Digital Commons Network^™

Prediction Of Early (4-Week) Mortality In Acute Myeloid Leukemia With Intensive Chemotherapy, Koji Sasaki, Tapan Kadia, Kebede Begna, Courtney D Dinardo, Gautam Borthakur, Nicholas J Short, Nitin Jain, Naval Daver, Elias Jabbour, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Guillermo Montalban Bravo, Lucia Masarova, Sherry Pierce, Marina Konopleva, Farhad Ravandi, Ayalew Tefferi, Hagop Kantarjian

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The progress with intensive chemotherapy and supportive care measures has improved survival in patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Given the recent development of effective low intensity therapies, an optimal decision on the therapy intensity may improve survival through the avoidance of early mortality. We reviewed the outcome of 3728 patients with newly diagnosed AML who received intensive chemotherapy between August 1980 and May 2020. Intensive chemotherapy was defined as a cumulative cytarabine dose ≥ 700 mg/m2 during induction therapy. We divided the whole cohort into a training and validation group at a 3:1 ratio. The population was …

Increasing Referral Of At-Risk Women For Genetic Counseling And Brca Testing Using A Screening Tool In A Community Breast Imaging Center, Banu K Arun, Susan K Peterson, Lilian E Sweeney, Rachel D Bluebond, Rebecca S S Tidwell, Sukh Makhnoon, Anne C Kushwaha

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Genetic evaluation and testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) remain suboptimal. The authors evaluated the feasibility of using a screening tool at a breast imaging center to increase HBOC assessment referrals.

METHODS: A brief questionnaire based on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network HBOC genetic counseling referral guidelines was developed and added to the standard intake forms of patients undergoing mammography at a community breast imaging center from 2012 through 2015. Patients who met the criteria in the guidelines were referred for genetic counseling.

RESULTS: A total of 34,851 patients were screened during the study period, and 1246 …

Contemporary Evidence On Colorectal Liver Metastases Ablation: Toward A Paradigm Shift In Locoregional Treatment, Yuan-Mao Lin, Reto Bale, Kristy K Brock, Bruno C Odisio

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Image-guided percutaneous ablation techniques represent an attractive local therapy for the treatment of colorectal liver metastases (CLM) given its low risk of severe complications, which allows for early initiation of adjuvant therapies and spare functional liver parenchyma, allowing repeated treatments at the time of recurrence. However, ablation does not consistently achieve similar oncological outcomes to surgery, with the latter being currently considered the first-line local treatment modality in international guidelines. Recent application of computer-assisted ablation planning, guidance, and intra-procedural response assessment has improved percutaneous ablation outcomes. In addition, the evolving understanding of tumor molecular profiling has brought to light several …

Genetic Studies On Mammalian Dna Methyltransferases, Jiameng Dan, Taiping Chen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cytosine methylation at the C5-position-generating 5-methylcytosine (5mC)-is a DNA modification found in many eukaryotic organisms, including fungi, plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates, albeit its levels vary greatly in different organisms. In mammals, cytosine methylation occurs predominantly in the context of CpG dinucleotides, with the majority (60-80%) of CpG sites in their genomes being methylated. DNA methylation plays crucial roles in the regulation of chromatin structure and gene expression and is essential for mammalian development. Aberrant changes in DNA methylation and genetic alterations in enzymes and regulators involved in DNA methylation are associated with various human diseases, including cancer and developmental disorders. …

A Phase I, Open-Label, Dose-Escalation Study Of The Ox40 Agonist Ivuxolimab In Patients With Locally Advanced Or Metastatic Cancers, Adi Diab, Omid Hamid, John A Thompson, Willeke Ros, Ferry A L M Eskens, Toshihiko Doi, Siwen Hu-Lieskovan, Samuel J Klempner, Bishu Ganguly, Catherine Fleener, Xiao Wang, Tenshang Joh, Ken Liao, Shahram Salek-Ardakani, Carrie Turich Taylor, Jeffrey Chou, Anthony B El-Khoueiry

