Beneficial Use of Dredged Material: Role of State Permitting Programs and Regulations

Beneficial use projects that utilize dredged material will involve several steps: dredging operations, storage of the dredged material, and placement of the dredged material for shoreline resiliency or restoration purposes. Each of these steps implicate different state permitting programs and regulations. Determining which permit programs are applicable will depend on the activity’s impact on the surrounding environment, based on factors such as water quality, and land erosion and degradation. This paper will focus primarily on three questions: Which Virginia permitting programs may apply to the storage of dredged material on an upland site? Which Virginia permitting programs may apply to the placement of dredged material along a shoreline or other waterway as part of a resiliency or restoration project? Can any of the identified permitting programs be expedited to make dredged material beneficial use projects more efficient and effective? This abstract has been taken from Section II of the report

The Experiences of Occupational Therapists in Natural Disasters: A Qualitative Study

OBJECTIVE. This study explored the experiences of occupational therapists who have lived through a natural disaster within the last five years. METHOD. Researchers conducted a literature review and developed a semi-structured interview using the Person Environment Occupation Performance (PEOP) model as a guide. Six occupational therapists (1 male and 5 females) were selected using convenience and purposive snowball sampling. Each participant was interviewed one time. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and data was analyzed using an open coding system. FINDINGS. Following the data analysis process, four categories were identifies. These categories included personal experience, environmental influence, social experience, and professional experience. Two final assertions emerged from the data. The first assertion is that the floods affected the occupational aspects of the participants’ lives personally, environmentally, socially, and professionally. The second assertion is that the participants’ identities as occupational therapists influenced the way in which they responded to the disruptions in their lives. Natural disasters impact all aspects of individuals’ lives. Occupational therapists have the skills and knowledge base to assist individuals in recovering from natural disasters. Additional research is needed to further develop and support the role of occupational therapy in natural disaster relief

Opportunity for All: How the American Public Benefits From Internet Access at U.S. Libraries

Examines the use of free computer and Internet access in public libraries, by income level, age, race/ethnicity, and online activity. Explores libraries' role as a community resource for social media, education, employment, e-government, and other areas

The 2020 Awakening: A Study On Exhibiting Topics of Race and Identity in Mid-Sized Art Museums

After the many racial injustices that occurred in 2020, cultural institutions have been motivated to educate the public on historical and contemporary topics of race and identity. This project sought to analyze exemplary cases of exhibition production with topics of race and identity in mid-sized art museums. The goal was to provide a set of recommendations for exhibiting these topics to bolster community trust. Two museums were studied–the Montclair Art Museum and Newark Museum of Art–which revealed that the exhibitions at both institutions were relevant to contemporary issues, engaging to their respective communities, and educational for a wide range of audiences

Levo-Tetrahydropalmatine Attenuates Cocaine Self-Administration under a Progressive-Ratio Schedule and Cocaine Discrimination in Rats

Levo-tetrahydropalmatine (l-THP) is an alkaloid found in many traditional Chinese herbal preparations and has a unique pharmacological profile that includes dopamine receptor antagonism. Previously we demonstrated that l-THP attenuates fixed-ratio (FR) cocaine self-administration (SA) and cocaine-induced reinstatement in rats at doses that do not alter food-reinforced responding. This study examined the effects of l-THP on cocaine and food SA under progressive-ratio (PR) schedules of reinforcement and the discriminative stimulus effects of cocaine. In adult male Sprague–Dawley rats self-administering cocaine (0.5 or 1.0 mg/kg/inf), l-THP significantly reduced breaking points at the 1.875, 3.75 and 7.5 mg/kg doses. l-THP also reduced the breaking point and response rate for PR SA of sucrose-sweetened food pellets, although the decrease was significant only at the 7.5 mg/kg l-THP dose. In rats trained to discriminate cocaine (10 mg/kg, ip) from saline, l-THP (1.875, 3.75 and 7.5 mg/kg) produced a rightward shift in the dose–response curve for cocaine generalization. During generalization testing, l-THP reduced response rate, but only at the 7.5 mg/kg dose. l-THP also prevented substitution of the dopamine D2/D3 receptor agonist, (±) 7-OH-DPAT, for cocaine suggesting a potential role for antagonism of D2 and/or D3 receptors in the effects of l-THP. These data further demonstrate that l-THP attenuates the reinforcing and subjective effects of cocaine at doses that do not produce marked motor effects and provide additional evidence that l-THP may have utility for the management of cocaine addiction

