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Evaluating the Accuracy of Inertial Measurment Units in Detecting Gait Parameters for Lower Limb Prosthesis and Orthosis Users
No full textA Gait Extraction System (GES) was developed to investigate the accuracy of wearable sensors by producing gait parameters, to be compared against a gold standard motion capture system. Two inertial measurement units (IMUs) were placed in the lower limb region, specifically in the shank region of each leg. The GES uses algorithms to extract the gait cycle from raw acceleration data to produce gait parameters such as stride length, stride time, step length, step time, stance time, swing time and cadence. There were three main trials that consisted solely of a flat road, a road with small hills and a road with medium level hills. The GES produced gait parameters that were within an acceptable range when compared to the results displayed from the motion capture system. This study supports the use of wearable sensors in gait analysis and rehabilitation, more specifically for persons in return to duty situations
Evaluation of Two Methods to Estimate Wet Bulb Globe Temperature from Heat Index
No full textThe Wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) is a common method to evaluate environmental factors that contribute to occupational heat stress. The Heat Index (HI) is readily available as an alternative to exposure methods. They both assess the most important contributors that are air temperature and humidity. WBGT also includes radiant heat and air motion. To account for radiant heat and/or air motion, some investigators have suggested adjustments to HI. The purpose of this study is to explore two methods to estimate the usefulness of WBGT from HI.
WBGT data were collected in a variety of locations that included direct sun v. shade, three levels of cloud cover, and green v pavement areas. There were 128 observations. HI data were collected using the NIOSH/OSHA app, the ambient data at Tampa International Airport, and at a nearby Weather Underground location near the measurement site. The methods of Bernard & Iheanacho and of Irvin were used to estimate WBGT from HI.
The results were evaluated by finding the ∆WBGT as the difference of estimated minus measured WBGT. The mean and standard deviation of ∆WBGT was computed for each method and a Bland-Altman plot was made. The slope of the line in the Bland-Altman plot was also determined and whether it was significantly different from zero. The accuracy was assessed by the mean ∆WBGT and the precision by the standard deviation. The accuracy ranged from -7 to +2.4, with only three combinations of location and estimation method within ± 1.0 °C. For all methods and locations, the standard deviation ranged from 3.9 to 5.5 °C, meaning there was unacceptable precision.
In conclusion, neither method of estimating WBGT from HI are both adequately accurate or precise
Perspectives on Teaching Environmental Oral History in the Media and Communication Classroom
No full textEnvironmental oral history is an emerging discipline to collect and study first-hand accounts of people’s connection to their local environment and how people are responding to rapid environmental shifts such as climate change. This highly interdisciplinary field is an excellent way to engage communication and journalism students through oral history methodology, environmental studies, and project-based learning. As the 2022 Basler Chair of Excellence at East Tennessee State University (ETSU), Jason Davis taught an environmental oral history class to a small group of undergraduate and graduate students as part of the ETSU Department of Media and Communication. While oral history is frequently taught in higher education settings, to date this was the first university class dedicated solely to environmental oral history. In addition to learning about oral history methodology and environmental studies, students in the class conducted an individual environmental oral history project for which they interviewed and video-recorded a local resident speaking about their connections to the local environment. This paper discusses the learning objectives, outcomes, and challenges of this environmental oral history class, and suggests approaches for successfully integrating environmental oral history into the communications and journalism classroom
Focused on Pedagogy: QR Grading Rubrics for Written Arguments
No full textInstitutional assessments of quantitative literacy/reasoning (QL/QR) have been extensively tested and reported in the literature. While appropriate for measuring student learning at the programmatic or institutional level, such instruments were not designed for classroom grading. After modifying a widely accepted institutional rubric designed to assess QR in written arguments, the current mixed method study tested the reliability of two QR analytic grading rubrics for written arguments and explored students’ reactions to the grading tools. Undergraduate students enrolled in a business course (N = 59) participated. A total of 415 QR artifacts from 40 students were assessed; an additional 19 students provided feedback about the grading tools. A new QR writing rubric included three main criteria (numerical evidence, conclusions, and writing), while a second rubric added a fourth criterion for assignments with data visualization. After two coders rated students’ QR assignments, data analysis found both new QR rubrics had good reliability. Cohen’s kappa found the study’s raters had substantial agreement on all rubric criteria (κ = 0.69 to 0.80). Both the QR writing (α = 0.861) and data visualization (α = 0.859) grading rubrics also had good internal consistency. When asked to provide feedback about the new grading tools, 89% of students shared positive comments, reporting the rubrics clarified assignment expectations, improved their performance, and facilitated the writing process. This paper proposes slight modifications to the phrasing of the new rubrics’ writing criterion, discusses best practices for use of rubrics in QR classrooms, and recommends future research
Relationships of Monetary and Affective Valuations of Experiences
No full textWe explored how affective feelings are related to willingness to pay to experience positive or avoid negative events (e.g., going to the beach, getting arrested). Participants were randomly assigned to positive or negative conditions in this online experiment involving 8 scenarios presented once at shorter and once at longer time durations. Participants reported their willingness to pay to engage in or avoid the experience, and they rated how happy or upset they would feel about spending time in that experience. Results show how levels of affective responses to experiences are related to monetary valuations of those experiences, as well as how values for shorter experiences are related to values for longer experiences. The results call attention to how evaluations of experiences differ depending on the measures used
