Digital Commons Network^™

Needle Acquisition Patterns, Network Risk And Social Capital Among Rural Pwid In Puerto Rico, Ian Duncan, Patrick Habecker, Roberto Abadie, Ric Curtis, Bilal Khan, Kirk Dombrowski

Publications and Research

Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) take on significant risks of contracting blood-borne infection, including injecting with a large number of partners and acquiring needles from unsafe sources. When combined, risk of infection can be magnified.

Methods: Using a sample of PWID in rural Puerto Rico, we model the relationship between a subject’s number of injection partners and the likelihood of having used an unsafe source of injection syringes. Data collection with 315 current injectors identified six sources of needles.

Results: Of the six possible sources, only acquisition from a seller (paid or free), or using syringes found on the …

Validation Of Chimeric Viruses In Plaque Reduction Neutralization Test In Arboviral Disease Diagnostics, Jasmine Boykin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) is a confirmatory diagnostic assay that is used to confirm a variety of diseases. The performance of PRNT requires the use of infectious wild type viruses, which increases the risk of laboratory acquired infections. For instance, eastern equine encephalitis (EEEV) is a highly virulent pathogen used in PRNT that can result in potentially fatal neurological diseases among humans and equines. Therefore, arboviral PRNT must be performed in Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) containment facilities and may require select agent approved scientists, like in the case of EEEV. These stringent requirements restrict the ability of public …

The Right To Health Versus The Right To Property: Conflicts Between Public Welfare And Private Interests, The Brazilian Approach, Lilian Martins, Wilson Almeida, Marcos Aurelio Pereora Valadao

Law and Business Review of the Americas

No abstract provided.

Implementation Of Education To Insert Picc At Bedside: Insertion Attempts, Cost, And Interventional Radiology Utilization, Rachael L. Edjou, Heidi Cohen, Margaret Sharon Harris

Biennial Convention (CONV)

To determine whether formal annual training in PICC placement will reduce the number of PICC line insertion attempts, cost, and need for Interventional Radiology utilization. We will conduct a retrospective chart review before the educational program was initiated and prospective chart review post training program to determine infant outcomes.

Protecting Cows In Small Holder Farms In East Africa From Tsetse Flies By Mimicking The Odor Profile Of A Non-Host Bovid, Rajinder K. Saini, Benedict O. Orindi, Norber Mbahin, John A. Andoke, Peter N. Muasa, David M. Mbuvi, Caroline M. Muya, John A. Pickett, Christian W. Borgemeister

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Background: For the first time, differential attraction of pathogen vectors to vertebrate animals is investigated for novel repellents which when applied to preferred host animals turn them into non-hosts thereby providing a new paradigm for innovative vector control. For effectively controlling tsetse flies (Glossina spp.), vectors of African trypanosomosis, causing nagana, repellents more powerful than plant derived, from a non-host animal the waterbuck, Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa, have recently been identified. Here we investigate these repellents in the field to protect cattle from nagana by making cattle as unattractive as the buck. Methodology/Principal findings: To dispense the waterbuck repellents comprising guaiacol, …

Planning And Completing A Book Drive For Malawi, Karen R. Mcelfresh, Laura J. Hall, Patricia Repar

Posters and Presentations

In the Spring of 2017, our library conducted a book drive for the Malawi College of Health Sciences in Blantyre, Malawi. The College’s library serves about 700 students, as well as health care professionals from a neighboring hospital. However, the library lacks sufficient resources, with most of their books being outdated or in poor condition, which diminishes health care quality in Malawi.

Advancing Nursing Education In China: Contributions Of Foreign Expert Nurse Faculty, Deborah F. Lindell

Biennial Convention (CONV)

The nursing profession in China has faced challenges in its efforts to improve the quality of education and practice. Invited foreign expert nurse faculty, who collaborated with a major research university in China, will report their contributions to advancing the nursing education programs, scholarship, and capacity of students and faculty.

Career Corner: Quidel Has Multiple Positions Open In Athens, Ohio University College Of Arts & Sciences

All Forum Articles

No abstract provided.

A Two-Biomarker Model Predicts Mortality In The Critically Ill With Sepsis., Carmen Mikacenic, Brenda L Price, Susanna Harju-Baker, D Shane O'Mahony, Cassianne Robinson-Cohen, Frank Radella, William O Hahn, Ronit Katz, David C Christiani, Jonathan Himmelfarb, W Conrad Liles, Mark M Wurfel

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

RATIONALE: Improving the prospective identification of patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and sepsis at low risk for organ dysfunction and death is a major clinical challenge.

