Category Archives: Physiology

The anatomy and physiology of startup lay-offs: what separates futures great brands from the crowd – Economic Times

July 31, 2022 medical

Lay-offs may be inevitable even when there is a professionally competent management, good fundamentals, and focus on building value. But the critical aspect is how they are executed once the decision is taken.

Massive lay-off at a highly funded startup. Waking up to such headlines has become usual over the last few weeks. Its unfortunate that more than 12,000 people in the Indian startup ecosystem have lost jobs in 2022 so far. But its the hard truth of a funding winter. The reasons cited by the managements are often similar. They blame the global macroeconomic conditions and maintain that harsh decisions need to be taken to stay afloat. But is

Gift A Story

Share member-only stories with your friends or family and help them read it for free.

Gifting Limit Reached!

Hey , no more stories left for you to gift.

No worries! You will get a limit of 15 stories next month to share with your friends and family.

Stories Left!

You can gift upto 15 stories in a month.

AbcSmall

AbcMedium

AbcLarge

Continue reading with one of these options:

Limited Access

Free

Unlimited Access

Starting @ Rs120/month

Get access to exclusive stories, expert opinions &in-depth stock reports

Subscribe Now

To read full story, subscribe to ET Prime

34 per week

Billed annually at 2499 1749

Already a Member? Sign In now

Rs 49 for 1st month

Then Rs. 1,749 per year

Valid only with UPI, Credit & Debit Cards Autopay

Subscribe Now

(Credit card mandatory)

You can cancel your subscription anytime

Subscribe Now

(Pay Using Netbanking/UPI/Debit Card)

Netbanking, Credit & Debit Card

Subscribe with Google

399/month

Monthly PLAN

Billed Amount 399

208/month

(Save 49%)

Yearly PLAN

Billed Amount 2,499

15 Days Trial +Includes DocuBay and TimesPrime Membership.

150/month

(Save 63%)

2-Year PLAN

Billed Amount 3,599

15 Days Trial +Includes DocuBay and TimesPrime Membership.

SPECIAL OFFER ON ET PRIME

Flat 20% Off

ON YEARLY AND 2-YEAR MEMBERSHIP

Exclusive Economic Times Stories, Editorials & Expert opinion across 20+ sectors

Stock analysis. Market Research. Industry Trends on 4000+ Stocks

Clean experience withMinimal Ads

Comment & Engage with ET Prime community

Exclusive invites to Virtual Events with Industry Leaders

A trusted team of Journalists & Analysts who can best filter signal from noise

See the original post here:
The anatomy and physiology of startup lay-offs: what separates futures great brands from the crowd - Economic Times

Physiology

Senior Lecturer in Clinical Physiology job with BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY | 302932 – Times Higher Education

July 31, 2022 medical

Senior Lecturer in Clinical Physiology

Department of Life Sciences

Location: City South CampusSalary: 47,778 to 51,931 per annum PermanentPosted On: Tuesday 19 July 2022Closing Date: Tuesday 16 August 2022Interview Date: To be confirmedReference: 072022-403

Are you a talented educator who is passionate about teaching the next generation of Biomedical Scientists and Healthcare students? If so, Birmingham City University is looking to recruit an experienced Life Sciences academic to join our vibrant integrated teaching & research team within the Department of Life Sciences.

Birmingham City University launched its Biomedical Sciences degree in 2017, from its expertise and strong reputation in Health Sciences. Following significant growth in the course, we are seeking to recruit a full-time permanent senior lecturer with the skills and expertise to complement our existing team. Your expertise will develop and enhance our teaching, learning, and research activities in Biomedical Sciences and will influence the design and delivery of the Biomedical Science and Health Science courses (such as Nursing and Paramedicine). It is anticipated that the post holder would be an expert in Physiology or Pharmacology and would act as module lead for the final year (Level 6) Pathophysiology module, although applications from highly innovative educators from any field of the Biomedical Sciences will be considered. The post holder would also be expected to engage with teaching across the Faculty portfolio.

The successful candidate will:

With around 26,900 students from 100 countries, Birmingham City University is a large and diverse learning community. We put students at the heart of everything we do, giving them the best opportunities for future success. The University has an enviable reputation for providing quality, student-focused education in a professional and friendly environment. Our superb courses, state-of-the-art facilities, first-rate academics, and focus on practical skills and professional relevance all support our graduates future employability.

The Department of Life Sciences within the School of Health Sciences is a thriving, vibrant, and inspiring learning community committed to excellence in, high quality learning and teaching and research and impactful stakeholder engagement. We are a practice-based department, with brand new state-of-the-art facilities (41million), making our teaching and research relevant to the evolving Biomedical Sciences field by partnering with local and global enterprise.

Further details:Job Description

Please be aware that this position will require an Enhanced DBS disclosure, please contact HR on 0121 331 6693 for a confidential self-disclosure form should you wish to declare anything in advance.

The University is committed to internationalism and diversity and welcomes applications from all countries, faiths and backgrounds.

It is each individual successful applicants responsibility to ensure that they have permission to work in the UK. Some applicants may require sponsorship from the University and a visa from UKVI to take up the role if successful. More information on this can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa

Some roles are not capable of sponsorship because they do not meet the UKVI criteria relating to skill and salary level. If you are unsure as to whether you would require sponsorship if successful, or whether the role is capable of sponsorship, please contact us: RTinbox@bcu.ac.uk

Please note on occasions where we receive a large number of applications, we may close the advert ahead of the publicised closing date. If this does happen, we will contact all candidates via email who have started but not yet completed their application, giving 48 hours notice. We would therefore advise that you submit your completed application as soon as possible.

At Birmingham City University we are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. All staff are expected to understand and enact the Universitys commitment to ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion in our employment practice and in all that we do . This commitment is enshrined in our Core Values and is detailed in our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Employment Policy. The University values and celebrates the diversity of our staff and students; we welcome people from the many different backgrounds and life experiences that reflect the students and the citizens we serve. We are committed to equality of opportunity for all staff and actively encourage unique contributions, in particular from under-represented groups in respect of age, disability, sex, gender or gender identity, ethnicity, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation or transgender status

Birmingham City University ('BCU') is committed to protecting your personal data and being transparent about what we do with your personal data. One of the ways we do this is through our privacy notices. For further information please click here.

