Advocating for out of school youth employment : conversations with youth from Central Harlem

As stated in the thesis project, "The employment and earnings prospects of out-of-school youth, which includes low educational achievers and high school dropouts, have always been worse than those of high school graduates or of youth with higher educational achievements. Today, the differences in employment and earnings attributable to educational attainment are wider than ever. Major economic and business trends offer little hope that these differences will diminish. Furthermore, the rapidly growing youth population now experiences increasing pressure from: declining real earnings, competition for jobs from immigrants and former public assistance recipients, the impacts of incarceration, and a high rate of out-of-wedlock births...The role of this project on a local level was to help youth in Central Harlem identify their own issues to advocate for and document the experience of a group of out-of-school youth. With the help of a local church and some volunteers, the youth educated their peers by facilitating an employment workshop based on the group's overall experience. By facilitating various relationships between elected officials, the community and local businesses the youth were able to find summer jobs and participate in the second annual Harlem Youth Conference sponsored by Assemblyman Keith Wright (D-NY)." (Library-derived description)Smith, S. (2000). Advocating for out of school youth employment : conversations with youth from Central Harlem. Retrieved from http://academicarchive.snhu.eduMaster of Science (M.S.)School of Community Economic Developmen

Do restorative home care programs increase independence in ADLs and IADLs in older adults receiving home health services?

There has been a worldwide shift from viewing aging as a dependent stage of life to one that increasingly encourages independence and a more active lifestyle for older adults. In Australia, where this study was conducted, restorative care that embraces active aging was not yet considered an essential component of home health care on the national level. However, restorative home care has been gaining more recognition as increasing importance is placed on independence and self-management in older adults. The researchers of this study explored whether older adults’ participation in restorative home care programs reduced the need for ongoing personal care. Participants were randomized into either a Home Independence Program (HIP) or basic home care services. The HIP consisted of three visits per week for 12 weeks or until goals were met, whichever occurred first. The program focused on optimizing functioning, preventing or delaying further functional decline, promoting healthy aging, and encouraging self-management of chronic diseases. The control group of basic home care services consisted of three personal care visits a week to assist with bathing/showering and house cleaning. By analyzing routinely collected service data from each group, outcomes were compared to see whether participants continued to need ongoing service after 3 months, and again after 12 months. Results showed that the HIP significantly decreased the odds of needing ongoing service at both 3 months and 12 months

Factors influencing terrestriality in primates of the Americas and Madagascar

Among mammals, the order Primates is exceptional in having a high taxonomic richness in which the taxa are arboreal, semiterrestrial, or terrestrial. Although habitual terrestriality is pervasive among the apes and African and Asian monkeys (catarrhines), it is largely absent among monkeys of the Americas (platyrrhines), as well as galagos, lemurs, and lorises (strepsirrhines), which are mostly arboreal. Numerous ecological drivers and species-specific factors are suggested to set the conditions for an evolutionary shift from arboreality to terrestriality, and current environmental conditions may provide analogous scenarios to those transitional periods. Therefore, we investigated predominantly arboreal, diurnal primate genera from the Americas and Madagascar that lack fully terrestrial taxa, to determine whether ecological drivers (habitat canopy cover, predation risk, maximum temperature, precipitation, primate species richness, human population density, and distance to roads) or species-specific traits (bodymass, group size, and degree of frugivory) associate with increased terrestriality. We collated 150,961 observation hours across 2,227 months from 47 species at 20 sites in Madagascar and 48 sites in the Americas. Multiple factors were associated with ground use in these otherwise arboreal species, including increased temperature, a decrease in canopy cover, a dietary shift away from frugivory, and larger group size. These factors mostly explain intraspecific differences in terrestriality. As humanity modifies habitats and causes climate change, our results suggest that species already inhabiting hot, sparsely canopied sites, and exhibiting more generalized diets, are more likely to shift toward greater ground use

Factors influencing terrestriality in primates of the Americas and Madagascar

Among mammals, the order Primates is exceptional in having a high taxonomic richness in which the taxa are arboreal, semiterrestrial, or terrestrial. Although habitual terrestriality is pervasive among the apes and African and Asian monkeys (catarrhines), it is largely absent among monkeys of the Americas (platyrrhines), as well as galagos, lemurs, and lorises (strepsirrhines), which are mostly arboreal. Numerous ecological drivers and species-specific factors are suggested to set the conditions for an evolutionary shift from arboreality to terrestriality, and current environmental conditions may provide analogous scenarios to those transitional periods. Therefore, we investigated predominantly arboreal, diurnal primate genera from the Americas and Madagascar that lack fully terrestrial taxa, to determine whether ecological drivers (habitat canopy cover, predation risk, maximum temperature, precipitation, primate species richness, human population density, and distance to roads) or species-specific traits (body mass, group size, and degree of frugivory) associate with increased terrestriality. We collated 150,961 observation hours across 2,227 months from 47 species at 20 sites in Madagascar and 48 sites in the Americas. Multiple factors were associated with ground use in these otherwise arboreal species, including increased temperature, a decrease in canopy cover, a dietary shift away from frugivory, and larger group size. These factors mostly explain intraspecific differences in terrestriality. As humanity modifies habitats and causes climate change, our results suggest that species already inhabiting hot, sparsely canopied sites, and exhibiting more generalized diets, are more likely to shift toward greater ground use

