Digital Commons Network^™

Clinical Performance Measures And Quality Improvement System Considerations For Dental Education, Joseph W. Parkinson, Gregory G. Zeller

Oral Health Practice Faculty Publications

Quality improvement and quality assurance programs are an integral part of providing excellence in health care delivery. The Dental Quality Alliance and the Commission on Dental Accreditation recognize this and have created standards and recommendations to advise health care providers and health care delivery systems, including dental schools, on measuring the quality of the care delivered to patients. Overall health care expenditures have increased, and the Affordable Care Act has made health care, including dentistry, available to more people in the United States. These increases in cost and in the number of patients accessing care contribute to a heightened interest …

Substance Use And Treatment Outcomes Among Spanish-Speaking Latino/As From Four Acculturation Types., Kelly Serafini, Dennis C Wendt, India J Ornelas, Suzanne R Doyle, Dennis M Donovan

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

The purpose of this study was to examine the association of acculturation with substance use treatment outcomes in a sample of treatment-seeking Latino/as (N = 405). The study used data from a multisite randomized controlled trial of a culturally adapted version of Motivational Enhancement Therapy delivered in Spanish. Berry, Kim, Minde, and Mok's (1987) acculturation model was used to divide the sample into 4 types (integrated, assimilated, separated, marginalized), based on Bicultural Involvement Questionnaire scores. One-way analyses of variance, chi-squared tests, and repeated-measures regression were used to examine baseline acculturation, posttreatment outcomes, and follow-up outcomes. All participants were of Latino/a …

Indicators Of Cognitive Impairment From A Medical Record Review: Correlations With Early (30-D) Readmissions Among Hospitalized Patients In A Nephrology Unit, Matthew J. Jasinski, Mark A. Lumley, Sandeep Soman, Jerry Yee, Mark W. Ketterer

Nephrology Articles

BACKGROUND: Patients with end-stage renal disease have the highest 30-day hospital readmission rates of any medical condition. Previous research suggests that cognitive impairment contributes to readmission. It is important to identify patients at risk for early readmission, and this might be accomplished efficiently using medical record data.

METHOD: We reviewed the medical records of 100 patients with kidney disease (57 women, mean age = 61.2) who were hospitalized in the nephrology unit at an urban U.S. hospital. For each patient, we recorded easily available indicators of cognitive impairment along with other potential risk factors, and also recorded the number of …

Building Proteometools Based On A Complete Synthetic Human Proteome., Daniel P Zolg, Mathias Wilhelm, Karsten Schnatbaum, Johannes Zerweck, Tobias Knaute, Bernard Delanghe, Derek J Bailey, Siegfried Gessulat, Hans-Christian Ehrlich, Maximilian Weininger, Peng Yu, Judith Schlegl, Karl Kramer, Tobias Schmidt, Ulrike Kusebauch, Eric W Deutsch, Ruedi Aebersold, Robert L Moritz, Holger Wenschuh, Thomas Moehring, Stephan Aiche, Andreas Huhmer, Ulf Reimer, Bernhard Kuster

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

We describe ProteomeTools, a project building molecular and digital tools from the human proteome to facilitate biomedical research. Here we report the generation and multimodal liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis of >330,000 synthetic tryptic peptides representing essentially all canonical human gene products, and we exemplify the utility of these data in several applications. The resource (available at http://www.proteometools.org) will be extended to >1 million peptides, and all data will be shared with the community via ProteomicsDB and ProteomeXchange.

Rehabilitation Therapy In Older Acute Heart Failure Patients (Rehab-Hf) Trial: Design And Rationale., Gordon R. Reeves, David J. Whellan, Pamela Duncan, Christopher M. O'Connor, Amy M. Pastva, Joel D. Eggebeen, Leigh Ann Hewston, Timothy M. Morgan, Shelby D. Reed, W. Jack Rejeski, Robert J. Mentz, Paul B. Rosenberg, Dalane W. Kitzman

Division of Cardiology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) is a leading cause of hospitalization in older persons in the United States. Reduced physical function and frailty are major determinants of adverse outcomes in older patients with hospitalized ADHF. However, these are not addressed by current heart failure (HF) management strategies and there has been little study of exercise training in older, frail HF patients with recent ADHF.

