Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Small Molecules That Inhibit Tnf Signalling By Stabilising An Asymmetric Form Of The Trimer, James O'Connell, John Porter, Boris Kroeplien, Tim Norman, Stephen Rapecki, Rachel E. Davis, David Mcmillan, Tracy Arakaki, Alex Burgin, David Fox Iii, Tom Ceska, Fabien Lecomte, Alison Maloney, Alex Vugler, Bruce Carrington, Benjamin P. Cossins, Tim Bourne, Alastair Lawson

Faculty Publications

Tumour necrosis factor (TNF) is a cytokine belonging to a family of trimeric proteins; it has been shown to be a key mediator in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease. While TNF is the target of several successful biologic drugs, attempts to design small molecule therapies directed to this cytokine have not led to approved products. Here we report the discovery of potent small molecule inhibitors of TNF that stabilise an asymmetrical form of the soluble TNF trimer, compromising signalling and inhibiting the functions of TNF in vitro and in vivo. This discovery paves the way for …

Development And Psychometric Properties Of A Prostate Cancer Knowledge Scale For African American Men, Otis L. Owens, Abbas Tavakoli Drph, Theda Rose, Nikki R. Wooten

Faculty Publications

African American men have the highest prostate cancer-related mortality nationally. In response to this disparity, targeted interventions are emerging to enhance African American men's prostate cancer (PrCA) knowledge to ensure they are equipped to make informed decisions about PrCA screening with health-care providers. African American men's PrCA knowledge has been measured inconsistently over time with limited psychometric evidence. The factor structure of this construct in African American men is relatively unknown. This study describes the development and psychometric evaluation of an 18-item Prostate Cancer Knowledge Scale among 352 African American men. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted using weighted least …

Development And Psychometric Properties Of A Prostate Cancer Knowledge Scale For African American Men, Otis L. Owens, Abbas S. Tavakoli, Theda Rose, Nikki R. Wooten

Faculty Publications

African American men have the highest prostate cancer-related mortality nationally. In response to this disparity, targeted interventions are emerging to enhance African American men's prostate cancer (PrCA) knowledge to ensure they are equipped to make informed decisions about PrCA screening with health-care providers. African American men's PrCA knowledge has been measured inconsistently over time with limited psychometric evidence. The factor structure of this construct in African American men is relatively unknown. This study describes the development and psychometric evaluation of an 18-item Prostate Cancer Knowledge Scale among 352 African American men. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted using weighted least …

Information Diffusion And Social Norms Are Associated With Infant And Young Child Feeding Practices In Bangladesh, Phuong H. Nguyen, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Sunny S. Kim, Amanda A. Zongrone, Amir Jilani, Lan Mai Tran, Tina Sanghvi, Purnima Menon

Faculty Publications

Background

Interaction within mothers’ social networks can theoretically diffuse messages from interventions and campaigns into norms and practices for infant and young child feeding (IYCF).

Objectives

We hypothesized that mothers’ social networks, diffusion of information, and social norms differed in intensive [intensive interpersonal counseling (IPC), community mobilization (CM), and mass media (MM)] compared with nonintensive (standard IPC and less-intensive CM and MM) intervention areas, were associated with IYCF practices, and partly explained practice improvement.

Methods

We conducted household surveys at endline in 2014 and follow-up in 2016 (n = ∼2000 each round). We used multiple regression to test differences …

Development And Initial Psychometric Evaluation Of The Computer-Based Prostate Cancer Screening Decision Aid Acceptance Scale For African-American Men, Otis L. Owens, Nikki R. Wooten, Abbas S. Tavakoli

Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND:

To reliably evaluate the acceptance and use of computer-based prostate cancer decision aids (CBDAs) for African-American men, culturally relevant measures are needed. This study describes the development and initial psychometric evaluation of the 24-item Computer-Based Prostate Cancer Screening Decision Aid Acceptance Scale among 357 African-American men.