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Stimulation of effector T cells is an appealing immunotherapeutic approach in oncology. OX40 (CD134) is a costimulatory receptor expressed on activated CD4

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Adult patients (

RESULTS: The most common all-causality adverse events were fatigue (46.2%), nausea (28.8%), and decreased appetite (25.0%). Of 31 treatment-related adverse events, 30 (96.8%) were grade ≤2. No dose-limiting toxicities occurred. Ivuxolimab exposure increased in a dose-proportionate manner from 0.3 to 10 mg/kg. Full peripheral blood target engagement occurred at ≥0.3 mg/kg. Three (5.8%) patients achieved a partial response, and disease control was achieved in 56% of patients. Increased CD4

CONCLUSIONS: Ivuxolimab …

The Sequence Dependent Nanoscale Structure Of Cenp-A Nucleosomes, Tommy Stormberg, Yuri L. Lyubchenko

Journal Articles: Pharmaceutical Sciences

CENP-A is a histone variant found in high abundance at the centromere in humans. At the centromere, this histone variant replaces the histone H3 found throughout the bulk chromatin. Additionally, the centromere comprises tandem repeats of α-satellite DNA, which CENP-A nucleosomes assemble upon. However, the effect of the DNA sequence on the nucleosome assembly and centromere formation remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the structure of nucleosomes assembled with the CENP-A variant using Atomic Force Microscopy. We assembled both CENP-A nucleosomes and H3 nucleosomes on a DNA substrate containing an α-satellite motif and characterized their positioning and wrapping efficiency. We …

Dataset: Knowledge And Attitude Retention Following An Implicit Bias Classroom Workshop, Yuanyuan Zhou, Joel Purkiss, Malvika Juneja, Jocelyn Greely, Anitra Beasley, Anne Gill

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Baylor College of Medicine provides a classroom-based implicit bias workshop to all third-year medical students to increase students’ awareness of their unconscious bias and develop strategies for reducing health care disparities. The workshop meets our immediate goals and objectives. However, we are unsure if the benefit would be long-term or diminish over time.

Methods: To examine the concept retention from the implicit bias classroom workshop, we administered a self-developed seven-item seven-point Likert-scale survey to our medical students at pre-, post-, and one-year post-workshop attendance.

Results: The data set was comprised of survey results from two cohorts of our third …

Exercise-Induced Myokines Downregulates The Ace2 Level In Bronchial Epithelial Cells: Implications For Sars-Cov-2 Prevention, Vaishali Bhardwaj, Mart Dela Cruz, Deepika Subramanyam, Rohit Kumar, Sandeep Markan, Beth Parker, Hemant K Roy

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: The Covid-19 pandemic has emerged as the leading public health challenge of our time (20th century). While vaccinations have finally blunted the death rate, concern has remained about more virulent forms highlighting the need for alternative approaches. Epidemiological studies indicate that physical activity has been shown to decrease the risk of infection of some respiratory viruses. Part of the salutary effects of exercise is believed to be through the elaboration of cytokines by contracting skeletal muscles (termed myokines). The objective of this study was to investigate whether exercise-induced myokines would mitigate the SARS-CoV-2 infectivity of the bronchial epithelium through …

How Do Digital Lives Affect Resident Mental Health In The Digital Era? Empirical Evidence Based On Chinese General Social Survey, Yan Chen, Mengyang Wei, Jaime Ortiz

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Having good mental health means we are better able to connect, function, cope and thrive. The widespread application of digital technology in daily life provides new ways and promising tools for residents to maintain their mental health. Given the importance of mental health for everyone, and the fact that mental health problems are prevalent worldwide, this study discusses how digital lives affects the mental health of residents. The results suggest that digital lives are significantly and positively associated with mental health. Mechanisms analysis identifies personal perceptions (self-rated physical exercise and subjective wellbeing) as the important paths for digital lives to …

