Digital Commons Network^™

Meeting Report From The 2025 Cure Ocular Melanoma (Cure Om) Global Science Meeting, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, October 2025, Andrew E. Aplin, Katherina Alsina, Allison S. Betof, Joseph Birkett, Marcus O. Butler, George Cole, Rizwan Haq, Florian A. Karreth, Vinit B. Mahajan, Rahul Marpadga, Prithvi Mruthyunjaya, Paul Nathan, Jonas A. Nilsson, Gary Palmer, Joseph J. Sacco, Takami Sato, Sarah Stanhope, Pang-Ning Teng, Kyleigh Lipira

Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Cancer Biology Faculty Papers

The 2025 Cure Ocular Melanoma (CURE OM) Global Science Meeting took place in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on October 25th, 2025. Several promising drug candidates are in development; however, there is still an urgent need for better prevention, detection, and treatment of uveal melanoma. The purpose of this meeting was to promote international collaboration and idea exchange between scientists, industry, and patient advocates.

Evaluating The Reproducibility And Verifiability Of Nutrition Research: A Case Study Of Studies Assessing The Relationship Between Potatoes And Colorectal Cancer, Yasaman Jamshidi-Naeini, Colby J Vorland, Pranav Kapoor, Bailey Ortyl, Jocelyn Mineo, Luke Still, Korlu Sorsor, Shelby Rodney, Xander Tooze, Brent Flickinger, Beate Henschel, Stephanie L Dickinson, David B Allison

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The credibility of nutritional research is dependent on the rigor with which studies are conducted and the ability for independent assessment to be performed. Despite the importance of these, more work is needed in the field of nutrition to buttress the trustworthiness of nutrition research. To develop and apply a process for evaluating the rigor, reproducibility, and verifiability of nutritional research, using the relationship between potato consumption and Colorectal Cancer (CRC) as a case study. We updated existing systematic reviews to include studies on potatoes and CRC, assessing their design, execution, and reporting quality. We attempted to reproduce and verify …

Health Management Practices In Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation: A Scoping Review Protocol, Davina Sharma, Shané J. Gill, Lizbeth Goodman, Amanda Rabinowitz, Louis N. Hunter, Reinhard Schaler, Kirby L. Wycoff

College of Health Professions Faculty Papers

INTRODUCTION: Traumatic brain injury is increasingly recognized as a chronic condition requiring long-term rehabilitation and coordinated care beyond the acute phase. Across Europe, substantial variation exists in healthcare system organization, funding structures, and service delivery models, which may influence access to rehabilitation and long-term functional outcomes for adults with chronic moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury. The objective of this scoping review protocol is to systematically characterize systemic factors and management practices that shape rehabilitation access, continuity of care, and recovery outcomes across European healthcare systems. This review will map published evidence on health management practices influencing chronic traumatic brain injury rehabilitation …

Microglial Swell1 Deficiency Drives Male-Specific Seizure Vulnerability But Paradoxical Neuroprotection Through Impaired Phagocytosis, Abhijeet S Barath, Aastha Dheer, Laura Montier, Mekenzie M Peshoff, Emily Dale, Flavia Goche, Thanh Thanh Le Nguyen, Mastura Akter, Fangfang Qi, Dimitrios Kleidonas, Lauren Harris, Sarah A Jewanee, Anthony D Umpierre, Dale B Bosco, Koichiro Haruwaka, Rajan Sah, Long-Jun Wu, Rongzhuo Hua, Tejaswani Datla

The Brown Foundation: Institute of Molecular Medicine

The discovery of genes encoding the volume-regulated anion channel (VRAC) has enabled detailed exploration of its cell type-specific roles in the brain. LRRC8A (SWELL1) is the essential VRAC subunit. We observed seizure-induced, subunit-specific changes in microglial VRAC expression and investigated its function using conditional KO (cKO) of LRRC8A in microglia. SWELL1 cKO mice exhibited a male-specific increase in kainate-induced seizure severity, yet showed paradoxical neuroprotection against seizure-associated neuronal loss. Mechanistically, SWELL1 deletion led to a cell-autonomous reduction in microglial density and decreased release of VRAC-permeable neuroactive metabolites, including taurine, GABA, and glutamate in culture. Additionally, impaired phagocytic kinetics and reduced …

