Digital Commons Network^™

The Post-Pandemic Order: A Blueprint For Balancing Health And Ip Interests In The Age Of Covid Variants, Arjun Padmanabhan, Tanner J. Wadsworth

Student Scholarship

In December 2021, the World Health Assembly (“WHA”) convened to develop a pandemic response treaty for future pandemics. Unfortunately, as presently envisioned, the resulting pandemic response framework will suffer from many of the same inadequacies that prevented existing frameworks from responding effectively to COVID-19. The threat of new pandemics emerging in the future—and new variants developing in the present—call for a more integrated, robust, comprehensive solution.

This Article lays a blueprint for that solution: a global multilateral Council empowered to(1) investigate developing pandemics; (2) incentivize pharmaceutical companies to rapidly-produce vaccines and share them through voluntary licenses or TRIPS compulsory licensing …

Evolutionarily Stable Gene Clusters Shed Light On The Common Grounds Of Pathogenicity In The Acinetobacter Calcoaceticus-Baumannii Complex, Bardya Djahanschiri, Gisela Di Venanzio, Jesus S. Distel, Jennifer Breisch, Marius Alfred Dieckmann, Alexander Goesmann, Beate Averhoff, Stephan Göttig, Gottfried Wilharm, Mario F. Feldman, Ingo Ebersberger

Open Access Publications

Nosocomial pathogens of the Acinetobacter calcoaceticus-baumannii (ACB) complex are a cautionary example for the world-wide spread of multi- and pan-drug resistant bacteria. Aiding the urgent demand for novel therapeutic targets, comparative genomics studies between pathogens and their apathogenic relatives shed light on the genetic basis of human-pathogen interaction. Yet, existing studies are limited in taxonomic scope, sensing of the phylogenetic signal, and resolution by largely analyzing genes independent of their organization in functional gene clusters. Here, we explored more than 3,000 Acinetobacter genomes in a phylogenomic framework integrating orthology-based phylogenetic profiling and microsynteny conservation analyses. We delineate gene clusters in …

Immuno-Anti-Infective Drug Design Using Bioai, Cathy Chen, Vivian Zhang

Bioengineering Senior Theses

According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development today. A growing number of infections, like Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, are becoming harder to treat as the antibiotics used to treat them become less effective. As a result, the primary concern for infections in the hospital setting is due to the S. aureus’s growing resistance to antibiotics. Therefore, in response to this global health threat, our project focuses on furthering the research in developing a drug that S. aureus will not develop resistance to. In this paper, we assess …

June 1, 2022 Greenmail, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

GreenMail (student newsletter through 2024)

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Heat Stress On Expression Of Wheat Genes Responsive To Hessian Fly Infestation, Jiazheng Yuan, Jordan O’Neal, Daria Brown, Lieceng Zhu

College of Health, Science, and Technology

Heat stress compromises wheat (Triticum aestivium) resistance to Hessian fly (HF, Mayetiola destructor (Say)). This study aimed to investigate the impact of heat stress on transcript expression of wheat genes associated with resistance to HF infestation under normal and heat-stressed conditions. To this end, ‘Molly’, a wheat cultivar containing the resistance gene H13, was subjected to HF infestation, heat stress, and the combination of HF infestation and heat stress. Our RNA-Seq approach identified 21 wheat genes regulated by HF infestation under normal temperatures (18?C) and 155 genes regulated by HF infestation when plants were exposed to 35?C for 6 h. …

Prevalence & Factors Associated With Acute Kidney Injury In Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention At A Tertiary Healthcare Facility In Tanzania, Faisal Hooda

