The Grizzly, March 19, 1991

New U.S.G.A Officers Appointed • Pennsylvania Pro-Life Convention Held • Rare Israeli Exhibition Arrives Safely • Village Idiots Compete at Pitt • Tenure Candidates Approved for Next Year • Alcohol Recovery Group to Start • Seniors Prepare for Graduation • Just Do It -- The Nautilus Connection • Flags: The Collegeville Connection • U.S.G.A Minutes • The Knack is Bnack! • Ursinus Students in Indonesia for a Day • Julian\u27s House • Meistersingers • Talking With Betty Boop • Bowie: Something Old and Something New • City of David at Berman • Men\u27s Lacrosse Club Wins Season Opener • Tennis Teams Begin Season • Five Named to MAC Honor Roll • Softball Starts Season • Baseball World Tour \u2791 • Indoor Track Finishes Season • Letter: On Teaching Catalan • Student Apathy is Growing • Consider Women\u27s Studies Next Semesterhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1273/thumbnail.jp

Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia intervention for people with mild to moderate dementia and their family carers in the UK: the VALID research programme including RCT

BackgroundPeople with dementia find it increasingly difficult to carry out daily activities (activities of daily living), and may require increasing support from family carers. Researchers in the Netherlands developed the Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia intervention, which was delivered in 10 1-hour sessions over 5 weeks to people with dementia and their family carers at home. Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia was found to be clinically effective and cost-effective.ObjectivesTranslate and adapt Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia to develop the Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia - the UK version intervention and training programme and to optimise its suitability for use within the UK. To estimate the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia - the UK version for people with mild to moderate dementia and their family carers compared with treatment as usual.DesignThe development phase used mixed methods to develop Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia - the UK version: translation, expert review, and adaptation of the manual and training materials; training occupational therapists; focus groups and interviews, including occupational therapists, managers, people with dementia and family carers; consensus conference; and an online survey of occupational therapists to scope UK practice. A multicentre, two-arm, parallel-group, single-blind individually randomised pragmatic trial was preceded by an internal pilot. Pairs were randomly allocated between Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia - the UK version and treatment as usual. A cost–utility analysis, fidelity study and qualitative study were also completed.SettingCommunity services for people with dementia across England.ParticipantsPeople with mild to moderate dementia recruited in pairs with a family carer/supporter.InterventionsCommunity Occupational Therapy in Dementia - the UK version is an activity-based, goal-setting approach for people with dementia and family carers, and is delivered at home by an occupational therapist for 10 hours over 10 weeks. Treatment as usual comprised the usual local service provision, which may or may not include standard occupational therapy.Main outcome measuresData were collected through interviews conducted in person with dyads at baseline and at 12 and 26 weeks post randomisation, and then over the telephone with a reduced sample of just carers at 52 and 78 weeks post randomisation. The primary outcome was the Bristol Activities of Daily Living Scale at 26 weeks. The secondary outcomes were as follows: person with dementia – cognition, activities of daily living, quality of life and mood; carer – sense of competence, quality of life and mood; all participants – social contacts, leisure activities and serious adverse events.ResultsThe Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia manual and training materials were translated and reviewed. In total, 44 occupational therapists were trained and delivered Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia to 130 pairs. A total of 197 occupational therapists completed the survey, of whom 138 also provided qualitative data. In total, 31 people attended the consensus conference. Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia - the UK version has more flexibility than Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia in terms of content and delivery; for example, occupational therapists can use the wider range of assessment tools that are already in regular use within UK practice and the time span for delivery is 10 weeks to better meet the needs of pairs and be more feasible for services to deliver. In total, 31 occupational therapists provided Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia - the UK version within the randomised controlled trial. A total of 468 pairs were randomised (249 pairs to Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia - the UK version, 219 pairs to treatment as usual). People with dementia ranged in age from 55 to 97 years (mean 78.6 years), and family carers ranged in age from 29 to 94 years (mean 69.1 years). The majority of those with dementia (74.8%) were married; 19.2% lived alone. Most family carers (72.6%) were spouses but 22.2% were adult children. At 26 weeks, 406 (87%) pairs remained in the trial, and the Bristol Activities of Daily Living Scale total score did not differ at the 5% level when comparing groups (adjusted mean difference estimate 0.35, 95% confidence interval –0.81 to 1.51; p = 0.55). The adjusted (for baseline Bristol Activities of Daily Living Scale total score and randomised group) intracluster correlation coefficient estimate at week 26 was 0.043. There were no significant differences in secondary outcomes. At 52 and 78 weeks, there were no differences between the two groups in Bristol Activities of Daily Living Scale total score and secondary outcomes. The probability that Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia - the UK version is cost-effective at a threshold of willingness to pay per quality-adjusted life-year of £20,000 is 0.02%. In the qualitative interviews, participants reported positive benefits and outcomes. Of the 249 pairs allocated to Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia - the UK version, 227 reached the goal-setting phase, and 838 of the 920 goals set (90.8%) were fully or partially achieved.LimitationsThe development phase took longer than estimated because of translation time and organisational delays in delivering the intervention. Recruitment to the randomised controlled trial took longer than expected. Fidelity overall was moderate, with variation across sites and therapists. It is possible that Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia - the UK version did not work well in the UK service model in which usual care differs from that in the Netherlands.ConclusionsThis programme used a rigorous process to develop Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia - the UK version but found no statistical evidence of clinical effectiveness or cost-effectiveness compared with usual care. Qualitative findings provided positive examples of how Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia - the UK version had enabled people to live well with dementia

