The Distribution of Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles (Lepidochelys kempi) Along the Texas Coast: An Atlas

Eight hundred sixty-five records of Kemp's ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempi) reported from Texas between the late 1940's to April 1990 were compiled from six data bases and the literature, then plotted on a series of Texas maps. Four categories of Kemp's ridleys are identified throughout the atlas: head-started (turtles that are raised in captivity their first year of life), wild, historical (pre-1980), and nesters. Geographic, seasonal, and size distributions of the turtle categories are plotted by regions. Most Kemp's ridleys were reported from the northeast and central Texas coast. They were reported from both inshore (landward of barrier islands) and offshore (seaward of barrier islands). Scattered nestings occurred in the central to southern regions. Kemp's ridleys were found more often during the spring and summer. A total of 546 turtle records contained measurements; most were 20-59.9 cm curved carapace length and considered sub-adults. Comparison of distributions of head-started and wild Kemp's ridleys suggests head-started Kemp's ridleys inhabit the same areas as wild Kemp's ridleys. (PDF file contains 56 pages.

Circular cities: planning for circular development in European cities

Circular development could produce more resource efficient, ecologically regenerative and resilient cities. This development pathway offers many ecological, social and economic benefits. However, there are also many challenges to implementation, not least a heavy reliance on the market to transform urban systems of provision. A regulatory and policy framework is essential for a circular transformation, until circular activities become competitive within existing markets. Spatial and land-use planning can offer this framework. This paper provides insight into the circular development process. It discusses the role of planning in delivering circular development, using examples from four European cities. It identifies the tools for delivery and discusses the inherent limitations of using planning tools to deliver a circular transformation

Challenges to implementing circular development – lessons from London

Circular development creates more resource efficient, adaptive, and ecologically healthy cities. Circular food and construction systems; the ecological regeneration of contaminated brownfield sites and circular tactical urbanism are just some of the processes and systems adopted by those implementing a circular development pathway. These produce benefits, however, there are many challenges to implementing circular development, demonstrated by two London cases. The research reveals the difficulties low-value, circular activities encounter when competing for space in London. It shows how the imbalance between local supply and demand for circular products prevents scaling-up. It suggest a lack of data monitoring the benefits of adopting circular development, undermines political support. It reveals the conflict between the reliance on civil society to engage with circular actions versus public resistance. It highlights the need for accountability and transparency in the process of implementation and for a regulatory framework to encourage circular development

Experiences of Postpartum Women in One Residential Treatment Facility for Substance Use Disorders: A Qualitative Case Study

A growing opioid crisis in the United States has sparked a need for gender-specific research and treatment to address unmet needs and promote positive health outcomes for both women and children. The primary purpose of this research is to provide insight into the experiences and perceptions of postpartum women with substance use disorders receiving care at one residential treatment facility. Two women, aged 22 and 27 years old, participated in semi-structured interviews designed to elicit perceptions about barriers to treatment, the value of various programs, the role of physical, social, and temporal contexts in treatment, and beliefs about the effect of treatment on quality of life. Interview transcripts were analyzed using a-priori coding with codes derived from the Social Stress Model of Substance Abuse. The pilot findings suggest that for these women separation from children during treatment is experienced as a major stressor, communication, counseling, and program staff and peer resources helps to offset this stress. The descriptive - level findings could provide insight to occupational therapy practitioners and other providers about women in substance abuse recovery and their perceptions of the value of programmatic interventions, meaning of their occupational deficits, and significance of occupational therapy as treatment to address these deficits

The Effects of Parental Modeling on the Health-Related Behaviors of American Indian Adolescents: A Culturally Specific Investigation of Social Learning Theory

Health-compromising behavior is a leading cause of death among American Indian (Al) adolescents. Examples of these behaviors include: smoking, alcohol consumption, drug use, and lack of seatbelt use. Theories that predict which Al youth are most at risk for executing these behaviors are needed. Social learning theory (SL T) has shown adolescents\u27 behaviors are sometimes highly correlated with their parents\u27 behaviors across different ethnic groups. However, there has been little previous research done with Als. The present study attempted to determine if SL T was applicable to Al adolescents and their parents with regard to four health-related behaviors: cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, seatbelt use, and religiosity. The first three were chosen because of the high number of Al adolescent deaths associated with them. Religiosity was included because high religiosity scores have been shown to negatively correlate with health-compromising behaviors in some studies. The present study provided partial support for SL T when applied to Al youth. For example, there were positive correlations found between parents\u27 smoking and if the youths have ever smoked regularly or smoke currently. Little support was found for SL T with regard to alcohol consumption (i.e., the overall correlation was not significant). The exception to this was when daughters were correlated with fathers. How often the father drank and if he binged were positively correlated with how often the daughter drank and if she ever binged. There were strong correlations between parents\u27 seatbelt use and similar use of their adolescents, thus supporting the theory. Also, strong positive correlations were found between the religiosity of the parents\u27 and the youth. Further, religiosity did show negative correlations with health-compromising behaviors among the youth. There was also a sex difference found, with female youth having stronger negative correlations than the male youth. There were 290 Al adolescents in this nationally representative sample, 136 mate and 154 female. All the behaviors were measured via self-report, as was the identification of the adolescent\u27s ethnicity. Limitations of this research, implications for future research, and areas for prevention/intervention with Al youth at risk are discussed

