Digital Commons Network^™

‘Isolation No More: Can Person-Centred Care Assist Inclusion For Kimberley Peoples Impacted By Tuberculosis Or Leprosy Infection? A Review Of The Petal Project.’, Stephanie Oliver

Talking Heads Seminar Series

While physical isolation in Sanitoria or Leprosarium’s is no longer part of treatment for people with Tuberculosis (TB) or Leprosy infection, other forms of isolation, such as psychological isolation or social exclusion, can still impact significantly on people’s lives today from associated stigma and/or disability. The PeTaL project (Perspectives of Tuberculosis (TB) and Leprosy), is a PhD project that set out with the aim to explore, using qualitative methodology, the lived experience of Kimberley peoples involved in the treatment of either TB or Leprosy since 2012, to understand what works and what could be improved within a culturally secure and …

Comparison Of The Kinetic Parameters Of Escherichia Coli 0157:H7, Listeria Monocytogenes And Salmonella Typhimurium Derived From The Baranyi And Huang Models In A Chemically Defined Minimal Medium, Jose Isidro Fuentes

LSU Master's Theses

Microbial growth can be characterized by parameters such as lag time, growth rate, and maximum population density at any specific point of time. Mathematical models that predict microbial growth of foodborne pathogens are increasingly used in the food industry as a viable alternative to traditional methods of microbial enumeration. The Baranyi model has been widely used as the primary model of choice by many authors because of its performance and accuracy. The most recently developed Huang model has been less implemented and few comparisons between the Baranyi and Huang models have been made when modeling pathogenic growth. For this research, …

How Does Wasta Bolster Regimes? The Case Of Tunisia, Issrar Chamekh

Dissertations and Theses

This paper aims to highlight the impact of democratization on wasta by examining the everyday performance of wasta, or the use of connections and informal networks to acquire services. Despite its widespread use, I find that it is understudied as an explanatory variable in the literature on democratization and authoritarianism in the Middle East and North Africa, with Tunisia as a case study. In this paper, I argue that wasta can potentially have a consolidating effect on regimes. I examine the ways that wasta is encoded in everyday language. Using literature from Pragmatics, specifically Goffman's dramaturgical model, I find that …

Barriers To Health Among Idps In Kabul, Afghanistan: A Qualitative Study, Yagana Parwak, Madhavi Dandu, Rohini J. Haar

Journal of Refugee & Global Health

Background: Forced displacement is a significant problem for regions experiencing prolonged humanitarian crises due to armed conflict. Afghanistan, having experienced over four decades of conflict, has an estimated 1.2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), a majority of which are concentrated in urban centers. IDPs have limited resources and face challenges accessing health services through traditional channels, leading to a disproportionate burden of morbidity and mortality. Health care facilities created for and existing within IDP camps also face numerous challenges. We aim to understand the structural factors that negatively impact health and the specific barriers to healthcare access for IDPs using …

Health-Seeking Behavioral Patterns Among Refugee Groups – A Case-Study In South-Central Kentucky, Chika Ejike, Grace Lartey, Randy Capps, David Ciochetty

Journal of Refugee & Global Health

Each year, thousands of people get displaced from their homes due to genocide, famine, civil wars and other crises in their countries. The United States has traditionally been receptive to resettling refugees. These refugees view resettlement as an opportunity to obtain proper health care. Due to the diverse cultural identities of refugee populations, it is essential to research complex culturally dependent healthcare utilization patterns. A purposeful sample of four refugees from the Burmese, Congolese and Iraqi refugee communities in south-central Kentucky- completed interviews. They shared experiences and insights from their cultural points of view. Results showed demographic factors directly impacted …

Rna-Based Compositions And Adjuvants For Prophylactic And Therapeutic Treatment, Peixuan Guo, Hui Li, Emil F. Khisamutdinov, Daniel L. Jasinski

Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Patents

The present invention is directed towards an artificial RNA nano structure comprising multiple external strands of RNA, each external strand comprising about 40-50 nucleotides; one internal strand of RNA comprising more than about 50 nucleotides; the internal strands and external strands assembled to form a triangle nanostructure, a square nanostructure, or a polygon nanostructure and a pRNA three-way junction (3WJ) motif at each vertex of the nanostructure. Such nanostructure can be provided in a composition together with an adjuvant for use in inducing the production of high affinity neutralizing antibodies or inhibitory antibodies, inducing the production of cytokines, inducing an …

Antimicrobials From An Epigenetics Based Fungal Metabolite Screening Program, Danielle H. Demers, Bill J. Baker, Ala Azhari, Renee M. Fleeman, Dennis E. Kyle, Lindsey Neil Shaw

USF Patents

Novel antimicrobial compounds against drug targets such as Eskape pathogens, Leishmania donovani, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Clostridium difficile, Naegleria fowleri, and cancer are presented herein.

Vision In An Abundant North American Bird: The Red-Winged Blackbird, Esteban Fernández-Juricic, Patrice E. Baumhardt, Luke P. Tyrrell, Amanda Elmore, Shelagh T. Deliberto, Scott J. Werner

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Avian vision is fundamentally different from human vision; however, even within birds there are substantial between species differences in visual perception in terms of visual acuity, visual coverage, and color vision. However, there are not many species that have all these visual traits described, which can constrain our ability to study the evolution of visual systems in birds. To start addressing this gap, we characterized multiple traits of the visual system (visual coverage, visual acuity, centers of acute vision, and color vision) of the Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), one of the most abundant and studied birds in North America. We …

Rig-I-Like Receptors Direct Inflammatory Macrophage Polarization Against West Nile Virus Infection., Amy E. L. Stone, Richard Green, Courtney Wilkins, Emily A. Hemann, Michael Gale Jr.

College of Osteopathic Medicine (TUN) Publications and Research

RIG-I-Like Receptors (RLRs) RIG-I, MDA5, and LGP2, are vital pathogen recognition receptors in the defense against RNA viruses. West Nile Virus (WNV) infections continue to grow in the US. Here, we use a systems biology approach to define the contributions of each RLR in the innate immune response to WNV. Genome-wide RNAseq and bioinformatics analyses of macrophages from mice lacking either RLR reveal that the RLRs drive distinct immune gene activation and response polarization to mediate an M1/inflammatory signature while suppressing the M2/wound healing phenotype. While LGP2 functions to modulate inflammatory signaling, RIG-I and MDA5 together are essential for M1 …

Effective Use Of Information Systems For Emergency Management: A Representation Theory Perspective, Dario Bonaretti

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Effective Use Theory (EUT) has emerged as a promising native Information Systems (IS) theory to understand a central phenomenon of interest to the discipline: the effective use of information systems. While EUT is widely accepted in operational control and management control contexts, its validity in chaotic environments has yet to be demonstrated. To contribute to the research program in EUT, scholars called for contextualizing and assessing EUT in chaotic environment, such as emergencies or crises events. This research seeks to apply EUT to understand the effective use of emergency information systems (EMIS). Seeking a grand theory of effective use in …

Organic Buildup And Residual Blood On Clean Infant Stethoscopes Used In Maternal-Infant Areas, Jan Marie Nick

Dissertations

Since the mid 1980s, health care workers have attempted to eliminate contact with blood and other body via primary or secondary exposure. At delivery, stethoscopes used on newly born infants come in direct contact with blood and body fluids from the skin of the infant. If contaminants such as blood and body fluids still remain on stethoscopes despite cleaning, an environmental risk may exist.

