Digital Commons Network^™

Infection Prevention And Control Of Candida Auris In Pediatric Settings, Thomas S. Murray, Hana Hakim, Christelle Ilboudo, Lynn Ramírez-Ávila, Jana Shaw, Terri Stillwell, Patricia Budo, Bernard Ebruke, Noa Fleiss, Amanda Green, Matthew Linam, Roshni Mathew, April Mcdougal, Natalie Neu, Zoi Dorothea Pana, Karen Ravin, Ayelet Rosenthal, Jane D. Siegel, Katlyn Steimel, Amy Valencia, Carol Vance, Lars F. Westblade, Lisa Saiman

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Candida auris (also referred to as Candidozyma auris) is an emerging multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen associated with high morbidity and mortality. Existing infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance has largely focused on adult populations, with limited recommendations for pediatric healthcare and non-healthcare settings.

METHODS: The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) convened a multidisciplinary expert panel to develop IPC recommendations for C. auris. The panel developed recommendations using a structured, iterative Delphi consensus process with rounds of discussion, refinement, and anonymous electronic voting with predefined consensus thresholds. Panelists reviewed relevant peer-reviewed and gray literature integrated with expert …

Retrospective Analysis Of A Washu-Based Knowledge-Based Planning (Kbp) Model For Breast And Chest Wall Planning In Guatemala: Compliance With American Society For Radiation Oncology (Astro) 2026 Guidelines, Milton E Ixquiac Cabrera, Erick O Montenegro, Matthew Schmidt, Baozhou Sun, James A Kavanaugh, Taoran Li, Angel Velarde, Vicky De Falla, Francisco Reynoso

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background/purpose

Breast cancer is among the most prevalent malignancies treated at the Liga Nacional Contra el Cáncer (LNCC) in Guatemala, representing a significant proportion of annual radiotherapy cases. Access to high-quality, standardized treatment planning in resource-constrained settings remains a critical challenge. This study evaluates the dosimetric performance of knowledge-based planning (KBP) models adapted from Washington University (WashU) in St. Louis for breast and chest wall radiotherapy at LNCC, validated against a retrospective 2025 clinical cohort, and benchmarked against the ASTRO 2026 Practical Radiation Oncology guidelines.

Materials and methods

A retrospective analysis of 84 treatment plans (40 left, 44 right) for …

A Qualitative Exploration Of Spirituality In People Living With Dyspnea And Serious Illness, Leah Mccann Klug

All Poster Presentations

No abstract provided.

Development And Validation Of The Lifetime Sense Of Safety Scale In Kenyan Adults, Karen Blackmon, Anne Nyambura, Anne Gitere, Levi Muyela, Catherine Onyancha, Kendi Muchungi, Catherine Ajalo, Litha Musili, Rachel Maina, Edna Bosire, Lukoye Atwoli, Zul Merali, Chinedu Momoh

Brain and Mind Institute

Background. Safety supports psychological wellbeing and potentially shapes brain aging yet existing scales overlook cumulative lifespan safety experiences.

Methods. To address this gap, we developed and validated the Lifetime Sense of Safety (LSS) scale in Kenyan adults. The LSS uses visual analog scaling with a red-to-green color gradient to retrospectively rate felt safety across life stages and settings. We evaluated scale psychometrics and associations with social determinants of health and indicators of brain health.

Results. The LSS shows adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability, with two distinct but correlated factors representing childhood and adulthood safety. Women and …

Feasibility And Acceptability Of A Mobile App And Wearable Device For Collecting Mental Health Survey And Passively Sensed Data Among Health Care Workers In Kenya: Mixed Methods Pilot Study, Linda Khakali, Andrew Aballa, Dorcas G. Mwigereri, Willie Njoroge, Rachel Maina, Amos Bunde, Peris Musitia, Moses Nyongesa, James Orwa, Jasmit Shah, Anthony Ngugi, Lukoye Atwoli, Amina Abubakar, Zul Merali

Brain and Mind Institute

Background: Mobile apps and wearable devices may help to facilitate early detection of mental health conditions by providing objective, real-time data to supplement other forms of feedback and diagnoses. Few studies have investigated the acceptability and feasibility of using a mobile app to track survey- and wearable-based data in mental health research in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Objective: This pilot study evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of using a mobile app and wearables to capture mental health–based survey data and passively sensed data among Kenyan health care workers.

