Digital Commons Network^™

Chromosomal And Gonadal Sex Have Differing Effects On Social Motivation In Mice, Sneha M Chaturvedi, Simona Sarafinovska, Din Selmanovic, Katherine B Mccullough, Raylynn G Swift, Susan E Maloney, Joseph D Dougherty

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Sex differences in brain development are thought to lead to sex variation in social behavior. Sex differences are fundamentally driven by both gonadal hormones and sex chromosomes, yet little is known about the independent effects of each on social behavior. Further, mouse models of the genetic liability for the neurodevelopmental disorder MYT1L Syndrome have shown sex-specific deficits in social motivation. In this study, we aimed to determine if gonadal hormones or sex chromosomes primarily mediate the sex differences seen in mouse social behavior, both at baseline and in the context of Myt1l haploinsufficiency.

METHODS: Four-core genotypes (FCG) mice, which …

Unveiling The Genetic Landscape Of Coronary Artery Disease Through Common And Rare Structural Variants, Kruthika R Iyer, Erica P Young, Nathan O Stitziel, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies have identified several hundred susceptibility single nucleotide variants for coronary artery disease (CAD). Despite single nucleotide variant-based genome-wide association studies improving our understanding of the genetics of CAD, the contribution of structural variants (SVs) to the risk of CAD remains largely unclear.

METHOD AND RESULTS: We leveraged SVs detected from high-coverage whole genome sequencing data in a diverse group of participants from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute's Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine program. Single variant tests were performed on 58 706 SVs in a study sample of 11 556 CAD cases and 42 907 controls. …

Unveiling The Genetic Landscape Of Coronary Artery Disease Through Common And Rare Structural Variants, Kruthika R Iyer, Shoa L Clarke, Rodrigo Guarischi-Sousa, Ketrin Gjoni, Adam S Heath, Erica P Young, Nathan O Stitziel, Cecelia Laurie, Jai G Broome, Alyna T Khan, Joshua P Lewis, Huichun Xu, May E Montasser, Kellan E Ashley, Natalie R Hasbani, Eric Boerwinkle, Alanna C Morrison, Nathalie Chami, Ron Do, Ghislain Rocheleau, Donald M Lloyd-Jones, Rozenn N Lemaitre, Joshua C Bis, James S Floyd, Gregory L Kinney, Donald W Bowden, Nicholette D Palmer, Emelia J Benjamin, Matthew Nayor, Lisa R Yanek, Brian G Kral, Lewis C Becker, Sharon L R Kardia, Jennifer A Smith, Lawrence F Bielak, Arnita F Norwood, Yuan-I Min, April P Carson, Wendy S Post, Stephen S Rich, David Herrington, Xiuqing Guo, Kent D Taylor, Joann E Manson, Nora Franceschini, Katherine S Pollard, Braxton D Mitchell, Ruth J F Loos, Myriam Fornage, Lifang Hou, Bruce M Psaty, Kendra A Young, Elizabeth A Regan, Barry I Freedman, Ramachandran S Vasan, Daniel Levy, Rasika A Mathias, Patricia A Peyser, Laura M Raffield, Charles Kooperberg, Alex P Reiner, Jerome I Rotter, Goo Jun, Paul S De Vries, Themistocles L Assimes

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Genome-wide association studies have identified several hundred susceptibility single nucleotide variants for coronary artery disease (CAD). Despite single nucleotide variant-based genome-wide association studies improving our understanding of the genetics of CAD, the contribution of structural variants (SVs) to the risk of CAD remains largely unclear.

