The Relationship between the Physical Activity Environment, Nature Relatedness, Anxiety, and the Psychological Well-being Benefits of Regular Exercisers.

Research from a variety of scientific fields suggests that physical activity in nature and feelings of connection to nature enhance psychological health and well-being. This study investigated the psychological health and well-being impact of the physical activity environment for those already undertaking the recommended weekly amount of physical activity. This topic is important for the design of health and well-being environments and interventions involving physical activity. Participants (N = 262) aged 18-71 years (M = 34.5, SD = 13.1) who met the UK physical activity guidelines completed the Nature Relatedness Scale, the trait section of the State Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety and the Psychological Well-Being Scale. Analysis via Multivariate ANOVA indicated that participants who engaged in outdoor physical activity reported significantly lower somatic anxiety levels and higher Nature Relatedness experience (NRexp). Significant results were not evident for wellbeing. Hierarchical regressions revealed that the psychological well-being facet of autonomy, NRexp, and outdoor physical activity predicted lower somatic anxiety, whereas indoor physical activity predicted higher somatic anxiety. Results indicate that somatic anxiety is lower for outdoor physical activity participation, and that outdoor activity, in conjunction with autonomy and NRexp, predicts lower anxiety levels. The findings extend previous work by demonstrating the impact of the physical activity environment on anxiety levels, as well as the contribution of outdoor physical activity and well-being facets to the previously established Nature Relatedness-anxiety relationship

What are the benefits of interacting with nature?

There is mounting empirical evidence that interacting with nature delivers measurable benefits to people. Reviews of this topic have generally focused on a specific type of benefit, been limited to a single discipline, or covered the benefits delivered from a particular type of interaction. Here we construct novel typologies of the settings, interactions and potential benefits of people-nature experiences, and use these to organise an assessment of the benefits of interacting with nature. We discover that evidence for the benefits of interacting with nature is geographically biased towards high latitudes and Western societies, potentially contributing to a focus on certain types of settings and benefits. Social scientists have been the most active researchers in this field. Contributions from ecologists are few in number, perhaps hindering the identification of key ecological features of the natural environment that deliver human benefits. Although many types of benefits have been studied, benefits to physical health, cognitive performance and psychological well-being have received much more attention than the social or spiritual benefits of interacting with nature, despite the potential for important consequences arising from the latter. The evidence for most benefits is correlational, and although there are several experimental studies, little as yet is known about the mechanisms that are important for delivering these benefits. For example, we do not know which characteristics of natural settings (e.g., biodiversity, level of disturbance, proximity, accessibility) are most important for triggering a beneficial interaction, and how these characteristics vary in importance among cultures, geographic regions and socio-economic groups. These are key directions for future research if we are to design landscapes that promote high quality interactions between people and nature in a rapidly urbanising world

« La mesure du temps »

Né dans une famille pieuse en 1917 à Varsovie, Chaïm (Henri) Keniger fréquente le hèder, puis l’école communautaire (Gemine-schule) jusqu’à l’âge de 14 ans, et il parfait ensuite son éducation au lycée hébraïque Tachquemone durant une année, puis suit des cours du soir. Il publie en polonais des nouvelles pour enfants dans le quotidien Maly Przeglad. En septembre 1940, il quitte la Pologne, envahie par les troupes allemandes, pour Bialystock (occupée par les armées soviétiques) et pour l’URS..

Investigando sistemas planetários através do método de trânsitos

O telescópio espacial TESS é o sucessor do telescópio Kepler na busca de exoplanetas pelo método de trânsitos, tendo como objetivo primário encontrar planetas menores do que Netuno em estrelas de tipo espectral M, brilhantes, e próximas à vizinhança solar. Neste trabalho, é apresentado um algoritmo que faz o download do Alert Data do TESS no site do MAST e aplica uma série de métodos para extrair informações das curvas de luz das estrelas observadas, de modo automatizado. De um total de 158 estrelas estudadas, 33 constituem a amostra final. Um teste do algoritmo foi realizado comparando os resultados dessa amostra final com valores publicados pela equipe do TESS em seus relatórios sumários. Os parâmetros comparados foram o período orbital, o raio do planeta e o semieixo maior, havendo um bom acordo entre os resultados do algoritmo e aqueles da equipe do TESS. Um dos planetas da amostra final, TIC 267263253b, está entre os planetas observados pelo TESS que já foram confirmados, e os resultados do algoritmo também estão de acordo com os valores no artigo publicado. Foi realizada também a análise dos resultados com o intuito de extrair informações físicas sobre os sistemas. Baseado nas distribuições de raios planetários e de períodos encontradas, é provável que a amostra final consista majoritariamente de Júpiters quentes.The TESS space telescope is telescope Kepler’s successor on the search for exoplanets using the transit method, having as its main goal finding planets smaller than Neptune around stars of spectral type M, bright, and close to the solar neighbourhood. In this report, it is presented an algorithm which downloads the TESS Alert Data from the MAST website and applies a series of methods to extract information from the light curves of the observed stars, in an automated way. From a total of 158 stars that were studied, 33 make up the final sample. A test for the algorithm was performed by comparing the results from the final sample with the values published by the TESS team on their summary reports. The compared parameters were the orbital period, the planetary radius and the semimajor axis, and a good agreement was found between the results from the algorithm and those from the TESS team. One of the planets from the final sample, TIC 267263253b, is amongst the planets observed by TESS that were already confirmed, and the results from the algorithm are also in agreement with the values from the published article. An analysis of the results was also carried out in order to extract physical information about the systems. Based on the distributions of planetary radius and period, it is likely that the final sample is mainly composed of hot Jupiters

