Digital Commons Network^™

Examining The Potential Of Vitamin C Supplementation In Tissue-Engineered Equine Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon Constructs, Michael J Mienaltowski, Mitchell Callahan, Nicole L Gonzales, Angelique Wong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Because equine tendinopathies are slow to heal and often recur, therapeutic strategies are being considered that aid tendon repair. Given the success of utilizing vitamin C to promote tenogenesis in other species, we hypothesized that vitamin C supplementation would produce dose-dependent improvements in the tenogenic properties of tendon proper (TP) and peritenon (PERI) cells of the equine superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT). Equine TP- and PERI-progenitor-cell-seeded fibrin three-dimensional constructs were supplemented with four concentrations of vitamin C. The gene expression profiles of the constructs were assessed with 3'-Tag-Seq and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR); collagen content and fibril ultrastructure …

Written Communication From Pharmacy Benefit Managers: Is It Helpful?, Lily G. Cessna, Lynne J. Goebel

Internal Medicine

Introduction: Physicians are experiencing greater burnout due to excessive time spent on paperwork. Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are adding to this problem by sending excessive mail to physicians. This study examined these mailed communications to determine their frequency and if the physician acted upon them. We hypothesized that few of these mailings would be helpful to the physician.

Methods: From July 2021 to May 2023, we collected all written communications from PBMs to a single geriatrics outpatient physician. We sorted this information by specific PBM, by communication category, if it resulted in an intervention, and if communications were repeated.

Results: …

Perioperative Chest X-Ray Interpretation For Anesthesia Providers, Kaitlyn Brown, Jessica Parsons

Doctoral Projects

Currently, a knowledge gap exists among anesthesia providers regarding perioperative chest x-ray (CXR) appropriateness and interpretation (Collins, 2022). The Council on Accreditation (COA) requires that students graduating from a nurse anesthesia program (NAP) interpret a minimum of five CXRs before program completion (Council on Accreditation [COA], 2020). This DNP project aimed to address the knowledge gap by offering an easily accessible online forum that guides anesthesia providers on CXR indications in surgical patients, and in identifying pathologies and invasive line and tube placement using CXR.

The authors created four learning modules regarding perioperative CXRs using Microsoft PowerPoint presentations with animation …

Characterization Of Ocular Surface Pathology And Tear Film Dysfunction Due To Type 1 And Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Judy Weng

Pharmaceutical Sciences (PhD) Dissertations

Untreated diabetes mellitus leads to development of microvascular and macrovascular complications affecting heart, nerves, kidney, and eyes. While the etiological mechanisms of diabetes-associated retinopathy and cataract have been well characterized, the time kinetics and the severity of diabetes-mediated injury to the ocular surface and its various components like tear film, goblet cells and glycocalyx, has not yet been investigated. These pathological changes can potentially cause dry eye and corneal injury including epithelial erosion, impaired wound healing and keratopathy. As the mainstay treatment option for the management of dry eye disease due to diabetes mellitus, artificial tears are frequently used. Therefore, …

Providing Optimal Resident Sleep Hygiene In Assisted Living Communities; Opportunities For Design And Operation Teams To Collaborate And Share Their Unique Knowledge, Beverly B. J. Miller

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Research is emerging relating sleep hygiene to disease pathogenesis including Parkinson's, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and increased cardiovascular risk. The application of circadian science as it relates to human wellness has intensified as a result. The quality of sleep significantly impacts the wellness of residents living in long term care, however sleep hygiene research is lacking in assisted living (AL) communities.

The thesis question inquires; How can operation and design teams collaborate to optimize sleep health for residents in assisted living communities? The research methodology utilized a two-phase process. Phase I identified three AL communities as test sites, providing case studies …

Labrad : Vol 48, Issue 2 - December 2023, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi

LABRAD - Departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Radiology Archives

• Editorial
• Articles
• Navigating Lab Excellence in LARAD
• Lab Resilience in a Changing Climate: Sustainable Strategies for Future-Proof Clinical Laboratories
• Professional Insights from a Pioneer in Autoimmune Disease Testing: The Future of Antinuclear/Anticellular Antibody Testing
• Insights into CCHF and Other Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers
• Bombay Blood Group
• Role and Application of Cytogenetics in Multiple Myeloma
• Low-grade Nasopharyngeal Papillary Adenocarcinoma in a Deceivingly "blue" Biopsy
• Transplant Immunology – Diagnostics
• The Best of the Past
• Farewell Chronicles: Celebrating Dr Anila Rashid's Journey
• The Best of the Past
• Farewell Chronicles: Celebrating Dr Anila Rashid's Journey
• Polaroid
• Chemical Pathology
• Radiology
• Hematology
• Histopathology
• Microbiology
• Molecular Pathology
• Tests …

