Department of Allied Health and Human Performance
Permanent link for this collection
Browse
Browsing Department of Allied Health and Human Performance by Title
Now showing 1 - 20 of 42
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Can mental training help to improve shooting accuracy?(1999) Couture, Roger T.; Singh, Mohan; Lee, Wayne; Chahal, Paul; Wankel, Leonard; Oseen, Margaret; Wheeler, GaryThe study investigated the effects of two mental training strategies separately and combined on subjects’ shooting performance following an endurance march. Further, the study examined the suitability of a ten‐session training programme for the police force. On Trial 1, following a three hour march, 44 subjects shot 25 rounds. Subjects were then randomly assigned to four groups (biofeedback, relaxation, combined biofeedback and relaxation and control). After two weeks of mental training, subjects performed both tasks again on Trial 2. A repeated two‐way ANOVA indicated a significant improvement (p < 0.01) in shooting accuracy by the combined group. Suitability for this mental training programme was strongly supported by the experimental groups (71 per cent to 80 per cent). Subjects were generally better able to relax and focus. They were also more aware of their body and their physiological control. Results are discussed in light of potential benefits for cognitive strategies in precision tasks following endurance activities.Item Cell-based therapies and functional outcome in experimental stroke(2009) Rissanen, Anna; Schallert, Timothy; Jolkkonen, JukkaOne of the most promising frontiers in neuroscience is the potential for stem cells to treat brain damage. Cell-based strategies are of particular interest in neurological conditions because mature brains have limited capacity for self-repair. It is often argued that stem cells might be used to replace lost neurons and restore function (Lindvall et al., 2004). Prior to clinical trials, safety and efficacy must be demonstrated in animal models. Indeed, a recent review strongly suggests that preclinical and clinical trial procedures and outcome measures, including behavioral assessments, must be closely aligned and sophisticated (Ginsberg, 2008). Unfortunately, a lack of translational success has been observed in stroke neuroprotection trials conducted thus far, and this experience should serve to caution that histological benefits in animals are not a sufficient reason to move to the clinic carelessly.Item Challenges and possibilities of intravascular cell therapy in stroke(2009) Rissanen, Anna; Jolkkonen, JukkaStroke is the third leading cause of death in Western countries and more importantly a leading cause of adult disability. The recovery process of stroke patients might be enhanced by intensive rehabilitation, which acts through brain plasticity mechanisms. Restorative approaches such as cell-based therapies are clinically appealing as it might be possible to help patients even when treatment is initiated days or weeks after the ischemic insult. An extensive number of experimental transplantation studies have been conducted with cells of different origins (e.g., embryonic stem, fetal neural stem, human umbilical cord blood) with promising results. Noninvasive intravascular administration of cells, which provides a broad distribution of cells to the close proximity of ischemic tissue, has perhaps the most immediate access to clinical applications. However, surprisingly little is known about whole body biodistribution of intravascularly administered cells and mechanisms leading to improved functional recovery. This review examines the recent literature concerning intravascular cell-based therapies in experimental stroke.Item Content reinforcement of cell and membrane transport between kinesiology and arts & science students(2023) Ma, Robin; Chahal, Paul; Narnaware, YuwarajThe present study evaluates content reinforcement of cell membrane transport over eight weeks for Physical Education and Arts and Science physiology students. The highest retention for physical education students was in weeks 1 and 3, whereas for the Arts and Science students, it was the highest in weeks 2 and 3. Knowledge was comparatively higher for Physical Education students than for the Arts and Science students. Therefore, relatively more robust interventional strategies need to be implemented for Arts and Science students to improve knowledge retention.Item Content retention of cell and membrane transport for physical education students(2023) Martin, Noah; Chahal, Paul; Narnaware, YuwarajHuman physiology is considered a foundational course in the Physical Education program. The objective of the present study was to evaluate content retention of cell and plasma membrane transport for first-year Physical Education University Transfer physiology students over eight weeks. Results show that the knowledge retention was observed to be week-specific, highest in weeks one and three and lower for other weeks. Therefore, content reinforcement can be used as an interventional strategy to improve long-term knowledge retention in Physical Education University Transfer students.Item Cultural citizenship or commercial interest? The 1962 Grey Cup Fiasco(2018) Valentine, JohnIn 1962, the Board of Broadcast Governors (BBG), an arm of the Canadian federal government responsible for broadcasting, made the unprecedented move to force