A Protocol for Animal Assisted Therapy in a Midwestern Hospital

Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) has been shown to improve physiological, psychological, social, and physical aspects of clients (Miller & Ingram, 2000; Diefenbeck, Bouffard, Matukaitis, Hastings & Coble, 2010). AAT increases an individual’s strength, cognition, range of motion, and balance (Miller & Ingram, 2000). The use of animals within therapy also decreases anxiety, heart rate, blood pressure, and pain while also improving attention and social participation (Diefenbeck et al., 2010). The role of animals within AAT provides the therapist with a unique tool to utilize in various aspects of therapy. Depending on the treatment plan, the therapist can utilize the animal in various ways in order to match the client’s physical or psychological needs. Treatment plans that utilize AAT to improve the client’s well-being, socialization, and activities of daily living have been proven to be effective through the use of walking, feeding, brushing, petting, and bathing the animal (Barak & Mavashev, 2001). Along with clients receiving benefits from AAT, therapy staff has also indicated benefits including increase in self-awareness, improved morale, and stress reductions as result of using animals as a tool for therapy (Rossetti, DeFabiis & Belpedio, 2008). Benefits of incorporating AAT into therapy have been documented throughout the literature, however, there are limited facilities in the Midwest that implement AAT and existing protocols have been written for recreational animal visits rather than goal directed therapy (Winkle & Jackson, 2012). An extensive literature review on the benefits and contraindications of AAT, the role of the interprofessional team using AAT, AAT policies and procedures, and implementation of an AAT program was conducted. Staff members at a Midwestern hospital interested in incorporating AAT into therapy also provided suggestions to the creation of this protocol. The purpose of this scholarly project was to provide occupational therapists and other health care professionals with a protocol for implementation of an AAT program into a neurological rehabilitation facility. The protocol includes an introduction to AAT, benefits of AAT, AAT incorporated into the occupational therapy practice framework, authorized AAT users, skills competency, policies and procedures, AAT requirements and eligibility, and an intervention guide for utilizing AAT

A novel MDMA analogue, UWA-101, that lacks psychoactivity and cytotoxicity, enhances L-DOPA benefit in parkinsonian primates

Treatment of Parkinson's disease with dopaminergic agents, such as L-DOPA, is frequently compromised by disabling side effects, particularly dyskinesia and a shortening in duration of antiparkinsonian action. Studies in animal models and anecdotal evidence from a patient with Parkinson's disease show that the illicit drug ecstasy (MDMA) can alleviate these side effects, though with many drawbacks (e.g., psychoactivity). MDMA itself thus has little therapeutic potential. On the basis of known structure-psychoactivity relationships, we designed a series of α-substituted MDMA analogues, one of which, bearing an α-cyclopropyl substituent (UWA-101), enhanced the quality of L-DOPA actions in animal models. Indeed, UWA-101 was more effective than MDMA.Unlike MDMA, UWA-101 did not reduce viability of serotonergic cells, exhibit psychoactive properties, or reduce food intake, and did not substitute for MDMA in drug discrimination assays. UWA-101 displayed a unique receptor/transporter binding profile relative to MDMA, with a >5-fold decrease in affinity for NET and 5-HT2A receptors and a 10-fold increase in affinity for DAT. Furthermore, in a functional reuptake assay, UWA-101 inhibited both 5-HT and dopamine reuptake, while having no effect on the reuptake of noradrenaline. UWA-101 is the first selective DAT/SERT inhibitor described with comparable affinities for these two sites. These data identify a new class of therapeutic in Parkinson's disease and highlight the potential benefits of studying illicit drugs that in themselves would never be considered safe for longterm therapy

The Museum of Renaissance Music: A History in 100 Exhibits

This book collates 100 exhibits with accompanying essays as an imaginary museum dedicated to the musical cultures of Renaissance Europe, at home and in its global horizons. It is a history through artefacts—materials, tools, instruments, art objects, images, texts, and spaces—and their witness to the priorities and activities of people in the past as they addressed their world through music. The result is a history by collage, revealing overlapping musical practices and meanings—not only those of the elite, but reflecting the everyday cacophony of a diverse culture and its musics. Through the lens of its exhibits, this museum surveys music’s central role in culture and lived experience in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Europe, offering interest and insights well beyond the strictly musicological field