Digital Commons Network^™

Full Page Ads

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Health Care Services Provided For Older Adults In Primary Health Care Centers And Its Internal Environment: A Step Towards Age-Friendly Health Centers, Adel A. Alhamdan, Sulaiman A. Alshammari, Maysoon M. Al-Amoud, Tariq A. Hameed, Saad M. Bindawas, Saada M. Al-Orf, Ashry G. Mohamed, Essam A. Al-Ghamdi, Philip C. Calder

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To evaluate the health care services provided for older adults by primary health care centers (PHCCs) in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and the ease of use of these centers by older adults. Methods: Between October 2013 and January 2014, we conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study of 15 randomly selected PHCCs in Riyadh City, KSA. The evaluation focused on basic indicators of clinical services offered and factors indicative of the ease of use of the centers by older adults. Evaluations were based upon the age-friendly PHCCs toolkit of the World Health Organization. Results: Coverage of basic health assessments …

Human And Murine Ifit1 Proteins Do Not Restrict Infection Of Negative-Sense Rna Viruses Of The Orthomyxoviridae, Bunyaviridae, And Filoviridae Families, Amelia K. Pinto, Graham D. Williams, Kristy J. Szretter, James P. White, José Luiz Proença-Módena, Gai Liu, Judith Olejnik, James D. Brien, Hideki Ebihara, Elke Mühlberger, Gaya Amarasinghe, Michael S. Diamond, Adrianus C.M. Boon

Open Access Publications

UNLABELLED: Interferon-induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 1 (IFIT1) is a host protein with reported cell-intrinsic antiviral activity against several RNA viruses. The proposed basis for the activity against negative-sense RNA viruses is the binding to exposed 5'-triphosphates (5'-ppp) on the genome of viral RNA. However, recent studies reported relatively low binding affinities of IFIT1 for 5'-ppp RNA, suggesting that IFIT1 may not interact efficiently with this moiety under physiological conditions. To evaluate the ability of IFIT1 to have an impact on negative-sense RNA viruses, we infected Ifit1(-/-) and wild-type control mice and primary cells with four negative-sense RNA viruses (influenza …

Experimental And Modelling Investigations Of Air Exchange And Infection Transfer Due To Hinged-Door Motion In Office And Hospital Settings, A Hathway, I Papakonstantis, A Bruce-Konuah, W Brevis

School of Art, Design and Architecture

Occupants spend a significant amount of time indoors where temperature and air quality has an important impact on their comfort, health and work performance. Understanding the role of airflow exchange between spaces is crucial to describe the processes of mixing and transport of substances driven by air motion and therefore essential for evaluating indoor air quality. This work presents the results of field measurements and laboratory experiments designed to characterise door operation and to quantify its influence on air volumes exchanged between rooms due to door motion. The field study was conducted to identify typical total door cycle times in …

Features Of Blastocystis Spp. In Xenic Culture Revealed By Deconvolutional Microscopy, R Nagel, C Gray, H Bielefeldt-Ohmann, Rj Traub

Peninsula Medical School

Blastocystis spp. are common human enteric parasites with complex morphology and have been reported to cause irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Deconvolutional microscopy with time-lapse imaging and fluorescent spectroscopy of xenic cultures of Blastocystis spp. from stool samples of IBS patients and from asymptomatic, healthy pigs allowed observations of living organisms in their natural microbial environment. Blastocystis organisms of the vacuolated, granular, amoebic and cystic forms were observed to autofluorescence in the 557/576 emission spectra. Autofluorescence could be distinguished from fluorescein-conjugated Blastocystis-specific antibody labelling in vacuolated and granular forms. This antibody labelled Blastocystis subtypes 1, 3 and 4 but not 5. …

Pregnancy And Pertussis: Why The Change In Tdap Administration?, Marietta Sperry

Books, Presentations, Posters, Etc.

Background and new guidelines vs. old guidelines. Systematic review of obstacles, recommendations, and conclusions.

