Digital Commons Network^™

Prevalence Of Small-For-Gestational Age And Its Mortality Risk Varies By Choice Of Birth-Weight-For-Gestation Reference Population, Joanne D. Katz, Lauren A. Wu, Luke C. Mullany, Christian L. Coles, Anne C.C. Lee, Naoko Kozuki, James M. Tielsch

Global Health Faculty Publications

Background

We use data from rural Nepal and South India to compare the prevalence of small-for-gestational-age (SGA) and neonatal mortality risk associated with SGA using different birth-weight-for-gestation reference populations.

Methods

We identified 46 reference populations in low-, middle-, and high-income countries, of which 26 met the inclusion criteria of being commonly cited and having numeric 10th percentile cut points published. Those reference populations were then applied to populations from two community-based studies to determine SGA prevalence and its relative risk of neonatal mortality.

Results

The prevalence of SGA ranged from 10.5% to 72.5% in Nepal, and 12.0% to 78.4% in …

Functional Proteomic Analysis Reveals The Involvement Of Kiaa1199 In Breast Cancer Growth, Motility And Invasiveness., Mohammad-Saeid Jami, Jinxuan Hou, Miao Liu, M L. Varney, Hesham Hassan, Jixin Dong, Liying Geng, J. Wang, Fang Yu, Xin Huang, Hong Peng, Kai Fu, Yan Li, Rakesh Singh, Shi-Jian Ding

Journal Articles: Pathology and Microbiology

BACKGROUND: KIAA1199 is a recently identified novel gene that is up-regulated in human cancer with poor survival. Our proteomic study on signaling polarity in chemotactic cells revealed KIAA1199 as a novel protein target that may be involved in cellular chemotaxis and motility. In the present study, we examined the functional significance of KIAA1199 expression in breast cancer growth, motility and invasiveness.

METHODS: We validated the previous microarray observation by tissue microarray immunohistochemistry using a TMA slide containing 12 breast tumor tissue cores and 12 corresponding normal tissues. We performed the shRNA-mediated knockdown of KIAA1199 in MDA-MB-231 and HS578T cells to …

Influence Of The X-Chromosome On Neuroanatomy: Evidence From Turner And Klinefelter Syndromes., David S Hong, Fumiko Hoeft, Matthew J Marzelli, Jean-Francois Lepage, David Roeltgen, Judith L. Ross, Allan L Reiss

Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior Faculty Papers

Studies of sex effects on neurodevelopment have traditionally focused on animal models investigating hormonal influences on brain anatomy. However, more recent evidence suggests that sex chromosomes may also have direct upstream effects that act independently of hormones. Sex chromosome aneuploidies provide ideal models to examine this framework in humans, including Turner syndrome (TS), where females are missing one X-chromosome (45X), and Klinefelter syndrome (KS), where males have an additional X-chromosome (47XXY). As these disorders essentially represent copy number variants of the sex chromosomes, investigation of brain structure across these disorders allows us to determine whether sex chromosome gene dosage effects …

Complementary And Alternative Medicine Use In Women During Pregnancy: Do Their Healthcare Providers Know?, Lisa Strouss, Amy Mackley, Ursula Guillen, David A Paul, Robert Locke

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

BACKGROUND: The National Institutes of Health reported in 2007 that approximately 38% of United States adults have used at least one type of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). There are no studies available that assess general CAM use in US pregnant women.The objectives of our study were to determine the prevalence and type of CAM use during pregnancy at one medical center; understand who is using CAM and why they are using it; and assess the state of patients' CAM use disclosure to their obstetrical providers.

METHODS: A cross-sectional survey study of post-partum women was done to assess self-reported CAM …

Quantitative Relaxometry And Diffusion Mri For Lateralization In Mts And Non-Mts Temporal Lobe Epilepsy., Ali R Khan, Maged Goubran, Sandrine De Ribaupierre, Robert R Hammond, Jorge G Burneo, Andrew G Parrent, Terry M Peters

Robarts Imaging Publications

We developed novel methodology for investigating the use of quantitative relaxometry (T1 and T2) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) for lateralization in temporal lobe epilepsy. Patients with mesial temporal sclerosis confirmed by pathology (N=8) and non-MTS unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy (N=6) were compared against healthy controls (N=19) using voxel-based analysis restricted to the anterior temporal lobes, and laterality indices for each MRI metric (T1, T2, fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity, axial and radial diffusivities) were computed based on the proportion of significant voxels on each side. The diffusivity metrics were the most lateralizing MRI metrics in MTS and non-MTS subsets, …

