The Effect of a Vegetation Buffer on Sound Levels

Noise pollution is a growing concern in the environmental health community. Unlike other common exposures, such as air and water pollution, noise is uniquely difficult for an individual to protect themselves from. Studies have shown multiple adverse health outcomes resulting from exposure to noise pollution, including hearing impairment, negative social behavior and annoyance, sleep disturbance, along with a strong association between noise pollution and high cardiovascular risk. It is important, then, to look for solutions to this exposure. This study is designed to assess the effects of a tree barrier in reducing traffic noise. Noise monitoring was conducted at Saint Margaret Mary Catholic School over a 24-hour period, 21:00 on July 22 – 21:00 on July 23, using four monitors to track sound levels in eight different locations, both behind a vegetative buffer and not. The vegetative buffer was composed of full-size trees and greenery, standing between a portion of the catholic school and Shelbyville Road. Sound levels were collected in decibels (dB) every second and averaged by hour over the 24-hour monitoring period, then averaged together once again per monitor location to produce a 24-hour sound level average. The sound levels measured from locations behind the buffer versus without any buffer indicate that the presence of the buffer slightly lowered sound levels in a very consistent manner. Those locations behind the buffer recorded an LASeq of approximately 2 dB lower than that of locations without any buffer from the road. This study is an important step in addressing the public health issue of noise pollution

Temperature as a Proxy to Study the Flow of Water Within Two Maine Streambeds

Heat transport studies often focus on calculating an average direction and magnitude of groundwater flow within the streambed for long (3 days – 1 week) periods of time. Short-term changes in flow magnitude and/or direction within the streambed caused by near stream groundwater pumping and storms are not represented by these long term averaging methods. Temperature profiles collected in B Stream (Houlton, Maine) and the Stillwater River (Orono, Maine) were used to calibrate a one-dimensional heat transport model and quantify short-term hydraulic events in vertical groundwater velocity within streambeds. Temperature profiles were collected during the summer of 2014 with iButton (Maxim Integrated, San Jose, CA) temperature loggers from two locations within each streambed to assess the spatial variability of groundwater flow within the streambed. Velocity values were averaged over daily periods allowing us to analyze how groundwater flow within the streambed changed during short-term hydraulic events. Bedrock wells at the B Stream site and surficial wells at the Stillwater River site were pumped while streambed temperature profiles were being collected. Temperature profiles were also collected before, during, and after Hurricane Arthur. Average modeled velocities were -4.38 x 10-6 m/s and -5.01 x 10-6 m/s (standard deviations of 8.02 x 10-6 m/s and 1.34 x 10-5 m/s) for the south and north locations at the Stillwater River site and were -1.13 x 10-5 m/s and -1.93 x 10-5 m/s (standard deviations of 1.46 x 10-5 m/s and 2.03 x 10-5 m/s) for locations 1 and 2 at the B Stream site. Significant (p = 0.0004) differences between location 1 and location 2 at the B Stream site were recorded while there is no significant (p = 0.64) difference between the north and south locations at the Stillwater River site. Model results indicate periods of directional change of groundwater flow at both study sites associated with short-term hydraulic events. Shifts within the Stillwater River are coincident with groundwater pumping while shifts within B Stream are coincident with storm events. Flow within the Stillwater streambed shifts from downward to upward as groundwater wells are turned off at the Stillwater location. Flow within the B Stream streambed shift from downward, to upward, then back to downward. Calculating average velocity over 24 hour time periods allowed for the detection of these changes in the direction of groundwater flow within the streambed

Development And Outcomes Of An Experientially-Based Nonverbal Social Skills Curriculum For Youth With Visual Impairments

The importance of social skills training for youth with visual impairments has been widely researched within educational and rehabilitation settings. To date, social skills training curricula for visually impaired youth have largely utilized verbally-based methods for instruction and training. Given the non-visual aspects of human communication, it is proposed that verbal approaches to nonverbal social skills training may not be sufficient for visually impaired individuals. To address this issue, an experiential curriculum of nonverbal social skills training was developed that emphasized hands-on learning and practice of nonverbal social skills. This curriculum was administered to seventeen visually impaired youth attending short-term rehabilitative programming in North Dakota. Outcomes of this intervention were measured through repeated administrations of the Social Skills Rating Scales, Social Skills Assessment Tool for Children with Visual Impairments, and a modified nonverbal social skills checklist. Results of the current investigation yielded statistically insignificant effects of the nonverbal social skills curriculum intervention. Alternatively, visual analysis indicated trends of improved general social skills during and immediately after participation in the social skills intervention and improved nonverbal social skills during the intervention. Discussion of limitations, clinical implications, and suggested future directions of this study follows

Energy Drink Consumption in College Students: Report of Physical and Psychological Symptoms in Association with Chronic Consumption Habits

Within the past decade, energy drink consumption has increased, particularly within young adult populations. Though current studies have investigated the acute effects of energy drink consumption, little data exists in regards to consumption patterns amongst college students, particularly differentiating acute vs. chronic consumers. As caffeine is recognized as the main acting ingredient in energy drinks, the effects of acute and chronic energy drink consumption may be related to that of general acute and chronic caffeine consumption. To date, much literature has highlighted a connection between caffeine intake and general pathology, specifically, that caffeine is highly correlated with the endorsement of various physical and psychological symptoms. Two hundred and six college students were given caffeine and energy drink consumption questionnaires to assess consumption habits along with State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory II and Symptom Checklist 90 Revised self report inventories to assess for report of physical and psychological symptoms. The results of this investigation indicate differential reporting of psychological symptoms as a potential function of energy drink consumption. Specifically, low-consumers reported fewer symptoms related to anxiety and depression than non-consumers. Findings indicate a possible effect of energy drink consumption on psychological wellbeing, however additional research is necessary to fully address the issue

Słów kilka o Mosinie (na marginesie badań archeologicznych przeprowadzonych na mosińskiej starówce w 2011 r.)

