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Refugee Health In Philadelphia, Marc Altshuler

Department of Family & Community Medicine Presentations and Grand Rounds

Objectives

1. Define the U.S. refugee resettlement process
2. Discuss the history of refugee health in Philadelphia and the creation of the Jefferson Center for Refugee Health
3. Review selected data on our patients
4. Learn how to utilize new resources to care for refugees

The Data Are Inadequate To Assess Safety And Efficacy Of Mass Chemotherapy For Taenia Solium Taeniasis, A. Clinton White Jr., Seth E. O'Neal, Andrea Winkler, Annette Abraham, Hélène Carabin

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

As members of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines development group on chemotherapy strategies for the control of Taenia solium taeniasis, we are very disappointed at the systematic review by Haby and colleagues. With respect to the analysis of efficacy, the authors did not account for differences in the methods used to ascertain the outcome in the studies analyzed. There are also major concerns regarding the safety analyses. Few of the included studies used carefully designed active surveillance protocols to detect epileptic seizures and/or chronic progressive headaches. These neurologic side effects, due the inadvertent …

Insight - Summer 2020, Dugoni School Of Dentistry

Insight

Whether you are involved in clinical research, biomedical research, the scholarship of teaching and learning, improvement of the health care system, or professional partnerships that advance the field, we aim to spotlight the work of people at the Dugoni School.

2020-07-15_Michiganoverview_Covidsymptoms, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Michigan COVID-19 Syndromic Surveillance System Data

The Syndromic Surveillance System Data report was obtained from Michigan's COVID-19 dashboard, from under the link "​Coronavirus Symptoms": https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus. Data was compiled by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). The information was updated daily.

Syndromic Surveillance System data is obtained from approximately 183 facilities participating in syndromic surveillance (132 Emergency Departments (ED), 51 Urgent Cares) across the State of Michigan. The reporting is based on individuals who present at EDs and may not be representative of the overall population. The coronavirus-like symptoms query searches visit free-text (chief complaint, triage notes, and clinical impression) for fever or …

Holy Cross Magazine, Vol. 54, No. 3, Summer 2020, College Of The Holy Cross

Holy Cross Magazine

Community, Cura Personalis and Scholarship
How faculty and staff united and educated a scattered student body in a pandemic
By Melissa Shaw

Remembering the Swiss Army Knife of Buildings
From all-sport gymnasium to raucous concert hall, graduation stage, love-at-first-sight dance floor and more, the Field House played nearly every role over its 70-year history.
By Melissa Shaw

Mom, Dad, John Donne, Bugs Bunny: The Making of an American Poet
From a Bronx classroom and a shoebox full of rejections to his role as U.S. Poet Laureate and international renown, the environs of Billy Collins ’63 Hon. ’02 may have changed, …

Essays On Emotional Well-Being, Health Insurance Disparities And Health Insurance Markets, Disha Shende

Economics ETDs

This dissertation has three research papers. First paper looks at the effect of social networks on emotional well-being of cancer patients by studying the response of social networks on their depression symptoms. Using the data from a primary survey conducted in Nepal, the study finds that social networks significantly reduce depression symptoms among cancer patients. The results strongly advocate for the importance of the social networks in improving their emotional well-being. Second paper examines the health coverage disparities among Hispanic and non-Hispanic young adults in five southwestern states of the United States. Using the pooled data from American Community Survey …

Can A Sex Bias Be A Good Thing: Modeling Spontaneous Clearance And Sexual Susceptibility In Hcv, Tanner K. Shea

Biology ETDs

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a global epidemic that has been increasing for decades, afflicting millions of people who inject drugs (PWID) and is a major cause of liver disease. With novel direct-acting antivirals, treating the virus has become possible yet elimination remains out of reach. Prior research has shown significant differences in disease progression between men and women. These differences can lead to variation in incidence or what proportion of infections progress to chronic infections. We develop a mathematical model that accounts for potential differences between the sexes to evaluate the impacts on HCV transmission. We find that susceptibility …

Sexual Dimorphism In Host Innate Response To Staphylococcus Aureus: Mechanisms Driving Sex Differences In Immune Cell Function And Host-Directed Interventions, Srijana Pokhrel

