Effects of Coloring Mandalas on State-Anxiety Reduction with a Focus on Big-Five Personality Traits

The present two-part study examined the effects of coloring mandalas on state anxiety reduction with considerations of duration spent coloring and Big-5 personality traits. It was hypothesized that coloring mandalas for 30 minutes would significantly reduce levels of state anxiety. There were three coloring conditions that were randomly assigned to 105 participants. Measures included a Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) pre- and post-test which assessed levels of state and trait anxiety, and a Big-Five Personality Scale that examined five main personality traits (Goldberg, 1992). Participants had up to 30 minutes to color their mandala before completing a post-intervention STAI. There were no differences across the three coloring conditions, but a paired samples t-test showed a significant reduction in state anxiety from Time 1 to Time 2. Bivariate correlations of personality factors with anxiety reduction, trait anxiety, and duration revealed a significant relationship among neuroticism, anxiety reduction, and duration within the “Easy” coloring condition. There was also a positive relationship in this condition between anxiety reduction and duration of coloring. A multiple regression analysis in the “Easy” condition predicting anxiety reduction was also examined. A second preliminary study was conducted to distinguish whether the coloring intervention was unique in its anxiety reduction effect. A comparison between coloring and puzzle-making revealed no significant difference in anxiety reduction between the two conditions

Providing Oral Health Education to Underserved Children and Families within an Interdisciplinary Team

This paper outlines the background literature, needs assessment process, and project activities of a master’s project focused on oral health outcomes through use of an interprofessional team. The project activities were based on recommendations from current literatures, including interprofessional education and teaming, as well as family-centered education to promote positive oral health outcomes for young children and their families. Recommendations for future collaborations and the occupational therapy role within interprofessional oral health care teams are shared

Integrated Land-Sea Planning: A Technical Guide to the Integrated Land-Sea Planning Toolkit. EBM Tools Network

Coastal ecosystems contain a rich diversity of species and habitat types that provide an abundance of the world’s natural resources (WRI, 2000). These coastal ecosystems also maintain a wealth of economic activity associated with recreation and tourism, waterborne commerce, and energy and mineral production. This economic activity has been one of the driving forces behind increased population growth in coastal communities. However, the activities that make coastal communities so desirable are the same activities that threaten many of our coastal natural resources. As a result, resource managers face the difficult challenge of balancing increasing human uses of coastal ecosystems with environmental protection. Several estimates suggest that populations along the coast have doubled over the past twenty years and that approximately half of the world’s population, or three billion people, currently live within 200 kilometers of the coast. As a result of this population growth, many coastal ecosystems are threatened by pollution, habitat degradation and loss, overfishing, invasive species, and increased coastal hazards such as sea-level rise (WRI, 2000; Hinrichsen, 1998; National Safety Council, 1998). The increasing population density of coastal areas, combined with a fast-growing economy (Colgan, 2004), makes the task of managing coastal resources more difficult. With the world’s coastal population expected to continue increasing, the ability to minimize impacts from population growth is essential. An integrated land-sea planning approach can help mitigate many of the potential problems associated with increased human activity in coastal communities by addressing the human use of land, freshwater, and marine resources while also working to maintain the integrity of terrestrial, aquatic, and marine/estuarine ecosystems. This planning approach, however, requires a significant commitment from planners and resource managers to conduct collaborative planning, while also requiring the participation of scientists and technologists (e.g., GIS analysts and database managers). To assist in the integrated planning process, a technological toolkit has been developed to guide ecosystem assessment and planning within and across disciplines and ecosystems. This publication is intended to guide users in the application of the integrated land-sea toolkit and facilitate this type of planning approach. There is a large body of published work on the science and planning process for each aspect of the toolkit and each tool is accompanied by documentation and publications. Therefore, this guide does not attempt to replicate the contents of those publications nor exhaustively reference them. It is strictly designed to explain the process for implementing an integrated land-sea planning approach through the interoperation of three decision support tools. Users of the toolkit are expected to obtain the appropriate references, training, and support as needed for their particular applications, experience, and capacity. While this toolkit is described as an integrated land-sea planning toolkit it is also fully suited to inland watershed applications where the effect of land use/management on aquatic ecosystems is of interest.Marine Scienc

Broad Cross-Clade T-Cell Responses to Gag in Individuals Infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Non-B Clades (A to G): Importance of HLA Anchor Residue Conservation

We aimed to identify cross-clade human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) specific T-cell responses among 10 HLA-typed individuals who were infected with non-B HIV-1 strains (A, AG, C, D, G, or F) and to correlate these responses with genetic variation in documented T-cell epitopes. T-cell reactivity was tested against peptide pools spanning clade B Gag, Pol, Nef, Rev, and Tat consensus, with Gag and Nef providing the highest responses. Nine individuals who responded to clade B Gag demonstrated cross-reactive T-cell responses against clade A and C Gag pools, while six of seven responders to Nef-B reacted to clade A and C Nef pools. An inverse correlation between the height of the T-cell responses and the sequence divergence of the HLA class I-restricted epitopes was identified when we compared autologous Gag and Nef sequences with the reactive consensus pools. This could be explained for the Gag sequences through observed variations in the HLA anchor residues. Through mapping of 30 amino acid cross-clade-reactive regions using Gag-B pools, we were able to link 58% (14/24) of the T-cell responses to regions containing previously described HLA class I-restricted epitopes. Forty-two percent (10/24) of the responses were directed to regions containing new epitopes, for which predicted HLA class I motifs could be recognized in 70% (7/10) of individuals. We demonstrate here that cross-clade T-cell responses are frequently induced in individuals infected with distinct HIV-1 clades, suggesting that interclade variation outside of HLA anchor residues may have less impact on vaccine-induced T-cell reactivity than previously thought

Identification of Sequential Viral Escape Mutants Associated with Altered T-Cell Responses in a Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1-Infected Individual

Control of viremia in natural human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in humans is associated with a virus-specific T-cell response. However, still much is unknown with regard to the extent of CD8(+) cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses required to successfully control HIV-1 infection and to what extent CTL epitope escape can account for rises in viral load and ultimate progression to disease. In this study, we chose to monitor through full-length genome sequence of replication-competent biological clones the modifications that occurred within predicted CTL epitopes and to identify whether the alterations resulted in epitope escape from CTL recognition. From an extensive analysis of 59 biological HIV-1 clones generated over a period of 4 years from a single individual in whom the viral load was observed to rise, we identified the locations in the genome of five CD8(+) CTL epitopes. Fixed mutations were identified within the p17, gp120, gp41, Nef, and reverse transcriptase genes. Using a gamma interferon ELIspot assay, we identified for four of the five epitopes with fixed mutations a complete loss of T-cell reactivity against the wild-type epitope and a partial loss of reactivity against the mutant epitope. These results demonstrate the sequential accumulation of CTL escape in a patient during disease progression, indicating that multiple combinations of T-cell epitopes are required to control viremia