Screening for Post-Stroke Visual Impairment: Implications for Occupational Therapy Practice

The prevalence of post-stroke visual impairment is alarmingly high, with estimates of up to two-thirds of stroke survivors experiencing deficits (Rowe, Hepworth, Howard et al., 2019). However, research indicates that greater than 60% of visual acuity deficits and visual-spatial neglect in patients with stroke are undetected by standard clinical practice (Edwards et al., 2006). Thus, many patients with stroke have clinically significant visual impairments that are not being detected, and therefore, are not being adequately addressed. Visual impairments can substantially influence an individual\u27s everyday functioning, safety, social interaction, and quality of life. Without skilled intervention and support, individuals experiencing these deficits may develop reduced self-efficacy, social isolation, and occupational deprivation (Perea et al., 2018). The aim of this thesis is to spread awareness of the high prevalence and underdiagnosis of post-stroke visual impairment, educate current and future occupational therapy practitioners on recommendations to reduce heterogeneity in assessment practices, and advocate for the role of occupational therapy in improving detection of post-stroke visual impairment to optimize the functional recovery and quality of life of stroke survivors. This knowledge was disseminated in three ways. The first method was to educate occupational therapy practitioners and students via a Minnesota Occupational Therapy Association virtual continuing education session. The second method was to inform readers of the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Rehabilitation and Disability Special Interest Section Quarterly Practice Connection through an article submitted for publication. The final method was to raise awareness and educate occupational therapy practitioners, students, and educators attending the 2021 Iowa Occupational Therapy Association annual conference by presenting a poster. Completion of these three knowledge translation projects generated awareness and greater understanding of the factors resulting in the underdiagnosis of post-stroke visual impairment and affirmed occupational therapy’s role in screening for visual impairments poststroke. However, there is need for continued education aimed at improving knowledge and awareness of the visual problems that can occur after stroke amongst occupational therapists, other members of the stroke care team, and the general public. Furthermore, now that core outcome sets for vision screening and full vision assessment have been developed to assist in reducing the heterogeneity in assessment practices, efforts to disseminate this information to clinicians and researchers involved in screening and assessment of post-stroke visual impairment should be prioritized. Future research should evaluate the use of these outcome sets and attempt to achieve consensus on how the outcomes should be measured

Public Schools as Open Space and Recreational Resources in Massachusetts

In the United States, public school land provides valuable and accessible open space and recreational resources to the communities in which they are located, contributing to the existing network of greenways. There are 351 towns and cities within Massachusetts with 1,934 schools and approximately 980,459 students (www.educationbug.org). Massachusetts is 5,284,440 acres (2,138,536 ha ±) in area and has a population of slightly over six (6) million people according to the 2000 Census. The existing bicycle and long distance trail network in Massachusetts comprises approximately 1,483 miles (927km) (MassGIS, 1999, 2004) and there are 1,382,723 (560 000 ha ±) acres of protected open space (MassGIS, 2009). Approximately 145,173 acres (58 750 ha ±) of the protected open space is classified as recreational open space. About 48,472 acres (19 615 ha ±) of recreational open space is part of school property in Massachusetts. The average acreage of school properties (including public and private institutions) is approximately 43 acres, indicating sizeable amounts of protected open space accessible for recreational use. In other words, about 10% of protected open space statewide is classified as recreational land, and 3.5% is school land

Algorithm Development of a Multi-Section Crop Detection System for a Corn Head

Over the next several decades the need for grain-based commodities will increase, due mostly to the demand for grain in developing countries and grain-based biofuels. To meet the increase in demand additional grain-based commodities will come from two likely sources: current land used for production and land yet to be developed. Increased spatial resolution of crop production is one way producers can grow more crops without more land development. If farmland productivity can be monitored on a smaller scale, producers can begin to implement better site-specific management decision at a higher resolution, such as variable-rate nitrogen application. The development of high resolution yield mapping techniques would provide producers the ability to evaluate if additional grain could be produced. Currently, yield mapping technology provides an average yield value for a discrete harvested area. Average yield values are the summation of grain harvested by a number of row units across a corn-head. The harvested area is a function of the number of row units on a corn-head. The primary goal of this research was to develop an ear detection system that could predict the number of ears that entered individual row units. By generating ear count prediction for individual row units, harvested grain could be spatially allocated across multiple section of the corn-head to produce higher resolution yield maps

China\u27s Military Strategy Under Chairman Xi: More Steel, More Gas, and Harder Bones

Under China’s leader Xi Jinping, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has continued to rapidly modernize. However, in what ways has China’s military strategy changed, and stayed the same, compared to its previous leaders Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao? I use a qualitative comparative case study approach to look for changes and continued similarities between the Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping eras starting from 1997 until the present day. I examined roughly twenty-five Chinese articles from each era on army building. These articles on army building from Chinese scholars and officials are deeply analyzed to track changes in language and descriptions about priorities of army building over time. White papers and CCP Party Congress reports were also utilized. Training was explored by looking at the frequency and type of training under each leader, along with writings on training and changes to training outlines. Additionally, this dissertation asks what Xi’s personal influence on the PLA and China’s military strategy has been. Previous studies have not examined this topic in depth. I find that there are both continuities and changes in China’s strategy. Similarities include the paramount importance of ideology and politics described as the foundation for army building, continued emphasis on talent, leapfrog development, and improving the evaluation system. Meanwhile, changes under Xi revolve around making training more unpredictable and military activity increasingly taking place farther from China, greater importance placed on commanders, and elevating the importance of army building so that it is now on par with development. For Xi’s personal influence, I find that there has been greater prioritization on hardware and heartware. Hardware represents weapons and equipment, with platforms such as bombers, missiles, aircraft carriers, and transport aircraft receiving the greatest boost. Heartware, which pertains to morale, or what sometimes is described as the spiritual soul of the army, has also been prioritized. Xi’s influence has also been enforcing and pushing through arguably the largest military reforms and promoting greater civilian-military integration. Overall, Xi has had an outsized effect on the PLA and its strategy

A master\u27s recital in piano

Brittany Lensing, pianist, presented her graduate recital at 6:00 in the evening on Friday, September 20, 2013, in Davis Hall of the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center at the University of Northern Iowa. This recital was given in partial fulfillment of the Master of Music degree in piano pedagogy and performance. The program included works by Johann Sebastien Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, and Sergei Prokofiev. The following abstract will consist of historical and musical commentary on the programmed pieces

Trends in environmental concern by grade level: A study of elementary, middle, and high school students

Environmental concern has been frequently measured since the 1970\u27s, however, much of this research has focused on adults. Of the studies that look at students, the majority focus on high school with little attention given to middle or elementary grades. None of these studies have looked at elementary, middle, and high school students from the same population. This study uses the NEP Scale for Children in conjunction with free response questions to examine the trends in environmental concern from 120 Catholic elementary, middle school, and high school students from Des Moines, Iowa. The findings show no significant differences in levels of concern for the dimensions of anti-exemptionalism and belief in an eco-crisis, but show that levels of concern for rights of nature is significantly higher in elementary and middle school grades when compared to high school. It was also found that as students increase in grade level, less concern is placed on simple environmental issues like pollution and destruction of nature, while more concern is placed on complex issues like climate change. Implications for curriculum design and environmental programming are discussed