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This work was supported by grants within the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Sustainability (BESS) programme. BESS was a 6-year programme (2011–2017) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) as part of the UK's Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme. Laurence Jones was supported by NERC grant ‘Location, Configuration, Distribution: the Role of Landscape Pattern and Diversity in Ecosystem Services' (NE/K015508/1). Other authors were supported by the following projects and grants: Fragments, Functions and Flows in Urban Ecosystem Services (F3UES) Project (NE/J015067/1), The DURESS project – Diversity of Upland Rivers for Ecosystem Service Sustainability (NE/J014818/1), Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Sustainability – CBESS (NE/J015644/1) and Wessex BESS (NE/J014680/1). 1. Cultural ecosystem services (CES), a key aspect of nature's contributions to people, remain a challenge to incorporate into decision making. One contributing factor is the difficulty of defining and describing these, due partly to: ongoing poor understanding of what drives people to interact with nature, a lack of appropriate data to quantify these interactions, and basic difficulties in measuring and modelling the complex array of social, psychological and behavioural attributes which help explain people's actions. 2. In this study we present a framework which develops the concepts of cultural capital, social capital and human capital as specific forms of human-centred capital, in the context of their contribution to understanding CES. Each form of capital encompasses separate attributes of beneficiaries. 3. Testing the framework with data from a separate trans-disciplinary study illustrated that the framework was readily applicable to specific situations. A measure of cultural capital, EcoCentrism, explained more variation than a suite of seven demographic variables. 4. Applying the framework also showed that despite using a wide range of explanatory variables, a large proportion of observed variation remained unaccounted for. This suggests that more work is needed to understand and to develop metrics which can measure additional factors which underlie peoples? motivations to engage with nature. The framework is applicable to other types of ecosystem service, and may also be useful for exploring relational values. Publisher PDF

Controversy exists regarding the closed treatment of distal radius fractures. Circumferential casting of acute distal radius fractures has been shown to be safe in children, however, little research has demonstrated its safety in adults. The purpose of this study was to assess the risk of complications associated with casting acute distal radius fractures in adult patients.Patients with a distal radius fracture treated by a single hand surgeon at a level 1 trauma center were retrospectively reviewed over a 3-year period. Patients were evaluated in the emergency room and were provisionally immobilized either with short-arm fiberglass casts or with splints. Patients were followed for a minimum of 4 weeks. Complication rates associated with casting were recorded, including rates of compartment syndrome and acute carpal tunnel syndrome.Eighty-one patients were included in this study. A total of 30 patients met inclusion criteria for placement of a short arm cast in the Emergency Department. Mean patient age was 63.2 years. The majority of patients sustained their injuries from a ground level fall. A minority of patients had radiographic evidence of intra-articular extension or underwent a reduction prior to casting. There were no patients who developed compartment syndrome or acute carpal tunnel syndrome as a result from the casting. The majority of patients did not require a cast change for at least 4 weeks. None of our patients went on to surgery.There were no major complications associated with casting of acute, low energy distal radius fractures in this series of 30 adult patients. While further studies with larger numbers of patients are necessary to establish safety of casting, this study suggests that casting may be a safe and effective treatment for low-energy distal radius fractures in adult patients presenting with a normal neurovascular exam.Retrospective comparative study, Level III.

Background There is wide variability in surgical technique for biceps tenodesis. Prior biomechanical studies have demonstrated superior ultimate and fatigue strength with a Krakow-type locked loop when compared with simple suture and lasso-loop configurations; however, this had not yet been clinically studied. The purpose of this study was to assess the short-term results an arthroscopic-assisted locked loop (ALL) suprapectoral biceps tenodesis technique. Methods All patients who underwent an ALL suprapectoral biceps tenodesis by a single surgeon from 2012 and 2019 with a minimum of 12-month follow-up were analyzed. Data collected included demographics, surgical indications, concomitant operative procedures, and postoperative complications of anterior shoulder "groove" pain, "Popeye deformity," biceps muscle cramping pain, and need for revision surgery. Results Forty patients who underwent an ALL suprapectoral biceps tenodesis met inclusion criteria. Patients were 55.6 ± 8.6 years of age, consisting of 28 men (57%) and 21 women (43%). The median follow-up was 19.3 months. At the latest follow-up, 1 (2%) patient had anterior shoulder "groove" pain, and no patients had a Popeye deformity or biceps muscle cramping. There were no revision biceps tenodesis procedures. Conclusion The ALL suprapectoral biceps tenodesis technique results in a low incidence of postoperative complications. At a short-term follow-up of 1 year, no patients had reoperations or revisions for failed biceps tenodesis. Groove pain was nearly absent in this series of patients.

