Digital Commons Network^™

The Urban Trauma Drama: The Intersecting Path Of Criminal Justice And Public Health Revealed During The Covid-19 Pandemic, José Felipé Anderson

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

Our society often operates under the delusion that more incarceration in urban areas will make us safer. Crowded cities and the problems for its inhabitants are not new. Those problems often fall more heavily on minority groups. Failed education, healthcare unavailability, and a lack of decent housing have made it difficult for cities to cope with addiction and crime. The COVID-19 pandemic has made the issues in the criminal system harder to ignore. Decline of major manufacturing jobs in cities like the steel and auto industries removed key opportunities for those seeking to overcome poverty and raise families. Debilitating riots …

Examining Sociodemographic Data Reporting Requirements In State Disease Surveillance Systems, Samantha Bent Weber, Amanda Moreland, Rachel Hulkower, Tara Ramanathan Holiday

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

Law plays an important role in the collection of data related to disease and injury in a population. A robust system of laws sets out requirements for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of disease reporting data from local, state, territorial, and federal public health institutions. Occurrence of disease, including outbreaks of novel infectious agents like coronaviruses, influenza viruses, and others that have arisen in recent years, often require epidemiologists and others to understand not only the etiology and specific context of diseases and conditions, but also the trajectory of their spread among and across communities. Capturing sociodemographic data is critical …

Enforcing The “Safe And Sanitary” Environment Standard Within U.S. Detention Facilities To Save Children’S Lives, Anam A. Khan

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

Overcrowding and unsanitary conditions within Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detention facilities are ideal for the transmission of infectious disease among CBP detainees. This is a dangerous problem. Between 2018 and 2019, at least six children died after acquiring infectious diseases while detained at CBP facilities. Migrant children are particularly vulnerable because their immune systems are not fully developed and due to the negative impact of trauma and stress have on their immune systems. Infectious disease promulgation within CBP facilities also puts the American public at risk because of the potential for transmission beyond CBP facilities. Employees who are regularly …

Finding The Cluster: Balancing Privacy And Public Health Amid The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jessie L. Bekker

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

More than 800,000 Americans have died and more than fifty-seven million sickened since March 2020 from the COVID-19 virus and its highly contagious variants. Public health officials urged the public to mask up, socially distance, and stay home in order to curb the virus’ spread in the early months of the pandemic before a vaccine was approved. Meanwhile, those same officials blocked access to valuable information pinpointing areas of disease concentration—“hotspots”—which could have alerted members of the public of locations to avoid. Those officials generally—and usually incorrectly—cited the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) as grounds for …

Confidence, Interest And Intentions Of Final-Year Nursing Students Regarding Employment In General Practice, Kaara Ray B. Calma, Susan Mcinnes, Elizabeth Halcomb, Anna Williams, Marijka Batterham

Nursing Papers and Journal Articles

Background: Rising health care burden has increased demand for general practice nurses. Exploring final-year nursing students’ perceived levels of confidence, interest and intention to work in this area can inform preparation and recruitment of new graduates into this workforce.

Aim: To explore final-year nursing students’ confidence, interest and intention to work in general practice.

Methods: Final-year nursing students from five universities situated in New South Wales, Australia were surveyed between March and June 2019. The survey comprised investigator-developed questions and validated tools adapted for use in general practice.

Findings: Of the 355 included responses, 34.1% respondents had a clinical placement …

Links Between Interspecific Competition And Infectious Disease: A Mechanistic Investigation With A Directly-Transmitted Zoonotic System, Andreas Elefttheriou

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Globally, biodiversity is declining while emerging infectious diseases are on the rise. To explain this pattern, the “dilution effect” hypothesis predicts that with lower diversity, disease increases, because diversity “dilutes” disease. Although there is strong support for this hypothesis, there is evidence to support the “amplification effect” hypothesis, which predicts lower disease with lower diversity. Recently, there has been a push to investigate underlying mechanisms than general patterns to create a more mechanistic framework across disease systems. However, mechanisms have been mostly examined with indirectly-transmitted disease systems (e.g., Lyme disease), while less attention has been directed towards directly-transmitted systems, such …

Protecting Life And Lung: Protected Areas Affect Fine Particulate Matter And Respiratory Hospitalizations In The Brazilian Amazon Biome., Derek Michael Sheehan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