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

With the emerging antibiotic resistance, Staphylococcus aureus, primary causative agent of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) as well as other life-threatening conditions has become a global health concern. While factors contributing to host defense against S. aureus SSTIs has been well studied, impact of sex as a variable has not been reported. In Chapter 2, we uncover the sex-specific differences in host response to S. aureus SSTIs and the contribution of female sex hormone, estrogen (E2) in providing protection in females. In Chapter 3, we identify mechanisms of innate differences in neutrophils bactericidal efficacy between sexes and in …

Virus-Like Particle-Based Vaccines Induce Antibody-Mediated Neutralization Of Staphylococcus Aureus Virulence, Jason Alexander Joyner

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Staphylococcus aureus is a pathogenic bacterium that inflicts a large amount of human suffering using an arsenal of virulence factors to cause minor to life-threatening infections. Both the accessory gene regulator (agr) operon, a virulence regulatory pathway that controls expression of over 200 virulence factors, and alpha-hemolysin (Hla), a key pore-forming toxin, play a significant role in infection severity. Given the clinical trial failures of S. aureus vaccine candidates and the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant strains, novel and effective treatment options are urgently needed. Chapter 2 describes a novel virus-like particle (VLP) -based vaccine inducing agr-I-inhibiting antibodies …

Perceived Risk And Protection From Infection And Depressive Symptoms Among Healthcare Workers In Mainland China And Hong Kong During Covid-19, Simon Ching Lam, Teresa Arora, Ian Grey, Lorna Kwai Ping Suen, Emma Yun Zhi Huang, Daofan Li, Kin Bong Hubert Lam

All Works

© Copyright © 2020 Lam, Arora, Grey, Suen, Huang, Li and Lam. Psychological health among healthcare workers (HCWs) has become a major concern since the COVID-19 outbreak. HCWs perceived risks of contracting COVID-19, in relation to depression were investigated. It was hypothesized that perceived high risk of contracting COVID-19 (close contact with cases, inadequate provision of personal protective equipment, insufficient infection control training, and presence of symptoms) would be significant predictors of depression. Our cross-sectional survey was completed by HCWs across three regions (Hubei, Guangdong, Hong Kong) between March 9 to April 9 2020 using convenience sampling. Depression was assessed …

Moving Targets Of Bacterial Taxonomy Revision: What Are They And Why Should We Care?, Erik Munson

Clinical Lab Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Due to the increased widespread use of molecular diagnostics, genome sequencing, and microbiome analysis in microbiology, the field has experienced a massive influx of novel taxa and nomenclature revisions. A subset of these changes is relevant to the clinical microbiology laboratory, particularly in the context of appropriate antimicrobial susceptibility testing and epidemiology of emerging infections. However, assimilation of these changes into daily clinical microbiology laboratory operations can be challenging for a variety of reasons. Recent taxonomic revisions to Enterobacteriaceae, as well as the genera Borrelia, Mycoplasma, and Mycobacterium, are reviewed as examples that illustrate discrepancies between resources …

Disruption Of Pyoverdine Synthesis In Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Through Periodic Disturbance Of Biofilm Structure, Rebecca J. Quinn

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Infections due to bacteria were once easily treated using antibiotics. However, the effective shelf life of antibiotics is diminishing due to the rise and spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Accordingly, novel approaches to treating infections are required. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a multi-drug resistant, biofilm forming opportunistic pathogen. A determinant of P. aeruginosa’s pathogenicity is pyoverdine, a siderophore that is used to sequester iron from the environment. After being produced by a bacterium, pyoverdine is secreted into the environment where it complexes with iron. The pyoverdine-iron complex is then returned to the bacteria through diffusion, where it drives the synthesis of …

New Vaccine Technologies, Adjuvants And Delivery System, C.J. Lee, M. Koizumi, T. Kosaka

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Immunization represents the most cost-effective means to achieve the prevention of infectious diseases. Vaccines successfully protected humans from serious infections resulting in worldwide eradication of smallpox and regional elimination of poliomyelitis. New technologies continue to provide many effective biological products for disease control. Various techniques including recombinant DNA approaches, peptide synthesis chemistry, and immunomodulation have been applied to the development of new vaccines and improvement of existing vaccines. These technologies have constructed avirulent and attenuated strains to be used as live vaccines, as well as provided more effective manufacturing methods to produce protein antigens. bacterial polysaccharides (PS) and PS-protein conjugate …

