Little Update

No blog post for Friday and there will be no blog post on Tuesday because of TREK.

I am currently working on my annotated bibliography.

EDIT: Found this amazing Volume from The Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics (42:3). Will include in my annotated bibliography.

EDIT #2: Zack Lystedt*, Chad Stover**

More Sources for Annotated Bibliography

ACT packets were given out today. I also requested transcripts from the front office. I might be able to talk to Ms. Marberry today as well. Michelle also helped me contact Baylor hospital today because she was able to get a mentor from there last class. So, I've sent a general inquiry form to the hospital.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3438866/
- twelve years of nfl concussion data
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/sports/football/24concussion.html?_r=0

- article about a 2010 law trying to protect young athletes from concussions, will look into what ever happened to it
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3445193/
- repeat concussion data
https://theconcussionblog.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/trend-in-nfl-concussion-recording-2010-2012.pdf
-trends in nfl concussion reporting from 2010-2012
https://www.theshockbox.com/shockbox-helmet-sensors-research-studies-youth-football-pop-warner/
- application of shockbox helmets
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070905224343.htm
- not nfl related, relates to death of former WWE wrestler Chris Benoit and CTE
http://www.sportssurgerynewyork.com/articles/rugby-injuries.pdf
- review of rugby injuries

*Note: remember to look up guardian caps

Annotated Bibliography

Here I'm just going to list all the resources I have looked at/used:

http://res.dallasnews.com/interactives/2014_February/ticoncussions/
- new ways to detect concussion symptoms
http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/1049/1/Weber10PhD.pdf
- The neuropsychology of sport concussion
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC155428/
- concussion in rugby (would like to compare concussions in the NFL to that of an even more brutal sport)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2945234/
- CTE in athletes due to repetitive head injuries
http://www.nicholasrizzo.com/arp/Cantu_Chronic_Traumatic_Encephalopathy_Progressive_Tauopathy_after_Repetitive_Head_Injury.pdf
- I have no clue how I even found this but I believe it is the complete report for the above link
http://www.jaapl.org/content/41/3/430.full.pdf
 - more CTE
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01947648.2011.632710#tabModule
- high school athletes and concussions and what is at stake
http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/eye-performance/201310/rugby-football-concussions-tackling-safety-technique
- more rugby vs football
http://time.com/3397085/the-tragic-risks-of-american-football/
- huge news recently about Chad Stover, just linking TIME because there will be an article about him coming out on Sept. 29
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2014/sep/21/research-shows-american-football-can-ignore-dangers-of-trauma-no-longer
- makes some good points and backs it up with facts about the NFL and head trauma
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/09/teddy-roosevelt-saved-football-111146_Page2.html#.VCBYafldVL8
- very interesting read about Teddy Roosevelt and the impact he had on football





Website I found that may help me get a mentor:
http://theconcussionblog.com/


I have also sent my college recommenders the information they need.

September 18, 2014

I've spent time looking for some possible mentors for my project. The research is coming along fine. I've been reading from the thesis paper that I posted last blog. Soon I'll be able to start piecing things together to come up with a presentation. Also, I'm beginning to keep note of my sources on a word document with brief explanations about them for the upcoming annotated bibliography that will be due.

Today I also spent time filling out my Texas Exes Scholarship application for UT. Also, I'll be in need of recommendations soon, so I've been working on getting all the required documents ready for my recommenders. 

September 16, 2014

No post last Friday due to TAG Forum.

Here is the link to one of the sources I found about a week ago. It is about the neuropsychology of sport concussions so this will be an extremely useful source. There is so much pertinent information to my field of study and it comes from the UK so it will probably have a more objective view on concussion in American sports like the NFL. I also put myself out there for a mentor and guidance in my research topic on this physical therapy forum.

I got my intern badge from the library today as well.

I also got a lot of stuff in order (request form, list of deadlines, resume, and will print out the surveys later today) today for recommendations from my teachers and from the counselor

Day 6

I updated my resume and sent it to my thesis adviser, Mr. Correa. I am planning on doing the survey, but with all the problems with the document I'll wait a little to start on that. I'm still looking for a mentor for my project, but I know for certain that I would like a physical therapist who deals with head injuries and concussion management. 

I was linked to this website from a comment on my forum post from last class. I'll look into it some more because, apparently, it is a new company.

Also I'm debating between doing a long thesis/research paper or a presentation on my research. On one hand, a thesis paper would be quite dull but scholarly while a presentation would be more active and lively. I'm leaning towards a presentation of my research.

I've been looking at CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy), which is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes with a history of repetitive brain trauma. There is a direct relationship between CTE and the death of Junior Seau, a former 10-time All-Pro and 12-time Pro Bowler. 

I also worked some more on my common app questions for my colleges. 

Day 5

Late on Friday I sent an email to Dr. Rennaker, the director of UTD's Texas Biomedical Device Center, to request mentorship, but he hasn't responded yet, which is probably because I sent an email over a weekend. So I'll wait a little more for his response as I look into other possible mentors. Finding a mentor might be difficult because my topic is in a very specialized field of study.

I found a great source on my topic but it is on my laptop so I'm just putting this note here to remind myself to add it to my bibliography and to link it on my next blog post.

Today I put my self out for a mentor on a neuroscience forum so hopefully I'll get some replies.

I found a course that the NFHS and CDC put out together about the importance of proper concussion recognition in high school athletes, but the computer shut off so I wasn't able to link it here so I'll go home and try to find it again.

I also spent about 10 minutes on Common App filling out some short answer questions.

College Talk

Ms. Marberry talked to the class today about the college process.

I'll be getting a list of deadlines together later today so I can follow a more rigid structure.

I'll also be watching the Packers vs. Seahawks game tonight to monitor any injuries that may occur, especially concussions (which Percy Harvin is prone to).

Progress

I've overestimated the amount of information I wanted to uncover with my project, so my goal is to fixate on a specific injury and see what I can do to help prevent it.

Initially, I wanted to focus on ACL injuries and have more surrounding information about concussions and various spinal injuries. By doing so, I would have neglected the other injuries and would have ended up with just a rudimentary, surface level analysis of the periphery injuries. Instead, I'm going to focus on one particular sport injury that way I can really understand the injury itself and come up with a well detailed plan to help prevent said injury.

With this said, I have chosen to focus my thesis on concussions in sports, more specifically football. Interestingly enough, UTD and TI are developing a system to help determine what causes concussions and identify athletes at risk of injury.

Here is a link to that article: http://res.dallasnews.com/interactives/2014_February/ticoncussions/

I would really like to work with them and learn more about what they are doing. To conclude, concussions, concussions, and even more concussions.