Digital Commons Network^™

Editorial: Untangle The Broad Connections And Tight Interactions Between Human Microbiota And Complex Diseases Through Data-Driven Approaches, Liang Wang, Zuo-Bin Zhu, Li Zhang, Jian Li, Qi Zhao

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

It is well-known that microorganisms are ubiquitous in the environment and occupy almost all habitats in animals and humans (Finlay and Clarke, 1999; Rosenberg, 2021). Traditionally, microorganisms are studied as individuals grown in isolation under artificial conditions; however, with the development of experimental techniques and computational methods, microbes are now frequently considered as a functional group in a particular niche and studied at the community level in order to best mimicking the real-world situations (American Academy of Microbiology, 2004). During the study of microbial communities, two terms are commonly used, that is, microbiota and microbiome.

Effect Of Deferoxamine On Post-Transfusion Iron, Inflammation, And In Vitro Microbial Growth In A Canine Hemorrhagic Shock Model: A Randomized Controlled Blinded Pilot Study, Melissa A. Claus, Lisa Smart, Anthea L. Raisis, Claire R. Sharp, Sam Abraham, Joel P. A. Gummer, Martin K. Mead, Damian L. Bradley, Rachel Van Swelm, Erwin T. G. Wiegerinck, Edward Litton

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Red blood cell (RBC) transfusion is associated with recipient inflammation and infection, which may be triggered by excessive circulating iron. Iron chelation following transfusion may reduce these risks. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of deferoxamine on circulating iron and inflammation biomarkers over time and in vitro growth of Escherichia coli (E. coli) following RBC transfusion in dogs with atraumatic hemorrhage. Anesthetized dogs were subject to atraumatic hemorrhage and transfusion of RBCs, then randomized to receive either deferoxamine or saline placebo of equivalent volume (n = 10 per group) in a blinded fashion. Blood was sampled …

Impact Of The Skill Shortage On The Construction Supply Chain Performance In Australia, Ming Juan Ding, Ferry Jie, Sommala Sisombat, Bala S. Bandlamudi

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the skill shortage impacts the performance of the construction supply chain in Australia. The study has adopted a quantitative research method. The quantitative data were collected by conducting a survey of employees who work in construction companies in Australia. A regression analysis was used to analyze the data from 113 respondents. The findings of the study reveal that the construction sector in Australia has high labour costs, but workers are still thinking they are not getting paid enough and cannot invest more in themselves to improve their skills. There is a …

Improving Nursing Education Curriculum As A Tool For Strengthening The Nurse–Client Relationships In Maternal And Child Healthcare: Insights From A Human-Centered Design Study In Rural Tanzania, Kahabi Isangula, Eunice Pallangyo, Eunice Ndirangu

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

Background. There are growing evidence of poor nurse–client relationships in maternal and child health (MCH). The nursing curriculum forms an important entry point for strengthening such relationships, consequently improving client satisfaction with nurses' competencies, confidence in the formal healthcare system, healthcare-seeking practices, continuity with care, and MCH outcomes.

Objective. MCH nurses and clients were invited to design an intervention package (prototype) to improve nurse–client relationships using a human-centered design (HCD) approach.

Methods. A multi-step HCD approach was employed to first examine the contributors of poor nurse–client relationships using nine focus group discussions with nurses and clients and 12 key informant …

Preparedness, Resilience And Unmet Needs Of Informal Caregivers Of Advanced Cancer Patients In A Regional Mission Hospital In Kenya: Qualitative Study, Too Wesley, Faith Lelei, Mary Adam, Pete Halestrap

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

Background: Cancer is the third highest cause of death in Kenya. Eighty percent of cancer cases arrive at advanced stages, when there is nothing that can be done to cure them, and palliative care is the best alternative. Although the majority of end-of-life care in Kenya is provided at home, little is known about the caregivers’ preparedness, resilience and continued unmet needs. The goal of this qualitative study was to explore caregivers’ perceived preparedness, resilience and continued unmet needs in their caregiving role to patients with advanced stages of cancer.

Methods: A purposive sampling method was used to identify and …

One Button Recording Studio, Katie Prentice

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

The TMC Library One Button Studio is available to practice or create high quality conference/class presentation recordings.

