Digital Commons Network^™

Bacterial Contamination Of Platelet Products, Michael R. Jacobs `, Bowen Zhou, Robert W. Maitta

Faculty Scholarship

Transfusion of bacterially contaminated platelets, although rare, is still a major cause of mortality and morbidity despite the introduction of many methods to limit this over the past 20 years. The methods used include improved donor skin disinfection, diversion of the first part of donations, use of apheresis platelet units rather than whole-blood derived pools, primary and secondary testing by culture or rapid test, and use of pathogen reduction. Primary culture has been in use the US since 2004, using culture 24 h after collection of volumes of 4–8 mL from apheresis collections and whole-blood derived pools inoculated into aerobic …

Bacterial Contamination Of Platelet Products, Michael R Jacobs, Bowen Zhou, Aditi Tayal, Robert W Maitta

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Transfusion of bacterially contaminated platelets, although rare, is still a major cause of mortality and morbidity despite the introduction of many methods to limit this over the past 20 years. The methods used include improved donor skin disinfection, diversion of the first part of donations, use of apheresis platelet units rather than whole-blood derived pools, primary and secondary testing by culture or rapid test, and use of pathogen reduction. Primary culture has been in use the US since 2004, using culture 24 h after collection of volumes of 4-8 mL from apheresis collections and whole-blood derived pools inoculated into aerobic …

The Effect Of S-Allyl L-Cysteine On Retinal Ischemia: The Contributions Of Mcp-1 And Pkm2 In The Underlying Medicinal Properties, Windsor Wen-Jin Chao, Howard Wen-Haur Chao, Hung-Fu Lee, Hsiao-Ming Chao

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Retinal ischemia plays a vital role in vision-threatening retinal ischemic disorders, such as diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, etc. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of S-allyl L-cysteine (SAC) and its associated therapeutic mechanism. Oxidative stress was induced by administration of 500 μM H2O2 for 24 h; SAC demonstrated a dose-dependent neuroprotective effect with significant cell viability effects at 100 μM, and it concurrently downregulated angiogenesis factor PKM2 and inflammatory biomarker MCP-1. In a Wistar rat model of high intraocular pressure (HIOP)-induced retinal ischemia and reperfusion (I/R), post-administration of 100 μM SAC counteracted the ischemic-associated …

Digital Phobia: An Inquiry For Mapping The Unseen Dimension Of New Digital Anxiety, The ‘Digiphobia’, Amarjit Kumar Singh ,Library Assistant, Md. Arshad Ali , Professional Assistant, Dr. Pankaj Mathur, Deputy Librarian,

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Background: As technology continues to advance, individuals' interactions with digital platforms have become integral to daily life. Amidst this technological evolution, a novel concern emerges—Digital Phobia, hereafter referred to as “Digiphobia.” This phenomenon, although not previously explored in scholarly literature, necessitates an in-depth investigation due to its potential impact on individuals' well-being. Our research employs a two-step methodology to investigate its existence, implications, and manifestations.

Introduction: This research paper introduces and proposes the term "Digiphobia" as a comprehensive conceptualization of anxiety arising from interactions with digital spaces, applications, and environments. The proliferation of digital technologies has led to the emergence …

Mastitis And Mammary Abscess Management Audit (Mamma) In The Uk And Ireland, Alona Courtney, Jonathon Clymo, Ruth Parks, Alexander Wilkins, Ruth Brown, Rachel O'Connell, Rajiv Dave, Marianne Dillon, Hiba Fatayer, Rachel Gallimore, Ashu Gandhi, Matthew Gardiner, Victoria Harmer, Lyndsey Hookway, Gareth Irwin, Charlotte Ives, Helen Mathers, Juliette Murray, D Peter O'Leary, Neill Patani, Sophie Paterson, Shelley Potter, Ruth Prichard, Giovanni Satta, T G Teoh, Paul Ziprin, Stuart Mcintosh, Michael R Boland, Daniel Richard Leff, Mamma Research Collaborative

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The aim of this multicentre prospective audit was to describe the current practice in the management of mastitis and breast abscesses in the UK and Ireland, with a specific focus on rates of surgical intervention.

METHODS: This audit was conducted in two phases from August 2020 to August 2021; a phase 1 practice survey and a phase 2 prospective audit. Primary outcome measurements for phase 2 included patient management pathway characteristics and treatment type (medical/radiological/surgical).