Rac-Maninoff And Rho-Vel: The Symphony Of Rho-Gtpase Signaling At Excitatory Synapses, Joseph G Duman, Francisco A Blanco, Christopher A Cronkite, Qin Ru, Kelly C Erikson, Shalaka Mulherkar, Ali Bin Saifullah, Karen Firozi, Kimberley F Tolias

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Synaptic connections between neurons are essential for every facet of human cognition and are thus regulated with extreme precision. Rho-family GTPases, molecular switches that cycle between an active GTP-bound state and an inactive GDP-bound state, comprise a critical feature of synaptic regulation. Rho-GTPases are exquisitely controlled by an extensive suite of activators (GEFs) and inhibitors (GAPs and GDIs) and interact with many different signalling pathways to fulfill their roles in orchestrating the development, maintenance, and plasticity of excitatory synapses of the central nervous system. Among the mechanisms that control Rho-GTPase activity and signalling are cell surface receptors, GEF/GAP complexes that …

The Autophagic Protein P62 Is A Target Of Reactive Aldehydes In Human And Murine Cholestatic Liver Disease, Colin T Shearn, Aimee L Anderson, Michael W Devereux, David J Orlicky, Cole Michel, Dennis R Petersen, Colin G Miller, Sanjiv Harpavat, Edward E Schmidt, Ronald J Sokol

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Inflammatory cholestatic liver diseases, including Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC), are characterized by periportal inflammation with progression to cirrhosis. The objective of this study was to examine interactions between oxidative stress and autophagy in cholestasis. Using hepatic tissue from male acute cholestatic (bile duct ligated) as well as chronic cholestatic (Mdr2KO) mice, localization of oxidative stress, the antioxidant response and induction of autophagy were analyzed and compared to human PSC liver. Concurrently, the ability of reactive aldehydes to post-translationally modify the autophagosome marker p62 was assessed in PSC liver tissue and in cell culture. Expression of autophagy markers was upregulated in …

The Third International Hackathon For Applying Insights Into Large-Scale Genomic Composition To Use Cases In A Wide Range Of Organisms, Kimberly Walker, Divya Kalra, Rebecca Lowdon, Guangyi Chen, David Molik, Daniela C Soto, Fawaz Dabbaghie, Ahmad Al Khleifat, Medhat Mahmoud, Luis F Paulin, Muhammad Sohail Raza, Susanne P Pfeifer, Daniel Paiva Agustinho, Elbay Aliyev, Pavel Avdeyev, Enrico R Barrozo, Sairam Behera, Kimberley Billingsley, Li Chuin Chong, Deepak Choubey, Wouter De Coster, Yilei Fu, Alejandro R Gener, Timothy Hefferon, David Morgan Henke, Wolfram Höps, Anastasia Illarionova, Michael D Jochum, Maria Jose, Rupesh K Kesharwani, Sree Rohit Raj Kolora, Jędrzej Kubica, Priya Lakra, Damaris Lattimer, Chia-Sin Liew, Bai-Wei Lo, Chunhsuan Lo, Anneri Lötter, Sina Majidian, Suresh Kumar Mendem, Rajarshi Mondal, Hiroko Ohmiya, Nasrin Parvin, Carolina Peralta, Chi-Lam Poon, Ramanandan Prabhakaran, Marie Saitou, Aditi Sammi, Philippe Sanio, Nicolae Sapoval, Najeeb Syed, Todd Treangen, Gaojianyong Wang, Tiancheng Xu, Jianzhi Yang, Shangzhe Zhang, Weiyu Zhou, Fritz J Sedlazeck, Ben Busby

