Digital Commons Network^™

Proteomic Comparison Of Entamoeba Histolytica And Entamoeba Dispar And The Role Of E. Histolytica Alcohol Dehydrogenase 3 In Virulence, Paul H. Davis, Minghe Chen, Xiaochun Zhang, C. Graham Clark, R. Reid Townsend, Samuel L. Stanley Jr.

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

History Of Medicine Schedule And Abstracts 2009-2010, Houston History Of Medicine Society

Houston History of Medicine Lectures (2006-2012)

• From Genes to Genome: An historical perspective (David Wheeler)
• Ignaz Semmelweis: Medical Prophet Without Honor (Ronald L. Young)
• Why Lewis Thomas, MD is Not a Bore: The Life of a Biology Watcher (Steven Greenberg)
• Doctors from Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans (Vivien Spitz)
• Illuminating Autism: Passing the Torch from the Twentieth Century (Student Essay Contest Winners) (Lynn Yudofsky)
• Healing Beyond Hippocrates: The Temples of Asclepius and Public
• Health Care in Ancient Greece (Andrew Baldwin)
• Iron Wills and Iron Lungs: The Polio Years in Texas (Heather Green Wooten)
• William Osler and the Inspirational Uses of History (Michael …

The Isolation And Structural Determination Of Two Sterol Sulfates That Reverse Efflux Pump-Mediated Fluconazole Resistance In Candida Albicans From A Marine Sponge Topsentia Sp., Jessica Ann Digirolamo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Incorporation Of Membrane-Bound, Mammalian-Derived Immunomodulatory Proteins Into Influenza Whole Virus Vaccines Boosts Immunogenicity And Protection Against Lethal Challenge, Andrew S. Herbert, Lynn Heffron, Roy Sundick, Paul C. Roberts

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Influenza epidemics continue to cause morbidity and mortality within the human population despite widespread vaccination efforts. This, along with the ominous threat of an avian influenza pandemic (H5N1), demonstrates the need for a much improved, more sophisticated influenza vaccine. We have developed an in vitro model system for producing a membrane-bound Cytokine-bearing Influenza Vaccine (CYT-IVAC). Numerous cytokines are involved in directing both innate and adaptive immunity and it is our goal to utilize the properties of individual cytokines and other immunomodulatory proteins to create a more immunogenic vaccine.

Results

We have evaluated the immunogenicity of inactivated cytokine-bearing influenza …

Effects Of A Refugee Elective On Medical Student Perceptions, Kathleen Dussã¡N, Erin M. Galbraith, Mary Grzybowski, Bonnie Vautaw, Linda Murray, Kim A. Eagle

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

There are growing numbers of refugees throughout the world. Refugee health is a relatively unstudied and rarely taught component of medical education. In response to this need, a Refugee Health Elective was begun. Medical student perceptions toward cultural aspects of medicine and refugee health before and after participation in the elective were measured.

Methods

Preliminary questionnaires were given to all preclinical students at the academic year commencement with follow-up questionnaires at the refugee elective's conclusion. Both questionnaires examined students' comfort in interacting with patients and familiarity with refugee medical issues, alternative medical practices, and social hindrances to medical …

Modulation Of Dendritic Cells With The Interleukin-10 Gene On Polycation-Modified Polymeric Particles, Liang Jia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gene therapy has emerged as a field to modulate cell functions by introducing genes of interest to target cells. An emerging focus in this field is to employ non-viral vectors to deliver immunosuppressive cytokines to dendritic cells (DCs) to attenuate damaging immune responses. DCs serve as potential targets for suppression of T cell responses. In this work, we investigated the ability of polycation-modified polymeric particles complexed with interleukin-10 (IL-10) gene to modulate DCs. The delivery systems (designated as PSO10H6 and PLGAO10H6) were formed by coating cationic peptide O10H6 (O: ornithine; H: histidine) on the polystyrene (PS) and poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) …

Antibiotic Prophylaxis For Leptospirosis, David Brett-Major, Robert J. Lipnick

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

BACKGROUND: Leptospira infection is a global zoonosis with significant health impact for agricultural workers and those persons whose work or recreation takes them into endemic areas.

OBJECTIVES: This systematic review assessed the current literature for evidence for or against use of antibiotic prophylaxis against Leptospira infection (leptospirosis).

SEARCH STRATEGY: The authors searched The Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group Controlled Trials Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and SCI-Expanded as well as relevant professional society meeting abstracts until January 2009.

SELECTION CRITERIA: Prospective, randomised clinical trials studying antibiotic prophylaxis against leptospirosis were selected.