the national public broadcaster to televise the Grey Cup, the championship game of Canadian football, ostensibly because it was in the national interest. However, research reveals that this decision was not necessarily made because it was in the national interest, but more so to assist the new struggling private television network, CTV. The important content, allegedly linked to cultural citizenship, was not the national championship, but the television commercials. This paper explores why the BBG intervened and how the dispute was settled.Item Cultural nationalism, anti-Americanism, and the federal defense of the Canadian Football League(2019) Valentine, JohnDuring the 1960s nationalism flourished in Canada as did American influence, both cultural and economically, as well as separatist sentiment in Quebec. The Canadian federal government became more interventionist to combat threats to Canadian sovereignty: internal threats from Quebec and external threats from the United States. The federal government used sport as a nation-building tool and eventually acted to protect the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a display of resistance to Americanization and in an attempt to unite French and English. Canadian football had become a symbol of the nation and therefore could be used by the government in a symbolic way to resist cultural imperialism and promote national unity. On two occasions the federal government acted to ensure the CFL preserved its Canadian identity; first, to prevent Canadian-based football teams from joining an American professional football league, and second, to prevent American-based teams from joining the CFL. John Munro was the key Canadian politician who formulated policy to protect Canadian football.Item Effect of needle puncture and electro-acupuncture on mucociliary clearance in anesthetized quails(2006) Wang, Jiulin; Tai, Shusheng; Sun, Feng; Xutian, Stevenson; Wang, Tianshan; King, MalcolmBackground: Acupuncture therapy for obstructive respiratory diseases has been effectively used in clinical practice and the acupuncture points or acupoints of Zhongfu and Tiantu are commonly used acupoints to treat patients with the diseases. Since the impaired mucociliary clearance is among the most important features of airway inflammation in most obstructive respiratory diseases, the effect of needle puncture and electro-acupuncture at the specific acupoints on tracheal mucociliary clearance was investigated in anesthetized quails. Methods: Mucociliary transport velocity on tracheal mucosa was measured through observing the optimal pathway, and fucose and protein contents in tracheal lavages were determined with biochemical methods. In the therapeutic group, needle puncture or electro-acupuncture stimulation to the acupoints was applied without or with constant current output in 2 mA and at frequency of 100 Hz for 60 minutes. In the sham group, electro-acupuncture stimulation to Liangmen was applied. Results: Our present experiments demonstrated that the electro-acupuncture stimulation to Zhongfu and Tiantu significantly increased tracheal mucociliary transport velocity and decreased the content of protein in the tracheal lavage, compared with the control group. Moreover, either needle puncture or electro-acupuncture stimulation to Zhongfu and Tiantu significantly reverted the human neutrophil elastase-induced decrease in tracheal mucociliary transport velocity and human neutrophil elastase -induced increase in the contents of fucose and protein in the tracheal lavage, compared with the control group. Conclusion: These results suggest that either needle puncture or electro-acupuncture stimulation to the effective acupoints significantly improves both airway mucociliary clearance and the airway surface liquid and that the improvements maybe ascribed to both the special function of the points and the substantial stimulation of electricity.Item Effectiveness of virtual discovery learning in medicine(2024) Rissanen, Anna; Bistritz, Lana M.; Petrov, Petar A.Background/Purpose - After pandemic restrictions were lifted, students were interested in retaining hybrid learning options. In response, the MD program offered a Virtual Discovery Learning (DL) stream during pre-clerkship. This study compares the learning outcomes of virtual vs in-person DL students in the Gastroenterology and Nutrition course. Methods - Using mixed methods, students were separated into Virtual and In-person DL groups. Learning outcome data was collected and anonymized. Overall student performance for MCQ assessments and performance for DL specific questions in those assessments was compared between the two groups using two-tailed T-Test with two sample unequal variance. Qualitatively, we performed focus groups where students provided feedback on their Virtual DL experience, their reasoning for choosing the Virtual DL stream and their impressions of the experience. Results - Statistical analysis of student performance data concluded that there were no statistically significant differences in grade averages between the Virtual and In-person DL groups for the GI final exam (p=0.92), except for one DL specific question on the final (p=0.008). Focus group sessions identified 4 main themes for why students chose virtual learning: Covid-19; Flexibility; Accessibility and Learning Preferences; and Mental Health. Discussion - Students who chose