The Power of Digital Policy: A practical guide to minimizing risk and maximizing opportunity for your organization, is available on Amazon and through other fine booksellers. For more information, visit Kristina @ www.kpodnar.com and on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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USDA Seeks Feedback from Growers about 2019 Crops, Stocks, Livestock Inventories and Values
LAKEWOOD, Colo. – April 17, 2019 – Over the course of the next two months, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will conduct two major mid-year surveys, the June Agricultural Survey and the June Area Survey. The agency will contact over 12,000 producers across the region to determine crop acreage and stock levels as of June 1, 2019. “Two of the most important and well-known surveys NASS conducts are the June Agricultural Survey and June Area Survey, due to the widespread and significant impact of their results,” explained Bill Meyer, director, Mountain Regional Field Office. “When growers respond to these surveys, they provide essential information that helps determine the expected acreage and supply of major commodities in the United States for the 2019 crop year. Results of this survey are used by farmers and ranchers, USDA, businesses, exporters, researchers, economists, policymakers, and others who use the survey information in making a wide range of decisions that benefit you as a producer.” Data for the June Agricultural Surveys are gathered by NASS via the internet, mail, phone, or an in-person interview. For the June Area Survey, trained NASDA enumerators representing NASS visit select tracts of land and interview the operators of any farm or ranch within that selected tract. Growers are asked to provide information on planted and harvested acreage – including acreage for biotech crops and grain stocks. Additionally, the survey collects data on livestock inventory, cash rents, land values, and value of sales. “NASS safeguards the privacy of all respondents and publishes only state and national level data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified,” stated Meyer. “We recognize this is a hectic time for farmers and ranchers, but the information they provide helps U.S. agriculture remain viable and strong. I urge them to respond to these surveys and thank them for their cooperation,” NASS will analyze the survey information and publish the results in a series of USDA reports, including the annual Acreage and Quarterly Grain Stocks reports, both to be released June 28, 2019. Survey data also contributes to the NASS’ monthly and annual Crop Production reports, the annual Small Grains Summary, the annual Farms and Land in Farms as well as the Land Values report. The data is also valuable in various livestock reports, including Cattle, Sheep and Goats, and Hogs and Pigs summaries, as well as USDA’s monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates. These and all NASS reports are available online at www.nass.usda.gov/Publications. For more information call the NASS Mountain Regional Field Office at (800) 392-3202.
For state specific questions please contact: Arizona – Dave DeWalt 1-800-645-7286 Colorado – William R. Meyer 1-800-392-3202 Montana – Eric Sommer 1-800-835-2612 New Mexico – Longino Bustillos 1-800-530-8810 Utah – John Hilton 1-800-747-8522 Wyoming – Rhonda Brandt 1-800-892-1660
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4 Undiscussed But Serious
Side Effects of Sleep Apnea
It’s estimated that 22 million Americans have sleep apnea, and that 80 percent of moderate to severe cases are undiagnosed.
Also known as Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS), the condition affects between 5 and 20 percent of adults and 10-20 percent of children. While many are familiar with some side effects – loud snoring, disturbed sleep, and daytime sleepiness – other related issues are talked about less, but can be quite severe.
“The disruption of nasal breathing can affect digestion, brain function, mood, attention, growth, heart health, head pain, metabolism and much more,” says Dr. Edmund Lipskis(www.drlipskis.com), director of the Centre For Integrative Orthodontics and co-author with his wife, Dr. Lynn Lipskis, of Breathe, Sleep, Live, Smile: Integrative Treatments for TMJ/TMD, Sleep Apnea, Orthodontics. “But sleep apnea in children can be treated at a young age. The symptoms include irritability, lack of concentration, poor school performance, pseudo ADHD, and nighttime bed wetting.”
Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when a blocked airway prevents the body from getting the oxygen it needs. Breathing can stop for several seconds numerous times during the night.
“This causes the brain to wake up so the sleeper can breathe,” Dr. Lipskis says. “People with OSA usually don’t remember every instance of waking up, but the result is fragmented sleep.”
Dr. Lynn Lipskis adds that proper diagnosis, combined with advanced technology, can lead to successful treatment. She says there are more than 100 FDA-approved appliances for treating sleep apnea and proper selection is key to addressing the individual’s special needs.
“For adults, that can mean therapy using an oral appliance,” she says. “For children, it can mean orthopedic orthodontics for airway development and correction.”
The Lipskis team points out four of the less-discussed but serious side effects of sleep apnea:
Depression. Depression is linked with OSA and works both ways. “That is, people who are depressed are more likely to develop OSA, and people with OSA are more likely to develop depression,” Dr. Lynn Lipskis says. “One study found that slightly less than half of people with OSA showed depressive symptoms. This is not so surprising, considering that restful sleep is so important for physical and mental health.”
Chronic pain. As with depression, chronic pain may be a cause of, or may be caused by, OSA. A study found that over half the people with OSA had chronic widespread pain and that the risk was higher in women than in men.
Hormone disruption. Sleep is a critical time for the body to regulate hormones. “An important one to note is the growth hormone HGH, which is produced during Stage 3 sleep,” Lipskis says. “It helps with cell reproduction, cell regeneration, and metabolism. If Stage III sleep is cut short, or never reached, HGH can’t perform its job. So rather than repairing itself during sleep, the body continues to break down.”
Nocturia. This is the frequent need to urinate at night. “People with OSA are more likely to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom,” Dr. Edmund Lipskis says. “That’s because it affects the release of antidiuretic hormone (ADH), which prevents fluid from filling the bladder and prevents the need to urinate during the night. When ADH can’t do what it’s supposed to, the bladder fills and the urge to urinate appears. This is yet another way that OSA disturbs proper bodily functions and compounds disordered sleep.”
“If you suffer from OSA or suspect you do, have a sleep study done, which includes a diagnosis by a medical physician,” Dr. Lynn Lipskis says. “This is the only way to correctly diagnose OSA or other sleep disorders. OSA should be treated as a serious medical condition because the consequences go far beyond daytime fatigue.”
About Dr. Edmund Lipskis, DDS, MS and Dr. Lynn Lipskis, DDS
Dr. Edmund Lipskis (www.drlipskis.com) is the director of The Centre for Integrative Orthodontics and co-author, with his wife, Dr. Lynn Lipskis, of Breathe, Sleep, Live, Smile: Integrative Treatments for TMJ/TMD, Sleep Apnea, Orthodontics. He is a Master Senior Instructor in the International Board of Orthodontics and board-certified by the International Board of Orthodontics and the American Board of Craniofacial Pain. Co-founder of St. Charles Family Dentistry Ltd. and the TMJ & Sleep Therapy Centre of Chicago, he has lectured internationally on phase-two treatment (via orthodontics) of chronic-pain individuals and airway-focused orthodontics.
Dr. Lynn Lipskis (www.drlipskis.com), a graduate of Loyola University School of Dentistry, is director of the TMJ & Sleep Therapy Centre. She co-founded St. Charles Family Dentistry Ltd. with her husband, with whom she has practiced dentistry for 30 years. She was a clinical instructor in pediatric dentistry at Loyola University School of Dentistry until it closed in 1993. She is a Diplomat of the American Board of Craniofacial Pain and the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine. Since 2011, she has concentrated her professional attention on the practice of dental sleep medicine and the treatment of TMJ and chronic pain. The Lipskis’ host a doctors’ course on airway-focused orthodontics on an annual basis.