Method and results: We leveraged SVs detected from high-coverage whole genome sequencing data in a diverse group of participants from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute's Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine program. Single variant tests were performed on 58 706 SVs in a study sample of 11 556 CAD cases and 42 907 controls. …

Development And Implementation Of A Personal Virtual Assistant For Patient Engagement And Communication In Postsurgical Cancer Care: Feasibility Cohort Study, Miguel Bargas-Ochoa, Alejandro Zulbaran-Rojas, M G Finco, Anthony B Costales, Areli Flores-Camargo, Rasha O Bara, Manuel Pacheco, Tina Phan, Aleena Khichi, Bijan Najafi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Cancer-care complexity heightens communication challenges between health care providers and patients, impacting their treatment adherence. This is especially evident upon hospital discharge in patients undergoing surgical procedures. Digital health tools offer potential solutions to address communication challenges seen in current discharge protocols. We aim to explore the usability and acceptability of an interactive health platform among discharged patients who underwent oncology-related procedures.

METHODS: A 4-week exploratory cohort study was conducted. Following hospital discharge, a tablet equipped with an integrated Personal Virtual Assistant (PVA) system was provided to patients who underwent oncology-related procedures. The PVA encompasses automated features that provide …

Metabolic Effects Of Testosterone Added To Intensive Lifestyle Intervention In Older Men With Obesity And Hypogonadism, Adrian M Gonzalez-Gil, Yoann Barnouin, Alessandra Celli, Viola Viola, Marcos D Villarreal, Maria Liza Duremdes Nava, Adam Sciuk, Clifford Qualls, Reina Armamento-Villareal, Dennis T Villareal

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Whether testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) conveys additional cardiometabolic benefit to an intensive lifestyle therapy (LT) in older men with obesity and hypogonadism remains unclear.

Objective: To determine whether TRT augments the effect of LT on metabolic outcomes in older men with obesity and hypogonadism.

Design: Secondary analysis of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Setting: Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Participants: Eighty-three older (age ≥ 65 years) men with obesity (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m2) and persistently low Am testosterone (< 10.4 nmol/L) associated with frailty.

Interventions: LT (weight management and exercise training) plus either testosterone (LT + TRT) or placebo (LT + Pbo) for …

Cardiac Screening Findings And Referral Patterns In Male African-American Basketball Players: Analysis Of The Heartbytes Registry, Douglas Corsi, Avinash Saraiya, Maggie Doyle, Vacha Shah, Blaise O'Malley, Grace Qiu, Renee Lanstaff, Imran Masood, Brian Osler, Alexander G. Hajduczok, Drew Johnson, David Shipon

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is the leading medical cause of death in young athletes. Male African American basketball players (MABP) demonstrate particularly elevated risk for SCD. Despite increasing screening and preventative efforts, the incidence of SCD remains elevated in this population. This retrospective analysis of the HeartBytes National Youth Cardiac Registry (2015-2023) aimed to characterize cardiac screening findings, including symptoms, family history, physical exam, and electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities in MABP compared to other youth athletes undergoing cardiac screening. We secondarily examined referral patterns based on screening results between the two groups. Of 8,303 individuals screened, 200 MABP were identified. MABP …

Reward Responses To Vicarious Feeding Depend On Body Mass Index, Lili Järvinen, Severi Santavirta, Vesa Putkinen, Henry K Karlsson, Kerttu Seppälä, Lihua Sun, Matthew Hudson, Jussi Hirvonen, Pirjo Nuutila, Lauri Nummenmaa

School of Psychology

Eating is inherently social for humans. Yet, most neuroimaging studies of appetite and food-induced reward have focused on studying brain responses to food intake or viewing pictures of food alone. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure haemodynamic responses to “vicarious” feeding. The subjects (n = 97) viewed series of short videos representing naturalistic episodes of social eating intermixed with videos without feeding/appetite-related content. Viewing the vicarious feeding (versus control) videos activated motor and premotor cortices, thalamus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, consistent with somatomotor and affective engagement. Responses to the feeding videos were negatively correlated with the participants’ …

Nanrilkefusp Alfa (Sot101), An Il-15 Receptor Βγ Superagonist, As A Single Agent Or With Anti-Pd-1 In Patients With Advanced Cancers, Stephane Champiat, Elena Garralda, Vladimir Galvao, Philippe A Cassier, Carlos Gomez-Roca, Iphigenie Korakis, Peter Grell, Aung Naing, Patricia Lorusso, Romana Mikyskova, Nada Podzimkova, Milan Reinis, Kaissa Ouali, Andreu Schoenenberger, Joachim Kiemle-Kallee, Sascha Tillmanns, Richard Sachse, Ulrich Moebius, Radek Spisek, David Bechard, Lenka Palova Jelinkova, Irena Adkins, Aurelien Marabelle

