Digital Commons Network^™

Examining Associations Between Smartphone Use And Clinical Severity In Frontotemporal Dementia: Proof-Of-Concept Study, Emily W Paolillo, Nupur Ghoshal, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is a leading cause of dementia in individuals aged <65 years. Several challenges to conducting in-person evaluations in FTLD illustrate an urgent need to develop remote, accessible, and low-burden assessment techniques. Studies of unobtrusive monitoring of at-home computer use in older adults with mild cognitive impairment show that declining function is reflected in reduced computer use; however, associations with smartphone use are unknown.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to characterize daily trajectories in smartphone battery use, a proxy for smartphone use, and examine relationships with clinical indicators of severity in FTLD.

METHODS: Participants were 231 adults (mean age 52.5, SD 14.9 years; n=94, 40.7% men; n=223, 96.5% non-Hispanic White) enrolled in the Advancing Research and Treatment of Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (ARTFL study) and Longitudinal Evaluation of Familial Frontotemporal Dementia Subjects (LEFFTDS study) Longitudinal Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (ALLFTD) Mobile App study, including 49 (21.2%) with mild neurobehavioral changes and no functional …

Neuropsychological Profiles Of Deployment-Related Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Limbic-Cenc Study, Nicola L De Souza, Hannah M Lindsey, Katherine Dorman, Emily L Dennis, Eamonn Kennedy, Deleene S Menefee, J Scott Parrott, Yuane Jia, Mary Jo V Pugh, William C Walker, David F Tate, David X Cifu, Jason M Bailie, Nicholas D Davenport, Sarah L Martindale, Maya O'Neil, Jared A Rowland, Randall S Scheibel, Scott R Sponheim, Maya Troyanskaya, Elisabeth A Wilde, Carrie Esopenko

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background and objectives: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a concern for US service members and veterans (SMV), leading to heterogeneous psychological and cognitive outcomes. We sought to identify neuropsychological profiles of mild TBI (mTBI) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among the largest SMV sample to date.

Methods: We analyzed cross-sectional baseline data from SMV with prior combat deployments enrolled in the ongoing Long-term Impact of Military-relevant Brain Injury Consortium-Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium prospective longitudinal study. Latent profile analysis identified symptom profiles using 35 indicators, including physical symptoms, depression, quality of life, sleep quality, postconcussive symptoms, and cognitive performance. It …

The Attainment Of A Patient Acceptable Symptom State In Patients Undergoing Revision Spine Fusion, Tariq Z. Issa, Omar H. Tarawneh, Teeto Ezeonu, Ameer A. Haider, Rajkishen Narayanan, Jose A. Canseco, Alan S. Hilibrand, Alexander R. Vaccaro, Gregory D. Schroeder, Christopher K. Kepler

Rothman Institute Papers

INTRODUCTION: Revision lumbar fusion is most commonly due to nonunion, adjacent segment disease (ASD), or recurrent stenosis, but it is unclear if diagnosis affects patient outcomes. The primary aim of this study was to assess whether patients achieved the patient acceptable symptom state (PASS) or minimal clinically important difference (MCID) after revision lumbar fusion and assess whether this was influenced by the indication for revision.

METHODS: We retrospectively identified all 1-3 level revision lumbar fusions at a single institution. Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) was collected at preoperative, three-month postoperative, and one-year postoperative time points. The MCID was calculated using a …

Mental Health Assessments For Fetal Interventions, Sindhura Vangala, Roy Williams, Cara M Buskmiller, Jessian L Munoz

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Facebook’S Shared Articles On Hpv Vaccination: Analysis Of Persuasive Strategies, Ashley Hedrick Mckenzie, Elaine Avshman, Ross Shegog, Lara S Savas, L Aubree Shay

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The current study analyzed articles shared on Facebook between 2019 and 2021 that discuss the HPV vaccine. Results address a gap in knowledge about the persuasive strategies used in HPV vaccine discourse on Facebook.

Methods: Using Buzzsumo.com, we collected 138 articles, shared on Facebook between 2019 and 2021, with the highest "engagement scores," or total number of reactions, comments, and shares. Using a content analysis methodology, three independent coders were trained in using the study codebook, achieved acceptable inter-rater reliability (Krippendorf's alpha = 0.811), and coded each article in Atlas.ti.

