Digital Commons Network^™

Administrative Data Improves Quality Of Cervical Pre-Cancer Surveillance In Davidson County, Tennessee, United States, Sheelah Blankenship, Manideepthi Pemmaraju, Edward Mitchel, Tiffanie M. Markus, Marie R. Griffin, Jessica L. Castilho

Journal of Health Research

Background: Accurate data are critical for public health surveillance yet can be challenging to ensure. The Tennessee (TN) HPV Vaccine IMPACT Project aims to assess the effectiveness of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in prevention of cervical cancer and high-grade dysplasia through laboratory reporting of pathology results among Davidson County women. This project assessed feasibility and value of use of administrative sources for improved data quality and completeness of high-grade cervical events in TN HPV-IMPACT between 2013-2017.

Method: We queried three administrative data systems (Hospital Discharge Data System, Ambulatory Surgical Treatment Center, and Tennessee Medicaid [TennCare]) for eligible women with …

A Covid Refresher As Cases Continue To Rise, Adam Pope

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Debiasing Cyber Incidents – Correcting For Reporting Delays And Under-Reporting, Seema Sangari

Doctor of Data Science and Analytics Dissertations

This research addresses two key problems in the cyber insurance industry – reporting delays and under-reporting of cyber incidents. Both problems are important to understand the true picture of cyber incident rates. While reporting delays addresses the problem of delays in reporting due to delays in timely detection, under-reporting addresses the problem of cyber incidents frequently under-reported due to brand damage, reputation risk and eventual financial impacts.

The problem of reporting delays in cyber incidents is resolved by generating the distribution of reporting delays and fitting modeled parametric distributions on the given domain. The reporting delay distribution was found to …

Anticipating Infection: How Parasitism Risk Changes Animal Physiology, Patricia C. Lopes

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

1. Uninfected animals can attempt to prevent parasitism in many ways. Behavioural avoidance of parasitized conspecifics, for instance, is documented in several species.
2. Interactions with parasitized conspecifics can also, however, lead to physiological changes in uninfected animals, an effect that is much less well studied, and consequently, less well understood. The way in which exposure to parasitism risk changes the physiology of uninfected animals and the impacts of those changes on animal fitness remain a significant gap in knowledge.
3. Determining how the disease environment experienced by animals impacts their physiology, survival and reproduction has major implications for our knowledge of how …

Influence Of Cultural Competency Program On Bias In A Community Volunteer Program, Melodie L. Anderson

Student Scholarly Projects

Practice Problem: Individuals may express hesitancy in volunteering in community health programs that directly interface with persons experiencing poverty due to poverty biases. Failure to understand the issues and needs of those experiencing poverty may factor into disparities and inequities along the social determinants of health, leading to poorer population health, well-being, and quality of life.

PICOT: The PICOT question that guided this project was in volunteers (mentors) of community health programs (P) how does a cultural competency program (I) compare to the standardized training program(C) influence bias (0) over 8 weeks (T)?

Evidence: An evidence review indicated …

Group B Streptococcus In The Urine In Nonpregnant Adults: Disease Or Distraction?, Nicole Mongilardi, Brigid M. Wilson, Sunah Song, Robin L.P. Jump, Federico Perez

Faculty Scholarship

In this large, retrospective cohort study, we used administrative data to evaluate nonpregnant adults with group B Streptococcus (GBS) bacteriuria. We found greater all-cause mortality in those with urinary tract infections compared to asymptomatic bacteriuria. Differences in patients' baseline characteristics and the 1-year mortality rate raise the possibility that provider practices contribute to differences observed.

Understanding The Complexities Of Anemia In Chronic Inflammatory Diseases From Diagnosis To Treatment, Naomi Rae Flindt

Theses and Dissertations

Iron is an essential nutrient for energy and DNA replication. Its homeostasis is commonly perturbed by chronic inflammatory mechanisms. Chronic inflammation upregulates a cytokine, hepcidin, that degrades the iron export protein ferroportin. Without a way to export iron into the bloodstream iron availability in blood becomes depleted. Iron depletion in the blood stream hinders erythropoiesis and is termed anemia. Herein I investigate and inhibit the mechanism of hepcidin activation. Inhibition of hepcidin activation has released iron from tissues and alleviated anemic conditions in a cancer model. I have laid the foundation to investigate this pathway in a 3D spheroid model. …

C3ar Plays Both Sides In Regulating Resistance To Bacterial Infections, Jesse A. Corcoran, Brooke A. Napier

