Integrating Nature into Group Art Therapy Interventions for Clients with Dementia

The aim of this intervention research is to examine the mental health needs of people living with dementia in long-term care facilities and to explore how nature and art therapy can be used to creatively respond to these needs. This paper explores the possible benefits and adaptations for this population utilizing art therapy methods and materials that make use of nature or natural materials as well as the practice of therapeutic gardening. Further suggestions for how nature and art can be integrated for projects with people who have dementia are also discussed. Using an intervention methodology, this research was conducted by synthesizing various published sources on dementia, long-term care facilities, horticulture, and art therapy. The author's own experiences with art, gardening, and the clientele have also informed the research

Biological responses in fish exposed to municipal wastewater treatment plant effluent in situ

Effluents from municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWTPs) are complex mixtures of chemicals including endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) and 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2). The objective of this study was to evaluate selected responses of two fish species, in two different years, exposed in situ to MWTP effluent. Biological markers of exposure (plasma vitellogenin (VTG) and antioxidant enzymes) were measured in two species of male fish, rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), caged at sites associated with wastewater outfall. The estrogenicity of the final effluent in 2010 was determined to be 17.0 + 0.4 ng/L estrogen equivalents (EEQ) and reduced to 7.5 + 2.9 ng/L EEQ after infrastructure upgrades. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the effluent and surface water in both years confirmed the exposures at each downstream site. Despite the presence of estrogenic compounds in the MWTP effluent, no effluent-caged male fish demonstrated plasma VTG induction. Minnows and trout that received an intraperitoneal injection of 5 mg/g EE2 showed VTG induction at both field sites. In 2012, the liver somatic index (LSI) of both species increased with exposure, as did changes in antioxidant enzymes, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) activity. Multiple biological mechanisms are modified by effluent exposure, and multiple endpoints are needed to assess risk.Standards Development Branch|| Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (OMECC)||the Canadian Water Network||Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council|| Canada Research Chairsto MRS|| OMECC Laboratory Services Branch||Trent University||University of Ottawa ||Environment and Climate Change Canad

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Qualitative evaluation of a postgraduate course in mental health nursing

This evaluation aimed to explore mental health nurses' experience of one postgraduate (PG) Mental Health Nursing course in Australia. It investigated students' recognition and acquisition of new skills to improve their clinical practice, thereby enhancing consumer and family outcomes. In addition, nurse educators were interviewed to ascertain their impression of the impact of course materials on nursing practice and nurses' confidence in the clinical field. An exploratory qualitative descriptive design was chosen, using semi structured in-depth interviews, to elicit participants' experience of the PG course at completion. Using thematic analysis, themes were extrapolated from the data through examination and reporting on the participant's reaction, learning, behaviour and result of behaviour. The main theme identified was a “new awareness of self” with a number of related sub-themes. The findings from the evaluation indicate that this course supports emerging practitioners to develop a strong professional mental health nursing identity, grounded in recovery oriented practice. The results of this evaluation will inform further development and improvement of postgraduate studies in mental health practice for practice development. Importantly, data indicate a high potential for graduates to lead by example in sharing new knowledge and optimising recovery oriented practice

An Assessment of the Spatial and Temporal Variability of Biological Responses to Municipal Wastewater Effluent in Rainbow Darter (<i>Etheostoma caeruleum</i>) Collected along an Urban Gradient

