Einstein metrics on piecewise-linear three-spheres

Einstein metrics on manifolds are in some ways the best or most symmetric metrics those manifolds will allow. There has been much work on these metrics in the realm of smooth manifolds, and many results have been published. These results are very difficult to compute directly, however, and so it is helpful to consider piecewise-linear approximations to those manifolds in order to more quickly compute and describe what these metrics actually look like. We will use discrete analogues to powerful preexisting tools to do analysis on two particular triangulations of the three dimensional sphere with the intent of finding Einstein metrics on those triangulations. We find that, in one case, the intuitive solution we would expect from the literature holds, and in the other case it does not. We will discuss the differences between these two objects and will suggest possible avenues of research in the future

Facilitators and Barriers to Health Promotion Perceived by Minnesota Physical Therapists Working in Outpatient Settings

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: One of the priority goals of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) is for physical therapists to be “recognized and promoted as providers of health promotion, wellness, and risk reduction programs to enhance the quality of life for persons across the lifespan.” Limited research has been done on the factors that facilitate or hinder the practice of health promotion in physical therapy. The purpose of this study was to examine the barriers and facilitators that physical therapists face while incorporating health promotion into their clinical practice, specifically focusing on physical activity, healthy weight/BMI, and smoking cessation. METHODS: A phenomenologic qualitative approach was chosen for this study. Purposeful sampling was utilized to recruit eight physical therapists working in orthopedic outpatient physical therapy clinics in the metropolitan region of Minneapolis, MN. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant to explore the physical therapists’ perceptions of their role in health promotion, the facilitators and barriers of performing health promotion, and their views on future opportunities for physical therapy in health promotion. Audiotapes were transcribed and data were initially analyzed and coded independently by each investigator. Recurrent codes were identified and categorized into themes and subthemes. RESULTS: Three themes were identified as either a facilitator or a barrier to health promotion dependent on the context: the relationship between the physical therapist and patient, physical therapist attributes, and patient attributes. In addition, the theme of patient education was identified as a facilitator and the practice environment theme as a barrier. The themes identified as opportunities for health promotion in physical therapy included: a clinical environment fostering a culture of health promotion, community health promotion, and continuing education opportunities. CONCLUSION: Creating a trusting relationship, therapist self-efficacy and experience in promoting healthy behaviors, and patients’ readiness for change all positively affect therapists’ success when incorporating health promotion into their clinical practice. However, factors such as the need to address the primary diagnosis of the patient and a limited interdisciplinary approach inhibit health promotion in the physical therapy setting. It is the interrelatedness of the facilitators and barriers that determine the success of promoting healthy behaviors with patients

Human-nature relationships and pro-environmental behaviour : lessons from rural Zanzibari villages

