Digital Commons Network^™

A Brief Report Of The Prevalence Of Chronic And Acute Health Conditions Among Blind American Adults, Nazanin M. Heydarian, Yessenia Castro, Osvaldo F. Morera

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

Background: Prior research demonstrates disparities in the prevalence of certain chronic and acute health conditions among persons who are blind (PWB) compared to non-blind persons, such as diabetes and infectious diseases. However, a comprehensive understanding of the prevalence of chronic and acute health conditions among PWB is currently lacking.

Objective: The present study addressed this gap by examining the prevalence of chronic and acute conditions among blind persons, and examining differences by gender.

Methods: The present study surveyed 410 PWB residing in the U.S. about their health conditions and activities. Lifetime prevalence for eight chronic and six acute health conditions …

Global Impact Of Covid-19 On Stroke Care, Raul G. Nogueira, Mohamad Abdalkader, Muhammad M. Qureshi, Michael Frankel, Ossama Y. Mansour, Hiroshi Yamagami, Zhongming Qiu, Mehdi Farhoudi, James E. Siegler, Ameer E. Hassan

School of Medicine Publications

Background

Aims

Methods

Results

Implications Of Helminth Immunomodulation On Covid-19 Co-Infections, Nathalie Chacon, Leonor Chacin-Bonilla, Italo M. Cesar

School of Medicine Publications

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and helminths infections can be in a synergistic epidemic in developing and suburban areas of industrialized countries. The coinfected hosts will derive a parasite-specific Th2 innate and adaptive immune response with CD4+ T cells, eosinophils, interleukin-4, interleukin-5, and interleukin-10. In the early stages of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, virus-specific Th1 cytotoxic CD8+ T cell, interleukin-6, interferon-γ, and interleukin-27 by lung are keys in controlling viral replication in the lung epithelial cells and limiting the pathology to other organs, like the intestine. CD4+ and CD8+ T cells are associated with protective immunity …

Endothelial Senescence And Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, A Covid-19 Based Hypothesis, Adonis Sfera, Carolina Osorio, Carlos M. Zapata Martín Del Campo, Shaniah Pereida, Jose Campo Maldonado, Zisis Kozlakidis

School of Medicine Publications

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome is a serious illness of unknown etiology, characterized by debilitating exhaustion, memory impairment, pain and sleep abnormalities. Viral infections are believed to initiate the pathogenesis of this syndrome although the definite proof remains elusive. With the unfolding of COVID-19 pandemic, the interest in this condition has resurfaced as excessive tiredness, a major complaint of patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, often lingers for a long time, resulting in disability, and poor life quality. In a previous article, we hypothesized that COVID-19-upregulated angiotensin II triggered premature endothelial cell senescence, disrupting the intestinal and blood brain barriers. Here, …

Draft Genome Sequences Of 13 Vibrio Cholerae Strains From The Rio Grande Delta, Jeffrey W. Turner, Jorge Duran-Gonzalez, David A. Laughlin, Daniel Unterweger, David Silva, Boris Ermolinsky, Stefan Pukatzki, Daniele Provenzano

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

Vibrio cholerae is the etiologic agent of cholera, an acute and often fatal diarrheal disease that affects millions globally. We report the draft genome sequences of 13 non-O1/O139 V. cholerae strains isolated from the Rio Grande Delta in Texas. These genomes will aid future analyses of environmental serovars.

A Comparison Of Intestinal Parasite Infections And Activity Budgets In Three Free-Ranging Vs. Enclosure-Housed Lemur Species (Lemur Catta, Varecia Rubra, And Eulemur Mongoz), Angela M. Achorn, Jeffrey Winking

Anthropology Faculty Publications

This study examines how range size affects intestinal parasite infections, and how such infections affect activity budgets in captive lemurs. There were no differences in parasite richness or intensity attributable to habitat type. However, there was a strong suggestion that parasite loads reduce activity levels.

