Digital Commons Network^™

Divided Yet One: The Two Catholic Communities In China, Gabriel Liu

Loyola Papers

This paper examines the commonly held perception that two Catholic Churches exist in China. Drawing from the perspective of a native Chinese Catholic, it argues that the reality is not the existence of two distinct Churches but rather two historically divided Catholic communities. The study traces the origins, development, and evolution of this division over the past decades, noting that the separation was not originally intended by ecclesial authorities and was later shaped by the policies of the Chinese communist government. While considering the broader social and political context of China, the paper primarily seeks to present a clearer public …

Wisdom: The Feminine In The Divine, Rogel Anecito L. Abais

Loyola Papers

This paper explores the figure of Lady Wisdom (sophia) in the Book of Wisdom, particularly her portrayal in Wisdom 7:22b–8:1. It examines whether Wisdom should be understood as a personification of God or as a divine attribute, highlighting the text’s rich imagery and theological depth. By tracing the development of the Wisdom figure in Scripture and engaging the feminist critique of Rosemary Radford Ruether, the study investigates how Wisdom literature presents feminine imagery within a largely androcentric biblical context. The analysis seeks to determine whether the depiction of Wisdom offers a meaningful affirmation of the feminine in the divine and …

A Church In Communion: Pcp Ii And The Early Church, Kenjie I. Cortez

Loyola Papers

This paper examines PCP II’s vision of a Church of the Poor. Addressing what appears to be lacking in the Council’s ecclesiology, this paper ventures into a theological reflection on the summaries in Acts 2:42; 4:32-35.

Healing Grace: A Framework Of Hope For Sexual Abuse Survivors, Eduardo Miguel F. Ramirez

Loyola Papers

No abstract provided.

Exploring Narratives Of Researcher Development For Student Researchers Abroad, Kirsten A. Davis, Teirra Holloman, Jessica Deters, David B. Knight

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Background: Research experiences for undergraduate and graduate students have the potential to provide significant learning experiences, but most research of these experiences focuses primarily on their outcomes. To better design such experiences for a diverse range of students, it is important to understand student narratives of researcher development and identify significant experiences in their development as researchers.

Purpose: In this study, we explored narratives of researcher development for seven US civil engineering students in an eight-week research experience in Australia. Through these narratives, we sought to identify categories of significant experiences to characterize the early stage of the researcher development …

What Are Risk Factors For And Outcomes Of Late Amputation After Treatment For Lower Extremity Sarcoma: A Childhood Cancer Survivor Study Report, Erik J Geiger, Wei Liu, Deo Kumar Srivastava, Nicholas M Bernthal, Brent R Weil, Kirsten K Ness, Robert E Goldsby, Kevin C Oeffinger, Leslie L Robison, Bryan V Dieffenbach, Christopher B Weldon, Mark C Gebhardt, Rebecca Howell, Andrew J Murphy, Wendy M Leisenring, Gregory T Armstrong, Eric J Chow, Rosanna L Wustrack

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Although pediatric lower extremity sarcoma once was routinely treated with amputation, multiagent chemotherapy as well as the evolution of tumor resection and reconstruction techniques have enabled the wide adoption of limb salvage surgery (LSS). Even though infection and tumor recurrence are established risk factors for early amputation (< 5 years) after LSS, the frequency of and factors associated with late amputation (≥ 5 years from diagnosis) in children with sarcomas are not known. Additionally, the resulting psychosocial and physical outcomes of these patients compared with those treated with primary amputation or LSS that was not complicated by subsequent amputation are not well studied. Studying these outcomes is critical to enhancing the quality of life of patients with sarcomas.

Questions/purposes: (1) How have treatments changed over time in patients with lower extremity sarcoma who are included in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS), and did primary treatment with amputation or LSS affect overall survival at 25 years among patients who had survived at least 5 years from diagnosis? (2) What …

Highly Synchronized Cortical Circuit Dynamics Mediate Spontaneous Pain In Mice, Weihua Ding, Lukas Fischer, Qian Chen, Ziyi Li, Liuyue Yang, Kun Hu, Xue Zhou, Wei Chao, Peter Hu, Tewodros Mulugeta Dagnew, Daniel M Dubreuil, Shiyu Wang, Suyun Xia, Caroline Bao, Shengmei Zhu, Lucy Chen, Changning Wang, Brian Wainger, Peng Jin, Jianren Mao, Guoping Feng, Mark T Harnett, Shiqian Shen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cortical neural dynamics mediate information processing for the cerebral cortex, which is implicated in fundamental biological processes such as vision and olfaction, in addition to neurological and psychiatric diseases. Spontaneous pain is a key feature of human neuropathic pain. Whether spontaneous pain pushes the cortical network into an aberrant state and, if so, whether it can be brought back to a "normal" operating range to ameliorate pain are unknown. Using a clinically relevant mouse model of neuropathic pain with spontaneous pain-like behavior, we report that orofacial spontaneous pain activated a specific area within the primary somatosensory cortex (S1), displaying synchronized …

