Regulation of host metabolic health by parasitic helminths.

Obesity is a worldwide pandemic and major risk factor for the development of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and type 2 diabetes (T2D). T2D requires lifelong medical support to limit complications and is defined by impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance (IR), and chronic low-level systemic inflammation initiating from adipose tissue. The current preventative strategies include a healthy diet, controlled physical activity, and medication targeting hyperglycemia, with underexplored underlying inflammation.

Effect of experimental hookworm infection on insulin resistance in people at risk of type 2 diabetes.

The reduced prevalence of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes in countries with endemic parasitic worm infections suggests a protective role for worms against metabolic disorders, however clinical evidence has been non-existent. This 2-year randomised, double-blinded clinical trial in Australia of hookworm infection in 40 male and female adults at risk of type 2 diabetes assessed the safety and potential metabolic benefits of treatment with either 20 (n = 14) or 40 (n = 13) Necator americanus larvae (L3) or Placebo (n = 13) (Registration ACTRN12617000818336). Primary outcome was safety defined by adverse events and completion rate.

Occupational Science Concepts Essential to Occupation-Based Practice: Development of Expert Consensus.

Importance: What occupational science (OS) knowledge may be essential to occupational therapy practice has not been systematically explored.

Objective: To identify and gain expert consensus on OS concepts viewed as essential to occupational therapy practice.

Design: A complex, convergent mixed-methods Delphi design with an international panel of OS experts randomly assigned to two parallel groups.

Association of Sleep and Hand Function in People With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

This study examined whether sleep quality is associated with hand function above and beyond what can be explained by the effect of pain and carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) severity on hand function in clients with CTS. The sample included 53 adults ages 30-86 yr. The Manual Ability Measure-20, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, visual analog scale for pain, and electromyography for CTS diagnosis and severity level were used to measure outcomes.

Safety and tolerability of experimental hookworm infection in humans with metabolic disease: study protocol for a phase 1b randomised controlled clinical trial.

Background: Abdominal obesity and presence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) significantly increase the risk of developing diseases such as Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with escalating emergence of MetS and T2DM constituting a significant public health crisis worldwide. Lower prevalence of inflammatory and metabolic diseases such as T2DM in countries with higher incidences of helminth infections suggested a potential role for these parasites in the prevention and management of certain diseases. Recent studies confirmed the potential protective nature of helminth infection against MetS and T2DM via immunomodulation or, potentially, alteration of the intestinal microbiota.

Effectiveness of Transition Readiness Interventions by School-Based Occupational Therapy Personnel.

Despite federal mandates to transition students with disabilities to successful adulthood, outcomes have been poor. Although areas of occupational therapy expertise, such as life and work skills, are effective in improving transition outcomes, occupational therapy personnel rarely provide transition services. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of occupational therapy transition readiness services for students with disabilities, 14 to 16 years of age, over two academic years of intervention.

Influence of Exercise Mode on Post-exercise Arterial Stiffness and Pressure Wave Measures in Healthy Adult Males.

Exercise mode has been reported to be an important determinant of arterial stiffness and wave reflection changes following a brief bout of exercise with inconsistent results to date. This study examined the impact of exercise mode on arterial stiffness and pressure wave measures following acute aerobic exercise (AER), resistance exercise (RES), and a control (CON) condition with no exercise. In a randomized, cross-over, repeated measures design, 21 healthy adult males (26.

Acute Effects of Exercise Mode on Arterial Stiffness and Wave Reflection in Healthy Young Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

This systematic review and meta-analysis quantified the effect of acute exercise mode on arterial stiffness and wave reflection measures including carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV), augmentation index (AIx), and heart rate corrected AIx (AIx75). Using standardized terms, database searches from inception until 2017 identified 45 studies. Eligible studies included acute aerobic and/or resistance exercise in healthy adults, pre- and post-intervention measurements or change values, and described their study design.

A Century of Therapeutic Use of the Physical Environment.

In this article, we describe the use of the objects and spaces of the physical environment by occupational therapy practitioners in the United States over the profession's first 100 years. Using professional literature selected by decade from the years 1917 through 2016 to obtain data, we applied grounded theory methods to complete a detailed description. Team-based analysis over four coding schemes yielded a theoretical description of the profession's therapeutic use of the physical environment.

Cross-cultural understandings of festival food-related activities for older women in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Eastern Kentucky, USA and Auckland, New Zealand.

This cross-country, cross-cultural study explored the meaning of older women's food-related activities for the annual festivals of Songkran (Thai New Year) in Chiang Mai, Thailand; and Christmas in Richmond, Kentucky, USA; and Auckland, New Zealand. A derived etic method was used. The community-dwelling participants were 33 Thai women, aged 60 and older, and 16 New Zealand and 23 eastern Kentucky women, aged 65 and older.

Youth and administrator perspectives on transition in Kentucky's state agency schools.

Students, a large percentage with disabilities, are at high risk for poor post-secondary outcomes in state agency education programs. This mixed-methods study describes the understandings of student transitions in state agency education programs from the perspectives of youth and administrators. Results indicated that: transition is more narrowly defined within alternative education programs; key strengths of transition practice are present in nontraditional schools; and the coordination barriers within this fluid inter-agency transition system are most apparent in students' frequent inter-setting transitions between nontraditional and home schools.

Pediatric therapists' perspectives on occupation-based practice.

Aims: The aim of this study was to describe the perspectives on occupation-based practice of 22 pediatric occupational therapists in a medical facility in the Midwestern United States.

Methods: The study used a grounded theory approach to analyze the individual, semi-structured interviews of 22 pediatric occupational therapists. Transcripts were initially coded using Ethnograph™ 5.

Informing early intervention through an occupational science description of infant-toddler interactions with home space.

Objective: The study provides a substantive description of infant and toddler play with everyday objects and independent negotiation of home space.

Method: A grounded theory approach was used to study 18 typically developing children longitudinally from ages 1 to 18 months. Data from 133 home visits included videotaped self-directed play sessions with usual objects, maternal interviews, and observation records.

Responsible decision-making through measured criteria for faculty time use.

The demands upon faculty's time use within the three missions of universities have always created shared tensions in many academic settings. However, the move to post-baccalaureate entry in occupational therapy education has added complexity to this mix, with increasing expectations of graduate education and scholarship both for faculty and students. This article will present the development of the EKU-OT Faculty Work Profile, a model for categorizing faculty's time use during an academic year.

Occupational Therapy Alone Has Looked Upon Occupation: Future Applications of Occupational Science to Pediatric Occupational Therapy.

Occupational therapy has been an invisible profession, largely because the public has had difficulty grasping the concept of occupation. The emergence of occupational science has the potential of improving this situation. Occupational science is firmly rooted in the founding ideas of occupational therapy.