Investigating The Relation Between Striatal Volume And Iq., Penny A Macdonald, Hooman Ganjavi, D Louis Collins, Alan C Evans, Sherif Karama

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

The volume of the input region of the basal ganglia, the striatum, is reduced with aging and in a number of conditions associated with cognitive impairment. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relation between the volume of striatum and general cognitive ability in a sample of 303 healthy children that were sampled to be representative of the population of the United States. Correlations between the WASI-IQ and the left striatum, composed of the caudate nucleus and putamen, were significant. When these data were analyzed separately for male and female children, positive correlations were significant for the …

Voices Raised, Issue 43, University Of Dayton. Women's Center

Women’s Center Newsletter

Included in this issue: Women you may never have known but should never forget; Coffee; Voices Away From Home: From the Known to the Unknown; It’s Time to Go Green; The Last Box; University of Dayton Celebrates the Accomplishments of Women.

High-Speed Optical Coherence Tomography As A Reliable Adjuvant Tool To Grade Ocular Anterior Chamber Inflammation., Ann O. Igbre, Mario C. Rico, Sunir Garg

Wills Eye Hospital Papers

PURPOSE: To evaluate the high-speed anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) grading of the AS inflammation in patients with ocular inflammation.

METHODS: A retrospective consecutive case series study. Patients with clinically visible AS inflammation in at least one eye underwent AS-OCT (Visante; Zeiss Meditec) with three to eight line scans per eye, performed by a trained masked examiner. The images were reviewed for hyperreflective spots, noise, and artifact, and these were correlated to clinical examination.

RESULTS: Seventy-eight eyes of 41 patients were imaged. Forty-seven eyes had anterior chamber cells on clinical examination, and 68 had hyperreflective spots visible on AS-OCT. …

Headstrong Intervention For Pediatric Migraine Headache: A Randomized Clinical Trial., Michael A. Rapoff, Mark Connelly, Jennifer Bickel, Scott W. Powers, Andrew D. Hershey, Janelle R. Allen, Cynthia W. Karlson, Catrina C. Litzenburg, John M. Belmont

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a self-guided CD-ROM program ("Headstrong") containing cognitive-behavioral self-management strategies versus an educational CD-ROM program for treating headaches, headache-related disability, and quality of life.

METHODS: Participants were 35 children ages 7-12 years with migraine recruited from one university medical center and two children's hospital headache clinics. Participants were randomly assigned to complete the Headstrong or educational control CD-ROM program over a 4-week period. Data on headache frequency, duration, and severity, migraine-related disability, and quality of life (QOL) were obtained at baseline, post-intervention, and 3-months post-intervention.

RESULTS: At post-intervention, Headstrong …

Anthropomorphic Breast Phantoms With Physiological Water, Lipid, And Hemoglobin Content For Near-Infrared Spectral Tomography, Kelly E. Michaelsen, Venkataramanan Krishnaswamy, Adele Shenoy, Emily Jordan, Brian W. Pogue, Keith D. Paulsen

Dartmouth Scholarship

Breast mimicking tissue optical phantoms with sufficient structural integrity to be deployed as stand-alone imaging targets are developed and successfully constructed with biologically relevant concentrations of water, lipid, and blood. The results show excellent material homogeneity and reproducibility with inter- and intraphantom variability of 3.5 and 3.8%, respectively, for water and lipid concentrations ranging from 15 to 85%. The phantoms were long-lasting and exhibited water and lipid fractions that were consistent to within 5% of their original content when measured 2 weeks after creation. A breast-shaped three-compartment model of adipose, fibroglandular, and malignant tissues was created with water content ranging …

Attention, Predictive Learning, And The Inverse Base-Rate Effect: Evidence From Event-Related Potentials., Andy J. Wills, Aureliu Lavric, Yvonne Hemmings, Ed Surrey

School of Psychology

We report the first electrophysiological investigation of the inverse base-rate effect (IBRE), a robust non-rational bias in predictive learning. In the IBRE, participants learn that one pair of symptoms (AB) predicts a frequently occurring disease, whilst an overlapping pair of symptoms (AC) predicts a rarely occurring disease. Participants subsequently infer that BC predicts the rare disease, a non-rational decision made in opposition to the underlying base rates of the two diseases. Error-driven attention theories of learning state that the IBRE occurs because C attracts more attention than B. On the basis of this account we predicted and observed the occurrence …