Prospective Study Of Pain Outcomes Associated With Breast Surgery In Women With Nonhereditary Breast Cancer, Demetria J Smith-Graziani, Patricia A Parker, Susan K Peterson, Isabelle Bedrosian, Y Shen, Sarah M Desnyder, Wenli Dong, Abenaa M Brewster

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: To assess pain severity and interference with life in women after different types of breast cancer surgery and the demographic, treatment-related, and psychosocial variables associated with these pain outcomes.

Summary of background data: Data are conflicting regarding pain outcomes and quality of life (QOL) among women who undergo different types of breast surgery.

Methods: Women with nonhereditary breast cancer completed the brief pain inventory before surgery and at 1, 6, 12, and 18 months postsurgery. We assessed associations between pain outcomes and CPM status and mastectomy status using multivariable repeated measures models. We assessed associations between pain outcome and …

Macrophage-Derived Mlkl In Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease: Regulation Of Phagocytosis, Xiaoqin Wu, Xiude Fan, Megan R Mcmullen, Tatsunori Miyata, Adam Kim, Jianguo Wu, Josiah E Hardesty, Nicole Welch, Jaividhya Dasarathy, Daniela S Allende, Arthur J Mccullough, Jon M Jacobs, Daniel M Rotroff, Srinivasan Dasarathy, Laura E Nagy

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Mixed lineage kinase domain-like pseudokinase (MLKL), a key terminal effector of necroptosis, also plays a role in intracellular vesicle trafficking that is critical for regulating liver inflammation and injury in alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD). Although receptor interacting protein kinase 3 (Rip3)-/- mice are completely protected from ethanol-induced liver injury, Mlkl-/- mice are only partially protected. Therefore, we hypothesized that cell-specific functions of MLKL may contribute to ethanol-induced injury.

APPROACH AND RESULTS: Bone marrow transplants between Mlkl-/- mice and littermates were conducted to distinguish the role of myeloid versus nonmyeloid Mlkl in the Gao-binge model of ALD. Ethanol-induced …

Dyadic Versus Individual Delivery Of A Yoga Program For Family Caregivers Of Glioma Patients Undergoing Radiotherapy: Results Of A 3-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial, Kathrin Milbury, Meagan Whisenant, Shiao-Pei Weathers, Smitha Malliaha, Stella Snyder, Jing Li, Roseanglea F Silva, Ya-Chen Tina Shih, Lorenzo Cohen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Despite their significant distress, supportive care interventions for caregivers of glioma patients are generally lacking. And, whether caregivers are more likely to benefit from interventions targeting patient-caregiver dyads or caregivers individually is unknown. This pilot randomized controlled trial compared the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a dyadic yoga (DY) versus an individual caregiver yoga (CY) intervention as a supportive care strategy for family caregivers.

METHODS: Patient-caregiver dyads were randomized to a DY, CY or usual care (UC) arm. DY and CY interventions were delivered over 15 sessions. Caregivers completed assessments of their depressive symptoms, quality of life (QOL), and …

Dysphagia And Shortness-Of-Breath As Markers For Treatment Failure And Survival In Oropharyngeal Cancer After Radiation, Jarey H Wang, Vivian Salama, Lance Mccoy, Cem Dede, Temitayo Ajayi, Abdallah S R Mohamed, Clifton David Fuller, Lisanne V Van Dijk, Md Anderson Head And Neck Symptom Working Group

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Post-treatment symptoms are a focal point of follow-up visits for head and neck cancer patients. While symptoms such as dysphagia and shortness-of-breath early after treatment may motivate additional work up, their precise association with disease control and survival outcomes is not well established.

