Digital Commons Network^™

Testing The Impact Of A Single Nucleotide Polymorphism In A Plasmodium Berghei Apiap2 Transcription Factor On Experimental Cerebral Malaria In Mice, Munir Akkaya, Abhisheka Bansal, Patrick W Sheehan, Mirna Pena, Clare K Cimperman, Chen Feng Qi, Takele Yazew, Thomas D Otto, Oliver Billker, Louis H Miller, Susan K Pierce

Open Access Publications

Cerebral malaria (CM) is the deadliest form of severe Plasmodium infections. Currently, we have limited understanding of the mechanisms by which Plasmodium parasites induce CM. The mouse model of CM, experimental CM (ECM), induced by infection with the rodent parasite, Plasmodium berghei ANKA (PbANKA) has been extensively used to study the pathophysiology of CM. Recent genomic analyses revealed that the coding regions of PbANKA and the closely related Plasmodium berghei NK65 (PbNK65), that does not cause ECM, differ in only 21 single nucleotide polymorphysims (SNPs). Thus, the SNP-containing genes might contribute to the pathogenesis of ECM. Although the majority of …

Autophagic Adaptation To Oxidative Stress Alters Peritoneal Residential Macrophage Survival And Ovarian Cancer Metastasis, Houjun Xia, Shasha Li, Xiong Li, Weichao Wang, Yingjie Bian, Shuang Wei, Sara Grove, Weimin Wang, Linda Vatan, J Rebecca Liu, Karen Mclean, Ramandeep Rattan, Adnan R. Munkarah, Jun-Lin Guan, Ilona Kryczek, Weiping Zou

Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health Services Articles

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) affect cancer progression and therapy. Ovarian carcinoma often metastasizes to the peritoneal cavity. Here, we found two peritoneal macrophage subsets in mice bearing ID8 ovarian cancer based on the Tim-4 (T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain containing 4) expression. Tim-4+ TAMs were embryonically originated and locally sustained while Tim-4- TAMs were replenished from circulating monocytes. Tim-4+ TAMs, but not Tim-4- TAMs, promoted tumor growth in vivo. Relative to Tim-4- TAMs, Tim-4+ TAMs manifested high oxidative phosphorylation and adapted mitophagy to alleviate oxidative stress. High levels of arginase-1 in Tim-4+ TAMs contributed to potent mitophagy activities via weakened mTORC1 …

The Accidental Academic Library: Meeting The Needs Of A Health System–Affiliated University, Heather Martin

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

Background: In 2017 a small liberal arts college affiliated with a large western health system was re-branded, and a School of Health Professions was created to prepare for future staffing shortages and to train the next generation of healthcare workers. Instead of relying solely upon its own library, University administration reached out to the health system library to meet the information needs of this new group of students, most of whom were active employees of the healthcare enterprise. Thus, a group of hospital librarians found themselves as accidental academic librarians.

Description: Library leadership researched academic library bench-marking to propose a …

Oral Cancer: Clinicopathological Features And Associated Risk Factors In A High Risk Population Presenting To A Major Tertiary Care Center In Pakistan, Namrah Anwar, Shahid Pervez, Qurratulain Chundriger, Mohammad Sohail Awan, Tariq Moatter, Tazeen Saeed Ali

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has the highest prevalence in head and neck cancers and is the first and second most common cancer in males and females of Pakistan respectively. Major risk factors include peculiar chewing habits like areca nut, betel quid, and tobacco. The majority of OSCC presents at an advanced stage with poor prognosis. On the face of such a high burden of this preventable cancer, there is a relative lack of recent robust data and its association with known risk factors from Pakistan. The aim of this study was to identify the socioeconomic factors and clinicopathological features …

De Novo And Bi-Allelic Pathogenic Variants In Nars1 Cause Neurodevelopmental Delay Due To Toxic Gain-Of-Function And Partial Loss-Of-Function Effects, Andreea Manole, Marwan Shinawi, Marisa V. Andrews, Dustin Baldridge, John F. Mantovani, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARSs) are ubiquitous, ancient enzymes that charge amino acids to cognate tRNA molecules, the essential first step of protein translation. Here, we describe 32 individuals from 21 families, presenting with microcephaly, neurodevelopmental delay, seizures, peripheral neuropathy, and ataxia, with de novo heterozygous and bi-allelic mutations in asparaginyl-tRNA synthetase (NARS1). We demonstrate a reduction in NARS1 mRNA expression as well as in NARS1 enzyme levels and activity in both individual fibroblasts and induced neural progenitor cells (iNPCs). Molecular modeling of the recessive c.1633C>T (p.Arg545Cys) variant shows weaker spatial positioning and tRNA selectivity. We conclude that de novo and …