Communities In Action: Participatory Assessments As An Initial Stage In Critical Consciousness Raising And Community Capacity Building, Carizma Amila Chapman

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This paper presents the findings of two participatory community assessments conducted in Punta Raton and El Venado, two small coastal towns in Southern Honduras. The community assessments were designed and implemented to establish a baseline of community awareness and action, an important step in community development and environmental sustainability. The aim was to: build community partnerships, identify key stakeholders, facilitate dialogues about concerns, identify local and external resources required for progress, and construct actions plans targeting key communal concerns. The assessments were found to be successful in engaging community members and identifying local needs and resources. However, challenges in intervention …

Mortality In Sepsis And Its Relationship With Gender., Nosheen Nasir, Bushra Jamil, Shahla Siddiqui, Fauzia A. Khan, Rabia Hussain

Department of Medicine

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:

Sepsis remains a leading cause of death across the world, carrying a mortality rate of 20-50%. Women have been reported to be less likely to suffer from sepsis and to have a lower risk of mortality from sepsis compared to men. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between gender and mortality in sepsis, and compare cytokine profiles of male and female patients.

METHODS:

This was a prospective case series on 97 patients admitted with sepsis. Clinical and microbiological data was gathered, blood samples were collected for cytokine (IL-10, IL-6 and TNFα) levels and …

Mining Biological Networks Towards Protein Complex Detection And Gene-Disease Association, Eileen Marie Hanna

Dissertations

Large amounts of biological data are continuously generated nowadays, thanks to the advancements of high-throughput experimental techniques. Mining valuable knowledge from such data still motivates the design of suitable computational methods, to complement the experimental work which is often bound by considerable time and cost requirements. Protein complexes or groups of interacting proteins, are key players in most cellular events. The identification of complexes not only allows to better understand normal biological processes but also to uncover Disease-triggering malfunctions. Ultimately, findings in this research branch can highly enhance the design of effective medical treatments. The aim of this research is …

Event And Strategy Analytics, Jin Song Dong, Jun Sun, Yang Liu, Yuan-Fang Li, Jing Sun, Ling Shi

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Model checking has been pervasive and successful in finding bugs in hardware and software systems, including real-time and probabilistic systems. Applying model checking to decision making is relative new and has an excellent potential to be compliment to data analytics and other Artificial Intelligent (AI) or Operational Research (OR) based decision making techniques. Our last 8 years research has focused on the development of PAT (Process Analysis Toolkit) [18] which supports modelling languages that combine the expressiveness of event, state, time and probability based modeling techniques to which model checking can be directly applied. The next direction for PAT is …

Finding Influential Spreaders From Human Activity Beyond Network Location, Byungjoon Min, Fredrik Liljeros, Hernán A. Makse

Publications and Research

Most centralities proposed for identifying influential spreaders on social networks to either spread a message or to stop an epidemic require the full topological information of the network on which spreading occurs. In practice, however, collecting all connections between agents in social networks can be hardly achieved. As a result, such metrics could be difficult to apply to real social networks. Consequently, a new approach for identifying influential people without the explicit network information is demanded in order to provide an efficient immunization or spreading strategy, in a practical sense. In this study, we seek a possible way for finding …

Characterization Of Staphylococcus Aureus Isolated From The Nasal Cavity Flora Of Nursing Majors, Jennifer Rath, Breanna Christmas, Kristin F. Picardo, Theresa Westbay

Biology Faculty/Staff Publications

Approximately 30% of people have the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in their nasal passages. Within this group, approximately 1-2% are colonized with methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), although many do not display any symptoms.1 MRSA is an opportunistic pathogen that can potentially cause diseases such as pneumonia, skin infections and sepsis. MRSA infections are commonly grouped into two categories, hospital associated (HA) or community associated (CA) based on where the infection was acquired and the profile of antibiotic resistance. S. aureus and MRSA can spread between individuals through physical contact and presents a serious health hazard to patients if healthcare …

