Uncovering and Mapping Place Attachment in Small Cities

Understanding the connections that visitors and residents have to places is critically important for tourism development. Aided with this knowledge, authentic experiences can be developed, stories can be uncovered and told, and resident perspectives can be identified. This paper describes a case study to uncover and map place attachment in three small cities in Western Canada. The project was conducted in the cities of Courtenay, Port Alberni and Nanaimo, BC. A one day “walk about” in each community was used to record 1.5 minute videos (n=85) of residents speaking about a place in their downtown core where they felt connected to. These videos were then uploaded to Arc GIS resulting in the first layer of a dynamic map for each community. Findings were analyzed using content analysis and data visualization techniques. Some of the opportunities emerging from this project for tourism researchers include: a) engaging visitors in sharing the places they feel connected to in the communities they travel to, b) creating more dynamic maps of destinations with layers that reveal deeper, more authentic meaning of place, and c) using this new knowledge to position tourism as a critical component in municipal planning and to embed highly valued places within tourism development planning

Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Frequency for University of Kansas Medical Center Pediatric Patients

Background. Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination is recommendedfor all adolescents aged 11 to 12 years, but coveragein Kansas is exceptionally poor. To understand local coverage, receiptof the 3-dose HPV vaccine series among pediatric patients atthe University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) was evaluated. Methods. All patients aged 11 to 12 years who were seen by aKUMC primary care provider (family medicine and pediatrics)in 2013 were included in the retrospective chart review. Recordswere reviewed through December 31, 2014 to capture the numberof HPV doses received, and receipt of other recommendedvaccines (tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis and meningococcal conjugate).Pearson’s chi-squared tests were used to evaluate relationshipsbetween HPV vaccination and patient characteristics. Results. Of the 261 eligible females and 243 eligible males, 71.2%received ≥ 1 HPV vaccine dose, 55.2% received ≥ 2 doses, and39.3% completed the HPV vaccine series (3 doses). Although vaccineinitiation was slightly lower in males compared to females(67.1% vs. 75.1%, p = 0.047), no difference in vaccine completionwas seen between males and females (37.0% vs. 41.7%, p = 0.319).Over 80% of patients received other concurrently recommendedvaccines (Tdap: 81.7%, meningococcal: 81.3%). HPV series completionoccurred more often among Spanish-speaking femalescompared to English-speaking females (59.5% vs 37.7%; p < 0.01).Conclusions. The proportion of adolescents who received theHPV vaccination at KUMC is substantially higher than nationaland state estimates, but there is room for improvement forboth initiation and series completion. KS J Med 2016;9(1):1-5

Identifying Awareness, Use, and Perceptions of text4baby among Family Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology Practitioners at the University of Kansas Medical Center

Background. Low income minority women who receive inadequate or no prenatal care have greater infant morbidity and mortality in the postnatal period. Mobile health or mHealth initiatives such as text4baby are presumed to be a means to reach underserved pregnant and postpartum women to increase their use of prenatal and postnatal care. Providers are an important referral source for mHealth initiatives. It is important, therefore, to assess the awareness, use, and perceptions of the text4baby program among Family Medicine and Obstetrics/Gynecology (Ob/Gyn) providers to determine the means to increase referrals and improve outcomes for pregnant mothers and infants. Methods. Family medicine and Ob/Gyn providers (attending physicians, residents, nurse practitioners, nurses, and medical assistants) at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) completed a survey assessing awareness of use and perceived utility of text4baby as well as experience with technology and reservations about mHealth in general. Results. Seventy-eight providers (38 in Family Medicine and 40 in Ob/Gyn) responded to the survey. Awareness of text4baby among all providers was 18%. Among the 14 providers who knew about text4baby, one individual stated he/she regularly refers patients to text4baby and 11 agreed that text4baby is a useful tool for the care of pregnant patients. Comparison of text4baby awareness by demographic factors showed no significant differences between any of the groups. Providers who knew of mHealth applications were more likely to know about text4baby (p = 0.04). Older providers were less likely to have reservations about using mHealth in their practice (p = 0.02). There was widespread agreement (87%) that providing evidence to clinicians that text4baby improves outcomes would increase use of the service in clinical practice. Conclusions. Awareness of text4baby among practitioners at KUMC is minimal; use is negligible. Our study identified lack of awareness of the text4baby service and of supporting evidence about its effectiveness as the primary barriers to referral

City Habitats: thriving people, thriving nature and solving stormwater collaboratively as a region

The City Habitats Network connects over 100 partner organizations and entities involved in the work or urban ecosystem restoration with a particular interest in green infrastructure and stormwater. By focusing on coordination of partners, collaborative approaches, and meeting communities where they are, City Habitats is accelerating and amplifying efforts from across the Salish Sea and turning the tide on polluted stormwater. This presentation will highlight the overall strategies of City Habitats and examples of our collective impacts across regional and economic sector lines. As a coalition of partners involved in urban restoration, City Habitats is intentionally centering racial and social equity in the positive impact work that this network does

The empirical basis for the use of directed lie comparison questions in diagnostic and screening polygraphs.