Methods: A mixed methods study was conducted among health care workers …

Recurrent Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding Due To Gastric Arteriovenous Malformation, Lavender Otom, Priyanka Panwar, Gerald Odong, Christopher Opio, Saleem Abdulkarim

Internal Medicine, East Africa

We present the case of a 45-year-old male with repeated episodes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to a gastric arteriovenous malformation (AVM). The case underscores the diagnostic challenges, multidisciplinary decision-making, and management considerations associated with gastrointestinal vascular malformations. Given the rarity of gastric AVMs and their potential for serious complications, this report highlights the importance of an integrated approach to diagnosis and treatment, including advanced imaging and endovascular interventions.

Ldm-Morph: Latent Diffusion Model Guided Deformable Image Registration, Jiong Wu, Tinsu Pan, Kuang Gong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Deformable image registration plays an essential role in various medical image tasks. Existing deep learning-based deformable registration frameworks primarily utilize convolutional neural networks (CNNs) or Transformers to learn features to predict the deformations. However, the lack of semantic information in the learned features limits the registration performance. Furthermore, the similarity metric of the loss function is often evaluated only in the pixel space, which ignores the matching of high-level anatomical features and can lead to deformation folding. To address these issues, in this work, we proposed LDM-Morph, an unsupervised deformable registration algorithm for medical image registration. LDM-Morph integrated features extracted …

A 2-Year Randomized Trial Of Pitavastatin Calcium Vs Placebo To Treat Combined Dyslipidemia In Adolescents With Overweight And Obesity., Brian W. Mccrindle, Silva Arslanian, Michele Mietus-Snyder, Elaine M. Urbina, Adam L. Ware, Jessica E. Teng, Felicia Trachtenberg, Mark W. Russell, Amy S. Shah, Mark Cartoski, Julie A. Brothers, Christine San Giovanni, Justin P. Zachariah, Sandra Pena, William T. Mahle, Amy L. Peterson, Sheela N. Magge, Geetha Raghuveer, Binu Sharma, Valiantsina Kazlova, Craig A. Sponseller, D'Andrea Freemon, Mario Stylianou, Sarah D. De Ferranti, Pediatric Heart Network Investigators

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Combined dyslipidemia of overweight/obesity (CDO) is prevalent in youth and is associated with an increased risk of early cardiovascular disease.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the impact and safety of statin therapy for CDO in adolescents.

METHODS: A double-blind, randomized trial was performed across 18 North American sites. Participants aged 10 to 19 years with body mass index ≥85th percentile and CDO defined as non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) ≥120 mg/dL (3.10 mmol/L) and either low HDL-C or high triglyceride:HDL-C ratio were randomized centrally to receive either pitavastatin calcium 4 mg/d or placebo for 2 years. The primary outcome was …

Birth-Size Reference Charts For Newborns Admitted To The Neonatal Intensive Care Units., Fu-Sheng Chou, Hung-Wen Yeh, Crystal Hsueh, Irene E. Olsen, Veeral N. Tolia, Reese H. Clark

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Our original birth-size reference charts (the Olsen charts), published in 2010 (weight, length, head circumference) and 2015 (body mass index), had limitations, including manually defined exclusion criteria and the use of completed gestational weeks. This project aimed to update the charts and address those limitations.

METHODS: We analyzed de-identified data from infants admitted to Pediatrix NICUs between 2010 and 2022. In contrast to prior work, newborns with mortality before discharge, multiple births, and congenital anomalies were included; only statistical outliers (defined as two times the interquartile range below the first quartile or above the third quartile) were excluded. Gestational …

Parent Perspectives On Neonatal Research Without Prior Consent: A Mixed-Methods Interview Study., Stephanie A. Kraft, Abigail Brickler, Abril Beretta, Rishabh Jain, Andrea Kelsh, Kaashif A. Ahmad, Justin T. Clapp, Neal W. Dickert, Rebecca A. Dorner, Katherine F. Guttmann, Anup C. Katheria, Stephanie Kukora, Benjamin A. Mooso, Elliott Mark Weiss, Fam-Connect Collaborative

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Recruitment for clinical research in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is difficult, which may lead to low enrollment rates, systematically skewed samples, and nongeneralizable results. Research without prior consent (RWPC), defined as obtaining consent only after infants have been randomized to a treatment arm, may improve enrollment but raises ethical challenges. There is a need to better understand how parents with lived experience of having an infant in the NICU consider RWPC’s impact on critical ethical values related to informed consent, including decision-making, respect, and trust. This mixed-methods study aimed to describe parental perceptions of the acceptability and …