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Nanrilkefusp alfa (nanril; SOT101) is an interleukin (IL)-15 receptor βγ superagonist that stimulates natural killer (NK) and CD8

An Integrative Multiparametric Approach Stratifies Putative Distinct Phenotypes Of Blast Phase Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia, Kristian Gurashi, Yu-Hung Wang, Fabio M R Amaral, Katherine Spence, Rachel Cant, Chi-Yuan Yao, Chien-Chin Lin, Christopher Wirth, David C Wedge, Guillermo Montalban-Bravo, Simona Colla, Hwei-Fang Tien, Tim C P Somervaille, Kiran Batta, Daniel H Wiseman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Approximately 30% of patients with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) undergo transformation to a chemo-refractory blastic phase (BP-CMML). Seeking novel therapeutic approaches, we profiled blast transcriptomes from 42 BP-CMMLs, observing extensive transcriptional heterogeneity and poor alignment to current acute myeloid leukemia (AML) classifications. BP-CMMLs display distinctive transcriptomic profiles, including enrichment for quiescence and variability in drug response signatures. Integrating clinical, immunophenotype, and transcriptome parameters, Random Forest unsupervised clustering distinguishes immature and mature subtypes characterized by differential expression of transcriptional modules, oncogenes, apoptotic regulators, and patterns of surface marker expression. Subtypes differ in predicted response to AML drugs, validated ex vivo in …

Religion And Attitudes Toward Xenotransplantation: Results Of A Nationwide Survey In The United States., Daniel J Hurst, Luz A Padilla, Amanda Zink, Brendan Parent, Laura L Kimberly

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

Religious viewpoints have been shown to influence the ways in which many persons approach medical decision-making and have been noted as a potential barrier to xenotransplantation acceptance. This study sought to explore how attitudes toward xenotransplantation differ among various religious beliefs. A national Likert-scale survey was conducted in 2023 with a representative sample in the United States. Religious belief was self-reported. Regression analysis was used to identify associations with religious belief and hesitations about xenotransplantation. Five thousand and eight individuals across the United States responded to the survey. The two biggest concerns about xenotransplantation across religious groups were the current …

Impulsivity Facets And Substance Use Involvement: Insights From Genomic Structural Equation Modeling, Laura Vilar-Ribó, Alexander S Hatoum, Andrew D Grotzinger, Travis T Mallard, 23andme Research Team, Sarah Elson, Pierre Fontanillas, Abraham A Palmer, Daniel E Gustavson, Sandra Sanchez-Roige

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Impulsivity is a multidimensional trait associated with substance use disorders (SUDs), but the relationship between distinct impulsivity facets and stages of substance use involvement remains unclear.

METHODS: We used genomic structural equation modeling and genome-wide association studies (

RESULTS: We found that the SU and SUD factors were strongly genetically inter-correlated (

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show that specific impulsivity facets confer risk for distinct stages of substance use involvement, with potential implications for SUDs prevention and treatment.

Inhale Wp3, A Multicentre, Open-Label, Pragmatic Randomised Controlled Trial Assessing The Impact Of Rapid, Icu-Based, Syndromic Pcr, Versus Standard-Of-Care On Antibiotic Stewardship And Clinical Outcomes In Hospital-Acquired And Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia, Inhale Wp3 Study Group And Committees, Virve I Enne, Susan Stirling, Julie A Barber, Juliet High, Charlotte Russell, David Brealey, Zaneeta Dhesi, Antony Colles, Suveer Singh, Robert Parker, Mark Peters, Benny P Cherian, Peter Riley, Matthew Dryden, Ruan Simpson, Nehal Patel, Jane Cassidy, Daniel Martin, Ingeborg D Welters, Valerie Page, Hala Kandil, Eleanor Tudtud, David Turner, Robert Horne, Justin O'Grady, Ann Marie Swart, David M Livermore, Vanya Gant

Peninsula Medical School

PURPOSE: INHALE investigated the impact of seeking pathogens by PCR on antibiotic stewardship and clinical outcomes in hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated pneumonia (HAP and VAP).

