Economic Impact of the James River Park System

The James River Park System (JRPS), “a Little Bit of Wilderness in the Heart of the City,” is a unique part of Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities. With 550 acres of shoreline and islands in the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the JRPS extends in 14 sections from the Huguenot Bridge (West) to a half mile beyond the I-95 Bridge (East). It includes most of the fall line of the James River, and features rocks, rapids, meadows, and forests that make for an area of unspoiled natural beauty. Large cities around the United States routinely engage researchers to examine the economic value of their Park Systems. These efforts generally assess seven core criteria including (1) property values, (2) revenue associated with tourism, (3) direct use, (4) health, (5) community cohesion, (6) clean water and (7) clean air. This study, the first of its kind for the JRPS, was conducted between November 2016 and March 2017. Due to the tight timeframe, the authors examined only a subset of these factors: property values and tourism. They offer evidence of the value – to all Richmond citizens and to the City – of JRPS’ natural areas, attracting more visitors than any other Metro Richmond destinations

La mujer póntica en la antigüedad

Actas del Décimo Coloquio Internacional de la Asociación Española de Investigación de Historia de las Mujeres (AEIHM) celebrado del 17 al 19 de abril de 2002 en la Universidad Carlos III de MadridPublicad

American Corn in Russia: Lessons of the People-to-People Diplomacy and Capitalism

This paper is devoted to the “corn diplomacy” in the context of Russian-American relations from the end of the 19th century to the Cold war period. The author focuses her attention on three cases dealt with the American attempts to export their corn and secrets of corn production to the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. Thеsе thematic priorities give her the brilliant opportunity to analyze two dimensions of American messianic feelings deter- mined the stable long-term perception trends of Russia in the American society. The eco- nomic one arose from the attractive prospects of exports of goods, capital, and technologies into Russian markets (Russia was supposed to learn “the lessons of American capitalism”). The humanitarian one turned a famished and backward Russia into the object of aid from the rich and prosperous America and the Americans—into “international philanthropists”. At the same time one of the main author’s conclusions is that the “corn diplomacy” played an important role in promoting better understanding between Russian and Americans be- came the equivalent of the people-to-people diplomacy.

The Effects of Driving Restrictions on Air Quality: São Paulo, Bogotá, Beijing, and Tianjin

In a typical driving restriction, vehicle use is restricted based on the vehicle’s license plate; one cannot drive vehicles with certain license plate numbers on certain days. Driving restrictions have been used as a method to reduce urban air pollution or traffic congestion because they are easy and inexpensive to implement. We investigate whether driving restrictions introduced in São Paulo, Bogotá, Beijing and Tianjin have improved air quality. Across different versions of the driving restrictions there is no evidence that the overall air quality at different places has been improved. However, several important results show up in this extensive analysis. Temporal shifting of driving is likely to appear when the restrictions are only effective during certain hours of weekdays. Driving restrictions could potentially reduce the extreme concentrations of air pollutants. Driving restrictions can only be expected to alleviate air pollution when implemented with an extended schedule or in an extended region. The effects of the driving restrictions are primarily on the concentrations of CO and PM10.driving restriction, air quality, Environmental Economics and Policy,

APOE polymorphism and its association with dementia, neuropsychiatric disorders, and demographic factors in U.S Hispanic population

In 2019, the United States Census revealed that Hispanics are the greatest minority group in the U.S, 18% of the population; in 2060, it is expected to increase by 28%. Hispanics ages 65 have one of the highest rates of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the U.S. Studies have linked AD and other cognitive impairments, MCI, with apolipoprotein or APOE gene. APOE has also shown to increase the risk of neuropsychiatric disorders in individuals. However, there are limited studies in U.S Hispanics. This study examines the APOE gene and its associations with dementiarelated phenotypes, neuropsychiatric disorders, and demographic factors in U.S Hispanics. APOE gene and its association with dementia, neuropsychiatric disorders, and demographic factors in U.S Hispanic population. A total of 1,382 Hispanic participants were collected using our own data (N=62) and data collected by Texas Alzheimer’s Research and Care Consortium, TARCC (N=1,320). Questionnaires about medical history and demographics (e.g., age, education, and gender) were given. Saliva samples (N=62) and blood samples (N=1,320) were collected to obtain the APOE gene. Our studies showed that there are associations between APOE-ε4 and AD in the Hispanic population. No associations were found between APOE-ε4 and MCI. Furthermore, carrying at least one copy of the APOE-ε4 increases the risk of developing anxiety and depression. It was observed that AD had higher frequencies of anxiety, depression, and motor disturbances. This study demonstrated associations of the APOE e4 allele with AD in U.S. Hispanics. Also, the APOE e4 allele was associated with anxiety, depression, and motor. Further studies are needed to confirm our current findings due to the small sample size