Master of Medicine in Internal Medicine

Background: Acute kidney injury is a potentially fatal but preventable outcome of percutaneous coronary intervention: the most plausible cause being radiocontrast-induced nephropathy; others include: pre-existing renal insufficiency from underlying illnesses and also acute renal insult caused by hypoperfusion from cardiac causes. The prevalence, associated risk factors and outcomes of AKI post-PCI are unclear and unexplored in our setting. Objectives: The study sought to determine the prevalence of acute kidney injury post-percutaneous coronary intervention at The Aga Khan Hospital, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Secondary objectives included: factors associated, with and outcomes of acute kidney injury (AKI) post percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). …

Nursing News & Views - June 2022, Joanne Miller Rn

Nursing Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Examining Digital Proficiency Perceptions And Differences In Achievement During The Covid-19 Pandemic In A Rural Mid-Western High School, Tiffany Rae James Young

Dissertations

In response to the Covid-19 Pandemic, schools worldwide were forced to react quickly to meet the needs of all students in an unprecedented time of change for all facets of society. Through a mixed-method approach, this study aimed to explore the effect of hybrid learning on student achievement, as well as the effect, if any, of teachers’ perceptions of their own digital abilities on student achievement. The research also examined the thoughts of students and teachers as it pertained to teaching and learning during the global pandemic. To analyze the effect of hybrid learning on student achievement, the researcher compared …

Comprehensive Characterization Of Tumor Immune Landscape Following Oncolytic Virotherapy By Single-Cell Rna Sequencing, Divya Ravirala, Guangsheng Pei, Zhongming Zhao, Xiaoliu Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

An important mechanism of oncolytic virotherapy in ameliorating cancer immunotherapy is by inducing significant changes in the immune landscape in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Despite this notion and the potential therapeutic implications, a comprehensive analysis of the immune changes in carcinomas induced by virotherapy has not yet been elucidated. We conducted single-cell RNA sequencing analysis on carcinomas treated with an HSV-2-based oncolytic virus to characterize the immunogenic changes in the TME. We specifically analyzed and compared the immune cell composition between viral treated and untreated tumors. We also applied CellChat to analyze the complex interactions among the infiltrated immune cells. …

Peripheral Blood Gene Expression Profiling Shows Predictive Significance For Response To Mycophenolate In Systemic Sclerosis-Related Interstitial Lung Disease, Shervin Assassi, Elizabeth R Volkmann, W Jim Zheng, Xuan Wang, Holly Wilhalme, Marka A Lyons, Michael D Roth, Donald P Tashkin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES: To characterise the peripheral blood cell (PBC) gene expression changes ensuing from mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) or cyclophosphamide (CYC) treatment and to determine the predictive significance of baseline PBC transcript scores for response to immunosuppression in systemic sclerosis (SSc)-related interstitial lung disease (ILD).

METHODS: PBC RNA samples from baseline and 12-month visits, corresponding to the active treatment period of both arms in Scleroderma Lung Study II, were investigated by global RNA sequencing. Joint models were created to examine the predictive significance of

RESULTS: 134 patients with SSc-ILD (CYC=69 and MMF=65) were investigated. CYC led to an upregulation of erythropoiesis, inflammation …

Study Of Indices Comprising Surrogate Markers Of Vitamin D Deficiency, Raef Botros, Manal Aboshady, Bassem Mostafa

Mansoura Medical Journal

Background: Vitamin D deficiency is one of the most common medical conditions in recent times. It is becoming endemic in many parts of the world because of insufficient UVB exposure, urbanization, pollution and traditional clothing preventing UVB reaching skin surface. As a result, wide prevalence of vitamin D deficiency is observed in many countries. Objective: to investigate markers of vitamin D deficiency applicable in large sectors of society at low cost. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on 80 healthy adults aged (20-60) ys. All patients were subjected to full history, thorough clinical examination, laboratory measurement of hemoglobin, serum …

Data Of Atrial Arrhythmias In Hospitalized Covid-19 And Influenza Patients, Qasim Jehangir, Yi Lee, Katie Latack, Laila M. Poisson, Dee Dee Wang, Shiyi Song, Dinesh R. Apala, Kiritkumar Patel, Abdul R. Halabi, Geetha Krishnamoorthy, Anupam A. Sule