METHODS: This pragmatic multicentre, open-label RCT enrolled adults and children with suspected HAP and VAP at 14 ICUs. Patients were randomly allocated to standard of care, or rapid in-ICU syndromic PCR coupled with optional prescribing guidance. Co-primary outcomes were superiority in antibiotic stewardship at 24 h and non-inferiority in clinical cure of pneumonia 14 days post-randomisation. Secondary outcomes included mortality, ICU length of stay and evolution of clinical scores.

RESULTS: 554 eligible patients were recruited from …

Perceived Hbv-Related Stigma Is Associated With Lower Antiviral Medication Adherence In Patients With Chronic Hepatitis B, Hee-Soon Juon, Daniel Yang, Cindy Xin Fang, Hie-Won Hann, Ho Bae, Mimi Chang, Ann C. Klassen

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

Medication nonadherence among patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) can lead to severe liver disease progression, including liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Yet the factors that influence adherence in high-risk groups, like Korean Americans, remain unclear. Thus, this study explored the psychosocial and clinical factors affecting medication adherence in CHB patients. A cohort of 365 Korean American patients with CHB from two clinics in Philadelphia and Los Angeles was studied. The 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) gauged their adherence to antiviral medication. Using descriptive and multivariable logistic regression analyses, we identified factors associated with MMAS-8 scores. Of the …

Phase 3 Trial Of Cabozantinib To Treat Advanced Neuroendocrine Tumors, Jennifer A Chan, Nikolaos A Trikalinos, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Treatment options for patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumors are limited. The efficacy of cabozantinib in the treatment of previously treated, progressive extrapancreatic or pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors is unclear.

METHODS: We enrolled two independent cohorts of patients - those with extrapancreatic neuroendocrine tumors and those with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors - who had received peptide receptor radionuclide therapy or targeted therapy or both. Patients were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to receive cabozantinib at a dose of 60 mg daily or placebo. The primary end point was progression-free survival as assessed by blinded independent central review. Key secondary end points …

Long-Term 3-Year Follow-Up Of Mosunetuzumab In Relapsed Or Refractory Follicular Lymphoma After ≥2 Prior Therapies, Laurie H Sehn, Nancy L Bartlett, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Mosunetuzumab, a CD20×CD3 T-cell engaging bispecific antibody, redirects T cells to eliminate malignant B cells. We present updated efficacy and safety data of a pivotal phase 1/2 study after a median follow-up of 37.4 months in 90 patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) follicular lymphoma (FL) and ≥2 prior lines of therapy treated with fixed-duration mosunetuzumab. Investigator-assessed complete response (CR) rate and objective response rate were 60.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 49.1-70.2) and 77.8% (95% CI, 67.8-85.9), respectively. Among 70 responders, median duration of response was 35.9 months (95% CI, 20.7 to not estimable [NE]). Among 54 patients who achieved CR, 49 …

Successful Posthospitalisation Oncology Workflow Implementing Lace+ Score To Stratify And Reduce Readmissions Within A Safety-Net Hospital, Cindy M Pabon, Janine Wong, Marcela Perez, Jessica Jimenez-Abarca, Lianchun Xiao, Lymesia Jackson, Anne Park, Anjali Lankford, Vinita Akula, Saumil Datar, Taylor Hopper, Yaser Alkhatib, Terri Earles, Tejal Patel

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Patients with advanced cancers visit the emergency room and get hospitalised frequently, with potentially half of these visits being avoidable. Our institution provides comprehensive, low-cost cancer treatment to a safety-net population in Texas. We performed a retrospective review of hospital readmission patterns amongst our oncology patients and developed a posthospitalisation workflow to reduce readmissions.

