Digital Commons Network^™

Electronic Health Record Optimization For Cardiac Care, Lisa A. Grabenbauer

Theses & Dissertations

Electronic health record (EHR) systems have been studied for over 30 years, and despite the benefits of information technology in other knowledge domains, progress has been slow in healthcare. A growing body of evidence suggests that dissatisfaction with EHR systems was not simply due to resistance to adoption of new technology but also due to real concerns about the adverse impact of EHRs on the delivery of patient care. Solutions for EHR improvement require an approach that combines an understanding of technology adoption with the complexity of the social and technical elements of the US healthcare system. Several studies are …

Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells Contribute To The Subversion Of Innate Immunity During Staphylococcus Aureus Biofilm Infection, Cortney E. Heim

Theses & Dissertations

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are a heterogeneous population of immature monocytes and granulocytes that are potent inhibitors of T cell activation. A role for MDSCs in bacterial infections has only recently emerged, and our laboratory was the first to demonstrate a functional role for MDSCs during Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) biofilm infection. Biofilm infections often lead to significant morbidity due to their recalcitrance to antibiotics and ability to subvert immune-mediated clearance by skewing the immune response toward an anti-inflammatory, pro-fibrotic phenotype. Therefore, we examined whether MDSCs could play a role in this process. CD11b⁺Gr-1⁺ MDSCs …

Role Of Macrophages In Muscle Transfection With Pdna/Pluronic Formulation, Vivek Mahajan

Theses & Dissertations

Non-ionic amphiphilic block copolymers of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(propylene oxide) (PPO), Pluronics, arranged in a tri-block structure PEO-PPO-PEO, have raised a considerable interest in skeletal muscle Gene Therapy. Previous studies have demonstrated that co-administration of Pluronics with naked plasmid DNA (pDNA) by direct i.m. injection enhanced transgene expression not only in muscle but also in distal lymphoid organs (spleen and lymph nodes) and this response was strain-dependent; not observed in athymic (BALB/c nu/nu) mouse; suggesting a role of immune cells in gene transfer to skeletal muscles. Therefore, we first evaluated the role of inflammation and inflammatory cells, on muscle …

The Effect Of Oxygen On Bile Resistance In Listeria Monocytogenes, Morgan Layne Wright

Theses and Dissertations

Listeria monocytogenes is a Gram-positive facultative anaerobe that is the causative agent of the disease listeriosis and is responsible for nearly 20% of all food-related deaths in the United States. The ability of this bacterium to cause infections is proposed to correlate to its ability to resist the bactericidal properties of bile acids found in bile. Bile resistance mechanisms have exhibited increased activity under anaerobic conditions. Therefore, we hypothesized that limited oxygen could enhance the bile resistance of L. monocytogenes. Upon survival analysis, viability for virulent strains F2365, EGD-e, and 10403S increased upon 10% porcine bile extract under anaerobic conditions. …

The Impact Of Pyruvate Oxidase (Spxb) On The Release Of The Toxin Pneumolysin In Streptococcus Pneumoniae, Joseph Colby Bryant

Theses and Dissertations

Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is a major human pathogen and commensal organism of the nasopharynx. A major virulence factor of the pneumococcus is the cholesterol dependent, pore forming cytolysin pneumolysin. This toxin acts extracellularly, but the mechanism of release has not been well elucidated. Despite being a catalase negative organism, the pneumococcus produces up to millimolar concentrations of hydrogen peroxide through the activity of pyruvate oxidase. In all strains analyzed, deletion of the pyruvate oxidase gene yielded a significant reduction in the amount of PLY observed in the supernatant via western blot. A single strain, WU2 was also observed to have …

Effects Of The In Ovo Injection Of Inovocox Em1 Vaccine On The Embryogenesis, Posthatch Performance, And Gut Pathology Of Ross Ross 708 Broilers, Adebayo Oluwaseun Sokale

