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Plasmonic Gold Nanoparticle For Detection Of Fungi And Human Cutaneous Fungal Infections, Tobiloba Sojinrin, Kangze Liu, Joao Conde, Hugh Byrne, James Curtin, Daxiang Cui, Furong Tian

Articles

Fungi, which are common in the environment, can cause a multitude of diseases. Warm, humid conditions allow fungi to grow and infect humans via the respiratory, digestive and reproductive tracts, genital area and other bodily interfaces. Fungi can be detected directly by microscopy, using the potassium hydroxide (KOH) test, which is the gold standard and most popular method for fungal screening. However, this test requires trained personnel operating specialist equipment, including a fluorescent microscope and culture facilities. As most acutely infected patients seek medical attention within the first few days of symptoms, the optimal diagnostic test would be rapid and …

Determinants And Impact Of Giardia Infection In The First 2 Years Of Life In The Mal-Ed Birth Cohort, Elizabeth T. Rogawski, Luther A. Bartelt, James A. Platts-Mills, Jessica C. Seidman, Amidou Samie, Alexandre Havt, Sudhir Babji, Shahida Qureshi, Sadia Shakoor, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Giardia are among the most common enteropathogens detected in children in low-resource settings. We describe here the epidemiology of infection with Giardia in the first 2 years of life in the Etiology, Risk Factors, and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health and Development Project (MAL-ED), a multisite birth-cohort study.
Methods: From 2089 children, 34916 stool samples collected during monthly surveillance and episodes of diarrhea were tested for Giardia using an enzyme immunoassay. We quantified the risk of Giardia detection, identified risk factors, and assessed the associations with micronutrients, markers of gut inflammation and …

Transitional Healthcare Coordination In New York City Jails Among People With Chronic Health Conditions: Contributions To Reduced Reincarceration And Improved Health, Janet J. Wiersema

Dissertations and Theses

People in correctional settings often have poorer health than the general US population. For example, it is estimated that 27.9% of persons in jail have hypertension, 8.1% have diabetes, and 1.6% have HIV, compared to 25.6%, 6.5%, and 0.5%, respectively, in the general population. Jail and other correctional settings are also increasingly recognized as viable places to engage poor and underserved communities into the healthcare system by offering transitional care coordination services to connect people to healthcare and other services to meet priorities after incarceration. At the same time, recidivism is an issue—over 50% of persons in New York City …

Setting Health Research Priorities Using The Chnri Method: Vii. A Review Of The First 50 Applications Of The Chnri Method, Igor Rudan, Sachiyo Yoshida, Kit Yee Chan, Devi Sridhar, Kerri Wazny, Harish Nair, Aziz Sheikh, Mark Tomlinson, Joy E. Lawn, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Several recent reviews of the methods used to set research priorities have identified the CHNRI method (acronym derived from the "Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative") as an approach that clearly became popular and widely used over the past decade. In this paper we review the first 50 examples of application of the CHNRI method, published between 2007 and 2016, and summarize the most important messages that emerged from those experiences.
Methods: We conducted a literature review to identify the first 50 examples of application of the CHNRI method in chronological order. We searched Google Scholar, PubMed and so-called …

Controlling Factors That Potentially Against Transmission Of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever At State Elementary Schools In Yogyakarta, Tri Baskoro Tunggul Satoto, Nur Alvira, Tri Wibawa, Ajib Diptyanusa

Kesmas

Sekolah dasar merupakan tempat yang dapat mengakibatkan peningkatan penyakit dengue pada anak karena faktor lingkungan, adanya potensi penularan, belum adanya system manajemen lingkungan yang baik dan beberapa upaya pengendalian yang tidak lagi efektif. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui faktor yang berpotensi terhadap penularan demam berdarah dengue bagi anak, sehingga sistem kewaspadaan dini dapat ditegakkan. Jenis penelitian ini adalah analitik dengan rancangan potong lintang. Penelitian dilaksanakan pada 91 sekolah dasar negeri di Kota Yogyakarta. Variabel yang diobservasi adalah serotype virus DEN, resistensi insektisida, kepadatan vektor,dan kondisi fisik sekolah. Analisis data menggunakan analisis deskriptif dan korelasi-regresi (a = 0.05). Hasil menunjukkan bahwa …

Risk Factors Of Acute Respiratory Infections In Practice Area For Community Of Medical Students In Semarang, Siti Thomas Zulaikhah, Purwito Soegeng, Titiek Sumarawati

