Digital Commons Network^™

Rapidiron Trial Follow-Up Study - The Rapidiron-Kids Study: Protocol Of A Prospective Observational Follow-Up Study, Richard Derman, Roopa Bellad, Mrutyunjaya Bellad, Jesse Bradford-Rogers, Michael Georgieff, Zubair Aghai, Simal Thind, Michael Auerbach, Rupsa Boelig, Benjamin Leiby, Vanessa Short, S. Yogeshkumar, Umesh Charantimath, Manjunath Somannavar, Ashalata Mallapur, Ramesh Pol, Umesh Ramadurg, Radha Sangavi, Basavaraj Peerapur, Nasima Banu, Praveen Patil, Amaresh Patil, Subarna Roy, Phaniraj Vastrad, Dennis Wallace, Hemang Shah, Shivaprasad Goudar

Global Health Articles

BACKGROUND: Anemia is a worldwide problem with iron deficiency being the most common cause. When anemia occurs in pregnancy, it increases the risk of adverse maternal, fetal, and postnatal outcomes. It induces preterm births and low birth weight (LBW) deliveries, long-term neurodevelopmental sequelae, and an increased risk of earlier onset of postnatal iron deficiency. Anemia rates are among the highest in South Asia, and India's National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) for 2019-2021 indicated that over half of pregnant women, and more than 65% of children, in the country are classified as anemic (Sciences IIfP, National Family Health Survey-5, 2019-21, India …

Biomarkers Of Affective Dysregulation Associated With In Utero Exposure To Etoh, Nune Darbinian, Nana Merabova, Gabriel Tatevosian, Mary Morrison, Armine Darbinyan, Huaqing Zhao, Laura Goetzl, Michael Edgar Selzer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) exhibit behavioral and affective dysregulation, including hyperactivity and depression. The mechanisms are not known, but they could conceivably be due to postnatal social or environmental factors. However, we postulate that, more likely, the affective dysregulation is associated with the effects of EtOH exposure on the development of fetal serotonergic (5-HT) and/or dopaminergic (DA) pathways, i.e., pathways that in postnatal life are believed to regulate mood. Many women who use alcohol (ethanol, EtOH) during pregnancy suffer from depression and take selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which might influence these monoaminergic pathways in the …

Partnering With The Old Order Mennonites In The Finger Lakes Region Of New York State To Identify The Mechanisms Of Protective Immunity Against Atopic Disease Development, Alexandra N. Kaplan, Camille A. Martina, Elizabeth R. Catlin, John Looney, Kirsi M. Järvinen

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

Old Order Mennonites (OOM) follow a traditional agrarian lifestyle; key aspects include home births, large families, limited antibiotic usage, consumption of whole foods and unpasteurized milk, and early exposure to soil, stables, and farm animals. There is evidence that a farming lifestyle protects against asthma and allergies, yet the biological mechanisms behind this protective effect remain unknown. The “Zooming into Old Order Mennonites” (ZOOM) cohort study was established to further explore protective factors and mechanisms. This study compares immune development among OOM children from the Finger Lakes Region of New York to those residing 65 miles northwest in Rochester, NY. …

Assessing The Attitudes And Perceptions Of The Old Order Amish Toward Genetic Testing For Familial Defective Apolipoprotein B-100, Erin Sutcliffe, Laura J. Conway, Alan Shuldiner, Toni Pollin

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

Through a founder effect, one in eight Lancaster County, PA, Amish harbors the pathogenic APOB variant R3527Q, causing Familial Defective Apolipoprotein B-100 (FDB) that is rare in the general population. Affected individuals are at increased risk for high low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels and cardiovascular disease and may benefit from early screening and treatment. A qualitative interview approach was used to investigate the genetic risk perceptions of the Amish and their attitudes towards genetic testing for FDB. The goal was to identify elements necessary for a successful program that would identify high risk individuals in the Lancaster County Amish …

Meta-Analysis Of The Rate Of Unplanned Pregnancies In Rural Areas Of The United States And The Use Of Technology-Based Sexual Education Programs, Hannah Audiss, Justin M. Gambini

Doctor of Medical Science (DMSc)

Objective

To discuss rural-urban disparities of adolescent unplanned pregnancies and sexual education availability. The potential of virtual sexual education programs are discussed by examining two studies that have used technology-based interventions to assess variables related to pregnancy prevention.

