Alzheimer’s Disease



Supporting InformationSystems Thinking and Educating the Heads, Hands, and Hearts of Chemistry MajorsMatthew A. Fisher* Department of Chemistry, Saint Vincent College, 300 Fraser Purchase Road, Latrobe PA, 15650Example reflective reading/writing assignments from both semesters as well as the guidelines given to students for the public health project.Each semester students are given three reflective reading/writing assignments to complete. The topics (as of fall 2019) are:Fall semesterAlzheimer’s Disease (included in the Supplemental Material)HIV/AIDS (included in the Supplemental Material)Diabetes and obesitySpring semesterVaccines, influenza, Ebola (included in the Supplemental Material)Mental health issuesCancerIn addition, students complete a public health project at the end of each semester; the guidelines for the assignment (also included in the Supplemental Material) are the same in both courses.The Hallmarks of Benedictine Higher Education are a set of ten principles that characterize higher education at colleges and universities run by monks of the Order of Saint Benedict. These hallmarks clearly connect the assignments to the mission of Saint Vincent College and the perspective that informs the learning environments at the College.More information about the two-semester biochemistry sequence, including the revised course design and how public health topics were utilized, what students learned, and where students struggled can be found in the following:Undergraduate Biochemistry Through Public Health Issues: A SENCER Model Course. (accessed Sept 2019).Interested individuals can find a copy of the course syllabus and example exam take home questions at this website.Fisher, M. A. Educating for Scientific Knowledge, Awakening to a Citizen’s Responsibility. In Citizenship Across the Curriculum edited by Smith, M.B., Nowacek, R.S., Bernstein, J.L. Indiana University Press: Bloomington, 2010; pp 110-131.Fisher, M.A. Public Health and Biochemistry: Connecting Content, Issues, and Values for Majors. In Connected Science: Strategies for Integrative Learning in College edited by Ferrett, T.A., Geelan, D., Schlegel, W.M., Stewart, J.L. Indiana University Press: Bloomington, 2013; pp 31-39.(The above works are also included in the References at the end of the manuscript.)Reflective Writing Assignment - Alzheimer’s Disease731520131354Due Date – submitted via Schoology no later than 11:59 pm on Friday, September 21. You are welcome to submit the assignment before the due date.020000Due Date – submitted via Schoology no later than 11:59 pm on Friday, September 21. You are welcome to submit the assignment before the due date.Your Own Thoughts at the Beginning - Before you begin the reading and web site exploration, take a few minutes to record your thoughts on the issue of Alzheimer’s Disease. These can be thoughts on Alzheimer’s as a global and/or national issue or assumptions that you have about people with Alzheimer’s.Reading – You can find a collection of quick facts and statistics related to Alzheimer’s Disease, put together by the Alzheimer’s Association, at . What did you learn from reading this information?(Note – You don’t have to click on any of the links in this page to answer the above question, just focus on the information found in the sections “Quick Facts,” “Prevalence,” “Mortality,” “Caregivers,” and “Costs.” If you are interested in learning more, the full 88 page annual report with facts and figures can be downloaded for free as a PDF.)Film – Watch the following films, both of which can be found online:The Memory Loss Tapes (85 minutes)Caregivers (48 minutes)Accessing the films – There are several ways you can access the films:Streaming through HBO; if you aren’t signed up for HBO you can watch it free for one month through the first link below. through YouTube (cost $1.99 per film) through Amazon Prime Video (may be a cost depending on what level of access you have for Amazon Prime); search for the two films by title.I also have the films on a set of DVD’s in my office that you are welcome to borrow.Note from Dr. Fisher – Through the fall 2017 semester, these films could be watched online for free. Sometime in the past 12 months, HBO decided that they would no longer make the films freely available but would require viewers to pay in some way, either through purchasing access to specific films, purchasing access to the whole set, or having a subscription to HBO. I’m definitely NOT happy that watching the films now has the potential to cost students some money (although it’s not much), but in this case I don’t know of anything else related to Alzheimer’s that is as powerful as these two films.What was your reaction to the films? What part(s) of each film had the most impact on you? What questions did you have after watching the film? [Note – These are very powerful films…I would not recommend watching them when you are juggling lots of other things at the same time.]How does the perspective taken by each film compare with the perspective presented in the fact sheet? What do you think your reaction might have been if you had only encountered one of these (fact sheet or films)? Why?Websites - Look at the following web sites: (Alzheimer’s Association)Spend a few minutes exploring each site. How does the point of view presented through each web site compare with the point of view presented in the films? Where do you see similarities? Where do you see differences?Saint Vincent College Core Curriculum - Think about the college courses outside of the natural sciences that you have taken. Which courses examined topics that you see as connected in some way to Alzheimer’s? How would you describe the relationship between Alzheimer’s Disease and those topics?