Exploring uses of visual arts-based interventions for mental health of marginalized populations: a scoping review.

BACKGROUND: The intentions of this scoping review are to determine current uses of visual arts-based interventions for mental health and trauma support of marginalized populations, and to identify current gaps in knowledge in this emergent field. METHOD: Six databases (MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, PsycINFO, JSTOR) were searched for relevant studies. Following the PRISMA guidelines, 38 articles met the inclusion criteria. RESULTS: Most interventions focused on improving the mental health of participants, or to provide opportunities for participants to process their experiences of mental health. Participants reported increased well-being, experiences of relaxation and/or distraction, and processing of mental health experiences. They perceived arts-based interventions as helpful and developed mutual social support with other participants. CONCLUSION: Arts-based interventions have the potential to inform the development of culturally safe and relevant mental health care for marginalized populations beyond current mainstream mental health practices.

Phenotypic characterization, plant growth and development, genome methylation, and mineral elements composition of neotetraploid lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.).

Stable neotetraploid lines of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) were produced from three phenotypically distinct cultivars (Annapolis, Eruption, Merlot) and an advanced breeding line (SM13-L2) using colchicine treatment of seeds or young seedlings. When tested under the greenhouse and field conditions, neotetraploids initially grew more rapidly than their diploid progenitors, however they reached their reproductive stage (bolting, flower bud formation, and flowering) substantially later. Seeds production on neotetraploids was delayed by more than 30 days compared to diploids. Tetraploid plants had fewer, but larger stomata and leaves, less chlorophyll per area, higher photosystem II photochemical efficiency, generally lighter root system, and produced less than 1% of seeds in comparison with diploids. Field-grown neotetraploids of all lines displayed a significant reduction in tipburn (1.8% vs. 22.2%, respectively), a highly undesirable physiological disorder. Changes in leaf and root mineral composition were detected in neotetraploids. Several elements were found in lower abundance than in diploids, most notably iron, calcium, and silicon. Whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) revealed 498 differentially methylated regions (DMR), with 106 of these regions having at least 50% difference in the level of methylation between neotetraploids and their diploid progenitors. At least 18 of the most prominent DMR were detected in proximity to genes predicted to be involved in plant development or reaction to biotic and abiotic stressors. Because neotetraploid lines have low seed production, they are not suitable for commercial cultivation. They can be used, however, in research to study the factors contributing to tipburn, traits affected by stomata size or density, and the effect of ploidy on resistance to environmental stressors.

Phytochemical and Agronomic Characterization of High-Flavonoid Lettuce Lines Grown under Field Conditions.

Flavonoids are antioxidant phytochemicals that confer a beneficial effect on human health. We have previously developed and characterized eight lettuce (Latuca sativa L.) lines that accumulated high levels of diverse flavonoids and their precursors in controlled environment conditions. Three Rutgers Scarlet lettuce (RSL) lines selected in tissue culture for deep-red color (RSL-NAR, RSL-NBR, RSL-NFR) accumulate anthocyanins and quercetin, three lines identified in a chemically mutagenized red lettuce population accumulate kaempferol (KfoA and KfoB) or naringenin chalcone (Nco), and two lines that were spontaneous green mutants derived from the red line RSL-NAR (GSL, GSL-DG) accumulate quercetin. These eight lines were field-grown in the Salinas Valley of California for four years together with seven control accessions of varying colors (light green, dark green, red, and dark red). At market maturity, a substantial variation in plant composition was observed, but the three RSL lines consistently accumulated high levels of cyanidin, GSL and GSL-DG accumulated the highest levels of quercetin, KfoA and KfoB accumulated kaempferol, and Nco amassed naringenin chalcone, confirming that these mutant lines produce high levels of beneficial phytochemicals under field conditions. Mutant lines and control accessions were also assessed for their biomass production (plant weight, height, and width), overall content of pigments (leaf chlorophyll and anthocyanins), resistance to diseases (downy mildew, lettuce drop, and Impatiens necrotic spot virus), postharvest quality of processed tissue (deterioration and enzymatic discoloration), and composition of 23 mineral elements. All but one mutant line had a fresh plant weight at harvest comparable to commercial leaf cultivars; only Nco plants were significantly (p < 0.05) smaller. Therefore, except for Nco, the new, flavonoid hyperaccumulating lines can be considered for field cultivation.

Genetic determinants of lettuce resistance to drop caused by Sclerotinia minor identified through genome-wide association mapping frequently co-locate with loci regulating anthocyanin content.

