Measuring novice-expert sense of place for a far-away place: Implications for geoscience instruction.

Individuals usually develop a sense of place through lived experiences or travel. Here we introduce new and innovative tools to measure sense of place for remote, far-away locations, such as Greenland. We apply this methodology within place-based education to study whether we can distinguish a sense of place between those who have visited Greenland or are otherwise strongly connected to the place from those who never visited. Place-based education research indicates that an increased sense of place has a positive effect on learning outcomes. Thus, we hypothesize that vicarious experiences with a place result in a measurably stronger sense of place when compared to the sense of place of those who have not experienced the place directly. We studied two distinct groups; the first are people with a strong Greenland connection (experts, n = 93). The second are students who have never been there (novices, n = 142). Using i) emotional value attribution of words, ii) thematic analysis of phrases and iii) categorization of words, we show significant differences between novice's and expert's use of words and phrases to describe Greenland as a proxy of sense of place. Emotional value of words revealed statistically significant differences between experts and novices such as word power (dominance), feeling pleasantness (valence), and degree of arousal evoked by the word. While both groups have an overall positive impression of Greenland, 31% of novices express a neutral view with little to no awareness of Greenland (experts 4% neutral). We found differences between experts and novices along dimensions such as natural features; cultural attributes; people of Greenland; concerns, importance, or interest in and feeling connected to Greenland. Experts exhibit more complex place attributes, frequently using emotional words, while novices present a superficial picture of Greenland. Engaging with virtual environments may shift novice learners to a more expert-like sense of place, for a far-away places like Greenland, thus, we suggest virtual field trips can supplement geoscience teaching of concepts in far-away places like Greenland and beyond.

Black carbon footprint of human presence in Antarctica.

Black carbon (BC) from fossil fuel and biomass combustion darkens the snow and makes it melt sooner. The BC footprint of research activities and tourism in Antarctica has likely increased as human presence in the continent has surged in recent decades. Here, we report on measurements of the BC concentration in snow samples from 28 sites across a transect of about 2,000 km from the northern tip of Antarctica (62°S) to the southern Ellsworth Mountains (79°S). Our surveys show that BC content in snow surrounding research facilities and popular shore tourist-landing sites is considerably above background levels measured elsewhere in the continent. The resulting radiative forcing is accelerating snow melting and shrinking the snowpack on BC-impacted areas on the Antarctic Peninsula and associated archipelagos by up to 23 mm water equivalent (w.e.) every summer.

Blowin' in the wind: Dispersal, structure, and metacommunity dynamics of aeolian diatoms in the McMurdo Sound region, Antarctica.

Diatom metacommunities are structured by environmental, historical, and spatial factors that are often attributed to organism dispersal. In the McMurdo Sound region (MSR) of Antarctica, wind connects aquatic habitats through delivery of inorganic and organic matter. We evaluated the dispersal of diatoms in aeolian material and its relation to the regional diatom metacommunity using light microscopy and 18S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. The concentration of diatoms ranged from 0 to 8.76 * 106 valves · g-1 dry aeolian material. Up to 15% of whole cells contained visible protoplasm, indicating that up to 3.43 * 104 potentially viable individuals could be dispersed in a year to a single 2 -cm2 site. Diatom DNA and RNA was detected at each site, reinforcing the likelihood that we observed dispersal of viable diatoms. Of the 50 known morphospecies in the MSR, 72% were identified from aeolian material using microscopy. Aeolian community composition varied primarily by site. Meanwhile, each aeolian community was comprised of morphospecies found in aquatic communities from the same lake basin. These results suggest that aeolian diatom dispersal in the MSR is spatially structured, is predominantly local, and connects local aquatic habitats via a shared species pool. Nonetheless, aeolian community structure was distinct from that of aquatic communities, indicating that intrahabitat dispersal and environmental filtering also underlie diatom metacommunity dynamics. The present study confirms that a large number of diatoms are passively dispersed by wind across a landscape characterized by aeolian processes, integrating the regional flora and contributing to metacommunity structure and landscape connectivity.

Falls after spinal cord injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis of incidence proportion and contributing factors.

INTRODUCTION: Falls are detrimental to the well-being of individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). To establish effective fall prevention initiatives, a comprehensive understanding of falls after SCI is needed. OBJECTIVES: To report the incidence proportion of falls and summarize the factors contributing to falls in individuals with SCI. STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: Eight databases were searched. Abstracts/full articles were screened by two researchers independently. Data concerning study design, participant characteristics, and the incidence proportion, factors, and consequences of falls were extracted. Risk of bias was assessed using a domain-based approach that considered sampling and measurement bias. The incidence proportions of falls were pooled for ambulators and wheelchair users separately using random-effects meta-analyses, and compared descriptively for inpatients and community-dwelling individuals. Fall-related factors were organized according to the Biological, Behavioral, Social & Economic and Environmental Model of fall risk. RESULTS: The search resulted in 1706 articles; 24 unique studies were included. The risk of sampling bias was high. All but one study focused on community-dwelling individuals; 78% (95% confidence interval 73-83%, I2 = 0%) of ambulators and 69% (95% confidence interval 60-76%, I2 = 59%) of wheelchair users fell ≥1 over 12 months. In contrast, only 13% of inpatients fell. Most fall-related factors were categorized as biological (e.g., muscle weakness), behavioral (e.g., inattentiveness) or environmental (e.g., uneven surfaces). CONCLUSIONS: Falls are frequent among community-dwelling individuals with SCI. A variety of biological, behavioral, and environmental factors contribute to falls, some of which are modifiable and may be addressed through SCI-specific fall prevention initiatives.

