Meaningful Activities for Individuals with Dementia Living in Long-term Care

Among older adults with Alzheimer`s disease, 61% to 88% experience problematic passivity (Kolanowski, 1995), which has been linked to a loss of functional abilities (Colling, 1999). In order to prevent this functional decline, social isolation, and development of problematic passivity guidelines can be deduced from the Need-driven Dementia-compromised Behavior (NDB) model for identifying the causes of passive behavior, which can be addressed when designing specialized therapeutic recreation programs. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of meaningful activities compared to traditional nursing home activities on the level of alert engagement among individuals with dementia living in a long-term care facility. A single-subject alternating treatment design was used to compare two traditional nursing home activities and a meaningful activity for each participant. Visual analysis of graphs did not consistently demonstrate significantly more alert behaviors during meaningful activity sessions than during traditional nursing home activity sessions

IMAGINING AN IDEAL FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF ONE COMMUNITY-BASED RECREATION ORGANIZATION

Although the right to participation is enshrined in official policy, children with disabilities frequently face barriers to participation that are not encountered by their peerswhoaredevelopingtypically. Thisisimportantbecauseparticipationin recreational plays a critical role in children’s social and physical development. Other research has indicated that recreational environments influence participation experiences, and has suggested drat environments can both facilitate and hinder children with disabilities. This thesis adds to what is known about the organizational culture o f supportive recreational environments by reporting die findings o f an ethnographic study o f one such organization. Guided by a symbolic interactionist perspective, this research invokes the metaphor o f a water-lily to study organizational culture on several levels. The analysis provides a detailed description o f one supportive recreational organization and identifies thirteen themes drat characterize a supportive recreational organizational culture. The discussion proposes a model of a supportive recreational organizational culture and includes a table of recommendations for programs that are interested in enhancing their organizations

Chapter 3. ἱματιοφορίϲ/ἱματιοφόριον, “portmanteau”

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Chapter Considerazioni su PSI Com6 3 e lo scriba A3 di Ossirinco

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Low expression of estrogen receptor β in T lymphocytes and high serum levels of anti-estrogen receptor α antibodies impact disease activity in female patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

BACKGROUND: Current evidence indicates that estrogens, in particular 17β-estradiol (E2), play a crucial role in the gender bias of autoimmune diseases although the underlying molecular mechanisms have not yet been fully elucidated. Immune cells have estrogen receptors (ERs), i.e., ERα and ERβ, that play pro- and anti-inflammatory functions, respectively, and the presence of one estrogen receptor (ER) subtype over the other might change estrogen effects, promoting or dampening inflammation. In this study, we contributed to define the influences of E2 on T cells from female patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a representative autoimmune disease characterized by a higher prevalence in women than in men (female/male ratio 9:1). Particularly, our aim was to evaluate whether alterations of ERα and ERβ expression in T cells from female SLE patients may impact lymphocyte sensitivity to E2 and anti-ERα antibody (anti-ERα Ab) stimulation interfering with cell signaling and display a direct clinical effect. METHODS: Sixty-one premenopausal female patients with SLE and 40 age-matched healthy donors were recruited. Patients were divided into two groups based on the SLE Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K) (i.e., <6 and ≥6). ER expression was evaluated in T lymphocytes by flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, and Western blot analyses. Serum anti-ERα Ab levels were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). ER-dependent signaling pathways were measured by a phosphoprotein detection kit. RESULTS: Intracellular ERβ expression was significantly lower in T cells from patients with SLEDAI-2K ≥6 as compared with healthy donors and patients with SLEDAI-2K <6 and negatively correlated with disease activity. The expression of intracellular and membrane-associated-ERα was similar in SLE and control T cells. ER-dependent signaling pathways were activated in T cells from SLE patients with SLEDAI-2K ≥6, but not with SLEDAI-2K <6, when both membrane and intracellular ERs were stimulated by co-treatment with E2 and anti-ERα Abs. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate an altered ER profile in SLE patients, possibly contributing to SLE pathogenesis and interfering with clinical activity, and highlight the potential exploitation of T cell-associated ERβ as a biomarker of disease activity

Time-dependent metabolic disorders induced by short-term exposure to polystyrene microplastics in the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis.