Medium-Term Complications Associated With Coronary Artery Aneurysms After Kawasaki Disease: A Study From The International Kawasaki Disease Registry., Brian W Mccrindle, Cedric Manlhiot, Jane W Newburger, Ashraf S Harahsheh, Therese M Giglia, Frederic Dallaire, Kevin Friedman, Tisiana Low, Kyle Runeckles, Mathew Mathew, Andrew S Mackie, Nadine F Choueiter, Pei-Ni Jone, Shelby Kutty, Anji T Yetman, Geetha Raghuveer, Elfriede Pahl, Kambiz Norozi, Kimberly E Mchugh, Jennifer S Li, Sarah D De Ferranti, Nagib Dahdah

Paediatrics Publications

Background Coronary artery aneurysms (CAAs) may occur after Kawasaki disease (KD) and lead to important morbidity and mortality. As CAA in patients with KD are rare and heterogeneous lesions, prognostication and risk stratification are difficult. We sought to derive the cumulative risk and associated factors for cardiovascular complications in patients with CAAs after KD. Methods and Results A 34-institution international registry of 1651 patients with KD who had CAAs (maximum CAA

Risk Of New Bloodstream Infections And Mortality Among People Who Inject Drugs With Infective Endocarditis., Charlie Tan, Esfandiar Shojaei, Joshua C. Wiener, Meera Shah, Sharon Koivu, Michael Silverman

Epidemiology and Biostatistics Publications

IMPORTANCE: People who inject drugs (PWID) who are being treated for infective endocarditis remain at risk of new bloodstream infections (BSIs) due to ongoing intravenous drug use (IVDU).

OBJECTIVES: To characterize new BSIs in PWID receiving treatment for infective endocarditis, to determine the clinical factors associated with their development, and to determine whether new BSIs and treatment setting are associated with mortality.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This retrospective cohort study was performed at 3 tertiary care hospitals in London, Ontario, Canada, from April 1, 2007, to March 31, 2018. Participants included a consecutive sample of all PWID 18 years or …

Maternal Obesity Reduces Placental Autophagy Marker Expression In Uncomplicated Pregnancies, Matthew Cohen, Emily Guo, Aidan Pucchio, Barbra De Vrijer, Trevor G Shepherd, Genevieve Eastabrook

Obstetrics & Gynaecology Publications

AIM: Obesity has been associated with changes in autophagy and its increasing prevalence among pregnant women is implicated in higher rates of placental-mediated complications of pregnancy such as pre-eclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction. Autophagy is involved in normal placentation, thus changes in autophagy may lead to impaired placental function and development. The aim of this study was to investigate the connection between obesity and autophagy in the placenta in otherwise uncomplicated pregnancies.

METHODS: Immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis were done on placental and omental samples from obese (body mass index [BMI] ≥30 kg/m

RESULTS: As pre-pregnancy BMI increased, there was …

Early Working Memory Is A Significant Predictor Of Verbal And Processing Skills At 6-7 Years In Children Born Extremely Preterm, Jean Lowe, Carla M Bann, Janell Fuller, Betty R Vohr, Susan R Hintz, Abhik Das, Rosemary D Higgins, Kristi L Watterberg, Support Study Group Of The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute Of Child Health And Human Development Neonatal Research Network

Pediatrics Research and Scholarship

OBJECTIVE: The study was designed to investigate whether attainment of object permanence, a measure of early working memory used at 18-22 months corrected age, was associated with executive function at 6-7 years in a cohort of children born extremely preterm.