Technology-enhanced Learning Design of a Pre-service Teacher Training Course in a Research-based Learning context

Research-based learning is an educational approach that aims at enhancing an active student engagement through research activities that are typical of the field. In the case of student teachers, this implies getting involved in educational research and in the development of educational innovation based on research. A valid method for this aim is design-based research, which combines theory and practice through designing different types of educational products. In this work we present a technology-enhanced learning design of a pre-service teacher training course within the frame of research-based learning and, concretely, of design-based research. The course had the focus on the use of technology in the school, as well as on the development of the digital competence, and it was organized around the preparation of an educational proposal in which the use of technology was integrated and based on a research question. As results, we share the vision of the course instructor and the student teachers. Conclusions address the innovative character of the learning design and the educational practice presented and suggest future lines of work

Utilitzant mapes conceptuals per a estructurar una revisió de literatura a petita escala: una aproximació a l'aprenentatge basat en la investigació en la formació inicial de mestres

Research-based learning (RBL) is a useful tool for combining theory and practice in teacher education. However, pre-service teachers struggle with the idea of teacher as researcher. One popular (meta)methodology considered in educational research (and that is well suited to school research) is design-based research (DBR). Incorporating this approach into RBL as a method for developing teaching innovation in schools could be one way to include RBL in teacher education and place pre-service teachers in the position of teacher as researcher. This study explores the potential of using digital concept maps to support the conceptualization phase (during the literature review) of an RBL process based on DBR in a pre-service teacher-education course prior to the design of a teaching innovation strategy for schools. Quantitative and qualitative data were obtained from a questionnaire administered to pre-service teachers and from the semantic evaluation of the concept maps of these teachers. Our results show an overall consensus among pre-service teachers that concept maps are useful for structuring small-scale literature reviews. Pre-service teachers also believe there is a strong possibility that they will use concept maps when they become teachers. We use our findings to make recommendations for university lecturers to use digital concept maps to design RBL activities based on literature reviews and with emphasis on teacher education.El aprendizaje basado en la investigación (ABI) se considera una herramienta útil para integrar la teoría y la práctica en la formación de maestros. Sin embargo, los maestros en formación se enfrentan a la idea poco clara del profesor como investigador. Una de las (meta)metodologías populares consideradas en la investigación educativa, que se adapta bien a la investigación escolar, es la investigación basada en el diseño (IBD). La incorporación de este enfoque en el ABI como forma de desarrollar innovaciones pedagógicas en las escuelas puede ser una opción para integrar el ABI en la formación de maestros y poner a los maestros en formación en el lugar del profesor como investigador. Este estudio explora el potencial de los mapas conceptuales digitales para apoyar el desarrollo de la fase de conceptualización -durante la revisión de la literatura- de un proceso de ABI basado en una perspectiva de IBD en una asignatura de formación inicial de maestros, como fase previa al diseño de una innovación docente para escuelas. Se obtuvieron datos cuantitativos y cualitativos a partir de un cuestionario para maestros en formación y de la evaluación semántica de sus mapas conceptuales. Los resultados muestran un consenso general entre los maestros en formación respecto a que los mapas conceptuales son realmente útiles para estructurar revisiones bibliográficas a pequeña escala y tienen un marcado potencial para ser utilizados cuando se conviertan en maestros. De los resultados se derivan recomendaciones para que los profesores universitarios diseñen actividades de ABI relacionadas con revisiones bibliográficas utilizando mapas conceptuales digitales, con énfasis en la formación de maestros.This work was supported by the Quality Pact for Teaching of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) of Germany under Grant 01PL16056 – Research-Based Learning in Focus Plus (FLiF+) project [Forschungbasiertes Lernen im Fokus Plus - FliF plus], University of Oldenbur