Digital Commons Network^™

Activating Immunity To Fight A Foe — A New Path, Richard S. Hotchkiss, Steven M. Opal

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Wikidata As A Knowledge Graph For The Life Sciences, Andra Waagmeester, Malachi Griffith, Obi L. Griffith, Et Al.

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Targeting Unconventional Host Components For Vaccination-Induced Protection Against Tb, Elisa Nemes, Shabaana A Khader, Rosemary V Swanson, Willem A Hanekom

Open Access Publications

The current tuberculosis (TB) vaccine, Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG), is effective in preventing TB in young children but was developed without a basic understanding of human immunology. Most modern TB vaccine candidates have targeted CD4

Actual Causes Of Death In Relation To Media, Policy, And Funding Attention: Examining Public Health Priorities, Meagan R Pilar, Amy A Eyler, Sarah Moreland-Russell, Ross C Brownson

Open Access Publications

Despite numerous public health advancements over the last century, we continue to under-invest in prevention and public health efforts. As a result, one of the most challenging aspects of public health is prioritizing the use of limited resources. Building on the foundation of previous researchers, the goal of this exploratory study was to provide current estimates for the actual causes of death, media attention, policy focus, and research funding in the United States. In addition, we sought to calculate and compare media attention, policy attention, and research funding trends to better assess the nation's prioritization of health issues. Using a …

Cryptococcus Neoformans Evades Pulmonary Immunity By Modulating Xylose Precursor Transport, Lucy X. Li, Camaron R. Hole, Javier Rangel-Moreno, Shabaana A. Khader, Tamara L. Doering

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Malaria Parasite Plasmepsins: More Than Just Plain Old Degradative Pepsins, Armiyaw S. Nasamu, Alexander J. Polino, Eva S. Istvan, Daniel E. Goldberg

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Deployment Of Convalescent Plasma For The Prevention And Treatment Of Covid-19, Evan M Bloch, Brenda J Grossman, Jeffrey P Henderson, Et Al

Open Access Publications

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has spurred a global health crisis. To date, there are no proven options for prophylaxis for those who have been exposed to SARS-CoV-2, nor therapy for those who develop COVID-19. Immune (i.e., "convalescent") plasma refers to plasma that is collected from individuals following resolution of infection and development of antibodies. Passive antibody administration through transfusion of convalescent plasma may offer the only short-term strategy for conferring immediate immunity to susceptible individuals. There are numerous examples in which convalescent plasma has been used successfully as postexposure prophylaxis …

Prevention And Management Of Dermatologic Adverse Events Associated With Tumor Treating Fields In Patients With Glioblastoma, Mario E Lacouture, Milan J Anadkat, Matthew T Ballo, Fabio Iwamoto, Suriya A Jeyapalan, Renato V La Rocca, Margaret Schwartz, Jennifer N Serventi, Martin Glas

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Mapping Of The Language Network With Deep Learning, Patrick Luckett, John J Lee, Ki Yun Park, Donna Dierker, Andy G S Daniel, Benjamin A Seitzman, Carl D Hacker, Beau M Ances, Eric C Leuthardt, Abraham Z Snyder, Joshua S Shimony

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Understanding Antibiotic Prophylaxis Prescribing In Pediatric Surgical Specialties, Sara M Malone, Natalie S Seigel, Jason G Newland, Jacqueline M Saito, Virginia R Mckay

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: Overuse of antibiotics has caused secondary poor outcomes and has led to a current rate of antibiotic resistant infections that constitutes a public health crisis. In pediatric surgical specialties, children continue to receive unnecessary antibiotics.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the factors that contribute to pediatric surgeons' decisions regarding the use of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis.

METHODS: Focus groups included pediatric proceduralists/surgeons from the following specialties: interventional cardiology, otolaryngology, orthopedic surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, and general surgery.