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Activation of the complement pathway results in the production of bioactive C3a, a product of C3 cleavage, which interacts with membrane-bound receptor C3aR to regulate innate immune cell function and outcome of bacterial infection. Specifically, previous research has identified mechanistically distinct and cell type–specific roles for C3aR in regulating innate immune cell inflammatory state, antimicrobial killing capacity, and metabolism. Historically, the production of C3a has been relegated to the serum; however, recent studies have provided evidence that various cell types can produce intracellular C3a that stimulates intracellular C3aR. In light of these new results, it is imperative that we revisit …

Glycan Shield Of The Ebolavirus Envelope Glycoprotein Gp, Weiwei Peng, Vamseedhar Rayaprolu, Amar D Parvate, Matti F Pronker, Sean Hui, Diptiben Parekh, Kelly Shaffer, Xiaoying Yu, Erica O Saphire, Joost Snijder

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The envelope glycoprotein GP of the ebolaviruses is essential for host cell entry and the primary target of the host antibody response. GP is heavily glycosylated with up to 17 N-linked sites, numerous O-linked glycans in its disordered mucin-like domain (MLD), and three predicted C-linked mannosylation sites. Glycosylation is important for host cell attachment, GP stability and fusion activity, and shielding from neutralization by serum antibodies. Here, we use glycoproteomics to profile the site-specific glycosylation patterns of ebolavirus GP. We detect up to 16 unique O-linked glycosylation sites in the MLD, and two O-linked sites in the receptor-binding GP1 subunit. …

Global Child And Family-Centered Care Fellowship, Education And Mentorship For Pediatric Healthcare Professionals: A Literature Review, Ashley Zheng, Bobbijo Pansier

Patient Experience Journal

Child- and family-centered care (FCC) is increasingly accepted and implemented to optimize the healthcare experience for patients, their families, and healthcare professionals. Standish Foundation for Children, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, has designed and piloted a fellowship to educate pediatric healthcare professionals in FCC & psychosocial care via an inquiry and mentorship model in Tbilisis, Georgia. This review aimed to evaluate and synthesize existing literature on psychosocial and FCC mentorship for pediatric healthcare professionals in four parts: ongoing need, effects on healthcare professionals, effects on children and their families and/or caregivers, and in cross-country healthcare settings. Reviewers searched open-source databases for articles …

Validating And Testing An Agent-Based Model For The Spread Of Covid-19 In Ireland, Elizabeth Hunter, John D. Kelleher

Articles

Agent-based models can be used to better understand the impacts of lifting restrictions or implementing interventions during a pandemic. However, agent-based models are computationally expensive, and running a model of a large population can result in a simulation taking too long to run for the model to be a useful analysis tool during a public health crisis. To reduce computing time and power while running a detailed agent-based model for the spread of COVID-19 in the Republic of Ireland, we introduce a scaling factor that equates 1 agent to 100 people in the population. We present the results from model …

Back To School Means Back-To-School Checkups, Staff

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Elucidating The Relationship Between Self-Reported Disability And Functional Movement In Individuals With Chronic Low Back Pain, Kelsey Ampudia Clark

Theses and Dissertations

INTRODUCTION: Low back pain (LBP) is often exacerbated by movement and, during functional movements, people with LBP tend to inherently modify their posture and movement patterns to avoid aggravating their pain further. Therefore, analysis of spinal movement in people with LBP is necessary and may lead to the identification of movement-based clusters for optimal treatment. PURPOSE: The overall purpose of this study was to investigate how movement patterns in people with chronic LBP relate to their subjective level of pain-related disability. First, we determined which spinal movements best discriminate between people with chronic LBP and asymptomatic controls; second, we ascertained …

The Discovery Of Novel 14-3-3 Binding Proteins Atg9a And Ptov1 And Their Role In Regulating Cancer Mechanisms, Colten Mitchell Mcewan

Theses and Dissertations

14-3-3 proteins are among a family of phospho-binding proteins that are known to regulate many essential cellular mechanisms. By binding to sites of phosphorylation, 14-3-3s are integrated into multiple signaling pathways that govern critical processes, such as apoptosis, cell cycle progression, autophagy, glucose metabolism, and cell motility. These processes are crucial for tumorigenesis and 14-3-3 proteins are known to play a central role in facilitating cancer progression. In this study, my colleagues and I discover two novel 14-3-3 interacting proteins, ATG9A and PTOV1, that are both vital to essential cellular functions and describe various mechanisms that these two proteins regulate. …

How Domestic Violence Affects Incarcerated Women, Michelle Ryman

University Honors Theses

The incarceration of women has grown seven times since the 1980s, with up to 90% of incarcerated women being survivors of domestic violence. Women are five times more likely to be abused by an intimate partner. Intimate partner violence leads to unhealthy coping mechanisms like drug abuse and violence against perpetrators. While coercion in IPV can contribute to violent retaliation and drug abuse, it can also lead to criminal behavior prompted by the perpetrator. Whether IPV shows itself as violent attacks, sexual assault, coercion, financial withholding, threats, isolation, psychological abuse, or any other behavior that allows one person to control …