Method: Following discharge, oncology patients were risk stratified based on their Length of stay, Acuity of admission, Charlson comorbidity index score and Emergency department visits+index in the past 6 months. The higher the score, the quicker the outpatient oncology follow-up. In addition to addressing acute …

Treatment Of Small Intracranial Aneurysms Using The Smallss Scoring System: A Novel System For Decision Making, Mira Salih, Michael Young, Thomas B. Fodor, Alexander Andreev, Samuel D. Pettersson, Joanna M. Roy, Basel Musmar, Max Shutran, Phillip Taussky, Christopher S. Ogilvy

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Treatment of unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIA) less than 7 mm is controversial. We created a scoring system to guide decision making and validated the system utilizing over 700 cases treated with microsurgery or endovascular procedures.

METHODS: The scoring system SMALLSS included Size, (4-7 mm: 1 point, < 3.9 mm: 0 point), Multiple aneurysms (yes: 1, no: 0), Anatomic location (posterior: 1, anterior: 0), Lineage- family history of aneurysm (yes:1, no: 0), Lifetime risk (age < 65: 1, age > 65: 0), Smoking history (yes: 1, no: 0 ), Shape (irregular:1, smooth:0 ). Validation of this system was performed through retrospective review of prospectively maintained data for UIA patients treated between 2014 and 2021. We then performed an external validation of a cohort of 200 small aneurysms < 7 mm treated at a high volume cerebrovascular center.

RESULTS: A total of 1152 cases …

Dna Immunotherapy For Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis (Rrp): Phase 1/2 Study Assessing Efficacy, Safety, And Immunogenicity Of Ino-3107, Matthew P Morrow, Randal C Paniello, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) is a chronic airway disease caused by Human Papillomavirus (HPV). INO-3107, DNA immunotherapy designed to elicit T-cells against HPV-6 and HPV-11, was evaluated in a 52-week Phase 1/2 study for efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity (NCT04398433). Thirty-two eligible adults with HPV-6 and/or HPV-11 RRP, requiring ≥2 surgical interventions in the year preceding dosing were enrolled between October 2020 and November 2021 and administered 4 INO-3107 doses by intramuscular injection followed by electroporation. The primary endpoint was safety and tolerability, as assessed by treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs). Secondary endpoints included surgical intervention frequency and change in RRP Severity …

Designing Patient-Centered Interventions For Emergency Care: Participatory Design Study, Woosuk Seo, Shruti Jain, Vivian Le, Jiaqi Li, Zhan Zhang, Hardeep Singh, Kalyan Pasupathy, Prashant Mahajan, Sun Young Park

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Emergency departments (EDs) are high-pressure environments where clinicians diagnose patients under significant constraints, including limited medical histories, severe time pressures, and frequent interruptions. Current ED care practices often inadequately support meaningful patient participation. Most interventions prioritize clinical workflow and health care provider communication, inadvertently overlooking patients' needs. Additionally, patient-facing technologies in EDs are typically developed without meaningful patient input, leading to solutions that may not effectively address patients' specific challenges. To enhance both patient-centered care practices and the diagnosis process in EDs, patient involvement in technology design is essential to ensure their needs during emergency care are understood and …

Efficacy And Safety Of Nivolumab Plus Ipilimumab In Patients With Metastatic Variant Histology (Non-Clear Cell) Renal Cell Carcinoma, Mohammad Jad Moussa, Jaanki Khandelwal, Nathaniel R Wilson, Kiran L Malikayil, Devaki Shilpa Surasi, Tharakeswara K Bathala, Yiyun Lin, Priya Rao, Pheroze Tamboli, Kanishka Sircar, Helen Ajufo, Khaled M Elsayes, Amishi Shah, Andrew C Johns, Sangeeta Goswami, Elshad Hasanov, Eric Jonasch, Pavlos Msaouel, Matthew T Campbell, Omar Alhalabi, Nizar M Tannir

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Nivolumab plus ipilimumab (nivo/ipi) is a standard of care first-line (1 L) therapy for patients with metastatic clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), but its role in patients with metastatic, non-ccRCC has not been fully defined. We report a single-institution experience with nivo/ipi in non-ccRCC.

