Digital Commons Network^™

Serum Anti-Flagellin And Anti-Lipopolysaccharide Immunoglobulins As Predictors Of Linear Growth Faltering In Pakistani Infants At Risk For Environmental Enteric Dysfunction, Sana Syed, Najeeha Talat Iqbal, Kamran Sadiq, Jennie Z. Ma, Tauseef Akhund, Shahida Qureshi, Kerri Gosselin, Andrew Gewirtz, Christopher P. Duggan, Syed Asad Ali

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Environmental Enteric Dysfunction (EED) in children from low-income countries has been linked to linear growth declines. There is a critical need to identify sensitive and early EED biomarkers.
Objective: Determine whether levels of antibodies against bacterial components flagellin (flic) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) predict poor growth.
Design/Methods: In a prospective birth cohort of 380 children in rural Pakistan blood and stool samples were obtained at ages 6 and 9 months. Linear mixed effects models were used to examine longitudinal associations between quartiles of anti-flic and anti-LPS antibodies and changes in LAZ, WAZ and WLZ scores. Spearman's correlations were measured between …

Effectiveness Of Biocide Substitution And Management Plan Implementation For The Control Of, Adelmarie Bones

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

After the notorious outbreak and discovery of Legionella bacteria in 1976, the waterborne pathogen was added to the list of disease-causing agents associated with the built environment. Legionella pneumophila was discovered when it was identified as the agent that caused 34 deaths and an outbreak of pneumonia-like symptoms in several attendees of the 1976 American Legion Convention held in Philadelphia (OSHA, 2017).

Recently published data from the year 2015 reported more than 6,000 Legionnaires’ cases identified in the United States (CDC, 2016). This is a concerning number given that one in every ten infected persons will die of the disease. …

Prevalence, Incidence, And Clearance Of Anal High-Risk Human Papillomavirus Infection Among Hiv-Infected Men In The Sun Study, Pragna Patel, Tim Bush, Erna Milunka Kojic, Lois Conley, Elizabeth R Unger, Teresa M Darragh, Keith Henry, John Hammer, Gerome Escota, Joel M Palefsky, John T Brooks

2010-2019 OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: The natural history of anal human papilloma virus (HPV) infection among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected men is unknown.

METHODS: Annually, from 2004 to 2012, we examined baseline prevalence, incidence, and clearance of anal HPV infection at 48 months, and associated factors among HIV-infected men.

RESULTS: We examined 403 men who have sex with men (MSM) and 96 men who have sex with women (MSW) (median age 42 years for both, 78% versus 81% prescribed cART, median CD4+ T-lymphocyte cell count 454 versus 379 cells/mm3, and 74% versus 75% had undetectable viral load, respectively). Type 16 prevalence among MSM and …

Biosorption Of Safranin-O From Aqueous Solution By Nile Rose Plant (Eichhornia Crassipes), Awaz B. Mohammed, Alaa R. Omran, Maysam A. Baiee, Jasim M. Salman

Baghdad Science Journal

In this work Aquatic plant (Nile rose) was used to study adsorption of industrial dye (safranin-O from aqueous solution within several operation conditions. The dried leaves of Nile rose plant were used as adsorbents safranin-O from aqueous solution after different activations such as wet and dry enhancements. The data show increasing in dye solution removal percentage for both activation methods of the adsorbent and also dye removal percentage that was obtained by using adsorbent without any treatment with the progress contact time. The dye removal percentages at equilibrium time 40 minutes were 88.7% at non-activation, 92.3% at thermal activation, and …

Rotavirus Vaccine Response Correlates With The Infant Gut Microbiota Composition In Pakistan, Vanessa Harris, Syed Asad Ali, Susana Fuentes, Abdul Momin Kazi, Jacqueline Tate, Umesh Parashar, W. Joost Wiersinga, Carlo Giaquinto, Carolina De Weerth, Willem M. De Vos