The island of Unguja in Zanzibar, Tanzania is facing severe deforestation. Previous research has identified shifting cultivation and silviculture activities as well as various demographic, economic, legislative and policy changes as explaining factors for the trend. Despite governmental measures and a long history of international development cooperation projects on the island, deforestation rates have not decelerated. As existing research has identified contradictions between environmental initiatives and local practices, I examine how conservation objectives cohere with prevailing human-nature relationships and socio-material realities in rural Zanzibari villages. The main objectives of this thesis are to fill gaps in previous research concerning the adoption of sustainable practices in Zanzibar and offer new insights on pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) as linked with human-nature relationships (HNR) and agency. To achieve this, I examine 1) which social and material processes and elements affect and define human-nature relationships in rural Zanzibari villages surrounding the Kiwengwa-Pongwe Forest Reserve, and 2) what processes and elements encourage, disable or otherwise affect individuals’ commitment to pro-environmental behaviour in rural Zanzibari villages, and how pro-environmental behaviour is connected to prevailing human-nature relationships and socio-material realities. As a theoretical framework, I utilize the concept of pro-environmental behaviour as connected to empowerment and agency. I also examine the concept of the human-nature relationship as studied in environmental sociology and the multi-disciplinary field of research addressing interaction between humans and nature. As empirical data, I utilize nine semi-structured interviews I conducted in villages surrounding the Kiwengwa-Pongwe Forest Reserve while participating in a monitoring trip for a development cooperation project KIPPO. As supplementary data and background information, I utilize a survey of 50 respondents as well as two focus-group discussions with a local forest protection NGO which were conducted in collaboration with the project partners and myself. I chose theory-guided content analysis as the analysis method which allowed for a reflexive research process and taking into account locally significant processes. As results, I offer novel linkages between pro-environmental behaviour, human-nature relationships, empowerment and agency. In the data, individuals showcased interdependent human-nature relationships which motivated commitment to conservation objectives. Nature was considered by the interviewees the basis for livelihoods, and the destruction thereof was perceived as threatening the future of the communities. However, prevailing socio-material realities may affect individual agency toward the environment, and environmental initiatives empower people unequally. Therefore, future research should incorporate discrepancies among people’s ability to commit to sustainable practices and include dependencies derived from local human-nature relationships in the analysis of pro-environmental behaviour.Ungujan saari Sansibarilla Tansaniassa kärsii vakavasta metsäkadosta. Aiempi tutkimus on tunnistanut maatalouskäytännöt ja metsätalouden sekä useat demografiset, taloudelliset ja lainsäädännölliset tekijät sekä muutokset toimintatavoissa muutosta selittäviksi tekijöiksi. Hallituksen toimista ja kansainvälisen kehitysyhteistyön pitkästä historiasta huolimatta metsäkato ei ole vielä hidastunut. Koska aiempi tutkimus on tunnistanut ristiriitoja ympäristötavoitteiden ja paikallisten käytäntöjen välillä, tutkin kuinka suojelutavoitteet sopivat yhteen sansibarilaisissa maaseutuyhteisöissä vallitsevien luontosuhteiden ja sosiomateriaalisten realiteettien kanssa. Tutkielmani päätavoitteina on täydentää tietoaukkoja aiemmassa tutkimuksessa kestävien käytäntöjen omaksumisesta Sansibarilla sekä tarjota uusia näkökulmia ympäristömyönteiseen käytökseen liittämällä käsite luontosuhteisiin ja toimijuuteen. Tämän vuoksi tarkastelen, 1) mitkä sosiaaliset ja materiaaliset prosessit ja elementit määrittelevät luontosuhteita sekä vaikuttavat niihin Kiwengwa-Pongwen metsäreserviä ympäröivissä sansibarilaisissa maaseutuyhteisöissä ja 2) mitkä prosessit ja elementit edistävät, estävät tai muutoin vaikuttavat ympäristömyönteiseen käytökseen kyseisessä kontekstissa. Selvitän myös, kuinka ympäristömyönteinen käytös on yhteydessä vallitseviin luontosuhteisiin ja sosiomateriaalisiin realiteetteihin. Käytän tutkielmani teoreettisena viitekehyksenä ympäristömyönteisen käytöksen käsitettä yhdistettynä voimaantumiseen ja toimijuuteen, sekä luontosuhteen käsitettä juonnettuna ympäristösosiologisesta tutkimuksesta ja aiemmasta monitieteisestä tutkimuksesta, joka on pyrkinyt selvittämään ihmisen ja luonnon välistä vuorovaikutusta. Käytän tutkielmani empiirisenä aineistona yhdeksää Kiwengwa-Pongwen metsäreserviä ympäröivissä kylissä pitämääni teemahaastattelua, jotka keräsin toimiessani kehitysyhteistyöprojekti KIPPOssa. Analyysiä tukevana aineistona sekä taustamateriaalina käytän tutkielmassani projektin partnerien kanssa yhteistyössä alueella keräämääni 50 vastaajan kyselytutkimusta sekä kahta alueen metsänsuojelujärjestön fokusryhmähaastattelua. Valitsin analyysimetodiksi teoriaohjaavan sisällönanalyysin, mikä mahdollisti refleksiivisen tutkimusprosessin sekä paikallisesti merkittävien prosessien sisällyttämisen tutkimukseen. Tutkielmani tuloksina tarjoan uudenlaisia yhteyksiä ympäristömyönteisen käytöksen, luontosuhteiden, voimaantumisen sekä toimijuuden käsitteiden välille. Aineistossa yksilöiden luontosuhteita määritteli keskinäinen riippuvuus luonnon kanssa, mikä motivoi osallistumaan luonnonsuojeluun. Haastateltavat käsittivät luonnon elantonsa perustana, minkä vuoksi sen tuhoutumisen koettiin uhkaavan yhteisöjen tulevaisuutta. Toisaalta vallitsevat sosiomateriaaliset olosuhteet voivat vaikuttaa yksilön toimijuuteen ympäristöään kohtaan, ja ympäristönsuojeluprojektit voimaannuttavat paikallisia epäsuhtaisesti. Siksi jatkotutkimuksen tulisi sisällyttää ympäristömyönteisen käytöksen analyysiin ihmisten väliset eroavaisuudet toimijuudessa sekä luontosuhteista juontuvat riippuvuussuhteet

Umweltfreundlich mobil in ländlichen Räumen

UMWELTFREUNDLICH MOBIL IN LÄNDLICHEN RÄUMEN Umweltfreundlich mobil in ländlichen Räumen / Pitzen, Constantin (Rights reserved) ( -

Lymphedema Education and Awareness for Pre-surgical Patients (L.E.A.P.P.) to recovery from Breast Cancer program development plan

Capstone project (O.T.D.)

Serious Complication of Cement Augmentation for Damaged Pilot Hole

Polymethl methacrylate (PMMA) screw reinforcement is frequently used in osteoporotic bone as well as in damaged pilot holes. However, PMMA use can be dangerous, since the amount of applied cement is uncontrolled. A 47-year-old male with traumatic cervical spondylolisthesis at C6-7 underwent anterior cervical plate fixation. During repeated drilling and tapping for false trajectory correction, a pilot hole was damaged. Although it was an unconventional method, PMMA augmentation was tried. However, PMMA was accidentally injected to the cervical spinal cord owing to lack of fluoroscopic guidance. The PMMA was surgically removed after corpectomy and durotomy. The patient had left side hemiparesis (Grade 2/5) immediately post operation. The patient improved spontaneously (Grade 4/5) except for 4th and 5th digit extension. Here, we report a rare complication of PMMA extrusion in the spinal cord during a damaged pilot hole injection, which has not previously been described

Curating a Global Collection of Fiddler Crabs for the American Museum of Natural History, NYC

A collection of approximately 1000 jars of preserved fiddler crabs was received from Dr. F.H. Barnwell, Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota–Twin Cities. It contained jars of crabs from Africa, the Americas, and the Indo-Pacific. Specimens in each jar were sorted by species and gender and then counted. An Excel® spreadsheet recorded collecting data while Google Earth® determined the GPS of each recovery site. The collection was reduced to 569 jars containing 68 species representing seven genera. The entire collection consists of 7804 crabs with 5925 males and 1879 females. New labels with up-dated information were made for each jar. Barnwell’s scientific legacy is now ready for transport to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City