Suwsiw: Hul’q’umi’num’ stories of land and sea

This project presents five new Hul’q’umi’num stories about the land and sea, created with the help of my elders. The Coast Salish people of the Hul’q’umi’num’ territory have a deep physical and spiritual connection to the world around us. We are taught that our language is an important way that we connect to our world. Many of our youth and families are influenced by modern life and struggle to see the importance of learning our language. The purpose of this project is to engage the hearts and minds of the learners while connecting them to the world around us. I point out the need for mentors and teachers to capture the curious minds of our youth in their language learning journeys through authentic materials

Repeated Intracarotid Amobarbital Tests

Rationale:Our goal was to determine the frequency of repeated intracarotid amobarbital test (IAT) at our center and to estimate the retest reliability of the IAT for both language and memory lateralization. Methods: A total of 1,249 consecutive IATs on 1,190 patients were retrospectively reviewed for repeat tests. Results: In 4% of patients the IAT was repeated in order to deliver satisfactory information on either language or memory lateralization. Reasons for repetition included obtundation and inability to test for memory lateralization, inability to test for language lateralization, no hemiparesis during first test, no aphasia during first test, atypical vessel filling, and bleeding complications from the catheter insertion site. Language lateralization was reproduced in all but one patient. Repeated memory test results were less consistent across tests, and memory lateralization was unreliable in 63% of the patients. Discussion: In spite of test limitations by a varying dose of amobarbital, crossover of amobarbital from one side to the other, testing of both hemispheres on the same day, practice effects, unblinded observers, fluctuating cooperation of the patients, and a biased sample of patients language lateralization was reproduced in all but one patient. In contrast, repeated memory test results were frequently contradictory. Memory results on IAT therefore seem much less robust than the results of language testing. Gain of reliable information versus the risks of complications and failed tests has to be considered when a patient is subjected to an IAT

Mitogenomics reveals high synteny and long evolutionary histories of sympatric cryptic nematode species

Species with seemingly identical morphology but with distinct genetic differences are abundant in the marine environment and frequently co-occur in the same habitat. Such cryptic species are typically delineated using a limited number of mitochondrial and/or nuclear marker genes, which do not yield information on gene order and gene content of the genomes under consideration. We used next-generation sequencing to study the composition of the mitochondrial genomes of four sympatrically distributed cryptic species of the Litoditis marina species complex (PmI, PmII, PmIII, and PmIV). The ecology, biology, and natural occurrence of these four species are well known, but the evolutionary processes behind this cryptic speciation remain largely unknown. The gene order of the mitochondrial genomes of the four species was conserved, but differences in genome length, gene length, and codon usage were observed. The atp8 gene was lacking in all four species. Phylogenetic analyses confirm that PmI and PmIV are sister species and that PmIII diverged earliest. The most recent common ancestor of the four cryptic species was estimated to have diverged 16 MYA. Synonymous mutations outnumbered nonsynonymous changes in all protein-encoding genes, with the Complex IV genes (coxI-III) experiencing the strongest purifying selection. Our mitogenomic results show that morphologically similar species can have long evolutionary histories and that PmIII has several differences in genetic makeup compared to the three other species, which may explain why it is better adapted to higher temperatures than the other species

The future of post-reproductive health: The role of the Internet, the Web, information provision and access

The World Wide Web celebrated its 25th birthday in 2014. In those 25 years, the Web has evolved from static websites (Web 1.0) to a highly complex dynamic system (Web 3.0) with health information processing one of the primary uses. Until now, the western biomedical paradigm has been effective in delivering healthcare, but this model is not positioned to tackle the complex challenges facing healthcare today. These challenges have arisen by increasing healthcare demands across the world, exacerbated by an ageing population, increased lifespan and chronic conditions. To meet these needs, a ‘biopsychosocial’ shift from reactive to proactive health is necessary with a patient-centric emphasis (personalised, preventative, participatory and predictive) that includes ‘gender-specific medicine’. The management of the menopause, part of post-reproductive health, requires a life-course approach as it provides a framework for achieving a women’s preferred health outcome. Surveys from www.menopausematters.co.uk have consistently shown that women do not feel informed enough to make decisions regarding Hormone Replacement Therapy and alternative therapies. Health professionals must meet this challenge. The recently published National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on the diagnosis and management of the menopause highlights the need for tailored information provision. The Internet underpinned by the academic disciplines of Health Web Science and Medicine 2.0 has potential to facilitate this shift to biopsychosocial medicine and tailored information within a life-course framework. The concept of Health Web Observatories and their potential benefit to a life-course approach using tools such as www.managemymenopause.co.uk is discussed

ARC Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 1

https://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/arc_newsletter/1000/thumbnail.jp

Evaluating the Contributions of State of the Art Assessment Techniques to Predicting Memory Outcome after Unilateral Anterior Temporal Lobectomy

Purpose:Although anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) is an effective treatment for many patients with medically refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), one risk associated with this procedure is postsurgical decline in memory. A substantial number of past studies examined factors that predict memory decline after surgery, but few have investigated multiple predictors simultaneously or considered measures that are currently in use. Methods: This study compared the relative contributions made by presurgical neuropsychological test scores, MRI-based hippocampal volumetric analysis, and Wada test results to predicting memory outcome after ATL in a group of 87 patients. Results: Logistic regression analyses indicated that noninvasive procedures (neuropsychological testing and MRI) made significant contributions to improving the prediction of memory outcome in this sample. The results from the Wada procedure did not significantly improve prediction once these other factors were considered. The only exception was in predicting memory for visual information after a delay, in which Wada results improved prediction accuracy from 78% to 81%. Conclusions: Current neuropsychological tests and MRI volumetric measures predict changes in verbal and visual memory after ATL. The relatively small change in correct classification rates when Wada memory scores are considered calls into question the benefits of using Wada test results to predict memory outcome when the results of noninvasive procedures are available

Wada Test Reliability (Response to Haber et al.)

