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Ccl2/Mcp-I Genotype-Phenotype Relationship In Latent Tuberculosis Infection, Rabia Hussain, Ambreen Ansari, Najeeha Talat, Zahra Hasan, Ghaffar Dawood

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Among the known biomarkers, chemokines, secreted by activated macrophages and T cells, attract groups of immune cells to the site of infection and may determine the clinical outcome. Association studies of CCL-2/MCP-1 -2518 A/G functional SNP linked to high and low phenotypes with tuberculosis disease susceptibility have shown conflicting results in tuberculosis. Some of these differences could be due the variability of latent infection and recent exposure in the control groups. We have therefore carried out a detailed analysis of CCL-2 genotype SNP -2518 (A/G transition) with plasma CCL-2 levels and related these levels to tuberculin skin test positivity in …

Infectious Disease As A Security Threat, With Particular Application To The Migration Context, Marielena Faria

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper analyzes the threat infectious diseases impose on global security, specifically in the migration context. Infectious diseases can threaten security through a variety of areas, and this paper aims to identify the global spread of infectious diseases through migration, international crises, humanitarian emergencies, HIV/AIDS, and emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. This paper explores global health, security, and migration in an attempt to determine if combining these three areas can be meaningful. Generally, studies approach only two of the three areas to examine a topic, but this paper will assess and point out when combining all three fields is relevant. …

Mechanisms Of Neuronal Death Induced By Environmental Toxicants In Murine Cortical Culture, Travis Rush

Dissertations (1934 -)

This study was directed at examining the neurotoxic mechanisms of several classes of environmental toxicants implicated in neurodegenerative disease. Primary cortical cultures were exposed to organophosphorus pesticides, heavy metals and the cyanobacterial toxin, beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA). Several components relating to neuronal injury were assessed in each study and novel aspects are described.

The main action of organophosphorous insecticides is generally believed to be the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase. However, these compounds are now recognized to inhibit many other enzymes and cause neuronal death through a variety of mechanisms. I found that exposure to chlorpyrifos or diazinon caused concentration-dependent neurotoxicity that could not …

Wound Healing And The Role Of Biomarkers And Biofilms, Mujtaba Khan

All Capstone Projects

An injury to the skin alters the integrity of underlying tissues and microcirculation and thus certainly culminates in a wound. Wound healing is a highly complex, dynamic, interactive and well regulated physiological process involving blood cells, extracellular matrix, parenchyma cells and soluble mediators. It starts with alteration in integrity of tissues and ends with the formation of scar. The process of wound healing is distinguished into Haemostasis, Inflammation, Proliferation and Remodeling. Various cells like platelets, neutrophils, macrophages, lymphocytes, angiocytes, keratinocytes, fibroblasts and factors like platelet derived growth factor, transforming growth factor, platelet derived epidermal growth factors, fibroblasts growth factor, albumin, …

Specific Sequence Determinants Of Mir-15/107 Microrna Gene Group Targets, Peter T. Nelson, Wang-Xia Wang, Guogen Mao, Bernard R. Wilfred, Kevin Xie, Mary H. Jennings, Zhen Gao, Xiaowei Wang

Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Faculty Publications

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) target mRNAs in human cells via complex mechanisms that are still incompletely understood. Using anti-Argonaute (anti-AGO) antibody co-immunoprecipitation, followed by microarray analyses and downstream bioinformatics, 'RIP-Chip' experiments enable direct analyses of miRNA targets. RIP-Chip studies (and parallel assessments of total input mRNA) were performed in cultured H4 cells after transfection with miRNAs corresponding to the miR-15/107 gene group (miR-103, miR-107, miR-16 and miR-195), and five control miRNAs. Three biological replicates were run for each condition with a total of 54 separate human Affymetrix Human Gene 1.0 ST array replicates. Computational analyses queried for determinants of miRNA:mRNA binding. The …