Methods: This prospective data cohort study of 470 oropharyngeal cancer patients analyzed patient-reported swallowing, choking and shortness-of-breath symptoms at 3-to-6 months following radiotherapy to evaluate their association with overall survival and disease control. Associations between the presence of moderate-to-severe swallowing, choking and mild-to-severe shortness-of-breath and treatment outcomes were analyzed via Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier. The main …

Immune-Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy Response Evaluation Using Oncophysics-Based Mathematical Models, Mustafa Syed, Matthew Cagely, Prashant Dogra, Lauren Hollmer, Joseph D Butner, Eugene J Koay

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The field of oncology has transformed with the advent of immunotherapies. The standard of care for multiple cancers now includes novel drugs that target key checkpoints that function to modulate immune responses, enabling the patient's immune system to elicit an effective anti-tumor response. While these immune-based approaches can have dramatic effects in terms of significantly reducing tumor burden and prolonging survival for patients, the therapeutic approach remains active only in a minority of patients and is often not durable. Multiple biological investigations have identified key markers that predict response to the most common form of immunotherapy-immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). These …

On Target Methods To Induce Abscopal Phenomenon For Off-Target Effects: From Happenstance To Happenings, Blessie Elizabeth Nelson, Jacob J Adashek, Steven H Lin, Vivek Subbiah

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Although the "abscopal phenomenon" has been described several decades ago, this phenomenon lately has been obtaining momentous traction with the dawn of immune-based therapies. There has been increased cross talk among radiation oncologists, oncologists and immunologists and consequently a surge in the number of prospective clinical trials. This must be coupled with translation work from these clinical trials to aid in eventual identification of patients who may benefit. Abscopal effects may be induced by local and systemic methods, conventional radiotherapy, particle radiation, radionucleotide methods, cryoablation and brachytherapy. These approaches have all been reported to be stimulate abscopal effect. Immune induction …

A Biallelic Frameshift Indel In Ppp1r35 As A Cause Of Primary Microcephaly, Moez Dawood, Gulsen Akay, Tadahiro Mitani, Dana Marafi, Jawid M Fatih, Hossein Najmabadi, Jaya Punetha, Christopher M Grochowski, Haowei Du, Angad Jolly, He Li, Zeynep Coban-Akdemir, Fritz J Sedlazeck, Jill V Hunter, Shalini N Jhangiani, Donna Muzny, Davut Pehlivan, Jennifer E Posey, Claudia M B Carvalho, Richard A Gibbs, James R Lupski

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Protein phosphatase 1 regulatory subunit 35 (PPP1R35) encodes a centrosomal protein required for recruiting microtubule-binding elongation machinery. Several proteins in this centriole biogenesis pathway correspond to established primary microcephaly (MCPH) genes, and multiple model organism studies hypothesize PPP1R35 as a candidate MCPH gene. Here, using exome sequencing (ES) and family-based rare variant analyses, we report a homozygous, frameshifting indel deleting the canonical stop codon in the last exon of PPP1R35 [Chr7: c.753_*3delGGAAGCGTAGACCinsCG (p.Trp251Cysfs*22)]; the variant allele maps in a 3.7 Mb block of absence of heterozygosity (AOH) in a proband with severe MCPH (-4.3 SD at birth, -6.1 SD by …

Persistent Nociceptor Hyperactivity As A Painful Evolutionary Adaptation, Edgar T Walters, Robyn J Crook, G Gregory Neely, Theodore J Price, Ewan St John Smith

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Chronic pain caused by injury or disease of the nervous system (neuropathic pain) has been linked to persistent electrical hyperactivity of the sensory neurons (nociceptors) specialized to detect damaging stimuli and/or inflammation. This pain and hyperactivity are considered maladaptive because both can persist long after injured tissues have healed and inflammation has resolved. While the assumption of maladaptiveness is appropriate in many diseases, accumulating evidence from diverse species, including humans, challenges the assumption that neuropathic pain and persistent nociceptor hyperactivity are always maladaptive. We review studies indicating that persistent nociceptor hyperactivity has undergone evolutionary selection in widespread, albeit selected, animal …

Prospective Study Of Pain Outcomes Associated With Breast Surgery In Women With Nonhereditary Breast Cancer, Demetria J Smith-Graziani, Patricia A Parker, Susan K Peterson, Isabelle Bedrosian, Y Shen, Sarah M Desnyder, Wenli Dong, Abenaa M Brewster

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: To assess pain severity and interference with life in women after different types of breast cancer surgery and the demographic, treatment-related, and psychosocial variables associated with these pain outcomes.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Data are conflicting regarding pain outcomes and quality of life (QOL) among women who undergo different types of breast surgery.

