Digital Commons Network^™

Novel Approach For Women’S Self-Management Of Rectal Emptying Difficulty, Sharon Eustice, Ruth Endacott, Bridie Kent

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Aim To pragmatically investigate rectal emptying difficulty in women to identify if managing their symptoms with an innovative device is more effective and satisfactory than their usual care. Background Rectal emptying difficulty has a mostly unknown influence on women and frequently a hidden issue. Self-management alternatives are underappreciated. Despite the magnitude of the problem and its influence on women’s lives and healthcare, non-surgical alternatives have received little attention. Methods This cohort study of 35 female participants, recruited via secondary care outpatient clinics, used composite questionnaires before and after an 8-week intervention using the device. The questionnaire comprised of a quality …

Infection-Related Hospitalization And Incident Heart Failure: The Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities Study, Jeffrey R Misialek, Richard Maclehose, Barry A Borlaug, Paolo C Colombo, Chiadi E Ndumele, Junichi Ishigami, Kunihiro Matsushita, Pamela L Lutsey, Ryan T Demmer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The immune response to infections may become dysregulated and promote myocardial damage contributing to heart failure (HF). We examined the relationship between infection-related hospitalization (IRH) and HF, HF with preserved ejection fraction, and HF with reduced ejection fraction.

Methods and results: We studied 14 468 adults aged 45 to 64 years in the ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) Study who were HF free at visit 1 (1987-1989). IRH was identified using select International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes in hospital discharge records and was treated as a time-varying exposure. HF incidence was defined as the first occurrence …

Neonatal Care In Low- And Middle-Income Countries: A Fresh Look, Ola D. Saugstad, Joy E. Lawn, Peter Waiswa, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Institute for Global Health and Development

No abstract provided.

Heteronormative Factors That Affect Black Lesbian Women’S Parenting Desires, Keona Nicole Prude

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Stigma, prejudice, and stereotypes, key components of heteronormativity, impact the perceptions, behaviors, health, and psychosocial well-being of lesbian women, potentially undermining self-acceptance, causing internalized homophobia. The generic qualitative study aimed to understand the experiences of Black lesbian women navigating heteronormativity in relation to their parenting desires. Participants included Black lesbians, aged 25-35, who spoke English and had parenting desires within a lesbian relationship. Recruitment occurred via social media and local queer-supporting and parenting organizations. Guided by queer theory and minority stress theory, data were collected through semistructured interviews with 15 African American women in lesbian relationships with desiring parenthood. Thematic …

Durable Responses To Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor-Based Regimens For Metastatic Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Stratified By Imdc Risk Groups: A Pooled Analysis Of Four Randomized Phase 3 Trials, Albert Jang, Jeffrey Y. Zhong, Hamsa L.S. Kumar, Kevin K. Zarrabi, Alec Zhu, Abby L. Grier, Adam Calaway, Jonathan E. Shoag, Laura Bukavina, Angela Y. Jia, Prateek Mendiratta, Iris Y. Sheng, Santosh Rao, Jason R. Brown, Jorge A. Garcia, Seunghee Margevicius, Pingfu Fu, Pedro C. Barata

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

Background: An immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) backbone is a standard of care for frontline metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma, involving either ICI doublet or tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) with ICI. These phase 3 trials used a sunitinib control arm. The optimal regimen is uncertain. Objective: To compare long-term responders of these trials using extended follow-up data stratified by International Metastatic RCC Database Consortium risk group. Methods: Phase 3 trial data (CheckMate 214, KEYNOTE-426, CheckMate 9ER, and CLEAR) with a minimum follow-up of four years was used. Pseudo individual patient data (IPD) was obtained from Kaplan-Meier curves using the graph …

The Misalignment Of Incentives In Academic Publishing And Implications For Journal Reform, Jennifer S Trueblood, David B Allison, Sarahanne M Field, Ayelet Fishbach, Stefan D M Gaillard, Gerd Gigerenzer, William R Holmes, Stephan Lewandowsky, Dora Matzke, Mary C Murphy, Sebastian Musslick, Vencislav Popov, Adina L Roskies, Judith Ter Schure, Andrei R Teodorescu

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

For most researchers, academic publishing serves two goals that are often misaligned-knowledge dissemination and establishing scientific credentials. While both goals can encourage research with significant depth and scope, the latter can also pressure scholars to maximize publication metrics. Commercial publishing companies have capitalized on the centrality of publishing to the scientific enterprises of knowledge dissemination and academic recognition to extract large profits from academia by leveraging unpaid services from reviewers, creating financial barriers to research dissemination, and imposing substantial fees for open access. We present a set of perspectives exploring alternative models for communicating and disseminating scientific research. Acknowledging that …

