University of North Dakota Physical Therapy Alumni Preferences for a Transitional Doctorate of Physical Therapy Degree

The purposes of this study are to assess whether University of North Dakota Physical Therapy (UND-PT) graduates desire a transitional Doctorate of Physical Therapy (t-DPT) degree and to determine their preferences regarding this proposed educational program. The survey was sent to 1136 alumni of the UND-PT program spanning from its first graduating class in 1970 to the class of 2002. It consisted of 8 demographic questions and 12 questions regarding areas such as curriculum content, program implementation, and personal views about the Doctorate of Physical Therapy degree. Frequencies for all responses were determined. The respondent data were also analyzed for variation across the demographic groups based on the type of physical therapy degree held, the respondents\u27 American Physical Therapy Association (APT A) membership status, the respondents\u27 primary work position and setting, the number of years of experience, the number of continuing education hours within the past year, and the level of exposure of the DPT degree. Open-ended narrative comments were also analyzed in order to obtain a general idea of alumni\u27s attitudes and feelings toward a t-DPT degree. There were 635 surveys returned for a response rate of 58%. Of these respondents, 67% were female and 32% were male. Eighty-three percent of the respondents are between the ages of 26 and 50. Forty-nine percent held a Master\u27s degree with 9% of respondents earning degrees beyond the MPT level. Fifty-four percent of alumni are currently APTA members. Respondents are employed in 43 of 50 states with a large number (46%) employed in either North Dakota or Minnesota. The majority of alumni are staff physical therapists (62%) working in outpatient/private practice settings (49%) treating mostly the orthopaedic population. Forty percent of respondents are interested in obtaining a t-DPT degree from the University of North Dakota. Respondents indicate online instruction is their preferred mode of delivery (69%). Sixty-one percent of respondents ranked weekend-only classes as their first or second choice. The alumni identify Specialty Physical Therapy, Research/Evidence Based Practice, and Business Management/ Administration as the desired areas of curriculum content. Respondents also indicated family obligations, lack of interest, and time away from work as the potential obstacles preventing them from completing the t-DPT degree. In conjunction with the narrative comments, alumni seem to be unclear about the differences between the t-DPT degree, the advanced clinical doctorate degree, and the clinical specialist certification. The information from this survey will be used by the UND-PT Department to form a t-DPT program which will attempt to correspond with its alumni\u27s needs. Current program content is subject to change and will take into account the results of this scholarly project

The Impact of the Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Gene on Trauma and Spatial Processing.

The influence of genes and the environment on the development of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) continues to motivate neuropsychological research, with one consistent focus being the Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) gene, given its impact on the integrity of the hippocampal memory system. Research into human navigation also considers the BDNF gene in relation to hippocampal dependent spatial processing. This speculative paper brings together trauma and spatial processing for the first time and presents exploratory research into their interactions with BDNF. We propose that quantifying the impact of BDNF on trauma and spatial processing is critical and may well explain individual differences in clinical trauma treatment outcomes and in navigation performance. Research has already shown that the BDNF gene influences PTSD severity and prevalence as well as navigation behaviour. However, more data are required to demonstrate the precise hippocampal dependent processing mechanisms behind these influences in different populations and environmental conditions. This paper provides insight from recent studies and calls for further research into the relationship between allocentric processing, trauma processing and BDNF. We argue that research into these neural mechanisms could transform PTSD clinical practice and professional support for individuals in trauma-exposing occupations such as emergency response, law enforcement and the military

