Collaborative Research to Assess Visitor Impacts on Alaska Native Practices along Alagnak Wild River

As one of the region’s famously productive salmon rivers, the Alagnak’s banks historically were lined with villages of both Yup’ik and Alutiiq residents, and archaeological data document millennia of human occupation

Occupational characteristics associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in the UK Biobank during August-November 2020: A cohort study

BACKGROUND: Occupational exposures may play a key role in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection risk. We used a job-exposure matrix linked to the UK Biobank to measure occupational characteristics and estimate associations with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test. METHODS: People reporting job titles at their baseline interview in England who were \u3c 65 years of age in 2020 were included. Healthcare workers were excluded because of differential access to testing. Jobs were linked to the US Occupational Information Network (O*NET) job exposure matrix. O*NET-based scores were examined for occupational physical proximity, exposure to diseases/infection, working outdoors exposed to weather, and working outdoors under cover (score range = 1-5). Jobs were classified as remote work using two algorithms. SARS-CoV-2 test results were evaluated between August 5th-November 10th, 2020, when the UK was released from lockdown. Cox regression was used to calculate adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs), accounting for age, sex, race, education, neighborhood deprivation, assessment center, household size, and income. RESULTS: We included 115,451 people with job titles, of whom 1746 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. A one-point increase in physical proximity score was associated with 1.14 times higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 (95%CI = 1.05-1.24). A one-point increase in the exposure to diseases/infections score was associated with 1.09 times higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 (95%CI = 1.02-1.16). People reporting jobs that could not be done remotely had higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 regardless of the classification algorithm used (aHRs = 1.17 and 1.20). Outdoors work showed an association with SARS-CoV-2 (exposed to weather aHR = 1.06, 95%CI = 1.01-1.11; under cover aHR = 1.08, 95%CI = 1.00-1.17), but these associations were not significant after accounting for whether work could be done remotely. CONCLUSION: People in occupations that were not amenable to remote work, required closer physical proximity, and required more general exposure to diseases/infection had higher risk of a positive SARS-CoV-2 test. These findings provide additional evidence that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an occupational disease, even outside of the healthcare setting, and indicate that strategies for mitigating transmission in in-person work settings will remain important

Occupational demands associated with rotator cuff disease surgery in the UK Biobank

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Respect the Land - It’s Like Part of Us: A Traditional Use Study of Inland Dena’ina Ties to the Chulitna River & Sixmile Lake Basins, Lake Clark National Park and Preserve

For countless generations, Lake Clark has been home to the inland Dena’ina people. This unique and vast fresh-water lake complex sits at the intersection of sprawling tundra, taiga, and jagged cordillera, dotted with villages. Here, village life has been sustained by herds of caribou, shorelines populated by moose and beaver, vast runs of salmon ascending from Bristol Bay, and other natural assets. But the area’s uniqueness extends beyond its abundant natural resources. Also unique is the National Park Service (NPS) unit that has occupied the region known as Lake Clark National Park and Preserve (LACL) in recent decades. The study covers the Interior Dena’ina cultural landscape—involving both the meaning of the landscape to Dena’ina people and their interactions with this core part of their traditional homeland, as well as the physical traces (often very subtle) the community has left on the landscape. We discuss places with unique cultural and historical significance to Interior Dena’ina people within the study area—places associated with historical events and people, with ceremonial traditions, and with enduring crafts. Similarly, we document places and resources associated with teaching cultural knowledge, with healing, and with “storied landscapes.”This document brings together diverse types of information, organized in a manner that will assist all parties in assessing the cultural meaning and value of landscapes in the southwestern corner of LACL. Certain patterns are clear in the data. Interviewees attest to the deep cultural and social significance of fish camps, but also beaver camps and other subsistence stations within the study area—not only as places of resource procurement, but as hubs of cultural activity and the intergenerational transmission of core cultural knowledge. (Some, but not all, of these camps are included on maps within this report.) Many other aspects of Dena’ina culture are sustained by these places, such as traditional craft skills, knowledge of cold weather survival techniques, traditional travel skills, Dena’ina language and traditional stories, and traditional cultural prescriptions for the handling and honoring of game species. Specialized hunting and gathering traditions still practiced by Dena’ina harvesters are also linked to the riparian and lacustrine margins. Medicinal and food plant gathering is widespread in these areas as well. These layers of cultural significance are reflected in longstanding Dena’ina place names found across the landscape. So too, some portion of the names are shown on the maps in this report

