Laterality and grip strength influence hand bone micro-architecture in modern humans, an HRpQCT study

It is widely hypothesized that mechanical loading, specifically repetitive low-intensity tasks, influences the inner structure of cancellous bone. As such, there is likely a relationship between handedness and bone morphology. The aim of this study is to determine patterns in trabecular bone between dominant and non-dominant hands in modern humans. Seventeen healthy patients between 22 and 32 years old were included in the study. Radial carpal bones (lunate, capitate, scaphoid, trapezium, trapezoid, 1st, 2nd and 3rd metacarpals) were analyzed with high-resolution micro-computed tomography. Additionally, crush and pinch grip were recorded. Factorial analysis indicated that bone volume ratio, trabeculae number (Tb.N), bone surface to volume ratio (BS.BV), body weight, stature and crush grip were all positively correlated with principal components 1 and 2 explaining 78.7% of the variance. Volumetric and trabecular endostructural parameters (BV/TV, BS/BV or Tb.Th, Tb.N) explain the observed inter-individual variability better than anthropometric or clinical parameters. Factors analysis regressions showed correlations between these parameters and the dominant side for crush strength for the lunate (r2 = 0.640, P < 0.0001), trapezium (r2 = 0.836, P < 0.0001) and third metacarpal (r2 = 0.763). However, despite a significant lateralization in grip strength for all patients, the endostructural variability between dominant and non-dominant sides was limited in perspective to inter-individual differences. In conclusion, handedness is unlikely to generate trabecular patterns of asymmetry. It appears, however, that crush strength can be considered for endostructural analysis in the modern human wrist

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From corporate headquarter relocation to waste disposal sites, property developers, corporations and government agencies are often faced with the challenge of identifying the best site for locating a facility. Despite the wide array of siting issues, the core test remains the same: how is “best ” defined, who should be defining “best”, and how is it measured? This is not a simple task

The Long Sword And Scabbard Slide In Asia.

PhDArchaeologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/184876/2/6715710.pd

Sustainable tourism planning with multiple objective decision analysis: a case study of the Guimaras farm tourism pilot

There is widespread recognition that tourism, one of one of the world's largest and fastest growing industries, must move towards sustainability by embracing a more balanced planning approach. This is especially true in developing countries where tourism is being aggressively promoted, often with limited attention given to the overarching socioeconomic, institutional and biophysical parameters. This thesis uses an innovative and promising approach for sustainable tourism planning based on multiple objective decision analysis (MODA). After reviewing contemporary challenges in tourism planning and identifying MODA's potential contributions, practical application of MOD A is tested in a case study of The Philippine Cooperative Farm Tourism Project: The Guimaras Pilot Project. MODA is a planning and decision method that draws from many disciplines including economics, psychology, operations research, negotiation theory and statistical decision theory. It is based on six fundamental steps: (1) defining the decision problem effectively; (2) establishing the planning context; (3) identifying relevant stakeholders; (4) eliciting and structuring a comprehensive set of objectives; (5) creating alternatives to achieve the stated objectives; and, (6) evaluating the alternatives against the objectives. This 'people based' approach seeks to clarify inherent value tradeoffs while promoting the development of alternatives that are more likely to appeal to stakeholder interests. The insight gained from the MODA process allows decision makers to make better informed and more defensible choices — choices that can responsibly address the difficult issues of sustainable tourism and are more likely to result in successful project implementation. Sub-methods are easily couched in the conceptual structure provided by MODA. One technique used extensively during field research in the Philippines was the elicitation and organization of objectives into a hierarchy, ranging from national policy to local values. By focusing on objectives, the analysis was able to identify, and begin to address, critical gaps in available information (i.e., local market conditions were established using market research techniques and capture rate theory). Field work was also supported by interviews (semistructured, open and informal) and participatory observation. These efforts laid the foundation for a 'farm tourism' planning workshop. The workshop participants, representing key stakeholder groups, infused critical local knowledge into the process and helped establish realistic planning constraints. Using the objectives hierarchy, the participants also undertook a qualitative and quantitative examination of objectives that provided a chance to reflect on community values and direct the focus of the Guimaras Farm Tourism Pilot Project (fortified later by statistical analysis). The insights gained were then used by the workshop participants to create and clarify a range of alternatives that culminated in a grassroots vision of 'farm tourism'. MODA systematically promoted an open, participatory process and established a framework for multi-sectoral integration; The resulting group-efforts overcame entrenched positions (e.g., the farm estate concept) while nurturing a sense of commitment necessary for effective project implementation. A five year period would allow for a staggered phasing of three alternatives: (1) Excursion Farm Tourism; (2) Barangay (Village) Farm Tourism; and, (2) Estate Farm Tourism. These alternatives would all be based on education, interpretation and host/guest interaction. All of the alternatives would benefit from the creation of exhibits, events, tours and festivals. These activities would be immediately initiated and evolve over the life of the project. Close monitoring and ongoing evaluation would be needed to adjust the project to changing needs of local communities. Although some of MODA's more technical aspects (e.g., statistical analysis of objectives) will probably not become a planning standard on Guimaras, many of MODA's core principals (e.g., relevant stakeholder inclusion) will continue to be an important part of the Guimaras Farm Tourism planning process. The success of this planning and decision making method on the rural island of Guimaras suggests that it is widely applicable, and therefore capable of contributing to sustainable tourism initiates in many planning contexts.Applied Science, Faculty ofCommunity and Regional Planning (SCARP), School ofGraduat