Irf8 Suppresses Pathological Cardiac Remodelling By Inhibiting Calcineurin Signalling., Ding-Sheng Jiang, Xiang Wei, Xiao-Fei Zhang, Yu Liu, Yan Zhang, Ke Chen, Lu Gao, Heng Zhou, Xue-Hai Zhu, Peter P. Liu, Wayne Bond Lau, Xin-Liang Ma, Yunzeng Zou, Xiao-Dong Zhang, Guo-Chang Fan, Hongliang Li

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

Interferon regulatory factor 8 (IRF8) is known to affect the innate immune response, for example, by regulating the differentiation and function of immune cells. However, whether IRF8 can influence cardiac hypertrophy is unknown. Here we show that IRF8 levels are decreased in human dilated/hypertrophic cardiomyopathic hearts and in murine hypertrophic hearts. Mice overexpressing Irf8 specifically in the heart are resistant to aortic banding (AB)-induced cardiac hypertrophy, whereas mice lacking IRF8 either globally or specifically in cardiomyocytes develop an aggravated phenotype induced by pressure overload. Mechanistically, we show that IRF8 directly interacts with NFATc1 to prevent NFATc1 translocation and thus inhibits …

Safety With Ocrelizumab In Rheumatoid Arthritis: Results From The Ocrelizumab Phase Iii Program, Paul Emery, William Rigby, Paul P. Tak, Thomas Dörner, Ewa Olech, Carmen Martin, Laurie Millar, Helen Travers, Elena Fisheleva

Dartmouth Scholarship

Objective: The objective was to determine the safety of ocrelizumab (OCR) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: This was an analysis of the double-blind, placebo-controlled periods and long-term follow-up of 4 OCR phase III trials in RA (SCRIPT, STAGE, FILM and FEATURE). Safety data per study and the results of a meta-analysis of serious infectious events (SIEs) are presented.

Results: Overall, 868 patients received placebo, 1064 patients OCR 200 mg×2 (or 400 mg×1) (OCR200), and 827 patients OCR 500 mg×2 (OCR500) plus background methotrexate (MTX) at baseline and 24 weeks. During the double-blind, placebo-controlled periods, the incidence of adverse …

Characteristics Of Acute Care Utilization Of A Delaware Adult Sickle Cell Disease Patient Population., Nina Anderson, Jennifer L. Bellot, Oluseyi Senu-Oke, Samir K. Ballas

Department of Nursing papers and presentations

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited blood disorder that is chronic in nature and manifests itself through many facets of the patient's life. Comprehensive specialty centers have the potential to reduce health care costs and improve the quality of care for patients who have chronic medical conditions such as heart failure and SCD. The purpose of this practice inquiry was to analyze de-identified data for acute care episodes involving SCD in order to create a detailed picture of acute care utilization for adult patients in Delaware with SCD from 2007 to 2009. Gaining a better understanding of acute care …

The Spectrum Of Eye Disease In Hospitalized Adults Living With Hiv, 1995-2010., Christopher Miller, William Short, Md, Mph, Lorena Perez-Povis, Josephine Lontok, Christopher Fecarotta, Mengdan Liu, Jocelyn Sendecki, Katherine Belden

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

Eye disease is a well-documented complication of HIV infection. Opportunistic infections generally comprised the majority of pre-antiretroviral therapy (ART) eye complications. With the introduction of ART, opportunistic infections diminished. However, early ART regimens were cumbersome regarding side effects and pill burden, making patient compliance difficult. Newer ART regimens are better tolerated and consist of fewer pills, theoretically making compliance easier and therapy more effective. The aim of this chart review study is to examine eye disease epidemiology in HIV patients as ART has evolved. We reviewed 222 admissions at Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals for 188 patients. These cases were divided …

Language Barriers To Informed Consent For Dermatologic Interventions., Jordan Wang, Matthew Keller

Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology Faculty Papers

CASE SCENARIO

A 39-year-old Spanish-speaking woman with limited English-language proficiency presents with her 13-year-old son to your private dermatology practice. Through her son, you learn the patient is worried about a mole that has significantly grown in size over the past 3 months. After examination, you recommend the nevus be biopsied to better evaluate it. However, you are barely able to communicate with the patient, and you suspect that her son is not interpreting everything you say based on his especially brief communications with her. To proceed with the biopsy, you must first obtain informed consent.