Urban green space can help mitigate the negative impacts of urban living and provide positive effects on citizens’ mood, health and well-being. Questions remain, however, as to whether all types of green space are equally beneficial, and if not, what landscape forms or key features optimise the desired benefits. For example, it has been cited that urban landscapes rich in wildlife (high biodiversity) may promote more positive emotions and enhance well-being. This research utilised a mobile phone App, employed to assess people’s emotions when they entered any one of 945 green spaces within the city of Sheffield, UK. Emotional responses were correlated to key traits of the individual green spaces, including levels of biodiversity the participant perceived around them. For a subsample of these green spaces, actual levels of biodiversity were assessed through avian and habitat surveys. Results demonstrated strong correlations between levels of avian biodiversity within a green space and human emotional response to that space. Respondents reported being happier in sites with greater avian biodiversity (p r = 0.78) and a greater variety of habitats (p r = 0.72). Relationships were strengthened when emotions were linked to perceptions of overall biodiversity (p r = 0.89). So, when participants thought the site was wildlife rich, they reported more positive emotions, even when actual avian biodiversity levels were not necessarily enhanced. The data strengthens the arguments that nature enhances well-being through positive affect, and that increased ‘engagement with nature’ may help support human health within urban environments. The results have strong implications for city planning with respect to the design, management and use of city green spaces.

Social support has long been associated with cardiovascular disease risk assessed with blood pressure (BP). BP exhibits a circadian rhythm in which BP should dip between 10 and 15% overnight. Blunted nocturnal dipping (non-dipping) is a predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality independent of clinical BP and is a better predictor of cardiovascular disease risk than either daytime or nighttime BP. However, it is often examined in hypertensive individuals and less often in normotensive individuals. Those under age 50 are at increased risk for having lower social support. This study examined social support and nocturnal dipping in normotensive individuals under age 50 using ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABP). ABP was collected in 179 participants throughout a 24-h period. Participants completed the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List, which assesses perceived levels of social support in one’s network. Participants with low levels of social support demonstrated blunted dipping. This effect was moderated by sex, with women showing greater benefit from their social support. These findings demonstrate the impact social support can have on cardiovascular health, exhibited through blunted dipping, and are particularly important as the study was conducted in normotensive individuals who are less likely to have high levels of social support.