to attend Discovery Learning virtually did not experience any academic advantage or disadvantage in learning compared to students who attended DL in-person, and psychosocial benefits of virtual attendance were identified. This suggests that an optional hybrid model for DL is potentially beneficial to students without impacting learning outcomes.Item Effects of mental training on the performance of military endurance and precision tasks in the Canadian Forces(1991) Couture, Roger T.; Singh, Mohan; Lee, Wayne; Chahal, Paul; Wankel, L.; Oseen, Margaret; Wheeler, G.This study investigated the effect of two cognitive training strategies, associative and dissociative thinking, on soldiers' ability to perform a weight-loaded march. Forty Infantry soldiers from the Canadian Army completed three hours of marching. Following the march, subjects were randomly assigned to one of four groups: associative (biofeedback), dissociative (meditation), combined associative-dissociative (biofeedback and meditation) and control. After two weeks of mental training, the soldier performed the march again. Analyses showed that all soldiers had improved in their ability to estimate the amount of time remaining in the march and in their ability to reduce heart rate levels while marching. Significant changes however were not found in perceived fatigue levels and in rates of perceived exertion during the march. Results are discussed in light of these findings.Item Effects of ovariectomy and estrogen treatment on learning and hippocampal neurotransmitters in mice(2002) Heikkinen, Taneli; Puoliväli, Jukka; Liu, Li; Rissanen, Anna; Tanila, HeikkiThis study examined the effects of long-term estrogen treatment (sc 17β-estradiol minipellets) on learning in C57BL/6J female and male mice using a position discrimination task in the T-maze and a win-stay task (1/8 arms baited) in the radial arm maze (RAM). In addition, hippocampal monoamines and ChAT activity were measured at the end of the study and correlated to task performance. Female sham-operated (gonadally intact) and ovariectomized (OVX) mice were treated with estrogen either for 7 or 40 days before the behavioral tests and intact male mice for 7 days before the behavioral tests. In sham-operated mice the 40-day estrogen treatment improved RAM performance and in OVX mice both the 7- and 40-day estrogen treatments improved the performance in both maze tasks. The estrogen treatment also improved RAM performance in males. The hippocampal ChAT, NA, 5-HIAA, and DOPAC levels were decreased in OVX mice. Furthermore, the effects of estrogen treatment on the levels of hippocampal 5-HT and its metabolite 5-HIAA were different in sham-operated than in OVX mice. We could find no correlation between cognitive measures and neurochemical variables. This study gives new information about the effects of estrogen on learning and hippocampal neurotransmitters in mice.Item Encouraging global citizenship amongst kinesiology students in higher education: a Canadian perspective(2021) Mandigo, James; Corlett, John; Sheppard, JoannaWhile 83% of Canadian universities identify global citizenship education as a top five priority and 97% provide opportunities for their students to participate in study abroad, only 3% of students take advantage in any given year. Faculty-led study abroad courses that are for-credit, short in duration, focused in a student’s disciplinary area of study, peer based, well supervised, and based on pre-established partnerships and relationships with local stakeholders can be effective in providing global citizenship education. This paper explores the facilitation of faculty-led international study abroad for those studying in kinesiology and related fields. We make eight recommendations based on having led hundreds of students in for-credit kinesiology courses in international settings over the past 20 years. These recommendations are: 1) engaging students in faculty research; 2) group dynamics; 3) preparation; 4) local partnerships; 5) decision-making and communication; 6) teachable moments; 7) preparing to return home; and 8) assessment as learning. These recommendations, while not exhaustive, are meant to provide colleagues with “insider information” based upon our collective experience.Item Enriched environment enhances transplanted subventricular zone stem cell migration and functional recovery after stroke(2007) Rissanen, Anna; Hewlett, K.; Windle, V.; Chernenko, Garry A.; Ploughman, M.; Jolkkonen, Jukka; Weiss, S.; Corbett, DaleStroke patients suffer from severe impairments and significant effort is under way to develop therapies to improve functional recovery. Stem cells provide a promising form of therapy to replace neuronal circuits lost to injury. Indeed, previous studies have shown that a variety of stem cell types can provide some functional recovery in animal models of stroke. However, it is unlikely that replacement therapy alone will be sufficient to maximize recovery. The aim of the present study was to determine if rodent stem cell transplants combined with rehabilitation resulted in enhanced functional recovery after focal ischemia in rats. Middle cerebral artery occlusion was induced by injection of the vasoconstrictive peptide endothelin-1 adjacent to the middle cerebral artery. Seven days after stroke the rats received adult neural stem cell transplants isolated from mouse subventricular zone or