Where Evidence-Based Medicine Meets Ai: Promise, Pitfalls, And Practice, Sangil Lee, Joshua Davis, Ken Milne, Christina Shenvi, Lars K. Beattie, Martin Wegman, Laura Melville, Richard D. Shih, Bryan Kane

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

A Scoping Review Of Preventive Interventions To Reduce Violence Against Women And Girls In The Islamic Republic Of Iran, Wahiba Abu-Ras, Leena Babiker Idris, Shahira Amin, Ashley Butler, Patricia J. Kelly, Basil H. Aboul-Enein

College of Nursing Faculty Papers & Presentations

In Iran, violence against women (VAWG) remains highly prevalent, with reported rates ranging from 22.9% to 66%, underscoring the need for effective, contextually grounded interventions.   This scoping review aimed to systematically identify, map, and critically appraise intervention strategies addressing VAWG in Iran.   Guided by PRISMA-ScR and the PICOS framework, comprehensive searches were conducted across nine databases from 2000 to September 2024. Eligible studies included intervention-based research conducted in Iran that reported outcomes related to violence reduction, psychological well-being, or empowerment. Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria.   The included studies demonstrated heterogeneous designs, theoretical frameworks, and outcome measures. Four interventions targeted …

Pengaruh Intervensi Sigo Terhadap Perbaikan Postur Kerja Dan Penurunan Keluhan Musculoskeletal Disorders Pada Pekerja Sewing Di Cv X Sukoharjo, Sumardiyono Sumardiyono, Tiara Damar Pratiwi, Warda Yussy Rha

National Journal of Occupational Health and Safety

Sewing workers in the garment industry are at high risk of developing non-ergonomic working postures that may lead to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), due to prolonged static postures and the use of chairs that are not compatible with workers’ anthropometry. Preliminary surveys indicated complaints of pain in the back, neck, and waist (90%), shoulders and forearms (85%), and upper arms (80%). An ergonomic intervention that can be implemented is the use of ergonomic chairs. This study aims to analyze the effect of using SIGO (Seat Improvement for Garment Operators) as an ergonomic intervention on improving working posture and reducing MSD complaints …

Integration Of Intraoperative Data In Interpretable Machine Learning Models To Predict Postoperative Aki In Noncardiac Surgery Patients, Justin Do, Karan H. Shah, Melissa Xu, Andrew Hyunwoo Kim, Vivaswat Suresh, Nidhir Guggilla, Michael Li, Rishi Kothari

Department of Anesthesiology Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to (1) quantify changes in discrimination when adding intraoperative data to preoperative data and (2) compare tabular machine learning with feature engineering against a time-aware LSTM-based model.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective cohort of 46 204 adults undergoing 57 055 eligible noncardiac surgery in the INSPIRE database. We extracted 38 preoperative and 49 intraoperative variables; acute kidney injury (AKI) was defined by KDIGO serum creatinine criteria and modeled as stage 2/3 postoperative AKI. Models were trained on preoperative-only and combined pre- and intraoperative data. Intraoperative series were summarized using eight statistical features for tabular models or integrated directly …

Air Pollution And Public Health: Global Evidence And Implications, Mohammed Obaid Al-Mansoori

Al-Bahir

Globally, the issue of air pollution keep being one of most serious challenges that affecting environment and human health, coming from emissions of industries, transport, agriculture and also from the fuel people use in homes, in addition to natural events that make the situation worse. This review try to bring together the available evidences about the sources, types, and the health impacts of the main air pollutants, including the gaseous ones like SO₂, O₃, NO₂, and CO, and the particulate matter (PM₁₀, PM₂.₅). Exposure for short or long time to these pollutants is linked with many harmful outcomes, such as …

Choroidal Imaging Features Of Kif11-Associated Retinopathy: Expanding The Ocular Phenotype, Lily C. Farrell, Justin Muste, Atharva Hudlikar, Xin Ying Rachel Song, Pearse A. Keane, Rupesh Agrawal, Jose S. Pulido

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: To characterize foveal architecture and choroidal morphology in KIF11-associated retinopathy using multimodal imaging, and to assess for pachychoroid-like features using quantitative choroidal thickness (CT) and choroidal vascularity index (CVI).