The maintenance and enhancement of connectivity for multispecies is a challenging issue for biodiversity conservation and landscape planning. It is well-known that different elements of the landscape matrix provide different levels of permeability to species moving across the landscape, but such effects may be species-specific. Whilst the spatial articulation of connectivity corridors is highly dependent on how we define them, and which species group we intended to provide connectivity for, it is also important to understand the optimal land cover mix to promote the maximum number of species. We demonstrate an approach to (1) identifying multispecies networks and examine how it compares to previous network approaches for a case study city of Sheffield, UK and (2) developing specific proposals for how green networks in Sheffield could be improved. We modelled least-cost corridors for four bird, three mammal and three reptile species. After validating the derived corridors, we created a union of least-cost corridors that identified the multispecies connectivity zones and compared the derived multispecies networks with the pre-existing networks (Sheffield City Council - the Green Network and the Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust- the Living Don ecological network). We found that a particular mix of land covers (particularly, woodlands, mixed vegetation and unimproved grassland) have a high potential to provide corridors for the maximum number of species around the edges of the city centre or the suburbs. A significant proportion of the Green Network and the Living Don ecological network coincide spatially with these land covers. Based on the comparisons of the derived and existing corridors, we discuss specific proposals for how Sheffield green networks could be improved and which areas to prioritise. Utilising species relevant connectivity models which incorporate a group of species with complementary and contrasting habitat requirements will enable a much more complete picture of potential landscape connectivity across the landscape and more informed decisions for biodiversity conservation and landscape planning.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented changes to human lifestyles across the world. The virus and associated social restriction measures have been linked to an increase in mental health conditions. A considerable body of evidence shows that spending time in and engaging with nature can improve human health and wellbeing. Our study explores nature’s role in supporting health during the COVID-19 pandemic. We created web-based questionnaires with validated health instruments and conducted spatial analyses in a geographic information system (GIS). We collected data (n = 1184) on people’s patterns of nature exposure, associated health and wellbeing responses, and potential socioecological drivers such as relative deprivation, access to greenspaces, and land-cover greenness. The majority of responses came from England, UK (n = 993). We applied a range of statistical analyses including bootstrap-resampled correlations and binomial regression models, adjusting for several potential confounding factors. We found that respondents significantly changed their patterns of visiting nature as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. People spent more time in nature and visited nature more often during the pandemic. People generally visited nature for a health and wellbeing benefit and felt that nature helped them cope during the pandemic. Greater land-cover greenness within a 250 m radius around a respondent’s postcode was important in predicting higher levels of mental wellbeing. There were significantly more food-growing allotments within 100 and 250 m around respondents with high mental wellbeing scores. The need for a mutually-advantageous relationship between humans and the wider biotic community has never been more important. We must conserve, restore and design nature-centric environments to maintain resilient societies and promote planetary health.

Cities are sites of human, ecological and institutional stress. The elements that make up the city – its people, landscapes and processes – are engaged in constant assemblage and disassembly, joining and pulling apart. Reporting the findings of a three-year multi-disciplinary deep case study, this paper examines the role of urban nature in mediating the relationship between stressed humans and stressed places. It applies assemblage theory to show how such relationships can be understood in contexts of multiple pressures. From empirical findings it shows how urban nature contributes to mental wellbeing, but also how institutional stresses linked to austerity policies shape efforts to reconnect humans and nature. Across five strands of research, this article foregrounds the importance of multiple everyday experiences of urban nature and practices of care and maintenance. It calls on researchers, policymakers, planners and practitioners to pay closer attention to the ‘magic of the mundane’ in supporting human wellbeing; in caring for spaces and places; and in providing the services that link people and the natural environment.

Case A 12-year-old boy with osteopetrosis sustained a scaphoid waist fracture, which has not previously been reported with this condition. Healing was successfully achieved with percutaneous cannulated compression screw fixation, albeit with prolonged healing as is typical for this condition. Conclusion A lack of osteoclastic remodeling predisposes patients with osteopetrosis to fractures, commonly in long bones. Increased risks of infection, anesthesia, and broken hardware along with limited ability to compress bone may discourage operative management. Internal fixation should still be considered in select cases to limit displacement while allowing early range of motion.

Prescribing nature-based health interventions (green prescribing)&mdash, such as therapeutic horticulture or conservation activities&mdash, is an emerging transdisciplinary strategy focussed on reducing noncommunicable diseases. However, little is known about the practice of, and socioecological constraints/opportunities associated with, green prescribing in the UK. Furthermore, the distribution of green prescribing has yet to be comprehensively mapped. In this study, we conducted a socioecological exploration of green prescribing. We deployed online questionnaires to collect data from general practitioners (GPs) and nature-based organisations (NBOs) around the UK and conducted spatial analyses. Our results indicate that GPs and NBOs perceive and express some common and distinct constraints to green prescribing. This highlights the need to promote cross-disciplinary communication pathways. Greenspace presence and abundance within close proximity (100 and 250 m) to GP surgeries (but not greenness&mdash, as a proxy for vegetation cover) and NBO presence within 5 km were associated with higher levels of green prescribing provision. Lower levels of deprivation were associated with higher frequency of NBOs. This suggests that the availability of greenspaces and NBOs could be important for green prescribing provision, but there could be greater opportunities in less deprived areas. Important foci for future research should be to establish transdisciplinary collaborative pathways, efficient infrastructure management and a common vocabulary in green prescribing&mdash, with the overall aim of reducing inequalities and enhancing planetary health.