As the dermatologist, you …

Systemic Effects Of Intracoronary Nitroglycerin During Coronary Angiography In Children After Heart Transplantation, Diego A Lara, Mary K Olive, James F George, Robert N Brown, Waldemar F Carlo, Edward V Colvin, Brad L Steenwyck, F Bennett Pearce

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Coronary spasm during coronary angiography for vasculopathy in children can be prevented by the intracoronary administration of nitroglycerin. We reviewed the anesthesia and catheterization reports and charts for pediatric transplant recipients who underwent angiography from 2005 through 2010. Correlation analysis was used to study the relation of post-injection systolic blood pressure (SBP) to nitroglycerin dose. Forty-one angiographic evaluations were performed on 25 patients (13 male and 12 female). Mean age was 9.9 ± 3.2 years (range, 3.3–16.1 yr). The mean total dose of nitroglycerin was 2.93 ± 1.60 µg/kg (range, 1–8 µg/kg).

There was a significant drop between the baseline …

Papillary Muscle Repositioning As A Subvalvular Apparatus Preservation Technique In Mitral Stenosis Patients With Normal Left Ventricular Systolic Function, Imthiaz Manoly, Dimos Karangelis, Nicola Viola, Marcus Haw

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Surgically repairing Bland-White-Garland syndrome (anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery) is a challenge if there are variations in the origin of the anomalous artery. We report the successful repair of this congenital abnormality in a 19-year-old woman who presented with an acute anterior myocardial infarction. The anomalous artery originated from the anterior-facing sinus of the pulmonary artery, which precluded typical repair by direct reimplantation or fashioning an intrapulmonary tunnel. We created an extrapulmonary tunnel, using a strip of pulmonary artery anteriorly and an aortic flap posteriorly. Three years postoperatively, the anastomosis was patent and the …

A Prospective, Multicenter, Phase I Matched-Comparison Group Trial Of Safety, Pharmacokinetics, And Preliminary Efficacy Of Riluzole In Patients With Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury., Robert G Grossman, Michael G Fehlings, Ralph F Frankowski, Keith D Burau, Diana S L Chow, Charles Tator, Angela Teng, Elizabeth G Toups, James Harrop, Bizhan Aarabi, Christopher I Shaffrey, Michele M Johnson, Susan J Harkema, Maxwell Boakye, James D Guest, Jefferson R Wilson

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

A prospective, multicenter phase I trial was undertaken by the North American Clinical Trials Network (NACTN) to investigate the pharmacokinetics and safety of, as well as obtain pilot data on, the effects of riluzole on neurological outcome in acute spinal cord injury (SCI). Thirty-six patients, with ASIA impairment grades A-C (28 cervical and 8 thoracic) were enrolled at 6 NACTN sites between April 2010 and June 2011. Patients received 50 mg of riluzole PO/NG twice-daily, within 12 h of SCI, for 14 days. Peak and trough plasma concentrations were quantified on days 3 and 14. Peak plasma concentration (Cmax) and …

Papillary Muscle Repositioning As A Subvalvular Apparatus Preservation Technique In Mitral Stenosis Patients With Normal Left Ventricular Systolic Function, Gokhan Lafci, Kerim Cagli, Omer Faruk Cicek, Kemal Korkmaz, Osman Turak, Alper Uzun, Adnan Yalcinkaya, Adem Diken, Eren Gunertem, Kumral Cagli

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Subvalvular apparatus preservation is an important concept in mitral valve replacement (MVR) surgery that is performed to remedy mitral regurgitation. In this study, we sought to determine the effects of papillary muscle repositioning (PMR) on clinical outcomes and echocardiographic left ventricular function in rheumatic mitral stenosis patients who had normal left ventricular systolic function.

We prospectively assigned 115 patients who were scheduled for MVR surgery with mechanical prosthesis to either PMR or MVR-only groups. Functional class and echocardiographic variables were evaluated at baseline and at early and late postoperative follow-up examinations. All values were compared between the 2 groups.

