Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Student Engagement In Peer Dialogue About Diversity And Inclusion, Barry L. Trentham, Sylvia Langlois, Ruheena Sangrar, Jill Stier, Lynn Cockburn, Deb Cameron, Rebecca Renwick, Chantal Dsouza

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Student engagement in peer dialogue is a key aspect of a transformative learning process. However, the dynamics of peer dialogue become more complex when applied to concepts of diversity and inclusion, due to increased risk of student vulnerability and exclusion. This study examined how curricular content and contextual features in educational settings facilitate peer dialogue by analyzing the learning narratives of eleven occupational therapy graduate students. Considered within a transformative approach to learning, findings suggest the need to consider how students experience and name diversity. Critical questions are raised about the value of and potential caveats about exposing students to …

Effect Of A Gamification Model On A Graduate Level Occupational Therapy Course, Edwin Myers

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Gamification in education refers to the immersion of game elements and game mechanics to enhance student engagement. Elements of gamification include the use of reward systems, leader boards, social activities, badges, missions, challenges, and aspects of free choice in course design. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of applying a gamification model to a graduate level occupational therapy course in assistive technology (AT). This mixed methods study followed two consecutive cohorts of students (N=63 students, 55 females) in a graduate level occupational therapy program as they participated in a gamified course allowing the students to “choose …

Comparing Moral Reasoning Across Graduate Occupational And Physical Therapy Students And Practitioners, Brenda S. Howard, Cheyenne Kern, Olivia Milliner, Lindsey Newhart, Sarah K. Burke

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Practicing clinicians must use moral reasoning to solve ethical problems and combat moral distress. Development of moral reasoning in occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) students has been significantly under researched. The purpose of this study was to analyze the differences in moral reasoning between first year and second year OT and PT students and between students and OT and PT practitioners. Investigators utilized a cross-sectional study design with a convenience sample of University of Indianapolis OT and PT students and a combination of convenience and snowball sampling to recruit licensed OT and PT practitioners. One hundred and fifty-four …

Pre-Entry Selection Assessment Results And Final Degree Outcomes Of Occupational Therapy Students: Are There Relationships?, Sarah Louise Mcginley

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Occupational therapy (OT) admissions tutors are tasked with ensuring the recruitment of high-quality candidates who can demonstrate both academic and professional skills throughout their education and subsequently into practice. While standardized admissions criteria do not exist, it is widely accepted that both cognitive and non-cognitive characteristics should be assessed to establish academic and professional qualities of applicants. Pre-admission qualifications are generally classed as a reliable assessment of academic (cognitive) ability, with literature supporting positive but variable relationships between academic qualifications and degree classifications. Evidence to support trusted assessments of pre-admission professional (non-cognitive) skills is lacking, with ambiguity surrounding relationships between …

Masters To Doctorate: Impact Of The Transition On One Occupational Therapy Program, Rebecca Ozelie, Kia Ashley Burks, Samantha Lee, Kathryn Riggilo, Michelle Sivak

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Within the field of occupational therapy, the issue of transitioning from an entry-level master's degree to an entry-level doctorate degree is under debate. As such, it is important to investigate the impact of the transition in order to help make educated decisions about the potential future of the profession.This study analyzed retrospective data collected from six cohorts at one Midwestern university to analyze the impact of the transition to an entry-level doctorate on diversity, admission and matriculation rates, and fieldwork reservations. No statistical difference in diversity between masters and doctorate level cohorts was found but it is of note that …

An International Fieldwork Placement: A Mixed Methods Study, Dianna Lunsford, Kristin A. Valdes

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of an international fieldwork placement on occupational therapy doctoral (OTD) students’ cultural competence, community engagement, and ethical leadership. This study used a mixed methods approach. The Public Affairs Scale (PAS) was used to gather pre and post placement data on cultural competence, community engagement, and ethical leadership. Qualitative data was themed from a reflection paper along with researcher field notes from a fieldwork placement to Ibarra, Ecuador. Eleven OTD students participated in the study. The study demonstrated a convergence of the data in the area of cultural competence and responsiveness. …

Knowledge Translation Approaches In Occupational Therapy: A Scoping Review, Brianna Perkins, Amelia Di Tommaso, Matthew Molineux, Penny Power, Anna Young

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

A gap exists between what is known in occupational therapy and how occupational therapists practice. Knowledge translation approaches have been designed to bridge the gap between research and practice. Currently there is limited literature exploring the knowledge translation approaches being implemented specifically within occupational therapy. Therefore, a scoping review was completed to provide an overview of the existing literature on knowledge translation approaches in occupational therapy. Three electronic databases were searched. All peer-reviewed quantitative and qualitative articles which met the inclusion criteria were reviewed. A data extraction table aided the analysis and synthesis of the literature. The initial search returned …