Background: One cause of childhood obesity is a reduction in the amount of unstructured time spent outdoors, resulting in less physical activity. Greenspaces have the potential to increase children’s physical activity levels, so it is desirable to understand how to create spaces that promote visitation and activity. \ud \ud Objectives: We investigate the relationship between rates of obesity at ages 4-5 and 10-11 in small-area census geographies, and indicators of the neighbourhood greenspace environment, in the northern English city of Sheffield. \ud \ud Methods: To capture the environment at scales relevant to children, we test the importance of overall green cover; garden size; tree density around residential addresses; and accessibility within 300m of any greenspace, greenspaces that meet quality criteria, and greenspaces with play facilities. We use a multi-model inference approach to improve robustness. \ud \ud Results: The density of trees around addresses is significant at both ages, indicating the importance of the greenspace environment in the immediate vicinity of houses. For 10-11 year olds, accessibility of greenspaces meeting quality criteria is also significant, highlighting that the wider environment becomes important with age and independence. \ud \ud Conclusions: More attention should be given to children’s requirements of greenspace when considering interventions to increase physical activity or planning new residential areas.

The notion of ecological and green networks is founded on the coherent and connected systems of green and open spaces in the landscape. However, these networks have generally been the outcome of a ...

This study compared mindfulness practice outcomes retrieved from the authors’ earlier studies in simulated and actual natural environments. We found that both simulated and actual natural environments boosted these outcomes. However, the actual natural environment was associated with larger decreases in stress and greater increases in nature connectedness than the simulated natural environment. The findings evidence the potential value of simulated as well as actual natural environments as settings for the enhancement of the delivery of health care and complementary therapeutic programmes. Whilst actual natural environments are most effective, the development and use of simulated natural environments may support groups who would for mobility or other reasons have difficulty in accessing a natural environment.

It is Autumn in the UK. I am packing my suitcase in readiness for a work-related trip to Latin America. I check the weather in the cities I will visit: Santiago, Chile; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Med...

The term palimpsest is sometimes used as a way of conceptualising historic cultural landscapes that have been subject to changes. This paper uses an expanded version of the palimpsest concept (a temporal collage intermingling memories with tangible and intangible elements from different time periods across a range of scales) to focus on a former military site on the Thames Estuary, which, after a period of dereliction, has been developed as a bird reserve. It examines different user interpretations of the present-day landscape in the light of its recent history and demonstrates how the physical traces and artefacts, the topography, memories and the relationship with the surrounding area all play a part in these interpretations. This landscape subverts a chronological reading and extends beyond the physical and temporal boundaries of the site enabling both the expert and non-expert to tell multiple and diverse stories with implications for landscape planning and design.\ud \ud

Throughout Europe climate change has rendered many plant species used in contemporary urban planting design less fit for use in public greenspaces. A growing evidence base exists for the ecological value of introducing non-native species, yet urban policy and practice guidance continues to portray non-native species negatively, focusing on their assumed invasiveness. In this context there is a lack of research focusing on the cultural relevance of non-native species in the urban landscape. To address this gap we surveyed 1411 members of the UK public who walked through designed and semi-natural planting of three levels of visual nativeness: “strongly native”; “intermediate” and “strongly non-native”, whilst completing a site-based questionnaire. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were then carried out with 34 questionnaire participants. A majority (57.6%) of our respondents would be happy to see more non-native planting in UK public spaces, rising to 75.3% if it were better adapted to a changing climate than existing vegetation. Respondents recognised the three broad levels of nativeness, yet this was not a factor driving perceptions of the attractiveness of the planting. In addition to climate change, we identified four key factors driving acceptance and rejection of non-native planting: aesthetics; locational context; historic factors and inevitability; and perceptions of invasiveness and incompatability with native wildlife. Our research indicates that in the context of a changing climate, focus should be placed on the potentially positive role of non-invasive, climate-adapted, aesthetically pleasing species within urban planting schemes as these could be well-received by the public.