Using a naturalistic setting, a non-experimental, two group post-test design was implemented to investigate the occurrence of organic buildup and residual blood on clean stethoscopes used on infants in the delivery and/or nursery areas. Eleven hospitals …

An Attenuated Zika Virus Encoding Non-Glycosylated Envelope (E) And Non-Structural Protein 1 (Ns1) Confers Complete Protection Against Lethal Challenge In A Mouse Model, Arun S. Annamalai, Aryamav Pattnaik, Bikash R. Sahoo, Zack P. Guinn, Brianna L. Bullard, Eric A. Weaver, David J. Steffen, Sathish Kumar Natarajan, Thomas M. Petro, Asit K. Pattnaik

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Zika virus (ZIKV), a mosquito-transmitted flavivirus, emerged in the last decade causing serious human diseases, including congenital microcephaly in newborns and Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults. Although many vaccine platforms are at various stages of development, no licensed vaccines are currently available. Previously, we described a mutant MR766 ZIKV (m2MR) bearing an E protein mutation (N154A) that prevented its glycosylation, resulting in attenuation and defective neuroinvasion. To further attenuate m2MR for its potential use as a live viral vaccine, we incorporated additional mutations into m2MR by substituting the asparagine residues in the glycosylation sites (N130 and N207) of NS1 with alanine …

Noroviruses Subvert The Core Stress Granule Component G3bp1 To Promote Viral Vpg-Dependent Translation, Myra Hosmillo, Jia Lu, Michael R. Mcallaster, James B. Eaglesham, Xinjie Wang, Edward Emmott, Patricia Domingues, Yasmin Chaudhry, Tim J. Fitzmaurice, Matthew K.H. Tung, Marc Dominik Panas, Gerald Mcinerney, Nicolas Locker, Craig B. Wilen, Ian G. Goodfellow

Open Access Publications

Knowledge of the host factors required for norovirus replication has been hindered by the challenges associated with culturing human noroviruses. We have combined proteomic analysis of the viral translation and replication complexes with a CRISPR screen, to identify host factors required for norovirus infection. The core stress granule component G3BP1 was identified as a host factor essential for efficient human and murine norovirus infection, demonstrating a conserved function across the

Evaluation Of Rapid Syphilis Testing Using The Syphilis Health Check In Florida, 2015–2016, Jennifer Richards, James Matthias, Charlotte Baker, Craig Wilson, Thomas A. Peterman, C Perry Brown, Matthew T. Dutton, Yussif Dokurugu

Florida Public Health Review

The Syphilis Health Check (SHC) had low estimated specificity (91.5%) in one Florida county. We investigated use of SHC by a range of Florida publicly-funded programs between 2015 and 2016 to estimate specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), field staff acceptance, and impacts on programmatic outcomes. All reported SHC results were extracted from routinely collected program data. Field staff were surveyed about SHC’s utility. Analyses investigated differences between SHC and traditional syphilis testing outcomes. Of 3,630 SHC results reported, 442 were reactive; 92 (20.8%) had prior diagnoses of syphilis; 7 (1.6%) had no further testing. Of the remaining 343; 158 (46.0%) …

Low Secondary Risks For Captive Coyotes From A Sodium Nitrite Toxic Bait For Invasive Wild Pigs, Nathan P. Snow, Katherine E. Horak, Simon T. Humphrys, Linton D. Staples, David G. Hewitt, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

An acute toxic bait is being developed to deliver micro‐encapsulated sodium nitrite (SN) to stimulate severe methemoglobinemia and humane death for invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa), thereby providing a new tool for reducing their populations. During April 2016, we evaluated sensitivity to SN and outcomes of secondary consumption in the ubiquitous mammalian scavenger, coyote (Canis latrans), to determine secondary risks of consuming carcasses of wild pigs that died from consuming the SN toxic bait. At the National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, we first evaluated whether coyotes fed carcasses of domestic pigs killed by consumption of SN …

Parental Knowledge, Attitudes And Practices Towards Paediatric Ear Infections In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A Quantitative Study, Muteb M. Alharbi, Mohammed S. Almasri, Abdulrahman Y. Alkhonezan, Saleh M.