METHODS: In this retrospective case series, multimodal imaging from two patients (four eyes) with genetically confirmed KIF11-associated retinopathy was analyzed. En-face optical coherence tomography (OCT) images of the macular and inferior peripheral retina were spatially aligned to widefield fundus images to enable fovea-centered spatial mapping. The choroid was segmented and binarized on OCT B-scans to derive quantitative macular CT and CVI measurements, and CT measurements in the mid-peripheral and peripheral …

Neddylation Maintains Oocyte Quality By Stabilizing Mitochondrial Transcription, Avery A Ahmed, Tessa E Steenwinkel, Bethany K Patton, Peixin Jiang, Matthew D Meyer, Jaspreet K Rishi, Mei Leng, Alexander B Saltzman, Elizabeth S Anaya, Momal Sharif, Laurie J Mckenzie, Laura Detti, Anna Malovannaya, Sean M Hartig, Stephanie A Pangas

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Age-related decline in oocyte quality increases the risk of infertility, miscarriage, and birth defects. Mitochondrial dysfunction is a key contributor to this decline. Here, we report that oocyte-specific deletion of Uba3, which encodes the catalytic subunit of the E1 NEDDylation-activating complex, causes sterility in mice. Fully grown, germinal vesicle–stage Uba3 conditional knockout oocytes exhibit mitochondrial dysfunction, including elevated reactive oxygen species, impaired oxidative phosphorylation, and depletion of mitochondrially encoded RNA transcripts. Proteomic analysis identified alterations in mitochondrial-associated proteins, including enrichment of mitochondrial matrix and respiratory chain components and reduced abundance of electron transport chain complexes. These defects were associated …

Contribution Of Animals To Biomedical Advancements In The Current Era: A Narrative Review, Leena Rajathy Port Louis, Mani Rajarathinam, Prithiviraj Nagarajan, Divya Sekar, Nisha Perumal

The Thai Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Animal research has played a major role in the development of vaccinations and therapies for illnesses such as tetanus, polio, meningitis, hepatitis, and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2. For every prescription drug available today, animal testing and research have contributed immensely. This narrative review aims to explore the contribution of animals to biomedical advancements in the current era, which involved a search of peer-reviewed literature using electronic databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed. In current biomedical research, animals help develop new treatments for long-term illnesses such as cancer, HIV, and Alzheimer’s. Animals also aid in the …

Culturally Informed Approaches To Support Perinatal Mental Health: Perceptions And Experiences Of Perinatal Depression And Support Systems Among Postpartum African-Born Women In The United States, Joyce O. Imafidon

ETDs from 2020-2029

Perinatal mental health (PMH) of African-born women (ABW) is underrepresented in research and practice in the United States (US) despite known consequences of poor mental wellbeing on one’s overall health, relationships and productivity. Beyond their fundamental role in family support, ABW contribute significantly to the US workforce, education sector, and economy. This three-paper dissertation enhances understanding on PMH outcomes, perception and experiences of ABW in the US. Perinatal depression (PD), one of the most common mood disorders affecting 1 in 8 women, is highlighted. The overarching question is to what extent does the US health system address PMH of ABW …

Evaluating The Service Life Of A Respirator Cartridge When Exposed To Various Volatile Organic Compounds, Neha Murad Alwani

ETDs from 2020-2029

Inhalation is the most common exposure pathway. With the significant presence of respiratory exposure, respirator cartridges are widely used as personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce exposure to gases, vapors, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This study evaluated the breakthrough time of respirator cartridges under various VOC environments commonly encountered in beauty salons and automotive repair shops. Breakthrough time is the duration a respirator cartridge can provide protection before contaminants can be inhaled and the respirator cartridge is no longer effective. The breakthrough time of three VOCs was examined: acetone, toluene, and m-xylene. Using a custom designed test chamber equipped …

Centralized Review Of Alzheimer's Disease And Related Dementias Biomedical Repositories And Computational Methods, Johaan Kathilankal, Kewei Chen, Chen Zhao, Lingtao Chen, Seyedamin Pouriyeh, Zongxing Xie, Yixin Xie