Context: Taping is commonly used in the management of several musculoskeletal conditions, including patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS). Specific guidelines for taping are unknown. Objective: To investigate the efficacy of knee taping in the management of PFPS. Our hypothesis was that tension taping and exercise would be superior to placebo taping and exercise as well as to exercise or taping alone. Data Sources: The PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane, Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine Source, and CINAHL databases were reviewed for English-language randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the efficacy of various taping techniques that were published between 1995 and April 2015. Keywords utilized included taping, McConnell, kinesio-taping, kinesiotaping, patellofemoral pain, and knee. Study Selection: Studies included consisted of RCTs (level 1 or 2) with participants of all ages who had anterior knee or patellofemoral pain symptoms and had received nonsurgical management using any taping technique. Study Design: Systematic review. Level of Evidence: Level 2. Data Extraction: A checklist method was used to determine selection, performance, detection, and attrition bias for each article. A quality of evidence grading was then referenced using the validated PEDro database for RCTs. Three difference comparison groups were compared: tension taping and exercise versus placebo taping and exercise (group 1), placebo taping and exercise versus exercise alone (group 2), and tension taping and exercise versus taping alone (group 3). Results: Five RCTs with 235 total patients with multiple intervention arms were included. Taping strategies included McConnell and Kinesiotaping. Visual analog scale (VAS) scores indicated improvement in all 3 comparison groups (group 1: 91 patients, 39% of total, mean VAS improvement 44.9 [tension taping + exercise] vs 66 [placebo taping + exercise]; group 2: 56 patients, 24% of total, mean VAS improvement 66 [placebo taping + exercise] vs 47.6 [exercise alone]; and group 3: 112 patients, 48% of total, mean VAS improvement 44.9 [tension taping + exercise] vs 14.1 [taping alone]). Conclusion: This systematic review supports knee taping only as an adjunct to traditional exercise therapy for PFPS; however, it does not support taping in isolation.

Cross-sectional research linking exposure to greenspace with human health rarely describes greenspace characteristics in detail, but a few studies do find that some types of greenspace have greater health benefits than others. We review literature linking landscape metrics to multiple mechanisms by which greenspace exposure is posited to benefit health. Using metrics identified in this process to describe the composition and configuration of urban greenspace, we conduct a small-area epidemiological analysis of self-reported general health for the city of Sheffield, UK. A relatively high proportion of water cover and a high diversity of tree planting are associated with lower levels of poor health; while a high proportion of grass cover, which may be indicative of low quality greenspaces, is associated with higher levels. The presence of large greenspace patches that are well interspersed with the built environment is also associated with lower levels of poor health. We demonstrate a successful methodology for identifying useful landscape metrics even where effect sizes are small, and explore the challenges of translating results of landscape metric studies into policy guidance.

Urban greenspace can improve the health of local residents by facilitating physical activity, psychological restoration, and social contacts, as well as through amelioration of the physical environment and immune system modulation. In some cases, greenspace exposure has been reported to reduce health inequalities associated with deprivation. However, studies investigating the socioeconomic equity of greenspace distribution find conflicting results. We investigate how greenspace distribution varies with socioeconomic deprivation in Sheffield, UK, for three aspects of greenspace distribution (access; provision, or accessible greenspace area; and population pressure, or potential for crowding), and for three types of greenspace (any publicly accessible greenspace; greenspaces meeting criteria that increase the likelihood of providing health benefits; and greenspaces with specific provision for children and young people). We find that the accessibility of greenspace favours people living in more deprived areas, although the total area provided is not proportionally greater, and greenspaces have a greater potential for crowding. When looking only at high quality greenspaces, the relationship with deprivation is far weaker, although the potential for crowding remains greater in more deprived areas. When looking only at greenspaces with provision for children and young people, accessibility once again favours people in more deprived areas, but the total area provided is less and the potential for congestion is greater. Our results are influenced by the historic choice of locations for urban parks in Sheffield, i.e. within walking distance of working class neighbourhoods. Both methodological details and local historic context are key drivers of whether greenspace distribution is equitable within cities, and increasing the complexity of questions being asked also increases the complexity of results. Researchers should carefully consider which aspects of equity are of interest when designing studies. We recommend that planners and policy makers ensure that greenspaces are designed and maintained to a high standard that meets the cultural, recreational and accessibility needs of urban residents, including those belonging to minorities, in order to provide maximal public health benefits.