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

In October 2021, 59 scientists from 14 countries and 13 U.S. states collaborated virtually in the Third Annual Baylor College of Medicine & DNANexus Structural Variation hackathon. The goal of the hackathon was to advance research on structural variants (SVs) by prototyping and iterating on open-source software. This led to nine hackathon projects focused on diverse genomics research interests, including various SV discovery and genotyping methods, SV sequence reconstruction, and clinically relevant structural variation, including SARS-CoV-2 variants. Repositories for the projects that participated in the hackathon are available at https://github.com/collaborativebioinformatics.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Reinfection: A Case Series From A 12-Month Longitudinal Occupational Cohort, Christina D. Mack, Caroline Tai, Robby Sikka, Yonatan H. Grad, Lisa L. Maragakis, Nathan D. Grubaugh, Deverick J. Anderson, David Ho, Michael Merson, Radhika M. Samant, Joseph R. Fauver, James Barrett, Leroy Sims, John Difiori

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

Findings are described in 7 patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 reinfection from the National Basketball Association 2020-2021 occupational testing cohort, including clinical details, antibody test results, genomic sequencing, and longitudinal reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction results. Reinfections were infrequent and varied in clinical presentation, viral dynamics, and immune response.

Family History Of Breast Cancer And Mammographic Breast Density In Premenopausal Women, Yunan Han, Justin Xavier Moore, Graham A. Colditz, Adetunji T. Toriola

Open Access Publications

Importance: Family history of breast cancer (FHBC) and mammographic breast density are independent risk factors for breast cancer, but the association of FHBC and mammographic breast density in premenopausal women is not well understood.

Objectives: To investigate the association of FHBC and mammographic breast density in premenopausal women using both quantitative and qualitative measurements.

Design, Setting, and Participants: This single-center cohort study examined 2 retrospective cohorts: a discovery set of 375 premenopausal women and a validation set of 14 040 premenopausal women. Data from women in the discovery set was collected between December 2015 and October 2016, whereas data from …

Quantifying Rural Disparity In Healthcare Utilization In The United States: Analysis Of A Large Midwestern Healthcare System, Akua Nuako, Jingxia Liu, Giang Pham, Nina Smock, Aimee James, Timothy Baker, Laura Bierut, Graham Colditz, Li-Shiun Chen

Open Access Publications

PURPOSE: The objective of this study is to identify how predisposing characteristics, enabling factors, and health needs are jointly and individually associated with epidemiological patterns of outpatient healthcare utilization for patients who already interact and engage with a large healthcare system.

METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed electronic medical record data from 1,423,166 outpatient clinic visits from 474,674 patients in a large healthcare system from June 2018-March 2019. We evaluated patients who exclusively visited rural clinics versus patients who exclusively visited urban clinics using Chi-square tests and the generalized estimating equation Poisson regression methodology. The outcome was healthcare use defined by the …

The Politics Of Drug Rehabilitation In The Philippines, Gideon Lasco, Lee Edson Yarcia

Development Studies Faculty Publications

The international consensus to end compulsory drug treatments and close forced rehabilitation facilities needs urgent transformation to country policies. In the Philippines, as with other countries in Asia, rehabilitation can be compulsory and is seen as the humane alternative to the “war on drugs.” In this paper, we present the landscape of rehabilitation and narrate the ways in which people who use drugs are forced to undergo treatment. We unpack the politics behind rehabilitation and explain the sociocultural foundations that support compulsory treatment. We argue that a transition to a human rights-based approach, including voluntary alternatives in community settings, is …

One-Carbon Metabolism In Children With Marasmus And Kwashiorkor, Thaddaeus May, Bethany De La Haye, Gabrielle Nord, Kevin Klatt, Kevin Stephenson, Sara Adams, Lucy Bollinger, Neil Hanchard, Erland Arning, Teodoro Bottiglieri, Kenneth Maleta, Mark Manary, Farook Jahoor

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

BACKGROUND: Kwashiorkor is a childhood syndrome of edematous malnutrition. Its precise nutritional precipitants remain uncertain despite nine decades of study. Remarkably, kwashiorkor's disturbances resemble the effects of experimental diets that are deficient in one-carbon nutrients. This similarity suggests that kwashiorkor may represent a nutritionally mediated syndrome of acute one-carbon metabolism dysfunction. Here we report findings from a cross-sectional exploration of serum one-carbon metabolites in Malawian children.