Clinical Trials In Cardiogenic Shock: Challenges And Solutions For The Future, Anju Bhardwaj, Sahoor Khan, Shashank Sinha, Preethi Pirlamarla, Rajiv Sankaranarayanan, Alexander Hajduczok, Holger Thiele, Navin Kapur

Division of Cardiology Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

Brain-Wide Correspondence Of Neuronal Epigenomics And Distant Projections, Jingtian Zhou, Zhuzhu Zhang, May Wu, Hanqing Liu, Yan Pang, Anna Bartlett, Zihao Peng, Wubin Ding, Angeline Rivkin, Will N Lagos, Elora Williams, Cheng-Ta Lee, Paula Assakura Miyazaki, Andrew Aldridge, Qiurui Zeng, J L Angelo Salinda, Naomi Claffey, Michelle Liem, Conor Fitzpatrick, Lara Boggeman, Zizhen Yao, Kimberly A Smith, Bosiljka Tasic, Jordan Altshul, Mia A Kenworthy, Cynthia Valadon, Joseph R Nery, Rosa G Castanon, Neelakshi S Patne, Minh Vu, Mohammad Rashid, Matthew Jacobs, Tony Ito, Julia Osteen, Nora Emerson, Jasper Lee, Silvia Cho, Jon Rink, Hsiang-Hsuan Huang, António Pinto-Duartec, Bertha Dominguez, Jared B Smith, Carolyn O'Connor, Hongkui Zeng, Shengbo Chen, Kuo-Fen Lee, Eran A Mukamel, Xin Jin, M Margarita Behrens, Joseph R Ecker, Edward M Callaway

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Single-cell analyses parse the brain’s billions of neurons into thousands of ‘cell-type’ clusters residing in different brain structures1. Many cell types mediate their functions through targeted long-distance projections allowing interactions between specific cell types. Here we used epi-retro-seq2 to link single-cell epigenomes and cell types to long-distance projections for 33,034 neurons dissected from 32 different regions projecting to 24 different targets (225 source-to-target combinations) across the whole mouse brain. We highlight uses of these data for interrogating principles relating projection types to transcriptomics and epigenomics, and for addressing hypotheses about cell types and connections related to genetics. …

Immune Evasion And Membrane Fusion Of Sars-Cov-2 Xbb Subvariants Eg51 And Xbb23, Julia N Faraone, Panke Qu, Negin Goodarzi, Yi-Min Zheng, Claire Carlin, Linda J Saif, Eugene M Oltz, Kai Xu, Daniel Jones, Richard J Gumina, Shan-Lu Liu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Immune evasion by SARS-CoV-2 paired with immune imprinting from monovalent mRNA vaccines has resulted in attenuated neutralizing antibody responses against Omicron subvariants. In this study, we characterized two new XBB variants rising in circulation - EG.5.1 and XBB.2.3, for their neutralization and syncytia formation. We determined the neutralizing antibody titers in sera of individuals that received a bivalent mRNA vaccine booster, BA.4/5-wave infection, or XBB.1.5-wave infection. Bivalent vaccination-induced antibodies neutralized ancestral D614G efficiently, but to a much less extent, two new EG.5.1 and XBB.2.3 variants. In fact, the enhanced neutralization escape of EG.5.1 appeared to be driven by its key …

Single-Cell Dna Methylome And 3d Multi-Omic Atlas Of The Adult Mouse Brain, Hanqing Liu, Qiurui Zeng, Jingtian Zhou, Anna Bartlett, Bang-An Wang, Peter Berube, Wei Tian, Mia Kenworthy, Jordan Altshul, Joseph R Nery, Huaming Chen, Rosa G Castanon, Songpeng Zu, Yang Eric Li, Jacinta Lucero, Julia K Osteen, Antonio Pinto-Duarte, Jasper Lee, Jon Rink, Silvia Cho, Nora Emerson, Michael Nunn, Carolyn O'Connor, Zhanghao Wu, Ion Stoica, Zizhen Yao, Kimberly A Smith, Bosiljka Tasic, Chongyuan Luo, Jesse R Dixon, Hongkui Zeng, Bing Ren, M Margarita Behrens, Joseph R Ecker