<div><p>Municipal wastewater effluent (MWWE) and its constituents, such as chemicals of emerging concern, pose a potential threat to the sustainability of fish populations by disrupting key endocrine functions in aquatic organisms. While studies have demonstrated changes in biological markers of exposure of aquatic organisms to groups of chemicals of emerging concern, the variability of these markers over time has not been sufficiently described in wild fish species. The aim of this study was to assess the spatial and temporal variability of biological markers in response to MWWE exposure and to test the consistency of these responses between seasons and among years. Rainbow darter (<i>Etheostoma caeruleum</i>) were collected in spring and fall seasons over a 5-year period in the Grand River, Ontario, Canada. In addition to surface water chemistry (nutrients and selected pharmaceuticals), measures were taken across levels of biological organization in rainbow darter. The measurements of hormone production, gonad development, and intersex severity were temporally consistent and suggested impaired reproduction in male fish collected downstream of MWWE outfalls. In contrast, ovarian development and hormone production in females appeared to be influenced more by urbanization than MWWE. Measures of gene expression and somatic indices were highly variable between sites and years, respectively, and were inconclusive in terms of the impacts of MWWE overall. Robust biomonitoring programs must consider these factors in both the design and interpretation of results, especially when spatial and temporal sampling of biological endpoints is limited. Assessing the effects of contaminants and other stressors on fish in watersheds would be greatly enhanced by an approach that considers natural variability in the endpoints being measured.</p></div

The 2004 BFA Graduating Class Department of Visual Arts

one of the great joys of working in the Fine Arts Building for the past 16 years in that almost every day the building offers up a moveable feast of visual art on display in every conceivable space; to intrigue, amuse and on occasion , provoke us. Whether it is the atrium filled with massive cardboard sculptures, or the halls line with figure drawings and abstract prints or the stairwells (and even on occasion the washrooms) taken up with installations and the odd video display, the evidence of the skilled imaginations at work is everywhere. The culmination of this collective creativity is the annual fourth-year student exhibition in the Art Gallery. The talents of these painters, printmakers, photographers, sculptors and manipulators of the new media is self evident. It is also a testament to a very particular and special kind of education that they have received over the past four years in our school. In addition to mastering a variety of highly demanding technical skills whether in the darkroom, at the kiln, on the litho press or in front of a computer screen; these students have learned to exercise their creativity within a contest of historical awareness and cotemporary critical thinking. This has made it possible for them to make imaginative connections between their own realities here on the west coast of Newfoundland at the beginning of the 21st century, and the art and thought of other cultures, other times and other places from the most distant past to the present moment

Data from - An assessment of the spatial and temporal variability of biological endpoint responses of rainbow darter collected along an urban gradient.

Municipal wastewater effluent (MWWE) and its constituents, such as chemicals of emerging concern, pose a potential threat to the sustainability of fish populations by disrupting key endocrine functions in aquatic organisms. While studies have demonstrated changes in biological markers of exposure of aquatic organisms to groups of chemicals of emerging concern, the variability of these markers over time has not been sufficiently described in many wild fish species. The aim of this study was to assess the spatial and temporal variability of biological markers in response to MWWE exposures and to test the consistency of these same responses between seasons and among years. Rainbow darter (<i>Etheostoma caeruleum</i>) were collected in spring and fall seasons over a five-year period in the Grand River, ON, Canada. In addition to surface water chemistry (nutrients and selected pharmaceuticals), measures were taken across levels of biological organization in rainbow darter. The measurement of hormone production, gonad development, and intersex severity were temporally consistent and suggested impaired reproduction in male fish collected downstream of MWWE outfalls.  In contrast, ovarian development and hormone production in females appeared to be influenced more by urbanization than MWWE.  Measures of gene expression and somatic indices were highly variable between sites and years respectively, and were inconclusive when determining the impacts of MWWE overall. Robust biomonitoring programs must consider these factors in both the design and interpretation of results, especially when spatial and temporal sampling of biological endpoints is limited.  Assessing the effects of contaminants and other stressors on fish in watersheds would be greatly enhanced by an approach that considers natural variability in the endpoints being measured

Comparison of significant changes observed in male rainbow darter downstream of the Waterloo (DSW) and Kitchener (DSK) MWWTPs in relation to either the rural reference site (R) or the immediate upstream (USW, USK respectively) reference site.

<p>Comparisons are made for fall and spring field collections.</p

Canonical analysis of principal coordinates (CAP) ordination with biological variables as vectors.

<p>(A) Female and (B) male biological measures collected from a reference site (green squares), sites upstream of municipal wastewater treatment plant (MWWTP) outfalls (red downward triangles), or downstream of MWWTP outfalls (blue triangles).</p