Oncolog, Volume 56, Number 10, October 2011, Bryan Tutt, Sunni Hosemann

OncoLog MD Anderson's Report to Physicians (All issues) Archives

• Treating Cancer in Pregnant Patients: Pregnancy is usually a joyous, hopeful time; a cancer diagnosis can be devastating. When pregnancy and cancer occur together, they present special challenges for patients and physicians. Fortunately, these challenges often can be overcome by a multidisciplinary approach to treatment
• Compass: Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Stage IIIA-Many factors affect treatment sequences
• HOUSE CALL: Understanding Cancer Risk and Risk Factors: Your risk factors might affect your need for cancer screening

Reduced Cardioprotective Action Of Adiponectin In High-Fat Diet-Induced Type Ii Diabetic Mice And Its Underlying Mechanisms., Wei Yi, Yang Sun, Erhe Gao, Xufeng Wei, Wayne Bond Lau, Qijun Zheng, Yajing Wang, Yuexing Yuan, Xiaoliang Wang, Ling Tao, Rong Li, Walter Koch, Xin-Liang Ma

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

Diabetes exacerbates ischemic heart disease morbidity and mortality via incompletely understood mechanisms. Although adiponectin (APN) reduces myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) injury in nondiabetic animals, whether APN's cardioprotective actions are altered in diabetes, a pathologic condition with endogenously reduced APN, has never been investigated. High-fat diet (HD)-induced diabetic mice and normal diet (ND) controls were subjected to MI via coronary artery ligation, and given vehicle or APN globular domain (gAPN, 2 μg/g) 10 min before reperfusion. Compared to ND mice (where gAPN exerted pronounced cardioprotection), HD mice manifested greater MI/R injury, and a tripled gAPN dose was requisite to achieve cardioprotective extent …

Advanced Glycation End Products Accelerate Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury Through Receptor Of Advanced End Product/Nitrative Thioredoxin Inactivation In Cardiac Microvascular Endothelial Cells., Yi Liu, Yanzhuo Ma, Rutao Wang, Chenhai Xia, Rongqing Zhang, Kun Lian, Ronghua Luan, Lu Sun, Lu Yang, Wayne B Lau, Haichang Wang, Ling Tao

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

The advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are associated with increased cardiac endothelial injury. However, no causative link has been established between increased AGEs and enhanced endothelial injury after ischemia/reperfusion. More importantly, the molecular mechanisms by which AGEs may increase endothelial injury remain unknown. Adult rat cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (CMECs) were isolated and incubated with AGE-modified bovine serum albumin (BSA) or BSA. After AGE-BSA or BSA preculture, CMECs were subjected to simulated ischemia (SI)/reperfusion (R). AGE-BSA increased SI/R injury as evidenced by enhanced lactate dehydrogenase release and caspase-3 activity. Moreover, AGE-BSA significantly increased SI/R-induced oxidative/nitrative stress in CMECs (as measured …

Systemic Adiponectin Malfunction As A Risk Factor For Cardiovascular Disease., Wayne Bond Lau, Ling Tao, Yajing Wang, Rong Li, Xin L Ma

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

Adiponectin (Ad) is an abundant protein hormone regulatory of numerous metabolic processes. The 30 kDa protein originates from adipose tissue, with full-length and globular domain circulatory forms. A collagenous domain within Ad leads to spontaneous self-assemblage into various oligomeric isoforms, including trimers, hexamers, and high-molecular-weight multimers. Two membrane-spanning receptors for Ad have been identified, with differing concentration distribution in various body tissues. The major intracellular pathway activated by Ad includes phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase, which is responsible for many of Ad's metabolic regulatory, anti-inflammatory, vascular protective, and anti-ischemic properties. Additionally, several AMP-activated protein kinase-independent mechanisms responsible for Ad's anti-inflammatory …

Characterization Of Invasive And Colonizing Isolates Of Streptococcus Agalactiae In East African Adults, Charlotte Huber, Francis Mcodimba, Valentin Pflueger, Claudia Daubenberger, Gunturu Revathi

Pathology, East Africa

Ninety-five colonizing isolates and 74 invasive isolates of Streptococcus agalactiae from Kenyan adults were characterized by using capsular serotyping and multilocus sequence typing. Twenty-two sequence types clustering into five clonal complexes were found. Data support the view that S. agalactiae isolates belonging to a limited number of clonal complexes are invasive in adults worldwide.