View original post here:
Senior Lecturer in Clinical Physiology job with BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY | 302932 - Times Higher Education

Physiology

Humans may not be able to handle as much heat as scientists thought – Science News Magazine

July 31, 2022 medical

More than 2,000 people dead from extreme heat and wildfires raging in Portugal and Spain. High temperature records shattered from England to Japan. Overnights that fail to cool.

Brutal heat waves are quickly becoming the hallmark of the summer of 2022.

And even as climate change continues to crank up the temperature, scientists are working fast to understand the limits of humans resilience to heat extremes. Recent research suggests that heat stress tolerance in people may be lower than previously thought. If true, millions more people could be at risk of succumbing to dangerous temperatures sooner than expected.

Headlines and summaries of the latest Science News articles, delivered to your inbox

Thank you for signing up!

There was a problem signing you up.

Bodies are capable of acclimating over a period of time to temperature changes, says Vivek Shandas, an environmental planning and climate adaptation researcher at Portland State University in Oregon. Over geologic time, there have been many climate shifts that humans have weathered, Shandas says. [But] were in a time when these shifts are happening much more quickly.

Just halfway through 2022, heat waves have already ravaged many countries. The heat arrived early in southern Asia: In March, Wardha, India, saw a high of 45 Celsius (113 Fahrenheit); in Nawabshah, Pakistan, recorded temperatures rose to 49.5 C (121.1 F).

Extreme heat alerts blared across Europe beginning in June and continuing through July, the rising temperatures exacerbating drought and sparking wildfires. The United Kingdom shattered its hottest-ever record July 19 when temperatures reached 40.3 C in the English village of Coningsby. The heat fueled fires in France, forcing thousands to evacuate from their homes.

And the litany goes on: June brought Japan its worst heat wave since record-keeping began in 1875, leading to the countrys highest-ever recorded temperature of 40.2 C. Chinas coastal megacities, from Shanghai to Chengdu, were hammered by heat waves in July as temperatures in the region also rose above 40 C. And in the United States, a series of heat waves gripped the Midwest, the South and the West in June and July. Temperatures soared to 42 C in North Platte, Neb., and to 45.6 C in Phoenix.

The current global rate of warming on Earth is unprecedented (SN: 7/24/19). And scientists have long predicted that human-caused climate change will increase the occurrence of heat waves. Globally, humans exposure to extreme heat tripled from 1983 to 2016, particularly in South Asia.

The heat already is taking an increasing toll on human health. It can cause heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which is often fatal. Dehydration can lead to kidney and heart disease. Extreme heat can even change how we behave, increasing aggression and decreasing our ability to focus (SN: 8/18/21).

The human body has various ways to shed excess heat and keep the core of the body at an optimal temperature of about 37 C (98.6 F). The heart pumps faster, speeding up blood flow that carries heat to the skin (SN: 4/3/18). Air passing over the skin can wick away some of that heat. Evaporative cooling sweating also helps.

But theres a limit to how much heat humans can endure. In 2010, scientists estimated that theoretical heat stress limit to be at a wet bulb temperature of 35 C. Wet bulb temperatures depend on a combination of humidity and dry bulb air temperature measured by a thermometer. Those variables mean a place could hit a wet bulb temperature of 35 C in different ways for instance, if the air is that temperature and theres 100 percent humidity, or if the air temperature is 46 C and theres 50 percent humidity. The difference is due to evaporative cooling.

When water evaporates from the skin or another surface, it steals away energy in the form of heat, briefly cooling that surface. That means that in drier regions, the wet bulb temperature where that ephemeral cooling effect happens readily will be lower than the actual air temperature. In humid regions, however, wet and dry bulb temperatures are similar, because the air is so moist its difficult for sweat to evaporate quickly.

So when thinking about heat stress on the body, scientists use wet bulb temperatures because they are a measure of how much cooling through evaporation is possible in a given climate, says Daniel Vecellio, a climate scientist at Penn State.

Both hot/dry and warm/humid environments can be equally dangerous, Vecellio says and this is where the bodys different cooling strategies come into play. In hot, dry areas, where the outside temperature may be much hotter than skin temperature, human bodies rely entirely on sweating to cool down, he says. In warm, humid areas, where the air temperature may actually be cooler than skin temperatures (but the humidity makes it seem warmer than it is), the body cant sweat as efficiently. Instead, the cooler air passing over the skin can draw away the heat.

Given the complexity of the bodys cooling system, and the diversity of human bodies, there isnt really a one-size-fits-all threshold temperature for heat stress for everybody. No ones body runs at 100 percent efficiency, Vecellio says. Different body sizes, the ability to sweat, age and acclimation to a regional climate all have a role.

Still, for the last decade, that theoretical wet bulb 35 C number has been considered to be the point beyond which humans can no longer regulate their bodies temperatures. But recent laboratory-based research by Vecellio and his colleagues suggests that a general, real-world threshold for human heat stress is much lower, even for young and healthy adults.

The researchers tracked heat stress in two dozen subjects ranging in age from 18 to 34, under a variety of controlled climates. In the series of experiments, the team varied humidity and temperature conditions within an environmental chamber, sometimes holding temperature constant while varying the humidity, and sometimes vice versa.

The subjects exerted themselves within the chamber just enough to simulate minimal outdoor activity, walking on a treadmill or pedaling slowly on a bike with no resistance. During these experiments, which lasted for 1.5 to two hours, the researchers measured the subjects skin temperatures using wireless probes and assessed their core temperatures using a small telemetry pill that the subjects swallowed.

In warm and humid conditions, the subjects in the study were unable to tolerate heat stress at wet bulb temperatures closer to 30 or 31 C, the team estimates. In hot and dry conditions, that wet bulb temperature was even lower, ranging from 25 to 28 C, the researchers reported in the February Journal of Applied Physiology. For context, in a very dry environment at about 10 percent humidity, a wet bulb temperature of 25 C would correspond to an air temperature of about 50 C (122 F).

