Boom and Decline: When Greenways Link Low and High SES Neighborhoods

Social and economic inequalities in American cities mean that “booming cities” all have neighborhoods that are not thriving, and “declining cities” are likely to have some areas that are booming. Disadvantaged urban neighborhoods with high numbers of people living in poverty exist in all cities, but they are more pervasive in declining cities. Greenways, linear features in the urban landscape, cut across neighborhoods with varying levels of socioeconomic status (SES), depending on their design and place-specific characteristics. Where greenways link wealth to poverty, interesting concerns, issues, and opportunities arise. This paper reviews existing research on phenomena associated with this particular aspect of urban greenways: connections that greenways make between boom and decline, between wealth and poverty, between advantaged and disadvantaged neighborhoods. Factors specific to greenway planning in low SES neighborhoods are identified, and a greenway planning framework for addressing inequalities is proposed. Examples of specific greenway projects where high SES to low SES linkages occur and have been document are provided

Margaret Mae Bryant Papers - Accession 21

The collection consists of Dr. Bryant’s professional and organizational files, biographical data, correspondence, and speeches. Most of the material relates to her publishing efforts, her work as a faculty member at Brooklyn College, and her involvement with professional organizations, especially the New York branch of the American Association of University Women. Most of the material extends form 1950-1975. A list of the more prominent individuals who corresponded with Margaret Bryant has been included as an appendix to the inventory. (For more extensive and comprehensive list of correspondents, see the list included in the collection control file.)https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/manuscriptcollection_findingaids/1012/thumbnail.jp

The health legacy of the European coal mining regions: The role of socio-economic context and individual life course histories of the over 50’s in influencing regional health differences

This study looks into the health legacy of a selection of European coalmining regions, comparing the health of survey respondents over 50 years of age living in coalfield regions to those living in non-coalfield regions. A review of literature in the field suggests that regions characterised by a history of coalmining and subsequent de-industrialisation are often associated with poor population health outcomes, compared to non-coalfield regions. The reasons for this are complex, but are associated with country and regional social and economic characteristics impacting on individual social and economic characteristics through psychosocial processes which influence individual behaviour and lifestyles and bio-chemical responses to stress. Drawing upon data from two harmonised European surveys of people aged fifty years and over: The Survey of Health and Aging in Europe (SHARE) and the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA); combined with data covering country and regional contextual factors from Eurostat’s General and Regional statistics database; this study identifies if there are differences in health between individuals living in coalfield regions and non-coalfield regions in European countries. Individual demographic, socio-economic and health risk characteristics are examined to see how far they can explain any health differences between coalfield and non-coalfield regions. The study goes on to assess country and regional contextual socio-economic, environmental and political factors which could help the understanding of the reasons behind health differences between coalfield and non-coalfield regions, and between coalfield regions between countries. Using logistic regression, interpreted in light of a qualitative assessment of some selected literature sources, the findings confirm an underlying general ‘coalfield health effect’ after controlling for individual characteristics, but one which varies between countries and which suggests the role of national and regional economic conditions and policy directives play a role on influencing health inequalities between coalfield and non-coalfield regions

Investigation into background levels of small organic samples at the NERC Radiocarbon Laboratory

Recent progress in preparation/combustion of submilligram organic samples at our laboratories is presented. Routine methods had to be modified/refined to achieve acceptable and consistent procedural blanks for organic samples smaller than 1000 g C. A description of the process leading to a modified combustion method for smaller organic samples is given in detail. In addition to analyzing different background materials, the influence of different chemical reagents on the overall radiocarbon background level was investigated, such as carbon contamination arising from copper oxide of different purities and from different suppliers. Using the modified combustion method, small amounts of background materials and known-age standard IAEA-C5 were individually combusted to CO2. Below 1000 g C, organic background levels follow an inverse mass dependency when combusted with the modified method, increasing from 0.13 0.05 pMC up to 1.20 0.04 pMC for 80 g C. Results for a given carbon mass were lower for combustion of etched Iceland spar calcite mineral, indicating that part of the observed background of bituminous coal was probably introduced by handling the material in atmosphere prior to combustion. Using the modified combustion method, the background-corrected activity of IAEA-C5 agreed to within 2 s of the consensus value of 23.05 pMC down to a sample mass of 55 g C

Progress in AMS target production in sub-milligram samples at the NERC Radiocarbon Laboratory

