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Novel Therapuetic Approaches For Chagas Disease, Juan Carlos Silva

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Chagas disease (CD) is caused by the hemoflagellate protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. This disease is considered one of the 20 neglected tropical diseases (NTD), and it is estimated that 6 to 8 million people worldwide are diagnosed with CD. In the United States, Chagas infection is not reported in all states; however, most reported CD cases are chronic infections. Chagas infection is characterized by two phases: an acute and a chronic phase. Until this present moment, no prophylactic or therapeutic human vaccine is available. However, in a recent study in a murine model, our group showed that the synthetic 20-merpeptide (DAENPGGEVFNDNKKGLSRV) …

Ai Regulation Has Its Own Alignment Problem: The Technical And Institutional Feasibility Of Disclosure, Registration, Licensing, And Auditing, Neel Guha, Christie M. Lawrence, Lindsey A. Gailmard, Kit T. Rodolfa, Faiz Surani, Rishi Bommasani, Inioluwa Deborah Raji, Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, Colleen Honigsberg, Percy Liang, Daniel E. Ho

Faculty Scholarship

Calls for regulating artificial intelligence (“AI”) are widespread, but there remains little consensus on both the specific harms that regulation can and should address and the appropriate regulatory actions to take. Computer scientists propose technical solutions that may be infeasible or illegal; lawyers propose regulation that may be technically impossible; and commentators propose policies that may backfire. AI regulation, in that sense, has its own alignment problem, in which proposed interventions are often misaligned with societal values.This Article assesses the alignment and technical and institutional feasibility of four dominant proposals for AI regulation in the United States: disclosure, registration, licensing, …

Assessing The Influence Of Native And Invasive Grasses On The Behavior Of Aedes Aegypti In South Texas, Emily Medelez

Theses and Dissertations

Invasive grasses in South Texas can have widespread negative effects, displacing native species, reducing biodiversity, and posing risks to public health. These grasses may flourish in moist, shaded environments, which not only support their growth but also creates habitats favorable for mosquito activity. This can increase the population and alter the behavior of mosquitoes, potentially raising the risk of disease transmission. In this thesis, I look at the behavior of mosquito species Aedes aegypti, primary vector of the yellow fever virus. I analyzed the influence of oviposition, flight and resting behaviors. I tested the relative attraction of Aedes mosquitoes …

Etiologies Of Bloody Diarrhea In Children Presenting With Acute Gastroenteritis To Us Emergency Departments., Paola Fonseca-Romero, Ben J. Brintz, D Matthew Vierkant, Jennifer Dien Bard, Daniel M. Cohen, Ara Festekjian, Amy L. Leber, Jami T. Jackson, Neena Kanwar, Chari Larsen, Rangaraj Selvarangan, Kimberle C. Chapin, Andrew T. Pavia, Sharia M. Ahmed, Daniel T. Leung, Impact Study Investigators

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

We used molecular testing to examine the causes of bloody diarrhea in a multicenter study of pediatric gastroenteritis. Pathogens typically associated with bloody diarrhea were detected in less than half of cases, and inappropriate antibiotic use was common, supporting the use of stool testing in patients with bloody diarrhea.

Increasing Safety Net Antibiotic Prescriptions For Acute Otitis Media In Urgent Care Clinics., Jennifer Mckinsey, Brian R. Lee, Donna Wyly, Holly Austin, Dinah Dosdos, Emily Murdock, Aimy Patel, Rana El Feghaly, Amanda Nedved

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of multifaceted interventions in improving the use of safety net antibiotic prescriptions (SNAPs) for nonsevere acute otitis media (AOM).

STUDY DESIGN: We used quality improvement methodology to develop iterative Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles to increase the use of SNAP for nonsevere AOM in 3 pediatric urgent care centers from October 2021 to June 2023. Interventions included education, electronic health record changes, audits and feedback, and a time-limited financial incentive. We measured the percentage of eligible patients with AOM offered SNAP as our primary outcome. Our secondary outcome measured the percentage of SNAPs accepted. Our process measure evaluated …

Surfactant Protein-C Regulates Alveolar Type 2 Epithelial Cell Lineages Via The Cd74 Receptor, Krishan G Jain, Yang Liu, Runzhen Zhao, Preeti J Muire, Nan-Miles Xi, Hong-Long Ji

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Deficiency of surfactant protein-C (SPC) increases susceptibility to lung infections and injury, and suppressed expression of SPC has been associated with the severity of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Alveolar type 2 epithelial cells (AT2) are critical for maintenance and repair of the lung. However, the role of the SPC in the regulation of AT2 cell lineage and the underlying mechanisms are not completely understood.