Anticipated impacts of voluntary assisted dying legislation on nursing practice

Background: The Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 passed into law in Victoria, Australia, on the 29 November 2017. Internationally, nurses have been shown to be intimately involved in patient care throughout the voluntary assisted dying process. However, there is a paucity of research exploring Australian nurses’ perspectives on voluntary assisted dying and, in particular, how Victorian nurses anticipate the implementation of this ethically controversial legislation will impact their professional lives. Objectives: To explore Victorian nurses’ expectations of the ethical and practical impacts the voluntary assisted dying legislation will have on their professional lives. Research design: This qualitative study analysed nurses’ free text responses collected as part of a larger mixed methods online survey investigating staff views on the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act. Data were collected during the period between the passing of the voluntary assisted dying legislation and the start date and were analysed using inductive content analysis. Participants and research context: Free text survey responses were analysed from 1873 nurses employed across seven Victorian health services located in both metropolitan and regional areas of the state. Ethical considerations: The study obtained research ethics approval and all participants were informed of the voluntary and anonymous nature of their participation. Findings: This study identified three broad areas of Victorian nurses’ professional lives that they expected to be impacted by the implementation of voluntary assisted dying: professional identity, career development and workplace relationships. Conclusion: Participants anticipate diverse and nursing-specific impacts of the implementation of voluntary assisted dying in Victoria. Their insights can inform health services in jurisdictions considering or already implementing voluntary assisted dying, to develop policies, procedures and staff training programmes that safeguard the well-being and legal rights of their nursing staff

Effect of Haptic Feedback on Static Standing Sway

Study Goal: To explore the use of proprioceptive input as a means of attenuating postural sway through the development and implementation of a hands-free device, with the ultimate goal of providing sway-reference haptic input located at the upper trunk and shoulders to determine: Does sway-referenced haptic input improve static standing stability

Peptide-Based Scaffolds Support Human Cortical Progenitor Graft Integration to Reduce Atrophy and Promote Functional Repair in a Model of Stroke

Stem cell transplants offer significant hope for brain repair following ischemic damage. Pre-clinical work suggests that therapeutic mechanisms may be multi-faceted, incorporating bone-fide circuit reconstruction by transplanted neurons, but also protection/regeneration of host circuitry. Here, we engineered hydrogel scaffolds to form "bio-bridges" within the necrotic lesion cavity, providing physical and trophic support to transplanted human embryonic stem cell-derived cortical progenitors, as well as residual host neurons. Scaffolds were fabricated by the self-assembly of peptides for a laminin-derived epitope (IKVAV), thereby mimicking the brain's major extracellular protein. Following focal ischemia in rats, scaffold-supported cell transplants induced progressive motor improvements over 9 months, compared to cell- or scaffold-only implants. These grafts were larger, exhibited greater neuronal differentiation, and showed enhanced electrophysiological properties reflective of mature, integrated neurons. Varying graft timing post-injury enabled us to attribute repair to both neuroprotection and circuit replacement. These findings highlight strategies to improve the efficiency of stem cell grafts for brain repair

Effects of Anacetrapib in Patients with Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease

BACKGROUND: Patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease remain at high risk for cardiovascular events despite effective statin-based treatment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. The inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) by anacetrapib reduces LDL cholesterol levels and increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, trials of other CETP inhibitors have shown neutral or adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 30,449 adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive atorvastatin therapy and who had a mean LDL cholesterol level of 61 mg per deciliter (1.58 mmol per liter), a mean non-HDL cholesterol level of 92 mg per deciliter (2.38 mmol per liter), and a mean HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg per deciliter (1.03 mmol per liter). The patients were assigned to receive either 100 mg of anacetrapib once daily (15,225 patients) or matching placebo (15,224 patients). The primary outcome was the first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction, or coronary revascularization. RESULTS: During the median follow-up period of 4.1 years, the primary outcome occurred in significantly fewer patients in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (1640 of 15,225 patients [10.8%] vs. 1803 of 15,224 patients [11.8%]; rate ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 0.97; P=0.004). The relative difference in risk was similar across multiple prespecified subgroups. At the trial midpoint, the mean level of HDL cholesterol was higher by 43 mg per deciliter (1.12 mmol per liter) in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (a relative difference of 104%), and the mean level of non-HDL cholesterol was lower by 17 mg per deciliter (0.44 mmol per liter), a relative difference of -18%. There were no significant between-group differences in the risk of death, cancer, or other serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive statin therapy, the use of anacetrapib resulted in a lower incidence of major coronary events than the use of placebo. (Funded by Merck and others; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN48678192 ; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01252953 ; and EudraCT number, 2010-023467-18 .)