Genetic Diversity Of Honeybee Colonies Predicts Gut Bacterial Diversity Of Individual Colony Members, Calum Bridson, Latha Vellaniparambil, Rachel E. Antwis, Werner Müller, R. Tucker Gilman, Jennifer K. Rowntree

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

Green Approach For Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Synthesis: Application In Antimicrobial And Anticancer- An Updated Review, Norul Aini Zakariya, Wan Hafizah W. Jusof, Shahnaz Majeed

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Cancer and microbial infections create numerous challenges nowadays. Chemotherapy agents cause severe side effects, while microbial infections, especially multidrug-resistant bacterial strains hard to treat with available antibiotics. Therefore, this review provides an overview of the green synthesis of Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) with their physicochemical properties and mechanism of action . The IONPs causes cytotoxicity and antimicrobial activity by causing oxidative distress through the production of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). The IONPs as an anticancer and antimicrobial agent may help to overcome the limitation of conventional treatments but needs toxicity evaluation before usage in clinical applications.

Editorial Board

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

No abstract provided.

Covid-19 Newsletter (Vol. 130), Center For Disaster Medicine, New York Medical College

COVID-19 Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Single-Cell Analysis Reveals Differences Among Inkt Cells Colonizing Peripheral Organs And Identifies Klf2 As A Key Gene For Inkt Emigration, Jie Wang, Ian Loveless, Indra Adrianto, Tingting Liu, Kalpana Subedi, Xiaojun Wu, Md Moazzem Hossain, Eric Sebzda, Li Zhou, Qing-Sheng Mi

Dermatology Articles

Invariant natural killer T cell (iNKT) subsets are differentially distributed in various immune organs. However, it remains unclear whether iNKT cells exhibit phenotypical and functional differences in different peripheral organs and how thymic iNKT cells emigrate to peripheral organs. Here, we used single-cell RNA-seq to map iNKT cells from peripheral organs. iNKT1 cells from liver, spleen, and lymph node appear to have distinct phenotypic profiles and functional capabilities. However, iNKT17 transcriptomes were comparable across peripheral organs. In addition, by integrating data with a thymic iNKT cell study, we uncovered a transient population of recent thymic emigrants, a cluster of peripheral …

A Checklist Of Parasites Of Peromyscus Maniculatus In North America, John Ubelaker, Gábor R. Rácz

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity

This document represents a summary of parasites, in the broadest sense of the term, reported from Peromyscus maniculatus from throughout its range in North America. The document provides data from work ranging from paleontological findings to relatively current reports of parasites and parasitism from P. maniculatus and covers viruses, bacteria sensu lato, protists, helminths, and ectoparasites.

Utilizing Real-Time Technology To Assess The Impact Of Home Environmental Exposures On Asthma Symptoms: Protocol For An Observational Pilot Study., Sharmilee Nyenhuis, Emily Cramer, Matthew Grande, Luz Huntington-Moskos, Kathryn Krueger, Olivia Bimbi, Barbara Polivka, Kamal Eldeirawi

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Background: It is estimated that over 60% of adults with asthma have uncontrolled symptoms, representing a substantial health and economic impact. The effects of the home environment and exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) on adults with asthma remain unknown. In addition, methods currently used to assess the home environment do not capture real-time data on potentially modifiable environmental exposures or their effect on asthma symptoms.

Objective: The aims of this study are to (1) determine the feasibility and usability of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to assess self-report residential environmental exposures and asthma symptoms, home …

Traditional Use, Phytochemical Profiles And Pharmacological Properties Of Artemisia Genus From Central Asia, Aliya Nurlybekova, Aidana Kudaibergen, Aizhan Kazymbetova, Magzhan Amangeldi

Faculty and Student Publications

The flora of Kazakhstan is characterized by its wide variety of different types of medicinal plants, many of which can be used on an industrial scale. The Traditional Kazakh Medicine (TKM) was developed during centuries based on the six elements of ancient Kazakh theory, associating different fields such as pharmacology, anatomy, pathology, immunology and food nursing as well as disease prevention. The endemic Artemisia L. species are potential sources of unique and new natural products and new chemical structures, displaying diverse bioactivities and leading to the development of safe and effective phytomedicines against prevailing diseases in Kazakhstan and the Central …

Implementation And Evaluation Of Asthma Education Cell Phone Application: Asthmaxcel, Within An Allergy And Asthma Specialty Practice., Michael Stefan Swift

Doctor of Nursing Practice Papers

Abstract

Background: Asthma is the leading chronic illness among pediatric patients. One of the most significant obstacles facing asthma care is adherence to asthma management plans. In the pediatric population, adolescents (ages 12-17) traditionally have poor asthma management. Research shows that adolescents respond well to technology-based education and that improving adolescent healthcare literacy leads to better asthma control.

