Oncology expressive arts: providing a window to reflect on a stressful experience.

PURPOSE: Evaluate changes in mood, perceived need for help, and task enjoyment after participation in a one-time Oncology on Canvas expressive arts workshop intervention. METHODS: Mixed methods design. Sample: military-veteran oncology survivors and their adult `ohana (family members, caregivers, friends, healthcare providers, volunteers). Measurement tools: Emotion Thermometers, Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist-Revised, Task Enjoyment Question, semi-structured interviews, and self-reflective narratives. Colaizzi's Phenomenological Method was used to conduct a thematic analysis. FINDINGS: Significant improvements in mood, increased task enjoyment, and decreased perceived need for help, with continued effects for up to 30-60 days post-intervention. CONCLUSIONS: A one-time expressive arts workshop intervention can provide a window for oncology survivors and their adult `ohana to reflect on a stressful experience. IMPLICATIONS FOR PSYCHOSOCIAL PROVIDERS: Psychosocial healthcare providers (APRNs, nurse educators, LCSWs, psychologists) who are not professional art therapists can effectively implement expressive arts workshops as a cost-effective intervention for oncology survivors and their `ohana.

Spatial Patterns and Trends of Summertime Low Cloudiness for the Pacific Northwest, 1996-2017.

Summertime low clouds are common in the Pacific Northwest (PNW), but spatiotemporal patterns have not been characterized. We show the first maps of low cloudiness for the western PNW and North Pacific Ocean using a 22-year satellite-derived record of monthly mean low cloudiness frequency for May through September and supplemented by airport cloud base height observations. Domain-wide cloudiness peaks in midsummer and is strongest over the Pacific. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis identified four distinct PNW spatiotemporal modes: oceanic, terrestrial highlands, coastal, and northern coastal. There is a statistically significant trend over the 22-year record toward reduced low cloudiness in the terrestrial highlands mode, with strongest declines in May and June; however, this decline is not matched in the corresponding airport records. The coastal mode is partly constrained from moving inland by topographic relief and migrates southward in late summer, retaining higher late-season low cloud frequency than the other areas.

Carbon, climate, and natural disturbance: a review of mechanisms, challenges, and tools for understanding forest carbon stability in an uncertain future.

In this review, we discuss current research on forest carbon risk from natural disturbance under climate change for the United States, with emphasis on advancements in analytical mapping and modeling tools that have potential to drive research for managing future long-term stability of forest carbon. As a natural mechanism for carbon storage, forests are a critical component of meeting climate mitigation strategies designed to combat anthropogenic emissions. Forests consist of long-lived organisms (trees) that can store carbon for centuries or more. However, trees have finite lifespans, and disturbances such as wildfire, insect and disease outbreaks, and drought can hasten tree mortality or reduce tree growth, thereby slowing carbon sequestration, driving carbon emissions, and reducing forest carbon storage in stable pools, particularly the live and standing dead portions that are counted in many carbon offset programs. Many forests have natural disturbance regimes, but climate change and human activities disrupt the frequency and severity of disturbances in ways that are likely to have consequences for the long-term stability of forest carbon. To minimize negative effects and maximize resilience of forest carbon, disturbance risks must be accounted for in carbon offset protocols, carbon management practices, and carbon mapping and modeling techniques. This requires detailed mapping and modeling of the quantities and distribution of forest carbon across the United States and hopefully one day globally; the frequency, severity, and timing of disturbances; the mechanisms by which disturbances affect carbon storage; and how climate change may alter each of these elements. Several tools (e.g. fire spread models, imputed forest inventory models, and forest growth simulators) exist to address one or more of the aforementioned items and can help inform management strategies that reduce forest carbon risk, maintain long-term stability of forest carbon, and further explore challenges, uncertainties, and opportunities for evaluating the continued potential of, and threats to, forests as viable mechanisms for forest carbon storage, including carbon offsets. A growing collective body of research and technological improvements have advanced the science, but we highlight and discuss key limitations, uncertainties, and gaps that remain.

Dataset of monthly downscaled future vapor pressure projections for the conterminous USA for RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 compatible with NEX-DCP30.

Models that simulate ecosystems at local to regional scales require relatively fine resolution climate data. Many methods exist that downscale the native resolution output from global climate models (GCM) to finer resolutions. NASA NEX-DCP30 is a statistically downscaled 30 arcsecond resolution climate dataset widely used for climate change impact studies in the conterminous USA (CONUS), but it did not include vapor pressure data which is essential for many types of models. We downscaled vapor pressure data from 28 global climate models included in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) to 30 arcsecond resolution for CONUS to augment the NEX-DCP30 dataset. Monthly vapor pressure values were calculated from raw GCM output for the conterminous USA from 1950 to 2100, representing RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 climate change scenarios. Vapor pressure data were then downscaled from the GCM's native spatial resolutions to 30 arcsecond using the Bias Correction-Spatial Disaggregation (BCSD) statistical downscaling method, which had been used to create the original NEX-DCP30 dataset. PRISM LT71m gridded climate data for 1970-1999 served as the reference data. The newly created downscaled vapor pressure dataset may be used in conjunction with the existing NEX-DCP30 data as input for vegetation, fire, drought, or earth system models. The data is available at the Forest Service Research Data Archive.