STUDY DESIGN: Children enrolled in the Neuroimaging and Neurodevelopmental Outcome (NEURO) study, a secondary study to the Surfactant Positive Airway Pressure and Pulse Oximetry Trial (SUPPORT) of the NICHD NRN, were eligible for this longitudinal study. Testing completed at 18 to 22 months corrected age was compared to testing at school age with a specific focus on measures of executive …

Telemedicine In Liver Disease And Beyond: Can The Covid-19 Crisis Lead To Action?, Marina Serper, Allen W. Cubell, Mary Elisabeth Deleener, Tara K. Casher, Dale J. Rosenberg, Dale Whitebloom, Roy M. Rosin

Project ECHO Bibliography

Evidence strongly supports that access to specialty gastroenterology or hepatology care in cirrhosis is associated with higher adherence to guideline-recommended care and improves clinical outcomes. Presently, only about one half of acute care hospitalizations for cirrhosis-related complications result in inpatient specialty care, and the current hepatology workforce cannot meet the demand of patients with liver disease nationwide, particularly in less densely populated areas and in community-based practices not affiliated with academic centers. Telemedicine, defined as the delivery of health care services at a distance using electronic means for diagnosis and treatment, holds tremendous promise to increase access to broadly specialty …

White Matter Abnormalities Across Different Epilepsy Syndromes In Adults: An Enigma-Epilepsy Study, Sean N. Hatton, Khoa H. Huynh, Leonardo Bonilha, Eugenio Abela, Saud Alhusaini, Andre Altmann, Marina K. M. Alvim, Akshara R. Balachandra, Emanuele Bartolini, Benjamin Bender, Neda Bernasconi, Andrea Bernasconi, Boris Bernhardt, Núria Bargallo, Benoit Caldairou, Maria E. Caligiuri, Sarah J. A. Carr, Gianpiero L. Cavalleri, Fernando Cendes, Luis Concha, Esmaeil Davoodi-Bojd, Patricia M. Desmond, Orrin Devinsky, Colin P. Doherty, Martin Domin, John S. Duncan, Niels K. Focke, Sonya F. Foley, Antonio Gambardella, Ezequiel Gleichgerrcht, Renzo Guerrini, Khalid Hamandi, Akari Ishikawa, Simon S. Keller, Peter V. Kochunov, Raviteja Kotikalapudi, Barbara A.K. Kreilkamp, Patrick Kwan, Angelo Labate, Soenke Langner, Matteo Lenge, Min Liu, Elaine Lui, Pascal Martin, Mario Mascalchi, José C.V. Moreira, Marcia E. Morita-Sherman, Terence J. O'Brien, Heath R. Pardoe, José C. Pariente, Letícia F. Ribeiro, Mark P. Richardson, Cristiane S. Rocha, Raúl Rodríguez-Cruces, Felix Rosenow, Mariasavina Severino, Benjamin Sinclair, Hamid Soltanian-Zadeh, Pasquale Striano, Peter N. Taylor, Rhys H. Thomas, Domenico Tortora, Dennis Velakoulis, Annamaria Vezzani, Lucy Vivash, Felix Von Podewils, Sjoerd B. Vos, Bernd Weber, Gavin P. Winston, Clarissa L. Yasuda, Alyssa H. Zhu, Paul M. Thompson, Christopher D. Whelan, Neda Jahanshad, Sanjay M. Sisodiya, Carrie R. Mcdonald

Research Administration Articles

The epilepsies are commonly accompanied by widespread abnormalities in cerebral white matter. ENIGMA-Epilepsy is a large quantitative brain imaging consortium, aggregating data to investigate patterns of neuroimaging abnormalities in common epilepsy syndromes, including temporal lobe epilepsy, extratemporal epilepsy, and genetic generalized epilepsy. Our goal was to rank the most robust white matter microstructural differences across and within syndromes in a multicentre sample of adult epilepsy patients. Diffusion-weighted MRI data were analysed from 1069 healthy controls and 1249 patients: temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (n = 599), temporal lobe epilepsy with normal MRI (n = 275), genetic generalized epilepsy (n …

Adaptive Fat Oxidation Is Coupled With Increased Lipid Storage In Adipose Tissue Of Female Mice Fed High Dietary Fat And Sucrose, Scott Fuller, Yongmei Yu, Timothy D. Allerton, Tamra Mendoza, David M. Ribnicky, Z. Elizabeth Floyd

