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Medical School Watercooler Newsletter - March 9, 2014, Lindsey Lyle

Watercooler Newsletter

This is the March 9, 2014 edition of the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine's newsletter - Watercooler.

Contents Include:

• Kitsy Bridges Recognized for Customer Service
• March 20 DSS to Feature Dr. Arthur J. Tipton
• Reminder: USA Neurology to Host Spring Symposium
• Dr. David Wood to Present at International Conference of Biocontainment Facilities
• Mark Your Calendar: Match Day 2014
• Ceremony Honors Collaborators in Sentinel Surveillance Project

Reorienting Bayh-Dole’S March-In: Looking To Purpose And Objectives In The Public’S Interest, Abigail Amato Rives

Intellectual Property Brief

No abstract provided.

Understanding Racial Hiv/Sti Disparities In Black And White Men Who Have Sex With Men: A Multilevel Approach, Patrick S. Sullivan, John Peterson, Eli S. Rosenberg, Colleen F. Kelley, Hannah Cooper, Adam Vaughan, Laura F. Salazar, Paula M. Frew, Gina Wingood, Ralph Diclemente, Carlos Del Rio, Mark Mulligan, Travis H. Sanchez

Environmental & Global Health Faculty Research

Background The reasons for black/white disparities in HIV epidemics among men who have sex with men have puzzled researchers for decades. Understanding reasons for these disparities requires looking beyond individual-level behavioral risk to a more comprehensive framework. Methods and Findings

Gene Discovery And Data Sharing In Genome Wide Association Analyses: Lessons Form Aids Genetic Restriction Genes, Stephen J. O'Brien, Anton Svitin, Sergey Malov, Nikolay Cherkasov, Pavel Dobrynin, Paul Geerts, Jennifer L. Troyer, Sher L. Hendrickson, Efe Sezgin, Holli Hutcheson

Biology Faculty Articles

As genome wide association studies plus whole genome sequence analyses for complex human disease determinants are expanding, it seems useful to develop strategies to facilitate large data sharing, rapid replication and validation of provocative statistical associations that straddle the threshold for genome wide significance. At this conference, we shall announce GWATCH, (Genome Wide Association Tracks Chromosome Highway) a web based data release platform that can freely display and inspect unabridged genome tracked association data without compromising privacy or Informed Consent constrictions, allowing for rapid discovery and replication opportunities. We illustrate the utility with HIV-AIDS resistance genes screened in combined large …

Ec1412 Fowl Cholera, L. Van Es

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Extension Circular 1412 talks about fowl cholera and its causes.

Ancient Pathogen Dna In Archaeological Samples Detected With A Microbial Detection Array, Alison M. Devault, Kevin Mcloughlin, Crystal Jaing, Shea Gardner, Teresita M. Porter, Jacob M. Enk, James Thissen, Jonathan Allen, Monica Borucki, Sharon Dewitte, Anna N. Dhody, Hendrik N. Poinar

Faculty Publications

Ancient human remains of paleopathological interest typically contain highly degraded DNA in which pathogenic taxa are often minority components, making sequence-based metagenomic characterization costly. Microarrays may hold a potential solution to these challenges, offering a rapid, affordable and highly informative snapshot of microbial diversity in complex samples without the lengthy analysis and/or high cost associated with high-throughput sequencing. Their versatility is well established for modern clinical specimens, but they have yet to be applied to ancient remains. Here we report bacterial profiles of archaeological and historical human remains using the Lawrence Livermore Microbial Detection Array (LLMDA). The array successfully identified …

The Un Is Not Above The Law, Lauren Carasik

Media Presence

No abstract provided.

The Cowl - V.78 - N.17 - Mar 6, 2014

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Volume 78 - No. 17 - March 6, 2014. 24 pages.

High Hiv Incidence In The Postpartum Period Sustains Vertical Transmission In Settings With Generalized Epidemics: A Cohort Study In Southern Mozambique, Caroline De Schacht, Nedia Mabunda, Orlando C. Ferreira Jr., Nalia Ismael, Nurbai Calu, Iolanda Santos, Heather J. Hoffman, Catharina Alons, Laura Guay, Ilesh V. Jani

Genomics and Precision Medicine Faculty Publications

Introduction: Acute infection with HIV in the postpartum period results in a high risk of vertical transmission through breastfeeding. A study was done to determine the HIV incidence rate and associated risk factors among postpartum women in Southern Mozambique, where HIV prevalence among pregnant women is 21%.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted in six rural health facilities in Gaza and Maputo provinces from March 2008 to July 2011. A total of 1221 women who were HIV-negative on testing at delivery or within two months postpartum were recruited and followed until 18 months postpartum. HIV testing, collection …

March 5, 2014 Faculty Senate Minutes, University Of South Carolina

Faculty Senate

No abstract provided.