HYPOTHESIS: Targeting physical frailty with a multi-domain structured physical rehabilitation intervention will improve physical function and reduce adverse outcomes among older patients experiencing a HF hospitalization.

STUDY DESIGN: REHAB-HF is a multi-center clinical trial in …

Cytomegalovirus Serostatus, Inflammation, And Antibody Response To Influenza Vaccination In Older Adults: The Moderating Effect Of Beta Blockade, Rebecca G. Reed, Richard N. Greenberg, Suzanne C. Segerstrom

Psychology Faculty Publications

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) has been implicated as a factor in immunosenescence, including poor antibody response to vaccination and higher immune activation and inflammation. Some people may be more or less vulnerable to the negative effects of CMV. The present investigation tested the effects of beta-blocker use and chronological age on the associations between CMV and immunity in adults aged 60–91 (N=98; 69% CMV seropositive) who were administered the trivalent influenza vaccine for up to 5 years. Peak antibody response, corrected for baseline, and spring (persistent) antibody response, corrected for peak, were assessed, as well as beta-2 microglobulin (β2μ) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). …

Integrated Biomarker Profiling Of Smokers With Periodontitis, Radhakrishnan Nagarajan, Mohanad Al-Sabbagh, Dolph Dawson Iii, Jeffrey L. Ebersole

Institute for Biomedical Informatics Faculty Publications

Background

In the context of precision medicine, understanding patient‐specific variation is an important step in developing targeted and patient‐tailored treatment regimens for periodontitis. While several studies have successfully demonstrated the usefulness of molecular expression profiling in conjunction with single classifier systems in discerning distinct disease groups, the majority of these studies do not provide sufficient insights into potential variations within the disease groups.

Aim

The goal of this study was to discern biological response profiles of periodontitis and non‐periodontitis smoking subjects using an informed panel of biomarkers across multiple scales (salivary, oral microbiome, pathogens and other markers).

Material & Methods …

Changes In Underlying Determinants Explain Rapid Increases In Child Linear Growth In Alive & Thrive Study Areas Between 2010 And 2014 In Bangladesh And Vietnam, Phuong Hong Nguyen, Derek Headey, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Lan Mai Tran, Rahul Rawat, Marie T. Ruel, Purnima Menon

Faculty Publications

Background: Child linear growth sometimes improves in both intervention and comparison groups in evaluations of nutrition interventions, possibly because of spillover intervention effects to nonintervention areas or improvements in underlying determinants of nutritional change in both areas.

Objective: We aimed to understand what changes in underlying socioeconomic characteristics and behavioral factors are important in explaining improvements in child linear growth.

Methods: Baseline (2010) and endline (2014) surveys from the Alive & Thrive impact evaluation were used to identify the underlying determinants of height-for-age z scores (HAZs) among children aged 24–48 mo in Bangladesh (n = 4311) and 24–59 mo …

Blue-Light Induced Accumulation Of Reactive Oxygen Species Is A Consequence Of The Drosophila Cryptochrome Photocycle, Louis David Arthaut, Margaret Ahmad, Nathalie Jourdan, Ali Mteyrek, Maria Procopio, Mohamed A. El-Esawi, Alain D'Harlingue, Pierre Etienne Bouchet, Jacques Witczak, Carlos F. Martino

Biomedical Engineering and Sciences Faculty Publications

Cryptochromes are evolutionarily conserved blue-light absorbing flavoproteins which participate in many important cellular processes including in entrainment of the circadian clock in plants, Drosophila and humans. Drosophila melanogaster cryptochrome (DmCry) absorbs light through a flavin (FAD) cofactor that undergoes photoreduction to the anionic radical (FAD) redox state both in vitro and in vivo. However, recent efforts to link this photoconversion to the initiation of a biological response have remained controversial. Here, we show by kinetic modeling of the DmCry photocycle that the fluence dependence, quantum yield, and half-life of flavin redox state interconversion are consistent with the anionic radical (FAD∗-) …