RESULTS: A total of 69 hospitals participated in phase 2 (1312 patients). The key findings were a high overall rate of incision and drainage …

Fatty Acid Synthesis Suppresses Dietary Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Use, Anna Worthmann, Sangeeta Adak, Clay F Semenkovich, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are increasingly recognized for their health benefits, whereas a high production of endogenous fatty acids - a process called de novo lipogenesis (DNL) - is closely linked to metabolic diseases. Determinants of PUFA incorporation into complex lipids are insufficiently understood and may influence the onset and progression of metabolic diseases. Here we show that fatty acid synthase (FASN), the key enzyme of DNL, critically determines the use of dietary PUFA in mice and humans. Moreover, the combination of FASN inhibition and PUFA-supplementation decreases liver triacylglycerols (TAG) in mice fed with high-fat diet. Mechanistically, FASN inhibition …

Serine Synthesis Via Reversed Shmt2 Activity Drives Glycine Depletion And Acetaminophen Hepatotoxicity In Masld, Alia Ghrayeb, Alexandra C Finney, Bella Agranovich, Daniel Peled, Sumit Kumar Anand, M Peyton Mckinney, Mahasen Sarji, Dongshan Yang, Natan Weissman, Shani Drucker, Sara Isabel Fernandes, Jonatan Fernández-García, Kyle Mahan, Zaid Abassi, Lin Tan, Philip L Lorenzi, James Traylor, Jifeng Zhang, Ifat Abramovich, Y Eugene Chen, Oren Rom, Inbal Mor, Eyal Gottlieb

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) affects one-third of the global population. Understanding the metabolic pathways involved can provide insights into disease progression and treatment. Untargeted metabolomics of livers from mice with early-stage steatosis uncovered decreased methylated metabolites, suggesting altered one-carbon metabolism. The levels of glycine, a central component of one-carbon metabolism, were lower in mice with hepatic steatosis, consistent with clinical evidence. Stable-isotope tracing demonstrated that increased serine synthesis from glycine via reverse serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) is the underlying cause for decreased glycine in steatotic livers. Consequently, limited glycine availability in steatotic livers impaired glutathione synthesis under acetaminophen-induced oxidative …

Cell Cycle Arrest Induces Lipid Droplet Formation And Confers Ferroptosis Resistance, Hyemin Lee, Amber Horbath, Lavanya Kondiparthi, Jitendra Kumar Meena, Guang Lei, Shayani Dasgupta, Xiaoguang Liu, Li Zhuang, Pranavi Koppula, Mi Li, Iqbal Mahmud, Bo Wei, Philip L Lorenzi, Khandan Keyomarsi, Masha V Poyurovsky, Kellen Olszewski, Boyi Gan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

How cells coordinate cell cycling with cell survival and death remains incompletely understood. Here, we show that cell cycle arrest has a potent suppressive effect on ferroptosis, a form of regulated cell death induced by overwhelming lipid peroxidation at cellular membranes. Mechanistically, cell cycle arrest induces diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT)-dependent lipid droplet formation to sequester excessive polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) that accumulate in arrested cells in triacylglycerols (TAGs), resulting in ferroptosis suppression. Consequently, DGAT inhibition orchestrates a reshuffling of PUFAs from TAGs to phospholipids and re-sensitizes arrested cells to ferroptosis. We show that some slow-cycling antimitotic drug-resistant cancer cells, such as …

Dreams, Synchrony, And Synchronicity, Terry Marks-Tarlow

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Personality In Moving Encounters With Sacred Art, Jacob Lang, Despina Stamatopoulou, Gerald C. Cupchik

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

In Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, the material world is understood to contain access points to the transcendent. An icon may move the awestruck believer to emotional engagement and reflection on moral and religious themes. Personality dispositions potentiating the experience of being moved in religious aesthetic contexts have not been thoroughly studied. The present article describes the development and testing of a cross-sectional study into potential belief and personality-related predictors of being moved by sacred art in a lab environment evocative of a holy site. Ninety (90) Christians in Canada and Greece completed personality measures and viewed and rated …

An Open Mystery: Reflections On The Metaphysical Status Of The Participatory Approach, Jorge N. Ferrer

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

This paper provides an assessment and clarification of the metaphysical status of the participatory approach to transpersonal and spiritual phenomena (Ferrer, 2002, 2017a). To that end, I first respond to several criticisms of the approach issued by scholars in recent years; for instance, that it hides a perennialist metaphysics (e.g., Abramson, 2015) or that it is metaphysically vague (e.g., Taylor, 2021). After reviewing these critical discussions, I describe the open and minimalist nature of the participatory metaphysics, arguing that such features cultivate a fertile soil for transpersonal scholarship, human flourishing, and interreligious relations. Applying a biomimetic approach, I argue that …