The …

Variation In Feeding Practices Following The Norwood Procedure., Linda M. Lambert, Nancy A. Pike, Barbara Medoff-Cooper, Victor Zak, Victoria L. Pemberton, Lisa Young-Borkowski, Martha L. Clabby, Kathryn N. Nelson, Richard G. Ohye, Bethany Trainor, Karen Uzark, Nancy Rudd, Louise Bannister, Rosalind Korsin, David S. Cooper, Christian Pizarro, Sinai C. Zyblewski, Bronwyn H. Bartle, Richard V. Williams, Pediatric Heart Network Investigators, Girish S. Shirali

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

OBJECTIVES: To assess variation in feeding practice at hospital discharge after the Norwood procedure, factors associated with tube feeding, and associations among site, feeding mode, and growth before stage II.

STUDY DESIGN: From May 2005 to July 2008, 555 subjects from 15 centers were enrolled in the Pediatric Heart Network Single Ventricle Reconstruction Trial; 432 survivors with feeding data at hospital discharge after the Norwood procedure were analyzed.

RESULTS: Demographic and clinical variables were compared among 4 feeding modes: oral only (n = 140), oral/tube (n = 195), nasogastric tube (N-tube) only (n = 40), and gastrostomy tube (G-tube) only …

Ultra High-Resolution Gene Centric Genomic Structural Analysis Of A Non-Syndromic Congenital Heart Defect, Tetralogy Of Fallot., Douglas C. Bittel, Xin-Gang Zhou, Nataliya Kibiryeva, Stephanie Fiedler, James E. O'Brien, Jennifer A. Marshall, Shihui Yu, Hong-Yu Liu

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is one of the most common severe congenital heart malformations. Great progress has been made in identifying key genes that regulate heart development, yet approximately 70% of TOF cases are sporadic and nonsyndromic with no known genetic cause. We created an ultra high-resolution gene centric comparative genomic hybridization (gcCGH) microarray based on 591 genes with a validated association with cardiovascular development or function. We used our gcCGH array to analyze the genomic structure of 34 infants with sporadic TOF without a deletion on chromosome 22q11.2 (n male = 20; n female = 14; age range of …

Maternal Biomarkers Of Endothelial Dysfunction And Preterm Delivery, Xinhua Chen, Theresa O Scholl

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

BACKGROUND: Endothelial dysfunction is key to the development of atherosclerosis. Preterm delivery foreshadows later maternal cardiovascular disease (CVD), but it is not known if endothelial dysfunction also occurs. We prospectively measured circulating biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction in pregnant women with preterm or term delivery.

METHODS: We conducted a case-control study nested within a large prospective epidemiological study of young, generally healthy pregnant women. Women who delivered preterm (gestation, n = 240) and controls who delivered at term (n = 439) were included. Pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia were analyzed separately. Circulating endothelial dysfunction biomarkers included soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), vascular …

Investigating The Early Stages Of Person Perception: The Asymmetry Of Social Categorization By Sex Vs. Age, Jasmin Cloutier, Jonathan B. Freeman, Nalini Ambady

Dartmouth Scholarship

The wealth of information provided by facial cues presents challenges to our understanding of these early stages of person perception. The current study aimed to uncover the dynamics of processing multiply categorizable faces, notably as a function of their gender and age. Using a modified four-choice version of a mouse-tracking paradigm (which assesses the relative dominance of two categorical dimensions), the relative influence that sex and age have on each other during categorization of infant, younger adult, and older adult faces was investigated. Results of these experiments demonstrate that when sex and age dimensions are simultaneously categorized, only for infant …

Response Of An Aggressive Periosteal Aneurysmal Bone Cyst (Abc) Of The Radius To Denosumab Therapy., Chantal Pauli, Bruno Fuchs, Christian Pfirrmann, Julia A. Bridge, Silvia Hofer, Beata Bode

Journal Articles: Pathology and Microbiology

Aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC), once considered a reactive lesion, has been proven to be a neoplasia characterized by rearrangements of the USP6-gene. Aggressive local growth and recurrences are common and therapeutic options may be limited due to the vicinity of crucial structures. We describe a case of a locally aggressive, multinucleated giant cell-containing lesion of the forearm of a 21-year old woman, treated with denosumab for recurrent, surgically uncontrollable disease. Under the influence of this RANKL inhibitor, the tumor showed a marked reduction of the content of the osteoclastic giant cells and an extensive metaplastic osteoid production leading to the …