DATA …

Femicide In Mexico: From Malinche To Modern Women, Kindall Brooke Scarborough

Theses and Dissertations

Olga Perez was a typical 20-year-old Mexican girl (Valdez 7). Coming from a poor family, she worked at a local shoe store in Juarez to raise money for college (Valdez 7). Wanting to see her daughter attain her dream of receiving higher education, Olga's mother. Irma. also worked several jobs, including selling hamburgers and hotdogs in front of her house, selling used clothing, and serving as a part-time housekeeper (Valdez 7-8). One evening Olga did not return home after a meeting (Valdez 7). It can be assumed that Irma. being Olga's mother, experienced a wide variety of emotions, including sadness, …

An Analysis Of Sustainable Economic Development Initiatives: Why Aid Organizations Should Focus On Helping Women, Andrea Rooks

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

No abstract provided.

The Future Of Tourism In Aruba: Part One, Kevin S. Murphy

Dick Pope Sr. Institute Publications

Global issues dominated the discussion at the Aruba Timeshare Association (ATSA) sponsored think tank on visioning the future of Aruba. Global competition, global foreign policy, changing demographics and the global environment emerged as primary concerns by participants at the ATSA event on November 30, 2006. They also expressed major concerns over the lack of public-private cooperation to assist the Aruba tourism industry in addressing the challenges in these areas. Additionally, they also were quick to identify the lack of serious industry-wide leadership in moving the industry's collective level of understanding of these challenges to the next level. While discussion and …

Economics And Policy Context For The Biological Management Of Soil Fertility (Bmsf) In Ethiopia, Habtamu T. Kassahun, Charles F. Nicholson, Dawit Solomon, Amy S. Collick, Tammo S. Steenhuis

Agribusiness

Many developing countries implement programs and policies to increase or maintain soil fertility, with the objectives of increased crop yields and decreased poverty. However, few countries give emphasis to the biological management of soil fertility (BMSF) compared to more traditional approaches. Ethiopia emphasizes the use synthetic fertilizers to increase food security and reduce poverty, with little attention to BMSF. This paper examines the long term fertilizer consumption and agricultural productivity response trend and discusses the potential for BMSF to promote agricultural productivity and reduce poverty in Ethiopia. The paper also discusses the Economics and Policy Context for BMSF for the …

The Difficult Road To Compelling Vaccination For Sexually Transmitted Diseases--How Gardasil And Those To Follow Will Change The Way That States Require Inoculation, Jonathan T. Scott

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Understanding How Disease And Environment Combine To Structure Resistance In Estuarine Bivalve Populations, Eileen E. Hofmann, David Bushek, Susan E. Ford, Ximing Guo, Dale Haidvogel, Dennis Hedgecock, John M. Klinck, Coren Milbury, Diego Narvaez, Eric Powell, Yongping Wang, Zhiren Wang, Liusuo Zhang

CCPO Publications

Delaware Bay oyster (Crassostrea virginica) populations are influenced by two lethal parasites that cause Dermo and MSX diseases. As part of the US National Science Foundation Ecology of Infectious Diseases initiative, a program developed for Delaware Bay focuses on understanding how oyster population genetics and population dynamics interact with the environment and these parasites to structure he host populations, and how these interactions might modified by climate change. Laboratory and field studies undertaken during this program include identifying genes related to MSX and Dermo disease resistance, potential regions for refugia and the mechanisms that allow them to exist, …

Effects Of An Educational Intervention On Hospital Acquired Urinary Tract Infection Rates, Sharon Lanier Smith

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In today's hospital environment, good care has become synonymous with positive patient outcomes. Marring this landscape is the alarming rate of hospital acquired (nosocomial) infections. Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common hospital acquired infections. The major cause associated with these infections is the use of indwelling urinary catheters. Bacteria invade the lower urinary tract by ascending through or around the catheter. Morbidity associated with urinary catheter-associated UTI can be minimized by prudent decisions concerning catheter usage and good catheter care. The principle route of dispersal of nosocomial infections is likely from patient-to-patient via transiently contaminated hands …

Hiv-1 Envelope-Induced Signaling Mediates Actin Cytoskeleton Rearrangements Necessary For Fusion And Entry, Brooke Harmon