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

Western diets high in fat and sucrose are associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS). Although the prevalence of MetS in women is comparable to that in men, metabolic adaptations in females to Western diet have not been reported in preclinical studies. This study investigates the effects of Western diet on risk factors for MetS in female mice. Based on our earlier studies in male mice, we hypothesized that dietary supplementation with extracts of Artemisia dracunculus L. (PMI5011) and Momordica charantia (bitter melon) could affect MetS risk factors in females. Eight-week-old female mice were fed a 10% kcal fat, 17% kcal sucrose …

Nanoceria Distribution And Effects Are Mouse-Strain Dependent, Robert A. Yokel, Michael T. Tseng, D. Allan Butterfield, Matthew L. Hancock, Eric A. Grulke, Jason M. Unrine, Arnold J. Stromberg, Alan K. Dozier, Uschi M. Graham

Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Prior studies showed nanoparticle clearance was different in C57BL/6 versus BALB/c mice, strains prone to Th1 and Th2 immune responses, respectively. Objective: Assess nanoceria (cerium oxide, CeO₂ nanoparticle) uptake time course and organ distribution, cellular and oxidative stress, and bioprocessing as a function of mouse strain. Methods: C57BL/6 and BALB/c female mice were i.p. injected with 10 mg/kg nanoceria or vehicle and terminated 0.5 to 24 h later. Organs were collected for cerium analysis; light and electron microscopy with elemental mapping; and protein carbonyl, IL-1β, and caspase-1 determination. Results: Peripheral organ cerium significantly increased, generally more …

Myocardial Infarction Can Be Safely Excluded By High-Sensitivity Troponin I Testing 3 Hours After Emergency Department Presentation., W Frank Peacock, Robert Christenson, Deborah B Diercks, Christian Fromm, Gary F Headden, Christopher J Hogan, Erik B Kulstad, Frank Lovecchio, Richard M Nowak, Jon W Schrock, Adam J Singer, Alan B Storrow, Joely Straseski, Alan H B Wu, Daniel P Zelinski

Heart and Vascular Articles

BACKGROUND: The accuracy and speed by which acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is excluded are an important determinant of emergency department (ED) length of stay and resource utilization. While high-sensitivity troponin I (hsTnI) >99th percentile (upper reference level [URL]) represents a "rule-in" cutpoint, our purpose was to evaluate the ability of the Beckman Coulter hsTnI assay, using various level-of-quantification (LoQ) cutpoints, to rule out AMI within 3 hours of ED presentation in suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients.

METHODS: This multicenter evaluation enrolled adults with >5 minutes of ACS symptoms and an electrocardiogram obtained per standard care. Exclusions were ST-segment elevation …

A Trial Comparing Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (Cpap) Devices In Preterm Infants., Carl H Backes, Jennifer N Cooper, Jennifer L Notestine, Crystal M Alfred, Molly K Ball, Brian K Rivera, Jane M Lamp, Laura Marzec, Michael R Stenger, Mohannad Moallem, Randy R Miller, Apurwa Naik, Lindsey J Beer, Christopher R Howard, Stephen E Welty, C Peter Richardson, Noah H Hillman, John A F Zupancic, Larissa I Stanberry, Thomas N Hansen, Charles V Smith

Ambulatory and Primary Care Articles

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that infants born < 30 weeks' gestation supported by Seattle-PAP will have lower rates of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) failure than infants supported with conventional, Fisher&Paykel-CPAP (FP-CPAP).

STUDY DESIGN: Randomized trial (3/2017-01/2019) at 5 NICUs. The primary outcome was CPAP failure; subgroup analyses (gestational age, receipt antenatal corticosteroids) were performed.

RESULTS: A total of 232 infants were randomized. Infants in the Seattle-PAP and FP-CPAP groups had mean gestational ages of 27.0 and 27.2 weeks, respectively. We observed no differences in rates of treatment failure between Seattle-PAP (40/112, 35.7%) and FP-CPAP (38/120, 31.7%; risk difference, 4.1%; 95% CI, -8.1-16.2; P = 0.51). Subgroup analysis indicated no differences in rates of CPAP failure. We observed no differences between the two groups …

Real-World Cost Of Treatment For Multiple Sclerosis Patients Initiating And Receiving Infused Disease-Modifying Therapies Per Recommended Label In The United States., Jacqueline Nicholas, Rachel Halpern, Marina Ziehn, Jesse Peterson-Brandt, Michael Leszko, Chinmay Deshpande