RESULTS: A total of 23 surgeons with a median of 9 years of experience (range, 0.5-29 years) participated in the focus groups that lasted 30-90 minutes …

Inappropriate Antibiotic Surgical Prophylaxis In Pediatric Patients: A National Point-Prevalence Study, Brian R Lee, Alison C Tribble, Jeffrey S Gerber, Adam L Hersh, Matthew P Kronman, Jason G Newland

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Core Warming Of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Patients Undergoing Mechanical Ventilation-A Protocol For A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study, Nathaniel Bonfanti, Emily Gundert, Anne M. Drewry, Kristina Goff, Roger Bedimo, Erik Kulstad

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, is spreading rapidly across the globe, with little proven effective therapy. Fever is seen in most cases of COVID-19, at least at the initial stages of illness. Although fever is typically treated (with antipyretics or directly with ice or other mechanical means), increasing data suggest that fever is a protective adaptive response that facilitates recovery from infectious illness.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a randomized controlled pilot study of core warming patients with COVID-19 undergoing mechanical ventilation.

METHODS: This prospective single-site randomized controlled pilot study will enroll 20 patients undergoing mechanical ventilation …

Temporary Abdominal Closure Is Associated With Increased Risk For Fungal Intra-Abdominal Infections In Trauma Patients, Christina X. Zhang, Rohit R. Rasane, Qiao Zhang, Ricardo A. Fonseca, Jose A. Aldana, Javier E. Rincon, Maya J. Sorini, Kelly M. Bochicchio, Jennifer M. Leonard, Obeid N. Ilahi, Grant V. Bochicchio

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Tetracycline-Inactivating Enzymes From Environmental, Human Commensal, And Pathogenic Bacteria Cause Broad-Spectrum Tetracycline Resistance, Andrew J. Gasparrini, Jana L. Markley, Hirdesh Kumar, Bin Wang, Luting Fang, Sidra Irum, Chanez T. Symister, Meghan Wallace, Carey-Ann D. Burnham, Saadia Andleeb, Niraj H. Tolia, Timothy A. Wencewicz, Gautam Dantas

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Use Of Icd-10 Codes For Identification Of Injection Drug Use-Associated Infective Endocarditis Is Nonspecific And Obscures Critical Findings On Impact Of Medications For Opioid Use Disorder, Laura R. Marks, Nathanial S. Nolan, Linda Jiang, Dharushana Muthulingam, Stephen Y. Liang, Michael J. Durkin

Open Access Publications

Background: No International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10), diagnosis code exists for injection drug use-associated infective endocarditis (IDU-IE). Instead, public health researchers regularly use combinations of nonspecific ICD-10 codes to identify IDU-IE; however, the accuracy of these codes has not been evaluated.

Methods: We compared commonly used ICD-10 diagnosis codes for IDU-IE with a prospectively collected patient cohort diagnosed with IDU-IE at Barnes-Jewish Hospital to determine the accuracy of ICD-10 diagnosis codes used in IDU-IE research.

Results: ICD-10 diagnosis codes historically used to identify IDU-IE were inaccurate, missing 36.0% and misclassifying 56.4% of patients prospectively identified in this cohort. …

Trends In Diagnosis Related Groups For Inpatient Admissions And Associated Changes In Payment From 2012 To 2016, Ty J. Gluckman, Kateri J. Spinelli, Mansen Wang, Amir Yazdani, Gary Grunkemeier, Steven M. Bradley, Jason H. Wasfy, Abhinav Goyal, Andrew Oseran, Karen E. Joynt Maddox

Open Access Publications

Importance: Hospitals are reimbursed based on Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs), which are defined, in part, by patients having 1 or more complications or comorbidities within a given DRG family. Hospitals have made substantial investment in efforts to document these complications and comorbidities.

Objective: To examine temporal trends in DRGs with a major complication or comorbidity, compare these findings with 2 alternative measures of disease severity, and estimate associated changes in payment.

Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective cohort study used data from the all-payer National Inpatient Sample for admissions assigned to 1 of the top 20 reimbursed DRG families at …

Utilization Of The Sharing Antimicrobial Reports For Pediatric Stewardship (Sharps) Collaborative Electronic Mailing List (Listserv) By Healthcare Professionals, Christopher C Mcpherson, Zachary A Vesoulis, Talene A Metjian, Mirela Grabic, Summer Reyes, Sydney Reyes, Christina Krucylak, Cindy Terrill, Jason G Newland

Open Access Publications

Optimizing pediatric antimicrobial stewardship is challenging. In this retrospective study, we evaluated 515 original e-mails to 482 members of the Sharing Antimicrobial Reports for Pediatric Stewardship (SHARPS) Collaborative electronic mailing list ([email protected]). The plurality of threads discussed clinical practice guidelines, and pharmacists were most likely to initiate and respond. Representation was geographically diverse within and outside the United States.

