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The Epidemiology Of Human Rabies Postexposure Prophylaxis In Virginia, 2002 And 2003, Marilyn Goss Haskell

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: To describe a sample that received human rabies postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) in Virginia as a result of animal exposures in 2002 and 2003 and to determine the extent to which PEP decisions were appropriate.Methods: PEP surveillance data were requested from 35 Virginia health districts within 5 regions. Retrospective chart review was used to gather demographic, exposure and source animal data from patient records and animal exposure reports. Descriptive statistics are presented. True exposures and appropriateness of PEP were defined using the 2004 Virginia Rabies Control Guidelines and the Recommendations of the 1999 Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The 2003 …

Commonwealth Times 2011-02-21

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Mediating And Moderating Factors In Associations Between Physical And Relational Victimization And Social And Academic Competence Among Urban Adolescents, Lisa Ulmer

Theses and Dissertations

Peer victimization is prevalent among school-aged youth and is associated with difficulties including decreased academic and social competence. Although relations between victimization and academic and social competence have been examined, fewer studies have considered how underlying processes linking these constructs are related or whether relations differ for adolescent subgroups. The current study’s purpose was to examine potential mediating and moderating effects in associations between physical and relational victimization and academic and social competence. Participants included a predominantly African American sample of 271 adolescents participating in a longitudinal violence prevention project. Path models showed significant negative associations between teacher-rated physical victimization …

Screening For Cytomegalovirus During Pregnancy, Stuart P. Adler

Pediatrics Publications

The epidemiology and pathogenesis of CMV infections among pregnant women have been intensely studied over the last three decades. This paper highlights recent developments that make either universal or limited serologic screening for CMV during pregnancy potentially attractive. The developments include an understanding of the pathogenesis of CMV infections, a knowledge of high-risk women, the availability of accurate methods for the serologic diagnosis of a primary CMV infection using either single or serial blood samples, accurate methods for the diagnosis of fetal infection via amniotic fluid, sensitive fetal and placental indicators for neonatal outcomes, and the availability of potentially effective …

Corticotrophin-Releasing Hormone Type 1 Receptor Gene (Crhr1) Variants Predict Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Onset And Course In Pediatric Injury Patients, Ananda B. Amstadler, Nicole R. Nugent, Bao-Zhu Yang, Alisa Miller, Richie Siburian, Priya Moorjani, Stephen Haddad, Aditi Basu, Jesen Fagerness, Glenn Saxe, Jordan W. Smoller, Karestan C. Koenen

Psychiatry Publications

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common and disabling anxiety disorder that may occur in the aftermath of exposure to potentially traumatic life events. PTSD is moderately heritable, but few specific molecular variants accounting for this heritability have been identified. Genes regulating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, such as corticotrophin-releasing hormone type 1 receptor gene (CRHR1), have been implicated in traumatic-stress related phenotypes but have yet to be studied in relation to PTSD. The present study sought to examine the relation between 9 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the CRHR1 gene and posttraumatic stress symptoms in a prospective study of pediatric …

Acsl6 Is Associated With The Number Of Cigarettes Smoked And Its Expression Is Altered By Chronic Nicotine Exposure, Jingchun Chen, Darlene H. Brunzell, Kia J. Jackson, Andrew Van Der Vaart, Jennie Z. Ma, Thomas J. Payne, Richard Sherva, Lindsay A. Farrer, Pablo Gejman, Douglas F. Levinson, Peter Holmans, Steven H. Aggen, Imad Damaj, Po-Hsiu Kuo, Bradley T. Webb, Raymond Anton, Henry R. Kranzler, Joel Gelemter, Minf D. Li, Kenneth S. Kendler, Xiangning Chen

Psychiatry Publications

Individuals with schizophrenia tend to be heavy smokers and are at high risk for tobacco dependence. However, the nature of the comorbidity is not entirely clear. We previously reported evidence for association of schizophrenia with SNPs and SNP haplotypes in a region of chromosome 5q containing the SPEC2, PDZ-GEF2 and ACSL6 genes. In this current study, analysis of the control subjects of the Molecular Genetics of Schizophrenia (MGS) sample showed similar pattern of association with number of cigarettes smoked per day (numCIG) for the same region. To further test if this locus is associated with tobacco smoking as measured …