Results: Seventy-two articles had a positive valence toward the …

Tumor Biomechanical Stiffness By Magnetic Resonance Elastography Predicts Surgical Outcomes And Identifies Biomarkers In Vestibular Schwannoma And Meningioma, Bailey H Duhon, Kristin Thompson, Melanie Fisher, Vivian F Kaul, Han Tn Nguyen, Michael S Harris, Varun Varadarajan, Oliver F Adunka, Daniel M Prevedello, Arunark Kolipaka, Yin Ren

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Variations in the biomechanical stiffness of brain tumors can not only influence the difficulty of surgical resection but also impact postoperative outcomes. In a prospective, single-blinded study, we utilize pre-operative magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) to predict the stiffness of intracranial tumors intraoperatively and assess the impact of increased tumor stiffness on clinical outcomes following microsurgical resection of vestibular schwannomas (VS) and meningiomas. MRE measurements significantly correlated with intraoperative tumor stiffness and baseline hearing status of VS patients. Additionally, MRE stiffness was elevated in patients that underwent sub-total tumor resection compared to gross total resection and those with worse postoperative facial …

An Improved Method For Diagnosis Of Parkinson’S Disease Using Deep Learning Models Enhanced With Metaheuristic Algorithm, Babita Majhi, Aarti Kashyap, Siddhartha Suprasad Mohanty, Sujata Dash, Saurav Mallik, Aimin Li, Zhongming Zhao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Parkinson's disease (PD) is challenging for clinicians to accurately diagnose in the early stages. Quantitative measures of brain health can be obtained safely and non-invasively using medical imaging techniques like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). For accurate diagnosis of PD, powerful machine learning and deep learning models as well as the effectiveness of medical imaging tools for assessing neurological health are required. This study proposes four deep learning models with a hybrid model for the early detection of PD. For the simulation study, two standard datasets are chosen. Further to improve the performance of …

A Comparison Of Icare And Goldmann Applanation Tonometry Measurements During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Study, Shreya Swaminathan, Amber M. Kisielewski, M. Hossein Nowroozzadeh, Shahin Hallaj, Daniel Lee, Natasha N. Kolomeyer, Jonathan S. Myers, Reza Razeghinejad

Wills Eye Hospital Papers

PURPOSE: To evaluate factors associated with differences in intraocular pressure (IOP) readings between iCare and Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT) in established glaucoma patients.

METHODS: This retrospective comparative study included clinical data of 350 eyes from 350 established glaucoma patients who had iCare and GAT IOP measured by an ophthalmic technician and a glaucoma specialist, respectively. The main outcome measure was the difference in IOP measurements of the right eyes with iCare and GAT.

RESULTS: The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between GAT and iCare was 0.90. The mean IOP difference between tonometers was - 0.18 ± 2.89 mmHg. Bland-Altman plots indicated …

A Cocktail Nanovaccine Targeting Key Entry Glycoproteins Elicits High Neutralizing Antibody Levels Against Ebv Infection, Ling Zhong, Wanlin Zhang, Hong Liu, Xinyu Zhang, Zeyu Yang, Zhenfu Wen, Ling Chen, Haolin Chen, Yanran Luo, Yanhong Chen, Qisheng Feng, Mu-Sheng Zeng, Qinjian Zhao, Lixin Liu, Claude Krummenacher, Yi-Xin Zeng, Yongming Chen, Miao Xu, Xiao Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infects more than 95% of adults worldwide and is closely associated with various malignancies. Considering the complex life cycle of EBV, developing vaccines targeting key entry glycoproteins to elicit robust and durable adaptive immune responses may provide better protection. EBV gHgL-, gB- and gp42-specific antibodies in healthy EBV carriers contributed to sera neutralizing abilities in vitro, indicating that they are potential antigen candidates. To enhance the immunogenicity of these antigens, we formulate three nanovaccines by co-delivering molecular adjuvants (CpG and MPLA) and antigens (gHgL, gB or gp42). These nanovaccines induce robust humoral and cellular responses through efficient …

Cognitive Enhancing Effect Of Rtms Combined With Tdcs In Patients With Major Depressive Disorder: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Sham-Controlled Study, Xingxing Li, Junyao Liu, Shuochi Wei, Chang Yu, Dongmei Wang, Yuchen Li, Jiaxin Li, Wenhao Zhuang, Rui-Chen-Xi Luo, Yanli Li, Zhiwang Liu, Yuqiu Su, Jimeng Liu, Yongming Xu, Jialin Fan, Guidong Zhu, Weiqian Xu, Yiping Tang, Hui Yan, Raymond Y Cho, Thomas R Kosten, Dongsheng Zhou, Xiangyang Zhang

Staff and Researcher Publications

BACKGROUND: Cognitive dysfunction is one of the common symptoms in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) have been studied separately in the treatment of cognitive dysfunction in MDD patients. We aimed to investigate the effectiveness and safety of rTMS combined with tDCS as a new therapy to improve neurocognitive impairment in MDD patients.

