Digital Commons Network^™

Tonebp Regulates The Hyperosmotic Expression Of Aquaporin 1 And 5 In The Intervertebral Disc., Joseph Snuggs, Steven Tessier, R A B Bunning, Irving Shapiro, Makarand V Risbud, Christine Lyn Le Maitre

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Faculty Papers

The central region of the intervertebral disc (IVD) is rich in proteoglycans, leading to a hyperosmotic environment, which fluctuates with daily loading. The cells of the nucleus pulposus (NP cells) have adapted to this environment via the function of tonicity enhancer binding protein (TonEBP), and NP cells have been shown to express several water channels known as aquaporins (AQP). We have previously shown that AQP1 and 5 decrease during IVD degeneration. Here, the regulation of AQP1 and 5 by hyperosmotic conditions and the role of TonEBP in this regulation was investigated. AQP1 and 5 gene expression was upregulated by hyperosmotic …

Success And Sustainability Of Sponsored International Development Programs In Education: A Narrative Inquiry, Sara Beth Leikin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In a 2008 working paper published by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the authors lamented that, despite billions of dollars in investment in global education initiatives, access to education had been improved in targeted areas, but the return on investment with regards to learning outcomes was “much less impressive” (Gillies & Jester Quijada, 2008). From 2012-2017, USAID engaged in the Egypt STEM Schools Project (ESSP) along with four partner organizations with the goal of building model science and mathematics public schools that would challenge the educational status quo by providing students with hands-on, constructivist learning and providing an alternative …

An Evaluation Of The Covid-19 Pandemic And Perceived Social Distancing Policies In Relation To Planning, Selecting, And Preparing Healthy Meals: An Observational Study In 38 Countries Worldwide, Charlotte De Backer, Lauranna Teunissen, Isabelle Cuykx, Paulien Decorte, Sara Pabian, Sarah Gerritsen, Christophe Matthys, Haleama Al Sabbah, Kathleen Van Royen

All Works

Objectives: To examine changes in planning, selecting, and preparing healthy foods in relation to personal factors (time, money, stress) and social distancing policies during the COVID-19 crisis. Methods: Using cross-sectional online surveys collected in 38 countries worldwide in April-June 2020 (N = 37,207, Mage 36.7 SD 14.8, 77% women), we compared changes in food literacy behaviors to changes in personal factors and social distancing policies, using hierarchical multiple regression analyses controlling for sociodemographic variables. Results: Increases in planning (4.7 SD 1.3, 4.9 SD 1.3), selecting (3.6 SD 1.7, 3.7 SD 1.7), and preparing (4.6 SD 1.2, 4.7 SD 1.3) healthy …

Mobile Apps For Self-Management In Pregnancy: A Systematic Review, Gloria Ejehiohen Iyawa, Aliyu Rabiu Dansharif, Asiya Khan

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Complications during pregnancy is a major problem affecting healthcare systems which requires the efforts of both patients and healthcare practitioners. For this reason, mobile apps have been increasingly sought to support self-management during pregnancy. Although many benefits have been claimed for the inclusion of self-management mobile apps in supporting care, the domains already explored, functionalities and impacts of mobile apps for self-management in pregnancy is still not clear. A clear understanding of the health domains already explored functionalities of existing apps which have been evaluated as well as the effectiveness of these apps can help researchers and health practitioners identify …

Commonwealth Times 2021-02-03

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Fruit And Vegetable Consumption Behavior Among Asian Americans: A Thematic Analysis, Chia Liang Dai, Manoj Sharma, Taj Haider, Hema Sunchu

Teaching and Learning Faculty Research

© The Author(s) 2021. Consuming 5 or more cups of fruits and vegetables (F & V) per day or 400 g/day for adults is advocated by most health authorities and has short-term and long-term health benefits. There have been numerous studies examining dietary behaviors among different US populations; however, the literature on F & V consumption behavior among Asian Americans (AAs) is sparse. AAs constitute a diverse group and as their population continues to grow in the US; there is a greater need to examine the health practices of AAs and their constituent subgroups. The study aimed to conduct a …

Urban-Rural Differences In Covid-19 Exposures And Outcomes In The South: A Preliminary Analysis Of South Carolina, Qian Huang, Sarah Jackson, Sahar Derakhshan, Logan Lee, Erika Pham, Amber Jackson, Susan L. Cutter