Light At The End Of The Tunnel: Visitors' Virtual Reality (Versus In-Person) Attraction Site Tour-Related Behavioral Intentions During And Post-Covid-19, Omar S. Itani, Linda D. Hollebeek

Marketing Faculty Publications

Consumer behavior is changing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, thus compelling attraction sites to find new ways of offering safe tours to visitors. Based on protection motivation theory, we develop and test a model that examines key drivers of visitors' COVID-19-induced social distancing behavior and its effect on their intent to use virtual reality-based (vs. in-person) attraction site tours during and post-COVID-19. Our analyses demonstrate that visitor-perceived threat severity, response efficacy, and self-efficacy raise social distancing behavior. In turn, social distancing increases (decreases) visitors' intent to use virtual reality (in-person) tours during the pandemic. We find social …

Emerging Issues In Covid-19 Vaccination In Tropical Areas: Impact Of The Immune Response Against Helminths In Endemic Areas, Leonor Chacin-Bonilla, Nathalie Chacon, Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales

School of Medicine Publications

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected over 165 million people and caused the death of 3.4 million worldwide (up to May 20, 2021) (https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html), becoming a serious problem of global public health and the worst epidemic in the last century, after the pandemic 1918 influenza. Researchers worldwide are trying to find valuable drugs against the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Some of them focused as antivirals, others targeted in other ways (e.g. immunomodulation) to relieve the symptoms of the infected patients and help lower the death toll throughout the world. Unfortunately, there is a lack of …

Infectious Disease Transmission By Arline Travel, Daniele Provenzano, Sofy Barocio

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

Improvements in aviation technology have led to considerable growth of domestic and international flights worldwide especially during the past four decades. Commercial flights have increased the movement of and have connected people from virtually all corners of the globe since the end of World War II to exceed 3 billion passengers a year since 2013: a sizable proportion of the global human population. Flight times have decreased considerably from the onset of commercial aviation and the range of airliners has extended substantially. A passenger harboring an infectious agent embarking a flight on one continent can be deplaning on another continent …

Assessing The Level Of Perception Of Knowledge About Ticks And Tick-Borne Diseases Among The Residents Of Several Cities In The Transboundary Region Of U.S.-Mexico, Consuelo Aguilar

Theses and Dissertations

The transboundary region of U.S.-Mexico possesses similar weather conditions and habitats favoring insects (vectors) like ticks. Several tick species found in the transboundary region of U.S.-Mexico can transmit pathogens. In the last three years, a total of 40 cases of Rickettsial infections, 28 in Tamaulipas and 12 in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, have been reported. A low level of knowledge about diseases that ticks can transmit along with a lack of appropriate protection practices can severely affect human health. Limited surveys on ticks and tick-borne disease are available. Our goal was to (1) assess the perception of knowledge of …

Status, Distribution, And Conservation Of The Black-Spotted Newt (Notophthalmus Meridionalis) In South Texas, Padraic S. Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

The Black-spotted Newt (Notophthalmus meridionalis) is a chronically understudied species, with much information on the natural history, ecology, and distribution of this species poorly known. Previous studies using traditional methodologies have had limited success detecting N. meridionalis. A novel eDNA assay was designed and implemented with the goal of better understanding N. meridionalis distribution in south Texas. Primers were designed to amplify N. meridionalis DNA and tested against DNA from sympatric amphibians. This assay combined with traditional methods was implemented at 62 sites throughout south Texas, and N. meridionalis was detected at eight localities. At each site …

Vertical Transmission Of Zika Virus In An Opossum Model, Dionn Carlo Silva

Theses and Dissertations

This study will identify Brazilian ZIKV infection in the offsprings of mated, inoculated Monodelphis domestica females. Unlike non-human primates (NHP) and transgenic mice, M. domestica provides an opportunity to study ZIKV infection in a novel animal model possibly useful for in-utero studies. M. domestica has also been used in cancer and dietary research with varying degrees of success. ZIKV infection will be identified using antibody staining and in situ hybridization. The expected result of this study is that ZIKV will be identified in various tissues and reveal that ZIKV is transmitted vertically in this animal model. The significance of this …

System For Hiv-1 Treatment To The Brain, Caroline Rose Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