. Recent progress in graphite target production for sub-milligram environmental samples in our facility is presented. We describe an optimized hydrolysis procedure now routinely used for the preparation of CO2 from inorganic samples, a new high-vacuum line dedicated to small sample processing (combining sample distillation and graphitization units), as well as a modified graphitization procedure. Although measurements of graphite targets as small as 35 µg C have been achieved, system background and measurement uncertainties increase significantly below 150 µg C. As target lifetime can become critically short for targets <150 µg C, the facility currently only processes inorganic samples down to 150 µg C. All radiocarbon measurements are made at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC) accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) facility. Sample processing and analysis are labor-intensive, taking approximately 3 times longer than samples ≥500 µg C. The technical details of the new system, graphitization yield, fractionation introduced during the process, and the system blank are discussed in detail

A Program Evaluation Of A District Designed Virtual Academy In A Small Rural School District

The Virtual Learning Model (VLM) can be the best learning modality to foster personalized learning for K-12 students. This research study aims to bring to light the expectations of an appropriate district designed VLM for a rural school district in Virginia as it pertained to creation, implementation, as measured by the Virginia Department of Education criteria model, student attendance, and student assessment scores. The data for this process and product study were collected through a mix-methods approach across elementary Grades 3-5. Findings discussed in this study include an appropriate VLM, attendance rates for participants for three years prior to participation in the program, and assessment data related to performance measures from the fall to the spring during the time of program implementation. These findings answer the question as to the appropriateness and viability of the program based on the state criteria and student outcome data. Other findings include the need for program consistency as applicable to selected participants and services related to English Language Learners. These findings indicate the need for future research into the sustainability of a district designed VLM in the K-12 setting as well as the need to collect assessment data for all VLM participants

Mental Health Functioning in the Human Rights Field: Findings from an International Internet-Based Survey

Human rights advocates play a critical role in promoting respect for human rights world-wide, and engage in a broad range of strategies, including documentation of rights violations, monitoring, press work and report-writing, advocacy, and litigation. However, little is known about the impact of human rights work on the mental health of human rights advocates. This study examined the mental health profile of human rights advocates and risk factors associated with their psychological functioning. 346 individuals currently or previously working in the field of human rights completed an internet-based survey regarding trauma exposure, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), resilience and occupational burnout. PTSD was measured with the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C) and depression was measured with the Patient History Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). These findings revealed that among human rights advocates that completed the survey, 19.4% met criteria for PTSD, 18.8% met criteria for subthreshold PTSD, and 14.7% met criteria for depression. Multiple linear regressions revealed that after controlling for symptoms of depression, PTSD symptom severity was predicted by human rights-related trauma exposure, perfectionism and negative self-appraisals about human rights work. In addition, after controlling for symptoms of PTSD, depressive symptoms were predicted by perfectionism and lower levels of self-efficacy. Survey responses also wuggested high levels of resilience: 43% of responders reported minimal symptoms of PTSD. Although survey responses suggest that many human rights workers are resilient, they also suggest that human rights work is associated with elevated rates of PTSD and depression. The field of human rights would benefit from further empirical research, as well as additional education and training programs in the workplace about enhancing resilience in the context of human rights work

Cultivating Forgiveness and Compassion Through a Mindfulness-based Program for Teachers: Results from Two Field Interventions

The aim of this research was to determine if a mindfulness-training (MT) program for teachers cultivated habits of mind (e.g., mindfulness, emotion regulation, compassion and forgiveness) conducive to effective teaching. Data were gathered in two randomized control trials. Results from pre- to post-test and follow-up showed that MT was associated with increases in mindfulness, efficacy for regulating emotion on the job, and the tendency to forgive others. Linguistic analyses revealed that teachers who underwent MT expressed more positive affect when discussing their most challenging student than those in the waitlist control group. Results warrant further investigation using behavioral-, observational-, and third-person measures of these habits of mind in the target individual

Cultivating Forgiveness and Compassion Through a Mindfulness-based Program for Teachers: Results from Two Field Interventions

The aim of this research was to determine if a mindfulness-training (MT) program for teachers cultivated habits of mind (e.g., mindfulness, emotion regulation, compassion and forgiveness) conducive to effective teaching. Data were gathered in two randomized control trials. Results from pre- to post-test and follow-up showed that MT was associated with increases in mindfulness, efficacy for regulating emotion on the job, and the tendency to forgive others. Linguistic analyses revealed that teachers who underwent MT expressed more positive affect when discussing their most challenging student than those in the waitlist control group. Results warrant further investigation using behavioral-, observational-, and third-person measures of these habits of mind in the target individual