Neuroscience Articles

Aims: The study evaluated the real-world cost of treatment in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients initiating infused disease-modifying-therapies (DMT) in the United States.Materials and Methods: This retrospective cohort study using administrative claims data included adult patients with MS initiating index infusion DMT (ocrelizumab (OCR), natalizumab (NTZ) or alemtuzumab (ATZ)) from April 2017-September 2018 with 6-months pre/12-months post-index continuous enrollment. The primary cohort included patients who had prescribed annual dosing visits indicated by the approved product label (PL): 3 OCR, 5 ATZ, and 12-13 NTZ infusion visits within the first year of initiation. Annual treatment cost was the sum of all …

Therapeutic Plasma Exchange Taper Does Not Decrease Exacerbations In Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura Patients, Jay S. Raval, Marshall A. Mazepa, Marian A. Rollins-Raval, Raj S. Kasthuri, Yara A. Park

Pathology Research and Scholarship

BACKGROUND: Despite rapid and intensive treatments with therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) and immunosuppression, immune thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) patients are at risk of disease exacerbation, i.e., early recurrence of TTP within 30 days of achieving treatment response. TPE taper, a practice of performing additional TPE procedures after achieving treatment response, is commonly performed for decreasing exacerbations, although no evidence supports this practice.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: In this prospective observational investigation over four years, our center switched its standard of care for treating all TTP patients from not performing TPE taper after achieving treatment response (i.e., no-taper cohort) to performance …

Combinatorial Pharmacogenomic Algorithm Is Predictive Of Citalopram And Escitalopram Metabolism In Patients With Major Depressive Disorder, Richard C. Shelton, Charles R. Conway, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Pharmacogenomic tests used to guide clinical treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD) must be thoroughly validated. One important assessment of validity is the ability to predict medication blood levels, which reflect altered metabolism. Historically, the metabolic impact of individual genes has been evaluated; however, we now know that multiple genes are often involved in medication metabolism. Here, we evaluated the ability of individual pharmacokinetic genes (CYP2C19, CYP2D6, CYP3A4) and a combinatorial pharmacogenomic test (GeneSight Psychotropic®; weighted assessment of all three genes) to predict citalopram/escitalopram blood levels in patients with MDD. Patients from the Genomics Used to Improve DEpression Decisions (GUIDED) …

The Efficacy Of Lenvatinib Plus Everolimus In Patients With Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Exhibiting Primary Resistance To Front-Line Targeted Therapy Or Immunotherapy, Lana Hamieh, Rachel L Beck, Valerie H Le, James J Hsieh

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Patients with primary refractory metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) have a dismal prognosis and poor response to subsequent treatments. While there are several approved second-line therapies, it remains critical to choose the most effective treatment regimen.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: We identified 7 patients with clear cell mRCC who had primary resistance to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) or immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) combination therapy. The patients were treated with lenvatinib (a multitargeted TKI) plus everolimus (a mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor). Among these 7 patients, 2 had prior TKI therapy, 3 had prior ICI therapy, …

Women's Football: An Examination Of Factors That Influence Movement Patterns, Jesse Griffin, Brianna Larsen, Sean Horan, Justin Keogh

Open Access archive

The popularity and professionalism of women's football has increased in conjunction with participation rates over the last 10 years, with projected female participation rates to double worldwide by 2026. Scientific interest has also increased, in part due to Fédération Internationale de Football Association now allowing global positioning system (GPS) units to be worn during all competitive matches, resulting in investigations into the match demands of women's football. Therefore, the purpose of the present review is to provide a summary of the literature specific to the movement patterns of women's football matches. Contemporary scientific investigation using GPS match data has led …

Profound And Redundant Functions Of Arcuate Neurons In Obesity Development, Canjun Zhu, Zhiying Jiang, Yuanzhong Xu, Zhao-Lin Cai, Qingyan Jiang, Yong Xu, Mingshan Xue, Benjamin R Arenkiel, Qi Wu, Gang Shu, Qingchun Tong