Data Sources

A review was conducted by gathering randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews utilizing databases such as ScienceDirect, PubMed and Wiley Online Library. Research articles included in this paper were from 1995 to present day and are inclusive of all races.

Study Eligibility Criteria

Studies were included if the interventions worked with young adolescents ages 13-24 year old, utilized technology-based interventions …

Feasibility Of Using Podcasts For Knowledge Dissemination To Reduce Health Disparities For Women Targeting Preventative Initiatives And Lifestyle Medicine Interventions, Kristin Stovern

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Project

The purpose of this feasibility project was to look at podcasts to shed light on the issues that affect the well-being of women with gender-based disparities in healthcare. Women face persistent obstacles when it comes to the quality of healthcare they receive. One of the barriers that has been ever-present is with failure of the medical system to rigorously study the effects of diseases and drugs on women or to fund studies on women’s health conditions. Implicit biases and lack of access to care inhibit the quality of healthcare. Collectively, these issues result in unnecessary sickness, disability, and decreased quality …

Lifestyle Behaviors Before And After Diagnosis Of Type 2 Diabetes: Findings From The Nurses’ Health Studies, Amelia E. Roebuck

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Short- and long-term changes in diet or physical activity in relation to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and factors associated with behavior change with adequate inclusion of relevant confounding and effect-modifying variables have been minimally explored. The objective of this research was to examine changes in diet and physical activity following a diagnosis of T2DM and identify sociodemographic, medical, psychosocial, and lifestyle factors associated with changes in dietary or physical activity behaviors. This dissertation utilized two prospective cohorts of U.S. female nurses participating in the Nurses’ Health Study (1976-2016) and Nurses’ Health Study II (1989-2017). Linear mixed effects modeling was …

Plants As Vectors For Environmental Prion Transmission, Christina M Carlson, Samuel Thomas, Matthew W Keating, Paulina Soto, Nicole M Gibbs, Haeyoon Chang, Jamie K Wiepz, Annabel G Austin, Jay R Schneider, Rodrigo Morales, Christopher J Johnson, Joel A Pedersen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Prions cause fatal neurodegenerative diseases and exhibit remarkable durability, which engenders a wide array of potential exposure scenarios. In chronic wasting disease of deer, elk, moose, and reindeer and in scrapie of sheep and goats, prions are transmitted via environmental routes and the ability of plants to accumulate and subsequently transmit prions has been hypothesized, but not previously demonstrated. Here, we establish the ability of several crop and other plant species to take up prions via their roots and translocate them to above-ground tissues from various growth media including soils. We demonstrate that plants can accumulate prions in above-ground tissues …

Dna Methylation-Based Epigenetic Biomarkers In Cell-Type Deconvolution And Tumor Tissue Of Origin Identification, Ze Zhang

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification that regulates gene expression and is essential to establishing and preserving cellular identity. Genome-wide DNA methylation arrays provide a standardized and cost-effective approach to measuring DNA methylation. When combined with a cell-type reference library, DNA methylation measures allow the assessment of underlying cell-type proportions in heterogeneous mixtures. This approach, known as DNA methylation deconvolution or methylation cytometry, offers a standardized and cost-effective method for evaluating cell-type proportions. While this approach has succeeded in discerning cell types in various human tissues like blood, brain, tumors, skin, breast, and buccal swabs, the existing methods have major …

Toxic Fashion: Evaluation Of Chemicals In Clothing And Recommendations For The Amended Tsca, Gregory Zajac