Family Planning Exemplar Country Selection Methodology: Time Lag And Trends Analysis, Zahid Memon, Abeer Mian, Ira Martopullo, Narjis Hussain, Zeba Sathar, Ali Mohammad Mir, Michael Mbizvo, Marleen Temmerman, Jen Drake, Zulfiqar Bhutta

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Introduction While many countries achieved notable gains in contraceptive use levels after the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development which redefined family planning (FP) as a human right, there was a long period of 15 years when contraceptive use levels did not receive due attention. It was only later that its subsequent inclusion in the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2012 London Summit on FP renewed global commitment and a focus towards FP. This paper aims to select countries that identify as ‘exemplar’ low-middle-income countries that have achieved exceptional progress in FP. Examining these outliers can uncover actionable drivers …

Association Of Infection Frequency And Incident Clonal Hematopoiesis Of Indeterminant Potential, Ajibike Lapite, Vernon A Burk, James Decuir, Junichi Ishigami, Seyedmohammad Saadatagah, Pradeep Natarajan, Christie M Ballantyne, Elizabeth A Platz, Katherine Y King

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminant potential (CHIP) is an age-related phenomenon associated with increased risk of hematologic malignancy. Preclinical studies have shown that infection is a driver of CHIP; clinical studies in people living with HIV suggest a relationship between chronic infection and CHIP, but the association between infection frequency and incident CHIP in the general population remains unknown. We leveraged the atherosclerosis risk in communities study to design a closed prospective cohort study. CHIP was determined based on whole-exome sequencing at 2 time points 20 years apart. Included were 3,367 individuals without cancer or CHIP at time 1 and without …

Mindful Self-Compassion To Reduce Pain Interference Among Adults With Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Amena Sediqi, Roya Al-Khalili, Saunya Dover, Corien Peeters, Adam Khalif, V Reid Sutton, Frank Rauch, Brendan Lee, Eric A Storch, Marie-Eve Robinson

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Between 60 and 80% of adults with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) experience chronic pain and associated interference. Currently available pain therapies often provide marginal efficacy. Mindful self-compassion (MSC) has emerged as a promising intervention for coping with chronic pain. We conducted a single-center 8-week pilot intervention study to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a MSC program among adults with OI and co-occurring chronic pain. Individuals attended the validated MSC course consisting of 8 weekly virtual 2-h sessions. Participants completed a battery of validated questionnaires assessing pain, various aspects of well-being, and physical function at baseline and post-intervention. Participants wore the …

Whole Genome Sequencing Analysis Of Over 3500 Individuals Dementia-Free Over 85 Years Old, Gina M Peloso, Dongyu Wang, Sabrina M Abbruzzese, Joshua C Bis, Seung Hoan Choi, Alexa Beiser, Jan Bressler, Josée Dupuis, Alison E Fohner, Mohsen Ghanbari, Richard A Gibbs, Nancy Heard-Costa, M Arfan Ikram, Paul Lacaze, Quentin Le Grand, Oscar L Lopez, Thomas H Mosley, Moeen Riaz, Aïcha Soumaré, Amber Yaqub, Eric Boerwinkle, Bruce M Psaty, Myriam Fornage, Sudha Seshadri, Anita L Destefano

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND:

Identifying genetic variants conferring resilience to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) may hold promise for developing therapeutics.

OBJECTIVE:

To determine genetic associations with being dementia-free at age 85 (DF85).

METHODS:

We examined genetic associations, using whole genome sequencing data, with DF85 in three Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine cohorts and the Alzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project Phenotype Harmonization Consortium. We tested common variants individually and aggregation of rare (MAF≤1%) coding and non-coding variants in DF85 participants (n=3,657) against individuals who were not DF85 (n=20,010). We verified associations using a stricter control set who developed dementia before age 85 (n=5,552).

RESULTS: …

Treatment Of Hemifacial Spasm With Endovascular Stenting Of The Vertebral Artery, Maximillian Feygin, Marcus Shee-Tzer Wong, Andrew Zhang, Ashwin Viswanathan, Omar Tanweer

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background and importance: Hemifacial spasm (HFS) is a movement disorder characterized by involuntary spasms of the facial muscles that can lead to debilitating symptoms and is typically caused by vascular compression. Classically, microvascular decompression of the offending vessel is the gold standard; however, in certain cases, microvascular decompression may have increased risk because of patient comorbidities and underlying anatomy. In this report, we describe a unique endovascular approach with flow diversion for the treatment of HFS.