Theses and Dissertations

Effects of the in ovo injection of Inovocox EM1 vaccine (EM1 vaccine) suspended in commercial diluent on developing broiler embryos were investigated in 3 trials. Effects of the EM1vaccine administered by in ovo injection on broiler embryogenesis and posthatch performance was determined by evaluating site of injection (SOI), embryo staging (ES), hatchability, and chick quality parameters. Oocyst output, microscopic lesion scores, and grow-out performance were further examined through day 35 posthatch. In these studies, it was shown that oocyst output began at day 3 posthatch (6 days post-injection), and peaked at day 7 posthatch (10 days post-injection). The EM1 vaccine …

Investigation Of Microbial Aspects Related To Salmonella As A Food Pathogen Bioluminescent Reporting System And Mechanisms For Host Invasion, Kevin Howe

Theses and Dissertations

Salmonella can reside in healthy animals without the manifestation of any adverse effects on the carrier. If raw products of animal origin are not handled properly during processing or cooked to a proper temperature during preparation, salmonellosis can occur. In this research, microbial aspects related to Salmonella as a food pathogen are investigated. A bioluminescent reporting system was developed for Salmonella to monitor the attachment and growth of the pathogen on food products. Twelve and eleven Salmonella strains from the broiler production continuum were tagged with bioluminescence by plasmid and integration of the lux operon into the chromosome, respectively. To …

Large Wildlife Removal Drives Immune Defence Increases In Rodents, Hillary S. Young, Rodolfo Dirzo, Kristofer M. Helgen, Douglas J. Mccauley, Charles L. Nunn, Paul Snyder, Kari E. Veblen, Serena Zhao, Vanessa O. Ezenwa

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

1. Anthropogenic disturbances involving land use change, climate disruption, pollution and invasive species have been shown to impact immune function of wild animals. These immune changes have direct impacts on the fitness of impacted animals and, also, potentially indirect effects on other species and on ecological processes, notably involving the spread of infectious disease. Here, we investigate whether the selective loss of large wildlife can also drive changes in immune function of other consumer species.
2. Using a long-standing large-scale exclosure experiment in East Africa, we investigated the effects of selective removal of large wildlife on multiple measures of immune function in …

Compositions Including Triciribine And Taxanes And Methods Of Use Thereof, Jin Q. Cheng, Said M. Sebti

USF Patents

This application relates to combination therapies including triciribine and related compounds and taxanes and compositions with reduced toxicity for the treatment and prevention of tumors, cancer, and other disorders associated with abnormal cell proliferation.

Microbial Ligand Costimulation Drives Neutrophilic Steroid-Refractory Asthma, Sabelo Hadebe, Frank Kirstein, Kaat Fierens, Kong Chen, Rebecca A. Drummond, Simon Vautier, Sara Sajaniemi, Graeme Murray, David L. Williams, Pierre Redelinghuys, Todd A. Reinhart, Beth A.Fallert Junecko, Jay K. Kolls, Bart N. Lambrecht, Frank Brombacher, Gordon D. Brown, Bernhard Ryffel

ETSU Faculty Works

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Asthma is a heterogeneous disease whose etiology is poorly understood but is likely to involve innate responses to inhaled microbial components that are found in allergens. The influence of these components on pulmonary inflammation has been largely studied in the context of individual agonists, despite knowledge that they can have synergistic effects when used in combination. Here we have explored the effects of LPS and β-glucan, …

Inhibition Of The Dape-Encoded N-Succinyl- ʟ, ʟ-Diaminopimelic Acid Desuccinylase From Neisseria Meningitidis By ʟ-Captopril, Anna Starus, Boguslaw Nocek, Brian Bennett, James A. Larrabee, Daniel L. Shaw, Wisath Sae-Lee, Marie T. Russo, Danuta M. Gillner, Magdalena Makowska-Grzyska, Andzrej Joachimiak, Richard C. Holz

