Low Vision in Older Adults

Educational Objectives 1. Understand the epidemiology of visual impairments of older adults. 2. Understand the symptoms of functional loss secondary to visual impairments. 3. Understand the rehabilitative options available for those with vision loss. 4. Understand the multi-disciplinary approach in low vision rehabilitation. 5. Understand the impact of low vision rehabilitation services

Challenges in using hydrology and water quality models for assessing Freshwater Ecosystem Services:A Review

Freshwater ecosystems contribute to many ecosystem services, many of which are being threatened by human activities such as land use change, river morphological changes and climate change. Many disciplines have studied the processes underlying freshwater ecosystem functions, ranging from hydrology to ecology, including water quality, and a panoply of models are available to simulate their behaviour. This understanding is useful for the prediction of ecosystem services, but the model outputs must go beyond the production of time-series of biophysical variables, to include notions of value and accessibility to the ecosystems? beneficiaries. This article analyses the literature of ad hoc approaches that aim at quantifying one or more freshwater ecosystem services. It identifies the strategies used to use disciplinary-specific models for the prediction of the services. This review identifies that hydrological, water quality, and ecological models form a valuable knowledge base to predict changes in ecosystem conditions, but challenges remain to make proper and useful use of these models. In particular, considerations of temporal and spatial scales could be given more attention in order to provide better justifications for the choice of a particular model over another, including the uncertainty in their predictions.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Bostonia. Volume 11

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs

The CCAFS Youth and Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) Strategy

The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) Youth Strategy is intended to guide strategic research on youth, support youth development initiatives across CCAFS Flagships and regions, and target and equip youth with knowledge on climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices and technologies to increase productivity, resilience, and employment opportunities (CCAFS, 2016). This Strategy will ensure that CCAFS is well aligned with the urgent need to address youth issues globally, including young women’s and men’s participation in, and potential to benefit from, CSA. The Youth Strategy is interwoven with the CCAFS Gender and Social Inclusion (GSI) Strategy (Huyer et al., 2016). It is integrated into activities across CCAFS and is an important aspect of scaling up CSA. CCAFS is also committed to targeting youth separately from gender-related activities through strategic research across FPs and regions. The Strategy advocates for approaches that build the agency of youth to navigate and negotiate opportunities for more sustainable futures. To understand youth, broader geographic characteristics that influence local opportunities for employment, including improving productivity, adaptive capacities, and youth migration, must be documented. While structural and rural transformation will interact with conditions for CSA initiatives, social factors must be equally considered for their inter-relation with youth’s agency to pursue CSA options, based in their own priorities and abilities. Socially inclusive and intersectional approaches provide a better understanding of the ways in which local and cultural contexts structure young people’s opportunities and challenges in CSA. In addition, young people’s relationships within families influence agency, particularly for those who are economically dependent upon their parents. The social networks that youth are embedded in often mediate agency and their ability to secure resources, both of which will be important to support their ability to kickstart, participate in, and benefit from CSA initiatives. Entry points for working with youth include information and communication technologies (ICTs), digital technologies, value chain approaches, collective action, and social platforms. Value chain approaches will be essential to simultaneously address finance and resource gaps while supporting the potential for employment and climate change adaptation. The collective agency of youth, whether through groups or virtual networks, is also important for knowledge exchange and to build social capital, which can promote agency

Third Annual Families and Neighborhoods Network Update

Welcome to the Third Annual Families and Neighborhoods Network Update. In this edition, which focuses on Family Development, you'll find plenty of relevant, interesting news, as well as diversity and spirituality in the context of family development.As always, we strive to provide information and resources regarding human service efforts that support families and neighborhoods. The selection of information and articles for this issue of the Network Update was based on issues raised by the seven Comprehensive Community-BasedModels (CCBMs).Among the highlights of this issue is an article by Dr. Susan Stern and Cassandra Clay, professors at Boston University School of Social Work. In their article, titled "Supporting Children and Families in a Caring Community," they challenge our thinking about family development, while guiding practitioners, policymakers, fund providers, and grassroots community-based organizations into the next century.Also in this issue, you'll find two annotated bibliographies that explore community-based, family centered strategies for integrating education and human services. These bibliographies also present practical ways to design policies that reflect the importance of the family in the development of children and society. As an additional resource, you'll also find a directory of federally-funded resource centers and clearinghouses that compile information on child andfamily welfare, health, and education issues.This issue of the Network Update also offers a personal glimpse of the seven W.K. Kellogg Foundation-funded family development sites. Each of the sites was asked to share its definition of family development, and to specify how that definition translates into services or opportunities for families. Staff members at the seven sites also were asked to discuss their philosophies about family development and how that philosophy differs from a mainstream view. Their thought provoking answers are just a few pages away