Faculty Publications

As the COVID-19 pandemic moved beyond the initial heavily impacted and urbanized Northeast region of the United States, hotspots of cases in other urban areas ensued across the country in early 2020. In South Carolina, the spatial and temporal patterns were different, initially concentrating in small towns within metro counties, then diffusing to centralized urban areas and rural areas. When mitigation restrictions were relaxed, hotspots reappeared in the major cities. This paper examines the county-scale spatial and temporal patterns of confirmed cases of COVID-19 for South Carolina from March 1st—September 5th, 2020. We first describe the initial diffusion of the …

Hemothorax Following Traumatic Dobhoff Tube Insertion, Lindsey M. Shain, Leslie Mchale, Taha Ahmed

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Dobhoff tube is a specialized small-bore and flexible nasogastric tube that makes it more comfortable for placement than a usual nasogastric tube. Dobhoff tube insertion is commonly considered a relatively safe bedside procedure, but it is not without its associated risks. Inadvertent tracheobronchial placement of Dobhoff tube has been associated with severe complications, most notably pneumothorax. We present a rare cause of right-sided hemothorax following tracheobronchial insertion of a Dobhoff tube with a prolonged and arduous clinical course.

Microscopic And Genetic Characterization Of Bacterial Symbionts With Bioluminescent Potential In Pyrosoma Atlanticum, Alexis Berger, Patricia L. Blackwelder, Tamara Frank, Tracey Sutton, Nina Pruzinsky, Natalie Slayden, Jose V. Lopez

Biology Faculty Articles

The pelagic tunicate pyrosome, Pyrosoma atlanticum, is known for its brilliant bioluminescence, but the mechanism causing this bioluminescence has not been fully characterized. This study identifies the bacterial bioluminescent symbionts of P. atlanticum collected in the northern Gulf of Mexico using several methods such as light and electron microscopy, as well as molecular genetics. The bacteria are localized within the pyrosome light organs. Greater than 50% of the bacterial taxa present in the tunicate samples were the bioluminescent symbiotic bacteria Vibrionaceae as determined by utilizing current molecular genetics methodologies. A total of 396K MiSeq16S rRNA reads provided total pyrosome …

Macrophage And Adipocyte Interaction As A Source Of Inflammation In Kidney Disease, Cristina Martos-Rus, Goni Katz-Greenberg, Zhao Lin, Eurico Serrano, Diana Whitaker Menezes, Marina Domingo-Vidal, Megan Roche, Kavitha Ramaswamy, D. Craig Hooper, Bonita Falkner, Maria P Martinez Cantarin

Kimmel Cancer Center Faculty Papers

In obesity, adipose tissue derived inflammation is associated with unfavorable metabolic consequences. Uremic inflammation is prevalent and contributes to detrimental outcomes. However, the contribution of adipose tissue inflammation in uremia has not been characterized. We studied the contribution of adipose tissue to uremic inflammation in-vitro, in-vivo and in human samples. Exposure to uremic serum resulted in activation of inflammatory pathways including NFκB and HIF1, upregulation of inflammatory cytokines/chemokines and catabolism with lipolysis, and lactate production. Also, co-culture of adipocytes with macrophages primed by uremic serum resulted in higher inflammatory cytokine expression than adipocytes exposed only to uremic serum. Adipose tissue …

Eosinophils Attenuate Hepatic Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury In Mice Through St2-Dependent Il-13 Production, Yaochun Wang, Yang Yang, Meng Wang, Shuhong Wang, Jong-Min Jeong, Long Xu, Yankai Wen, Christoph Emontzpohl, Constance Lynn Atkins, Kevin Duong, Nicolas F Moreno, Xiaoyi Yuan, David R Hall, Wasim Dar, Dechun Feng, Bin Gao, Yong Xu, Zoltan Czigany, Sean P Colgan, J Steve Bynon, Shizuo Akira, Jared M Brown, Holger K Eltzschig, Elizabeth A Jacobsen, Cynthia Ju

