Digital Commons Network^™

Highly Variable Timing Renders Immunotherapy Efficacy And Toxicity Impractical Biomarkers Of One Another In Clinical Practice, Mitchell S Von Itzstein, Yuqiu Yang, Yiqing Wang, David Hsiehchen, Thomas Y Sheffield, Farjana Fattah, Vinita Popat, Murtaza Ahmed, Jade Homsi, Jonathan E Dowell, Sawsan Rashdan, Jay Lohrey, Hans J Hammers, Randall S Hughes, Tao Wang, Yang Xie, David E Gerber

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: A useful clinical biomarker requires not only association but also a consistent temporal relationship. For instance, chemotherapy-induced neutropenia and epidermal growth-factor inhibitor-related acneiform rash both occur within weeks of treatment initiation, thereby providing information prior to efficacy assessment. Although immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-associated immune-related adverse events (irAE) have been associated with therapeutic benefit, irAE may have delayed and highly variable onset. To determine whether ICI efficacy and irAE could serve as clinically useful biomarkers for predicting each other, we determined the temporal relationship between initial efficacy assessment and irAE onset in a diverse population treated with ICI.

Methods: Using …

Innovations In Molecular Biomarkers And Biomaterial-Based Immunotherapies For Head & Neck Cancer, Sarah Anne Wong, Victoria A Manon, Simon Young, Chi T Viet

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose of review: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) survival rates have remained stagnant due to a lack of targeted therapies and diagnostic tools. Patient risk is currently determined solely through clinicopathologic features, primarily tumor staging, which lacks the necessary precision to stratify patients by risk and accurately dictate adjuvant treatment. Similarly, conventional OSCC therapies have well-established toxicities and limited efficacy.

Recent findings: Recent studies show that patient risk can now be assessed using non-invasive techniques, at earlier time points, and with greater accuracy using molecular biomarker panels. Additionally, novel immunotherapies not only utilize the host's immune response to combat disease …

Accelerate Vaccine Development Using Seamless Phase 2/3 Trial Designs, Jia-Ying Yang, Guo-Chun Li, Ying Yuan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Traditional vaccine development, often a lengthy and costly process of three separated phases. However, the swift development of COVID-19 vaccines highlighted the critical importance of accelerating the approval of vaccines. This article showcases a seamless phase 2/3 trial design to expedite the development process, particularly for multi-valent vaccines.

Research design and methods: This study utilizes simulation to compare the performance of seamless phase 2/3 design with that of conventional trial design, specifically by re-envisioning a 9-valent HPV vaccine trial. Across three cases, several key performance metrics are evaluated: overall power, type I error rate, average sample size, trial duration, …

Nontuberculosis Mycobacteria (Ntm) Infections In Patients With Leukemia: A Single Center Case Series, Jennifer Marvin-Peek, Koji Sasaki, Dimitrios P Kontoyiannis, Javier Adachi, Maro Ohanian, Koichi Takahashi, Ghayas C Issa, Steven Kornblau, Hussein A Abbas

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Patients with leukemia experience profound immunosuppression both from their underlying disease as well as chemotherapeutic treatment. Little is known about the prevalence and clinical presentation of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in this patient population. We identified six cases of NTM infection from 29,743 leukemia patients who had acid-fast bacilli (AFB) cultures. Four cases had bloodstream infections and five had disseminated disease, including one who presented with an unusual case of diffuse cellulitis/myositis. All patients were lymphopenic at time of diagnosis, and two patients ultimately died from their NTM infection. NTM infections are a rare, but potentially life-threatening infection in patients with …

Emerging Therapeutic Options For Follicular-Derived Thyroid Cancer In The Era Of Immunotherapy, Naimah Turner, Sarah Hamidi, Rim Ouni, Rene Rico, Ying C Henderson, Maria Puche, Sayan Alekseev, Jocelynn G Colunga-Minutti, Mark E Zafereo, Stephen Y Lai, Sang T Kim, Maria E Cabanillas, Roza Nurieva

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Although most follicular-derived thyroid cancers are well differentiated and have an overall excellent prognosis following treatment with surgery and radioiodine, management of advanced thyroid cancers, including iodine refractory disease and poorly differentiated/undifferentiated subtypes, is more challenging. Over the past decade, better understanding of the genetic drivers and immune milieu of advanced thyroid cancers has led to significant progress in the management of these patients. Numerous targeted kinase inhibitors are now approved by the U.S Food and Drug administration (FDA) for the treatment of advanced, radioiodine refractory differentiated thyroid cancers (DTC) as well as anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC). Immunotherapy has also …