Absence Of Soda Increases The Levels Of Oxidation Of Key Metabolic Determinants Of Borrelia Burgdorferi, Maria D. Esteve-Gassent, Trever C. Smith Ii, Christina M. Small, Derek P. Thomas, J Seshu

Peer Reviewed Articles

Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, alters its gene expression in response to environmental signals unique to its tick vector or vertebrate hosts. B. burgdorferi carries one superoxide dismutase gene (sodA) capable of controlling intracellular superoxide levels. Previously, sodA was shown to be essential for infection of B. burgdorferi in the C3H/HeN model of Lyme disease. We employed two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and immunoblot analysis with antibodies specific to carbonylated proteins to identify targets that were differentially oxidized in the soluble fractions of the sodA mutant compared to its isogenic parental control strain following …

Sociodemographic Factors To Dengue Hemmorrhagic Fever Case In Indonesia, Desy Nuryunarsih

Kesmas

Demam berdarah dengue (DBD) adalah penyebab utama rawat inap dan kematian pada anak-anak. Indonesia adalah salah satu negara yang oleh WHO dikategorikan hyperendemicity dengan empat serotipe virus tersebar di daerah perkotaan. Faktor sosiodemografi dianggap sebagai faktor pendukung terjadinya DBD di Indonesia. Studi ini menggunakan data sekunder yang diunduh dari Basis Data Kesehatan Provinsi tahun 2010 Kementerian Kesehatan Republik Indonesia untuk menentukan korelasi antara ketiga faktor sosiodemografi dengan insiden DBD. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kuantitatif deskripsi korelasi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa dua faktor sosiodemografi terpilih memiliki korelasi linier dengan insiden DBD. Analisa regresi multivariat menunjukkan kecilnya korelasi antara insiden DBD dengan …

Integration And Continuity Of Primary Care: Polyclinics And Alternatives, A Patient-Centred Analysis Of How Organisation Constrains Care Coordination, Wr Sheaff, J Halliday, J Øvretveit, R Byng, M Exworthy, S Peckham, S Asthana

Peninsula Medical School

Background An ageing population, increasingly specialised of clinical services and diverse healthcare provider ownership make the coordination and continuity of complex care increasingly problematic. The way in which the provision of complex healthcare is coordinated produces – or fails to – six forms of continuity of care (cross-sectional, longitudinal, flexible, access, informational, relational). Care coordination is accomplished by a combination of activities by: patients themselves; provider organisations; care networks coordinating the separate provider organisations; and overall health system governance. This research examines how far organisational integration might promote care coordination at the clinical level. Objectives To examine: 1. What differences …

Commentary On "Systemic Candidiasis And Cytomegalovirus Infection In The Setting Of Artificial Cardiac Device Deployment", Moises A. Huaman

The VAD Journal

No abstract provided.

Systemic Candidiasis And Cytomegalovirus Infection In The Setting Of Artificial Cardiac Device Deployment., Manoj Thangam, Bindu Akkanti, Maan Malahafio, Sriram Nathan, Indranee Rajapreyar, Pranav Loyalka, Biswajit Kar, Igor Gregoric

The VAD Journal

Heart failure is a serious cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The advent of implantable cardiac assist devices has generated a new arsenal for treating severe heart failure. However, the potential ramifications of ventricular assist device (VAD) usage are not fully understood. Immune modulation resulting from VAD implantation is an area of growing research. Although we do not fully understand the mechanisms contributing to host immune alteration, changes in cytokine concentrations, deceased lymphocyte activity, and the local effects of device materials have been shown to down regulate immune function. ^7,8 Infection is a serious complication that affects prognosis in this …

Optimizing Antibiotic Stewardship In Nursing Homes: A Narrative Review And Recommendations For Improvement, Robin Jump

Faculty Scholarship

The emerging crisis in antibiotic resistance and concern that we now sit on the precipice of a post-antibiotic era have given rise to advocacy at the highest levels for widespread adoption of programmes that promote judicious use of antibiotics. These antibiotic stewardship programmes, which seek to optimize antibiotic choice when clinically indicated and discourage antibiotic use when clinically unnecessary, are being implemented in an increasing number of acute care facilities, but their adoption has been slower in nursing homes. The antibiotic prescribing process in nursing homes is fundamentally different from that observed in hospital and clinic settings, with formidable challenges …

