Dissociation Between the Growing Opioid Demands and Drug Policy Directions Among the U.S. Older Adults with Degenerative Joint Diseases

We aim to examine temporal trends of orthopedic operations and opioid-related hospital stays among seniors in the nation and states of Oregon and Washington where marijuana legalization was accepted earlier than any others. As aging society advances in the United States (U.S.), orthopedic operations and opioid-related hospital stays among seniors increase in the nation. A serial cross-sectional cohort study using the healthcare cost and utilization project fast stats from 2006 through 2015 measured annual rate per 100,000 populations of orthopedic operations by age groups (45–64 vs 65 and older) as well as annual rate per 100,000 populations of opioid-related hospital stays among 65 and older in the nation, Oregon and Washington states from 2008 through 2017. Orthopedic operations (knee arthroplasty, total or partial hip replacement, spinal fusion or laminectomy) and opioid-related hospital stays were measured. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) was used to quantify temporal trends of orthopedic operations by age groups as well as opioid-related hospital stays and was tested by Rao–Scott correction of χ2 for categorical variables. The CAGR (4.06%) of orthopedic operations among age 65 and older increased (P...) (See full abstract in article

Evaluating Learner Perceptions of Use of Simulations for New nurses – A Collaboration Between the UT SON and the Methodist Hospital

The purpose of this evaluation project was to describe the integration of simulation into a nursing internship program and to help prepare new graduate nurses for patient care. Additionally, learning styles and perceptions of active learning, collaboration among peers, ways of learning, expectation of simulation, satisfaction, self-confidence, and design of simulation were examined. [See PDF for complete abstract

Carlos Castaneda (1925-1998): Reading Between His Lines, a Summary Judgment

Don Juan is a fictional character. Yaqui in Sonora and Arizona have no history of peyote rituals. These two facts help explain why, by 1975, Castaneda’s followers were seeking shamans comparable to Don Juan among the Huichol of Mexico. In recent years peyote tourists have invaded the sacred land where Huichol venerate the peyote spirit. The rising tide of tourists in that area is rapidly depleting peyote and has stimulated Mexican authorities to incarcerate Huichol peyote hunters (Fikes, 1993; 2013). In the early 1990s Castaneda created a cult, Tensegrity, which taught disciples stylized movements combining “tai chi, modern dance and karate” (Marshall, 2007). He established an inner circle, demanding that his followers sever all family ties or “erase personal history.” He seduced women followers and probably induced several of them to commit suicide (Austin, 2007; Marshall, 2007). Castaneda’s erratic “acting out” and his insistence that followers cut themselves off entirely from everyone essential to perpetuating their identity exemplified harmful practices described by his followers

A Value-Added Study of a Federal Grant Program in Mathematics for Military Dependent Students

Closing the achievement gap in public education means all students are expected to be learning at grade level. In response to federal mandates requiring schools to attain specific student achievement benchmarks, many schools are placing greater resources into support programs designed to increase student achievement. Military dependent students experience unique challenges including, ongoing parent absences, extended parental deployments, and frequent moving and relocation. In California Unified School District (CUSD) where 37% of the student population is military connected, these challenges can place military dependent students at risk of failing socially, emotionally and academically. As a result, CUSD implemented an individualized, computer-assisted instructional model to support military dependent students performing below grade level. The purpose of this study was to provide additional, value-added information, to the findings of the district\u27s annual assessment report of a three-year federally funded grant designed to close the mathematics achievement gap for military dependent students performing below grade level at a California middle school. This study focused on the value-added support program titled, Students Achieving Through Technology (SATT-21) a three year, 1.4 million dollar federally funded grant designated to CUSD in order to address the achievement gap of military dependent students performing below grade level in mathematics. The researcher used a qualitative approach (survey and interviews) to gain insights into the perceptions, concerns, and suggestions of the participants involved in the SATT-21 program at the district\u27s middle school to address the research questions posed for the study. After a careful analysis of the district\u27s annual assessment report, in combination with the responses from the participant\u27s experiences in the program, findings revealed three major focus areas associated with the grant: (1) communication, (2) curriculum, and (3) professional development. Numerous themes emerged within each of the focus areas which supported suggestions and recommendations for the SATT-21 program. The results of this study provide value-added information for the district and stakeholders investing resources into school support programs designed to increase student achievement, particularly for military dependent students performing below grade level in mathematics