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Rotavirus (RV) is the leading cause of diarrhea-related death in children worldwide and ninety-five percent of rotavirus deaths occur in Africa and Asia. Rotavirus vaccines (RVV) can dramatically reduce RV deaths, but have low efficacy in low-income settings where they are most needed. The intestinal microbiome may contribute to this decreased RVV efficacy. This pilot study hypothesizes that infants' intestinal microbiota composition correlates with RVV immune responses and that RVV responders have different gut microbiota as compared to non-responders. We conducted a nested, matched case-control study comparing the pre-vaccination intestinal microbiota composition between 10 6-week old Pakistani RVV-responders, 10 6-week …

Towards A Mechanism Of Action Of An Antischistosomal Drug: Measuring Granulocytic Activity, Samantha Sack

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by a family of schistosome parasites which leads to vital organ damage. Praziquantel (PZ) is the only available treatment, but it is effective only against the adult worm. Partner labs have tested an antischistosomal drug which has been shown to have a higher efficacy against both juvenile and mature parasites in mice and monkeys compared to PZ. This effectiveness does not transfer to in vitro experiments; it kills the parasite outside of its host only at extremely high concentrations. This indicates that its efficacy is host-dependent, but the mechanism by which it functions …

Can The Scale-Free Networks, Improve The Prediction Of Pertussis Infection Rates?, Kimia Ameri

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Whooping cough is a highly contagious disease with randomness pattern of infection. Outbreaks of whooping cough have increased over the past few years and has drawn the attention of health care providers. Understanding the spread mechanisms of contagious disease is very important and timely. Extension of contagious disease depends on many complicated factors including pathogen and host environment, exposed population and their activities. In this work, we try to find best prediction for the exposed population. A new SEIR model based on network (NB-SEIR) proposed to improve the accuracy of prediction for number of infected individuals. For this purpose, the …

Bpwrapper: Bioperl-Based Sequence And Tree Utilities For Rapid Prototyping Of Bioinformatics Pipelines, Yözen Hernández, Rocky Bernstein, Pedro Pagan, Levy Vargas, William Mccaig, Girish Ramrattan, Saymon Akther, Amanda Larracuente, Lia Di, Filipe G. Vieira, Weigang Qiu

Publications and Research

Abstract:

Background: Automated bioinformatics workflows are more robust, easier to maintain, and results more reproducible when built with command-line utilities than with custom-coded scripts. Command-line utilities further benefit by relieving bioinformatics developers to learn the use of, or to interact directly with, biological software libraries. There is however a lack of command-line utilities that leverage popular Open Source biological software toolkits such as BioPerl (http://bioperl.org) to make many of the well-designed, robust, and routinely used biological classes available for a wider base of end users.

Results: Designed as standard utilities for UNIX-family operating systems, BpWrapper makes functionality of some of …

Clinical Outcomes And Satisfaction With A Pharmacist-Managed Travel Clinic In Alberta, Canada, Sherilyn Houle, Christina S. Bascom, Meagen Rosenthal

Faculty and Student Publications (Open Access)

No abstract provided.

Evolution Of Echovirus 11 In A Chronically Infected Immunodeficient Patient., Majid Laassri, Tatiana Zagorodnyaya, Sharon Hassin-Baer, Rachel Handsher, Danit Sofer, Merav Weil, Konstantinos Karagiannis, Vahan Simonyan, Konstantin Chumakov, Lester Shulman

Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

Deep sequencing was used to determine complete nucleotide sequences of echovirus 11 (EV11) strains isolated from a chronically infected patient with CVID as well as from cases of acute enterovirus infection. Phylogenetic analysis showed that EV11 strains that circulated in Israel in 1980-90s could be divided into four clades. EV11 strains isolated from a chronically infected individual belonged to one of the four clades and over a period of 4 years accumulated mutations at a relatively constant rate. Extrapolation of mutations accumulation curve into the past suggested that the individual was infected with circulating EV11 in the first half of …

Progress Notes, Lehigh Valley Health Network

Progress Notes

No abstract provided.