Sociophonology of rhoticity and r-sandhi in East Lancashire English

Most discussions of English phonology argue that rhoticity and r-sandhi are necessarily in complementary distribution, citing the diachronic path that led to the loss of rhoticity and the resulting synchronic r ~ Ø alternations in non-rhotic dialects. However, some accounts suggest that ‘it would not be surprising to discover cases of intrusive-r in rhotic dialects’ (Harris 1994, see also Carr 1999, Uffmann 2007). In order to investigate how non-rhoticity and r-sandhi could be transmitted by dialect contact, this thesis uses data from speakers in five communities in Greater Manchester and East Lancashire. The locations are equally spaced along a twenty-mile route from Prestwich (a suburb of Manchester, where speakers are non-rhotic) to Accrington (a post-industrial mill-town which is on an ‘island of rhoticity’ (Britain 2009)). I show that individual speakers have variable levels of both rhoticity and r-sandhi, which matches research on early New Zealand English (Hay & Sudbury 2005). Beyond this key fact, I discuss several other aspects of the relationship between r-sandhi and rhoticity, including the phonological and dialectological significance of the patterns in the data. First, linking-r and intrusive-r have different distributions in my data, despite the typical claim that they are synchronically the same process. This supports the idea that speakers are sensitive to a difference between words with and without an etymological r: I attribute this to the influence of orthography and to sociolinguistic salience of intrusive-r. Second, the nature of my sample population allows me to consider both change in apparent time and variation across geographical space. An apparent time comparison of the distribution of non-rhoticity and intrusive-r in the five Lancashire locations shows that these features are spreading by wave diffusion: they reach nearby locations before they reach locations further away. However, there is also a pattern of urban hierarchical diffusion in which the most isolated and rural location, Rossendale, lags behind Accrington in its loss of rhoticity. This is examined in the light of local patterns of travel for work and leisure, which suggest that although Accrington is further than Rossendale from the non-rhotic ‘sea’ of surrounding speakers, socially constructed space is more significant than Cartesian distance in determining the amount of linguistic contact between speakers from different locations. Third, I show that levels of rhoticity are increasing for some young speakers in Rossendale, which supports the hypothesis that a local linguistic feature can have a ‘last gasp’ under pressure from a competing non-local feature before its eventual loss. However, the same speakers are also adopting intrusive-r more quickly than speakers from neighbouring areas and this is significant: while earlier research has suggested that the presence of hyperdialectal non-etymological r (e.g. lager [laôg@~]) can be an indication of a loss of rhoticity in progress, the East Lancashire data show a different situation, where non-etymological r is for the most part restricted to sandhi contexts. This shows that rather than r-colouring becoming part of the realisation of certain vowels (e.g. sauce [sO:ôs]), intrusive-r is becoming adopted as a hiatus-filling strategy: a phonological process is being used by some rhotic speakers independently of the loss of contrasts (e.g. Leda ~ leader) which caused it to emerge in non-rhotic dialects. I discuss these results in terms of sociophonology, which I use to convey the idea that the phonological process of hiatus-filling r-sandhi can spread through dialect contact, with a mixed phonological system emerging as a result. Although the data suggest a correlation between the loss of rhoticity and the development of r-sandhi, the nature of the overlap means that a phonological model must allow for speakers to have both features, even if rhoticity is eventually lost completely. Hay & Sudbury (2005) argue that the gradual development of linking and intrusive-r leading to their convergence to a single synchronic phenomenon ‘is not a process that can be well described by any categorical, phonological grammar’. I show that the current situation in East Lancashire speech can be described by existing phonological models with underlying representations and associated surface forms. These existing models do not rule out a parallel distribution for rhoticity and intrusive-r, in which individual speakers can have both features. This thesis provides some new dialectological data for an under-researched area of North West England, a discussion of phonological means of accounting for patterns in these data, and a discussion of the influence of socio-cultural spatiality on linguistic behaviour.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Localizing a just transition: a case study of St. George, Alaska