Methods: Between November 2017 and February 2024, 55 patients with metastatic non-ccRCC received nivo/ipi at MD Anderson Cancer Center. The tumor response was assessed by blinded radiologists using RECIST v1.1. The overall response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), PFS milestone, duration of response (DoR), and overall survival (OS) were determined. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) was performed …

Contribution Of Rare Chromosome 22q112 Copy Number Variants To Non-Syndromic Bicuspid Aortic Valve, Helene Digregorio, Sara Mansoorshahi, Steven G Carlisle, Catherina Tovar Pensa, Abi Watts, Courtney Mcneely, Anna Sabate-Rotes, Anji Yetman, Hector I Michelena, Julie F A De Backer, Laura Muiño Mosquera, Malenka M Bissell, Maria Grazia Andreassi, Ilenia Foffa, Dawn S Hui, Anthony Caffarelli, Yuli Y Kim, Rodolfo Citro, Margot De Marco, Justin T Tretter, Kim L Mcbride, Simon C Body, Dianna M Milewicz, Siddharth K Prakash, Ebav Investigators

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most common congenital heart defect in adults, often leading to complications such as thoracic aortic aneurysms and aortic stenosis. While BAV is frequently associated with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS), the contribution of rare copy number variants (CNVs) in this region to non-syndromic BAV is less clear. This study is aimed to assess the role of rare 22q11.2 CNVs in patients with early-onset BAV (EBAV) and to determine whether these variants are linked to an increased risk of complications.

Methods: Whole genome microarray genotyping was conducted on 272 patients with BAV with early onset …

Mapping The Numbers Of Dementia In Brazil: A Delphi Consensus Study, Márlon Juliano Romero Aliberti, Claudia Kimie Suemoto, Jerson Laks, Paulo Caramelli, Sonia Maria Dozzi Brucki, Nicolas Farina, Daniel Apolinario, Einstein Francisco Camargos, Eleonora D'Orsi, Gilberto Sousa Alves, Karolina Gouveia César-Freitas, Luís Fernando Rangel, Márcia Lorena Fagundes Chaves, Marcos Antonio Lopes, Marcus Vinicius Della Coletta, Matheus Ghossain Barbosa, Norberto Anizio Ferreira Frota, Ricardo Nitrini, Cleusa Pinheiro Ferri

Peninsula Medical School

OBJECTIVES: As the global dementia crisis intensifies, especially in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), there is a pressing need for comprehensive prevalence data across diverse regions, including Brazil, where studies have been predominantly limited to affluent urban centers. This study aimed to conduct an expert consensus to determine the prevalence of all-cause dementia in Brazil, considering various age groups, sexes, and geographical areas.

METHODS: A Delphi consensus process with clinical and academic experts from across Brazil was conducted to provide dementia prevalence estimates in people aged ≥ 60 years living throughout Brazil for 2019. Each round consisted of answering structured questionnaires …

Assessing Dynamic Cognitive Function In The Daily Lives Of Youths With And Without Type 1 Diabetes: Usability Study, Mary Katherine Ray, Jorie Fleming, Andrew Aschenbrenner, Jason Hassenstab, Brooke Redwine, Carissa Burns, Ana Maria Arbelaez, Mary Ellen Vajravelu, Tamara Hershey

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown a relationship between worse glycemic control and lower cognitive scores in youths with type 1 diabetes (T1D). However, most studies assess long-term glucose control (eg, years-decades) and cognition at a single time point. Understanding this relationship at a higher temporal resolution (eg, minutes-hours) and in naturalistic settings has potential clinical implications. Newer technology (eg, continuous glucose monitoring [CGM] and ecological momentary assessment) provides a unique opportunity to explore the glucose dynamics that influence dynamic cognition; that is, cognitive functions that fluctuate short-term and are influenced by environmental factors.