Programmed Allee Effect In Bacteria Causes A Tradeoff Between Population Spread And Survival, Robert P. Smith, Cheemang Tan, Jaydeep K. Srimani, Anand Pai, Katherine A. Riccione, Hao Song, Lingchong You

Biology Faculty Articles

Dispersal is necessary for spread into new habitats, but it has also been shown to inhibit spread. Theoretical studies have suggested that the presence of a strong Allee effect may account for these counterintuitive observations. Experimental demonstration of this notion is lacking due to the difficulty in quantitative analysis of such phenomena in a natural setting. We engineered Escherichia coli to exhibit a strong Allee effect and examined how the Allee effect would affect the spread of the engineered bacteria. We showed that the Allee effect led to a biphasic dependence of bacterial spread on the dispersal rate: spread is …

Evaluation Of Novel Oral Vaccine Candidates And Validation Of A Caprine Model Of Johne’S Disease, Murray E. Hines Ii, Sue E. Turnquist, Marcia R.S. Ilha, Sreekumari Rajeev, Arthur L. Jones, Lisa Whittington, John P. Bannantine, Raul G. Barletta, Yrjö T. Gröhn, Robab Katani, Adel M. Talaat, Lingling Li, Vivek Kapur

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Johne’s disease (JD) caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is a major threat to the dairy industry and possibly some cases of Crohn’s disease in humans. A MAP vaccine that reduced of clinical disease and/or reduced fecal shedding would aid in the control of JD. The objectives of this study were (1) to evaluate the efficacy of 5 attenuated strains of MAP as vaccine candidates compared to a commercial control vaccine using the protocol proposed by the Johne’s Disease Integrated Program (JDIP) Animal Model Standardization Committee (AMSC), and (2) to validate the AMSC Johne’s disease go at challenge model. …

Public Health Services Most Commonly Provided By Local Health Departments In The United States, Gulzar H. Shah, Huabin Luo, Sergey Sotnikov

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

The primary purpose of this research is to identify the most commonly performed public health services by local health departments (LHDs) and highlight variation by LHD characteristics. Data were drawn from the 2008 and 2010 National Profile of LHDs, conducted by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). The descriptive analysis aims to further the essential dialogue triggered by a recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) report about the standard minimum set of services that all LHDs should provide. This study identified a set of 22 activities performed by LHDs that are common in jurisdictions of all sizes. …

Effect Of Recent Historical Events On Migration And Isonymic Stratification Among The Rama Amerindians From Nicaragua, Norberto F. Baldi

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

The Rama Amerindians from southern Nicaragua are one of few indigenous populations inhabiting the east coast and lowlands of southern Central America. Early 18th century ethnohistorical accounts depicted the Rama as a mobile hunter-gatherer and horticulturalists group dispersed in household units along southern Nicaraguan rivers. However, during the 19th and 20th centuries, Rama settlement patterns changed to aggregated communities due to increased competition for local resources resulting from non-indigenous immigration. This study’s objective was to discern the degree of relatedness between and within subdivisions of seven of these communities based on patterns of surname variation and genealogical data. We applied …

Prescribed Reading: March 2014, Centracare Clinic

Prescribed Reading

• For Want of a Nail
• In the Spotlight: Leading with Car
• Welcome to these new providers
• Welcome to these new employees
• Happy trails to you
• Nominate a co-worker who Leads with Care
• Kudos to …
• Community Health Worker bridges disparities, improves access for patients
• Recognition for years of service
• Kudos to . . .
• Select Account HRA Claims Processing
• Health Coaching now available
• Saying farewell to Prescribed Reading
• Nearly 500 women take charge of their health at Women’s Health 101
• Do you have a health care directive?
• Expanded services in Becker
• Eat Great, Feel Great!
• Time is Running Out!

Progress Notes, Lehigh Valley Health Network

Progress Notes

No abstract provided.