METHODS: In this brief 2-week, double-blind, randomized, and sham-controlled trial, a total of 550 patients were screened, and 240 MDD inpatients were randomized into four groups (active rTMS + active tDCS, active rTMS + sham tDCS, …

Changes In Plasma Concentrations Of Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances After Bariatric Surgery In Adolescents From The Teen-Longitudinal Assessment Of Bariatric Surgery (Teen-Labs) Study, Brittney O Baumert, Sandrah P Eckel, Jesse A Goodrich, Zhenjiang Li, Nikos Stratakis, Douglas I Walker, Yinqi Zhao, Fabian Christoph Fischer, Scott Bartell, Damaskini Valvi, Xiangping Lin, Zoe Coates Fuentes, Thomas Inge, Justin Ryder, Todd Jenkins, Rohit Kohli, Stephanie Sisley, Stavra Xanthakos, Sarah Rock, Michele A La Merrill, Rob Mcconnell, David V Conti, Lida Chatzi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Exposure to per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is ubiquitous due to their persistence in the environment and in humans. Extreme weight loss has been shown to influence concentrations of circulating persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Using data from the multi-center perspective Teen-Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (Teen-LABS) cohort, we investigated changes in plasma-PFAS in adolescents after bariatric surgery. Adolescents (Mean age = 17.1 years, SD = 1.5 years) undergoing bariatric surgery were enrolled in the Teen-LABS study. Plasma-PFAS were measured at the time of surgery and then 6-, 12-, and 36 months post-surgery. Linear mixed effect models were used to evaluate …

Sensory Asic3 Channel Exacerbates Psoriatic Inflammation Via A Neurogenic Pathway In Female Mice, Chen Huang, Pei-Yi Sun, Yiming Jiang, Yuandong Liu, Zhichao Liu, Shao-Ling Han, Bao-Shan Wang, Yong-Xin Huang, An-Ran Ren, Jian-Fei Lu, Qin Jiang, Ying Li, Michael X Zhu, Zhirong Yao, Yang Tian, Xin Qi, Wei-Guang Li, Tian-Le Xu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Psoriasis is an immune-mediated skin disease associated with neurogenic inflammation, but the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. We demonstrate here that acid-sensing ion channel 3 (ASIC3) exacerbates psoriatic inflammation through a sensory neurogenic pathway. Global or nociceptor-specific Asic3 knockout (KO) in female mice alleviates imiquimod-induced psoriatic acanthosis and type 17 inflammation to the same extent as nociceptor ablation. However, ASIC3 is dispensable for IL-23-induced psoriatic inflammation that bypasses the need for nociceptors. Mechanistically, ASIC3 activation induces the activity-dependent release of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) from sensory neurons to promote neurogenic inflammation. Botulinum neurotoxin A and CGRP antagonists prevent sensory neuron-mediated …

Electronic Patient-Reported Outcome-Based Symptom Management Versus Usual Care After Lung Cancer Surgery: Long-Term Results Of A Multicenter, Randomized, Controlled Trial, Wei Dai, Yaqin Wang, Jia Liao, Xing Wei, Zhen Dai, Wei Xu, Yangjun Liu, Xin Shelley Wang, Cecilia Pompili, Hongfan Yu, Yang Pu, Yuqian Zhao, Bangrong Cao, Qifeng Wang, Wenhong Feng, Yuanqiang Zhang, Fang Liu, Yuanle Deng, Jin Zhou, Juan Li, Shaohua Xie, Run Xiang, Xiang Wang, Bo Tian, Xiaozun Yang, Bin Hu, Xiaoqin Liu, Tianpeng Xie, Xiaojun Yang, Xiang Zhuang, Guibin Qiao, Qiang Li, Qiuling Shi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Clinical trials frequently include multiple end points that mature at different times. The initial report, typically based on the primary end point, may be published when key planned co-primary or secondary analyses are not yet available. Clinical Trial Updates provide an opportunity to disseminate additional results from studies, published in JCO or elsewhere, for which the primary end point has already been reported.We previously reported superior symptom control of electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO)-based symptom management after lung cancer surgery for up to 1 month postdischarge. Here, we present the long-term results (1-12 months) of this multicenter, randomized trial, where …