Lessons Learned From The Sars Epidemic In Taiwan, E.T.-T. Suen

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

[No abstract available]

Simultaneous Determination Of Quinolones In Livestock And Marine Products By High Performance Liquid Chromatography, S.-C. Su, M.-H. Chang, C.-L. Chang, P.-C. Chang, S.-S. Chou

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

A high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed for the simultaneous determination of nalidixic acid, flumequine, oxolinic acid, piromidic acid, danofloxacin, enrofloxacin and sarafloxacin in chicken, pork and fish. These seven quinolone antibacterials were extracted with 0.3% metaphosphoric acid: acetonitrile (1:10, v/v), followed by a Bond Elut C18 cartridge clean up procedure. The HPLC separation was achieved on a Cosmosil 5C18-AR-II column (5 μm, 4.6 mm i.d. × 250 mm) with acetonitrile: 0.05M NaH2PO4 (pH 2.5)(35:65, v/v) containing 3.5 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate as a mobile phase, and detection was performed with photodiode array and fluorescence detector (by using …

Evaluation And Validation Of Potency Testing Method For Live Rubella Virus Vaccine, D.-Y. Wang, S.-Y. Yeh, C.-P. Chou, H.-F. Cheng, J.-T. Hsieh, C.-P. Lin

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

The potency of live rubella virus vaccine is usually determined by the microtitration method using in vitro cytopathic effect (CPE) with rabbit kidney epithelial (RK-13) cell culture. However, it is difficult to identify the rubella viral CPE through microscopic examination. Therefore, developing a validated and accurate method for potency determination is important for the laboratories of the government and vaccine manufacturers to ensure the effectiveness of rubella vaccination. In this study, we evaluated different culture conditions of RK-13 cells for the potency test of live rubella virus vaccine. We found that the RK-13 cells with the initial plating number of …

Use Of Polymerase Chain Reaction, Cell Adhesion, Hemagglutination And Bacterial Clump Formation Tests In Detection Of Enteroaggregative Escherichia Coli Strains, C.-C. Tsai, S.-Y. Chen, H.-Y. Tsen

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAggEC) is one of the pathogenic E. coli strains which may cause diarrhoea. In vitro studies have shown that EAggEC strains could establish a "stacked-brick" like adherence pattern on the surface of tissue culture cells and such a pattern is termed as aggregative adherence (AA). The purpose of this study is to compare the methods of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), HeLa cell adhesion, hemagglutination, and bacteria clumping tests for the specific detection of EAggEC suspected strains. This study isolated 340 E. coli strains from clinical samples of diarrhea cases which were firstly screened with the PCR method …

The Relationship Between The Cold Chain System And Vaccine Potency In Taiwan: (I) Live Measles Vaccine And Mmr Vaccine, D.-Y. Wang, R.-I. Yang, Y.-C. Yang, S.-Y. Yeh, T.-L. Chen, H.-F. Cheng, J.-T. Hsieh, C.-P. Lin

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Taiwan has a long history of using vaccines in order to protect people against certain infectious diseases. Several types of vaccines have been used successfully for protecting children from poliomyelitis, measles, and other acute infectious diseases. However, for the monovalent measles vaccine (MV), and the trivalent measles-mumps-rubella combined vaccine (MMR vaccine) which are made from live attenuated viruses, they are unstable unless stored at a proper low temperature, at a certain pH level, in darkness, and combined with some specific stabilizers. Maintaining these live virus vaccines at the recommended temperatures of +2 to +8°C is one of the most important …

Characterization Of Traditional Chinese Medicine By Liquid Chromatography/Atmospheric Pressure Ionization Mass Spectrometry, X. Wang, Y. Xue, T. Zhou, T. Sakuma

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

The decoction of the Xiexin (Shan - Huang- Xiexin - Tang, originated from Jin kui Yoa Lue Fang Lun by Zhang Zhongjing) has been in use for centuries to treat illnesses such as: infectious disease, hemorrhage of the upper digestive tract, angiocardiopathy, cerebrovascular disease and immune diseased(1) Although, the decoction of the Xiexin is effective in treating these diseases, its remedial mechanism is not well understood. In this study we examined extracts from the decoction of Xiexin by using HPLC/MS/MS equipped with a TurboIonSpray source. The simultaneous determination of mixtures of active ingredients in these extracts by HPLC/MS/MS was demonstrated. …

