Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Finding The Medicine For Healthcare, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Singapore’s healthcare system is lauded internationally as a model that has managed to restrain costs while delivering excellent health outcomes. The country spends below four per cent of its GDP on healthcare and was ranked 6th out of 191 countries on overall health system performance by the World Health Organisation in 2000.

Submicron Bioactive Glass Tubes For Bone Tissue Engineering, Jingwei Xie, Eric Blough, Chi-Hwa Wang

MIIR Faculty Research

Herein we describe a method to fabricate submicron bioactive glass tubes using of sol-gel and co-axial electrospinning techniques for applications in bone tissue engineering. Heavy mineral oil and gel solution were delivered by two independent syringe pumps during the co-axial electrospinning process. Subsequently, submicron bioactive glass tubes were obtained by removal of poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) and heavy mineral oil via calcination at 600 °C for 5 h. Tubular structure was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging. We examined the bioactivity of submicron bioactive glass tubes and fibers and evaluated their biocompatibility taking electrospun poly(ε-caprolactone) …

Characterising The Mucosal And Systemic Immune Responses To Experimental Human Hookworm Infection., Soraya Gaze, Henry J. Mcsorley, James Daveson, Di Jones, Jeffrey M. Bethony, Luciana M. Oliveira, Richard Speare, James S. Mccarthy, Christian R. Engwerda, John Croese, Alex Loukas

Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine Faculty Publications

The mucosal cytokine response of healthy humans to parasitic helminths has never been reported. We investigated the systemic and mucosal cytokine responses to hookworm infection in experimentally infected, previously hookworm naive individuals from non-endemic areas. We collected both peripheral blood and duodenal biopsies to assess the systemic immune response, as well as the response at the site of adult worm establishment. Our results show that experimental hookworm infection leads to a strong systemic and mucosal Th2 (IL-4, IL-5, IL-9 and IL-13) and regulatory (IL-10 and TGF-β) response, with some evidence of a Th1 (IFN-γ and IL-2) response. Despite upregulation after …

Environmental Drivers Of Ross River Virus In South-East Tasmania, Australia: Towards Strengthening Public Health Interventions, Angela Werner, Sarah Goater, Scott Carver, Greg Robertson, Philip Weinstein

Global Health Faculty Publications

In Australia, Ross River virus (RRV) is predominantly identified and managed through passive health surveillance. Here, the proactive use of environmental datasets to improve community-scale public health interventions in southeastern Tasmania is explored. Known environmental drivers (temperature, rainfall, tide) of the RRV vector Aedes camptorhynchus are analysed against cumulative case records for five adjacent local government areas (LGAs) from 1993 to 2009. Allowing for a 0- to 3-month lag period, temperature was the most significant driver of RRV cases at 1-month lag, contributing to a 23. 2% increase in cases above the long-term case average. The potential for RRV to …

Surf Lifeguard Perceptions And Practice Of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (Cpr), Kevin Moran, Jonathon Webber

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

While the importance of lifeguards in providing immediate and effective basic life support (BLS) in drowning has been well reported, not a lot is known about how lifeguards perceive the relative value of CPR as a lifeguard skill, their training in it, and the likelihood of resuscitation being successful. A self-complete questionnaire was completed by 252 volunteer surf lifeguards at 16 surf beaches in the Greater Auckland,NZ region. Results show that most lifeguards (65%) had received training in the 3 months before the survey, 83% were willing to perform CPR, few (9%) had used CPR in an emergency, and many …

Book Review: Reproduction And Adaptation: Topics In Human Reproductive Ecology, Geoff Kushnick Phd

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Reproduction and Adaptation: Topics in Human Reproductive Ecology. Edited by C.G. Mascie-Taylor and Lyliane Rosetta. Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology, Vol. 59. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2011. 282 pp. $99.00 (hardback). ISBN 978-0-521-50963-3.

