A hierarchy of personal agency for people with life-limiting illness

The purpose of the study was to discover how individuals diagnosed with a life-limiting illness experienced themselves as agents, even in the face of death. In this qualitative, multiple case study design four female outpatient hospice patients with terminal illnesses received humanistic counselling to explore their experiences of themselves and their illness. A graded set of 8 levels of personal agency emerged from analyses of the texts of their sessions, ranging from a passive, objectified Non-agentic mode to an active, autonomous Fully Agentic mode, with multiple subcategories representing further gradations within levels. Our results are consistent with guidelines for supportive and palliative care with advanced cancer, which specify that dying patients’ needs be assessed and that they be involved in decisions about their care

VALUING FOREST ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN MARYLAND AND SUGGESTING FAIR PAYMENT USING THE PRINCIPLES OF SYSTEMS ECOLOGY

Forests provide a multitude of vital benefits to the ecosystems, economies and people of Maryland. Forests regulate atmospheric gas exchange, ameliorate micro-climates, stabilize coastlines and riverbanks, provide wildlife habitat, generate and maintain soils, improve water quality, dampen storm flows, abate air pollution, and provide food, fiber, fuel and shelter. While markets exist to set the price for an economic good like timber, many of the ecosystem services listed above are poorly valued, if at all. This research provides a connection between biophysical and economic methods for evaluating the environment. The hydrology, soil, carbon, air pollution, pollination and biodiversity of a forest are measured from a biophysical standpoint with emergy and converted to dollars using new emergy-to-dollar ratios; termed eco-prices. The functioning of the forest is compared to the most likely alternative land-use (suburbia) and biophysical value is assigned based on this difference. The novel method for assigning value to ecosystem services and the ability to link biophysical evaluation and economic valuation has the potential to be influential in how ecosystem services are incorporated into the economy and used to guide decision making in the future. This research seeks to value ecosystem services provided by forests in Maryland and proposes that an Ecological Investment Corporation (EIC) could be an additional tool for society to direct payments from consumers to land stewards to encourage the production of ecosystem services. To ensure that Maryland forests continue to produce ecosystem services at the current rate, land stewards should receive compensation between $178 and$744 million. On a per capita basis, a resident of Maryland enjoys $850 worth of ecosystem services from the forest as public value. On an area basis, the typical acre of forest in Maryland generates over$2000 of ecosystem services as public value. Based on our compensation estimates for ecosystem services, a land steward should receive a fair payment price of $71 to$298 per year per a typical acre of forest. This research is a step forward for emergy science, providing novel methods for quantifying ecosystem services, calculating ecological debt, and converting renewable emergy flows to dollars

Environmental Benefits Associated with Online Instruction

Meta-analyses indicate that online learning and face-to-face instruction are similar in learning achievement and course satisfaction. In this study, we ask whether offering courses online results in behavior change such that fewer driving trips are made to campus. The environmental consequences are assessed by calculating the CO2 emissions savings. The results indicate that offering a class of 100 students with an online format leads to reduced CO2 savings of 5-7 tons, and knowledge of such an environmental benefit can lead to enhanced student satisfaction with distance learning

THE EFFECT OF MOTION CONTROL SHOES ON LOWER LIMB MECHANICS IN FEMALE RUNNERS WITH PATELLOFEMORAL PAIN

Patellofemoral pain (PFP) is the most common complaint affecting runners and is understood to be a multifactorial condition. Excessive pronation of the subtalar joint has been associated with almost all maladies of the lower limb throughout the sports medicine literature however biomechanical research linking excessive subtalar joint pronation and patellofemoral pain is scarce. This study set out to ascertain the role of foot eversion on skeletal alignment and PFPS. Secondary to this, the effechveness of Motion Control shoes to carry out their primary function was also investigated. A second type of neutral running shoe, ASICS Nimbus, was used as the control comparison. The results of this study found that Motion Control running shoes reduced leg adduction and thigh external rotation (p>O.01), thereby resulting in the adoption of a more neutral lower limb skeletal alignment. The neutral shoe (Nimbus) induced no change to leg or thigh mechanics over the adaptation period

Seasonal distribution and population parameters of woodland caribou in central Manitoba: implications for forestry practices

Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in the boreal forest are believed threatened by human encroachment and associated disturbances such as resource exploration and extraction. We radiocollared and monitored fifteen female woodland caribou in central Manitoba, from 1995 to 1997, to obtain information on their population range, seasonal distribution and movements in relation to forestry concerns. The population ranged over 4600 km2 within a large peatland system and concentrated their activities in two areas for both the summer and winter seasons. Females were relatively more solitary during the summer and exhibited fidelity to specific calving and summering areas averaging 83.4 km2. Individual wintering locations varied between years and among individuals. Post-rut and pre-calving mixed-sex aggregations occurred on the southern portion of the herds range. Caribou from the northern part of the range utilized a traditional travel corridor moving as far as 65 km to access the aggregation areas and their summer or winter ranges. Adult survival during the study period averaged 0.90 (95% CI, 0.80-1.00). Survival of the 1995 cohort appeared to be high as indicated by the 0.65:1 calf-cow ratio, and 30 ± 7% calf composition of observed caribou in the autumn of 1995. The annual rate of change (A,) of 1.19 (95% CI, 1.02-1.36) from January to November of 1995 indicated rhat the population was increasing at that time

Kinetic Sensitivity of a New Lumbo-Pelvic Model to Variation in Segment Parameter Input

This study aimed to assess variability in lumbo-pelvic forces and moments during a dynamic high-impact activity (cricket fast bowling) when calculated using different body segment parameters (BSPs). The first three BSPs were estimated using methods where the trunk was divided into segments according to nonspinal anatomical landmarks. The final approach defined segment boundaries according to vertebral level. Three-dimensional motion analysis data from nine male cricketers’ bowling trials were processed using the four BSPs. A repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed no significant effect on peak lumbo-pelvic forces. However, the segmentation approach based on vertebral level resulted in significantly larger peak flexion and lateral flexion moments than the other BSP data sets. This has implications for comparisons between studies using different BSP parameters. Further, given that a method defined with reference to vertebral level more closely corresponds with relevant anatomical structures, this approach may more accurately reflect lumbar moments

Electronic Spectroscopy of Monocyclic Carbon Ring Cations for Astrochemical Consideration

[Image: see text] Gas phase electronic spectra of pure carbon cations generated by laser vaporization of graphite in a supersonic jet and cooled to below 10 K and tagged with helium atoms in a cryogenic trap are presented. The measured C(2n)(+)–He with n from 6 to 14, are believed to be monocyclic ring structures and possess an origin band wavelength that shifts linearly with the number of carbon atoms, as recently demonstrated through N(2) tagging by Buntine et al. (J. Chem. Phys.2021, 155, 21430234879679). The set of data presented here further constrains the spectral characteristics inferred for the bare C(2n)(+) ions to facilitate astronomical searches for them in diffuse clouds by absorption spectroscopy

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SHOULDER COUNTER-ROTATION ANDLUMBAR MECHANICS DURING FAST BOWLING

The purpose of this study was to quantify lumbar kinematics and kinetics during fast bowling using a novel inverse dynamics model, and to explore the relationship between shoulder counter-rotation (SCR) (a variable that has been associated with the development of spondylolysis in fast bowlers) and lumbar range of motion and moments. Ten fast bowlers participated in the study. A large correlation was found between SCR and lumbar rotation range of motion between front foot contact and ball release (r=0.628,