The Impact Of Local Physiology On The Corrosion Of Orthopedic Alloys, Madison Nicole Brown

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Introduction. Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is used in the treatment of end-stage osteoarthritis of the knee. It is one of the most common elective surgeries performed with predictions expecting significant increases in the number of procedures performed over the next decade. However, the patient satisfaction rate after TKA is as low as 80%. Cobalt-chromium-molybdenum (CoCrMo) is regularly used for TKA protheses due to the alloy’s mechanical strength, biocompatibility, and corrosion resistance. The corrosion resistance of this alloy relies on a passive oxide layer. This oxide layer can be impacted by phagocytic cells which can leave pits and craters on implant …

The Influence Of Needs Satisfaction And Support On The Well-Being Of Physicians Deployed In Underserved Communities, Karl Hendrick Bautista, Jianna Capillo, Mari Jazmin Ezekielle Lopez, Edgardo Javier Santos, Ivan Matthew Severino, Chloe Angela Mae Sio, Samantha Marie Tanchanco, Genejane M. Adarlo, Michelle Pia Eustaquio

Health Sciences Faculty Publications

This study investigated the influence of needs satisfaction and support on the well-being of physicians deployed in underserved communities. Basic Psychological Needs Theory is used as the theoretical framework, positing that fulfilling the three basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness can foster well-being and optimal functioning. The results revealed that meeting basic psychological needs alongside workplace conditions and individual characteristics can play distinct roles in promoting emotional, psychological, and social well-being as well as reducing the likelihood of anxiety and depression. This study suggests that promoting the well-being of human resources for health, particularly among physicians deployed in …

The Role Of Personality In Moving Encounters With Sacred Art, Jacob Lang, Despina Stamatopoulou, Gerald C. Cupchik

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

In Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, the material world is understood to contain access points to the transcendent. An icon may move the awestruck believer to emotional engagement and reflection on moral and religious themes. Personality dispositions potentiating the experience of being moved in religious aesthetic contexts have not been thoroughly studied. The present article describes the development and testing of a cross-sectional study into potential belief and personality-related predictors of being moved by sacred art in a lab environment evocative of a holy site. Ninety (90) Christians in Canada and Greece completed personality measures and viewed and rated …

Dreams, Synchrony, And Synchronicity, Terry Marks-Tarlow

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This essay presents the dreams of a long-term patient over the course of treatment in order to explore the transpersonal potential of the relational unconscious—those open channels of unconscious communication between people. At a key moment, the patient brings in the therapist’s own childhood dream, serving to break a period of impasse and reset the therapy. Dreams and their interpretation reveal the essence of fractal consciousness, by which a sliver of experience can shed light on the whole of the psyche. A fractal model of understanding suggests open boundaries between self/other and self/world at multiple levels. The deep intimacy of …

Winona State University Improving Our World Blog: 2013-2022, Winona State University

Winona State University Blogs

The Winona State University (WSU) Improving Our World Blog articles and entries from September 2013-February 2022. Note: there may be format coding in the document.

Ignatian Values And International Conference On Disability, Enaya Hammad Othman

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

This essay focuses on the values of Ignatius Loyola (1491–1556) concerning the issues related to disability and how the mission of the “Conference on Disability at the Intersection of History, Culture, Religion, Gender, and Health” hosted by Marquette University embodies those values. This conference, which was first held in 2022 and planned to take place in 2025 again, serves several goals shared by Jesuit education, Catholic values and Ignatius’ philosophy. It aspires to contribute to social justice, deep thinking and reflection, and meaningful change in society. Above all, the conference is motivated by ‘service’ to humanity and thus to the …

A Closer Look At The Humanistic Aspects Of The Opioid Epidemic And Its Implications For Pharmaceutical Ethics And Law, Eriel Burns

Gaines Fellow Senior Theses

This paper elucidates the humanistic elements of this crisis, that is, the ethical challenges it poses and the role of culture in it. The opioid crisis disturbs several bioethics principles as indicated by the fact that it burgeoned out of the health care system as opposed to the illicit environments of the underground market. The book Dreamland by investigative journalist and storyteller, Sam Quinones encapsulates the complexity of the opioid epidemic through research and interviews with important figures related to the crisis such as physicians, people with opioid use disorder, and pharmaceutical sales representatives, among others. Quinones details that the …

Compliance With World Health Organization Covid19 Preventive Behaviors In Rural Counties In Western Kenya: A Cross-Sectional Study, Caleb Nyaranga, Cholo Wilberforce, Fletcher J. Njororai

Population Health Leadership and Analytics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction: the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended various measures to tackle COVID-19, and were adopted by many governments, targeting behavior change among citizens to lower the transmission. There was a paucity of data on the patterns of compliance with different measures within individuals and whether people adhere to all recommended measures or cautiously prefer few but not others. Understanding compliance behaviors and associated factors is important for developing interventions to increase compliance.

