An academic-community outreach partnership: building relationships and capacity to address childhood lead poisoning.

Article describing an academic and community partnership for social action and policy change regarding childhood lead poisoning in Manchester, N.H

"Pregnancy related physical health conditions and postnatal PTSD: the identification of risk factors associated with PTSD severity postpartum” and “Testing a cognitive model in regard to posttraumatic stress disorder following Hyperemesis Gravidarum"

Objectives: (1) To systematically review the evidence regarding physical health conditions of pregnancy (PHCP) and postpartum PTSD; and (2) to identify risk factors for PTSD severity postpartum. Methods: Quantitative research investigating the association between PHCP and postpartum PTSD was synthesised and critically evaluated in accordance with PRISMA guidance. CINAHL, EMBASE, Medline, and PsycINFO databases were searched between July 2019-October 2020 using specific inclusion/exclusion criteria. Included papers were critically reviewed by two independent reviewers using the relevant Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) checklists or Strengthening the Reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) assessment tool. Risk factors for PTSD severity postpartum identified in the included studies were categorised in-line with the Ehlers and Clark’s cognitive model of PTSD. Results: Thirteen papers sampling 8172 women were identified, with methodological quality rated between acceptable-to-high. Pregnancy related conditions including abnormally invasive placenta, ectopic pregnancy, hyperemesis gravidarum, peripartum cardiomyopathy and premature rupture of the membranes are associated with elevated rates of PTSD postpartum. Evidence regarding the association between pregnancy related hypertensive disorders and PTSD is mixed. In accordance with Ehlers and Clarke’s cognitive model of PTSD, findings indicate that 12 postpartum PTSD following exposure to a PHCP may evolve as a result of multiple risk factors, and that individual cognitive processing of an event may increase vulnerability to postpartum PTSD. Strengths and Limitations: This is the first systematic review to evaluate quantitative research regarding PHCP and postpartum PTSD. Strengths include the comprehensive search strategy that aligns with the PRISMA guidance and the inclusion of studies that sample women from a broad age range and a variety of countries. Lack of replication and heterogeneity between studies limits comparisons and conclusions. Conclusions: Postpartum PTSD is associated with PHCP. Further investigation with more stringent and homogenous research designs is required, as with the exception of hyperemesis gravidarum and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, all other associations between pregnancy conditions and postpartum PTSD came from single studies. Enhanced monitoring of women who have been exposed to PHCP during the postnatal period is advisable to detect and ensure adequate support for women at risk of postpartum PTSD

Finders Keepers: A Comparative Study Investigating Teaching The Florida Research Process Finds Model Through Three Different Approaches At The Elementary School Level

The children\u27s taunt Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers gives new credence to the information search process at the elementary school level. Children keep what they find, claim it as their own, and accept information without discernment or critique. This study examines the effectiveness of teaching information literacy skills through three different approaches. The first curricular approach uses direct instruction to teach children how to do research using the Florida Research Process FINDS Model. The second approach pairs the FINDS Model with a unit of study that is related to classroom curriculum. The third approach examines the FINDS Model in conjunction with project learning, a constructivist model based on student interest. One hundred twenty- eight third grade students attending a public elementary school in Southwest Florida during the 2008-2009 school year participated in the study. A mixed-methods research approach was used to gather data. Quantitative data was collected with an information literacy pre and post test, and an anonymous media lessons survey about student preferences. Qualitative data were gathered through a review of student work samples and student interviews. Statistically significant gains were found between the pre to post test scores for all three groups, however no statistically significant differences were found among groups. Although quantitative data did not reveal differences among the treatment groups, qualitative findings revealed that the group taught research skills through the connection to classroom curriculum approach performed better. Thus the findings of this study support existing research which proposes that the best practice for teaching research skills to young children is through a connection to classroom curriculum

Second Language Teaching in the ESL Classroom: The Role of the Teacher

This portfolio covers what the author believes to be important teaching practices for a teacher in the English as a Second Language classroom, with a specific emphasis on the role of the teacher. The first section of the portfolio contains the author’s teaching philosophy which describes the author’s beliefs of what constitutes good teaching. The beliefs include the importance of using meaning-bearing and comprehensible input in the classroom, the use of task-based activities to facilitate language learning, and understanding the role of the teacher in the classroom. Following are three artifacts that the author wrote during her time in the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program. First, the language artifact examines the use of feedback in the classroom. Second, the literacy artifact evaluates principles of teaching used in Dual Language Immersion and how these principles are useful for teaching in an English as a Second Language setting. Third, the culture artifact discusses research about request making in the English as a Second Language classroom and explores the most effective teaching methods to teach requests to second language learners. Following these artifacts is an evaluation of the author’s own teaching and how it compares with the author’s beliefs stated in her teaching philosophy. At the conclusion of the portfolio, the author includes three annotated bibliographies covering what the author learned in her research of different topics throughout her time in the MSLT program

Meeting Report: Methylmercury in Marine Ecosystems—From Sources to Seafood Consumers