Variability In The Frequency Of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Of N-Acetyl Transferase 2 (Nat2) Gene Among The Different Ethnic Groups In Taiwan, Wu F.-L. Lin, Y.-R. Chen, M. Lin, H.-D. Chern, L.-J. Shen

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Significant variations in the frequency of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of human leukocyte antigen among Taiwan's aboriginal tribes and high homogeneity within each tribe have been reported. To identify variations in genetic polymorphisms of drug-metabolizing enzyme in seven of Taiwan's ethnic groups, the SNPs of N-acetyl transferase 2, a conjugation enzyme in phase II metabolism, were investigated. Methods: Three SNPs of NAT2, NAT2*5, NAT2*6, and NAT2*7, were determined by the TaqMan® method and subsequently confirmed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Our results showed statistically significant variations in the frequency of NAT2 genotype categories according to the 3 …

Establishment Of A National Taiwan Standard And Working Reagent For Human Parvovirus B19 Dna Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques (Nat), Y.-C. Yang, C.-J. Chang, C.-I. Tseng, D.-Y. Wang, H.-F. Cheng, C.-P. Lin

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Mandatory requirements for plasma pools containing a maximum concentration of human parvovirus B19 DNA will be established in Taiwan in the near future. To facilitate the implementation of the policy, a National Standard and working reagent were established for human parvovirus B19 DNA nucleic acid amplification techniques (NAT). The standards are intended to be used for the quality control of B19 NAT assays and as a quantitative reference material for B19 NAT testing. A collaborative study, including 10 laboratories from seven countries, was done in order to establish the National Standard and working reagent for B19 DNA NAT assays by …

Effect Of Backward Medication Switching On The Risks Of Adverse Events Of Schizophrenia Patients Using Atypical Antipsychotics, Y.-C. Lee, Y.-T. Huang, W.-F. Huang

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Many studies explore the effects of medication switching from second generation antipsychotic (SGA) to first generation antipsychotic (FGA), yet few exam the health effect of backward medication switching. This study investigated whether backward medication switching (from SGA to FGA) and reduced dosages on SGA increased adverse events in outpatient schizophrenia patients treated by SGA in Taiwan. This study applied a three-year historical cohort design and compared the risks of adverse events (outcome) in 2004, measured by emergency room and hospital admissions, of patients experienced backward medication switching or dosage reduction on SGA (exposure status) in 2003 with those who did …

Molecular Subtyping Of Salmonella Enterica Serovar Enteritidis Isolated From Taiwan During 1992-1998 By Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism And Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis, T.-Y. Tsai, W.-C. Luo, K.-L. Chen, T.-M. Pan

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Over the past 10 years, Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis has emerged as a new serovar and a frequent cause of food-borne diseases in Taiwan. We used two molecular subtyping methods to investigate the development of the infections by S. enterica Enteritidis in Taiwan. Twenty-eight strains of S. enterica Enteritidis isolated from Taiwan during the period of 1992 to 1998 were collected. The primer pairs, MseI+C/EcoRI+0 and MseI+G/PstI+C, were used in amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analyses, and the restriction enzyme, AvrII, was used in pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Twenty-two AFLP profiles with 53-59 fragments in each profile were found by …

Establishment Of A Serological Panel For In Vitro Diagnostics Of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, D.-Y. Wang, K.-T. Wang, Y.-C. Wang, S.-C. Weng, W.-H. Chang, D.Y.-C. Shih

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is an infectious disease with a high mortality rate. Because SARS suddenly disappeared after an approximately 1-year-long pandemic period (November 2002 to July 2003), insufficient data was available for the development of in vitro diagnostics for SARS (SARS IVD). To rapidly identify cases in the event of future epidemics, it is necessary to establish a SARS serological panel. In this study, 20 SARS convalescent sera and 20 normal sera from the Taiwan CDC were used to establish a SARS serological panel. This can be used as a standard for the Taiwan FDA to evaluate the …