Discovery And Functional Characterization Of Biomarkers In Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma, Wagma Caravan

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Not all tumors are created equally, nor should they be treated as such. Modern research has uncovered a multitude of genetic aberrations, genomic dysregulation, and epigenetic modifications that contribute to cancer. While cancers are classified based on their tissue of origin and may share common features or pathways, the tumor microenvironment is far from uniform. It comprises a dynamic network of cell populations with divergent genomic profiles, all of which collectively drive tumor progression—with some tumors more efficient and aggressive than others. The heterogeneity within these tumors makes it notoriously harder to treat, as standard therapies fail to address the …

Integrating Zotero With Your Writing: From Research To Publication, Evelyn Wang

HSLIC Faculty and Staff Instructional Resources

This workshop presentation provides a comprehensive guide on using Zotero for research and writing. It covers installation, reference collection, organization, citation insertion, bibliography generation, PDF management, and advanced features of Zotero. The presentation aims to enhance researchers' and writers' efficiency in managing references throughout the research and publication process.

20250204: University Communications, 1940-2012, University Communications

Guides to University Archives

These items include materials from the office of University Communications at Marshall University from 1940-2012. Items were received before 2022 and include notable materials including a Marshall University Cookbook (2005), some Parthenon issues, a copy of the book "A Coach in Progress: Marshall Football: A Story of Survival and Revival" , some letters and news clippings, some Marshall University Greenline Newsletters, and a 1940 copy of the student yearbook The Chief Justice. Please download the full list of contents.

The Association Between Online Health Information Characteristics And Appropriate Trust In Informational Quality Among Patients With High Cardiovascular Risk, Lim Woei Xian

Student Works (2020-2029)

More patients are turning to the Internet to understand their health and make health decisions. However, the quality of online health information (OHI) is highly variable, and it may contain misinformation. Patients who lack the necessary skills to appraise OHI may trust poor-quality OHI. Thus, this study aims to examine the association between OHI characteristics and appropriate trust in patients with high cardiovascular (CV) risk. This is a secondary analysis from a quantitative cohort study of 270 patients from a primary care clinic in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Patients recorded each OHI encountered over two months in a digital information diary …

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial Of Il-7 In Critically Ill Patients With Covid-19, Manu Shankar-Hari, Kenneth E. Remy, Jane Blood, Andrew H. Walton, Teresa Blood, Richard Hotchkiss, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Lymphopenia and failure of lymphocytes to mount an early IFN-γ response correlate with increased mortality in COVID-19. Given the essential role of CD4 helper and CD8 cytotoxic cells in eliminating viral pathogens, this profound loss in lymphocytes may impair patients' ability to eliminate the virus. IL-7 is a pleiotropic cytokine that is obligatory for lymphocyte survival and optimal function.

METHODS: We conducted a prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of CYT107, recombinant human IL-7, in 109 critically ill, patients with lymphopenia who have COVID-19. The primary endpoint was to assess CYT107's effect on lymphocyte recovery with secondary clinical endpoints including …

Characterization Of The Vaginal Microbiome Of Postmenopausal Patients Receiving Chemoradiation For Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer, Brett A. Tortelli, Jessika Contreras, Stephanie Markovina, Li Ding, Kristine M. Wylie, Julie K. Schwarz

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The standard-of-care treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer includes pelvic radiation therapy with concurrent cisplatin-based chemotherapy and is associated with a 30%-50% failure rate. New prognostic and therapeutic targets are needed to improve clinical outcomes. The vaginal microbiome has been linked to the pathogenesis of cervical cancer, but little is known about the vaginal microbiome in locally advanced cervical cancer as it relates to chemoradiation. In this pilot study, we utilized 16S rRNA gene community profiling to characterize the vaginal microbiomes of 26 postmenopausal women with locally advanced cervical cancer receiving chemoradiation. Our analysis revealed diverse anaerobe-dominated communities whose taxonomic …

Sleep-Wake Variation In Body Temperature Regulates Tau Secretion And Correlates With Csf And Plasma Tau, Geoffrey Canet, Brendan P. Lucey, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Sleep disturbance is bidirectionally associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease and other tauopathies. While the sleep-wake cycle regulates interstitial and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tau levels, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Understanding these mechanisms is crucial, given the evidence that tau pathology spreads through neuron-to-neuron transfer, involving the secretion and internalization of pathological tau forms. Here, we combined in vitro, in vivo, and clinical methods to reveal a pathway by which changes in body temperature (BT) over the sleep-wake cycle modulate extracellular tau levels. In mice, a higher BT during wakefulness and sleep deprivation increased CSF and plasma tau …