I assessed the impacts of upwind protected area coverage on local respiratory health within the Brazilian Amazon. A hypothesized mechanism is the legal prohibition of human ignited fires within protected areas, reducing particulate matter pollution, impacting respiratory health downwind. The connection between fires and respiratory diseases in the Amazon is well established (Smith et al. 2014; Rangel and Vogl 2019; Rocha and Sant’anna 2020). What is not well understood is the potential that government policies aimed at preventing ecosystem loss may also promote health and wellbeing, combining the UN sustainable development goals 3 and 15. Protected areas currently dominate government …

Moderate Heat-Assisted Gene Electrotransfer For Cutaneous Delivery Of A Dna Vaccine Against Hepatitis B Virus, Chelsea Edelblute, Cathryn Mangiamele, Richard Heller

Bioelectrics Publications

An estimated 350 million people are living with chronic Hepatitis B virus (HBV) worldwide. Preventative HBV vaccination in infants has reduced the disease burden; however, insufficient immunization programs and access obstacles leave vulnerable populations at risk for infection in endemic regions. Gene electrotransfer (GET) using a noninvasive multielectrode array (MEA) provides an alternative platform for DNA vaccination in the skin. DNA vaccines are nonlive and nonreplicating and temperature stable unlike their counterparts. In addition, their simple engineering allows them to be manufactured quickly at a low cost. In the current work, we present the combination of GET and moderate heating …

The Role Of Reactive Oxygen Species In The Immunity Induced By Nano-Pulse Stimulation, Siqi Guo, Niculina I. Burcus, Megan Scott, Yu Jing, Iurii Semenov

Bioelectrics Publications

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are byproducts of tumor cells treated with Nano-Pulse Stimulation (NPS). Recently, ROS have been suggested as a contributing factor in immunogenic cell death and T cell-mediated immunity. This research further investigated the role of NPS induced ROS in antitumor immunity. ROS production in 4T1-luc breast cancer cells was characterized using three detection reagents, namely, Amplex Red, MitoSox Red, and Dihydroethidium. The efficiency of ROS quenching was evaluated in the presence or absence of ROS scavengers and/or antioxidants. The immunogenicity of NPS treated tumor cells was assessed by ex vivo dendritic cell activation, in vivo vaccination assay …

How To Get Away With Immunity: Fda's Emergency Use Authorization Scheme And Prep Act Liability Protection In The Context Of Covid-19, William Chanes Martinez

Loyola Consumer Law Review

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plays a vital role in our country's response to biological agents that threaten public health and safety. On December 31, 2019, officials in Wuhan, China confirmed dozens of cases of pneumonia caused by an unknown pathogen. Chinese officials later identified that pathogen as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARSCoV- 2), which causes the disease COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a perfect storm for unprecedented and litigation-provoking health harms in the United States. As the country's death toll rises and states seek to reopen, many Americans are assessing their COVID- 19-related health status …

Why Do You Wear A Mask? Children’S Conceptualizations Of Covid-19 And Contagion Avoidance Behaviors, Emily Hillman

Scripps Senior Theses

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a need has emerged for psychological research on children’s understanding of infectious disease transmission. However, little existing research examines the link between children’s cognitive reasoning about illness and their subsequent behaviors regarding its transmissibility. This study will examine children’s conceptualizations of contagious illnesses such as COVID-19 and their subsequent contagion avoidance. A mixed methods approach will be used to establish the content of children’s conceptualizations of contagion and level of causal reasoning related to illness transmission. Dyads will be constructed comprising 4-12-year-old children and their parents. It is expected that parental contagion avoidance …

Protecting Privacy In Covid-19 Digital Contact Tracing, Nicolas M. Turner

Honors Theses

Digital contact tracing applications are a necessary and potentially dangerous tool used to combat the spread of COVID-19. Due to the potentially sensitive nature of personal information gathered by contact tracing applications, there is high potential for privacy issues to arise. This thesis explores the dangers of digital contact tracing or contact tracing via a mobile application. Focusing on the United States, this paper studies how contact tracing works and how a contact tracing application might collect different types of data. The paper then studies the effects of giving up location data and health data and what potential ramifications that …

Biotransformation Of Bioactive Compounds From Sonchus Arvensis L. And Pterocarpus Macrocarpus Kurz. By Aspergillus Niger, Dwi Kusuma Wahyuni