Kentucky Worksite Wellness Tax Credit: A Health Impact Assessment, Cecilia M. Watkins, T. Lovely

Public Health Faculty Publications

The purpose of the assessment was to evaluate the potential effects of a worksite wellness tax credit on three main areas of concern for Kentucky: (!) nutrition, physical activity and obesity levels of children whose parents receive Worksite Wellness services, (2) jobs and (3) social cohesion.

Constructivism Applied To Psychiatric–Mental Health Nursing: An Alternative To Supplement Traditional Clinical Education, Michelle Hampton

Faculty Publications

With the popularity of accelerated pre‐licensure nursing programmes and the growth in nursing student enrolments, traditional clinical education continues to be a challenge to deliver. Nursing faculty members are required to develop and implement educational innovations that achieve effective learning outcomes, while using fewer resources. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the effectiveness of a constructivism‐based learning project to achieve specific learning outcomes and to supplement approximately 30 clinical hours in a psychiatric–mental health nursing course. Students participated in a 10‐week, multistage project that examined life histories, treatment resources, and evidence‐based practice, as applied to a single …

Development Of A Fluorescent Microsphere Immunoassay For Detection Of Antibodies Against Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus Using Oral Fluid Samples As An Alternative To Serum-Based Assays, Robert J. Langenhorst, Steven Lawson, Apisit Kittawornrat, Jeffery J. Zimmerman, Zhi Sun, Yanhua Li, Jane Christopher-Hennings, Eric A. Nelson, Ying Fang

Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications

For effective disease surveillance, rapid and sensitive assays are needed to detect antibodies developed in response to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) infection. In this study, we developed a multiplexed fluorescent microsphere immunoassay (FMIA) for detection of PRRSV-specific antibodies in oral fluid and serum samples. Recombinant nucleocapsid protein (N) and nonstructural protein 7 (nsp7) from both PRRSV genotypes (type I and type II) were used as antigens and covalently coupled to Luminex fluorescent microspheres. Based on an evaluation of 488 oral fluid samples with known serostatus, the oral fluid-based FMIAs achieved >92% sensitivity and 91% specificity. For serum …

Integrating Spiritual Care Within Palliative Care: An Overview Of Nine Demonstration Projects, Shirley Otis-Green, Betty Ferrell, Tami Borneman, Christina Puchalski, Gwen Uman, Andrea Garcia

Medicine Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Nurse Practitioner And Pharmacist Interactions: Implications For Effectiveness Of Interdisciplinary Health Care Teams, Mary P. Bennett, M. Laurie Branstetter, Cherie Howk, Melinda Joyce

Nursing Faculty Publications

The Institute of Medicine report, “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health,” makes specific recommendations for removing barriers to advanced practice nursing scope of practice. The report also makes important recommendations concerning interdisciplinary teamwork. This article examines the challenges on the professional working relationship between nurse practitioners and pharmacists and provides some insight into the difficulties faced as health care practitioners attempt to work toward the goal of collaborative efforts to advance the care of our patients.

The Expression Of Ecotropic Virus Integration Site-1 In Seven Cancer Cell Lines, Wendy Bindeman '12

Student Publications & Research

The ecotropic virus integration site-1 (EVI1) gene is a transcriptional repressor implicated in the control of cell proliferation and frequently over-expressed in cancerous cells. I investigated the expression of this gene across seven cancer cell lines of varying morphologies. The tested lines included leukemia lines Kasumi-3, U937, MOLT-4, and CEM, breast cancer line MCF7, colorectal cancer line HT-29, and glioblastoma line M059K. Kasumi-3 and HT-29 are documented to have high EVI1 expression. Protein concentrations were normalized with respect to actin using SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. Western blots for EVI1 showed expression of an unidentified protein with a molecular weight of …