Changes in the distribution of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in urban areas in Great Britain: findings and limitations of a media-driven nationwide survey

Urbanization is one of the major forms of habitat alteration occurring at the present time. Although this is typically deleterious to biodiversity, some species flourish within these human-modified landscapes, potentially leading to negative and/or positive interactions between people and wildlife. Hence, up-to-date assessment of urban wildlife populations is important for developing appropriate management strategies. Surveying urban wildlife is limited by land partition and private ownership, rendering many common survey techniques difficult. Garnering public involvement is one solution, but this method is constrained by the inherent biases of non-standardised survey effort associated with voluntary participation. We used a television-led media approach to solicit national participation in an online sightings survey to investigate changes in the distribution of urban foxes in Great Britain and to explore relationships between urban features and fox occurrence and sightings density. Our results show that media-based approaches can generate a large national database on the current distribution of a recognisable species. Fox distribution in England and Wales has changed markedly within the last 25 years, with sightings submitted from 91% of urban areas previously predicted to support few or no foxes. Data were highly skewed with 90% of urban areas having <30 fox sightings per 1000 people km-2. The extent of total urban area was the only variable with a significant impact on both fox occurrence and sightings density in urban areas; longitude and percentage of public green urban space were respectively, significantly positively and negatively associated with sightings density only. Latitude, and distance to nearest neighbouring conurbation had no impact on either occurrence or sightings density. Given the limitations associated with this method, further investigations are needed to determine the association between sightings density and actual fox density, and variability of fox density within and between urban areas in Britain

A systematic review of the health and well-being benefits of biodiverse environments

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B: Critical Reviews on 05 Mar 2014, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10937404.2013.856361Recent ecosystem service models have placed biodiversity as a central factor in the processes that link the natural environment to health. While it is recognized that disturbed ecosystems might negatively affect human well-being, it is not clear whether biodiversity is related to or can promote "good" human health and well-being. The aim of this study was to systematically identify, summarize, and synthesize research that had examined whether biodiverse environments are health promoting. The objectives were twofold: (1) to map the interdisciplinary field of enquiry and (2) to assess whether current evidence enables us to characterize the relationship. Due to the heterogeneity of available evidence a narrative synthesis approach was used, which is textual rather than statistical. Extensive searches identified 17 papers that met the inclusion criteria: 15 quantitative and 2 qualitative. The evidence was varied in disciplinary origin, with authors approaching the question using different study designs and methods, and conceptualizations of biodiversity, health, and well-being. There is some evidence to suggest that biodiverse natural environments promote better health through exposure to pleasant environments or the encouragement of health-promoting behaviors. There was also evidence of inverse relationships, particularly at a larger scale (global analyses). However, overall the evidence is inconclusive and fails to identify a specific role for biodiversity in the promotion of better health. High-quality interdisciplinary research is needed to produce a more reliable evidence base. Of particular importance is identifying the specific ecosystem services, goods, and processes through which biodiversity may generate good health and well-being.European Regional Development Fund Programme 2007 to 2013European Social Fund Convergence Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

Reconnecting with nature for sustainability

Calls for humanity to ‘reconnect to nature’ have grown increasingly louder from both scholars and civil society. Yet, there is relatively little coherence about what reconnecting to nature means, why it should happen and how it can be achieved. We present a conceptual framework to organise existing literature and direct future research on human–nature connections. Five types of connections to nature are identified: material, experiential, cognitive, emotional, and philosophical. These various types have been presented as causes, consequences, or treatments of social and environmental problems. From this conceptual base, we discuss how reconnecting people with nature can function as a treatment for the global environmental crisis. Adopting a social–ecological systems perspective, we draw upon the emerging concept of ‘leverage points’—places in complex systems to intervene to generate change—and explore examples of how actions to reconnect people with nature can help transform society towards sustainability

Human-wildlife interactions in urban areas: a review of conflicts, benefits and opportunities

Wildlife has existed in urban areas since records began. However, the discipline of urban ecology is relatively new and one that is undergoing rapid growth. All wildlife in urban areas will interact with humans to some degree. With rates of urbanisation increasing globally, there is a pressing need to understand the type and nature of human-wildlife interactions within urban environments, to help manage, mitigate or even promote these interactions. Much research attention has focussed on the core topic of human-wildlife conflict. This inherent bias in the literature is probably driven by the ease with which can be quantified and assessed. Human-wildlife conflicts in terms of disease transmission, physical attack and property damage are important topics to understand, but conversely the benefits of human interactions with wildlife are equally important, becoming increasingly recognised although harder to quantify and generalise. Wildlife may contribute to the provision of ecosystem services in urban areas, and some recent work has shown how interactions with wildlife can provide a range of benefits to health and wellbeing. More research is needed to improve understanding in this area, requiring wildlife biologists to work with other disciplines including economics, public health, sociology, ethics, psychology and planning. There will always be a need to control wildlife populations in certain urban situations to reduce human-wildlife conflict. However, in an increasingly urbanised and resource-constrained world, we need to learn how to manage the risks from wildlife in new ways, and to understand how to maximise the diverse benefits that living with wildlife can bring