Erythrosine-Mediated Photodynamic Inactivation Of Bacteria And Yeast Using Green Light-Emitting Diode Light, E.-S. Ke, S. Nazzal, Y.-H. Tseng, C.-P. Chen, T. Tsai

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Erythrosine, also known as FD&C Red No. 3, is a synthetic dye that has been used for food coloring and dental plaque detection. The objective of this study was to evaluate erythrosine as a viable photosensitizer in photodynamic inactivation (PDI) of bacteria and yeast. Cells were treated with erythrosine with or without acetic acid in the presence and absence of light. Erythrosine in the absence of light did not show any activity against the microorganisms. When treated with light, erythrosine was efficient in eradicating non-adherent (planktonic) Gram (+) bacteria and yeast. However, Gram (-) bacteria were less responsive to PDI. …

Inhibitory Effect On Human Leukemic U937 Cell Growth And Immunomodulatory Activity Of Germinated Brown Rice, S.-Y. Wang, C.-W. Chen, Y.-T. Lin, C.-Y. Chang

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

This study was conducted to investigate how germinated brown rice (GBR) extracts stimulate human mononuclear cell (MNC) growth, secretion of cytokines (IL-1β, IFN-γ and TNF-α) and nitric oxide, and subsequently inhibit the growth of U937 cells. The results indicate that through the use of phosphate buffer solution (PGBR), alkali (AGBR) and ethanol (EGBR), the extracts had a significant inhibitory effect on U937 cell growth. Ultimately, the extracts produced an inhibition rate of over 50%. As the concentration was increased up to 1,000 μg/mL, the U937 cell growth inhibition for the three extracts surpassed 60%. The cytokines (IL-1β, TNF-α and IFN-γ) …

Off-Label Antibiotic Use In The Pediatric Population: A Population-Based Study In Taiwan, K.-H. Huang, Y.-C. Hsieh, C.-T. Hung, F.-Y. Hsiao

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

This study investigated the epidemiology and determinants of off-label antibiotic use in children in Taiwan. This was a retrospective, population-based study using the 2002-2005 Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). The study subjects consisted of children under 12 years old. The prescriptions of antibiotics were retrieved from the pharmacy claims of NHIRD. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to assess the associations between patients' and providers' demographics and off-label use of antibiotics. Among 66,446 antibiotic prescriptions identified, off-label use accounted for 33.33%. The percentages of off-label use varied with time trend, dispensing type, patient characteristics, physician characteristics and institution …

Diet, Nutrition And Chronic Disease In Mainland China, J. Chen, W. Zhao

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

In the recent 3 decades, along with the rapid development of national economy, dietary pattern and lifestyle have undergone significant changes in Mainland China. At the same time, the major causes of disease and death in Mainland China have shifted from predominantly infectious disease and diet-related deficiency diseases to overweight/obesity and other non-communicable diseases, including hypertension, stroke, coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancers, etc. The characteristics of the dietary change are the decrease of cereal and vegetable consumption and the increase of animal foods and oil/fat consumption; although the average Chinese dietary pattern remains a plant food based diet. These dietary …

Studies On Food Functionality And Safety In Japan - Evaluation By Genomics, A. Keiko

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

In Japan, research on functional foods had humble beginnings about 30 years ago. It traced a unique path of development to a mainstay of frontal food science. Meanwhile, nutrigenomics was launched as a comprehensive method for investigating total effects of nutrients in the body. This can be applied to functional foods as well as nutrients. However, the data analysis needs care. Since even functional foods contain a variety of compounds together with functional factors, the data inherently include noises to a certain extent. Thus, there are often the case that inappropriate choices of experimental designs and statistic data analyses lead …

The Impact Of Food Components And Dietary Factors On Oral Health, C.D. Wu

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

This presentation provides an overview of the impact of food components and dietary factors on oral health. The protective properties of various foods, plant extracts and plant-based polyphenolic compounds on dental caries and periodontal disease are discussed. Laboratory, human, and epidemiological studies demonstrating the multiple mechanistic actions in supporting their contribution to oral health and disease prevention are summarized. The need and development of multidisciplinary research approach toward experimental designs and strategies in clinical and epidemiological studies are also emphasized.