Level walking in adults with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder: An analysis of movement variability

Several studies have shown that Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is a condition that continues beyond childhood. Although adults with DCD report difficulties with dynamic balance, as well as frequent tripping and bumping into objects, there have been no specific studies on walking in this population. Some previous work has focused on walking in children with DCD but variation in the tasks and measures used has led to inconsistent findings. The aim of the current study therefore was to examine the characteristics of level walking in adults with and without DCD. Fifteen adults with DCD and 15 typically developing (TD) controls walked barefoot at a natural pace up and down an 11 m walkway for one minute. Foot placement measures and velocity and acceleration of the body were recorded, as well as measures of movement variability. The adults with DCD showed similar gait patterns to the TD group in terms of step length, step width, double support time and stride time. The DCD group also showed similar velocity and acceleration to the TD group in the medio-lateral, anterior-posterior and vertical direction. However, the DCD group exhibited greater variability in all foot placement and some body movement measures. The finding that adults with DCD have a reduced ability to produce consistent movement patterns is discussed in relation to postural control limitations and compared to variability of walking measures found in elderly populations

Episode 1: Investigating Potentially Unlawful Death: the Minnesota Protocol

Runtime 45:33In this podcast, Barbara Frey, director of the Human Rights Program in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota, discusses The Minnesota Protocol. The Minnesota Protocol was – and remains – a ground-breaking piece of work with significant impact. However, the time is ripe for revision, to take account of developments in both international law and forensic science. As a key UN text providing guidance on the practical implementation of the duty to protect life and the obligation to investigate potentially unlawful deaths, its updating will ensure its continuing relevance over the coming decades. In a number of resolutions, the UN Commission on Human Rights called for such a revision (also later referenced by its successor, the Human Rights Council)

Episode 3: Predatory Criminal Justice Practices

Runtime 45:01In March 2015, Americans learned from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that the city of Ferguson, Missouri had been operating a "predatory system of government." Police officers were acting as street-level enforcers for a program—aggressively promoted by city officials—in which fines and fees were used to extract resources from poor communities of color and deliver them to municipal coffers. In this talk, Joe Soss, professor at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, argues that what the DOJ discovered in Ferguson should not be seen as anomalous, either in relation to U.S. history or contemporary American governance. Based on an ongoing book project with Joshua Page, Soss offers a political analysis of the origins, operations, and consequences of revenue-centered criminal justice practices that have grown dramatically in the U.S. since the 1990s. Under this policy regime, local governments and market firms draw substantial revenue streams from fine-centered policing, court fees, bail systems, prison charges, civil asset forfeiture, and much more

Episode 13: All-city Carbon Emissions: Understanding City Types and Impact

Runtime 10:08It is common practice to consider the carbon emissions of single cities. But what happens when you analyze carbon emissions for all cities in a country using nationally aligned data? In this podcast, Anu Ramaswami, professor at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, discusses how all-city analysis can reveal “city types” that help inform carbon policy and action

Episode 12: Circular Economies and Low-Carbon Urban Infrastructure Planning

Runtime 13:14What is the unique role that urban infrastructure planning can play in national carbon mitigation? In this podcast, Anu Ramaswami, professor at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, discusses how cities are positioned to plan infrastructure systems using circular economy principles that reduce material and energy reuse across sectors to deliver a low-carbon future

Episode 17: Violence and Restraint: Making Strategic Decisions During Civil War

Runtime 21:13"Does civil war always lead to violence against civilians? The short answer is no, according to Jessica Stanton, an associate professor in the global policy area at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Stanton's research has found that more than 40 percent of the civil wars between 1989 and 2010 did not involve large-scale attacks on civilians. ""We haven't paid enough attention to the fact that not all civil wars involve violence against civilians,"" she says. So why do some governments and rebel groups engage in violence against civilians while others exhibit restraint? ""Both violence and restraint can be strategic,"" Stanton says. Understanding why some groups avoid targeting civilians may help policymakers incentivize groups to exercise restraint. Stanton is the author of Violence and Restraint in Civil War: Civilian Targeting in the Shadow of International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2016).

Episode 23: New Directions for Disaster Planning Research

Runtime 23:22“Talking about some of the theoretical underpinnings that have devalued the lives of oppressed communities worldwide is a really important conversation to have,” says Fayola Jacobs, an assistant professor in the urban and regional planning area at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Jacobs' recent work explores how disaster planning has engaged—or failed to engage—oppressed communities. Using the lenses of black feminism and radical planning theory, Jacobs breaks down the concept of "social vulnerability" and its implication for environmental planning and policy. “When we pretend that the field is even and we can just ignore race ... then we implement policies that continue to exacerbate inequities,” she says

Episode 6: The Limited Prospects for International Tax Cooperation

Runtime 41:31The recent pace of international agreement aimed to reduce tax evasion and avoidance was completely unpredicted prior to the financial crisis. The two targets are often considered to be merely different dimensions of the same problem, but they are largely different problems. In this podcast, Robert Kudrle, Orville and Jane Freeman Chair in International Trade and Investment Policy at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, explores the two problems and the prospects for success in solving them.Kudrle, Robert; Conners, Kate. (2017). Episode 6: The Limited Prospects for International Tax Cooperation. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/218216

Episode 10: Examining Racially Concentrated Areas of Affluence in the US

Runtime 20:07"Contemporary federal housing policy in the United States has largely focused on racially segregated areas with high levels of poverty, known as racially concentrated areas of poverty (RCAPs). In this podcast, Ed Goetz, professor at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, examines the other side of this dynamic—concentrated areas of white affluence. Goetz, director of the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, discusses his work to identify and understand racially concentrated areas of affluence (RCAAs). ""When we started our study, we were actually responding to advocates for low income communities who maintained that this single-minded focus on their communities problematized their communities, stigmatized their communities, and ignored the other half of the segregation formula—which is of course the ability and tendency of white people to seclude themselves into neighborhoods,"" says Goetz. ""So we tried to look at the other side of the coin.""

Episode 15: Economic Impacts of US Immigration Policies

Runtime 23:40"Impeding the path of immigrants—throwing up roadblocks that allow immigrants to come to the United States—is going to create some real economic problems in the future," warns Humphrey School of Public Affairs Associate Professor Ryan Allen. In this podcast Allen discusses the potential economic impacts of immigration policies in the United States and Minnesota, focusing on the role of immigrants in the workforce and the resulting net fiscal effects. "We're actually losing more of our native born residents than we're gaining," says Allen. "More people tend to leave the state of Minnesota than move here from other states. And so, we're going to have to rely on international immigrants. If instead of increasing the flow of international immigrants we're reducing it, that's going to have an enormous impact on our labor force, and potentially, a large impact on the kinds of economic growth we expect in the state.