Toxoplasma Chitinase-Like Protein Orchestrates Cyst Wall Glycosylation To Facilitate Effector Export And Cyst Turnover, Yong Fu, Tadakimi Tomita, Louis M Weiss, Christopher M West, L David Sibley

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

Retinoic Acid Antagonizes Estrogen Signaling To Maintain Adult Uterine Cell Fate, Yan Yin, Meade Haller, Lauren Goldinger, Shivani Bharadwaj, Emily So, Vivian Robles-Pinos, David Chen, Liang Ma

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Classical tissue recombination experiments demonstrate that cell-fate determination along the anterior-posterior axis of the Müllerian duct occurs prior to postnatal day 7 in mice. However, little is known about how these cell types are maintained in adults. In this study, we provide genetic evidence that a balance between antagonistic retinoic acid (RA) and estrogen signaling activity is required to maintain simple columnar cell fate in adult uterine epithelium. Transdifferentiation of simple columnar uterine epithelium into stratified cervicovaginal-like epithelium was observed in three related mouse genetic models, in which RA signaling was perturbed in the postnatal uterus. Single-cell RNA sequencing analysis …

Metabolites And Lipid Species Mediate The Associations Of Adiposity In Childhood And Early Adulthood With Mammographic Breast Density In Premenopausal Women, Kayla R Getz, Myung Sik Jeon, Lili Liu, Lei Liu, Haixiang Zhang, Chongliang Luo, Jingqin Luo, Adetunji T Toriola

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Mammographic breast density (MBD), a strong predictor of breast cancer, is highly influenced by body mass index (BMI) in childhood and early adulthood, but the mechanisms underlying these associations are not fully understood. Our goal is to identify biomarkers that mediate the associations of BMI at ages 10 and 18 with MBD in premenopausal women.

METHODS: This study consists of 705 premenopausal women who had their screening mammogram at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, and provided a fasting blood sample. Our comprehensive metabolomic and lipidomic profiling yielded complete data for 828 metabolites and 857 lipid species after imputation. …

Thriving Hives: Processing And Using Beeswax - Candles And Cosmetics, Brynn Meredith, Teresa Hunsaker, Andree' Walker Bravo

All Current Publications

Beeswax is a substance produced by bees for constructing honeycomb in a hive. When raw wax is harvested from the hive, it may be quite dirty and can have many different kinds of debris stuck in it. Because of this, it is important that you clean and process the wax before using it. This fact sheet will teach you how to process the wax that you harvest and provide some suggestions on how you can use it in your home.

The Role Of Molecular Profiling In De-Escalation Of Toxic Therapy In Breast Cancer, Sonia Y. Khan, Tonjeh Bah, Rakhshanda Layeequr Rahman

School of Medicine Publications

The prevalence and mortality associated with breast cancer have forced healthcare providers to leverage surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy to achieve a cure. Whereas mortality has significantly dropped over the decades, long-term toxicities and healthcare costs are prohibitive. Therefore, a better understanding of tumor biology through molecular profiling is being utilized for de-escalation of treatment where appropriate. As research evolves, there is growing evidence that less aggressive treatment regimens, when appropriately tailored, can be equally effective for certain patient populations. This approach not only enhances the quality of life for patients by reducing the financial, physical, and emotional burdens …

Ion Suppression Correction And Normalization For Non-Targeted Metabolomics, Iqbal Mahmud, Bo Wei, Lucas Veillon, Lin Tan, Sara Martinez, Alexander Raskind, Yiwei Liu, Jibin Ding, Yun Xiong, Wai-Kin Chan, Rehan Akbani, John N Weinstein, Chris Beecher, Philip L Lorenzi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Ion suppression is a major problem in mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics; it can dramatically decrease measurement accuracy, precision, and sensitivity. Here we report a method, the IROA TruQuant Workflow, that uses a stable isotope-labeled internal standard (IROA-IS) library plus companion algorithms to: 1) measure and correct for ion suppression, and 2) perform Dual MSTUS normalization of MS metabolomic data. We evaluate the method across ion chromatography (IC), hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC), and reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC)-MS systems in both positive and negative ionization modes, with clean and unclean ion sources, and across different biological matrices. Across the broad range …