The Impact of the Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Gene on Trauma and Spatial Processing.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an increasingly visible mental health issue that represents a considerable public health burden across many civilian and professional populations. With mounting pressure on health, military and emergency response sectors (https://www.pdtrust.org/help/research/post-traumatic-stress/) to look after the psychological wellbeing of their staff in the face of unprecedented demand from major incidents and resource deficits, understanding PTSD has perhaps never been so critical. Fortuitously, neuropsychological research over recent years has also moved at a commensurate pace and in this paper, we seize the opportunity to reflect on the progress (and pitfalls) of that research. We review recent literature, present findings from exploratory research and highlight design issues which may be key to understanding how genetic and environmental conditions interact to influence PTSD vulnerability, etiology and recovery. To do this, we look at another area of cognitive function—navigation—which may provide us with vital information about the resilience of a specific part of our brain (the hippocampus) on which we rely to process trauma exposure

Examining conditioned pain modulation in non-elite and elite rock climbers : the influence of pain coping strategies and cognitive appraisal

The physical demands of rock climbing combined with climber’s verbal reports suggest that this sport requires participants to cope with pain. Recent athlete pain studies have used Conditioned Pain Modulation (CPM), a measure of pain that quantifies the amount that one painful sensation downregulates other painful sensations. This research has focused on traditional-sport athletes such as runners and has neglected adventure sport athletes such as climbers. Furthermore, the influence of pain coping strategies and appraisals on CPM have not been clarified. This study examined how elite and novice climbers experience, cope with, and appraise pain by examining CPM in a laboratory test. In addition, coping and appraisals for the pain during the CPM test were compared to coping and appraisals of a recent painful climb to examine if the situations elicited similar responses. Elite climbers (n=27) demonstrated higher CPM (p<.01) and higher baseline pain tolerance (p<.05) than novice climbers (n=26). Novice climbers reported using higher distraction coping strategies than elite climbers in both the CPM test and during a recent painful climb (p<.05). Elite climbers reported more control over pain during a recent painful climb (p<.01). Despite group differences, distraction coping was not linearly correlated to CPM. Intraclass correlation analysis showed that most pain coping strategies and appraisals were moderately to highly correlated across the two conditions, suggesting similarities in how climbers appraised and coped with the pain during the CPM test and climbing. Results suggest that elite climbers have better pain tolerance than non-elite climbers. However, the role of coping and appraisals of pain was unclear. Future research should consider longitudinal studies to examine the factors that lead to an elite climber’s higher pain tolerance, as well as examining climbers of all skill levels to elucidate the link between the stress process and rock climbing.Education, Faculty ofKinesiology, School ofGraduat

Contact Heat Evoked Potentials Are Responsive to Peripheral Sensitization: Requisite Stimulation Parameters.

The sensitizing effect of capsaicin has been previously characterized using laser and contact heat evoked potentials (LEPs and CHEPs) by stimulating in the primary area of hyperalgesia. Interestingly, only CHEPs reveal changes consistent with notion of peripheral sensitization (i.e., reduced latencies). The aim of this study was to investigate contact heat stimulation parameters necessary to detect peripheral sensitization related to the topical application of capsaicin, and therefore significantly improve the current method of measuring peripheral sensitization via CHEPs. Rapid contact heat stimulation (70°C/s) was applied from three different baseline temperatures (35, 38.5, and 42°C) to a 52°C peak temperature, before and after the topical application of capsaicin on the hand dorsum. Increased pain ratings in the primary area of hyperalgesia were accompanied by reduced N2 latency. Changes in N2 latency were, however, only significant following stimulation from 35 and 38.5°C baseline temperatures. These findings suggest that earlier recruitment of capsaicin-sensitized afferents occurs between 35 and 42°C, as stimulations from 42°C baseline were unchanged by capsaicin. This is in line with reduced thresholds of type II A-delta mechanoheat (AMH) nociceptors following sensitization. Conventional CHEP stimulation, with a baseline temperature below 42°C, is well suited to objectively detect evidence of peripheral sensitization