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Eosinophils are a myeloid cell subpopulation that mediates type 2 T helper cell immune responses. Unexpectedly, we identified a rapid accumulation of eosinophils in 22 human liver grafts after hepatic transplantation. In contrast, no eosinophils were detectable in healthy liver tissues before transplantation. Studies with two genetic mouse models of eosinophil deficiency and a mouse model of antibody-mediated eosinophil depletion revealed exacerbated liver injury after hepatic ischemia and reperfusion. Adoptive transfer of bone marrow-derived eosinophils normalized liver injury of eosinophil-deficient mice and reduced hepatic ischemia and reperfusion injury in wild-type mice. Mechanistic studies combining genetic and adoptive transfer approaches identified …

Intestinal Stem Cell Development In The Neonatal Gut: Pathways Regulating Development And Relevance To Necrotizing Enterocolitis., Aparna Venkatraman, Wei Yu, Christopher R. Nitkin, Venkatesh Sampath

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

The intestine is extremely dynamic and the epithelial cells that line the intestine get replaced every 3-5 days by highly proliferative intestinal stem cells (ISCs). The instructions for ISCs to self-renew or to differentiate come as cues from their surrounding microenvironment or their niche. A small number of evolutionarily conserved signaling pathways act as a critical regulator of the stem cells in the adult intestine, and these pathways are well characterized. However, the mechanisms, nutritional, and environmental signals that help establish the stem cell niche in the neonatal intestine are less studied. Deciphering the key signaling pathways that regulate the …

A Study Into Inter‐Planting Fruit Trees And Grass In A Frigid Zone, G. Q. Han, Y. X. Zhang, W. B. Han, F. L. Tang

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

Diet Authentication In Lamb Meat Using Spectroscopic Methods, P. H. M. Dian, D. Andueza, J. Ballet, R. Jailler, M. Jestin, J. Pourrat, I. N. Prado, S. Prache

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

Artificial Intelligence In Sustainable Food Systems Design, Stephanie Camarena

ServDes Conference Series

By 2050, the current challenges faced by our food systems will be further amplified by the need to feed 9 billion people. Water scarcity, pollution, soil degradation and the impacts of climate change on agricultural production are only a few of the environmental constraints we face. Designing services in any area of the food chain can no longer be done using a business as usual approach. Technologies such as artificial intelligence are disrupting agriculture, food processing and health outcomes in ways which could revolutionise how we relate to food and provide an opportunity to think differently about our food systems. …

Embedding Transparency On Digital Services: A Case Study Of The Food Sector, Marcella Lomba, Aguinaldo Dos Santos

ServDes Conference Series

Transparency is one of the principles to promote sustainable provision of services, being the ability of a service to communicate social, environmental and economic practices and performance. Digital technologies are continuously expanding the possibilities to increase the level of transparency across all stakeholders associated with service profession. However, while transparency has been pointed to as a key priority in innovation agendas in various sectors, there is still lack of knowledge on its practical implications for service design. The food sector is one of the most critical in terms of addressing transparency, due to the global need for transformations in food …

Risk Factors For Stress Fractures In Female Runners: Results Of A Survey, Therese Johnston, Allison E Jakavick, Caroline A Mancuso, Kathleen C Mcgee, Lily Wei, Morgan L Wright, Jeremy Close, Md, Ayako Shimada, Benjamin E Leiby

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine Faculty Papers

Background: Few studies compare women with and without stress fractures and most focus on younger, elite runners.

Hypothesis/purpose: Compare risk factors between female runners with and without a stress fracture history.

Study design: Case control.

Methods: An online survey targeting women age ≥18 years was distributed primarily via social media. Questions included demographics, running details, cross training, nutrition, injury history, medical/menstrual history, and medications. Women with stress fracture histories answered questions about location, number, and changes made. Data were compared between groups using t-tests, chi-square tests, or Fisher's exact tests. Multivariable logistic regression models simultaneously investigated associations of multiple factors …

Property And Intellectual Property In Vaccine Markets, Ana Santos Rutschman

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

As biopharmaceutical forms of technology, vaccines constitute one of the most important tools for the promotion and maintenance of public health. Tolstoy famously wrote that “[h]appy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Vaccine markets offer perhaps one of the most extreme embodiments of Tolstoy’s principle in the field of biopharmaceutical innovation.