Study Of Pseudomonas Areuginosa Proteases Enzymes In Corneal Ulceration By Using Real - Time Pcr, Edi, Aida Hussain Al, Saa, Munera Chaloob. Al - Abaadi, Jassim Mohammed Karhoot, Faiz Al- Sakarchi

Iraqi Postgraduate Medical Journal

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is the most frequently isolated bacteria in clinical cases of ulcerative keratitis. P. aeruginosa produces several proteases and toxins, the best characterized being exotoxin, elastase, alkaline protease and IV. These are all important factors in the establishment of bacterial infection and the amount of damage caused by the infection to the cornea. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to study the role of P. aeruginosa proteases ( elastase ( LasB) , LasA, Alkaline protease, and protease IV ) in corneal ulceration by using Real - time PCR. METHODS : One hundred - …

Increased Myocardial Extracellular Volume In Active Idiopathic Systemic Capillary Leak Syndrome, Andrew Ertel, Drew Pratt, Peter Kellman, Steve Leung, Patricia Bandettini, Lauren M. Long, Michael Young, Celeste Nelson, Andrew E. Arai, Kirk M. Druey

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: The Systemic Capillary Leak Syndrome (SCLS) is a rare disorder of unknown etiology presenting as recurrent episodes of shock and peripheral edema due to leakage of fluid into soft tissues. Insights into SCLS pathogenesis are few due to the scarcity of cases, and the etiology of vascular barrier disruption in SCLS is unknown. Recent advances in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) allow for the quantitative assessment of the myocardial extracellular volume (ECV), which can be increased in conditions causing myocardial edema. We hypothesized that measurement of myocardial ECV may detect myocardial vascular leak in patients with SCLS.

METHODS: Fifty-six subjects …

Examining Restaurant Sanitation Scores Across Cuisines, Andrew Choothakan

Master's Projects and Capstones

Working and completing over 300 hours at the Asian Health Institute (AHI) allowed me the bridge the gap between AHI and the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) to address restaurant sanitation to the Asian community to prove whether past research and perceptions are correct that Asian restaurants are the least clean out of other restaurants cuisines.

This paper uses data collected from SFDPH as a means to investigate possible correlations such as location and price of the restaurants in relation to the health score. Additionally, subgroups of Asian cuisine are examined and ranked according to average health score. …

The Roddey Mcmillan Record - August 26, 2015, Winthrop University

The RMR 2010-2019

The Roddey McMillan Record (RMR) is Winthrop’s monthly multicultural student publication. The RMR has been a significant voice of the minority population of the Winthrop community since its creation by Gail Harris in April 1986. It promotes awareness and understanding of issues concerning minorities for the prosperity of the entire Winthrop community. The purpose of the RMR is to shine light on the many diverse cultures at Winthrop, focusing on issues, concerns and happenings of those who represent the multicultural community on campus. The Roddey McMillan Record is named after Dr. Cynthia Roddey and Atty, Sheila McMillan. Cynthia Roddey was …

Calibration Of Neon's Airborne Imaging Spectrometers, Nathan Leisso, Joe Boardman, Thomas Kampe

The Characterization and Radiometric Calibration for Remote Sensing Annual Meeting (CALCON)

The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a continental-scale ecological observation facility currently under construction by the National Science Foundation (NSF). NEON’s mission is to enable understanding and forecasting of the impacts of land-use change and invasive species by providing the infrastructure and consistent methodologies for the collection of continental-scale ecological data. The Airborne Observation Platform (AOP) will play a unique role in scaling individual in-situ measurements collected by NEON to those collected by external satellite-based remote sensing systems. The airborne payload consists of the NEON Imaging Spectrometer (NIS), a waveform LIDAR, and a high-resolution digital camera integrated into a …

Proton Pump Inhibitors And Corticosteroids As Synergistic Risk Factors For Candida Esophagitis, Nihar Shah Md, Yana Cavanagh, Oleg Shulik, Pooja Patel, Vincent A. Debari, Walid Baddoura

Gastroenterology

Abstract:

Introduction: Inhaled & systemic steroids are one of the well-documented risks factors for Candida esophagitis. However, the role of gastric acid suppression remains controversial.