Spin Transition In Gd3n@C-80, Detected By Low-Temperature On-Chip Squid Technique, L. Chen, E. E. Carpenter, C. S. Hellberg, H. C. Dorn, M. Schultz, W/ Wernsdorfer, I. Chiorescu

Chemistry Publications

We present a magnetic study of the Gd₃N@C₈₀ molecule, consisting of a Gd-trimer via a nitrogen atom, encapsulated in a C₈₀ cage. This molecular system can be an efficient contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applications. We used a low-temperature technique able to detect small magnetic signals by placing the sample in the vicinity of an on-chip SQUID. The technique implemented at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory has the particularity of being able to operate in high magnetic fields of up to 7 T. The Gd₃N@C₈₀shows a paramagnetic behavior and …

Introduction Of A 6-Cyano Group In 14-Oxygenated N-Methylmorphinans Influences In Vitro And In Vivo Pharmacological Activities, Valeria Follia, Mario D. Aceto, Louis S. Harris, Andrew Coop, Helmut Schmidhammer, Mariana Spetea

Pharmacology and Toxicology Publications

Being a disabling symptom of many medical conditions, effective pain control is one of the most important therapeutic priorities. Morphine and other opioid drugs produce analgesia primarily through μ opioid (MOP) receptors, which mediate beneficial but also the non-beneficial actions. Appropriate identification of novel opioid analgesics may reduce complications and improve patient compliance. It was reported that hydrazones, oximes, carbazones and semicarbazone derivatives of morphinan-6-ones, e.g. dihydromorphinone or oxymorphone, exhibit high affinity at the MOP receptor [1]. Since most of these structures show high antinociceptive potency while having less pronounced side effects, it remains a promising task to …

Genomic Analysis Of Individual Differences In Ethanol Drinking: Evidence For Non-Genetic Factors In C57bl/6 Mice, Jennifer T. Wolstenholme, Jon A. Warner, Maria I. Capparuccini, Kellie J. Archer, Keith L. Shelton, Michael F. Miles

Pharmacology and Toxicology Publications

Genetic analysis of factors affecting risk to develop excessive ethanol drinking has been extensively studied in humans and animal models for over 20 years. However, little progress has been made in determining molecular mechanisms underlying environmental or non-genetic events contributing to variation in ethanol drinking. Here, we identify persistent and substantial variation in ethanol drinking behavior within an inbred mouse strain and utilize this model to identify gene networks influencing such “non-genetic” variation in ethanol intake. C57BL/6NCrl mice showed persistent inter-individual variation of ethanol intake in a two-bottle choice paradigm over a three-week period, ranging from less than 1 g/kg …

Ten Year Trends (1992 To 2002) In Sociodemographic Predictors And Indicators Of Alcohol Abuse And Dependence Among Whites, Blacks, And Hispanics In The U.S, Raul Caetano, Jonali Baruah, Karen G. Chartier

Social Work Publications

Background

The objective of this paper is to examine 10-year trends (1992–2002) in the number and type of indicators of DSM-IV abuse and dependence among Whites, Blacks and Hispanics in the U.S.

Methods

Data are from the 1991–1992 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey (NLAES; n = 42,862) and the 2001–2002 National Epidemiologic Study on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC; n = 43,093). Both surveys used multistage cluster sample procedures to select respondents 18 years of age and older from the U.S. household population.

Results

Increases in the prevalence of alcohol abuse between 1992 and 2002seem associated to a rise in …

Genetic Analysis Of The Neurosteroid Deoxycorticosterone And Its Relation To Alcohol Phenotypes: Identification Of Qtls And Downstream Gene Regulation, Patrizia Porcu, Todd K. O'Buckley, Soomin C. Song, Jo Lynne Harenza, Lu Lu, Xusheng Wang, Michael F. Miles, A. Leslie Morrow

Neurology Publications

Background

Deoxycorticosterone (DOC) is an endogenous neurosteroid found in brain and serum, precursor of the GABAergic neuroactive steroid (3α,5α)-3,21-dihydroxypregnan-20-one (tetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone, THDOC) and the glucocorticoid corticosterone. These steroids are elevated following stress or ethanol administration, contribute to ethanol sensitivity, and their elevation is blunted in ethanol dependence.

