Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Disparities In Covid-19 Rates Among Various Demographics And Lack Of Racial Representation In Medical Texts, Diangelo Gonzalez

Celebration of Learning

The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, which originated in Wuhan, China in December of 2019, has impacted nations all over the globe. Given the health disparities which existed within the United States prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this pandemic continued to pose a significant challenge to the health of the public. The aims of this research study were twofold: (1) to analyze the incidence rates of COVID-19 among different racial and ethnic groups within the United States and (2) to describe the occurrence of diversity within medical texts. Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated health disparities within the United States. Understanding …

The Effect Of Democracy, Development, Religion And Science On Animal Welfare, Sydney Richardson

Celebration of Learning

This project examined the determinants of animal welfare across five countries: India, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden and the United Stated. The dependent variable of animal welfare was measured based on the Animal Protection Index (API) developed by the World Protection, a global non-profit organization. Democracy, development, religion and science were major areas that were evaluated to determine if there were correlations with the API. Correlation with the API was tested by using the Pearson Correlation Coefficient. A Country’s Freedom House scores were used to evaluate Democracy. Development examined each country’s Human Development Index from the UN’s Human Development Reports and …

Marketing Channel Effectiveness Of New Medications/Medical Technology, Hadley Mccormick

Celebration of Learning

This research project will study what marketing platforms/channels are most effective in the dissemination of new medical product news. Many people like myself have an illness/disease that requires daily medication, or require the daily use of a medical device. Due to the increasing influence of Direct to Consumer advertising of pharmaceuticals and the constant development of new medications and devices, patients may now more often go to the doctor with perceptions of what they should do to manage their illness/disease. This study aims to look at how the developers of these medications/medical devices promote their products currently and how certain …

The Real Period Stain: Menstrual Stigma And Its Pressures In South Asia, Ila Mostafa

Celebration of Learning

This research project looks to answer the question: How does menstrual stigma in rural and urban Bangladesh affect women’s access to menstrual health care?

The research question was borne from personal experiences with menstrual stigma and seeing it firsthand in many areas of Bangladesh. These firsthand experiences come from women whom I interviewed in urban and village locations in Bangladesh in 2017. The research question looks to explore how women feel about seeking help for or talking about their menstrual issues. In asking this question, I want to explore what is at stake for women due to the powerful presence …

Selenomethionine Protects Mutant Tau N27a Cell From Oxidative Stress And Decreases Phosphorylation Of Tau, Madelin Locicero

Celebration of Learning

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is neurodegenerative disease characterized by loss of cells and aggregated tau in the hippocampus. Hyperphosphorylated tau causes the misfolding of tau proteins (aggregated tau), which are responsible for proper neuronal activity. Selenium-methionine has been known to decrease the amount of phosphorylated tau within mutant and wild type 3xTg- AD mice. However, selenium can be toxic to cell depending on the type of cells and the concentration of selenium. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect selenium-methionine has on decreasing hyperphosphorylation of tau, protecting cells from oxidative stress, and decreasing the amount of aggregated tau …

Investigating The Benefits Of Virtual Reality On Student Acquisition Of 3d Anatomical Information, Dr. Kevin Flaherty, Juliana Pinheiro, Benjamin Karger

Celebration of Learning

Virtual reality (VR) technology is becoming more accessible within educational settings due to price decreases and greater software availability. VR is particularly useful for teaching anatomy, as students often struggle to learn the three-dimensional relationships between body structures from two-dimensional images in textbooks. Using funds from Augustana’s Pedagogy and Technology Grant, we purchased and assembled a VR workstation and began researching the effectiveness of VR in anatomy education. The early results of this research show that students exhibited substantial increases in their knowledge anatomical structures and their ability to reconstruct the three-dimensional relationships between anatomical structures after 30 minutes using …

Determining The Efficacy Of Fifa 11+ In Reducing Acl Injury In Female Soccer Players, John Hallmark

Celebration of Learning

Objective-This study aims to identify the relationship between the Fifa 11+ program and the angle of valgus deformity at the knee. Background-200,000 ACL tears are reported each year. Previous studies have linked valgus motion of the knee to an increased rate of ACL injury and females exhibit a 4-6x increased risk for ACL injury. Fifa 11+ has shown promise in studies done on professional soccer teams yet remains untested in a younger population. Methods-This prospective cohort study of 300 consented female soccer players will use Noraxon as a tool for the measurement of valgus angle at the …

Combatting The Opioid Crisis On College Campuses: A Harm Reduction Approach, Corey L. Lepoudre