(Note from Dr. Fisher – The only response to part (e) that would puzzle me is if a student stated that none of his or her courses examined any topics that were connected in some way to Alzheimer’s…every discipline that I know of offers some connection to the disease.)Closing the Loop - Describe how your personal view of Alzheimer’s Disease changed or stayed the same as a result of the reading and web site. If your view did change, explain why and how it changed. If it did not change explain why you think it did not change. What in the films relates to any of the Hallmarks of Benedictine Higher Education (listed below)? Why? How might the Hallmarks you have identified contribute to our society’s attempts to deal with Alzheimer’s? At the end of your essay list any remaining questions you have about Alzheimer’s Disease.Hallmarks of Benedictine Higher Education The text below is my edited version of an adaptation by Dr. William J. Hisker (Saint Vincent College) of the descriptions of each Hallmark found in “Education Within the Benedictine Wisdom Tradition”, Association of Benedictine Colleges and Universities, 2007.Love – evidenced by care and development of others created in the image and likeness of GodPrayer – evidenced by mindfulness, faithfulness, and deep reflectionStability – evidenced by commitment to a particular community and the common goodConversatio – evidenced by learning, integrity, openness, and continual transformationObedience – evidenced by listening, knowledge of obligation, and follow-throughDiscipline – evidenced by sustained hard workHumility – evidenced by wisdom, balance, and modestyStewardship – evidenced by responsibility, frugality, and creationHospitality – evidenced by welcoming and collaboration Community – evidenced by teamwork and reverence to traditionHospitality: openness to the other Community: call to serve the common goodNote – You are not obligated/required to write about all twelve values; focus on the ones that you see as most important in the context of Alzheimer’s. For those who would like more background on these values, I have also made available on Schoology the document “Education Within the Benedictine Wisdom Tradition” developed by the Association of Benedictine Colleges and Universities.Please type your responses in a Word file and submit through Schoology.Additional Information About The Alzheimer’s Project. The two films listed above in the reflective reading assignment are part of the HBO Documentaries series The Alzheimer’s Project (). Created by the award-winning team behind HBO's acclaimed "Addiction" project, this multi-platform series takes a close look at groundbreaking discoveries made by the country's leading scientists, as well as the effects of this debilitating and fatal disease both on those with Alzheimer's and on their families. I would HIGHLY encourage you to watch the films that make up the Project. A description of each film in the set is below; Each film varies in length. The Memory Loss Tapes, a classic cinema verite documentary , captures the devastating experience of memory loss from the point of view of the person with the disease. Bringing viewers into the quiet world of seven patients, each in an advancing state of dementia, the film bears witness to what it’s like to slowly lose one’s mind. The moving stories bring viewers face-to-face with the tragedy of lost identity, chronicling the disease through the course of its irreversible decline. (85 minutes)Caregivers is a collection of five family portraits that illustrate caring for different stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Each highlights the sacrifices, struggles, and successes made by those experiencing their loved ones’ descent into dementia. These caregivers can vividly remember the extraordinary lives their loved ones led as they watch their spouses and siblings slowly slip away. (48 minutes)Grandpa, Do You Know Who I Am? with Maria Shriver is geared towards children and young teens coping with a grandparent’s illness, presenting vignettes that can help a child understand and deal with a relative’s gradual decline into Alzheimer’s. Inspired by her children’s book What’s Happening to Grandpa and her own experiences with her father, Sargent Shriver, who has the disease, Maria Shriver provides commentary and guidance in five lessons that offer advice on how grandchildren can cope with the experiences of having loved ones with the disease. Grandpa, Do You Know Who I Am? with Maria Shriver provides ways for young people to understand a grandparent’s loss of memory and understand that this experience, though painful, is a part of life. (30 minutes)Momentum in Science is a two-part, state of the science (note from Dr. Fisher – as of spring 2009) odyssey that takes viewers into the laboratories and clinics of 25 