The archaeological excavations conducted in the spring of 2011 in yard No. 7 in the vicinity of old market at Plac 20 Października (20th October Square) were the first in the history of the town large-scale investigations of residential urban area in Mosina. Late-medieval and modern relics of buildings have been unearthed, and an extremely interesting assemblage of the fifteenth-eighteenth century pottery and small objects of everyday use collected. The absence of materials dating from the fifteentheighteenth- century Middle Ages speaks in favour of the thesis suggested by researchers that Mosina might have been translocated into its present location from neighbouring Niwka

Graduate Recital: Christine Cicha

Kemp Recital HallMarch 19, 2016Saturday Evening7:00 p.m

Effective communication in interactive media through application of Gestalt principles

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Digital Tools for Innovative Higher Education Teaching - A Scoping Review of Empirical Studies

Since the COVID-19 pandemic has outbursts, changes in the teaching process are observable. What was a temporary countermeasure against the pandemic is now considered a didactic tool. More and more teachers and entire higher education institutions decided to permanently implement digital tools or innovative teaching methods into the didactic process. The continuous development of technology fosters innovation in the teaching process. It allows teachers to use newer and newer teaching tools, better and better adapted to the real needs of students. The main goal of this article is to point out, by a scoping review of the papers published between 2020 and 2023, the digital tools used in the teaching process at the higher education level. The review focuses only on the original articles written in English, which present studies on implementing innovative digital teaching tools. The article is a form of a preliminary catalog of didactic tools used at the higher education level in the last three years, with their quantitative presentation. The tools have been categorized according to the technologies they use and then assigned to the scientific disciplines in accordance with the OECD classification in which they were used

Language which carries the testimony of powerlessness : selected accounts of the Volhynia massacre survivors and their poetics

Artykuł, który powstał na podstawie pracy licencjackiej, jest próbą analizy ponad stu relacji osób ocalałych ze zbrodni wołyńskiej, z wykorzystaniem kategorii świadectwa. Autorka za zadanie postawiła sobie znalezienie odpowiedzi na pytania: jak mówić o zbrodni, której nie da się wyrazić słowami, i po co o niej mówić? Zbadała więc te dokumenty osobiste, posługując się narzędziami literaturoznawstwa. Uwzględniła kategorie czasu, przestrzeni czy milczenia. Analizie poddała także sposoby kreowania wizerunku oprawców i same opisy zbrodni, przyglądając się czynnikom, które wpłynęły na takie, a nie inne postrzeganie rzeczywistości przez ocalałych. Zbadała zatem między innymi, jaką rolę w doświadczeniu traumy odgrywają zmysły oraz przynależność religijna.Based on a BA thesis, the article is an attempt to analyze over a hundred accounts of survivors of the Volhynia massacre, referring to the category of testimony. The author tries to find answers to the questions of how to speak about a genocide which cannot be expressed in words and why to speak about it. The author examines the personal accounts using the tools of literary criticism. The categories of time, space and silence are taken into account. Ways of creating the images of the perpetrators and the very descriptions of the crime are also analyzed, with the focus on factors that contribute to producing a given perception of reality by the survivors. Thus, among other things, the role played by the senses and religious affinity in a traumatic experience is examined

Analisis Penilaian Kinerja Bank dengan Metode DuPont System dan Pendekatan Islamicity Performance Index (Studi Pada PT. Bank Muamalat Indonesia Periode 2014-2019)

Penilaian kinerja suatu Bank dapat dilihat baik melalui Aspek Keuangan maupun Nonkeuangannya. Penelitian ini secara khusus hanya mengukur kinerja keuangan dengan memfokuskan pada analisis DuPont System dan Pendekatan Islamicity Performance Index. Komponen DuPont System terdiri dari NPM, TATO dan ROI. Komponen Islamicity Performance Index terdiri dari ZPR dan EDR. Adapun tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menilai kinerja keuangan Bank Muamalat Indonesia dengan menggunakan Metode DuPont System dan Pendekatan Islamicity Performance Index Periode 2014-2019. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian yang telah dilakukan, maka dapat di ketahui bahwa, kinerja Bank Muamalat Indonesia dengan Metode DuPont System yaitu memiliki rata-rata NPM 1,129%, TATO sebesar 7,566%, dan ROI 0,087%. Secara keseluruhan ROI Bank Muamalat Indonesia cenderung menurun selama periode 2014-2019. Dan kinerja Bank Muamalat Indonesia dengan Menggunakan Pendektan Islamicity Performance Index, yaitu dalam hal penyaluran zakat, BMI mendapatkan Predikat “Cukup Baik”, sedangkan dalam hal pendistribusian pendapatan bagi para stakeholder, BMI mendapatkan predikat “Baik”. dari hasil yang telah didapatkan dalam penelitian ini, maka dapat disimpulkan bahwa Bank Muamalat Indonesia memiliki Kinerja Sosial yang lebih baik dibanding Kinerja Bisnisnya