Digital Commons Network^™

Protect Your Patients And Yourself: The Complete And Honest Medical History, Mitchell Gardiner Dmd

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This feature article emphasizes the critical role of obtaining a complete and honest medical history in dental practice. Reflecting on the evolution of clinicians' diligence since dental school, the article underscores the potential risks associated with inadequate medical histories. The legal and ethical responsibilities in gathering comprehensive patient information are highlighted, emphasizing the impact on patient well-being and the dentist's vulnerability to legal challenges. The complexities of patients' truthfulness, especially regarding sensitive topics, are discussed, urging clinicians to establish trust for accurate disclosures. The article concludes with practical recommendations, stressing the ongoing need for thorough medical history reviews and the …

S-Equol: A Novel Therapeutic For Hiv-1 Induced Gut Dysbiosis, Mason T. Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations

HIV-1 infection affects approximately 38 million people around the world. The advent of cART has greatly improved the quality of life of infected individuals; however, roughly 50% of these individuals will still experience HIV-1 associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). Additionally, the gut microbiome has been reported to be dysbiotic in HIV-1 infected individuals, regardless of adherence to cART. Current research has pointed to the gut-brain-microbiota axis as a potential target to treat both cognitive deficits and microbial changes. The present study investigated S-equol (SE) as a potential therapeutic for HAND by modulating the gut microbiome. The study included 21 HIV-1 Tg …

Engineering And Optimization Of An Aav Based Viral Vector To Limit The In-Vitro Expression Of Sars-Cov-2 Spike-Protein, Ronald Anderson Smithwick

Theses and Dissertations

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus-2, also known as SARS-CoV-2, is a newly emerged respiratory viral pathogen. The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 started in Wuhan, China, in late 2019 and rapidly transformed into a pandemic. Several vaccines have been developed and are available to the public on an unprecedented timeline, protecting individuals from a severe infection and saving precious lives. However, none of the vaccines can provide a sterile immunity, and the SARS-CoV-2 transmission cycle continues. Additionally, because of the mutation-prone RNA genome and immunological selection pressure, SARS-CoV-2 is rapidly mutating, especially the Spike(S) protein, and new viral strains are arising …

“That Was Denied Thee On Earth”: An Intersectional Bioarchaeology Of Institutionalized Euro-American Women Throughout 19Th And 20Th-Century America, Madeline Maria Atwell

Theses and Dissertations

In the mid 19th-century, American state-supported insane asylums, later renamed state mental hospitals in the 20th-century, were constructed to house and humanely treat individuals perceived to be socially deviant or mentally and physically ill. Women were particularly vulnerable to undue institutionalization because of the prevailing patriarchal gender ideology within medical and colloquial spheres that contributed to the perception that they were biologically pathological. This dissertation interprets the findings of combined archival, historical, and osteological analysis from two U.S. skeletal collections: The Colorado State Insane Asylum (CSIA) Collection and the Hamann-Todd Human Osteological Collection (HT), to examine the embodied, physiological impact …

Resurrecting A Nation Through Silk And Diplomacy: American Material Culture And Foreign Relations During The Reconstruction Era, Paige Weaver

Theses and Dissertations

The Reconstruction Era, a time of immense change in American culture and society, is often conceptualized as a wholly domestic affair; however, a closer analysis of the work of American diplomats scattered throughout the world reveals the impact of foreign policies and relationships on the development of the nation state, as well as cultural values. With this broadened perspective, Reconstruction becomes a more complicated period of entangled international concerns and influences in a globally connected world.

