Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

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 …

Counseling For Patients With Hyperacusis, Mary Maraist

Communication Sciences and Disorders: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Hyperacusis is the phenomenon of experiencing moderately loud sounds as overly loud and/or intensely annoying. Hyperacusis can also cause fear or pain in response to sound. There is no one known cause of hyperacusis, and because of the variety of ways it presents itself, the approximate prevalence is difficult to determine. Despite the ambiguity of hyperacusis, the audiologist is an important part of diagnosing and educating clients with hyperacusis. During this project we aimed to discover the challenges individuals with hyperacusis face. These include anxiety, depression and avoidance behavior, and sometimes co-occurring tinnitus and hearing loss. Another aim was to …

Smoking Cessation Treatments Varenicline (Chantix®️), Nrts, And Nicotine Dependence, Marley Vea Devoss

Biology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Varenicline was approved in 2006 by the FDA as an effective smoking cessation drug. Varenicline was designed to bind with α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) to work as both an agonist and antagonist. Other drugs like nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) have also contributed to the decreasing rate of active smokers in the United States. The mechanisms of varenicline and its role in addiction are reviewed in this paper. With NRTs and recent trends in electronic smoking devices, nicotine dependence is still a cause for concern due to studies connecting nicotine with cell proliferation and heart disease.

Health For All: Using Utilitarianism To Require Childhood Vaccinations, Hannah Vercellotti

Augustana Center for the Study of Ethics Essay Contest

In the last few decades, many parents have chosen not to vaccinate their children against serious infectious diseases. In seeking exemptions, they often cite conflicting religious beliefs and fear of risks. Using the principle of utilitarianism, this paper argues that despite parents' cited religious beliefs and concerns about risks, state laws should require all children to get vaccinated unless doing so would cause direct harm to the child’s health. Adopting this mandate would ensure that the maximum number of people would benefit from immunity to serious and deadly diseases.