This paper explores the St. George Economic Development Strategy and strategy development process through a just transitions lens. St. George is a remote island located in Alaska’s Bering Sea, and is home to a small community of Unangan people facing a declining population, infrastructure deficit, and high unemployment. Through a qualitative content analysis and informal interviews, we analyzed how the strategy engaged with four forms of justice (distributive, procedural, recognition, and epistemic) and considered how the development process might have facilitated justice responses. The aim of this research is to share St. George’s efforts to build a more sustainable and just future for their community, as well as highlight key considerations for other communities and researchers engaging in this type of work. The success of St. George’s Economic Development Strategy is due to strong community leaders, a community focused approach to engagement, and respectful consideration and inclusion of the community’s values and beliefs

Intraoperative Fracture During Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty

While the occurrence of periprosthetic fractures around total knee arthroplasties (TKAs) is well know, little is known about intraoperative fractures that occur during TKA. We describe the incidence, location, and outcomes of iatrogenic intraoperative fracture during primary TKA. We reviewed 17,389 primary TKAs performed between 1985 and 2005 and identified 66 patients with 67 intraoperative fractures including 49 femur fractures, 18 tibia fractures, and no patella fractures. There were 12 men and 54 women with a mean age of 65.2 ± 16 years. Of the 49 femur fractures, locations included medial condyle (20), lateral condyle (11), supracondylar femur (eight), medial epicondyle (seven), lateral epicondyle (two), and posterior cortex (one). Tibia fractures (18) included lateral plateau (six), anterior cortex (four), medial plateau (three), lateral cortex (three), medial cortex (one), and posterior cortex (one). Twenty-six fractures occurred during exposure and preparation, 22 while trialing, 13 during cementation, and three while inserting the polyethylene spacer. The minimum followup was 0.15 years (mean, 5.1 years; range, 0.15–15.4 years). All fractures healed clinically and radiographically. Knee Society scores and function scores improved from 46.4 and 34.6 to 79.5 and 61, respectively. Fourteen of the 66 (21%) patients were revised at an average of 2.8 years. Intraoperative fracture is an uncommon complication of primary TKA with a prevalence of 0.39%. Intraoperative fracture occurred more commonly in women (80.6%) and in the femur (73.1%). The majority of fractures occurred during exposure and bone preparation and trialing of the components