Student Involvement In Flipped Classroom Course Design, Whitney Henderson, Lyndi Plattner, Bailey Baucum, Tymeshia Casey, Allison Grant, Paige Headlee

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine changes in content knowledge, clinical reasoning, and metacognition with occupational therapy students involved in course design (collaborative participants), with participants engaged in flipped classroom model only (course participants), and to compare results between the collaborative and course participants. Forty-three occupational therapy students participated in this study. Researchers administered three pre- and post-test questionnaires and completed three focus groups. Results demonstrated both groups experienced growth in active learning and clinical reasoning and changed their perception of student involvement. The collaborative participants demonstrated additional benefits of development of relationships, increased accountability, and improved …

A Crucial Role For The Protein Quality Control System In Motor Neuron Diseases., Riccardo Cristofani, Valeria Crippa, Maria Elena Cicardi, Barbara Tedesco, Veronica Ferrari, Marta Chierichetti, Elena Casarotto, Margherita Piccolella, Elio Messi, Mariarita Galbiati, Paola Rusmini, Angelo Poletti

Department of Neuroscience Faculty Papers

Motor neuron diseases (MNDs) are fatal diseases characterized by loss of motor neurons in the brain cortex, in the bulbar region, and/or in the anterior horns of the spinal cord. While generally sporadic, inherited forms linked to mutant genes encoding altered RNA/protein products have also been described. Several different mechanisms have been found altered or dysfunctional in MNDs, like the protein quality control (PQC) system. In this review, we will discuss how the PQC system is affected in two MNDs-spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)-and how this affects the clearance of aberrantly folded proteins, which …

Prediction Of Molecular Mutations In Diffuse Low-Grade Gliomas Using Mr Imaging Features, Zeina A. Shboul, James Chen, Khan M. Iftekharrudin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Diffuse low-grade gliomas (LGG) have been reclassified based on molecular mutations, which require invasive tumor tissue sampling. Tissue sampling by biopsy may be limited by sampling error, whereas non-invasive imaging can evaluate the entirety of a tumor. This study presents a non-invasive analysis of low-grade gliomas using imaging features based on the updated classification. We introduce molecular (MGMT methylation, IDH mutation, 1p/19q co-deletion, ATRX mutation, and TERT mutations) prediction methods of low-grade gliomas with imaging. Imaging features are extracted from magnetic resonance imaging data and include texture features, fractal and multi-resolution fractal texture features, and volumetric features. Training models include …

Bioenergetic Functions In Subpopulations Of Heart Mitochondria Are Preserved In A Non-Obese Type 2 Diabetes Rat Model (Goto-Kakizaki), Nicola Lai, C. M. Kummitha, F. Loy, R. Isola, C. L. Hoppel

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

A distinct bioenergetic impairment of heart mitochondrial subpopulations in diabetic cardiomyopathy is associated with obesity; however, many type 2 diabetic (T2DM) patients with high-risk for cardiovascular disease are not obese. In the absence of obesity, it is unclear whether bioenergetic function in the subpopulations of mitochondria is affected in heart with T2DM. To address this issue, a rat model of non-obese T2DM was used to study heart mitochondrial energy metabolism, measuring bioenergetics and enzyme activities of the electron transport chain (ETC). Oxidative phosphorylation in the presence of substrates for ETC and ETC activities in both populations of heart mitochondria in …

Efficacy Of Radiomics And Genomics In Predicting Tp53 Mutations In Diffuse Lower Grade Glioma, Zeina A. Shboul, Khan Iftekharuddin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

An updated classification of diffuse lower-grade gliomas is established in the 2016 World Health Organization Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System based on their molecular mutations such as TP53 mutation. This study investigates machine learning methods for TP53 mutation status prediction and classification using radiomics and genomics features, respectively. Radiomics features represent patients' age and imaging features that are extracted from conventional MRI. Genomics feature is represented by patients’ gene expression using RNA sequencing. This study uses a total of 105 LGG patients, where the patient dataset is divided into a training set (80 patients) and testing set …

Deep Learning With Context Encoding For Semantic Brain Tumor Segmentation And Patient Survival Prediction, Linmin Pei, Lasitha Vidyaratne, Md Monibor Rahman, Khan M. Iftekharuddin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

