Human Dimensions Research for Informed Decisions About Aquatic Restoration In New Hampshire: Environmental Justice in Implementation of Compensatory Mitigation: Recording of Simone Chapman MS thesis defense presentation

New Hampshire’s aquatic resources provide many important ecosystem services and values, such as recreation, wildlife habitat, flood storage, nutrient reduction, community identity and aesthetic enjoyment. However, the many competing interests that seek to benefit from New Hampshire’s aquatic resources present challenges for efforts to steward public aquatic resources in the public interest. This thesis presents findings about the environmental justice outcomes of New Hampshire’s compensatory mitigation program, the Aquatic Resource Mitigation (ARM) fund, to inform aquatic restoration policy. Previous studies have found evidence that aquatic restoration programs can lead to systemic resource relocation and patterns of inequality in outcomes. Using geospatial and statistical analyses, this research compares census-tract level socioeconomic data on specific demographic characteristics (minority population, low education, population density and income) with the spatial location of New Hampshire compensatory mitigation program sites. Census tracts are analyzed according to groupings at the state level and for two service areas with different population densities: the Merrimack and Middle Connecticut Service Areas. This research also applies a geospatial approach to recommend areas where outreach could be expanded to increase environmental justice communities’ participation in the ARM fund. Consistent with previous compensatory mitigation and environmental justice literature, this research finds demographic characteristics are an important consideration for environmental justice. At the statewide census-tract level, I find that populations around mitigation sites are more likely to have a lower percentage of nonwhite populations, lower population density, and higher income, as compared to sites without mitigation sites. Populations around permit sites are also likely to have lower population densities. I also find that this level of analysis is important to recognize inequalities and inform natural resource management decisions. In contrast, to the statewide results, I find significant demographic differences within the relatively low population density Middle Connecticut region. For the Merrimack region, which is larger and more diverse, results are similar to the statewide analysis: I find that populations around mitigation sites are more likely to have a lower percentage of nonwhite populations. Unlike the statewide analysis, I find that populations around mitigation sites are more likely to have lower educational attainment and populations around permit sites are more likely to have higher incomes. Then, I identified 26 environmental justice communities with aquatic restoration opportunities and found that almost half of these communities have participated in the ARM fund by submitting proposals to receive mitigation funding. Using an optimizing hot spot analysis and a heat map, I identified three environmental justice communities that have experienced significant wetland loss and to which the ARM Fund could target outreach: Manchester, Dover and Newington. This thesis research is intended to provide guidance to state agencies, cities and towns, nongovernmental organizations, and others interested in advancing protection of New Hampshire’s aquatic resources. The analytic methods contribute to broader research into the human dimensions of water policy

Human Dimensions Research for Informed Decisions About Aquatic Restoration In New Hampshire: Environmental Justice in Implementation of Compensatory Mitigation