Transitioning care-leavers with mental health needs: 'they set you up to fail!'

BACKGROUND: Children in the UK care system often face multiple disadvantages in terms of health, education and future employment. This is especially true of mental health where they present with greater mental health needs than other children. Although transition from care - the process of leaving the local authority as a child-in-care to independence - is a key juncture for young people, it is often experienced negatively with inconsistency in care and exacerbation of existing mental illness. Those receiving support from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), often experience an additional, concurrent transfer to adult services (AMHS), which are guided by different service models which can create a care gap between services. METHOD: This qualitative study explored care-leavers' experiences of mental illness, and transition in social care and mental health services. Twelve care-leavers with mental health needs were interviewed and data analysed using framework analysis. RESULTS: Sixteen individual themes were grouped into four superordinate themes: overarching attitudes towards the care journey, experience of social care, experience of mental health services and recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: Existing social care and mental health teams can improve the care of care-leavers navigating multiple personal, practical and service transitions. Recommendations include effective Pathway Planning, multiagency coordination, and stating who is responsible for mental health care and its coordination. Participants asked that youth mental health services span the social care transition; and provide continuity of mental health provision when care-leavers are at risk of feeling abandoned and isolated, suffering deteriorating mental health and struggling to establish new relationships with professionals. Young people say that the key to successful transition and achieving independence is maintaining trust and support from services.

Spore germination based assay for monitoring antibiotic residues in milk at dairy farm.

Spore germination based assay involves the transformation of dormant spores of Bacillus stearothermophilus 953 into active vegetative cells. The inhibition of germination process specifically in presence of antibiotic residues was used as a novel approach for monitoring target contaminants in milk. The indicator organism i.e., B. stearothermophilus 953 was initially allowed to sporulate by seeding in sporulation medium and incubating at 55 °C for 18 ± 2 h. The spores exhibited a typical chain behavior as revealed through phase contrast microscopy. The minimal medium inoculated with activated spores was incubated at 64 °C for 2-3 h for germination and outgrowth in presence of specific germinant mixture containing dextrose, whey powder and skimmed milk powder added in specific ratio along with reconstituted milk as negative control and test milk samples. The change in color of the medium from purple to yellow was used as criteria for detection of antibiotic residues in milk. The efficiency of the developed assay was evaluated through a surveillance study on 228 samples of raw, pasteurized and dried milks and results were compared with AOAC approved microbial receptor assay. The presence of antibiotic level was 10.08 % at Codex maximum residual limit having false positive result only in 0.43 % of the samples. The results of the present investigation suggest that developed spore based assay can be a practical solution to dairy industry for its application at farm level, milk processing units, independent testing and R & D centres in order to comply with the legal requirements set by Codex.

Pregnancy with fibroids and its and its obstetric complication.

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy along with a fibroid is a high risk pregnancy which may lead to complication with unequal gravity. Objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and obstetric complications of fibroids during pregnancy, this cross-sectional study was carried out in the Department of Gynaecology, Unit 'C', Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad. METHOD: Data of all patients who presented with fibroid during pregnancy during two years, i.e., from Jan 2006 to Dec 2007 was recorded on a proforma and analysed using SPPS-12. RESULTS: Thirty patients were diagnosed to have fibroids during pregnancy out of 3468 deliveries, thus prevalence was 0.865% in our hospital. The age of 50% cases was from 20 to 30 years, and 30 to 35 Year (27%). Twenty-one (70%) belonged to low socioeconomic status. Ninety percent patients reached up to term pregnancy between 37 to 40 weeks. Fibroids were found less common in patients in their first pregnancy (8, 23.66%). Twenty-one (70%) patients were delivered by caesarean section, and in 1 (3.33%) patient hysterotomy was performed. Failure to progress and foetal distress was the commonest indication for caesarean section (8, 38.09%) followed by breech presentation (4, 19.04%), cord prolapse (3, 14.28%) and fibroids in the lower segment (2, 9.52%). Anaemia was the commonest complication (20, 66.66%) followed by postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) (10, 33.33%). Breech presentation was the commonest malpresentation (4, 13.33%) associated with fibroids during pregnancy. Premature rupture of membranes and cord prolapse was seen in 3 (10%) patients each. Four (13.33%) patients underwent abdominal hysterectomy. Intra uterine growth restriction IUGR was seen in 2 patients (6.66%), 2 patients ended up with abortions, 1 patient had a spontaneous pregnancy loss and the other underwent hysterotomy due to low lying placenta and heavy bleeding per vaginum. Compound presentation, neglected transverse lie, stuck head of breech, placenta increta, retained placenta, low lying placenta, were the other complications occurring in one patient each. One patient died during anaesthesia. Neonatal outcome was encouraging as 20 (67%) babies were of average birth weight and only 4 (13.33%) babies had low APGAR score and needed NICU admission. Perinatal mortality was 37/1000 live births. CONCLUSION: Pregnancy with fibroids leads to increase in caesarean section rate due to dysfunctional labour and malpresentation. There is also increased incidence of post partum haemorrhage along with associated complication of anaemia, anaesthesia and surgery.