Digital Commons Network^™

Putrescine Detected In Strains Of Staphylococcus Aureus, Javier Seravalli, Frank Portugal

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Most forms of life, including the archaea, bacteria, and eukaryotes synthesize the polyamine putrescine. Although putrescine is widely distributed, several Gram-positive bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), appear to be the exceptions. We report here that strains of S. aureus can produce the polyamine putrescine, as well as the derivative N-acetyl-putrescine. Three strains of S. aureus from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), one strain listed in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database, whose genomic sequence is well defined, and well as eight strains from S. aureus-induced brain abscesses of individual patients from multiple …

Food Fortification Resolution To Prevent Spina Bifida Adopted By World Health Organization At The 76th World Health Assembly, Staff

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Acquisition Of A Lexicon For Family History Information: Bidirectional Encoder Representations From Transformers-Assisted Sublanguage Analysis, Liwei Wang, Huan He, Andrew Wen, Sungrim Moon, Sunyang Fu, Kevin J Peterson, Xuguang Ai, Sijia Liu, Ramakanth Kavuluru, Hongfang Liu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: A patient's family history (FH) information significantly influences downstream clinical care. Despite this importance, there is no standardized method to capture FH information in electronic health records and a substantial portion of FH information is frequently embedded in clinical notes. This renders FH information difficult to use in downstream data analytics or clinical decision support applications. To address this issue, a natural language processing system capable of extracting and normalizing FH information can be used.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to construct an FH lexical resource for information extraction and normalization.

METHODS: We exploited a transformer-based method to …

Differences In Clinical Outcomes Based On Molecular Markers In Glioblastoma Patients Treated With Concurrent Tumor-Treating Fields And Chemoradiation: Exploratory Analysis Of The Spare Trial, Louis Cappelli, Mehak Majid Khan, Allison Kayne, Spencer Poiset, Ryan Miller, Ayesha Ali, Muneeb Khan Niazi, Wenyin Shi, Iyad Alnahhas

Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty Papers

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary malignant brain tumor in adults. Despite enormous research efforts, GBM remains a deadly disease. The standard-of-care treatment for patients with newly diagnosed with GBM as per the National Cancer Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is maximal safe surgical resection followed by concurrent chemoradiation and maintenance temozolomide (TMZ) with adjuvant tumor treating fields (TTF). TTF is a non-pharmacological intervention that delivers low-intensity, intermediate frequency alternating electric fields that arrests cell proliferation by disrupting the mitotic spindle. TTF have been shown in a large clinical trial to improve patient outcomes when added to radiation and …

Migrants And Refugees

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

No abstract provided.

June 27, 2023 Ereporter, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

eReporter (campus newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Editorial: Emotional Lateralization And Psychopathology, Guido Gainotti, Julian Paul Keenan

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Resilience Culture In The Healthcare Team During Covid-19, John Ambrose

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Background: Resilience commonly refers to the ability of an individual or organization to continue to maintain routine, normal, function despite sudden disruptions. Purpose: The purpose of this dissertation research was to provide a deeper understanding of healthcare team resilience. The goal of this research dissertation was to investigate how resilience manifested itself in the healthcare team during the COVID-19 pandemic.

AIM 1: What is the concept of resilience in healthcare teams?

AIM 2: Identify the barriers and facilitators of healthcare team resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

AIM 3: Describe how the pandemic influenced healthcare team decision making.

Methods …

Targeting The Vulnerabilities Of Oncogene Activation, Christina Huang, Jack L. Arbiser

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

No abstract provided.

Can Salespeople Use Social Media To Enhance Brand Awareness And Sales Performance? The Role Of Manager Empowerment And Creativity, Ashish Kalra, Omar S. Itani, Amin Rostami

Marketing Faculty Publications

Purpose

Although research analyzing the consequences of salesperson social media use in driving sales behaviors and performance outcomes has proliferated in the recent past, there are significant research gaps in the domain. Grounded in task-technology fit theory, this paper aims to propose a conceptual framework that integrates between previously disjointed areas of research and analyzes the relationships between salesperson social media use, brand awareness, creativity, manager empowerment and company performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey responses were collected from a multi-industry sample of 158 business-to-business salespeople. Structural relationships were tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

Findings

The analysis shows that salesperson …

Introduction: Domestic Violence And Access To Justice Within The Family Law And Intersecting Legal Systems, Jennifer Koshan, Wanda Wiegers, Janet Mosher, Wendy Chan, Michaela J. Keet

Articles & Book Chapters

The articles in this collection explore the access to justice issues that arise for survivors of domestic violence in their encounters with Canada’s family law system. While family law and family dispute resolution processes are the central focus of the articles, three contributions also address family law's intersections with other legal domains (civil restraining orders, child welfare, and immigration). Common across the contributions is a desire to carefully interrogate the potential of law and legal processes to enhance—or conversely to undermine—the safety and well-being of survivors and their children.