New Hampshire’s aquatic resources provide many important ecosystem services and values, such as recreation, wildlife habitat, flood storage, nutrient reduction, community identity and aesthetic enjoyment. However, the many competing interests that seek to benefit from New Hampshire’s aquatic resources present challenges for efforts to steward public aquatic resources in the public interest. This thesis presents findings about the environmental justice outcomes of New Hampshire’s compensatory mitigation program, the Aquatic Resource Mitigation (ARM) fund, to inform aquatic restoration policy. Previous studies have found evidence that aquatic restoration programs can lead to systemic resource relocation and patterns of inequality in outcomes. Using geospatial and statistical analyses, this research compares census-tract level socioeconomic data on specific demographic characteristics (minority population, low education, population density and income) with the spatial location of New Hampshire compensatory mitigation program sites. Census tracts are analyzed according to groupings at the state level and for two service areas with different population densities: the Merrimack and Middle Connecticut Service Areas. This research also applies a geospatial approach to recommend areas where outreach could be expanded to increase environmental justice communities’ participation in the ARM fund. Consistent with previous compensatory mitigation and environmental justice literature, this research finds demographic characteristics are an important consideration for environmental justice. At the statewide census-tract level, I find that populations around mitigation sites are more likely to have a lower percentage of nonwhite populations, lower population density, and higher income, as compared to sites without mitigation sites. Populations around permit sites are also likely to have lower population densities. I also find that this level of analysis is important to recognize inequalities and inform natural resource management decisions. In contrast, to the statewide results, I find significant demographic differences within the relatively low population density Middle Connecticut region. For the Merrimack region, which is larger and more diverse, results are similar to the statewide analysis: I find that populations around mitigation sites are more likely to have a lower percentage of nonwhite populations. Unlike the statewide analysis, I find that populations around mitigation sites are more likely to have lower educational attainment and populations around permit sites are more likely to have higher incomes. Then, I identified 26 environmental justice communities with aquatic restoration opportunities and found that almost half of these communities have participated in the ARM fund by submitting proposals to receive mitigation funding. Using an optimizing hot spot analysis and a heat map, I identified three environmental justice communities that have experienced significant wetland loss and to which the ARM Fund could target outreach: Manchester, Dover and Newington. This thesis research is intended to provide guidance to state agencies, cities and towns, nongovernmental organizations, and others interested in advancing protection of New Hampshire’s aquatic resources. The analytic methods contribute to broader research into the human dimensions of water policy

Staff Perceptions of the Barriers to Mobilizing ICU Patients

Purpose: Whilst early progressive mobilization is known to be safe and beneficial for patients in an intensive care unit (ICU), barriers still exist to its implementation. As part of a broader quality improvement project that had the overall aim of increasing the frequency of mobilization in our ICU, we conducted a survey of ICU staff to investigate their perceptions of the barriers to the early progressive mobilization of ICU patients. Method: A prospective survey of ICU staff in an Australian, tertiary care, public hospital ICU was undertaken. A total of 93 medical, nursing, and physiotherapy staff participated. A purpose-designed survey that investigated staff perceptions of the barriers to the early progressive mobilization of ICU patients was developed. The survey predominantly comprised closed statements requiring responses using a visual analogue scale. Barriers to early progressive mobilization were separated into three sections: patient-related, institutional-related, and other barriers. Results: Patient-related barriers were generally perceived as having the greatest influence on the mobilization of ICU patients, followed closely by institutional-related barriers. The factors that were perceived as most frequently preventing mobilization were hemodynamic instability, reduced level of consciousness, sedation, agitation, impending medical procedure, staff availability, and time constraints. Conclusions: ICU staff perceived that barriers to the early progressive mobilization of ICU patients were multifactorial and most frequently involved patients’ medical condition and resource limitations

Lattice Boltzmann Method for mixtures at variable Schmidt number

When simulating multicomponent mixtures via the Lattice Boltzmann Method, it is desirable to control the mutual diffusivity between species while maintaining the viscosity of the solution fixed. This goal is herein achieved by a modification of the multicomponent Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) evolution equations by introducing two different timescales for mass and momentum diffusion. Diffusivity is thus controlled by an effective drag force acting between species. Numerical simulations confirm the accuracy of the method for neutral binary and charged ternary mixtures in bulk conditions. The simulation of a charged mixture in a charged slit channel show that the conductivity and electro-osmotic mobility exhibit a departure from the Helmholtz-Smoluchowski prediction at high diffusivity.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure

Failing to Engage: Parents’ Acceptance of the Promotion of Unhealthy Foods to Children

Six focus groups were conducted with parents and children to explore issues relating to the promotion of unhealthy foods to children. While general discontent with food advertising was expressed by parents and children, none of the parents reported ever making a formal complaint and most exhibited a begrudging acceptance of the current rates of advertising of unhealthy foods and the manner in which these foods are promoted. The primary reasons for this acceptance were found to be (i) an understanding that businesses need to promote their products to ensure their survival, (ii) an assumption that parents should be capable of overcoming the negative effects of advertising, (iii) the perceived value of competitions, toys, and other give-aways, and (iv) the increasing availability of healthy product variations

