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The Rider (2021-11-29), Verilu Infante

The Rider Archives

Vol.7 No.14

Drug-Based Therapeutic Strategies For Covid-19-Infected Patients And Their Challenges, Khatereh Zarkesh, Elaheh Entezar-Almahdi, Parisa Ghasemiyeh, Mohsen Akbarian, Marzieh Bahmani, Shahrzad Roudaki, Rahil Fazlinejad, Soliman Mohammadi-Samani, Negar Firouzabadi, Majid Hosseini, Fatemeh Farjadian

Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

Emerging epidemic-prone diseases have introduced numerous health and economic challenges in recent years. Given current knowledge of COVID-19, herd immunity through vaccines alone is unlikely. In addition, vaccination of the global population is an ongoing challenge. Besides, the questions regarding the prevalence and the timing of immunization are still under investigation. Therefore, medical treatment remains essential in the management of COVID-19. Herein, recent advances from beginning observations of COVID-19 outbreak to an understanding of the essential factors contributing to the spread and transmission of COVID-19 and its treatment are reviewed. Furthermore, an in-depth discussion on the epidemiological aspects, clinical symptoms …

The Rider (2021-11-15), Verilu Infante

The Rider Archives

Vol.7 No.13

The Rider (2021-11-08), Verilu Infante

The Rider Archives

Vol.7 No.12

Looking For Crumbs In The Obesity Forest: Anti-Obesity Interventions And Obesity-Associated Cardiometabolic Traits In The Mexican Population. History And Systematic Review With Meta-Analyses, Esperanza M. Garcia-Oropesa, Yoscelina E. Martinez-Lopez, Sonia María Ruiz-Cejudo, José Darío Martínez-Ezquerro, Alvaro Diaz-Badillo, Carlos Ramirez-Pfeiffer, Alejandra Bustamante-Fuentes, Elena B. Lopez-Sosa, Oscar O. Moctezuma-Chavez, Edna J. Nava-Gonzalez, Adriana L. Perales-Torres, Lucia M. Perez-Navarro, Marisol Rosas-Diaz, Kathleen V. Carter, Beatriz Tapia, Juan C. Lopez-Alvarenga

School of Medicine Publications

Mexicans and Mexican Americans share culture, genetic background, and predisposition for chronic complications associated with obesity and diabetes making imperative efficacious treatments and prevention. Obesity has been treated for centuries focused-on weight loss while other treatments on associated conditions like gout, diabetes (T2D), and hypertriglyceridemia. To date, there is no systematic review that synthesizes the origin of obesity clinics in Mexico and the efforts to investigate treatments for obesity tested by randomized clinical trials (RCT). We conducted systematic searches in Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science to retrieve anti-obesity RCT through 2019 and without an inferior temporal limit. The systematic …

A High-Resolution Hla Reference Panel Capturing Global Population Diversity Enables Multi-Ethnic Fine-Mapping In Hiv Host Response, Yang Luo, Masahiro Kanai, Wanson Choi, Xinyi Li, John Blangero, Joanne E. Curran, Ravi Duggirala, Harald H. H. Goring, Michael C. Mahaney, Juan M. Peralta

School of Medicine Publications

No abstract provided.

The Rider (2021-11-01), Verilu Infante

The Rider Archives

Vol.7 No.11

The Behavioral Si* Model, With Applications To The Swine Flu And Covid-19 Pandemics, Jussi Keppo, Marianna Kudlyak, Elena Quercioli, Lones Smith, Andrea Wilson

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

The 1927 SIR contagion model is the dynamical system for an infection that passes at a constant rate in random pairwise meetings. Our Behavioral SI* Model assumes that everyone has access to a constant elasticity of avoidance technology. We then derive the passing rate in fully solvable Nash equilibrium of the game where everyone optimizes. The resulting dynamics are log-linear, and incidence is log-linear in prevalence, with slope less than one.

The SI* models yields extreme predictions for major contagions, not realized. At breakout, the SI* models capture exponential growth. In our BSI* model, increasing avoidance behavior bends the curve, …

Ptsd As An Endothelial Disease: Insights From Covid-19, Adonis Sfera, Carolina Osorio, Leah Rahman, Carlos M. Zapata Martín Del Campo, Jose Campo Maldonado, Nyla Jafri, Michael Cummings, Steve Maurer, Zisis Kozlakidis