Methods: This study aimed to investigate the mechanisms by which SPC regulates AT2 lineages. Sftpc-/- mice were used to model the SPC deficiency in ARDS patients. We utilized three-dimensional (3D) organoids to compare AT2 …

Chronic Illness Education 2024: Resources For The Providers To Improve Adult Hiv Outcome, Amolak Jhand, Ariana Cho, Brayden Bitterman, Jhonny Avila Mendoza, Madeline Evans, Sabrina Khan

Patient Education Projects

No abstract provided.

Chronic Illness Education 2024: Strategies To Improve Hiv Management, Fabiola Cuellar, Farheen Vali, Hana Jiang, Kevin Chau, Rahul Babu

Patient Education Projects

No abstract provided.

Chronic Illness Education 2024: Comprehensive Care For Patients With Hiv, Annie Hillenberg, Ibrahim Malik, Reema Smadi, Sanjeev Bola, Sean Carroll

Patient Education Projects

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Contribution Of Mobile Money To The Well-Being Of Rural Tanzanian Villagers And Assessing Their Readiness To Adopt A Similar Model To Advance Their Healthcare Access An Exploratory Study, Sr. Magdalena P. Chubwa

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Background: Healthcare for rural villages in Tanzania has always been rudimentary. Lack of the infrastructure and poverty are among the many obstacles facing this population’s access to healthcare. While, the rise of telehealth has improved access to healthcare in many parts of the world, its use in rural Tanzania has been extremely limited to poor internet access. However, given the availability of non-internet connected mobile phones in rural Tanzania, the potential to use this devise to improve healthcare access exists. Individuals using mobile phones for financial transactions may be motivated to access healthcare via telehealth by using their non-internet connected …

Determination Of Human Hair Components By Spectrophotometric Methods For The Diagnosis Of Thyroid Diseases, Fatima H. Salih, Shaimaa S. Mahdi, Alaa H. Ali

Baghdad Science Journal

Human hair is a vital tissue, rich in minerals and vitamins that have an effective role in the production of enzymes, hormones and other substances necessary for normal growth, it is considered an indicator of any defect in the performance of body functions at all stages of life, so the use of hair in the diagnosis of diseases is a challenge in the clinical laboratory, as it will be easy to frequently monitor diseases, and it will have an impact on medical research and treatment. For instance, hypothyroidism occurs when the thyroid gland does not secrete enough thyroid hormone into …

Identification Of Some Biochemical Indicators To Indicate The Contamination Of Some Fish Farms In Hilla City/ Iraq, Layla Mustafa A.A. Alkatrani, Zahraa Hussein Obaid, Jasim Mohammed Salman

Baghdad Science Journal

In order to establish the possibility of determined biochemical indicators of possible pollution in Al-Forat fish farm (A) and Hussein Ajimi fish farm (B) as well as wild fish samples as a control from Shatt Al-Hilla River (C). Oxidative stress factors and antioxidant enzyme activity were determined in common carp Cyprinus carpio blood serum from two fish farms. Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT), Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) performance were chosen as pollution bioindicators, as well as Total Protein (TP) as a general bio indicator for fish health. Results showed an increase in all …

Impact Of Pegylated Liposomes On Cytotoxicity Of Tamoxifen And Piperine On Mcf-7 Human Breast Carcinoma Cells, Klaudi K. Vaiphei, A Prabakaran, Singh Snigdha, Satyajit Laxman Murkute, Purusottam Mohapatra, Rakesh Kumar Sahoo, Sanya Batheja, Umesh Gupta, Anu Puri, Upal Roy

Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications

Tamoxifen (TMF) is an anticancer agent used for managing estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. It has limited therapeutic efficacy against breast cancer, which could be enhanced by the coadministration of herbal drugs like piperine (PIP). However, the hydrophobic nature of TMF and PIP restricts their therapeutic application. Therefore, the present study focuses on the impact of the anticancer activity of TMF in combination with PIP and after entrapping them into liposomes (TMF-PIP-LPs and TMF-PIP-PEG-LPs). The liposomes were prepared using the thin film hydration method. In addition, the morphology of the prepared liposomes was found spherical after SEM and TEM analyses. Further, …

Anaplasma Phagocytophilum’S Effect On Gopher Tortoises Of South East Florida, Elena Tonkin