Kesmas

Infeki saluran pernapasan akut (ISPA) menempati urutan pertama dari 10 besar penyakit di Puskesmas Bangetayu dengan persentase terbanyak di Kelurahan Penggaron Lor. Keterampilan untuk mempelajari distribusi dan frekuensi penyakit serta faktor determinan yang memengaruhi manusia sangat diperlukan untuk menetapkan intervensi yang paling efektif untuk meningkatkan derajat kesehatan masyarakat. Perlu dilakukan penelitian untuk mengetahui faktor risiko yang paling dominan berhubungan dengan kejadian ISPA di lokasi praktik komunitas mahasiswa Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Islam Sultan Agung Semarang. Penelitian ini menggunakan desain potong lintang dengan jumlah responden 100 orang dan sampel dikumpulkan dengan menggunakan stratified random sampling. Sepuluh variabel yang diteliti adalah faktor risiko …

Emergence Of Livestock-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Bloodstream Infections In Denmark., Jesper Larsen, Andreas Petersen, Anders R Larsen, Raphael N Sieber, Marc Stegger, Anders Koch, Frank M Aarestrup, Lance B Price, Robert L Skov

Environmental and Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Background

Livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clonal complex 398 (LA-MRSA CC398) is causing an increasing number of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) in Denmark and other European countries with industrial pig production. Yet, its impact on MRSA bloodstream infections (BSIs) has not been well studied.

Methods

We investigated the clinical epidemiology of all human cases of LA-MRSA CC398 BSI during 2010–2015. Cases of LA-MRSA CC398 BSI were compared to cases of BSI caused by other types of MRSA and cases of SSTI caused by LA-MRSA CC398. Whole-genome sequence analysis was used to assess the phylogenetic relationship among LA-MRSA CC398 isolates …

Offering Self-Administered Oral Hiv Testing As A Choice To Truck Drivers In Kenya: Predictors Of Uptake And Need For Guidance While Self-Testing, Elizabeth A. Kelvin, Gavin George, Eva Mwai, Eston N. Nyaga, Joanne E. Mantell, Matthew L. Romo, Jacob O. Odhiambo, Kaymarlin Govender

Publications and Research

We assessed predictors of choosing self-administered oral HIV testing in the clinic with supervision versus the standard provider-administered blood test when offered the choice among 149 Kenyan truck drivers, described the types of guidance participants needed during self-testing and predictors of needing guidance. Overall, 56.38% of participants chose the self-test, 23.49% the provider-administered test, and 20.13% refused testing. In the adjusted regression models, each additional unit on the fatalism and self-efficacy scales was associated with 0.97 (p = 0.003) and 0.83 (p = 0.008) times lower odds of choosing the self-test, respectively. Overall, 52.38% of self-testers did so correctly without …

A New Journal Section: Patient Management, Forest W. Arnold, Rodrigo Cavallazzi

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Obesity On Mortality In Hospitalized Patients With Pneumonia Due To 2009 H1n1 Influenza A Virus Versus Other Etiologies, Martin A. Espinosa-Ginic, Ryan T. Hurt, Stephen P. Furmanek, Paula Peyrani, Julio A. Ramirez, Timothy Lee Wiemken, The Capo Investigators

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

Background: Reports from the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus (2009 H1N1) pandemic indicate increased mortality in obese patients hospitalized with pneumonia. However, articles published prior to the pandemic have suggested that obesity may be a protective factor for mortality in these patients. The objective of this study was to compare the impact of obesity on mortality in hospitalized patients with pneumonia due to the 2009 H1N1 versus pneumonia due to other etiologies.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of the CAPO international cohort study. Study groups were defined as follows: Group One, pneumonia due to 2009 H1N1: Patients hospitalized with …

Short Duration Of Antibiotic Therapy In Hospitalized Patients With Community-Acquired Pneumonia: Results From The Capo International Cohort Study, Alejandro Chirino Navarta, Paula Peyrani, Timothy L. Wiemken, Marcos I. Restrepo, James D. Chalmers, Carlos M. Luna, Francesco Blasi, Julio A. Ramirez, Stefano Aliberti

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

Introduction: Experts suggest a short duration of antibiotic therapy (DOT) in responding patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical outcomes after hospital discharge among patients treated with short-course antibiotic therapy (SCT) vs. long-course antibiotic therapy (LCT) for CAP.