An Imaging-Based Platform For High-Content, Quantitative Evaluation Of Therapeutic Response In 3d Tumour Models, Jonathan P. Celli, Imran Rizvi, Adam R. Blanden, Iqbal Massodi, Iqbal Massodi, Michael D. Glidden, Brian Pogue, Tayyaba Hasan

Dartmouth Scholarship

While it is increasingly recognized that three-dimensional (3D) cell culture models recapitulate drug responses of human cancers with more fidelity than monolayer cultures, a lack of quantitative analysis methods limit their implementation for reliable and routine assessment of emerging therapies. Here, we introduce an approach based on computational analysis of fluorescence image data to provide high-content readouts of dose-dependent cytotoxicity, growth inhibition, treatment-induced architectural changes and size-dependent response in 3D tumour models. We demonstrate this approach in adherent 3D ovarian and pancreatic multiwell extracellular matrix tumour overlays subjected to a panel of clinically relevant cytotoxic modalities and appropriately designed controls …

Bihemispheric Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Enhances Effector-Independent Representations Of Motor Synergy And Sequence Learning., Sheena Waters-Metenier, Masud Husain, Tobias Wiestler, Jörn Diedrichsen

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Complex manual tasks-everything from buttoning up a shirt to playing the piano-fundamentally involve two components: (1) generating specific patterns of muscle activity (here, termed "synergies"); and (2) stringing these into purposeful sequences. Although transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the primary motor cortex (M1) has been found to increase the learning of motor sequences, it is unknown whether it can similarly facilitate motor synergy learning. Here, we determined the effects of tDCS on the learning of motor synergies using a novel hand configuration task that required the production of difficult muscular activation patterns. Bihemispheric tDCS was applied to M1 of …

Effect Of Age On The Hemodynamic And Sympathetic Responses At The Onset Of Isometric Handgrip Exercise., Sophie Lalande, Carolyn P Sawicki, Jacquie R Baker, Kevin Shoemaker

Kinesiology Publications

Cardiac and peripheral vasomotor factors contribute to the rapid pressor response at the onset of isometric handgrip exercise. We tested the hypothesis that age enhances the sympathetic and vasoconstrictor response at the onset of isometric handgrip exercise so that the pressor response is maintained, despite a diminished cardiac function. Twelve young and twelve older (24 ± 3 and 63 ± 8 yr) individuals performed 20-s isometric handgrip exercise at 30, 40, or 50% of maximal voluntary contraction force. Muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) was measured using microneurography. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) and cardiac output (Q) were assessed continuously by finger …

Development Of A Personalized Decision Aid For Breast Cancer Risk Reduction And Management, Elissa M. Ozanne, Rebecca Howe, Zehra Omer, Laura J. Esserman

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: Breast cancer risk reduction has the potential to decrease the incidence of the disease, yet remains underused. We report on the development a web-based tool that provides automated risk assessment and personalized decision support designed for collaborative use between patients and clinicians. Methods: Under Institutional Review Board approval, we evaluated the decision tool through a patient focus group, usability testing, and provider interviews (including breast specialists, primary care physicians, genetic counselors). This included demonstrations and data collection at two scientific conferences (2009 International Shared Decision Making Conference, 2009 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium). Results: Overall, the evaluations were favorable. …

Trip/Nopo E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Promotes Ubiquitylation Of Dna Polymerase Η, Heather A. Wallace, Julie A. Merkle, Michael C. Yu, Taloa G. Berg, Ethan Lee, Giovanni Bosco, Laura A. Lee

Dartmouth Scholarship

We previously identified a Drosophila maternal effect-lethal mutant named ‘no poles’ (nopo). Embryos from nopo females undergo mitotic arrest with barrel-shaped, acentrosomal spindles during the rapid cycles of syncytial embryogenesis because of activation of a Chk2-mediated DNA checkpoint. NOPO is the Drosophila homolog of human TNF receptor associated factor (TRAF)-interacting protein (TRIP), which has been implicated in TNF signaling. NOPO and TRIP contain RING domains closely resembling those of known E3 ubiquitin ligases. We herein sought to elucidate the mechanism by which TRIP/NOPO promotes genomic stability by performing a yeast two-hybrid screen to identify potential substrates/interactors. We identified members of …