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses 2020 - Present

Recent studies have revealed Anaplasma phagocytophilum as a new pathogen that has started to affect gopher tortoise populations throughout Florida. This study investigated how the pathogen, A. phagocytophilum, has potentially begun to spread amongst the gopher tortoises in the Abacoa Greenway and the Florida Atlantic University Preserve (FAUP). To investigate these tortoises, blood samples were taken from multiple specimens from Range VI of the Greenway and FAUP. DNA isolated from these samples were then analyzed for the presence of A.phagocytophilum utilizing PCR and gel electrophoresis, followed by Sanger sequencing. This research demonstrated that A.phagocytophilum has not made its way …

Nasal Virus Infection Induces Asthma Exacerbation Through B-Cell-Dependent Recruitment Of Inflammatory Monocytes, Kody A Waldstein, Arman Issimov, Maria Ganama, Valerie Jinge, Stephen Tilley, Xiaoyang Hua

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Upper respiratory viral infections (URVIs) are responsible for 80% of asthma exacerbation episodes. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood.

Methods: In this study, we used a mouse model of URVI and examined the impact of URVI on asthma phenotypes and the underlying mechanisms.

Results: Previously, we have reported that nasal-restricted infection with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) only produces mild sino-nasal inflammation and mucus production, without causing direct lung infection. However, such nasal-restricted infection dramatically enhanced TH2 and TH17 inflammatory responses in the lungs and increased airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in mice with house dust mite (HDM)-induced asthma. Additionally, nasal-restricted …

Crosstalk Between Cytokines And Igg N-Glycosylation: Bidirectional Effects And Relevance To Clinical Innovation For Inflammatory Diseases, Zhixian Chen, Xiaojia Xu, Manshu Song, Ling Lin

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The crosstalk between cytokines and immunoglobulin G (IgG) N-glycosylation forms a bidirectional regulatory network that significantly impacts inflammation and immune function. This review examines how various cytokines, both pro- and anti-inflammatory, modulate IgG N-glycosylation, shaping antibody activity and influencing inflammatory responses. In addition, we explore how altered IgG N-glycosylation patterns affect cytokine production and immune signaling, either promoting or reducing inflammation. Through a comprehensive analysis of current studies, this review underscores the dynamic relationship between cytokines and IgG N-glycosylation. These insights enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying inflammatory diseases and contribute to improved strategies for disease prevention, diagnosis, monitoring, …

Public Health Implications Of State-Level Public Health Organizational And System Structures, Cameron Ferguson Hays

Dissertations

Public health thought leaders such as the Institute of Medicine and National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine have long been concerned about the lack of standardization among state-level public health systems (IOM, 1988; NASEM, 2023). However, little research studies these systems, their structures, and whether structural constructs affect population health outcomes.

This study attempted to examine the structural constructs that make up these systems and the impact of those constructs using an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design. Variables from management science were qualitatively extracted from materials describing all 50 state-level public health systems. Those variables were then analyzed using a …

The Lived Experience Of Nurses Caring For People Experiencing Homelessness: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study, Debra Guerrini

Theses & Dissertations

Background:

Marginalized patient populations, such as people experiencing homelessness, receive a lower quality of care linked to stereotyping and biases (Alspach, 2018). Populations receiving substandard healthcare are often subconsciously identified by attributes such as age, race, mental health, housing, and social status (Padilla-Moledo et al., 2016). These stigmatized attributes can be the underpinning of bias. The health status of people experiencing homelessness is generally poorer than housed populations, with evidence demonstrating the difficulties they encounter when attempting access to healthcare (Klop et al., 2018).

Purpose:

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and gain a more in-depth understanding …

Pathogenicity And Virulence Of Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus: Multifunctional Nonstructural Proteins Ns1 And Ns2, Trudy N Merritt, Jingjing Pei, Daisy W Leung

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) is a major cause of lower respiratory tract infections in young children, the elderly, and immunocompromised. Despite its discovery over 60 years ago and the global impact on human health, limited effective prophylactic or therapeutic options have been available for hRSV infections. This has largely been attributed to the legacy of vaccine failure in the 1960s using a formalin-inactivated RSV , which led to enhancement of disease post exposure to hRSV infection and hampered subsequent development of vaccine candidates. Recent FDA approval of vaccines for older adults and pregnant individuals are major advancements but leaves …

Establishment Of Structure-Property-Processing Relationships For Design Of Sprayable Hydrogels And Amyloid/Peo Electrospun Composites, Xianjun Wang

Dissertations

The focus of this dissertation is the design, synthesis, characterization, and prototyping of bio-inspired materials to understand the role of structure, intermolecular interactions, and processing technique on the self-assembly, bioactive properties, and mechanical properties of the biomaterials. This work is divided into three research areas: 1) sprayable and adhesive glycopolymer based hydrogels; 2) decapeptide-based composite nanofiber mats; and 3) prototyping sutures and meshes via electrospinning. The established structure-property-processing relationships provide a foundation for designing biomaterials in the future.