Faculty Articles

lzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) are neurodegenerative conditions characterized by progressive cognitive and functional decline. AD pathology is associated with extracellular amyloid-β plaques, intracellular tau neurofibrillary tangles, synaptic dysfunction, and neuronal loss. AD accounts for approximately 60–80% of dementia cases globally. In 2022, AD was the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, and the number of Americans aged 65 and older living with Alzheimer’s dementia is projected to increase substantially by 2060. Despite decades of research, AD/ADRD data resources remain fragmented across clinical, imaging, genetic, genomic, and therapeutic domains. This paper addresses that gap by providing …

Evaluation Of Occupational Exposure To Noise And Respirable Particulate Matter In Dentistry, Kabe Fetner

ETDs from 2020-2029

Dental procedures can result in occupational exposures to both noise and particulate matter. Dental professionals routinely operate high-speed instruments and mechanical tools that may produce elevated sound levels and aerosolized particles during clinical treatment. Although these exposures are common in dental environments, limited data exist describing full-shift occupational exposure levels during routine dental procedures. The purpose of this study was to evaluate occupational exposure to noise and respirable particulate matter (RPM) during routine dental procedures in a clinical setting. Area noise monitoring and real-time aerosol monitoring were conducted over six clinical days while common dental procedures were performed, including fillings, …

Parental Perspectives On Their Children’S Mental Health Changes During And After The Covid-19 Pandemic In A Florida Community, Brianna Yumul

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Hiv Preexposure Prophylaxis (Prep) Satisfaction Amongst Female Sex Workers And Men Who Have Sex With Men In Cameroon, Zacheaus Zeh Akiy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Sputum Lautropia Is Decreased In Rheumatoid Arthritis-Associated Pulmonary Fibrosis, Timothy M. Wilson, Brendan Allen, J. Kirk Harris, Kristine A. Kuhn, Kevin D. Deane, Stephen M. Humphries, Joyce S. Lee, Joshua J. Solomon, M. Kristen Demoruelle

Division of Rheumatology Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether lung microbial composition differs between individuals with rheumatoid arthritis and pulmonary fibrosis (RA-PF) compared to those without fibrosis (RA-no-PF).

METHODS: We enrolled 54 RA patients (22 RA-PF, 32 RA-no-PF) from rheumatology and pulmonary clinics. PF was defined by high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings. Induced sputum was analyzed using 16 S rRNA sequencing to identify the relative abundance of sputum bacteria. Taxonomic differences between groups were evaluated using three independent analytic approaches: Mann-Whitney U, DESeq2, and EdgeR, with false discovery rate correction. Logistic regression examined associations between Lautropia abundance and clinical variables.

RESULTS: Individuals with RA-PF were …

Design And Development Of Foot Arch Diagnosis Application, Arif Wicaksono, Arta Farmawati, Neni Trilusiana Rahmawati, Herianto Herianto

Folia Medica Indonesiana

The foot is a part of the lower extremity that has several characteristics, namely foot length, width, height, and arch. Foot arch is a characteristic that has not been widely researched in Indonesia, but it plays a crucial role in movement and daily life. A normal foot arch facilitates physical activities, work, and overall human health, whereas an abnormal foot arch can hinder physical activities, work, and negatively affect health. Foot-arch diagnosis is commonly performed using footprint creation and foot-arch determination. Foot arch diagnosis can be established through conventional examinations, which are relatively more time-consuming, and examinations using scanning devices, …

Psycho-Behavioral And Psychosocial Factors Influencing Childhood Obesity In The United States, Nadia Ntori Nkansah

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

The Readiness Reset: Sleep, Stress, And Pain Management For Tactical Performance, Lauren Fried

Tactical & Occupational Performance Conference

Tactical professionals operate in high-demand environments where sleep disruption, chronic stress, and persistent pain are often normalized, but these factors significantly affect readiness, resilience, and long-term performance. This session explores how sleep, stress, and pain interact at the physiological and neurological levels to influence decision-making, recovery, injury risk, and operational effectiveness in first responders and military personnel.

Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how nervous system regulation, circadian rhythms, and pain perception affect both physical and cognitive performance under stress. Drawing on current research and applied human performance principles, this session highlights practical, field-applicable strategies that tactical professionals and …

Anatomy And Function Of Vasopressin Receptor 1a-Expressing Neurons In The Limbic Thalamus, David Joseph Kahn

Theses and Dissertations

The vasopressin (Avp) system modulates social behavior through region-specific and sex-dependent mechanisms, yet the role of Avp receptor 1a (Avpr1a) signaling in the thalamus has remained largely unexplored. This dissertation examined the distribution and functional contributions of Avpr1a-expressing neurons across the mouse thalamus using a combination of genetic labeling, anatomical quantification, and chemogenetic manipulation. Mapping of Avpr1a-expressing neurons revealed a presence in most thalamic nuclei, with highest densities in the anterior thalamic nuclei and midline nuclei. Notably, Avpr1a-expressing neuron densities did not mirror previously described patterns of Avp innervation, and no sex differences in Avpr1a-expressing neuron density were observed. Chemogenetic …

Clinical Outcomes Of Injectable And Conventional Pulmonary Valve Replacement In Severe Pulmonary Regurgitation, Sercan Tak, Murat Koç, Ali̇ Kutsal, Vehbi̇ Doğan

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Background/aim: Pulmonary regurgitation following tetralogy of Fallot repair is a common long-term complication requiring pulmonary valve replacement. Injectable bioprosthetic valves offer a less invasive alternative to conventional surgical replacement, but comparative data in pediatric populations remain limited. This study aimed to evaluate short-term and long-term clinical outcomes of injectable pulmonary valve replacement and conventional pulmonary valve replacement in pediatric patients with severe pulmonary regurgitation following tetralogy of Fallot repair.

Materials and methods: This retrospective study included 22 pediatric patients who underwent pulmonary valve replacement. Patients were divided into injectable (n = 9) and conventional (n = 13) groups based on …

The Power Of Proximity: Driving Hand Hygiene Compliance Through Sanitizer Placement, Jennifer E. Jones, Eric Van Middendorp, Leanne Wendt

Posters

Hand hygiene is the cornerstone of infection prevention in healthcare settings and is particularly critical in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) where patients are highly vulnerable due to immature immune systems and frequent exposure to invasive procedures. Healthcare associated infections (HAIs) remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among neonates. Evidence consistently identifies proper hand hygiene as the single most effective intervention to reduce HAIs in NICUs. Despite its simplicity, compliance among healthcare workers is often suboptimal, influenced by factors such as workload and accessibility of hand hygiene resources.

Meningioma Detection From Mri: A Comparative Study Of Deep Learning Models, A. H. Doha, Sandi Jennifer, Fatima Alabdaly

AUIQ Complementary Biological System

This study compares several deep learning models including DenseNet20, CNN, ResNet50, VGG19, EfficientNet-B3, MobileNetV2, NASNetMobile, Xception to automatically classify brain meningiomas from MRI scans. A public dataset was used to evaluate the proposed model. All models were trained, validated, and tested on this dataset. Because meningiomas are common and manual reads, the goal is to speed and standardize diagnosis. Our main contribution is pairing a high-accuracy classifier with deep learning models. Among all models, DenseNet201 performed best, reaching 0.991% accuracy and reliably separating tumorous from non-tumorous MRIs. Future work will expand the dataset and incorporate stronger segmentation to further boost …

Pa Dent J May 2018

Pennsylvania Dental Journal

The Pennsylvania Dental Journal is produced by the Pennsylvania Dental Association six times a year, in January, March, May, July, September and November. Issues include regular columns with regional news impacting the Pennsylvania membership including editorial and government relations news, association activities, member updates, continuing education opportunities, and classifieds.

Pa Dent J Nov 2021

Pennsylvania Dental Journal

The Pennsylvania Dental Journal is produced by the Pennsylvania Dental Association six times a year, in January, March, May, July, September and November. Issues include regular columns with regional news impacting the Pennsylvania membership including editorial and government relations news, association activities, member updates, continuing education opportunities, and classifieds.

Pa Dent J March 2019

Pennsylvania Dental Journal

The Pennsylvania Dental Journal is produced by the Pennsylvania Dental Association six times a year, in January, March, May, July, September and November. Issues include regular columns with regional news impacting the Pennsylvania membership including editorial and government relations news, association activities, member updates, continuing education opportunities, and classifieds.

Pa Dent J March 2024

Pennsylvania Dental Journal

The Pennsylvania Dental Journal is produced by the Pennsylvania Dental Association six times a year, in January, March, May, July, September and November. Issues include regular columns with regional news impacting the Pennsylvania membership including editorial and government relations news, association activities, member updates, continuing education opportunities, and classifieds.