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Human immunodeficiency virus type-1: HIV-1) initiates infection by direct fusion of the virus membrane with the plasma membrane of the target cell. This fusion event is a multi-step process mediated by the envelope: Env) surface subunit gp120 and the transmembrane subunit gp41 which anchors gp120 into the viral membrane. First the surface subunit gp120 binds to the primary receptor CD4. This interaction promotes actin cytoskeletal rearrangements in the target membrane that bring the chemokine coreceptor, CCR5 or CXCR4, into close proximity for binding and induces conformational changes in gp120 that allow it to couple to the coreceptor. Formation of the …

Results From A Mathematical Model For Human Monocytic Ehrlichiosis, H. Gaff, L. Gross, E. Schaefer

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Human monocytic ehrlichiosis (Ehrlichia chaffeensis), HME, is a tick-transmitted, rickettsial disease that has recently increased substantially in the USA from 142 reported cases in 2001 to 506 reported cases in 2005 [1,2]. There have been increasing surveys of tick populations over the past 10 years that have in turn supported the development of models for tick-borne disease transmission. Resulting HME models [3] suggest the importance of metapopulation structures, landscape environment parameters and periodic climatic effects in predicting the dynamics of HME transmission and the efficacy of control efforts, such as the reduction of the tick population through acaricide …

Impact Of Empire Expansion On Household Diet: The Inka In Northern Chile’S Atacama Desert, Sheila D. Vinton, Linda Perry, Karl J. Reinhard, Calogero M. Santoro, Isabel Teixeira-Santos

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The impact of expanding civilization on the health of American indigenous societies has long been studied. Most studies have focused on infections and malnutrition that occurred when less complex societies were incorporated into more complex civilizations. The details of dietary change, however, have rarely been explored. Using the analysis of starch residues recovered from coprolites, here we evaluate the dietary adaptations of indigenous farmers in northern Chile’s Atacama Desert during the time that the Inka Empire incorporated these communities into their economic system. This system has been described as ‘‘complementarity’’ because it involves interaction and trade in goods produced at …

Identification And Characterization Of Novel Astroviruses, Stacy Finkbeiner

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Approximately 1.8 million children die from diarrhea annually, and millions more suffer multiple episodes of nonfatal diarrhea. Despite the availability of improved molecular diagnostics to detect the known viral agents, the etiology of a large proportion of diarrheal cases is unknown. In fact, it is estimated that no causative agent can be identified in up to 40% of sporadic cases or in gastroenteritis outbreaks. Detection of novel or unexpected viruses is the first step in identifying agents that could potentially close the diagnostic gap and pave the way for the development of more comprehensive preventative measures and better treatments. This …

Aggregation & Localization Of A Disease-Associated Prion Protein (Prp) Mutant, Andrea Rhonda Medrano

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Aggregation & Localization of a Disease-Associated Prion Protein: PrP) Mutant by Andrea Rhonda Zaragoza Medrano Doctor of Philosophy in Biology and Biomedical Sciences: Genetics) Washington University in St. Louis, 2009 Professor David A. Harris, Chairperson Prion protein: PrP) is a GPI-anchored sialoglycoprotein involved in the pathogenesis of infectious and inherited forms of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies: TSEs). A nine-octapeptide insertional mutation in the prion protein: PrP) causes a fatal neurodegenerative disorder in both humans and transgenic mice. To determine the precise cellular localization of this mutant PrP: designated PG14), we have generated transgenic mice expressing PG14-EGFP, a …

Theorizing And Generalizing About Risk Assessment And Regulation Through Comparative Nested Analysis Of Representative Cases, Jonathan B. Wiener, Brendon Swedlow, Denise Kall, Zheng Zhou, James K. Hammitt

Faculty Scholarship

This article provides a framework and offers strategies for theorizing and generalizing about risk assessment and regulation developed in the context of an on-going comparative study of regulatory behavior. Construction of a universe of nearly 3,000 risks and study of a random sample of 100 of these risks allowed us to estimate relative U.S. and European regulatory precaution over a thirty-five-year period. Comparative nested analysis of cases selected from this universe of ecological, health, safety, and other risks or its eighteen categories or ninety-two subcategories of risk sources or causes will allow theory-testing and -building and many further descriptive and …

Using Decision Analysis To Improve Malaria Control Policy Making, Jonathan B. Wiener, Randall A. Kramer, Katherine L. Dickinson, Richard M. Anderson, Vance G. Fowler, Marie Lynn Miranda, Clifford M. Mutero, Kathryn A. Saterson

Faculty Scholarship

Malaria and other vector-borne diseases represent a significant and growing burden in many tropical countries. Successfully addressing these threats will require policies that expand access to and use of existing control methods, such as insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) and artemesinin combination therapies (ACTs) for malaria, while weighing the costs and benefits of alternative approaches over time. This paper argues that decision analysis provides a valuable framework for formulating such policies and combating the emergence and re-emergence of malaria and other diseases. We outline five challenges that policy makers and practitioners face in the struggle against malaria, and demonstrate how decision …

Outlook Magazine, Spring 2009

Outlook Magazine

No abstract provided.