1. The multiple benefits of ‘nature’ for human health and well‐being have been documented at an increasing rate over the past 30 years. A growing body of research also demonstrates the positive well‐being benefits of nature‐connectedness. There is, however, a lack of evidence about how people's subjective nature experience relates to deliberately designed and managed urban green infrastructure (GI) with definable ‘objective’ characteristics such as vegetation type, structure and density. Our study addresses this gap. 2. Site users (n = 1411) were invited to walk through woodland, shrub and herbaceous planting at three distinctive levels of planting structure at 31 sites through‐out England, whilst participating in a self‐guided questionnaire survey assessing reactions to aesthetics, perceived plant and invertebrate biodiversity, restorative effect, nature‐connectedness and socio‐demographic characteristics. 3. There was a significant positive relationship between perceived naturalness and planting structure. Perceived naturalness was also positively related to the perceived plant and invertebrate biodiversity value, participants’ aesthetic appreciation and the self‐reported restorative effect of the planting. A negative relationship was recorded between perceived naturalness and perceived tidiness and care. Our findings showed that participants perceived ‘naturalness’ as biodiverse, attractive and restorative, but not necessarily tidy. Perceived naturalness was also related to participants’ educational qualifications, gender and nature‐connectedness, with women and more nature‐connected participants perceiving significantly greater levels of naturalness in the planting. 4. These findings are highly significant for policymakers and built environment professionals throughout the world aiming to design, manage and fund urban GI to achieve positive human health and biodiversity outcomes. This applies particularly under austerity approaches to managing urban green spaces where local authorities have experienced cuts in funding and must prioritise and justify GI maintenance practices and regimes.

Despite the growing body of research exploring health benefits of greenspace, most studies treat greenspace as homogenous. There remains a need to focus on ‘quality’ rather than quantity of greenspace. Quality may be a substantial determinant for use and experience within greenspaces and therefore may influence health and well-being benefits derived from that use. This small-area level ecological study was undertaken within the city of Sheffield, UK. Health data were drawn from the general health question within the 2011 UK Census. Greenspace quality was measured using field surveys by Sheffield City Council and a range of measures from social media (from Flickr and Twitter). The extent to which quality measures extracted from social media were comparable to those from field surveys was explored to investigate whether they could proxy quality thus negating the requirement for resource intensive field surveys. The potential greenspace quality proxies from social media, however, showed low levels of correlation with quality measures from detailed field surveys. In exploring levels of health associated with greenspace quality – after adjustment for potential confounders – we found that greenspaces with lower quality, in terms of cleanliness, were associated with higher prevalence of self-reported poor health. The prevalence ratio of poor health for the quintile with the lowest cleanliness was 1.09 (95% CI 1.00-1.18), compared against the quintile with the highest cleanliness. We found little evidence of association between social media indicators of quality and poor health. Our work indicates that cleanliness of greenspace may affect adversely the health of surrounding residents. Whilst the precise mechanism for this is not yet known it is suggested that lack of cleanliness produces feelings of discomfort and insecurity, discouraging greenspace usage and inhibiting accrual of potential health and well-being benefits associated with that usage. This has important implications for greenspace provision and management.

Papers of four decades published in Landscape Research are reviewed in order to chronicle the journal’s development and to assess the academic performance of the journal relative to its own aims. Landscape Research intends to reach a wide audience, to have a broad thematic coverage and to publish different types of papers with various methodological orientations. Cutting across these first aims are the interdisciplinary ambition of the journal, and its overall focus on landscape. These aims are evaluated based upon categorisation of article content, authorship and methodology, using data derived through interpretative inquiry and quantitative analyses. The results tell the story of how Landscape Research has developed from a newsletter of the Landscape Research Group, mainly aimed at practitioners, into an interdisciplinary, international journal with academic researchers as its primary community of interest. The final section discusses the current profile of the journal and identifies issues for ...