Habituation Of Distress And Craving During Treatment As Predictors Of Change In Ptsd Symptoms And Substance Use Severity, Christal L. Badour, Julianne C. Flanagan, Daniel F. Gros, Therese Killeen, Irene Pericot-Valverde, Kristina J. Korte, Nicholas P. Allan, Sudie E. Back

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective—Increasing evidence supports the efficacy of trauma-focused exposure therapy in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and co-occurring substance use disorders. Little is known, however, about the mechanisms of change in treatment for patients with PTSD and co-occurring substance use disorders. The aim of the present study was to examine whether within- and between-session habituation of distress and substance craving during imaginal exposure relates to treatment outcomes among U.S. military veterans with PTSD and a co-occurring substance use disorder (N = 54).

Method—Veterans received Concurrent Treatment of PTSD and Substance Use Disorders Using Prolonged Exposure, a manualized …

Relb Expression Determines The Differential Effects Of Ascorbic Acid In Normal And Cancer Cells, Xiaowei Wei, Yong Xu, Fang Fang Xu, Luksana Chaiswing, David M. Schnell, Teresa Noel, Chi Wang, Jinfei Chen, Daret K. St. Clair, William H. St. Clair

Toxicology and Cancer Biology Faculty Publications

Cancer cells typically experience higher oxidative stress than normal cells, such that elevating pro-oxidant levels can trigger cancer cell death. Although pre-exposure to mild oxidative agents will sensitize cancer cells to radiation, this pre-exposure may also activate the adaptive stress defense system in normal cells. Ascorbic acid is a prototype redox modulator that when infused intravenously appears to kill cancers without injury to normal tissues; however, the mechanisms involved remain elusive. In this study, we show how ascorbic acid kills cancer cells and sensitizes prostate cancer to radiation therapy while also conferring protection upon normal prostate epithelial cells against radiation-induced …

Faster Self-Paced Rate Of Drinking For Alcohol Mixed With Energy Drinks Versus Alcohol Alone, Cecile A. Marczinski, Mark T. Fillmore, Sarah F. Maloney, Amy L. Stamates

Psychology Faculty Publications

The consumption of alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AmED) has been associated with higher rates of binge drinking and impaired driving when compared with alcohol alone. However, it remains unclear why the risks of use of AmED are heightened compared with alcohol alone even when the doses of alcohol consumed are similar. Therefore, the purpose of this laboratory study was to investigate if the rate of self-paced beverage consumption was faster for a dose of AmED versus alcohol alone using a double-blind, within-subjects, placebo-controlled study design. Participants (n = 16) of equal gender who were social drinkers attended 4 separate …

Curbing The Dui Offender's Self-Efficacy To Drink And Drive: A Laboratory Study, Walter Roberts, Mark T. Fillmore

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background—People arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) are at high risk to reoffend. One reason for this high rate of recidivism among DUI offenders is that these individuals systematically underestimate the degree to which alcohol impairs their ability to drive. This study compared perceived and objective driving ability following alcohol and performance feedback in drivers with and without a history of DUI.

Method—Adult drivers with (n = 20) and without (n = 20) a history of DUI arrest attended two dose challenge sessions where they received 0.64 g/kg alcohol or placebo, completed a simulated driving …

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Hospitalization Risk In The Second Year Of Life By Specific Congenital Heart Disease Diagnoses, Deborah Friedman, J Fryzek, X Jiang, A Bloomfield, C Ambrose, P Wong