These results suggest that there is much more work to be done to understand what humans can endure under real-world heat and humidity conditions, but that the threshold may be much lower than thought, Vecellio says. The 2010 studys theoretical finding of 35 C may still be the upper limit, he adds. Were showing the floor.

And thats for young, healthy adults doing minimal activity. Thresholds for heat stress are expected to be lower for outdoor workers required to exert themselves, or for the elderly or children. Assessing laboratory limits for more at-risk people is the subject of ongoing work for Vecellio and his colleagues.

If the human bodys tolerance for heat stress is generally lower than scientists have realized, that could mean millions more people will be at risk from the deadliest heat sooner than scientists have realized. As of 2020, there were few reports of wet bulb temperatures around the world reaching 35 C, but climate simulations project that limit could be regularly exceeded in parts of South Asia and the Middle East by the middle of the century.

Some of the deadliest heat waves in the last two decades were at lower wet bulb temperatures: Neither the 2003 European heat wave, which caused an estimated 30,000 deaths, nor the 2010 Russian heat wave, which killed over 55,000 people, exceeded wet bulb temperatures of 28 C.

How best to inform the public about heat risk is the part that I find to be tricky, says Shandas, who wasnt involved in Vecellios research. Shandas developed the scientific protocol for the National Integrated Heat Health Information Systems Urban Heat Island mapping campaign in the United States.

Its very useful to have this physiological data from a controlled, precise study, Shandas says, because it allows us to better understand the science behind humans heat stress tolerance. But physiological and environmental variability still make it difficult to know how best to apply these findings to public health messaging, such as extreme heat warnings, he says. There are so many microconsiderations that show up when were talking about a bodys ability to manage [its] internal temperature.

One of those considerations is the ability of the body to quickly acclimate to a temperature extreme. Regions that arent used to extreme heat may experience greater mortality, even at lower temperatures, simply because people there arent used to the heat. The 2021 heat wave in the Pacific Northwest wasnt just extremely hot it was extremely hot for that part of the world at that time of year, which makes it more difficult for the body to adapt, Shandas says (SN: 6/29/21).

Heat that arrives unusually early and right on the heels of a cool period can also be more deadly, says Larry Kalkstein, a climatologist at the University of Miami and the chief heat science advisor for the Washington, D.C.based nonprofit Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center. Often early season heat waves in May and June are more dangerous than those in August and September.

One way to improve communities resilience to the heat may be to treat heat waves like other natural disasters including give them names and severity rankings (SN: 8/14/20). As developed by an international coalition known as the Extreme Heat Resilience Alliance, those rankings form the basis for a new type of heat wave warning that explicitly considers the factors that impact heat stress, such as wet bulb temperature and acclimation, rather than just temperature extremes.

The rankings also consider factors such as cloud cover, wind and how hot the temperatures are overnight. If its relatively cool overnight, theres not as much negative health outcome, says Kalkstein, who created the system. But overnight temperatures arent getting as low as they used to in many places. In the United States, for example, the average minimum temperatures at nighttime are now about 0.8 C warmer than they were during the first half of the 20th century, according to the countrys Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 (SN: 11/28/18).

By naming heat waves like hurricanes, officials hope to increase citizens awareness of the dangers of extreme heat. Heat wave rankings could also help citiestailor their interventions to the severity of the event.Six cities are currently testing the systems effectiveness: four in the United States and in Athens, Greece, and Seville, Spain.On July 24, with temperatures heading toward 42 C, Seville became the first city in the world to officially name a heat wave, sounding the alarm for Heat Wave Zoe.

As 2022 continues to smash temperature records around the globe, such warnings may come not a moment too soon.

Physiology

Maryland fishing competition aims to collect invasive fish for research – CBS News

July 31, 2022 medical

BALTIMORE -- An assistant professor of physiology at Salisbury University has received a grant to host a fishing competition from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, according to state officials.

Dr. Noah Bressman will use the money to host a blue catfish and snakehead tournament on the Nanticoke, Marshyhope, and associated tributaries on July 30, state officials said.

Entry into the tournament is free and there will be prizes for participants, according to state officials.

The goal of the tournament is to collect specimens for research.

Bressman's lab will study the diet, growth, and reproduction habits of the fish. Also, his lab will conduct experiments on the fish bodies, according to state officials.

The state grant aims to educate the public on invasive species and encourage people to catch, kill, and eat them, state officials said.

People can fish wherever they like along the tributaries but the weigh-in for the event will be in Sharptown at the Cherry Beach Boat Launch, according to state officials.

A Maryland Tidal Fishing License is required for participants 16 years old and older, according to a flyer advertising the competition.

The CBS Baltimore Staff is a group of experienced journalists who bring you the content on CBSBaltimore.com.

Read this article:
Maryland fishing competition aims to collect invasive fish for research - CBS News

Physiology

The Unexpected Ingredient That Will Majorly Upgrade Your Fish Recipes – Mashed

July 31, 2022 medical

Unless you're lucky enough to eat fish straight off the dock, it will have a certain level of "fishiness." But the odor isn't synonymous with the fish going bad; it's just science. Thanks to the physiology of fish, a compound called trimethylamine (TMA) is produced when fish die, which is responsible for that "fishy" smell.

According to Cook's Illustrated, soaking fish in milk for 20 minutes will neutralize and remove the offensive odor. The protein in milk, casein, binds to the TMA. After 20 minutes, the milk is drained, taking the TMA with it and leaving a sweet-smelling filet in its place. Susan Olayinka uses this method when preparing her pan-seared swordfish recipe. She notes that milk also tenderizes dense fish and leaves a mellower flavor. Just pat the fish dry and continue with your recipe.

Although freshwater fish, such as trout and catfish, don't get as "fishy" as ocean fish, they can have a "muddy" smell, which isn't pleasant either. Blue-green algaein surface waters where it's warm, shallow, and sunny can produce a toxin that penetrates the fish's skin, causing that smell. With these types of fish, adding an acid, such as lemon juice or vinegar, should remove any offensive odors, perNutrition.

Try this unexpected ingredient the next time you prepare salmon, shellfish, or even the uber-stinky bluefish. It'll save your home from smelling like fish, and maybe you'll convert your carnitarian at home, too.

