Shelter Scape 7: Combining Regenerative and Earth Sheltered Practices for a New Housing Community in Massachusetts

Global Climate is projected to change significantly over the next decade. Given the potential impact of these changes, human relationships with the landscape will change. We as a people will have to re-evaluate our behaviors, activities and aesthetics; and our communities might have to re-assess and re-classify their current land use designations; as is the case potentially for Wachusett Mountain Ski Area in Princeton, Massachusetts. Under the projected climatic changes, the future snow making and sustaining ability of this mountain is of question and at potential risk; and these questions therefore beg the discussion of what to do instead with similar sites, and on a broad scale, of how to best respond to the changes. Landscape design and architecture will be at the forefront of responding to this new environment, and a subsequent holistic integration of these two fields presents an effective way forward. Landscape designs will have to do more than appeal visually, and they will be judged by their capacity to support and sustain a strong level of species biodiversity and food habitat. Supporting these needs are regenerative landscapes which work with nature rather than in contradiction to, and as a result, seek to help ensure our lasting survival. Earth sheltered housing communities offer the most holistic integration of human shelter needs and landscape ecology. The union of a regenerative community with earth sheltered housing represents the best effort of sustainability that we humans have so far built; and at this point it has not been notably achieved. The proposed designs of Shelter Scape 7 embody that union. On sixty acres of Wachusett Mountain, Shelter Scape 7 captures resources; collects the community; cultivates food security; and contributes sustainable habitat for all species. Shelter Scape 7 shelters us, and it shelters nature from us, for our generation but also for seven generations in the future

Redefining Faculty Workloads in a Physical Therapy Department: A Case Study

The purpose of this case study is to describe the creation and implementation of a sustainable workload model in the physical therapy department, as well as the outcomes resulting from that structure. Between 2002 and 2009, both scholarly productivity and faculty practice activity increased as a result of the redistribution of faculty efforts created by the new workload structure. This case demonstrates how the department has been able to successfully expand research and faculty practice while maintaining a high quality educational experience. The workload guidelines have enabled the collective core faculty to be productive in teaching, research/scholarship and service.

Mining postsocialism: work, class and ethnicity in an Estonian mine

My thesis is a study of what happens to the working class in the context of postsocialism, neoliberalisation and deindustrialisation. I explore the changing work and lives of Russian-speaking miners in Estonia, showing what it means to be a miner in a situation in which the working class has been stripped of its glorified status and stable and affluent lifestyle, and has been stigmatised and orientalised as Other. I argue that a consequence of neoliberal economy, entrepreneurialism and individualism is that ethnicity and class become overlapping categories and being Russian comes to mean being a worker. This has produced a particular set of practices, moralities and politics characterising the working class in contemporary Estonia, which is not only a result of its Soviet past and nostalgia, but also deeply embedded in the global economy following the 2008 economic crisis, and EU and national economic, security and ethnic policies. Miners try to maintain their autonomy and dignity. Despite stricter control of miners’ time and speeding up of the labour process, workers exercise control over the rhythm of work. The ideas of what it means to be a miner and ideals of a good society create a particular moral economy, demanding money and respect in return for sacrificing health and doing hard work. Increasing differences in consumption patterns are levelled with leisure activities such as drinking and sport that are available to all. New management practices such as outsourcing labour and performance reviews assist class formation processes that increase workers’ precarity and the differentiation between workers and engineers in a previously relatively equal community. Despite this, management practices often have unexpected outcomes in everyday situations in which actors with different worldviews and ambitions meet. Miners’ labour politics might not correspond to Western ideas of strong unionism, but show that trade unions can take different shapes depending on local context

Effect of Running on Anterior Knee Laxity in Collegiate-Level Female Athletes After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Abstract: Agility running activities are commonly used in the latter stages of rehabilitation for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. However, the effects of agility running on anterior knee laxity in these patients have not been examined. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in anterior knee laxity before and after 30 minutes of agility running exercise. Subjects (N = 9) were female athletes ( X age = 20.1 ± 1.5 years; height = 171.7 ± 10.4 cm; weight = 65.7 ± 8.6 kg) with unilateral ACL reconstruction (central1/3) patella tendon graft, postoperation range = 9-52 months, X = 24.2 months). Measurements were made at 20° and 90° of knee flexion bilaterally with KT-1000 arthrometry IMEDmetric, San Diego, CA) and recorded in millimeters of displacement. Data were analyzed with an analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures (p < 0.05). Results showed no statistical differences between the ACLreconstructed knee and the normal knee at 20° and 90° knee flexion. The authors conclude that the central 1/3 patella tendon graft performs comparable to the normal knee when stressed with agility running exercise; therefore, agility exercise is an appropriate, safe, short-term activity

Redefining America’s Postwar Urban Renewal at the Northgate of Springfield, MA

This project presents visions for an underutilized and overlooked district in Springfield, MA, developed by the Graduate Urban Design Studio in the spring of 2014. The area between downtown and the North End neighborhood has undergone major transformations in the 1950’s and 1960’s during America’s era of postwar urban renewal. Residential blocks were replaced by large office buildings and oversized streets left a ”no-man’s land”. The current rehabilitation of the Springfield’s Union Station into an intermodal transportation hub should draw new attention to the area as the northern gateway to downtown - the “Northgate”. Five visionary design proposals rethink and redefine America’s postwar urban renewal and show possible future scenarios to re-imagine and revitalize a unique urban district close to the heart of the City. The design strategies include new urban greenways and recreation, sustainable green infrastructure adaptations, urban agriculture and farming, housing and mixed-use commercial opportunities

Greening Worcester: Planning and Designing Green Infrastructure Networks for Habitat, Recreation, and Landscape Interpretation:

This graduate studio focused on the creating green infrastructure networks in Worcester, Massachusetts which is the second most populated city in Massachusetts. The studio worked in conjunction with the EcoTarium, an innovative science museum in Worcester in order to link the City’s rich cultural, historic, and academic resources across a densely populated urban region; and expand opportunities for local residents to learn about urban ecology in their own neighborhoods. The studio project builds on the City’s open space plan goals by planning improved access to water resources, increased connectivity between existing parks and open space, and safer bicycle and pedestrian connections. The project also strives to improve water quality in the Blackstone River and reduce stormwater runoff by a series of green infrastructure improvements throughout the City. Finally, the project addresses the existing wayfinding challenges in Worcester to help visitors and local residents alike access the City’s historical, cultural, and natural resources

Retro-trochanteric sciatica-like pain: current concept

The aim of this manuscript is to review the current knowledge in terms of retro-trochanteric pain syndrome, make recommendations for diagnosis and differential diagnosis and offer suggestions for treatment options. The terminology in the literature is confusing and these symptoms can be referred to as ‘greater trochanteric pain syndrome’, ‘trochanteric bursitis’ and ‘trochanteritis’, among other denominations. The authors focus on a special type of sciatica, i.e. retro-trochanteric pain radiating down to the lower extremity. The impact of different radiographic assessments is discussed. The authors recommend excluding pathology in the spine and pelvic area before following their suggested treatment algorithm for sciatica-like retro-trochanteric pain. Level of evidence II