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

In recent years, microbial transformation is progressing significantly from a limited interest in the highly active area in green chemistry, including the preparation of pharmaceutical compounds. Many biotransformation studies have been found in a variety of analogous compounds and exhibited more potent pharmacological activities. The objectives of this study are (i) to isolate and identify bioactive compounds from Sonchus arvensis L. and Pterocarpus macrocarpus Kurz., (ii) to transform selected bioactive compounds from S. arvensis L. and P. macrocarpus Kurz. by Aspergillus niger, (iii) to determine bioactivities of selected bioactive compounds from Sonchus arvensis L. and Pterocarpus macrocarpus Kurz. before and …

Molecular Detection And Genetic Diversity Of Rotavirus A In Domestic Dogs And Cats In Bangkok, Thailand, Ekkapat Chamsai

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Rotavirus A (RVA) in one of the important pathogens causing gastroenteritis in humans and many animal species. The zoonotic potential of RVA has been reported and raises major concerns, especially in high animal-human interfaces settings. The objectives of this thesis were to determine the occurrence of RVAs in dogs and cats, and to investigate the genetic diversity and genetic relationship among RVAs in dogs, cats, human, and other animal species. The total of 572 rectal swab samples were collected from dogs and cats in animal hospitals, in Bangkok and vicinities, during January 2020 to June 2021. The conventional one-step RT-PCR …

Active And Passive Immune Responses And Protection Of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis Niloticus) Immunized With Tilapia Lake Virus Inactivated Vaccines, Thao Thu Mai

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Tilapia tilapinevirus, also known as tilapia lake virus (TiLV), is a contagious viral pathogen, resulting in mass mortalities and economic losses for tilapia industry. Here, we developed two simple cell-culture, heat-killed and formalin-killed vaccines (HKV and FKV) aiming to prevent this disease. The vaccine efficacies were evaluated by intraperitoneal injection in juvenile tilapia with each vaccine containing 1.8 × 106 TCID50 inactivated virus, followed by a booster dose at 21-day post primary vaccination (dppv) in the same manner. At 28 dppv, the fish were challenged with a lethal dose of TiLV. Expression of five immune genes in head kidney and …

Utility Of Repeat Testing For Covid-19: Laboratory Stewardship When The Stakes Are High, Lindsey M. Rearigh, Angela L. Hewlett, Paul D. Fey, M. Jana Broadhurst, David Brett-Major, Mark Rupp, Trevor Van Schooneveld

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to circulate, testing strategies are of the utmost importance. Given national shortages of testing supplies, personal protective equipment, and other hospital resources, diagnostic stewardship is necessary to aid in resource management. We report the low utility of serial testing in a low-prevalence setting.

Covid-19 Vaccine Acceptance: We Need To Start Now, Krutika Kuppalli, David Brett-Major, Tara C. Smith

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

In this perspective, we discuss the importance of developing a vaccine to help curb transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The question remains: Once a safe and effective vaccine is developed, will the public be willing to get it? We present information from one of the first tracking polls to assess public attitudes and perceptions toward a possible coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine that suggests public hesitancy over a potential vaccine, concern regarding accelerating clinical trials, and unease over the vaccine approval process. Public health experts, government officials, advocates, and others in the scientific community should respect the signals …

The Relationship Between Social Vulnerability And Covid-19 Incidence Among Louisiana Census Tracts, Erin N. Biggs, Patrick M. Maloney, Ariane L. Rung, Edward S. Peters, William T. Robinson

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

Objective: To examine the association between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) and COVID-19 incidence among Louisiana census tracts. Methods: An ecological study comparing the CDC SVI and census tract-level COVID-19 case counts was conducted. Choropleth maps were used to identify census tracts with high levels of both social vulnerability and COVID-19 incidence. Negative binomial regression with random intercepts was used to compare the relationship between overall CDC SVI percentile and its four sub-themes and COVID-19 incidence, adjusting for population density. Results: In a crude stratified analysis, all four CDC SVI sub-themes were significantly …

Characteristics Of Sars-Cov-2 Transmission Among Meat Processing Workers In Nebraska, Usa, And Effectiveness Of Risk Mitigation Measures, Jocelyn J. Herstein, Abraham Degarege, Derry Stover, Christopher Austin, Michelle M. Schwedhelm, James V. Lawler, John Lowe, Athena K. Ramos, Matthew Donahue

