Digital Commons Network^™

Jefferson Digital Commons Quarterly Report: July-September 2014, Daniel G. Kipnis, Msi, Kelsey Duinkerken, Msi

Jefferson Digital Commons Reports

This Jefferson Digital Commons quarterly report will cover the following:

• Milestone: 2 million downloads for the Jefferson Digital Commons
• Some statistics
• New assets added to the JDC
• Historical Materials
• What people are saying about the JDC

Nanotechnology And Additive Manufacturing Platforms For Clinical Medicine: An Investigation Of 3d Printing Bioactive Constructs And Halloysite Nanotubes For Drug Delivery And Biomaterials, Jeffery A. Weisman

Doctoral Dissertations

Personalized medicine requires the development of new technologies for controlled or targeted drug delivery. Three-dimensional (3D) printing and additive manufacturing techniques can be used to generate customized constructs for bioactive compound delivery. Nanotechnology in the form of nanoparticles, used as a stand-alone construct or for material enhancements, can significantly improve established biomaterials such as PMMA based bone cements or enable new technology to have enhanced capabilities. Combinations of the technologies can be used in such applications as infectious disease treatments, chemotherapeutic targeted drug delivery or targeted delivery of nearly any bioactive compound.

Chemotherapeutic or antibiotic enhanced 3D printing filaments were …

Survey Of The Ectoparasites Of The Invasive Small Indian Mongoose (Herpestes Auropunctatus [Carnivora: Herpestidae]) On St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, Kelsey L. Townsend, Karen E. Powers

Virginia Journal of Science

In March 2012, live trapping surveys were conducted for invasive small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus) on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Forty mongoose were sampled (31%, 9&) for ectoparasites, and cat fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) were discovered on 17 individuals. There was no difference in the number of ectoparasites per mongoose across age classifications (r = 0.109, P = 0.579). However, males had more cat fleas than females, even when mass was taken into account (males are generally heavier). Future behavioral studies may explain these sex differences. Although management suggestions from this research are limited, these …

Chemical Control Of Turfgrass Diseases 2015, Paul C. Vincelli, Gregg Munshaw

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Turgrasses under intensive management are often subject to outbreaks of infectious diseases. Diseases usually are most damaging when weather or cultural conditions favor the disease-causing agent but not plant growth and vigor. Cultural conditions that predispose turfgrass to diseases include close mowing, inadequate or excessive nitrogen fertility, light or frequent irrigation, excessive thatch, poor drainage, and shade.

Enterovirus D68, Kimberly Meyers

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Enterovirus D68 (EVD68) “belongs to the family Picornaviridae, genus Enterovirus, and species Human enterovirus D: (Kaida et al.,2011, para.2). It is a small nonenveloped RNA virus (Xiang et al., 2012). EVD68 “shares characteristics with rhinoviruses, such as infection of the respiratory tract and acid lability” (Lauinger et al., 2012). There is no specific treatment for EVD68. Since the infection is caused by a virus, antibiotics would be ineffective. There are no antiviral medications currently available to treat EVD68 (Herold, 2014). Treatment may include antipyretics, cough medicines, bronchodilators, oxygen, and mechanical ventilation if required.

Ascaris Lumbricoides: The Unforeseen Diagnosis, Suzette Maynard

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Infections from Ascaris lumbricoides have become very prevalent in lesser developed countries. These infections are believed to migrate into the United States through the border with Mexico, and immigration from other countries, through increased world travel and international adoptions (Cardenas et al., 2010). A. lumbricoides have been found to cause cases in the United States, one being in Westerville, Ohio (J. Leonard, personal communication, September 6, 2014). As the world has become smaller, it has become imperative that as a nation we are able to prepare for infections that are popular outside the United States. The first step in preparing …

Musculoskeletal Safety Outcomes Of Patients Receiving Daptomycin With Hmg-Coa Reductase Inhibitors, Christopher M. Bland, P Brandon Bookstaver, Z Kevin Lu, Brianne L. Dunn, Kathey Fulton Rumley

