Food for thought: a qualitative assessment of medical trainee and faculty perceptions of nutrition education.

Background: The American Society of Clinical Nutrition recommends 37 to 44 h of undergraduate medical nutrition education. The Total Health Curriculum at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) contains 14 h of objective-based nutritional instruction. This study aimed to examine the perceptions of key stakeholders regarding the role of nutrition in medicine and to identify barriers, opportunities for improvement, and roles/responsibilities for innovative implementation of nutrition education.

'I Didn't Know What Was Going to Happen': Children's and Young People's Experiences and Their Involvement Before and After Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy.

Aims: To explore experiences, expectations, and involvement of children and young people (CYP) in decision-making for selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) surgery, post-operative physiotherapy treatment and outcomes.

Methods: A qualitative study design using one to one interviews. Five CYP (2 girls and 3 boys) participated, and interviews lasted between 45 min and 2 h.

It Is Never Too Early to Start: Educating Health Science Students to Become Future Educators.

Teachers lead, learn, and live as they walk through the journey of education, experiencing humanity in and outside their classrooms. No task is small when it comes to teaching; it is a craftsmanship that takes years to develop, and never too early to get started. In this commentary, the authors extract thoughtful viewpoints from years of teaching experience regarding how to inspire and engage more students to become educators.

'Wanting no regrets': Parental decision making around selective dorsal rhizotomy.

Background: Selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) is an irreversible neurosurgical procedure used to reduce spasticity while aiming to improve gross motor function for children with cerebral palsy (CP). Little research has explored the complexity of parental decision-making experiences surrounding SDR surgery and required rehabilitation. The aim was to explore parental experiences and expectation in the decision-making process around the SDR operation, physiotherapy treatment and outcomes.

Lot verification practices in Ontario clinical chemistry laboratories - Results of a patterns-of-practice survey.

Objectives: Verifying new reagent or calibrator lots is crucial for maintaining consistent test performance. The Institute for Quality Management in Healthcare (IQMH) conducted a patterns-of-practice survey and follow-up case study to collect information on lot verification practices in Ontario.

Methods: The survey had 17 multiple-choice questions and was distributed to 183 licensed laboratories.

Urinary concentrations of metals before and after volcanic eruption: a natural experiment surrounding the eruption of Volcán de Fuego, 2018.

Volcanic eruptions increase environmental heavy metal concentrations, yet little research has been performed on their extrapulmonary human health effects. We fortuitously collected biological samples in a cohort of Guatemalan sugarcane cutters in the area surrounding Volcán de Fuego before and after the June 2018 eruption. We sought to determine whether stratovolcanic activity was associated with changes in urinary concentrations of heavy metals in a cohort of sugarcane workers.

A Quantitative and Narrative Evaluation of Goodman and Gilman's Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics.

Goodman and Gilman's (PBT) has been a cornerstone in the education of pharmacists, physicians, and pharmacologists for decades. The objectives of this study were to describe and evaluate the 13 edition of PBT on bases including: (1) author characteristics; (2) recency of citations; (3) conflict of interest (CoI) disclosure; (4) expert evaluation of chapters. Contributors' (N = 115) sex, professional degrees, and presence of undisclosed potential CoI-as reported by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid's Open Payments (2013-2017)-were examined.

The 2018 rift eruption and summit collapse of Kīlauea Volcano.

In 2018, Kīlauea Volcano experienced its largest lower East Rift Zone (LERZ) eruption and caldera collapse in at least 200 years. After collapse of the Pu'u 'Ō'ō vent on 30 April, magma propagated downrift. Eruptive fissures opened in the LERZ on 3 May, eventually extending ~6.

Perceptions of Nutrition Education in the Current Medical School Curriculum.

Background And Objectives: Although the National Academy of Sciences has recommended a minimum of 25 hours of nutrition education, the majority of medical schools offer very little to no training or education in nutrition to medical students during their tenure in medical school. In order to assess the relevance and efficacy of current levels of nutrition training as viewed by students, residents, and physicians, as well as possible areas for further improvement, the authors conducted a qualitative study exploring students' experiences.

Methods: Medical students, residents, and physicians at a Midwestern medical school were interviewed during a series of eight focus groups and one-on-one interviews.

Inter-organisational response to disasters.

Inter-organisational communication failures during times of real-world disasters impede the collaborative response of agencies responsible for ensuring the public's health and safety. In the best of circumstances, communications across jurisdictional boundaries are ineffective. In times of crisis, when communities are grappling with the impact of a disaster, communications become critically important and more complex.

The bioengineering of changing lifestyle and wearable technology: a mini review.

Chronic diseases are a major health concern at the national and global level. According to the CDC, 86% of US health dollars go toward the treatment of chronic diseases. Many chronic diseases are manageable or preventable if individuals make appropriate lifestyle choices.

Posturographic performance and repeatability of the computerized sit-to-stand test: preliminary results.

Each year, one in every three adults over the age of 65 falls often with injury. While this public health problem can be substantially reduced with simple interventions such as vestibular rehabilitation, balance assessments are not routinely done in the clinic, and less than half of affected adults talk to their physicians about such concerns. The goal of this study is to investigate distinct posturographic parameters of the computerized Sit-to-Stand (StS) Test to determine between- and within- subject variability of these.

Using posturography to measure balance control during seated tai chi.