Risk Factors for Selected Health-Related Behaviors Among American Indian Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study

Suicide and accidents are the leading causes of death among American Indian (AI) adolescents. Engaging in health-compromising behaviors (HCB) is higher among AI youth than among multicultural, national samples of adolescents. These HCBs include: smoking, drinking alcohol, drug use, and delinquency. Studies that identify legitimate predictors of these behaviors among AI adolescents are needed to guide research and interventions. Primary socialization theory (PST) suggests that peer groups, family, and school are the only areas where adolescents are directly taught to accept or reject deviant or normative behavior. Gateway theory indicates that use of certain drugs by adolescents, such as cigarettes or alcohol leads to the use of additional illicit drugs. Both of these theories were investigated in the current study as possible guides to identifying risk factors for HCBs among AI adolescents. The behaviors investigated in this study were alcohol use, cigarette use, illicit drug use, delinquency, suicidality (i.e., ideation and behaviors), and self-protection (seatbelt and helmet use) at Time 2. Predictor variables included behaviors and intrapersonal factors at Time 1 (one year earlier). All variables came from measurements provided by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Multiple linear regressions were calculated for all youth together, males only, and females only to determine which combination of predictors accounted for the most variance in the target behavior. Support was found for PST across behaviors in that variables measuring the primary socialization sources (i.e., peer groups, family members, and involvement with school) were significantly predictive ofHCBs one year later in all regressions calculated. Little support was found for gateway theory regarding substance use, as experimentation with alcohol and cigarettes at Time 1 was not predictive of illicit drug use at Time 2. There were 398 self-identified AI adolescents at Time 1, and 298 at Time 2, included in this study. There were 175 females and 123 males, ranging in age from 13 to 20 at Time 2. One limitation of this study is that all information was obtained via selfreport. Other limitations, implications for future research, and areas for prevention or intervention with AI youth are discussed

A review of evidence on the cost-effectiveness of local authority activities to reduce exposure to air pollution from road traffic

© 2017 WIT Press. This paper presents a systematic review of evidence of the cost-effectiveness of local authority activities to reduce exposure to air pollution from road traffic. The work was undertaken as part of an evidence review for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and contributes to the economic model produced by Eunomia, which underpins draft guidance for local government published by the Public Health and Social Care Centre (PHSCC) within NICE. The draft guidance was released for consultation in December 2016 and the final publication is expected in July 2017. The review addresses the scope outlined by the PHSCC and was undertaken following NICE search protocols with PHSCC approval. The scope covers interventions that could be delivered by local authorities to reduce road-traffic-related emissions by: reducing overall mileage; altering the type of fuel used or driving style; aiding dispersion or deposition of pollutants; and altering personal behaviour to reduce exposure to pollutants. This paper concludes that there is a lack of available published evidence on the cost-effectiveness of such measures and makes recommendations for further research to address this evidence gap

Using Web 2.0 to Support the Active Learning Experience

Increased attention to student engagement and active learning strategies have become particularly relevant in today’s classroom environments. These approaches are also considered to be meaningful when teaching “net generation” students who have different styles and expectations. This study attempts to address these challenges through the development of an interdisciplinary, active learning experience that increases information technology literacy of business students through the use of Web 2.0 tools. The research questions under consideration are: Can information technology literacy skills be effectively developed in an interdisciplinary setting? How does the development of an experiential learning activity enhance student engagement and learning outcomes? A discussion of the active learning literature and the appropriateness of such strategies with net generation learners is provided. The study also details the implementation of this experience within the curriculum, and assesses the benefits and challenges related to enhanced student learning and engagement as well as literacy outcomes. Increased student engagement was noted in both instructor and student evaluations of the assignment. Furthermore, assignment design features such as opportunities for exploration, analysis and feedback contributed to the level of connectivity

Feeling, thinking, being: A call to mindfulness in times of crisis

If the emotional landscape of social work practice wasn’t hard enough, the coronavirus (COVID-19) onset has certainly increased the probability of fear, anxiety, tears and frustration for practitioners in recent weeks. This has perhaps led to an even higher sense of ‘felt responsibility’ for busy practice supervisors, as they continue to navigate the world of risk and performance pressures and ultimately trying to maintain a clear line of sight on all the children and families they have oversight of. For many of you and your staff, this will be in parallel with taking care of your own families and adapting to a significant change of circumstances within your own homes..