The first chapter provides an introductory overview of the requirements necessary for the development of hydrogels, glycopolymers, and peptides, including relevant processing …

Lipid-Based Niclosamide Delivery: Comparative Efficacy, Bioavailability, And Potential As A Cancer Drug, Jihoo Woo, Russel Wiggins, Shizue Mito

School of Medicine Publications

Niclosamide, an FDA-approved anti-parasitic drug, has demonstrated significant potential as a repurposed anti-cancer agent due to its ability to interfere with multiple oncogenic pathways. However, its clinical application has been hindered by poor solubility and bioavailability. Lipid-based nanocarrier systems such as liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs), and lipid nanoemulsions (LNE), along with lipid prodrugs, have successfully been employed by researchers to overcome these limitations and improve niclosamide’s pharmacokinetic profile. Lipids are the core organic compounds which serve as the foundation of these advanced drug delivery methods and in turn play a critical role in enhancing niclosamide’s …

Health Law And Democracy, Wendy K. Mariner

Faculty Scholarship

Current political divisions are destabilizing existing laws affecting the health field. Major changes in the field of health law have one thing in common: changes in who holds political power ‒ Congress and state legislatures, governors, presidents, judges, and agency officials. The laws that structure financial, economic, educational, and health care systems, environmental conditions, and civil society are primarily the product of elections that populate our political institutions. These structural determinants of health in turn create laws that influence how ‒ and how well ‒ we live and whether our society functions fairly under the rule of law. Thus, who …

Workplace Support For Physicians During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Did It Affect Burnout?, Joy Melnikow, Guibo Xing, Marykate E. Miller, Sabrina Loureiro, Andrew J. Padovani, Robin Whitney, Richard L. Kravitz

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Background: A concern before 2020, physician burnout worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Little empirical data are available on pandemic workplace support interventions or their influence on burnout. We surveyed a national sample of frontline physicians on burnout and workplace support during the pandemic. Methods: We surveyed a stratified random sample of 12,833 US physicians most likely to care for adult COVID-19 patients from the comprehensive AMA Physician Professional Data ™ file. The sample included 6722 primary care physicians (3331 family physicians, 3391 internists), 880 hospitalists, 1783 critical care physicians (894 critical care physicians, 889 pulmonary intensivists), 2548 emergency medicine physicians, …

Association Between Microsatellite Instability Status, Clinicopathological Features And Mitochondrial Dna Amplification In Patients With Colorectal Cancer, Junmi Lu, Hong Tan, Tao Guo, Xi Chen, Zhongyi Tong

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The relationship between BRAF-V600E mutations, mitochondrial DNA amplification and microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) in colorectal cancer (CRC) has yet to be fully elucidated. The aim of the present study was to assess the association between the MSI status and BRAF-V600E gene mutations/clinicopathological features/mitochondrial DNA amplification in CRC. A non-interventional study analysis was performed using the clinicopathological features of 455 patients with CRC. Immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate four mismatch repair proteins (MutS homolog 2, MutS homolog 6, MutL homolog 1 and postmeiotic segregation increased 2), Ki-67 index, and programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. …

Immunopeptidomic Mhc-I Profiling And Immunogenicity Testing Identifies Tcj2 As A New Chagas Disease Mrna Vaccine Candidate, Leroy Versteeg, Rakesh Adhikari, Gonteria Robinson, Jungsoon Lee, Junfei Wei, Nelufa Islam, Brian Keegan, William K Russell, Cristina Poveda, Maria Jose Villar, Kathryn Jones, Maria Elena Bottazzi, Peter Hotez, Edwin Tijhaar, Jeroen Pollet

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Trypanosoma cruzi is a protozoan parasite that causes Chagas disease. Globally 6 to 7 million people are infected by this parasite of which 20-30% will progress to develop Chronic Chagasic Cardiomyopathy (CCC). Despite its high disease burden, no clinically approved vaccine exists for the prevention or treatment of CCC. Developing vaccines that can stimulate T. cruzi-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T cells and eliminate infected cells requires targeting parasitic antigens presented on major histocompatibility complex-I (MHC-I) molecules. We utilized mass spectrometry-based immunopeptidomics to investigate which parasitic peptides are displayed on MHC-I of T. cruzi infected cells. Through duplicate experiments, we identified an …