See the article here:
The Unexpected Ingredient That Will Majorly Upgrade Your Fish Recipes - Mashed

Physiology

Let’s Talk About Pain | American Council on Science and Health – American Council on Science and Health

July 31, 2022 medical

All sensation goes through four stages or processes; lets go through them in turn.

Transduction

Unlike localized, aggregated receptors of the eye (retina), ear (nerve endings of the cochlear nerve found in the middle ear), or tongue (taste buds), pain receptors, nociceptive nerve endings, are scattered throughout our body. They are like the proprioceptive receptors of touch and position. They respond to heat, mechanical deformation, and chemicals, often found in inflamed areas. The majority of studies involve pain receptors in the skin where we can create burns, cuts, or inflammation. The majority of our clinically significant pain is musculoskeletal or visceral (from our organs), and those studies are few and far between if they are to be found.

Transmission

The signal from the pain receptors, written like Morse code, as a pattern and frequency, travels from these peripheral sites to the more central spinal cord. At this point, the signal splits into two. One signal, remaining local, initiates a withdrawal reflex, a behavior. Burn your finger, and you withdraw your hand from the heat source. A second signal is sent upwards into areas within our brain. The two major sites are the thalamus and medial reticular formation of the brain stem. We will not be pursuing how those signals move about the brain; it is sufficient to know that further processing of those signals, and ultimately detection and identification of our perception of pain, occurs here.

This split of the signal means that most of our animal studies focus on pain identified as a behavior that reflex to noxious stimuli. But we have no accurate means of quantifying the signal traveling into the brain, no real way of measuring the experience of pain we must always speak in necessarily fuzzy terms, be it emojis or numbers, including morphine milligram equivalents.

Our other senses also create these split signals. For example, the visual receptors in the retina send a signal inward to convert that information about light and color into an image. Meanwhile, like the withdrawal reflex, behavioral reflexes respond to those retinal signals. The vestibulo-ocular reflex coordinates the position of your head with the incoming visual information keeping your image of the world stable despite the movement of your head and eyes.

Our senses also elicit an additional emotional (affective) response, our likes and dislikes regarding art, music, or food. Pain, on the other hand, is unidirectional; we want less of it and want it to go away. Pains emotional component acts more like a deep drive, say hunger, resulting in actions to terminate the noxious stimulus. When we hear music we do not like or a displeasing picture; we do not experience the same emotional, visceral, response. This is a crucial distinction between pain from our other senses

The biological duality between the sensory reflex of withdrawal and the more centrally formed emotional response makes measuring pain difficult. In a laboratory setting, we can define a sensory threshold for pain reception, the reflex; heating the skin between 43-46 C will elicit a pain response. But the tolerance of pain, the affective, emotional component, can vary widely.

The tolerance for pain is a complex function that may be modified by personality traits, attitudes, previous experience, economic factors, gender, and the particular circumstance under which the pain is experienced.

Modulation

As with all senses, our nervous system can up and down-regulate our affective experience of pain.

Consider that perennial summer favorite, the sunburn. The normally warm water of your evening shower on that sunburn is now suddenly more painful you are more sensitized to the experience of pain. When overly active, our sympathetic nervous system, our fight or flight system, causes us to experience a greater degree of pain. Makes sense that when we are already in a heightened state of fear, noxious stimuli will get additional attention and response.

Anxiety and stress are common reasons for sympathetic nervous system arousal. To some degree, this can create a self-fulfilling cycle; fear of pain increases our perception of pain, which in turn increases our fear. This may well explain the therapeutic benefits of adjunctive pain relief, like music, which reduces the sympathetic tone and down-regulates our experience of pain.

Neural pathways rather than pain receptors can also produce pain. Perhaps the most common example would be the pain after an episode of shingles a late result of having had chickenpox. While the acute pain of this often debilitating rash is due to the pain receptors in your skin, the chronic pain, which can last for months, is not. Post-herpetic neuralgia, its medical name, is a longer-term (up to six months or more in those over age 60) inflammation of the nerve pathways that can result in continued chronic pain long after the skin rash has disappeared.

Perception

These three processes, transduction, transmission, and modulation, come together to form our perceptional experience of pain. Because our perception of pain requires all three of these biological processes, all of which may differ from one individual to another. For a given painful stimulus, my experience of pain may well differ from yours, and my experience of that painful stimuli may vary over time.

When the rubber hits the road, What we have here is a failure to communicate.

We can listen to music, view the sunset, or experience a rough surface and have some basis to share and communicate those experiences. Pain, unlike those other senses, remains subjective; it is your experience, not mine. One of the great difficulties we have in medical care is finding a way to communicate our experience of pain. Unlike temperature or blood pressure, there is no convenient instrument or numerical value to quantify pain. Without the ability to quantify pain or at least place it on some shared scale, physicians are without guidance on treating pain effectively. In the not-so-distant past, to fill that communication void, physicians would substitute their experience of pain for the ambiguous description by the patient; or, more commonly, would follow the rule of thumb prescription taught to them by the intern or resident. [1]

Much of the consternation in the community of patients with chronic pain results from our biological inability to readily share our experience of pain. Patients are often left with rigid guidelines, a one-size-fits-all approach that clearly is incompatible with our understanding of pains biology. Or left with a physician, substituting their experience, training, and subjective beliefs about addiction, malingering, doing no harm, and serving the best interests of their patients, in prescribing treatment. That is why pain is both under and overtreated; despite all our scientific knowledge, the experience of pain remains a black box. We are all blind men seeking to describe the elephant.

What we have here is a failure to communicate. It neednt be the case, but getting into the mind of another is more difficult than we might think, especially in a healthcare system driven by the clock. Need proof? Look at how vehement the opposing views on any public concern where there is objective data we can all see, hear and touch

[1] Like an entire generation of physicians, I was taught that the routine treatment for post-operative pain was Demerol 75mg and Vistaril 50mg given every 3 to 4 hours by intramuscular injection. I learned this from my intern when I was a fourth-year medical student writing orders.