L-Citrulline Supplementation Improves Arterial Blood Flow And Muscle Oxygenation During Handgrip Exercise In Hypertensive Postmenopausal Women, Yejin Kang, Katherine N Dillon, Mauricio A Martinez, Arun Maharaj, Stephen M Fischer, Arturo Figueroa

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Endothelial dysfunction decreases exercise limb blood flow (BF) and muscle oxygenation. Acute L-Citrulline supplementation (CIT) improves muscle tissue oxygen saturation index (TSI) and deoxygenated hemoglobin (HHb) during exercise. Although CIT improves endothelial function (flow-mediated dilation [FMD]) in hypertensive women, the impact of CIT on exercise BF and muscle oxygenation (TSI) and extraction (HHb) are unknown. We examined the effects of CIT (10 g/day) and a placebo for 4 weeks on blood pressure (BP), arterial vasodilation (FMD, BF, and vascular conductance [VC]), and forearm muscle oxygenation (TSI and HHb) at rest and during exercise in 22 hypertensive postmenopausal women. Compared to …

Real World Predictors Of Response And 24-Month Survival In High-Grade Tp53-Mutated Myeloid Neoplasms, Amandeep Kaur, Alexandra E Rojek, Emily Symes, Mariam T Nawas, Anand A Patel, Jay L Patel, Payal Sojitra, Barina Aqil, Madina Sukhanova, Megan E Mcnerney, Leo P Wu, Aibek Akmatbekov, Jeremy Segal, Melissa Y Tjota, Sandeep Gurbuxani, Jason X Cheng, Su-Yeon Yeon, Harini V Ravisankar, Carrie Fitzpatrick, Angela Lager, Michael W Drazer, Caner Saygin, Pankhuri Wanjari, Panagiotis Katsonis, Olivier Lichtarge, Jane E Churpek, Sharmila B Ghosh, Ami B Patel, Madhu P Menon, Daniel A Arber, Peng Wang, Girish Venkataraman

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Current therapies for high-grade TP53-mutated myeloid neoplasms (≥10% blasts) do not offer a meaningful survival benefit except allogeneic stem cell transplantation in the minority who achieve a complete response to first line therapy (CR1). To identify reliable pre-therapy predictors of complete response to first-line therapy (CR1) and outcomes, we assembled a cohort of 242 individuals with TP53-mutated myeloid neoplasms and ≥10% blasts with well-annotated clinical, molecular and pathology data. Key outcomes examined were CR1 & 24-month survival (OS24). In this elderly cohort (median age 68.2 years) with 74.0% receiving frontline non-intensive regimens (hypomethylating agents +/- venetoclax), the overall cohort CR1 …

Efficacy And Safety Of Esmethadone (Rel-1017) In Patients With Major Depressive Disorder And Inadequate Response To Standard Antidepressants: A Phase 3 Randomized Controlled Trial, Maurizio Fava, Stephen M Stahl, Luca Pani, Sara De Martin, Andrew J Cutler, Vladimir Maletic, Charles W Gorodetzky, Frank J Vocci, Frank L Sapienza, Thomas R Kosten, Cornelia Kröger, Paggard Champasa, Cedric O'Gorman, Clotilde Guidetti, Andrea Alimonti, Stefano Comai, Andrea Mattarei, Franco Folli, David Bushnell, Sergio Traversa, Charles E Inturrisi, Paolo L Manfredi, Marco Pappagallo

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

The Ifitm5 Mutation In Osteogenesis Imperfecta Type V Is Associated With An Erk/Sox9-Dependent Osteoprogenitor Differentiation Defect, Ronit Marom, I-Wen Song, Emily C Busse, Megan E Washington, Ava S Berrier, Vittoria C Rossi, Laura Ortinau, Youngjae Jeong, Ming-Ming Jiang, Brian C Dawson, Mary Adeyeye, Carolina Leynes, Caressa D Lietman, Bridget M Stroup, Dominyka Batkovskyte, Mahim Jain, Yuqing Chen, Racel Cela, Alexis Castellon, Alyssa A Tran, Isabel Lorenzo, D Nicole Meyers, Shixia Huang, Alicia Turner, Vinitha Shenava, Maegen Wallace, Eric Orwoll, Dongsu Park, Catherine G Ambrose, Sandesh Cs Nagamani, Jason D Heaney, Brendan H Lee