Clinical presentation: A 70-year-old woman presented to the clinic with a 5-year history of HFS on the right side progressing from the eye to …

Non-Isolated Dandy-Walker Malformation: Exome Sequencing Efficacy And Phenotypic Expansions, Sarah Araji, Xiaonan Zhao, Jill A Rosenfeld, Seema R Lalani, Daryl A Scott

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Dandy-Walker malformation (DWM) is a rare congenital abnormality of the posterior fossa and the cerebellum and has an incidence of 1 in 10 000 to 30 000 births. Although DWM can present in isolation, it is often associated with other central nervous system (CNS) abnormalities or extra-CNS anomalies (DWM+). A molecular cause is not identified in the majority of individuals with DWM+. This is due, in part, to uncertainty regarding optimal testing strategies and an incomplete understanding of the genetic causes of DWM+. In this study, we analyzed clinical exome sequencing (cES) data from 91 individuals with DWM+ to determine …

Corneal Innervation Research At A Crossroads: A Tool-Driven Roadmap For The Future, Anna Matynia, Ian D Meng, Brian M Davis, Stephen C Pflugfelder, Anat Galor, Victor L Perez, Elizabeth R Felix, Pedram Hamrah, Pantelimon Rompolas, Raul E Ruiz-Lozano, Shamsuddin A Bhuiyan, Kaveh Moghbeli, Evangelia Semizoglou, William Renthal, Harinder Singh, Jishnu Das, Marcin Golczak, Mary Ann Stepp, Catherine W Morgans, Cintia S De Paiva, Carl Y Saab, Igor Spigelman, Rony R Sayegh, Tally M Largent-Milnes, Hao Wu, Wenqin Luo, Sreya Mitra, Heesuk Yoo, Sina Farsiu, Sejiro Littleton, Eden Jacob, Matthew T Mcpheeters, Maryse Lapierre-Landry, Jordan J Smith, Xi Wang, Roxana Florea, Made Airanthi K Widjaja-Adhi, Scott Holmes, Zane Zemborain, Kate E T Laise, Nicholas J Pondelis, Ki-Soo Jeong, Rui Chen, Michael W Jenkins, Vivian Lee, Eric A Moulton, Deborah S Jacobs, Sue A Aicher, Anthony J St Leger, Daniel R Saban

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Corneal innervation research has faced long-standing clinical challenges that only recent technological breakthroughs now make tractable. Advances in single-cell analysis, viral vectors, clinical imaging, and artificial intelligence provide integrated approaches for uncovering molecular mechanisms underlying functional outcomes and facilitating clinical applications. The National Eye Institute's U01-funded consortium on ocular surface innervation addresses major knowledge gaps in characterizing corneal-projecting neurons, understanding neuroimmune and epithelial interactions in the cornea, and translating animal model findings to human pathology. The unique properties of the cornea (transparent, avascular, and densely innervated) make it ideal for neurobiology research on peripheral and central sensory processing. Through a …

Malaria In Children At 9 Us Hospitals: 2016-2023, Sesh Alexander Sundararaman, Brianne Roper, Amy K F Davis, Karen L Hanze Villavicencio, Jonathan A Mayhew, Michelle L Wang, Nina L Tang, Vijaya L Soma, Ziyi Wang, Margaret E Feeney, Indi Trehan, Jill E Weatherhead, Chandy C John, Jeffrey S Gerber, Audrey R Odom John

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objectives: This study set out to describe imported pediatric malaria in the United States over an 8-year period, including patient demographics, clinical outcomes, and risk factors for severe disease.

Methods: A retrospective descriptive study of pediatric patients treated for malaria at 9 hospitals in the United States from 2016 to 2023 was conducted to analyze patient demographics, clinical outcomes, and risk factors for severe malaria.

Results: A total of 171 children were treated across the 9 US hospitals included in this study from 2016 to 2023. Most patients had traveled to West Africa to visit friends and relatives. Fever was …

Paid Employment And Ability To Work Among People Receiving Dialysis: A Systematic Review Of Qualitative Studies, Ao Zhang, Adam Martin, Karine Manera, Chandana Guha, Martin Howell, Patrizia Natale, Nicole Scholes-Robertson, Dharshana Sabanayagam, Adeera Levin, Wolfgang Winkelmayer, Kevin F Erickson, Germaine Wong, Allison Jaure, Anita Van Zwieten

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Rationale & objective: People receiving dialysis have reduced workforce participation, which can affect mental well-being and exacerbate the financial burden of dialysis. This study describes the experiences and perspectives of people receiving dialysis on employment and their ability to work.

