A Nature Adventure Chapter Book for Early Readers and How it Can Influence Children\u27s Interest in and Desire to Explore the Natural World

With the increase in screen-time, children are spending less and less time outside in nature. Many studies are finding significant negative impacts upon their mental, physical and emotional well-being. The author attempted to develop an age-appropriate fictional story based upon accurate and appropriate nature and science lessons. The book, The Adventurers…Journey to the Crooked Forest was created to test if children would be more interested in going outside in nature as well as if the book could increase children’s knowledge of nature and science topics through storytelling. The effectiveness of the book was tested on fifty 1st -3 rd grade students from the local elementary school. The book was read to each of the classes one to two times a week over a two-month period. Using pre- and post-assessments, student’s attitudes towards, interest and knowledge in nature and science topics were evaluated. Parents also completed an assessment questionnaire after the reading in order to determine if they noticed any changes in their child’s interest in nature. Findings show that the book noticeably increased the majority of students’ interest in going outdoors and their knowledge of various nature and science topics. Teachers provided positive feedback pertaining to the relevancy of the content to their classes, engagement of their students and the age-appropriateness of the book. The teachers reported increased curiosity and retention of content over extended periods of time with their students. It was concluded that this book was effective in engaging, educating and motivating students with nature and science. Implications for future studies include expanding the sample size, utilizing more quanititative assessment questions and including suburban and urban students to identify similarities and differences in the book’s effect on those populations

Achieving workplace inclusiveness by using ergonomics risk assessment

Traditional manufacturing work practices do not consider human variability issues during the design process. However, most manual assembly activities demand high levels of repetition and speed without compromising product quality and work productivity. Individual factors including age, gender, skill, experience and anthropometry cause variations in task strategies that lead to variations in individual and organizational work performance. The ergonomics-based risk assessment methods OWAS, REBA and RULA have been used to evaluate risk levels associated with working methods. This paper discusses the need for these methods to understand and highlight the key issues generated by these variations with the objective of minimizing these variations. Methods that can be used to promote working strategies that minimize the level of risk are described. The proposed research method potentially reduces work-related musculoskeletal disorders, injuries, pain, and promotes safe, healthy, productive and more inclusive working strategies suitable for a diverse working population

Using a Head-Mounted Video Camera to Understand Social Worlds and Experiences

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Therapeutic drug monitoring of digoxin and its management

Digoxin, together with diuretics, constitutes the traditional approach to the treatment of congestive heart failure. However, several serious doubts have been cast in relation to the use of the drug, due to its narrow therapeutic range. Monitoring digoxin blood levels should enable the clinician to tailor the dose and produce a therapeutically-valid blood concentration. However, questions could be raised regarding how much information can be derived from serum digoxin concentrations which cannot be inferred from clinical observation alone. Studies were carried out: (1) to assess and verify the physician's reasons for requesting serum digoxin levels (2) to investigate digoxin dosage regimens and routes of administration employed in a local health centre (3) to investigate inter- and intravariability in serum digoxin levels for a population of geriatric patients and (4) to assess the predictive powers of a computerised system in determining serum digoxin levels.peer-reviewe