Influence Of Oral Microbiome On Longitudinal Patterns Of Oral Mucositis Severity In Patients With Squamous Cell Carcinoma Of The Head And Neck, Liangliang Zhang, Erin Marie D San Valentin, Teny M John, Robert R Jenq, Kim-Anh Do, Ehab Y Hanna, Christine B Peterson, Cielito C Reyes-Gibby

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: This study investigated the influence of oral microbial features on the trajectory of oral mucositis (OM) in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Methods: OM severity was assessed and buccal swabs were collected at baseline, at the initiation of cancer treatment, weekly during cancer treatment, at the termination of cancer treatment, and after cancer treatment termination. The oral microbiome was characterized via the 16S ribosomal RNA V4 region with the Illumina platform. Latent class mixed-model analysis was used to group individuals with similar trajectories of OM severity. Locally estimated scatterplot smoothing was used to fit …

Sample Multiplexing In Cytof: Path To Optimize Single-Cell Proteomic Profiling, Muharrem Muftuoglu, Michael Andreeff

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Sample multiplexing significantly enhanced the depth of single-cell proteomic analysis in CyTOF (Cytometry by Time-Of-Flight). New polymer-based chelators have broadened the utility of metal isotopes, enabling improved tagging and simultaneous analysis of multiple samples. These approaches minimize batch effects, streamline experiments, conserve valuable samples, reduce costs, enhance throughput, and increase the accuracy of biological data, thereby facilitating novel discoveries.

Endovascular Interventions In Cancer Patients With Compromise Of The Mediastinal Vasculature: A Review, Steven Yevich, Nicolas Cardenas, Rahul Sheth, Joshua Kuban, Milan Patel, Ketan Shah, Koustav Pal, Stephen R Chen, Alda Tam

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The mediastinal vasculature can be affected by various etiologies in cancer patients. Both direct and indirect sequela of cancer may result in life-threatening clinical presentations. Tumor growth may cause vessel narrowing and decreased blood flow from either extrinsic mass effect, invasion into the vascular wall, or tumor thrombus within the lumen. In addition, cancer patients are predisposed to indirect sequela to the mediastinal vasculature from an increased risk of benign thromboembolic events, tumor thrombus, or iatrogenic complications during cancer treatments. Benign thrombus may result in partial or complete occlusion of the superior vena cava (SVC) or pulmonary artery. Vascular damage …

Incidence And Impact Of Fungal Infections In Post-Transplantation Cyclophosphamide-Based Graft-Versus-Host Disease Prophylaxis And Haploidentical Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: A Center For International Blood And Marrow Transplant Research Analysis, Genovefa A Papanicolaou, Min Chen, Naya He, Michael J Martens, Soyoung Kim, Marjorie V Batista, Neel S Bhatt, Peiman Hematti, Joshua A Hill, Hongtao Liu, Sunita Nathan, Matthew D Seftel, Akshay Sharma, Edmund K Waller, John R Wingard, Jo-Anne H Young, Christopher E Dandoy, Miguel-Angel Perales, Roy F Chemaly, Marcie Riches, Celalettin Ustun

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Fungal infection (FI) after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Neutropenia, HLA mismatch, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and viral infections are risk factors for FI. The objectives of this Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research registry study were to compare the incidence and density of FI occurring within 180 days after HCT in matched sibling (Sib) transplants with either calcineurin inhibitor (CNI)-based or post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy)-based GVHD prophylaxis and related haploidentical transplants receiving PTCy, and to examine the impact of FI by day 180 on transplantation outcomes.

Methods: Patients who underwent their first …

Benign Disorders Of The Mediastinum: A Narrative Review, Saad Farooq, Sabiha Armin, Daniel Ocazionez, Rosa M Estrada-Y-Martin, Sujith V Cherian

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background and objective: There are several benign processes that affect the mediastinum with considerable morbidity that may range from reactive entities to neoplastic disorders. This review article will focus on non-neoplastic benign mediastinal diseases which include large vessel vasculitis such as Takayasu and giant cell arteritis, mediastinal granulomas, fibrosing mediastinitis and mediastinal infections. These diseases can cause significant morbidity and mortality; therefore, we aim to familiarize readers with the pathophysiology, epidemiology and diagnosis of these mediastinal diseases and provide an update on the treatment options available.

