Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Osmosis - Spring 2019

Osmosis Magazine

Osmosis is a student read, led, and written publication from the University of Richmond, focusing on all aspects of healthcare and science.

Paula Ferrada, M.D. Facs Trauma And Acute Care Surgery (Interview), Joseph Mceachon

Osmosis Magazine

Interview by Joseph McEachon

Titles at VCU: Professor of Surgery at VCU.

Program Director for the Surgical Critical Care Fellowship.

Medical Director of the Surgical and Trauma Intensive Care Unit.

The Future Of Healthcare Delivery, Ryan Cvelbar

Osmosis Magazine

The advancement of modern technology is a perpetual cycle that enhances the current ways in which we live and our quality of life, while also improving upon older technological conceptions. Just recently, virtual reality (VR), has risen to the top as a result of the media’s fascination with the profound level of sophistication with which the product operates. The first concept of virtual reality was developed in 1968 by Ivan Sutherland. Since then, Sutherland’s rudimentary invention has blossomed, as have its potential applications in life irrespective of the entertainment industry with which it is most commonly associated. Specifically, virtual reality’s …

Pillow Talk: The Science Behind The All-Nighter, Rilyn Mckallip

Osmosis Magazine

It’s that crazy part of the semester. Finals are coming up, and you find yourself staying awake later and later trying to cram for important tests. The night before your toughest final, you decide to pull an all nighter. It’s the only way you’ll be able to learn all those facts. The day of the test, you feel awful, but you make it through, and have a feeling you probably passed. As you go back to your dorm to crash, all seems well. You think to yourself, “that one night of lost sleep probably won’t hurt me at all.”

Cow Conundrum: The Science Behind Lactose Intolerance, Dana Morcillo

Osmosis Magazine

We’ve all heard those words before - lactose intolerant. You, a close friend, or even a random stranger at d-hall mutters those words and with it comes the inability to eat milk, cheese, and ice cream. But what does being lactose intolerant actually mean? Besides special access to that one refrigerator in d-hall you’ve always wondered about, lactose intolerance means that you lack a special enzyme needed to digest lactose - a sugar present in many of your favorite foods.

What Does Science Say About Sexuality?, Anthony Isenhour

Osmosis Magazine

While sexuality is full of cultural variations and subjective definitions used for self-identification, scientists have attempted to investigate the complexity of this topic. There may be benefits and risks involved for many if science rules out specific characteristics that determine one’s sexuality, but there is no simple determining factor for sexuality because of its fluidity.

Law And Order: Zero Gravity, Nathan Dinh

Osmosis Magazine

In August 2019, a woman named Anne McClain logged into her ex-wife’s private bank account, violating privacy laws. While in any other case this would be just another issue of identity theft, this was no ordinary crime. Rather, McClain was 254 miles above the Earth, traveling 17,150 miles per hour aboard the International Space Station when she allegedly used a NASA-registered computer to log onto her estranged wife’s account. Hers was the first crime committed off planet Earth, and it raises the question: how do countries decide who investigates and prosecutes crimes committed in space? As space tourism, interplanetary travel, …

The Gut Microbiome, Lucy Patterson

Osmosis Magazine

The gut microbiome is characterized as living microorganisms, including bacteria and viruses, and genetic material found within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. These microorganisms aid in the digestion and absorption of nutrients in food, and play an active role in the digestive process. However, recent evidence suggests that the gut microbiome is not only helpful in the digestion of food, but also could be linked to mental health and personality.

Mysterious X Lymphocyte Cure To Type One Diabetes?, George Qiao

Osmosis Magazine

Diabetes, the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, is caused by excessive blood glucose. Type 1 diabetes is a variation of the disease characterized by a deficiency in insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas that allows cells to take up glucose from the blood and receive energy. Lack of insulin results in accumulation of sugar in the bloodstream, and subsequently dehydration, excessive urination, and tissue damage. The need to prevent the disease is urgent, as over a million children or young adults in the world have type 1 diabetes, and over 100,000 cases of type 1 …

Letter From The Editor, Anthony Isenhour

Osmosis Magazine

Letter from the Editor-in-Chief.