Sources: The Anatomy and Physiology of Pain National Library of Medicine

The rest is here:
Let's Talk About Pain | American Council on Science and Health - American Council on Science and Health

Physiology

Westerly Hospital earns accreditation for services in emergency elderly care – The Westerly Sun

July 31, 2022 medical

WESTERLY With about 23% percent of the town's population estimated to be at least 65, coupled with a nationwide aging trend, officials at Westerly Hospital anticipate the number of seniors seeking emergency care to grow. With that in mind the facility, along with all others in the Yale New Haven Health system, recently earned special geriatric accreditation.

Westerly Hospital and seven other facilities in the Yale New Haven Health system are now among a small group of health systems across the country to receive the American College of Emergency Physicians' Health System Geriatric Emergency Department accreditation designating the eight facilities as senior friendly.

The Westerly Hospital Emergency Department saw 11,234 individuals who were 65 or older in 2021 which accounted for 56% of the hospital's emergency department volume. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, slightly more than 23% of Westerly's population is at least 65. The demographics in Washington and New London counties are similar but both have slightly lower percentages of adults who are 65 or older.

To earn the accreditation staff and emergency department leads at Westerly Hospital and the other facilities underwent training to sharpen their focus on the physiological differences between seniors and other patients. Clinicians in the Emergency Department also learned about and have begun to use the Confusion Assessment Method screening tool for delirium. The tool helps clinicians determine whether a patient is presenting with traits associated with normal aging, dementia, or delirium, which can signal "a new onset illness," said Niki Akaka, a registered nurse and clinical coordinator, during a recent interview at Westerly Hospital.

The Confusion Assessment Method involves clinicians asking patients more than 65 questions. Determining whether a patient is experiencing delirium caused by an underlying ailment can be critical, said Bethany Gingerella, Westerly Hospital nurse manager. "If the result of the screening tool is positive for delirium we dig a little deeper to see if there is an infection that we might not be seeing," Gingerella said.

With individuals 85 and older expected to increasingly make up a major segment of those treated in emergency departments, Dr. Nader Bahadory, medical director of the Westerly Hospital Emergency Department, said physicians and other medical providers look to educate each other on health challenges seniors face.

"They are a special population because their physiology is a little different. There has been a realization at least for a few years that we need to figure out their physiology because we tend to miss subtle things among these elderly patients...they can get really sick fast and it's often a very subtle beginning," Bahadory said.

To attain the accreditation the hospital also worked on establishing an optimal environment for seniors by ensuring room lights can be dimmed to improve vision and reduce anxiety. The facility also ensured an adequate number of walkers and canes are available, and dietary staff were asked to help develop meals that are likely to appeal to seniors. "Eating is a big thing with them. We don't want them not to eat when they are with us," Gingerella said.

Amplification devices are available for doctors and nurses working with seniors whose hearing is diminished and magnifying devices are available for seniors who need the assistance for reading. Clinicians also consult with hospital pharmacists to check for potential problems tied to drug interactions.

In all, the Geriatric Emergency Department program provides specific criteria and goals for emergency clinicians and administrators to target. The accreditation process provides more than two dozen best practices for geriatric care. The goal is successful treatment, returning seniors to their homes, and determining whether they need new support, Bahadory said

As part of the accreditation process the hospitals are auditing charts and sending data to the American College of Emergency Physicians for review and recommendations.

The other facilities in the Yale system to receive the accreditation are Lawrence + Memorial in New London, Pequot Health Center in Groton, Bridgeport (Milford and Bridgeport campuses), Greenwich, Yale New Haven (York Street and Saint Raphael campuses) and Shoreline Medical Center in Guilford.

The designation has been awarded to just 13 health systems nationwide.

Each year in the United States, adults aged 50 years and older make more than 40 million visits to an emergency department, according to a news release from Yale New Haven Health.

"We know that older people seeking care in the emergency department have unique needs to address symptoms and requirements that are specific to their age group, said Dr. Ula Hwang, professor of Emergency Medicine at Yale School of Medicine and an attending physician at Yale New Haven Hospital. "Through this accreditation process our providers are trained to look for signs and symptoms of syndromes and illness in the elderly that could be potentially life threatening if left untreated.

Continued here:
Westerly Hospital earns accreditation for services in emergency elderly care - The Westerly Sun

Physiology

Obesity in America: Seeking answers to nation’s overweight epidemic – USA TODAY

July 31, 2022 medical

More than 4 in 10Americans now fit the medical definition for having obesity, putting them at risk for serious health problems, including diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer.The pandemic increased the stakes. In its first year, nearly one-third of severe COVID-19 cases were blamed on excess weight.

USA TODAY decided to take a look at how Americas weight has been changing in recent years, including advances in treatments and the scientific understanding of obesity. We spoke with more than 50 experts in nutrition, endocrinology, psychology, exercise physiology and neuroscience and people who are intimately familiar with the challenges of extra pounds.

The answers arent simple.

But they get to the essence of America: our issues with race, stigma, personal responsibility, economic stability and the power of corporations.

Many people feel shame and guilt when they can't lose weight. Human biology, which evolved to hold onto extra calories, makes it extremely tough to lose weight on your own. Help is hard to find, but it is out there.

Obesity was long considered a personal failing. Science shows it's not.

Despite rising rates of overweight and obesity,the stigma of excess weight remains in virtually every aspect of society. Some people are fighting back, but it isn't easy to counter decades of stereotyping and falsely simple solutions.

Extra weight increases health risk in the long run. Fat shaming hurts now.

Biology makes it hard to lose weight. Our food environment makes it very easy to add excess pounds. What to eat if you're trying to shed that extra weight or avoid unnecessary pounds? Scientists are still searching for answers.

What we eat matters. Researchers are still searching for the 'best' diet.

Extra weight is often considered a personal failing, but lots of factors beyond an individual's power contribute to weight gain,including food deserts, the cost of healthy food, stress and prejudice. The situation isn't hopeless.

Americans don't choose to be fat. Many live within a 'system they don't control.'

Until recently, the only way to lose a substantial amount of weight was through surgery. New medications promise to change that,offering the possibility of shedding 15% to more than 20% of excess pounds. The challenge will be making these medicationsavailable to those who want them.

New drugs and surgery can deliver major weight loss. But they come at a cost.