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

The current obesity epidemic faces a lack of mechanistic insights. It is known that the acute activity changes of a growing number of brain neurons rapidly alter feeding behaviour; however, how these changes translate to obesity development and the fundamental mechanism underlying brain neurons in controlling body weight remain elusive. Here, we show that chronic activation of hypothalamic arcuate GABAergic (GABA

A Cross-Reactive Antibody Protects Against Ross River Virus Musculoskeletal Disease Despite Rapid Neutralization Escape In Mice, Julie M. Fox, Ling Huang, Stephen Tahan, Laura A. Powell, James E. Crowe, David Wang, Michael S. Diamond

Open Access Publications

Arthritogenic alphaviruses cause debilitating musculoskeletal disease and historically have circulated in distinct regions. With the global spread of chikungunya virus (CHIKV), there now is more geographic overlap, which could result in heterologous immunity affecting natural infection or vaccination. Here, we evaluated the capacity of a cross-reactive anti-CHIKV monoclonal antibody (CHK-265) to protect against disease caused by the distantly related alphavirus, Ross River virus (RRV). Although CHK-265 only moderately neutralizes RRV infection in cell culture, it limited clinical disease in mice independently of Fc effector function activity. Despite this protective phenotype, RRV escaped from CHK-265 neutralization in vivo, with resistant variants …

Glycan Cross-Feeding Supports Mutualism Between Fusobacterium And The Vaginal Microbiota, Kavita Agarwal, Lloyd S. Robinson, Somya Aggarwal, Lynne R. Foster, Ariel Hernandez-Leyva, Hueylie Lin, Brett A. Tortelli, Valerie P. O'Brien, Liza Miller, Andrew L. Kau, Hilary Reno, Nicole M. Gilbert, Warren G. Lewis, Amanda L. Lewis

Open Access Publications

Women with bacterial vaginosis (BV), an imbalance of the vaginal microbiome, are more likely to be colonized by potential pathogens such as Fusobacterium nucleatum, a bacterium linked with intrauterine infection and preterm birth. However, the conditions and mechanisms supporting pathogen colonization during vaginal dysbiosis remain obscure. We demonstrate that sialidase activity, a diagnostic feature of BV, promoted F. nucleatum foraging and growth on mammalian sialoglycans, a nutrient resource that was otherwise inaccessible because of the lack of endogenous F. nucleatum sialidase. In mice with sialidase-producing vaginal microbiotas, mutant F. nucleatum unable to consume sialic acids was impaired in vaginal colonization. …

Radiation Causes Tissue Damage By Dysregulating Inflammasome-Gasdermin D Signaling In Both Host And Transplanted Cells, Jianqiu Xiao, Chun Wang, Juo-Chin Yao, Yael Alippe, Tong Yang, Dustin Kress, Kai Sun, Kourtney L. Kostecki, Joseph B. Monahan, Deborah J. Veis, Yousef Abu-Amer, Daniel C. Link, Gabriel Mbalaviele

Open Access Publications

Radiotherapy is a commonly used conditioning regimen for bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Cytotoxicity limits the use of this life-saving therapy, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly defined. Here, we use the syngeneic mouse BMT model to test the hypothesis that lethal radiation damages tissues, thereby unleashing signals that indiscriminately activate the inflammasome pathways in host and transplanted cells. We find that a clinically relevant high dose of radiation causes severe damage to bones and the spleen through mechanisms involving the NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasomes but not the NLRC4 inflammasome. Downstream, we demonstrate that gasdermin D (GSDMD), the common effector of …

Longitudinal Effects Of A Novel Advanced Pneumatic Compression Device On Patient-Reported Outcomes In The Management Of Cancer-Related Head And Neck Lymphedema: A Preliminary Report, Carolina Gutiérrez, Harvey N Mayrovitz, Syed Hassan Shiraz Naqvi, Ron J Karni

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors experience head and neck lymphedema (HNL), which requires treatment to prevent morbidity. We explore the self-reported outcomes and satisfaction of patients with HNC receiving treatment for HNL with an advanced pneumatic compression device (APCD).

METHODS: HNC survivors (n = 205) prescribed with an at-home Flexitouch head and neck APCD completed pretreatment and posttreatment self-reported assessments addressing efficacy, function, and symptoms. Participant average age was 60 years with 74% male. Pre-post responses for ≥25 days of use were assessed via the non-parametric Wilcoxon Signed Rank test.