Mercury and other contaminants in coastal and open-ocean ecosystems are an issue of great concern globally and in the United States, where consumption of marine fish and shellfish is a major route of human exposure to methylmercury (MeHg). A recent National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences–Superfund Basic Research Program workshop titled “Fate and Bioavailability of Mercury in Aquatic Ecosystems and Effects on Human Exposure,” convened by the Dartmouth Toxic Metals Research Program on 15–16 November 2006 in Durham, New Hampshire, brought together human health experts, marine scientists, and ecotoxicologists to encourage cross-disciplinary discussion between ecosystem and human health scientists and to articulate research and monitoring priorities to better understand how marine food webs have become contaminated with MeHg. Although human health effects of Hg contamination were a major theme, the workshop also explored effects on marine biota. The workgroup focused on three major topics: a) the biogeochemical cycling of Hg in marine ecosystems, b) the trophic transfer and bioaccumulation of MeHg in marine food webs, and c) human exposure to Hg from marine fish and shellfish consumption. The group concluded that current understanding of Hg in marine ecosystems across a range of habitats, chemical conditions, and ocean basins is severely data limited. An integrated research and monitoring program is needed to link the processes and mechanisms of MeHg production, bioaccumulation, and transfer with MeHg exposure in humans

MusA: Using Indoor Positioning and Navigation to Enhance Cultural Experiences in a museum

In recent years there has been a growing interest into the use of multimedia mobile guides in museum environments. Mobile devices have the capabilities to detect the user context and to provide pieces of information suitable to help visitors discovering and following the logical and emotional connections that develop during the visit. In this scenario, location based services (LBS) currently represent an asset, and the choice of the technology to determine users' position, combined with the definition of methods that can effectively convey information, become key issues in the design process. In this work, we present MusA (Museum Assistant), a general framework for the development of multimedia interactive guides for mobile devices. Its main feature is a vision-based indoor positioning system that allows the provision of several LBS, from way-finding to the contextualized communication of cultural contents, aimed at providing a meaningful exploration of exhibits according to visitors' personal interest and curiosity. Starting from the thorough description of the system architecture, the article presents the implementation of two mobile guides, developed to respectively address adults and children, and discusses the evaluation of the user experience and the visitors' appreciation of these application

Sources to Seafood: Mercury Pollution in the Marine Environment

In 2010, the Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program at Dartmouth College brought together a group of 50 scientists and policy stakeholders to form C-MERC, the Coastal and Marine Mercury Ecosystem Research Collaborative. The goal was to review current knowledge—and knowledge gaps—relating to a global environmental health problem, mercury contamination of the world’s marine fish. C-MERC participants attended two workshops over a two-year period, and in 2012 C-MERC authors published a series of peer-reviewed papers in the journals Environmental Health Perspectives and Environmental Research that elucidated key processes related to the inputs, cycling, and uptake of mercury in marine ecosystems, effects on human health, and policy implications. This report synthesizes the knowledge from these papers in an effort to summarize the science relevant to policies being considered at regional, national, and global levels. The Dartmouth Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program uses an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the ways that arsenic and mercury in the environment affect ecosystems and human health. Arsenic and mercury are commonly found in Superfund sites around the U.S. as well as other areas that result in exposures to certain communities. The Research Translation Core of the program communicates program science to government partners, non-governmental organizations, health care providers and associations, universities and the lay community, and facilitates the use of its research for the protection of public health. The Research Translation Core organized the C-MERC effort. The Superfund Research Program of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences supports a network of university programs that investigate the complex health and environmental issues associated with contaminants found at the nation’s hazardous waste sites. The Program coordinates with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, federal entities charged with management of environmental and human health hazards associated with toxic substances

Audio-based narratives for the trenches of World War I : intertwining stories, places and interaction for an evocative experience

We report in detail the co-design, setup and evaluation of a technological intervention for a complex outdoor heritage site: a World War I fortified camp and trenches located in the natural setting of the Italian Alps. Sound was used as the only means of content delivery as it was considered particularly effective in engaging visitors at an emotional level and had the potential to enhance the physical experience of being at an historical place. The implemented prototype is visitor-aware personalised multi-point auditory narrative system that automatically plays sounds and stories depending on a combination of features such as physical location, visitor proximity and visitor preferences. The curators created for the trail multiple narratives to capture the different voices of the War. The stories are all personal accounts (as opposed to objective and detached reporting of the facts); they were designed to trigger empathy and understanding while leaving the visitors free to interpret the content and the place on the bases of their own understanding and sensitivity. The result is an evocative embodied experience that does not describe the place in a traditional sense, but leaves its interpretation open. It takes visitors beyond the traditional view of heritage as a source of information toward a sensorial experience of feeling the past. A prototype was set up and tested with a group of volunteers showing that a design that carefully combines content design, sound design, tangible and embodied interaction can bring archaeological remains, with very little to see, back to file

Tangible Data Souvenirs as a Bridge between a Physical Museum Visit and Online Digital Experience

This paper presents the design, implementation, use and evaluation of a tangible data souvenir for an interactive museum exhibition. We define a data souvenir as the materialisation of the personal visiting experience: a data souvenir is dynamically created on the basis of data recorded throughout the visit and therefore captures and represents the experience as lived. The souvenir provides visitors with a memento of their visit and acts as a gateway to further online content. A step further is to enable visitors to contribute, in other words the data souvenir can become a means to collect visitor-generated content. We discuss the rationale behind the use of a data souvenir, the design process and resulting artefacts, and the implementation of both the data souvenir and online content system. Finally we examine the installation of the data souvenirs as part of a long-lasting exhibition: the use of this souvenir by visitors has been logged over seven months and issues around the gathering of user-generated content in such a way are discussed. Keywords: Tangible interaction; data souvenir; museums; user-generated content