Methods: We searched various databases such as PubMed and Google Scholar from August 2023 …

Identifying Missing Is-A Relations In Snomed Ct With Fine-Tuned Pre-Trained Language Models And Non-Lattice Subgraphs, Xubing Hao, Rashmie Abeysinghe, Jay Shi, Guo-Qiang Zhang, Licong Cui

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Ensuring the completeness of IS-A relations in SNOMED CT is crucial for maintaining its accuracy in clinical applications. In this study, we propose a hybrid approach leveraging non-lattice subgraphs and pre-trained language models (PLMs) to identify missing IS-A relations in SNOMED CT. We fine-tuned four BERT-based models: BERT, DistillBERT, DeBERTa, and BioClinicalBERT, and four generative large language models (LLMs): BioMistral, Llama3, Gemma2, and Phi-4. Missing IS-A relations were identified through consensus predictions by all eight models. De-BERTa achieved the best performance (precision: 0.96, recall: 0.97, F1-score: 0.965) for IS-A relation prediction. Our approach identified 678 potential missing IS-A relations in …

Epidemiology Of Invasive Candidiasis, Derek J Bays, Emily N Jenkins, Meghan Lyman, Tom Chiller, Nora Strong, Luis Ostrosky-Zeichner, Martin Hoenigl, Peter G Pappas, George R Thompson Iii

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Invasive candidiasis (IC) is an increasingly prevalent, costly, and potentially fatal infection brought on by the opportunistic yeast, Candida. Previously, IC has predominantly been caused by C. albicans which is often drug susceptible. There has been a global trend towards decreasing rates of infection secondary to C. albicans and a rise in non-albicans species with a corresponding increase in drug resistance creating treatment challenges. With advances in management of malignancies, there has also been an increase in the population at risk from IC along with a corresponding increase in incidence of breakthrough IC infections. Additionally, the emergence of …

Measurement Of 8-Hydroxy-2′-Deoxyguanosine In Serum And Cerebrospinal Fluid Of Horses With Neuroaxonal Degeneration And Other Causes Of Proprioceptive Ataxia, Megan Palmisano, Jeaneen Kulp, Susan Bender, Darko Stefanovski, Mary Robinson, Amy Johnson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Eight-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), a biomarker of oxidative damage evaluated in human neurodegenerative disease, has potential to correlate with postmortem diagnosis of neuroaxonal dystrophy/degenerative myeloencephalopathy (NAD/DM) in horses.

HYPOTHESIS: We hypothesized that 8-OHdG will be higher in CSF and serum from NAD/DM horses compared with horses with other neurologic diseases (CVSM, EPM) and a control group of neurologically normal horses. We also hypothesized that 8-OHdG will be higher in CSF compared with serum from NAD/DM horses.

ANIMALS: Fifty client-owned horses with postmortem diagnoses: 20 NAD/DM, 10 CVSM, 10 EPM, and 10 control horses. Serum and CSF samples were obtained between November …

Measurement Of 8-Hydroxy-2′-Deoxyguanosine In Serum And Cerebrospinal Fluid Of Horses With Neuroaxonal Degeneration And Other Causes Of Proprioceptive Ataxia, Megan Palmisano, Jeaneen Kulp, Susan Bender, Darko Stefanovski, Mary Robinson, Amy Johnson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Eight-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), a biomarker of oxidative damage evaluated in human neurodegenerative disease, has potential to correlate with postmortem diagnosis of neuroaxonal dystrophy/degenerative myeloencephalopathy (NAD/DM) in horses.

HYPOTHESIS: We hypothesized that 8-OHdG will be higher in CSF and serum from NAD/DM horses compared with horses with other neurologic diseases (CVSM, EPM) and a control group of neurologically normal horses. We also hypothesized that 8-OHdG will be higher in CSF compared with serum from NAD/DM horses.

ANIMALS: Fifty client-owned horses with postmortem diagnoses: 20 NAD/DM, 10 CVSM, 10 EPM, and 10 control horses. Serum and CSF samples were obtained between November …

Outcomes Of Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding In Hospitalized Covid-19 Patients In The United States: A Propensity-Score Matched Analysis Of A Large National Database, Moon Ryu, Mohammed Quazi, Niloy Ghosh, Karthik Gangu, Amir H Sohail, Asif Farooq, Babu S Maringanti, Aman Goyal, Anupa Patel, Muhammad S Khan, Abu B Sheikh