Cardiology Articles

Atrial arrhythmias (AA) are common in hospitalized COVID-19 patients with limited data on their association with COVID-19 infection, clinical and imaging outcomes. In the related research article using retrospective research data from one quaternary care and five community hospitals, patients aged 18 years and above with positive SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction test were included. 6927 patients met the inclusion criteria. The data in this article provides demographics, home medications, in-hospital events and COVID-19 treatments, multivariable generalized linear regression regression models using a log link with a Poisson distribution (multi-parameter regression [MPR]) to determine predictors of new-onset AA and mortality in …

Building A Supply Chain For Emergency: A Case Study Of Kingfa's Mask Supply Chain, Nanjing Li

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In case of emergency such as pandemic or earthquake, there are usually surge demands for some necessary products, which are usually far more than available production capacities thus it is necessary to quickly build more production capacities. However, building production capacities is not just building production lines but to constructing whole supply chains, from raw materials and equipment sourcing, manufacturing flow lines to demand management.

To quickly construct a supply chain for fulfilling such emergency demands is very challenging both theoretically and practically. This thesis aims to develop a model of supply chain construction for emergency demand and identify the …

Human Papillomavirus Seroprevalence And Seroconversion Following Baseline Detection Of Nine Human Papillomavirus Types In Young Women, Darron R. Brown, Xavier Castellsagué, Daron Ferris, Suzanne M. Garland, Warner Huh, Marc Steben, Cosette M. Wheeler, Alfred Saah, Alain Luxembourg, Se Li, Christine Velicer

Pathology Research and Scholarship

BACKGROUND: Estimates of the humoral immune response to incident human papillomavirus (HPV) infections are limited.

METHODS: In this post hoc analysis of 3875 women aged 16-23 years from a 4-valent HPV vaccine trial (NCT00092482), HPV seroprevalence on day 1 was measured with a 9-valent HPV (HPV 6/11/16/18/31/33/45/52/58) competitive Luminex immunoassay and compared with cervical/external genital HPV detection by polymerase chain reaction. In the control group, among women who were HPV DNA‒negative on day 1, seroconversion following initial HPV detection was estimated using Kaplan-Meier methods.

RESULTS: Type-specific HPV seropositivity among women with no day 1 cervical/external genital HPV detection was 0.6%-3.6%. …

2022-June-01-Sherrod Library Pride Month, University Marketing And Communication, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

In celebration of Pride Month, the Sherrod Library at East Tennessee State University has hand-selected a collection of LGBTQ+ fiction and non-fiction books. The following assortment has a variety of narratives, including topics from heartwarming fictional romances to thought-provoking memoirs.

Non-Fiction  

“Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place” by Neema Avashia (2022) 

“’Another Appalachia’ examines both the roots and the resonance of Neema Avashia's identity as a queer Desi Appalachian woman. With narrative explorations of foodways, religion, sports, standards of beauty, social media, gun culture and more, "Another Appalachia" mixes nostalgia and humor, sadness and sweetness, …

Analysis Of Blood Type For Sars-Cov-2 And Correlation For Disease Acquisition In Various Sociodemographic Groups Including Women Of Childbearing Age., Maria L. Vacca, Nikunj Vyas, Joshua Banks, Elaine Joyce, Cindy Hou, Benjamin E. Leiby, Stefanie Deangelo, Todd P. Levin, Autum Shingler-Nace, Marilyn Mapp, Ashlee Hiester, Jonathan H. Coughenour

Division of Infectious Diseases and Environmental Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Multiple studies have occurred to determine if a patient's blood type, Rhesus factor (Rh), and sociodemographic attributes contribute to contracting SARS-CoV-2. True association remains unknown.