The ecology and management of black bears in the Tensas River Basin of Louisiana

The Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus)once was common throughout east Texas, Louisiana, and southern Mississippi. By the mid-1980\u27s, extensive habitat destruction reduced its range by \u3e80%, and long-term survival of the subspecies is now uncertain,was the pioneer investigation of the population status andResults were used by the U.S.This study ecology of D. a. luteolus.Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to address a petition to list the subspecies as federally endangered, and provided the basis for management recommendations intended to promote population recovery. Investigations were conducted from 1988-1991 in the Tensas River Basin of northeasternLouisiana, 1 of only 2 extant population centers for U. a.luteolus. One study area (Deltic) consisted of small (\u3c8-\u3c1100 ha), fragmented, insular tracts of bottomland hardwoods separated by larger expanses of agricultural lands. The other area (Tensas) included a more contiguous,yet also insular, bottomland hardwood forest (\u3e396 km2) on public and private lands that comprised the largest remnant forest in the Tensas River Basin.Twenty-five bears (13 F, 12 M) were trapped and radio monitored to document occurrence, morphology,population characteristics, movements, denning, and foodAdults comprised 64% of the trapped sample,females ranged in weight from 56.7-128.8 kg ( x̄ 73 kg);habits. Adult adult males ranged from 103.9-181.1 kg ( x̄ 137 kg). Body Weights of Tensas River Basin bears were among the heaviest reported for the southeastern coastal plain. At least 16 cubs (9 Deltic, 7 Tensas) were born during the study.Minimum mean litter size was 2.25 on Deltic (n = 4), and1.8 on Tensas (n = 5). No mortality of radio collared bears was recorded on Deltic, but 5 of 14 radio collared Tensasbears died from either documented or suspected illegal kill. Estimated annual survival rate for radio collared adult females on Tensas was 90.5% (95% Cl = 0.74-1.0).Minimum population estimates (bears ^1.5 years old), based on trapping and observation, were 29 bears on Deltic(1/1.27 km2) and 48 on Tensas (1/8.34 km2) .Mean size of home ranges, estimated by 100% AdaptiveKernel, 100% Harmonic Mean, and 100% Minimum Convex Polygon Methods, were 13.5, 10.8, and 6.7 km2, respectively, forDeltic females (n = 6), and 148.4, 98.0, and 86.2 km2 forCorresponding mean ranges for Tensas Females (n = 5) were 41.9, 52.9, and 24.3 km2, respectively,Deltic males (n = 3).and for Tensas males (n = 3) were 329.4, 248.3, and 144.6km2. Total and seasonal home ranges of males were largerthan females (P \u3c 0.05). Adults had larger total ranges than non-adults (P \u3c 0.05). Ranges of Tensas bears were larger than Deltic bears (P \u3c 0.05).range overlap was considerable. Fewer female ranges overlapped on Tensas compared to those on Deltic, but the Male-female home degree of overlap was greater on Tensas. Mos^^ (97%)daytime locations were in forested habitat. Bears usedwooded habitat linkages as travel corridors to traverseagricultural lands. They also used linkages for feeding,bedding, and denning. No bear movements between Deltic andTensas were noted. The only record of dispersal was a subadult male from Tensas that was recovered dead \u3e1 year later in Claiborne County, Mississippi, approximately 64 km from his capture site.Denning activities of 20 bears (12 F, 8 M) were studied for a total of 30 den-years (19 F, 11 M). Pregnant Females (n=8) entered dens earlier (P \u3c 0.001), emerged later (P \u3c 0.001) and denned longer (P \u3c 0.001) than all other bears. Mean denning length for pregnant females was142 days. Their median den entrance was 3 December (range=26 November-12 December); median emergence was 24 April(range = 6 April-30 May). Adults (n = 21) denned longer (P= 0.023) than subadults (n = 7). At least 13 denning bearsused \u3e1 den site during a season. Eleven bears displayed some winter activity. Bears used elevated cavities in baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) and overcup oak (Quercus Lyrata), ground nests, and brush piles for winter dens.Tree dens were used by 13 out of 20 bears, including 9 of12 adult females. Only 1 bear, an adult male on Tensas,reused a den (bald cypress). Bears in tree dens dennedlonger (P \u3c 0.001) than those in ground dens.Food habits of bears were inferred through observations of feeding sign and scat analysis. The most frequently occurring food items in 164 scats were beetles (30%), corn(29%), acorns (28%), and vegetation (18%). In 104 (64%)scats, 1 food item comprised s:96% of the volume. Of these cats, 72% were composed of only 1 item including acorns,soft mast, grass and sedge seeds, vegetation, and crops.Recommendations were proposed for management of black bear habitat within the range of U. a. luteolus, and elsewhere in the southeastern coastal plain. Guidelines Centered on the use of active forest management to provide a mosaic of various habitat conditions, including early successional and old-growth habitats, sufficient to provide abundance, diversity, and stability of: foods, dens and denning sites, and escape cover. Conservation, management,and creation of habitat linkages among disjunct forestedtracts, and reforestation of open lands to provide additional habitat also were recommended. Management of human access into bear habitat and the corresponding impacts on bear populations were discussed. Development of a public conservation ethic concerning bears, and establishment of partnerships for bear management and restoration were identified as important to bear recovery efforts

Combining internal- and external-training-load measures in professional rugby league

Purpose: This study investigated the effect of training mode on the relationships between measures of training load in professional rugby league players. Methods: Five measures of training load (internal: individualized training impulse, session rating of perceived exertion; external—body load, high-speed distance, total impacts) were collected from 17 professional male rugby league players over the course of two 12-week pre-season periods. Training was categorized by mode (small-sided games, conditioning, skills, speed, strongman, and wrestle) and subsequently subjected to a principal component analysis. Extraction criteria were set at an eigenvalue of greater than one. Modes that extracted more than one principal component were subjected to a varimax rotation. Results: Small-sided games and conditioning extracted one principal component, explaining 68% and 52% of the variance, respectively. Skills, wrestle, strongman, and speed extracted two principal components explaining 68%, 71%, 72%, and 67% of the variance respectively. Conclusions: In certain training modes the inclusion of both internal and external training load measures explained a greater proportion of the variance than any one individual measure. This would suggest that in those training modes where two principal components were identified, the use of only a single internal or external training load measure could potentially lead to an underestimation of the training dose. Consequently, a combination of internal and external load measures is required during certain training modes

Evaluating the roles of directed breeding and gene flow in animal domestication

Peer reviewedPostprin