Digital Commons Network^™

Mapping Social Determinants Of Health Data In Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review Protocol, Felix Anyiam, Jessica Gjonaj, Ngeresa Osango, Richard Mugo, Peace Aber, Jasmit Shah, Judith Mangeni, Rajesh Vedanthan, Joseph Hogan, Ann Mwangi

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Introduction Research has increasingly underscored the impact of factors such as socioeconomic status, education, healthcare access, housing and environmental conditions in shaping population health outcomes. These factors, collectively called social determinants of health (SDOH), provide crucial context for understanding drivers of health outcomes. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the study of SDOH is critical due to the region’s unique sociocultural and economic conditions. Understanding how SDOH interacts with health systems and capturing SDOH in data is crucial for informing modelling efforts and policies improving population health more effectively. This scoping review aims to map the types of data used to capture …

Caring For Post Icu Patients: Knowledge And Attitude Among Nurses Working In General Wards, At Tertiary Hospitals, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, Nazahed Mkiramweni, Kahabi Isangula, Masunga Iseselo, Dickson Mkoka, Emmanuel Mlay

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

Introduction: Caring for patients from the Intensive Care Unit (post-ICU) in general wards iscritical in determining patient outcomes. As primary caregivers, nurses provide hour-to-hour care and are essential in monitoring and addressing any signs of deterioration during this crucial transition period. Adequate knowledge and a positive attitudeare vital for ensuring the timely identification and management of complications. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of nurses caring for post-ICU patients in general wards.

Methods: A hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study wasconducted from May to August 2021 at Muhimbili National Hospital (MHN), Muhimbili Orthopedic Institute (MOI), and Jakaya …

The Impact Of Lipid Apheresis On Changes Of Lipoprotein(A): A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Bahman Razi, Masoud Eslami, Saeed Aslani, Shahab Alizadeh, Alireza Hatami, Wael Almahmeed, Salim Virani, Amirhossein Sahebkar

Population Health, East Africa

Aims Elevated levels of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] are increasingly recognized as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the impact of lipid apheresis therapy on serum Lp(a) levels in a wide array of disorders, particularly CVDs.

Methods and results Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases up to May 2025. Studies reporting pre- and post-treatment Lp(a) levels in participants undergoing lipid apheresis were included. A random-effects model was used when heterogeneity was significant. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses were conducted to explore potential sources of heterogeneity. A total …

Inferring High-Fat Dietary Patterns From Electronic Health Record Data Using Machine Learning, Ya-Yun Yeh, Hsin-Yueh Lin, Jingchuan Guo, Ramon C Sun, Sizun Jiang, Jiang Bian, Hao Dai

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objectives: Electronic health records (EHRs) rarely capture dietary detail, limiting diet-disease research. We aimed to develop machine learning (ML) computable phenotypes to identify high-fat diet (HFD) using variables typically available in EHRs.

Materials and methods: We used National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2020 data, where 24-h dietary recall served as ground truth. Dietary fat intake was summarized into a score (0-30) based on percent energy from fat, carbohydrate, and protein; lower scores indicated HFD. We defined HFD at cutoffs of 10, 15, and 20, and trained ML models (Extreme Gradient Boosting, logistic regression, random forest) using EHR-compatible variables …

Hootation: A Gui And Api Library For Ontology Validation And Verbalization., Muhammad Amith, Xubing Hao, Warren Manuel, Manqi Li, Shun Rao, Kirk Roberts, Hua Xu, Yang Gong, Frank Manion, Cui Tao, Licong Cui

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Ontology verbalization refers to the process of translating formal axioms into natural language expressions. The primary objective is to facilitate the review and validation of ontology content by subject matter experts without requiring extensive technical expertise. While previous approaches based on templates or controlled grammar have been effective, they often face limitations in scalability, fluency, and adaptability. To address these issues, we developed Hootation, an open-source software system that supports ontology verbalization through both a graphical user interface and an API library. The tool implements rule-based translation of OWL2 axioms and further incorporates optional Large Language Model (LLM) components for …