This thesis argues that intricate international relations and complex foreign policies helped shape American identity and values at home. Diplomats abroad in countries such …

A Streptococcus Pneumoniae Lineage Usually Associated With Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (Pcv) Serotypes Is The Most Common Cause Of Serotype 35b Invasive Disease In South Africa, Following Routine Use Of Pcv, Kedibone M. Ndlangisa, Mignon Du Plessis, Stephani Lo, Linda De Gouveia, Chrispin Chaguza, Martin Antonio, Brenda Kwambana-Adams, Jennifer Cornick, Dean B. Everett, Sadia Shakoor

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Pneumococcal serotype 35B is an important non-conjugate vaccine (non-PCV) serotype. Its continued emergence, post-PCV7 in the USA, was associated with expansion of a pre-existing 35B clone (clonal complex [CC] 558) along with post-PCV13 emergence of a non-35B clone previously associated with PCV serotypes (CC156). This study describes lineages circulating among 35B isolates in South Africa before and after PCV introduction. We also compared 35B isolates belonging to a predominant 35B lineage in South Africa (GPSC5), with isolates belonging to the same lineage in other parts of the world. Serotype 35B isolates that caused invasive pneumococcal disease in South Africa in …

Host Diversity And Behavior Determine Patterns Of Interspecies Transmission And Geographic Diffusion Of Avian Influenza A Subtypes Among North American Wild Reservoir Species, Joseph T Hicks, Kimberly Edwards, Xueting Qiu, Do-Kyun Kim, James E Hixson, Scott Krauss, Richard J Webby, Robert G Webster, Justin Bahl

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Wild birds can carry avian influenza viruses (AIV), including those with pandemic or panzootic potential, long distances. Even though AIV has a broad host range, few studies account for host diversity when estimating AIV spread. We analyzed AIV genomic sequences from North American wild birds, including 303 newly sequenced isolates, to estimate interspecies and geographic viral transition patterns among multiple co-circulating subtypes. Our results show high transition rates within Anseriformes and Charadriiformes, but limited transitions between these orders. Patterns of transition between species were positively associated with breeding habitat range overlap, and negatively associated with host genetic distance. Distance between …

Patient Access In Fourteen High-Income Countries To New Antibacterials Approved By The Fda, Ema, Pmda, Or Health Canada, 2010-2020, Kevin Outterson, Ebiowei S. F. Orubu, John Rex, Christine Årdal, Muhammad H. Zaman

Faculty Scholarship

In 2010, the Infectious Diseases Society of America called for 10 new antibiotics by 2020. This goal was achieved in terms of the number of drug approvals, but actual patient access requires commercial launches in many countries, which itself requires sustainable commercial markets. Prior work has described limited access to new antibacterials in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), in part due to the inability of many to afford these drugs. This study examines patient access for new antibacterials in the G7 and 7 other high-income countries in Europe, to better understand other barriers to patient access to effective antibacterial therapy.

Cellular Dynamics And Disease Outcome Of Type 3 Streptococcus Pneumoniae Clinical Isolates Differ Between Strains, Taylor Rae Plunkett White

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a bacterial pathogen that continues to be a major cause of disease around the world. It is not only the number one cause of bacterial pneumonia but also the cause of about 15% of the deaths of children under 5 around the world. There is a lot of research done on this organism, but with around 100 known serotypes and each one producing a unique capsule, there is still much more to be studied. The Etiology of Pneumonia in the Community (EPIC) study conducted by the CDC observed the burden of hospitalizations caused by pneumonia while determining …

Substituent Effect Analysis Of The Synthesis Of 1-Azabicyclo[2.2.1]Heptan-2-One Using Diels-Alder Reactions, Vida Robertson

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Epidemiology In Higher Education: Scarlet Fever At Gettysburg College, Addison E. Lomax

Student Publications

Throughout the early 20th century, the relationship between higher education and the spread of epidemic disease evolved in the United States. Two notable epidemics of scarlet fever in 1915 and 1920 serve as a lens through which the larger roles of disease and higher education can be analyzed. By assessing the roles both the administration and the students played at Gettysburg College, then Pennsylvania College, historians can understand the process of combating health crises in the future. Although the Pennsylvania College scarlet fever epidemics of 1915 and 1920 impacted campus to a smaller extent than the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the …

Comparative Molecular Genomic Analyses Of A Spontaneous Rhesus Macaque Model Of Mismatch Repair-Deficient Colorectal Cancer, Nejla Ozirmak Lermi, Stanton B Gray, Charles M Bowen, Laura Reyes-Uribe, Beth K Dray, Nan Deng, R Alan Harris, Muthuswamy Raveendran, Fernando Benavides, Carolyn L Hodo, Melissa W Taggart, Karen Colbert Maresso, Krishna M Sinha, Jeffrey Rogers, Eduardo Vilar