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has severely impacted the meat processing industry in the United States. We sought to detail demographics and outcomes of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections among workers in Nebraska meat processing facilities and determine the effects of initiating universal mask policies and installing physical barriers at 13 meat processing facilities. During April 1-July 31, 2020, COVID-19 was diagnosed in 5,002 Nebraska meat processing workers (attack rate 19%). After initiating both universal masking and physical barrier interventions, 8/13 facilities showed a statistically significant reduction in COVID-19 incidence inspecifically, high attack rates among meat processing industry …

Reducing Objectification Could Tackle Stigma In The Covid-19 Pandemic: Evidence From China, Youli Chen, Jiahui Jin, Xiangyang Zhang, Qi Zhang, Weizhen Dong, Chun Chen

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Stigmatization associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is expected to be a complex issue and to extend into the later phases of the pandemic, which impairs social cohesion and relevant individuals' well-being. Identifying contributing factors and learning their roles in the stigmatization process may help tackle the problem. This study quantitatively assessed the severity of stigmatization against three different groups of people: people from major COVID-19 outbreak sites, those who had been quarantined, and healthcare workers; explored the factors associated with stigmatization within the frameworks of self-categorization theory and core social motives; and proposed solutions to resolve stigma. The …

Isolation Of Marker Compounds From Copaiba Essential Oil And Mimosa Pigra For Quality Evaluation Of Dietary Supplements, Mohammed Hawwal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Natural products have been used as a primary means of treating illness since ancient times, and they remain an important pool of U.S. FDA approved drugs. Approximately 33% of all current pharmaceutical medications discovered between 1981 and 2014 are either natural products or derived from natural products (Newman and Cragg 2016). The process of isolating specialized metabolites from medicinal plants has led to the development of particularly important medicines worldwide (Rakotomalala, Agard et al. 2013) such as Taxol® from Taxus brevifolia Nutt. (Taxaceae) and salicylic acid from the bark of Salix spp. This research is composed of five chapters; the …

Dynamic Phenotypic Switching And Group Behavior Help Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells Evade Chemotherapy, Arin Nam, Atish Mohanty, Supriyo Bhattacharya, Sourabh Kotnala, Srisairam Achuthan, Kishore Hari, Saumya Srivastava, Linlin Guo, Anusha Nathan, Rishov Chatterjee, Maneesh Jain, Mohd W. Nasser, Surinder K. Batra, Govindan Rangarajan, Erminia Massarelli, Herbert Levine, Mohit Kumar Jolly, Prakash Kulkarni, Ravi Salgia

Journal Articles: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Drug resistance, a major challenge in cancer therapy, is typically attributed to mutations and genetic heterogeneity. Emerging evidence suggests that dynamic cellular interactions and group behavior also contribute to drug resistance. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we present a new mathematical approach with game theoretical underpinnings that we developed to model real-time growth data of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells and discern patterns in response to treatment with cisplatin. We show that the cisplatin-sensitive and cisplatin-tolerant NSCLC cells, when co-cultured in the absence or presence of the drug, display dynamic group behavior strategies. Tolerant cells exhibit …

Use Of Lymesim 2.0 To Assess The Potential For Single And Integrated Management Methods To Control Blacklegged Ticks (Ixodes Scapularis; Acari: Ixodidae) And Transmission Of Lyme Disease Spirochetes, Shravani Chitineni, Elizabeth R. Gleim, Holly D. Gaff

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Annual Lyme disease cases continue to rise in the U.S. making it the most reported vector-borne illness in the country. The pathogen (Borrelia burgdorferi) and primary vector (Ixodes scapularis; blacklegged tick) dynamics of Lyme disease are complicated by the multitude of vertebrate hosts and varying environmental factors, making models an ideal tool for exploring disease dynamics in a time- and cost-effective way. In the current study, LYMESIM 2.0, a mechanistic model, was used to explore the effectiveness of three commonly used tick control methods: habitat-targeted acaricide (spraying), rodent-targeted acaricide (bait boxes), and white-tailed deer targeted acaricide (4-poster …

Covid-19 Third Wave: A Challenge For Overburdened And Underdeveloped Healthcaresystem Of Pakistan, Mohammad Ejaz, Muhammad Ali Syed

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

No abstract provided.