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cytosine DNA methylation is essential in brain development and is implicated in various neurological disorders. Understanding DNA methylation diversity across the entire brain in a spatial context is fundamental for a complete molecular atlas of brain cell types and their gene regulatory landscapes. Here we used single-nucleus methylome sequencing (snmC-seq3) and multi-omic sequencing (snm3C-seq)1 technologies to generate 301,626 methylomes and 176,003 chromatin conformation–methylome joint profiles from 117 dissected regions throughout the adult mouse brain. Using iterative clustering and integrating with companion whole-brain transcriptome and chromatin accessibility datasets, we constructed a methylation-based cell taxonomy with 4,673 cell groups and 274 …

Aging Differentially Affects Axonal Autophagosome Formation And Maturation, Heather Tsong, Erika Lf Holzbaur, Andrea Kh Stavoe

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Misregulation of neuronal macroautophagy/autophagy has been implicated in age-related neurodegenerative diseases. We compared autophagosome formation and maturation in primary murine neurons during development and through aging to elucidate how aging affects neuronal autophagy. We observed an age-related decrease in the rate of autophagosome formation leading to a significant decrease in the density of autophagosomes along the axon. Next, we identified a surprising increase in the maturation of autophagic vesicles in neurons from aged mice. While we did not detect notable changes in endolysosomal content in the distal axon during early aging, we did observe a significant loss of acidified vesicles …

Plastic, It's What's For Dinner: A Preliminary Comparison Of Ingested Particles In Bottlenose Dolphins And Their Prey, Leslie B Hart, Miranda Dziobak, Randall S Wells, Elizabeth Berens Mccabe, Eric Conger, Tita Curtin, Maggie Knight, John Weinstein

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Microplastic ingestion was reported for common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) inhabiting Sarasota Bay, FL, USA, a community that also has prevalent exposure to plasticizers (i.e., phthalates) at concentrations higher than human reference populations. Exposure sources are currently unknown, but plastic-contaminated prey could be a vector. To explore the potential for trophic exposure, prey fish muscle and gastrointestinal tract (GIT) tissues and contents were screened for suspected microplastics, and particle properties (e.g., color, shape, surface texture) were compared with those observed in gastric samples from free-ranging dolphins. Twenty-nine fish across four species (hardhead catfish, Ariopsis felis; pigfish, Orthopristis …

Effects Of Antiresorptive Medications On Tooth Root Formation And Tooth Eruption In Paediatric Patients, Yuki Arai, Jeryl D English, Noriaki Ono, Wanida Ono

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Tooth eruption is a pivotal milestone for children's growth and development. This process involves with the formation of the tooth root, the periodontal ligament (PDL) and the alveolar bone, as the tooth crown penetrates the bone and gingiva to enter the oral cavity. This review aims to outline current knowledge of the adverse dental effects of antiresorptive medications. Recently, paediatric indications for antiresorptive medications, such as bisphosphonates (BPs), have emerged, and these agents are increasingly used in children and adolescents to cure pathological bone resorption associated with bone diseases and cancers. Since tooth eruption is accompanied by osteoclastic bone resorption, …

Role Of The Immune System In Liver Transplantation And Its Implications For Therapeutic Interventions, Guanrong Chen, Xin Hu, Yingchen Huang, Xiaonan Xiang, Sheng Pan, Ronggao Chen, Xiao Xu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Liver transplantation (LT) stands as the gold standard for treating end-stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma, yet postoperative complications continue to impact survival rates. The liver's unique immune system, governed by a microenvironment of diverse immune cells, is disrupted during processes like ischemia-reperfusion injury posttransplantation, leading to immune imbalance, inflammation, and subsequent complications. In the posttransplantation period, immune cells within the liver collaboratively foster a tolerant environment, crucial for immune tolerance and liver regeneration. While clinical trials exploring cell therapy for LT complications exist, a comprehensive summary is lacking. This review provides an insight into the intricacies of the liver's …

Deficiency Of Acute-Phase Serum Amyloid A Exacerbates Sepsis-Induced Mortality And Lung Injury In Mice, Ailing Ji, Andrea C. Trumbauer, Victoria P. Noffsinger, Luke W. Meredith, Brittany Dong, Qian Wang, Ling Guo, Xiangan Li, Frederick C. De Beer, Nancy R. Webb, Lisa R. Tannock, Marlene E. Starr, Christopher M. Waters, Preetha Shridas