School of Medicine Publications

SARS-CoV-2 virus, the etiologic agent of COVID-19, has affected almost every aspect of human life, precipitating stress-related pathology in vulnerable individuals. As the prevalence rate of posttraumatic stress disorder in pandemic survivors exceeds that of the general and special populations, the virus may predispose to this disorder by directly interfering with the stress-processing pathways. The SARS-CoV-2 interactome has identified several antigens that may disrupt the blood-brain-barrier by inducing premature senescence in many cell types, including the cerebral endothelial cells. This enables the stress molecules, including angiotensin II, endothelin-1 and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1, to aberrantly activate the amygdala, hippocampus, and …

The Rider (2021-10-25), Verilu Infante

The Rider Archives

Vol.7 No.10

The Rider (2021-10-18), Verilu Infante

The Rider Archives

Vol.7 No.9

South To North Migration Patterns Of Tuberculosis Patients Diagnosed In The Mexican Border With Texas, Jennifer S. Curry, Bassent Abdelbary, Moncerrato García-Viveros, Juan Ignacio Garcia, Marcel Yotebieng, Adrian Rendon, Jordi B. Torrelles, Blanca I. Restrepo

School of Medicine Publications

The Mexican state of Tamaulipas serves as a migration waypoint into the US. Here, we determined the contribution of immigrants to TB burden in Tamaulipas. TB surveillance data from Tamaulipas (2006–2013) was used to conduct a cross-sectional characterization of TB immigrants (born outside Tamaulipas) and identify their association with TB treatment outcomes. Immigrants comprised 30.8% of TB patients, with > 99% originating from internal Mexican migration. Most migration was from South to North, with cities adjacent to the US border as destinations. Immigrants had higher odds of risk factors for TB [older age (≥ 65 year old, OR 2.4, 95% CI …

Mitigating The Externality Of Diseases Of Poverty Through Health Aid, Kamal Jnawali, Michael G. Tyshenko, Tamer Oraby

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

Externality exists in healthcare when an individual benefits from others being healthy as it reduces the probability of getting sick from illness. Healthy workers are considered to be the more productive labourers leading to a country’s positive economic growth over time. Several research studies have modelled disease transmission and its economic impact on a single country in isolation. We developed a two-country diseaseeconomy model that explores disease transmission and crossborder infection of disease for its impacts. The model includes aspects of a worsening and rapid transmission of disease juxtaposed by positive impacts to the economy from tourism. We found that …

The Rider (2021-10-11), Verilu Infante

The Rider Archives

Vol.7 No.8

The Rider (2021-10-04), Verilu Infante

The Rider Archives

Vol.7 No.7

Interferon Gamma Release Assays For Detection Of Latent Mycobacterium Tuberculosis In Older Hispanic People, Julia M. Scordo, Genesis P. Aguillón-Durán, Doris Ayala, Ana Paulina Quirino-Cerrillo, Eminé Rodriguez-Reyna, Mateo Joya-Ayala, Francisco Mora-Guzmán, Eder Ledezma-Campos, Alejandro Villafañez, Larry S. Schlesinger, Blanca I. Restrepo

School of Medicine Publications

Background: Interferon gamma release assays (IGRAs) are used to detect latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) infection (LTBI) in adults, but their performance in older people is not well-established. We evaluated IGRAs for LTBI detection in older Hispanic recent TB contacts (ReC) or community controls (CoC).

Methods: Cross-sectional assessment of LTBI with T-SPOT.TB and/or QuantiFERON-Gold in-tube or -Plus assay in older (≥60 years) and adult (18-50 years) Hispanic people.

Results: We enrolled 193 CoC (119 adults, 74 older persons) and 459 ReC (361 adults, 98 older persons). LTBI positivity increased with age in CoC (19%-59%, P<0.001), but was similar in ReC (59%-69%, P=0.329). Older people had lower concordance between IGRAs (kappa 0.465 vs 0.688 in adults) and more inconclusive results (indeterminate/borderline 11.6% vs 5.8% in adults, P=0.012). With simultaneous IGRAs, inconclusive results were resolved as positive or negative with the other IGRA. The magnitude of response to M.tb peptides in IGRAs was similar among age groups, but responsiveness to mitogens was lower in older people.