Social Support And The Effects Of The Covid-19 Pandemic Among A Cohort Of People Living With Hiv (Plwh) In Western Kenya, Adel Mburia-Mwalili, Karla D. Wagner, Edith Kamaru Kwobah, Lukoye Atwoli, Maurice Aluda, Brianna Simmons, Jayne Lewis-Kulzer, Suzanne Goodrich, Kara Wools-Kaloustian, Jennifer L. Syvertsen

Internal Medicine, East Africa

As coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic in 2020, countries around the world implemented various prevention strategies, such as banning of public and social gatherings, restriction in movement, etc. These efforts may have had a deleterious effect on already vulnerable populations, including people living with HIV (PLWH). PLWH were concerned about contracting COVID-19, the impact of COVID-19 on their social networks that provide social support, and the continued availability of antiretroviral medications during the pandemic. In addition, their mental health may have been exacerbated by the pandemic. The purpose of this study was to explore pandemic-related concerns among a …

Outpatient Therapies For Covid-19., Michelle Boysel, Christian Vaflor, Dan Sheridan

Pharmacy Articles

The world's healthcare systems were forced to evaluate evolving evidence regarding the COVID-19 pandemic quickly. The technology used to improve patient outcomes and survival is rapidly evolving along with the virus. This article discusses new therapies developed to treat and prevent COVID-19 in qualifying patients.

Rabbit Meat—Production, Consumption And Consumers’ Attitudes And Behavior, Shahida Anusha Siddiqui, Francesca Gerini, Ali Ikram, Farhan Saeed, Xi Feng, Yanping Chen

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Rabbit meat could play an important role in health, the rural economy, and sustainable development. Rabbit meat has excellent nutritional features, such as high protein content, low-fat content, and a high percentage of unsaturated fatty acids, low cholesterol and sodium levels. In addition, rabbit meat production contributes to maintaining economic activities in rural marginal areas. However, the consumption of rabbit meat is still limited due to several factors such as the higher cost of commercial food that is slowing down rabbits’ breeding. Socio-demographic characteristics, attitudes, and nationality of consumers influence the demand and consumption of rabbit meat. The social and …

On Viscoelastic Fiber Jet Formation By Forcespinning At High Rotation Rate, Daniel N. Riahi, Saulo Orizaga

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

We consider a nonlinear three-dimensional viscoelastic fiber jet that is generated during a forcespinning process. We provide a particular case for such a rotating jet at a high rotation rate. We use a viscoelastic constitutive model for the jet equations and then applying a new slender body approach, we continue with proper scaling and perturbation technique to develop a new model for such a jet system. We find that the profiles for jet quantities versus arc length are notably different from all those in related studies reported before for either high or low rotation rates. In particular, jet radius first …

The Impact Of Place-Based Education On Middle School Students’ Environmental Literacy And Stewardship, Erica R. Hamilton, Lisa Marckini-Polk

Open Access Publishing Support Funded Articles

This article centers on the use of place-based education (PBE), an internationally known and employed pedagogy. This yearlong, mixed-methods study centers on a grant-funded program aimed at supporting secondary teachers’ implementation of environmental place-based education (PBE), specifically meaningful watershed education experiences (MWEEs). Intended outcomes of this grantbased program included increasing middle school students’ environmental stewardship capacity; expanding their Great Lakes literacy; building teachers’ capacity for implementing robust environmental PBE; and increasing teachers’ capacity for teaching Great Lakes content. Situated in the Midwestern United States, two experienced PBE teachers and their middle school students (N = 226) from two separate schools …

Age And Racial Disparities In The Utilization Of Anticancer, Antihypertension, And Anti-Diabetes Therapies, And In Mortality In A Large Population-Based Cohort Of Older Women With Breast Cancer, Xianglin L Du, Lulu Song

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the receipt of therapies for cancer, hypertension, and diabetes in association with age and racial disparities in mortality among women with breast cancer.

METHODS: This study identified 92,829 women diagnosed with breast cancer at age ≥ 65 years in 2007-2015 with follow-up to 2016 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database.

RESULTS: There were substantial age and racial disparities in the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes, which was higher in women ≥ 75 (86.3% and 32.0%) than younger women 65-74 (72.8% and 29.3%), and the highest in Black women (91.1% and 49.1%), followed …

Association Between E-Cigarette Use Behaviors And Perceived Harmfulness Of E-Cigarettes And Anxiety/Depression Symptoms Among Black/African American Adults, David Adzrago, Kayo Fujimoto, Melissa B Harrell, Antwan Jones, J Michael Wilkerson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Black/African American adults are at greater risk of experiencing negative health outcomes stemming from tobacco use, yet little research has examined e-cigarette use behavior in the Black/African American adult-only population. We examined the association between e-cigarette use behaviors (never, former, and current use) and perceived harmfulness of e-cigarette use and anxiety/depression symptoms among Black/African American adults. This cross-sectional study was a secondary analysis of nationally representative data from the 2011-2020 Health Information National Trends Survey (n = 6,268). Multinomial logit models were used to examine differences in e-cigarette use behaviors (reference group = never used e-cigarettes), given the risk factors …