Tumorigenic Proteins Upregulated In The Mycn-Amplified Imr-32 Human Neuroblastoma Cells Promote Proliferation And Migration., Hayat Zaatiti, Jad Abdallah, Zeina Nasr, George Khazen, Anthony Sandler, Tamara J Abou-Antoun

Surgery Faculty Publications

Childhood neuroblastoma is one of the most common types of extra-cranial cancer affecting children with a clinical spectrum ranging from spontaneous regression to malignant and fatal progression. In order to improve the clinical outcomes of children with high-risk neuroblastoma, it is crucial to understand the tumorigenic mechanisms that govern its malignant behaviors. MYCN proto-oncogene, bHLH transcription factor (MYCN) amplification has been implicated in the malignant, treatment-evasive nature of aggressive, high-risk neuroblastoma. In this study, we used a SILAC approach to compare the proteomic signatures of MYCN-amplified IMR-32 and non-MYCN-amplified SK-N-SH human neuroblastoma cells. Tumorigenic proteins, including fatty-acid binding protein 5 …

A Comparative Analysis Of Microbial Profile Of Guinea Fowl And Chicken Using Metagenomic Approach, Sarayu Bhogoju, Samuel N. Nahashon, Xiaofei Wang, Carl E. Darris, Agnes Kilonzo-Nthenge

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Probiotics are live microbial feed supplements that promote growth and health to the host by minimizing non-essential and pathogenic microorganisms in the host’s gastrointestinal tract (GIT). The campaign to minimize excessive use of antibiotics in poultry production has necessitated development of probiotics with broad application in multiple poultry species. Design of such probiotics requires understanding of the diversity or similarity in microbial profiles among avian species of economic importance. Therefore, the objective of this research was to establish and compare the microbial profiles of the GIT of Guinea fowl and chicken and to establish the microbial diversity or similarity between …

Gendered Lived Experiences In Urban Cape Town: Urban Infrastructure As Equal Opportunity, Social Justice, And Crime Prevention, Becky Jacobs

Scholarly Works

The body of 19-year-old Sinoxolo Mafevuka was found in a communal toilet in the Cape Town, South African urban township of Khayelitsha. Sinoxolo had been viciously raped, strangled to death, and her body discarded, with her head under the toilet seat and her genitals displayed openly. Tragically, while Sinoxolo’s murder is a particularly brutal example, using a neighborhood toilet in many informal settlements is an incredibly dangerous activity, and there are estimates that 10.5 million South Africans do not have ready access to toilets. “Women, children and men of all ages are frequently robbed, raped, assaulted and murdered on the …

An Analysis Of Breastfeeding Initiation Trends Of Shelby County, Tn Women From 2007 To 2015, Anna Church

QuaesitUM

No abstract provided.

Understanding Hiv/Aids In The African Context, Eileen Stillwaggon, Larry Sawers

Economics Faculty Publications

This book of readings is intended for courses in Global Health. The editors asked Prof. Stillwaggon to contribute a chapter summarizing her years of work on the spread of HIV/AIDS in populations among whom bacterial, fungal, parasitic, and viral diseases are extremely common, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Her work has demonstrated that differences in behavior cannot explain differences in HIV rates between world regions.

Streamlined Preparation Of Genomic Dna In Agarose Plugs For Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis, Linda D. Hicks, Charlotte M. Van Der Graaf, Jacob Childress, Emily Cook, Karen Schmidt, Frank Rosenzweig, Eugene Kroll

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Genome analysis using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) has been used in applications ranging from typing bacterial strains to radiobiology to cancer research. While methods for running PFGE have been significantly improved since its invention, the method for preparing chromosomal DNA itself has remained essentially unchanged. This limits the applicability of PFGE, especially when analyses require many samples. We have streamlined sample preparation for routine applications of PFGE through the use of deep-well 48-well plates. Besides saving time, our protocol has the added advantage of reducing the volume of expensive reagents. Our improved protocol enables us to reduce throughput time and …