Methods: A secondary analysis of the Community-Acquired Pneumonia Organization (CAPO) database from January 2007 to June 2013 was performed, including hospitalized CAP patients who reached clinical stability within 5 days. Two groups were identified: patients who were treated with antibiotic therapy for a total duration of 5 days or less (SCT Group) vs. …

The Presence Of Copd Does Not Influence Clinical Outcomes In Hospitalized Patients With Community-Acquired Pneumonia, Rosemeri Maurici, Alessandra Morello Gearhart, Vanessa Viríssimo Maciel, Forest Arnold, Francisco Fernandez, Annuradha K. Persaud, Stephen Furmanek, Timothy Wiemken, Julio Ramirez, Rodrigo Cavallazzi

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

Introduction

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a well-established risk factor for development of CAP. What is not as clear is the impact of COPD in the outcomes of patients with CAP. In this study, we compared the outcomes of CAP in COPD and non-COPD patients.

Methods

This was a retrospective cohort study. We conducted a secondary analysis of the Community-Acquired Pneumonia Organization (CAPO) international cohort study database, which includes patients with CAP admitted to several hospitals throughout the world. Outcomes were time to clinical stability, length of hospital stay, …

The Community-Acquired Pneumonia Organization (Capo) Cloud-Based Research Platform (The Capo-Cloud): Facilitating Data Sharing In Clinical Research, William A. Mattingly, Timothy L. Wiemken, Stephen P. Furmanek, Paula Peyrani, Robert R. Kelley, Julio A. Ramirez

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

Background: Pneumonia is a costly and deadly respiratory disease that afflicts millions every year. Advances in pneumonia care require significant research investment and collaboration among pneumonia investigators. Despite the importance of data sharing for clinical research it remains difficult to share datasets with old and new investigators. We present CAPOCloud, a web-based pneumonia research platform intended to facilitate data sharing and make data more accessible to new investigators.

Methods: We establish the first two use cases for CAPOCloud to be the automatic subsetting and constraining of the CAPO database and the automatic summarization of the database in aggregate. We use …

A 49-Year-Old Woman With Chronic Skin Lesions, Acute Mental Status Changes And New Pulmonary Infiltrate: Case Discussion From The University Of Louisville Hospital, Bhavani Puskur, Youssef Khafateh, Srikant Ramachandruni, Veronica Corcino, Mark Burns, Forest W. Arnold

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Temperature Relative Humidity And Absolute Humidity On The Incidence Of Hospitalizations For Lower Respiratory Tract Infections Due To Influenza, Rhinovirus, And Respiratory Syncytial Virus: Results From Community-Acquired Pneumonia Organization (Capo) International Cohort Study, Timothy L. Wiemken, William A. Mattingly, Stephen P. Furmanek, Brian E. Guinn, Connor L. English, Ruth Carrico, Paula Peyrani, Julio A. Ramirez

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

Abstract

Background: Transmissibility of several etiologies of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) may vary based on outdoor climate factors. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of outdoor temperature, relative humidity, and absolute humidity on the incidence of hospitalizations for lower respiratory tract infections due to influenza, rhinovirus, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of an ancillary study of the Community Acquired Pneumonia Organization (CAPO) database. Respiratory viruses were detected using the Luminex xTAG respiratory viral panel. Climate factors were obtained from the National Weather Service. Adjusted Poisson regression models with robust …

Predicting 30-Day Mortality In Hospitalized Patients With Community-Acquired Pneumonia Using Statistical And Machine Learning Approaches, Timothy L. Wiemken, Stephen P. Furmanek, William A. Mattingly, Brian E. Guinn, Rodrigo Cavallazzi, Rafael Fernandez-Botran, Leslie A Wolf, Connor L. English, Julio A. Ramirez

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

Background: Predicting if a hospitalized patient with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) will or will not survive after admission to the hospital is important for research purposes as well as for institution of early patient management interventions. Although population-level mortality prediction scores for these patients have been around for many years, novel patient-level algorithms are needed. The objective of this study was to assess several statistical and machine learning models for their ability to predict 30-day mortality in hospitalized patients with CAP.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of the University of Louisville (UofL) Pneumonia Study database. Six different statistical and/or machine …

Financing Of International Collective Action For Epidemic And Pandemic Preparedness., Gavin Yamey, Marco Schäferhoff, Ole Kristian Aars, Barry Bloom, Dennis Carroll, Mukesh Chawla, Victor Dzau, Ricardo Echalar, Indermit Singh Gill, Tore Godal, Sanjeev Gupta, Dean Jamison, Patrick Kelley, Frederik Kristensen, Ceci Mundaca-Shah, Ben Oppenheim, Julie Pavlin, Rodrigo Salvado, Peter Sands, Rocio Schmunis, Agnes Soucat, Lawrence H Summers, Anas El Turabi, Ron Waldman, Ed Whiting