leading scientists and physicians, revealing some of the most cutting-edge research advances. Momentum in Science details the current explosion of knowledge within the scientific and medical communities, from imaging theearliest signs of Alzheimer’s, to understanding the roles that genetics and lifestyle might play, to the tremendous progress being made in the effort to develop drugs to treat or even prevent the disease. A complex disease that may have no single cause, Alzheimer’s is thought to develop from the interaction of multiple factors over many years. Scientists are zeroing in on what might cause Alzheimer’s or protect against it, exploring intriguing links to heart disease and diabetes, as well as the possible benefits of exercise, where studies in animals and short-term clinical trials have demonstrated positive effects on brain health. (Watching both parts of Momentum in Science takes two hours.)Momentum in Science: The Supplementary Series (about four hours of material)Understanding and Attacking Alzheimer’sHow Far We Have Come in Alzheimer’s ResearchIdentifying Mild Cognitive ImpairmentThe Role of Genetics in Alzheimer’sAdvances in Brain ImagingLooking Into the Future of Alzheimer’sThe Connection Between Insulin and Alzheimer’sInflammation, the Immune System, and Alzheimer’sThe Benefit of Diet and Exercise in Alzheimer’sCognitive Reserve: What the Religious Orders Study is Revealing About Alzheimer’sSearching for an Alzheimer’s Cure: The Story of FlurizonThe Pulse of Drug Discovery.Reflective Writing Assignment – HIV/AIDS802640127635Due Date – submitted through Schoology by 11:59 pm Tuesday 10/16.00Due Date – submitted through Schoology by 11:59 pm Tuesday 10/16.You will receive several AIDS readings - the article by Abraham Verghese, the selections from 28: Stories of AIDS in Africa, the article from Emerging Infectious Diseases on the 30th anniversary of the AIDS epidemic, and the edited version of Paul Farmer’s foreword to Love is the Cure: on Life, Loss and the End of AIDS. After completing the readings, please write short answers to the following questions:What in each reading had the most impact on you?Do you see any connection between what you encountered in these readings and courses you have taken at Saint Vincent (science courses and non-science courses)?Pick one of the following hallmarks listed at the bottom of this sheet. Using the same value for all the readings, how would you describe the relationship between that value and each reading? Has your understanding of HIV and AIDS changed after completing these readings? Whether your answer is “yes” or “no”, please provide support/explanation that provides insight into the “why” and “how” of your response to this question.At this point, what would you identify as important action for our country or the global community to take? Why do you see these as important actions?At this point, what would you identify as important information about HIV and AIDS that the wider Saint Vincent community should be aware of? Provide an explanation for why you selected these particular items.This is not intended to be a long assignment, 3-4 pages typed (if single spaced). Please submit this to me through Schoology by 11:59 pm Tuesday, October 16.Hallmarks of Benedictine Higher Education The text below is my edited version of an adaptation by Dr. William J. Hisker (Saint Vincent College) of the descriptions of each Hallmark found in “Education Within the Benedictine Wisdom Tradition”, Association of Benedictine Colleges and Universities, 2007.Love – evidenced by care and development of others created in the image and likeness of GodPrayer – evidenced by mindfulness, faithfulness, and deep reflectionStability – evidenced by commitment to a particular community and the common goodConversatio – evidenced by learning, integrity, openness, and continual transformationObedience – evidenced by listening, knowledge of obligation, and follow-throughDiscipline – evidenced by sustained hard workHumility – evidenced by wisdom, balance, and modestyStewardship – evidenced by responsibility, frugality, and creationHospitality – evidenced by welcoming and collaboration Community – evidenced by teamwork and reverence to traditionHospitality: openness to the other Community: call to serve the common goodCH 252 Nucleic Acids and MembranesInfluenza, Ebola, Developing a Vaccine, and Protein Structurecenter0Due no later than 11:59 pm on Friday, February 8, through Schoology.00Due no later than 11:59 pm on Friday, February 8, through Schoology.As part of our examination of protein structure, function, and vaccines, I am asking students to:read an article from the New Yorker written by Michael Specter on the influenza virus (included in the PDF packet)Note – The New Yorker article is a PDF version of what was published in the magazine, which means that it includes poems, illustrations, and cartoons that have NO relation to the article by Michael Spector. You can skip over those parts.read the two articles found at , – “The West Africa Ebola Crisis: A Retrospective” and “Lessons Learned.”read the summary of a report published in 2012 by the Institute of Medicine (medical equivalent of the National Academy of Science) on adverse effects of vaccines (included in the PDF packet)read an