Vaccines are often described as one of the most unprofitable types of biopharmaceutical goods, under-incentivized from a research and development (“R&D”) perspective, and routinely failing to attract sufficient investment from traditional funders in biopharma. In this sense, and despite the scientifically well-established …

Persistent Disparities In Smoking Among Rural Appalachians: Evidence From The Mountain Air Project, Kathryn Cardarelli, Susan C. Westneat, Madeline Dunfee, Beverly May, Nancy Schoenberg, Steven R. Browning

Health, Behavior & Society Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Adult smoking prevalence in Central Appalachia is the highest in the United States, yet few epidemiologic studies describe the smoking behaviors of this population. Using a community-based approach, the Mountain Air Project (MAP) recruited the largest adult cohort from Central Appalachia, allowing us to examine prevalence and patterns of smoking behavior.

METHODS: A cross-sectional epidemiologic study of 972 participants aged 21 years and older was undertaken 2015-2017, with a response rate of 82%. Prevalence ratios and 95% confidence intervals for current smoking (compared to nonsmokers) were computed for the entire cohort then stratified by multiple characteristics, including respiratory health. …

Cancer Survivorship In Hematologic Malignancies: Lifestyle Changes After Diagnosis, Pannaga Malalur, Manas Agastya, Sandhya Wahi-Gururaj, Chad L. Cross, Delva Deauna-Limayo, Edwin C. Kingsley

School of Medicine Faculty Research

© 2020 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Background: Studies show that patients make lifestyle changes soon after certain solid tumor diagnoses, suggesting that this may be a teachable moment to motivate and promote healthy behaviors. There is a paucity of data regarding changes made after a diagnosis of a hematologic malignancy. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 116 patients at a community oncology center who completed anonymous questionnaires was performed. Questions addressed lifestyle choices made with respect to smoking, alcohol consumption, recreational drug use, diet, and exercise habits before and after diagnosis of a hematologic …

Alcohol Intake And Alcohol–Snp Interactions Associated With Prostate Cancer Aggressiveness, Hui Yi Lin, Xinnan Wang, Tung-Sung Tseng, Yu Hsiang Kao, Zhide Fang, Patricia E. Molina, Chia Ho Cheng, Anders E. Berglund, Rosalind A. Eeles, Kenneth R. Muir, Nora Pashayan, Christopher A. Haiman, Hermann Brenner, Jong Y. Park

School of Public Health Faculty Publications

Excessive alcohol intake is a well-known modifiable risk factor for many cancers. It is still unclear whether genetic variants or single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can modify alcohol intake’s impact on prostate cancer (PCa) aggressiveness. The objective is to test the alcohol–SNP interactions of the 7501 SNPs in the four pathways (angiogenesis, mitochondria, miRNA, and androgen metabolism-related pathways) associated with PCa aggressiveness. We evaluated the impacts of three excessive alcohol intake behaviors in 3306 PCa patients with European ancestry from the PCa Consortium. We tested the alcohol–SNP interactions using logistic models with the discovery-validation study design. All three excessive alcohol intake …

Improve The Risk Of Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections With Central Line Dressing Changes Through A Team Approach, Jessica Comstock

Student Scholarly Projects

Practice Problem: Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI) are a preventable hospital acquired infection which contributes to patient morbidity, mortality and rising healthcare costs.

PICOT: The PICOT question that guided this project was: In adult inpatients with central venous catheters, does the use of a two-person dressing change team, compared to a single person procedure, decrease the rate of central line associated bloodstream infections over the course of 8 weeks?

Evidence: The prevention of CLABSI is most effective when multifaceted line maintenance bundles are implemented and adherence to these bundles nears 100% (Schreiber et al. 2018).

Intervention: A two-person, …

An Ethical Framework For Interprofessional Social Work Education And Practice With Clients And Professionals, Misty G. Smith, Felicia Law Murray

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Social work students must interface with other professionals amid diverse disciplines and settings. While aspects of their work requires independent practice, students also encounter practice environments that require cross-system approaches that can create ethical conflicts and dilemmas. Interprofessional collaboration and ethical decision making are specific behavioral outcomes students must demonstrate to achieve competency upon social work degree completion. In social work education, scholarship that highlights the benefits of exposing students to interprofessional education (IPE) is an emerging area. Gastmans’ Dignity Enhancing Care Model and the Generalist Social Work Practice Framework have been adapted to create an integrated framework, the Generalist …

Cape Gooseberry Husk For The Removal Of Cecs From Wastewater: A Biosorption Study, Jehan Abdel Salam