OBJECTIVES: To develop and validate a multibiomarker-based prediction model for 28-day mortality in critically ill patients with SIRS and sepsis.

METHODS: A derivation cohort (n = 888) and internal test cohort (n = 278) were taken from a prospective study of critically ill intensive care unit (ICU) patients meeting two of four SIRS criteria at an academic medical center for whom plasma was obtained within 24 hours. The validation cohort (n = …

A Study On The Efficacy Of The Medicare Bundled Payments For Care Improvement Initiative At A Large Community Hospital In The Southeast United States, Elizabeth E. Kerns

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2013, Medicare launched the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) Initiative which linked payments for multiple services for a complete episode of patient care. With this innovative reimbursement model, hospitals accepted fixed target payments for certain types of clinical diagnoses that were intended to support better care coordination and better outcomes for patients at lower cost to Medicare. This was one of many programs aimed at addressing the serious challenges facing United States healthcare, including costs that are skyrocketing to unsustainable levels and lack of coordination of care across venues.

Preliminary Medicare results showed that bundled payments might lead …

Missed Immunization Opportunities Among Children Under 5 Years Of Age Dwelling In Karachi City, Asif Khaliq, Sayeeda Amber Sayed, Syed Abdullah Hussaini, Kiran Azam, Mehak Qamar

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Immunization is the safest and effective measure for preventing and eradicating various communicable diseases. A glaring immunization gap exists between developing and industrialized countries towards immunization, because the developing countries including Pakistan are still striving to provide basic immunization to their children. The purpose of this study was to access the prevalence and factors of missing immunization among under 5-year children of Karachi.
Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted from June 2015 to October 2015 among different outpatient clinics of Karachi. Parents who had child less than 5 year of age were approached by non-probability purposive sampling. Data …

Plasmodium Falciparum Epcr-Binding Pfemp1 Expression Increases With Malaria Disease Severity And Is Elevated In Retinopathy Negative Cerebral Malaria., Estela Shabani, Benjamin Hanisch, Robert O Opoka, Thomas Lavstsen, Chandy C John

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Background

Expression of group A and the A-like subset of group B Plasmodium falciparumerythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) is associated with severe malaria (SM). The diversity of var sequences combined with the challenges of distinct classification of patient pathologies has made studying the role of distinct PfEMP1 variants on malaria disease severity challenging. The application of retinopathy in the recent years has provided a further method to clinically evaluate children with cerebral malaria (CM). The question of whether children with clinical CM but no retinopathy represent a completely different disease process or a subgroup within the spectrum of CM …

Advancing Nursing Leadership Through Global Health Policy, Jennifer S. Graber

Biennial Convention (CONV)

The purpose of this presentation is to illustrate the many opportunities for STTI chapter engagement that will impact global health and policy. Subsequently, STTI chapter involvement will not only engage members and increase STTI sustainability, but it will also advance nursing practice and policy through enhancing scholarship, leadership, and service.

Influenza Epidemiology And Immunization During Pregnancy: Final Report Of A World Health Organization Working Group, Deshayne B. Fell, Eduardo Azziz-Baumgartner, Michael G. Baker, Maneesh Batra, Julien Beauté, Philippe Beutels, Niranjan Bhat, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Cheryl Cohen, Rehana Salam

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

From 2014 to 2017, the World Health Organization convened a working group to evaluate influenza disease burden and vaccine efficacy to inform estimates of maternal influenza immunization program impact. The group evaluated existing systematic reviews and relevant primary studies, and conducted four new systematic reviews. There was strong evidence that maternal influenza immunization prevented influenza illness in pregnant women and their infants, although data on severe illness prevention were lacking. The limited number of studies reporting influenza incidence in pregnant women and infants under six months had highly variable estimates and underrepresented low- and middle-income countries. The evidence that maternal …

Development Of A Campus-Based Clinic, Carolyn Hart, Karen A. Grigsby, Alyce A. Schultz

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Campus-based health centers that address chronic illnesses, minor injuries, and behavioral health support are an essential component of student success. Because our small, liberal arts college is not able to meet health care needs of our students, the goal of this leadership project was to develop a campus-based clinic.

Lifelong Learning: Developing Professional And Personal Leadership, Jennifer L. Saylor

Biennial Convention (CONV)

The purpose is to illustrate various avenues to engage new and current members while fostering active membership through lifelong learning. Advancing the practice of lifelong learning within your chapter ensures member engagement and chapter sustainability by enhancing scholarship, leadership, and service. Lifelong learning has underpinnings in the STTI mission.