Regaining Strength and Range of Motion in a Young Adult Male with Spastic Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy Through Locomotor Training

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a condition that is attributed to some degree of brain damage that interferes with the ability of muscles to function normally. There is minimal understanding about the effects of physiotherapy on individuals with CP because there has been a lack of research on CP focused therapeutic designs due to the hands-on, single-subject nature of this research. However, improvements in the ability to independently walk short distances using an assistive walker have been documented as a result of locomotor training in children with CP. PURPOSE: To design and trial a harness-assisted treadmill apparatus (HATA) to enhance flexibility, strength and comfortability while engaging in locomotor movement for an individual with Spastic Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy (SQCP). METHODS: The study followed a six-week intervention design with the participant, a 25-year-old male with SQCP, engaging in 2 days a week of treadmill locomotor training with flexibility exercises and 2 days a week with strength and flexibility training. Strength and flexibility exercises were provided by the participants Physical Therapist. Intensity (speed and RPE) and duration (mins/session) increases were determined by the participant. Muscular strength measurements for plantar flexor, dorsiflexor, inverter and evertor muscles along with goniometry measurements for the hip, knee, and ankle joints were assessed at baseline (week 0) and upon completion of the treadmill training program (week 6). RESULTS: A significant difference between pre and post measurements were found in both the (R)foot strength (t(3), p=0.031), 55% improvement and (L)foot strength (t(3), p=0.019), 95% improvement. There was a 20% improvement in the range of motion of the joints on the right side of the body and a 30% increase in range of motion of the joints on the left side of the body. CONCLUSION: The combination of locomotor, strength and flexibility training not only increased the participants strength and flexibility, but enhanced their level of ability and comfortability when engaging in locomotion. The cost-efficient HATA design, along with its versatility (to be anchored and moved) could potentially help in creating more cost-efficient therapeutic opportunities for individuals with Cerebral Palsy. It is also important to note the positive social impact this interaction has had on both the participant and researcher’s self-efficacy and quality of life

The Impact of Consumer Product Package Quality on Consumption Satisfaction, Brand Perceptions, Consumer Investment and Behavior

Consumer product packaging can serve a critical role in the consumption experience, but marketing and packaging science researchers focus primarily on pre and post-consumption aspects of consumer product containers. Exhaustive research into packing ergonomics, logistics, safety, sustainability and promotional features are common across marketing and packaging disciplines, but research isolating the role of a packaging in consumption satisfaction and enduring consumer-brand relationships is rare. In addition to an undervalued role in product satisfaction, functional isolation between marketing and packaging scientists limits packaging’s overall impact on the bottom line. This research examines the role of bottle quality in bottled-water consumption satisfaction and its subsequent impact on brand attribute perceptions, consumer-brand relationship investment and behavioral intentions. We show that thicker water bottles are perceived to be of higher quality than thinner bottles, and that these perceptual differences impact how customers view a brand on aspects such as reliability and value offered by the brand’s products and ultimately intentions to re-purchase the brand’s products. We use qualitative, experimental and structural modeling analysis techniques to establish a fundamental role of packaging quality in consumer product satisfaction. We show that packaging characteristics are an indivisible component of the product and important to evaluation of the overall consumption experience. We finally conclude that packaging quality has a critical role to play in building profitable consumer-brand relationships, which should redefine the packaging cost-benefit equation to include the value of consumer loyalty as a balance to non-consumption packaging considerations

Examining a Relationship Between Chronic Dietary Folic Acid Deficiency and Activation of p53 Gene in Down Syndrome Ts65Dn Mice

Seaver Undergraduate Researc