Women’s Health Occupational Therapy and Quality of Life as Related to Pregnancy-Induced Dysfunction

The following project explored the understanding of Urinary Incontinence (UI) by those experiencing the condition. An educational website was created to assist with the education of those experiencing UI while pregnant. The website was made available to the public via links and social media.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonessummer2023/1006/thumbnail.jp

Do Physicians Perceive the Roles of Nutritionists and Registered Dietitian Nutritionists as Different?

Background: Dietitians are still divided on whether to use the credential Registered Dietitian (RD) or Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN). The option for dietitians to utilize RDN gained support in a 2013 joint committee meeting. The ambiguity between the terms dietitian and nutritionist leave many individuals unable to discern between the two. The opportunity for dietitians to treat greater quantities of patients is influenced by physicians’ understanding of dietitians’ roles and the public\u27s understanding of services they provide. Objective: To determine how the terms dietitian and nutritionist are understood and referred to in the healthcare setting and whether RD or RDN better communicates their role and services to physicians and the public. Design: This mixed-methods study utilized Qualtrics Survey Software to obtain anonymous responses from physicians on a 10-multiple choice quantitative question survey, including one qualitative free response question and demographic characteristics. Participants: Loma Linda University (LLU) Alumni, 21 years of age or older, practicing within the United States with an email maintained by LLU Health, Office of Advancement. Main outcomes: Physicians’ knowledge of roles of Nutritionists versus RDN’s including their use of the titles interchangeably. Statistics: Data was analyzed using SPSS Statistics Software version 25.0. The Chi-Square test of independence was used to determine significant relationships between two categorical variables. 3 Results: A total of 40.9% of respondents claimed to use Dietitian and Nutritionist interchangeably, while 48.6% did not and 10.5% were unsure. A total of 52.3% claimed there was a difference, while 32% were unsure and 15.7% identified no difference. A total of 69.2% believed Dietitian was most representative of the role of RD versus Nutritionist. Conclusions: Results indicate that awareness and knowledge of the services provided by Dietitians and how they differ from Nutritionists is low among physicians. Dietitians should aim to increase awareness of their services through use of the longer credential RDN

Spectroscopic binaries in the Solar Twin Planet Search program: from substellar-mass to M dwarf companions

Previous studies on the rotation of Sun-like stars revealed that the rotational rates of young stars converge towards a well-defined evolution that follows a power-law decay. It seems, however, that some binary stars do not obey this relation, often by displaying enhanced rotational rates and activity. In the Solar Twin Planet Search program we observed several solar twin binaries, and found a multiplicity fraction of $42\% \pm 6\%$ in the whole sample; moreover, at least three of these binaries (HIP 19911, HIP 67620 and HIP 103983) clearly exhibit the aforementioned anomalies. We investigated the configuration of the binaries in the program, and discovered new companions for HIP 6407, HIP 54582, HIP 62039 and HIP 30037, of which the latter is orbited by a $0.06$ M$_\odot$ brown dwarf in a 1-month long orbit. We report the orbital parameters of the systems with well-sampled orbits and, in addition, the lower limits of parameters for the companions that only display a curvature in their radial velocities. For the linear trend binaries, we report an estimate of the masses of their companions when their observed separation is available, and a minimum mass otherwise. We conclude that solar twin binaries with low-mass stellar companions at moderate orbital periods do not display signs of a distinct rotational evolution when compared to single stars. We confirm that the three peculiar stars are double-lined binaries, and that their companions are polluting their spectra, which explains the observed anomalies.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Severe Brain Injury, Disability, and the Law: Achieving Justice for a Marginalized Population

Thousands of persons with severe brain injury who are minimally conscious or locked in are wrongly treated as if they are unconscious. Such individuals are unable to advocate for themselves and are typically segregated from society in hospitals or nursing homes. As a result, they constitute a class of persons who often lack access to adequate medical care, rehabilitation, and assistive devices that could aid them in communication and recovery. While this problem is often approached from a medical or scientific point of view, here we frame it as a legal issue amenable to legal remedies. This Article comprehensively explores and analyzes sources of federal, state, and international human rights law that can be leveraged- both in traditional and novel ways-to improve the lives and protect the rights of persons with severe brain injury. We argue that state laws may be the most promising basis for legal action to ameliorate the clinical marginalization and societal neglect faced by persons with severe brain injury, and to promote their recovery and reintegration into their communities