Methodology/Principal Findings

To systematically define the genetic basis, regulation, and behavioral significance of DOC levels in plasma and cerebral cortex we examined such levels across 47 young adult males from C57BL/6J (B6)×DBA/2J (D2) (BXD) mouse strains for quantitative trait loci (QTL) and bioinformatics analyses of behavior and gene regulation. Mice were injected with saline …

Non-Lethal Effects Of Dragonfly Predators On The Interactions Between The Tadpoles Of Two Neotropical Hylid Frogs [Poster], Zacharia Costa, James R. Vonesh

Biology Presentations

Background/Question/Methods

Prey frequently alter their phenotype in response to perceived predation risk in order to reduce vulnerability. Differences in the costs and benefits of such plastic responses to predators can lead to differences in non-consumptive predator effects. Such differences can occur between taxa or through ontogeny for a given species, and may alter interactions between prey and other species in the food web. Less vulnerable prey may respond less to predator cues compared to vulnerable prey and thus may have higher performance in risky environments. Here we build upon previous research on the tadpoles of two hylid treefrogs, Agalychnis callidryas …

Water Chreodes And The Mechanisms Of Ligand Diffusion, General Anesthesia, And Sleep, Lemont B. Kier

Study of Biological Complexity Publications

The concept of the presence of passageways, chreodes, created by the influence of the hydropathic states of amino acid side chains on the surface water of proteins, has been proposed. These chreodes facilitate and direct the diffusion of neurotransmitters through surface water, to the receptor or active site on a protein. This system of chreodes is vulnerable to the presence of some other molecules that may encounter the chreode system. This encounter and disruption has been proposed to explain the mechanism of general anesthesia. Based on much recent evidence of the similarities between anesthesia from volatile anesthetic agents and sleep, …

Marine Reptiles, Arne R. Rasmessen, John D. Murphy, Medy Ompi, J. Whitfield Gibbons, Peter Uetz

Study of Biological Complexity Publications

Of the more than 12,000 species and subspecies of extant reptiles, about 100 have re-entered the ocean. Among them are seven species of sea turtles and about 80 species and subspecies of sea snakes, as well as a few other species that are occasionally or regularly found in brackish waters, including various other snakes, the saltwater crocodile, and the marine iguana of the Galapagos Islands. The largest group of marine reptiles, the sea snakes, occur in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans from the east coast of Africa to the Gulf of Panama. They inhabit …

The Streptococcus Sanguinis Competence Regulon Is Not Required For Infective Endocarditis Virulence In A Rabbit Model, Jill E. Callahan, Cindy L. Munro, Todd Kitten

Philips Institute for Oral Health Research Publications

Streptococcus sanguinis is an important component of dental plaque and a leading cause of infective endocarditis. Genetic competence in S. sanguinis requires a quorum sensing system encoded by the early comCDE genes, as well as late genes controlled by the alternative sigma factor, ComX. Previous studies of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus mutans have identified functions for the >100-gene com regulon in addition to DNA uptake, including virulence. We investigated this possibility in S. sanguinis. Strains deleted for the comCDE orcomX master regulatory genes were created. Using a rabbit endocarditis model in conjunction with a variety of virulence assays, …

Virginia Commonwealth University Commencement Program [2011], Virginia Commonwealth University

VCU Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Differing Lectin Binding Profiles Among Human Embryonic Stem Cells And Derivatives Aid In The Isolation Of Neural Progenitor Cells, Mahesh C. Dodla, Amber Young, Alison Venable, Kowser Hasneen, Raj R. Rao, David W. Machacek, Steven L. Stice