Abstract In the modern society, plastic has achieved a crucial status in a myriad of applications because of its favourable properties. Despite the societal benefits, plastic has become a growing global concern due to it is persistence and bioavailability as microplastics (MPs) to aquatic biota. In order to provide mechanistic insights into the early toxicity effects of MPs on aquatic invertebrates, a short-term (up to 72 h) exposure to 3 µm red polystyrene MPs (50 particles/mL) was conducted on marine mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis, selected as model organism for their ability to ingest MPs and their commercial relevance. The use of protonic Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H NMR)-based metabolomics, combined with chemometrics, enabled a comprehensive exploration at fixed exposure time-points (T24, T48, T72) of the impact of MPs accumulated in mussel digestive glands, chosen as the major site for pollutants storage and detoxification processes. In detail, 1H NMR metabolic fingerprints of MP-treated mussels were clearly separated from control and grouped for experimental time-points by a Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Numerous metabolites, including amino acids, osmolytes, metabolites involved in energy metabolism, and antioxidants, participating in various metabolic pathways significantly changed over time in MP-exposed mussel digestive glands related to control, reflecting also the fluctuations in MPs accumulation and pointing out the occurrence of disorders in amino acid metabolism, osmotic equilibrium, antioxidant defense system and energy metabolism. Overall, the present work provides the first insights into the early mechanisms of toxicity of polystyrene MPs in marine invertebrates

Economic Crises and Pandemics: A Path to the Sustainability of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

The COVID-19 pandemic may have destabilized the functioning of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises SMEs in particular being the principal cause for their closure in almost every country worldwide Despite its specific current cause this problem is recurrent and it will continue to happen throughout history For such reason the main purpose of this research is to present a set of guidelines for implementing a Resilient Strategic Management Such procedures should help Small and Medium-Sized Companies to face situations of economic crises or pandemics in the future by consolidating alternatives for preparing for or mitigating risks This work is exploratory research based on literature and documents and it uses qualitative techniques for data collection and investigation The research addresses current issues that still need to be explored in the literature consolidating the concept of resilience in the context of the recent economic and pandemic crises As a result in the analysis carried out within the chosen theoretical framework the main impacts caused by economic crises and pandemics were identified and related to sustainable actions arising from the characteristics of resilience The strategic guidelines derived from the analysis undertaken in this study can serve as a basis for SMEs to mitigate the risks threats and vulnerabilities present in economic or pandemic crisis scenario

Chemical vs. Enzymatic refining to produce peanut oil for edible use or to obtain a sustainable and cost-effective protector for stored grains against Sitophilus zeamais (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Among the various existing techniques, enzymatic degumming represents a process that is establishing itself as a valid alternative to the more classic chemical processes. Moreover, vegetable oils of various origins have been gaining more consideration as sustainable and affordable protectants for cereals and pulses against the attack of several insect pests. Sitophilus zeamais (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is one of the key pests of cereal crops in the field and in stored and processed cereal products. Based on these highlighted issues, the overall aim of this research was twofold: (i) firstly, the effectiveness of the enzymatic degumming process was evaluated through the use of three different enzymes in order to verify the possible industrial application within the SALOV company as an alternative to the conventional chemical process; (ii) in a second phase, the possible use of the innovative refined oils was explored for sustainable stored grain protection towards S. zeamais. The results obtained confirm the strong possibility of applying the enzymatic process, which is innovative and, in a chemical way, more sustainable than the classical one. Regarding the toxicity towards S. zeamais, the crude peanut oil and the chemically refined peanut oil had lower LC50 values (1.836 and 1.372 g kg-1, respectively) than the oils rectified through enzymatic degumming (LC50 from 2.453 to 4.076 g kg-1), and, therefore, they can be suggested as sustainable stored grain protectants