Osmosis - Fall 2019

Osmosis Magazine

Osmosis is a student read, led, and written publication from the University of Richmond, focusing on all aspects of healthcare and science.

Wound Care Nurses Becoming Quitline Providers And Teaching Patients About Smoking Cessation And Nicotine Replacement Therapy, Hannah Gilbert, Lakyn Rye

Scholars Week

Our evidence-based practice project focuses on wound care nurses becoming Quitline providers and teaching patients about smoking cessation and nicotine replacement therapy. To guide our research, we used Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory. Smoking is a modifiable risk factor that is a part of the patient’s environment. Our research we used supports that smoking can affect wound healing. We believe that wound care nurses should be trained in smoking cessation and nicotine replacement therapy prescribing to be an advocate to patients and their journey to wound healing.

Tracheostomy Education For Pediatric Patients And Parents, Jonathon Batts, Kendall Baker

Scholars Week

To begin this project, we found that this specific facility did not have proper education given to parents about pediatric tracheostomies. Pediatric patients with tracheostomies are a very delicate population that requires extensive, round the clock care. We were able to establish a theoretical framework with Orem’s Self-Care theory that matched very well with our topic, and finally we were able to find research articles that looked at this patient population specifically. The need for a tracheostomy in pediatric patients can lead to extreme anxiety in patients and parents. Our recommendations for this facility would be to implement the “Trach …

Evaluation Of Training Load Volume In Weightlifting, Kamil Faritovich Bayazitov

Eurasian Journal of Sport Science

Aim: Development and theoretical and experimental substantiation of a new method of training load volume’s evaluation in weightlifting, which would allow in a certain period of time to get more available, reliable and detailed information about specific work of various qualified weightlifters.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of the applied methods of training load volume’s evaluation in weightlifting, applied pedagogical experiment, methods of mathematical statistics (arithmetic average, arithmetic average error, correlation analysis).

Results: Indicator of training load volume’s concentration increases along with increasing athlete’s qualification: on the beginning stage – 8.8±0.7; training stage – 9.7±0.9; on the stage of sports skills performance …

2021-03-24_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 …

2021-03-24_Michiganoverview_Covidtestingtimes, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Michigan COVID-19 Testing Turnaround Data

The COVID Testing Turnaround Time page was obtained from Michigan's COVID-19 data page: https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus/0,9753,7-406-98163_98173-545615--,00.html.

This report was created by the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services, providing data for the past 14 days on the average time it takes for a diagnostic COVID-19 laboratory test to be reported to the state health department. Testing turnaround time data will be updated weekly on Friday mornings.

MDHHS receives results from commercial labs, hospitals, and public health labs. However, public health laboratories perform limited diagnostic testing and disease surveillance for infectious diseases. Total turnaround time is calculated from the difference of …

James's Choice: Treating An Infant With Craniosacral Therapy (Cst), Veronica Quarry

Journal of Transformative Touch

No abstract provided.

2021-03-24_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.

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. It is updated Monday - Saturday.
This report is provisional and subject to change. City of Detroit and Wayne County are reported separately. MDHHS began tracking probable cases April 5, 2020. FCI indicates federal correctional institute. MDOC indicates Michigan Department of Corrections. Diagnostic tests, including nucleic acid amplification/real-time polymerase chain reaction (NAAT/RT-PCR) and rapid virus antigen detection point of …

Childhood Cancer Survivors' Success - Preparing Educators, Darlen Michelle Harless

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Ernst and Sara Lane Volgenau College of Education at Morehead State University by Darlen Michelle Harless on March 24, 2021.

2021-03-24_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 Hospitals. Data is self-reported by hospitals daily to the EM Resource System per MDHHS Director Robert Gordon's Emergency Order.