Spatial heterogeneity of winds during Santa Ana and non-Santa Ana wildfires in Southern California with implications for fire risk modeling.

In Southern California, the Santa Ana winds are famous for their role in spreading large wildfires during the fall/winter season. Combined with Southern California's complex topography, Santa Anas create challenges for modeling wind-fire relationships in this region. Here, we assess heterogeneity of winds during Santa Ana and non-Santa Ana days, on days with and without large-fire ignitions, across a modern high-density observational network of 30 meteorological stations. Wind speeds on Santa Ana days with a large fire ignition (mean windspeed = 5.19 m/s) are significantly higher than on Santa Ana days without large fire ignitions (3.96 m/s), while on non-Santa Ana days winds are generally weaker, during both fire (2.30 m/s) and non-fire (2.38 m/s) days. Hierarchical clustering of meteorological stations during both Santa Ana and non-Santa Ana days reveals groups of stations with consistently similar wind speed and directions. All stations clearly exhibit high wind speeds on Santa Ana days, and most record contrasting wind characteristics during Santa Ana versus non-Santa Ana ignitions. Additionally, our analysis revealed that key geographic siting traits are not represented in the network, including few stations with northwest aspect and upper slope in the southern mountains.

Perceived Impact of Participation in a One-Time Expressive Arts Workshop.

INTRODUCTION: This 2015 study examined the use of art to express the experience of the cancer journey of military cancer patients/cancer survivors, family and friends, caregivers, volunteers, and staff members through a one-time art-making workshop, administered by non-art therapists.Using art to express a medical/cancer journey may give participants, who cannot express their feelings in words, the ability to articulate their experience through art that looks at the creative process rather than the end result - expressive art. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This mixed methods study examined the use of art to express the cancer journey of participants. Twenty-eight adults participated in a one-time expressive arts workshop conducted by non-professional art therapists at a military medical center. The five domains of the Emotion Thermometer were analyzed to determine if the pre-event and post-event assessment results would differ. The Silver Drawing Test and Draw-a-Story assessment tools were used to identify emotions and attitudinal stance on six separate five-point scales. A qualitative analysis was done using the phenomenological method of the post-interviews that facilitated open expression to identify themes. RESULTS: A significant difference was found between the pre-event and post-event analyses using the Emotion Thermometer, with post-assessment results revealing lower levels in the three domains of distress, anxiety, and depression. The Silver Drawing Test and Draw-a-Story were analyzed for six components using a five-point scale, with the highest scores being content/meaning, ability to combine, and creativity. A qualitative analysis was done using the phenomenological method; post-interviews provided information to categorize the experience into four key themes: environment, connection, emotions, and discoveries. CONCLUSIONS: Using art to express one's journey through cancer allows participants to articulate that journey "beyond language." This mixed methods study was administered by five non-professional art therapists with three having no expressive arts background. This study established that an expressive arts workshop can effectively be conducted by non-professional art therapists. The team of non-professional art therapists, who facilitated this one-time art-making workshop, demonstrated that a military member's stress can be decreased by giving them "a voice" through expressive art.

Climate change, wildfire, and vegetation shifts in a high-inertia forest landscape: Western Washington, U.S.A.

Future vegetation shifts under changing climate are uncertain for forests with infrequent stand-replacing disturbance regimes. These high-inertia forests may have long persistence even with climate change because disturbance-free periods can span centuries, broad-scale regeneration opportunities are fewer relative to frequent-fire systems, and mature tree species are long-lived with relatively high tolerance for sub-optimal growing conditions. Here, we used a combination of empirical and process-based modeling approaches to examine vegetation projections across high-inertia forests of Washington State, USA, under different climate and wildfire futures. We ran our models without forest management (to assess inherent system behavior/potential) and also with wildfire suppression. Projections suggested relatively stable mid-elevation forests through the end of the century despite anticipated increases in wildfire. The largest changes were projected at the lowest and uppermost forest boundaries, with upward expansion of the driest low-elevation forests and contraction of cold, high-elevation subalpine parklands. While forests were overall relatively stable in simulations, increases in early-seral conditions and decreases in late-seral conditions occurred as wildfire became more frequent. With partial fire suppression, projected changes were dampened or delayed, suggesting a potential tool to forestall change in some (but not all) high-inertia forests, especially since extending fire-free periods does little to alter overall fire regimes in these systems. Model projections also illustrated the importance of fire regime context and projection limitations; the time horizon over which disturbances will eventually allow the system to shift are so long that the prevailing climatic conditions under which many of those shifts will occur are beyond what most climate models can predict with any certainty. This will present a fundamental challenge to setting expectations and managing for long-term change in these systems.

