Fostering Self-Identity in Adolescents Who Experience Spinal Cord Injuries

The purpose of this scholarly project is to identify a need and to guide occupational therapists during the treatment of adolescents who have acquired a spinal cord injury. During the adolescence stage, an individual begins to develop a sense of self and sense of direction, as well as formulate values which all contribute to personal identity formation (Erickson, 1968). The manual will guide the occupational therapist to address identity formation through use of the chosen assessments and interventions. It is believed that focusing on aspects of identity formation as experienced in the midst of a traumatic spinal cord injury will foster successful adolescent identity development and a resultant higher quality of life. A literature review was conducted utilizing the search items “typical adolescent development, identity formation, spinal cord injury, and occupational therapy” in multiple online databases including: CINAHL, PubMed, PsychInfo, Academic Search Premier, OT Search, and Google Scholar. Textbooks and government-based websites were also utilized to obtain additional information. A manual was developed to guide occupational therapists treating adolescents with spinal cord injuries to foster a positive self-identity. The assessments and interventions chosen are guided by the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO), with the goal of building a strengthened identity, increasing self-esteem, and promoting a higher quality of life. The manual is appropriate for practicing occupational therapists in the inpatient neuro-rehabilitation setting. Prior to full implementation, it is suggested that research be conducted in order to test the clinical significance of the manual. Addressing identity as a part of the treatment for an adolescent with a spinal cord injury is an important aspect of occupational therapy services

Using Annual Landsat Time Series for the Detection of Dry Forest Degradation Processes in South-Central Angola

Dry tropical forests undergo massive conversion and degradation processes. This also holds true for the extensive Miombo forests that cover large parts of Southern Africa. While the largest proportional area can be found in Angola, the country still struggles with food shortages, insufficient medical and educational supplies, as well as the ongoing reconstruction of infrastructure after 27 years of civil war. Especially in rural areas, the local population is therefore still heavily dependent on the consumption of natural resources, as well as subsistence agriculture. This leads, on one hand, to large areas of Miombo forests being converted for cultivation purposes, but on the other hand, to degradation processes due to the selective use of forest resources. While forest conversion in south-central rural Angola has already been quantitatively described, information about forest degradation is not yet available. This is due to the history of conflicts and the therewith connected research difficulties, as well as the remote location of this area. We apply an annual time series approach using Landsat data in south-central Angola not only to assess the current degradation status of the Miombo forests, but also to derive past developments reaching back to times of armed conflicts. We use the Disturbance Index based on tasseled cap transformation to exclude external influences like inter-annual variation of rainfall. Based on this time series, linear regression is calculated for forest areas unaffected by conversion, but also for the pre-conversion period of those areas that were used for cultivation purposes during the observation time. Metrics derived from linear regression are used to classify the study area according to their dominant modification processes. We compare our results to MODIS latent integral trends and to further products to derive information on underlying drivers. Around 13% of the Miombo forests are affected by degradation processes, especially along streets, in villages, and close to existing agriculture. However, areas in presumably remote and dense forest areas are also affected to a significant extent. A comparison with MODIS derived fire ignition data shows that they are most likely affected by recurring fires and less by selective timber extraction. We confirm that areas that are used for agriculture are more heavily disturbed by selective use beforehand than those that remain unaffected by conversion. The results can be substantiated by the MODIS latent integral trends and we also show that due to extent and location, the assessment of forest conversion is most likely not sufficient to provide good estimates for the loss of natural resources. View Full-Tex

Thermographic Characterization of Feal Green Sheet

The automotive, aerospace, medical, and electronic industries all now use components derived from powder metallurgy. In many instances, this manufacturing approach can provide parts and stock materials of higher quality and reliability than those obtained using other manufacturing techniques, which contributes directly to the reliability of the products in which they are used. As the market for powder metal parts continues to grow, suppliers are seeking new means to monitor, control and optimize powder metallurgy processes. The focus of this work is the nondestructive evaluation of thin rolled iron aluminide alloy using thermographic techniques designed for quality control during manufacturing [1]. While the formation of products from powder metallurgy can be quite complex, the typical process can divided into four stages. In the first stage, powder metal constituents are mixed with a binder and/or solvent. In the second stage, intermediate products–commonly referred to as green parts–are formed under pressure. The third stage is the removal of the binder and sintering of the metal particles into a solid structure. A fourth stage involving machining or forming is sometimes required. Each of these stages usually has several intermediate steps and each step exhibits characteristic defect morphologies and underlying formation mechanisms. The guiding principle in minimizing the impact of hese flaws (with the goal of zero defects) is to identify the most significant flaws as early in the process as possible. Early detection may provide the opportunity to correct the defect downstream in the process. Alternatively, if the flaw cannot be product flow or investing process resources in a bad part. It is in this context that the development of technologies that detect and quantify the quality of intermediate and final products will have a significant impact on the growth of future applications of powder technology. The goal of this research is a non-contact, real-time method of inspecting 100% of the green sheet produced by an existing industrial process

Liquid-Phase Sintering of Iron Aluminide-Bonded Ceramics

Abstract Iron aluminide intermetallics exhibit excellent oxidation and sulfidation resistance and are therefore considered as the matrix in metal matrix composites, or the binder in hard metals or cermets. In this paper n e discuss the processing and properties of liquid-phase sintered iron aluminide-bonded ceramics. It is found that ceramics such as TiB2. ZrB?, Tic, and WC may all be liquid phasesintered. Nearly complete densification is achie% ed for ceramic volume fractions ranging up to 60%. Dependins on the composition, room temperature three point-bend strengths and fracture toughnesses reaching 1500 MPa and 30 MPa mil2, respectively, have been found. Since the processing was carried out in a very simple manner, optimized processing is likely to result in further improvements

Processing, Microstructure, and Properties of Multiphase Mo Silicide Alloys

Multiphase Mo silicide alloys containing T2 (Mo{sub 5}SiB{sub 2}), Mo{sub 3}Si and Mo phases where prepared by both melting and casting (M and C) and powder metallurgical (PM) processes. Glassy phases are observed in PM materials but not in M and C materials. Microstructural studies indicate that the primary phase is Mo-rich solid solution in alloys containing {le}(9.4Si+13.8B, at. %) and T2 in alloys with {ge}(9.8Si+14.6B). An eutectic composition is estimated to be close to Mo-9.6Si-14.2B. The mechanical properties of multiphase silicide alloys were determined by hardness, tensile and bending tests at room temperature. The multiphase alloy MSB-18 (Mo-9.4Si-13.8B) possesses a flexure strength distinctly higher than that of MoSi{sub 2} and other Mo{sub 5}Si{sub 3} silicide alloys containing no Mo particles. Also, MSB-18 is tougher than MoSi{sub 2} by a factor of 4

Spatiotemporally improving the rural access index - a remote sensing based approach

Many countries, especially in the global south still lack the ability to effectively pursue basic policies, which can lead, in the worst case, to armed conflicts. Access to markets is a key factor for economic growth and an important component in reducing poverty. The SDG 9.1.1 addresses the proportion of the rural population who live within 2km of an all-season road, which can be mapped by the Rural Access Index (RAI), introduced by the World Bank in 2006. This requires the road network of so-called all season roads, population distribution and rural areas. We developed a fully automated approach, using remote sensing and other open source data to calculate the RAI on an annual basis between 2013 and 2020 for the Lake Chad region. We achieved an overall accuracy between 97.0% and 97.5% in detecting all-season roads using a Random Forest classification. Our method shows similar results to those published by the World Bank. However, our approach provides a higher spatial and temporal resolution measuring the RAI compared to previous studies and is independent of field studies