This study investigated whether the impacts of a commonly used wellbeing intervention, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), are enhanced when combined with the benefits of exposure to a natural environment. Participants (n = 99) were randomly assigned to a weekly one-hour MBSR in one of three different environments (i.e. natural outdoor, built outdoor and indoor environments) over a six-week period. Participants’ wellbeing outcomes and nature connectedness were measured at baseline, during the intervention and at one-week and one-month follow up. The results show that the mental health and wellbeing outcomes of MBSR are greater when it carried out in a natural outdoor environment compared with indoor or built environments. Moreover, participants in the natural outdoor environment showed sustained improvements even after one month from completion of the intervention. This study supports the potential value of natural environments as settings for the enhancement of health care delivery and therapeutic interventions.

This study assesses the effectiveness of incorporating the beneficial effects of exposure to nature in a 3-week mindfulness programme. Participants (n = 122) were randomly assigned to one of two intervention groups (mindfulness, relaxation group) under different simulated environmental conditions (two natural, two non-natural environments) during an intervention lasting three weeks. The participants in the mindfulness group were asked to attend a weekly 1-h mindfulness programme. The relaxation group also spent 1 h per week on relaxation activities of their choice (e.g. reading books or magazines). Participants’ wellbeing outcomes and nature connectedness were measured before and after the three-week intervention, and at one-week follow-up. The findings show that the mindfulness programme was more effective when carried out in a natural environment. In addition, the mindfulness group in natural environments continued to improve even after the intervention was completed. This study offers valuable insights into the benefits of combining a wellbeing intervention with exposure to nature.

Forty years ago, in 1976, the Landscape Research Group (LRG) changed the name of its newsletter, Landscape Research News, to Landscape Research, signalling an intention to upgrade it from what was ...

In last year’s opening editorial, published in volume 39, issue 1, I set out my editorial aims for the journal (Jorgensen, 2014). These included widening ‘the scope of the journal, whilst strengthe...

This paper aims to advance the theory and practice of landscape heritage planning, design and management, focusing especially on the question: what are the relationships between landscape narratives – the ways in which we tell the story of a landscape – and landscape heritage outcomes (landscape practice – planning, design, management – based on particular readings of the past)? The paper explores this question through a critical examination of three different narrative accounts of Parkwood Springs, an urban waste site in the city of Sheffield, UK: a conventional history, a personal experiential account, and an analysis based on the Sheffield Historic Landscape Characterisation. The critique is informed by a cross-disciplinary theoretical discussion of the ways time is conceptualized and presented in narrative, and how these conceptualizations influence future landscapes.

We used photo-elicitation studies and a controlled perennial meadow creation experiment at ten urban green-spaces in southern England (five experimental sites and five control sites) to assess green-space visitors’ responses to urban meadows. Multiple meadows, which varied in their structural diversity (height) and plant species richness, were created at each experimental site. Photo elicitation demonstrated that meadows were generally preferred to herbaceous borders and formal bedding planting. Moreover, our experimental meadows had higher preference scores than a treatment that replicated mown amenity grassland, and meadow creation improved site quality and appreciation across a wide range of people. Meadows that contained more plant species and some structural diversity (i.e. were tall or of medium height) were most preferred. The magnitude of these preferences was lower amongst people that used the sites the most, probably due to a strong attachment to the site, i.e. sense of place. People with greater eco-centricity (i.e. those who used the countryside more frequently, had greater ability to identify plant species and exhibited more support for conservation) responded more positively to meadow vegetation. Crucially a wide range of respondents was willing to tolerate the appearance of meadows outside the flowering season, especially when provided with information on their biodiversity and aesthetic benefits and potential cost savings (from reduced cutting frequencies). Re-designing urban green-spaces and parks through the creation of species rich meadows can provide a win–win strategy for biodiversity and people, and potentially improve connections between the two.

In this issue, water provides the setting for six papers that examine environmental change in a variety of rural and urban environments, including both coastlines and inland streams and watersheds....