Leadership Development: Building A Nursing Legacy, Evelyn R. Hayes

Biennial Convention (CONV)

The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate a culture of leadership development to promote legacy building. Leadership development is a key component of chapter sustainability and engagement. Building a nursing legacy paves the way to a successful future within nursing, the local chapter, and STTI.

Synthesis, In Vitro Characterization And Applications Of Novel 8-Aminoquinoline Fluorescent Probes, Adonis Mcqueen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Malaria is a parasitic disease that is caused by the plasmodium parasite. Plasmodium infection has affected man for thousands of years. With advances in drug discovery over the past century, malaria has evolved to possess resistance to most mainline therapeutics. This war of drug discovery vs plasmodium evolution continues to be fought to this very day, with attempts to eradicate malaria worldwide. Frontline treatments such as chloroquine, artemisinin, and atovaquone/proguanil have all seen parasitic resistance in strains of P. vivax as well as P. falciparum. While plasmodium possesses resistance to most classes of anti-malarials, the 8-aminoquinoline (8-AQ) class has …

Aids In The Workplace: Discrimination By Ignorance

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Determining The Optimal Stockpile Level For Combination Vaccines, Sheetal Aher

Theses

By 2015, vaccine shortages still remained one of the major problems around the globe, as described in the annual secretariat report of the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP). Despite multiple initiatives to reduce vaccine shortages, supply interruptions are unexpected and unavoidable. To mitigate the risk of such interruptions, vaccine stockpiles have traditionally been the tool of choice. However, the models used to determine vaccine stockpile levels have only considered the use of monovalent vaccines, which provide protection against a single disease. This study aims to determine optimal stockpile levels for combination vaccines, which provide protection against multiple diseases. First, through …

Portnoy To Speak At The 2017 Susan Roberts Dubay Endowed Lecture, Uab Heersink School Of Medicine News

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Neurology Research In Saudi Arabia : Urgent Call For Action, Hussein Algahtani, Bader Shirah, Faisal Algamdi, Albaraa, Abdulah Alkahtani

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

Objectives: Research activities in Saudi Arabia are promoted at the governmental and institutional levels. However, the output and quality of research conducted in the field of neurology has not yet been measured quantitatively. This study therefore aimed to analyse neurology-related publications from Saudi Arabia. Methods: This study was conducted in January 2016. A systematic search using the PubMed® search engine (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA) was conducted to identify all neurology-related articles published from Saudi Arabia between January 1996 and December 2015. Results: A total of 1,292 neurologyrelated publications were identified. Neurology research increased linearly with time, with …

Evasion Of Host Innate Immunity By Emerging Viruses: Antagonizing Host Rig-I Pathways, Maureen Ferran, Gary Skuse

Articles

Viruses confront a seemingly dichotomous relationship with their host cells. They must overcome host defenses in order to complete their infectious cycles and generate new viruses yet the host must remain healthy and hospitable for that to take place. Shortly after infection, the RIGI-like receptors (RLRs) within the cytoplasm of the infected cell recognize foreign motifs present in the pathogen. The host responds by activating a signaling pathway that leads to activation of cellular transcription factors, including the NF-κB and interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3), that are necessary for induction of the type 1 interferon genes. Many viruses subdue components …

Modeling Vaccination Strategies To Control White-Nose Syndrome In Little Brown Bat Colonies, Eva Cornwell, David Elzinga, Shelby Stowe, Alex Capaldi

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Reading Alexander V. Choate Rightly: Now Is The Time, Leslie Francis, Anita Silvers

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Whatever happens to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) over the next few years, it is fair to assume that state Medicaid programs will be subjected to cost control measures. Despite the recent deployment of substantial arguments to the contrary, the belief still persists that the Supreme Court’s decision in Alexander v. Choate over thirty years ago stands for the proposition that disability anti-discrimination law does not impose requirements on the structure of Medicaid benefits. This belief is misleading at best. In this article, we challenge the access/content distinction and the straitened interpretation of Alexander v. Choate that has resulted from …

Stochastic And Deterministic Multigroup Epidemiology, Jordan Hasler, Chris Chang, Ananya Yammanuru, Lewis Oh, Esther Matthew, Mounisha Kovour

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

The Kinetics Of Type I Interferons During Influenza A Virus Infection, Margaret A. Myers

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Should I Get A Flu Shot? How Well Did This Go Last Year?, Winfried Just, David Gerberry, Ying Xin

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

A Model Of Dengue Transmission With Wolbachia-Free And Wolbachia-Infected Mosquitoes, Iftikhar Ahmed

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Markov Models Reveal Host Controls Of Within-Host Disease Dynamics, Tara Stewart, Zoi Rapti, Carla E. Cáceres

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.