Anatomy Commons^™

In Vitro And In Vivo Correlation Of Skin And Cellular Responses To Nucleic Acid Delivery, M. Bosnjak, K. Znidar, A. Sales Conniff, T. Jesenko, B. Markelc, Nina Semenova, J. Tur, K. Kohena, S. Kranjc Brezar, L. Heller, M. Cemazar

Bioelectrics Publications

Skin, the largest organ in the body, provides a passive physical barrier against infection and contains elements of the innate and adaptive immune systems. Skin consists of various cells, including keratinocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells and immune cells. This diversity of cell types could be important to gene therapies because DNA transfection could elicit different responses in different cell types. Previously, we observed the upregulation and activation of cytosolic DNA sensing pathways in several non-tumor and tumor cell types as well in tumors after the electroporation (electrotransfer) of plasmid DNA (pDNA). Based on this research and the innate immunogenicity of …

The Paradox Of Pulmonary Vascular Resistance: Restoration Of Pulmonary Capillary Recruitment As A Sine Qua Non For True Therapeutic Success In Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, David Langleben, Stylianos E. Orfanos, Benjamin D. Fox, Nathan Messas, Michele Giovinazzo, John D. Catravas

Bioelectrics Publications

Exercise-induced increases in pulmonary blood flow normally increase pulmonary arterial pressure only minimally, largely due to a reserve of pulmonary capillaries that are available for recruitment to carry the flow. In pulmonary arterial hypertension, due to precapillary arteriolar obstruction, such recruitment is greatly reduced. In exercising pulmonary arterial hypertension patients, pulmonary arterial pressure remains high and may even increase further. Current pulmonary arterial hypertension therapies, acting principally as vasodilators, decrease calculated pulmonary vascular resistance by increasing pulmonary blood flow but have a minimal effect in lowering pulmonary arterial pressure and do not restore significant capillary recruitment. Novel pulmonary arterial hypertension …

Optimizing Antidotal Treatment With The Oral Hsp90 Inhibitor Tas-116 Against Hydrochloric Acid-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis In Mice, Pavel A. Solopov, Ruben Manuel Luciano Colunga Biancatelli, Christiana Dimitropolou, Tierney Day, John Catravas

Bioelectrics Publications

Exposure to high concentrations of hydrochloric acid (HCl) can lead to severe acute and chronic lung injury. In the aftermath of accidental spills, victims may be treated for the acute symptoms, but the chronic injury is often overlooked. We have developed a mouse model of acute and chronic lung injury, in which the peak of acute lung injury occurs on the day 4 after HCl exposure. We have also demonstrated that HSP90 inhibitors are effective antidotes when administered starting 24 h after HCl. In this study we examined the hypothesis that the novel oral HSP90 inhibitor TAS-116 can effectively ameliorate …

Assessment Of Combined Modality Therapy For Non-Small-Cell Lung Carcinoma: A Simulation Study Concerning Concurrent Chemo-Brachytherapy, Hadi Rezaei, Hesameddin Mostaghimi, Ali Reza Mehdizadeh

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Although surgery is the treatment of choice for early-stage non-small-cell lung carcinoma, almost two-thirds of patients do not have acceptable pulmonary function for extensive surgeries. The alternative approach for this large group of patients is sublobar resection along with low-dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy (BT). However, patients with resected lungs have a high risk of recurrence and are often treated with platinum-based (Pt-based) chemotherapy (CT). In this study, we aimed to evaluate the absorbed doses of lung and other thoracic organs, considering concurrent chemo-BT with LDR sources in two modalities: conventional vs. unconventional Pt-based CT. We used the MCNPX code for simulations …

Streamlining Sporozoite Isolation From Mosquitoes By Leveraging The Dynamics Of Migration To The Salivary Glands, Ashutosh K. Pathak, Justine C. Shiau, Blandine Franke-Fayard, Lisa M. Shollenberger, Donald A. Harn, Dennis E. Kyle, Courtney C. Murdock

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Sporozoites isolated from the salivary glands of Plasmodium-infected mosquitoes are a prerequisite for several basic and pre-clinical applications. Although salivary glands are pooled to maximize sporozoite recovery, insufficient yields pose logistical and analytical hurdles; thus, predicting yields prior to isolation would be valuable. Preceding oocyst densities in the midgut is an obvious candidate. However, it is unclear whether current understanding of its relationship with sporozoite densities can be used to maximize yields, or whether it can capture the potential density-dependence in rates of sporozoite invasion of the salivary glands.