Faculty Publications

Daptomycin, a cyclic lipopeptide antibiotic, and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors (statins) are commonly administered in the inpatient setting and are associated with creatine phosphokinase (CPK) elevations, myalgias, and muscle weakness. Safety data for coadministration of daptomycin with statins are limited. To determine the safety of coadministration of daptomycin with statin therapy, a multicenter, retrospective, observational study was performed at 13 institutions in the Southeastern United States. Forty-nine adult patients receiving statins concurrently with daptomycin were compared with 171 patients receiving daptomycin without statin therapy. Detailed information, including treatment indication and duration, infecting pathogen, baseline and subsequent CPK levels, and …

Pertussis. A Reemerging And An Underreported Infectious Disease, Muhammad A. Syed, Noureen F. Bana

Saudi Medical Journal

Pertussis or whooping cough is a highly infectious, vaccine preventable disease. The incidence of the disease has greatly been reduced since the introduction of the diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis vaccine. Pertussis resurgence has been observed in highly vaccinated populations of Western countries since 1990s. Poor vaccine quality, waning vaccine induced immunity, pathogen adaptation, and enhanced surveillance as well as advancements in diagnostic facilities are some of the reasons considered responsible for the increased reporting of pertussis cases. Pertussis may have been ignored and unnoticed due to its atypical manifestations in partially immunized population or people with waning immunity. We review the …

Laboratory Study Of A Scavenging Mask System To Evaluate And Control Airborne Pathogens For Healthcare Workers In The Post Anesthesia Care Unit (Pacu) And Intensive Care Unit (Icu), Josh Lee Horton

Open Access Theses

This laboratory study evaluated the usefulness of a new market available scavenging system (patient mask and filter) in controlling the spread of airborne pathogens by: 1.Develop a laboratory simulation of an infectious patient exhaling a range of respirable bacteria and viruses into a laboratory hood. 2. Compare and contrast capabilities of the market-available scavenging system to reduce and control pathogens in a laboratory setting versus not using a scavenging system. 3. Evaluate the effectiveness of the scavenging system's filter and alternative HEPA filters in capturing these pathogens. A life-like manikin head equipped with a bioaerosol collision nebulizer was set up …

Pharmacist Collaborative Drug Therapy Management In U.S. Hospitals, Pragya Mishra

Open Access Theses

The objectives for this study were to 1) assess the current extent, scope and perceptions of CDTM in U.S. hospitals, 2) determine the associations between hospital characteristics, pharmacy director characteristics, and perceptions of CDTM, 3) investigate hospitals' short-term and long-term plans regarding CDTM, and 4) identify pharmacy directors' views about the major facilitators and barriers for CDTM in hospitals.

A self-administered written survey was mailed to a national random sample of hospitals stratified by state. Pharmacy directors indicated whether any pharmacists were engaged in CDTM, what CDTM activities were permitted, and in what treatment categories CDTM was permitted. Demographic data …

The Effects Of Heat Stress On Immunity In Laying Hens And Dairy Cattle, Rebecca Ann Strong

Open Access Theses

With the increase in global climate change and the population growth driving the high demand for additional food production, heat stress (HS) is a major concern in the livestock industry across all species. Animals experience HS when exposed to high environmental temperatures outside their thermal neutral zone. The level of the effects can vary due to the length and intensity of HS to which the animal is exposed to. In experiment one, laying hens with access to cooled perches during HS had a lower heterophil to lymphocyte ratio compared to the control hens after 4 h of acute heat stress, …

Development Of Novel Strategies To Combat Multidrug Resistance Mediated By Efflux Transporters And Intracellular Bacteria, Jerrin Kuriakose

Open Access Dissertations

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is the condition where cancer cells or microorganisms cease to respond to multiple drugs. MDR conferred by efflux transporters, that deprive the bioavailability of drugs at their site of action, are a threat to cancer and malarial chemotherapy. Specifically, the mammalian ABC transporter Pglycoprotein (P-gp) has undermined many drugs in treatment of cancer and other disease states. Mutations in the parasitic transporter Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (PfCRT) have given rise to strains unsusceptible to the aminoquionoline family of antimalarials. Using the very drug substrates, we have developed bivalent inhibitors of P-gp. Here, click chemistry has been …