Background: Tai Chi for Arthritis (TCA) is recognized by the CDC as an evidenced-based program to prevent falls in older adults. Although seated Tai Chi is recommended for those unable to stand, little is known about balance control during seated TCA.

Purpose: To explore the use of posturography to assess differences between experts and non-expert practitioners of seated TCA.

Thoughts on an integrative approach to teach wellness within the context of a traditional science/bioengineering curriculum.

Engineers and scientists are valuable resources to society and might be referred to as human capital. Faculties are charged with protecting society’s investment in human capital by developing competency-based curricula. These curricula primarily focus on technical skills to assure society that the trainees are competent to perform their job but frequently neglect to teach the competency of self-awareness.

A pilot study on the effect of tai chi exercise on peripheral blood cytokines assoicated with nociceptive pain in healthy volunteers.

Purpose: Tai chi (TC) is a gentle form of exercise having focused mindfulness associated with physical movement. Published outcomes data using the WOMAC pain score indicate that TC has an impact on the level of pain reported by individuals with arthritis. The arthritis-associated pain is generally considered to be nociceptive and influenced by peripheral sensitization associated with the actions of inflammatory mediators such as neuropeptides and cytokines.

Neuropeptides as biologial system integrators – mini review.

This paper provides a review on the emerging role of neuropeptides for body systems integration. Neuropeptides are small protein-like substances that are released into the synaptic space and/or the blood, hence, acting as neurotransmitters and neurohormones. Classically, their role has been viewed as integrating the central nervous system and the endocrine system.

Interactive remote medical curriculum through creative technology integration - biomed 2013.

By combining traditional classroom instruction with web-based educational technologies, distance education has been a reality for many years. However, limitations remain in established technologies that restrict the types of courses offered through this medium. This was the motivation for the Interactive Remote Course Delivery (IRCD) system at the Indiana University School of Medicine and our work aimed to overcome these limitations in order to allow a more interactive learning experience.

Using posturography to assess expertise among tai chi practitioners - biomed 2013.

Tai Chi, performed either seating or standing, is frequently recommended to improve various aspects of health, including balance, metabolic control, heart rate variability, sleep, or immune response. Many studies exploring mind-body interventions, both with self-reported or biologically-measured outcomes, report significant differences in outcomes among participants. However, neither the physiological or psychological mechanisms behind the variations are understood.

Measurements of low oxygen tension in vitro and response of macrophages to levels applicable to peri-and postoperative treatment of traumatic brain injury.

Established clinical guidelines for treatment of severe traumatic brain injury aim at maintaining intracranial and cerebral perfusion pressures. Recently, it has been shown that additional regulation of cerebral oxygen delivery helps to decrease patient mortality and leads to improved 6-month quality-of-life scores. However, eubaric oxygen-guided therapy is still controversial since it is well known that hyperoxia can cause unwanted secondary brain injury.

Acute effects of tai chi exercise on cardiac autonomic function in healthy adults with tai chi experience.

About 1 in 3 American adults have cardiovascular disease associated with risk factors such as physical inactivity, obesity, and stress. Heart rate variability (HRV) analysis is considered a non-invasive procedure for analyzing cardiovascular autonomic influence. Depressed HRV has been linked to abnormal cardiovascular autonomic modulation.

Using computerized posturography to explore the connection between bmi and postural stability in long-term tai chi practitioners - biomed 2011.

Obesity is a major health concern because of its linkage to chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Another less studied outcome is the observed increase in the incidence of accidental falls. According to CDC, medical costs associated with fall injuries exceeded $16 billion in 2000 and by 2020 will exceed $54 billion.

The effect of low oxygen with and without steady-state hydrogen peroxide on cytokine gene and protein expression of monocyte-derived macrophages - biomed 2011.

An early event during inflammation and infection is the migration of monocytes into tissues where they differentiate into macrophages. Such monocyte-derived macrophages face an unfavorable environment characterized by extremely low oxygen tension and accumulation of reactive oxygen species such as hydrogen peroxide. Previous experiments showed that a macrophage cell line cultured under these conditions responded to inflammatory stimulants with an increased respiratory burst compared to cells kept at regular ambient oxygen conditions.

Macrophages under low oxygen culture conditions respond to ion parametric resonance magnetic fields - biomed 2011.

Macrophages, when entering inflamed tissue, encounter low oxygen tension due to the impairment of blood supply and/or the massive infiltration of cells that consume oxygen. Previously, we showed that such macrophages release more bacteriotoxic hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) when exposed in vitro to low oxygen than when cultured at usual ambient oxygen conditions. In this study, we use this low-oxygen, inflammatory macrophage model to test the macrophages’ response to low-frequency magnetic fields.

Development of a clinically relevant liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry assay for 13 drugs of abuse in urine, designed to meet the needs of the service users.

Background: The clinical requirements of the users of assay results must be at the centre of assay development. We aimed to develop a single liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assay for drugs of abuse in urine that would meet the needs of our service users and replace the multiple screening and confirmatory techniques previously in use.

Methods: After discussion with our users, it was decided that 13 drugs and metabolites should be measured in our panel: morphine, codeine, norcodeine, dihydrocodeine, 6-monoacetylmorphine, acetyl codeine, methadone and its metabolite, buprenorphine and its metabolite, amphetamine, benzoylecgonine and cotinine.