Cinema Exhibition In St. Louis, 1920: A Thriving Business

In 1920, St. Louis was the 6th largest city in the United States, with a population of 772,897, and density of 11,684/square mile (twice today\u27s density). The population was primarily (90.9%) white, with 14.7% of the white population foreign born. The city had a dense trolley network, while private ownership of automobiles was relatively rare (15.8 residents per car). Cinema exhibition was a thriving business in the city, with 120 cinemas and 29 film exchanges (as compared to, for instance, 12 live theatres in the same year). Cinemas were located throughout the city, primarily on or near trolley lines. This was a practical necessity given that people of all ages and income classes went to the movies, and car ownership was rare. The film exchanges, which were the primarily way cinema owners would obtain the films they showed in their theatres, were located along the central corridor, often in small clusters in business districts. This was also practical, because these exchanges were frequented by people working in the cinema exhibition industry, and because nitrocellulose film stock posed a fire hazard that would be unacceptable in a residential neighborhood. The lone exception among distributors was a distributor of religious films, located in Benton Park (South Saint Louis), whose customer base likely differed from that of the commercial film exchanges. The experience of going to the movies was more varied in 1920 than it is today. Film programs often consisted of a mix of short films, features, cartoons, and newsreels, and might also include live entertainment. All films were silent, but were frequently accompanied by live music, and sometimes by actors speaking the dialogue of the film. Cinemas themselves were also more varied, including custom-built buildings, some quite luxurious, adapted buildings, and airdromes (open-air or tented facilities)

Correlates of physical activity for adults with disability

INTRODUCTION: This study was designed to determine factors that influence the physical activity level of adults with disability as identified in a large representative sample of U.S. adults. METHODS: Data were taken from the District of Columbia and the 12 states that administered the Quality of Life and Caregiving Module of the 2001 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Adults with disability (n = 4038) were defined as those who required special equipment because of a health problem or who required the assistance of another person either for their personal care or routine needs. Adequate physical activity was defined as meeting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and American College of Sports Medicine recommendation of at least 30 minutes of moderate activity per day at least 5 days per week. Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios were computed for demographic, health status, health care access, and health behavior variables. RESULTS: Only one fourth of the study population met the recommendation for moderate activity level. African American race, age of 50 years or older, annual income of $50,000 or higher, and being in good, fair, or poor health were all significantly related to activity level; sex, education level, health care access, and years of disability were not. CONCLUSION: Adults with disability are not meeting basic recommendations for physical activity. Some correlates of physical activity found in general populations are also related to activity level for people with disability (age, general health, race), whereas others (sex, education level) are not. These factors should be considered when planning physical activity interventions for people with disability

Augmentative and alternative communication for children with autism spectrum disorder: an evidence-based evaluation of the Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP) programme

Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder often have restricted verbal communication. For children who do not use functional speech, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices can be an important support. We evaluated the effectiveness of one AAC programme, the Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP) using a Vantage Lite™ device as the speech output in the home and school environments. Eight children with limited communication were assessed by a speech pathologist prior to the introduction of the programme, after five weeks of training and again after a further two weeks of use of the programme, but without the supported training. The pre-/post-assessment measures revealed that all eight children made gains in the development of spontaneous communication using the device during the implementation period. Parents and teachers also reported that the gains achieved during the five-week trial were greater than those achieved in previous interventions. Two years after the completion of the study, a follow-up phone interview was completed which identified that children who received ongoing support from a LAMP-trained speech pathologist continued using the LAMP programme. As a result of this study, a specialised LAMP specific classroom was established in one of the participating schools

Safe To Walk? Neighborhood Safety and Physical Activity Among Public Housing Residents

Garry Bennett and colleagues measured exercise levels and obtained opinions on neighborhood safety. They concluded that residing in a neighborhood perceived to be unsafe at night is a barrier to regular physical activity