Structured Deterministic Models Applied To Malaria And Other Endemic Diseases, Katia Patricia Vogt Geisse

Open Access Dissertations

This thesis includes modeling studies on three structured deterministic models. These models are used to study the disease dynamics of malaria or the joint disease dynamics of HIV and HSV-2. Each of the models includes multiple components containing individuals in various epidemiological classes for the purpose of addressing questions that are of interests to biologists and epidemiologists. Some of the compartments have a continuous age-structure, which is necessary for studying the specific biological questions under investigation.^ In Chapter 2 a chronological-age structured deterministic model for malaria is presented. The model includes the human and mosquito populations with the human population …

Host Cell Death In Legionella Pneumophila Pathogenesis And Immunity, Wenhan Zhu

Open Access Dissertations

Legionella pneumophila is an intracellular pathogen that causes a severe, atypical pneumonia termed Legionnaires' disease. Upon entering the host cell, L. pneumophila resides in a membrane-bound vacuole, in which the bacterium evades lysosomal fusion and replicates. The establishment of the vacuole requires the Dot/Icm (Defect in organelle trafficking/ intracellular multiplication) transport system, which translocates a large number of substrates into host cells to re-orchestrate various cellular processes, such as intracellular trafficking, protein synthesis and host cell death pathways. Therefore, a key step in understanding the biology of Legionella is to dissect the mechanisms of action of the Dot/Icm substrates. By …

Hypogammaglobulinemia In Blt Humanized Mice – An Animal Model Of Primary Antibody Deficiency, Francisco Martinez-Torres, Tomonori Nochi, Angela Wahl, J. Victor Garcia, Paul W. Denton

Biology Faculty Publications

Primary antibody deficiencies present clinically as reduced or absent plasma antibodies without another identified disorder that could explain the low immunoglobulin levels. Bone marrow-liver-thymus (BLT) humanized mice also exhibit primary antibody deficiency or hypogammaglobulinemia. Comprehensive characterization of B cell development and differentiation in BLT mice revealed other key parallels with primary immunodeficiency patients. We found that B cell ontogeny was normal in the bone marrow of BLT mice but observed an absence of switched memory B cells in the periphery. PC-KLH immunizations led to the presence of switched memory B cells in immunized BLT mice although plasma cells producing PCor …

The Status Of Neonatal Hearing Screening In Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review, David Engelman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Late identification of hearing loss can lead to speech and language delays, as well as social and academic difficulties. Neonatal hearing screening has reduced the age of identification of hearing loss in many developed countries. However, the practice is limited or non-existent in much of the developing world, such as sub-Saharan Africa. This systematic review used currently available literature to determine the status of neonatal hearing screening programs in sub-Saharan Africa and to develop a model program for the region. Results suggested a lack of neonatal hearing screening services in sub-Saharan Africa, stressing the need for more pilot hearing screening …

Staphylococcus Aureus Hyaluronidase Is A Cody-Regulated Virulence Factor, Carolyn B. Ibberson, Crystal L. Jones, Shweta Singh, Matthew C. Wise, Mark E. Hart, Daniel V. Zurawski, Alexander R. Horswill

United States Army: Publications

Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-positive pathogen that causes a diverse range of bacterial infections. Invasive S. aureus strains secrete an extensive arsenal of hemolysins, immunomodulators, and exoenzymes to cause disease. Our studies have focused on the secreted enzyme hyaluronidase (HysA), which cleaves the hyaluronic acid polymer at the β-1,4 glycosidic bond. In the study described in this report, we have investigated the regulation and contribution of this enzyme to S. aureus pathogenesis. Using the Nebraska Transposon Mutant Library (NTML), we identified eight insertions that modulate extracellular levels of HysA activity. Insertions in the sigB operon, as well as in genes …

Mitigating The Impact Of Title Vii's New Retaliation Standard: The Americans With Disabilities Act After University Of Texas Southwestern Medical Center V. Nassar, August T. Johannsen