BRCA 1 and 2 Mutations and their relation to Breast Cancer: An Epidemiological Overview
No full textBrCa 1 and 2 are genes that help repair damaged DNA via proteins. Mutations within these genes are responsible for a higher risk of breast cancer. While BrCa positive cancer only accounts for a small percentage of breast cancer, it is the main cause of breast cancer for those who are BrCa positive. Inheriting the BrCa1/2 gene mutation increases the incidence and mortality, and compounds with a familial history of BrCa mutations and cancer. There are many articles describing the susceptibility of populations to certain cancers due to BrCa ½ mutations,but they do not show a link between geographical data and other global factors. This systematic review intends to provide a complete overview of the global prevalence and possible factors influencing frequency within varying populations. Beginning with 1500 peer reviewed articles spanning over the past 20 years, we ultimately settled on 99 articles focusing on breast cancer prevalence throughout 7 populations,(Ashkenazi Jews, MENA, Europe, USA, South America, Asia, and Africa), as well as current health disparities and causing factors. A second review process limited the amount of articles to only include specific groups and size of sample in the studies.Compiling this data into charts, we are able to see occurrence and ratio on population to incidence. We focused primarily on diet, genetics, and location as factors that affect susceptibility. By organizing the data into population subsets, we can more accurately see the occurrence of breast cancer in BrCa positive groups globally.We noted an increased breast cancer incidence in the Ashkenazi Jewish population, most likely explained due to being ostracized from Eastern European cities and inbreeding. The majority of the 99 articles were focused on this subgroup. There is a notable increase in prevalence within the Chinese population as opposed to MENA or the United States, most likely due to the same localized nutritional/environmental factors and genetic susceptibilities
Resolved or Unsolved: Health Care Worker Concerns Across Hospital Campuses
No full textIt is imperative that hospital administrators maintain a positive environment for their health care professionals, as how they respond to their concerns is often unsatisfactory and can make it difficult for health care employees to maximize the patient care experience. The purpose of this study was to identify health care workers’ reported concerns within a multi-hospital system in the Midwestern United States. A MANOVA was conducted to identify significant trends across groups. The independent variable was employees assigned hospital location. The dependent variables were the employee’s categorized concerns: 1) issues with attendance; 2) compensation; 3) issues with unemployment benefits; 4) issues with professionalism; 5) Leave of absence (LOA); 6) resolution of issue; 7) agreement that concerns were investigated; and 8) issues with termination.
Descriptive statistics including visual displays and summary statistics to include the means, standard deviations, skewness, and kurtosis were calculated. There were statistically significant findings as evidenced by Wilks’ Λ (64, 537.13) = 0.29, p\u3c0.05. After rejecting the null hypothesis univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) contrasts were conducted on each of the eight criterion. The significant findings were: 1) employees (12%) who reported having issues with unemployment benefits (p\u3c0.0005); 2) employees (88%) who reported that management resolved their concerns (p\u3c0.0001); and 3) employees (12%) who reported that their concerns were not resolved to their satisfaction (p\u3c0.00006).
This information may assist health care workers and campus department heads in the Midwest—and nationally—in identifying, designing, and implementing strategies to improve health care workers’ experiences in the workplace and to handle concerns effectively to avoid the effect of unemployment in the United States. The concerns are becoming less of a priority and have a dramatic impact on healthcare workers’ satisfaction
Crow\u27s Nest : 2023 : 04 : 03
No full text(Vol. 60, No. 4)https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/crows_nest/1886/thumbnail.jp
“I Can’t Breathe:” The Invisible Slow Violence of Breathing Politics in Minneapolis
No full textFollowing the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, his utterance, “I can’t breathe,” reverberated internationally as the world population grappled with the twin specters of life-threatening COVID-19 respiratory morbidities and mounting years under increasingly polarized racist regimes. Despite crisis fatigue, national and international outpourings of solidarity trended on social and mainstream media. However, in this moment, the legacy of structural and slow violences against the living, breathing Minneapolis–St. Paul communities of color were obscured. This article addresses transdisciplinary breathing politics in this mid-sized American city to integrate atmospheric indicators (concentrations of criteria pollutants including particulate matter and gaseous pollutants), traffic indicators (Minnesota Department of Transportation permanent traffic monitoring station data), and social indicators (community responses in newspaper and Twitter archives), ultimately making visible how Floyd’s utterance reflects much deeper patterns of stratified urban public health risks and socio-environmental airscape politics.
Bullet Points of Findings Breathing politics are racialized in Minneapolis, demonstrating stark differences in traffic and air quality across neighborhoods.
Through content analysis, it is shown that social media platforms like Twitter can be rich historical records for tracking local public discourse, providing valuable insight to the ways people talk about and conceive topics like environmental justice, breathing politics, and urban equity.
While hashtag activism on social media flourished in 2020 to address anti-Black racism, it was neither a “tipping point” nor did it show a discernible impact on the nature of environmental justice discourse about breathing politics, despite the steep rise of #ICantBreathe.
Integrating social, economic, and environmental indicators has the overarching benefit of addressing complex, lived systems