Conclusions: IGRAs are suitable for LTBI …

The Rider (2021-09-27), Verilu Infante

The Rider Archives

Vol.7 No.6

The Rider (2021-09-20), Verilu Infante

The Rider Archives

Vol.7 No.5

Uav-Assisted Data Dissemination Based On Network Coding In Vehicular Networks, Shidong Huang, Chuanhe Huang, Yabo Yin, Dongfang Wu, M. Wasim Abbas Ashraf, Bin Fu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Efficient and emergency data dissemination service in vehicular networks (VN) is very important in some situations, such as earthquakes, maritime rescue, and serious traffic accidents. Data loss frequently occurs in the data transition due to the unreliability of the wireless channel and there are no enough available UAVs providing data dissemination service for the large disaster areas. UAV with an adjustable active antenna can be used in light of the situation. However, data dissemination assisted by UAV with the adjustable active antenna needs corresponding effective data dissemination framework. A UAV-assisted data dissemination method based on network coding is proposed. First, …

The Rider (2021-09-13), Verilu Infante

The Rider Archives

Vol.7 No.4

Whole Genome Sequence Data From Captive Baboons Implicate Rbfox1 In Epileptic Seizure Risk, Mark Z. Kos, Melanie A. Carless, Lucy Blondell, M. Michelle Leland, Koyle D. Knape, Harald Hh Goring, Charles A. Szabo

School of Medicine Publications

In this study, we investigate the genetic determinants that underlie epilepsy in a captive baboon pedigree and evaluate the potential suitability of this non-human primate model for understanding the genetic etiology of human epilepsy. Archived whole-genome sequence data were analyzed using both a candidate gene approach that targeted variants in baboon homologs of 19 genes (n = 20,881 SNPs) previously implicated in genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE) and a more agnostic approach that examined protein-altering mutations genome-wide as assessed by snpEff (n = 36,169). Measured genotype association tests for baboon cases of epileptic seizure were performed using SOLAR, as …

Assessing The Role Of Cyberbiosecurity In Agriculture: A Case Study, Tiffany Drape, Noah Magerkorth, Anuradha Sen, Joseph J. Simpson, Megan Seibel, Randall Steven Murch, Susan E. Duncan

International Business and Entrepreneurship Faculty Publications

Agriculture has adopted the use of smart technology to help meet growing food demands. This increased automation and associated connectivity increases the risk of farms being targeted by cyber-attacks. Increasing frequency of cybersecurity breaches in many industries illustrates the need for securing our food supply chain. The uniqueness of biological data, the complexity of integration across the food and agricultural system, and the importance of this system to the U.S. bioeconomy and public welfare suggests an urgency as well as unique challenges that are not common across all industries. To identify and address the gaps in awareness and knowledge as …

Frailty Index In The Colonias On The Us-Mexico Border: A Special Report, Eron G. Manusov, Carolina Gomez De Ziegler, Vincent P. Diego, Gerardo Munoz-Monaco, Sarah Williams-Blangero

School of Medicine Publications

Frailty is the age-related decline in well-being. The Frailty index (FI) measures the accumulation of health deficits and reflects biopsychosocial and cultural determinants of well-being. Frailty is measured as a static phenotype or as a Frailty Index comprising a ratio of suffered health deficits and total deficits. We report a Frailty Index calculated from routinely measured clinical variables gathered from residents of two Colonias (neighborhoods) in South Texas. A Colonia is a predominantly Hispanic, economically distressed, unincorporated neighborhood. We analyzed retrospective data from 894 patients that live in two Colonias located on the Texas-Mexico border. We calculated the FI with …

Temperatures Influence Susceptibility To Insecticides In Aedes Aegypti And Aedes Albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) Mosquitoes, Wendy S. Salinas, Teresa Patricia Feria-Arroyo, Christopher Vitek

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) are vectors for several arboviruses, including dengue, Zika virus and chikungunya virus. The primary method of controlling these diseases is controlling the vector population, often with insecticides. Insecticide resistance may impact the success of these efforts. We tested the effect of variable temperature exposures on susceptibility to insecticides by exposing adult A. aegypti and A. albopictus to different temperatures and tested their susceptibility to insecticides. We hypothesized that adults maintained at high temperatures would show increased susceptibility to insecticides relative to lower temperatures. Colony mosquitoes were hatched, reared to adulthood and then maintained …

Empirical Bayes Estimates For The Reproduction Number Of Epidemics, Elijah Lee Hight

Theses and Dissertations

Epidemic outbreaks can be modelled as a branching process in which the total progeny or outbreak size, follows a Borel-Tanner (BT) distribution. Following a procedure described by Liang (2009), we construct empirical Bayes estimates for when the initial number of infected is a specified value r. Following the construction, we then simulate data and perform a numerical study, assuming BT distribution for the parameter θ, the reproduction number, with an initial outbreak size of three. Simulation results indicate that the empirical estimator suffers from “jumpiness.” We then proceed to monotonize the empirical estimate via a method outlined by Houwelingen (1979). …

Prevalence Of Dementia In Latin America: A Collaborative Study Of Population-Based Cohorts, Ricardo Nitrini, Cássio M. C. Bottino, Cecilia Albala, Nilton Santos Custodio Capuñay, Carlos Ketzoian, Juan J. Llibre Rodriguez, Gladys E. Maestre, Ana Teresa A. Ramos-Cerqueira

School of Medicine Publications

Background:

Dementia is becoming a major public health problem in Latin America (LA), yet epidemiological information on dementia remains scarce in this region. This study analyzes data from epidemiological studies on the prevalence of dementia in LA and compares the prevalence of dementia and its causes across countries in LA and attempts to clarify differences from those of developed regions of the world.