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains the third most common cancer in the US with 15% of cases displaying Microsatellite Instability (MSI) secondary to Lynch Syndrome (LS) or somatic hypermethylation of the MLH1 promoter. A cohort of rhesus macaques from our institution developed spontaneous mismatch repair deficient (MMRd) CRC with a notable fraction harboring a pathogenic germline mutation in MLH1 (c.1029C

Predictive Radiation Oncology - A New Nci-Doe Scientific Space And Community, Jeffrey C Buchsbaum, David A Jaffray, Demba Ba, Lynn L Borkon, Christine Chalk, Caroline Chung, Matthew A Coleman, C Norman Coleman, Maximilian Diehn, Kelvin K Droegemeier, Heiko Enderling, Michael G Espey, Emily J Greenspan, Christopher M Hartshorn, Thuc Hoang, H Timothy Hsiao, Cynthia Keppel, Nathan W Moore, Fred Prior, Eric A Stahlberg, Georgia Tourassi, Karen E Willcox

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

With a widely attended virtual kickoff event on January 29, 2021, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Department of Energy (DOE) launched a series of 4 interactive, interdisciplinary workshops-and a final concluding "World Café" on March 29, 2021-focused on advancing computational approaches for predictive oncology in the clinical and research domains of radiation oncology. These events reflect 3,870 human hours of virtual engagement with representation from 8 DOE national laboratories and the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNL), 4 research institutes, 5 cancer centers, 17 medical schools and teaching hospitals, 5 companies, 5 federal agencies, 3 research centers, …

“Pandemias Políticas: The Effects Of Political And Social Instability On Infectious Disease Epidemiology In Latin America"”, Sarah H. Noonan

Senior Theses

This paper seeks to analyze the relationship between political and social unrest and conflict and infectious disease epidemiology in Latin America. An analysis of published literature regarding epidemiological, biomedical, political, and historical content was conducted to highlight potential connections between infectious disease epidemics and sociopolitical conflict in the region. Specific analyses of Smallpox, Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis, Chagas disease, Cholera, Dengue, and COVID-19 were conducted, in an effort to uncover potential causations and context of epidemics of these conditions. Results of this analysis depict a necessity for further research into public health and disease control mechanisms during times of conflict and …

Determining The Role Of High-Sugar Diets On Ovarian Function In Drosophila Melanogaster, Emma Otey

Senior Theses

The prevalence of obesity in the United States has increased drastically and the effects of obesity on human physiology are not fully known at this point. It has been noted that there is a significant decrease of fertility rates in obese women. In order to study how exactly these high-sugar or high-fat diets are impacting fertility, Drosophila can be used as a model organism. The use of Drosophila as a model organism for humans is due to the many conserved molecular and systematic mechanisms, namely ovarian function, as well as conserved physiological responses to obesity and obesogenic diets. This study …

Computer-Aided Diagnosis For Melanoma Using Ontology And Deep Learning Approaches, Xinyuan Zhang

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The emergence of deep-learning algorithms provides great potential to enhance the prediction performance of computer-aided supporting diagnosis systems. Recent research efforts indicated that well-trained algorithms could achieve the accuracy level of experienced senior clinicians in the Dermatology field. However, the lack of interpretability and transparency hinders the algorithms’ utility in real-life. Physicians and patients require a certain level of interpretability for them to accept and trust the results. Another limitation of AI algorithms is the lack of consideration of other information related to the disease diagnosis, for example some typical dermoscopic features and diagnostic guidelines. Clinical guidelines for skin disease …

Describing The Impact Of The Sales Of Antibiotics On The Environment And In Population Health, Andrés Gaviria-Figueroa