article from the Journal of Infectious Diseases on developing a vaccine for Ebola (included in the PDF packet)watch the episode of the PBS program NOVA titled “Vaccines: Calling the Shots” found online at a one-page article from Nature (in the PDF packet) on how the rapid spread of misinformation (facilitated by social media) is undermining trust in vaccines.Before you begin any of the readings, take a few minutes and record your thoughts and understandings of influenza, Ebola, and vaccines. I am particularly interested in how you would describe your understanding before taking this course.As part of your reading, I would like each of you to respond to the following questions:For each item: How would you summarize the 2-3 major points of each piece?Did reading/viewing the item change your understanding of influenza, Ebola, or vaccines? How?Do you have any questions about the particular item?For the overall packet:How would you describe the relationship/role of vaccines in the context of dealing with diseases like influenza and Ebola?Do you see any relationship between ideas in these readings and ideas that you have encountered in other courses in the natural sciences?Do you see any relationship between ideas in these readings and ideas that you have encountered in other courses outside of the natural sciences?What in the readings relates to any of the Hallmarks of Benedictine Higher Education (listed on the next page)? Why?Hallmarks of Benedictine Higher Education The text below is my edited version of an adaptation by Dr. William J. Hisker (Saint Vincent College) of the descriptions of each Hallmark found in “Education Within the Benedictine Wisdom Tradition”, Association of Benedictine Colleges and Universities, 2007.Love – evidenced by care and development of others created in the image and likeness of GodPrayer – evidenced by mindfulness, faithfulness, and deep reflectionStability – evidenced by commitment to a particular community and the common goodConversatio – evidenced by learning, integrity, openness, and continual transformationObedience – evidenced by listening, knowledge of obligation, and follow-throughDiscipline – evidenced by sustained hard workHumility – evidenced by wisdom, balance, and modestyStewardship – evidenced by responsibility, frugality, and creationHospitality – evidenced by welcoming and collaboration Community – evidenced by teamwork and reverence to traditionHospitality: openness to the other Community: call to serve the common goodCH 252 Nucleic Acids and MembranesPublic Health ProjectSpring 2019In the syllabus it states that “working in small groups (normally three and no more than four students), you will prepare a final project on some topic related to public health. Your project will present an overview of the biochemistry central to this topic as well as other perspectives outside of biochemistry that your group has identified as important to understanding the public health issue that you’ve chosen. Your final project will be submitted electronically using Google Sites“So your task is fourfold:identify and present an overview of some biochemistry that is central to the topic you’ve chosen; it will be impossible for you to present an overview of all the biochemistry that is important so pick one or two aspects and focus on those.identify 1-2 other perspectives outside of biochemistry and characteristics from those perspectives that are of notable significance in understanding the issue you have selected.use one or more of the Hallmarks of Benedictine Education as a “critical lens” through which you approach your topic. present what your group sees as important next steps to be taken in addressing this issue.incorporate the personal perspective/thoughts of each group member about this issueAs part of the overview of the biochemical aspects of your topic, you will be expected to highlight some molecule (a protein, nucleic acid, etc.) that is important to the topic you chose. If you decide to focus on a protein, you will be expected to provide some information that explores structure and function in molecular terms. Which option your group chooses is up to you.In part, this assignment is designed to help you refine your own abilities to appreciate multiple evidence-based perspectives on a single issue. Trust me, these issues are complex enough that there will be multiple evidence-based perspectives that you will encounter.By “critical lens” I mean that you should appropriately use one or more of the Hallmarks as a framework to accomplish one or more of the following:Here is one point of view on an issue. What are other possible perspectives on this issue? Cite evidence for each perspective.Critique a specified point of view, paying particular attention to the use of evidence.Defend a specified point of view, giving the best evidence you can find in support of it.Your group is free to focus on just one or two of these prompts; I am providing three not because I expect any group to address all of them but because you may find that some of these are more appropriate for the issue you chose than others. Do not try to approach all three; that is not what I am looking for.You will complete this project in groups of three or four (four is the maximum in a group). The audience that you should