Chemical and Life Science Engineering Publications

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and their differentiated progeny allow for investigation of important changes/events during normal embryonic development. Currently most of the research is focused on proteinacous changes occurring as a result of differentiation of stem cells and little is known about changes in cell surface glycosylation patterns. Identification of cell lineage specific glycans can help in understanding their role in maintenance, proliferation and differentiation. Furthermore, these glycans can serve as markers for isolation of homogenous populations of cells. Using a panel of eight biotinylated lectins, the glycan expression of hESCs, hESCs-derived human neural progenitors (hNP) cells, and hESCs-derived …

Langevin Dynamics For The Transport Of Flexible Biological Macromolecules In Confined Geometries, Michael H. Peters

Chemical and Life Science Engineering Publications

The transport of flexible biological macromolecules in confined geometries is found in a variety of important biophysical systems including biomolecular movements through pores in cell walls, vesicle walls, and synthetic nanopores for sequencing methods. In this study, we extend our previous analysis of the Fokker–Planck and Langevin dynamics for describing the coupled translational and rotational motions of single structuredmacromolecules near structured external surfaces or walls [M. H. Peters, J. Chem. Phys. 110, 528 (1999); 112, 5488 (2000)] to the problem of many interacting macromolecules in the presence of structured external surfaces representing the confining geometry. Overall macromolecular flexibility …

Tryptophan Degradation In Women With Breast Cancer: A Pilot Study, Debra E. Lyon, Jeanne M. Walter, Angela R. Starkweather, Christine M. Schubert, Nancy L. Mccain

School of Nursing Publications

Background

Altered tryptophan metabolism and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity are linked to cancer development and progression. In addition, these biological factors have been associated with the development and severity of neuropsychiatric syndromes, including major depressive disorder. However, this biological mechanism associated with both poor disease outcomes and adverse neuropsychiatric symptoms has received little attention in women with breast cancer. Therefore, a pilot study was undertaken to compare levels of tryptophan and other proteins involved in tryptophan degradation in women with breast cancer to women without cancer, and secondarily, to examine levels in women with breast caner over the course of chemotherapy. …

Bound Water At Protein-Protein Interfaces: Partners, Roles And Hydrophobic Bubbles As A Conserved Motif, Mostafa H. Ahmed, Francesca Spyrakis, Pietro Cozzini, Parijat K. Tripathi, Andrea Mozzarelli, J. Neel Scarsdale, Martin A. Safo, Glen E. Kellogg

Medicinal Chemistry Publications

Background

There is a great interest in understanding and exploiting protein-protein associations as new routes for treating human disease. However, these associations are difficult to structurally characterize or model although the number of X-ray structures for protein-protein complexes is expanding. One feature of these complexes that has received little attention is the role of water molecules in the interfacial region.

Methodology

A data set of 4741 water molecules abstracted from 179 high-resolution (≤ 2.30 Å) X-ray crystal structures of protein-protein complexes was analyzed with a suite of modeling tools based on the HINT forcefield and hydrogen-bonding geometry. A metric termed …

First-Passage Time Analysis Of A One-Dimensional Diffusion-Reaction Model: Application To Protein Transport Along Dna, Michael L. Mayo, Edward J. Perkins, Preetam Ghosh

Computer Science Publications

Background

Proteins search along the DNA for targets, such as transcription initiation sequences, according to one-dimensional diffusion, which is interrupted by micro- and macro-hopping events and intersegmental transfers that occur under close packing conditions.

Results

A one-dimensional diffusion-reaction model in the form of difference-differential equations is proposed to analyze the nonequilibrium protein sliding kinetics along a segment of bacterial DNA. A renormalization approach is used to derive an expression for the mean first-passage time to arrive at sites downstream of the origin from the occupation probabilities given by the individual transport equations. Monte Carlo simulations are employed to assess the …

A Modified Stokes-Einstein Equation For Aβ Aggregation, Srisairam Achuthan, Bon Jae Chung, Preetam Ghosh, Vijayaraghavan Rangachari, Ashwin Vaidya