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Patients with cirrhosis that are hospitalized with COVID-19 infection have been found to have worse outcomes. No comparative study has been conducted between gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding in patients with cirrhosis who are diagnosed with COVID-19. We utilized the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database to perform a retrospective analysis of 24, 050 patients diagnosed with cirrhosis and COVID-19. The identified patients were separated into variceal bleeding, nonvariceal bleeding, and no (or neither) GI bleeding groups. After performing propensity sample matching and multivariate analysis of mortality, we found no significant differences in mortality among the three groups. However, the variceal bleed group …

Biologic Complications Associated With Cylindrical Lead Spinal Cord Stimulator Implants: A Narrative Review, Peter D Vu, Dorina Pinkhasova, Zohal B Sarwary, Anush Rita Markaryan, Bakir Mousa, Omar Viswanath, Christopher L Robinson, Giustino Varrassi, Vwaire Orhurhu, Ivan Urits, Jamal Hasoon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose of review: Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a minimally invasive and reversible therapy for the treatment of severe neuropathic pain. There are several biologic complications that can arise during the implantation of SCS systems. This review aims to consolidate recent research on complications associated with SCS, specifically focusing on biologic complications.

Recent findings: Biologic complications are less frequently encountered compared to device-related complications but may have more severe consequences. Biologic complications covered in this review include infection, seromas, hematomas, dural puncture, nerve/spinal cord injury, and therapy habituation.

Conclusion: The application of SCS remains a viable and effective choice for …

Re-Evaluating The Gender Gap: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Of Accepted American Academy Of Neurology Annual Meeting Abstracts In 2020 And 2021, Minseon Kim, Youngran Kim, Anjail Z Sharrief, Thy P Nguyen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Prior studies reveal that invited speaker panels, editorial boards, authors of practice guidelines, and senior authors of published articles are disproportionately male in the neurology field. We aimed to analyze a gender gap in authorship of accepted abstracts to the American Academy of Neurology annual meetings in 2020 and 2021.

DESIGN/METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study evaluating the proportions of female first and senior abstract authors in 2020 and 2021. Abstracts were reviewed manually (

RESULTS: Accepted abstracts with female first and senior authors comprised 46%, 34% in 2020, and the same in 2021, without change. Female …

Updates Of The Role Of B-Cells In Ischemic Stroke, Silin Wu, Sidra Tabassum, Cole T Payne, Heng Hu, Aaron M Gusdon, Huimahn A Choi, Xuefang S Ren

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Ischemic stroke is a major disease causing death and disability in the elderly and is one of the major diseases that seriously threaten human health and cause a great economic burden. In the early stage of ischemic stroke, neuronal structure is destroyed, resulting in death or damage, and the release of a variety of damage-associated pattern molecules induces an increase in neuroglial activation, peripheral immune response, and secretion of inflammatory mediators, which further exacerbates the damage to the blood-brain barrier, exacerbates cerebral edema, and microcirculatory impairment, triggering secondary brain injuries. After the acute phase of stroke, various immune cells initiate …

Absolute Concentration Estimation Of Covid-19 Convalescent And Post-Vaccination Igg Antibodies, Melvin E Klegerman, Tao Peng, Ira Seferovich, Mohammad H Rahbar, Manouchehr Hessabi, Amirali Tahanan, Audrey Wanger, Carolyn Z Grimes, Luis Z Ostrosky-Zeichner, Kent Koster, Jeffrey D Cirillo, Dinuka Abeydeera, Steve De Lira, David D Mcpherson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Soon after commencement of the SARS-CoV-2 disease outbreak of 2019 (COVID-19), it became evident that the receptor-binding domain of the viral spike protein is the target of neutralizing antibodies that comprise a critical element of protective immunity to the virus. This study addresses the relative lack of information regarding actual antibody concentrations and binding affinities in convalescent plasma (CP) samples from COVID-19 patients and extends these analyses to post-vaccination (PV) samples to estimate protective IgG antibody (Ab) levels. A direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure IgG anti-spike protein (SP) antibodies (Abs) relative to human chimeric spike S1 …

Saprochaete Capitata Infection In Teen With Acute Myeloid Leukemia Receiving Echinocandin Prophylaxis, Jordan Killingsworth, Rachel Boren, Rachna Sheth, Michael L Chang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

We report a case of a 15-year-old with refractory and relapsed AML and profound prolonged neutropenia who developed a Saprochaete capitata disseminated invasive infection while on echinocandin prophylaxis for invasive fungal disease. Azole antifungal therapies, which are often used as prophylaxis, were initially avoided due to concerns for CYP drug interactions. Treatment with a combination of liposomal amphotericin B, voriconazole, and adjuvant granulocyte transfusions was successful as he awaited neutrophil recovery.