OBJECTIVE: Before we can assess this relationship, we …

Utility Of Caregiver Signaling Questions To Detect Neurocognitive Impairment In Children With Sickle Cell Disease, Christina M Dandar, Lakia Kearson, Jennifer N Longoria, Brian Potter, Allison A King, Jeffrey Gossett, Clifford M Takemoto, Jane S Hankins, Guolian Kang, Andrew M Heitzer

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The American Society of Hematology cerebrovascular guidelines for sickle cell disease (SCD) recommend surveillance using signaling questions to screen for neurocognitive difficulties, although the clinical utility of these signaling questions has yet to be established. This study aimed to determine the clinical utility of caregiver signaling questions for detecting significant neurocognitive impairment (defined as >1.5 standard deviation [SD] below the normative mean on ≥2 measures) and domain-specific impairment (defined as >1.5 SD below the normative mean) in children and adolescents with SCD. A total of 421 caregivers of children with SCD aged 8 to 17 years (62% hemoglobin SS (HbSS) …

Phosphorylation Of Cryab Induces A Condensatopathy To Worsen Post-Myocardial Infarction Left Ventricular Remodeling, Moydul Islam, David R. Rawnsley, Xiucui Ma, Walter Navid, Chen Zhao, Xumin Guan, Layla Foroughi, John T. Murphy, Honora Navid, Carla J. Weinheimer, Attila Kovacs, Jessica Nigro, Aaradhya Diwan, Ryan P. Chang, Minu Kumari, Martin E. Young, Babak Razani, Kenneth B. Margulies, Mahmoud Abdellatif, Simon Sedej, Ali Javaheri, Douglas F. Covey, Kartik Mani, Abhinav Diwan

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Protein aggregates are emerging therapeutic targets in rare monogenic causes of cardiomyopathy and amyloid heart disease, but their role in more prevalent heart-failure syndromes remains mechanistically unexamined. We observed mislocalization of desmin and sarcomeric proteins to aggregates in human myocardium with ischemic cardiomyopathy and in mouse hearts with post-myocardial infarction ventricular remodeling, mimicking findings of autosomal-dominant cardiomyopathy induced by the R120G mutation in the cognate chaperone protein CRYAB. In both syndromes, we demonstrate increased partitioning of CRYAB phosphorylated on serine 59 to NP40-insoluble aggregate-rich biochemical fraction. While CRYAB undergoes phase separation to form condensates, the phosphomimetic mutation of serine 59 …

Increasing Covid-19 Testing And Vaccination Uptake In The Take Care Texas Community-Based Randomized Trial: Adaptive Geospatial Analysis, Kehe Zhang, Jocelyn V Hunyadi, Marcia C De Oliveira Otto, Miryoung Lee, Zitong Zhang, Ryan Ramphul, Jose-Miguel Yamal, Ashraf Yaseen, Alanna C Morrison, Shreela Sharma, Mohammad Hossein Rahbar, Xu Zhang, Stephen Linder, Dritana Marko, Rachel White Roy, Deborah Banerjee, Esmeralda Guajardo, Michelle Crum, Belinda Reininger, Maria E Fernandez, Cici Bauer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Geospatial data science can be a powerful tool to aid the design, reach, efficiency, and impact of community-based intervention trials. The project titled Take Care Texas aims to develop and test an adaptive, multilevel, community-based intervention to increase COVID-19 testing and vaccination uptake among vulnerable populations in 3 Texas regions: Harris County, Cameron County, and Northeast Texas.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to develop a novel procedure for adaptive selections of census block groups (CBGs) to include in the community-based randomized trial for the Take Care Texas project.