METHODS: Inclusion criteria included in-patients who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 with blood type assessed. Study endpoints combined ABO, Rh and all-cause inpatient mortality (ACIM) with testing positivity. Pregnancy status was one of several secondary endpoints evaluated. A logistic regression analysis was used to estimate association.

RESULTS: Of the 27,662 patients who met inclusion criteria, Type A blood was associated with increased positivity [1.01 (1.0-1.21), P = .03]. Type B [1.10 (0.99-1.23), P = .08] …

Authorship Representation In Global Emergency Medicine: A Bibliometric Analysis From 2016 To 2020, Stephanie Chow Garbern, Gimbo Hyuha, Catalina González Marqués, Noor Baig, Jennifer L. Chan, Sanjukta Dutta, Masuma A. Gulamhussein, Gloria Paulina López Terán, Hussein Karim Manji, Benjamin Wachira

Emergency Medicine, East Africa

Introduction: High-income country (HIC) authors are disproportionately represented in authorship bylines compared with those affiliated with low and middle-income countries (LMICs) in global health research. An assessment of authorship representation in the global emergency medicine (GEM) literature is lacking but may inform equitable academic collaborations in this relatively new field.

Methods: We conducted a bibliometric analysis of original research articles reporting studies conducted in LMICs from the annual GEM Literature Review from 2016 to 2020. Data extracted included study topic, journal, study country(s) and region, country income classification, author order, country(s) of authors' affiliations and funding sources. We compared the …

Pandemics & People: Designing A Virtual Epidemic Event For Immersive, Connected, And Playful Participation In An Infectious Disease Outbreak, Deborah Fields, Amanda Strawhacker, Michael Giang, Yasmin Kafai, Colby Tofel-Grehl, Tyler Hansen, Jen Sun, Mark Dinan

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

Researchers and educators have identified an urgent need for more rigorous teaching and learning about epidemiology topics and practices, such as engaging in behaviors that prevent the spread of viral disease such as COVID-19. Responding to this need, we designed a virtual epidemic as a special event hosted in a virtual world. In this paper we share the strategic, tactical, and detailed design of the SPIKEY-20 virtual epidemic and data that reflects back on the design in terms of player participation. Reflecting on the design, we ask: What kinds of players participated in the SPIKEY-20 virtual epidemic? How did players …

Study The Effect Of Cinnamon And Tea Tree Oils On Biofilm Formation Of Klebsiella Pneumoniae, Halah Rafeeq, Zahraa Sharba

Journal of Applied Sciences and Nanotechnology

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a noteworthy human pathogen. As a virulence factor, these bacteria may create a thick coating of extracellular biofilm. This aids the organism's adhesion to biotic as well as abiotic surfaces, preventing antimicrobial agents from doing their job. Infections caused by bacterial biofilms have become more difficult to treat as a result. Therefore, the present study has been designed to investigate the effects of essential oils, individually or in combination, on the biofilms of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates. In this research, the quantification of biofilm composition for 50 isolates from urine samples indicates the following statistics: [n = 24 …

A Principal-Agent Approach To Locating The Politically Decisive Coalitions On Health In Countries Worldwide, Pre-Covid 19 Pandemic: Who Is Primarily Accountable For The Financing And Delivery Of Health Care, And Who Do They Answer To?, Kiernan Fischer, Kevin Johnston, Tristan Lanze, James Santimaw

Working Papers Series

We examined decision making in health using the Decision Space approach, which is rooted in the principal-agent theory. Countries analyzed were Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Finland, Guatemala, Hungary, Israel, Nigeria, Spain, Thailand, and Turkey. Researchers sought to analyze who was the de facto decision maker of health related decisions in each state. We have accomplished this through looking at government structures and the financing of health, which gave significant insight into who the primary authority on health is. Furthermore, we examined who holds this de facto decision maker accountable. In some cases it was the executive that did …

Knowledge, Attitudes, And Preparedness For Managing Pregnant And Postpartum Women With Covid-19 Among Nurse-Midwives In Kenya, Rose Maina, Rachel Kimani, James Orwa, Bernard Mutwiri, Carolyne K. Nyariki, Sheila Shaibu, Valerie Fleming

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

Introduction: Globally, maternal morbidity and mortality have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the high burden of maternal and neonatal mortality in Kenya prior to COVID-19, front line health workers, including nurse-midwives, must be competent to ensure continued quality maternal services. Knowledge and awareness of COVID-19 transmission influence nurse-midwives risk perception and ability to implement prevention strategies.