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) type V is the second most common form of OI, distinguished by hyperplastic callus formation and calcification of the interosseous membranes, in addition to the bone fragility. It is caused by a recurrent, dominant pathogenic variant (c.-14C>T) in interferon-induced transmembrane protein 5 (IFITM5). Here, we generated a conditional Rosa26-knockin mouse model to study the mechanistic consequences of the recurrent mutation. Expression of the mutant Ifitm5 in osteo-chondroprogenitor or chondrogenic cells resulted in low bone mass and growth retardation. Mutant limbs showed impaired endochondral ossification, cartilage overgrowth, and abnormal growth plate architecture. The cartilage phenotype correlates with …

Diverse Mentoring Connections Across Institutional Boundaries In The Biomedical Sciences: Innovative Graph Database Analysis, Toufeeq Ahmed Syed, Erika L Thompson, Zainab Latif, Jay Johnson, Damaris Javier, Katie Stinson, Gabrielle Saleh, Jamboor K Vishwanatha

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: With an overarching goal of increasing diversity and inclusion in biomedical sciences, the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) developed a web-based national mentoring platform (MyNRMN) that seeks to connect mentors and mentees to support the persistence of underrepresented minorities in the biomedical sciences. As of May 15, 2024, the MyNRMN platform, which provides mentoring, networking, and professional development tools, has facilitated more than 12,100 unique mentoring connections between faculty, students, and researchers in the biomedical domain.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the large-scale mentoring connections facilitated by our web-based platform between students (mentees) and faculty (mentors) across institutional …

Prevalence And Relevant Factors Of Nocturia And Its Impact On Sleep Quality In Chinese University Students, Yakai Liu, Zhenwei Zhang, Huijie Hu, Xiangfei He, Pengchao Xu, Qifeng Dou, Cuiping Song, Huiqing Zhang, Israel Franco, Konstantinos Kamperis, Søren Rittig, Jianguo Wen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and relevant factors of nocturia and its impact on sleep quality in university students in Mainland China. A large-scale survey was conducted on 14,000 university students from 3 universities in Henan province, China by using an anonymous questionnaire. The questionnaire collected the information from the past six months. The relationships between the prevalence of nocturia and its relevant factors were evaluated. A total of 13,874 questionnaires were collected and 13,104 qualified for statistical analysis. A total of 659 students suffered from clinically relevant nocturia (CRN) (4.56% in male and 5.34% …

Reduced Sensitivity To Future Consequences Underlies Gambling Decision In Cerebellar Ataxia, Ruo-Yah Lai, Eli Levy, Christian J Amlang, Ihika Rampalli, Rory Mahabir, Ming-Kai Pan, Chi-Ying R Lin, Sheng-Han Kuo

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Introduction: Previous research has identified that people with cerebellar ataxia (CA) showed impaired reward-related decision-making in the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). To investigate the mechanisms underlying this impairment, we examined CA participants' combination of performance in the IGT, which predominantly tests reward seeking, and the modified IGT (mIGT), which mainly assesses punishment avoidance.

Methods: Fifty participants with CA and one hundred controls completed the IGT and mIGT. Task performance in each of the five twenty-trial blocks was compared between groups and the learning rates were assessed with simple linear regressions. Each participant's IGT score and mIGT score were compared.

Results: …

Developmental Milestones And Daily Living Skills In Individuals With Angelman Syndrome, Anjali Sadhwani, Sonya Powers, Anne Wheeler, Hillary Miller, Sarah Nelson Potter, Sarika U Peters, Carlos A Bacino, Steven A Skinner, Logan K Wink, Craig A Erickson, Lynne M Bird, Wen-Hann Tan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Angelman syndrome (AS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with severe global developmental delay. However, the ages at which different developmental skills are achieved in these individuals remain unclear. We seek to determine the probability and the age of acquisition of specific developmental milestones and daily living skills in individuals with AS across the different molecular subtypes, viz. class I deletion, class II deletion, uniparental disomy, imprinting defect, and UBE3A variants.

