Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Artificial Organs: Syncardia Heart, Kaity Keesling

BU Well

With an increased prevalence of cardiovascular disease, heart transplants are on the rise. As a result, the need for donor hearts exceeds current availability. To care for heart failure patients, healthcare professionals have developed the SynCardia total artificial heart. This article explains the artificial heart and its implementation into clinical practice.

Circumventing The Snake Oil: An Analysis Of Cam Cancer Therapies, Chris Zeheralis

BU Well

Since the dawn of recorded human history, humans have searched for ailments to the diseases that plague our everyday lives. However, as each new cure or treatment was discovered, thousands of unsubstantiated and unproven therapies follow behind it. With the advancement of the internet and modern communication, these therapies have found their ways into the minds of consumers. The article highlights three common unproven therapies used by patients, as well as addressing the nuances of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM).

Take A Hike – No Really, It’S Good For Your Health, Nathan Weller

BU Well

Mental health and its treatment remain prevalent concerns across the United States. As such, the importance of activities that promote mental well-being cannot be understated. One such example includes the use of nature to minimize negative, depressive thoughts while promoting their positive counterparts. This new area of focus, often known as ecotherapy, will be detailed in the following article.

“Put Me In Coach!”: How Pharmacists Can Contribute To Elite Sports, Mel Sturgill

BU Well

Professional and amateur athletes alike often have teams of healthcare professionals that oversee the care of injuries. Among these healthcare professionals, pharmacists have not been included as a member of the care team. Pharmacists are medication experts that can help mitigate medication mistakes and adverse reactions. Additionally, the pharmacist can provide medication information and doping awareness to help athletes reach and maintain their top performance levels in a healthy and safe manner.

An Aching For Affection, Tj Quinlan

BU Well

As humans, we’ve needed companionship from the beginning of time. Therefore, what does a true relationship look like in today’s society? In this world of newly emerging relationships, many people have either experienced, seen, or heard of a toxic relationship. This article dives deep into what makes a toxic relationship, how to notice the red flags, and how to ultimately fix or end it.

Weighing The Effects Of Food Marketing To Children, Serena Panos

BU Well

The marketing tactics used to promote food products in the United States has grown exponentially over recent years. Companies no longer promote products through traditional television commercials alone but utilize their ability to reach consumers through a multitude of modern social media outlets. Because of this, food promotions are all around us. However, the advertising and marketing of food targeted at children and adolescents may not be as harmless as it seems. This article explores why the progressive target marketing of food to children may be a key factor in the rapid growth rate of childhood obesity in the United …

The Not So Hidden Dangers Of Vaping, Hannah Lee

BU Well

The use of e-cigarettes and vaping devices has become a widely accepted trend in our society. These devices come with many negative effects that pose harm to one’s health. This article examines the truths about these dangers and the risks associated with vaping.

Get Your Head In The Game: On And Off The Field, Katelyn Le

BU Well

Mental health has recently become a popular topic on college campuses. New resources and programs are being implemented to ensure the mental wellbeing of students, however, on-campus athletic programs seem to be lagging behind. Athletic departments have trainers and methods to track physical wellness, but often do not have tools to measure mental wellness. This article not only explores the transition and challenges of student athletes, but sheds light on the intense mental aspect of college athletics.

A Game Of Phones: Capitalizing On Health Applications, Gamification, And Improving Patient Outcomes, Kim Hazel

BU Well

Healthcare applications are certainly on the rise. Advances in application technology, such as gamification, have the ability to transform patient health and clinical research from the palm of our hands. Is it time for healthcare providers to support and implement these technology trends?

Stress: The Silent Sickness, Neethu George

BU Well

From cramming for a test to arguing with a friend, individuals experience stress every day. While stress can be beneficial in certain situations, letting stress get out of control can lead to a variety of mental and physical health issues. This article examines the different types of stress, ways to cope with stress, and the overall effect of stress on human health.

