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Procedural pain assessments for neonates at risk of neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome: A scoping review
No full textObjective: To identify evidence for pain assessment during acute procedures in hospitalized neonates at risk of neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS). Introduction: While all neonates are routinely exposed to various painful procedures, neonates at risk of NOWS have longer hospital stays and are exposed to multiple painful procedures. NOWS occurs when a neonate is born to a birth parent who identified as having sustained opioid use (e.g., morphine, heroin) during pregnancy. Accurate pain assessment and management during painful procedures are critical for minimizing the well-documented adverse effects of unmanaged pain in neonates. While pain indicators and composite pain scores are valid and reliable for healthy neonates, there is no review of evidence regarding pain assessment in neonates at risk of NOWS. Inclusion criteria: Eligible studies included those reporting on hospitalized preterm and full-term neonates at risk of NOWS having pain assessments (e.g., behavioral indicators, physiological indicators, validated composite pain scores) during and/or after exposure to an acute painful procedure. Methods: This scoping review was conducted using the JBI scoping review methodology. Databases searched are MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, PsycInfo, and Scopus. The relevant data were extracted by two reviewers using a modified JBI extraction tool. The results were summarized in a narrative description and presented in a tabular format including the components of participants, concept, and context (PCC). Results: A total of 22,731 unique studies were screened, with five studies ultimately included. Of these studies, two included neonates at risk of NOWS but did not report pain responses separately. The three remaining studies observed procedural pain in opioid-exposed neonates compared to neonates without opioid exposure during heel lance. Various pain assessment methods were reported on including physiologic responses (heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, skin conductance, electroencephalogram) and validated composite pain scores (Premature Infant Pain Profile (PIPP), Neonatal Facial Coding System (NFCS), Bernese Pain Scale for Neonates (BPSN)). When using composite pain tools, one study showed higher pain response in opioid-exposed neonates, while the other two studies showed the same or lower pain response. For skin conductance the findings from two studies were discrepant, with one study reporting higher pain response in opioid-exposed neonates and the other showing no statistically significant difference. Conclusion: There is a need for more observational studies designed to examine the influence of opioid exposure and withdrawal on pain responding and management in neonates. As there is currently limited evidence to guide clinical care, clinicians should continue to use validated composite pain assessment tools and pain management strategies
Barker Fairley’s philosophy of art: Shaping a Canadian national identify
No full textBarker Fairley’s (1887-1986) philosophy of art was a pivotal stimulus for the development of our Canadian cultural identity, and, although he was a celebrated Canadian academic, an expert on Goethe, an art theorist, and a practicing painter and he and others wrote about his art, no one has documented or systematized his theory of visual art and literature. In the early twentieth century, partly as a result of Canada’s performance in the first world war, the idea of Canada as a nation arose in the consciousness of the western world and a sense of Canadian identity evolved in the young nation. Fairley was an important voice in that period of surging cultural development and his ideas about art, particularly literature and visual arts, shaped a national conversation about what it means to be Canadian. In this thesis I argue that Fairley’s philosophy, the source of his cultural influence, was a cogent blend of Expressionism and Formalism based in Romanticism
Comprehensive ethogram for the American lobster (Homarus americanus)
No full textThe American lobster (Homarus americanus) is a common and ecologically important benthic predator in the northwest Atlantic that also forms the basis for an economically important fishery. However, there is still a considerable gap in the state of knowledge with regards to the behavioral repertoire of this species. This thesis seeks to unite all published ethograms with new field observations of the American lobster into one comprehensive and extendable ethogram with consistent terminology. Additionally, this thesis attempts to increase the clarity of the ethogram by including video examples of described behaviors. Published ethograms were compared with video taken of lobsters in their natural habitat (supplemented by some behaviors recorded in naturalistic aquaria). A suite of 998 discrete, modular, basic Behavioral Units were identified and cataloged. Behavioral Units were then used to build 12019 Behavioral Sequences that correspond with published descriptions or novel behaviors observed in the videos. A total of 76 Behavioral Units and 91 Behavioral Sequences includes an accompanying video example of the behavioral pattern being performed. This ethogram standardizes terminology, provides a reference guide for American lobster behavior, and can foster the completion of other comprehensive ethograms within the Decapoda
Teacher mental health literacy: A qualitative case study of teachers’ experiences bringing mental health literacy to their work after taking a mental health literacy course
No full textCurrent literature shows that many teachers want to increase their mental health literacy, but there is a gap in our understanding of how MHL content is brought to life and sustained in classrooms. In this thesis, I present a qualitative case-study investigating teacher experiences using mental health literacy (MHL) content from a mental health literacy course in their classrooms. Using theories of professional development models, self-determination, content knowledge, and self-efficacy, I conducted one on-line focus group interview (n=2), followed by a one-time, one-on-one semi-structured interview with each participant. The results of this study reveal conditions for successfully bringing MHL into classrooms, as well as barriers to that work, and encourage further policies that would see pre-service and in-service teachers participate in MHL courses
HSP70 and HSP90 mRNA expression in Danio rerio brain following exposure to ammonia and hypoxia