Physics Faculty Research and Publications

Binding of the competitive inhibitor ʟ-captopril to the dapE-encoded N-succinyl-ʟ, ʟ-diaminopimelic acid desuccinylase from Neisseria meningitidis (NmDapE) was examined by kinetic, spectroscopic, and crystallographic methods. ʟ-Captopril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, was previously shown to be a potent inhibitor of the DapE from Haemophilus influenzae (HiDapE) with an IC₅₀ of 3.3 μM and a measured K_i of 1.8 μM and displayed a dose-responsive antibiotic activity toward Escherichia coli. ʟ-Captopril is also a competitive inhibitor of NmDapE with a K_i of 2.8 μM. To examine the nature of the interaction …

Summary Of Proposed Updates To The National Health Security Preparedness Index For 2015-2016, Glen P. Mays, Michael T. Childress, Pierre Martin Dominique Zephyr, Christopher R. Bollinger, Anna Goodman Hoover

Health Management and Policy Reports

This report describes proposed updates in methodology and measures for the 2015-16 release of the National Health Security Preparedness Index

Implementation Of Electronic Disease Reporting Systems By Local Health Departments, Gulzar H. Shah, Karmen Williams, Bushra G. Shah

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Background: Electronic disease reporting systems (EDRSs) are imperative for local health departments (LHDs) operating in the post-H1N1 and evidence-based public health practice era. Studies regarding functionality and factors responsible for variation in implementation are important but rare.

Purpose: This primary objective for this study was to provide evidence regarding the level to which LHDs have implemented electronic disease reporting systems and factors associated with variation in implementation of electronic disease reporting systems.

Methods: A quantitative analysis was performed of the 2013 Profile of Local Health Departments Survey conducted by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). The …

Investigation Of Stilbenoids As Potential Therapeutic Agents For Rotavirus Gastroenteritis, Judith M. Ball, Fabricio Medina-Bolivar, Katelyn D. Defrates, Emily Hambleton, Megan E. Hurlburt, Lingling Fang, Tianhong Yang, Luis Nopo-Olazabal, Richard L. Atwill, Pooj Ghai, Rebecca D. Parr

Faculty Publications

Rotavirus (RV) infections cause severe diarrhea in infants and young children worldwide. Vaccines are available but cost prohibitive for many countries and only reduce severe symptoms. Vaccinated infants continue to shed infectious particles, and studies show decreased efficacy of the RV vaccines in tropical and subtropical countries where they are needed most. Continuing surveillance for new RV strains, assessment of vaccine efficacy, and development of cost effective antiviral drugs remain an important aspect of RV studies. This study was to determine the efficacy of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory stilbenoids to inhibit RV replication. Peanut (A. hypogaea) hairy root cultures were induced …

A Survey Of Mathematical Models Of Dengue Fever, James P. Braselton, Iurii Bakach

Mathematical Sciences: Faculty Publications

In this paper, we compare and contrast five models of dengue fever, a serious illness that affects tropical and subtropical areas around the world. We evaluate each model using different scenarios and identify the strengths and weakness of each of the models. The goal of our analysis is to indicate the strengths and weaknesses of current mathematical models of dengue fever that should assist future researchers in forming models that accurately measure the variables they are studying that affect the spread and progression of the disease.

Advertising Of Food And Drugs: Concealing A Truth, Hinting A Lie, Barry S. Donner

Akron Law Review

THE FOCUS OF THIS COMMENT is on recent advertisements promoting foods and drugs. Listed below are some representative ads, either recently published in magazines, or broadcast on radio or television. The question is whether they represent practices which, under the Federal Trade Commission Act, are prohibited, or should be prohibited.

Loss, Hope, And Redemption: The Consequences Of Methamphetamine Use In A Sample Of Incarcerated Women, Mikhial Vincent Gunderman

Dissertations

This dissertation examines the consequences of methamphetamine use in a sample of 40 incarcerated women who were court-ordered to participate in a correctional drug and alcohol treatment program in Missouri. Using interview data from this sample, I examine their perceptions of the consequences of their methamphetamine use. The negative consequences I focus on include experiences of violence, damage to interpersonal relationships, and more personal consequences related to health, employment, housing, and the criminal justice system. In this pursuit, I explore the following research questions: 1) What is the relationship between the accumulation of negative consequences and continued and/or increased involvement …

Removing Hesitation To Discuss About Sex Key To Improving Sexual Health Of Americans, Staff

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No abstract provided.