Saha Cardiovascular Research Center Faculty Publications

Serum amyloid A (SAA) is a family of proteins, the plasma levels of which may increase >1000-fold in acute inflammatory states. We investigated the role of SAA in sepsis using mice deficient in all three acute-phase SAA isoforms (SAA-TKO). SAA deficiency significantly increased mortality rates in the three experimental sepsis mouse models: cecal ligation and puncture (CLP), cecal slurry (CS) injection, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatments. SAA-TKO mice had exacerbated lung pathology compared to wild-type (WT) mice after CLP. A bulk RNA sequencing performed on lung tissues excised 24 h after CLP indicated significant enrichment in the expression of genes associated …

Ecohiv-Infected Mice Show No Signs Of Platelet Activation, Hammodah Rawhi Hammodah Alfar, Dominic Ngima Nthenge-Ngumbau, Kathryn E. Saatman, Sidney W. Whiteheart

Saha Cardiovascular Research Center Faculty Publications

Platelets express several surface receptors that could interact with different viruses. To understand the mechanisms of HIV-1′s interaction with platelets, we chose the EcoHIV model. While EcoHIV is an established model for neuroAIDS, its effects on platelets are ill-defined. Our results indicate that EcoHIV behaves differently from HIV-1 and is cleared from circulation after 48 h post- infection. The EcoHIV course of infection resembles an HIV-1 infection under the effects of combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) since infected mice stayed immunocompetent and the virus was readily detected in the spleen. EcoHIV-infected mice failed to become thrombocytopenic and showed no signs of …

A Novel Role Of Tgfbi In Macrophage Polarization And Macrophage-Induced Pancreatic Cancer Growth And Therapeutic Resistance, Jing Zhou, Nan Lyu, Qiongling Wanga, Ming Yang, Eric T. Kimchi, Kun Chenge, Trupti Joshi, Adama R. Tukulif, Kevin F. Staveley-O’Carroll, Guangfu Li

Biomedical Sciences

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), as a major and essential component of tumor microenvironment (TME), play a critical role in orchestrating pancreatic cancer (PaC) tumorigenesis from initiation to angiogenesis, growth, and systemic dissemination, as well as immunosuppression and resistance to chemotherapy and immunotherapy; however, the critical intrinsic factors responsible for TAMs reprograming and function remain to be identified. By performing single-cell RNA sequencing, transforming growth factor-beta-induced protein (TGFBI) was identified as TAM-producing factor in murine PaC tumors. TAMs express TGFBI in human PaC and TGFBI expression is positively related with human PaC growth. By inducing TGFBI loss-of-function in macrophage (MΦs) in vitro …

Nonsense Variant Prdm16-Q187x Causes Impaired Myocardial Development And Tgf-Β Signaling Resulting In Noncompaction Cardiomyopathy In Humans And Mice, Bo Sun, Omid M T Rouzbehani, Ryan J Kramer, Rajeshwary Ghosh, Robin M Perelli, Sage Atkins, Amir Nima Fatahian, Kathryn Davis, Marta W Szulik, Michael A Goodman, Marissa A Hathaway, Ellenor Chi, Tarah A Word, Hari Tunuguntla, Susan W Denfield, Xander H T Wehrens, Kevin J Whitehead, Hala Y Abdelnasser, Junco S Warren, Mingfu Wu, Sarah Franklin, Sihem Boudina, Andrew P Landstrom

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: PRDM16 plays a role in myocardial development through TGF-β (transforming growth factor-beta) signaling. Recent evidence suggests that loss of PRDM16 expression is associated with cardiomyopathy development in mice, although its role in human cardiomyopathy development is unclear. This study aims to determine the impact of PRDM16 loss-of-function variants on cardiomyopathy in humans.

METHODS: Individuals with PRDM16 variants were identified and consented. Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) were generated from a proband hosting a Q187X nonsense variant as an in vitro model and underwent proliferative and transcriptional analyses. CRISPR-mediated knock-in mouse model hosting the Prdm16Q187X allele was generated …

Estradiol Mediates Colonic Epithelial Protection In Aged Mice After Stroke And Is Associated With Shifts In The Gut Microbiome, Juneyoung Lee, Pedram Peesh, Victoria Quaicoe, Chunfeng Tan, Anik Banerjee, Patrick Mooz, Bhanu P Ganesh, Joseph Petrosino, Robert M Bryan, Louise D Mccullough, Venugopal Reddy Venna