Master's Projects and Capstones

The fashion industry is one of the largest polluting industries in the world and its rising environmental impact is partly due to the dominance of fast fashion business models. Recently researchers and advocates have found that large amounts of chemicals are used by textile manufacturers to produce clothing, some proven to be toxic in other applications. The risk of exposure to these classes of chemicals is a growing concern. With the risk management model, a qualitative examination was conducted on existing policies in the United States that regulate chemicals used by the industry. Despite some policy changes regarding chemical exposure …

Validity And Reliability Of The Persian Version Of The Suboptimal Health Status Questionnaire Among University Staff In Iran, Erfan Ayubi, Salman Khazaei, Shiva Borzouei, Ali R. Soltanian, Samereh Ghelichkhani, Fatemeh Karbin, Yuxiang Yan, Manshu Song, Cuihong Tian, Wei Zhang, Jing Sun, Wei Wang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Suboptimal Health Status Questionnaire-25 (SHSQ-25) is an established tool for measuring a precision health state between health and illness. The present study aims to assess the validity and reliability of a Persian version of SHSQ-25 (P-SHSQ-25) in a university staff Iranian population. Methods: A sample of 316 academic and supporting staff (163 males, age range from 23 to 64 years old) from Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran was recruited in this population-based cross-sectional study with a questionnaire validation from Apri1 to October 2022. Forward-backward translation method was performed for the SHSQ-25 translation from English to Persian. Internal …

Association Of Covid-19 Coinfection With Increased Mortality Among Patients With Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Bloodstream Infection In The Veterans Health Administration System, Leila S. Hojat, Brigid M. Wilson, Federico Perez, Maria F. Mojica, Mendel E. Singer, Robert A. Bonomo

Faculty Scholarship

Objective: Pseudomonas aeruginosa bloodstream infection (PA-BSI) and COVID-19 are independently associated with high mortality. We sought to demonstrate the impact of COVID-19 coinfection on patients with PA-BSI. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Veterans Health Administration. Patients: Hospitalized patients with PA-BSI in pre-COVID-19 (January 2009 to December 2019) and COVID-19 (January 2020 to June 2022) periods. Patients in the COVID-19 period were further stratified by the presence or absence of concomitant COVID-19 infection. Methods: We characterized trends in resistance, treatment, and mortality over the study period. Multivariable logistic regression and modified Poisson analyses were used to determine the association between COVID-19 …

Gatekeeping At Bio, Daniel A Gorelick

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Timigp: An R Package To Depict The Tumor Microenvironment From Bulk Transcriptomics, Chenyang Li, Jianjun Zhang, Chao Cheng

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Exploring the clinical relevance of diverse immune cell types within the tumor microenvironment is pivotal for unraveling cancer intricacies and developing treatments. Here, we present a protocol for using tumor immune microenvironment illustration based on gene pairs, an R package to deduce cell-cell interactions, unveiling the association between immune cell relative abundance and patient prognoses from bulk gene expression and survival data. We describe steps for harnessing cell-type markers derived from single-cell RNA sequencing data to map the tumor immune microenvironment across a spectrum of cancer types. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer …

Développement De Méthodes Analytiques Pour Les Composés Organiques Volatils Microbiens (Covm) Dans Les Matrices Biologiques : Vers L’Évaluation Des Covm Comme Biomarqueurs D’Exposition Aux Moisissures, Badr El Aroussi, Sarah Tabbal, Wissam Berkane, Michèle Bouchard, Geneviève Marchand, Sami Haddad

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Préalablement, vingt composés organiques volatils microbiens (COVM), avec un potentiel d’être utilisés comme biomarqueurs de contamination et d’exposition aux moisissures en milieu de travail, avaient été identifiés, en considérant plusieurs paramètres, comprenant l’intérêt pour la santé des espèces de moisissures, l’occurrence d’émission ainsi que les paramètres physicochimiques et pharmacocinétiques.

