Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Living In A Material World: How Visual Cues To Material Properties Affect The Way That We Lift Objects And Perceive Their Weight, Gavin Buckingham, Jonathan Cant, Melvyn Goodale

Gavin Buckingham

The visual properties of an object provide many cues as to the tensile strength, compliance, and density of the material from which it is made. However, it is not well understood how these implicit associations affect our perceptions of these properties and how they determine the initial forces that are applied when an object is picked up. Here we examine the effects of these cues on such forces by using the classic "material-weight illusion" (MWI). Grip and load forces were measured in three experiments as participants lifted cubes made from metal, wood, and expanded polystyrene. These cubes were adjusted to …

Whether To Get An H1n1 Vaccination Or Not?, Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

In this interview Dr. Hsu provided public health informatics expertise to answer why or why not to receive H1N1 vaccination.

Swine Flu Myths - Experts Debunk Four Common Myths About Swine Flu, Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

To date, no evidence has been found to link eating or handling pork to contracting swine flu. As the cases of the new swine flu virus continue to rise, so too do the misconceptions about the illness. "By eating pork or handling pork products you won't [contract] H1N1," said Ed Hsu, an associate professor of health informatics at the University of Texas Health Science Center and a contributor to ABC News's OnCall+ Swine Flu site. "There is no scientific evidence or literature or any studies that suggest that one contracts H1N1 virus through eating pork or handling pork products." Additionally, …

Should I Wear A Mask To Protect Myself From The Flu?, Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

It depends. If you already have H1N1 virus infection, you are recommended to wear a mask just to prevent yourself from spreading the virus to others.

Can One Get H1n1 Flu (Swine Flu) From Eating Pork?, Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

there is no literature (study) suggesting that human being would get swine flu by eating pork or handling raw pork. Usually, if you prepare or cook your pork/meat product above temperature 70C (160F) the temperature could kill most of the germs and viruses, including h1n1 virus

Swine Flu Vs. Bird Flu: Which Is The Greater Pandemic Threat? New Research Hints At Why Swine Flu Overshadows Bird Flu In Pandemic Potential, Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Ed Hsu, associate professor of public health informatics at the University of Texas School of Health Information Sciences and School of Public Health, agreed. "This study renders potential explanations for why Avian Flu virus does not effectively transmit from human to human -- an important indicator for raising pandemic level." Take, for example, the virulence of bird flu. Despite the relative paucity of human cases of bird flu among humans, Hsu said, 258 people have died since 2003 as a result of the bird flu virus -- a case fatality rate of more than 60 percent. "Once [bird flu] viruses …

2 Billion Infected? Who Stokes Swine Flu Fear, Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

One could reasonably question the reliability of WHO's statement of mass infection," he said. "By making such statement without strong backing WHO may risk putting its accountability on the line. "I think that WHO could serve the world health better by providing a more evidence-based, sensible 'benchmark' of H1N1 infection," said Ed Hsu, associate professor of public health informatics at the University of Texas School of Health Information Sciences and School of Public Health. He argued that the 2 billion figure, based on past pandemics, does not take into account recent public health improvements. Moreover, his own research has suggested …

Swine Flu Likely To Return To U.S. Next Winter - Experts Can't Predict Whether It Will Be More Virulent Or Not, Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

explained C. Ed Hsu, an associate professor of public health informatics at the University of Texas School of Health Information Sciences at Houston and associate director of health informatics at the Center for Biosecurity and Public Health Preparedness at the University of Texas School of Public Health. "How and when the flu spreads is dependent on other factors as well: the fitness and efficiency of the virus itself along with its innate ability to replicate; the susceptibility of the host; and the environment, which includes not only the weather, but also human behavior (for example, groups of people confined together …

Physical Activity And Neurocognitive Function Across The Lifespan, Jason Themanson, Charles Hillman, Sarah Buck

Jason R. Themanson, Ph.D

No abstract provided.

Flu Experts Debate Potential Number Of H1n1 Infections Worldwide, Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

According to ABC News. "I think that WHO could serve the world health better by providing a more evidence-based, sensible 'benchmark' of H1N1 infection," said Ed Hsu, associate professor of public health informatics at the University of Texas School of Health Information Sciences and School of Public Health. Hsu said that while the WHO's estimates are grounded in historic data, they fail to consider improvement in public health, and his research shows signs that the numbers of swine flu infections in the U.S. are stabilizing. "One could reasonably question the reliability of WHO's statement of mass infection," Hsu said. "By …

Protecting The Young From Pandemic Flu., Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

whether these past findings will be borne out with this new virus have yet to be seen, warns Ed Hsu, associate professor at the University of Texas School of Health Information Sciences and School of Public Health. "We may need another week until the H1N1 outbreak runs the full course of its incubation and infectivity period," he said. "By this weekend we should have enough data to make some meaningful inferences from worldwide distribution of the disease, including susceptibility or vulnerability by age over time."

Cautious Optimism On Swine Flu?, Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

"I'm cautiously optimistic that we will begin seeing a decline in swine flu cases by mid-May or in a couple of weeks," said C. Ed Hsu, director of Preventive Health Informatics and SpaTial Analysis at the University of Texas Health Science Center

Acute Aerobic Exercise Effects On Event-Related Brain Potentials, Jason Themanson, Charles Hillman, Matthew Pontifex

Jason R. Themanson, Ph.D

No abstract provided.