METHODS: Blood was collected from children aged 12-60 months before nutritional rehabilitation: kwashiorkor (N = 94), marasmic-kwashiorkor (N = 43) marasmus (N = 118), moderate acute malnutrition (N = 56) and controls (N = …

Predicting At-Risk Opioid Use Three Months After Ed Visit For Trauma: Results From The Aurora Study, Brittany E. Punches, Stacey L. House, Et Al

2020-Current year OA Pubs

OBJECTIVE: Whether short-term, low-potency opioid prescriptions for acute pain lead to future at-risk opioid use remains controversial and inadequately characterized. Our objective was to measure the association between emergency department (ED) opioid analgesic exposure after a physical, trauma-related event and subsequent opioid use. We hypothesized ED opioid analgesic exposure is associated with subsequent at-risk opioid use.

METHODS: Participants were enrolled in AURORA, a prospective cohort study of adult patients in 29 U.S., urban EDs receiving care for a traumatic event. Exclusion criteria were hospital admission, persons reporting any non-medical opioid use (e.g., opioids without prescription or taking more than prescribed …

Metal Coordinating Inhibitors Of Rift Valley Fever Virus Replication, Elizabeth Geerling, Mohamed Elagawany, Bahaa Elgendy, Et Al

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is a veterinary and human pathogen and is an agent of bioterrorism concern. Currently, RVFV treatment is limited to supportive care, so new drugs to control RVFV infection are urgently needed. RVFV is a member of the order Bunyavirales, whose replication depends on the enzymatic activity of the viral L protein. Screening for RVFV inhibitors among compounds with divalent cation-coordinating motifs similar to known viral nuclease inhibitors identified 47 novel RVFV inhibitors with selective indexes from 1.1-103 and 50% effective concentrations of 1.2-56 μM in Vero cells, primarily α-Hydroxytropolones and N-Hydroxypyridinediones. Inhibitor activity and selective …

Estimation Of Intrafamilial Dna Contamination In Family Trio Genome Sequencing Using Deviation From Mendelian Inheritance, Christopher J Yoon, Brian Wiley, Malachi Griffith, Obi L Griffith, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

With the increasing number of sequencing projects involving families, quality control tools optimized for family genome sequencing are needed. However, accurately quantifying contamination in a DNA mixture is particularly difficult when genetically related family members are the sources. We developed TrioMix, a maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) framework based on Mendel's law of inheritance, to quantify DNA mixture between family members in genome sequencing data of parent-offspring trios. TrioMix can accurately deconvolute any intrafamilial DNA contamination, including parent-offspring, sibling-sibling, parent-parent, and even multiple familial sources. In addition, TrioMix can be applied to detect genomic abnormalities that deviate from Mendelian inheritance patterns, …

The Influence Of Green Space On Obesity In China: A Systematic Review, Jing Shen, Mengfei Li, Qianhui Wang, Ruidong Liu, Mengmeng Ji, Ruopeng An

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: This study systematically reviewed scientific evidence concerning the influence of green space on obesity in China.

METHODS: Keyword and reference search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCO, and CNKI. Predetermined selection criteria included study designs: experimental and observational studies; subjects: people of all ages; exposures: green space (i.e., any open land partly or entirely covered with grass, trees, shrubs, or other vegetation); outcomes: body weight status (e.g., body mass index [BMI], overweight, or obesity); and country: China.