NYMC Faculty Publications

Children with hemodynamically significant congenital heart disease (CHD) are at elevated risk of morbidity and mortality due to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease compared to their healthy peers. Previous studies have demonstrated lower RSV hospitalization risk among all children with CHD at 12-23 months of age versus 0-11 months of age. However, RSV hospitalization risk at 12-23 months of age by specific CHD diagnosis has not been characterized. Both case-control and cohort studies were conducted using data from the US National Inpatient Sample from 1997 to 2013 to characterize relative risk of RSV hospitalization among children 12-23 months of age …

Mucopolysaccharidosis Type I Newborn Screening: Best Practices For Diagnosis And Management., Lorne A. Clarke, Andrea M. Atherton, Barbara K. Burton, Debra L. Day-Salvatore, Paige Kaplan, Nancy D. Leslie, C Ronald Ronald Scott, David W. Stockton, Janet A. Thomas, Joseph Muenzer

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

No abstract provided.

Otolith Dysfunction In Persons With Both Diabetes And Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo., Linda J. DʼSilva, Hinrich Staecker, James Lin, Christy Maddux, John Ferraro, Hongying Dai, Patricia M. Kluding

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

OBJECTIVE: Vestibular dysfunction is a well-recognized complication of type 2 diabetes (DM) that may contribute to increased fall risk. The prevalence of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is higher in people with DM. The impact of DM on the otolith organs of the vestibular system in people with BPPV is unknown. The purpose of this study was to analyze otolith function using vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) tests in people with DM and concurrent BPPV (BPPV + DM), and to examine the relationships between VEMP variables and diabetes-related variables.

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, cross-sectional study.

SETTING: Tertiary academic medical center.

SUBJECTS AND …

Ethical Concerns When Minors Act As Standardized Patients., Erwin Jiayuan Khoo, Robert Schremmer, Douglas S. Diekema, John Lantos

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

When minors are asked to assist medical educators by acting as standardized patients (SPs), there is a potential for the minors to be exploited. Minors deserve protection from exploitation. Such protection has been written into regulations governing medical research and into child labor laws. But there are no similar guidelines for minors' work in medical education. This article addresses the question of whether there should be rules. Should minors be required to give their informed consent or assent? Are there certain practices that could cause harm for the children who become SPs? We present a controversial case and ask a …

High-Dose Immunosuppressive Therapy And Autologous Hct For Relapsing-Remitting Ms., Richard A Nash, George J Hutton, Michael K Racke, Uday Popat, Steven M Devine, Kaitlyn C Steinmiller, Linda M Griffith, Paolo A Muraro, Harry Openshaw, Peter H Sayre, Olaf Stuve, Douglas L Arnold, Mark H Wener, George E Georges, Annette Wundes, George H Kraft, J D Bowen

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety, efficacy, and durability of multiple sclerosis (MS) disease stabilization after high-dose immunosuppressive therapy (HDIT) and autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT).

METHODS: High-Dose Immunosuppression and Autologous Transplantation for Multiple Sclerosis (HALT-MS) is a phase II clinical trial of HDIT/HCT for patients with relapsing-remitting (RR) MS who experienced relapses with disability progression (Expanded Disability Status Scale [EDSS] 3.0-5.5) while on MS disease-modifying therapy. The primary endpoint was event-free survival (EFS), defined as survival without death or disease activity from any one of: disability progression, relapse, or new lesions on MRI. Participants were evaluated through 5 years posttransplant. …

Metabolomic Biomarkers As Strong Correlates Of Parkinson Disease Progression, Peter A. Lewitt, Jia Li, Mei Lu, Lining Guo, Peggy Auinger

Neurology Articles

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a Parkinson disease (PD)-specific biochemical signature might be found in the total body metabolic milieu or in the CSF compartment, especially since this disorder has systemic manifestations beyond the progressive loss of dopaminergic nigrostriatal neurons.

