Increasing HPV Vaccination in Adolescents

Human papillomavirus virus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted disease that can negatively affect both males and females by leading to cervical, vaginal, vulvar, anal, penile, and oropharyngeal cancer. Vaccinating against HPV using the Gardasil vaccine is an effective method to prevent HPV, however, vaccination rates are still unacceptably low in adolescents ages 11 to 14. Pediatric providers should encourage and strongly recommend HPV vaccines to all adolescents. Addressing and easing parental hesitancy is a key component to improving vaccine acceptance. The setting for the project was a rural pediatric office in southern Illinois where HPV vaccination rates are lower than expected. Implementation included a one-minute video viewed by the patient and guardian, an educational handout highlighting HPV vaccine safety and efficacy, HPV poster in each exam room, and a follow-up conversation with the provider. Providers used the ANNOUNCE method and bundling technique to improve vaccine acceptance rates. Of the 44 participants, 20 received the vaccine (45%), 8 declined the vaccine (18%), and 16 plan to receive the vaccine at the health department due to insurance constraints (36%). The providers and support staff at the clinic will continue to use the educational tools in daily practice. A multifactorial parental education approach, as well as a strong recommendation from the provider, is most effective in increasing HPV vaccination compliance

Confirming what we know: Understanding questionable research practices in intro physics labs

Many institutions are changing the focus of their introductory physics labs from verifying physics content towards teaching students about the skills and nature of science. As instruction shifts, so too will the ways students approach and behave in the labs. In this study, we evaluated students' lab notes from an early activity in an experimentation-focused lab course. We found that about 30% of student groups (out of 107 groups at three institutions) recorded questionable research practices in their lab notes, such as subjective interpretations of results or manipulating equipment and data. The large majority of these practices were associated with confirmatory goals, which we suspect stem from students' prior exposure to verification labs. We propose ways for experimentation-focused labs to better engage students in the responsible conduct of research and authentic scientific practice.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Keynote Event: Artist as Entrepreneur

In celebration of Octavofest the Oberlin College Libraries and Art Department are sponsoring a “Lunch and Learn” with Emily Martin, book artist and instructor at the University of Iowa‘s Center for the Book. Martin has published over 35 limited edition artists’ books over the 20 years she has managed Naughty Dog Press. She uses a variety of production techniques, specializing in sculptural and movable books. Martin will share her work as well as her experience managing a successful art practice. Sponsored by the Ellen H. Johnson Endowment for Contemporary Artists and the Oberlin College Libraries and in cooperation with Octavofest, Cleveland

The Impacts of Urban Pollution on Streams

Urban streams reduce aquatic biodiversity through the loss of invertebrates, fish, and plants in addition to the economic impacts of remediation. Creation of a successful management plan to address increased stormflow and chemical loading in runoff requires an understanding of the connection between unhealthy streams and the humans impacting it. Soldier Creek runs through the northern section of the city of Fort Dodge, Iowa. A tributary named Forrest Creek receives most of its flow from storm drain runoff in town. There is no process to mitigate pollutants entering storm drains from the streets of the city, which allows them to directly enter stream ecosystems. Water quality was investigated at three sites: Site 1 on Forrest Creek, Site 2 on Soldier Creek above the confluence with Forrest Creek, and Site 3 on Soldier Creek below the confluence. Water and habitat quality were examined at each site once a month starting in March 2015 and continue to present day. The objective of this study was to analyze how urban pollution entering Forrest Creek impacted the aquatic ecosystem as a whole. All testing sites showed higher levels of nitrate, phosphate, and chloride than is typically found in naturally vegetated landscapes at one point or more during the testing period

Fabrication, characterization and skin permeation of antoxidant-loaded lipid vesicles for transdermal drug delivery.