Methods: This study presents a retrospective analysis of Anopheles …

Alkaline Plasma-Activated Water (Paw) As An Innovative Therapeutic Avenue For Cancer Treatment, Bolun Pang, Zhijie Liu, Sitao Wang, Yuting Gao, Miao Qi, Dehui Xu, Renwu Zhou, Dingxin Liu, Michael G. Kong

Bioelectrics Publications

Plasma-activated water (PAW) is considered to be an effective anticancer agent due to the diverse aqueous reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS: ROS and RNS), but the drawback of low dose and short duration of RONS in acidified PAW limits their clinical application. Herein, this Letter presents an innovative therapeutic avenue for cancer treatment with highly-effective alkaline PAW prepared by air surface plasma. This anticancer alkaline formulation is comprised of a rich mixture of highly chemical RONS and exhibited a prolonged half-life compared to acidified PAW. The H₂O₂, NO₂-, and ONOO^-/O_{2 …}

Atmospheric Air Plasma Streamers Deliver Nanosecond Pulses For Focused Electroporation, Shu Xiao, Carol Zhou, Eric Appia, Shirshak Dhali

Bioelectrics Publications

Background: For electrotherapies that involve electrodes and high-intensity electric fields, such as in tissue ablation, we report a method of pulse delivery that can focus the electric field away from the electrodes, as demonstrated in vitro.

Materials and Methods: To electroporate cells in a monolayer seeded in a 35 mm culture dish, two atmospheric-pressure plasma channels generated by two thin, copper foil electrodes above the surface of the solution provided the current and established the electric field.

Results: Depending on the pulse duration, the plasma channels were observed as corona (100 ns), streamer (300 ns), and mixture of streamer …

Enforcing A More Complex Notion Of Proper Posture With Pose Estimation, Marco Alessandro Scanni

Senior Projects Spring 2022

Practicing poor posture for many hours throughout the day can lead to a myriad of both physical and mental morbidities. People tend to put their postures in jeopardy for multiple hours per day when using the computer. Pose estimation has the ability to track human positions in real-time with high accuracy and performance. The goal of this thesis is to provide evidence for what proper posture is, and enforce this proper posture through the use of a pose estimation model, namely BlazePose.

Completing Single-Cell Dna Methylome Profiles Via Transfer Learning Together With Kl-Divergence, Sanjeeva Dodlapati, Zongliang Jiang, Jiangwen Sun

Computer Science Faculty Publications

The high level of sparsity in methylome profiles obtained using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing in the case of low biological material amount limits its value in the study of systems in which large samples are difficult to assemble, such as mammalian preimplantation embryonic development. The recently developed computational methods for addressing the sparsity by imputing missing have their limits when the required minimum data coverage or profiles of the same tissue in other modalities are not available. In this study, we explored the use of transfer learning together with Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence to train predictive models for completing methylome profiles with …

A Clinical Study Of Venereal And Non Venereal Genital Dermatoses In Women, Lakkireddygari Sujana, Savitha L. Beergouder, Alekhya Rallapalli, Prasanthi Chidipudi, Sujatha Alla

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Background: Any genital lesion or related symptoms are erroneously considered to be sexually transmitted as it is the most covered regions of the body and seems truly to be a forgotten pelvic organ it is the significant and important group of dermatological conditions may be associated with considerable morbidity, discomfort, and embarrassment. The most common conditions seen in a Dermatology Clinic are vulvar dermatoses, which comprise of lichen sclerosis, lichen planus, vulvar eczema, and psoriasis. Other conditions such as vulvar pain syndromes, vulvar disorders associated with systemic diseases, and blistering diseases are also seen.

Materials and Methods: This was a …

A Proposed Method To Verify Physician Visual Estimation Of Intraoperative Corneal Edema From Refractive Measurement Images During Cataract Surgery, Karalee Corley

CMC Senior Theses

A patient’s resultant vision quality in a restorative Femtosecond Laser Assisted Cataract Surgery (FLACS) can be fine tuned via an intraoperative measurement of refractive power and axis of astigmatism in the aphakic state. Standard preoperative measurements often disagree with intraoperative measurements (Optiwave Refractive Analysis; Alcon, Inc.) on account of the inclusion or exclusion of posterior corneal curvature, leaving the ultimate lens selection to physician discretion. One additional suggested cause of disagreement is swelling at the corneal incision site (Corley and Carmack 2020).The following proposes a method to verify visual estimation of intraoperative corneal swelling from 2D gray-scale images collected during …

Gene Electrotransfer Of Fgf2 Enhances Collagen Scaffold Biocompatibility, Carly Boye, Kyle Cristensen, Kamal Asadipour, Scott Declemente, Michael Francis, Anna Bulysheva

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Tendon injuries are a common athletic injury that have been increasing in prevalence. While there are current clinical treatments for tendon injuries, they have relatively long recovery times and often do not restore native function of the tendon. In the current study, gene electrotransfer (GET) parameters for delivery to the skin were optimized with monophasic and biphasic pulses with reporter and effector genes towards optimizing underlying tendon healing. Tissue twitching and damage, as well as gene expression and distribution were evaluated. Bioprinted collagen scaffolds, mimicking healthy tendon structure were then implanted subcutaneously for biocompatibility and angiogenesis analyses when combined with …

Observations Of Delayed Changes In Respiratory Function Among Allergy Clinic Patients Exposed To Wildfire Smoke, James Blando, Michael Allen, Hadiza Galadima, Timothy Tolson, Muge Akpinar-Elci, Mariana Szklo-Coxe