Reducing The Risk Of Invasive Pathogens To Wildlife Health In The United States, Edward E. Clark Jr., Marshall Meyers, David Eldon Starling, Brent Stewart, Nathan Stone, Gary Tabor, Jeffrey S. White

National Invasive Species Council

Call to Action

In keeping with action items 4.3.1 and 4.3.2 of the 2016–2018 National Invasive Species Council (NISC) Management Plan, the Wildlife Health Task Team of the Invasive Species Advisory Committee (ISAC) was charged with: 1) identifying the major areas of vulnerability to native wildlife from the introduction and spread of invasive pathogens, and 2) making recommendations to address these vulnerabilities, including through potential changes in statute, regulation, policy, or practice of the relevant agencies.

Phosphorylation Of Ire1 At S729 Regulates Ridd In B Cells And Antibody Production After Immunization, Chih-Hang A. Tang, Shiun Chang, Adrienne W. Paton, James C. Paton, Dmitry I. Gabrilovich, Hidde L. Ploegh, Juan R. Del Valle, Chih-Chi A. Hu

Chemistry Faculty Publications

To relieve endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, IRE1 splices XBP1 messenger RNA (mRNA) or engages regulated IRE1-dependent decay (RIDD) of other mRNAs. Upon XBP1 deficiency, IRE1 switches to perform RIDD. We examined IRE1 in XBP1-deficient B cells and discovered that IRE1 undergoes phosphorylation at S729. We generated an anti–phospho-S729 antibody to investigate such phosphorylation. Compared with pharmacological ER stress inducers or Toll-like receptor ligands, the bacterial subtilase cytotoxin has an unusual capability in causing rapid and strong phosphorylation at S729 and triggering B cells to express spliced XBP1. To assess the function of S729 in IRE1, we generated S729A knock-in mice …

Fatal Elizabethkingia Meningoseptica Cholangitis Following Biliary Stent Placement, Khalid Ahmed, Syeda Atia Qudsia, Abdul Rehman, Syed Hani Abidi

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Elizabethkingia (E.) meningosepticais a ubiquitous gram-negative bacillus belonging to the genus Chryseobacteriumand has been reported to cause nosocomial infections in both the immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients. E. meningoseptica can colonize the biliary tree after endoscopic procedures; and cholangitis, caused by this organism, is associated with a favorable prognosis. Here, we report a fatal case of cholangitis secondary to E. meningoseptica that developed following biliary stent placement. This case suggests that E. meningoseptica can be a cause of potentially fatal biliary tract infections in patients who undergo biliary tract endoscopic procedures. Clinicians must not disregard this organism as a contaminant (or …

Serum Tumour Necrosis Factor Alpha In Osteopenic And Osteoporotic Postmenopausal Females: A Cross-Sectional Study In Pakistan, Rafat Murad, Zahra Shezad, Saara Ahmed, Mussarat Ashraf, Murad Qadir, Rehana Rehman

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Objective: To compare biochemical parameters serum tumour necrosis factor alpha, calcium, magnesium, bone-specific alkaline phosphatase and vitamin D in postmenopausal women.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out from June 2015 to July 2016 at Jinnah Medical and Dental College, Karachi, and comprised postmenopausal women. Bone mineral density done by dual energy X-ray absorptiometryscan categorised subjects by World Health Organisation classification into normal (T score > -1) osteopenic (T score between -1 and -2.5) and osteoporotic (T score < -2.5). Biochemical parameters like tumour necrosis alpha, calcium, magnesium, bone-specific alkaline phosphatase and vitamin D were measured by solid phase enzyme amplified sensitivity immunoassay method. SPSS 16 was used to analyse the data.
Results: Of the 146 women, 34(23%) were normal, 93(67%) were osteopenic and 19(13%) were osteoporotic. There was significant difference in mean body mass …

