Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluation Of Contemporary Echocardiographic And Histomorphology Parameters In Predicting Mortality In Patients With Endomyocardial Biopsy-Proven Cardiac Al Amyloidosis, Efstratios Koutroumpakis, Adam Niku, Christopher K Black, Abdelrahman Ali, Humaira Sadaf, Juhee Song, Nicolas Palaskas, Cezar Iliescu, Jean-Bernard Durand, Syed Wamique Yusuf, Hans C Lee, L Maximilian Buja, Anita Deswal, Jose Banchs

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: This study examined the role of echocardiographic and cardiac histomorphology parameters in predicting mortality in patients with cardiac AL amyloidosis.

METHODS: Patients with endomyocardial biopsy-proven cardiac AL amyloidosis treated at MD Anderson Cancer Center between 6/2011 and 6/2020 were identified. Stored echocardiographic images and endomyocardial biopsy samples were processed for myocardial strain analysis and a detailed histomorphology characterization.

RESULTS: Of 43 patients; 44% were women and 63% white. Median age was 65 years; 51% underwent stem cell transplantation (SCT). Thirty patients (70%) died during follow up (median follow up: 4.1 years). Lower LA strain (

CONCLUSION: Lower LA strain …

Cytokines And Chemokines Profile In Encephalitis Patients: A Meta-Analysis, Alireza Soltani Khaboushan, Mohammad-Taha Pahlevan-Fallahy, Parnian Shobeiri, Antônio L Teixeira, Nima Rezaei

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Encephalitis is caused by autoimmune or infectious agents marked by brain inflammation. Investigations have reported altered concentrations of the cytokines in encephalitis. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between encephalitis and alterations of cytokine levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum.

Methods: We found possibly suitable studies by searching PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science, systematically from inception to August 2021. 23 articles were included in the meta-analysis. To investigate sources of heterogeneity, subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis were conducted. The protocol of the study has been registered in PROSPERO with a registration ID of CRD42021289298. …

Editor's Note (Volume 22), Jim Baird

Jeffers Studies

No abstract provided.

The Gilded Edge: Two Audacious Women And The Cyanide Love Triangle That Shook America, By Cynthia Prendergast & Bohemians West: Free Love, Family, And Radicals In Twentieth-Century America, By Sherry L. Smith, Geneva Gano

Jeffers Studies

No abstract provided.

Potential Interactions Between Metal-Based Phenanthroline Drugs And The Unfolded Protein Response Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Pathway, Tadhg O'Leary, Pauraic Mccarron, Michael Devereux, Steve Meaney

Articles

The unfolded protein response has recently been implicated as a mechanism by which 1,10-phenanthrolinecontaining coordination compounds trigger cell death. We explored the interaction of two such compounds —one containing copper and one containing manganese—with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Pretreatment with anisomycin significantly enhanced the cytotoxic activity of both metal-based compounds in A2780, but only the copper-based compound in A549 cells. The effects of pretreatment with tunicamycin were dependent on the nature of the metal center in the compounds. In A2780 cells, the cytotoxic action of the copper compound was reduced by tunicamycin only at high concentration. In contrast, in A549 …

Dark Patterns: Effect On Overall User Experience And Site Revisitation, Deon Soul Calawen

Dissertations

Dark patterns are user interfaces purposefully designed to manipulate users into doing something they might not otherwise do for the benefit of an online service. This study investigates the impact of dark patterns on overall user experience and site revisitation in the context of airline websites. In order to assess potential dark pattern effects, two versions of the same airline website were compared: a dark version containing dark pattern elements and a bright version free of manipulative interfaces. User experience for both websites were assessed quantitatively through a survey containing a User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ) and a System Usability Scale …

Kg-Cnn: Augmenting Convolutional Neural Networks With Knowledge Graphs For Multi-Class Image Classification, Aidan O'Neill

Dissertations

Computer vision is slowly becoming more and more prevalent in daily life. Tesla has recently announced that it plans to scale up the manufacturing of their Robotaxis by 2024, with this increase in self-driving vehicles being just one example, the importance of computer vision is growing year by year. Vision can be easy to take for granted, as most humans grow up using vision as their primary way of absorbing environmental information. The way humans process and classify visual information differs significantly from how current computer vision systems process and organise visual information. The human brain can use its past …

The Impact Of Emotion Focused Features On Svm And Mlr Models For Depression Detection, Alexandria Mulligan