Global Health Faculty Publications

The global pandemic response has typically followed cycles of panic followed by neglect. We are now, once again, in a phase of neglect, leaving the world highly vulnerable to massive loss of life and economic shocks from natural or human-made epidemics and pandemics. Quantifying the size of the losses caused by large-scale outbreaks is challenging because the epidemiological and economic research in this field is still at an early stage. Research on the 1918 influenza H1N1 pandemic and recent epidemics and pandemics has shown a range of estimated losses (panel).^{1; 2; 3; 4; …}

Detection Of Healthcare-Associated Infectious Disease Outbreaks With A Special Look At Clostridium Difficile Infection In Long-Term Care Facilities, Almea Matanock

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality and a public health priority. However, standard procedures and comprehensive guidelines for HAI outbreak detection and response are still needed. This hybrid thesis describes what is known about HAI outbreaks in the introduction, reviews the HAI outbreaks reported to New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH), in the first paper, and then in the second paper examines how established methods for detecting infectious disease outbreaks perform in identifying Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) outbreaks in long-term care facilities (LTCF) in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, and finally, it closes with our overall …

Geospatial And Negative Binomial Regression Analysis Of Culex Nigripalpus, Culex Erraticus, Coquillettidia Perturbans, And Aedes Vexans Counts And Precipitation And Land Use Land Cover Covariates In Polk County, Florida, Joshua P. Wright

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although mosquito monitoring systems in the form of dry-ice bated CDC light traps and sentinel chickens are used by mosquito control personnel in Polk County, Florida, the placement of these are random and do not necessarily reflect prevalent areas of vector mosquito populations. This can result in significant health, economic, and social impacts during disease outbreaks. Of these vector mosquitoes Culex nigripalpus, Culex erraticus, Coquillettidia perturbans, and Aedes vexans are present in Polk County and known to transmit multiple diseases, posing a public health concern. This study seeks to evaluate the effect of Land use Land cover …

Cohort Profile: Seek, Test, Treat And Retain United States Criminal Justice Cohort., Redonna Chandler, Michael S Gordon, Bridget Kruszka, Lauren N Strand, Frederick L Altice, Irene Kuo, +Several Additional Authors

Epidemiology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: The STTR treatment cascade provides a framework for research aimed at improving the delivery of services, care and outcomes of PLWH. The development of effective approaches to increase HIV diagnoses and engage PLWH in subsequent steps of the treatment cascade could lead to earlier and sustained ART treatment resulting in viral suppression. There is an unmet need for research applying the treatment cascade to improve outcomes for those with criminal justice involvement.

METHODS: The Seek, Test, Treat, and Retain (STTR) criminal justice (CJ) cohort combines data from 11 studies across the HIV treatment cascade that focused on persons involved …

Serious Mental Illness Among Young Adult Women Who Use Drugs In The Club Scene: Co-Occurring Biopsychosocial Factors, Maayan Lawental, Hilary L. Surratt, Mance E. Buttram, Steven P. Kurtz

Center for Health Services Research Faculty Publications

Young women who regularly attend nightclubs are at risk for numerous health and social consequences, including mental distress, sexual and physical victimization and substance dependence. This paper uses a biopsychosocial framework to examine co-occurring mental health problems, victimization, substance dependence, sexual risk and physical pain among a sample of young women who use drugs (N = 222) in Miami’s club scene. The majority of women were under 24 years old, Hispanic, and identified as heterosexual. Almost all the women reported past 90-day use of alcohol, ecstasy/MDMA, marijuana, cocaine and prescription opioids and benzodiazepines; 32% of women reported being in a …

The Healing Power Of A Whole Foods, Plant-Based Diet: A Nutrition Prescription For Cancer, Meghan Adelman Mrs.

Master's Projects and Capstones

Chronic disease is quickly overtaking infectious diseases as one of the biggest threats to population health worldwide (Egger, 2012). Studies have shown that plant based diets are effective at reducing prevalence but are also a viable complimentary treatment approach to healing. Further investigation is needed into how plant based diets can reduce risk of recurrence, specifically as it relates to a cancer diagnosis. The Ceres Project is an organization that provides a healing foods philosophy to the care of cancer patients through meal delivery programs at low to no cost. The aim of this research study was to implement the …

The Effect Of Bundled Interventions On Prevention Of Hospital Acquired Clostridium Difficile Infection, Kaitlin Kendys

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) rates have steadily increased in hospitalized patients due to the change in epidemiology. Approximately 13 of every 1,000 inpatients are either infected or colonized with C. difficile (CDC, 2013). CDI rates continue to rise due to the hyper-virulent strain of C. difficile and length of therapy needed to treat CDI. The average cost for a single inpatient CDI is more than $35,000, and the estimated annual cost burden for the healthcare system exceeds $3 billion (Walsh, 2012). The purpose of this evidence-based project (EBP) was to reduce hospital-acquired CDI rates over a 3-month period-oftime from November …