Accelerating The Development Of 21st-Century Toxicology: Outcome Of A Human Toxicology Project Consortium Workshop, Martin L. Stephens, Craig Barrow, Melvin E. Andersen, Kim Boekelheide, Paul L. Carmichael, Michael P. Holsapple, Mark Lafranconi

in Vitro Research Models Collection

The U.S. National Research Council (NRC) report on “Toxicity Testing in the 21st century” calls for a fundamental shift in the way that chemicals are tested for human health effects and evaluated in risk assessments. The new approach would move toward in vitro methods, typically using human cells in a high-throughput context. The in vitro methods would be designed to detect significant perturbations to “toxicity pathways,” i.e., key biological pathways that, when sufficiently perturbed, lead to adverse health outcomes. To explore progress on the report’s implementation, the Human Toxicology Project Consortium hosted a workshop on 9–10 November 2010 in Washington, …

Surgical Complications After Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy: The Initial 1000 Cases Stratified By The Clavien Classification System, Faisal Ahmed, Jonathan Rhee, Douglas Sutherland, Compton Benjamin, Jason D. Engel, Harold Frazier

Urology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Medical Evaluation And Triage Of The Agitated Patient: Consensus Statement Of The American Association For Emergency Psychiatry Project Beta Medical Evaluation Workgroup, Kimberly Nordstrom, Leslie S. Zun, Michael P. Wilson, Victor Stiebel, Anthony T. Ng, Benjamin Bregman, Eric L. Anderson

Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Faculty Publications

Numerous medical and psychiatric conditions can cause agitation, some of these causes are life threatening. It is important to be able to differentiate between medical and non-medical causes of agitation so that patients can receive appropriate and timely treatment. This article aims to educate all clinicians in non-medical settings, such as mental health clinics, and medical settings on the differing levels of severity in agitation, basic triage, use of de-escalation, and factors, symptoms, and signs in determining whether a medical etiology is likely. Lastly, this article focuses on the medical workup of agitation when a medical etiology is suspected or …

Discerning Reported Suicide Attempts Within A Youthful Offender Population, Christopher A. Mallett, Leaanne Derigne, Linda M. Quinn, Patricia A. Stoddard Dare

Social Work Faculty Publications

With suicide being the third leading cause of death among young people, early identification of risk is critical, particularly for those involved with the juvenile courts. In this study of court-involved youth (N = 433) in two Midwest counties, logistic regression analysis identified some expected and unexpected findings of important demographic, educational, mental health, child welfare, and juvenile court-related variables that were linked to reported suicide attempts. Some of the expected suicide attempt risk factors for these youth included prior psychiatric hospitalization and related mental health services, residential placement, and diagnoses of depression and alcohol dependence. However, the most unexpected …

Preventing Mental Distress In The Military, Charles Nelson, Kate St. Cyr, Bradley Corbett, Elisa Hurley, Shannon Gifford, Jon D. Elhaid, J. Donald Richardson

RDC@Western Research Highlights

No abstract provided.

Certified Professional Co-Active Coaches: Why They Enjoy Coaching, Courtney Newnham-Kanas, Don Morrow, Jennifer D. Irwin

Health Studies Publications

The evidence-base for the practice of coaching continues to flourish, despite the fact that very little is known about the practitioners (i.e. the coaches) themselves. It is of value to understand how coaches perceive their practice. Such information can be utilized to create a common knowledge-base about coaches that can be used, in turn, to track trends and forward research that evaluates coaching services. As the use of Co-Active coaching in facilitating behaviour change continues to rise it becomes important to learn more about Certified-Professional Co-Active Coaches (CPCC). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate what CPCCs enjoy …

Preventing Mental Distress In The Military, Charles Nelson, Kate St. Cyr, Bradley Corbett, Elisa Hurley, Shannon Gifford, Jon D. Elhai, J. Donald Richardson

CRDCN Research Highlight/RCCDR en évidence

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Bronchodilator Effects In Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Using Diffusion-Weighted Hyperpolarized Helium-3 Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Miranda Kirby, Mohammadreza Heydarian, Andrew Wheatley, David G Mccormack, Grace Parraga