Excess production of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), which can be caused by radiation, cigarette smoke, and pollutants, can cause many damaging cellular effects, such as DNA damage and unregulated cell apoptosis. If left unmitigated, chronic overproduction of ROS has been linked to the formation of cancer, diabetes, atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic inflammation, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ROS is typically eliminated with antioxidants, which scavenge and inhibit the formation of ROS by becoming oxidized by the ROS and by binding to its precursors. Curcumin is an effective lipid-soluble antioxidant agent. However, its poor bioavailability, rapid metabolism by the liver and intestinal tract, and short biological half-life greatly hinders its therapeutic abilities. The water soluble antioxidant, n-2-mercaptoproprionyl glycine (N-MPG), also has been found to scavenge ROS and decrease lipid peroxidation. Like curcumin, its therapeutic efficacy is limited due to its poor half-life. In order to improve bioavailability and stability of these two antioxidants, lipid vesicle formulations have been designed and characterized for transdermal delivery of the antioxidants. Transdermal delivery is a pain-free method of drug delivery that allows the antioxidants to permeate through the skin layers for systemic delivery. Three lipid vesicle formulations, traditional liposomes, ultradeformable liposomes, and ethosomes, have been fabricated and characterized in order to determine which vesicle type has the highest skin permeation through the stratum corneum. Each of the three lipid vesicle formulations were composed of 10 mg/ml Soy-PC, 0.48 mg/ml vii curcumin, and 1 mg/ml N-MPG. The ultradeformable vesicles incorporate an edge activator, 1.5 mg/ml cholic acid, into its structure to increase deformability of the vesicles. The ethosomes are vesicles composed in a 40% ethanol solution to increase the fluidity of the vesicles and skin membrane. The vesicles were characterized for size, stability, morphology, and entrapment efficiency. A modified Franz-Diffusion Chamber was used to test the skin permeability of each vesicle type. Each particle type was fabricated to have a diameter less than 200 nm. The unloaded particle types were tested for stability using a PeroxiDetect Assay, which detected amount of lipid hydroperoxides. The ethosomes had the least amount while the ultradeformable liposomes had the most. However, when analyzing size of the vesicles over various time points, the ultradeformable liposomes were the most stable. Every vesicle type had a semi-spherical morphology, with the ultradeformable liposomes having the smoothest morphology. The ethosomes had the highest entrapment efficiency of curcumin (statistically similar to the traditional liposomes) and N-MPG. The modified Franz-Diffusion chamber was used to characterize skin deposition of the vesicles. At hour 2, the ethosomes had the highest fluorescence and consequently, skin deposition. At hour 24, the traditional liposomes, which were statistically similar to the ultradeformable liposomes, had the highest skin deposition. In the image analysis, the ethosomes had the highest sum intensity in the stratum corneum. In the epidermis, the traditional liposomes, which were statistically similar to the ethosomes, had the highest sum intensity. The traditional liposomes had the highest sum intensity in the dermis layer. Subsequently, the ethosomes are recommended for short-term applications of curcumin and N-MPG while the traditional liposomes are recommended for long-term applications

Down the Shakespeare Rabbit Hole

This article is an exploration and examination of my series of artists books based on the plays of William Shakespeare. The different approaches to each book is described in detail

The Impacts of Urban Pollution on Streams

Urban streams reduce aquatic biodiversity through the loss of invertebrates, fish, and plants in addition to the economic impacts of remediation. Creation of a successful management plan to address increased stormflow and chemical loading in runoff requires an understanding of the connection between unhealthy streams and the humans impacting it. Soldier Creek runs through the northern section of the city of Fort Dodge, Iowa. A tributary named Forrest Creek receives most of its flow from storm drain runoff in town. There is no process to mitigate pollutants entering storm drains from the streets of the city, which allows them to directly enter stream ecosystems. Water quality was investigated at three sites: Site 1 on Forrest Creek, Site 2 on Soldier Creek above the confluence with Forrest Creek, and Site 3 on Soldier Creek below the confluence. Water and habitat quality were examined at each site once a month starting in March 2015 and continue to present day. The objective of this study was to analyze how urban pollution entering Forrest Creek impacted the aquatic ecosystem as a whole. All testing sites showed higher levels of nitrate, phosphate, and chloride than is typically found in naturally vegetated landscapes at one point or more during the testing period