Tactile Aids for Teaching Statistics to the Visually Impaired

This case study explored the use of haptic tools to teach concepts in introductory statistics to a blind student. Statistics education typically relies heavily on the visual modality, which limits accessibility for the visually impaired. Our study made use of tactile aids such as LEGO building blocks, push pin diagrams, and 3D printed models to demonstrate typical statistical concepts such as histograms, normal distributions, skewed distributions, central tendency, and scatterplots. We argue that such models are beneficial for elucidating course material which is typically taught visually. For example, 3D printed models were able to highlight all the same components of the standard normal distribution as visual drawings do, making a complex topic easily understandable. The aim of this project is to establish an easily-accessible, replicable model for utilizing these tools and methods to teach statistical concepts. This work has implications for teaching statistical content to those with visual impairment, and may also serve as a valuable supplement for any student of statistics

Regionalisation of climate impacts on flood flows to support the development of climate change guidance for Flood Management

Current Defra / Environment Agency guidance (FCDPAG3 supplementary note: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environ/fcd/pubs/pagn/climatechangeupdate.pdf) requires all flood management plans to allow for climate change by incorporating, within a sensitivity analysis, an increase in river flows of up 20% over the next 50 years, and beyond. This guidance is the same for all of England and Wales, making no allowance for regional variation in climate change or catchment type. This reflects the lack of scientific evidence to resolve the spatial distribution of potential impacts on flood flows with enough confidence to set such policy regionally. The 20% allowance was first raised in 1999 for MAFF and subsequently reviewed following the release of the UKCIP02 scenarios. Although the 20% figure is a memorable precautionary target, there is the risk that it leads to a significant under- or over-estimation of future flood risk in individual catchments. Defra and the Environment Agency procured project FD2020 (Regionalisation of climate change impacts on flood flows) to provide a more rigorous science base for refreshing the FCDPAG3: supplementary note guidance. The FD2020 approach is exploring the relationships between catchment characteristics and climate change impacts on peak flows in a “scenario neutral” way. This is done by defining a regular set of changes in climate that encompass all the current knowledge from the new scenarios available from the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. For each of the 155 catchments included in the research, this broad approach will provide multiple scenarios to produce a “vulnerability surface” for change in the metrics of peak flows (e.g. the 20-year flood flow). Some of the UKCP09 products have also been used to understand what these projections may mean for changes to peak flow. The catchment-based analysis will be used to generalise to other gauged sites across Britain, using relationships with catchment characteristics, providing the scientific evidence for the development of regional guidance on climate change allowances. Specifically the project is: Investigating the impact of climate change on peak river flows in over 150 catchments across Britain to assess the suitability of the FCDPAG3 20% climate change allowance. Investigating catchment response to climate change to identify potential similarities such that the FCDPAG3 nationwide allowance could be regionalised. Investigating the uncertainty in changes to future peak river flows from climate change. Developing an approach that has longevity beyond the project timeframe and the lifetime of the latest generation of climate model results

Teaching Visually Impaired College Students in Introductory Statistics

Instructors of postsecondary classes in statistics rely heavily on visuals in their teaching, both within the classroom and in resources like textbooks, handouts, and software, but this information is often inaccessible to students who are blind or visually impaired (BVI). The unique challenges involved in adapting both pedagogy and course materials to accommodate a BVI student may provoke anxiety among instructors teaching a BVI student for the first time, and instructors may end up feeling unprepared or “reinventing the wheel.” We discuss a wide variety of accommodations inside and outside of the classroom grounded in the empirical literature on cognition and learning and informed by our own experience teaching a blind student in an introductory statistics course

Factors Contributing to Substance Abuse Treatment Completion Among Alaska Natives