Circulating Fatty Acid Binding Protein 4 (Fabp-4) Concentrations And Mortality In Individuals With Colorectal Cancer In The European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer And Nutrition Study, Thu Thi Pham, Katharina Nimptsch, Krasimira Aleksandrova, Mazda Jenab, Veronika Fedirko, Anja Olsen, Anne Tjønneland, Claire Cadeau, Gianluca Severi, Matthias B Schulze, Renée Turzanski Fortner, Verena Katzke, Claudia Agnoli, Carlotta Sacerdote, Rosario Tumino, Simona Signoriello, Camino Trobajo-Sanmartín, Jesús-Humberto Gómez, María-Dolores Chirlaque, Maria-Jose Sánchez, Marta Crous-Bou, Anne May, Alicia Heath, Dagfinn Aune, Elisabete Weiderpass, Tobias Pischon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Human fatty acid binding protein‐4 (FABP‐4), a protein elevated in obesity that promotes colon cancer cell invasiveness and metastasis, may be associated with higher mortality in individuals with colorectal cancer (CRC) and may serve as a mediator of the obesity–mortality association in these individuals. We used a causal diagram to inform covariate selection and applied Cox proportional hazards models to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for CRC‐specific, non‐CRC‐specific, and all‐cause mortality by FABP‐4 levels measured in baseline blood samples from 1371 incident CRC cases from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort. Competing risk analyses were adapted for CRC …

Hypoglossal Neuropathy In The Pathogenesis Of Fibrosis-Related Late-Radiation Associated Dysphagia: A Correlative Analysis Utilizing Electromyography To Explore The Frequency Of Clinical And Subclinical Neuropathy In A Pilot Dysphagia Trial, Holly Mcmillan, Christine Okoro, Sheila Buoy, Karin Woodman, Nicolaas Anderson, Clifton Fuller, Stephen Y Lai, Katherine Hutcheson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Late radiation-associated dysphagia (late-RAD) commonly presents in patients with signs of hypoglossal neuropathy, with hallmark clinical features including lingual atrophy, deviation, and fasciculation. Gold-standard electromyography (EMG) has not been used to explore the frequency of hypoglossal neuropathy in patients with late-RAD.

Methods: Exploratory post hoc secondary analysis of MANTLE trial (NCT03612531) was completed. The presence of cranial nerve XII (CN XII) neuropathy was classified by (1) features of clinical assessment as well as (2) intramuscular genioglossus EMG pre-MANTLE intervention in disease-free HNC survivors ≥ 2 years post-radiotherapy (RT) with grade ≥ 2 fibrosis and dysphagia.

Results: All …

Modern Home Cooking Practices, The Role Of New Media, And Implications For Culinary Medicine: A Qualitative Study Among Mothers With Low Income, Margaret Raber, Maria Vazquez, Syeda Khan, Sahiti Myneni, Debbe Thompson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Culinary medicine offers a practical, experiential approach to nutrition education, but in-person programs are resources intensive. Digital interventions may offer a scalable, acceptable approach to culinary medicine in populations that are at increased risk for poor diet, such as parents with low income. The purpose of this study was to examine modern home cooking behavior and the role of new media from the perspective of parents with low income and identify implications for culinary medicine research. Twenty parents from 6- to 11-year-old children that qualify for free/reduced school lunch programs completed a survey and interview examining online cooking information seeking …

Cardiometabolic Indicators Of Cognitive Impairment In The Cameron County Hispanic Cohort, Fadi I Musfee, Seema Agarwal, Vahed Maroufy, Chelsea Liu, Joseph B Mccormick, Susan Fisher-Hoch, Sean I Savitz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background

Objective

Methods

Antenatal Prediction Of Early Cord Clamping Among Infants Born Extremely Preterm, Anup C Katheria, Rebecca A Dorner, William A Grobman, Matthew A Rysavy, Jenny Koo, Myra H Wyckoff, Grecio Sandoval, Sara B Demauro, Abhik Das, Henry C Lee, Michael Cotten, Laura Calvo, Shampa Saha

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: To identify prenatal risk factors associated with early cord clamping (ECC) in infants born extremely preterm (22-28 weeks) and to use these factors to predict which infants have the highest risk of ECC.

Study design: Stepwise logistic regression and classification and regression tree analysis were performed to identify variables most associated with ECC and to build a parsimonious model to identify infants born preterm who are at the highest risk of ECC.