Contains the tables Statewide Hospital Capacity Report for COVID-19, COVID-19 Metrics, Statewide Hospital Available PPE Tracking for COVID-19, as well as the tables PPE Days On Hand and Patient Census.

Perspective Of Mesenchymal Transformation In Glioblastoma., Yona Kim, Frederick S Varn, Sung-Hye Park, Byung Woo Yoon, Hye Ran Park, Charles Lee, Roel G W Verhaak, Sun Ha Paek

Faculty Research 2021

Despite aggressive multimodal treatment, glioblastoma (GBM), a grade IV primary brain tumor, still portends a poor prognosis with a median overall survival of 12-16 months. The complexity of GBM treatment mainly lies in the inter- and intra-tumoral heterogeneity, which largely contributes to the treatment-refractory and recurrent nature of GBM. By paving the road towards the development of personalized medicine for GBM patients, the cancer genome atlas classification scheme of GBM into distinct transcriptional subtypes has been considered an invaluable approach to overcoming this heterogeneity. Among the identified transcriptional subtypes, the mesenchymal subtype has been found associated with more aggressive, invasive, …

Use Of Face Masks To Limit The Spread Of The Covid-19 Among Western Ugandans: Knowledge, Attitude And Practices, Franck Katembo Sikakulya, Robinson Ssebuufu, Simon Binezero Mambo, Theophilus Pius, Annet Kabanyoro, Elizabeth Kamahoro, Yusuf Mulumba, Jean Kakule Muhongya, Patrick Kyamanywa

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

Background

The world is grappling with an ever-changing COVID-19 pandemic using preventive measures such as personal hygiene, face masks, restrictions on travel and gatherings in communities, in addition to a race to find a vaccine. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and practices of the western Uganda community on the proper use of face masks to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Methods A cross-sectional study using a structured questionnaire was carried out from 1^st July to 10^th July 2020 among western Ugandans of the consent age of 18 years and above. Data was …

How Well Can We Assess The Validity Of Non-Randomised Studies Of Medications? A Systematic Review Of Assessment Tools, Elvira D'Andrea, Lydia Vinals, Elisabetta Patorno, Jessica M. Franklin, Dimitri Bennett, Joan A. Largent, Daniela C. Moga, Hongbo Yuan, Xuerong Wen, Andrew R. Zullo, Thomas P. A. Debray, Grammati Sarri

Pharmacy Practice and Science Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether assessment tools for non-randomised studies (NRS) address critical elements that influence the validity of NRS findings for comparative safety and effectiveness of medications.

DESIGN: Systematic review and Delphi survey.

DATA SOURCES: We searched PubMed, Embase, Google, bibliographies of reviews and websites of influential organisations from inception to November 2019. In parallel, we conducted a Delphi survey among the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology Comparative Effectiveness Research Special Interest Group to identify key methodological challenges for NRS of medications. We created a framework consisting of the reported methodological challenges to evaluate the selected NRS tools.

STUDY SELECTION: Checklists …

The Acoustical Characteristics Of An Individual With Adductor Spasmodic Dysphonia Receiving Botox Injections, Hope Noelle Higginbotham

Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to measure the qualitative and quantitative vocal characteristics of an individual with adductor spasmodic dysphonia (ADSD) who was treated with botulinum toxin (Botox) injections. ADSD is a voice disorder that affects voice muscles and is characterized by rigid movement of the vocal folds and inconsistent speech. The participant was acoustically recorded and completed a diary regarding vocal changes before and after Botox injections to compare vocal changes that occurred over time. In addition, the participant qualitatively reported information regarding her perceptions of the changes in her vocal quality with the injections. The results indicated …

International Respiratory Infections Society Covid Research Conversations: Podcast 2 With Dr. Michael S. Niederman And Dr. Edward J. Schenck, Julio A. Ramirez, Michael S. Niederman, Edward J. Schenck