Environment: This project took place at an allergy and asthma specialists office. This private practice includes primary care allergy, asthma, and immunology services that follows roughly 120 adolescents with asthma.

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to provide the allergy and …

Integrating Physiology Into Correlative Models Can Alter Projections Of Habitat Suitability Under Climate Change For A Threatened Amphibian, Jillian C. Newman, Eric A. Riddell, Lori A. Williams, Michael W. Sears, Kyle Barrett

Open Access Publishing Fund

Rapid global change has increased interest in developing ways to identify suitable refu-gia for species of conservation concern. Correlative and mechanistic species distribu-tion models (SDMs) represent two approaches to generate spatially-explicit estimates of climate vulnerability. Correlative SDMs generate distributions using statistical associations between environmental variables and species presence data. In contrast, mechanistic SDMs use physiological traits and tolerances to identify areas that meet the conditions required for growth, survival and reproduction. Correlative approaches assume modeled environmental variables influence species distributions directly or indirectly; however, the mechanisms underlying these associations are rarely verified empirically. We compared habitat suitability predictions between a …

Flattening The Curve While Protecting Our Right To Privacy: How The United States Can Implement The Digital Contract Tracing Efforts Used In East Asia, Evan Morris

Global Business Law Review

This paper looks at the digital contact tracing efforts implemented by other nations and assesses how similar measures could operate under enacted and proposed United States laws. Part I overviews the history of contact tracing and its effectiveness in prior disease outbreaks. Part II delves into the digital contact tracing efforts implemented by South Korea and Singapore. These summaries include: the digital contact tracing efforts taken, the laws that authorize these efforts, the public’s reception, and the overall effectiveness of the efforts. Part III overviews the digital contact tracing efforts in the United States, including proposed legislation aimed at user …

Understanding The Assumptions Of An Seir Compartmental Model Using Agentization And A Complexity Hierarchy, Elizabeth Hunter, John D. Kelleher

Articles

Equation-based and agent-based models are popular methods in understanding disease dynamics. Although there are many types of equation-based models, the most common is the SIR compartmental model that assumes homogeneous mixing and populations. One way to understand the effects of these assumptions is by agentization. Equation-based models can be agentized by creating a simple agent-based model that replicates the results of the equationbased model, then by adding complexity to these agentized models it is possible to break the assumptions of homogeneous mixing and populations and test how breaking these assumptions results in different outputs. We report a set of experiments …

Using Poultry To Enhance Food Security In Stann Creek, Belize, Emily Spatz

Poultry Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Food insecurity is a growing issue in developing and developed countries alike, and in countries like Belize, the prevalence of hunger has soared in recent years. Not having access to diets with sufficient calories and nutrients leads to a host of developmental issues, including stunting and cognitive delays. The purpose of this work was to create an all-encompassing manual for small-scale broiler production, with the intention of another honors student overseeing the implementation of the ideas set forth in the manual, in order to provide nourishment for the students and staff of a school in Belize. After determining that the …

The Relationship Between Sickle Cell Anemia And Falciparum Malaria: Is It Human Evolution In Action?, Alan L. Gillen, Jared G. Mast, Nathan Mast

Faculty Publications and Presentations

The sickle cell trait has been widely considered a classic example of human evolution in action because of the mutation’s ability to protect against malarial infections. Under normal physiological conditions, Plasmodium falciparum is capable of reproducing and spreading systemically, however individuals carrying the sickle cell trait possess sickled erythrocytes that excessively leak potassium, resulting in the inhibition of P. falciparum development. Recent studies have shown that the mutation responsible for the sickle cell trait – hemoglobin S (HbS) mutation – is higher in areas of the world where malaria is endemic. This indicates that the mutation is nonrandom in nature, …

Perception Of Illness And Its Association With Willingness To Adhere To Treatment In Chronic Hepatitis C Patients With New Diagnosis Of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Carmel Kruse

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing DNP Capstone Projects

Chronic liver disease is becoming the most common cause of mortality, morbidity, and utilization of healthcare services globally. Both nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and chronic hepatitis C (CHC) are frequent causes of chronic liver disease. Recently, there have been significant findings on the relationship between NAFLD and CHC; patients with CHC have a higher incidence of NAFLD. The introduction of direct-acting antivirals has cured more CHC patients than ever before. Unfortunately, the current interventions for NAFLD requiring behavioral change remain ineffective. Patient’s ability to follow advice depends largely on their health beliefs; therefore, understanding their illness perception is an …