A growing body of research suggests that natural settings are more effective in providing restoration from depleted emotional and cognitive resources than built settings. However, there is a lack of evidence-based guidelines on which options for urban green space design and management are most effective in providing restoration. To address this need, the present study examined the restorative impacts of urban public spaces differing in naturalness. After having been pre-stressed by watching a scary movie, 102 participants were randomly assigned to viewing one of four photo/video presentations depicting an urban street, parkland, tended woodland, or wild woods. Self-reported mood and restorative state were measured at baseline, after the stressor and after viewing the environment. After controlling for stress reactivity, participants in the natural conditions showed stronger recovery on all dependent measures than those in the urban street condition. Differences in recovery among the natural settings did not reach significance. Keyword analysis revealed that the wild woods were described as more arousing than the parkland and tended woodland. There was substantial variation in recovery of vitality within natural conditions, which was related to perceptions of naturalness. In general, the findings suggest that restoration in urban public spaces depends on individual perceptions and needs as well as physical characteristics of the setting. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Libraries should not lack a comprehensive graphic novel collection, representing all readers in a healthy and respectful manner. As professionals, librarians have the skills and resources to discover new and interesting graphic novel titles. Certain standards are required to reinforce and defend our choices and best to serve our entire community. To assist librarians in critiquing and expanding their graphic novel collections, in this article the authors provide criteria for “vetting” the new female protagonist, looking for positive female role models who will appeal to all audiences and earn a secure place in public and school library graphic novel collections.

Decreasing the risk of lung cancer, or preventing its development in high-risk individuals, would have a huge impact on public health. The most effective means to decrease lung cancer incidence is to eliminate exposure to carcinogens. However, with recent advances in the understanding of pulmonary carcinogenesis and the identification of intermediate biomarkers, the prospects for the field of chemoprevention research have improved dramatically. Here we review the most recent research in lung cancer chemoprevention—focusing on those agents that have been investigated in human clinical trials. These agents fall into three major categories. First, oxidative stress plays an important role in pulmonary carcinogenesis; and therefore, antioxidants (including vitamins, selenium, green tea extracts, and isothiocyanates) may be particularly effective in preventing the development of lung cancer. Second, inflammation is increasingly accepted as a crucial factor in carcinogenesis, and many investigators have focused on anti-inflammatory agents, such as glucocorticoids, NSAIDs, statins, and PPARγ agonists. Finally, the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway is recognized to play a central role in tobacco-induced carcinogenesis, and inhibitors of this pathway, including myoinositol and metformin, are promising agents for lung cancer prevention. Successful chemoprevention will likely require targeting of multiple pathways to carcinogenesis—both to minimize toxicity and maximize efficacy.

In this paper we review and analyze the recent research literature on urban green space and human health and well-being, with an emphasis on studies that attempt to measure biodiversity and other green space concepts relevant to urban ecological restoration. We first conduct a broad scale assessment of the literature to identify typologies of urban green space and human health and well-being measures, and use a research mapping exercise to detect research priorities and gaps. We then provide a more in-depth assessment of selected studies that use diverse and innovative approaches to measuring the more ecological aspects of urban green space and we evaluate the utility of these approaches in developing urban restoration principles and practices that are responsive to both human and ecological values.

This paper seeks to enhance understandings of underlying reasons for attitudes towards a recent landscape phenomenon— mobile telecommunications development— in a protected area. A public questionnaire survey was conducted, using photographs of mobile telecommunications development installed in the Peak District National Park, England. Building on existing theories about landscape perceptions and environmental values, the study examined the factors influencing the acceptability of such development: a) the degree of human influence in landscape; b) the purpose of development; and c) environmental values. The study highlights the fundamental influence of environmental values on people's attitudes towards incremental landscape change. The paper discusses the implications of people's generally high level of sensitivity to landscape change in a protected area and the predominance of ecocentric values for landscape planning and management.

This study explored the public perceptions of mobile telecommunications development – new landscape elements installed to deliver new technology – in a protected area. It examined: (1) the perceived landscape impacts of such development; (2) the importance attached to the socio-economic value of mobile telecommunications; and (3) the factors underlying the perceived landscape impacts of mobile telecommunications development. A postal questionnaire survey was conducted in the Peak District National Park, England with 420 respondents drawn from National Park residents and visitors, urban dwellers and members of environmental organisations. The study suggests that: (1) there was a prevailing antipathy towards the landscape impacts of mobile telecommunications development in the National Park; (2) apart from emergency uses, the other socio-economic benefits of mobile telecommunications technology were thought to be relatively unimportant in the National Park; and (3) rather than socio-demographic characterist...