Earthquake research in China

A visit to China of an American seismological delegation, which took place October 5 to November 5, 1974, is covered in this report. The Americans were sponsored by the Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People's Republic of China (CSCPRC), and the hosts in China were the Scientific and Technical Association and the State Seismological Bureau. The CSCPRC is sponsored jointly by the National Academy of Sciences, the Social Science Research Council, and the American Council of Learned Societies. The visit had its origins in an invitation extended in January 1973 by Carl Kisslinger, as President of the Seismological Society of America, to the Chinese Academy of Sciences to send representatives to a Symposium on Earthquake Prediction Research. Although the Chinese declined to participate, this invitation was one step towards a reciprocal exchange of seismologists between the United States and the People's Republic of China. Several months after Kisslinger's letter the CSCPRC visited Peking. Their purpose was to arrange an exchange program with the Chinese Scientific and Technical Association. Prompted by Kisslinger, the committee's proposals for American delegations included seismology. Not only was this particular exchange accepted, but the Chinese in turn suggested that a Chinese seismology group visit the United States

The Dorsiflexion Range of Motion Screen: A Validation Study

# Background Limited ankle dorsiflexion (DF) is associated with ankle sprains and other lower extremity injuries. Current ankle measurements can be laborious to perform in an athletic environment. # Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability and discriminant validity of a novel closed-chain ankle DF ROM test, the standing ankle dorsiflexion screen (SADS). # Study Design Reliability and validity study # Methods Thirty-seven healthy subjects participated in the study. Two raters measured closed-chain ankle DF range of motion (ROM) using a modified lunge position with an electronic inclinometer. Four raters measured ankle DF using the SADS. Reliability was calculated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and kappa coefficients for the raters using an electronic inclinometer and the SADS scale, respectively. An independent t-test compared the SADS categories of “behind” and “beyond” to the modified lunge test ROM (*p*<0.05). # Results Excellent ICC values (0.95 $$95$$) and high kappa values were observed (0.61-0.81), with high percent agreement (86-94%). There was a significant difference in ankle DF ROM between the nominally scored “behind” and “beyond” categories, regardless of rater or trial analyzed (behind: 41.3° ± 4.7°; beyond: 51.8°± SD 6.1°, *p* <0.001). # Conclusions The SADS was observed to have excellent interrater reliability and high discriminant validity. Furthermore, there was a distinct closed chain ankle DF ROM difference between the “behind” and “beyond” SADS nominal scores. # Clinical Relevance The SADS can be used as a quick and efficient closed chain ankle DF ROM screen. # Level of Evidence 2

A possible dose–response association between distance to farmers’ markets and roadside produce stands, frequency of shopping, fruit and vegetable consumption, and body mass index among customers in the Southern United States

Background: The association between farmers’ market characteristics and consumer shopping habits remains unclear. Our objective was to examine associations among distance to farmers’ markets, amenities within farmers’ markets, frequency of farmers’ market shopping, fruit and vegetable consumption, and body mass index (BMI). We hypothesized that the relationship between frequency of farmers’ market shopping and BMI would be mediated by fruit and vegetable consumption. Methods: In 15 farmers’ markets in northeastern North Carolina, July–September 2015, we conducted a crosssectional survey among 263 farmers’ market customers (199 provided complete address data) and conducted farmers’ market audits. To participate, customers had to be over 18 years of age, and English speaking. Dependent variables included farmers’ market shopping frequency, fruit and vegetable consumption, and BMI. Analysis of variance, adjusted multinomial logistic regression, Poisson regression, and linear regression models, adjusted for age, race, sex, and education, were used to examine associations between distance to farmers’ markets, amenities within farmers’ markets, frequency of farmers’ market shopping, fruit and vegetable consumption, and BMI. Results: Those who reported shopping at farmers’ markets a few times per year or less reported consuming 4.4 (standard deviation = 1.7) daily servings of fruits and vegetables, and those who reported shopping 2 or more times per week reported consuming 5.5 (2.2) daily servings. There was no association between farmers’ market amenities, and shopping frequency or fruit and vegetable consumption. Those who shopped 2 or more times per week had a statistically significantly lower BMI than those who shopped less frequently. There was no evidence of mediation of the relationship between frequency of shopping and BMI by fruit and vegetable consumption. Conclusions: More work should be done to understand factors within farmers’ markets that encourage fruit and vegetable purchases.ECU Open Access Publishing Support Fun