KEY MESSAGE: GWAS identified 19 QTLs for resistance to Sclerotinia minor, 11 of them co-locating with red leaf color. Lower disease incidence was observed in red and dark red accessions. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), one of the most economically important vegetables grown primarily in moderate climates around the world, is susceptible to many diseases including lettuce drop caused by the soilborne fungus Sclerotinia minor. Complete resistance to S. minor has not been identified in cultivated lettuce or its wild relatives. We conducted five experiments over 4 years with the diversity panel of almost 500 lettuce accessions to evaluate their response to the pathogen in an artificially infested field. The lowest disease incidence (DI) was observed in cultivars Eruption, Infantry, and Annapolis (median DI of 12.1-17.5%), while the highest DI was recorded for cultivars Reine des Glaces, Wayahead, and line FL. 43007 (median DI of 81.0-95.2%). Overall, significantly lower DI was observed in red and dark red accessions compared to those with a lower anthocyanin content. Genome-wide association mapping identified 19 QTLs for resistance to S. minor, 21 for the presence of red leaf color or its variations caused by the anthocyanin content, and one for the green color intensity. Eleven of the QTLs for disease resistance were located within 10 Mb of the loci associated with red color or anthocyanin content identified in this diversity panel. The frequent, non-random co-location of QTLs, together with the lower DI observed in red and dark red accessions suggests that lettuce interaction with S. minor may be partly influenced by anthocyanins. We have identified RLL2 and ANS, the genes of the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway that co-locate with resistance QTLs, as candidates for functional studies to ascertain the involvement of anthocyanins in lettuce resistance against S. minor. Resistance QTLs closely linked with QTLs for anthocyanin content could be used to develop lettuce with a relatively high partial resistance and red color, while those not associated with anthocyanins could be used to develop partially resistant cultivars of green color.

Genetic and physiological determinants of lettuce partial resistance to Impatiens necrotic spot virus.

Introduction: Impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV) is a major pathogen currently threatening lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) production in the coastal areas of California. The virus is transmitted by the western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande). Methods: We have tested a diversity panel of almost 500 lettuce accessions for disease incidence (DI) in 12 field experiments performed over 7 years. This set of accessions was also assessed for thrips feeding damage (TFD), the rate of plant development (PD), and the content of chlorophyll (SPAD) and anthocyanins (ACI) to determine their effect on resistance to INSV. In addition, recombinant inbred lines from two biparental mapping populations were also evaluated for DI in field experiments. Results: The mean DI in 14 field experiments ranged from 2.1% to 70.4%. A highly significant difference in DI was observed among the tested accessions, with the overall lowest DI detected in the red color cultivars, Outredgeous Selection, Red Splash Cos, Infantry, Sweet Valentine, Annapolis, and Velvet. Multiple linear regression models revealed a small but significant effect (p < 0.005) of the four analyzed determinants on DI. Accessions with lower DI values had slower plant development (PD, r = 0.352), higher ACI content (r = -0.284), lower TFD (r = 0.198), and lower SPAD content (r = 0.125). A genome-wide association study revealed 13 QTLs for DI located on eight out of the nine lettuce chromosomes (the exception was chr. 8). The most frequently detected QTL (qINSV2.1) was located on chr. 2. Several of the QTLs for DI were in the same genomic areas as QTLs for PD, ACI, and SPAD. Additional three QTLs for DI on chr. 5 and 8 were identified using linkage mapping performed on two biparental mapping populations. Conclusions: The work highlights the genetic basis of partial resistance to INSV and reveals the relationship between resistance, the host physiology, and the thrips vector. Results of this study are an important steppingstone toward developing cultivars with increased resistance against INSV.

Impact of perinatal factors on biomarkers of cardiovascular disease risk in preadolescent children.

BACKGROUND: This review aims to summarize associations of the perinatal environment with arterial biophysical properties in childhood, to elucidate possible perinatal origins of adult cardiovascular disease (CVD). METHODS: A systematic search of PubMed database was performed (December 2020). Studies exploring associations of perinatal factors with arterial biophysical properties in children 12 years old or less were included. Properties studied included: pulse wave velocity; arterial stiffness or distensibility; augmentation index; intima-media thickness of aorta (aIMT) or carotids; endothelial function (laser flow Doppler, flow-mediated dilatation). Two reviewers independently performed study selection and data extraction. RESULTS: Fifty-two of 1084 identified records were included. Eleven studies explored associations with prematurity, 14 explored maternal factors during pregnancy, and 27 explored effects of low birth weight, small-for-gestational age and foetal growth restriction (LBW/SGA/FGR). aIMT was consistently higher in offspring affected by LBW/SGA/FGR in all six studies examining this variable. The cause of inconclusive or conflicting associations found with other arterial biophysical properties and perinatal factors may be multifactorial: in particular, measurements and analyses of related properties differed in technique, equipment, anatomical location, and covariates used. CONCLUSION: aIMT was consistently higher in LBW/SGA/FGR offspring, which may relate to increased long-term CVD risk. Larger and longer term cohort studies may help to elucidate clinical significance, particularly in relation to established CVD risk factors. Experimental studies may help to understand whether lifestyle or medical interventions can reverse perinatal changes aIMT. The field could be advanced by validation and standardization of techniques assessing arterial structure and function in children.