METHODS: Our goal was to discover biomarkers of PD progression. Using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography linked to gas chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry, we measured concentrations of small-molecule (≤1.5 kDa) constituents of plasma and CSF from 49 unmedicated, mildly affected patients with PD (mean age 61.4 years; mean duration of PD 11.4 months). Specimens were collected twice (baseline and final) at intervals …

Genetic Drivers Of Kidney Defects In The Digeorge Syndrome., Esther Lopez-Rivera, Yangfan P. Liu, Miguel Verbitsky, Blair R. Anderson, Valentina P. Capone, Edgar A. Otto, Zhonghai Yan, Adele Mitrotti, Jeremiah Martino, Nicholas J. Steers, David A. Fasel, Katarina Vukojevic, Rong Deng, Silvia E. Racedo, Qingxue Liu, Max Werth, Rik Westland, Asaf Vivante, Gabriel S. Makar, Monica Bodria, Matthew G. Sampson, Christopher E. Gillies, Virginia Vega-Warner, Mariarosa Maiorana, Donald S. Petrey, Barry Honig, Vladimir J. Lozanovski, Rémi Salomon, Laurence Heidet, Wassila Carpentier, Dominique Gaillard, Alba Carrea, Loreto Gesualdo, Daniele Cusi, Claudia Izzi, Francesco Scolari, Joanna A E Van Wijk, Adela Arapovic, Mirna Saraga-Babic, Marijan Saraga, Nenad Kunac, Ali Samii, Donna M. Mcdonald-Mcginn, Terrence B. Crowley, Elaine H. Zackai, Dorota Drozdz, Monika Miklaszewska, Marcin Tkaczyk, Przemyslaw Sikora, Maria Szczepanska, Malgorzata Mizerska-Wasiak, Grazyna Krzemien, Agnieszka Szmigielska, Marcin Zaniew, John M. Darlow, Prem Puri, David Barton, Emilio Casolari, Susan L. Furth, Bradley A. Warady, Zoran Gucev, Hakon Hakonarson, Hana Flogelova, Velibor Tasic, Anna Latos-Bielenska, Anna Materna-Kiryluk, Landino Allegri, Craig S. Wong, Iain A Drummond, Vivette D'Agati, Akira Imamoto, Jonathan M. Barasch, Friedhelm Hildebrandt, Krzysztof Kiryluk, Richard P. Lifton, Bernice E. Morrow, Cecile Jeanpierre, Virginia E. Papaioannou, Gian Marco Ghiggeri, Ali G. Gharavi, Nicholas Katsanis, Simone Sanna-Cherchi

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: The DiGeorge syndrome, the most common of the microdeletion syndromes, affects multiple organs, including the heart, the nervous system, and the kidney. It is caused by deletions on chromosome 22q11.2; the genetic driver of the kidney defects is unknown.

METHODS: We conducted a genomewide search for structural variants in two cohorts: 2080 patients with congenital kidney and urinary tract anomalies and 22,094 controls. We performed exome and targeted resequencing in samples obtained from 586 additional patients with congenital kidney anomalies. We also carried out functional studies using zebrafish and mice.

RESULTS: We identified heterozygous deletions of 22q11.2 in 1.1% …

Primary Care-Based Models For The Treatment Of Opioid Use Disorder: A Scoping Review, P Todd Korthuis, Dennis Mccarty, Melissa Weimer, Christina Bougatsos, Ian Blazina, Bernadette Zakher, Sara Grusing, Beth Devine, Roger Chou

Project ECHO Bibliography

Greater integration of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder (OUD) in U.S. primary care settings would expand access to treatment for this condition. Models for integrating MAT into primary care vary in structure. This article summarizes findings of a technical report for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality describing MAT models of care for OUD, based on a literature review and interviews with key informants in the field. The report describes 12 representative models of care for integrating MAT into primary care settings that could be considered for adaptation across diverse health care settings. Common components of existing …

Quantitative Assessment Of White Matter Injury In Preterm Neonates: Association With Outcomes., Ting Guo, Emma G Duerden, Elysia Adams, Vann Chau, Helen M Branson, M Mallar Chakravarty, Kenneth J Poskitt, Anne Synnes, Ruth E Grunau, Steven P Miller

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

OBJECTIVE: To quantitatively assess white matter injury (WMI) volume and location in very preterm neonates, and to examine the association of lesion volume and location with 18-month neurodevelopmental outcomes.