Value Of Strain-Wave Sonoelastography As An Imaging Modality In Assessment Ofbenign Acute Myositis In Children, Ayşe Seçi̇l Ekşi̇oğlu, Ayla Akca Çağlar, Seda Kaynak Şahap, Can Demi̇r Karacan, Ni̇lden Tuygun

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Background/aim: Although sonoelastography is applied in assessment of many organs, studies for evaluation of muscles are very few in number and are mostly limited to adults. With this prospective study, we aimed to evaluate the value of sonoelastography in assessment of influenza related benign acute myositis in children. Materials and methods: This study enrolled 25 patients with a clinical diagnosis of benign acute childhood myositis (BACM) and 25 age and sex-matched healthy controls. All patients presented to our emergency department with the complaint of inability to walk and had increased serum creatine kinase (CK) levels. All patients underwent strain elastography …

Perspectives For Immune Plasma Treatment Of Covid-19, Başak Sayinalp, Olgu Erki̇n Çinar, İbrahi̇m Celaletti̇n Haznedaroğlu

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Background/aim: The SARS-CoV-2 infection was declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020, and the death toll from COVID-19, which is the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, has already surpassed that of many previous epidemics. A wide variety of treatment options are being considered for COVID-19, but there is still no definitive treatment or vaccine. This study aims to explain the background of convalescent plasma (CP) treatment and its relations with COVID-19 immunity, to define ideal treatment procedures, and to reveal present and future perspectives in the light of the rapidly growing data. Immunological basis …

Evaluation Of Initial Chest Computed Tomography (Ct) Findings Of Covid-19pneumonia In 117 Deceased Patients: A Retrospective Study, Yasemi̇n Gündüz, Oğuz Karabay, Ali̇ Fuat Erdem, Erbi̇l Arik, Mehmet Hali̇l Öztürk

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Background/aim: There is no study in the literature in which only chest computed tomography (CT) findings of deceased cases obtained at admission were examined, and the relationship between these findings and mortality was evaluated. Materials and methods: In this retrospective study, a total of 117 deceased patients with COVID-19 infection confirmed by positive polymerase chain reaction and undergone chest CT were enrolled. We evaluated initial chest CT findings and their relationship, location, prevalence, and the frequency with mortality. Results: The mean age of patients was 73 ±18 years; 71 of all patients were male and 46 were female. The predominant …

Impact Of Hospital-Acquired Acute Kidney Injury On Covid-19 Outcomes In Patients Withand Without Chronic Kidney Disease: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study, Savaş Öztürk, Kenan Turgutalp, Mustafa Arici, Hakki Çeti̇nkaya, Mehmet Riza Altiparmak, Zeki̇ Aydin, Zeki̇ Soypaçaci, Feyza Bora, Ekrem Kara, Egemen Cebeci̇, Tuba Eli̇f Özler, Mürşi̇de Esra Dölarslan, Savaş Si̇pahi̇, Yavuz Ayar, İdri̇s Şahi̇n

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Background/aim: Hospital-acquired acute kidney injury (HA-AKI) may commonly develop in Covid-19 patients and is expected to have higher mortality. There is little comparative data investigating the effect of HA-AKI on mortality of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients and a control group of general population suffering from Covid-19. Materials and methods: HA-AKI development was assessed in a group of stage 3-5 CKD patients and control group without CKD among adult patients hospitalized for Covid-19. The role of AKI development on the outcome (in-hospital mortality and admission to the intensive care unit [ICU]) of patients with and without CKD was compared. Results: …

Effects Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Psychology And Disease Activity In Patients Withankylosing Spondylitis And Rheumatoid Arthritis, Şaki̇r Gica, Yasemi̇n Akkubak, Zaki̇re Kübra Aksoy, Adem Küçük, Erkan Cüre

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Background/aim: The COVID-19 outbreak is known to increase stress levels of most patients with chronic diseases. Patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are highly susceptible to environmental stress. In the current study, we aimed to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic psychologically affected patients with chronic progressive diseases such as AS and RA and the effects of these psychological factors on disease activity. Materials and methods: Age and sex-matched patients with AS (n = 80), RA (n = 80), and healthy controls (n = 80) were included in the study. All participants were evaluated with the "Perceived COVID-19 …

Addressing The Ecological Fallacy With Lagrangian Inference, Michael Schwob

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

Most epidemiologists elect to use statistical models that use population-level data to make inference on the spread of some virus or disease. This has become commonplace in the fields of epidemiology and biostatistics since most data used to construct and verify epidemic models are recorded at the population-level. Obtaining inference from a population-level model may be beneficial in studying the spread of disease in a homogeneous population, but the use of such models to describe a heterogeneous population results in inadequate inference. The inaccuracy of these models is further amplified when one tries to make individual-level inference from these population-level …