Interpreting how we value parks through photographs from social media : a case study of Zilker Park in Austin, Texas

As social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have grown and evolved, users of these internet technologies have deposited a wealth of diverse data with the potential to inform research on a wide range of topics. In particular, the sharing of photographs of outdoor spaces through social media platforms provides important opportunities for analysis of meaning and significance, especially in terms of how planned landscapes such as public parks are perceived and socially produced. In this study, I chose to analyze photographs of Zilker Park posted on Instagram and Twitter in order to better understand how users value this important park in Austin, Texas. This report presents the content, quantitative, and qualitative analyses I conducted in order to develop a concise understanding of elements that people value most in Zilker Park. Through my research and methodological exploration, I seek to offer a new tool for public participation in park planning that can augment existing engagement methods.Community and Regional Plannin

Engaging Collective Embodied Resilience, Enacting Ritual Movement Practice in a Social Change Process

Twenty-first century American society requires individual and collective bodies to navigate large and often invisible systems of oppression despite the felt-influence of inequality, injustice, and affective control. Drawing from convergent theories of social movements and dance/movement therapy, collective embodied resilience emerges as a dually activating and healing resource for change making. This qualitative research study utilized a participatory/action embodied artistic inquiry methodology to investigate how arts-activist co-researchers experience collective embodied resilience during participation in collective action. Employing arts-based methods of data collection and analysis, coresearchers explored collective embodied resilience to generate and share an accessible ritual movement practice within a Chicago community setting. An accompanying lyrical documentary narrates the process: https://vimeo.com/238143420. Analysis of the resultant social change process-practice revealed implications for developing advocacy and social justice promotion competence with dance/movement therapy graduate students. 102 pages

The Positive Impact and Associated Mechanisms of Physical Activity on Mental Health in Underprivileged Children and Adolescents: An Integrative Review

(1) Background: Review-based studies are required to consider the different designs and data that describe the association between physical activity and mental health for underprivileged children and adolescents. There is a particular need to identify mechanisms which could explain the association, and factors which influence the association in this population group. (2) Methods: An integrative review with a systematic search was conducted in three stages: (i) a systematic literature search on four databases from inception until May 2020. Studies were eligible if they examined underprivileged children, involved moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and had a focus on at least one outcome measure related to mental health. (ii) Two critical appraisal tools were used to assess quality across different study designs. (iii) Synthesis was undertaken in four stages, examining social, internal and physical outcomes and mechanisms. (3) Results: A total of 16 studies were included (2 qualitative; 12 quantitative and 2 mixed methods). Fifteen (15/16; 93.8%) showed an association between MVPA and a significant improvement in at least one mental health outcome. The most studied outcomes included: internal aspects (n = 14), significant effects were identified in 12/14 studies; social aspects (n = 6), significant effects were identified across all studies and finally physical aspects (n = 5), significant effects were found in 3/5 studies. Autonomy support was identified as a mechanism to explain the change, whilst age and gender influenced the strength of the association. (4) Conclusions: The findings provide confirmation of the link between MVPA and the improved mental health and wellbeing of disadvantaged children and adolescents. Future research must consider the long-term effect through longitudinal studies, along with determining whether any specific types of PA are more impactful than others

The Impact of Employment Tribunal Fees : A Perspective from Citizens Advice Advisers in Scotland

The Employment Tribunal (ET) evolved from the Industrial Tribunal and provides an individual with the opportunity to have their employment case heard before an independent adjudicator who will apply a legal framework to the dispute to pass a legally binding decision. Previously this system was free for individuals and business to use

Project THANKS: A Socio-Ecological Framework For An Intervention Involving HIV Positive African American Women With Comorbidities

HIV-positive individuals are living longer today as a result of continuing advances in treatment but are also facing an increased risk for chronic diseases such as diabetes, and hypertension. These conditions result in a larger burden of hospitalization, outpatient, and emergency room visits. Impoverished African American women may represent an especially high-risk group due to disparities in health care, racial discrimination, and limited resources. This article describes an intervention that is based on the conceptual framework of the socio-ecological model. Project THANKS uses a community-based participatory, and empowerment building approach to target the unique personal, social, and environmental needs of African American women faced with the dual diagnosis of HIV and one or more chronic diseases. The long-term goal of this project is to identify features in the social and cultural milieu of these women that if integrated into existing harm reduction services can reduce poor health outcomes among them

Guerre civile et génocide : quel est le lien? : l'exemple du Rwanda

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

Using the Adolescent Stress Identification Inventory (ASII) to Identify Stress in Grade 10 and Grade 11 Girls, at a Private Highschool in Johannesburg.

Student Number : 9604621R - MEd (Ed Psyc) research report - School of Education - Faculty of HumanitiesThe Adolescent Stress Identification Inventory (ASII) was developed specifically to identify stress in South African adolescents. It consists of structured questions in response to which the subject is required to rate a statement according to a given scale. The purpose of this research was to assess the usefulness of the ASII as a structured inventory for identifying stress in adolescent girls who attend a private high school in Johannesburg. The sample of adolescents used in this research comprised only of English speaking girls but with the added dimension of the different race groupings namely White, Black, Chinese, Indian and Coloured. This allowed the researcher to compare the stressors identified by Kruger (1992) with the comparative female age cohort selected in this sample and identify and compare the stressors amongst the different racial groups. Understanding what types of things adolescents find stressful in relation to their stage of development is important in helping the adolescent cope with their “daily hassles” and assists teachers, parents and psychologists in treating and preventing the symptoms of stress. Erikson’s psychosocial theory of development is used as a basis for understanding the complex interaction and integration of physical, psychological and social factors that characterize adolescence as a period of development. The findings from this research suggest that the stressors identified by grade 10 and grade 11 girls, can be viewed in terms of the factors associated with the ASII, namely societal demands, self-concept, future expectations, relations and positive experience. The ASII was able to identify stressors and detect the similarities and differences of the types of concerns that the adolescents from the different race groups perceived as stressful. It is recommended that the ASII is used in conjunction with a qualitative means of acquiring more information about the respondents stress experience

Orbit Determination Methods for Deep Space Drag-Free Controlled Laser Interferometry Missions

The objective of this thesis is to determine if different measurement combinations will improve absolute and relative orbit determination (OD) accuracy for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission. LISA, a triangular three-satellite heliocentric constellation, measures the relative length changes between spacecraft. The unique contribution of this work is the incorporation of inter-spacecraft range and range rate observations into the OD process, in addition to Deep Space Network (DSN) range and range rate, and Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) angle tracking data. MATLAB was used for orbit propagation, simulating measurements, and executing the weighted batch least squares algorithm to obtain the best state estimate. Covariance and Monte Carlo analyses were performed to compare the four test cases. The results concluded that cases with inter-spacecraft data had the least absolute and relative OD errors, VLBI eventually becomes ineffectual, and DSN needs at least 20 days of tracking to become observable