Disparities In The Use Of Assisted Reproductive Technologies After Breast Cancer: A Population-Based Study, Clare Meernik, Kirsten Jorgensen, Chi-Fang Wu, Caitlin C Murphy, Valerie L Baker, Paula C Brady, Roni Nitecki, Hazel B Nichols, J Alejandro Rauh-Hain

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Equitable access to oncofertility services is a key component of cancer survivorship care, but factors affecting access and use remain understudied.

METHODS: to describe disparities in assisted reproductive technology (ART) use among women with breast cancer in California, we conducted a population-based cohort study using linked oncology, ART, and demographic data. We identified women age 18-45 years diagnosed with invasive breast cancer between 2000 and 2015. The primary outcome was ART use-including oocyte/embryo cryopreservation or embryo transfer-after cancer diagnosis. We used log-binomial regression to estimate prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to identify factors associated with ART …

Ay 2022/2023 Sec Agenda, 2023-02-01, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Archives

No abstract provided.

Outdoor Light At Night And Risk Of Endometrial Cancer In The Nih-Aarp Diet And Health Study, Danielle N Medgyesi, Britton Trabert, Jared A Fisher, Qian Xiao, Peter James, Alexandra J White, Jessica M Madrigal, Rena R Jones

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Outdoor light at night (LAN) can result in circadian disruption and hormone dysregulation and is a suspected risk factor for some cancers. Our study is the first to evaluate the association between LAN and risk of endometrial cancer, a malignancy with known relationship to circulating estrogen levels.

METHODS: We linked enrollment addresses (1996) for 97,677 postmenopausal women in the prospective NIH-AARP cohort to satellite imagery of nighttime radiance to estimate LAN exposure. Multivariable Cox models estimated hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for LAN quintiles and incident endometrial cancer overall (1,669 cases) and endometrioid adenocarcinomas (991 …

Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer Survival, Timothy A Zaki, Peter S Liang, Folasade P May, Caitlin C Murphy

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Young adults diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC) comprise a growing, yet understudied, patient population. We estimated 5-year relative survival of early-onset CRC and examined disparities in survival by race-ethnicity in a population-based sample.

METHODS: We used the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program of cancer registries to identify patients diagnosed with early-onset CRC (20-49 years of age) between January 1, 1992, and December 31, 2013. For each racial-ethnic group, we estimated 5-year relative survival, overall and by sex, tumor site, and stage at diagnosis. to illustrate temporal trends, we compared 5-year relative survival in 1992-2002 vs …

Economic Evaluation Of An Intervention To Prevent Adolescent Dating Violence (Me & You), Ellerie Weber, Melissa F Peskin, Christine M Markham, Ross Shegog, Elizabeth R Baumler, Robert C Addy, Jeff R Temple, Belinda Hernandez, Paula Cuccaro, Melanie A Thiel, Efrat K Gabay, Susan Tortolero Emery

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Me & You: Building Healthy Relationships (Me & You) is a multilevel, technology-enhanced adolescent dating violence (DV) prevention program that aimed to reduce DV among ethnic-minority, early adolescent, urban youth. A group-randomized control trial of Me & You, conducted with 10 middle schools from a large urban school district in Southeast Texas in 2014–2015, found it to be effective in reducing DV perpetration and decreasing some forms of DV victimization. Economic evaluations of DV interventions are extremely limited, despite calls for more economic analyses to be incorporated in research. We help fill this gap by evaluating the cost-effectiveness from the …

Relationships Between Urinary Metals And Diabetes Traits Among Mexican Americans In Starr County, Texas, Usa, Margaret C Weiss, Yu-Hsuan Shih, Molly Scannell Bryan, Brian P Jackson, David Aguilar, Craig L Hanis, Maria Argos, Robert M Sargis

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Hispanics/Latinos have higher rates of type 2 diabetes (T2D), and the origins of these disparities are poorly understood. Environmental endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), including some metals and metalloids, are implicated as diabetes risk factors. Data indicate that Hispanics/Latinos may be disproportionately exposed to EDCs, yet they remain understudied with respect to environmental exposures and diabetes. The objective of this study is to determine how metal exposures contribute to T2D progression by evaluating the associations between 8 urinary metals and measures of glycemic status in 414 normoglycemic or prediabetic adults living in Starr County, Texas, a Hispanic/Latino community with high rates of …