An Evaluation of the Effects of Tourism on Traditional Activities: An Ethnographic Study for the Alagnak Wild River Area

This report represents a summary of findings from the study, “An Evaluation of the Effects of Tourism on Traditional Activities: An Ethnographic Study for the Alagnak Wild River Area.” The National Park Service (NPS) administers 56 miles of Wild River along the Alagnak as a unit of the National Park Service, administered through the offices of Katmai National Park and Preserve. The NPS is charged with managing the river’s natural and cultural resources, as well as preserving the river’s lands and resources for current and future generations. Alagnak Wild River was created under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) in 1980, and is managed in collaboration with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which manages the River’s fish and wildlife. An important part of NPS administrative responsibility relating to Alagnak Wild River centers on Alaska Native uses of the River. Alagnak River has long served as a homeland and a key subsistence use area to Alaska Native peoples. Through the 20th century, Native peoples relocated to villages on the nearby Kvichak and Naknek Rivers, Bristol Bay, and beyond. Still, descendants of Alagnak’s former residents have continued to return to Alagnak’s riparian zone to hunt, trap, fish, gather plant materials, recreate, and participate in social gatherings. A number of families maintain allotments along the riparian corridor, and Native corporation lands are found there as well. The place retains a high level of personal significance to many residents of nearby villages today. In recent decades, however, and especially since the establishment of Wild River status in 1980, non-resident visitation of Alagnak Wild River has escalated significantly. This visitation especially involves recreational fishing, but also recreational hunting, boating, rafting, sightseeing, and other pursuits. In some cases, these non-resident uses of the river have been reported to interfere with Alaska Native uses of the River. The nature of these disturbances and their effects on Alaska Native communities appears to be diverse. Alaska Native users report such direct effects as accelerated erosion, crowding, litter and vandalism, new public safety concerns, and a variety of impacts on fish, game, and other resources of importance. Indirect effects are reported too, such as the displacement of resident users, the erosion of cultural knowledge about the Alagnak, increased pressures on alternative resource procurement areas, and increased access to tourist-based cash economies. In an effort to best manage the natural and cultural resources of Alagnak Wild River, as well as to judiciously balance the needs of different constituencies, the National Park Service required additional information regarding the past and present uses of Alagnak River by Alaska Natives, as well as the observations Alaska Native river users regarding non-resident visitation and its various effects. Based on literature review, ethnographic interviews and field visits, the current report seeks to present a thematic overview of these themes. This report’s findings are based principally upon ethnographic interviews with residents from the communities with the most direct historical associations with Alagnak Wild River, including Levelock, Igiugig, King Salmon, Naknek, South Naknek, and Kokhanok. This report describes the transformation of the Alagnak River corridor from a densely-populated center of Alaska Native habitation to a relatively peripheral resource use area that is still used by descendents of its original inhabitants today. Individual sections provide summaries of settlement patterns, hunting, fishing, and berry gathering, as well as trapping and other economic and cultural activities tied to the River. In addition, this document provides a thematic overview of concerns expressed by Alaska Natives regarding observed and potential impacts of visitors on lands and resources along the River, and upon Alaska Native use of the River. The document concludes with an initial assessment of compliance implications relating to federal cultural resource law and policy. This information is organized so as to aid the National Park Service in anticipated natural and cultural resource planning for the Alagnak River corridor, including an anticipated River Management Plan, and to assist the NPS in anticipating concerns that may emerge in future consultation with Alaska Native communities that are historically associated with Alagnak Wild River. This work has also been undertaken to assist traditionally associated Alaska Native communities with their efforts to document their historical and cultural ties to this unique place. This study builds significantly upon the findings of an earlier study by the lead author, entitled “Alagnak Wild River Resident Users Study,” conducted for the NPS as part of the Alagnak Wild River Visitor Use Project (Deur 2008b). The findings from that study were guided the development of the current study, and elements of that study’s findings are incorporated into the current document

Occupational characteristics associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in the UK Biobank during August-November 2020: a cohort study