What Do We Know About What to Do With Dams? How Knowledge Shapes Public Opinion About Their Removal in New Hampshire

In this brief, authors Simone Chapman, Catherine Ashcraft, Lawrence Hamilton, and Kevin Gardner report the results of an October 2018 Granite State Poll that asked 607 New Hampshire residents how much they have heard, and their thoughts, concerning the question of whether older dams on New Hampshire rivers should be removed for ecological or safety reasons, or whether the dams should be kept. Most people admitted they have not heard or read about this issue, but at the same time they agreed that dams could be removed in at least some cases. The more people heard or read about the issue of dam removal, the more likely they were to support removal in some or most cases. These survey results highlight the need for communicating sound information to the public concerning the costs and benefits of possible dam management options— whether doing nothing, repairs and maintenance, or removal

Dynamics of Fluid Mixtures in Nanospaces

A multicomponent extension of our recent theory of simple fluids [ U.M.B. Marconi and S. Melchionna, Journal of Chemical Physics, 131, 014105 (2009) ] is proposed to describe miscible and immiscible liquid mixtures under inhomogeneous, non steady conditions typical of confined fluid flows. We first derive from a microscopic level the evolution equations of the phase space distribution function of each component in terms of a set of self consistent fields, representing both body forces and viscous forces (forces dependent on the density distributions in the fluid and on the velocity distributions). Secondly, we solve numerically the resulting governing equations by means of the Lattice Boltzmann method whose implementation contains novel features with respect to existing approaches. Our model incorporates hydrodynamic flow, diffusion, surface tension, and the possibility for global and local viscosity variations. We validate our model by studying the bulk viscosity dependence of the mixture on concentration, packing fraction and size ratio. Finally we consider inhomogeneous systems and study the dynamics of mixtures in slits of molecular thickness and relate structural and flow properties.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure

Global synergies and trade-offs between multiple dimensions of biodiversity and ecosystem services

Ensuring the persistence of biodiversity and ecosystem services represents a global challenge that need to be addressed with high urgency. Global priority areas can only be identified by means of an integrated prioritization approach that would not only preserve species numbers and ecosystem services, but also the evolutionary and functional components of diversity. In this study we combine global datasets on the distribution of mammals and birds with species traits and phylogenetic data and we identify conservation priorities for taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity, as well as for three ecosystem services, including potential for carbon sequestration, pollination potential and groundwater recharge. We show that, when priority areas are identified based only on individual, e.g. functional diversity, or any combination of the three biodiversity components, these areas do not allow a sufficient protection of the three ecosystem services. However, an integrated approach whereby prioritization is based on all biodiversity components and ecosystem services would allow to identify areas that maximize protection of all ecosystem services with a minimal loss in biodiversity coverage. Our results highlight the need for an integrated conservation planning framework in order to optimally allocate resources and achieve the long-term preservation of the multiple dimensions of biodiversity and ecosystems services.Peer reviewe

Evaluating Diversity and Inclusion Content on Graduate Medical Education Websites.

UNLABELLED: Websites are important tools for programs to provide future residency applicants with freely accessible information regarding their program, including diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. OBJECTIVE: To describe the variability of DEI content in residency programs and compare DEI website content by specialty. METHODS: Using the 2021 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) list of residency programs, residency training websites were identified and evaluated. Information was extracted from program websites as indicators of DEI content. Chi-square analysis and one-way ANOVA were chosen to assess for statistical differences. RESULTS: In total, 4644 program websites representing 26 specialties were assessed. Among all the programs, the average DEI completeness of a program website was 6.1±14.6% (range 0-100%). While 6.2% of all programs had a diversity webpage, only 13.3% included a commitment to DEI, and few programs (2.7%) provided information about underrepresented in medicine (URiM) faculty. CONCLUSIONS: Graduate medical education programs can enhance information for current and prospective applicants about DEI initiatives on their websites. Including DEI initiatives on residency websites may improve diversity recruitment efforts