Results: There were 12 622 infants eligible for analysis (ECC, n = 8465 vs deferred cord clamping [DCC], n = 4157). In the classification and regression tree …

Elevated Serum Lipopolysaccharides And Intrinsic Factor Autoantibodies Correlate With Macrocytic Anemia Among People With Hiv, Daniel Amakye, Samuel Hammond, Osbourne Quaye, Upal Roy, Peter Puplampu, Vincent Ganu, Emmanuel Ayitey Tagoe

Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications

Introduction: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with various comorbidities, including macrocytic anemia, though the role of the infection is unclear. HIV has been implicated in microbial translocation and altered immune responses. This study aimed to establish the relationship between gut microbial translocation and immune response, and macrocytic anemia among people with HIV (PWH).

Materials and methods: Fifty-five PWH on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) were age-matched with 55 HIV-negative individuals. Demographic data and blood samples were collected from February to July 2023. Hematological indices, including red blood cell (RBC) count, hemoglobin concentration, and mean corpuscular volume (MCV), were measured. …

Risk Factors For Complication And Reoperation In The Treatment Of Discoid Lateral Meniscus In Children And Adolescents: A Multicenter Study, Suzanna Ohlsen, Jeffrey J Nepple, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: The discoid lateral meniscus (DLM) is a common congenital abnormality of the meniscus. Tears are common, and initial treatment is often not definitive, leading to a spectrum of complications, including persistent symptoms, meniscal insufficiency, osteochondral defects, and recurrent tears potentially requiring reoperation.

PURPOSE: To determine demographic, injury, and perioperative risk factors that increase the likelihood of complications and reoperation after treatment in patients with DLM.

STUDY DESIGN: Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

METHODS: Patients surgically treated for DLM from 9 institutions between 2000 and 2020 were reviewed. Data on demographics, presenting symptoms and signs, surgical findings and treatments, …

Dolichocolon Is Common In Pediatric Gastroenterology Patients With Constipation And Associated Complaints, David Simon, Donovan Berens, Raul Zambrana Valenzuela, Arvind Mohan, Partha Chakraborty, Timot Kellermayer, Eric H Chiou, Craig L Jensen, Ricardo A Arbizu, Marla B K Sammer, Richard Kellermayer

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objectives: Dolichocolon (DC), classified under International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code Q43.8 ("Other specified congenital malformations of intestine"), refers to an elongated or redundant large intestine. Recent studies in adults indicate a role for dolichocolon in constipation and disorders of gut-brain interaction. Contrast enema (CE) imaging is commonly used to identify DC, typically defined as a sigmoid colon extending above, or a transverse colon descending below, the iliac crest line. Despite its potential relevance, the prevalence and clinical significance of DC in pediatric gastroenterology remain poorly understood.

Methods: This retrospective study assessed the prevalence of DC in pediatric …

Utilization Of Intensive Care Interventions In Critically Ill Patients With Candidemia Versus Bacteremia: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study, Mary North Jones, Masayuki Nigo, Stefano Casarin, James Kurian, Aarjav Sanghvi, Enshuo Hsu, Stephen L Jones, Ashton Connor, David B Corry, Cesar A Arias, Max W Adelman

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objectives: Candida species are one of the most common causes of ICU-onset bloodstream infection (BSI). Yet, there is no robust guidance on when to initiate empiric antifungals for ICU patients suspected of BSI. We compared patients with ICU-onset candidemia vs. ICU-onset bacteremia to determine which patients may benefit from empiric antifungals.

Design: We compared characteristics between patients with bacteremia vs. candidemia at time of culture. We determined risk factors for death and constructed a multivariable regression to determine if candidemia is an independent risk factor for death.

Setting/patients: We included ICU patients from a hospital system in Houston, Texas (n …

How The Dental Workforce Personifies Servant Leadership, William Chase Dds, Maom

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This feature article explores various leadership styles, identifying servant leadership as the most relevant model for dental professionals. The author connects servant leadership to emotional intelligence (EI), detailing how traits like empathy, self-awareness, and active listening empower clinicians to build trusting patient relationships. By dedicating themselves to high standards of care and maintaining respect for patients, dental teams personify trusted providers. The feature encourages dentists to view themselves as leaders and oral health counselors.

Pair-Feeding Study Designs Can Create Biases And Inflate Type I Error Rates: A Simulation Study, Wasiuddin Najam, Daniel E Kpormegbey, Deependra K Thapa, Bret Rust, Lilian Golzarri-Arroyo, Lance H Baumgard, Louis Wai-Tong Fan, Joseph G Ibrahim, Edith J Mayorga, David B Allison

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Objective: Pair-feeding is a study design element where one group's food intake is provided to another group to assess whether a treatment effect is independent of food intake. Investigators often assume equivalent food intake across experimental conditions and exclude it from the statistical analysis. However, the impact of this practice on type I error (T1Er) rates has not been quantified.