A One-Year Hospital System Review Of Plasma Next-Generation Sequencing In A Mixed Population, Ty C Drake, Jessica Babic, Audrey Wanger, Violeta Chavez

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: To describe the use of plasma next-generation sequencing (NGS) and determine if it provided additional information from routine tests or lead to change in antimicrobial management.

Design and setting: This retrospective cohort study evaluated patients with a NGS test performed who were admitted to a hospital health system in the greater Houston area between May 2022 and May 2023.

Patients: In total, 143 NGS tests were ordered in the span of one year for 135 unique patients. Most patients were ≥ 18 years (74.1%), White/Caucasian (43.7%), male (61.5%), and immunocompetent (54.1%). Eight patients had repeat tests during the study …

Increased Rate Of Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections In Hospitalized Immunocompromised Pediatric Patients, Sarah Khafaja, Yara Salameh, Celina F Boutros, Cherine Awad, Kawthar Faour, Nadim Tfaily, Sarah Merhi, Zeinab El Zein, Samer Bou Karroum, Dana Oweini, Danielle Fayad, George F Araj, Ramia Zakhour, Ghassan S Dbaibo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Multidrug resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections are considered a major public health threat. Immunocompromised pediatric patients are at a great risk of severe or overwhelming infections. The aim of this study was to describe the frequency of infections with multidrug resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) in immunocompromised pediatric patients and to determine the risk factors. In addition, we aimed to identify the antimicrobial resistance patterns of these isolates.

Materials and methods: This was a retrospective observational study conducted at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) from 2009 to 2017. The study included immunocompromised patients 18 years of age …

Activation Of Piezo1 Increases The Sensitivity Of Breast Cancer To Hyperthermia Therapy, Shao-Kang Wang, Xiao-Ting Zhang, Xuan-Yao Jiang, Bi-Jiang Geng, Tao-Lin Qing, Lei Li, Yun Chen, Jin-Feng Li, Xiao-Fang Zhang, Shuo-Gui Xu, Jiang-Bo Zhu, Yu-Ping Zhu, Mei-Tang Wang, Ji-Kuai Chen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Photothermal therapy (PTT) of nanomaterials is an emerging novel therapeutic strategy for breast cancer. However, there exists an urgent need for appropriate strategies to enhance the antitumor efficacy of PTT and minimize damage to surrounding normal tissues. Piezo1 might be a promising novel photothermal therapeutic target for breast cancer. This study aims to explore the potential role of Piezo1 activation in the hyperthermia therapy of breast cancer cells and investigate the underlying mechanisms. Results showed that the specific agonist of Piezo1 ion channel (Yoda1) aggravated the cell death of breast cancer cells triggered by heat stress

Willingness To Accept Monkeypox Vaccine And Its Correlates Among Men Who Have Sex With Men In Southern China: A Web-Based Online Cross-Sectional Study, Xinju Huang, Zhifeng Lin, Jiao Qin, Dee Yu, Fei Zhang, Ganggang Fang, Xi Chen, Jinfeng He, Ping Cen, Mu Li, Rongjing Zhang, Tong Luo, Junjun Jiang, Sanqi An, Hao Liang, Li Ye, Bingyu Liang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The May 2022 global outbreak of monkeypox (MPX) poses a threat to the health of men who have sex with men. However, there is limited data on the willingness of MSM to receive monkeypox vaccination in Southern China. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of MPX, concerns regarding MPX, and willingness to receive monkeypox vaccination, as well as their correlates, among MSM in China.

METHODS: We conducted a Web-based online survey of MSM in Southern China from August to September 2022. Data were collected on the socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, worries, concerns regarding MPX and willingness to receive monkeypox …

Covid-19 Convalescent Plasma Therapy: Long-Term Implications, Hyunah Yoon, Yi Li, Keith S Goldfeld, Gia F Cobb, Caroline L Sturm-Reganato, Luis Ostrosky-Zeichner, Dushyantha T Jayaweera, Julie V Philley, Mahalia S Desruisseaux, Marla J Keller, Judith S Hochman, Liise-Anne Pirofski, Mila B Ortigoza

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The long-term effect of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) acute treatments on postacute sequelae of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (PASC) is unknown. The CONTAIN-Extend study explores the long-term impact of COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) therapy on postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) symptoms and general health 18 months following hospitalization.