Dans la présente étude, de nouvelles méthodes analytiques, pour mesurer simultanément 21 COVM incluant ceux identifiés préalablement dans les matrices biologiques et l’air ambiant, en se basant sur les techniques H-SPME-GC-MS/MS (sang et urine) et TD-GCMS/MS (exhalât et air ambiant), ont été développées et validés. Celles-ci ont exhibé des performances analytiques …

Policy Review And Recommendation For Secondary Education Np-Led Clinics In The Southeastern United States, Shiney Alex Jacob

Student Scholarly Projects

Secondary-level education involves adolescent children aged 11-12 years to 18-19 with unique healthcare needs. Their healthcare is of significant importance as they are transitioning to adulthood, and a majority of them lack access to primary healthcare needs. Advanced Practice Registered Nurses/Nurse Practitioners (APRNs/NPs) provide high-quality, cost-effective, and evidence-based care to people across the lifespan, and there is minimal utilization of their services in meeting the primary care needs of adolescents at the secondary school level. The purpose of the policy project was to determine if current policies and practices related to school health services in three southeastern states of the …

Study Protocol For A Randomized Controlled Trial Of Realconsent2.0: A Web‑Based Intervention To Promote Prosocial Alcohol‑Involved Bystander Behavior In Young Men, Laura F. Salazar, Dominic J. Parrott, David Dilillo, Sarah J. Gervais, Anne Marie Schipani‑Mclaughlin, Ruschelle Leone, Kevin Swartout, Lauren Simpson, Renita Moore, Tiffany Wilson, Nyla Flowers, Haley Church, Amanda Baildon

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Background Sexual violence (SV) is a significant, global public health problem, particularly among young adults. Promising interventions exist, including prosocial bystander intervention programs that train bystanders to intervene in situations at-risk for SV. However, these programs suffer from critical weaknesses: (1) they do not address the proximal effect of alcohol use on bystander decision-making and (2) they rely on self-report measures to evaluate outcomes. To overcome these limitations, we integrate new content specific to alcohol use within the context of prosocial bystander intervention into an existing, evidence-based program, RealConsent1.0. The resulting program, RealConsent2.0, aims to facilitate bystander behavior …

The Dose-Response Effect Of Aerobic Exercise On Inflammation In Colon Cancer Survivors, Justin C. Brown, Stephanie L.E. Compton, Jeffrey A. Meyerhardt, Guillaume Spielmann, Shengping Yang

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Background; Physical activity after surgical resection for colon cancer is associated with significantly longer disease-free survival. Inflammation is hypothesized to mediate the association between physical activity and disease-free survival in colon cancer. Methods; In this exploratory analysis of a randomized dose-response trial, 39 colon cancer survivors who completed standard therapy were stratified by cancer stage and randomized in a 1;1;1 ratio to one of three treatment groups for 24 weeks of usual-care control, 150 min/wk of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (low-dose), or 300 min/wk of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (high-dose). Inflammation outcomes included high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL6), and soluble tumor …

Relation Of Salivary Alpha-Amylase (Saa) Concentration To Fatigue Biomarkers In Palm Oil Office Workers In Jambi Province: Preliminary Study, David Kusmawan, Willia Novita Eka Rini, Wahyu Indah Dewi Aurora

Makara Journal of Science

The salivary α-amylase (sAA) concentration has a potential role as a biological indicator of occupational fatigue. This study aimed to determine the levels of sAA and its influencing factors. This research used a cross-sectional design with a sample of 40 office staff respondents at PT. X (Persero). Mental workload (MWL), sleep quality, and occupational fatigue were measured using the NASA-Total Load Index (TLX), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Industrial Fatigue Research Committee, respectively. Meanwhile, the basic sAA levels was measured through the sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method using the Bioenzy® Kit Assay. Descriptive analysis showed that the workers were mostly …

The Dna Glycosylase Neil2 Is Protective During Sars-Cov-2 Infection, Nisha Tapryal, Anirban Chakraborty, Kaushik Saha, Azharul Islam, Lang Pan, Koa Hosoki, Ibrahim M Sayed, Jason M Duran, Joshua Alcantara, Vanessa Castillo, Courtney Tindle, Altaf H Sarker, Maki Wakamiya, Victor J Cardenas, Gulshan Sharma, Laura E Crotty Alexander, Sanjiv Sur, Debashis Sahoo, Gourisankar Ghosh, Soumita Das, Pradipta Ghosh, Istvan Boldogh, Tapas K Hazra

