Evaluating a continuing professional development course on cognitive functions for Music Therapists working in care homes

Scarce research to date has addressed the aspect of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) as a key requirement for qualified music therapists. The present study investigated the benefits of a CPD course based on cognitive neuropsychology, which aimed to develop music therapists’ knowledge and skills in care home settings. The course included 32h of activities spread across 3 months and was attended by 31 music therapists. This course was evaluated using a mixed-methods approach including a semi-structured interview and a quantitative questionnaire. The results revealed that the CPD course brought different benefits meeting the needs of the therapists working in the care homes, which, included: i) improved general knowledge of music cognition, ii) broadened thinking about music therapy practice and clients’ abilities, and iii) an additional clinical and theoretical framework. These results are consistent with previous literature, highlighting the importance of providing advanced training for music therapists. Crucially, the findings highlighted the need for different strategies, techniques and pedagogical approaches in CPD courses, in function of the work setting, to improve attendees’ clinical skills. In addition, the study outlines how a CPD course may be tailored to enhance specific skills and transfer of learning in line with workplace demands

THE EFFECT OF COLOUR MORPH AND TEMPERATURE ON IMMUNE RESPONSE IN MALES AND FEMALES COMMON WALL LIZARD (Podarcis muralis) ASSESSED BY IN-VITRO EXPERIMENTS

Colour polymorphism is the coexistence in one interbreeding population of two or more distinct and genetically determined colour forms, the least abundant of which is present in numbers too great to be due solely to recurrent mutation. The persistence of different morphs in a species is generally associated with the coexistence of alternative reproductive strategies, which involve specific tradeoffs among behavioural, morphological, physiological, and other life history characteristics. However, most of evidence supporting this hypothesis is still correlative, and only few studies have checked it experimentally. The common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) is a small-sized lacertid, showing highly polymorphic coloration in belly and throat, with three main phenotypes (i.e., white, yellow and red). All these morphs can occur in both sexes and within the same population, and are characterized by different phenotypic traits (i.e., body size, immuno-competence and stamina, homing behaviour, diet, and stress responses). Here, we experimentally tested the hypothesis that morphs represent alternative physiological optima for immune response with respect to body temperature. We used in vitro phytohaemoagglutinin (PHA) stimulation of T-lymphocytes performed at two opposite thermal conditions, i.e. low (22°C) and high temperature (32°C). Cell cultures were prepared from blood samples, inoculated with PHA and incubated for three days. Lymphocyte proliferation was lower in females than in males, particularly at 32°C. Irrespective of temperature, yellow males were immunosuppressed with respect to other males, confirming previous results obtained by in-vivo experiments. More interestingly, lymphocyte proliferation in white and red females sensibly decreased from 22°C to 32°C, while yellow females resumed the immunosuppressive effects of both morph and temperature thus showing the lowest immune response at both temperatures. Overall, these results confirm that the immune response of males and females depend on temperature and this relationship is morph specific, thus supporting the hypothesis that colour morph in the common wall lizard represent different physiological optima

Monitoring of irradiated food products marketed in Italy and evaluation of electron spin resonance signal sensitivity of experimentally irradiated fish scales

Many countries, in order to authorise the use of food irradiation, claim the availability of methods to detect the occurred treatment in addition to the respect of safe use of this technology. Among physical methods, the electron spin resonance (ESR) measuring the number of free radicals that are formed during irradiation can be applied only to those foods with cellulose, a crystalline or bone structure, in which free radicals have a shelf life greater than irradiated product. The aim of this study was to highlight an irradiation treatment in European and extra-European foods marketed in Southern Italy by the means of ESR technique. Furthermore, in order to optimise the preparation procedures the efficacy of the above mentioned method in fish scales experimentally irradiated has been evaluated. From February to September 2012, a total number of 83 samples of food products of animal and plant origin were taken at the border inspection post and at retail market and finally analysed. At the same time, the scales of grouper and barracuda have been experimentally irradiated at 0.5 kGy and were subsequently analysed using ESR. Results showed 5 frog legs out of 83 samples positive for treatment and confirm the applicability of ESR also for fish scales

Effects of Colour Morph and Temperature on Immunity in Males and Females of the Common Wall Lizard

Colour polymorphism in reptiles is generally associated with the coexistence of alternative reproductive strategies that involve specific trade-offs among different life history traits. Notably, body temperature trades off with immunocompetence: temperature has relevant effects on immune-response, but maintaining the optimal temperature increases both energetic costs and predatory risk. This trade-off gains complexity by sex, since males and females could optimize fitness by different strategies. Given that there is no single solution for trade-offs, different links among alternative evolutionary stable solutions and morphs might evolve independently in each sex. We tested this hypothesis in the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) by means of in vitro cultures of blood cells in order to examine the response of the immune-system to phytohemoagglutinin stimulation in male and female morphs at two different temperatures (i.e. 22 and 32 °C), corresponding to the thermal optima of the two sexes. We found (i) morph-specific immunity in both sexes, i.e. yellow lizards suffer immunosuppression with respect to the other morphs, and (ii) sex-specific immunity under hot conditions, i.e. females of all morphs were immunosuppressed with respect to males. Results support the hypothesis that morphs might differently invest in immunocompetence, according to different set-up for the trade-offs between immunity and other life-history traits, resulting in alternative strategies with different fitness optima