Swine Flu -- Answers To Your Questions., Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Ed Hsu from the University of Texas predicts a rise in cases over the next week followed by a sharp decline thereafter: “Based on the analysis of the SARS data … and our analysis of worldwide H5N1 data, if the trends hold true for H1N1 [swine flu], we will see substantial increase …next week through early May. However, again if the trends hold true, we can also reasonably expect the cases will go down dramatically beginning the week after (i.e., week of 5/3). Note that the rise in cases in next week is normal and expected …Next week will be …

Public Health Informatics Perspective On Swine Flu, Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Despite the action being taken by national and international health organizations, some infectious disease experts, including Ed Hsu, say it is far too early to fear the worst -- a global flu pandemic.

Rightward Biases During Bimanual Reaching, Gavin Buckingham, David Carey

Gavin Buckingham

Two experiments were carried out to investigate whether attention is biased toward the right hand of right handers during bimanual coordination (Peters 1981). A novel discontinuous double-step reaching task was developed, where right-handed participants executed a bimanual reach followed by a left or right hand unimanual reach. Asymmetries in the downtime between the bimanual and unimanual reach portions (the refractory period) were used to infer the direction of attention. A shorter right hand refractory period was found in the first experiment, indicating a rightward bias in attention. In a second experiment, shifting the focus of attention during the bimanual portion …

Influence Of Physicians' Life-Stance On Attitudes Towards End-Of-Life Decisions And Actual End-Of-Life Decision-Making In Six Countries, Joachim Cohen, J Van Delden, Freddy Mortier, Rurik Lofmark, Michael Norup, Colleen Cartwright, Karin Faisst, C Canova, J Bilsen

Professor Colleen M Cartwright

Aim: To examine how physicians’ life stances affect their attitudes to end-of-life decisions and their actual end-of-life decision-making. Methods: Practising physicians from various specialties involved in the care of dying patients in Belgium, Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Australia received structured questionnaires on end-of-life care, which included questions about their life stance. Response rates ranged from 53% in Australia to 68% in Denmark. General attitudes, intended behaviour with respect to two hypothetical patients, and actual behaviour were compared between all large life-stance groups in each country. Results: Only small differences in life stance were found in all countries in …

A Dissociation Between Perception And Action In The Material‐Weight Illusion, Gavin Buckingham, Jonathan Cant, Kai-Ling Kao, Melvyn Goodale

Gavin Buckingham

We examined what forces are applied to objects that elicit this illusion when they are lifted.We predicted that:

(1) Forces on early trials will scale to each participant’s expectations of how much a particular block will weigh ‐ excessive force will be applied to the metal block and insufficient force applied to the polystyrene block.

(2) Forces on later trials will scale to the real weight of each block ‐ identical levels of force applied to all the blocks.

(3) MWI will persist throughout ‐ polystyrene block will feel the heaviest, metal block will feel the lightest.

Personalized Medicine: Selected Web Resources, Nancy Stimson

Nancy F Stimson

Information about personalized medicine abounds, yet it is difficult to comprehensively search for information on this topic due to the broadness of the term “personalized medicine,” the variety of terms that are used to describe this concept, the vast amount of pertinent journal articles and Web sites, and the fast pace of developments in this field. A selected list of Web sites is provided as a starting place for information about concepts, terminology, projects, databases, tools, and stakeholders related to personalized medicine.

Messengers From The Past, Anastasia Tsaliki

Anastasia Tsaliki

Participation in this documentary directed by Gianni Minelli and produced by Zeeva Production in English and in Italian.

"On September 26th, 1997, a violent earthquake shook central Italy. The effects were devastating. Television stations from all over the world broadcasted images of the incomparable artistic heritage that risked being destroyed forever. In Monsanpolo del Tronto, a small town in the Marches, the earthquake damaged the beautiful church Maria Santissima Assunta. A few years later, during the restoration of the church, a sensational discovery was made: twenty perfectly preserved mummies from the middle of the sixteenth century wearing their original clothes. …

Searching Cinahl And Medline Tutorial, Shannon Johnson

Shannon F Johnson

This 20 min. tutorial, done in Adobe Captivate software, is designed to walk nursing students through both keyword and subject heading searching in the CINAHL and MEDLINE databases, as configured at IPFW Helmke Library.

Anemia In Low-Income Countries Is Unlikely To Be Addressed By Economic Development Without Additional Programs, Sebastian Linnemayr, Harold Alderman

Sebastian Linnemayr

Although governments may decline to invest in iron fortification or supplementation influenced by the view that income growth will address the problem, the data do not support this view. Looking at the rates of anemia among children and adult women across 40 Demographic and Health Surveys from 32 countries, this study found that although anemia rates do decrease as income increases, the decrease is modest. Indeed, overall anemia rates decline roughly a quarter as fast as income increases and at only half the speed at which rates of underweight decline.

Zoning For Health? The Year-Old Ban On New Fast-Food Restaurants In South La, Roland Sturm, Deborah Cohen

Roland Sturm

No abstract provided.

Affordability And Obesity: Issues In The Multifunctionality Of Agricultural/Food Systems, Roland Sturm

Roland Sturm

No abstract provided.

Grasping And Lifting Different Materials, Gavin Buckingham, Jonathan Cant, Melvyn Goodale

Gavin Buckingham

The material from which an object is made can determine how heavy it feels (Seashore, 1899). Interestingly, a metal block that has been adjusted to have the same size and mass as a polystyrene block will feel lighter than the polystyrene block. We recently showed that participants experiencing this material-weight illusion’ (MWI) do not apply forces that match their perceptual experience of heaviness ‐ just like in the size‐weight illusion ( Flanagan & Beltzner, 2000).

Our previous study showed that forces on early trials were scaled to each participant’s expectations of how much a particular block should weigh ‐ excessive …