Male Gender Preference, Female Gender Disadvantage As Risk Factors For Psychological Morbidity In Pakistani Women Of Childbearing Age - A Life Course Perspective, Farah Qadir, Murad M. Khan Dr., Girmay Medhin, Martin Prince

Department of Psychiatry

Background: In Pakistan, preference for boys over girls is deeply culturally embedded. From birth, many women experience gendered disadvantages, less access to scarce resources, poorer health care, higher child mortality, limited education, less employment outside of the home and circumscribed autonomy. The prevalence of psychological morbidity is exceptionally high among women. We hypothesise that, among women of childbearing age, gender disadvantage is an independent risk factor for psychological morbidity. Methods: A cross-sectional catchment area survey of 525 women aged 18 to 35 years living in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The effect of gender disadvantage was assessed as a latent variable using …

Strain-Dependent Variation In The Early Transcriptional Response To Cns Injury Using A Cortical Explant System, David J. Graber, Brent T. Harris, William F. Hickey

Dartmouth Scholarship

While it is clear that inbred strains of mice have variations in immunological responsiveness, the influence of genetic background following tissue damage in the central nervous system is not fully understood. A cortical explant system was employed as a model for injury to determine whether the immediate transcriptional response to tissue resection revealed differences among three mouse strains. Immunological mRNAs were measured in cerebral cortex from SJL/J, C57BL/6J, and BALB/cJ mice using real time RT-PCR. Freshly isolated cortical tissue and cortical sections incubated in explant medium were examined. Levels of mRNA, normalized to β-actin, were compared using one way analysis …

Whole-Exome Sequencing Of Dna From Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (Pbmc) And Ebv-Transformed Lymphocytes From The Same Donor., Eric R Londin, Margaret A Keller, Michael R D'Andrea, Kathleen Delgrosso, Adam Ertel, Saul Surrey, Paolo Fortina

Kimmel Cancer Center Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: The creation of lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) through Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) transformation of B-lymphocytes can result in a valuable biomaterial for cell biology research and a renewable source of DNA. While LCLs have been used extensively in cellular and genetic studies, the process of cell transformation and expansion during culturing may introduce genomic changes that may impact their use and the interpretation of subsequent genetic findings.

RESULTS: We performed whole exome sequencing on a tetrad family using DNA derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and LCLs from each individual. We generated over 4.7 GB of mappable sequence to …

Challenges And Barriers To Improving Care Of The Musculoskeletal Patient Of The Future - A Debate Article And Global Perspective., Hangama C Fayaz, Jesse B Jupiter, Hans Christoph Pape, R Malcolm Smith, Peter V Giannoudis, Christopher G Moran, Christian Krettek, Karl J Prommersberger, Michael J Raschke, Javad Parvizi

Rothman Institute Papers

UNLABELLED: ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND: With greater technological developments in the care of musculoskeletal patients, we are entering an era of rapid change in our understanding of the pathophysiology of traumatic injury; assessment and treatment of polytrauma and related disorders; and treatment outcomes. In developed countries, it is very likely that we will have algorithms for the approach to many musculoskeletal disorders as we strive for the best approach with which to evaluate treatment success. This debate article is founded on predictions of future health care needs that are solely based on the subjective inputs and opinions of the world's leading orthopedic …

In The Beginning...Phylogeny In Freud's Overview Of The Transference Neuroses: A Review-Essay, Emanuel E. Garcia, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

A PHYLOGENETIC FANTASY

I. Grubrich-Simitis, editor

A. Hoffer and P. T. Hoffer, translators

Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.

1987

In Response: The Ideal Psychiatry Residency Training Program, Allan Tasman, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

There is little to be added in the way of specifics to James Deming's review of the necessary ingredients for an ideal Residency Training Program (1). He not only reviews the specific issues which must be addressed regarding the "nuts and bolts" of training, but also emphasizes the need for phase specificity of both clinical and didactic experiences and the need to view residency training from a developmental perspective. Rather than comment specifically on the points Deming raises, I would like to address other ingredients in residency training which are to be valued in the ideal program.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Reconsidered, Christopher J. Mcdougle, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDERS: THEORY & MANAGEMENT