Computer Science Publications

Background

In all amyloid diseases, protein aggregates have been implicated fully or partly, in the etiology of the disease. Due to their significance in human pathologies, there have been unprecedented efforts towards physiochemical understanding of aggregation and amyloid formation over the last two decades. An important relation from which hydrodynamic radii of the aggregate is routinely measured is the classic Stokes-Einstein equation. Here, we report a modification in the classical Stokes-Einstein equation using a mixture theory approach, in order to accommodate the changes in viscosity of the solvent due to the changes in solute size and shape, to implement a …

Fracture Detection In Traumatic Pelvic Ct Images, Jie Wu, Pavani Davuluri, Kevin R. Ward, Charles Cockrell, Rosalyn Hobson, Kayvan Najarian

Computer Science Publications

Fracture detection in pelvic bones is vital for patient diagnostic decisions and treatment planning in traumatic pelvic injuries. Manual detection of bone fracture from computed tomography (CT) images is very challenging due to low resolution of the images and the complex pelvic structures. Automated fracture detection from segmented bones can significantly help physicians analyze pelvic CT images and detect the severity of injuries in a very short period. This paper presents an automated hierarchical algorithm for bone fracture detection in pelvic CT scans using adaptive windowing, boundary tracing, and wavelet transform while incorporating anatomical information. Fracture detection is performed on …

Superhalogen Properties Of Cumcln Clusters: Theory And Experiment, Y. J. Ko, H. Wang, K. Pradhan, P. Koirala, A. K. Kandalam, K. H. Bowen, P. Jena

Physics Publications

Using a combination of density functional theory and anion photoelectron spectroscopy experiment, we have studied the structure and electronic properties of CuCl _n ⁻ (n = 1–5) and Cu₂Cl _n ⁻ (n = 2–5) clusters. Prominent peaks in the mass spectrum of these clusters occurring at n = 2, 3, and 4 in CuCl _n ⁻ and at n = 3, 4, and 5 in Cu₂Cl _n ⁻ are shown to be associated with the large electron affinities of their neutral clusters that far exceed the value of Cl. While CuCl _n(n …

Fractalkine/Cx3cl1 Protects Striatal Neurons From Synergistic Morphine And Hiv-1 Tat-Induced Dendritic Losses And Death, Masami Suzuki, Nazira El-Hage, Shiping Zou, Yun-Kyung Hahn, Mary Sorrell, Jamie Sturgill, Daniel H. Conrad, Pamela E. Knapp, Kurt F. Hauser

Pharmacology and Toxicology Publications

Background Fractalkine/CX3CL1 and its cognate receptor CX3CR1 are abundantly expressed in the CNS. Fractalkine is an unusual C-X3-C motif chemokine that is important in neuron-microglial communication, a co-receptor for HIV infection, and can be neuroprotective. To assess the effects of fractalkine on opiate-HIV interactive neurotoxicity, wild-type murine striatal neurons were co-cultured with mixed glia from the striata of wild-type or Cx3cr1 knockout mice ± HIV-1 Tat and/or morphine. Time-lapse digital images were continuously recorded at 20 min intervals for up to 72 h using computer-aided microscopy to track the same cells repeatedly.

Results Co-exposure to Tat and morphine caused synergistic …

Electrospun Collagen: A Tissue Engineering Scaffold With Unique Functional Properties In A Wide Variety Of Applications, Balendu Shekhar Jha, Chantal E. Ayres, James R. Bowman, Todd A. Telemeco, Scott A. Sell, Gary L. Bowlin, David G. Simpson

Anatomy and Neurobiology Publications

Type I collagen and gelatin, a derivative of Type I collagen that has been denatured, can each be electrospun into tissue engineering scaffolds composed of nano- to micron-scale diameter fibers. We characterize the biological activity of these materials in a variety of tissue engineering applications, including endothelial cell-scaffold interactions, the onset of bone mineralization, dermal reconstruction, and the fabrication of skeletal muscle prosthetics. Electrospun collgen (esC) consistently exhibited unique biological properties in these functional assays. Even though gelatin can be spun into fibrillar scaffolds that resemble scaffolds of esC, our assays reveal that electrospun gelatin (esG) lacks intact α chains …