Medical Biophysics Publications

The objective of this study was to evaluate the regional effects of bronchodilator administration in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) using hyperpolarized helium-3 ((3)He) MRI apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC). Ten COPD ex-smokers provided written, informed consent and underwent diffusion-weighted, hyperpolarized (3)He MRI, spirometry, and plethysmography before and 25 ± 2 min after bronchodilator administration. Pre- and postsalbutamol whole-lung (WL) ADC maps were generated and registered together to identify the lung regions containing the (3)He signal at both time points, and mean ADC within those regions of interest (ROI) was determined for a measurement of previously ventilated ROI ADC (ADC(P)). Lung …

Body Dissatisfaction: Commitment, Support And Trust In Romantic Relationships, Lilia Juarez, Mary Pritchard

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Research investigating dimensions of relationship quality (Markey, Markey, & Birch, 2001; Pierce, Sarason, & Sarason, 1996) has suggested that aspects of relationship quality (e.g., commitment, support, trust) are related to lower levels of body dissatisfaction in women. However no studies have examined the effect of all three measures of relationship quality on body dissatisfaction simultaneously. Trust and support correlated with body dissatisfaction in men and women. Additionally the results showed that lack of support is a predictor of body dissatisfaction in men, lack of trust is a predictor in women; relationship commitment did not appear to relate to body dissatisfaction.

Library Impact Statement For Bps 540 Advanced Drug Delivery Systems, Robin B. Devin

Library Impact Statements

Library Impact Statement for BPS 540 Advanced Drug Delivery Systems new course proposal. No new library resource are needed to support this course. Responding library faculty member: Robin Devin. Requesting faculty member: Wei Lu.

Gold Ion–Angiotensin Peptide Interaction By Mass Spectrometry, Jenny Lee '13, Lasanthi P. Jayathilaka, Shalini Gupta, Jin-Sheng Huang, Bao- Shiang Lee

Student Publications & Research

Stimulated by the interest in developing gold compounds for treating cancer, gold ion– angiotensin peptide interactions are investigated by mass spectrometry. Under the experimental conditions used, the majority of gold ion–angiotensin peptide complexes contain gold in the oxidation states I and III. Both ESI-MS and MALDI-TOF MS detect singly/multiply charged ions for mononuclear/multinuclear gold-attached peptides, which are represented as [peptide+a Au (I)+b Au(III)+(e - a -3b) H]e+, where a,b≥0 and e is charge. ESI-MS data shows singly/multiply charged ions of Au(I)-peptide and Au(III)-peptide complexes. This study reveals that MALDITOF MS mainly detects singly charged Au(I)-peptide complexes, presumably due to the …

Utility Of Serum Procalcitonin Values In Patients With Acute Exacerbations Of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Cautionary Note, Ann R. Falsey, Kenneth L. Becker, Andrew J. Swinburne, Eric S. Nylen, Richard H. Snider, Maria A. Formica, Patricia A. Hennessey, Mary M. Criddle, Derick R. Peterson, Edward E. Walsh

Medicine Faculty Publications

Background: Serum procalcitonin levels have been used as a biomarker of invasive bacterial infection and recently have been advocated to guide antibiotic therapy in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, rigorous studies correlating procalcitonin levels with microbiologic data are lacking. Acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) have been linked to viral and bacterial infection as well as noninfectious causes. Therefore, we evaluated procalcitonin as a predictor of viral versus bacterial infection in patients hospitalized with AECOPD with and without evidence of pneumonia.

Methods: Adults hospitalized during the winter with symptoms consistent with AECOPD underwent extensive testing for viral, bacterial, …

Effect Of Nutrition Changes On Foods Selected By Students In A Middle School-Based Diabetes Prevention Intervention Program: The Healthy Experience, Connie Mobley, Diane D. Stadler, Myrlene A. Staten, Laure El Ghormli, Bonnie Gillis, Jill Hartstein, Anna Maria Siega-Riz, Amy Virus, Healthy Study Group

GW Biostatistics Center

No abstract provided.