While HIV-1 treatment has been revolutionized by combination antiretroviral therapy in the past two decades, HIV-1 remains persistent in organs that don’t allow easy penetration of anti-HIV drugs (e.g., brain) and cause persistent HIV-1 infections and inflammation. Researchers have turned towards nanotechnology-based drug carriers to combat this challenge, such as nanodiscoidal bicelles (ND) and liposomes. Bicelles entrap the drug in their interior hydrophobic core until metabolized by the body, and the payload can be released at the desired location in a controlled, long-lasting dosage. This study investigated the toxicity and extended-release of an anti-HIV drug-loaded within ND and liposomes for …

Inoculation Of Juvenile Monodelphis Domestica With Zika Virus Using Various Routes Of Infection, Juan Garcia Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Monodelphis domestica is a small marsupial from South America that has been previously been used in human metabolism research. However, their suitability as models for Zika virus (ZIKV) research, is currently unknown. Preliminary studies have shown M. domestica susceptible to ZIKV through the intracerebral route. We utilized immunohistochemistry, and analyzation of serological responses to show that juvenile Monodelphis domestica can be infected with ZIKV by using various routes of infection that include subcutaneous, intraperitoneal, and intramuscular. ELISAs performed on sera confirmed that juveniles injected with ZIKV by all three routes generated anti-ZIKV antibodies. Additionally, ZIKV nonstructural protein 1 was detected …

Media Framing, Moral Panic And Covid-19: A Comparative Analysis Of China, South Korea, And The Us., Deena Devore, Sinyong Choi, Yudu Li, Hong Lu

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

COVID-19 is perhaps the single most impactful event defining 2020 globally. Drawing on theory on media typology involving freedom and responsibility, media framing and moral panic theories, this paper examines media coverage on COVID-19 in three countries, China, South Korea and the United States. Data were obtained from six news outlets, Xinhua News, South China Morning Post, Chosun, Hankyoreh, CNN and Breitbart, two from each of the three countries. More than 1,000 COVID-19 related reports, spanning six days (the last day of January to June, 2020) were selected and coded based on common priming themes such as tone, the othering, …

Social Distancing And Testing As Optimal Strategies Against The Spread Of Covid-19 In The Rio Grande Valley Of Texas, Kristina P. Vatcheva, Josef A. Sifuentes, Tamer Oraby, Jose E. Campo Maldonado, Timothy Huber, Cristina Villalobos

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

At the beginning of August 2020, the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) of Texas experienced a rapid increase of coronavirus disease 2019 (abbreviated as COVID-19) cases and deaths. This study aims to determine the optimal levels of effective social distancing and testing to slow the virus spread at the outset of the pandemic. We use an age-stratified eight compartment epidemiological model to depict COVID-19 transmission in the community and within households. With a simulated 120-day outbreak period data we obtain a post 180-days period optimal control strategy solution. Our results show that easing social distancing between adults by the end of …

Application Of An Evidence-Based, Out-Patient Treatment Strategy For Covid-19: Multidisciplinary Medical Practice Principles To Prevent Severe Disease☆, Elliot M. Frohman, Nicole R. Villemarette-Pittman, Adriana Rodriguez, Robert Glanzman, Sarah Rugheimer, Oleg Komogortsev, Scott S. Zamvil, Roberto A. Cruz, Thomas C. Varkey, Ashley N. Frohman

School of Medicine Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated individuals, families, and institutions throughout the world. Despite the breakneck speed of vaccine development, the human population remains at risk of further devastation. The decision to not become vaccinated, the protracted rollout of available vaccine, vaccine failure, mutational forms of the SARS virus, which may exhibit mounting resistance to our molecular strike at only one form of the viral family, and the rapid ability of the virus(es) to hitch a ride on our global transportation systems, means that we are will likely continue to confront an invisible, yet devastating foe. The enemy targets one of …

Interview With Jon Molina (1522), Jorge Arroliga, Jon Molina

Voces of a Pandemic

No abstract provided.