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Contribution Of Teg49 Small Rna In The 5′ Upstream Transcriptional Region Of Sara To Virulence In Staphylococcus Aureus, Samin Kim, Dindo Reyes, Marie Beaume, Patrice Francois, Ambrose Cheung

Dartmouth Scholarship

High-throughput RNA sequencing technology has found the 5' untranslated region of sarA to contain two putative small RNAs (sRNAs), designated teg49 and teg48. Northern blot analysis disclosed that teg49 and teg48 were detectable within the P3-P1 and P1 sarA promoter regions, respectively. Focusing on teg49, we found that this sRNA, consisting of 196 nucleotides, is transcribed in the same direction as the sarA P3 transcript. The expression of both P3 and teg49 transcripts is dependent on sigB and cshA, which encodes a DEAD box RNA helicase. Within the sRNA teg49, there are two putative hairpin-loop structures, HP1 and HP2. Transversion …

Career Adaptation Wheel To Address Issues Faced By Older Workers, Wendy Killam, Bill Weber

Adultspan Journal

No abstract provided.

Taylor: A Magazine For Taylor University Alumni, Parents And Friends (Fall 2014), Taylor University

The Taylor Magazine (1963-Present)

The Fall 2014 edition of Taylor Magazine, published by Taylor University in Upland, Indiana.

Archaea In Bioaerosols In Dairy Farms, Poultry Houses And Wastewater Treatment Plants And Their Role In Lung Inflammation, Pascale Blais Lecours, Marc Veillette, David Marsolais, Yvon Cormier, Shelley Kirychuk, Caroline Duchaine

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Les bioaérosols, c’est-à-dire des aérosols composés de particules solides ou liquides de 0,002 µm à 100 µm transportant des microorganismes vivants ou des molécules dérivées d’organismes vivants, se trouvent en fortes concentrations dans plusieurs milieux de travail. Beaucoup de maladies respiratoires professionnelles y sont associées, mais leur étiologie n’est souvent pas connue. La composition exacte des bioaérosols responsables de ces maladies respiratoires doit être clairement définie afin de bien comprendre ce à quoi sont exposés les travailleurs.

Nous avions récemment documenté des microorganismes insoupçonnés dans l’air des porcheries, les archaea. Dans la présente étude, afin de définir l’exposition des travailleurs …

Baseline Immune Biomarkers As Predictors Of Mbsr(Bc) Treatment Success In Off-Treatment Breast Cancer Patients, Richard R. Reich, Cecile Lengacher, Kevin E. Kip, Steven C. Shivers, Michael J. Schell, Melissa M. Shelton, Raymond H. Widen, Catherine A. Newton, Michelle K. Barta, Carly L. Paterson, Jerrica R. Farias, Charles E. Cox, Thomas W. Klein

College of Medicine & TGH Faculty Publications

Researchers focused on patient-centered medicine are increasingly trying to identify baseline factors that predict treatment success. Because the quantity and function of lymphocyte subsets change during stress, we hypothesized that these subsets would serve as stress markers and therefore predict which breast cancer patients would benefit most from mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)-facilitated stress relief. The purpose of this study was to assess whether baseline biomarker levels predicted symptom improvement following an MBSR intervention for breast cancer survivors (MBSR[BC]). This randomized controlled trial involved 41 patients assigned to either an MBSR(BC) intervention group or a no-treatment control group. Biomarkers were assessed …

Dipl 4277 Aa Global Health, Bioterrorism, And International Security, Yanzhong Huang Phd

Diplomacy Syllabi

Health issues, including infectious diseases, have affected world history more extensively than most of us can imagine. In today’s world, international trade and travel threaten pandemics by transporting and spreading diseases globally at jet speed. The growing risk of exposure to infectious disease, coupled with the looming threat of bioterrorism, creates a situation in which health and security are interacting with greater frequency and intensity. This development parallels post-Cold War efforts to redefine the concept of security to encompass new global challenges. How did epidemics function as causal agents of historical change? What are the major linkages between health and …

Efficacy Of Short Novel Antimicrobial And Anti-Inflammatory Peptides In A Mouse Model Of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (Mrsa) Skin Infection, Mohamed F. Mohamed, Mohamed N. Seleem