Celebration of Learning

College aged people are at a high risk of opioid misuse due to several risks including: an increased opioid misuse in people between the ages of 18-25, those who experience daily elevated stress, and those who live in metropolitan areas or in the Midwest region of the United States. Due to these risks, a harm reduction initiative geared toward college populations is beneficial to prevent a further increase in opioid misuse and overdose. A harm reduction approach was used to develop an educational toolkit for Quad City Harm Reduction to conduct a one-hour workshop for college faculty and students. Harm …

The Path Of Stroke Care: Nurse Education Materials For Unitypoint Health Trinity Medical Center, Nicole Montgomery

Celebration of Learning

Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States. About 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke every year. National best practice measures regarding stroke care are promoted through the quality and education department at UnityPoint Health Trinity Medical Center. Trinity’s nurses are encouraged to update their skills at the annual Spring Fling informational fair. Through working with the quality and education department, informational materials regarding the care path of a stroke patient were created and delivered in order to educate nurses about these national best practice measures. This project utilized interpersonal communication models to …

Homeruns For Health: An Intervention Using Sports To Increase Physical Activity In Kids Attending An After-School Program, Nicholas D. Phalen

Celebration of Learning

This health behavior intervention targets the physical activity of kids (ages 6-14) at the Boys and Girls Club of the Mississippi Valley in Moline, Illinois. This intervention was developed with the application of the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) during a 10-week long internship at the Boys and Girls Club of the Mississippi Valley’s (BGCMV) facility. A trend of lengthy “screen time” and a lack of emphasis on the importance of physical activity were both noticed during said internship. To address these observations, help was sought out from varsity athletic programs at Augustana College, a private institution in the area. The …

Navigating Medicaid And Managed Care Organizations Of Iowa, Charlotte Engle

Celebration of Learning

Policies regarding Medicaid and managed care organizations (MCOs) have been changing rapidly with the current political climate. Because of these frequent changes being made to policies, a lack of knowledge regarding benefits of MCOs and Medicaid that is prevalent among the clients of the Integrated Health Home (IHH) program of Family Resources, Inc. in Davenport, Iowa. A Iowa Managed Health Insurance (IMHI) resource guide was developed using the health literate care model to introduce and explain the benefits of the MCOs and Medicaid plans of the families of the individuals enrolled in the IHH program and give clients the resources …

Spatial Epidemiology Of Summer Trauma In Scott County, Ia: Use Of Gis To Identify Trauma Incidence In Urban And Rural Areas, Matthew Koch

Celebration of Learning

Traumatic injury is a blanket term referring to acute physical injuries which pose an immediate threat to life and limb, requiring urgent medical care. Unintentional injuries are the fifth-leading cause of death, and fatal injuries cost the American economy over $84 billion annually in lost work and medical costs. Scott County, IA, is a unique environment for trauma research because it served by a single trauma center and features within its 458 square miles distinct urban and rural populations. Patient data from the trauma registry, including age, race, and mechanism of injury (MOI) was combined with the corresponding spatial data …

30-Day Oral Acetaminophen Tolerance In Adult Horses, Sarah E. Foreman

Celebration of Learning

There are no controlled studies of acetaminophen toxicity in horses. The objective was to test the hypotheses that oral acetaminophen administered at a dosage 25% higher than that sometimes used in horses would result in measurable hepatic toxicity as seen in humans and other species. Six healthy adult horses were administered 25 mg/kg acetaminophen powder in corn syrup twice daily for 30 days. Three other horses served as negative controls receiving only corn syrup. Jugular venous blood samples were obtained on days 7 and 1 before treatment; on treatment days 1, 2, 5, 8, 12, 15, 19, 22, 26 and …

Emergency Room Overuse And Medicaid Population: Creating A Toolkit To Decrease Er Misuse By Family Resources Clients, Nicole Johanne Morrissey Ms.

Celebration of Learning

One of the biggest issues facing healthcare in the United States is excessive spending on ER visits. This issue costs the United States healthcare field about $38 billion a year to treat patients who might not necessarily need the immediate attention. The Medicaid population is one of the highest users of the ER and the most common reasons are behavioral issues and no other place to go. Family Resources, a non-profit organization in Davenport, IA, works to connect families with healthcare facilities in the area based on each family’s needs. Much of their clientele uses Medicaid and struggles with ER. …

Ramadan & Pregnancy, Omar Rizvi

Celebration of Learning

Fasting during Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim calendar, is one of the five pillars of Islam and is fard (obligatory) for all Muslims physically and mentally capable of doing so. In the Qur’an, it is made abundantly clear that religion and its acts of worship are not meant to pose undue difficulty or hardship (Qur’an 22:78, 5:6, 2:185). My paper explores the Islamic definitions for “unnecessary difficulty” and “physically capable” specifically in regards to pregnant women. At what point does fasting incur significant, if any, damage to the fetus that it should prevent the mother from participating in …