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The gut is a major source of bacteria and antigens that contribute to neuroinflammation after brain injury. Colonic epithelial cells (ECs) are responsible for secreting major cellular components of the innate defense system, including antimicrobial proteins (AMP) and mucins. These cells serve as a critical regulator of gut barrier function and maintain host-microbe homeostasis. In this study, we determined post-stroke host defense responses at the colonic epithelial surface in mice. We then tested if the enhancement of these epithelial protective mechanisms is beneficial in young and aged mice after stroke. AMPs were significantly increased in the colonic ECs of young …

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Of Macrophage Response To Radiation Therapy, Harrison Yang, Brock Howerton, Logan Brown, Tadahide Izumi, Dennis C. Cheek, Jason Anthony Brandon, Francesc Marti, Roberto Gedaly, Reuben Adatorwovor, Fanny Chapelin

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive imaging modality which, in conjunction with biopsies, provide a qualitative assessment of tumor response to treatment. Intravenous injection of contrast agents such as fluorine (19F) nanoemulsions labels systemic macrophages, which can, then, be tracked in real time with MRI. This method can provide quantifiable insights into the behavior of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in the tumor microenvironment and macrophage recruitment during therapy.

Methods: Female mice received mammary fat pad injections of murine breast or colon cancer cell lines. The mice then received an intravenous 19F nanoemulsion injection, followed by a baseline 19F MRI. …

Design And Characterization Of A Novel Eef2k Degrader With Potent Therapeutic Efficacy Against Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, Changxin Zhong, Rongfeng Zhu, Ting Jiang, Sheng Tian, Xiaobao Zhao, Xiaoya Wan, Shilong Jiang, Zonglin Chen, Rong Gong, Linhao He, Jin-Ming Yang, Na Ye, Yan Cheng

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Dysregulated eEF2K expression is implicated in the pathogenesis of many human cancers, including triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), making it a plausible therapeutic target. However, specific eEF2K inhibitors with potent anti-cancer activity have not been available so far. Targeted protein degradation has emerged as a new strategy for drug discovery. In this study, a novel small molecule chemical is designed and synthesized, named as compound C1, which shows potent activity in degrading eEF2K. C1 selectively binds to F8, L10, R144, C146, E229, and Y236 of the eEF2K protein and promotes its proteasomal degradation by increasing the interaction between eEF2K and the …

Design, Analysis, And Interpretation Of Treatment Response Heterogeneity In Personalized Nutrition And Obesity Treatment Research, Roger S Zoh, Bridget H Esteves, Xiaoxin Yu, Amanda J Fairchild, Ana I Vazquez, Andrew G Chapple, Andrew W Brown, Brandon George, Derek Gordon, Douglas Landsittel, Gary L Gadbury, Greg Pavela, Gustavo De Los Campos, Luis M Mestre, David B Allison

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

It is increasingly assumed that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to dietary recommendations for the management and treatment of chronic diseases such as obesity. This phenomenon that not all individuals respond uniformly to a given treatment has become an area of research interest given the rise of personalized and precision medicine. To conduct, interpret, and disseminate this research rigorously and with scientific accuracy, however, requires an understanding of treatment response heterogeneity. Here, we define treatment response heterogeneity as it relates to clinical trials, provide statistical guidance for measuring treatment response heterogeneity, and highlight study designs that can quantify treatment response …

Improving Implant Training For Physicians And Their Teams In Under-Represented Regions, Jeilan Mohamed, Mohamed Varwani, Abdul Raqib, Emin Evren Ozcan

Internal Medicine, East Africa

The burden of cardiovascular disease is increasing globally, with low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) absorbing most of the burden while lacking the necessary healthcare infrastructure to combat the increase. In particular, the disparity in pacemaker implants between high-income countries and LMICs is glaring, partially spurned by reduced numbers of physicians and supporting staff who are trained in pacemaker implant technique. Herein, we will discuss current pacemaker implant training models, outline training frameworks that can be applied to underserved regions, and review adjunctive training techniques that can help supplement traditional training models in LMICs.

Biological Age Mediates The Effects Of Perceived Neighborhood Problems On Heart Failure Risk Among Black Persons, Ganga Bey, James Pike, Priya Palta, Anthony Zannas, Qian Xiao, Shelly-Ann Love, Gerardo Heiss

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: We assessed whether biological age, measured by the epigenetic clock GrimAge, mediates the association of objective and subjective neighborhood disadvantage with incident HF among Black persons.