Severe Brain Injury, Disability, and the Law: Achieving Justice for a Marginalized Population

Thousands of persons with severe brain injury who are minimally conscious or locked in are wrongly treated as if they are unconscious. Such individuals are unable to advocate for themselves and are typically segregated from society in hospitals or nursing homes. As a result, they constitute a class of persons who often lack access to adequate medical care, rehabilitation, and assistive devices that could aid them in communication and recovery. While this problem is often approached from a medical or scientific point of view, here we frame it as a legal issue amenable to legal remedies. This Article comprehensively explores and analyzes sources of federal, state, and international human rights law that can be leveraged- both in traditional and novel ways-to improve the lives and protect the rights of persons with severe brain injury. We argue that state laws may be the most promising basis for legal action to ameliorate the clinical marginalization and societal neglect faced by persons with severe brain injury, and to promote their recovery and reintegration into their communities

Estudio sobre la salud mental y la calidad de vida de un grupo de cuidadores de personas con demencia y un grupo control en Cali, Colombia

Dementia caregivers are at risk for stress, depression, and a multitude of negative health outcomes, yet little research has examined the extent of these issues in caregivers from Latin America. The purpose of this study was to compare the mental health and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of dementia caregivers to healthy controls in Cali, Colombia. Ninety dementia caregivers and 51 healthy controls completed measures of depression, satisfaction with life, stress, and HRQOL. Although it was hypothesized that dementia caregivers would report lower levels of mental health and HRQOL than controls, caregivers only reported higher depression levels. This finding suggests that dementia caregivers in this region, even when they have access to health care, are in need of mental health services and other caregiving resources. Such interventions would likely improve the mental health of caregivers and quality of care that caregivers are able to provide for individuals facing dementia.A pesar de que los cuidadores de personas con demencia están en riesgo de sufrir estrés, depresión y múltiples consecuencias negativas para la salud, se han realizado pocos estudios que hayan investigado el alcance de estos problemas en cuidadores de América Latina. El propósito de este estudio fue comparar la salud mental y la calidad de vida relacionada con la salud (CVRS) de un grupo de cuidadores de personas con demencia con un grupo de personas sanas de Cali, Colombia. Noventa cuidadores de personas con demencia y 51 personas sanas completaron una serie de cuestionarios que medía depresión, satisfacción con la vida, estrés y CVRS. A pesar de que se planteó la hipótesis de que los cuidadores de personas con demencia obtendrían niveles más bajos de salud mental y CVRS en comparación con el grupo de personas sanas, los cuidadores sólo reportaron mayores índices de depresión. Estos resultados sugieren que los cuidadores de demencia de esta región, a pesar tener acceso a los servicios de salud, necesitan servicios de salud mental y otros recursos de cuidado. Este tipo de ayudas e intervenciones probablemente ayudarían a mejorar su salud mental y la calidad de cuidado que pueden ofrecer a las personas que sufren demencia

A menthol-enhanced “cooling” energy gel does not influence laboratory time trial performance in trained runners

l-menthol (menthol) is an organic compound derived from peppermint which imparts a refreshing mint flavor and aroma to oral hygiene products, chewing gum, and topical analgesics. Menthol has been identified as a non-thermal sensory cooling strategy for athletes when ingested or mouth-rinsed during exercise in hot environments. Therefore, sports nutrition products delivering a controlled concentration of menthol could be beneficial for athletes exercising in the heat. We sought to test the performance and perceptual outcomes of a novel menthol energy gel during treadmill running in the heat (33 °C, 49% RH). Fourteen trained runners (mean ± SD; age: 31 ± 6 years, VO2max: 56.5 ± 10.1 mL·kg−1·min−1, BMI: 23.2 ± 2.4 kg/m2; six female) participated in a randomized, crossover, double-blind, and placebo-controlled study. A menthol-enhanced energy gel (0.5% concentration; MEN) or flavor-matched placebo (PLA) was ingested 5 min before and again at 20 and 40 min of a 40 min treadmill exercise preload at 60% VO2max, followed by a 20 min self-paced time trial. The total distance, vertical distance, perceptual measures (thermal comfort, thermal sensation, rating of perceived exertion, and affect), and cognitive performance via computerized neurocognitive assessment were measured. No difference between 20 min self-paced time trial total distance (MEN: 4.22 ± 0.54 km, PLA: 4.22 ± 0.55 km, p = 0.867), vertical distance (MEN: 49.2 ± 24.6 m, PLA: 44.4 ± 11.4 m, p = 0.516), or any perceptual measures was observed (all p > 0.05). Cognitive performance was not different between the trials (all p > 0.05). These results suggest that a menthol energy gel is not superior to a non-menthol gel in terms of performance or perception during treadmill running in the heat. More research is needed to confirm whether these findings translate to ecologically valid settings, including outdoor exercise in ambient heat and during competition