There has been some question as to when it is advantageous or "permissible" to use directed lie comparison (DLC) questions in polygraph testing. More specifically, this question and this related discussion pertains to whether it is scientifically valid to use DLCs in diagnostic and/or screening test formats. Discussion of these questions extend quickly into the realm of professional ethics, which centers around ensuring that we, as professionals, make good choices that benefit our profession, our agencies, our communities, our countries, and the individual being tested. Ethics is, after all, a discussion about right and wrong with consideration for what bad or good things happen, and to whom these things happen, as a result of a particular choice of action. The polygraph profession sits at a crucial point of ethical discussions, and these discussions pertain to theories of truth and deception, and also to the competition of rights, priorities and potential impacts that may result in different benefits and consequences for individual persons and groups of people. It is a goal of science to provide evidence-based models for making decisions about individual cases, and for making policies that affect decisions pertaining to groups of cases. Evidence-based practices allow us to calculate the expected results and probability of error with mathematical precision, and therefore help us to better manage the impact that decisions and actions have on individuals and groups. It is our position that answers to questions about scientific validity and ethics should be informed and determined by data and evidence, and not by a declarative system of arbitrary rules without evidence. Compliance with policies and regulations is important, and this paper is not intended to supersede the existing policies or mandated field practices of any agency. Rather, this document is intended to orient the reader to the scientific evidence regarding DLCs, and to anchor a more informed professional discussion regarding matters of scientific validity and polygraph field practices. Administrators, policy makers, and field examiners place themselves in an untenable position when their decisions and policies are not grounded in science. That position is one of having to explain or defend one's policies or field practices when they are inconsistent with the published scientific evidence that is available to the opposing counsel during a legal contest. The same evidence that could be used to improve the effectiveness and validity of the polygraph could also be used to undermine the credibility and viability of the profession if we chose to ignore it. It is hoped that the information in this document will lead to further discussion and improvements in policies and field practices to include the current state of scientific evidence regarding the use of DLCs. Discussion Summary of the Research Evidence The views and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the associations, agencies, and entities with whom the authors are affiliated

'On the Wet Side of the Womb’:The construction of mothers in anti-abortion activism in England and Wales

Across the UK, there has been an increase in anti-abortion activism outside abortion clinics. The activism deployed includes explicitly religious activities such as ‘prayerful witnessing’ and ‘pavement counselling’, which aim to discourage women from entering clinics. This article stems from a wider ethnographic study of public activism over abortion to determine what claims about motherhood are being made within these debates. Two arguments are presented. First, how women’s role as mothers is central and essentialised in anti-abortion discourses, with the body of the mother often disappearing as activists seek to erode the distinction between a foetus and a baby by constructing pregnancy as a foetal environment. Motherhood is constructed as ‘natural’ and sacred, therefore abortion must be damaging because it destroys women’s ‘natural’ position. Second, the article argues that although the activists’ arguments are always religiously framed, their activism takes place in a largely secular context, meaning that they have to find ways of appealing to secular audiences. This leads to a complex interrelationship between secular and religious discourses, where theological viewpoints sit alongside ‘scientific’ claims to buttress activists’ views. This article explores how the presence and absence of mothers within activists’ narratives is due to the tensions between religiously based understandings of motherhood, and the need to appeal to a secular audience

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

The Great American Biotic Interchange: Dispersals, Tectonics, Climate, Sea Level and Holding Pens

The biotic and geologic dynamics of the Great American Biotic Interchange are reviewed and revised. Information on the Marine Isotope Stage chronology, sea level changes as well as Pliocene and Pleistocene vegetation changes in Central and northern South America add to a discussion of the role of climate in facilitating trans-isthmian exchanges. Trans-isthmian land mammal exchanges during the Pleistocene glacial intervals appear to have been promoted by the development of diverse non-tropical ecologies