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

SARS-CoV-2 infection-induced aggravation of host innate immune response not only causes tissue damage and multiorgan failure in COVID-19 patients but also induces host genome damage and activates DNA damage response pathways. To test whether the compromised DNA repair capacity of individuals modulates the severity of COVID-19 infection, we analyze DNA repair gene expression in publicly available patient datasets and observe a lower level of the DNA glycosylase NEIL2 in the lungs of severely infected COVID-19 patients. This observation of lower NEIL2 levels is further validated in infected patients, hamsters and ACE2 receptor-expressing human A549 (A549-ACE2) cells. Furthermore, delivery of recombinant …

Opportunities For Mental Health Interventions In Rural Mississippi Communities During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Quantitative Analysis, Brice Fortinberry

Theses and Dissertations

COVID-19 presented unique challenges for rural Mississippi communities including impacts on the mental health of rural individuals. This research study aimed to identify opportunities for mental health interventions to provide health promotion professionals with quantitative data on the accessibility and the likelihood of engagement with mental health-fostering behaviors. A secondary objective of this research was to categorize these behaviors within the constructs of the Social Ecological Model. Demographics for rural Mississippi communities were collected and displayed, and using multivariate analyses including Spearman’s correlation and a Mann-Whitney U test the correlation between mental health fostering behaviors and demographic factors was obtained. …

Championing Awareness Of The Opioid Epidemic Through A Service-Learning Module For Non-Stem Biology Majors, Ryleigh Fleming, Sarah J. Adkins, Marco Esteban, Cinnamin Cross, Amy Hutson Chatham, Samiksha A. Raut

APC Fund

Over 50,000 people die annually from opioid overdoses in the United States leading to what has become known as the “opioid epidemic.” This is of heightened concern in states like Alabama that experience higher rates of overall drug use and overdose deaths. Thus, it is increasingly important for college students in Alabama to learn about how the opioid epidemic is affecting their communities. Previous studies have demonstrated that engaging non-majors in innovative active-learning oriented pedagogies like service-learning can enhance their understanding and awareness about contemporary societal issues. Despite its pedagogical potential, the impact of opioid-related service-learning, particularly for non-majors, continues …

Addressing Resource Constraints For Alzheimer’S Dementia Patients And Caregivers In The Global South: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Zaheen Rashed '24

Student Research

There are two main focuses of this paper: to address the care that AD patients in countries with few healthcare resources receive and to explore the experiences of familial caregivers who care for these patients. This thesis will investigate issues including access to the education required to administer informed care, who is ultimately responsible for caring for AD patients in countries with few health facilities, and the lack of resources that is apparent in countries that do not have AD specialists or clinics. This paper will pinpoint the root issue in treating AD patients globally to serve as the first …

Chromosome 10q2432 Variants Associate With Brain Arterial Diameters In Diverse Populations: A Genome-Wide Association Study, Minghua Liu, Farid Khasiyev, Sanjeev Sariya, Antonio Spagnolo-Allende, Danurys L Sanchez, Howard Andrews, Qiong Yang, Alexa Beiser, Ye Qiao, Emy A Thomas, Jose Rafael Romero, Tatjana Rundek, Adam M Brickman, Jennifer J Manly, Mitchell Sv Elkind, Sudha Seshadri, Christopher Chen, Saima Hilal, Bruce A Wasserman, Giuseppe Tosto, Myriam Fornage, Jose Gutierrez

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Brain arterial diameters (BADs) are novel imaging biomarkers of cerebrovascular disease, cognitive decline, and dementia. Traditional vascular risk factors have been associated with BADs, but whether there may be genetic determinants of BADs is unknown.