Relationships Among Common Illness Symptoms And The Protective Effect Of Breastfeeding In Early Childhood In Mal-Ed: An Eight-Country Cohort Study, Stephanie A. Richard, Benjamin J. J. Mccormick, Jessica C. Seidman, Zeba Rasmussen, Margaret N. Kosek, Elizabeth T. Rogawski, William Petri, Anurahda Bose, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Ali Turab

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Children in low-income countries experience multiple illness symptoms in early childhood. Breastfeeding is protective against diarrhea and respiratory infections, and these illnesses are thought to be risk factors of one another, but these relationships have not been explored simultaneously. In the eight-site MAL-ED study, 1,731 infants were enrolled near birth and followed for 2 years. We collected symptoms and diet information through twice-weekly household visits. Poisson regression was used to determine if recent illness history was associated with incidence of diarrhea or acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI), accounting for exclusive breastfeeding. Recent diarrhea was associated with higher risk of incident …

Electronic Cigarettes Use And Perception Amongst Medical Students: A Cross Sectional Survey From Sindh, Pakistan, Nousheen Iqbal, Zain A. Khan, Syed Muhammad Hamza Anwar, Omar Irfan, Babar Irfan, Ammar Mushtaq, Maria Bibi, Faraz Siddiqui, Javaid Khan

Section of Pulmonary & Critical Care

Objective: The manufacturers of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are actively marketing their product through electronic and social media. Undergraduate medical students are expected to have better knowledge and awareness as they directly interact with patients in their training, The purpose of this study is therefore, to determine knowledge, use and perception regarding e-cigarettes among medical students from Sindh, Pakistan.

Results: A cross-sectional study was conducted between 1st July and 30th September 2016 at five different medical colleges situated in the second largest province of Sindh, Pakistan. The data was collected through a structured, self-administered questionnaire. Of the 500 students, the mean …

Download Entire Issue: Gibbon Surgical Review, Volume 1, Issue 1, 2018

Gibbon Surgical Review

Table of Contents

• A First Year's Perspective on JeffMD, Somnath Das, MS1
• Spotlight on TJUH's Quality and Safety Group, Samantha L. Savitch, MS1
• Medical Student Involvement in Quality Improvement Research, Tyler M. Bauer, MS3
• Global Surgery: A Shift in the Global Health Paradigm, Myles S. Dworkin, MS3
• Thomas Jefferson University Design Vault, Victor B. Hsue, MS2
• Physician Spotlight: Ernest (Gary) L. Rosato, MD, FACS, Carrie E. Andrews, MS3
• The SCALPELS Program, Emily Papai, MS1

Do Host‐Associated Gut Microbiota Mediate The Effect Of An Herbicide On Disease Risk In Frogs?, Sarah A. Knutie, Caitlin R. Gabor, Kevin D. Kohl, Jason R. Rohr

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

1. Environmental stressors, such as pollutants, can increase disease risk in wildlife. For example, the herbicide atrazine affects host defences (e.g. resistance and tolerance) of the amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), but the mechanisms for these associations are not entirely clear. Given that pollutants can alter the gut microbiota of hosts, which in turn can affect their health and immune systems, one potential mechanism by which pollutants could increase infection risk is by influencing host‐associated microbiota.
2. Here, we test whether early‐life exposure to the estimated environmental concentration (EEC; 200 μg/L) of atrazine affects the gut bacterial composition of …

Gas Plasma Pre-Treatment Increases Antibiotic Sensitivity And Persister Eradication In Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, Li Guo, Ruobing Xu, Yiming Zhao, Dingxin Liu, Zhijie Liu, Xiaohua Wang, Hailan Chen, Michael G. Kong