Performance Assessment of UVAPS: Influence of Fungal Spore Age and Air Exposure

This work focused on two main outcomes. The first was the assessment of the response of the Ultraviolet Aerodynamic Particle Sizer Spectrometer (UVAPS) for two different fungal spore species. The UVAPS response was investigated as a function of fungal age and the frequency of air current that their colonies exposure to. This outcome was achieved through the measurement of fungal spore fluorescent percentage and fluorescent intensity throughout a period of culturing time (three weeks), and the study of their fluorescent percentage as a function of exposure to air currents. The second objective was to investigate the change of fungal spore size during this period, which may be of use as a co-factor in this differentiation. Fungal spores were released by blowing the surface of the culture colonies with continuous filtered flow air. The UVAPS was used to detect and measure auto-fluorescing biomolecules such as riboflavin and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAD(P)H) present in the released fungal spores. The study demonstrated an increase in aerodynamic diameter for fungal spores under investigation (Aspergillus niger and Penicillium species) over a period of time. The fluorescent percentage of spores was found to decrease for both fungal genera as they aged. It was also found that the fluorescent percentage for tested fungi decreased with frequency of air exposure. The results showed that, while the UVAPS could discriminate between Aspergillus and Penicillium species under well-controlled laboratory conditions, it is unlikely to be able to do so in the field

Improvement Science in Teacher Preparation at California State University: How teacher preparation partnerships are building capacity to learn to improve

One of the most pressing educational problems in the United States is improving the quality of teacher preparation (Goldhaber, Liddle, & Theobald, 2013; National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, & Institute of Medicine, 2007). Over the last decade the education sector has begun to learn from other sectors -- especially health care -- about the potential power of improvement science as an approach to improving the quality and reliability of educational systems (Bryk, Gomez, Grunow, & LeMahieu, 2015; Coburn, Penuel, & Geil, 2013; Lewis, 2015). Evidence from an effort to improve how beginning teachers are supported in three large urban districts through development and testing of feedback systems demonstrates the promise of improvement science methods for tackling persistent challenges in teaching (Hannan, Russell, Takahashi, & Park, 2015).This Innovation Highlight describes a network-based effort -- the New Generation of Educators Initiative (NGEI), funded by the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation -- that applies the principles and methods of improvement science (Langley, Moen, Nolan, Nolan, Norman, & Provost, 2009) to the challenge of improving how new teachers are prepared in the California State University System. The initiative emphasizes data-driven, continuous improvement by funding teacher preparation programs to routinely collect and analyze the data needed to monitor teacher candidates' progress toward competency in prioritized skills and to use the results of that analysis to (a) inform clinical support and teaching during the school year and (b) identify meaningful programmatic changes.The NGEI-funded teacher preparation programs also receive support from WestEd and SRI, which have developed a multipronged technical assistance strategy that is informed by improvement science. The technical assistance includes in-person trainings, cross-site webinars, monthly coaching calls with each site, annual convenings, and occasional site visits.The first section of this Innovation Highlight explains the theory of improvement science and how approaches that are informed by improvement science differ from other improvement efforts. The second section describes how NGEI has put this theory into practice through improvement science technical assistance for the NGEI grantees. Examples from the NGEI grantees are included throughout to illustrate how improvement science principles have been applied in the teacher preparation context