A systematic review of horticultural therapy’s influence on Chinese older adults’ psychosocial wellbeing

Aim: This systematic review aims to evaluate changes in Chinese older adults’ psychosocial wellbeing after receiving horticultural therapy, and examine existing evidence regarding horticultural therapy’s effectiveness in a Chinese setting. Method: Intervention studies measuring relevant outcomes amongst older adults and conducted in China were identified from ASSIA, CIHAHL Plus, PsycINFO, EMBASE, MEDLINE, SCOPUS, Web of Science Core Collection and CNKI. Cochrane risk of bias assessment tools were used to appraise study quality. Result: 16 studies were selected, among which four were published in English and 12 in Chinese. Findings suggested that after receiving horticultural therapy, older adults’ psychosocial wellbeing is generally improved, but causal relationships between improvements and horticulture therapy were less clear. Conclusion: Features of horticultural therapy conducted in China is with its cultural and social uniqueness. Existing evidence supports the post-intervention benefits on completion of horticultural therapies, but the limitations in programme design, sample representativeness and methodological robustness limited the quality of the evidence

Effectiveness of mindful walking intervention on nature on sleep quality and mood among university student during Covid-19:A randomised control study

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this project was to conduct a randomised control study to examine whether outdoor mindful walking in nature can effectively improve university students’ sleep quality, mood, and mindfulness during the Covid-19 pandemic in the U.K. METHODS: Participants were measured at T(0) (pre-study baseline), T(1) (pre-intervention), T(2) (post-intervention), and T(3) (follow-up). A total of 104 participants (female = 94) who were experiencing sleep difficulties were randomly allocated to either an experimental (i.e., nature) or control (i.e., urban) walking environment. Participants in each walking condition independently undertook a daily 35-minute walk for a week (7 days). Subjective sleep quality, total mood disturbance, mindfulness, and degree of nature connectedness, and participants’ perspectives on the intervention, were collected. RESULTS: Findings suggest that both groups resulted in significant improvements in participants' trait mindfulness, sleep quality and mood after the intervention. However, mindful walking in nature did not bring additional mental health benefits to participants relative to those who walked an urban environment. Participants provided their perspectives about the intervention, which will assist with future intervention development. CONCLUSIONS: Findings contribute to the evidence-base on the effectiveness of outdoor mindful walking interventions for enhancing mental health. These findings contribute new knowledge on how mindful walking outdoors reduces university students’ mood disturbances and improves sleep quality and mindfulness level

Intersession Reliability and Within-Session Stability of a Novel Perception-Action Coupling Task

BACKGROUND: The perception-action coupling task (PACT) was designed as a more ecologically valid measure of alertness/reaction times compared to currently used measures by aerospace researchers. The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability, within-subject variability, and systematic bias associated with the PACT. METHODS: There were 16 subjects (men/women = 9/7; age = 27.8 +/- 3.6 yr) who completed 4 identical testing sessions. The PACT requires subjects to make judgements on whether a virtual ball could fit into an aperture. For each session, subjects completed nine cycles of the PACT, with each cycle lasting 5 min. Judgement accuracy and reaction time parameters were calculated for each cycle. Systematic bias was assessed with repeated-measures ANOVA, reliability with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), and within-subject variability with coefficients of variation (CVTE). RESULTS: Initiation time (Mean = 0.1065 s) showed the largest systematic bias, requiring the elimination of three cycles to reduce bias, with all other variables requiring, at the most, one. All variables showed acceptable reliability (ICC > 0.70) and within-subject variability (CVTE <20%) with only one cycle after elimination of the first three cycles. CONCLUSIONS: With a three-cycle familiarization period, the PACT was found to be reliable and stable

Developing a clinical pathway for the identification and management of anxiety and depression in adult cancer patients: an online Delphi consensus process

Purpose: People with cancer and their families experience high levels of psychological morbidity. However many cancer services do not routinely screen patients for anxiety and depression and there are no standardized clinical referral pathways. This study aimed to establish consensus on elements of a draft clinical pathway tailored to the Australian context. Methods: A two-round Delphi study was conducted to gain consensus among Australian oncology and psycho-oncology clinicians about the validity of 39 items that form the basis of a clinical pathway that includes screening, assessment, referral and stepped-care management of anxiety and depression in the context of cancer. The expert panel comprised 87 multidisciplinary clinician members of the Australian Psycho-oncology Cooperative Research Group (PoCoG). Respondents rated their level of agreement with each statement on a 5-point likert scale. Consensus was defined as >80% of respondents scoring within 2 points on the likert scale. Results: Consensus was reached for 21 of 39 items, and a further 15 items approached consensus except for specific contextual factors, after 2 Delphi rounds. Formal screening for anxiety and depression, a stepped care model of management and recommendations for inclusion of length of treatment and time to review were endorsed. Consensus was not reached on items related to roles and responsibilities, particularly those not applicable across cancer settings. Conclusions: This study identified a core set of evidence- and consensus-based principles considered essential to a stepped care model of care incorporating identification, referral and management of anxiety and depression in adult cancer patients.This study was funded by Sydney Catalyst Translational Cancer Research Centr

Clinical pathway for the screening, assessment and management of anxiety and depression in adult cancer patients: Australian guidelines.