Bioelectrics Publications

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major cause of serious nosocomial infections, and recurrent MRSA infections primarily result from the survival of persister cells after antibiotic treatment. Gas plasma, a novel source of ROS (reactive oxygen species) and RNS (reactive nitrogen species) generation, not only inactivates pathogenic microbes but also restore the sensitivity of MRSA to antibiotics. This study further found that sublethal treatment of MRSA with both plasma and plasma-activated saline increased the antibiotic sensitivity and promoted the eradication of persister cells by tetracycline, gentamycin, clindamycin, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, rifampicin, and vancomycin. The short-lived ROS and RNS generated by plasma …

First Impressions—The Potential Of Altering Initial Host-Virus Interactions For Rational Design Of Herpesvirus Vaccine Vectors, Paul J.F. Rider, Farhana Musarrat, Rafiq Nabi, Shan Naidu, Konstantin G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

© 2018, Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature. Purpose of Review: The earliest host-virus interactions occur during virus attachment and entry into cells. These initial steps in the virus lifecycle influence the outcome of infection beyond delivery of the viral genome into the cell. Herpesviruses alter host signaling pathways and processes during attachment and entry to facilitate virus infection and modulate innate immune responses. We suggest in this review that understanding these early events may inform the rational design of therapeutic and prevention strategies for herpesvirus infection, as well as the engineering of viral vectors for immunotherapy purposes. …

The Amino Terminus Of Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Glycoprotein K (Gk) Is Required For Gb Binding To Akt, Release Of Intracellular Calcium, And Fusion Of The Viral Envelope With Plasma Membranes, Farhana Musarrat, Nithya Jambunathan, Paul J.F. Rider, V. N. Chouljenko, K. G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

© 2018 American Society for Microbiology. Previously, we have shown that the amino terminus of glycoprotein K (gK) binds to the amino terminus of gB and that deletion of the aminoterminal 38 amino acids of gK prevents herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) infection of mouse trigeminal ganglia after ocular infection and virus entry into neuronal axons. Recently, it has been shown that gB binds to Akt during virus entry and induces Akt phosphorylation and intracellular calcium release. Proximity ligation and two-way immunoprecipitation assays using monoclonal antibodies against gB and Akt-1 phosphorylated at S473 [Akt-1(S473)] confirmed that HSV-1(McKrae) gB interacted with …

The Impact Of Antibiotic Stewardship Education On Parental Care Satisfaction And Follow-Up, Paige Ferguson

DNP Projects

Parental satisfaction with antibiotic stewardship has been investigated extensively in pediatric inpatient settings; however, there has been relatively little research in pediatric outpatient settings. In 2014 upper respiratory infections were the most common infections seen among the general population with children having an average of 3 to 8 viral respiratory illnesses per year and receiving 34.6% of all antibiotic prescriptions. Escalating antibiotic resistance and increased emphasis on patient/parental satisfaction necessitates the exploration of a method to improve antibiotic stewardship while maintaining parental satisfaction. The purpose of this project was to assess parental satisfaction with care and follow-up visits after antibiotic …

Integrating Nutrition Into Health Systems At Community Level:Impact Evaluation Of The Community‐Based Maternal Andneonatal Health And Nutrition Projects In Ethiopia, Kenya, And Senegal, Jacqueline K. Kung'u, Richard Pendame, Mame Bineta Ndiaye, Mulusew Gerbaba, Sophie Ochola, Adama Faye, Sulochana Basnet, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Sara Wuehler, Luz Maria De‐Regil

Faculty Publications

Maternal undernutrition and mortality remain high in several African countries. Key nutrition andhealth interventions improve maternal and birth outcomes. Evidence is scarce on how tostrengthen health systems to ensure pregnant women and newborns are reached with theseinterventions. We conducted three quasi‐experimental nonrandomized Community BasedMaternal and Neonatal Health and Nutrition projects in regions of Ethiopia, Senegal, and Kenyato demonstrate how proven nutrition interventions could be integrated into health programs toimprove knowledge and practices during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. We evaluated impacton knowledge and practices related to maternal and neonatal care using logistic regression andrepeated‐measures models with districts as a fixed variable …