Dissertations

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common mental health diagnosis with estimates upwards of 25% of the United States population remain undiagnosed. Psychomotor symptoms of MDD impacts speed of control of the vocal tract, glottal source features and the rhythm of speech. Speech enables people to perceive the emotion of the speaker and MDD decreases the mood magnitudes expressed by an individual. This study asks the questions: “if high level features deigned to combine acoustic features related to emotion detection are added to glottal source features and mean response time in support vector machines and multivariate logistic regression models, would …

Real-Time Stock Market Recommendation & Prediction Using Multi Source Data, Kalpana Konety

Dissertations

Stock investors must be cognizant of both the current price of their stock and the price at which they want to sell it in the future. This does not stop investors to monitor past price patterns and apply their knowledge to the present. ’Past performance is not an indicator of future success’, as the saying goes. To put it another way, historical stock data alone isn’t enough to forecast future stock prices. Another key factor to consider in a trading strategy is the impact of market psychology. Financial data, which is a type of multimedia data, provides a wealth of …

Can Implicit Measures Augment Suicide Detection In Youth? The Feasibility And Acceptability Of The Death Implicit Association Test Among Pediatric Medical Impatients, Annabelle M. Mournet, Daniel S. Powell, Elizabeth C. Lanzillo, Sandra Mcbee-Strayer, Emory Bergdoll, Catherine R. Glenn, Alexander Millner, Maryland Pao, Matthew K. Nock, Lisa M. Horowitz, Jeffrey A. Bridge

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Medically ill youth are at increased suicide risk, necessitating early detection. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of administering the Death Implicit Association Test (Death IAT) to pediatric medical inpatients. Methods: Participants completed measures including the Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ) and the Death IAT. Results: Over 90% of participants found the Death IAT to be acceptable and more than 75% of participants were comfortable completing the task. There was a small, but statistically significant, improvement from pre-survey to post-survey reports of mood (t(174) = 3.02, p = 0.003, d = 0.15). Participants who endorsed a past suicide attempt …

Engineering Countermeasures For Left Turns At Signalized Intersections: A Review, Siby Samuel, Amandeep Singh, Yusuke Yamani

Psychology Faculty Publications

Left turn crashes can impact the safety of the drivers due to the speed and angle at which they occur. Left turns are specifically reported to affect older drivers more than the other types of crashes. This paper provides a review of the existing engineering countermeasures that have been evaluated to improve driver safety at left turns. Twenty- eight studies on left turn signal displays (protected left turns, flashing yellow arrow, and digital countdown timers), intersection geometry (offset left turn lanes, diverging diamond interchange, roundabouts, exit lanes for left turn, left turn bay extension, and contraflow left turn lanes), and …

Internalization Of Appearance Ideals And Not Religiosity Indirectly Impacts The Relationship Between Acculturation And Disordered Eating Risk In South And Southeastern Asian Women Living In The United States, Sonakshi Negi, Erik M. Benau, Megan Strowger, Anne Claire Grammer, C. Alix Timko

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: Studies that examine disordered eating in samples of Asian individuals living in the United States frequently combine all individuals of Asian descent into a single group, which can obscure important differences between groups and their experiences of acculturation. The goal of the present study was to establish the relation of acculturation, internalization of appearance ideals, and religiosity as predicting body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in women of South and Southeast Asian (SSEA) descent.

Method: Women of SSEA descent (N = 112) aged 18–51 years (M = 23.10, SD = 6.4) completed a battery of questionnaires that inquire about these …

A Scoping Review Of Behavior Change Techniques Used To Promote Physical Activity Among Women In Midlife, Danielle Arigo, Kelly A. Romano, Kristen Pasko, Laura Travers, M. Cole Ainsworth, Daija A. Jackson, Megan M. Brown

Psychology Faculty Publications

Women in midlife experience health risks that could be mitigated by regular physical activity and reduced sedentary time, but this population rarely achieves physical activity levels that would protect their health. As a result, many behavioral interventions are designed to promote physical activity in this population, which are purportedly guided by theoretical models of health behavior (change) and activate an associated set of behavior change techniques (BCTs). The efficacy and effectiveness of these interventions appear to be limited, however, raising questions about their design and adaptation for women in midlife. Several aspects of these interventions are currently unclear. Specifically, which …

Impact Of A Reduced Nicotine Standard On Young Adult Appeal For Menthol And Non-Menthol Cigarettes, Amy M. Cohn, Rachel Cassidy, Rachel Denlinger-Apte, Eric Donny, Andrea C. Villanti, Dorothy Hatsukami, Delaney Dunn, Riley Wyatt, Taylor Niznik, Tamar Cohen-Davidyan, Michael Smith, Sarah J. Ehlke