Assessing climate risk and strengthening resilience for UK Higher Education Institutions

This working paper and accompanying case studies aim to support UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to develop processes to assess their current and future climate risks, put in place plans to adapt to these risks, and identify opportunities to strengthen their resilience. This guidance summarises the latest evidence in line with national climate risk assessment and adaptation planning, and is intended to support decision makers, senior leaders, sustainability practitioners and risk experts within HEIs to undertake this urgent work. Potential activities are identified for key actors and communities including sector bodies and government. Although the focus is on HEIs, the recommendations and approaches covered are applicable to Further Education Institutions (FEIs), albeit at more local scales and with less onus on research considerations

The sustainable materials roadmap

Over the past 150 years, our ability to produce and transform engineered materials has been responsible for our current high standards of living, especially in developed economies. However, we must carefully think of the effects our addiction to creating and using materials at this fast rate will have on the future generations. The way we currently make and use materials detrimentally affects the planet Earth, creating many severe environmental problems. It affects the next generations by putting in danger the future of the economy, energy, and climate. We are at the point where something must drastically change, and it must change now. We must create more sustainable materials alternatives using natural raw materials and inspiration from nature while making sure not to deplete important resources, i.e. in competition with the food chain supply. We must use less materials, eliminate the use of toxic materials and create a circular materials economy where reuse and recycle are priorities. We must develop sustainable methods for materials recycling and encourage design for disassembly. We must look across the whole materials life cycle from raw resources till end of life and apply thorough life cycle assessments (LCAs) based on reliable and relevant data to quantify sustainability. We need to seriously start thinking of where our future materials will come from and how could we track them, given that we are confronted with resource scarcity and geographical constrains. This is particularly important for the development of new and sustainable energy technologies, key to our transition to net zero. Currently 'critical materials' are central components of sustainable energy systems because they are the best performing. A few examples include the permanent magnets based on rare earth metals (Dy, Nd, Pr) used in wind turbines, Li and Co in Li-ion batteries, Pt and Ir in fuel cells and electrolysers, Si in solar cells just to mention a few. These materials are classified as 'critical' by the European Union and Department of Energy. Except in sustainable energy, materials are also key components in packaging, construction, and textile industry along with many other industrial sectors. This roadmap authored by prominent researchers working across disciplines in the very important field of sustainable materials is intended to highlight the outstanding issues that must be addressed and provide an insight into the pathways towards solving them adopted by the sustainable materials community. In compiling this roadmap, we hope to aid the development of the wider sustainable materials research community, providing a guide for academia, industry, government, and funding agencies in this critically important and rapidly developing research space which is key to future sustainability.journal articl

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Pollinator-flower interactions in gardens during the covid 19 pandemic lockdown of 2020

During the main COVID-19 global pandemic lockdown period of 2020 an impromptu set of pollination ecologists came together via social media and personal contacts to carry out standardised surveys of the flower visits and plants in gardens. The surveys involved 67 rural, suburban and urban gardens, of various sizes, ranging from 61.18° North in Norway to 37.96° South in Australia, resulting in a data set of 25,174 rows, with each row being a unique interaction record for that date/site/plant species, and comprising almost 47,000 visits to flowers, as well as records of flowers that were not visited by pollinators, for over 1,000 species and varieties belonging to more than 460 genera and 96 plant families. The more than 650 species of flower visitors belong to 12 orders of invertebrates and four of vertebrates. In this first publication from the project, we present a brief description of the data and make it freely available for any researchers to use in the future, the only restriction being that they cite this paper in the first instance. The data generated from these global surveys will provide scientific evidence to help us understand the role that private gardens (in urban, rural and suburban areas) can play in conserving insect pollinators and identify management actions to enhance their potential

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to Liquid Fuels Synthesis, Volume 1: Availability of Feedstock and Technology

This report investigated the potential of using municipal solid waste (MSW) to make synthesis gas (syngas) suitable for production of liquid fuels. Issues examined include: • MSW physical and chemical properties affecting its suitability as a gasifier feedstock and for liquid fuels synthesis • expected process scale required for favorable economics • the availability of MSW in quantities sufficient to meet process scale requirements • the state-of-the-art of MSW gasification technology

Slow Scholarship.pdf

The neoliberal university requires high productivity in compressed time frames. Though the neoliberal transformation of the university is well documented, the isolating effects and embodied work conditions of such increasing demands are too rarely discussed. In this article, we develop a feminist ethics of care that challenges these working conditions. Our politics foreground collective action and the contention that good scholarship requires time to think, write, read, research, analyze, edit, organize, and resist the growing administrative and professional demands that disrupt these crucial processes of intellectual growth and personal freedom. This collectively written article explores alternatives to the fast-paced, metric-oriented neoliberal university through a slow-moving conversation on ways to slow down and claim time for slow scholarship and collective action informed by feminist politics. We examine temporal regimes of the neoliberal university and their embodied effects. We then consider strategies for slowing scholarship with the objective of contributing to the slow scholarship movement. This slowing down represents both a commitment to good scholarship, teaching, and service and a collective feminist ethics of care that challenges the accelerated time and elitism of the neoliberal university. Above all, we argue in favor of the slow scholarship movement and contribute some resistance strategies that foreground collaborative, collective, communal ways forward