Clinical Implications Of Restrictions In Criteria For Defining Surgical Site Infections After Mastectomy, Antoinette A A Bediako-Bowan, David K Warren, Katelin B Nickel, Victoria J Fraser, Margaret A Olsen

Open Access Publications

More than 50% of women with clinically apparent infection after mastectomy did not meet the 2020 National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definition for surgical site infection (SSI). Implant loss was similar whether the 2020 NHSN SSI definition was met or not, suggesting equivalent adverse outcomes regardless of restriction to the surveillance definition.

Pediatric Research Priorities In Healthcare-Associated Infections And Antimicrobial Stewardship, Susan E Coffin, Stephanie Fritz, Jason Newland, Et Al

Open Access Publications

OBJECTIVE: To develop a pediatric research agenda focused on pediatric healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial stewardship topics that will yield the highest impact on child health.

PARTICIPANTS: The study included 26 geographically diverse adult and pediatric infectious diseases clinicians with expertise in healthcare-associated infection prevention and/or antimicrobial stewardship (topic identification and ranking of priorities), as well as members of the Division of Healthcare Quality and Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (topic identification).

METHODS: Using a modified Delphi approach, expert recommendations were generated through an iterative process for identifying pediatric research priorities in healthcare associated infection prevention and …

Cholesterol 25-Hydroxylase Suppresses Sars-Cov-2 Replication By Blocking Membrane Fusion, Ruochen Zang, James Brett Case, Xiucui Ma, Maria Florencia Gomez Castro, Zhuoming Liu, Qiru Zeng, Haiyan Zhao, Juhee Son, Paul W. Rothlauf, Gaopeng Hou, Michael D. Vahey, Kartik Mani, Daved H. Fremont, Abhinav Diwan, Michael S. Diamond, Sean P.J. Whelan, Siyuan Ding, Et Al.

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

From Stigma To Validation: A Qualitative Assessment Of A Novel National Program To Improve Retention Of Physician-Scientists With Caregiving Responsibilities, Rochelle D. Jones, Victoria J. Fraser, Et Al.

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

A Multi-Mrna Host-Response Molecular Blood Test For The Diagnosis And Prognosis Of Acute Infections And Sepsis: Proceedings From A Clinical Advisory Panel, James Ducharme, Wesley H Self, Tiffany M Osborn, Nathan A Ledeboer, Jonathan Romanowsky, Timothy E Sweeney, Oliver Liesenfeld, Richard E Rothman

Open Access Publications

Current diagnostics are insufficient for diagnosis and prognosis of acute infections and sepsis. Clinical decisions including prescription and timing of antibiotics, ordering of additional diagnostics and level-of-care decisions rely on understanding etiology and implications of a clinical presentation. Host mRNA signatures can differentiate infectious from noninfectious etiologies, bacterial from viral infections, and predict 30-day mortality. The 29-host-mRNA blood-based InSep

Roles Of The Vagina And The Vaginal Microbiota In Urinary Tract Infection: Evidence From Clinical Correlations And Experimental Models, Amanda L Lewis, Nicole M Gilbert

Open Access Publications

Mounting evidence indicates that the vagina can harbor uropathogenic bacteria. Here, we consider three roles played by the vagina and its bacterial inhabitants in urinary tract infection (UTI) and urinary health. First, the vagina can serve as a reservoir for

Neutrophil L-Plastin Controls Ocular Paucibacteriality And Susceptibility To Keratitis, Xiaoxiao Lu, Abirami Kugadas, Kirsten Smith-Page, Jeffrey Lamb, Tiffany Lin, Yusha Ru, Sharon Celeste Morley, Raina Fichorova, Sharad K Mittal, Sunil K Chauhan, Sejiro Littleton, Daniel Saban, Mihaela Gadjeva

Open Access Publications

Why ocular mucosa is paucibacterial is unknown. Many different mechanisms have been suggested but the comprehensive experimental studies are sparse. We found that a deficiency in L-plastin (LCP1), an actin bundling protein, resulted in an ocular commensal overgrowth, characterized with increased presence of conjunctival