A Framework For Inferring Unobserved Multistrain Epidemic Subpopulations Using Synchronization Dynamics, Eric Forgoston, Leah B. Shaw, Ira B. Schwartz

Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

A new method is proposed to infer unobserved epidemic subpopulations by exploiting the synchronization properties of multistrain epidemic models. A model for dengue fever is driven by simulated data from secondary infective populations. Primary infective populations in the driven system synchronize to the correct values from the driver system. Most hospital cases of dengue are secondary infections, so this method provides a way to deduce unobserved primary infection levels. We derive center manifold equations that relate the driven system to the driver system and thus motivate the use of synchronization to predict unobserved primary infectives. Synchronization stability between primary and …

Examining The Safety Of Respiratory And Intravenous Inoculation Of Bdellovibrio Bacteriovorus And Micavibrio Aeruginosavorus In A Mouse Model, Kenneth Shatzkes, Richard Chae, Chi Tang, Gregory C. Ramirez, Somdatta Mukherjee, Liana Tsenova, Nancy D. Connell, Daniel E. Kadouri

Publications and Research

Bdellovibrio spp. and Micavibrio spp. are Gram-negative predators that feed on other Gram-negative bacteria, making predatory bacteria potential alternatives to antibiotics for treating multi-drug resistant infections. While the ability of predatory bacteria to control bacterial infections in vitro is well documented, the in vivo effect of predators on a living host has yet to be extensively examined. In this study, respiratory and intravenous inoculations were used to determine the effects of predatory bacteria in mice. We found no reduction in mouse viability after intranasal or intravenous inoculation of B. bacteriovorus 109J, HD100 or M. aeruginosavorus. Introducing predators into the respiratory …

Paleoepidemiology Of Intestinal Parasites And Lice In Pre-Columbian South America *, Adauto Araujo, Karl J. Reinhard, Daniela Leles, Luciana Sianto, Alena Iniguez, Martin Fugassa, Berrnardo Arriaza, Nancy Orellana, Luiz Fernando Ferreira

Karl Reinhard Publications

Some human parasites originated in prehominid ancestors in Africa. Nematode species, such as Enterobius vermicularis (pinworm), hookworms and Trichuris trichiura are shared by humans and other close phylogenetic primates (Pan and Gorilla), showing that they infected a common ancestor to this group. When humans migrated from Africa to other continents they carried these parasites wherever climate conditions allowed parasite transmission from host to host. Other parasites, however, were acquired throughout human biological and social evolutive history when new territories were occupied. Paleoparasitology data is a valuable source to recover emergence and disappearance of parasite infections through analysis of archaeological remains. …

Diet And Parasitism At Dust Devil Cave, Karl J. Reinhard, J Richard Ambler, Magdalene Mcguffie

Karl Reinhard Publications

Human parasitism has obvious relationships to group size and composition, mobility, subsistence patterns, and rates of culture change. At their best, human endoparasites may be annoying; at their worst, some can cause death. Thus, an overall view of the parasite load of a prehistoric population can yield insights useful in interpreting past lifeways. With these thoughts in mind, we undertook a study of Desha Complex (6800-4800 B .C.) human feces recovered from Dust Devil Cave in southern Utah.

Proteins Of Bartonella Bacilliformis:Candidates For Vaccine Development, Cesar Henriquez-Camocho, Palmira Ventosilla, Michael F. Minnick, Joaquim Ruiz, Ciro Maguina

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Bartonella bacilliformis is the etiologic agent of Carrion's disease suggest complex adaptations by the bacterium to the human host, with the overall objectives of persistence, maintenance of a reservoir state for vectorial transmission, and immune evasion. These events include a multitude of biochemical and genetic mechanisms involving both bacterial and host proteins. This review focuses on proteins involved in interactions between B. bacilliformis and human host. Some of them (e.g., flagellin, Brps, IalB, FtsZ, Hbp/Pap31, and other outer membrane proteins) are potential protein antigen candidates for a synthetic vaccine.