METHODS: Women with nonhereditary breast cancer completed the brief pain inventory before surgery and at 1, 6, 12, and 18 months postsurgery. We assessed associations between pain outcomes and CPM status and mastectomy status using multivariable repeated measures models. We assessed associations between pain outcome and …

Risk Analysis Of The Unity 15 T Mr-Linac Adapt-To-Position Workflow, Jiayi Liang, Paola Godoy Scripes, Neelam Tyagi, Ergys Subashi, Theresa Wunner, Ching-Yun Chan, Victoria Brennan, Kaveh Zakeri, Cassandra Wildberger, James Mechalakos

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Newer technologies allow for daily treatment adaptation, providing the ability to account for setup variations and organ motion but comes at the cost of increasing the treatment workflow complexity. One such technology is the adapt-to-position (ATP) workflow on the Unity MR-Linac. Prospective risk assessment of a new workflow allows clinics to catch errors before they occur, especially for processes that include novel and unfamiliar steps.

METHODS: As part of a quality management program, failure modes and effects analysis was performed on the ATP treatment workflow following the recommendations of AAPM's Task Group 100. A multidisciplinary team was …

Dosimetric Response Of Gafchromic™ Ebt-Xd Film To Therapeutic Protons, Fada Guan, Xiaochun Wang, Ming Yang, Emily Draeger, Dae Han, Fanqing Guo, Yuting Li, Narayan Sahoo, Radhe Mohan, Zhe Chen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The EBT-XD model of Gafchromic™ films has a broader optimal dynamic dose range, up to 40 Gy, compared with its predecessor models. This characteristic has made EBT-XD films suitable for high-dose applications, such as stereotactic body radiotherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery, as well as ultra-high dose rate FLASH radiotherapy. The purpose of the current study was to characterize the dependence of EBT-XD film response on linear energy transfer (LET) and dose rate of therapeutic protons from a synchrotron. A clinical spot-scanning proton beam was used to study LET dependence at three dose-averaged LET values of 1.0 keV/μm, 3.6 keV/μm, and 7.6 …

Use Of Contrast Media During Ct-Guided Thermal Ablation Of Colorectal Liver Metastasis For Procedure Planning Is Associated With Improved Immediate Outcomes, Iwan Paolucci, Yuan-Mao Lin, A Kyle Jones, Kristy K Brock, Bruno C Odisio

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of using intra-procedural pre-ablation contrast-enhanced CT prior to percutaneous thermal ablation (pre-ablation CECT) of colorectal liver metastases (CLM) on local outcomes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected liver ablation registry included 144 consecutive patients (median age 57 years IQR [49, 65], 60% men) who underwent 173 CT-guided ablation sessions for 250 CLM between October 2015 and March 2020. In addition to oncologic outcomes, technical success was retrospectively evaluated using a biomechanical deformable image registration software for 3D-minimal ablative margin (3D-MAM) quantification. Bayesian regression was used …

Human Papillomavirus Status And Prognosis Of Oropharyngeal High-Grade Neuroendocrine Carcinoma, Luana G De Sousa, Felippe Lazar Neto, Eduardo A Dal Lago, Andrew Sikora, Ehab Hanna, Jack Phan, Diana Bell, Renata Ferrarotto

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The prognostic impact of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection or smoking on oropharyngeal high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma (HG-NEC) is not established.

Methods: Retrospective study with patients with oropharyngeal HG-NEC seen at MD Anderson Cancer Center from 1997 to 2020, and previously reported patients with oropharyngeal HG-NEC and known p16 and HPV status from the literature review. Survival was estimated with the Kaplan-Meier method, and survival differences assessed with the log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards models.

Results: Thirty patients were included; most had a heavy (≥10 pack-years) smoking history (52%), locoregional disease (stage III-IVB; 77%), and p16-positive tumor (92%). HPV was …

Impact Of Dose Calculation Accuracy On Inverse Linear Energy Transfer Optimization For Intensity-Modulated Proton Therapy, Mei Chen, Wenhua Cao, Pablo Yepes, Fada Guan, Falk Poenisch, Jiayi Chen, Ivan Vazquez, Ming Yang, X Ronald Zhu, Xiaodong Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: To determine the effect of dose calculation accuracy on inverse linear energy transfer (LET) optimization for intensity-modulated proton therapy, and to determine whether adding more beams would improve the plan robustness to different dose calculation engines.