Study design: Systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative studies.

Setting & study populations: Adults aged 16 years and over receiving dialysis.

Search strategy & sources: MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO were searched to May 2025 for qualitative and mixed-methods studies that reported the perspectives of people receiving dialysis on employment or ability to work.

Data extraction: Text from results and …

Treatment Of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Via Mental Health Technology, Erika S Trent, Nisha Jagannathan, Eric A Storch

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating neuropsychiatric disorder that remains chronic unless intervened with evidence-based intervention. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with exposure and response prevention is the gold-standard psychological intervention for OCD, but many individuals do not receive this intervention due to barriers to accessing treatment. Mental health technology tools such as telehealth, computerized programs, internet-delivered CBT, and mobile applications have been adopted to expand the accessibility of CBT. An up-to-date summary of the evidence base of technology-mediated formats of CBT for OCD treatment is provided. Clinical benefits offered by such approaches, current limitations, and future research directions are discussed.

Initial Injury Type And Violent Reinjury, Nicholas Szoko, Daphne Lew, Taylor Kaser, Zoe M Miller, Matt Vogel, Michael A Mancini, Lindsay M Kranker, Christopher Behr, Vicki Moran, Rachel Ancona, Kristen Mueller

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Importance: Violent injuries are the leading cause of death among children and young adults in the United States. Violent injury may increase the risk of subsequent injury (ie, violent reinjury), but it is unclear how this risk varies across different injury types (eg, blunt assault, stabbing, firearm).

Objective: To describe patterns of violent reinjury across different injury types to inform tailored prevention strategies.

Design, setting, and participants: This multicenter cohort study included patients who presented with violent injuries to 2 adult and 2 pediatric level I trauma centers in St Louis, Missouri, from January 2016 to December 2023.

Exposures: Violent …

Classification Of Gck-Mody In A Child With Mild Hyperglycemia And Islet Autoantibody Positivity: A Diagnostic Challenge, Aman N Yarlagadda, Maria J Redondo, Toni I Pollin, Mustafa Tosur, Colleen O Jodarski, Jennifer J Bell

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

We report a 9-year-old female who presented with mild, persistent hyperglycemia, with hemoglobin A1c and oral glucose tolerance test results in the prediabetes range, relatively preserved C-peptide, and mildly positive glutamate decarboxylase 65 autoantibody levels. A strong family history of lean, noninsulin-dependent diabetes suggested a possible monogenic cause. Genetic testing with a 28-gene maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) panel identified a heterozygous variant of uncertain significance in GCK (NM_000162.5:c.179C>T [p.Thr60Ile]). Following review by the ClinGen Monogenic Diabetes Variant Curation Expert Panel, the GCK variant was reclassified as pathogenic, confirming a diagnosis of glucokinase (GCK)-MODY/GCK-hyperglycemia, a stable …

Hospice Enrollments From The Emergency Department Feature Short Admissions And High-Acuity Hospice Care, Helen P Knight, Kourosh Ravvaz, Alexander Fiksdal, Lin Shen, Isaac S Chua, Claire K Ankuda, Haiden A Huskamp, Hojjat Salmasian, Joan M Teno, David W Bates

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Medicare beneficiaries frequently visit the emergency department (ED) at the end of life, but little is known about the epidemiology of patients admitted to hospice from the ED. We used 100 percent Medicare fee-for-service claims from the period 2018-20 to describe the frequency of direct ED-to-hospice enrollments, associated patient and hospice agency characteristics, and patient outcomes. In this sample, 4.3 percent of initial enrollments in hospice originated from the ED. ED-to-hospice admissions featured short lengths-of-stay (21.7 percent were two days or less) and high rates of general inpatient level of care at the time of enrollment (23.6 percent). The 10 …

Radiotheranostics For Gynecological Pathologies, Joni Sebastiano

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Molecular imaging, specifically positron emission tomography (PET), is vital for detecting disease and understanding its biological makeup. The exploitation of radiolabeled antibodies for PET imaging has proven to be indispensable to the field of molecular imaging over the last several decades. The development of radioimmunoconjugates for use in immunoPET has not only allowed for the sensitive, specific, and high-resolution detection of disease, but has also enabled a deeper understanding of the disease biology, ultimately guiding more personalized therapeutic strategies. Most typically, this technology is harnessed for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, however more recently, the field has explored the …