METHODS: Caregivers participating in a longitudinal multicenter Angelman Syndrome Natural History Study completed a questionnaire regarding the age at which their children achieved specific developmental milestones and daily living …

Similar Medium-Term Revision Rates Following Acute Total Hip Arthroplasty Versus Open Reduction And Internal Fixation For Acetabular Fractures In The Elderly, Alexander Upfill-Brown, Brendan Shi, Bailey Mooney, Daniel Chiou, Dane Brodke, Akash A Shah, Benjamin V Kelley, Erik N Mayer, Sai K Devana, Christopher Lee, Nelson F Soohoo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The management of elderly acetabular fractures is complex, with high rates of conversion total hip arthroplasty (THA) after open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF), but potentially higher rates of complications after acute THA.

Methods: The California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development database was queried between 2010 and 2017 for all patients aged 60 years or older who sustained a closed, isolated acetabular fracture and underwent ORIF, THA, or a combination. Chi-square tests and Student t tests were used to identify demographic differences between groups. Multivariate regression was used to evaluate predictors of 30-day readmission and 90-day complications. …

Persistent Gram-Negative Bloodstream Infection Increases The Risk Of Recurrent Bloodstream Infection With The Same Species, Paa Kwesi Ankrah, Andrew Bock, Felicia Ruffin, Blake M Hanson, Cesar A Arias, Stacey A Maskarinec, Joshua Parsons, Vance G Fowler, Joshua T Thaden

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The association between persistent gram-negative bloodstream infection (GN-BSI), or ongoing positive cultures, and recurrent GN-BSI has not been investigated. Among 992 adults, persistent GN-BSI was associated with increased recurrent GN-BSI with the same bacterial species and strain (6% vs 2%; P = .04). Persistent GN-BSI may be a marker of complicated infection.

Update On Outbreak Of Fungal Meningitis Among Us Residents Who Received Epidural Anesthesia At Two Clinics In Matamoros, Mexico, Dallas J Smith, Jeremy A W Gold, Tom Chiller, Nirma D Bustamante, Maria Julia Marinissen, Gabriel Garcia Rodriquez, Vladimir Brian Gonzalez Cortes, Celida Duque Molina, Samantha Williams, Axel A Vazquez Deida, Katrina Byrd, Peter G Pappas, Thomas F Patterson, Nathan P Wiederhold, George R Thompson, Luis Ostrosky-Zeichner

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Public health officials are responding to an outbreak of fungal meningitis among patients who received procedures under epidural anesthesia at 2 clinics (River Side Surgical Center and Clinica K-3) in Matamoros, Mexico, during 1 January to 13 May 2023. This report describes outbreak epidemiology and outlines interim diagnostic and treatment recommendations.

Methods: Interim recommendations for diagnosis and management were developed by the Mycoses Study Group Research Education and Consortium (MSGERC) based on the clinical experience of clinicians caring for patients during the current outbreak or during previous outbreaks of healthcare-associated fungal meningitis in Durango, Mexico, and the United States. …

Viral And Host Factors Are Associated With Mortality In Hospitalized Patients With Covid-19, Neil R Aggarwal, Jacquie Nordwall, Dominique L Braun, Lucy Chung, Jordan Coslet, Tatyana Der, Nnakelu Eriobu, Adit A Ginde, Awori J Hayanga, Helene Highbarger, Mark Holodniy, Juan P Horcajada, Mamta K Jain, Kami Kim, Sylvain Laverdure, Jens Lundgren, Ven Natarajan, Hien H Nguyen, Sarah L Pett, Andrew Phillips, Garyphallia Poulakou, David A Price, Philip Robinson, Angela J Rogers, Uriel Sandkovsky, Katy Shaw-Saliba, Jeffrey M Sturek, Barbara W Trautner, Michael Waters, Cavan Reilly

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Persistent mortality in adults hospitalized due to acute COVID-19 justifies pursuit of disease mechanisms and potential therapies. The aim was to evaluate which virus and host response factors were associated with mortality risk among participants in Therapeutics for Inpatients with COVID-19 (TICO/ACTIV-3) trials.