Genome-wide association mapping reveals genomic regions frequently associated with lettuce field resistance to downy mildew.

KEY MESSAGE: GWAS identified 63 QTLs for resistance to downy mildew. Though QTLs were distributed across all chromosomes, the genomic regions frequently associated with resistance were located on chromosomes 4 and 5. Lettuce downy mildew is one of the most economically important diseases of cultivated lettuce worldwide. We have applied the genome-wide association mapping (GWAS) approach to detect QTLs for field resistance to downy mildew in the panel of 496 accessions tested in 21 field experiments. The analysis identified 131 significant marker-trait associations that could be grouped into 63 QTLs. At least 51 QTLs were novel, while remaining 12 QTLs overlapped with previously described QTLs for lettuce field resistance to downy mildew. Unlike race-specific, dominant Dm genes that mostly cluster on three out of nine lettuce chromosomes, QTLs (qDMR loci) for polygenic resistance are randomly distributed across all nine chromosomes. The genomic regions frequently associated with lettuce field resistance to downy mildew are located on chromosomes 4 and 5 and could be used for detailed study of the mechanism of polygenic resistance. The most resistant accessions identified in the current study (cvs. Auburn, Grand Rapids, Romabella, PI 226514, and PI 249536) are being incorporated into our breeding program. Markers closely linked to the resistance QTLs could be potentially used for marker-assisted selection, or in combination with other markers in the genome, for a combined genomic and marker-assisted selection. Up to date this is the most comprehensive study of QTLs for field resistance to downy mildew and the first study that uses GWAS for mapping disease resistance loci in lettuce.

Five ways to get a grip on grouped self-assessments of competence for program evaluation.

Self-assessments conducted by individuals when taken together (grouped) provide valid and accurate measures of learning outcomes of the group. This is useful for program evaluation. Grouped self-assessments are simple to understand and construct, easy to implement, relatively accurate, and do not require extensive and complex pre-post testing measures. However, group self-assessments have the potential to be misused. To examine how group self-assessments have been used in medical education, we conducted a search of journal articles published in 2017 and 2018 from eight prominent medical education journals. Twenty-seven (n = 27) articles that used self-assessments for program evaluation were selected for data extraction and analysis. We found three main areas where misuse of self-assessments may have resulted in inaccurate measures of learning outcomes: measures of "confidence" or "comfort", pre-post self-assessments, and the use of ambiguous learning objectives. To prevent future misuse and to build towards more valid and reliable data for program evaluations, we present the following recommendations: measure competence instead of confidence or comfort; use pre-test self-assessments for instructional purposes only (and not for data); ask participants to do the post-intervention self-assessments first followed by retrospective pre-intervention self-assessments afterwards; and use observable, clear, specific learning objectives in the educational intervention that can then be used to create the self-assessment statements.

Les auto-évaluations effectuées individuellement, quand mises en commun(regroupées) fournissent des mesures valides et précises des résultats de l'apprentissage du groupe. Ceci s'avère utile dans le cadre d'évaluation de programme. Les auto-évaluations groupées sont faciles à comprendre, à créer et à mettre en œuvre. De plus, elles sont relativement précises et ne requièrent pas de mesures exhaustives et complexes avant et après l'évaluation. Cependant, il est possible de mal utiliser les auto-évaluations de groupe. Afin d'examiner de quelle façon les auto-évaluations de groupe ont été utilisées dans la formation médicale, nous avons dépouillé des articles de huit revues médicales importantes publiées en 2017 et 2018. Vingt-sept (n=27) articles ayant utilisé les auto-évaluations à des fins d'évaluation de programme ont été sélectionnés pour être analysées. Nous avons trouvé trois domaines principaux où la mauvaise utilisation des auto-évaluations a peut-être occasionné des mesures inexactes des résultats de l'apprentissage : mesures de « confiance ¼ ou d'« aisance ¼, auto-évaluations pré/post et l'emploi d'objectifs d'apprentissage ambigus. Afin de prévenir l'utilisation future incorrecte et de miser sur des données plus valides et fiables à des fins d'évaluation de programme, nous présentons les recommandations suivantes : mesurer la compétence au lieu de la confiance ou l'aisance; utiliser les auto-évaluations prétest à des fins d'enseignement seulement (et non comme données); demander aux participants de faire les auto-évaluations post-intervention d'abord suivies par les auto-évaluations préintervention rétrospectives après; utiliser des objectifs d'apprentissage observables, clairs et spécifiques lors de l'intervention de formation qui peuvent servir de base aux items d'auto-évaluation.