METHODS: CBG selection was conducted across 3 Texas regions over a 17-month period …

Comparative Transcriptomics Reveals A Mixed Basal, Club, And Hillock Epithelial Cell Identity In Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer, Samuel P Pitzen, Amber N Rudenick, Yinjie Qiu, Weijie Zhang, Sarah A Munro, Braedan M Mccluskey, Colleen Forster, Hannah E Bergom, Atef Ali, Ella Boytim, John T Lafin, Simon Linder, Mazlina Ismail, Wout Devlies, Conner J Sessions, Frank Claessens, Steven Joniau, Gerhardt Attard, Wilbert Zwart, Peter S Nelson, Eva Corey, Yuzhuo Wang, Joshua M Lang, Himisha Beltran, Douglas Strand, Emmanuel S Antonarakis, Justin Hwang, Paari Murugan, R Stephanie Huang, Scott M Dehm

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Inhibiting the androgen receptor (AR) is effective for treatment of advanced prostate cancers because of their AR-dependent luminal epithelial cell identity. Tumors progress during therapy to castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) by restoring AR signaling and maintaining luminal identity or by converting through lineage plasticity to a neuroendocrine (NE) identity or double-negative CRPC (DNPC) lacking luminal or NE identities. Here, we show that DNPC cells express genes defining basal, club, and hillock epithelial cells from benign prostate. We identified KLF5 as a regulator of genes defining this mixed basal, club, and hillock cell identity in DNPC models. KLF5-mediated upregulation of

A Neuronal Code For Object Representation And Memory In The Human Amygdala And Hippocampus, Runnan Cao, Peter Brunner, Puneeth N Chakravarthula, Krista L Wahlstrom, Cory Inman, Elliot H Smith, Xin Li, Adam N Mamelak, Nicholas J Brandmeir, Ueli Rutishauser, Jon T Willie, Shuo Wang

2020-Current year OA Pubs

How the brain encodes, recognizes, and memorizes general visual objects is a fundamental question in neuroscience. Here, we investigated the neural processes underlying visual object perception and memory by recording from 3173 single neurons in the human amygdala and hippocampus across four experiments. We employed both passive-viewing and recognition memory tasks involving a diverse range of naturalistic object stimuli. Our findings reveal a region-based feature code for general objects, where neurons exhibit receptive fields in the high-level visual feature space. This code can be validated by independent new stimuli and replicated across all experiments, including fixation-based analyses with large natural …

Lifespan In Rodents With Myt1l Heterozygous Mutation, Allyson Schreiber, Raylynn G Swift, Leslie Wilson, Kristen L Kroll, Joseph D Dougherty, Susan E Maloney

2020-Current year OA Pubs

MYT1L syndrome is a newly recognized disorder characterized by intellectual disability, speech and motor delay, neuroendocrine disruptions, ADHD, and autism. In order to study this gene and its association with these phenotypes, our lab recently created a Myt1l heterozygous mutant mouse inspired by a clinically relevant mutation. This model recapitulates several of the physical and neurologic abnormalities seen in humans with MYT1L syndrome, such as weight gain, microcephaly, and behavioral disruptions. The majority of patients with this syndrome are young, and little is known about the impact of age on health and mortality in these patients. Using a Myt1l mutant …

Swog S1815: A Phase Iii Randomized Trial Of Gemcitabine, Cisplatin, And Nab-Paclitaxel Versus Gemcitabine And Cisplatin In Newly Diagnosed, Advanced Biliary Tract Cancers, Rachna T Shroff, Benjamin Tan, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: SWOG S1815 was a randomized, open label phase III trial, evaluating gemcitabine, nab-paclitaxel, and cisplatin (GAP) versus gemcitabine and cisplatin (GC) in patients with newly diagnosed advanced biliary tract cancers (BTCs).

METHODS: Patients with newly diagnosed locally advanced unresectable or metastatic BTC, including intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ECC) and gallbladder carcinoma (GBC), were randomly assigned 2:1 to either GAP (gemcitabine 800 mg/m

RESULTS: Among 452 randomly assigned participants, 441 were eligible and analyzable, 67% with ICC, 16% with GBC, and 17% with ECC. There was no significant difference in overall survival (OS) between GAP versus GC. Median …