METHODS: A secondary analysis of 2625 adults hospitalized for acute SARS-CoV-2 infection randomized to 1 of 5 antiviral products or matched placebo in 114 centers on 4 continents. Uniform, site-level collection of participant baseline clinical variables was performed. Research laboratories assayed baseline upper respiratory swabs for SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA and plasma for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid …

A Phase 2 Clinical Trial To Evaluate The Safety, Reactogenicity, And Immunogenicity Of Different Prime-Boost Vaccination Schedules Of 2013 And 2017 A(H7n9) Inactivated Influenza Virus Vaccines Administered With And Without As03 Adjuvant In Healthy Us Adults, Christina A Rostad, Robert L Atmar, Emmanuel B Walter, Sharon Frey, Jeffery L Meier, Amy C Sherman, Lilin Lai, Rachel Tsong, Carol M Kao, Vanessa Raabe, Hana M El Sahly, Wendy A Keitel, Jennifer A Whitaker, Michael J Smith, Kenneth E Schmader, Geeta K Swamy, Getahun Abate, Patricia Winokur, Wendy Buchanan, Kaitlyn Cross, Ashley Wegel, Yongxian Xu, Inci Yildirim, Satoshi Kamidani, Nadine Rouphael, Paul C Roberts, Mark J Mulligan, Evan J Anderson

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Introduction: A surge of human influenza A(H7N9) cases began in 2016 in China from an antigenically distinct lineage. Data are needed about the safety and immunogenicity of 2013 and 2017 A(H7N9) inactivated influenza vaccines (IIVs) and the effects of AS03 adjuvant, prime-boost interval, and priming effects of 2013 and 2017 A(H7N9) IIVs.

Methods: Healthy adults (n = 180), ages 19-50 years, were enrolled into this partially blinded, randomized, multicenter phase 2 clinical trial. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 6 vaccination groups evaluating homologous versus heterologous prime-boost strategies with 2 different boost intervals (21 vs 120 days) and 2 …

Persistent Gram-Negative Bloodstream Infection Increases The Risk Of Recurrent Bloodstream Infection With The Same Species, Paa Kwesi Ankrah, Andrew Bock, Felicia Ruffin, Blake M Hanson, Cesar A Arias, Stacey A Maskarinec, Joshua Parsons, Vance G Fowler, Joshua T Thaden

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The association between persistent gram-negative bloodstream infection (GN-BSI), or ongoing positive cultures, and recurrent GN-BSI has not been investigated. Among 992 adults, persistent GN-BSI was associated with increased recurrent GN-BSI with the same bacterial species and strain (6% vs 2%; P = .04). Persistent GN-BSI may be a marker of complicated infection.

An Essential Gene Signature Of Breast Cancer Metastasis Reveals Targetable Pathways, Yiqun Zhang, Fengju Chen, Marija Balic, Chad J Creighton

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: The differential gene expression profile of metastatic versus primary breast tumors represents an avenue for discovering new or underappreciated pathways underscoring processes of metastasis. However, as tumor biopsy samples are a mixture of cancer and non-cancer cells, most differentially expressed genes in metastases would represent confounders involving sample biopsy site rather than cancer cell biology.

METHODS: By paired analysis, we defined a top set of differentially expressed genes in breast cancer metastasis versus primary tumors using an RNA-sequencing dataset of 152 patients from The Breast International Group Aiming to Understand the Molecular Aberrations dataset (BIG-AURORA). To filter the genes …

Associations Between Circadian Alignment And Cognitive Functioning In A Nationally Representative Sample Of Older Adults, Sophie Leahy, Qian Xiao, Chris Ho Ching Yeung, Mariana G Figueiro

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Proper alignment of activity-rest and light-dark patterns allows for healthy bodily functions to occur at optimal times of the day. Disruptions to this alignment may cause poor sleep as well as physical, mental, and cognitive problems. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine if poorer circadian alignment was associated with decreased cognitive functioning among older (> 60 years) participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We utilized actigraphy-based rest-activity and dark-light measurements to calculate phasor magnitude (strength of circadian alignment coupling) and phasor angle (phase difference between activity-rest and light-dark cycles). Multiple linear regression models were …

Machine Learning In Time-Lapse Imaging To Differentiate Embryos From Young Vs Old Mice†, Liubin Yang, Carolina Leynes, Ashley Pawelka, Isabel Lorenzo, Andrew Chou, Brendan Lee, Jason D Heaney

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Time-lapse microscopy for embryos is a non-invasive technology used to characterize early embryo development. This study employs time-lapse microscopy and machine learning to elucidate changes in embryonic growth kinetics with maternal aging. We analyzed morphokinetic parameters of embryos from young and aged C57BL6/NJ mice via continuous imaging. Our findings show that aged embryos accelerated through cleavage stages (from 5-cells) to morula compared to younger counterparts, with no significant differences observed in later stages of blastulation. Unsupervised machine learning identified two distinct clusters comprising of embryos from aged or young donors. Moreover, in supervised learning, the extreme gradient boosting algorithm successfully …