RESULTS: Ten studies met the selection criteria and were included in the review. All studies adopted a cross-sectional design. …

The Association Of Prescription Opioid Use With Suicide Attempts: An Analysis Of Statewide Medical Claims Data, Chongliang Luo, Kun Chen, Riddhi Doshi, Nathaniel Rickles, Yong Chen, Harold Schwartz, Robert H. Aseltine

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Suicides and opioid overdose deaths are among the most pressing public health concerns in the US. However direct evidence for the association between opioid use and suicidal behavior is limited. The objective of this article is to examine the association between frequency and dose of prescription opioid use and subsequent suicide attempts.

METHODS AND FINDINGS: This retrospective cohort study analyzed 4 years of statewide medical claims data from the Connecticut All-Payer Claims Database. Commercially insured adult patients in Connecticut (n = 842,773) who had any medical claims beginning in January 2012 were followed through December 2015. The primary outcome …

Efficient T Cell Migration And Activation Require L-Plastin, Hemant Joshi, Sharon Celeste Morley

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Rapid re-organization of the actin cytoskeleton supports T-cell trafficking towards immune sites and interaction with antigen presenting cells (APCs). F-actin rearrangement enables T-cell trafficking by stabilizing adhesion to vascular endothelial cells and promoting transendothelial migration. T-cell/APC immune synapse (IS) maturation also relies upon f-actin-anchored LFA-1:ICAM-1 ligation. Therefore, efficient T-cell responses require tight regulation of f-actin dynamics. In this review, we summarize how the actin-bundling protein L-plastin (LPL) regulates T-cell activation and migration. LPL enhances f-actin polymerization and also directly binds to the β2 chain of the integrin LFA-1 to support intercellular adhesion and IS formation in human and murine T …

Phase I Clinical Trial Evaluating The Safety And Efficacy Of Adp-A2m10 Spear T Cells In Patients With Mage-A10+ Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, George R Blumenschein, Siddhartha Devarakonda, Ramaswamy Govindan, Et Al

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: ADP-A2M10 specific peptide enhanced affinity receptor (SPEAR) T cells (ADP-A2M10) are genetically engineered autologous T cells that express a high-affinity melanoma-associated antigen A10 (MAGE-A10)-specific T-cell receptor (TCR) targeting MAGE-A10

METHODS: Eligible patients were HLA-A*02 positive with advanced NSCLC expressing MAGE-A10. Patients underwent apheresis; T cells were isolated, transduced with a lentiviral vector containing the TCR targeting MAGE-A10, and expanded. Patients underwent lymphodepletion with varying doses/schedules of fludarabine and cyclophosphamide prior to receiving ADP-A2M10. ADP-A2M10 were administered at 0.08-0.12×10

RESULTS: Eleven patients (male, n=6; female, n=5) with NSCLC (adenocarcinoma, n=8; squamous cell carcinoma, n=3) were treated. Five, three, and three …

The Role Of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps In Acute Lung Injury, Davide Scozzi, Fuyi Liao, Alexander S Krupnick, Daniel Kreisel, Andrew E Gelman

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a heterogeneous inflammatory condition associated with high morbidity and mortality. Neutrophils play a key role in the development of different forms of ALI, and the release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) is emerging as a common pathogenic mechanism. NETs are essential in controlling pathogens, and their defective release or increased degradation leads to a higher risk of infection. However, NETs also contain several pro-inflammatory and cytotoxic molecules than can exacerbate thromboinflammation and lung tissue injury. To reduce NET-mediated lung damage and inflammation, DNase is frequently used in preclinical models of ALI due to its capability …

Hydroxychloroquine/Chloroquine For The Treatment Of Hospitalized Patients With Covid-19: An Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis, Leon Di Stefano, Jane A. O'Halloran, Adriana M. Rauseo, Et Al

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Results from observational studies and randomized clinical trials (RCTs) have led to the consensus that hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and chloroquine (CQ) are not effective for COVID-19 prevention or treatment. Pooling individual participant data, including unanalyzed data from trials terminated early, enables more detailed investigation of the efficacy and safety of HCQ/CQ among subgroups of hospitalized patients.

