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What we’ve learned from the epidemiology of Ebola
Dr. Afsaneh Motamed-Khorasani Medical & Allied HealthcareEbola viruses are highly virulent zoonoses affecting both humans and nonhuman primates. The virus contains a single-strand linear RNA of 18-19 kb encoding seven genes (NP, VP35, VP40, VP30, VO24 and GP). Furthermore, five genetically distinct species are known for it, including: Zaire Ebola virus (ZEBOV), Sudan Ebola virus (SEBOV), Cote d'Ivoire Ebola virus, Bundibugyo Ebola virus (BEBOV) and Reston Ebola virus (REBOV) with different genomic sequence, genomic overlap number and location, and virulence. REBOV can only affect nonhuman primates, while the other four versions are responsible for Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) breakouts.
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With Liberia declared Ebola-free, what’s next for West Africa?
Katina Hernandez Medical & Allied HealthcareIn Monrovia, Liberia, medical facilities that once housed hundreds of patients now sit deserted. Once crucial in the fight against Ebola, some of these medical facilities face a questionable future now that Liberia has officially been declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organization after 42 days of no new reported infections.
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Is nursing really for everyone?
Joan Spitrey Medical & Allied HealthcareLast week, nursing student Jennifer Burbella filed a lawsuit against Misericordia University after failing a required class for the second time. The lawsuit claims she suffered from severe anxiety, depression and poor concentration and was not given appropriate accommodations during her final exam.
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Nurse’s death highlights risky nature of hoisting operations
Mark Huber Medical & Allied HealthcareIt's happened again. Another EMS rescuer has plunged to her death during a hoisting operation. This one happened April 27 in Texas. Nurse Kristin McClain, 46, somehow became disconnected while ascending to a STAR Flight Airbus Helicopters H145 during the night-time rescue of an injured hiker.
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Scientists are closing in on the root cause of schizophrenia
Dorothy L. Tengler Mental HealthcareSchizophrenia was once thought to be just a catch-all term for forms of mental behavior that we don't understand. In fact, however, schizophrenia is a diagnosis that describes a psychiatric illness characterized by impairments in the perception or expression of reality. These impairments most commonly manifest as auditory hallucinations, paranoid delusions or disorganized talking and thinking in the context of significant social or occupational dysfunction.
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Spotting a heart attack with a thermometer
Dorothy L. Tengler Medical & Allied HealthcareEvery year, about 735,000 Americans suffer a myocardial infarction, commonly known as a heart attack. Of these, 525,000 are a first heart attack, while 210,000 happen in people who have already had a heart attack. Diagnosing a heart attack can be difficult for physicians. Many patients have symptoms — such as dizziness or nausea — that may mimic other conditions. Many have normal EKG readings, and a quarter of heart attack patients have no chest pain.
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Biopolymers: The key to the 21st‑century medical revolution
Adolfo Benedito EngineeringWe have so much hope for medical innovation in the near future. Words such as nanotechnology, immune therapy, stem cells and tissue creation are becoming more and more common in the medical world, generating a current of optimism that we may soon find cures and treatments for many complex diseases and conditions.
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Teens and food: How a fatty diet can disrupt muscle response
Dorothy L. Tengler Sports & FitnessToday, about 1 in 3 American kids and teens is overweight or obese. Tripling from 1971 to 2011, childhood obesity is now the No. 1 health concern among parents in the United States, topping drug abuse and smoking. Despite a social emphasis on being thin, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) reports that among those in the age group 12 to 19, the incidence being overweight increased from 11 percent to 17 percent.
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Driving the bus of your nursing career
Keith Carlson Medical & Allied HealthcareIn our nursing careers, we can often feel buffeted by winds over which we feel little control. We can feel like we "should" do this or that, make choices that others feels are best for us, or take paths that feel prescribed for us, not chosen by us. This career paradigm can indeed feel uncomfortable.
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Advances in wireless wearable brain‑computer interface systems
Dr. Afsaneh Motamed-Khorasani Science & TechnologyWe have witnessed the rapid growth of research in the field of brain-computer interface (BCI) in the last 15 years. This process now has the potential to further advance in terms of accuracy and speed through training and practice. EEG-based BCI systems basically decode the user's neurophysiological intention signals and produce commands that can control an external device, such as computer applications, home appliances and prosthetic devices.
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