Objective: We examined nurse-midwives’ knowledge, attitudes, and preparedness in managing pregnant and postpartum women with COVID-19 in Kenya.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 118 nurse-midwives between July 2020 and November 2020. A 31-item survey comprising 15 knowledge, …

Climate Change And Gender In Africa: A Review Of Impact And Gender-Responsive Solutions, Alex Awiti

Institute for Human Development, East Africa

Climate change affects livelihoods and wellbeing. Women and men may experience the impacts of climate change differently. But climate change and its associated impacts affect women negatively. A review was done on peer-reviewed literature related to the impact of climate change on gender in Africa. While there is an abundance of credible scientific evidence on the impacts of climate change, there is a dearth of reliable disaggregated data and evidence on the impact of climate change on women. The review shows that climate change affects women more negatively compared to men in five impact areas: (i) agricultural production; (ii) food …

What Is Next In African Neuroscience?, Kirsten A. Donald, Mahmoud Maina, Nilesh Patel, Carine Nguemeni, Wael Mohammed, Amina Abubakar, Matthew Brown, Raliza Stoyanova, Andrew Welchman, Natasha Walker

Institute for Human Development, East Africa

Working in Africa provides neuroscientists with opportunities that are not available in other continents. Populations in this region exhibit the greatest genetic diversity; they live in ecosystems with diverse flora and fauna; and they face unique stresses to brain health, including child brain health and development, due to high levels of traumatic brain injury and diseases endemic to the region. However, the neuroscience community in Africa has yet to reach its full potential. In this article we report the outcomes from a series of meetings at which the African neuroscience community came together to identify barriers and opportunities, and to …

Creative Methods For Improving Health Literacy In Underserved Communities, Riley Clark, Grace Lance, Beth Reid, Jenny Nguyen, Makenzie Mclauchlan, Kiara Maningat

Nursing Leadership in Community Engagement Projects

In 2003, Recovery Café was founded with the goal of providing long-term recovery support to those in the margins, including those experiencing homelessness, addiction, and mental health challenges (Recovery Café, 2022). Recovery Café provides members with the support needed to gain and maintain access to housing, social and health services, healthy relationships, education, and employment (Recovery Café, 2022). Recovery Café provides this support by offering a safe space, with nutritious meals, fostering a loving community, and providing resources such as educational opportunities, 12-step meetings, and referral services (Recovery Café, 2022). In 2022, the Seattle Pacific University Lydia Green Nursing Program …

Immunosuppression Broadens Evolutionary Pathways To Drug Resistance And Treatment Failure During Acinetobacter Baumannii Pneumonia In Mice, Wenwen Ho, Lindsay M. Busch, Juan Hernandez-Bird, Efrat Hamami, Christopher Marshall, Edward Geisinger, Vaughn S. Cooper, Tim Van Opijnen, Jason W. Rosch, Ralph R. Isberg

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Acinetobacter baumannii is increasingly refractory to antibiotic treatment in healthcare settings. As is true of most human pathogens, the genetic path to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the role that the immune system plays in modulating AMR during disease are poorly understood. Here we reproduced several routes to fluoroquinolone resistance, performing evolution experiments using sequential lung infections in mice that are replete with or depleted of neutrophils, providing two key insights into the evolution of drug resistance. First, neutropenic hosts acted as reservoirs for the accumulation of drug resistance during drug treatment. Selection for variants with altered drug sensitivity profiles arose …