High Variation In Immune Responses And Parasite Phenotypes In Naturally Acquired Trypanosoma Cruzi Infection In A Captive Nonhuman Primate Breeding Colony In Texas, Usa, Angel M. Padilla, Phil Y. Yao, Tre J. Landry, Gretchen M. Cooley, Susan M. Mahaney, Isabela Ribeiro, John L. Vandeberg, Rick L. Tarleton

School of Medicine Publications

Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of human Chagas disease, is endemic to the southern region of the United States where it routinely infects many host species. The indoor/outdoor housing configuration used in many non-human primate research and breeding facilities in the southern of the USA provides the opportunity for infection by T. cruzi and thus provides source material for in-depth investigation of host and parasite dynamics in a natural host species under highly controlled and restricted conditions. For cynomolgus macaques housed at such a facility, we used a combination of serial blood quantitative PCR (qPCR) and hemoculture to confirm infection …

The Rider (2021-03-29), Jacqueline Peraza

The Rider Archives

Vol.6 No.24

Research On Aging During The Venezuelan Humanitarian Crisis: The Experience Of The Maracaibo Aging Study, Gladys E. Maestre, Rosa V. Pirela, Carmen Paz, Jesus D. Melgarejo, Luis J. Mena, Carlos A. Chavez, Reinier Leendertz, Michele Petitto, Egle Silva, Gustavo E. Calmon

School of Medicine Publications

Background

Venezuela is in the throes of a complex humanitarian crisis that is one of the worst in decades to impact any country outside of wartime. This case analysis describes the challenges faced by the ongoing Maracaibo Aging Study (MAS) during the deteriorating conditions in Venezuela. When the MAS began in 1997, it focused on memory-related disorders. Since then, strategic planning and proactive community participation allowed us to anticipate and address logistical, funding, and ethical challenges, and facilitated the enrollment and retention of more than 2500 subjects over 55 years of age. All participants, who are residents of the city …

The Rider (2021-03-01), Jacqueline Peraza

The Rider Archives

Vol.6 No.21

Cancers As Rare Diseases: Terminological, Theoretical, And Methodological Biases, Carina Marques, Charlotte Roberts, Vitor M. J. Matos, Jane E. Buikstra

Anthropology Faculty Publications

Objective

Was cancer a rare disease in the past? Our objective is to consider the various terminological, theoretical, and methodological biases that may affect perceptions of the rarity of cancer in the past.

Materials and methods

We discuss relevant malignant neoplastic biomedical and paleopathological literature and evaluate skeletal data. We selected 108 archaeological sites (n = 151 cancer cases) with published malignant neoplasms and that were amenable to calculating cancer crude prevalence. Furthermore, datasets from four medieval/postmedieval Portuguese and 12 postmedieval UK sites were used to compare age-adjusted rates for metastatic bone disease and tuberculosis.

Results

In the literature review, …

Sars-Cov-2: Potencial Transmisión Feco-Oral E Implicaciones En La Propagación Y Gravedad Del Covid-19 En Venezuela. Mini-Revisión. [Sars-Cov-2: Potential Feco-Oral Transmission And Implications On The Spread And Severity Of Covid-19 In Venezuela. Mini-Review.], Leonor Chacin-Bonilla, Nathalie Chacon

School of Medicine Publications

The recognized human-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is through respiratory droplets and contact with contaminated surfaces. However, the high transmissibility of the virus and the pattern of symptoms of COVID-19 suggest the likelihood of other forms of spread. Increasing evidence suggests that SARS‐CoV‐2 could be transmitted by the feco‐oral route. SARS-CoV-2 is known to infect gastrointestinal epithelial cells and a significant number of infected people have gastrointestinal symptoms. Viable viruses, viral RNA, and prolonged shedding of viral RNA have been detected in the feces of COVID-19 patients. The virus has been found in sewage and surface waters of several countries. The …

An Oncolytic Adenovirus Encoding Sa-4-1bbl Adjuvant Fused To Hpv-16 E7 Antigen Produces A Specific Antitumor Effect In A Cancer Mouse Model, Alejandra G. Martinez-Perez, Jose J. Perez-Trujillo, Rodolfo Garza-Morales, Norma E. Ramirez-Avila, Maria J. Loera-Arias, Jorge G. Gomez-Gutierrez, Odila Saucedo-Cardenas, Aracely Garcia-Garcia, Humberto Rodriguez-Rocha, Roberto Montes-De-Oca-Luna