Innovating Language Education: An NMC Horizon Project Strategic Brief

The NMC is a leading educational technology organization. A main outcome of the collaboration between the Language Flagship Technology Innovation Center and the NMC was this publication, which highlights recommendations that emerged from discussions of major trends, challenges, and technology developments by experts and practitioners in language technologies in higher education. Innovating Language Education identifies main trends and areas of interest and constitutes a rich resource that includes key definitions and proofs of concept

Bacteria from roots of six drought-tolerant plant species inhibit growth of sensitive plant species: a physiological characterization

The role of plant-growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is well documented, but little has been reported about root bacteria that play an antagonist role in plant development, outside of plant pathogenic bacteria. We have characterized six bacterial isolates from drought-tolerant local plant roots. When co-cultivated with seedlings of Brassica rapa and Arabidopsis thaliana under sterile conditions, the six isolates inhibited root hair production of the seedlings after 7 days for Brassica, and 3 weeks for Arabidopsis. We characterized the six bacterial isolates using Gram staining, motility assays, digestive enzyme production (amylase, lipase, caseinase), antibiotic production, and biofilm production. All six isolates were Gram-positive rods of varying size and arrangement. None had the enzyme ACC deaminase - which is common to PGPRs. As might be expected, our isolates did not stimulate plant growth. All six isolates had caseinase activity; five isolates produced the extracellular enzyme amylase, and one isolate - from Monarda fistulosa: (wild bergamot root) - had lipase activity. Isolates from Monarda fistulosa, Agastache foeniculum (anise hyssop root), Verbesina alternifolia (ironweed root), and Platycodon grandiflorus (balloon flower) root produced biofilms. Was the inhibition of Brassica rapa root hair growth by the six isolates due to a lack of ACC deaminase activity or due to an antagonism between native Brassica rapa bacteria and the 6 isolated bacteria from the drought-tolerant plants? To 13 answer this question, lawns of the six root bacterial isolates were tested against 12 native Brassica rapa bacterial isolates for antibiotic activity. Of the 12 native Brassica rapa isolates, several isolates exhibited antibiotic production against five of the six root bacteria. The production of biofilms and antibiotic activity might explain the inhibitory effects of the Brassica rapa native bacteria on the growth of the six isolates from the drought-tolerant plants. In a second poster we have done a molecular characterization of the six isolates.https://openriver.winona.edu/urc2019/1018/thumbnail.jp

Incentivizing Information Literacy Integration: A Case Study on Faculty–Librarian Collaboration

Frequently, information literacy instruction takes the form of a one-shot library session with minimal collaboration between librarians and teaching faculty. To offer an alternative to this model, librarians implemented the Information Literacy Mini-Grant; an incentivized program inviting teaching faculty to collaborate with librarians to redesign an assignment to integrate information literacy into their course. Following the semester-long collaboration, teaching faculty provided written feedback and participated in a panel discussion to share their experiences with the program. This case study examines teaching faculty’s perceptions of collaborating with librarians in the pilot year of the program. Teaching faculty’s feedback provided insights into their perceptions of librarians, their thoughts regarding librarians’ unique expertise as pedagogical partners, and the challenges of collaborations. This case study considers the successes and challenges of the program and provides recommendations for future faculty-librarian collaborations that position librarians as partners in student learning

Prioritizing the Health Care Worker: A Systematic Review of Rapid Response Mental Health Interventions During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The purpose of this systematic review is to examine the effectiveness of rapid response mental health interventions for healthcare workers (HCWs) during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rapid response interventions had been developed early in the pandemic to support healthcare providers as they navigated nationwide workforce shortages, ever-changing protocols, and increased rates of burnout, anxiety, and depression. It is necessary to identify evidence-based rapid response interventions to mitigate negative mental health outcomes and support health and wellbeing to prevent further harm to our HCWs and the overall healthcare system. With an increasing risk of public health emergencies, we need to learn from our experiences to better prepare for the future. Several minimally invasive, rapid response interventions were identified in this systematic review that can be effectively implemented to improve the mental health of health care workers during and following times of crisis