Methods: cross-sectional study was conducted among adults in the western region of Kenya. A sample of 806 participants was selected using a stratified sampling method. A structured questionnaire …

Identifying Youth Appeals In Alcohol Alternative Social Media Content Through Framing, Melina Oneal

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Proposed regulations for alcohol advertising prevent beverage companies from targeting people under the legal drinking age. However, similar regulations for alcohol alternative beverages are less explored, which could allow alcohol alternative products to create awareness for alcoholic beverages among youth. Alcohol alternatives beverages, including no-alcohol and low-alcohol products, are increasing in popularity and can function as compliments to alcoholic products to decrease the total alcohol volume consumed or as substitutes for alcoholic products. Framing theory can be operationalized through the Content Appealing to Youth Index, an index of content elements found in research literature to be appealing to youth, to …

Autopathography Across Media: Trauma And Fluid Embodied Subjectivity, He (Kristen) Shen

Honors Theses

Illness memoirs with first-person point of view have gained more attention in recent years among medical sociologists and anthropologists. Different from traditional “case histories”written by doctors that are in danger of ignoring patients’ voices, autopathograhical works delineate narrators’ transformative experiences of persons to patients, emphasizing the importance of gaining social understanding of illness. Focusing on three works within the category of autopathography across genres and media forms in the late 1950s and contemporary periods, The Cancer Journals (1980) written by Audre Lorde, The Collected Schizophrenias (2019) written by Esmé Weijun Wang, and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) directed …

A Cross-Cultural Study Of The Montreal Cognitive Assessment For People With Hearing Impairment, Stacey Theocharous, Greg Savage, Anna Pavlina Charalambous, Mathieu Côté, Renaud David, Kathleen Gallant, Catherine Helmer, Robert Laforce, Iracema Leroi, Ralph N. Martins, Ziad Nasreddine, Antonis Politis, David Reeves, Gregor Russell, Marie Josée Sirois, Hamid R. Sohrabi, Chyrssoula Thodi, Christiane Völter, Wai Kent Yeung, Piers Dawes

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Cognitive screening tools enable the detection of cognitive impairment, facilitate timely intervention, inform clinical care, and allow long-term planning. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment for people with hearing impairment (MoCA-H) was developed as a reliable cognitive screening tool for people with hearing loss. Using the same methodology across four languages, this study examined whether cultural or linguistic factors affect the performance of the MoCA-H. Methods: The current study investigated the performance of the MoCA-H across English, German, French, and Greek language groups (n = 385) controlling for demographic factors known to affect the performance of the MoCA-H. Results: In a …

Lipin1 As A Therapeutic Target For Respiratory Insufficiency Of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Alexandra Brown, Brooklyn Morris, John Karanja Kamau, Ryan J Rakoczy, Brian N Finck, Christopher N Wyatt, Hongmei Ren

2020-Current year OA Pubs

In Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), diaphragm muscle dysfunction results in respiratory insufficiency which is a leading cause of death in patients. Mutations to the dystrophin gene result in myocyte membrane instability, contributing to the structural deterioration of the diaphragm muscle tissues. With previous works suggesting the importance of lipin1 for maintaining skeletal muscle membrane integrity, we explored the roles of lipin1 in the dystrophic diaphragm. We found that the protein expression levels of lipin1 were reduced by 60% in the dystrophic diaphragm. While further knockdown of lipin1 in the dystrophic diaphragm leads to increased necroptosis, restoration of lipin1 in the …

Maternal-Adolescent Communication About Sex And Risky Sexual Behaviors: A Cross-Cultural Comparison Of Czech, Spanish, And Taiwanese Youth, Mckinley Hall

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

This present study aimed to test the relationship between perceived maternal-adolescent communication about sex and risky sexual behaviors, while also considering the links between perceived maternal-adolescent closeness and maternal-adolescent conflict with risky sexual behaviors, across three culturally distinct countries, namely the Czech Republic (N=878, mean age of 17.93), Spain (N =1024, mean age of 18.79), and Taiwan (N =1443, mean age of 16.48). Samples of adolescents from each country were used and statistical analyses were conducted to test the hypothesized relationships. Based on path analysis carried out on each sample, the results revealed that Czech adolescents reported the highest levels …