Outlook Magazine, Fall 2009

Outlook Magazine

No abstract provided.

Compulsory Licenses: The Dangers Behind The Current Practice, Jamie Feldman

Journal of International Business and Law

No abstract provided.

Untold Truths: The Exclusion Of Enforced Sterilizations From The Peruvian Truth Commission's Final Report, Jocelyn E. Getgen

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This Article argues that the exclusion of enforced sterilization cases from the Peruvian Truth Commission's investigation and Final Report effectively erases State responsibility and decreases the likelihood for justice and reparations for women victims-survivors of State-sponsored violence in Peru. In a context of deep cultural and economic divides and violent conflict, this Article recounts how the State's Family Planning Program violated Peruvian women's reproductive rights by sterilizing low-income, indigenous Quechua-speaking women without informed consent. This Article argues that these systematic reproductive injustices constitute an act of genocide, proposes an independent inquiry, and advocates for a more inclusive investigation and final …

Examining Cultural Competence Among Osteopathic Medical Students , Sooni Lee

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

With the growing number of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, there also has been a rise in health disparities. Ethnic minorities have been experiencing an overabundance of medical issues, particularly chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. Although these chronic diseases are preventable, ethnic minorities are at greater risk for death from them. Possible contributing factors to the increase in health disparities include limited medical attention and follow-up appointments with physicians and the physician-patient relationship. The purpose of this study was twofold: to examine cultural competence among osteopathic medical students and to examine their attitudes toward …

Consumer Perspectives Of Health During Prenatal Care In The Usa And Iceland: An Exploratory Study, Claudia Wiseman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Prenatal care (PNC) is the healthcare service most often provided to women of childbearing age throughout the world. Poorly understood and defined, based on culture, and expensive for any healthcare system, PNC remains a target for change and improvement. The purpose of this cross-national qualitative research study using narrative inquiry methods was to explore consumer perspectives of individual health and routine PNC in the USA and Iceland. Methods: A purposive sampling technique was used to identify study participants (n = 32) from the United States (n = 16) and Iceland (n = 16). Data were collected via a semi …

Consequences Of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Activation In Dendritic Cells, Jaishree Bankoti

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

TCDD (dioxin) causes immunosuppression via activation of the Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). Dendritic cells (DCs), the professional antigen-presenting cells in the immune system, are adversely affected by TCDD. However, limited information exists regarding the effects of AhR activation on DCs. We evaluated the consequences of AhR activation by TCDD on both steady-state and inflammatory DCs using in vivo and in vitro approaches, respectively. We hypothesized that AhR activation alters DC homeostasis and differentiation leading to generation of immunosuppression. C57Bl/6 mice gavaged with an immunosuppressive dose of TCDD (15 ug/kg) displayed decreased frequency and number of splenic CD11c^high DCs on …

Injury Rates, Severity Of Injury, And Access To Specialty Health Care Of American Indian High School Athletes In Montana, Drew Anthony Babcock

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Introduction: Athletics are an integral part of American Indian (AI) life and culture. However, with participation there is a risk of receiving an injury. Sustaining an injury can be devastating to AI athletes that live on or near a reservation due to the rural location and disparities in health care. Objective: To determine Montana’s AI high school athletes’ injury rates, severity of injury, the current level of medical supervision, and type of health care they seek/receive. Methods: The procedure for collecting data consisted of sending out surveys to head coaches at 11 high schools that met the inclusion criteria. Analysis: …

Rapid Sensor Technology: A Risk And System Complexity Analyses Of Early Detection Of Influenza-Like-Illnesses, Cesar Ariel Pinto, Ipek Bozkurt

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The development of effective and reliable methods to defend the nation against biological terrorism remains an urgent challenge to researchers in the areas of risk, bio-defense, public health, and emergency medicine. The emerging threat of the avian flu pandemic also highlights the unpreparedness of our nation's health care system to meet a highly contagious and infectious disease outbreak. The implementation of a rapid sensor technology for early detection of influenza-like-illness provides possible opportunities, as well as problems. Bounding and defining such a complex problem is one of the first challenges this research addresses. Approaching this problem from various perspectives such …