Large-Bore Mechanical Thrombectomy Versus Catheter-Directed Thrombolysis In The Management Of Intermediate-Risk Pulmonary Embolism: Primary Results Of The Peerless Randomized Controlled Trial, Wissam A Jaber, Carin F Gonsalves, Stefan Stortecky, Samuel Horr, Orestis Pappas, Keith Pereira, Sameer J Khandhar, Khawaja Afzal Ammar, David M Lasorda, Brian Stegman, Lucas Busch, David J Dexter, Ezana M Azene, Nikhil Daga, Fakhir Elmasri, Chandra R Kunavarapu, Mark E Rea, Joseph S Rossi, Joseph Campbell, Jonathan Lindquist, Adam Raskin, Jason C Smith, Thomas M Tamlyn, Gabriel A Hernandez, Parth Rali, Torrey R Schmidt, Jeffrey T Bruckel, Juan C Camacho, Jun Li, Samy Selim, Catalin Toma, Sukhdeep Singh Basra, Brian A Bergmark, Bhavraj Khalsa, David M Zlotnick, Jordan Castle, David J O'Connor, C Michael Gibson, Peerless Committees And Investigators

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: There are a lack of randomized controlled trial data comparing outcomes of different catheter-based interventions for intermediate-risk pulmonary embolism.

Methods: PEERLESS is a prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled trial that enrolled 550 patients with intermediate-risk pulmonary embolism with right ventricular dilatation and additional clinical risk factors randomized 1:1 to treatment with large-bore mechanical thrombectomy (LBMT) or catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT). The primary end point was a hierarchal win ratio composite of the following (assessed at the sooner of hospital discharge or 7 days after the procedure): (1) all-cause mortality, (2) intracranial hemorrhage, (3) major bleeding, (4) clinical deterioration and/or escalation to …

Diet Therapy Abates Mutant Apc And Kras Effects By Reshaping Plasma Membrane Cholesterol Nanodomains, Eunjoo Kim, Alfredo Erazo-Oliveras, Mónica Muñoz-Vega, Natividad R Fuentes, Michael L Salinas, Roger S Zoh, Bhimanagouda S Patil, Ivan Ivanov, Nancy D Turner, Robert S Chapkin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cholesterol-enriched plasma membrane domains are known to serve as signaling platforms in a diverse array of cellular processes. However, the link between cholesterol homeostasis and mutant APC-KRas-associated colorectal tumorigenesis remains to be established. Thus, we investigated the impact of Apc-Kras on 1) colonocyte plasma membrane cholesterol homeostasis, order, and receptor nanoclustering, 2) colonocyte cell proliferation, and 3) whether these effects are modulated by select membrane active dietaries (MADs). We observed that oncogenic APC-KRas increased membrane order by perturbing cholesterol homeostasis when cell proliferation is upregulated, in part by altering the expression of genes associated with cholesterol influx, export and de …

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial Of Il-7 In Critically Ill Patients With Covid-19, Manu Shankar-Hari, Bruno Francois, Kenneth E Remy, Cristina Gutierrez, Stephen Pastores, Robin Jeannet, Andrew H Walton, Reinaldo Salomao, Georg Auzinger, David Striker, Robert S Martin, Nitin J Anand, James Bosanquet, Teresa Blood, Scott Brakenridge, Lyle L Moldawer, Vidula Vachharajani, Cassian Yee, Felipe Dal-Pizzol, Michel Morre, Frederique Berbille, Marcel Van Den Brink, Richard Hotchkiss

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Lymphopenia and failure of lymphocytes to mount an early IFN-γ response correlate with increased mortality in COVID-19. Given the essential role of CD4 helper and CD8 cytotoxic cells in eliminating viral pathogens, this profound loss in lymphocytes may impair patients' ability to eliminate the virus. IL-7 is a pleiotropic cytokine that is obligatory for lymphocyte survival and optimal function.