Erratum: Inter-comparison of multiple statistically downscaled climate datasets for the Pacific Northwest, USA.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/sdata.2018.16.

Inter-comparison of multiple statistically downscaled climate datasets for the Pacific Northwest, USA.

Statistically downscaled climate data have been widely used to explore possible impacts of climate change in various fields of study. Although many studies have focused on characterizing differences in the downscaling methods, few studies have evaluated actual downscaled datasets being distributed publicly. Spatially focusing on the Pacific Northwest, we compare five statistically downscaled climate datasets distributed publicly in the US: ClimateNA, NASA NEX-DCP30, MACAv2-METDATA, MACAv2-LIVNEH and WorldClim. We compare the downscaled projections of climate change, and the associated observational data used as training data for downscaling. We map and quantify the variability among the datasets and characterize the spatio-temporal patterns of agreement and disagreement among the datasets. Pair-wise comparisons of datasets identify the coast and high-elevation areas as areas of disagreement for temperature. For precipitation, high-elevation areas, rainshadows and the dry, eastern portion of the study area have high dissimilarity among the datasets. By spatially aggregating the variability measures into watersheds, we develop guidance for selecting datasets within the Pacific Northwest climate change impact studies.

Spatial Factors and Stochasticity in the Evaluation of Sustainable Hunting of Tapirs.

Sustainable hunting, the extraction of game without reducing its density, is a desirable approach to the use of wildlife. Assessment of sustainable extraction in many parts of the world is difficult; it has recently been done by a method proposed by Robinson and Redford (1991): a maximum number of animals that can be extracted per unit area is calculated based on life-history parameters and density estimates. If extraction is higher than that maximum number, it is deemed unsustainable. We extended the method by adding spatial and stochastic components through an individual-based model of a population of female tapirs ( Tapirus sp.) and conducted a sensitivity analysis to evaluate the importance of spatial and life-history parameters. Our analysis suggests that spatial factors, such as the shape of the hunted area and the size of the surrounding population, may be important in determining the sustainability of extraction. For long-lived, slow-reproducing mammals such as tapirs, survival to age of last reproduction is the most critical parameter, but the shape of the hunting zone and population density can be critical, especially in unsustainable hunting scenarios. We advocate long-term studies of tapirs to collect information on spatial movements and survival rates that could then be used for development of proper management plans.

RESUMEN: La cacería sustentable, extracción de animales de caza sin reducción de su densidad, es un enfoque deseable para el uso de vida silvestre. La evaluación de la extracción sustentable es difícil en muchas partes del mundo y se ha hecho utilizando un método propuesto por Robinson y Redford (1991): el número máximo de animales que se puede extraer por unidad de área se calcula con base en parámetros de la historia de vida y estimaciones de la densidad. Si la extracción es mayor que ese número máximo, se considera no sustentable. Extendimos el método agregando componentes espaciales y estocásticos por medio del modelo basado en individuos de una población de tapires ( Tapirus sp.) hembras y realizamos un análisis de sensibilidad para evaluar la importancia de los parámetros espaciales y de la historia de vida. Nuestro análisis sugiere que factores espaciales, tal como la forma del área de cacería y el tamaño de la población circundante, pueden ser importantes en la determinación de la sustentabilidad de la extracción. Para especies longevas de reproducción lenta como el tapir, la supervivencia hasta la última edad reproductiva es el parámetro más crítico; pero la forma del área de cacería y la densidad pueden ser críticas, especialmente en poblaciones bajo caza no sustentable. Recomendamos estudios de largo plazo de tapires para obtener información de movimientos espaciales y tasas de supervivencia que pueda utilizarse para el desarrollo de planes de manejo adecuados.

Rapid assessment of soil erosion in the Rio Lempa Basin, Central America, using the universal soil loss equation and geographic information systems.

Soil erosion is a severe problem for many developing regions that lack adequate infrastructure to combat the problem. The authors established a first-order method for prioritizing areas to be examined and remediated using preexisting data and expert knowledge where data are lacking. The Universal Soil Loss Equation was applied to the Rio Lempa Basin in Central America using geographic information systems and remote sensing technologies, and the estimated erosion rates were compared with sediment delivery ratios. Spatial analysis indicates that agriculture on very steep slopes contributes only a small fraction to the total estimated soil erosion, whereas agriculture on gentle and moderately steep slopes contributes a large fraction of the erosion. Although much of the basin is in El Salvador, the greatest estimated amount of erosion is from Honduras. Data quality and availability were impaired by a lack of coordination among agencies and across countries. Several avenues for improving the authors' methods are described.