The Effect Of Ankle Dorsiflexion Range Of Motion On Lower Extremity Injuries, Breana Schuiteman, Sarah Coppock, Elizabeth Foster, Jason Rosema, Rick Loutsch, Atc

Celebration of Research

Context: The weight-bearing lunge test is an effective method in determining the range of motion of ankle dorsiflexion. Despite the lack of research for this test it does have good inter-rater and intra-rater reliability. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify baseline data for athletes and observe the relationship between ankle dorsiflexion measurements and non-contact lower extremity injuries. Ankle dorsiflexion can be defined as the degree as to which the dorsal portion of the foot can be brought closer to the tibia. A lack of ankle dorsiflexion can cause varied biomechanics and loading patterns which can lead to …

Addressing Childhood Vaccination Hesitancy, Molly Engen, Ashlee Speck, Mariah Diekevers, Carol Li, Michelle Van Wyhe

Celebration of Research

A literature review was done between the time of September 2019 to November 2019 to identify interventions healthcare providers can use to acknowledge and address parents who are vaccine hesitant. Ten articles were selected by researchers for review focusing on parents with children who are younger than two years old. Methods were developed to address education for vaccine hesitant parents by healthcare providers, specifically for Promise Community Health Center in Sioux Center, Iowa. Outcomes of this study placed the importance of trust in the healthcare provider, focusing on the dangers of not vaccinating, and the use of visual aids in …

Pain And Anxiety In Pediatric Populations Receiving Immunizations, Kate Staab, Alyssa Krohn, Sydney Hughes

Celebration of Research

A literature review was conducted utilizing CINAHL, PubMed, and Science Direct databases to establish best practices for pain and anxiety mitigation in the pediatric population receiving immunizations. Ten articles were appraised, mainly focusing on pediatric patients in clinic settings. Results showed that many types of interventions—distraction, non-pharmacological, and pharmacological—effectively lowered pain and anxiety levels in pediatric patients of all ages receiving vaccinations. Additionally, educating parents, caregivers, and health care staff is essential to providing a more therapeutic environment for pediatric patients during vaccine administration.

Picc Lines: Preventing Complications Using Best Practice, Brooke Hunwardsen, Grant Rohrer, Stephanie Seymour, Megan Vollmer

Celebration of Research

A peripherally inserted central catheter, or PICC line, is a central venous catheter placed in a peripheral vein located in the upper arm and then threaded into the superior vena cava where it ends. Long term venous access for medication administration, laboratory testing, blood transfusions, and total parenteral nutrition are just a few reasons why PICC line placement is essential for patient care. As PICC lines have become more prevalent in the healthcare field, complications associated with them have become illuminated. Common complications associated with PICC lines include infection, occlusion, embolism, dislodgment, bleeding associated with dressing changes, issues with skin …

Interaction Between Mas1 And At1ra Contributes To Enhancement Of Skeletal Muscle Angiogenesis By Angiotensin-(1-7) In Dahl Salt-Sensitive Rats., Eric C Exner, Aron M Geurts, Brian R Hoffmann, Marc Casati, Timothy Stodola, Nikita R Dsouza, Michael Zimmermann, Julian H Lombard, Andrew S Greene

Faculty Research 2020

The heptapeptide angiotensin-(1-7) (Ang-(1-7)) is protective in the cardiovascular system through its induction of vasodilator production and angiogenesis. Despite acting antagonistically to the effects of elevated, pathophysiological levels of angiotensin II (AngII), recent evidence has identified convergent and beneficial effects of low levels of both Ang-(1-7) and AngII. Previous work identified the AngII receptor type I (AT1R) as a component of the protein complex formed when Ang-(1-7) binds its receptor, Mas1. Importantly, pharmacological blockade of AT1R did not alter the effects of Ang-(1-7). Here, we use a novel mutation of AT1RA in the Dahl salt-sensitive (SS) rat to test the …

An Improved Phenotype-Driven Tool For Rare Mendelian Variant Prioritization: Benchmarking Exomiser On Real Patient Whole-Exome Data., Valentina Cipriani, Nikolas Pontikos, Gavin Arno, Panagiotis I Sergouniotis, Eva Lenassi, Penpitcha Thawong, Daniel Danis, Michel Michaelides, Andrew R Webster, Anthony T Moore, Peter N Robinson, Julius O B Jacobsen, Damian Smedley