METHODS: The CONTAIN-Extend study examined 281 participants from the original CONTAIN COVID-19 trial (CONTAIN-RCT, NCT04364737) at 18 months post-hospitalization for acute COVID-19. Symptom surveys, global health assessments, and biospecimen collection were performed from November 2021 to October 2022. Multivariable logistic and linear regression estimated associations between …

Multiple Unfolded Protein Response Pathways Cooperate To Link Cytosolic Dsdna Release To Stimulator Of Interferon Gene Activation, Tiancheng Hu, Yiping Liu, Jeremy Fleck, Cason King, Elaine Schalk, Zhenyu Zhang, Andrew Mehle, Judith A Smith

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) sensor STING has been increasingly implicated in responses to "sterile" endogenous threats and pathogens without nominal DNA or cyclic di-nucleotide stimuli. Previous work showed an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response, known as the unfolded protein response (UPR), activates STING. Herein, we sought to determine if ER stress generated a STING ligand, and to identify the UPR pathways involved. Induction of IFN-β expression following stimulation with the UPR inducer thapsigargin (TPG) or oxygen glucose deprivation required both STING and the dsDNA-sensing cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS). Furthermore, TPG increased cytosolic mitochondrial DNA, and immunofluorescence visualized dsDNA punctae in …

Post-Covid-19 Cognitive Symptoms In Patients Assisted By A Teleassistance Service: A Retrospective Cohort Study, Lívia Paula Freire Bonfim, Thais Rotsen Correa, Bruno Cabaleiro Cortizo Freire, Thais Marques Pedroso, Daniella Nunes Pereira, Thalita Baptisteli Fernandes, Luciane Kopittke, Clara Rodrigues Alves De Oliveira, Antonio Lucio Teixeira, Milena Soriano Marcolino

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Four years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the frequency of long-term post-COVID-19 cognitive symptoms is a matter of concern given the impact it may have on the work and quality of life of affected people.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the incidence of post-acute COVID-19 cognitive symptoms, as well as the associated risk factors.

METHODS: Retrospective cohort, including outpatients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 and who were assisted by a public telehealth service provided by the Telehealth Network of Minas Gerais (TNMG), during the acute phase of the disease, between December/2020 and March/2022. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire, applied …

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Novel Perspectives - How To Teach An Old Dog New Tricks, Tamar Tadmor, Jan Burger

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Synergistic Effects Of Β-Nafeo2 Ferrite Nanoparticles For Photocatalytic Degradation, Antibacterial, And Antioxidant Applications†, Forsad Al Hossain, M Tanjid Hasan Tonmoy, Sri Nuvvula, Brittany P Chapman, Rajesh K Gupta, Andrew A Lover, Rhoel R Dinglasan, Stephanie Carreiro, Tauhidur Rahman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Syndromic surveillance is an effective tool for enabling the timely detection of infectious disease outbreaks and facilitating the implementation of effective mitigation strategies by public health authorities. While various information sources are currently utilized to collect syndromic signal data for analysis, the aggregated measurement of cough, an important symptom for many illnesses, is not widely employed as a syndromic signal. With recent advancements in ubiquitous sensing technologies, it becomes feasible to continuously measure population-level cough incidence in a contactless, unobtrusive, and automated manner. In this work, we demonstrate the utility of monitoring aggregated cough count as a syndromic indicator to …

Therapeutic Efficacy Of A Potent Anti-Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus Antibody Is Contingent On Fc Effector Functionslc6a1 Variant Pathogenicity, Molecular Function And Phenotype: A Genetic And Clinical Analysis, Jennifer L Schwedler, Maxwell A Stefan, Christine E Thatcher, Peter R Mcilroy, Anupama Sinha, Ashlee M Phillips, Christopher A Sumner, Colleen M Courtney, Christina Y Kim, Dina R Weilhammer, Brooke Harmon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The development of specific, safe, and potent monoclonal antibodies (Abs) has led to novel therapeutic options for infectious disease. In addition to preventing viral infection through neutralization, Abs can clear infected cells and induce immunomodulatory functions through engagement of their crystallizable fragment (Fc) with complement proteins and Fc receptors on immune cells. Little is known about the role of Fc effector functions of neutralizing Abs in the context of encephalitic alphavirus infection. To determine the role of Fc effector function in therapeutic efficacy against Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), we compared the potently neutralizing anti-VEEV human IgG F5 (hF5) Ab …