Lipin-1 Contributes To Il-4 Mediated Macrophage Polarization, Sunitha Chandran, Robert M Schilke, Cassidy M R Blackburn, Aila Yurochko, Rusella Mirza, Rona S Scott, Brian N Finck, Matthew D Woolard

Open Access Publications

Macrophage responses contribute to a diverse array of pathologies ranging from infectious disease to sterile inflammation. Polarization of macrophages determines their cellular function within biological processes. Lipin-1 is a phosphatidic acid phosphatase in which its enzymatic activity contributes to macrophage pro-inflammatory responses. Lipin-1 also possesses transcriptional co-regulator activity and whether this activity is required for macrophage polarization is unknown. Using mice that lack only lipin-1 enzymatic activity or both enzymatic and transcriptional coregulator activities from myeloid cells, we investigated the contribution of lipin-1 transcriptional co-regulator function toward macrophage wound healing polarization. Macrophages lacking both lipin-1 activities did not elicit IL-4 …

Gardnerella Vaginalis As A Cause Of Bacterial Vaginosis: Appraisal Of The Evidence From In Vivo Models, Sydney Morrill, Nicole M Gilbert, Amanda L Lewis

Open Access Publications

Koch's postulates dictate the use of experimental models to illustrate features of human disease and provide evidence for a singular organism as the cause. The underlying cause(s) of bacterial vaginosis (BV) has been debated in the literature for over half a century. In 1955, it was first reported that a bacterium now known as

Co-Occurrence Of Campylobacter Species In Children From Eastern Ethiopia, And Their Association With Environmental Enteric Dysfunction, Diarrhea, And Host Microbiome, Yitagele Terefe, Mark J Manary, Maria Isabel Ordiz, Et Al

Open Access Publications

High

Quantitative Definition Of Neurobehavior, Vision, Hearing And Brain Volumes In Macaques Congenitally Exposed To Zika Virus, Michelle R. Koenig, Kevin Noguchi, Et Al.

Open Access Publications

Congenital Zika virus (ZIKV) exposure results in a spectrum of disease ranging from severe birth defects to delayed onset neurodevelopmental deficits. ZIKV-related neuropathogenesis, predictors of birth defects, and neurodevelopmental deficits are not well defined in people. Here we assess the methodological and statistical feasibility of a congenital ZIKV exposure macaque model for identifying infant neurobehavior and brain abnormalities that may underlie neurodevelopmental deficits. We inoculated five pregnant macaques with ZIKV and mock-inoculated one macaque in the first trimester. Following birth, growth, ocular structure/function, brain structure, hearing, histopathology, and neurobehavior were quantitatively assessed during the first week of life. We identified …

Understanding Patient Transfers Across Multiple Clinics In Zambia Among Hiv Infected Adults, Kombatende Sikombe, Aaloke Mody, Jillian Kadota, Jesse Jake Pry, Sandra Simbeza, Ingrid Eshun-Wilson, Sitali Richard Situmbeko, Chama Bukankala, Laura Beres, Njekwa Mukamba, Mwanza Wa Mwanza, Carolyn Bolton-Moore, Charles B. Holmes, Elvin H. Geng, Izukanji Sikazwe

Open Access Publications

Many patients in HIV care in Africa considered lost to follow up (LTFU) at one facility are reportedly accessing care in another. The success of these unofficial transfers as measured by time to re-entry at the new-facility, prevalence of treatment interruptions, speed of ART-initiation, and overall continuity of care is not well characterized but may reveal opportunities for improvement. We traced a random sample of LTFU HIV-infected patients in Zambia. Among those found alive and reported in care at a new-facility, we reviewed records at the receiving facility to verify transfer; and when verified, documented the transfer experience. We used …

Structural Basis Of Chikungunya Virus Inhibition By Monoclonal Antibodies, Qun Fei Zhou, Julie M. Fox, James T. Earnest, Thiam-Seng Ng, Arthur S. Kim, Guntur Fibriansah, Victor A. Kostyuchenko, Jian Shi, Bo Shu, Michael S. Diamond, Shee-Mei Lok

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.