RESULTS: Analysis revealed statistically significant improvement in all …

Symmetric Inverse Consistent Nonlinear Registration Driven By Mutual Information, Wen Fury, Keun Woo Park, Zhuhao Wu, Eunhee Kim, Moon-Sook Woo, Yu Bai, Lynn E Macdonald, Susan D Croll, Sunghee Cho

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Stroke is a major cause of chronic neurological disability. There is considerable interest in understanding how acute transcriptome changes evolve into subacute and chronic patterns that facilitate or limit spontaneous recovery. Here we mapped longitudinal changes in gene expression at multiple time points after stroke in mice out to 6 months.

METHODS: Adult C57BL/6 mice were subjected to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion. Longitudinal transcriptome levels were measured at 10 time points after stroke from acute to recovery phases of ischemic stroke. Localization and the number of mononuclear phagocytes were determined in the postischemic brain. Whole-mount brain …

Importance Of Persistent Right-To-Left Shunt After Patent Foramen Ovale Closure In Cryptogenic Stroke Patients, Lu He, Gesheng Cheng, Yajuan Du, Yushun Zhang

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) is widely performed to prevent recurrent stroke or transient ischemic attack in patients with cryptogenic stroke. However, the influence of different degrees of right-to-left shunting (RLS) has rarely been reported.

We retrospectively evaluated the cases of 268 patients with cryptogenic stroke who underwent PFO closure at our hospital from April 2012 through April 2015. In accordance with RLS severity, we divided the patients into 2 groups: persistent RLS during normal breathing and the Valsalva maneuver (n=112) and RLS only during the Valsalva maneuver (n=156). Baseline characteristics, morphologic features, and procedural and follow-up data …

Predicting Quality Of Clinical Performance From Cardiology Fellowship Applications, Michael W Cullen, Thomas J Beckman, Kristine M Baldwin, Gregory J Engstler, Jay Mandrekar, Christopher G Scott, Kyle W Klarich

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Variables in cardiology fellowship applications have not been objectively analyzed against applicants' subsequent clinical performance. We investigated possible correlations in a retrospective cohort study of 65 cardiology fellows at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn) who began 2 years of clinical training from July 2007 through July 2013. Application variables included the strength of comparative statements in recommendation letters and the authors' academic ranks, membership status in the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, awards earned, volunteer activities, United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) scores, advanced degrees, publications, and completion of a residency program ranked in the top 6 in the …

Mechanical Prosthetic Valve Sparing For Aortic Root Abscess Complicated By Infective Endocarditis, Ahmed Ahmed, Ayman Ammar, Yasser Elnahas, Mohammed Abd Al Jawad

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Aortic root abscess complicated by infective endocarditis of a mechanical prosthetic valve is associated with morbidity and death. We retrospectively report our experience with a valve-sparing technique for managing this condition.

From October 2014 through November 2017, 41 patients at our center underwent surgery for aortic root abscess complicated by infective endocarditis of a mechanical prosthetic valve. Twenty (48.7%) met prespecified criteria for use of our valve-sparing technique after careful assessment of the mechanical valve and surrounding tissues. Our technique involved draining the abscess, aggressively débriding all infected and necrotic tissues, and then repairing the resulting defect by suturing a …

Association Of Tph1 And Serotonin Transporter Genotypes With Treatment Response For Suicidal Ideation: A Preliminary Study, David A Nielsen, Huiqiong Deng, Michelle A Patriquin, Mark J Harding, John Oldham, Ramiro Salas, J Christopher Fowler, B Christopher Frueh

Staff and Researcher Publications

Variants in three genes coding for components of the serotonergic system, the tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (TPH1) rs1799913, serotonin transporter (SLC6A4) 5-HTTLPR, and serotonin receptor 2A (HTR2A) rs6311, were evaluated for association with suicidal ideation (SI) and with recovery from SI in a psychiatric inpatient population. Five hundred and eighty-two adult inpatients, including 390 patients who had SI, collected from December 2012 to April 2016 were assessed. SI recovery, calculated as change in SI between the first two-week period after admission and weeks 5 and 6, was appraised for association with the three variants. In this preliminary study, both TPH1 and …