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Wildfires have increased in frequency and magnitude and pose a significant public health challenge. The principal objective of this study was to assess the impact of wildfire smoke on respiratory peak flow performance of patients exposed to two different wildfire events. This longitudinal study utilized an observational approach and a cohort study design with a patient-level clinical dataset from a local outpatient allergy clinic (n = 842). Meteorological data from a local weather station served as a proxy for smoke exposure because air quality measurements were not available. This study found that there were decreases in respiratory peak flow among …

An Introduction To The Comparison Of Seismocardiography And Phonocardiography, Anna C. Voyatzoglou

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this thesis is to lay groundwork for examining the relationship between seismocardiography (SCG) and phonocardiography (PCG). Both are methods of measuring and describing heart mechanical function. SCG is described as chest vibrations while the heart beats, and PCG is described as acoustic chest surface signal believed to represent the heart valves opening or closing. SCG and PCG have both been used separately in clinical and research settings, but there is currently no clear comparison between the two. Therefore, there has been no way at the present to understand how one signal might inform the other. This study …

Eagle Syndrome: Efficacies Of Medical And Surgical Treatments, Kirklin Mitchell

Capstone Showcase

Eagle Syndrome is a rare syndrome caused by elongation of the styloid process of the temporal bone or calcification of the stylohyoid ligament occurring in a very small percentage of the population that can cause a wide range of common symptoms, leading to it being often misdiagnosed. While there are no set standards for treating Eagle Syndrome, both pharmaceutical and surgical options exist. Pharmaceutical options are often ineffective in long term treatment so surgery is usually required for full symptom resolution. Transoral and Transcervical surgeries have similar efficacies but each come with important drawbacks when considering which type of surgery …

Best Practice For Treatment And Prevention Of Ankle Sprains In Ballet Dancers, Sara Bergin

Honors Program Theses

No abstract provided.

The Morbidity Of Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome Is Similar To That Of Pre-Tha Hip Osteoarthritis, Sonia Wadekar, Avneesh Chhabra, Emily Middleton, Yin Xi, Joel Wells

MEDI 9331 Scholarly Activities Clinical Years

Aims: We sought to characterize the morbidity upon presentation of GTPS and compared it to patients with end-stage, hip osteoarthritis (OA) awaiting total hip arthroplasty (THA). We hypothesize that patients with GTPS will have similar or worse morbidity than hip OA patients.

Methods: This retrospective case-control study examined patient reported outcomes measures (PROMs) on activity limitations, quality of life, pain, and level of disability, in 156 GTPS patients (193 hips) and 300 pre-THA hip OA patients (326 hips). All patients presented at a single academic medical center. Patients with secondary hip conditions or previous hip surgeries were excluded from the …

Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage And Acute Subdural Hematoma, Neurosurgical And Endovascular Rescue. Case Report., José Omar Santellan Resident, José Ramón Aguilar Dr., Abraham Ibarra Dr., Ulises García Dr.

Archives of Neurosurgery

Introduction: Acute subdural hemorrhage (aSDH) in association with aneurismal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a severe disease with an incidence of 0.5% to 7.9% of all SAH. Due to the rarity of aneurysmal aSDH, it remains difficult to define a comprehensive management protocol. In this case review, following the CARE guidelines, we show the hybrid management of this pathology to know the importance of using different types of neurosurgical treatments in case of two severe diseases in critical patients.

We present two patients who developed sudden onset cephalea and neurological impairment secondary to aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage associated with acute subdural hematoma. …

Exploring Cell Differentiation Vs. Localization In Engineered Ligament-To-Bone Entheses, Saagar N. Sheth, Michael E. Brown, Jennifer L. Puetzer

Undergraduate Research Posters

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) connects to bone via structurally complex insertions known as entheses that translate load from elastic ligament and stiff bone via gradients in organization, composition, and cell phenotype [1]. These gradients are not recreated in graft repair or engineered replacements, yielding limited repair options and high failure rates [2]. Previously, we developed a culture system that uses a tensile-compressive interface to guide ligament fibroblasts to develop early postnatal-like entheses by 6 weeks [3]; however, cells used were isolated from the entirety of the neonatal bovine ACL from bone to bone and likely contained multiple cell phenotypes …

Trends In Stunting, Underweight And Overweight Among Children Aged < 5 Years In Kuwait: Findings From Kuwait Nutritional Surveillance System (2007-2019), Nawal Alqaoud, Abdullah Al-Taiar

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background: There is a paucity of data on the secular trends of stunting and overweight among children aged < 5 years in oil-rich countries in the Middle East.

Aims: To examine the secular trends of stunting, underweight and overweight in children aged < 5 years in Kuwait between 2007 and 2019.

Methods: We used large individual data records (n=48 108) from the Kuwait Nutritional Surveillance System (KNSS) to calculate height/length-for-age z score (HAZ), weight-for-age z score and body mass index (BMI)-for-age z score using World Health Organization growth references. Stunting and underweight were defined as less than -2 standard deviation (SD) and overweight (including obesity) as ≥ 2 SD. Trends of stunting, underweight and overweight were …