Theses and Dissertations

Food and beverage industries produce large amounts of fruit wastes that are normally discarded every year. Meanwhile, these industries along with the pharmaceutical industries discharge wastewater effluents that are loaded with contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). Recent research is directed towards finding alternative cost effective and sustainable solutions for treating wastewater. In this regard, we investigated cape gooseberry husk as a potential biosorbent for the removal of caffeine (CA) and salicylic acid (SA), as examples of CECs, from wastewater. Three different types of husk were investigated; un-activated husk (H), and chemically activated husks (H350 and H500) prepared by acid treatment …

Autophagic Reprogramming Of Bone Marrow-Derived Macrophages, Mayada Mahmoud Zaki Mohamed Mazher

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT Background: Macroautophagy is a highly conserved catabolic process among eukaryotes. Autophagosome is a piece of double-membrane machinery that fuses with lysosomes during macroautophagy to form autolysosomes. Autolysosome degrades organelles and organizes the pathogen engulfment during phagocytosis in innate immunity. Macrophages are highly dynamic immune cells that orchestrate the host-pathogen interaction. Interestingly, autophagy is implicated in disease pathophysiologies such as Crohn’s disease, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, we studied the interplay between autophagy and macrophage polarization (activation) through two approaches: 1- Systems biology approach to construct the genetic regulatory network and pathway analysis. And to predict the target proteins that …

Pandemic Makes Chronic Disease Prevention A Priority., Karen S. Kmetik, Alexis Skoufalos, David B. Nash

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

This article is the authors' final version prior to publication in Population Health Management, Volume 24, Issue 1, February 2021, Pages 1-2

Final publication is available from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers https://doi.org/10.1089/pop.2020.0126

Brochure: Health Education Resource Guide, Blue Cross And Blue Shield Of Florida, Inc.

Florida Blue Archives Printed Materials

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Intestinal Transplantation For Short Bowel Syndrome Due To Gun Violence Versus Other Causes: A Single Center Experience, Leya Maliekal, Nemie Beltran, Shunji Nagai, Syed-Mohammed Jafri

Medical Student Research Symposium

Introduction: Short Bowel Syndrome (SBS) due to trauma is a rarely examined problem with a unique solution in Intestine Transplantation. We discuss factors that may have contributed to variations in patient outcome after intestinal transplant surgery secondary to SBS due to gun violence.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted for intestinal transplant patients at an urban medical center. Two patients underwent intestinal transplants secondary to SBS after small bowel resections for gunshot related injury (GSW). Trends were noted and compared to trends found among patients comprising the intestinal transplant recipient registry (n=26) at the same medical center.

Results: Two …

Racial Disparity In Drug Disposition In The Digestive Tract, Song Gao, Edward C. Bell, Yun Zhang, Dong Liang

Faculty Publications

The major determinants of drug or, al bioavailability are absorption and metabolism in the digestive tract. Genetic variations can cause significant differences in transporter and enzyme protein expression and function. The racial distribution of selected efflux transporter (i.e., Pgp, BCRP, MRP2) and metabolism enzyme (i.e., UGT1A1, UGT1A8) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are highly expressed in the digestive tract are reviewed in this paper with emphasis on the allele frequency and the impact on drug absorption, metabolism, and in vivo drug exposure. Additionally, preclinical and clinical models used to study the impact of transporter/enzyme SNPs on protein expression and function …

Could Energy Equilibrium And Greenhouse Gas Emissions In Agroecosystems Play A Key Role In Crop Replacement? A Case Study In Orange And Kiwi Orchards, Anastasios Mazis, Vassilis Litskas, Dimitrios P. Platis, Georgios .. Menexes, Christos D. Anagnostopoulos, Aggeliki Tsaboula, Andreas P. Mamolos, Kiriaki L. Kalburtji

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The development of agriculture is linked to energy resources. Consequently, energy analysis in agroecosystems could be a useful tool for monitoring some measures in the agricultural sector to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The objectives of this study were to (a) evaluate differences of energy indices in orange and kiwi orchards, and (b) point out whether inputs, outputs, efficiency, productivity, and carbon footprint can play a key role in crop replacement. Proportional stratified random sampling was used to select 26 orchards (10 oranges, 16 kiwis) from the Prefecture of Arta, western Greece, during 2015 and 2016. Univariate statistical methods were combined …