Chosen Family In Lgbtq+ Community: Creating Feeling Of Safety Through Collage In Art Therapy, Zaina Berger

Art Therapy | Master's Theses

This student research study investigates how collage demonstrates feelings of safety with chosen family within the LGBTQ+ community as a minority group who has undergone much discrimination and exclusion from their biological family and society at large. Currently, within the field of art therapy, there is minimal research on LGBTQ+ community, especially in regards to kinship and family. The only research about chosen family was conducted by anthropologist, Kath Weston, in the 1990’s.The student researcher defines chosen family and discusses different alternative kinship theories and practices in the last three decades. The review discusses how queer people have created meaningful …

Autoimmunities After Covid: An Interview With Cindy Patton, Cindy Patton, Travis Alexander, Nishant Shahani

English Faculty Publications

Taken collectively, Patton’s scholarship and activism has laid the foundation for insights in the health humanities, particularly AIDS studies, that consider the inextricable connections between epidemiology and ideology. Patton’s theorizations of stigma and discrimination patterns, her deconstruction of “truth” discourses subtending science, her critical re-evaluations of axioms associated with risk, safe sex, community, and knowledge production have been crucial interventions in the understanding of health and illness as cultural and discursive scripts. Among Patton’s most enduring contributions has been her theorization of how “African AIDS” was invented and circulated—that is, the notion of geographically bifurcated HIV pandemics split by the …

A Comprehensive Review Of Advances In Hepatocyte Microencapsulation: Selecting Materials And Preserving Cell Viability, Hailian Wang, Lebin Wen, Fengdi Jiang, Pengyu Ren, Yixin Yang, Siyuan Song, Zhengteng Yang, Yi Wang

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Liver failure represents a critical medical condition with a traditionally grim prognosis, where treatment options have been notably limited. Historically, liver transplantation has stood as the sole definitive cure, yet the stark disparity between the limited availability of liver donations and the high demand for such organs has significantly hampered its feasibility. This discrepancy has necessitated the exploration of hepatocyte transplantation as a temporary, supportive intervention. In light of this, our review delves into the burgeoning field of hepatocyte transplantation, with a focus on the latest advancements in maintaining hepatocyte function, co-microencapsulation techniques, xenogeneic hepatocyte transplantation, and the selection of …

Role Of Edaravone Nanosuspension In Preterm Labor And Birth Outcomes, Sruthi Sarvepalli

Theses and Dissertations

Annually, preterm birth (PTB) affects fifteen million infants, posing a significant risk of infant mortality and lifelong disability. Among various triggers, it is well-established that infection-associated oxidative stress and inflammation can induce preterm labor. There is no FDA approved medication for the prevention of PTB except tocolytics which provide marginal benefit at a later stage. Scarcity of therapeutic intervention and unmet medical need propelled us in investigating a novel drug molecule. Our current research is focused on investigating the potential of Edaravone (EDA), an FDA-approved antioxidant and anti-inflammatory medication, in delaying preterm labor and improving neonatal outcomes. Our goal is …

Human Cell Modeling Of Cdkl5-Deficiency Disorder With Patient-Derived Organoids And Hd-Mea, Alyssa Paynton

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

CDKL5 deficiency disorder (CDD) is an X-linked disorder that leads to severe cognitive impairments as well as infantile epilepsy. The only FDA approved therapy helps to reduce seizure frequency, however there are currently no cures approved. While murine models have proven useful in characterizing CDD, there are limitations due to differences in brain structure and development across species that may lead to the reported lack of spontaneous seizures in the mouse, a hallmark in humans affected by this disorder. By the utilization of patient-specific iPSCs generated into cerebral organoids, a more comprehensive and in-depth analysis into rare neurological disorders, such …

4d Epr Oximetry Imaging For 4d Bioprinting And Tissue Engineering, Sajad Sarvari

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Bioprinting, akin to 3D printing, employs cell-laden hydrogels such as GelMA (Gelatine Methacrylate) and Alginate instead of plastic or resin to create biological structures. The printing process followed by subsequent tissue maturation is known as 4D bioprinting, where the fourth dimension is time. Ensuring adequate and consistent oxygen, O2, supply within 3D bioprint volume over the entire maturation period process is crucial, as even transient hypoxia can impact cellular behavior and phenotypes. However, printing of fully developed vasculature remains an unresolved technical challenge. Several approaches to chemically (peroxides) or biologically (photosynthesis) generate oxygen during bioprint maturation have been proposed. However, …