Response piece

Part 2: Preparing Entry-Level Occupational and Physical Therapy Students to Promote Healthy Lifestyles Emphasizing Healthy Eating with Individuals with Disabilities

Rehabilitation professionals including occupational therapists (OT) and physical therapists (PT) are increasingly called upon to incorporate health promotion of lifestyle behaviors including physical activity and healthy eating into routine clinical care. While OTs and PTs may be comfortable promoting activity-related behaviors, many are less comfortable with nutrition behaviors. To address entry-level OT and PT students’ perceived discomfort with discussing diet-related behaviors, faculty developed a healthy eating module for students to use during a community-based service learning program. The purpose of this paper is to describe the formative evaluation process of developing the healthy eating module, and to discuss results of a pilot trial of this module. The formative assessment of the healthy eating module consisted of four steps: focus groups with students, key informant interviews with community partners, expert panel round table, and expert panel review of materials. Students (n=117) completed questionnaires at the end of the service learning program to assess how much they used the new resources, and how useful they found the resources. The final healthy eating module consisted of an on-line training session and a healthy eating toolkit, including resources for assessments, treatment activities and additional nutrition information. Mann-Whitney U tests indicated that students who reported high use of materials found the resources significantly more helpful than those students who reported low use (

Part 1: Preparing Entry-Level Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy Students to Promote Health and Wellbeing with Individuals with Disabilities

To address accreditation standards for health and wellbeing within entry-level occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) programs, the OT, PT, and Human Studies Departments at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) collaborated with community partners to conduct an interdisciplinary service learning activity based on the I Can Do It, You Can Do It Program (ICDI). This program is a structured community health program where individuals without disabilities are partnered with individuals with disabilities to enhance physical activity, healthy eating, and community participation. The purpose of this paper is to describe a formative evaluation of ICDI at UAB, and to discuss revisions to the program made as a result of the evaluation. Faculty used a qualitative design to collect feedback on perceived benefits and challenges of the program. Focus groups were conducted with students who completed the program, and key informant interviews were conducted with site coordinators from each of the three partnering community sites. Two themes emerged from student focus groups: (1) Program benefits, with sub-themes of hands-on application and interaction, and (2) Challenges with suggestions for change, with sub-themes of preparation, communication, and expectations. Four themes emerged from key informant interviews: (1) Students, (2) Logistics, (3) Program benefits, and (4) Transference. Results of this evaluation led to a number of revisions for the 2016 cohort. Future evaluations will include objective measures of change in student knowledge over time, as well as health and behavioral outcomes of community members who participated in the ICDI program at UAB

Serum Concentrations of Legacy and Emerging Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in the Anniston Community Health Surveys (ACHS I and ACHS II)

Background Residents of Anniston Alabama were highly exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) due to longstanding manufacturing in the area. The Anniston Community Health Surveys (ACHS I-2005–2007 and II, 2014) have linked these exposures with a variety of deletereous health outcomes. In addition to PCBs, these individuals were likely simultaneously exposed to other persistent organic pollutants including per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are an emerging class of ubiquitous industrial chemicals that are measurable in the blood of most individuals and have themselves been linked increased risk of some non communicable diseases. Methods To characterize PFAS exposures in ACHS I and ACHS II, we measured eight environmentally significant PFAS in serum by UPLC coupled electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), Perfluorononanoate (PFNA), Perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), Perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA), Perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS), Hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA), and 4:2 Fluorotelomer sulfonic acid (4.2 FTS) were extracted from matched serum samples of individuals who participated in the original ACHS I (2005–2007; n = 297) and the follow up ACHS II (2014; n = 336). Data were collected in negative multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode with monitoring of quantitation and qualifier ions for all target PFAS analytes, surrogates and internal standards. VARCLUS procedure was used to create hierarchical clusters between PFAS and other legacy persistent organic pollutants which may share similar exposure routes. Results Overall, circulating PFAS levels decreased approximately 50% from ACHS I (2005–2007) to ACHS II (2014), but these changes varied by compound. Mean levels of PFOS were \u3e3 times higher in ACHS I subjects than in conpemporaneous NHANES subjects (2005–2006; ACHS I mean: 71.1 ng/ml; NHANES mean: 20.2 ng/mL), and this relationship persisted in ACHS II subjects (2014: ACHS II mean: 34.7 ng/ml; NHANES mean: 5.92 ng/mL). PFNA was also higher in both ACHS I and ACHS II subjects in comparision to NHANES whereas levels of PFOA and PFHxS were lower than in NHANES. Finally, cluster analysis revealed that in ACHS II, most PFAS tracked with polybrominated diphenyl ethers, except PFNA and PFHpA which clustered with industrial PCBs. In ACHS I, PFAS analytes correlated more closely with industrial PCBs and chlorinated pesticides. Conclusions Participants in the Anniston Community Health Surveys have higher levels of PFOS and PFNA than the general population with average PFOS levels \u3e3 times contemporaneous NHANES levels. Since PFAS were not known to be manufactured in the area, more work needs to be completed to determine if population demographics, proximity to a military base, or regional manufacturing can explain the elevated levels