One of the most challenging problems encountered in deep learning-based brain tumor segmentation models is the misclassification of tumor tissue classes due to the inherent imbalance in the class representation. Consequently, strong regularization methods are typically considered when training large-scale deep learning models for brain tumor segmentation to overcome undue bias towards representative tissue types. However, these regularization methods tend to be computationally exhaustive, and may not guarantee the learning of features representing all tumor tissue types that exist in the input MRI examples. Recent work in context encoding with deep CNN models have shown promise for semantic segmentation of …

Impact Of Sickle Cell Disease On Executive Functioning In An Adult Population, Christina Wade

Theses and Dissertations

Children diagnosed with sickle cell disease (SCD) struggle with executive functions (EF); however, there is a paucity of research on neuropsychological outcomes in adults with SCD. This study aimed to examine differences in EF between adults with SCD and healthy controls. Thirty- one patients with SCD and 34 healthy controls (ages 18-45) participating in an IRB-approved Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) study of cerebral blood flow underwent neuropsychological evaluation using the Delis–Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) Trail Making and Color Word Interference Tests and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) Digit Span subtest to assess various aspects …

Adoption Of The Health Information Exchange (Hie) System And The Role Of The Healthcare Leadership, Muhammad Faisal Ashfaque

Theses and Dissertations

The advancement in technology calls for improvement in service delivery in healthcare systems, especially in the present health pandemic of the COVID-19. At present, healthcare systems utilize several electronic health techniques. However, there is a need for the creation of interoperability that can assist healthcare organizations in exchanging data more effectively through the global adoption of healthcare information exchange (HIE). The current research examines the adoption of HIEs and healthcare leadership roles to realize a fully functional interoperable patient HIE. This study utilized the systematic document analysis method to review qualitative data on the different aspects of healthcare leadership, implementation …

The Perceived Influence Of Grandparents’ Beliefs And Attitudes On Parents’ Breastfeeding Behaviour And Paediatric Vaccination Decisions, Shantha Premila Karthigesu

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Human infants are highly dependent on their parents for a prolonged period of time. The resources required to raise a child cannot be provided by biological parents alone and requires the assistance of others, usually relatives. Grandparents among them, have played the most significant role. With increased life expectancy in Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic (WEIRD) societies, grandparents have come to the forefront as informal childcare providers. Although the influence of a child’s social environment on health has been well-studied, the influence of grandparents, specifically in regard to breastfeeding remains inconclusive, while grandparental influence on paediatric vaccinations has not …

Gait Entrainment In Coupled Oscillator Systems: Clarifying The Role Of Energy Optimization In Human Walking, Ryan T. Schroeder

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Empirical evidence suggests that parameters of human gait (e.g. step frequency, step length) tend to minimize energy expenditure. However, it is unclear if individuals can adapt to dynamic environments in real time, i.e. continuously optimize energy expenditure, and to what extent. Two coupled oscillator systems were used to test the learned interactions of individuals within dynamic environments: (1) experienced farmworkers carrying oscillating loads on a flexible bamboo pole and (2) individuals walking on a treadmill while strapped to a mechatronics oscillator system providing periodic forces to the body. Reductionist trajectory optimization models predicted energy-minimizing gait interactions within the coupled oscillator …

Development, Assessment And Application Of A Novel Algorithm To Automatically Detect Change Of Direction Movement And Quantify Its Associated Mechanical Load In Elite Australian Football, Aaron Balloch

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The ability to change direction rapidly and efficiently is critical to team-sport performance, including Australian football (AF), where a player’s capacity to rapidly decelerate, move laterally and re-accelerate is critical when evading opponents, tackling, or reacting to the unpredictable bounce of the ball or movement of another player. The biomechanical loading requirements of change of direction (COD) movement are angle and velocity dependant. Cumulative COD movement can impart high levels of neuromuscular and metabolic fatigue which can adversely affect the efficiency of subsequent movement efforts. Despite widespread use of microtechnology devices (the vast majority containing a global navigation satellite system …

Appraisal Of Free Online Symptom Checkers And Applications For Self-Diagnosis And Triage: An Australian Evaluation, Michella Gaye Hill

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The internet has impacted society and changed the way companies and individuals operate on a daily basis. Seeking information online via computer or mobile device is common practice. The phrase ‘Google it’ is now part of modern vernacular and is a resource increasingly utilised by young and old alike. Around 80% of Australian’s search health-related information online as it is convenient, cheap, and available 24/7. Symptom checkers are one tool used by consumers to investigate their health issues. Symptom checkers are automated online programs which use computerised algorithms, asking a series of questions to help determine a potential diagnosis and/or …

Exploring Leadership And Research In Nurse Practitioner Roles Across Australia And Ireland: A Mixed-Methods Study, Mary Ryder

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Introduction

The Nurse Practitioner role is recognised as the highest level of clinical nursing. Leadership and research are identified as core attributes for Nurse Practitioners in the regulatory frameworks. There is an expectation that as clinical leaders, Nurse Practitioners have the ability to transform healthcare delivery within their specialist area of practice.