How are competency frameworks perceived and taught? : An exploratory study in the context of pharmacy education.

INTRODUCTION: Faculties of Pharmacy worldwide have to adapt their curriculum to accreditation criteria. The present study explored how the Association of Faculties of Pharmacy of Canada's (AFPC's) 2010 Educational Outcomes are perceived and taught at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy (LDFP). These outcomes were adapted from the CanMeds Physician Competency Framework which describes both medical expert and non-expert roles. METHODS: We wondered if pharmacy would struggle, as medicine has, to integrate these roles into curricula in meaningful ways, given the absence of previous studies from Pharmacy. We conducted an exploratory interview study with 10 core faculty members in charge of courses where non-expert roles were taught. Data were analysed using conventional content analysis. RESULTS: Faculty members understood that the AFPC Outcomes are important for students, patients, and the profession of pharmacy, and some saw the roles as knowledge-based and teachable using content from academic disciplines. However, most saw them as skills taught informally or through clinical experience. They used the roles as a framing device to legitimize their course content and relied on informal role modelling to do most of the teaching. The few faculty members who taught content related to these roles had postgraduate education in a social science or humanities discipline. DISCUSSION: Similar to studies of Faculties of Medicine, our study highlights the difficulty of translating a role-based, competency framework into concrete, integrated curricula for students. Competency development should be explicitly embedded into the curriculum and cannot be left to individual instructors.

Prevalence of Financial Fraud and Scams Among Older Adults in the United States: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The financial exploitation of older adults was recently recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a serious public health problem. Knowledge of the prevalence of elder financial exploitation is mostly limited to the category of financial abuse, which occurs in relationships involving an expectation of trust. Little is known about the other major category of elder financial exploitation-elder financial fraud and scams, which is perpetrated by strangers. A valid estimate of elder financial fraud-scam prevalence is necessary as a foundation for research and prevention efforts. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of elder financial fraud-scam victimization in the United States based on a systematic review and meta-analysis. SEARCH METHODS: Multiple investigators independently screened titles and abstracts and reviewed relevant full-text records from PubMed, Medline, PsycINFO, Criminal Justice Abstracts, Social Work Abstracts, and AgeLine databases. SELECTION CRITERIA: To maximize the validity and generalizability of prevalence estimation, we restricted eligibility to general population-based studies (English speaking, 1990 onward) using state- or national-level probability sampling and collecting data directly from older adults. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Information on elder financial fraud-scam prevalence and study-level characteristics was extracted independently by 2 investigators. Meta-analysis of elder financial fraud-scam prevalence used generalized mixed models with individual studies as levels of a random classification factor. MAIN RESULTS: We included 12 studies involving a total of 41 711 individuals in the meta-analysis. Overall pooled elder financial fraud-scam prevalence (up to 5-year period) across studies was 5.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.0%, 7.8%), with a 1-year period prevalence of 5.4% (95% CI = 3.2%, 7.6%). Studies using a series of questions describing specific fraud-scam events to measure victimization found a significantly higher prevalence (7.1%; 95% CI = 4.8%, 9.4%) than studies using a single, general-question self-report assessment approach (3.6%; 95% CI = 1.8%, 5.4%). AUTHOR'S CONCLUSIONS: Elder financial fraud and scams is a common problem, affecting approximately 1 of every 18 cognitively intact, community-dwelling older adults each year; it requires further attention from researchers, clinicians, and policymakers. Elder financial fraud-scam prevalence findings in this study likely underestimate the true population prevalence. We provide methodological recommendations to limit older adult participation and reporting bias in future population-based research. Public Health Implications. Elder financial exploitation victimization is associated with mortality, hospitalization, and poor physical and mental health. Health care professionals working with older adults likely routinely encounter patients who are fraud-scam victims. Validation of instruments to screen for elder financial fraud and scams in clinical settings is an important area of future research. Without effective primary prevention strategies, the absolute scope of this problem will escalate with the growing population of older adults.