Increasing Access To Behavioral Health Care: Examples Of Task Shifting In Two Us Government Health Care Systems, Kathryn E Kanzler, Mark E Kunik, Chase A Aycock

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Introduction: Addressing U.S. health disparities in behavioral health care requires innovative solutions to expand access beyond the traditional specialty behavioral health (BH) service model. One evidence-based strategy to increase access is task shifting, whereby tasks usually reserved for licensed clinicians are delegated to less specialized but uniquely capable health workers. Health care systems in the United States have been slow to adopt this approach, despite the widespread success of task shifting in other countries. However, two large government health care systems have employed unique task-shifting models for decades, integrating nonclinician health workers into BH settings: the Defense Health Agency (behavioral …

Bst2 Facilitates Activation Of Hematopoietic Stem Cells Through Erk Signaling, Marcus A Florez, Apoorva Thatavarty, Duy T Le, Holly A Hill, Youngjae Jeong, Brian M Ho, Pawel Kus, Trisha K Wathan, Bailee N Kain, Shixia Huang, Dongsu Park, Katherine Y King

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The proinflammatory cytokine interferon-gamma (IFNγ) is upregulated in a variety of infections and contributes to bone marrow failure through hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) activation and subsequent exhaustion. The cell surface protein, bone marrow stromal antigen 2 (BST2), is a key mediator of this process, as it is induced upon interferon stimulation and required for interferon-dependent HSC activation. To identify the mechanism by which BST2 promotes interferon-dependent HSC activation, we evaluated its role in niche localization, immune cell function, lipid raft formation, and intracellular signaling. Our studies indicated that knock out (KO) of BST2 in a murine model does not disrupt …

Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index And Charlson Comorbidity Index Predict Mortality, Intensive Care Unit Admission, And Length Of Hospital Stay In Patients With Fournier's Gangrene: An Analysis Of 264 Consecutive Patients, Nicholas Hauser, Chenlin Huang, Girija Vaidya, Timothy Chrusciel, Krithika Narayana Kumarasan, John Culhane, Sameer Siddiqui

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Introduction: Fournier’s gangrene (FG) is a rapidly progressing necrotizing fasciitis. The Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index (FGSI), in conjunction with the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), has been used as a mortality predictor during hospitalization. Patients with diabetes have also been shown to be at an increased risk for the development of FG. This study explores the potential of using FGSI, CCI, and patient diabetes status in predicting more extensive patient outcomes, including intensive care unit (ICU) admission and length of hospital stay.

Methods: From 2013 to 2023, inpatient admissions with the diagnosis of FG were selected from the EPIC Clarity database …

Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index And Charlson Comorbidity Index Predict Mortality, Intensive Care Unit Admission, And Length Of Hospital Stay In Patients With Fournier's Gangrene: An Analysis Of 264 Consecutive Patients, Nicholas Hauser, Chenlin Huang, Girija Vaidya, Timothy Chrusciel, Krithika Narayana Kumarasan, John Culhane, Sameer Siddiqui

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Introduction

Fournier’s gangrene (FG) is a rapidly progressing necrotizing fasciitis. The Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index (FGSI), in conjunction with the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), has been used as a mortality predictor during hospitalization. Patients with diabetes have also been shown to be at an increased risk for the development of FG. This study explores the potential of using FGSI, CCI, and patient diabetes status in predicting more extensive patient outcomes, including intensive care unit (ICU) admission and length of hospital stay.

Methods

From 2013 to 2023, inpatient admissions with the diagnosis of FG were selected from the EPIC Clarity database …

Google Trends And Syphilis, Theodore Rosen, Maci Terrell

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objective: This study aims to assess the correlation between Centers for Disease Control-reported syphilis incidence rates and case burden and public interest in syphilis as indicated by Google search trends.

Methods: This study utilized Google Trends data to analyze popular syphilis-related search terms from 2013 to 2023. The latest Centers for Disease Control-reported syphilis incidence rates for 2022 were compared to Google Trends data to identify patterns or correlations.

Results: Google Trends data showed a 37.65-percent increase in average annual searches for syphilis-related terms in the United States from 2013 to 2023. The largest increase in search volume was observed …