School of Medicine Publications

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are responsible for about 25% of cancer cases worldwide. HPV-16 E7 antigen is a tumor-associated antigen (TAA) commonly expressed in HPV-induced tumors; however, it has low immunogenicity. The interaction of 4-1BBL with its receptor induces pleiotropic effects on innate, adaptive, and regulatory immunity and, if fused to TAAs in DNA vaccines, can improve the antitumor response; however, there is low transfection and antitumor efficiency. Oncolytic virotherapy is promising for antitumor gene therapy as it can be selectively replicated in tumor cells, inducing cell lysis, and furthermore, tumor cell debris can be taken in by immune cells to …

Modeling The Effect Of Lockdown Timing As A Covid‑19 Control Measure In Countries With Differing Social Contacts, Tamer Oraby, Michael G. Tyshenko, Jose Campo Maldonado, Kristina Vatcheva, Susie Elsaadany, Walid Q. Alali, Joseph C. Longenecker, Mustafa Al‑Zoughool

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

The application, timing, and duration of lockdown strategies during a pandemic remain poorly quantified with regards to expected public health outcomes. Previous projection models have reached conflicting conclusions about the effect of complete lockdowns on COVID-19 outcomes. We developed a stochastic continuous-time Markov chain (CTMC) model with eight states including the environment (SEAMHQRD-V), and derived a formula for the basic reproduction number, R0, for that model. Applying the R 0 formula as a function in previously-published social contact matrices from 152 countries, we produced the distribution and four categories of possible R 0 for the 152 countries and chose one …

Strategically Rational Risk Taking By Age In Covid-19, And The Heterogeneous Agent Behavioral Sir Model, Siamak Javadi, Elena Quercioli, Lones Smith

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

Given the dramatic age variation in COVID death rates, we create a heterogeneous agent version of the Behavioral SIR contagion model of Engle et al. (2020). The Bayes Nash equilibrium of our infection avoidance game yields a simple new log-linear relationship between the case fatality rate (CFR) and COVID incidence: Everyone knows that everyone optimizes vigilance both for the prevalence and their CFR. We explain 2020 CDC incidence data for the USA north-east in terms of the CFR to age-specific COVID death data for Massachusetts. Our model is statistically significant: A 10% higher CFR reduces incidence by about 1%.

“All Enemies, Foreign And Domestic”: The Presence Of Anti-Latinx Political Rhetoric And Latinxs As Third World Threats In Secondary U.S. Citizenship Curriculum, Christopher Busey, Álvaro José Corral, Erika L. Davis

Political Science Faculty Publications

Background/Context

Anti-Latinx political discourses have long positioned Latin America and, by extension, U.S. Latinxs as economic, sociocultural, and political threats to the general welfare of the United States. In formal school curricula, this threat narrative has become one of the many political curricular discourses for codifying citizenship as White, and noncitizens as Other (read Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian American).

Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study

The purpose of this study was to illustrate how collapsible Latin American tropes and current anti-Latinx sentiments are reproduced in social studies curricula across the United States. Drawing from and expanding upon Leo Chavez's notion of the …

Hyperglycemia And Dyslipidemia: Reduced Hla-Dr Expression In Monocyte Subpopulations From Diabetes Patients, Blanca I. Restrepo, Marcel Twahirwa, Chinnaswamy Jagannath

School of Medicine Publications

Immune dysfunction contributes to the higher risk of communicable and non-communicable diseases among diabetics. HLA-DR expression is a robust marker of immune competence in mononuclear cells, including antigen presentation to CD4 lymphocytes. Given the high prevalence of obesity among diabetics, we evaluated the independent association between hyperglycemia and dyslipidemias with respect to HLA-DR expression in blood monocytes from type 2 diabetes patients. The monocytes from individuals with (n=16) or without diabetes (n=25) were phenotyped by flow cytometry to assess the differential expression of HLA-DR on their three subpopulations (classical, intermediate and non-classical monocytes). Diabetes was independently associated with lower HLA-DR …

The Rider (2021-01-18), Jacqueline Peraza

The Rider Archives

Vol.6 No.16