No full textThe zebrafish (Danio rerio) lives in a habitat that is prone to eutrophication and this species has been previously shown to have a high tolerance to both high environmental ammonia (HEA) and hypoxic conditions. It is possible that this tolerance stems from a common mechanism to deal with the physiological consequences of both stressors. Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are chaperone proteins that guide the folding of other intracellular proteins during times of cellular stress. Studies of single stressors have found that HSP70 is typically expressed inductively only in times of cellular stress while HSP90 is typically expressed consistently to maintain protein function. I hypothesise that the upregulation of genes HSP70 and HSP90 are responsible for the high degree of tolerance to HEA and hypoxia in D. rerio. To test this hypothesis, fish were subjected to either hypoxia, HEA, combined hypoxia and HEA treatment, or normal water parameters (control). Brain tissue was collected at time points 0, 2, 4, 8, 24, and 72 hours after exposure for RT qPCR analysis of HSP gene expression. A within-timepoint post- hoc analysis revealed significant differences in HSP70 mRNA expression in treatment groups at 2h, 24h, and 72h, and no significant differences in HSP90 mRNA expression within any timepoint. The changes in expression of HSP70 within the brain may reflect the timing, duration, and intensity of the stressor(s), and there may be differences in expression between brain regions based on essential functions. Future directions of these findings should be to pharmacologically inhibit HSP70 and HSP90 to observe effects on time to loss of equilibrium, include other behavioural measures of stress, and examine the relationship between protein and mRNA levels in the context of multiple stressors
Movement Behaviours in University Students vs Student-Athletes
No full textResearch has found university students not involved in varsity sports [student non-athletes (SNA)] struggle to meet the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines. Student-athletes (SA) meet physical activity guidelines but fail to meet sleep and sedentary time guidelines (Croteau & Swartzendruber, 2020; Driller et al., 2017; Weatherson et al., 2021). This study characterized the movement patterns (i.e., physical activity, sleep, sedentary behaviour) of varsity hockey players and evaluated if they were meeting the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines. A sample of 9 female SA and 16 SNA wore a Fitbit Charge 4 for 6 days to track moderate to vigorous physical activity minutes (MVPA), sleep time and sedentary time. There were no significant differences in mean MVPA time (SA = 71.336.0 min/day; SNA = 58.036.1 min/day, p = 0.421) or mean sleep time (SA = 7.01.2 hrs/night; SNA = 7.30.60 hrs/night, p = 0.42) between groups. On average SA spent 1.7 hours/day more in sedentary time than SNA (p >0.05). 100% of SA and 93.8% of SNA met MVPA guidelines. 55.6% SA and 81.3 SNA met sleep guidelines. All participants exceeded sedentary time guidelines of <8hrs/day (SA = 11.91.9 hrs/day; SNA = 10.21.7 hrs/day). Although not statistically significant, SA had higher mean minutes of light (+57.2) and vigorous physical activity (+10.2). SA may have more sedentary time due to lower training volume to prepare for playoffs. The failure of both groups to meet sedentary time guidelines may be influenced by time spent sitting in class and studying
Can a Mismatch Between Course Gradient and Resistance Affect Performance When Using ERG Mode in a Zwift Workout?
No full textZwift is a mixed-reality cycling platform that allows users to ride in a virtual world. Various workouts are available to choose from and Zwift encourages users to complete these workouts using ERG mode. ERG mode is a setting that fixes power output by adjusting the resistance to match one’s cadence; this ensures that the imposed power output is met. The problem that arises is the course gradient might not match the adjusted resistance (i.e., resistance decreases on a steep hill). This study examined how this mismatch impacted cycling performance and enjoyment when performing a workout in ERG mode and whether perspective has any impact. Twenty-one Zwift users completed the same 5-minute custom workout on either a Flat or a Steep route while using a first-person or a third-person perspective (4 riding conditions). Average and max power output, cadence, and heart rate were measured. There was a significant main effect of Perspective, F (1,9) = 5.77, p = 0.047, for max power only. There was no main effect for Course Gradient, nor were there any significant interactions (all Fs < 1, ps > 0.1). The questionnaire revealed that the mismatch between course gradient and resistance had no impact on cycling enjoyment and that most participants preferred the third-person perspective. We suggest that when completing a Zwift workout, users need not consider the course gradient of the selected route. Future research should consider integrating eye tracking to identify where participants are looking (directing their attention) with respect to the visual information presented on their displays
The effects of liming on litter decomposition in acidified fresh water streams and ponds
No full textLiming catchments of headwater streams has been shown to be effective at counteracting stream acidification from acid rain. We observed leaf litter decomposition rates and pH in tributaries of Barren Brook, Guysborough County, where powdered limestone was dropped to evaluate whether liming led to changes in ecosystem function. For this experiment, powdered limestone was dropped by helicopter over ~30% of the catchment area of the study stream to elevate the pH of the headwater streams and ponds. We used the litter bags method to compare the decomposition rates of air-dried Red Maple (Acer rubrum) in limed catchments and control sites nearby. We chose two ponds and two stream sites, a control and treatment for each. Leaf litter samples (2 g) were placed in flexible mesh bags and fixed to the substratum at each site. They were retrieved, dried, and weighed after 30 min and 2 wk, 4 wk, and 6 wk. The annual mean pH increased by 0.67 units in streams and 0.38 units in ponds the year after liming. Liming also caused the pH of the water to stabilize, which makes the water more resilient to acid rain. Liming had no significant effect on decomposition rates in streams. However, in our limed pond, the decomposition rate increased significantly after liming from 0.0075 d-1 in 2020 to 0.0130 d-1 in 2021 (p < 0.05). Hence liming does combat the acidification of streams and ponds while accelerating litter decomposition in ponds. However, the increase in decomposition in ponds was only temporary, because the trend did not persist to the second year after liming (2022). Future research could explore the long-term effects of liming on decomposition by applying a greater dosage of lime, or applying lime to a larger area of the catchment