Psychology Faculty Publications

Introduction The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its intention to reduce the nicotine content in cigarettes as a strategy to promote cessation and reduce smoking-related harm. A low nicotine product standard will apply to all cigarettes on the market, including menthol cigarettes. In December 2021, the FDA approved a modified risk tobacco product application for menthol and non-menthol flavoured very low nicotine cigarettes (VLNC) from the 22nd Century Group. Notably, experimentation with menthol cigarettes is linked to smoking progression, as well as greater nicotine dependence relative to non-menthol cigarette use. If menthol VLNCs are perceived as more appealing than …

A Meta-Analysis Of Associations Between Weight Bias Internalization And Conceptually-Related Correlates: A Step Towards Improving Construct Validity, Kelly A. Romano, Kristin E. Heron, Cassidy M. Sandoval, Lindsay M. Howard, Rachel I. Macintyre

Psychology Faculty Publications

Weight bias internalization (WBI), a process of weight-based self-devaluation, has been associated with adverse mental and physical health. However, there are limitations with the existing conceptualization and operationalization of WBI that raise questions about the implications of this evidence-base. To address these limitations, the present study investigated the construct validity of WBI by conducting a meta-analysis of associations between WBI (as currently operationalized) and conceptually-related correlates. Studies identified through October 2021 that provided zero-order correlations for associations between WBI and conceptually-related constructs were examined. Meta-regression determined whether these associations differed across WBI measures and demographic (age, sex/gender, race, BMI) and …

Message: Most Rev. David Zubik, Pittsburgh, David A. Zubik

Spiritan Horizons

No abstract provided.

Radiographic Findings And Association With Clinical Severity And Outcomes In Critically Ill Patients With Covid-19, Wei Wu, Pavan K Bhatraju, Natalie Cobb, Neha A Sathe, Kevin I Duan, Kevin P Seitz, Matthew R Thau, Clifford C Sung, Daniel S Hippe, Gautham Reddy, Sudhakar Pipavath

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: To describe evolution and severity of radiographic findings and assess association with disease severity and outcomes in critically ill COVID-19 patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included 62 COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Clinical data was obtained from electronic medical records. A total of 270 chest radiographs were reviewed and qualitatively scored (CXR score) using a severity scale of 0-30. Radiographic findings were correlated with clinical severity and outcome.

RESULTS: The CXR score increases from a median initial score of 10 at hospital presentation to the median peak CXR score of 18 within a …

Myeloid Hypoxia-Inducible Factor Hif1a Provides Cardio-Protection During Ischemia And Reperfusion, Ka Lin Heck-Swain, Jiwen Li, Wei Ruan, Xiaoyi Yuan, Yanyu Wang, Michael Koeppen, Holger K Eltzschig

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor HIF1A induces cardioprotection from ischemia and reperfusion injury. Here, we investigate tissue-specific pathways that are critical for HIF1A-elicited tissue protection. Initial studies showed that mice with induced global Hif1a deletion (Hif1aloxP/loxP UbiquitinCre+) have exaggerated myocardial injury during in situ ischemia and reperfusion. Surprisingly, this phenotype was mirrored only in mice with myeloid-specific Hif1a deletion (Hif1aloxP/loxP LysM Cre+). In contrast, mice with myocardial specific (Hif1aloxP/loxP Myosin Cre+), or vascular Hif1a deletion (Hif1aloxP/loxP VEcadherin Cre+) experienced similar levels of injury as controls. Subsequent studies using adoptive transfer of Hif1a-deficient polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) …

Alternative Adenosine Receptor Activation: The Netrin-Adora2b Link, Xiaoyi Yuan, Tingting Mills, Marie-Francoise Doursout, Scott E Evans, Marcos F Vidal Melo, Holger K Eltzschig

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

During hypoxia or inflammation, extracellular adenosine levels are elevated. Studies using pharmacologic approaches or genetic animal models pertinent to extracellular adenosine signaling implicate this pathway in attenuating hypoxia-associated inflammation. There are four distinct adenosine receptors. Of these, it is not surprising that the Adora2b adenosine receptor functions as an endogenous feedback loop to control hypoxia-associated inflammation. First, Adora2b activation requires higher adenosine concentrations compared to other adenosine receptors, similar to those achieved during hypoxic inflammation. Second, Adora2b is transcriptionally induced during hypoxia or inflammation by hypoxia-inducible transcription factor HIF1A. Studies seeking an alternative adenosine receptor activation mechanism have linked netrin-1 …

Treatment And Management Of Xiphoidalgia, Nazir Noor, Ariunzaya Amgalan, Neeraj Vij, Kelly Habib, Lekha Anantuni, Daniel An, Hisham Kassem, Antonella Paladini, Giustino Varrassi, Alan D Kaye