METHODS:

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with maximum likelihood estimation and polychoric correlations followed by Promax and Varimax rotations. RESULTS: EFA yielded three factors: Technology Use Expectancy and Intention (16 items), Technology Use Anxiety (5 items), and Technology Use Self-Efficacy (3 items) with good to excellent internal consistency reliability at .95, .90, and .85, …

Development And Initial Psychometric Evaluation Of The Computer-Based Prostate Cancer Screening Decision Aid Acceptance Scale For African-American Men, Otis L. Owens, Nikki R. Wooten, Abbas S. Tavakoli

Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND:

To reliably evaluate the acceptance and use of computer-based prostate cancer decision aids (CBDAs) for African-American men, culturally relevant measures are needed. This study describes the development and initial psychometric evaluation of the 24-item Computer-Based Prostate Cancer Screening Decision Aid Acceptance Scale among 357 African-American men.

METHODS:

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with maximum likelihood estimation and polychoric correlations followed by Promax and Varimax rotations. RESULTS: EFA yielded three factors: Technology Use Expectancy and Intention (16 items), Technology Use Anxiety (5 items), and Technology Use Self-Efficacy (3 items) with good to excellent internal consistency reliability at .95, .90, and .85, …

Parenting Styles Are Associated With Overall Child Dietary Quality Within Low-Income And Food-Insecure Households, Michael P. Burke, Sonya J. Jones, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Christine E. Blake, Maryah S. Fram

Faculty Publications

Objective: To examine the association between parenting styles and overall child dietary quality within households that are low-income and food-insecure.

Design: Child dietary intake was measured via a 24 h dietary recall. Dietary quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index-2005 (HEI-2005). Parenting styles were measured and scored using the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire. Linear regressions were used to test main and interaction associations between HEI-2005 scores and parenting styles.

Setting: Non-probability sample of low-income and food-insecure households in South Carolina, USA.

Participants: Parent–child dyads (n 171). Parents were ≥18 years old and children were …

Comparison Of Methods Used To Estimate The Global Burden Of Disease Related To Undernutrition And Suboptimal Breastfeeding, Alexander C. Mclain, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Sonja Y. Hess, Ellen G. Piwoz

Faculty Publications

The Global Burden of Disease study (GBD) is an ambitious effort to estimate the disease burden attributable to various risk factors. The results from the GBD are used around the world to monitor the UN established Sustainable Development Goals, set health policies and research strategies, among others. The GBD along with other studies, such as those from the Maternal Child Epidemiology Estimation Group and the Lancet Breastfeeding Series Group, produce estimates of the nutrition-related global burden of disease that exhibit considerable differences. These differences are difficult to reconcile due to the estimation methods, which in recent years have substantially increased …

Perspective: Challenges In Use Of Adolescent Anthropometry For Understanding The Burden Of Malnutrition, Alison Tumilowicz, Ty Beal, Lynnette M. Neufeld, Edward A. Frongillo Jr.

Faculty Publications

Improving nutritional status during adolescence is an opportunity to improve the lives of this generation and the next. Estimating the burden of malnutrition at a population level is fundamental to targeting interventions and measuring progress over time, and for adolescents, we usually depend on survey data and the 2007 WHO Growth Reference to do so. There is substantial risk of misguided conclusions regarding adolescent prevalence estimates, however, when underlying methodological limitations of the indicators and reference are not adequately considered. We use national prevalence estimates among girls and young women 10-22 y of age from the 2014 State of Food …

Virus-Specific Memory T Cells Populate Tumors And Can Be Repurposed For Tumor Immunotherapy, Pamela C. Rosato, Sathi Wijeyesinghe, J Michael Stolley, Christine E. Nelson, Rachel Davis, Luke S. Manlove, Christopher A. Pennell, Bruce R. Blazar, Clark C. Chen, Melissa A. Geller, Vaiva Vezys, David Masopust

Faculty Publications

The immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment limits the success of current immunotherapies. The host retains memory T cells specific for previous infections throughout the entire body that are capable of executing potent and immediate immunostimulatory functions. Here we show that virus-specific memory T cells extend their surveillance to mouse and human tumors. Reactivating these antiviral T cells can arrest growth of checkpoint blockade-resistant and poorly immunogenic tumors in mice after injecting adjuvant-free non-replicating viral peptides into tumors. Peptide mimics a viral reinfection event to memory CD8+ T cells, triggering antigen presentation and cytotoxic pathways within the tumor, activating dendritic cells and natural …