Repeat Prenatal Corticosteroid Prior To Preterm Birth: A Systematic Review And Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis For The Precise Study Group (Prenatal Repeat Corticosteroid International Ipd Study Group: Assessing The Effects Using The Best Level Of Evidence) - Study Protocol, Caroline A. Crowther, Fariba Aghajafari, Lisa M. Askie, Elizabeth V. Asztalos, Peter Brocklehurst, Elizabeth A. Thom, +22 Additional Authors

GW Biostatistics Center

Background

The aim of this individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis is to assess whether the effects of repeat prenatal corticosteroid treatment given to women at risk of preterm birth to benefit their babies are modified in a clinically meaningful way by factors related to the women or the trial protocol.

Methods/Design

The Prenatal Repeat Corticosteroid International IPD Study Group: assessing the effects using the best level of Evidence (PRECISE) Group will conduct an IPD meta-analysis. The PRECISE International Collaborative Group was formed in 2010 and data collection commenced in 2011. Eleven trials with up to 5,000 women and 6,000 infants …

What's Happening: February, 2012, Maine Medical Center

What's Happening

No abstract provided.

Association Of Hexachlorobenzene (Hcb), Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (Ddt), And Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (Dde) With In Vitro Fertilization (Ivf) Outcomes., Shruthi Mahalingaiah, Stacey A. Missmer, Arnab Maity, Paige L. Williams, John D. Meeker, Katharine Berry, Shelley Ehrlich,, Melissa J. Perry, Daniel W. Cramer, Russ Hauser

Environmental and Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Background: Hexachlorobenzene (HCB), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) are persistent chlorinated pesticides with endocrine activity that may adversely affect the early stages of human reproduction.

Objective: Our goal was to determine the association of serum levels of HCB, DDT, and DDE with implantation failure, chemical pregnancy, and spontaneous abortion in women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) from 1994 to 2003.

Methods: Levels of HCB and congeners of DDT and DDE were measured in serum collected during the follicular phase. Multivariable-adjusted statistical models accommodating multiple outcomes and multiple cycles per woman were used to estimate the relation between serum pesticide levels …

Multi-Person Sex Among A Sample Of Adolescent Female Urban Health Clinic Patients, Emily F. Rothman, Michele R. Decker, Elizabeth Miller, Elizabeth Reed, Anita Raj, Jay G. Silverman

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

Adolescent sexual activity involving three or more people is an emerging public health concern. The goal of this exploratory, cross-sectional study was to describe the prevalence, correlates, and context of multiple-person sex among a sample of adolescent females seeking health care from an urban clinic. Because sex involving multiple people may either be consensual (i.e., “three-ways” or “group sex”) or forced (i.e., “gang rape”), we use the term “multi-person sex” (MPS) to encompass these experiences. Subjects were 328 females, ages 14–20 years old, who utilized a Boston-area community- or school-based health clinic between April and December of 2006, and completed …

Ways Of Teaching: Striving To Enhance Student's Understanding In Classroom Setting, Zohra Asif Jetha, Shaneela Sadruddin Khowaja, Shamshad Begum

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Learning is enhanced when instruction is being designed in-relation to students’ learning styles. Attention to learning styles and learner’s diversity has shown an increase students’ motivation towards learning. Effective teaching is defined as maximizing learner educational achievement, and teacher and student subject contentment. The key attributes of effective teaching are teacher’s preparation; knowledge on the subject; attitude; enthusiasm; and content clarity. Moreover, applying various theories of learning such as behaviorism, cognitivism and humanism are the effective ways to enhance students’ learning journey. Therefore, these effective teaching strategies should be promoted and encouraged in the real world of teaching.