Background: occupational exposures may play a key role in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection risk. We used a job-exposure matrix linked to the UK Biobank to measure occupational characteristics and estimate associations with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test.Methods: people reporting job titles at their baseline interview in England who were &lt; 65 years of age in 2020 were included. Healthcare workers were excluded because of differential access to testing. Jobs were linked to the US Occupational Information Network (O*NET) job exposure matrix. O*NET-based scores were examined for occupational physical proximity, exposure to diseases/infection, working outdoors exposed to weather, and working outdoors under cover (score range = 1-5). Jobs were classified as remote work using two algorithms. SARS-CoV-2 test results were evaluated between August 5th-November 10th, 2020, when the UK was released from lockdown. Cox regression was used to calculate adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs), accounting for age, sex, race, education, neighborhood deprivation, assessment center, household size, and income.Results: we included 115,451 people with job titles, of whom 1746 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. A one-point increase in physical proximity score was associated with 1.14 times higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 (95%CI = 1.05-1.24). A one-point increase in the exposure to diseases/infections score was associated with 1.09 times higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 (95%CI = 1.02-1.16). People reporting jobs that could not be done remotely had higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 regardless of the classification algorithm used (aHRs = 1.17 and 1.20). Outdoors work showed an association with SARS-CoV-2 (exposed to weather aHR = 1.06, 95%CI = 1.01-1.11; under cover aHR = 1.08, 95%CI = 1.00-1.17), but these associations were not significant after accounting for whether work could be done remotely.Conclusion: people in occupations that were not amenable to remote work, required closer physical proximity, and required more general exposure to diseases/infection had higher risk of a positive SARS-CoV-2 test. These findings provide additional evidence that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an occupational disease, even outside of the healthcare setting, and indicate that strategies for mitigating transmission in in-person work settings will remain important.</p

Conversion of a Commercial-Grade Riding Lawnmower to Hydrogen Fuel in conjunction with John Deere and the Chicago Parks District (semester?), IPRO 310: Hydrogen Fuel Lawnmower IPRO 310 Project Plan Sp06

This semester, the IPRO 310 team is continuing the work started by the previous semester’s team. Our work will build off of the previous team’s work and many of our objectives will be an extension of their original objectives. This semester, the team has set forth the following objectives: Finish benchmark testing on the lawnmower including gas emissions Further research the safe storing and usage of hydrogen as a fuel Develop guidelines to create and maintain a safe laboratory area Investigate avenues to decrease overall conversion cost Perform the engine conversion Write a step-by-step conversion manual keeping in mind safety and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards Although the team’s main objective is to provide a safe way to convert a gas-powered lawnmower to a hydrogen-power lawnmower, the team will strive to create an environment in which team collaboration, the application engineering knowledge and ability, and individual passion for the project can flourish thus providing a rewarding and educational experience for all of the participants.Deliverables for IPRO 310: Conversion of a Commercial-Grade Riding Lawnmower to Hydrogen Fuel in conjunction with John Deere and the Chicago Parks District for the Spring 2006 semeste

Conversion of a Commercial-Grade Riding Lawnmower to Hydrogen Fuel in conjunction with John Deere and the Chicago Parks District (semester?), IPRO 310: Hydrogen Fuel Lawnmower IPRO 310 Abstract Sp06

This semester, the IPRO 310 team is continuing the work started by the previous semester’s team. Our work will build off of the previous team’s work and many of our objectives will be an extension of their original objectives. This semester, the team has set forth the following objectives: Finish benchmark testing on the lawnmower including gas emissions Further research the safe storing and usage of hydrogen as a fuel Develop guidelines to create and maintain a safe laboratory area Investigate avenues to decrease overall conversion cost Perform the engine conversion Write a step-by-step conversion manual keeping in mind safety and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards Although the team’s main objective is to provide a safe way to convert a gas-powered lawnmower to a hydrogen-power lawnmower, the team will strive to create an environment in which team collaboration, the application engineering knowledge and ability, and individual passion for the project can flourish thus providing a rewarding and educational experience for all of the participants.Deliverables for IPRO 310: Conversion of a Commercial-Grade Riding Lawnmower to Hydrogen Fuel in conjunction with John Deere and the Chicago Parks District for the Spring 2006 semeste