Edited by Michael A. Jenike, Lee Baer, William E. Minichiello

Littleton, Mass, PSG Publishing Company, In c.1986. 196 pages, $24.50

A Psychiatric Perspective On Erectile Dysfunction, Syed Ahmed, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

Erectile impotence is a common family health problem, with exact incidence unknown, that adversely affects both men and their female partners. It is classified as "inhibited sexual excitement" in DSM-III and is defined as the inability to attain or maintain a penile erection until completion of the sexual act. It had been stated formerly, without supporting evidence, that 90% of erectile disorders were "psychogenic. " Today, however, only about one-third are so classified (1). In Kinsey's (2) series, the prevalence of impotence was less than 2% until the age of 40 years; it increased to 6-7% at age 55 …

The Effect Of Acute And Chronic Ethanol On Dopamine Turnover In The Caudate Nucleus Of The Rat, Rif S. El-Mallakh, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

It is generally believed that acute and chronic ethanol (EtOH) administration alters the activity of catecholamines in the brain, however, the specific effects of EtOH on the dopaminergic system are disputed (I). Acute EtOH administration has been variously reported to decrease (2,3), increase (4,5), and cause no change (6 ,7) in dopamine (DA) synthesis and turnover. Likewise, chronic EtOH treatments have been reported to decrease (2,8) and increase (9, 10) DA synthesis and turnover. Many of these apparently conflicting results are explained by the use of different animal models (rat (2, 3,6,7,10), rabbit (6), and mouse (4,5,9)), different methods of …

Bioethical Issues In The Management Of Gender Dysphoria, George R. Brown, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

The term "gender dysphoria" ( I) describes a heterogeneous group of individuals who express varying degrees of dissatisfaction with their anatomic gender (hence "gender dysphoria"), and the desire to possess the secondary sexual characteristics of the opposite sex. Only a minority o f these patients can be considered on the extreme end of a spectrum of subjective dissatisfaction with assigned anatomy and societally sanctioned gender role (i.e., "transsexual"). The number of such patients presenting to psychiatric clinics has greatly increased subsequent to the 1966 publication of Harry Benjamin's seminal work, The Transsexual Phenomenon (2), and extensive media coverage of individual …

Rna Oxidation Adducts 8-Ohg And 8-Oha Change With Aβ42 Levels In Late-Stage Alzheimer's Disease, Adam M. Weidner, Melissa A. Bradley, Tina L. Beckett, Dana M. Niedowicz, Amy L.S. Dowling, Sergey V. Matveev, Harry Levine, Mark A. Lovell, M. Paul Murphy

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

While research supports amyloid-β (Aβ) as the etiologic agent of Alzheimer's disease (AD), the mechanism of action remains unclear. Evidence indicates that adducts of RNA caused by oxidation also represent an early phenomenon in AD. It is currently unknown what type of influence these two observations have on each other, if any. We quantified five RNA adducts by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy across five brain regions from AD cases and age-matched controls. We then used a reductive directed analysis to compare the RNA adducts to common indices of AD neuropathology and various pools of Aβ. Using data from four disease-affected brain …

Book Review: The Soft Voice Of Reason, Emanuel E. Garcia, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

FREUD AS AN EXPERT WITNESS

K. R. Eissler

Madison, Connecticut, International Universities Press 1986, 449 pages.

Reciprocal Effects Of Oxidative Stress On Heme Oxygenase Expression And Activity Contributes To Reno-Vascular Abnormalities In Ec-Sod Knockout Mice, Tomoko Kawakami, Nitin Puri, Komal Sodhi, Lars Bellner, Toru Takahashi, Kiyoshi Morita, Rita Rezzani, Tim D. Oury, Nader G. Abraham

Biochemistry and Microbiology

Heme oxygenase (HO) system is one of the key regulators of cellular redox homeostasis which responds to oxidative stress (ROS) via HO-1 induction. However, recent reports have suggested an inhibitory effect of ROS on HO activity. In light of these conflicting reports, this study was designed to evaluate effects of chronic oxidative stress on HO system and its role in contributing towards patho-physiological abnormalities observed in extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD, SOD3) KO animals. Experiments were performed in WT and EC-SOD^(−/−) mice treated with and without HO inducer, cobalt protoporphyrin (CoPP). EC-SOD^(−/−) mice exhibited oxidative stress, renal histopathological abnormalities, …

Commentary

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

DR. KRAMER COMMENTS ON PSYCHOACTIVITY OF CALCIUM CHANNEL BLOCKERS, CASE REPORTS, AND RESEARCH.