METHODS: We searched ClinicalTrials.gov in May and June 2020 for US-based RCTs evaluating HCQ/CQ in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in which the outcomes defined in this study were recorded or could be extrapolated. The primary outcome was a 7-point ordinal scale measured between day 28 …

Edge-Centric Analysis Of Stroke Patients: An Alternative Approach For Biomarkers Of Lesion Recovery, Sebastian Idesis, Joshua Faskowitz, Richard F Betzel, Maurizio Corbetta, Olaf Sporns, Gustavo Deco

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Most neuroimaging studies of post-stroke recovery rely on analyses derived from standard node-centric functional connectivity to map the distributed effects in stroke patients. Here, given the importance of nonlocal and diffuse damage, we use an edge-centric approach to functional connectivity in order to provide an alternative description of the effects of this disorder. These techniques allow for the rendering of metrics such as normalized entropy, which describes the diversity of edge communities at each node. Moreover, the approach enables the identification of high amplitude co-fluctuations in fMRI time series. We found that normalized entropy is associated with stroke lesion severity …

Egg-Derived Anti-Sars-Cov-2 Immunoglobulin Y (Igy) With Broad Variant Activity As Intranasal Prophylaxis Against Covid-19, Lyn R Frumkin, Traci L Bricker, Astha Joshi, Adrianus C M Boon, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

UNLABELLED: COVID-19 emergency use authorizations and approvals for vaccines were achieved in record time. However, there remains a need to develop additional safe, effective, easy-to-produce, and inexpensive prevention to reduce the risk of acquiring SARS-CoV-2 infection. This need is due to difficulties in vaccine manufacturing and distribution, vaccine hesitancy, and, critically, the increased prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 variants with greater contagiousness or reduced sensitivity to immunity. Antibodies from eggs of hens (immunoglobulin Y; IgY) that were administered the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein were developed for use as nasal drops to capture the virus on the nasal mucosa. …

Left Ventricular Assist Device Support And Longitudinal Sleeve Gastrectomy Combined With Diet In Bridge To Heart Transplant, Mandy Ng, Beverly Rodgers, Saadiya Rehman, Sriram S Nathan, Kulvinder S Bajwa, Shinil K Shah, Bindu H Akkanti, Marwan F Jumean, Sachin Kumar, Jennifer L Dressel, Rajko Radovancevic, Melissa M Felinski, Biswajit Kar, Igor D Gregoric

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Combining left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation and longitudinal sleeve gastrectomy may enable patients with morbid obesity to lose enough weight for heart transplant eligibility. In a retrospective study, we evaluated long-term outcomes of patients with body mass indexes ≥35 who underwent LVAD implantation and longitudinal sleeve gastrectomy during the same hospitalization (from January 2013 through July 2018) and then adhered to a dietary protocol. We included 22 patients (mean age, 49.9 ± 12.5 yr; mean preoperative body mass index, 43.3 ± 6.2). Eighteen months after gastrectomy, all 22 patients were alive, and 16 (73%) achieved a body mass index …

Left Ventricular Dysfunction In Outpatients With Frequent Ventricular Premature Complexes, Kyoung-Min Park, Sung Il Im, Sung Ho Lee, Hye Bin Gwag, Youngjun Park, Seung-Jung Park, June Soo Kim, Young Keun On

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Frequent ventricular premature complexes (VPCs) and VPC QRS duration are risk factors for left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. To determine which clinical characteristics and electrocardiographic features are associated with LV dysfunction (ejection fraction,

We identified 412 consecutive outpatients (mean age, 54.7 ± 16.8 yr; 227 women [55.1%]) who were diagnosed with frequent VPCs and had no structural heart disease from January 2010 through December 2017. Available transthoracic echocardiograms and 24-hour Holter monitoring data were evaluated to correlate the occurrence of VPCs and symptoms.

Typical VPC-related symptoms (palpitations or dropped beats) were observed in 251 patients (61.1%). Electrocardiograms revealed VPCs with a …