Universally Designed Playgrounds: An Outdoor Play Place for All

A fundamental part of a child’s development is the ability to participate in physical, social, and emotional play. However, play can be limited for children with certain disabilities because of environmental barriers, especially on the playground. This project provided an educational manual for the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd building committee and church council which will enable them to learn about, appreciate and implement universal design principles when creating a playground that meets the needs of all children, including those with disabilities affected by environmental barriers. The manual provides information about the impact of mental and physical disabilities on play and gives an overall background on universal design principles and how those principles might be applied to a playground setting to encourage play for children with and without disabilities

The hunting songs and singing tradition of the Cumbrian Lakeland Fell Packs

Sometimes referred to as ‘The anthem of Cumbria,’ ‘John Peel’ is a folk song known the world over. Following its inclusion in The National Song Book of 1906 (and subsequent volumes in 1938 and 1958), ‘John Peel’ was sung in schools and homes across England and became, in particular, the most famous Lakeland Hunting Song. Yet there appears never to have been any academic enquiry conducted into this singing tradition, attached in specific to the Lakeland Fell Packs. This thesis, therefore, seeks to address this gap in folk music and ethnomusicological scholarship by revealing the sociocultural importance of this tradition through a study of Lakeland Hunting Songs: their history, texts, and tunes. Lakeland Hunting remains a very much ‘living tradition,’ and over the course of around six years I have compiled 313 Lakeland Hunting Songs from a variety of sources, including multiple live recordings made at so-called ‘sing-songs.’ The songs themselves, though they are cited and sometimes quoted, do not make up the body of this thesis, however. Part 1 begins by outlining my role, attending specifically to my status as a partial insider, as well as summarising the methodology and techniques used in the course of this study. Part 2 charts an initial history of the Lakeland Hunting Song tradition: how it started; how it has changed over time; and how it might continue. Part 3 looks at the texts by way of comparisons first with seventeenth- and eighteenth-century hunting songs and then with Bothy Ballads, before considering the tunes of the songs in my collection; it aspires to understand what might be meant by the term ‘Lakeland Hunting Song.’ Overall, it is my hope that this study will act as a catalyst for further research into this regional singing tradition—one which is seemingly of great sociocultural importance for the people still inhabiting these Lakeland communities today

Spatial patterns of scour and fill in dryland sand bed streams

Reproduced with permission of the publisher. © 2006 American Geophysical UnionSpatial patterns of scour and fill in two dryland ephemeral stream channels with sandy bed material have been measured with dense arrays of scour chains. Although the depth and areal extent of bed activity increased with discharge, active bed reworking at particular locations within the reaches resulted in downstream patterns of alternate shallower and deeper areas of scour. The variation was such that mean scour depths for individual cross sections varied about the mean for the reach by a factor of 2–4 while the locus of maximum scour traced a sinuous path about the channel centerline. The wavelength of the pattern of scour was about seven times the channel width. During each event, compensating fill returned the streambeds to preflow elevations, indicating that the streams were in approximate steady state over the period of study. Although the patterns of periodically enhanced scour along alternate sides of the channels are consistent with models of periodically reversing helical flow, further work is required to identify the causal relationships between patterns of flow and sediment transport in dryland sand bed channels

Implementation and Outcomes of a Community-Based Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program in Rural Appalachia

Purpose: To report on the implementation and clinical outcomes of a community-based pulmonary rehabilitation program in rural Appalachia. Methods: Three rural health centers and a large referral hospital worked together to establish pulmonary rehabilitation services based on AACVPR guidelines. Each site hired at least 1 respiratory therapist. To measure clinical outcomes, a retrospective medical record study compared pre- and post-program values for the modifi ed Medical Research Council dyspnea level, 6-minute walk test (6MWT), negative inspiratory force (NIF), respiratory disease knowledge, St George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), BODE index (body mass index, airfl ow obstruction, dyspnea and exercise capacity), and smoking status. The percentages of persons completing the program and participating in maintenance exercise after the program were recorded. Results: During the fi rst 20 months of the program, 195 unduplicated persons with qualifying chronic lung diseases started the program. Of these, 111 (57%) completed the program. Mean improvements for all 6 measures were highly signifi cant ( P \u3c .001) and compared favorably with published results from hospital-based programs: dyspnea level, − 1.2; 6MWT, + 259 ft; NIF, + 11.3 cm H 2 O; knowledge test, + 1.9; SGRQ, − 6.2; BODE index, − 1.1. Of the 23 smokers, 5 quit by the end of the program. Conclusions: Community-based pulmonary rehabilitation in rural health centers is feasible and achieves clinical outcomes similar to programs in large hospitals and academic centers. Furthermore, the addition of respiratory therapists to these primary care teams provides important collateral benefi ts for the evidence-based care of patients with chronic lung diseases

Складова духовної культури та запорука стабільності політичного режиму Марокко

Головною тенденцією останніх десятиліть стали процеси глобалізації, які по-різному впливають на країни, так би мовити, „старого центру” та „периферії”. У „центрі” зосередились країни, в яких демократія має давні традиції, що зміцнювалися на засадах західноєвропейської християнської культури. Якщо взяти африканський континент, то побачимо там сукупність специфічних проблем, які одночасно наближають і віддаляють країни, що її складають, від глобалізаційних процесів. Отже, природно, що увага спеціалістів з проблем світового демократичного транзиту, культурології, політології, хоча й з різних причин, прикута до „чорного континенту”. Однією з проблем, що викликає небуденний інтерес дослідників, є стосунки, взаємодія західної та східної цивілізацій

Latitude, temperature, and habitat complexity predict predation pressure in eelgrass beds across the Northern Hemisphere