Any solutionwill have to start with children, experts say. Starting almost from birth, kids learnpatternsthey follow for the rest of their lives, so there's a lot at stake in teaching them to eat healthy, exercise regularly and get enough sleep.

How will the obesity epidemic end? With kids.

Read the original here:
Obesity in America: Seeking answers to nation's overweight epidemic - USA TODAY

Physiology

I used this device to track my metabolism for a month here’s what happened – Tom’s Guide

July 31, 2022 medical

If youve ever heard someone say, I just have a slow metabolism, chances are they dont actually know that for sure. And really, it may not be slow per se, but ratherto cop Lumens terminology inflexible.

Created by twin sisters and Ironman triathletes, Merav and Michal Mor, both of whom have PhDs in Physiology (total underachievers, right?), Lumen emanated from the Mors desire to help people reach their nutrition, performance, and/or weight loss goals by rejiggering their metabolisms. The premise is that if you know at key moments if youre burning mostly carbohydrates or fat (or a combo platter of both), you can determine what your body needs to function optimallyaka personalized nutrition.

Typically to gauge ones metabolic rate, an individual must undergo expensive testing in a lab setting. However, Lumen says they bring you an equivalentor at least scientifically supported (opens in new tab)at-home option whereby you can measure your own metabolism whenever you want, all thanks to the sleek little breathalyzer you receive when you sign up for the program.

To find out more, I tried Lumen for a month to see whether the claims were correct. Read my full Lumen review below to find out more.

Looking to invest in your health? Check out our best smart scales guide, our best fitness trackers, and the best adjustable dumbbells for working out at home.

To understand what any of this means to you, we need to take a second to explain how the Lumen device harnesses the tenets of metabolic science.

Basically, Lumen measures your metabolism/metabolic rate based on the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in your breath. The higher your CO2 concentration, the more you are burning carbs for fuel. This is because when your cells metabolize carbs, they produce more CO2 compared to when they metabolize fat.

If you went in for a professional lab test to have your metabolism measured, you would get back your Respiratory Exchange Ratio (RER), which is the amount of CO2 exhaled divided by the amount of oxygen (O2) inhaled. That number ultimately lets you know your metabolic efficiency.

With this in mind, its easier to understand the premise of Lumen, which is that you can now get your RER anytime you want by breathing into your Lumen, no lab test required. A high CO2 reading means youre burning carbs, a low CO2 number indicates youre torching fat.

But is it accurate? Lumen says its validity as a metabolism measuring device has been reaffirmed by a San Francisco State University study (opens in new tab). However, this definitely seems to be a product that continues refinement the longer its on the market (it debuted in 2020).

But how do you use your RER number in day-to-day life? This is where the hacking your metabolism part finally comes into play. The ultimate goal of Lumen users is to achieve metabolic flexibility, a term coined by the company that basically means your metabolism becomes more efficient at burning fat and not just carbs for energy. If youre in the Lumen fat-burning mode more often, they claim it becomes easier to lose weight and stay lean.

Just like your muscles become fitter with regular workouts, apparently so does your metabolism if you pay attention to how your body switches between burning carbs and fats. And if you can get yourself into a state of metabolic flexibility, Lumen says youll end up with a whole bunch of rewards, such as:

Easier weight loss and maintenanceBetter lean mass/muscle building Deeper sleepImproved energyStable blood sugar levelsHigher immunity Enhanced physical performance

Lumen is only available as a subscription service through the Lumen website (opens in new tab). You get the Lumen device for free along with your paid subscription. Pricing is as follows:

6 Month Metabolism Booster = $249

12 Month Advanced Fat Burn = $299

18 Month Optimal Health Track = $349

There is a 30-day money-back guarantee and a 1-year warranty on the device.

The small square starter box comes with the Lumen device, its docking station, a USB cable for charging, a travel pouch, and the Lumen App Getting Started Guide.

The latter part is especially important because, without the corresponding app, youre honestly going to be kind of lost. The written directions included with the Lumen are pretty paltry, and this is one Lumen component that could be strengthened. It gives basic instructions for how to charge and turn it on, but it doesnt give you any of the info I just spelled out for you in the first part of the article.

While my Lumen was charging, I turned my attention to getting the Lumen app set up. It links to your device via Bluetooth, so this is an integral step for using the Lumen.

You have to begin by creating an account and then answering a battery of lifestyle and physiology questions. This requires quite a bit of time and must all be done manually. During the setup process, you are not only asked to input things like height and current weight but also estimated hours of sleep and daily exercise habits.

I found this frustrating because while Im super active, my exercise routine changes daily and I dont always know what my workout will entail ahead of time. You can go back and edit some of this later, but as I was filling it out in the beginning, I did feel a little hampered trying to structure my workout schedule.

It is possible to link Lumen to your Apple Health, Google Fit, or Garmin IQ account if you have one (which might give you even more accurate readings for activity levels and such). But since I didnt have any of those, I was left doing everything by hand.

Once all your basic data has been collected, you have to select your track. There are three options: Metabolic Health, Fitness Performance, and Healthy Weight Loss. I decided to select Healthy Weight Loss to start.

The app also allows women to track their monthly cycles, which could be great information to have when examining metabolic shifts. However, with the current restrictions that have just been levied surrounding female reproductive health and privacy, if youre a woman in the United States, unfortunately, you may wish to leave that feature toggled off.

Once my Lumen was fully charged (as indicated by a green light while its cradled in the docking station), I set about pairing it with my Lumen app. Bluetooth capability is required to get these two to talk to each other, but I had no issues once I powered my Lumen on.

Specifications

Weight: 75 gHeight: 10.2 cmMaterials: Soft-touch with a magnetically attached cap over metal mouthpiece

I continued to be impressed by the quality of the actual device. Though admittedly it looks like an oversized vape, its really solid and well constructed. As a portable and hand-held device, it is light while still encasing a pressure sensor and a CO2 sensor within its ergonomic casing.

If you want to keep your Lumen clean, do NOT wash it. Thatll tank the whole device. But since youre blowing into it sometimes several times per day, youll benefit by occasionally wiping down the metallic mouthpiece with an antibacterial wipe. And though you could technically share your Lumen by setting up separate accounts within a family, you probably dont want to (hello, Covid and other shared cooties).