Faculty Research 2020

Next-generation sequencing has revolutionized rare disease diagnostics, but many patients remain without a molecular diagnosis, particularly because many candidate variants usually survive despite strict filtering. Exomiser was launched in 2014 as a Java tool that performs an integrative analysis of patients' sequencing data and their phenotypes encoded with Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) terms. It prioritizes variants by leveraging information on variant frequency, predicted pathogenicity, and gene-phenotype associations derived from human diseases, model organisms, and protein-protein interactions. Early published releases of Exomiser were able to prioritize disease-causative variants as top candidates in up to 97% of simulated whole-exomes. The size of …

Toward Modeling Context-Specific Emt Regulatory Networks Using Temporal Single Cell Rna-Seq Data., Daniel Ramirez, Vivek Kohar, Mingyang Lu

Faculty Research 2020

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is well established as playing a crucial role in cancer progression and being a potential therapeutic target. To elucidate the gene regulation that drives the decision making of EMT, many previous studies have been conducted to model EMT gene regulatory circuits (GRCs) using interactions from the literature. While this approach can depict the generic regulatory interactions, it falls short of capturing context-specific features. Here, we explore the effectiveness of a combined bioinformatics and mathematical modeling approach to construct context-specific EMT GRCs directly from transcriptomics data. Using time-series single cell RNA-sequencing data from four different cancer cell lines …

How Immune T-Cell Augmentation Can Help Prevent Covid-19: A Possible Nutritional Solution Using Ketogenic Lifestyle, Ravi K. Kamepalli Md,Fidsa,Cwsp

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

No abstract provided.

Inclusion In Religion And Spirituality For Children With Special Needs, Mackinzie C. Weiss, Kayla Collins, Mary P. Shotwell

Spring 2020 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

The purpose of this capstone project will focus on using occupational therapy interventions to help a local church be more inclusive to children and families with special needs. This project partners with a pre-existing special needs program to develop evidence-based volunteer training, implement a parent respite program, and introduce a movement-based program for children with special needs.

Animal-Assisted Therapy And Quality Of Life Of Patients With Dementia, Karissa D. Thomson, Kayla Collins, Mary P. Shotwell

Spring 2020 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

The aim of this quantitative study was to examine the effects animal-assisted therapy (AAT) had on people diagnosed with dementia living in a nursing home. The study examined the effects AAT had on depression, blood pressure, social interaction and how these factors impact quality of life (QOL). The study was conducted once a week for one hour on Thursdays for 6 weeks. 7 participants were included in the study and further broken down into two groups based upon their level of cognition as measured by the Mini Mental State Examination. The Beck’s depression inventory (BDI) and the World Health Organization …

Perceived Impact Of Non-Contact Boxing On Daily Life And Occupational Participation At Home Among Individuals With Parkinson’S Disease, Kristen E. Bignal, Susan Macdermott, Becki Cohill

Spring 2020 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

The aim of this project was to determine whether individuals with Parkinson's disease perceive an impact on their daily life and occupational participation at home secondary to participation in non-contact boxing.

Semi-structured open-ended interview questions were conducted with 17 participants (3 female) who have been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease for(i.e., self-care, home and health maintenance, sleep, intimacy, social and leisure interests, etc.) in the home environment. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed utilizing thematic analysis.

Data analysis derived three overarching themes including psychological benefits, sense of community, and framework to develop routines. Subsequent research exploring how non-contact boxing directly impacts specific …

Introduction To Adaptive Surfing: A Pool Program To Promote Engagement, Safety, And Confidence, Madison Mcbride, Susan Macdermott, Becki Cohill

Spring 2020 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

This poster delves into a needs assessment done on the international community of adaptive surfers with spinal cord injuries to determine the interest in creating a pool-based program as a prerequisite for adaptive surfing. This was done through a survey which inquired about their experiences with learning how to adaptive surf, as well as important skills necessary for adaptive surfing. Results of the survey were used to inform curriculum design for an introduction to adaptive surfing pool program.

2020-04-23_Michigandaily_Covidmap, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Daily Michigan COVID-19 Update

The "WHERE WE STAND WITH COVID-19" map was obtained from Michigan's main COVID-19 page: https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus. Data was compiled by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). The information was updated daily at 3p.m., Monday - Saturday.

The State of Michigan is working around the clock to test and treat COVID-19 patients. Below is the most recent data healthcare experts across the state have compiled.