Computational Insights Into Nucleosome Dynamics In Epigenetics Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Rutika Patel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Nucleosome core particles (NCP) are the building blocks that form a highly organized and compact chromatin structure. Nucleosomes package DNA in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells. The NCP consists of about 147 base pairs of DNA wrapped around the histone octamer, with 1.65 superhelical turns in a left-handed manner. The histone octamer is composed of two copies of H3, H4, H2A, and H2B. Together with histone H1 and linker DNA, they further assemble into a higher-order chromatin structure. The nucleosome complex is stabilized by electrostatic interactions between positively charged histone residues and the negatively charged DNA backbone. To effectively access …

Parkinson’S Disease Phenotype Stratification Using Multiple Correspondence Analysis, Kelly Astudillo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, with over 12 million people projected to be affected by 2040 (Dorsey et al., 2018). Deep phenotyping and stratification can provide useful information regarding PD pathogenesis and can aid in the  development of disease modifying therapies that aim to delay the progression or prevent the onset of neurodegeneration (Blandini et al., 2019; Smith & Schapira, 2022). Utilizing multivariate methods such as multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) permits for the simultaneous analysis of distinct data modalities. To the best of our knowledge, MCA has not been previously used to explore phenotype patterns …

Systematic Identification Of Cell-Cell Interactions Associated With The Severity Of Patients With Alzheimer’S Disease, Zijian Zhang, Naail Chowdhury, Jing Dong, Lang Wu, Chao Cheng

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a complex, multifactorial neurodegenerative disorder involving dysfunction across multiple brain regions. While accumulating evidence has implicated the roles of diverse cell types, including neurons, glia, and vascular cells in AD pathogenesis, it is still poorly understood how cell type interactions drive or respond to the disease progression and severity.

Objective

This study aimed to systematically characterize cell-type–specific alterations and intercellular communication changes associated with AD progression.

Methods

We leveraged the transcriptome profiling and a previously established statistical framework to present a comprehensive mapping of the cellular interaction landscape in the human brain of AD.

Results …

Anterior Cutaneous Nerve Entrapment Syndrome From Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist Injection, Neha Singh, Elisa Chaparro, Jordan Michael Shapiro, Emanuel Narcis Husu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Anterior cutaneous nerve entrapment syndrome (ACNES) is an underdiagnosed cause of abdominal pain. We report the first documented ACNES case following subcutaneous administration of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist. A 44-year-old man developed focal, neuropathic abdominal pain coinciding with initiation of tirzepatide injections. Clinical examination confirmed ACNES diagnosis, and pain improved after relocating injections away from the abdomen and initiating multimodal pharmacotherapy. This case emphasizes the need to consider ACNES in patients endorsing focal abdominal pain with concurrent use of glucagon-like peptide-1 therapy and highlights injection site modification as a simple, effective management strategy while exercising self-restraint with respect to workup.

Remote Hr-Guided High-Intensity Interval Training With Weekly Health Monitoring In Breast Cancer Patients During Chemotherapy: A Moderation Analysis Of Physiological Predictors, Madara Ketlīna Štarka-Rantiņa, Rudolfs Ceseiko, Martins Campa, Maksims Zolovs, Greta Franceska Jermolenko, Kristaps Eglitis, Alicia Llorente, Aija Linē, Aija Klavina

Baltic Journal of Health and Physical Activity

Background: The study aimed to investigate the effects of a six-month remotely monitored heart rate – guided high-intensity interval training (HIIT) program on aerobic capacity, functional performance, and weekly self-reported health outcomes in women with stage II–III breast cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Materials and methods: Fifty-six women (mean age 47 ± 8 years) were randomly assigned (1:1) to a HIIT group or a control group (CG). Thirty-five participants were included in analyses (HIIT group = 17; CG = 18). HIIT group performed 4 × 4-minute HIIT sessions at the intensity of 85–95% of the peak heart rate, two to three …

Exercise Prescription For Adults With Prediabetes In The Primary Care Clinic, Katherine W. Hall

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Manuscripts

Prediabetes affects approximately one in three adults in the United States, with an estimated 10% progressing to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) annually. Despite strong evidence supporting exercise as a first-line intervention to prevent disease progression, most patients in primary care settings do not receive structured physical activity counseling. This evidence-based project (EBP) aims to address this gap by implementing a standardized protocol to assess baseline physical activity levels and deliver individualized exercise prescriptions to adults with prediabetes in the primary care clinic.

Eligible participants, defined by HbA1c values between 5.70% and 6.49%, were identified during routine primary care visits …