vehicle injection and then subsequently were housed in enriched or standard conditions. The rats in the enriched housing also had access to running wheels once a week. Enriched housing and voluntary running exercise enhanced migration of transplanted stem cells toward the region of injury after stroke and there was a trend toward increased survival of stem cells. Enrichment also increased the number of endogenous progenitor cells in the subventricular zone of transplanted animals. Finally, functional recovery measured in the cylinder test was facilitated only when the stem cell transplants were combined with enrichment and running exercise 7 days after the transplant. These results suggest that the ability of transplanted stem cells in promoting recovery can be augmented by environmental factors such as rehabilitation.Item Estrogen treatment improves spatial learning in APP + PS1 mice but does not affect beta amyloid accumulation and plaque formation(2004) Heikkinen, T.; Kalesnykas, G.; Rissanen, Anna; Tapiola, T.; Iivonen, S.; Wang, J.; Chaudhuri, J.; Tanila, H.; Miettinen, R.; Puoliväli, JukkaWe investigated the effects of ovariectomy (OVX) and 17β-estradiol (0.18 mg per pellet) treatment on spatial learning and memory, hippocampal beta amyloid (Aβ) levels, and amyloid plaque counts in double transgenic mice (A/P) carrying mutated amyloid precursor protein (APPswe) and presenilin-1 (PS1-A246E). After OVX at 3 months of age, the mice received estrogen treatment for the last 3 months of their lifetime before they were killed at 6, 9, or 12 months of age. Estrogen treatment in A/P OVX mice increased the number of correct choices in a position discrimination task in the T-maze, and slightly improved their performance in a win-stay task (1/8 arms baited) in the radial arm maze (RAM). However, estrogen treatment did not reverse the Aβ-dependent cognitive deficits of A/P mice in the water maze (WM) spatial navigation task. Furthermore, ovariectomy or estrogen treatment in OVX and sham-operated A/P mice had no effect on hippocampal amyloid accumulation. These results show that the estrogen treatment in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD) improves performance in the same learning and memory tasks as in the normal C57BL/6J mice. However, the estrogen effects in these mice appeared to be unrelated to Aβ-induced cognitive deficits. Our results do not support the idea that estrogen treatment decreases the risk or alleviates the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease by inhibiting the accumulation of Aβ or formation of amyloid plaques.Item Football and "tolerance": black football players in 20th century Canada(2012) Valentine, John; Darnell, S.This chapter draws on the history of Black football players in 20th-century Canada in order to explore and challenge the notion of Canadian racial tolerance in relation to Blackness.Item Functional vagal input to chemically identified neurons in pancreatic ganglia as revealed by Fos expression(1999) Wang, Jiulin; Zheng, Huiyuan; Berthoud, Hans-RudolfThe importance of neural elements in the control of both endocrine and exocrine pancreatic secretory functions and their coordination with gastrointestinal, hepatic, and general homeostatic functions is increasingly recognized. To better characterize the vagal efferent input to the pancreas, the capacity of electrical vagal stimulation to induce expression of c-Fos in neurochemically identified neurons of intrapancreatic ganglia was investigated. At optimal stimulation parameters, unilateral stimulation of either the left or right cervical vagus induced Fos expression in ∼30% of neurons in the head and 10–20% of neurons in the body and tail of the pancreas. There was no Fos expression if no stimulation or stimulation with a distally cut vagus was applied. Large proportions of neurons contained nitric oxide synthase as assessed with NADPH diaphorase histochemistry (88%) and choline acetyltransferase. The proportion of nitrergic and nonnitrergic neurons receiving vagal input was not different. It is concluded that a significant proportion of pancreatic neurons receives excitatory synaptic input from vagal preganglionic axons and that many of these vagal postganglionic neurons can produce nitric oxide and acetylcholine.Item How much physiology do fourth year nursing students really remember?(2024) Purani, Sharlini; Narnaware, Yuwaraj; Neumeier, Melanie; Cuschieri, Sarah; Chahal, PaulThere is a growing concern that nursing students struggle to retain adequate physiological knowledge throughout their program to meet their entry to practice competencies. However, how much and when this knowledge is lost over a four-year undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Nursing program is yet to be evaluated. According to Narnaware Y. 2021, physiological knowledge retention has yet to be studied as comprehensively as anatomical knowledge retention in healthcare disciplines, including nursing programs. This study aims to assess the extent of physiological knowledge decline among nursing students by their fourth year. It is evaluated by comparing their understanding of physiological knowledge in the first year after their physiology course and the fourth year after completing their Critical Care nursing course. Physiological knowledge loss was assessed in fourth-year nursing students by quizzing them on ten organ systems using the