design your project for will be your classmates and peers, so you may assume an understanding of biochemistry that a typical student would gain from this course.The project will be created and submitted using Google Sites. You should organize your group, select a topic, and send that information to me by Friday, April 5. When you send me that information, please also let me know the username for your project so that I can create and share a template with your group. I highly recommend that you use a Gmail address as the username. The final version of your project will be submitted to me no later than:5 pm Wednesday May 8 for graduating seniors(I have to submit your final grade by noon on Thursday)Friday, May 10 for everyone else; earlier submission is fine. Submission simply involves letting me know that you are finished creating/editing the project; since I remain as co-owner of the template I create for your group I can view it whenever I choose. However, my approach is not to look at templates once they are shared with a group until the group has informed me that they are finished working on the project.One of my concerns is to avoid unnecessary or inappropriate duplication. Topics that we’ve talked about in class (such as mental health or cancer or Ebola) may be chosen for this assignment, but in that case the group will be expected to focus on aspects of that issue that we have NOT talked about in class.To help in selecting topics, I recommend the following resources (although you are free to use any resources you want for this project):Global Burden of Disease Project Health Organization specials and supplements I have a personal subscription to Nature, I can get any of these articles in electronic is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing reliable and authoritative information about science and technology for the developing world.Doctors Without Borders (often referred to as “MSF”, an acronym for the original French name of Medecins Sans Frontieres) (international website) (US section website)MSF Access The purpose of MSF’s Access campaign has been to push for access to, and the development of life-saving and life prolonging medicines, diagnostic tests and vaccines for patients in MSF programmes and beyond.DNDi Established to address the needs of patients with the most neglected diseases, DNDi is a collaborative, patients’ needs-driven, not-for-profit drug R&D organization. DNDi was founded in 2003, when seven organizations from around the world (including MSF) joined forces to establish the initiativeOne set of criteria that I will use for evaluating your work will be the Six Principles of Good Writing. The rubric I have used in the past to grade projects is included in this document.Some things to remember about this projectThese comments are based on what students have submitted in the past for this assignment.Just including scientific information about your chosen topic isn’t what I’m looking for. While you are certainly welcome to include information from areas such as physiology, microbiology, or genetics in your completed project, these are not substitutes for biochemistry information. Think about how we have approached things like hemoglobin or pathways like glycolysis…we have looked at these topics from the perspective of molecular structure and molecular interactions. Some significant part of the science component of your public health project has to involve this same molecular perspective.Just including a random bunch of information about your chosen topic isn’t what I’m looking for in regard to the “other perspectives outside of biochemistry.” What I expect students to do is identify one or two perspectives from other disciplines that will be incorporated into your final project. The perspective can be from economics, theology, psychology, sociology, literature, history…it doesn’t matter to me. But one of my goals for this assignment is to provide students with an opportunity to draw on what they have learned from the core classes outside of the sciences that they have taken. For that goal to be accomplished, the “non-science” information in your project can’t be randomly assembled.Hallmarks of Benedictine Higher Education The text below is my edited version of an adaptation by Dr. William J. Hisker (Saint Vincent College) of the descriptions of each Hallmark found in “Education Within the Benedictine Wisdom Tradition”, Association of Benedictine Colleges and Universities, 2007.Love – evidenced by care and development of others created in the image and likeness of GodPrayer – evidenced by mindfulness, faithfulness, and deep reflectionStability – evidenced by commitment to a particular community and the common goodConversatio – evidenced by learning, integrity, openness, and continual transformationObedience – evidenced by listening, knowledge of obligation, and follow-throughDiscipline – evidenced by sustained hard workHumility – evidenced by wisdom, balance, and modestyStewardship – evidenced by responsibility, frugality, and creationHospitality – evidenced by welcoming and collaboration Community – evidenced by teamwork and reverence to traditionHospitality: openness to the other Community: call to serve the common good ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download