Understanding Influenza Vaccine Hesitancy And Uptake Among U.S. Hispanic Adults During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Helen J. Arteaga

Dissertations and Theses

The health burden caused by seasonal flu is substantial in the general population and each season targeted efforts are needed to decrease the risk of flu illness, hospitalization, and death. Flu risks and the disease burden are disproportionately higher among Hispanic adults, yet little is known about the factors influencing flu vaccine hesitancy and uptake among this marginalized population. This cross-sectional quantitative study used national survey data from the Understanding America Study (UAS) and logistic regression to address three research aims. Aim 1 was to examine the most significant demographic factors associated with flu vaccine uptake among the Hispanic community. …

Traffic-Related Pedestrian Deaths In The Mountain West, 2022, Miguel Soriano Ralston, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Transportation & Infrastructure

This fact sheet examines data from Smarth Growth America’s report, “Dangerous By Design, 2022,” which reports on traffic deaths throughout the United States. This fact sheet highlights pedestrian deaths as well as deaths among specific groups based on age, race, ethnicity, and media household income between 2016 and 2020 in the Mountain West: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. This fact sheet builds upon a 2020 fact sheet, titled “Traffic-Related Pedestrian Deaths in the Sun Belt Region,” which examined Smart Growth America’s assessment of pedestrian safety for the years 2008 to 2017.

Latest Research Summaries (Migrants And Refugees)

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

No abstract provided.

Empowering Student Success: Unlocking The Potential Of Project-Based Steel Design Education, Aly Mousaad Aly

Faculty Publications

In the pursuit of student success, it is essential to acknowledge that a singular teaching style does not universally cater to all students. The educator's crucial role lies in creating an optimal learning environment that fosters students' endeavors to excel. This endeavor transcends mere classroom success or employment prospects, encompassing a broader impact on societal well-being. An experiential learning approach, where students actively engage in practical tasks, emerges as the most effective mode of instruction. Integrating project-based learning activities into the curriculum holds immense potential for enhancing student learning. Additionally, the utilization of analysis software tools like FTool and STAAD …

Student And Educator Perceptions Of The Implementation Of A Social-Emotional Learning Approach: A Mixed Methods Study Of A Catholic School, Dorothy Balfe

LMU Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this mixed methods study was to examine educator and student perceptions of the implementation of social-emotional learning (SEL) and the RULER (i.e., recognizing, understanding, labeling, expressing, and regulating) approach in a Catholic school. The study investigated the perceptions of teachers, staff, and students about the implementation of SEL and RULER across elementary and middle school grade levels. The RULER approach is a K–12 SEL initiative designed to build the emotional intelligence and social-emotional competencies of all members of a school community. Data were gathered over a 4-month period through interviews with teachers and students, an educator survey, …

The Power Of Ordinary People Driving Policy Change, Benjamin Scott Savard

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Neuraminidase Activity Modulates Cellular Coinfection During Influenza A Virus Multicycle Growth, Zijian Guo, Yuanyuan He, Jian Xu, Ananya N. Benegal, Steven L. Brody, Michael D. Vahey

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Infection of individual cells by multiple virions plays critical roles in the replication and spread of many viruses, but mechanisms that control cellular coinfection during multicycle viral growth remain unclear. Here, we investigate virus-intrinsic factors that control cellular coinfection by influenza A virus (IAV). Using quantitative fluorescence to track the spread of virions from single infected cells, we identify the IAV surface protein neuraminidase (NA) as a key determinant of cellular coinfection. We map this effect to NA's ability to deplete viral receptors from both infected and neighboring uninfected cells. In cases in which viral infectious potential is low, genetic …