Background

The voice of Nurse Practitioners is limited in the current literature related to how they view their leadership contribution to Nursing. There has been some criticism in the evidence to date related to volume, consistency and transferability of Nurse Practitioner research. However, there is a shortage of …

Nutrition, Body Composition And Physical Activity In Malignant Pleural Disease: Associations With Patient Outcomes And Response To An Exercise Intervention, Emily Jeffery

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background: Patients with malignant pleural disease (MPD) have advanced cancer and high symptom burden. Goals of patient care are to optimise health-related quality-of-life (HR-QoL) and participation in daily physical activities. Supportive care interventions such as nutrition and exercise could offer benefit to patients. However, there is a lack of information on the prevalence of low muscle mass (i.e., pre-sarcopenia), malnutrition, inactivity and poor physical functioning in patients with MPD. Additionally, little is known about the factors associated with development of pre-sarcopenia and malnutrition or their associations with patient outcomes.

Purpose: The objectives were to: 1) characterise physical activity levels and …

Tannic Acid Inhibits Lipid Metabolism And Induce Ros In Prostate Cancer Cells, Prashanth K.B. Nagesh, Elham Hatami, Pallabita Chowdhury, Shashi Jaun, Nirnoy Dan, Vivek Kumar Kashyap, Subhash C. Chauhan, Meena Jaggi, Murali M. Yallapu

School of Medicine Publications

Prostate cancer (PCa) cells exploit the aberrant lipid signaling and metabolism as their survival advantage. Also, intracellular storage lipids act as fuel for the PCa proliferation. However, few studies were available that addressed the topic of targeting lipid metabolism in PCa. Here, we assessed the tannic acid (TA) lipid-targeting ability and its capability to induce endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress by reactive oxygen species (ROS) in PCa cells. TA exhibited dual effects by inhibiting lipogenic signaling and suppression of lipid metabolic pathways. The expression of proteins responsible for lipogenesis was down regulated. The membrane permeability and functionality of PCa were severely …

Intrauterine Exposure To Chronic Hypoxia In The Rat Leads To Progressive Diastolic Function And Increased Aortic Stiffness From Early Postnatal Developmental Stages, Praveen Kumar, Jude S. Morton, Amin Shah, Victor Do, Consolato Sergi, Jesus Serrano-Lomelin, Sandra T. Davidge, Donna Beker, Jody Levasseur, Lisa K. Hornberger

School of Medicine Publications

Aim

We sought to explore whether fetal hypoxia exposure, an insult of placental insufficiency, is associated with left ventricular dysfunction and increased aortic stiffness at early postnatal ages.

Methods

Pregnant Sprague Dawley rats were exposed to hypoxic conditions (11.5% FiO2) from embryonic day E15‐21 or normoxic conditions (controls). After delivery, left ventricular function and aortic pulse wave velocity (measure of aortic stiffness) were assessed longitudinally by echocardiography from day 1 through week 8. A mixed ANOVA with repeated measures was performed to compare findings between groups across time. Myocardial hematoxylin and eosin and picro‐sirius staining were performed to evaluate myocyte …

Uncovering The Complex Genetics Of Human Personality: Response From Authors On The Pgmra Model, Igor Zwir, Pashupati Mishra, Coral Del-Val, C. Charles Gu, Gabriel A. De Erausquin, Terho Lehtimäki, C. Robert Cloninger

School of Medicine Publications

Following publication of our two articles [1, 2], a critique of the methodology of Phenotype-Genotype Many-to-Many Relations Analysis (PGMRA) [1, 3, 4] questioned the validity of our results from the perspective of polygenic risk scores (PRS) [5]. We appreciate the importance of these questions, and here provide a concise discussion of the assumptions and mathematical constraints of both approaches. We thank this commentator and others who have discussed our articles with us for their thoughtful questions and critiques

On The Proposed Legalization Of Commercial Surrogacy: I Thought We Had Abolished The Sale Of Human Beings, Phyllis Chesler

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Diagnosing Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Using Saliva Rna Compared To Cognitive And Balance Testing, Steven D. Hicks, Cayce Onks, Raymond Y. Kim, Kevin J. Zhen, Jayson Loeffert, Andrea C. Loeffert, Robert P. Olympia, Gregory Fedochak, Samantha Devita, Aakanksha Rangnekar, John Leddy, Mohammad N. Haider, Zofia Gagnon, Callan D. Mcloughlin, Matthew Badia, Jason Randall, Miguel Madeira, Aaron M. Yengo-Kahn, Justin Wenzel, Matthew Heller, Hallie Zwibel, Aaron Roberts, Samantha Johnson, Chuck Monteith, Michael N. Dretsch, Thomas R. Campbell, Rebekah Mannix, Christopher Neville, Frank Middleton