Alaska Native populations have experienced significant struggles with addictions to alcohol and other substances. The Alaska Native population\u27s access to treatment services is riddled with problems. This quantitative study served the purpose of identifying factors that lead to the prediction of successful treatment discharges among Alaska Native clients who received treatment for substance abuse at a treatment center in Alaska. Based on the theoretical framework of Marlatt\u27s relapse prevention theory, using archival data, as well as a cross-sectional, quantitative research design, predictive variables of the efficacy of substance use treatment among outpatient clients (N = 278) were examined. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess whether adverse experiences, depression levels, social support, substance abuse, and sociocultural variables such as ethnicity, age, gender, mandatory/voluntary treatment enrollment predicted successful discharge in outpatient treatment. Results indicated that only gender was significantly connected to treatment outcomes. Women were more likely than men to successfully complete the treatment program. Several limitations could explain these results including the use of instruments that were not empirically validated, the use of self-report measures, and the quality of the assessment process. Results of this study could be used to focus on understanding and developing specific treatment modalities for men with substance abuse problems. Future studies should use empirically validated measures and a precise program of research

Lifting the lid on period poverty in higher education: a student engagement perspective

In 2018/19, Liverpool John Moores University became the first university in England to offer free menstrual products on campus.  This paper shares insights from the project – called The Free Period – which was established to tackle period poverty, or menstrual hygiene management (MHM).  The authors reflect on student engagement as a significant proportion of menstruators had missed classes owing to period poverty.  The paper highlights the need for better dialogue and communication to: improve data; tackle stigma and taboos; and cultivate healthier relationships on campus

The evolution of climate change guidance for fluvial flood risk management in England

Floods are one of the biggest natural hazards to society, and there is increasing concern about the potential impacts of climate change on flood occurrence and magnitude. Furthermore, flood risk is likely to increase in the future not just through increased flood occurrence, but also through socio-economic changes, such as increasing population. The extent to which adaptation measures can offset this increased risk will depend on the level of future climate change, but there exists an urgent need for information on the potential impacts of climate change on floods, so that these can be accounted for by flood management authorities and local planners aiming to reduce flood risk. Agencies across the UK have been pro-active in providing such guidance for many years and in refining it as the science of climate change and hydrological impacts has developed. The history of this guidance for fluvial flood risk in England is presented and discussed here, including the recent adoption of a regional risk-based approach. Such an approach could be developed and applied to flood risk management in other countries, and to other sectors affected by climate change

Fipronil and Ivermectin Treatment of Cattle Reduced the Survival and Ovarian Development of Field-Collection Anopheles Albimanus in a Pilot Trial Conducted in Northern Belize

Background: Most malaria vector control programmes rely on indoor residual spraying of insecticides and insecticide-treated bed nets. This is efective against vector species that feed indoors at night and rest inside the house afterwards. In Central America, malaria vectors have diferent behaviours and are typically exophagic (i.e., bite outdoors), exophilic (i.e., remain outdoors after feeding), and zoophagic (i.e., as likely to feed on non-humans as humans). Thus, malaria elimination in Central America may require additional tactics. This pilot study investigated whether commercially-available products used to treat livestock for ticks could also be used to kill and/or sterilize zoophagic malaria vectors that feed on treated cattle in Belize. Methods: Cattle were treated with either a pour-on formulation of 1% fpronil (3 heifers) or injection of 1% ivemectin (1 heifer). Control heifers (n=2) were left untreated. Field-collected Anopheles albimanus contained in screen-top cages were strapped onto cattle at 2, 5, 7, and 14 days after treatment. Mosquito mortality was monitored once a day for 4 successive days. Surviving mosquitoes were dissected to assess blood meal digestion and ovarian development. Results: A total of 1078 female An. albimanus mosquitoes were fed and monitored for mortality. Both fpronil and ivermectin signifcantly reduced survivorship of An. albimanus for up to 7 days after treatment. By 14 days, efcacy had declined. The ivermectin treatment completely lost its efectiveness and even though the fpronil-treated heifers were still killing signifcantly more mosquitoes than the untreated heifers, the amount of mosquito killing had diminished greatly. Both treatments signifcantly reduced ovary development in mosquitoes fed on treated cattle for the duration of the 2-week trial. Conclusions: Treatment of cattle in northern Belize with topical fpronil and injectable ivermectin had signifcant lethal and sublethal efects on wild An. albimanus females. These results suggest that eforts towards eliminating residual transmission of malaria by zoophagic vectors in Central America may beneft by the judicious, targeted treatment of livestock with mosquitocidal compounds, such as fpronil or ivermectin