Masson's Assault On Truth: A Critique, Emmanuel E. Garcia, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

In his book, The Assault on Truth, j. M. Masson (I) proposes to challenge the very foundations of psychoanalysis by showing how Freud 's abandonment of the so-called seduction theory of the etiology of neurosis was erroneously predicated.

Masson's argument, in essence, may be summarized as follows. Freud, while studying with the eminent neurologist Charcot in Paris (from October 1885 to February 1886), found himself exposed to the prevalent horrors of ch ild abuse, which were copiously detailed in the French medical literature at the time, and which were very probably demonstrated to him at the …

Should Psychotherapy Be Taught To Psychiatric Residents? A Debate., Donald W. Black, Md, John Ascher, Md, Hal Cash, Md, John Markowitz, Md, Paul Hamburg, Md, Jeffrey Satinover, Md, Alan Mellow, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

Much of this discussion was inspired by a debate held at the 1984 APA Annual Meeting, entitled " Does Psychodynamic Theory Have Little Relevance to Contemporary Psychiatric Care?" We saw the need for a debate, resident generated, that would address a corollary issue in residency training.

Our program will include an introduction, a debate involving statements for the affirmative, that is, that psychotherapy should be taught to psychiatric residents, and two statements for the negative, that psychotherapy should not be taught to psychiatric residents. Concluding remarks will follow.

If our title is provocative , if what we have to say …

A Review Of Ethnopsychiatric Studies Of Depression, Nancy E. Wilson, Ab, Daniel R. Wilson, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

One of the common goals in medical anthropology is to elucidate the significance of culture in determining health and thus clarify the complex biopsychosocial model to provide better, more appropriate care (I). Prominent among environmental influences is the society in which a person develops: and it is his position in this constellation of people, with their shared ethos and world view, which molds experience, cognition, and affect (2). Cultural meanings, norms, and power arrangements shape illness to a great degree by defining the sick role and consequent illness behaviors. Medical anthropology, as a discipline, has among its concerns the cultural …

Reflections On The Psychotherapy Of A Patient With Multiple Personality Disorder, David Fink, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

Historically, the diagnosis of Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) has generated curiosity, fascination, skepticism, and disbelief. From the first reported cases in the early nineteenth century, controversy has abounded about the plausibility of the many dramatic manifestations of the illness, its pathogenesis, and appropriate approaches to its treatment (I). From the midst of scientific controversy and debate, a more refined conceptualization of the illness is being developed, particularly since the recent inclusion of the diagnosis in DSM-III (2). Noteworthy among these advances are the theories of pathogenesis described by Kluft (3), and Braun and Sachs (4) which …

Infant Depression: Nature Seeking Nurture, Paul V. Trad, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

Of the numerous clinical and theoretical problems confronting medicine today, infant depression represents an increasingly compelling and misunderstood concern (1). Early studies notwithstanding, the concept of infant depression remains in the embryonic and evolving stages of clarification. In studying infant depression, the clinical investigator is initially faced with the difficulty of devising a specific operational definition. Several definitional schemes have been proposed. The first advocates that depression is a proliferative idea that retains a concrete, immutable definition; another scheme argues that depressive affect, a key index of the disorder, is merely an illusory signal that masks the underlying process; still …

In Response: The Biological Basis And Treatment Of Bulimia, Jeffrey M. Jonas, Md

Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry

The recent papers in the Jefferson J ournal of Psychiatry by Drs. Levin ("Bulimia as a Masturbatory Equivalent, " July, 1985) and Wilson ("A Discussion of 'Bulimia as a Masturbatory Equivalent'," Winter, 1986) contain a number of theories and recommendations about the etiology and treatment of bulimia which should be addressed. In large measure, both papers present a dynamic view of this disorder. However, psychodynamic formulations are but one of many theories put forward to explain this disorder. Other theories of etiology include notions that bulimia arises from cultural factors and an increased attention to body image, from disorders with …