Frank Talk About Sex Key To Improving Americans' Sexual Health, Says Uab Physician, Jim Bakken

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No abstract provided.

Academic Affairs And Assessment Committee, August 6, 2015‌, Coastal Carolina University

Board of Trustees Committee Minutes

No abstract provided.

Damage/Danger Associated Molecular Patterns (Damps) Modulate Chlamydia Pecorum And C. Trachomatis Serovar E Inclusion Development In Vitro, Cory Ann Leonard, Robert V. Schoborg, Nicole Borel

ETSU Faculty Works

Persistence, more recently termed the chlamydial stress response, is a viable but non-infectious state constituting a divergence from the characteristic chlamydial biphasic developmental cycle. Damage/danger associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) are normal intracellular components or metabolites that, when released from cells, signal cellular damage/ lysis. Purine metabolite DAMPs, including extracellular ATP and adenosine, inhibit chlamydial development in a species-specific manner. Viral co-infection has been shown to reversibly abrogate Chlamydia inclusion development, suggesting persistence/chlamydial stress. Because viral infection can cause host cell DAMP release, we hypothesized DAMPs may influence chlamydial development. Therefore, we examined the effect of extracellular ATP, adenosine, and cyclic …

End Stage Renal Disease: Seroprevalence Of Hepatitises B And C Along With Associated Aetiology And Risk Factors In Children, Syed Raza Shah, Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, Muhamad Tanveer Alam, Adnan Salim, Mehwish Hussain, Areeba Altaf

Section of Neurosurgery

Background: End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) normally requires dialysis or transplantation for survival. Since ESRD patients are on long term dialysis, infections such as Hepatitis B (HBV) and Hepatitis C (HCV) are commonly reported.
Methods: This was a retrospective study carried out at a government hospital during a 12-month period from January 2013 to December 2013. The data was collected using a predesigned pro forma to note the etiology, gender, age, and HBsAg and anti-HCV test result of each patient.
Results: 444 children suffering from ESRD were included in our analysis. The mean age of sample was 12.7 ± 4.1 …

The Right Tool For The Job: Detection Of Soil-Transmitted Helminths In Areas Co-Endemic For Other Helminths, Maria V. Periago, Renata C. Diniz, Simone A. Pinto, Anna Yakovleva, Rodrigo Correa-Oliveira, David J. Diemert, Jeffrey M. Bethony

Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine Faculty Publications

Due to the recent increased use of the McMaster (MM) fecal egg counting method for assessing benzimidazole drug efficacy for treating soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections, the aim of the current study was to determine the operational value of including the MM method alongside the Kato-Katz (KK) fecal thick smear to increase the diagnostic sensitivity when STHs are co-endemic with trematode helminths (e.g., Schistosoma mansoni).

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in school-aged children aged 4-18 years in the northeastern region of the State of Minas Gerais (Brazil), where Necator americanus, Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, and S …

The Last Hope: Uab's Undiagnosed Diseases Program, Staff

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No abstract provided.

Impact Of Standardized Oral Health Assessment On Preventing Ventilator-Associated Events, Juana Ambriz De Williams

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a common but preventable health-care associated infection that affects up to 20% of mechanically ventilated adult patients, resulting in estimated mortality rates ranging from 13% to 55% (Chahoud, Semaan, Almoosa, 2015; Melsen et al., 2013). In an effort to reduce morbidity, mortality and related costs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), proposed ventilator-associated pneumonia prevention as a national patient safety goal. In 2014, amid growing concerns that the subjectivity of existing definitions had led to inconsistent reporting, thereby impeding efforts to reduce VAP, the CDC refocused surveillance …