Methods:

A database search for population studies on rates of dementia in LA was performed. Abstracts were also included in the search. Authors of the publications were invited to participate in this collaborative study by sharing missing …

A Prospective Cross-Sectional Study Of Tuberculosis In Elderly Hispanics Reveals That Bcg Vaccination At Birth Is Protective Whereas Diabetes Is Not A Risk Factor, Julia M. Scordo, Genesis P. Aguillón-Durán, Doris Ayala, Ana P. Quirino-Cerrillo, Eminé Rodriguez-Reyna, Francisco Mora-Guzmán Dr, Jose A. Caso, Eder Ledezma-Campos, Larry Schlesinger, Jordi B. Torrelles, Blanca I. Restrepo

School of Medicine Publications

Background: Aging increases the risk of tuberculosis (TB) and its adverse outcomes, but most studies are based on secondary analyses, and few are in Hispanics. Diabetes is a risk factor for TB in adults, but its contribution in the elderly is unknown. We aimed to identify the role of diabetes and other risk factors for TB in elderly Hispanics.

Methods: Cross-sectional study among newly-diagnosed TB patients, recent contacts (ReC), or community controls (CoC) totaling 646 participants, including 183 elderly (>60 years; 43 TB, 80 ReC, 60 CoC) and 463 adults (18 to 50 years; 80 TB, 301 ReC and …

Knowing Our People To Serve Our People, Alessandra Jimenez

MEDI 9331 Scholarly Activities Clinical Years

Health disparities continue to persist in the United States despite the work clinicians and professionals have undertaken to close the gaps. Nowhere in the recent past have these disparities been more evident than during the US response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The differential outcome of patients was stark within marginalized communities accounting for greater burden due to the health risks that were already incurred. Additionally, data provided from the health care system’s front lines were incomplete resulting in slower and less robust interventions than what were needed. This paper seeks to outline first steps that can be taken to ensure …

Phenotypic And Functional Signatures Of Peripheral Blood And Spleen Compartments Of Cynomolgus Macaques Infected With T. Cruzi: Associations With Cardiac Histopathological Characteristics, Renato Sathler-Avelar, Danielle Marquete Vitelli-Avelar, Armanda Moreira Mattoso-Barbosa, Marcelo Antônio Pascoal-Xavier, Silvana Maria Elói-Santos, Ismael Artur Da Costa-Rocha, Andréa Teixeira-Carvalho, Edward J. Dick Jr, Jane F. Vandeberg, John L. Vandeberg, Olindo Assis Martins-Filho

School of Medicine Publications

We performed a detailed analysis of immunophenotypic features of circulating leukocytes and spleen cells from cynomolgus macaques that had been naturally infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, identifying their unique and shared characteristics in relation to cardiac histopathological lesion status. T. cruzi-infected macaques were categorized into three groups: asymptomatic [CCC(-)], with mild chronic chagasic cardiopathy [CCC(+)], or with moderate chronic chagasic cardiopathy [CCC(++)]. Our findings demonstrated significant differences in innate and adaptive immunity cells of the peripheral blood and spleen compartments, by comparison with non-infected controls. CCC(+) and CCC(++) hosts exhibited decreased frequencies of monocytes, NK and NKT-cell subsets in …

Stress And Molecular Drivers For Cancer Progression: A Longstanding Hypothesis, Justin Wendel, A. Verma, Vijian Dhevan, Subhash C. Chauhan, Manish Tripathi

School of Medicine Publications

Stress management is becoming very important part of cancer patient care. Chronic stressors lead to boost tumorigenesis and promote cancer development, recurrence, and drug resistant leading to poor health outcomes. The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis, which is activated by stress, also regulates Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Thyroid (HPT) axis. Stress related changes in immune function and inflammatory response also leads to reduced immune surveillance resulting in tumorigenesis. This article explores the hormonal axis impacted by stress and how chronic stress can lead to poor outcome of a cancer patient.