Methods: We conducted a Monte Carlo simulation in which animals were assigned baseline weights and food intakes, then randomized to non-pair-fed or pair-fed groups. Daily food intake for both groups was initially drawn from the baseline food intake distribution. For …

Unravelling The Molecular Mechanisms Causal To Type 2 Diabetes Across Global Populations And Disease-Relevant Tissues, Ozvan Bocher, Ana Luiza Arruda, Satoshi Yoshiji, Chi Zhao, Alicia Huerta-Chagoya, Chen-Yang Su, Xianyong Yin, Davis Cammann, Henry J Taylor, Jingchun Chen, Ken Suzuki, Ravi Mandla, Ta-Yu Yang, Fumihiko Matsuda, Josep M Mercader, Jason Flannick, James B Meigs, Alexis C Wood, Marijana Vujkovic, Benjamin F Voight, Cassandra N Spracklen, Jerome I Rotter, Andrew P Morris, Eleftheria Zeggini

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a prevalent disease arising from complex molecular mechanisms. Here we leverage T2D genetic associations to identify causal molecular mechanisms in an ancestry-aware and tissue-aware manner. Using two-sample Mendelian randomization corroborated by colocalization across four global ancestries, we analyse 20,307 gene and 1,630 protein expression levels using blood-derived cis-quantitative trait loci (QTLs). We detect causal effects of genetically predicted levels of 335 genes and 46 proteins on T2D risk, with 16.4% and 50% replication in independent cohorts, respectively. Using gene expression cis-QTLs derived from seven T2D-relevant tissues, we identify causal links between the expression of 676 …

Enteral And Intravenous Supplementation Of Arginine And Citrulline Fail To Prevent Necrotizing Enterocolitis In Preterm Neonatal Pigs, Caitlin Vonderohe, Julia Garcia Mancebo, Valeria Melendez Hebib, Barbara Stoll, Inka Didelija, Sarah Elefson, Mahmoud Mohammad, Brooklynn Earls, Greg Guthrie, Doug Burrin

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Background: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the most common gastrointestinal emergency in preterm infants with a morality rate that approaches 50%. Arginine has been widely studied in the field of clinical nutrition as a supplement for patients experiencing critical illness because it can be metabolized into nitric oxide, an important agent for supporting immunity and microcirculation. Citrulline has received less attention but can be metabolized into arginine and has a much longer plasma half-life than arginine. We used the highly translational preterm pig model to determine the effect of intravenous and enteral supplementation of arginine and citrulline on NEC incidence in …

A Murine Model Of Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Syndrome Demonstrates Compromised Limb Function In The Ischemic Hind Limb, Saran Lotfollahzadeh, Herreet Paul, Joshua Bonifacio, Ricardo Almiron, Isaac Hockestra, Kylla Przekop, Trent Yamamoto, Maria Carmen Piqueras, Wenqing Yin, Kashvi Sethuraman, Asha Jose, Marina Malikova, Jeffrey J Siracuse, Mostafa Belghasem, Howard Cabral, Nazish Sayed, Vipul C Chitalia

Faculty and Staff Publications

Key Points:

1. Cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) is a global public health problem; however, its mediators remain poorly known, in part due to the lack of a reliable animal model.

2. A combination of high fat and adenine diet recapitulate some of the CKD and metabolic phenotypes of CKM.

3. This model also demonstrates myocardial fibrosis and peripheral artery disease with sex-based differences and can be leveraged to probe mechanisms of CKM.

Background: Cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome is a public health problem in the United States and results in premature cardiovascular disease at a relatively preserved GFR. The molecular mediators of CKM are poorly understood, partly …

Life-Extending Interventions Do Not Necessarily Result In Compression Of Morbidity: A Case Example Offering A Robust Statistical Approach, Deependra K Thapa, Wasiuddin Najam, Erik S Parker, Xi Rita Wang, Daniel L Smith, Ufuk Beyaztas, James F Nelson, Steven N Austad, Gary A Churchill, David B Allison