Zika Virus-Like Particle (Vlp) Based Vaccine, Héléne Boigard, Alexandra Alimova, George R. Martin, Al Katz, Paul Gottlieb, Jose M. Galarza

Publications and Research

The newly emerged mosquito-borne Zika virus poses a major public challenge due to its ability to cause significant birth defects and neurological disorders. The impact of sexual transmission is unclear but raises further concerns about virus dissemination. No specific treatment or vaccine is currently available, thus the development of a safe and effective vaccine is paramount. Here we describe a novel strategy to assemble Zika virus-like particles (VLPs) by co-expressing the structural (CprME) and non-structural (NS2B/NS3) proteins, and demonstrate their effectiveness as vaccines. VLPs are produced in a suspension culture of mammalian cells and self-assembled into particles closely resembling Zika …

New Outpatient Experience Survey Design: A Quality Improvement Case Study, Nathan Paluso

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

The purpose of this capstone project is to evaluate the implementation process for a new survey methodology introduced by Maine Medical Partners (MMP), by following the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) quality improvement cycle framework. This new survey has been implemented to collect data on patients’ experiences in the MMP outpatient facilities, and is offered to the patients via iPad at check-out after their appointment. Through observation at MMP practices and MMP staff interviews, strengths and weaknesses of the implementation process have been identified. Evidence-based solutions pertaining to the identified weaknesses have been selected through a literature review and are incorporated in recommendations …

What’S New With The Flu?, Boriana Marintcheva

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

Hiv In New York City: An Overview Of Cultural And Social Factors Contributing To An Individual's Decision To Disclose Their Disease Status, Lindsey Riback

Public Health Undergraduate Program

will examine what effect cultural norms surrounding race and sexual orientation, as well as four specific social factors (alcohol use during sex, injection drug use, social support and the importance of religion) have on whether an HIV positive individual, specifically an urban homosexual male, chooses to disclose their disease status. This paper will discuss those cultural norms and social factors through the AIDS Risk Reduction Model, available literature, and the data collected by the National Institute of Mental Health for the Positive Connections intervention trial. The data for this paper were pulled from the larger study, and only the 171 …

Making Sex Work For The State : The Policing Of Sex Work In The United States., Madeline A Clabough

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

This thesis analyzes the ways that sex work is regulated within the United States, and analyze the ways that regulation is shaped by contemporary feminist discourse. To do so, it analyzes the ways in which sex workers have been and pathologized since the 19th century, and address the ways that these conceptualizations have been incorporated into the legal regulation of sex workers. Finally, this thesis will look to contemporary practices in the state regulation of sex workers, and argue that the relationship between neoliberalism, the carceral state, and what has come to be termed “carceral feminism” operate in conjunction to …

Tuberculosis And Risk Of Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis, Moises A. Huaman, Richard J. Kryscio, Carl J. Fichtenbaum, David Henson, Elizabeth G. Salt, Timothy R. Sterling, Beth A. Garvy

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

Several pathogens have been associated with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Whether this occurs with Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection is unclear. We assessed if tuberculosis disease increased the risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We identified patients with tuberculosis index claims from a large de-identified database of ~15 million adults enrolled in a U.S. commercial insurance policy between 2008 and 2010. Tuberculosis patients were 1:1 matched to patients without tuberculosis claims using propensity scores. We compared the occurrence of index AMI claims between the tuberculosis and non-tuberculosis cohorts using Kaplan–Meier curves and Cox Proportional Hazard models. Data on 2026 patients with …

Clinician-Parent Discussions About Influenza Vaccination Of Children And Their Association With Vaccine Acceptance, Annika M. Hofstetter, Jeffrey D. Robinson, Katherine Lepere, Morgan Cunningham, Nicole Etsekson, Douglas J. Opel

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective: To examine how clinicians communicate with parents about influenza vaccination and the effect of these communication behaviors on parental vaccine decision-making.

Study Design: We performed a secondary analysis of data obtained from a cross-sectional observational study in which health supervision visits between pediatric clinicians and English-speaking parents of young children were videotaped. Eligible visits occurred during the 2011-2012 and 2013-2014 influenza seasons, included children ≥ 6 months, and contained an influenza vaccine discussion. A coding scheme of 10 communication behaviors was developed and applied to each visit. Associations between clinician communication behaviors and parental verbal vaccine acceptance …