Theses and Dissertations

The role of antibiotics in human health is of significant importance in the advancement of the medical field. It has contributed to an improvement of the quality of life and the age expectancy of the population. Antibiotic resistance is an expected consequence of the use of antibiotics. Bacteria have developed biological mechanisms that would help them become resistant to antibiotics. The uncontrolled use of antibiotics is significantly contributing to the ability of bacteria to become resistant to those antibiotics. This study, using the model of the Socio-Ecological Coupling of Antibiotic Resistance, explains how social and environmental factors interact and impact …

The Prevalence Of Nutritional Interventions As Treatment In The American Healthcare System: Assessing The Experiences And Perspectives Of Adult Patients, Macy R. Holmbeck

Selected Honors Theses

It is well known that good nutrition is effective in promoting optimal health and in preventing and treating disease. However, it is unclear whether this understanding is successfully being reflected in the treatment that patients are receiving from their healthcare providers in the United States. This study surveyed adult patients about their experiences in the American healthcare system regarding the treatment they’ve received from various providers, as well as their perspectives on the role of nutritional interventions in healthcare. The sample included 23 adults reporting one or more chronic illnesses and 19 adults never diagnosed with chronic illness. Medical treatment …

Implementing Services For Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Treatment In A Community Hospital, Paige M. Grube Pharmd

Parkview Pharmacy Department

Presented at the 36th Great Lakes Pharmacy Residency Conference.

The Tin Man Needs A Heart: A Proposed Framework For The Regulation Of Bioprinted Organs, Linda Foit

Fordham Law Review

Each day, seventeen people die in the United States while waiting for an organ transplant. At least part of this need could be met by bioprinting, a technology that allows the on-demand production of custom-sized organs from a patient’s own cells. The field of bioprinting is progressing rapidly: the first bioprinted organs have already entered the clinic. Yet, developers of bioprinted organs face significant uncertainty as to how their potentially lifesaving products will be regulated—and by which government agency. Such regulatory uncertainty has the potential to decrease investment and stifle innovation in this promising technological field. This Note examines how …

Reparations For A Public Nuisance? The Effort To Compensate Survivors, Victims, And Descendants Of The Tulsa Race Massacre One Hundred Years Later, Adam Coretz

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Colistin As A Good Monotherapy To Restrain The Pathogenicity Of Acinetobacter Baumannii In Vivo And In Vitro, Halah H. Al-Haideri, Nagham Saad Mohammed

Baghdad Science Journal

Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) is a major opportunistic nosocomial pathogen, mostly resistant to several groups of antibiotics. Colistin is now used as a last-line treatment for isolates that are highly resistant. The purpose of this study is to identify the importance of LptD; which is involved in the translocation of LPS from the inner membrane to the outer membrane in compartment with LptA and LptC of A. baumannii and its indispensable role as a virulence factor, and the efficiency of colistin as a monotherapy. In the current research, two isolates of A.baumannii were used, the local isolate HHR1 isolated from …

Epidemics And International Law: The Need For International Regulation, Claudio Grossman

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

This article presents comments by the author made to open the Miami Law Review conference on Epidemics1 and International Law. Its main purpose is to refer to the impact of COVID-19 on different norms and legal regimes, focusing mainly on the 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR), addressing areas of reform as well as the interactions of those norms with international human rights law. This will include the proposals of change for the 2005 IHR, designed to better protect vulnerable peoples in future global health crises. Some of the ideas presented in this contribution are included in a proposal that I …

Lessons To Build An Educational Model For Higher Education Institutions Defined As Anchor Institutions To Tackle Public Health Crises: A Pilot Study On Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Faculty And Students In Herbert L. College In The Bronx, Ny, Maria-Isabel Roldos, Katherine Burt, Jacob Eubank

Publications and Research

Coronavirus disease 2019 exacerbated health inequities in Bronx Communities. This study explored vaccine hesitancy among a random sample of faculty and students from Herbert Lehman College. Findings suggest faculty are largely vaccinated (87%), while 59% of students are unvaccinated. Significant gaps in information were found related to safety and complications. This suggests universities need to adopt an educational model with a multipronged social support strategy to gain students’ trust and a greater sense of belonging.