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Despite extensive research on life-extending interventions, rigorous statistical techniques to determine their impact on compression of morbidity (CoM) are rarely used. We present a case example of an analytical method for examining the effect of life-extending dietary interventions on CoM by comparing the rates of decline in vitality and survival toward the end of life. Using data from previous experimental studies in mice, we calculated the average rate of vitality decline by fitting exponential decay models to individual vitality trajectories and compared this rate with the rate of survival decline estimated from Cox proportional hazards model. The results showed that, …

Demographic And Other Correlates Of Non-Prescription Drug Use Among College Students During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Subi Gandhi, Sidketa Fofana, Md Rafiul Islam, Tamer Oraby

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

Background and objectives: Substance use among college students in the U.S. remains a pressing concern and may have intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic due to increased stress, uncertainty, and academic disruptions. This study investigates the relationship between non-prescription drug use and various demographic, mental health, and behavioral factors among college students during the pandemic's early stages.

Methods: Data were collected through online and in-person surveys in the summer semester of 2021. Behavioral health was assessed using validated instruments: the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) for depression and the Drug Abuse Screening Test-20 (DAST-20) for substance use. Demographic and behavioral variables were …

Differential Longitudinal Effects Of Glucose-Lowering Medications On Glucagon And C-Peptide Responses In The Glycemia Reduction Approaches In Diabetes: A Comparative Effectiveness Study (Grade), Steven E Kahn, Mark Tripputi, John M Lachin, Ashok Balasubramanyam, Mary Ann Banerji, Joshua Barzilay, Robert M Cohen, W Timothy Garvey, Michaela R Gramzinski, Neda Rasouli, Mary Rhee, Jesse C Seegmiller, Vatsala Singh, William I Sivitz, Michael W Steffes, Kristina Utzschneider, Ralph A Defronzo

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objective: To determine the longitudinal effects on α-cell function of four classes of glucose-lowering agents added to metformin in adults with type 2 diabetes.

Research design and methods: In a multicenter, randomized study, 5,047 participants ≥30 years of age with type 2 diabetes taking 1,000-2,000 mg metformin daily, HbA1c 6.8%-8.5%, were randomized to receive insulin glargine U100, glimepiride, liraglutide, or sitagliptin. In a subset of 724 participants, baseline and longitudinal measures of α-cell function were assessed as the fasting glucagon concentration and change in glucagon from fasting to 30 min following oral glucose (glucagon index [GGI]). Whether these measures and …

Unusual Endoscopic Remission In An Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor Refractory Case Of Severe Ulcerative Colitis During Upadacitinib Therapy, Carine A Halaby, Charlotte F Kim, Richard Kellermayer

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Secondary Prophylaxis Of Variceal Hemorrhage In Biliary Atresia-Analysis Of Prospective Multicenter Studies, Lee M Bass, Kieran Hawthorne, John C Magee, Benjamin L Shneider, Childhood Liver Disease Research Network (Children)

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Internet-Delivered Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention For Pain In Pediatric Acute Recurrent And Chronic Pancreatitis: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial, Tonya M Palermo, Rui Li, Chuan Zhou, Homer Aalfs, Gretchen Cress, Mark Lowe, Maisam Abu-El-Haija, Ankur Chugh, Elissa M Downs, Douglas S Fishman, Alvin Jay Freeman, Matthew J Giefer, Tanja Y Gonska, Sohail Z Husain, Douglas Lindblad, Quin Y Liu, Asim Maqbool, Jacob A Mark, Brian A Mcferron, Megha S Mehta, Robert Adam Noel, Emily R Perito, Fuchenchu Wang, Ying Yuan, Yuhua Zheng, Aliye Uc, Consortium For The Study Of Chronic Pancreatitis, Diabetes, And Pancreatic Cancer (Cpdpc)

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objectives: Abdominal pain is common and associated with high disease burden and health care costs in pediatric acute recurrent (ARP) and chronic pancreatitis (CP). Despite the effectiveness of psychological interventions in other abdominal pain populations, studies have not evaluated these interventions for pediatric pancreatitis pain. We evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of internet-delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for reducing pancreatitis-related abdominal pain and improving pain interference, anxiety, depression, activity limitations, and health-related quality of life.