Reduced Spag17 Expression In Systemic Sclerosis Triggers Myofibroblast Transition And Drives Fibrosis, Paulene Sapao, Elisha D O Roberson, Bo Shi, Shervin Assassi, Brian Skaug, Fred Lee, Alexandra Naba, Bethany E Perez White, Carlos Córdova-Fletes, Pei-Suen Tsou, Amr H Sawalha, Johann E Gudjonsson, Feiyang Ma, Priyanka Verma, Dibyendu Bhattacharyya, Mary Carns, Jerome F Strauss, Delphine Sicard, Daniel J Tschumperlin, Melissa I Champer, Paul J Campagnola, Maria E Teves, John Varga

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a clinically heterogeneous fibrotic disease with no effective treatment. Myofibroblasts are responsible for unresolving synchronous skin and internal organ fibrosis in SSc, but the drivers of sustained myofibroblast activation remain poorly understood. Using unbiased transcriptome analysis of skin biopsies, we identified the downregulation of SPAG17 in multiple independent cohorts of patients with SSc, and by orthogonal approaches, we observed a significant negative correlation between SPAG17 and fibrotic gene expression. Fibroblasts and endothelial cells explanted from SSc skin biopsies showed reduced chromatin accessibility at the SPAG17 locus. Remarkably, mice lacking Spag17 showed spontaneous skin fibrosis with increased …

Positioning The Brainstem Within The Neural Network Of Threat Prediction, Xu O Zhang, Fabricio H Do Monte

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In a recent study, Strickland and McDannald dissected the role of brainstem networks in threat prediction. Using probabilistic threat discrimination in rats, the authors demonstrated that brainstem neurons estimate threat probability and generate positive aversive prediction errors after unexpected outcomes. Their findings suggest that, beyond organizing defensive behaviors, brainstem neurons are involved in threat prediction computations.

Genetic Effect On Body Mass Index And Cardiovascular Disease Across Generations, Chloé Sarnowski, Matthew P Conomos, Ramachandran S Vasan, James B Meigs, Josée Dupuis, Ching-Ti Liu, Aaron Leong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Whether genetics contribute to the rising prevalence of obesity or its cardiovascular consequences in today's obesogenic environment remains unclear. We sought to determine whether the effects of a higher aggregate genetic burden of obesity risk on body mass index (BMI) or cardiovascular disease (CVD) differed by birth year.

METHODS: We split the FHS (Framingham Heart Study) into 4 equally sized birth cohorts (birth year before 1932, 1932 to 1946, 1947 to 1959, and after 1960). We modeled a genetic predisposition to obesity using an additive genetic risk score (GRS) of 941 BMI-associated variants and tested for GRS-birth year interaction …

Conducting Clinical Genomics Research During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned From The Cser Consortium Experience, Stephanie A Kraft, Heidi Russell, Jeannette T Bensen, Katherine E Bonini, Jill O Robinson, Nuriye Sahin-Hodoglugil, Kathleen Renna, Lucia A Hindorff, Dave Kaufman, Carol R Horowitz, Margaret Waltz, Jamilyn M Zepp, Sara J Knight

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Clinical research studies have navigated many changes throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to describe the pandemic's impact on research operations in the context of a clinical genomics research consortium that aimed to enroll a majority of participants from underrepresented populations. We interviewed (July to November 2020) and surveyed (May to August 2021) representatives of six projects in the Clinical Sequencing Evidence-Generating Research (CSER) consortium, which studies the implementation of genome sequencing in the clinical care of patients from populations that are underrepresented in genomics research or are medically underserved. Questions focused on COVID's impact on participant recruitment, enrollment, and …

Emotional Distress, Self-Management, And Glycemic Control Among Participants Enrolled In The Glycemia Reduction Approaches In Diabetes: A Comparative Effectiveness (Grade) Study, Jeffrey S Gonzalez, Heidi Krause-Steinrauf, Ionut Bebu, Gladys Crespo-Ramos, Claire J Hoogendoorn, Aanand D Naik, Andrea Waltje, Elizabeth Walker, Dominic Ehrmann, Janet Brown-Friday, Andrea Cherrington

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: We examined emotional distress in relation to metformin adherence, overall diabetes self-management, and glycemic control among adults with early type 2 diabetes (T2DM) enrolled in the GRADE study.