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

Section(s) Topics

1–4 Introductions

5 COVID-19 in New York City

6–7 Telemedicine, long-term sequelae

8 Development of a multi-disciplinary ICU team

9–10 Treatment of ARDS, COVID-19 pathogenesis

11–12 Prioritizing treatment at research

13 Challenges in tracing the natural history of severe COVID-19

14–15 Experience with mechanically ventilated patients; non-pulmonary organ failure

16–17 Mapping COVID-19 trajectories by SOFA score

18–20 Findings: additive organ dysfunction, improving vs. worsening trajectory

21 ARDS therapeutic approaches

22 Clinical trials involving Cornell

23–25 Lessons learned: patient care, research, education, caring for critical care workers

26–30 2021 predictions: improved therapies and research, endemic COVID-19, vaccines

31–33 Prioritizing …

Social Identity Gaps And Ptsd: A Qualitative Study Of Iraq And Afghanistan Veterans, Jonathan Christopher Thibault

Student Theses and Dissertations

​Many Veterans have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) since the beginning of the Iraq/Afghanistan wars. Much research has been done to understand the disorder. However, little research has been done to see how the military acculturation process and PTSD affect the Veteran’s social identity. This research study aimed to find out what are the relationships between the military acculturation process and PTSD, and Veterans’ social identities. The study utilized the qualitative research method and the Communication Theory of Identity, specifically the personal-relational and personal-enacted identity gap layers of the theory. Eight Veterans, who self-reported having PTSD and served …

Speech-Language Pathologist Confidence In Dysphagia Management, Fiona May Fuller

Student Theses and Dissertations

This study served to investigate the dysphagia-specific education and training that practicing speech-language pathologists (SLPs) have received within their graduate programs, within their workplaces, and independently. In addition, SLPs’ perceptions of their preparedness for dysphagia management responsibilities after completion of a graduate-level Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) program and the confidence they have in their own abilities to contribute to different aspects of dysphagia management were also investigated. An electronic survey was distributed to licensed SLPs via an email list provided by the Arkansas Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology (ABESPA). Results revealed that although SLPs felt generally …

Therapy Approaches For Broca’S Aphasia: Consultative Vs. Clinician Directed, Stacey Nichole Mott

Student Theses and Dissertations

This investigation sought to explore the outcomes from two common therapy approaches, consultative and clinician directed, to language and communication rehabilitation for individuals with Broca’s aphasia. Both approaches are recognized as evidence-based and are used across many clinical settings. This single case study was performed using standardized assessment, informal measures, and a survey. The data collection reveals that there are positive outcomes to both methods of therapy. However, this study revealed a need to continue investigating the prevalence of use for both types of therapy approaches used by speech-language pathologists in various rehabilitative settings.

Speech-Language Pathologists’ Knowledge And Implementation Of Thyroid Hormone Diseases And Allergies On Voice, Kirsten Combs

Student Theses and Dissertations

There is little research that shows speech-language pathologists’ (SLP’s) knowledge of the impact of allergies or thyroid diseases related to voice disorders, or if they use this information during assessment and treatment. A survey was distributed to every licensed SLPs in the state of Arkansas, and 284 SLPs completed it. Only 20 participants asked clients if they have thyroid hormone diseases, whereas 256 asked about allergies. While treating, 236 participants reported that they consider allergies, but only 94 considered thyroid hormone diseases. On knowledge-based questions, the participants had an overall average of 84% for thyroid hormone diseases and 78% for …

Salivary Cortisol Levels Of Children With Reading Difficulties, Alexandria Gaines Jarrett

Student Theses and Dissertations

This study was performed to measure the salivary cortisol levels of children with reading difficulties compared to children with typical reading performance. Participants were ages 6-11. They attended two sessions, where reading levels and cortisol levels were measured in order to determine the effect of reading performance on cortisol levels. An independent samples t-test was conducted to compare the cortisol levels for participants who had reading difficulties (experimental group) and the participants with typical reading performance (control group). Means of the cortisol levels were compared in order to reveal at what stage during reading tasks cortisol levels peaked. No statistical …