Lateral Septum As A Melanocortin Downstream Site In Obesity Development, Yuanzhong Xu, Zhiying Jiang, Hongli Li, Jing Cai, Yanyan Jiang, Joshua Ortiz-Guzman, Yong Xu, Benjamin R Arenkiel, Qingchun Tong

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Geriatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Journal Club: Screening For High-Risk Alcohol Use Among Older Adults In The Emergency Department, Kira Gossack-Keenan

Journal of Geriatric Emergency Medicine

Alcohol use in older adults is a growing and under-recognized issue. Older adults are at higher risk of alcohol-related complications due to underlying comorbidities, frailty, and polypharmacy. High-risk alcohol use and alcohol use disorder (AUD) are often missed among older patients. We present two recent studies on screening older patients for alcohol use. Older adults have unique needs and require a specialized approach to screening.

Citizen Science In Action: An Updated Distribution For Lampropeltis Pyromelana, Dallin B. Kohler, Bryan T. Hamilton, Drew E. Dittmer, Alison S. Whiting

Western North American Naturalist

The Arizona mountain kingsnake, Lampropeltis pyromelana, is a species of tricolor kingsnake distributed in disjunct patches of montane habitat in the western United States. Historical range maps were based on a small number of specimens, and the growing body of locality data on this secretive species has enabled a significant update to its known distribution. Multiple sources of citizen science data were used to supplement traditional data sources to more accurately delineate the range of this understudied species. We used citizen science data, primarily from iNaturalist and state-initiated surveys in Nevada and Utah, to show that the contemporary distribution …

Infant Isolation And Cohorting For Preventing Or Reducing Transmission Of Healthcare-Associated Infections In Neonatal Units, Morcos Hanna, Rita Shah, Lucila Marquez, Rebecca Barzegar, Adrienne Gordon, Mohan Pammi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Neonatal healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) result in increased morbidity and mortality, as well as increased healthcare costs. Patient isolation measures, i.e. single-room isolation or the cohorting of patients with similar infections, remain a recommended and commonly used practice for preventing horizontal spread of infections in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). OBJECTIVES: Our primary objective was to assess the effect of single-room isolation or cohorting, or both for preventing transmission of HAIs or colonization with HAI-causing pathogens in newborn infants less than six months of age admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Our secondary objective was to assess …

Primary Care Provider Density And Social Ecological Factors Related To County-Level Diabetes Prevalence In The United States, Robert Alan Kemsley

Theses and Dissertations

Diabetes is a critical public health concern with considerable financial and personal costs in the United States. Research has identified several interventions available to primary care providers to prevent diabetes. These interventions may prevent diabetes by influencing personal, community, and public health policy factors. These factors are key components of the social ecological model, which examines the influence of diverse social influences on health. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the univariate relationship between PCP density and diabetes prevalence, as well as the multivariate relationship between PCP density and diabetes prevalence with physical inactivity prevalence, obesity prevalence, …

Experimental Verification Of Pch-Em Algorithm For Characterizing Dsern Image Sensors, Aaron J. Hendrickson, David P. Haefner, Nicholas R. Shade, Eric R. Fossum

Dartmouth Scholarship

The Photon Counting Histogram Expectation Maximization (PCH-EM) algorithm has recently been reported as a candidate method for the characterization of Deep Sub-Electron Read Noise (DSERN) image sensors. This work describes a comprehensive demonstration of the PCH-EM algorithm applied to a DSERN capable quanta image sensor. The results show that PCH-EM is able to characterize DSERN pixels for a large span of quanta exposure and read noise values. The per-pixel characterization results of the sensor are combined with the proposed Photon Counting Distribution (PCD) model to demonstrate the ability of PCH-EM to predict the ensemble distribution of the device. The agreement …

Flying By Ml Or Cnn Inversion Of Affine Transforms, Lloyd Van Warren

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation describes how to automate the reading of dials, gauges, and instruments using machine learning (ML) methods. This process can be described as analog to digital conversion through an air gap without any direct electronic connection. The goal is to convert the values of existing instruments into digital values for control and monitoring without requiring any intrusion, changes, or upgrades to the instruments being observed. Images of instrument faces can be distorted by various kinds of noise, but this can be overcome using a deep learning convolutional neural network (CNN) approach similar to handwriting recognition. One advantage of this …

Intelligen Superpro Designer Files For Economic Simulation Of Batch And Continuous Aqueous Two-Phase Purification For Viral Products, Natalie Nold, Eric Pearson, Caryn L. Heldt