METHODS: Linear regression models examined cross-sectional associations of baseline depression symptoms and diabetes distress with adherence to metformin, self-management, and HbA1c, adjusting for covariates. Cognitive-affective (e.g., sadness) and somatic (e.g., sleep/appetite disturbance) depression symptoms and diabetes distress subscales were also examined.

RESULTS: This substudy of 1,739 GRADE participants (56 % Non-Hispanic White, 18 % Non-Hispanic Black, 17 % Hispanic, 68 % male, mean[SD] age = 57.96[10.22] years, diabetes duration = 4.21[2.81] …

Cross-Sectional And Prospective Associations Of Rest-Activity Rhythms With Body Mass Index In Older Men: A Novel Analysis Using Harmonic Hidden Markov Models, Brian Heckler, Miryoung Lee, Katie Stone, Cici Bauer, Qian Xiao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Growing evidence supports a role for rest-activity rhythms (RARs) in metabolic health. Epidemiological studies in adolescents and young adults showed that RAR characteristics consistent with weakened rhythmicity were associated with obesity. However, studies in older adults are lacking. The objective of this study was to examine the cross-sectional and prospective associations between RAR and obesity in older men using the Harmonic Hidden Markov Model (HHMM), a novel analytical approach with several advantages over conventional methods for characterizing RAR. The analysis included nearly 3,000 participants in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men study with 5-day 24-h actigraphy data. The strength of RAR …

2022 Pathway Nurse Of The Year Award™ Winners, Maggie Mccright

Group: American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)

When meaningful recognition occurs in organizations, nurses are acknowledged and appreciated for their contributions. It sends a powerful message that they're valued, which is a key component of a healthy and productive work environment, according to Kaufman and colleagues. Moreover, evidence has shown that recognition is the most significant driver of employee engagement. In addition, Lefton states that meaningful recognition involves "acknowledging one's behaviors and the impact these actions had on others, ensuring the feedback is relevant to the recognized situation, and is equal to the person's contribution." Meaningful recognition is highly personal, acknowledging how specific behaviors impact the practice …

Embracing Deference, Edward K. Cheng, Elodie O. Currier, Payton B. Hampton

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

A fundamental conceptual problem has long dogged discussions about scientific and other expert evidence in the courtroom. In American law, the problem was most famously posed by Judge Learned Hand, who asked: "[H]ow can the jury judge between two statements each founded upon an experience confessedly foreign in kind to their own? It is just because they are incompetent for such a task that the expert is necessary at all." This puzzle, sometimes known as the "expert paradox," is quite general. It applies not only to the jury as factfinder, but also to the judge as gate- keeper under the …

Human-Centered Design To Address Biases In Artificial Intelligence, Ellen W. Clayton, You Chen, Laurie L. Novak, Shilo Anders, Bradley Malin

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce health care disparities and inequities is recognized, but it can also exacerbate these issues if not implemented in an equitable manner. This perspective identifies potential biases in each stage of the AI life cycle, including data collection, annotation, machine learning model development, evaluation, deployment, operationalization, monitoring, and feedback integration. To mitigate these biases, we suggest involving a diverse group of stakeholders, using human-centered AI principles. Human-centered AI can help ensure that AI systems are designed and used in a way that benefits patients and society, which can reduce health disparities and inequities. …

Patent Forfeiture, Sean B. Seymore

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Patent law doesn't look kindly on patent owners who engage in wrongdoing involving the patent. The U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts have refused to enforce patents tainted with inequitableness, fraud, or bad faith. This issue typically arises in patent litigation when an accused infringer asserts that the patent should be unenforceable if the patentee engaged in one of four proscribed activities: inequitable conduct (deliberate misrepresentations or omissions of material information from the Patent Office); patent misuse (anticompetitive licensing practices); unclean hands (business or litigation misconduct); or waiver/estoppel (a lack of candor before a standard-setting organization). This seems right--a patentee …

Using An Evolutionary Approach To Improve Predictive Ability In Social Sciences: Property, The Endowment Effect, And Law, Owen D. Jones, Sarah F. Brosnan

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

From the perspective of other disciplines, evolutionary approaches more often provide explanation and coherence than they help to solve discrete problems. We believe that more examples of the latter sort will help both with disciplinary synthesis and with the advance of knowledge. Here we describe a 20-year arc of research to demonstrate the problem-solving utility of an evolutionary perspective by focusing, as a case study, on a particular cognitive bias – the endowment effect – that has implications for law. Legal systems often assume that humans make decisions that are substantively rational, consistent, and aimed at maximizing their own wellbeing. …