The image contained a map, indicating total cases by county, and also provides statistics on Total Confirmed Cases, Total COVID-19 Deaths, Daily Confirmed Cases, and Daily COVID-19 Deaths. There …

2020-04-23_Michiganoverview_Covidcounts, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Michigan COVID-19 Confirmed Cases by Date of Onset Data

Data was captured from the Cumulative Data link of Michigan's Coronavirus webpage, under the url https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus/0,9753,7-406-98163_98173_99207---,00.html.

The website contained the table Count of Confirmed COVID-19 Cases by Date of Onset , sorted by Michigan Preparedness Region. It also contained 18 charts, including the count of confirmed Covid-19 cases by date of onset in the state overall as well as in each preparedness region,and the normalized rate of Covid-19 cases per 1,000,000 residents in both the state and in each preparedness region.

2020-04-23_Michiganoverview_Covidsymptoms, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Michigan COVID-19 Syndromic Surveillance System Data

The Syndromic Surveillance System Data report was obtained from Michigan's COVID-19 dashboard, from under the link "​Coronavirus Symptoms": https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus. Data was compiled by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). The information was updated daily.

Syndromic Surveillance System data is obtained from approximately 183 facilities participating in syndromic surveillance (132 Emergency Departments (ED), 51 Urgent Cares) across the State of Michigan. The reporting is based on individuals who present at EDs and may not be representative of the overall population. The coronavirus-like symptoms query searches visit free-text (chief complaint, triage notes, and clinical impression) for fever or …

2020-04-23_Michiganoverview_Covidstats, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Cumulative Michigan COVID-19 Data

The COVID Overview page was obtained from Michigan's main COVID-19 page: https:/www.michigan.gov/coronavirus/0,9753,7-406-98163-520743--,00.html. Data was compiled by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). The information was updated daily at 3p.m., with COVID-19 results included as of 10 a.m.

Note on cumulative counts: This report is provisional and subject to change. As public health investigations of individual cases continue, there will be corrections to the status and details of referred cases that result in changes to this report.
Note on the deaths: Deaths must be reported by health care providers, medical examiners/coroners, and recorded by local health departments …

2020-04-23_Michiganoverview_Covidbedppe, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Michigan COVID-19 Hospital Data

The webpage was obtained from Michigan's Coronavirus Cumulative Data page, under the link Data About Places. Data is self-reported by hospitals daily to the EM Resource System per MDHHS Director Robert Gordon's Emergency Order.

Contains the tables Statewide Available Bed Tracking for COVID-19, COVID-19 Metrics, Statewide Available PPE Tracking for COVID-19 (Statewide Available PPE and Bed Tracking), as well as the tables PPE Days On Hand, Patient Census, and Reports of Congregate Setting Respiratory Outbreaks in 2020 by County.

Mathematical Modeling Of Covid-19 In Abu Dhabi (Issue 1, 23 April 2020), Abdessamad Tridane, Hamad Al Jassmi, Umair Hassan, Mohammad Sherif

Covid19 Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Estimating Population Immunity Without Serological Testing, Andrew Lesniewski

Publications and Research

We propose an approximate methodology for estimating the overall level of immunity against COVID-19 in a population that has been affected by the recent epidemic. The methodology relies on the currently available mortality data and utilizes the properties of the SIR model. We illustrate the application of the method by estimating the recent levels of immunity in 10 US states with highest case numbers of COVID-19.

Prevalence And Risk Factors Of Falls In Adults 1 Year After Total Hip Arthroplasty For Osteoarthritis: A Cross-Sectional Study, Susan W. Hunter, Pavlos Bobos, Lyndsay Somerville, James Howard, Edward M Vasarhelyi, Brent Lanting

Physical Therapy Publications

Total hip arthroplasty is very successful in alleviating the pain from osteoarthritis. However, deficits in lower limb strength, gait, and balance after surgery has identified this group at risk of falls. Considering the high number of people annually receiving a total hip arthroplasty, further elaboration of factors associated with falls is needed to refine fall prevention guidelines. The objective was to examine the prevalence and circumstances of falling and the risk factors associated with falling in older adults in the first year after total hip arthroplasty surgery. This was a cross-sectional study involving 108 individuals (age of 72.4 ± 6.5 …