Methods and results: The authors studied 4150 participants from 6 geographically diverse population-based cohorts (40% European, 14% African, 22% Hispanic, 24% Asian ancestries). Brain arterial diameters for 13 segments were measured and averaged to obtain a global measure of BADs as well as the posterior and anterior circulations. A genome-wide association study revealed 14 variants at one locus associated with global BAD at genome-wide …

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: Age, Disease Stage, And Patient-Reported Quality Of Life, Sheila Jagers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Pesticide Spray Season And Residential Proximity To Agriculture On Glyphosate Exposure Among Pregnant People In Southern Idaho, 2021, Cynthia L. Curl, Carly Hyland, Meredith Spivak, Lianne Sheppard, Bruce Lanphear, Michael N. Antoniou, Maria Ospina, Antonia M. Calafat

Public and Population Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Glyphosate is one of the most heavily used pesticides in the world, but little is known about sources of glyphosate exposure in pregnant people living in agricultural regions.

Objective: Our objective was to evaluate glyphosate exposure during pregnancy in relation to residential proximity to agriculture as well as agricultural spray season.

Methods: We quantified glyphosate concentrations in 453 urine samples collected biweekly from a cohort of 40 pregnant people in southern Idaho from February through December 2021. We estimated each participant’s glyphosate exposure as the geometric mean (GM) of glyphosate concentrations measured in all samples (average n = 11 …

Environmental Exposures And Aging., Daniel Chris Gomes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, research into air pollution has shown that exposure to certain components in air pollution, primarily PM2.5 can accelerate biological aging and thereby lead to increased susceptibility to multiple diseases. We hypothesize that prolonged exposure to air pollutants can result in premature aging leading to extensive tissue dysfunction and susceptibility to diseases. To examine this, we exposed mice to PM2.5 for 9, 15, and 21 days, then measured the telomere lengths, cellular senescence, and histone methylation patterns of multiple cell types. We found consistently increased telomere attrition, cellular senescence and advanced age-consistent histone methylation patterns in groups exposed …

Genetic Risk Scores For Hypertension And Chronic Kidney Disease In African Americans., Aastha Kakar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hypertension (HT) and chronic kidney diseases (CKD) are complex conditions, disproportionally prevalent among African Americans (AA) and are influenced by multiple genetic as well as environmental factors. Genetic risk scores (GRS) enable the analysis of the combined effects of multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). This study investigates the association of blood pressure (BP) and CKD GRS with BP, hypertension (HT) and CKD; early-onset HT and CKD; and investigates interactions of the GRSs with environmental measures in AA. We observed a significant association between the BP-GRS with HT, SBP and DBP. The odds of HT for one standard deviation (s.d.) increase …

Providing Optimal Resident Sleep Hygiene In Assisted Living Communities; Opportunities For Design And Operation Teams To Collaborate And Share Their Unique Knowledge, Beverly B. J. Miller

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Research is emerging relating sleep hygiene to disease pathogenesis including Parkinson's, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and increased cardiovascular risk. The application of circadian science as it relates to human wellness has intensified as a result. The quality of sleep significantly impacts the wellness of residents living in long term care, however sleep hygiene research is lacking in assisted living (AL) communities.

The thesis question inquires; How can operation and design teams collaborate to optimize sleep health for residents in assisted living communities? The research methodology utilized a two-phase process. Phase I identified three AL communities as test sites, providing case studies …

Cancer Disparities In Southeast Asia: Intersectionality And A Call To Action, Erin Jay G. Feliciano, Frances Dominique V. Ho, Kaisin Yee, Joseph A. Paguio, Michelle Ann B. Eala, Janine Patricia G. Robredo, Kenrick Ng, Jasmine Lim, Khin Thuzar Pyone, Catherine A. Peralta, Jerickson Abbie Flores, J. Seth Yao, Patricia Mae G. Santos, Christian Daniel U. Ang, Gideon Lasco, Jeffrey Shi Kai Chan, Gary Tse, Enrico D. Tangco, T. Peter Kingham, Imjai Chitapanarux, Nirmala Bhoo-Pathy, Gerardo D. Legaspi, Edward Christopher Dee

Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health Publications

No abstract provided.