Combinatorial Effect Of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs And Nf-Κb Inhibitors In Ovarian Cancer Therapy, Luiz F. Zerbini, Rodrigo E. Tamura, Ricardo G. Correa, Akos Czibere, Jason Coideiro, Manoj Bhasin, Fernando M. Simabuco, Yihong Wang, Xuesong Gu, Linglin Li, Devanand Sarkar, Jin-Rong Zhou, Paul B. Fisher, Towia A. Libermann

Human and Molecular Genetics Publications

Several epidemiological studies have correlated the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) with reduced risk of ovarian cancer, the most lethal gynecological cancer, diagnosed usually in late stages of the disease. We have previously established that the pro-apoptotic cytokine melanoma differentiation associated gene-7/Interleukin-24 (mda-7/IL-24) is a crucial mediator of NSAID-induced apoptosis in prostate, breast, renal and stomach cancer cells. In this report we evaluated various structurally different NSAIDs for their efficacies to induce apoptosis and mda-7/IL-24 expression in ovarian cancer cells. While several NSAIDs induced apoptosis, Sulindac Sulfide and Diclofenac most potently induced apoptosis and reduced tumor …

Comprehensive Gene-Based Association Study Of A Chromosome 20 Linked Region Implicates Novel Risk Loci For Depressive Symptoms In Psychotic Illness, T. Bernard Bigdeli, Brion S. Maher, Zhongming Zhao, Edwin J. C. G. Van Den Oord, Dawn L. Thiselton, Jingchun Sun, Bradley T. Webb, Richard L. Amdur, Brandon Wormley, Francis A. O'Neill, Dermot Walsh, Brien P. Riley, Kenneth S. Kendler, Ayman H. Fanous

Human and Molecular Genetics Publications

Background

Prior genomewide scans of schizophrenia support evidence of linkage to regions of chromosome 20. However, association analyses have yet to provide support for any etiologically relevant variants.

Methods

We analyzed 2988 LD-tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 327 genes on chromosome 20, to test for association with schizophrenia in 270 Irish high-density families (ISHDSF, N = 270 families, 1408 subjects). These SNPs were genotyped using an Illumina iSelect genotyping array which employs the Infinium assay. Given a previous report of novel linkage with chromosome 20p using latent classes of psychotic illness in this sample, association analysis was also conducted …

An Immunologic Portrait Of Cancer, Maria-Libera Ascierto, Valeria De Giorgi, Qiuzhen Liu, Davide Bedognetti, Tara L. Spivey, Daniela Murtas, Lorenzo Uccellini, Ben D. Ayotte, David F. Stroncek, Lofti Chouchane, Masoud H. Manjili, Ena Wang, Francesco M. Marincola

Microbiology and Immunology Publications

The advent of high-throughput technology challenges the traditional histopathological classification of cancer, and proposes new taxonomies derived from global transcriptional patterns. Although most of these molecular re-classifications did not endure the test of time, they provided bulk of new information that can reframe our understanding of human cancer biology. Here, we focus on an immunologic interpretation of cancer that segregates oncogenic processes independent from their tissue derivation into at least two categories of which one bears the footprints of immune activation. Several observations describe a cancer phenotype where the expression of interferon stimulated genes and immune effector mechanisms reflect patterns …

Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Elastase Provides An Escape From Phagocytosis By Degrading The Pulmonary Surfactant Protein-A, Zhizhou Kuang, Yonghua Hao, Brent E. Walling, Jayme L. Jeffries, Dennis E. Ohman, Gee W. Lau

Microbiology and Immunology Publications

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that causes both acute pneumonitis in immunocompromised patients and chronic lung infections in individuals with cystic fibrosis and other bronchiectasis. Over 75% of clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa secrete elastase B (LasB), an elastolytic metalloproteinase that is encoded by the lasB gene. Previously, in vitro studies have demonstrated that LasB degrades a number of components in both the innate and adaptive immune systems. These include surfactant proteins, antibacterial peptides, cytokines, chemokines and immunoglobulins. However, the contribution of LasB to lung infection by P. aeruginosa and to inactivation of pulmonary innate immunity in vivo needs …