METHODS: Volume and location of WMI was quantified on MRI in 216 neonates (median gestational age 27.9 weeks) who had motor, cognitive, and language assessments at 18 months corrected age (CA). Neonates were scanned at 32.1 postmenstrual weeks (median) and 68 (31.5%) had WMI; of 66 survivors, 58 (87.9%) had MRI and 18-month outcomes. WMI was manually segmented and transformed into a common image space, accounting for intersubject anatomical variability. Probability …

Normative Data For The Neurocom Sensory Organization Test In Us Military Special Operations Forces., Erin R. Pletcher, Valerie J Williams, John P Abt, Paul M Morgan, Jeffrey J Parr, Meleesa F Wohleber, Mita Lovalekar, Timothy C Sell

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

CONTEXT: Postural stability is the ability to control the center of mass in relation to a person's base of support and can be affected by both musculoskeletal injury and traumatic brain injury. The NeuroCom Sensory Organization Test (SOT) can be used to objectively quantify impairments to postural stability. The ability of postural stability to predict injury and be used as an acute injury-evaluation tool makes it essential to the screening and rehabilitation process. To our knowledge, no published normative data for the SOT from a healthy, highly active population are available for use as a reference for clinical decision making. …

Skilled Adult Readers Activate The Meanings Of High-Frequency Words Using Phonology: Evidence From Eye Tracking., Debra Jared, Katrina O'Donnell

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

We examined whether highly skilled adult readers activate the meanings of high-frequency words using phonology when reading sentences for meaning. A homophone-error paradigm was used. Sentences were written to fit 1 member of a homophone pair, and then 2 other versions were created in which the homophone was replaced by its mate or a spelling-control word. The error words were all high-frequency words, and the correct homophones were either higher-frequency words or low-frequency words-that is, the homophone errors were either the subordinate or dominant member of the pair. Participants read sentences as their eye movements were tracked. When the high-frequency …

Impact Of Sequencing Targeted Therapies With High-Dose Interleukin-2 Immunotherapy: An Analysis Of Outcome And Survival Of Patients With Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma From An On-Going Observational Il-2 Clinical Trial: Proclaim, Joseph I Clark, Michael K K Wong, Howard L Kaufman, Gregory A Daniels, Michael A Morse, David F Mcdermott, Sanjiv S Agarwala, Lionel D Lewis, John H Stewart, Ulka Vaishampayan, Brendan Curti, René Gonzalez, Jose Lutzky, Venkatesh Rudraptna, Lee D Cranmer, Joanne M Jeter, Ralph J Hauke, Gerald Miletello, Mohammed M Milhem, Asim Amin, John M Richart, Mayer Fishman, Sigrun Hallmeyer, Sapna P Patel, Peter Van Veldhuizen, Neeraj Agarwal, Bret Taback, Jonathan S Treisman, Marc S Ernstoff, Jessica C Perritt, Hong Hua, Tharak B Rao, Janice P Dutcher, Sandra Aung

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

BACKGROUND: This analysis describes the outcome for patients who received targeted therapy (TT) prior to or following high-dose interleukin-2 (HD IL-2).

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with renal cell carcinoma (n = 352) receiving HD IL-2 were enrolled in Proleukin

RESULTS: Overall, there were 4% complete response (CR), 13% partial response (PR), 39% stable disease (SD), and 43% progressive disease (PD) with HD IL-2. The median overall survival (mOS) was not reached in patients with CR, PR, or SD, and was 15.5 months in patients with PD (median follow-up, 21 months). Sixty-one patients had prior TT before HD IL-2 with an …

Nephrotoxicity During Vancomycin Therapy In Combination With Piperacillin-Tazobactam Or Cefepime, Wilbur Cliff Rutter, Jessica N. Cox, Craig A. Martin, Donna R. Burgess, David S. Burgess