Development of a Social Communication construct for a Computerized Adaptive Measure of Functional Cognition for Traumatic Brain Injury

The study investigated the item-level psychometrics of the Social Communication (SC) construct, one of six constructs that comprise the Computer Adaptive Measure of Functional Cognition for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) (CAMFC-TBI). Sixty-nine individuals with TBI (outpatients and 1-year post injury) and 68 caregivers participated. Rasch analysis demonstrated that the SC had sound psychometrics for both groups. Items conformed to the theoretical difficulty hierarchy. Person reliability (comparable to Cronbach’s alpha) was high. Respondents were separated into at least 3 significantly different ability levels. Differential item functioning showed no statistically significant differences between patients and caregivers. These results are promising for inclusion of the SC items in the CAMFC-TBI

Workplace health promotion in health care settings in Finland, Latvia, and Lithuania

Funding Information: This work was supported by the Nordplus Adult project “The health education at workplace survey: reality and needs” (NPAD-2013/10083). The project was developed to study WHP in health care settings in Lithuania, Latvia and Finland and had following goals: (1) to analyze theoretical bases and legal database of WHP in three European countries (see [24] ); (2) to analyze existed situation of WHP in health care institutions as well as to identify possible needs for WHP activities. Publisher Copyright: © 2017 The Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Copyright: Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Background and objective Health care workers (HCWs) have a great background to promote their health – not only their professional knowledge on health but often also special equipment in their work environment. However, it is unclear if HCWs can use such infrastructure to promote their own health as well as what is their motivation to change their own lifestyles. Thus, the aim of the article was to describe workplace health promotion (WHP) situation in health care settings in Finland, Latvia, and Lithuania. Materials and methods A questionnaire survey of 357 workers from health care sector in three European countries was conducted. Participants were asked to indicate various WHP activities/facilities/programs organized at their workplaces, WHP needs, opportunities to initiate changes related to the healthiness of their workplaces, and readiness to change their lifestyles. Results Participants from three European countries differed in their WHP needs and in their responses on various activities/facilities/programs implemented at the institutions. Workers from Finnish institutions had the greatest opportunities to make initiatives relevant to their workplaces’ healthiness, while Lithuanian workers were least provided with such opportunities. Furthermore, the results showed that there were differences of readiness to change among the workers from the three countries. Conclusions HCWs recognized various WHP activities, facilities and programs organized at their workplaces; however, their needs were notably higher than the situation reported. WHP situation differed among the three European countries.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Complementary light scattering and synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering studies of the micelle-to-unimer transition of polysulfobetaines

YesAB and ABA di- and triblock copolymers where A is the hydrophilic poly(oligoethylene glycol methacrylate) (POEGMA) block and B is a thermo-responsive sulfobetaine block [2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl] dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl) ammonium hydroxide (PDMAPS) were synthesised by aqueous RAFT polymerisation with narrow dispersity (ĐM ≤ 1.22), as judged by aqueous SEC analysis. The di- and triblock copolymers self-assembled in salt-free water to form micelles with a PDMAPS core and the self-assembly of these polymers was explored by SLS and TEM analysis. The micelles were shown, by DLS analysis, to undergo a micelle-to-unimer transition at a critical temperature, which was dependent upon the length of the POEGMA block. Increasing the length of the third, POEGMA, block decreased the temperature at which the micelle-to-unimer transition occurred as a result of the increased hydrophilicity of the polymer. The dissociation of the micelles was further studied by SLS and synchrotron SAXS. SAXS analysis revealed that the micelle dissociation began at temperatures below that indicated by DLS analysis and that both micelles and unimers coexist. This highlights the importance of using multiple complementary techniques in the analysis of self-assembled structures. In addition the micelle-to-unimer morphology transition was employed to encapsulate and release a hydrophobic dye, Nile Red, as shown by fluorescence spectroscopy.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), University of Warwic