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and care-seeking practices of parents towards childhood ear infections in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods: This quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between April and June 2018. An online survey was sent to a random selection of parents who were ≥18 years old with children of ≤10 years old. Associations between parental knowledge, attitude, care-seeking practices, socioeconomic status, level of education and age were assessed using the chi square test and logistic regression analysis. Results: A total of 782 subjects participated in this study (response rate: 78.2%). Most respondents …

Il-17-Cxcr2 Axis Promotes Breast Cancer Metastasis And Therapy Resistance, Lingyun Wu

Theses & Dissertations

Cancer-related fatalities rank as the second leading cause of death in all ages and both genders in the United States. Moreover, breast cancer-related mortality rank as the second leading cause of death in females in the United States in 2019. The main concerns regarding breast cancer management include chemotherapy resistance and metastasis. Thus, the advanced understanding of cancer progression is required to develop improved therapeutic methods for breast cancer patients.

Recent studies demonstrate that neutrophils, as the most abundant leukocytes, play an essential role in breast progression. However, the mechanisms regarding neutrophils recruitment to the tumor sites, and the precise …

All Hands In For Hand Hygiene, Jillyn Black Bsn, Rn, Janet Ro Bsn, Rn

Patient Care Services / Nursing

No abstract provided.

Characterization Of The Fungicidal Activity And Biochemical Impact Of Occidiofungin, A Novel Antifungal Compound Derived From Burkholderia Contaminans, Dayna Emrick

Theses and Dissertations

Fungal infections have a significant impact on the world population, with estimates of over 1.6 million deaths a year. One contributing factor is the increasing number of fungi resistant to the current clinical treatments, including the last approved family of antifungal compounds introduced into the market over a decade ago. This is driving the search for new antifungals with different biological targets. A new potential antifungal occidiofungin, is a cyclic glycolipopeptide isolated from the soil bacterium Burkholderia contaminans MS14 with a broad spectrum of activity against both human and plant pathogens. Kill kinetics demonstrated that this compound is fungicidal and …

Measles On The Rise: The Importance Of Vaccination, Elias A. Said, Mohamed S. Al-Balushi

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

Improvement Of Lead Abatement Programs Effectiveness In Peoria City/County Health Department Using Lean Six Sigma Methodologies, Songo Dede

Theses and Dissertations

The Focus of this mixed method research was the implementation of lean six sigma principles to improve productivity of outpatients’ programs where each case requires multiple scheduling, multiple visits to patients’ homes and multiple visits to the health department. The site is the Peoria City/County Health Department (PCCHD). The PCCHD is the delegate agency for Illinois Department of Public Health Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (EH). They are also a recipient of the Federal Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control (LHC) program from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In line with their mission, they sought opportunities to review and …

The Silent Epidemic: Disparities And Obstacles In Obtaining Oral Care, Heather Hicks

Theses and Dissertations

American’s agree that dental health is important and vital to our overall wellbeing. However, not every American is achieving the same degree of oral health. Obstacles that American’s face include dental health disparities, limited access to affordable dental care, and limited access to dental insurance. This study examined how disease risk is shaped within the culture of oral health in Florida. This study examined those who provide dental care, those who cannot afford dental health insurance but earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid, and those with dental insurance. Hypotheses two and three were proven to be true, while …

Purification And Preliminary Characterization Of Zinc(Ii) Dependent Transcription Factor Adcr, Asm Saem

Theses and Dissertations

Transition metals are essential micronutrients for organisms. Excess zinc can be lethal to bacterial survival. Zinc homeostasis is crucial and is regulated by zinc uptake and efflux system. Streptococcus pneumoniae AdcR (Adhesin competence regulator) transcription factor is the member of MarR (multiple antibiotic resistance regulator) family proteins that suppress the zinc upregulation transporter. In the absence of zinc, AdcR has less affinity to bind DNA and uptake genes are expressed in order to transport zinc inside the cell. Streptococcus pneumoniae is a gram-positive human pathogen that is capable of colonizing in the human nasopharynx, especially in young children and leads …

Discovery Of Antifungal Metabolites In Maize Cob Via Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, Jeremy Ray Winders