Latitudinal gradients in species interactions are widely cited as potential causes or consequences of global patterns of biodiversity. However, mechanistic studies documenting changes in interactions across broad geographic ranges are limited. We surveyed predation intensity on common prey (live amphipods and gastropods) in communities of eelgrass (Zostera marina) at 48 sites across its Northern Hemisphere range, encompassing over 370 of latitude and four continental coastlines. Predation on amphipods declined with latitude on all coasts but declined more strongly along western ocean margins where temperature gradients are steeper. Whereas in situ water temperature at the time of the experiments was uncorrelated with predation, mean annual temperature strongly positively predicted predation, suggesting a more complex mechanism than simple increased metabolic activity at the time of predation. This large-scale biogeographic pattern was modified by local habitat characteristics; predation declined with higher shoot density both among and within sites. Predation rates on gastropods, by contrast, were uniformly low and varied little among sites. The high replication and geographic extent of our study not only provides additional evidence to support biogeographic variation in intensity, but also insight into the mechanisms that relate temperature and biogeographic gradients in species interactions

Kiitigaan Medgwe Nishnawbe - Good Things Growing: Literature Reviews to Inform Indigenous Food Self-Determination Planning and Evaluation

This project summary offers a short description of a project undertaken by the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute in collaboration with local consulting firms. Researchers produced an annotated bibliography and a literature review for the Nishnawbe Aski Nation in order to inform community-based food system planning and evaluation processes within four remote Ontario First Nations communities

Infundibular sparing versus transinfundibular approach to the repair of tetralogy of Fallot

IntroductionThe right ventricular infundibular sparing approach (RVIS) to the repair of tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) avoids a full‐thickness ventricular incision, typically utilized in the transinfundibular (TI) method.MethodsWe performed a retrospective, age‐matched cohort study of patients who underwent RVIS at Texas Children’s Hospital or TI at Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Nebraska and subsequently underwent cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR). We compared right ventricular end‐diastolic and systolic volumes indexed to body surface area (RVEDVi and RVESVi) and right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) as primary endpoints. Secondary endpoints were indexed left ventricular diastolic and systolic volume (LVEDVi and LVESVi), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), right ventricular (RV) sinus ejection fraction (EF) and RV outflow tract EF (RVOT EF).ResultsSeventy‐nine patients were included in the analysis; 40 underwent RVIS and 39 underwent TI repair. None of the patients in the TI repair group had an initial palliation with a systemic to pulmonary arterial shunt compared to seven (18%) in the RVIS group (P < .01). There was no appreciable difference in RVEDVi (122 ± 29 cc/m2 vs 130 ± 29 cc/m2, P = .59) or pulmonary regurgitant fraction (40 ± 13 vs 37 ± 18, P = .29) between the RVIS and TI groups. Compared to the TI group, the RVIS group had higher RVEF (54 ± 6% vs 44 ± 9%, P < .01), lower RVESV (57 ± 17 cc/m2 vs 67 ± 25 cc/m2, P = .03), higher LVEF (61 ± 11% vs 54 ± 8%, P < .01), higher RVOT EF (47 ± 12% vs 41 ± 11%, P = .03), and higher RV sinus EF (56 ± 5% vs 49 ± 6%, P < .01)ConclusionsIn this selected cohort, patients who underwent RVIS repair for TOF had higher right and left ventricular ejection fraction compared to those who underwent TI repair.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152818/1/chd12863_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152818/2/chd12863.pd

The role of citizen science in meeting SDG targets around soil health

Healthy soils are vital for sustainable development, yet consistent soil monitoring is scarce, and soils are poorly represented in United Nations Sustainable Development Goals targets and indicators. There is a clear need for specific ambitions on soil health, accompanying metrics, and cost-effective monitoring methodologies. In this paper, we review citizen science methods and platforms which could compliment structured soil monitoring programmes and contribute to filling this knowledge gap. We focussed on soil structure, organic carbon, biodiversity, nutrients, and vegetation cover. Each method was classified as red, amber, or green (RAG) in terms of time requirements, cost, and data reliability. Toolkits were assessed in terms of cost and requirement for specialist kit. We found 32 methods across the five indicators. Three soil monitoring methods scored green on all criteria, and 20 (63%) scored green on two criteria. We found 13 toolkits appropriate for citizen science monitoring of soil health. Three of them are free, easy to use, and do not require specialist equipment. Our review revealed multiple citizen science methods and toolkits for each of the five soil health indicators. This should pave the way towards a cost-effective, joined-up approach on soil health, informing national and international policy and supporting the move towards farmer-led, data-driven decision-making

The functional role of producer diversity in ecosystems

Over the past several decades, a rapidly expanding field of research known as biodiversity and ecosystem functioning has begun to quantify how the world\u27s biological diversity can, as an independent variable, control ecological processes that are both essential for, and fundamental to, the functioning of ecosystems. Research in this area has often been justified on grounds that (1) loss of biological diversity ranks among the most pronounced changes to the global environment and that (2) reductions in diversity, and corresponding changes in species composition, could alter important services that ecosystems provide to humanity (e.g., food production, pest/disease control, water purification). Here we review over two decades of experiments that have examined how species richness of primary producers influences the suite of ecological processes that are controlled by plants and algae in terrestrial, marine, and freshwater ecosystems. Using formal meta-analyses, we assess the balance of evidence for eight fundamental questions and corresponding hypotheses about the functional role of producer diversity in ecosystems. These include questions about how primary producer diversity influences the efficiency of resource use and biomass production in ecosystems, how primary producer diversity influences the transfer and recycling of biomass to other trophic groups in a food web, and the number of species and spatial /temporal scales at which diversity effects are most apparent. After summarizing the balance of evidence and stating our own confidence in the conclusions, we outline several new questions that must now be addressed if this field is going to evolve into a predictive science that can help conserve and manage ecological processes in ecosystems