Michigan Tech Research Data

Vaccine manufacturing strategies that lower capital and production costs could improve vaccine access by reducing the cost per dose and encouraging localized manufacturing. Continuous processing is increasingly utilized to drive lower costs in biological manufacturing by requiring fewer capital and operating resources. Aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) are a liquid-liquid extraction technique that enables continuous processing for viral vectors. To date, no economic comparison between viral vector purifications using traditional methods and ATPS has been published. In this work, economic simulations of traditional chromatography-based virus manufacturing were compared to simulations of ATPS-based virus manufacturing for the same product output in both …

State Of Utah, Plaintiff / Appellee V. Jose Arce, Defendant / Appellant : Brief Of Appellee, Utah Court Of Appeals

Utah Court of Appeals Briefs (2020 –)

Appeal from convictions for one count of third-degree felony aggravated assault and five counts of class-A misdemeanor domestic violence in the presence of a child, in the First Judicial District, Cache County, the Honorable Spencer D. Walsh presiding

FREYJA JOHNSON, EMILY ADAMS, Counsel for Appellant

MARIAN DECKER, SEAN D. REYES, RONNIE KELLER, Counsel for Appelleе

Randomized Intervention And Outpatient Follow-Up Lowers 30-D Readmissions For Patients With Hepatic Encephalopathy, Decompensated Cirrhosis, Antoinette Pusateri, Kevin Litzenberg, Claire Griffiths, Caitlin Hayes, Bipul Gnyawali, Michelle Manious, Sean G Kelly, Lanla F Conteh, Sajid Jalil, Haikady N Nagaraja, Khalid Mumtaz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: We previously reported national 30-d readmission rates of 27% in patients with decompensated cirrhosis (DC).

AIM: To study prospective interventions to reduce early readmissions in DC at our tertiary center.

METHODS: Adults with DC admitted July 2019 to December 2020 were enrolled and randomized into the intervention (INT) or standard of care (SOC) arms. Weekly phone calls for a month were completed. In the INT arm, case managers ensured outpatient follow-up, paracentesis, and medication compliance. Thirty-day readmission rates and reasons were compared.

RESULTS: Calculated sample size was not achieved due to coronavirus disease 2019; 240 patients were randomized into …

Cortex-Wide Neural Dynamics Predict Behavioral States And Provide A Neural Basis For Resting-State Dynamic Functional Connectivity, Somayeh Shahsavarani, David N Thibodeaux, Weihao Xu, Sharon H Kim, Fatema Lodgher, Chinwendu Nwokeabia, Morgan Cambareri, Alexis J Yagielski, Hanzhi T Zhao, Daniel A Handwerker, Javier Gonzalez-Castillo, Peter A Bandettini, Elizabeth M C Hillman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Although resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have observed dynamically changing brain-wide networks of correlated activity, fMRI's dependence on hemodynamic signals makes results challenging to interpret. Meanwhile, emerging techniques for real-time recording of large populations of neurons have revealed compelling fluctuations in neuronal activity across the brain that are obscured by traditional trial averaging. To reconcile these observations, we use wide-field optical mapping to simultaneously record pan-cortical neuronal and hemodynamic activity in awake, spontaneously behaving mice. Some components of observed neuronal activity clearly represent sensory and motor function. However, particularly during quiet rest, strongly fluctuating patterns of activity across …

Scanning Mutagenesis Of The Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Nav12 Using Base Editing, Juan Lorenzo B Pablo, Savannah L Cornett, Lei A Wang, Sooyeon Jo, Tobias Brünger, Nikita Budnik, Mudra Hegde, Jean-Marc Dekeyser, Christopher H Thompson, John G Doench, Dennis Lal, Alfred L George, Jen Q Pan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

It is challenging to apply traditional mutational scanning to voltage-gated sodium channels (NaVs) and functionally annotate the large number of coding variants in these genes. Using a cytosine base editor and a pooled viability assay, we screen a library of 368 guide RNAs (gRNAs) tiling NaV1.2 to identify more than 100 gRNAs that change NaV1.2 function. We sequence base edits made by a subset of these gRNAs to confirm specific variants that drive changes in channel function. Electrophysiological characterization of these channel variants validates the screen results and provides functional mechanisms of channel perturbation. Most of the changes caused by …