Migration And Trauma: Memory And The Myths Of El Otro Lado, Elva Moreno Del Rio

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis is composed of two parts that scrutinize the myth of the United States

and el cuento of El Otro Lado. The first part titled, “The Illness Rooted in the American Myth” connects the U.S. myth to J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur’s piece Letters from an American Farmer, published in 1782. In analyzing the writings of Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, and Eden E. Torres, I indentify the impact that Crevecoeur’s myth had on Black, Indigenous and other people of color. This research illustrates the physical and psychological effects that these ideologies have on the mind and body of …

Genomic Analysis Of Metabolic Differences Found In Clostridium Perfringens That Cause Necrotic Enteritis In Poultry, Connor M. Aylor

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Clostridium perfringens is a common member of gut microbiota in healthy animals, but can also be an important pathogen in human and veterinary medicine. It produces several protein toxins that contribute to both histotoxic and enteric diseases in animals. Necrotic enteritis in poultry has been associated with the NetB toxin of C. perfringens; however, this toxin alone is insufficient to cause disease in infected chickens. While considerable research has focused on the presence of toxins and virulence factors, little has been done to assess the function of metabolic factors on the ability of the bacteria to cause disease. …

Exploring The Bedrock For Earth Jurisprudence, Maria Antonia Tigre

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This article calls for a reassessment of our core beliefs on how we relate to the environment through a deep dive into the philosophical foundations of environmental protection. With this purpose, it shows how Earth-centered discourses have existed in human societies and civilizations for millennia. Different religious and philosophical underpinnings all share a view of humanity as an integral part of an organic whole, revering all living things. While recent developments in jurisprudence may appear novel, they are somewhat latent and emergent. Theories of land ethics, rights of nature, Earth-centered environmental ethics, wild law, and Earth jurisprudence all build on …

Exploring Parental Perceptions Concerning Sexual Communication Between Sub-Saharan African Immigrant Parents And Their Children, Kwame Owura Frimpong

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Abstract Sub-Saharan African families experience communication barriers due to factors such as sexual silence, cultural taboos, and shame, preventing them from having sexual health communication with their children. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of Sub-Saharan African immigrant parents concerning sexual shame and parents’ attitudes, knowledge, and comfort level in having a conversation with their pre-adolescent children concerning sexuality and sexual practices. While numerous researchers have demonstrated efficiency in audience-specific interventions, the literature reflects little attention to African immigrants, specifically Sub-Saharan immigrants. The research questions addressed perceptions of influences of a decision to discuss issues relating …

The Relationship Between Leader-Member Exchange And Citizen Willingness To Comply With Governmental Public Health Mandates Concerning Covid-19 In Dougherty County, Georgia: A Mixed Methods Analysis, Travis H. Goodson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

As of February 8, 2022, more than 394,381,395 individuals across the globe have contracted COVID-19; and from this number, reportedly more than 5,735,179 have died due to the virus (World Health Organization, 2022). Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, local, state, and federal governments have fielded a host of public health mandates in an attempt to curtail the spread of the virus; however, little is known about the efficacy of such mandates and how willing compliance is obtained through perceived high-quality leader-member exchanges. Compliance is best defined as willing conformity to official requirements; here, compliance is examined through the lens of relational …

Tumor-Associated Macrophages In Multiple Myeloma: Advances In Biology And Therapy, Jennifer Sun, Chaelee Park, Nicole Guenthner, Shannon Gurley, Luna Zhang, Berit Lubben, Ola Adebayo, Hannah Bash, Yixuan Chen, Mina Maksimos, Barbara Muz, Abdel Kareem Azab

Open Access Publications

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a cancer of plasma cells in the bone marrow (BM) and represents the second most common hematological malignancy in the world. The MM tumor microenvironment (TME) within the BM niche consists of a wide range of elements which play important roles in supporting MM disease progression, survival, proliferation, angiogenesis, as well as drug resistance. Together, the TME fosters an immunosuppressive environment in which immune recognition and response are repressed. Macrophages are a central player in the immune system with diverse functions, and it has been long established that macrophages play a critical role in both inducing …