The Effects of Agroecological Farming Systems on Human Health

There is a growing concern that the current farming techniques are producing less-nutrient dense soils and foods impacting human health. To improve the health of soils, people, and the plant, a growing number of farmers are using regenerative, or agroecological, farming practices. Some of these methods include multi-cropping (growing various plants on the same plot of land), ley systems (alternating between crops and livestock), and rotational grazing of livestock. Previous studies have found that regenerative farming systems have various benefits for the lands, crops, and animals, as well as increasing the nutrient density of foods. The purpose of this study was to compare conventional farming practices to regenerative farming practices on human health markers. Sixteen participants completed the study, where they consumed both a regeneratively-produced diet and a conventionally-produced diet for forty-four days with a two-week washout period between the two diet periods. At four different timepoints, blood was drawn from participants to analyze biomarkers of health. Overall, there was no differences in glucose, lipid, and inflammatory levels after the diet. There was significant data indicating there were positive differences between participants\u27 habitual diet and the whole-foods diet that both study diets were based upon. The work showed that there are positive health indications from consuming a whole-foods diet versus a typical standard American diet rich in ultra-processed foods. Future work will include deep metabolic profiling of the blood and stool samples of people

KettleBell Ultra

This project will consist of an attachment to an average kettlebell that will track the number of repetitions that the user has performed. The device will send this data over Bluetooth to a smart phone application so the user can track their workout accurately

A Separate Phone to Work and Play: Protection Motivation Theory and Smartphone Security Behaviour

Smartphone security is a growing concern. In this study, we use of the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) to explore users’ attitudes, perceptions and behaviours towards the security of their work provided and personal smartphones. Australian employees from an insurance company participated in in-depth semi-structured interviews focussed on their behaviours. Data was analysed using deductive and inductive thematic analysis, guided by PMT to explore the comparisons between personal and work devices. The main overarching theme was that people behave more safely on their work smartphones compared to on their personal smartphones. Results suggest that perceived vulnerability, perceived reward, response cost, self-efficacy and social influence largely contributed to a lack of protective behaviour displayed when using personal smartphones. Despite the safe behaviour reported for work smartphones, these behaviours appear to be motivated by organisational controls, rather than intrinsically. This research has applied implications for education, relevant to both personal and workplace contexts

Animal roles and traces in the history of medicine, c1880-1980

This paper argues for the need to create a more animal-centred history of medicine, in which animals are considered not simply as the backdrop for human history, but as medical subjects important in and of themselves. Drawing on the tools and approaches of animal and human–animal studies, it seeks to demonstrate, via four short historical vignettes, how investigations into the ways that animals shaped and were shaped by medicine enables us to reach new historical understandings of both animals and medicine, and of the relationships between them. This is achieved by turning away from the much-studied fields of experimental medicine and public health, to address four historically neglected contexts in which diseased animals played important roles: zoology/pathology, parasitology/epidemiology, ethology/ psychiatry, and wildlife/veterinary medicine. Focusing, in turn, on species that rarely feature in the history of medicine – big cats, tapeworms, marsupials and mustelids – which were studied, respectively, within the zoo, the psychiatric hospital, human–animal communities and the countryside, we reconstruct the histories of these animals using the traces that they left on the medical-historical record

Anionic lipid vesicles have differential effects on the aggregation of early onset-associated α-synuclein missense mutants