Methods: We conducted a prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of CYT107, recombinant human IL-7, in 109 critically ill, patients with lymphopenia who have COVID-19. The primary endpoint was to assess CYT107's effect on lymphocyte recovery with secondary clinical endpoints including …

Theranostic Nanoemulsions Suppress Macrophage-Mediated Acute Inflammation In Rats, Riddhi Vichare, Yalcin Kulahci, Rebecca Mccallin, Fatih Zor, Fatma Nurefsan Selek, Caitlin Crelli, Michele Herneisey, James M Nichols, Andrew J Shepherd, Vijay S Gorantla, Jelena M Janjic

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In inflammatory diseases or following an injury, dysregulated inflammation is a common driver of pain and tissue damage. Macrophages are immune cells that contribute to the initiation, maintenance, and resolution of inflammation due to their phenotypic plasticity in response to signals from inflammatory microenvironments. Macrophages infiltrate and polarize toward a pro-inflammatory phenotype (M

Estrogen Receptor-Α Ablation Reverses Muscle Fibrosis And Inguinal Hernias, Jonah J Stulberg, Hong Zhao, Serdar E Bulun

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Fibrosis of the lower abdominal muscle (LAM) contributes to muscle weakening and inguinal hernia formation, an ailment that affects a noteworthy 50% of men by age 75 and necessitates surgical correction as the singular therapy. Despite its prevalence, the mechanisms driving LAM fibrosis and hernia development remain poorly understood. Using a humanized mouse model that replicates the elevated skeletal muscle tissue estrogen concentrations seen in aging men, we identified estrogen receptor-α (ESR1) as a key driver of LAM fibroblast proliferation, extracellular matrix deposition, and hernia formation. Fibroblast-specific ESR1 ablation effectively prevented muscle fibrosis and herniation, while pharmacological ESR1 inhibition with …

Methodological Quality Of Grounded Theory In Mathematics Education Researches: A Systematic Review, Bandar M. Al-Mutairi

International Journal for Research in Education

This study aimed to provide a systematic review by evaluating the accuracy and quality of mathematics education research that employed the grounded theory methodology. A systematic search was conducted in the databases (EBSCO), (SAGE Journals), (Google Scholar), (Springer), and (Eric) to identify studies in the field of mathematics education that mentioned the use of grounded theory methodology and/or methods in the title, abstract, or methodology. The descriptive characteristics and methodological quality of eligible studies were examined using evaluation guidelines developed by (Hutchison et al., 2011). The review included eighteen research papers conducted between 2010 and 2023. The results showed that …

Public Theology And Political Polarization: Environmental Policy, Jean Golicz, Leonard S. Momeny

Liberty Theological Review

The purpose of this article is to explore the impact of public theology on potentially polarizing political views. Specifically, the historical and contemporary interpretations of the Lynn White Thesis (1966) are examined as well as the practical implications for developing environmental policies that align with a biblical worldview. The authors propose the application of multiple paradigms to the study of religiosity and environmental activism as a way of addressing the complexity and diversity of various viewpoints. Understanding the multiple ways Jesus operated in an equally contentious and polarized society creates a path forward for churches. By rejecting the supposition that …

The Role Of Social Media In Vaccine Denialism: A Study Of Covid-19 And Beyond, Michael Shaw Mahoney

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

My presentation is about the impact social media plays when contributing to science denialism.

Final Report - Portfolio Management, Anthony Rynes, John Wimmer, Samy Uscher, Evan Markworth

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

This final report is a compilation of all research performed by team members for the mutual fund, Mutualicious Capital. Research reports include various forms of stock valuation, analysis of the macroeconomy, relative value trades, earnings analysis, technical analysis, and convergence trading. Research performed on each company or sector motivated real trades in a StockTrak simulation.

Voices From Roger's Park: How Entrepreneurs Navigate Cultural And Language Challenges With Community-Focused Advising, Fatimah Amaturraheem

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

This study explores the cultural and linguistic challenges of entrepreneurs and business-serving organizations (BSOs) in Rogers Park, Chicago, highlighting how community-focused advising supports resilience and growth. Drawing on qualitative interview data, we analyze how entrepreneurs navigate language barriers, adapt to cultural expectations, and leverage community networks. Findings reveal that cultural and language differences create unique operational challenges, addressed through tailored, community-based advising that fosters social capital and business acumen. This research underscores the value of culturally sensitive advising in supporting diverse, immigrant-rich communities.

A Review Examining The Factors Contributory To The Socialization Of A Culture Of Environmental Stewardship, Colby Nixon

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

Environmental stewardship is an ambiguous but significant term meaning that responsibility for the environment — and its quality — is shared between all individuals who interact with it. As a culture-wide phenomena, it is correlated with a mutualistic relationship with nature and the Earth. My study responds to a question as to which and how variables contribute to a societal mindset of environmental stewardship. This review synthesizes numerous studies across diverse cultures and contexts to examine trends therein. In doing so, I discovered that religion, policy, human development, linguistics, and economic roles play a part in socializing environmental stewardship into …