An Expressive Arts-Based Community Well-Being Initiative for Intensive Care Unit Staff: Fostering Self-Compassion and Peer Support Through Patchwork Murals

This community engagement project, conducted at a large hospital complex in Northeast Pennsylvania, focused on Intensive Care Unit (ICU) staff well-being. A brief literature review explored the multidimensional challenges experienced by healthcare professionals, particularly amidst the aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, citing an urgent need for integrated support systems. Supported by the Center for Professionalism and Well-Being (CPW), the initiative aimed to co-design and co-create an arts-based well-being initiative that met the direct needs of ICU staff. Through meetings with the Nursing Operations Manager (NOM) and staff interactions, specific concerns and preferences were identified, informing program design. Participants created individual reflective artworks, which were then integrated into a collective patchwork mural to represent support and transformation. The facilitator’s journey, captured through El Duende Process Painting (EDPP), identified the evolution of emotions and insights throughout each stage of project development. The culmination of the project, depicted through layered artistic reflections and poetry, illustrated the transformation from uncertainty and anxiety to hope and empowerment. This reflective narrative emphasized the value of collaborative arts-based experiences in supporting holistic well-being and peer support among healthcare professionals. Despite continued experiences with pre-existing barriers, this project identified collaboration with Well-Being Champions and ongoing feedback as crucial to developing future initiatives. This community engagement project demonstrates the potential that collaborative art-making has for fostering self-compassion, peer support, and professional healing in healthcare settings

Connecting Through Comments: A Thematic Analysis of Blogging Comments

There are millions of blogs available for readers and a lack of existing research on the interactions occurring through the comment-based dialogue between bloggers and their readers. This study examines the comments from 14 blog posts from a well-established lifestyle blog, which yielded 640 unique comments, 25 emergent themes, and three categories for thematic analysis. An inductive approach was used to identify the emergent themes from the blog comments. The results of the study suggest interactions are occurring primarily between the blogger and their readers, with minimal reader-to-reader interaction taking place

Multiracial college students and mentoring: an intersectional perspective

2016 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.The purpose of this mixed-methods, sequential, explanatory study was to investigate differences in the mentor preferences of first-year college students in terms of their multiple identities, with a focus on the experiences of those who self-identified as multiracial. Using a framework of intersectionality, the importance of social identities (race, gender, sexual orientation, first-generation and socioeconomic status) to first-year students in their ideal mentor was explored. During the first phase, responses from first-year college students at four different universities were analyzed from an adapted version of the Ideal Mentor Scale (Rose, 1999). In the second phase, two follow-up focus groups were conducted with multiracial college students, which helped to further inform and explain the quantitative results. Of the three IMS subscales, quantitative results indicated that multiracial college students prefer a mentor who demonstrated characteristics related to the construct of Integrity. However, open-ended survey questions and focus-group data provided evidence for mentor preferences that were more aligned with the Relationship construct. Statistically significant differences were found only for the variables of sexual orientation and first-generation and socioeconomic status, with no significant interaction effects of any of the variables with multiracial identity. The quantitative and qualitative findings from the two phases of the study are discussed using an intersectional lens, with reference to prior research. Implications and recommendations are provided

Reduced inhibition of return to food images in obese individuals

Previous research has shown that obese individuals may be biased towards attending to food over non-food information, and this bias may contribute to the development and/or maintenance of obesity. The present study sought to extend our understanding of maladaptive attentional processing in this population by investigating whether obese individuals have difficulty in disengaging attention from food compared with non-food images, relative to normal-weight controls. To address this question, we measured inhibition of return (IOR) in an attentional cueing task. The participants were 29 obese and 35 normal-weight satiated females without eating disorders. The obese group displayed less IOR to food images than the normal-weight group, while there was no difference in IOR between the groups for nonfood images. This suggests that obese females have greater difficulty disengaging attention from food than normal-weight females. Our findings provide a new focus for studies investigating maintenance factors in obesity and are discussed in relation to a theory of incentivesensitisation

Multiple Functions for Mcm2–7 ATPase Motifs during Replication Initiation

The Mcm2–7 replicative helicase is central to all steps of eukaryotic DNA replication. The hexameric ring of Mcm subunits forms six essential ATPases whose contributions to replication initiation remain unclear. Mcm2–7 complexes containing ATPase-motif mutations showed Mcm2–7 ATP binding and hydrolysis are required for helicase loading. Loading-defective Mcm2–7 mutant complexes were defective in initial Mcm2–7 recruitment or Cdt1 release. Comparison with Cdc6 ATPase mutants showed that Cdc6 ATP hydrolysis is not required for helicase loading but instead drives removal of Mcm2–7 complexes that cannot complete loading. A subset of Mcm2–7 ATPase-site mutants completed helicase loading but could not initiate replication. Individual mutants were defective in distinct events during helicase activation, including maintenance of DNA association, recruitment of the GINS helicase activator, and DNA unwinding. Consistent with its heterohexameric structure, our findings show that the six Mcm2–7 ATPase active sites are specialized for different functions during helicase loading and activation.United States. National Institutes of Health (GM052339)United States. National Institutes of Health (GM007287)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (1122374