Methods: We enrolled 90 adolescents (ages 10-19, 63% female) with ARP or CP and their parents into this randomized placebo-controlled multicenter trial from 15 …

Carbohydrate Restriction Drives Greater Perturbations In Circulating Metabolites Than Low Energy Availability In Elite Male Athletes, Kyle A. Dunlop, Nathan G. Lawler, Jamie Whitfield, Alannah K.A. Mckay, Nicolin Tee, Megan L. Ross, Stacey N. Reinke, John A. Hawley, David Broadhurst, Louise M. Burke

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Periods of low energy availability (LEA) are common in elite athletes and typically arise from reduced energy intake, often involving some degree of carbohydrate (CHO) restriction. Whether the metabolic profile created by energy restriction per se is distinct compared to that driven by CHO restriction is unknown. Using untargeted metabolomics, we examined metabolic perturbations linked to CHO restriction and energy restriction in plasma from elite male endurance athletes. In a semi-randomized controlled trial, athletes (n = 20) completed one of three 5-day dietary interventions: high energy-high CHO (HCHO); LEA (energy-restricted, CHO-reduced); or low-CHO, high-fat (LCHF; energy-matched, CHO-restricted). Plasma samples were …

Regulation Of Autophagy-Mediated Pathways By Diet, Physical Activity, And Sleep In Alzheimer's Disease, Ajish Ariyath, Zoe Mputhia, Christopher Dougherty, Bushra Kaleelur Rahuman, W. M.A.D.Binosha Fernando, Belinda Brown, Samantha L. Gardener, Stephanie R. Rainey-Smith, Ralph Martins, Prashant Bharadwaj

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive, age-related, neurodegenerative disorder marked by cognitive decline, memory loss, and accumulation of amyloid beta (Aβ) plaques and tau tangles. A key feature of AD is impaired protein homeostasis, often driven by autophagy dysfunction. Autophagy, a cellular degradation and recycling process, plays a vital role in maintaining neuronal health and is increasingly recognized as a therapeutic target in AD. Lifestyle factors such as diet, physical activity, and sleep can positively influence autophagy and support cognitive function. Intermittent fasting (IF) and calorie restriction (CR) activate autophagy and promote longevity; physical activity enhances cerebral blood flow and …

Taurine Supplementation And Human Heat Tolerance: Mechanisms, Evidence, And Integration With Heat Acclimation, Cooling, And Hydration, Siavash Naddafha, Jeffrey R. Stout, Cassandra Evans

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Heat exposure during strenuous exercise increases core temperature and cardiovascular strain, impairing performance and elevating the risk of heat illness. Standard countermeasures include heat acclimation, cooling, and hydration/electrolyte planning. Taurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid present in excitable tissues and widely used as an oral supplement; emerging human trials suggest it can augment thermoregulation, primarily by enhancing eccrine sweating and evaporative heat loss. This narrative review synthesizes mechanistic and applied evidence on taurine during exercise in hot environments and evaluates potential interactions with acclimation, cooling strategies (pre- and per-cooling), and hydration practices. Across a small number of randomized, mostly double-blind …

Loss Of Beta-Cell Identity And Function As A Mechanism Of Secondary Failure Of Sulfonylurea Therapy In Diabetes, Sumit Patel, Zihan Yan, Maria S Remedi

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Sulfonylureas, commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes (T2D), often lose effectiveness over time when used as monotherapy; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. To investigate the mechanisms of sulfonylurea failure, glibenclamide-releasing pellets were implanted in KK mice, a polygenic model that spontaneously develops T2D. KK mice receiving placebo pellets (KK-Placebo) developed hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, glucose intolerance, and insulin resistance. Notably, KK mice implanted with glibenclamide (KK-Glib) showed improved blood glucose levels during the first 7 days, returning to KK-Placebo levels thereafter. KK-Glib mice exhibited reduced plasma insulin levels and insulin secretion in response to a glucose challenge compared with the …

Clinical Presentation, Risk Factors And Outcome Of Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria Infection In Hematopoietic Stem-Cell Transplantation: A Multinational Case-Control Study, Mario Fernández-Ruiz, Sasinuch Rutjanawech, Carlos Mejía-Chew, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: The clinical and microbiological features of infection due to non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) after hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) remain poorly understood.

METHODS: We performed a retrospective, multinational case-control study that included HSCT recipients (≥12 years) diagnosed with NTM disease between January 2008 and December 2018. Controls were HSCT recipients with no evidence of NTM disease, matched (1:2 ratio) by participating center and post-transplant survival. Logistic regression on matched pairs was used to investigate risk factors for NTM disease.

RESULTS: We included 25 cases of NTM disease. The most common HSCT type was allogeneic from unrelated donor (72.0%) after myeloablative conditioning …