online quizzing platform – Kahoot. About nine to eleven knowledge and comprehension-level multiple-choice questions were delivered. These scores were then compared to first-year quiz scores on the same content to determine overall knowledge loss over three years. The data was analyzed by using SPSS II and compared using 2-sample t-tests. The findings of this research illustrate a general reduction in knowledge loss, with variations in the decline specific to each system. In medical and allied health students, the knowledge loss was significantly lower than previously reported (Pourshanazari et al., 2013). Compared to the third year, knowledge loss in the fourth year, however, is not significantly different (Narnaware et al., 2021).Item The impact of content reinforcement on physiological knowledge retention in nursing students(2020) Narnaware, Yuwaraj; Neumeier, Melanie; Gutierrez, J. Claudio; Chahal, PaulThere is growing concern over the loss of anatomical and physiological knowledge in medical, allied-health & nursing students over time. Numerous studies have demonstrated the difficulty of the students in these disciplines to retain and apply anatomical knowledge as they progress through their programs of study (Narnaware and Neumeier, 2019). However, physiological knowledge retention has not been studied as extensively as anatomical knowledge retention in health care disciplines, with very few studies focusing on nursing students (Aari et al., 2004). Of those studies, most are carried out after graduation (Aari et al., 2004), or are focused on a single or limited number of organ systems (Pourshanazari et al., 2013). We have previously shown that physiology students retained approximately 86.6% of their first-year physiological knowledge over four months (Narnaware et al., 2020). Objectives: To improve the acquisition and retention of physiological knowledge, the present study aims to develop an interventional strategy that includes the repeated assessment of vascular physiology knowledge over an eight-week period.Item Impact of lack of in-class and online activities due to COVID-19 on anatomy & physiology class average in nursing students(2021) Narnaware, Yuwaraj; Chahal, PaulBoth human anatomy and physiology serve as prerequisite courses for admission to the Bachelor of Nursing (BScN) and Bachelor of Psychiatric Nursing (BPN) programs at MacEwan University. The teaching and learning of these subjects are influenced by several factors, including the COVID 19 pandemic (Narnaware and Neumeier, 2020; Syed et al., 2021). In early March of 2020, this pandemic caused the emergency pedagogical transformation of nursing curricula, forcing many educational institutions worldwide to switch from face to face classroom teaching to an online, virtual platform. As a result, many active learning modalities such as the use of technology, labs, cadaver and prosection dissections, in class exams, and in person contacts with students were moved to an online, virtual learning (Syed et al., 2021). This has forced students to adopt self directed learning approaches. The impact of the shift from active learning strategies to self directed learning strategies on academic performance in nursing students taking anatomy and physiology during post COVID 19 period has not yet been investigated. In this study, we seek to determine the impact of the lack of various in class activities on class average & grade point average (GPA) in anatomy & physiology courses for nursing students.Item Impact of peak oxygen uptake and muscular fitness on the performance of activities of daily living in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(2012) Kato, David; Rodgers, Wendy M.; Stickland, Michael K.; Haennel, Robert G.PURPOSE: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressively debilitating disease, which, over time, may compromise patient ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between selected parameters of physical fitness and performance of ADL in COPD patients. METHODS: A convenience sample of 23 COPD patients (11 men and 12 women, age 6869 years) was studied at the conclusion of an exercise rehabilitation program. Patients were assessed using the Continuous Scale Physical Functional Performance 10 Test (PFP-10) battery, chest press, leg press, and a symptom limited graded exercise test. RESULTS: The PFP-10 global score was 54 +/- 12, and 11 patients fell below a global score of 57, which has been established as the threshold for independence. Peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) was 20 +/- 4 mL[middle dot]kg21[middle dot]min21, the forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced expiratory volume ratio was 0.58 +/- 0.12, grip strength was 61 +/- 16 kg (both hands), and chest press and leg press were 4 +/- 3 and 12 +/- 7 kg/kg body weight, respectively. The associations between the PFP-10 VO2peak and leg press were modest (r = 0.501, P = .014; and r = 0.547, P = .008) as was grip strength (r = 0.418, P = .047). There was no association between the PFP-10 and forced expiratory volume, forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity, or chest press (r = -20.040, P = .856; r = 20.212, P = .330; and r = 0.120, P = .595), respectively. CONCLUSION: The results of this investigation suggest that lower body strength is important in optimizing ADL performance in COPD patients.
- «
- 1 (current)
- 2
- 3
- »