Methods:

We conducted a retrospective case-control study of 420 patients consisting of 84 cases of Candida esophagitis and 336 matched controls. Our cohort was gathered from subjects evaluated from 2001 to 2012. The diagnosis of Candida esophagitis was based on endoscopic and/or histological criteria.

Results:

On univariate analysis, proton pump inhibitors were associated with higher risk (OR = 2.14; 95 % CI: 1.30 to 3.54); steroid use also increased the risk (OR = 3.55; 95% …

Detection Plate For Atp-Bioluminescence Immunoassay And Method Of Manufacturing, Daniel V. Lim, Dawn M. Hunter

USF Patents

Disclosed is a method and associated device for the rapid identification of viable bacterial contaminants in food products. The method detects viable microbes by using a combined ATP-bioluminescence immunoassay. Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium were selected as target organisms in various matrices including ground beef homogenate, apple juice, milk, and phosphate-buffered saline. Specific antibodies were immobilized on the surface of well plates in which the sample matrices were incubated. The plates were washed, and the wells were incubated with BacTiter-Glo reagent in Mueller-Hinton II broth. Bioluminescent output was measured with a luminometer and signal-to-noise ratios were calculated. …

Effective Treatment Of Tumors And Cancer With Triciribine And Related Compounds, Jin Q. Cheng, Said M. Sebti

USF Patents

The inventors have determined, contrary to the prior art and experience, how to successfully use triciribine to treat tumors and cancer by one or a combination of (i) administering triciribine only to patients which according to a diagnostic test described below, exhibit enhanced sensitivity to the drug; (ii) use of a described dosage level that minimizes the toxicity of the drug but yet still exhibits efficacy; or (iii) use of a described dosage regimen that minimizes the toxicity of the drug.

Synthesis And Structure−Activity Relationships Of Tambjamines And B‑Ring Functionalized Prodiginines As Potent Antimalarials, Papireddy Kancharla, Jane Xu Kelly, Kevin A. Reynolds

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Synthesis and antimalarial activity of 94 novel bipyrrole tambjamines (TAs) and a library of B-ring functionalized tripyrrole prodiginines (PGs) against a panel of Plasmodium falciparum strains are described. The activity and structure–activity relationships demonstrate that the ring-C of PGs can be replaced by an alkylamine, providing for TAs with retained/enhanced potency. Furthermore, ring-B of PGs/TAs can be substituted with short alkyl substitutions at either 4-position (replacement of OMe) or 3- and 4-positions without impacting potency. Eight representative TAs and two PGs have been evaluated for antimalarial activity against multidrug-resistant P. yoelii in mice in the dose range of 5–100 mg/kg …

The Statesman, V. 59, I. 1, Stony Brook University

Stony Brook Statesman-Sucolian

v. 59;n. 1

2015-08-24-Etsu Welcomes New Employees, University Marketing And Communications, East Tennessee State University

Accent [newsletter]

No abstract provided.

Fungal Communities In Oral Health And Disease, Amanda K. Dupuy

Doctoral Dissertations

Fungal Communities in Oral Health and Disease

Amanda K. Dupuy, PhD

University of Connecticut, [2015]

With advances in, and cost reduction of next generation sequencing technologies, assessing the presence of microbes in host niches in healthy and diseased states has become a more feasible task. However, these studies are often only limited to bacterial characterization, ignoring other important community members such as fungi, viruses, and protists. The research presented here begins to fill this gap by creating a roadmap for fungal community analysis. With fungal outbreaks on the rise, it is essential that the fungal kingdom is included in future …