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Xiphodynia is a rare but debilitating condition that can be described as a form of pain on the xiphisternal joint or any related structures that are anchored to the xiphoid process. Although xiphodynia is a musculoskeletal pain in nature, the pain located in the anterior chest can commonly mislead physicians into pursuing other diagnoses such as cardiac diseases. This leads to a prolonged duration of pain before receiving treatment. In the attempt to alleviate pain resulting from this condition, physicians have previously utilized a range of treatment options, including conservative management, injections, or in severe cases, xiphoidectomy. In this review, …

Oral Administration Of A Dual Eta/Etb Receptor Antagonist Promotes Neuroprotection In A Rodent Model Of Glaucoma, Bindu Kodati, Nolan R Mcgrady, Hayden B Jefferies, Dorota L Stankowska, Raghu R Krishnamoorthy

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease associated with elevated intraocular pressure and characterized by optic nerve axonal degeneration, cupping of the optic disc, and loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). The endothelin (ET) system of vasoactive peptides (ET-1, ET-2, ET-3) and their G-protein coupled receptors (ET

METHODS: Male and female Brown Norway rats were subjected to the Morrison model of ocular hypertension by injection of hypertonic saline through the episcleral veins. Following IOP elevation, macitentan (5 mg/kg body wt) was administered orally 3 days per week, and rats with IOP elevation were maintained for 4 weeks. RGC function was determined …

Progranulin Loss Results In Sex-Dependent Dysregulation Of The Peripheral And Central Immune System, Madelyn C Houser, Oihane Uriarte Huarte, Rebecca L Wallings, Cody E Keating, Kathryn P Macpherson, Mary K Herrick, George T Kannarkat, Sean D Kelly, Jianjun Chang, Nicholas H Varvel, Jessica E Rexach, Malú Gámez Tansey

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Progranulin (PGRN) is a secreted glycoprotein, the expression of which is linked to several neurodegenerative diseases. Although its specific function is still unclear, several studies have linked it with lysosomal functions and immune system regulation. Here, we have explored the role of PGRN in peripheral and central immune system homeostasis by investigating the consequences of PGRN deficiency on adaptive and innate immune cell populations.

METHODS: First, we used gene co-expression network analysis of published data to test the hypothesis that

RESULTS: Male PGRN KO mice exhibited a lower abundance of microglial cells with higher MHC-II expression, increased CD44 expression …

Critical Analysis Of Laboratory Requisition Forms Received In A Cytopathology Laboratory Of A Tertiary Care Centre: An Audit And Review Of Literature, Shivali Sehgal, Sujata Jetley, Zeeba S Jairajpuri, Sabina Khan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: A laboratory requisition form (LRF) is the main communication link between the laboratories and the clinicians. In a cytopathology laboratory, incomplete forms with inadequate information significantly impact the quality of the results and waste precious time of the lab.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to audit the LRFs for adequacy of demographic and clinical data and to analyze the reasons for the same.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A retrospective study was conducted in the cytopathology laboratory of a tertiary care center.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: All the original LRFs received for Pap smears and FNACs of 1-month duration were …

Toward A Topology-Based Therapeutic Design Of Membrane Proteins: Validation Of Napi2b Topology In Live Ovarian Cancer Cells, Leisan Bulatova, Daria Savenkova, Alsina Nurgalieva, Daria Reshetnikova, Arina Timonina, Vera Skripova, Mikhail Bogdanov, Ramziya Kiyamova

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

NaPi2b is a sodium-dependent phosphate transporter that belongs to the SLC34 family of transporters which is mainly responsible for phosphate homeostasis in humans. Although NaPi2b is widely expressed in normal tissues, its overexpression has been demonstrated in ovarian, lung, and other cancers. A valuable set of antibodies, including L2 (20/3) and MX35, and its humanized versions react strongly with an antigen on the surface of ovarian and other carcinoma cells. Although the topology of NaPi2b was predicted

Radiofrequency Ablation In Combination With Cd73 Inhibitor Ab680 Reduces Tumor Growth And Enhances Anti-Tumor Immunity In A Syngeneic Model Of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma, Erika Y Faraoni, Lincoln N Strickland, Baylee J O'Brien, Joseph F Barraza, Nirav C Thosani, Curtis J Wray, Tingting W Mills, Jennifer M Bailey-Lundberg

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma presents a 5-year overall survival rate of 11%, placing an imperative need for the discovery and application of innovative treatments. Radiofrequency ablation represents a promising therapy for PDA, as studies show it induces coagulative necrosis and a host adaptive immune response. In this work we evaluated the effects of RFA treatment in vivo by establishing a syngeneic mouse model of PDA and performing tumor ablation in one flank. Our studies revealed RFA acutely impaired PDA tumor growth; however, such effects were not sustained one week after treatment. Adenosine (ADO) pathway represents a strong immunosuppressive mechanism that was …