Moving Ahead On The Global Health Security Agenda, Tom Inglesby, Julie E. Fischer

Health Policy and Management Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Genome Of The Human Hookworm Necator Americanus, Yat T. Tang, Xin Gao, Bruce A. Rosa, Sahar Abubucker, Kymberlie Hallsworth-Pepin, Peter J. Hotez, Jeffrey M. Bethony, +23 Additional Authors

Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine Faculty Publications

The hookworm Necator americanus is the predominant soil-transmitted human parasite. Adult worms feed on blood in the small intestine, causing iron-deficiency anemia, malnutrition, growth and development stunting in children, and severe morbidity and mortality during pregnancy in women. We report sequencing and assembly of the N. americanus genome (244 Mb, 19,151 genes). Characterization of this first hookworm genome sequence identified genes orchestrating the hookworm's invasion of the human host, genes involved in blood feeding and development, and genes encoding proteins that represent new potential drug targets against hookworms. N. americanus has undergone a considerable and unique expansion of immunomodulator proteins, …

In Vitro Interaction Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa With Human Middle Ear Epithelial Cells, Rahul Mittal, M'Hamed Grati, Robert Gerring, Patricia Blackwelder, Denise Yan, Jian-Dong Li, Xue Zhong Liu

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Background: Otitis media (OM) is an inflammation of the middle ear which can be acute or chronic. Acute OM is caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis whereas Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a leading cause of chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM). CSOM is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the middle ear characterized by infection and discharge. The survivors often suffer from hearing loss and neurological sequelae. However, no information is available regarding the interaction of P. aeruginosa with human middle ear epithelial cells (HMEECs).

Methodology and Findings: In the present investigation, we demonstrate that P. …

Fuzzy Logic Ideas Can Help In Explaining Kahneman And Tversky's Empirical Decision Weights, Joe Lorkowski, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Analyzing how people actually make decisions, the Nobelist Daniel Kahneman and his co-author Amos Tversky found out that instead of maximizing the expected gain, people maximize a weighted gain, with weights determined by the corresponding probabilities. The corresponding empirical weights can be explained qualitatively, but quantitatively, these weights remains largely unexplained. In this paper, we show that with a surprisingly high accuracy, these weights can be explained by fuzzy logic ideas.

Molecular Pap Biomarkers For Cervical Cancer Risk Assessment In Thinprep® Clinical Specimens, Jennifer Taylor

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Approximately 500,000 patients are diagnosed with cervical cancer worldwide each year, thus making it the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths in women. Persistent high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infections induce cervical dysplasia by increasing the expression of two viral oncogenes, E6 and E7. Utilization of the Papanicolaous smear test (Pap test) has contributed to a decrease in morbidity and mortality of cervical cancer; however, subjective analysis of cell morphology with a limited amount of cells has led to a substantial rate of false positive and false negative diagnoses. A more objective and sensitive diagnostic tool for the detection of …

The American Epidemic: The U.S. Nursing Shortage And Turnover Problem, Patrick Cox, William K. Willis, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

Introduction: Nursing shortages have been on the rise throughout the country which has continued to become a problem due to an aging baby-boomer population causing increased turnover through the United States (U.S.). With this need for nurses expected to rise, determining the root causes of this problem are essential for health care providers as costs continue to grow.

Methods: The methodology for the qualitative study was a literature research review of case studies as well as a semi-structured interview. Five electronic databases were minded. Thirty-six articles were utilized in this study.

Results: Through the use of a conceptual framework the …

Learning To Play: A “Hedgehog Concept” For Physical Education, Tyler Johnson

Kinesiology Faculty Publications and Presentations

What is physical education and why does it exist? Despite its relatively long and storied history, consensus about physical education’s existence remains minimal. According to Jim Collins, author of the best-selling book Good to Great, organizations or groups of professionals should determine a “hedgehog concept” or a primary reason for their existence. This article explores three questions developed by Collins to help organizations identify a hedgehog concept: (a) what are we deeply passionate about? (b) what can we be the best in the world at? and/or what can we not be the best in the world at? and (c) what …

A Genomewide Overexpression Screen Identifies Genes Involved In The Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase Pathway In The Human Protozoan Parasite Entamoeba Histolytica, Amrita B. Koushik, Brenda H. Welter, Michelle L. Rock, Lesly A. Temesvari