Department of Comparative Pathobiology Faculty Publications

The therapeutic efficacy of two novel short antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory peptides (RR and RRIKA) was evaluated in a mouse model of staphylococcal skin infection. RR (2%) and RRIKA (2%) significantly reduced the bacterial counts and the levels of proinflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and interleukin (IL)-6, in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureusUSA 300-0114 skin lesions. Furthermore, the combined therapy of RRIKA (1%) and lysostaphin (0.5%) had significantly higher antistaphylococcal and anti-inflammatory activity compared to monotherapy. This study supports the potential use of these peptides for topical treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infections.

Rrh Library Newsletter, October 2014, Libraries At Rochester Regional Health

Rochester Regional Health authored publications and proceedings

Newsletter sections include: Enterovirus D68; Library Open House October 22; AORN Standards

Biosafety: Evaluation And Regulation Of Genetically Modified (Gm) Crops In The United States, Richard E. Goodman

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

This review of the safety assessment of genetically modified (GM) crops is focused primarily on the process and progress in the United States (US). It reviews the development of the safety evaluation process from the Asilomar conference in 1975 considering issues relevant to recombinant DNA technology, to discussions between the US government, academic and industrial scientists between 1984 and 1994 when the first GM crops were being field tested and evaluated commercial release for food and feed production. International guidelines were also reviewed for consistency with the US system. The overall process includes consideration of information relating to history of …

Genetics Of The Pig Tapeworm In Madagascar Reveal A History Of Human Dispersal And Colonization, Tetsuya Yanagida, Jean-François Carod, Yasuhito Sako, Minoru Nakao, Eric P. Hoberg, Akira Ito

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

An intricate history of human dispersal and geographic colonization has strongly affected the distribution of human pathogens. The pig tapeworm Taenia solium occurs throughout the world as the causative agent of cysticercosis, one of the most serious neglected tropical diseases. Discrete genetic lineages of T. solium in Asia and Africa/Latin America are geographically disjunct; only in Madagascar are they sympatric. Linguistic, archaeological and genetic evidence has indicated that the people in Madagascar have mixed ancestry from Island Southeast Asia and East Africa. Hence, anthropogenic introduction of the tapeworm from Southeast Asia and Africa had been postulated. This study shows that …

Evaluation Of Adjunctive Systemic Doxycycline With Non-Surgical Periodontal Therapy Within Type 2 Diabetic Patients, Abeer M. Al-Nowaiser, Hamad Al-Zoman, Jagan K. Baskaradoss, Asirvatham A. Robert, Khalid H. Al-Zoman, Abdulaziz M. Al-Sohail, Abdulaziz S. Al-Suwyed, Sebastian G. Ciancio, Sultan A. Al-Mubarak

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effects of systemic doxycycline on clinical and microbiological parameters of diabetic subjects with chronic periodontitis. METHODS: This 9-month multi-center, randomized, parallel, single-blinded study was conducted from different hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between April 2010 and December 2010. A total of 76 diabetic subjects with chronic periodontitis were randomized into 2 groups: control group (CG) received only scaling and root planing (SRP), and the treatment group (TG) receiving systemic doxycycline during the reevaluation visit 45 days after the completion of SRP. Probing pocket depth, clinical attachment level, gingival index, plaque index, and bleeding on probing were …

Assessment Of Low Vitamin D Among Saudi Arabians. Did We Overshoot The Runway?, Mir Sadat-Ali, Abdulmohsen H. Al-Elq, Iman H. Al-Shaikh, Haifa A. Al-Turki, Amein K. Al-Ali, Abdallah A. Al-Othman

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVES: To compare the performance of 3 commonly used 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) assays among a sample of the Saudi population. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out between January 2011 and December 2012 at King Fahd Hospital of the University, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. After informed consent, blood samples for measurement of 25-OHD level was extracted from 200 adults. The vitamin D level of each individual were determined using chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA), radio-immuno assay (RIA), and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assay. Assays were also compared through commonly used cut-points for classification of vitamin D deficiency. Bias between assays was evaluated …