Childhood Home Injuries: A Nursing Student Approach to Preventing Childhood Home Injuries

Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for children under 14 years of age. Of the unintentional injuries, a significant portion occurs within the home setting. Creating a safe home environment for children has become a focus in current efforts for health promotion and injury prevention. Our objective is to enhance caregivers’ knowledge of home safety thus decreasing the incidence of childhood unintentional injuries. To this end, a series of educational workshops were conducted on poisoning, choking, furniture tip-over, scalds and burns. The material was presented via PowerPoint, videos, posters, handouts, demonstrations and return demonstrations. Verbal pre-and post tests and return demonstration were used to determine the effectiveness of these workshops. The number of participants from each workshop varied from 11 to 14. Pretests revealed that no more than 33% of the participants were able to give correct responses. This percentage increased to 75-100% for the posttests. Conclusions: Comparison of pre and posttest participant responses revealed increased knowledge of common childhood home injuries, prevention strategies, and how to respond should an injury occur. More studies should explore caregivers’ actual implementation of safety knowledge within the home environment

Effects of Whole-Body Vibration on Knee Extension ROM & Functional Hop in Healthy Individuals

The delivery of whole body vibration (WBV) is achieved through applying mechanical oscillations to the body via therapeutic plates. WBV is believed to create changes within the body by transferring energy from a vibration plate to the individual, which when combined with stretching, may create several physiological changes in lower extremity ROM, force output, and function. Literature exists regarding benefits of WBV within the athletic population; however, effects of WBV on individuals with a history of hamstring injury have not been studied. Hamstring strains are the most common type of musculotendinous injury across NCAA athletics. Effects of WBV on soft tissue may be beneficial to recover from a hamstring strain and return to sport. This presentation reviews a snapshot of the literature regarding WBV in combination with stretching to improve range of motion and functional hop in healthy individuals. Limitations in the literature and further research needs will be identified

Primer Design for Detecting Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms within the Oxytocin Receptor Gene (OXTR) among Persons with Alzheimer Disease

Apathy, defined as a disorder of motivation with deficits in behavioral, emotional, and cognitive domains, is a prevalent behavioral symptom among persons with Alzheimer Disease (AD). Various complications have been associated with apathy, such as physical deconditioning, uncooperativeness with care, and social isolation. Little is known about the characteristics of persons with AD, including biological factors, that contribute to the presence and/or severity of apathy. Variations in the Oxytocin Receptor Gene (OXTR) are hypothesized to be candidate modifiers of apathy severity in persons with AD. OXTR is approximately 19,000 bp in length and is located on chromosome 3. A DNA variant within OXTR (rs53576) significantly predicted 19.4% of the variance in apathy severity as measured by the Apathy subscale of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI-Apathy) (F=3.379, p=.027), while controlling for cognitive status and number of Apolipoprotein E (APOE) e4 alleles in a previous study. The aims of this study were to design and successfully utilize primers and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in order to amplify OXTR single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as a means to examine variations within OXTR that may be associated with apathy in persons with AD. Primer sets were designed to amplify seven SNPs (rs53576, rs237885, rs2254298, rs237887, rs2268493, rs2268498, and rs13316193) within OXTR and were tested using ten lab control human DNA samples. Gel electrophoresis results showed that bands migrated appropriate distances for the expected length of DNA fragments. This indicated successful DNA extraction, primer design, and amplification of all seven SNPs. Study findings may contribute to a risk profile for identifying individuals with AD most at risk for apathy based on OXTR genotype, with a long-term goal to design targeted nursing interventions to benefit these individuals

Chronic social stress in pigs impairs intestinal barrier and nutrient transporter function, and alters neuro-immune mediator and receptor expression.

Psychosocial stress is a major factor driving gastrointestinal (GI) pathophysiology and disease susceptibility in humans and animals. The mechanisms governing susceptibility to stress-induced GI disease remain poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated the influence of chronic social stress (CSS) in pigs, induced by 7 d of chronic mixing/crowding stress, on intestinal barrier and nutrient transport function, corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) signaling and immunological responses. Results from this study showed that CSS resulted in a significant impairment of ileal and colonic barrier function indicated by reduced transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) in the ileum and increased FD4 flux in the ileum (by 0.8 fold) and colon (by 0.7 fold). Ileal sodium glucose linked transporter 1 (SGLT-1) function, measured as glucose-induced changes in short-circuit current (Isc), was diminished (by 52%) in CSS pigs, associated with reduced body weight gain and feed efficiency. Although reductions in SGLT-1 function were observed in CSS pigs, mRNA expression for SGLT-1, villus heights were increased in CSS pigs. Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) mRNA was upregulated (by 0.9 fold) in the ileum of CSS pigs but not in the colon. Urocortin 2 (Ucn2) mRNA was upregulated (by 1.5 fold) in the colon of CSS pigs, but not in the ileum. In CSS pigs, a downregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines mRNA (IL1B, TNFA, IL8, and IL6) was observed in both ileum and colon, compared with controls. In contrast CSS induced a marked upregulation of mRNA for IL10 and mast cell chymase gene (CMA1) in the ileum and colon. Together, these data demonstrate that chronic stress in pigs results in significant alterations in intestinal barrier and nutrient transport function and neuro-immune mediator and receptor expression

Optimal Care Pathways for People in Suicidal Crisis Who Interact with First Responders: A Scoping Review

Background: First responders play a vital role in attending to people in suicidal crisis and influencing their care. Aims: To examine existing care pathways and models of care that could be used for people in a suicidal crisis who have come to the attention of first responders. Methods: A scoping review of academic and grey literature published between 2009 and 2019 was conducted, supplemented by consultation with experts, service providers and people with lived experience. Results: The search identified 703 studies. Twenty-three peer reviewed and grey literature articles, as well as one personal communication, were considered eligible for inclusion. Six models, covering 22 programs, were identified. No studies were identified that described care pathways, per se. Co-responder and safe haven models were associated with reduced hospital use and police detentions. Aftercare models were associated with improved well-being and reduction in symptoms. Co-responder, safe haven, and aftercare models were all rated positively by service users. No studies measured the impact on longer term suicidality. Limitations: Inclusion criteria were broad resulting in heterogeneity of studies and designs, limiting comparisons. Few studies employed standardised measurement protocols, reducing the ability to draw sound conclusions. Conclusion: Several novel programs have the potential to support individuals in crisis who encounter first responders