This [Black] Woman’s Work: Exploring Archival Projects that Embrace the Identity of the Memory Worker

Archivists who work on African American collections are increasingly more aware that traditional sites of African American agency and autonomy are becoming more unstable. The need to capture the perspectives and histories of these institutions is urgent. The challenges become more acute when communities recognize the need to preserve their legacies but do not have the resources or support to make it happen. African American material culture and history remains at risk of co-optation from large institutions and individuals seeking to monetize and profit from collecting Black collections. Endemic in that process is the risk of these institutions controlling the narrative and inadvertently or deliberately erasing the narratives of these diverse communities from that community’s perspective. Cultural memory workers focused on African American collections face numerous challenges: the risk of losing the materials or communities themselves; partnering with organizations and administrations with differing, and perhaps conflicting agendas; working on projects with limited or term funding; and the emotional labor of being a person of color in a predominantly white field trying to support communities that can often reflect their own experiences. How can libraries, museums, and archives bring these communities into the world of archives and empower them to protect and share their stories? How can archivists, particularly those of color, find support within their institutions and the archival profession, to accomplish this work of preserving African American cultural heritage? How can archives support genuinely collaborative projects with diverse Black communities without co-opting their stories and collections? The authors will address these questions in this article, discussing their experiences working with a variety of institutions—predominantly white universities, Black colleges, churches, neighborhoods and families. The authors also include their reflections from their National Conference of African American Librarians panel presentation in August 2017 on these related topics

Therapeutic Listening® and Bilateral Coordination in Typically Developing Children

This study examined the effects of a 15-minute Therapeutic Listening Quickshift® series intervention on 8-10 year-old typically developing children. A convenience sample was used for 8 participants in Marin County, California. Participants were randomly assigned to either the Therapeutic Listening® intervention or white noise control intervention. All participants participated in a pretest to establish a baseline of bilateral coordination abilities. Participants then listened to 15-minutes of the Therapeutic Listening® or white noise interventions. Following this intervention period, participants then participated in a posttest identical to the pretest. Movement assessment measures from the bilateral coordination subtest of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition (BOT-2) and the Quick Neurological Screening (Backwards Tandem Walk and Rapid Forearm Rotation) were used for the pretest and posttest measures. Following the 15-minute interventions, one item from the BOT-2, Tapping Feet and Fingers, trended towards improvement in the Therapeutic Listening® group. Results of the Backwards Tandem Walk indicated a significant improvement in bilateral coordination in the Therapeutic Listening® group compared to the white noise control group. Positive findings from this study, though limited, give researchers an indication that the effects of Therapeutic Listening Quickshift® series on bilateral coordination are trending towards significance. This pilot study will be continued into 2015 for researchers to assess a greater amount of subjects, add to this current data, and ultimately increase the statistical power of findings

Therapeutic Listening® and Bilateral Coordination in Typically Developing Children

Abstract This study examined the effects of a 15-minute Therapeutic Listening Quickshift® series intervention on 8-10 year-old typically developing children. A convenience sample was used for 8 participants in Marin County, California. Participants were randomly assigned to either the Therapeutic Listening® intervention or white noise control intervention. All participants participated in a pretest to establish a baseline of bilateral coordination abilities. Participants then listened to 15-minutes of the Therapeutic Listening® or white noise interventions. Following this intervention period, participants then participated in a posttest identical to the pretest. Movement assessment measures from the bilateral coordination subtest of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition (BOT-2) and the Quick Neurological Screening (Backwards Tandem Walk and Rapid Forearm Rotation) were used for the pretest and posttest measures. Following the 15-minute interventions, one item from the BOT-2, Tapping Feet and Fingers, trended towards improvement in the Therapeutic Listening® group. Results of the Backwards Tandem Walk indicated a significant improvement in bilateral coordination in the Therapeutic Listening® group compared to the white noise control group. Positive findings from this study, though limited, give researchers an indication that the effects of Therapeutic Listening Quickshift® series on bilateral coordination are trending towards significance. This pilot study will be continued into 2015 for researchers to assess a greater amount of subjects, add to this current data, and ultimately increase the statistical power of findings