Where Does Hope Fit In? The Relationship Between Hope, Uncertainty, and Coping Efficacy in Mothers of Children with Duchenne/Becker Muscular Dystrophy

Background: Duchenne and Becker Muscular Dystrophy (DBMD) is a complex, progressive, and ultimately terminal condition laden with caregiver uncertainty often related to prognosis, medical management, social, and existential concerns. This uncertainty can make adaptation more difficult for mothers, yet some view uncertainty as allowing for the opportunity of positive outcomes. Literature suggests that the concept of hope may influence this appraisal of uncertainty. It is not yet fully understood how mothers of children with DBMD appraise, cope with, and ultimately adapt to their child’s DBMD in light of this uncertainty or the role hope plays in the process. Objective: To examine the relationships between maternal uncertainty, hope, and coping efficacy among mothers of children with DBMD. Methods: Mothers of children with DBMD were recruited through the Duchenne Connect Registry, Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, and Cincinnati’s Children Hospital. A cross-sectional design with quantitative methodology was used to examine the relationships among maternal uncertainty, coping efficacy, hope, and other mother and child characteristics. Several open-ended questions were included to assess how mothers appraise uncertainty. Results: The predominant focus of mothers’ uncertainty was medical management and social support. Multivariate analysis revealed that older mothers’ age, higher hope scores, and having less ambulatory children were significantly associated with less uncertainty. Mothers with lower hope scores, higher perceptions of uncertainty, and those reporting being less spiritual were less confident in their ability to cope with their child’s DMBD. Conclusions: Because younger mothers and those with ambulatory children with DBMD perceive more uncertainty, especially uncertainty related to medical management and social support, efforts to help mothers manage uncertainty may be more effective if tailored towards mothers of children with new diagnosis and specific domains of uncertainties most salient to them. Additionally, hope seems to be a factor in shaping uncertainty appraisals and facilitating coping efficacy. Although future studies are needed, interventions aimed at bolstering maternal hope or guiding mothers with low hope to other uncertainty management and reappraisal strategies may be helpful. Thesis Committee Members: Holly Peay, M.S., CGC (advisor); Joann Bodurtha, M.D., MPH; Anne Riley, Ph.D.; Kathryn Wagner, M.D., Ph.D. Thesis Readers: Holly Peay, M.S., CGC (advisor); Joann Bodurtha, M.D., MP

Revisiting the Reproductive Behaviors of Blackspotted Stickleback

Why Blackspotted Stickleback? How Behaviors Evolve Comparing closely related species can give insights into how behavior evolves. Well studied: Three-spined Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) Model organism for natural variation in behavioral evolution 1. Divergence in parental care in two ecotypes1,2. White and common ecotypes recently diverged 2. Lesser studied: Blackspotted Stickleback (Gasterosteus wheatlandi) Three-spined’s closest living relative. Possible behavioral intermediate of commons & whites. Blackspotted egg dispersal is similar to white three-spined 3

The relationship between bipolar disorder and financial difficulties: a qualitative examination of patient’s views

Objectives: Impulsive spending is listed as a possible symptom in the diagnostic criteria for a manic episode. However no research has examined whether those with bipolar disorder believe that their mental health and finances are related.Methods: Qualitative data was obtained from two sources: qualitative questionnaire responses (n=44) and a focus group (n=6). These were thematically analysed by 2 independent reviewers.Results: Seven key themes and 3 sub-themes were identified. Clients spoke of over-spending, impulse shopping and being excessively generous with money when elated in mood and this having a detrimental effect on finances. Participants reported experiencing severe anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, regret and guilt when recovering from a hypomanic/manic episode and realising the extent of their financial difficulties. During episodes of depression, participants reported comfort spending and avoiding dealing with their financial situation as a means to cope. Participants reported that having bipolar made maintaining employment difficult, resulting in taking on a less stressful role or being reliant on benefits. Finally, participants reported a vicious cycle with financial difficulties driving mental health and vice versa. Conclusions: The present findings provide evidence in support of the impulsive spending diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorder. The research has identified a number of possible psychological mechanisms such as impulsivity, self-critical thoughts and avoidance behaviours. It may be that psychological interventions can help tackle these variables and reduce the impact of poor mental health on finances and vice versa in those with bipolar disorder