Purpose A clinical pathway for anxiety and depression in adult cancer patients was developed to guide best practice in Australia. Methods The pathway was based on a rapid review of existing guidelines, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, stakeholder interviews, a Delphi process with 87 multi-disciplinary stakeholders and input from a multidisciplinary advisory panel. Results The pathway recommends formalised routine screening for anxiety and depression in patients with cancer at key points in the patient’s journey. The Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) or Distress Thermometer (DT) with problem checklist are recommended as brief screening tools, combined with a more detailed tool, such as the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), to identify possible cases. A structured clinical interview will be required to confirm diagnosis. When anxiety or depression is identified it is recommended one person in a treating team takes responsibility for co-ordinating appropriate assessment, referral and follow-up (not necessarily carrying these out themselves). A stepped care model of intervention is proposed, beginning with the least intensive available that is still likely to provide significant health gain. The exact intervention, treatment length and follow up timelines as well as professionals involved, are provided as a guide only. Each service should identify their own referral network based on local resources and current service structure, as well as patient preference. Discussion This clinical pathway will assist cancer services to design their own systems to detect and manage anxiety and depression in their patients, to improve the quality of care

Tracking Climate Effects on Plant-Pollinator Interaction Phenology with Satellites and Honey Bee Hives

Background/Question/Methods: The complexity of plant-pollinator interactions, the large number of species involved, and the lack of species response functions present challenges to understanding how these critical interactions may be impacted by climate and land cover change on large scales. Given the importance of this interaction for terrestrial ecosystems, it is desirable to develop new approaches. We monitor the daily weight change of honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies to record the phenology of the Honey Bee Nectar Flow (HBNF) in a volunteer network (honeybeenet.gsfc.nasa.gov). The records document the successful interaction of a generalist pollinator with a variety of plant resources. We extract useful HBNF phenology metrics for three seasons. Sites currently exist in 35 states/provinces in North America, with a concentration in the Mid-Atlantic region. HBNF metrics are compared to standard phenology metrics derived from remotely sensed vegetation indices from NASA's MODIS sensor and published results from NOAA's A VHRR. At any given time the percentage of plants producing nectar is usually a sma11 fraction of the total satellite sensor signal. We are interested in determining how well the 'bulk' satellite vegetation parameters relate to the phenology of the HBNF, and how it varies spatially on landscape to continental scales. Results/Conclusions: We found the median and peak seasonal HBNF dates to be robust, with variation between replicate scale hives of only a few days. We developed quality assessment protocols to identify abnormal colony artifacts. Temporally, the peak and median of the HBNF in the Mid-Atlantic show a significant advance of 0.58 d/y beginning about 1970, very similar to that observed by the A VHRR since 1982 (0.57 d/y). Spatially, the HBNF metrics are highly correlated with elevation and winter minimum temperature distribution, and exhibit significant but regionally coherent inter-annual variation. The relationship between median of the spring HBNF with the "Green-up" metric from the 500 meter MODIS NDVI phenology product, for sites throughout the Eastern US 2000-2009, is well described by a single linear fit (r(exp 2) = 0.72). We conclude.that for the tree-dominated areas of the Eastern US at least the spring HBNF can be tracked very well by MODIS phenology. Analysis of other regions and seasons is presently underway but with more limited data. Spatial patterns in the eastern US and management implications will be presented and discussed

Inferring Past Pesticide Exposures: A Matrix of Individual Active Ingredients in Home and Garden Pesticides Used in Past Decades

BACKGROUND: In retrospective studies of the health effects of home and garden pesticides, self-reported information typically forms the basis for exposure assessment. Study participants generally find it easier to remember the types of pests treated than the specific pesticides used. However, if the goal of the study is to assess disease risk from specific chemicals, the investigator must be able to link the pest type treated with specific chemicals or products. OBJECTIVES: Our goal was to develop a “pesticide–exposure matrix” that would list active ingredients on the market for treating different types of pests in past years, and provide an estimate of the probability that each active ingredient was used. METHODS: We used several different methods for deriving the active ingredient lists and estimating the probabilities. These methods are described in this article, along with a sample calculation and data sources for each. RESULTS: The pesticide–exposure matrix lists active ingredients and their probabilities of use for 96 distinct scenarios defined by year (1976, 1980, 1990, 2000), applicator type (consumer, professional), and pest type (12 categories). Calculations and data sources for all 96 scenarios are provided online. CONCLUSIONS: Although we are confident that the active ingredient lists are reasonably accurate for most scenarios, we acknowledge possible sources of error in the probability estimates. Despite these limitations, the pesticide–exposure matrix should provide valuable information to researchers interested in the chronic health effects of residential pesticide exposure

A dual function for Pex3p in peroxisome formation and inheritance

Saccharomyces cerevisiae Pex3p has been shown to act at the ER during de novo peroxisome formation. However, its steady state is at the peroxisomal membrane, where its role is debated. Here we show that Pex3p has a dual function: one in peroxisome formation and one in peroxisome segregation. We show that the peroxisome retention factor Inp1p interacts physically with Pex3p in vitro and in vivo, and split-GFP analysis shows that the site of interaction is the peroxisomal membrane. Furthermore, we have generated PEX3 alleles that support peroxisome formation but fail to support recruitment of Inp1p to peroxisomes, and as a consequence are affected in peroxisome segregation. We conclude that Pex3p functions as an anchor for Inp1p at the peroxisomal membrane, and that this function is independent of its role at the ER in peroxisome biogenesis