Single-Cell Rna Sequencing Reveals Intratumoral Heterogeneity And Potential Mechanisms Of Malignant Progression In Prostate Cancer With Perineural Invasion, Bao Zhang, Shenghan Wang, Zhichao Fu, Qiang Gao, Lin Yang, Zhentao Lei, Yuqiang Shi, Kai Le, Jie Xiong, Siyao Liu, Jiali Zhang, Junyan Su, Jing Chen, Mengyuan Liu, Beifang Niu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most common cancer among men worldwide. Perineural invasion (PNI) was a prominent characteristic of PCa, which was recognized as a key factor in promoting PCa progression. As a complex and heterogeneous disease, its true condition is difficult to explain thoroughly with conventional bulk RNA sequencing. Thus, an improved understanding of PNI-PCa progression at the single-cell level is needed.

Methods: In this study, we performed scRNAseq on tumor tissues of three PNI-PCa patients. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP) were used to reduce dimensionality and visualize the cellular composition …

Biophysical Characterization Of Light-Gated Ion Channels Using Planar Automated Patch Clamp, Elena G Govorunova, Oleg A Sineshchekov, Leonid S Brown, John L Spudich

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Channelrhodopsins (ChRs) are proteins that guide phototaxis in protists and exhibit light-gated channel conductance when their genes are heterologously expressed in mammalian cells. ChRs are widely used as molecular tools to control neurons and cardiomyocytes with light (optogenetics). Cation- and anion-selective ChRs (CCRs and ACRs, respectively) enable stimulation and inhibition of neuronal activity by depolarization and hyperpolarization of the membrane, respectively. More than 400 natural ChR variants have been identified so far, and high-throughput polynucleotide sequencing projects add many more each year. However, electrophysiological characterization of new ChRs lags behind because it is mostly done by time-consuming manual patch clamp …

Circadian Stabilization Loop: The Regulatory Hub And Therapeutic Target Promoting Circadian Resilience And Physiological Health, Eunju Kim, Seung-Hee Yoo, Zheng Chen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The circadian clock is a fundamental biological mechanism that orchestrates essential cellular and physiological processes to optimize fitness and health. The basic functional unit is the cell-autonomous oscillator, consisting of intersecting negative feedback loops. Whereas the core loop is primarily responsible for rhythm generation, auxiliary loops, most notably the secondary or stabilization loop, play pivotal roles to confer temporal precision and molecular robustness. The stabilization loop contains opposing nuclear receptor subfamilies REV-ERBs and retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptors (RORs), competing to modulate rhythmic expression of the basic helix-loop-helix ARNT like 1 (Bmal1) genes in the core loop as …

Impact On Clinical Outcomes From Transcatheter Closure Of The Fontan Fenestration: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Christopher E Greenleaf, Zhia Ning Lim, Wen Li, Damien J Lapar, Jorge D Salazar, Antonio F Corno

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Meta-analysis of the impact on clinical outcome from transcatheter closure of Fontan fenestration.

METHODS: Cochrane, Embase, MEDLINE, and Open-Gray were searched. Parameters such as changes in oxygen saturation, cavo-pulmonary pressure, maximum heart rate during exercise, exercise duration, and oxygen saturation after fenestration closure were pooled and statistical analysis performed.

RESULTS: Among 922 publications, 12 retrospective observational studies were included. The included studies involved 610 patients, of which 552 patients (90.5%) had a fenestration. Of those patients, 505 patients (91.5%) underwent attempt at trans-catheter closure. When it could be estimated, the pooled overall mean age at trans-catheter fenestration closure was …

Management Of Biliary Stones In Bariatric Surgery, Francisco Tustumi, João Emílio Lemos Pinheiro Filho, Lucas Cata Preta Stolzemburg, Leonardo Carvalho Serigiolle, Thiago Nogueira Costa, Denis Pajecki, Marco Aurélio Santo, Sérgio Carlos Nahas

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Morbidly obese and post-bariatric surgery patients are at increased risk for biliary stones formation. The complications related to biliary stones may impose complexity on their management. This study aimed to review the management of biliary conditions in obese and bariatric patients. In this study, a narrative review was performed of the medical, surgical, and endoscopic procedures for the management of biliary stones and their related complications. Knowing the main prophylactic and therapeutic interventions options is essential for clinicians to properly manage the biliary stones in patients candidates or submitted to bariatric surgery.

Plain language summary: Management of biliary stones in …