Jujutsu Persuasion: Learning How To Coopt With Another’S Values, Robert D. Costigan, Kyle Brink

Open Access Publishing Support Funded Articles

The purpose of this pedagogical paper is to present three innovative exercises that foster learning of oral-persuasion skills at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Namely, business students are instructed to frame their arguments on delicate issues with the other person’s values. The technique is called jujutsu persuasion because it uses an adversary’s force (i.e., their key values) against them, instead of attempting to persuade with one’s own values. Prior research has shown that jujutsu persuasion can moderate the other person’s more extreme attitudes and reduce their defensiveness. Using Bloom’s Taxonomy as a framework, the first exercise develops knowledge and understanding …

Making Meaning Of Covid-19: An Exploratory Analysis Of U.S. Adolescent Experiences Of The Pandemic, Gabriel M. Velez, Madeline Hahn, Brian Troyer

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic will mark the lives and trajectories of adolescents who lived through it. The pandemic upended social contexts, disrupted schools, and, for many, impacted the physical, financial, and psychosocial health of themselves, their families, and their communities. Contextual changes, however, are not solely deterministic of developmental outcomes. As Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory and Spencer’s Phenomenological Variant of the Ecological Systems Theory demonstrate, young people interpret, make meaning, and respond to socioecological contexts as part of their developmental processes. The current study explored meaning making qualitatively through how adolescents in the United States were experiencing COVID-19. Participants were asked …

The Global Implementation Of Dolutegravir For Hiv Treatment, Matthew L. Romo

Dissertations and Theses

Background
Dolutegravir, an integrase strand transfer inhibitor, is now recommended by international guidelines as part of preferred antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens for people living with HIV. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), HIV treatment programs are transitioning from non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) to dolutegravir because of its superior efficacy and tolerability, and high genetic barrier to HIV drug resistance. Along with the optimism surrounding widespread dolutegravir use, key questions regarding its implementation have emerged. In this dissertation, I sought to achieve the following specific aims: Aim 1: Characterize dolutegravir uptake in LMICs and identify potential disparities related to sex …

Outcomes Of Online Learning In Physiology Course Amid Covid-19 In Taiwan: The Role Of Mental Health And Academic Motivation, Yun-Wen Chan, Ting-An Lin, Shuoh-Wen Chen, Yi-Jing Chen, Hsiao-Chun Yao, Chi-Chang Juan, Hsun-Yu Chan, Yuan-I Chang

Journal of Medical Education

Purpose: The study explores whether and how the online instruction in the course of physiology is related to students' perceived learning outcomes. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020, the course of physiology switched from face-to-face to online instruction in Taiwan. However, little is known whether students' academic motivation and outcomes changed accordingly, when accounting for students' mental health, which could be compromised by the pandemic-related stress. Methods: Sixty undergraduate students who were taking physiology in spring 2020 completed a survey questionnaire and responded to questions pertaining to motivation of learning physiology, level of depressive symptoms, and mid-term and …

Detection Of Enterotoxin Gene Cluster In Staphylococcus Epidermidis Recovered From Neonatal Liver Abscess, Bishara J. Freij, Barbara E. Robinson-Dunn, Patrick M. Schlievert

Posters

• Neonatal pyogenic liver abscesses are rare • Potential routes of hepatic infection include: portal vein, biliary ducts, hepatic artery during sepsis, or direct spread from infected contiguous structures • Risk factors may include bloodstream infection, abdominal surgery, umbilical vein catheterization, total parenteral nutrition, necrotizing enterocolitis, and/or immune deficiencies • More common in premature infants at present • Variety of etiologic agents for neonatal liver abscess: Staphylococcus aureus (methicillin-susceptible and resistant), coagulase-negative staphylococci (CONS), streptococci, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Serratia, and Candida • Umbilical stump and catheter exit site hub often colonized with CONS • CONS colonize nearly all …