METHODS: Participants were 1448 self-reported Black adults (mean age (standard deviation, SD) = 64.3 (5.5)) dually enrolled in two community-based cohorts in Jackson, Mississippi, the ARIC and JHS cohorts, who were free of HF as of January 1, 2000. Incident HF events leading to hospitalization through December 31, 2017, were classified using ICD-9 discharge codes of HF. Multilevel age- and sex-adjusted Cox causal mediation models were used to examine whether biological age (at …

Angiotensin Ii Type 2 Receptor Signalling As A Pain Target: Bench, Bedside And Back-Translation, Andrew J Shepherd, Andrew Sc Rice, Maree T Smith

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Translating promising preclinical pain relief data for novel molecules from drug discovery to positive clinical trial outcomes is challenging. The angiotensin II type 2 (AT2) receptor is a clinically-validated target based upon positive proof-of-concept clinical trial data in patients with post-herpetic neuralgia. This trial was conducted because AT2 receptor antagonists evoked pain relief in rodent models of neuropathic pain. EMA401 was selected as the drug candidate based upon its suitable preclinical toxicity and safety profile and good pharmacokinetics. Herein, we provide an overview of the discovery, preclinical and clinical development of EMA401, for the alleviation of peripheral neuropathic pain.

Evaluation Of A Balloon Implant For Simultaneous Magnetic Nanoparticle Hyperthermia And High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy Of Brain Tumor Resection Cavities, Shuying Wan, Dario Rodrigues, Janet Kwiatkowski, Omaditya Khanna, Kevin Judy, Robert Goldstein, Marty Overbeek Bloem, Yan Yu, Sophia Rooks, Wenyin Shi, Mark Hurwitz, Paul Stauffer

Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty Papers

Previous work has reported the design of a novel thermobrachytherapy (TBT) balloon implant to deliver magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) hyperthermia and high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy simultaneously after brain tumor resection, thereby maximizing their synergistic effect. This paper presents an evaluation of the robustness of the balloon device, compatibility of its heat and radiation delivery components, as well as thermal and radiation dosimetry of the TBT balloon. TBT balloon devices with 1 and 3 cm diameter were evaluated when placed in an external magnetic field with a maximal strength of 8.1 kA/m at 133 kHz. The MNP solution (nanofluid) in the balloon absorbs …

Neural Damage Following Francisella Tularensis Infection, Anahis Tena

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the impact of Francisella tularensis infection on the brain, focusing on its anatomical localization, effects on synaptic health, and behavioral and cognitive consequences in mice. Employing a combination of fluorescent tagging, confocal and light sheet microscopy, the study first maps bacterial foci within the brain, anticipating a concentration in the limbic system, particularly the hippocampus. Subsequently, it examines synaptic function post-infection using calcium imaging in various neuronal cultures, expecting a decrease in calcium signaling indicative of synaptic impairment. Finally, behavioral assays like the forced swim test, object recognition test, and Morris Water Maze assess the cognitive and …

Evaluation Of The Efficacy Of Synthetic Glycovaccines Against Both Murine Acute Chagas Disease And Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, Colin D. Knight

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Chagas disease (CD) and cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) are neglected tropical diseases caused by the protozoan trypanosomatids, Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania spp., respectively. There are approximately 6-8 million people infected with T. cruzi worldwide and ~300,000 people in the US. Between 700,000 and 1.2 million new cases of CL occur worldwide yearly. The approved chemotherapies for both diseases are partially effective and may cause serious adverse events, resulting in premature treatment interruption. Moreover, no effective vaccine for either disease is available. Therefore, developing a vaccine that would provide effective cross-protection against both diseases would provide a cost-effective alternative to the existing …

Hyperoxidized Prdx3 As A Specific Ferroptosis Marker, Yuelong Yan, Boyi Gan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The lack of a reliable and specific marker for ferroptosis has hindered the advancement of treatments related to this cell death mechanism toward clinical application. A recent study published in Molecular Cell has identified hyperoxidized peroxiredoxin 3 (PRDX3) as a promising marker for ferroptosis, opening up new avenues for monitoring and targeting ferroptosis in disease treatment.

Evaluating Strength Of Recommendations For Commonly Administered Medications In Lactating Women, Yevgenia Y Fomina, John J Byrne, Catherine Y Spong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: To characterize the data on medications for lactating people in the LactMed database and evaluate the strength of the data for the most commonly administered medications in lactating women.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of all medications in the LactMed database in 12/2020 was performed. Each medication was classified into one of three categories: absent data, minimal-moderate data, strong data pertaining to safety in lactation. No data was defined as no available research studies associated with the medication. Minimal-moderate data was defined as absent research studies in one or more of the four LactMed categories: maternal drug levels, infant drug …