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Early, accurate diagnosis of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) can improve clinical outcomes for patients, but mTBI remains difficult to diagnose because of reliance on subjective symptom reports. An objective biomarker could increase diagnostic accuracy and improve clinical outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of salivary noncoding RNA (ncRNA) to serve as a diagnostic adjunct to current clinical tools. We hypothesized that saliva ncRNA levels would demonstrate comparable accuracy for identifying mTBI as measures of symptom burden, neurocognition, and balance.

METHODS: This case‐control study involved 538 individuals. Participants included 251 individuals with mTBI, enrolled …

Saliva Microrna Biomarkers Of Cumulative Concussion, Steven D. Hicks, Robert P. Olympia, Cayce Onks, Raymond Y. Kim, Kevin J. Zhen, Gregory Fedorchak, Samantha Devita, Aakanksha Rangnekar, Matthew Heller, Hallie Zwibel, Chuck Monteith, Zofia Gagnon, Callan D. Mcloughlin, Jason Randall, Miguel Madeira, Thomas R. Campbell, Elise Fengler, Michael N. Dretsch, Christopher Neville, Frank A. Middleton

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Recurrent concussions increase risk for persistent post-concussion symptoms, and may lead to chronic neurocognitive deficits. Little is known about the molecular pathways that contribute to persistent concussion symptoms. We hypothesized that salivary measurement of microribonucleic acids (miRNAs), a class of epitranscriptional molecules implicated in concussion pathophysiology, would provide insights about the molecular cascade resulting from recurrent concussions. This hypothesis was tested in a case-control study involving 13 former professional football athletes with a history of recurrent concussion, and 18 age/sex-matched peers. Molecules of interest were further validated in a cross-sectional study of 310 younger individuals with a history of no …

Effect Of Surface Treatment And Storage Time On Immediate Repair Bond Strength Durability Of Methacrylate- And Ormocer-Based Bulk Fill Resin Composites., Sara Adel Botros

Dentistry

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of surface treatment and storage time on immediate repair bond durability of methacrylate- and ormocer-based bulk fill composites. In total, 265 discs were divided into 32 groups (n = 8/group) according to: (1) Material: X-tra fil and Admira Fusion X-tra; (2) Surface treatment: oxygen inhibition; matrix; Futurabond M+; Silane/Futurabond M+; Admira Bond; Silane/Admira Bond; ceramic repair system; and Silane/Cimara bond; and (3) Storage time: 24 h and 6 months. Each disc received three micro-cylinders from the same material. Specimens were subjected to micro-shear bond strength testing either at 24 h …

Altered Growth Trajectory In Children Born To Mothers With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus And Preeclampsia, Yonglin Huang, Wei Zhang, Karen Go, Kenji J. Tsuchiya, Jianzhong Hu, Daniel W. Skupski, Sheow Yun Sei, Yoko Nomura

Publications and Research

Purpose: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and preeclampsia are leading causes of mortality and morbidity in mothers and children. High childhood body mass index (BMI) is among their myriad of negative outcomes. However, little is known about the trajectory of the child BMI exposed to GDM and co-occurring preeclampsia from early to mid-childhood. This study examined the independent and joint impact of GDM and preeclampsia on childhood BMI trajectory.

Methods: A population-based sample of 356 mothers were recruited from OB/GYN clinics in New York. Their children were then followed annually from 18 to 72 months. Maternal GDM and preeclampsia status were …

Association Of Genetic Risks With Autism Spectrum Disorder And Early Neurodevelopmental Delays Among Children Without Intellectual Disability, Nagahide Takahashi, Taeko Harada, Tomoko Nishimura, Akemi Okamura, Damee Choi, Toshiki Iwabuchi, Hitoshi Kuwabara, Shu Takagai, Yoko Nomura, Nori Takei, Kenji J. Tsuchiya

Publications and Research

IMPORTANCE Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is highly heritable, and modest contributions of common genetic variants to ASD have been reported. However, the association of genetic risks derived from common risk variants with ASD traits in children from the general population is not clear, and the association of these genetic risks with neurodevelopment in infants has not been well understood.

OBJECTIVE To test whether a polygenic risk score (PRS) for ASD is associated with neurodevelopmental progress at age 18 months and ASD traits at age 6 years among children from the general population.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In this cohort study, …