Publications

Entamoeba histolytica is a protozoan parasite that causes amoebic dysentery and liver abscess. E. histolytica relies on motility, phagocytosis, host cell adhesion, and proteolysis of extracellular matrix for virulence. In eukaryotic cells, these processes are mediated in part by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling. Thus, PI3K may be critical for virulence. We utilized a functional genomics approach to identify genes whose products may operate in the PI3K pathway in E. histolytica. We treated a population of trophozoites that were overexpressing genes from a cDNA library with a near-lethal dose of the PI3K inhibitor wortmannin. This screen was based on the rationale …

Incentives For Reporting Disease Outbreaks, Ramanan Laxminarayan, Julian Reif, Anup Malani

Articles

Background: Countries face conflicting incentives to report infectious disease outbreaks. Reports of outbreaks can prompt other countries to impose trade and travel restrictions, which has the potential to discourage reporting. However, reports can also b

Early Psychosis Symptoms, Haider A. Naqvi, Sajjad Hussain, Muhammad Islam, Shafqat Huma

Department of Psychiatry

Objective: To determine the prodromal symptoms of schizophrenia in the pathways to help-seeking.STUDY Design: A cross-sectional study.PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: The Department of Psychiatry, the Aga Khan University, Karachi, from 2008 to 2009.METHODOLOGY: A total of 93 patients were interviewed in the pathways to care of schizophrenia. The diagnosis was based on ICD-10 criteria. The pathways to care were assessed through a semi-structured questionnaire. The onset, course and symptoms of psychosis were assessed through Interview for Retrospective Assessment at Age at Onset of Psychosis (IROAS).Results: Fifty five (59%) participants were male while 41% (n=38%) were female. Using IROAS, 108 …

Deep Rna Sequencing Reveals Hidden Features And Dynamics Of Early Gene Transcription In Paramecium Bursaria Chlorella Virus 1, Guillaume Blanc, Michael Mozar, Irina V. Agarkova, James R. Gurnon, Giane Yanai-Balser, Janet M. Rowe, Yuannan Xia, Jean-Jack Riethoven, David D. Dunigan, James L. Van Etten

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Paramecium bursaria chlorella virus 1 (PBCV-1) is the prototype of the genus Chlorovirus (family Phycodnaviridae) that infects the unicellular, eukaryotic green alga Chlorella variabilis NC64A. The 331-kb PBCV-1 genome contains 416 major open reading frames. A mRNA-seq approach was used to analyze PBCV-1 transcriptomes at 6 progressive times during the first hour of infection. The alignment of 17 million reads to the PBCV-1 genome allowed the construction of single-base transcriptome maps. Significant transcription was detected for a subset of 50 viral genes as soon as 7 min after infection. By 20 min post infection (p.i.), transcripts were detected for …

A Conceptual Framework For Analyzing Social-Ecological Models Of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Melissa L. Finucane, Jefferson Fox, Sumeet Saksena, James H. Spencer

Faculty Publications

Unraveling mechanisms that underlie new and reemerging infectious diseases (EID) requires exploring complex interactions within and among coupled natural and human (CNH) systems. This scientifi c problem poses one of the most diffi cult challenges for society today (Wilcox and Colwell 2005 ). EID are diseases that have recently increased in incidence or in geographic or host range (e.g., tuberculosis, cholera, malaria, dengue fever), and diseases caused by new pathogens and new variants assigned to known pathogens (e.g., HIV, SARS, Nipah virus, and avian infl uenza) (Morse 2005 ). Wilcox and Gubler ( 2005 ) and Wilcox and Colwell ( …

Vital Signs, Spring 2014, Boonshoft School Of Medicine

Vital Signs

A sixty page newsletter created by the Boonshoft School of Medicine to document the current affairs of the school. This issue includes a variety of feature articles, a research spotlight, alumni notes, and more.

Benefits And Barriers To Hiv Testing In A Population Of Federal Detention Inmates, Nicole A. Knight

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Voluntary HIV testing in combination with early medical intervention has been shown to be effective in reducing the rate of new infections and improving the health and life expectancy of those living with HIV. There are however several high-risk populations in the US that remain largely unreached by HIV testing efforts, some of which could be reached while they spend time in prison or jail. Per current Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policy, HIV testing is routinely offered only to “high risk” pretrial and sentenced inmates. We conducted a cross-sectional study with 721 pretrial and sentenced inmates who entered a large …