Theses and Dissertations

Maize (Zea mays L.) is a global food staple and is at risk from infection by the pathogenic fungus Aspergillus flavus L. The ubiquitous, soil-borne fungus causes ear rot of maize and produces the carcinogenic secondary metabolite known as aflatoxin. Aflatoxin B1 is the most potent carcinogenic mycotoxin known, causing hepatocellular carcinoma, along with many other serious health problems such as immunosuppression. Previous studies have shown that maize cob tissue plays an essential role in both facilitating and limiting the spread of the fungal pathogen A. flavus, however, little attention in the literature has been given to the cob. To …

Identification Of Protein Biomarkers For Differentiating Listeria Monocytogenes Genetic Lineage Iii, Basant Gomaa

Theses and Dissertations

Listeriamonocytogenes causes listeriosis and is one of the most virulent foodborne pathogens. Different subtyping techniques classified L. monocytogenes into four genetic lineages(I, II,III and IV)and seventeen serotypes. Most outbreaks of listeriosis are caused by lineage I. Lineage II is mostly associated with sporadic listeriosis, while Lineage III strains are typically lower risk for causing listeriosis. Listeriosis mainly affectselderly, immunosuppressed, children,andpregnant women causing fetal death, miscarriage, meningitis, encephalitis, and septicemia. Therefore, it is important to differentiate high-risk strains from low-risk strains, which will permit early and appropriate interventions. Our main goal in this current work is to detect candidate biomarkers unique …

Examining The Impact Of Australia Awards Around The World, Daniel Edwards

International Developments

ACER is evaluating the long-term contributions of Australia Awards alumni through the Global Tracer Facility funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Dan Edwards reports.

International Developments (No.9) 2019

International Developments

In this issue of International Developments, we summarise the research evidence gathered through the work of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and the impact our projects make around the globe.

Promoting Local Talents To Fight Local Health Issues Step-Up In The Pacific, Aneesa Golshan, Mph, George Hui, Phd,

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

This manuscript introduces the abstracts for the University of Hawai'i at Manoa Coordinating Center.

Tumor Microbiome Diversity And Composition Influence Pancreatic Cancer Outcomes, E. Riquelme, Yu Zhang, Liangliang Zhang, M. Montiel, Michelle Zoltan, W. Dong, Pompeyo Quesada, I. Sahin, V. Chandra, Anthony San Lucas, Paul Scheet, Hanwen Xu, Samir M. Hanash, Lei Feng, Jared K. Burks, Kim Anh Do, Christine B. Peterson, Deborah Nejman, Ching Wei D. Tzeng, Michael P. Kim, Cynthia L. Sears

Faculty Publications

Most patients diagnosed with resected pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) survive less than 5 years, but a minor subset survives longer. Here, we dissect the role of the tumor microbiota and the immune system in influencing long-term survival. Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we analyzed the tumor microbiome composition in PDAC patients with short-term survival (STS) and long-term survival (LTS). We found higher alpha-diversity in the tumor microbiome of LTS patients and identified an intra-tumoral microbiome signature (Pseudoxanthomonas-Streptomyces-Saccharopolyspora-Bacillus clausii) highly predictive of long-term survivorship in both discovery and validation cohorts. Through human-into-mice fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) experiments from STS, LTS, or control …

Endothelial Iqgap1 Regulates Leukocyte Transmigration By Directing The Lbrc To The Site Of Diapedesis, David P. Sullivan, Prarthana J. Dalal, Fanny Jaulin, David B. Sacks, Geri Kreitzer, William A. Muller

Publications and Research

Transendothelial migration (TEM) of leukocytes across the endothelium is critical for inflammation. In the endothelium, TEM requires the coordination of membrane movements and cytoskeletal interactions, including, prominently, recruitment of the lateral border recycling compartment (LBRC). The scaffold protein IQGAP1 was recently identified in a screen for LBRC-interacting proteins. Knockdown of endothelial IQGAP1 disrupted the directed movement of the LBRC and substantially reduced leukocyte TEM. Expression of truncated IQGAP1 constructs demonstrated that the calponin homology domain is required for IQGAP1 localization to endothelial borders and that the IQ domain, on the same IQGAP1 polypeptide, is required for its function in TEM. …