In the app there is a breathing tutorial Lumen advertisements say it takes only 10 seconds to get a measurement, but you have to inhale for 10 seconds, hold your breath for 10 seconds, and then exhale for 10 seconds. Thats 30 seconds by my count. And usually you have to do that twice to get an accurate reading (waiting 15 seconds between each test).

The app has a helpful little bouncing ball you are coached to get in the center of a circle to make sure youre not breathing too hard, too soft, or too fast. I definitely didnt get it right the first few times I tried.

This is probably why they explicitly encourage you to be seated and relaxed before taking a measurement. Rookie tip, dont let out too much air at once when they let you finally exhale or youll run out of air before time is up.

Fortunately, after some practice I got pretty good at it. Mastering this step is vital, however. Because all your subsequent measurements are based on your breathing skills.

Your Daily Measurements

Once you start breathing into your Lumen at regular intervals, each time you take a reading youll be given an assigned score on a five-point scale. That number tells you whether youre burning mostly fat (1, 2), mostly carbs (4, 5), or carbs and fat (3).

Once you take your morning measurement (which should happen before you eat or drink anything), predicated on your goals, the app will also give you an assignment of a low-carb, medium-carb, or high-carb day. It comes with recommendations for the maximum number of grams you should ingest of carbs, protein, and fatyour macros for that day. It also has recipe suggestions in the app, but Id be kind of surprised if most people are trolling the app for recipe ideas.

Theoretically, if you have good metabolic flexibility, fast overnight and have burned off all your carbs from the previous day successfully, you should be fuelling your energetic needs mostly with fat in the morning. If not, then your diet needs adjusting. Or so goes the nutritional logic of this thing.

Lumen definitely encourages intermittent fasting. Though not a keto program (because they believe you sometimes do need carbs to keep your metabolism guessing and not storing them), it also seems to heavily lean towards a prescription for low-carb eating at least if weight loss is your selected track.

Also, to get your most accurate readings, youre supposed to enter every gram you eat at every meal of each macro (which you have to do manually). If counting grams of carbs isnt something you want to partake in, youre probably not going to see much of a shift in your results over time, especially since Lumen seems to be set up such that you get a better score if youre burning more fat than carbs.

Your Flex Score

Nothing about this process is quick and patience is necessary. Lumen has to become a habit, and they say it takes 30 days to create a new one of those, right?

At the very least, its going to take two weeks of consistent measurements before you get your first Flex Score. By Lumens definition, your Flex Score is a number between 0-21 that tells you how well your body is working with what youre putting in your mouth, and also what your metabolic flexibility is at this juncture. Heres what the different scores mean:

0-6 (Low metabolic flexibility)7-14 (Medium metabolic flexibility)15-21 (High metabolic flexibility)

When I started this about three weeks ago, I automatically assumed my metabolic flexibility would be high. Im lean and very athletic, eat well, and workout daily. Oh, how wrong I was.

Part of the issueor so I thoughtwas that the minute I started doing my daily measurements, I had an unexpected work assignment take me out of town. So instead of my usual healthy diet and routine, I was eating haphazardly (not poorly per se, but inconsistently) and sleeping erratically (thanks stress and a crazy schedule). As a result, I didnt feel my first week of measurements were remotely indicative of my bodys usual tempo.

In a panic, I wrote to see if I could reset my Lumen (you can message a Lumen expert any time you want in the Support Chat part of the app, which is admittedly a nice feature). I just wanted to start the whole thing over. Unfortunately, I was told no. I couldnt reset my Lumen, but I was, however, offered a free one-on-one onboarding session with a Lumen representative if I wanted help (every new subscriber can take advantage of that).

I was told I shouldnt worry because my Lumen would continue to learn more about me once I kept taking measurements. But I was worried. Once I was home, I still continued to get no less than a 3 on a morning reading. Ever. And most of the time on subsequent daily readings (like before and after workouts), I was still only in the carb-burning territory. And this felt incredibly frustrating.

Accountability

If youre someone who is ready to make a change in your dietary habits and youre willing to put in the effort, Lumen does make you more aware of what youre eating and how its affecting your body.

But you really have to be dedicated to all of it, not only breathing into the device several times a day. That means keeping a detailed food log, recording every minute you work out, updating your weight, watching how many hours you sleep, etc. And its a lot of work.

For some people, however, unless they have that kind of accountability, they wont ever stick to a diet. Lumen absolutely makes you pay attention to what youre eating, how much youre eating, and how the timing affects your metabolism.

There are also lots and lots of videos in the app to help you learn more about how to get the most out of your Lumen experience. And youll get emails with webinars you can attend on different nutrition topics.

Additionally, it offers a Facebook community users can join with 20,000 other Lumeners. You can think of it like your own Lumen support group. Individuals who want tips and a group they can chat with while working on their diet may find this additionally motivating.

I am a very disciplined human by nature. I was eating clean, working out hard, fasting overnight, sleeping for eight hours, and still waking up with my first measurement at a 3, 4, or 5. Then Id get a message that said Your body is good at burning carbs. Now lets get it to fat burn mode and Id want to throw the thing.

Eventually, I started to wonder if it was partly because I was never entering anything in my food log. But as someone who spent too many years counting every single calorie she ate, I felt really resistant to having to count and record every single gram of food I ingested. While that may help some people with portion control, its not a healthy way of eating for me personally.

However, that undoubtedly affects your ability to achieve Lumens definition of metabolic flexibility. Not paying attention to their macro suggestions will absolutely influence your score and subsequent daily recommendations. In my first three weeks with the Lumen, not once did it tell me I could have anything other than a low-carb day until I switched my track from Healthy Weight Loss to Metabolic Health and got one medium-carb day prescription.

When I got my first Flex Score after weeks of consistent morning measurements, it was barely registering Medium for metabolic flexibility.

None of that felt like I was winning with the Lumen, in spite of the encouraging messages the app kept sending me. And trust me, Im all for a cheerleader, but if youre not getting the results you think you should be getting, well I might be guilty of having said Yeah, whatever Lumen, more than once between breaths.

This is a fancy little device, but know that its not going to automatically fix your metabolism for you just because youre breathing into it on the regular. The Lumen is one piece of an overall program.