α-synuclein (αS) is the key component of synucleinopathies such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies, and multiple system atrophy. αS was first linked to PD through the identification of point mutations in the SNCA gene, causing single amino acid substitutions within αS and familial autosomal dominant forms of PD that profoundly accelerated disease onset by up to several decades. At least eight single-point mutations linked to familial PD (A30G/P, E46K, H50Q, G51D, and A53T/E/V) are located in proximity of the region preceding the non-β amyloid component (preNAC) region, strongly implicating its pathogenic role in αS-mediated cytotoxicity. Furthermore, lipids are known to be important for native αS function, where they play a key role in the regulation of synaptic vesicle docking to presynaptic membranes and dopamine transmission. However, the role of lipids in the function of mutant αS is unclear. Here, we studied αS aggregation properties of WT αS and five of the most predominant single-point missense mutants associated with early onset PD in the presence of anionic 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-l-serine lipid vesicles. Our results highlight significant differences between aggregation rates, the number of aggregates produced, and overall fibril morphologies of WT αS and the A30P, E46K, H50Q, G51D, and A53T missense mutants in the presence of lipid vesicles. These findings have important implications regarding the interplay between the lipids required for αS function and the individual point mutations known to accelerate PD and related diseases

A Method for Balancing Provider Schedules in Outpatient Specialty Clinics

Background. Variability in outpatient specialty clinic schedules contributes to numerous adverse effects including chaotic clinic settings, provider burnout, increased patient waiting times, and inefficient use of resources. This research measures the benefit of balancing provider schedules in an outpatient specialty clinic. Design. We developed a constrained optimization model to minimize the variability in provider schedules in an outpatient specialty clinic. Schedule variability was defined as the variance in the number of providers scheduled for clinic during each hour the clinic is open. We compared the variance in the number of providers scheduled per hour resulting from the constrained optimization schedule with the actual schedule for three reference scenarios used in practice at M Health Fairview’s Clinics and Surgery Center as a case study. Results. Compared to the actual schedules, use of constrained optimization modeling reduced the variance in the number of providers scheduled per hour by 92% (1.70–0.14), 88% (1.98–0.24), and 94% (1.98–0.12). When compared with the reference scenarios, the total, and per provider, assigned clinic hours remained the same. Use of constrained optimization modeling also reduced the maximum number of providers scheduled during each of the actual schedules for each of the reference scenarios. The constrained optimization schedules utilized 100% of the available clinic time compared to the reference scenario schedules where providers were scheduled during 87%, 92%, and 82% of the open clinic time, respectively. Limitations. The scheduling model’s use requires a centralized provider scheduling process in the clinic. Conclusions. Constrained optimization can help balance provider schedules in outpatient specialty clinics, thereby reducing the risk of negative effects associated with highly variable clinic settings

Lexical organization in deaf children who use British Sign Language: Evidence from a semantic fluency task

We adapted the semantic fluency task into British Sign Language (BSL). In Study 1, we present data from twenty-two deaf signers aged four to fifteen. We show that the same ‘cognitive signatures’ that characterize this task in spoken languages are also present in deaf children, for example, the semantic clustering of responses. In Study 2, we present data from thirteen deaf children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) in BSL, in comparison to a subset of children from Study 1 matched for age and BSL exposure. The two groups' results were comparable in most respects. However, the group with SLI made occasional word-finding errors and gave fewer responses in the first 15 seconds. We conclude that deaf children with SLI do not differ from their controls in terms of the semantic organization of the BSL lexicon, but that they access signs less efficiently

Independent and Interactive Associations of Negative Affect, Restraint, and Impulsivity in Relation to Binge Eating Among Women

There is growing recognition that impulsivity may serve as an underlying risk factor for binge eating. In addition, the association of impulsivity with binge eating may be moderated by other affective and cognitive risk factors. This study examined independent and interactive associations of negative affect, dietary restraint, and facets of impulsivity with binge eating. A diverse sample of 566 undergraduate women completed online questionnaires of study variables. Results revealed a three-way interaction of negative affect, dietary restraint, and attentional impulsivity in relation to binge eating. Women who were high on each of these three variables reported the greatest levels of binge eating. In addition, a two-way interaction was found for negative affect and nonplanning impulsivity in relation to binge eating, such that nonplanning impulsivity strengthened the association between negative affect and binge eating. Attentional and nonplanning facets of impulsivity may function as an underlying trait-level risk factor interacts with affective and/or cognitive risk (e.g., negative affect, dietary restraint) factors to predict elevated binge eating