Pharmacy Practice and Science Faculty Publications

Recent reports have demonstrated that vancomycin (VAN) may lead to an increase in the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) when it is combined with antipseudomonal beta-lactams. This study compared the incidence of AKI associated with VAN plus piperacillin-tazobactam (TZP) or cefepime (FEP). This was a retrospective, matched cohort study that was conducted at an academic medical center between September 2010 and September 2014 and that included adult patients without severe chronic or structural kidney disease, dialysis, pregnancy, cystic fibrosis, or a hospital transfer receiving TZP-VAN or FEP-VAN for at least 48 h. The primary outcome was the difference in …

Placental Genetic Variations In Vitamin D Metabolism And Birthweight., Tsegaselassie Workalemahu, Sylvia E Badon, Michal Dishi-Galitzky, Chunfang Qiu, Michelle A Williams, Tanya Sorensen, Daniel A Enquobahrie

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

INTRODUCTION: Vitamin D has pleiotropic functions that regulate fetal growth and development. We investigated associations of common placental genetic variations in vitamin D metabolism with birthweight.

METHODS: The study was conducted among participants (506 maternal-infant pairs) of a pregnancy cohort study. Data were collected using interviewer-administered questionnaires and post-delivery medical record abstraction. DNA, extracted from placental samples collected at delivery, was genotyped for eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in five vitamin D metabolism genes (CUBN, LRP2, VDR, GC, and CYP2R1). Linear and logistic regression models were used to evaluate associations of SNPs with birthweight and risk of low birthweight, respectively. …

Myocardial Relaxation Is Accelerated By Fast Stretch, Not Reduced Afterload, Charles S. Chung, Charles W. Hoopes, Kenneth S. Campbell

Physiology Faculty Publications

Fast relaxation of cross-bridge generated force in the myocardium facilitates efficient diastolic function. Recently published research studying mechanisms that modulate the relaxation rate has focused on molecular factors. Mechanical factors have received less attention since the 1980s when seminal work established the theory that reducing afterload accelerates the relaxation rate. Clinical trials using afterload reducing drugs, partially based on this theory, have thus far failed to improve outcomes for patients with diastolic dysfunction. Therefore, we reevaluated the protocols that suggest reducing afterload accelerates the relaxation rate and identified that myocardial relengthening was a potential confounding factor. We hypothesized that the …

Multiscale Mutation Clustering Algorithm Identifies Pan-Cancer Mutational Clusters Associated With Pathway-Level Changes In Gene Expression., William Poole, Kalle Leinonen, Ilya Shmulevich, Theo A Knijnenburg, Brady Bernard

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

Cancer researchers have long recognized that somatic mutations are not uniformly distributed within genes. However, most approaches for identifying cancer mutations focus on either the entire-gene or single amino-acid level. We have bridged these two methodologies with a multiscale mutation clustering algorithm that identifies variable length mutation clusters in cancer genes. We ran our algorithm on 539 genes using the combined mutation data in 23 cancer types from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and identified 1295 mutation clusters. The resulting mutation clusters cover a wide range of scales and often overlap with many kinds of protein features including structured domains, …

Percutaneous Valvuloplasty For Bioprosthetic Tricuspid Valve Stenosis, Gaurav Rana, Rohit Malhotra, Anjali Sharma, Nikolaos Kakouros

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Percutaneous transcatheter tricuspid balloon valvuloplasty (PTTBV) is an accepted treatment option for symptomatic severe native tricuspid valve stenosis, although surgical tricuspid valve replacement remains the treatment of choice. There have been few reports of successful PTTBV for bioprosthetic tricuspid valve stenosis. We present case reports of 3 patients from our hospital experience. Two of the 3 cases were successful, with lasting clinical improvement, whereas the 3rd patient failed to show a reduction in valve gradient. We describe the standard technique used for PTTBV. We present results from a literature review that identified 16 previously reported cases of PTTBV for bioprosthetic …