Does it work? If were talking about the actual Lumen itself, yes. Absolutely. This machine is the first portable metabolism measurement device on the market, and it seems to have a reasonable degree of accuracy. But if you want to lose weight and not just to see how your body is burning what you eat, then youve got to commit to the whole program. That includes taking breath tests several times a day, but also manually entering all the data it requires and following your personalized dietary prescription to the gram.

In other words, dont expect your Lumen to give you results just because youre good about breathing into it any more than youd expect your scale to suddenly drop in pounds just because you get on it regularly. Its a measurement tool, not a magic wand. Your success with Lumen is completely reliant on what you do with it and how dedicated you are to all the components.

If youre someone who needs accountability, motivation, feedback, and a lot of group support, then this is definitely a novel new way of learning about your body and how what you eat affects it. But dont expect the process to be uncomplicated. If you decide to make the significant investment, plan for a less quick fix and more Lumen long-haul.

Today's best Withings Body BMI Wi-Fi Scale deals

Here is the original post:
I used this device to track my metabolism for a month here's what happened - Tom's Guide

Physiology

PhD on Animal Physiology job with NORWEGIAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY – NTNU | 298547 – Times Higher Education

June 25, 2022 medical

About the position

We are looking for highly motivated people who are interested in joining the Yap research group as a PhD-candidatein The Department of Biology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). We offer an international and multidisciplinary environment in which creativity and scientific dialogue across fields is valued and stimulated.

For a position as a PhD Candidate, the goal is a completed doctoral education up to an obtained doctoral degree.

The Yap research group (www.knyap.weebly.com) consists of a small dynamic team of enthusiastic biologists. The overarching goal of our lab group is to understand the molecular and physiological mechanisms of life-history trade-offs in animals. The lab group is part of the Animal Physiology Section (https://www.ntnu.edu/biology/research/animal-physiology) in the Department of Biology, home to many experts in comparative animal physiology, fish ecophysiology, marine invertebrate sensory physiology, and insect behaviour and neurophysiology.

You will report to Kang Nian (Jeff) Yap (Associate Professor).

Duties of the position

The successful candidate will conduct both field and laboratory-based studies on small marine invertebrates, using tools from evolutionary ecology, physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology. The student will learn how to design and conduct experimental studies, as well as conduct energetics and physiological measurements at the whole animal and cell levels. Depending on the students personal research interests, there are also possibilities of collaborating with other research personnel in other research groups within the department.

We are looking for a PhD student who is passionate about and has research experience in animal ecology and physiology.

We are especially interested in people with high motivation in integrating animal ecology, evolution, and physiology in a multi-disciplinary collaborative team.

Required selection criteria

The appointment is to be made in accordance with Regulations concerning the degrees ofPhilosophiaeDoctor (PhD)andPhilosodophiaeDoctor (PhD) in artistic researchnational guidelines for appointment as PhD, post doctor and research assistant

Preferred selection criteria

Personal characteristics

We offer

Salary and conditions

As a PhD candidate (code 1017) you are normally paid from gross NOK 491 200 per annum before tax, depending on qualifications and seniority. From the salary, 2% is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.

The period of employment is 3years with the possibility of a 4thyear if teaching/dutywork is agreed with the department.

Appointment to a PhD position requires that you are admitted to thePhD programme in biology- NTNU within three months of employment, and that you participate in an organized PhD programme during the employment period.

The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerningState Employees and Civil Servants, and the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to NTNU. After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

It is a prerequisite you can be present at and accessible to the institution daily.

About the application

The application and supporting documentation to be used as the basis for the assessment must be in English.

Publications and other scientific work must follow the application. Please note that your application will be considered based solely on information submitted by the application deadline. You must therefore ensure that your application clearly demonstrates how your skills and experience fulfil the criteria specified above.

The application must include:

If all,or parts,of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both bachelor's and master's education, in addition to other higher education. Description of the documentation required can befoundhere. If you already have a statement fromNOKUT,pleaseattachthisas well.

We will take joint work into account. If it is difficult to identify your efforts in the joint work, you must enclose a short description of your participation.

In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education,experienceand personal and interpersonalqualities.Motivation,ambitions,and potential will also countin the assessment ofthe candidates.

NTNU is committed to following evaluation criteria for research quality according toThe San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment - DORA.

General information

Working at NTNU

NTNU believes that inclusion and diversity is our strength. We want to recruit people with different competencies, educational backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to solving our social responsibilities within education and research. We will facilitate for our employees needs.

NTNU is working actively to increase the number of women employed in scientific positions and has a number of resources topromote equality.(tas bort hvis ikke aktuelt)

The city of Trondheimis a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the innovation capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality.

As an employeeatNTNU, you must at all times adhere to the changes that the development in the subject entails and the organizational changes that are adopted.

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you want to reserve yourself from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance withcurrent legislation. You will be notified if the reservation is not accepted.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Kang Nian (Jeff) Yap, email: kang.n.yap@ntnu.no.If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Mari H.Hansen, e-mail: mari.h.hansen@ntnu.no.

If you think this looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, please submit your application electronically via jobbnorge.no with your CV, diplomas and certificates attached. Applications submitted elsewhere will not be considered.Diploma Supplement is required to attach for European Master Diplomas outside Norway. Chinese applicants are required to provide confirmation of Master Diploma from China Credentials Verification (CHSI).

Upon request, you must be able to obtain certified copies of your documentation.

Application deadline: 15.08.22

NTNU - knowledge for a better world

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) creates knowledge for a better world and solutions that can change everyday life.

Department of Biology

We work with global challenges in natural diversity, climate, the environment, health and nutrition. Our expertise in biological processes at all levels from molecules to ecosystems contributes to a sustainable society. The Department educate graduates for a wide range of careers in public administration, business and academia.The Department of Biologyis one of eight departments in theFaculty of Natural Sciences.

Deadline15th August 2022EmployerNTNU - Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyMunicipalityTrondheimScopeFulltimeDuration TemporaryPlace of service

Link:
PhD on Animal Physiology job with NORWEGIAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - NTNU | 298547 - Times Higher Education