Methods: Two sets of intensity-modulated proton therapy plans using two, four, six, and nine beams were created for 10 prostate cancer patients: one set was optimized with dose constraints (DoseOpt) using the pencil beam (PB) algorithm, and the other set was optimized with additional LET constraints (LETOpt) using the Monte Carlo (MC) algorithm. Dose distributions of DoseOpt plans were then recalculated using the …

Physician Perspectives On Telemedicine In Radiation Oncology, Sean Maroongroge, Brian De, Kristina D Woodhouse, Roland L Bassett, Percy Lee, Grace L Smith, Jing Li, George Perkins, Prajnan Das, Albert C Koong, Benjamin D Smith, Chenyang Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Telemedicine enthusiasm and uptake in radiation oncology rapidly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is unclear if and how telemedicine should be used after the COVID-19 public health emergency ends is unclear. Herein, we report on our institution's provider experience after the mature adoption of telemedicine.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: We distributed a survey to all radiation oncology attending physicians at our institution in October 2021 to assess satisfaction, facilitators, and barriers to telemedicine implementation. We performed quantitative and qualitative analyses to characterize satisfaction and identify influencing factors whether telemedicine is employed. We calculated the average proportion of visits …

Ideal Cardiovascular Health, Biomarkers, And Coronary Artery Disease In Persons With Hiv, Kathleen V Fitch, Gerald S Bloomfield, Carl J Fichtenbaum, Edgar T Overton, Judith A Aberg, Carlos D Malvestutto, Tricia H Burdo, Roberto C Arduino, Ken S Ho, Michael T Yin, Heather J Ribaudo, Steven K Grinspoon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: To investigate relationships between Life's Simple 7 (LS7), an assessment of cardiovascular health (CVH), and coronary plaque among people with HIV (PWH).

DESIGN: Cross-sectional.

METHODS: Coronary computed tomography angiography, immune/inflammatory biomarkers, and characterization of LS7 were collected among a subset of ART-treated PWH enrolled in REPRIEVE, a primary prevention trial. Analyses adjusted for cardiovascular disease risk (ASCVD score).

RESULTS: Median age of the 735 participants was 51(±6) years, 16% female, and median (Q1-Q3) CVD risk was 4.5% (2.6-6.9). Forty percent had poor (≤2 ideal components), 51% had intermediate (three or four ideal components), and only 9% had ideal CVH …

Invasive Mold Infections Following Hurricane Harvey-Houston, Texas, Jose A Serpa, Tom M Chiller, Luis Ostrosky-Zeichner, Dimitrios P Kontoyiannis

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Characterizing invasive mold infection (IMI) epidemiology in the context of large flooding events is important for public health planning and clinical decision making.

METHODS: We assessed IMI incidence (per 10 000 healthcare encounters) 1 year before and after Hurricane Harvey at 4 hospitals in Houston, Texas. Potential IMI cases were assigned as proven or probable cases using established definitions, and surveillance cases using a novel definition. We used rate ratios to describe IMI incidence and multivariable logistic regression to examine patient characteristics associated with IMI case status.

RESULTS: IMI incidence was significantly higher posthurricane (3.69 cases) than prehurricane (2.50 …

Transabdominal Cerclage During Pregnancy: A Retrospective Single Operator Series Over A Quarter Century

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: To describe the pregnancy outcomes and complications observed in a series of cases of transabdominal cerclage (TAC), which is reserved for highly selected women with recurrent mid-trimester pregnancy loss, due to cervical insufficiency.

METHODS: A retrospective audit covering 25 years (January 1, 1997 to December 31, 2021) was performed at the Obstetric Special Care division, Tygerberg Academic Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. All 118 pregnancies from 94 procedures, operated and managed by the principal author were included for descriptive analysis.

RESULTS: Eighty-four (91.3%) of the 92 first pregnancies after first insertion had successful outcomes. All second and third …

Development Of The Illinois Surgical Quality Improvement Collaborative (Isqic): Implementing 21 Components To Catalyze Statewide Improvement In Surgical Care, Amy L Halverson, Remi Love, Lindsey Kreutzer, Allison R Dahlke, Brianna D'Orazio, Steven Reinhart, Katelyn Dienes, Mark Schumacher, Ying Shan, Christopher Quinn, Vivek N Prachand, Susan Sullivan, Kimberly A Cradock, Kelsi Boyd, William Hopkinson, Colleen Fairman, David Odell, Jonah J Stulberg, Cindy Barnard, Jane Holl, Ryan P Merkow, Anthony D Yang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: In 2014, 56 Illinois hospitals came together to form a unique learning collaborative, the Illinois Surgical Quality Improvement Collaborative (ISQIC). Our objectives are to provide an overview of the first three years of ISQIC focused on (1) how the collaborative was formed and funded, (2) the 21 strategies implemented to support quality improvement (QI), (3) collaborative sustainment, and (4) how the collaborative acts as a platform for innovative QI research.

METHODS: ISQIC includes 21 components to facilitate QI that target the hospital, the surgical QI team, and the peri-operative microsystem. The components were developed from available evidence, a detailed …

Independent Associations Of Neighborhood Deprivation And Patient-Level Social Determinants Of Health With Textbook Outcomes After Inpatient Surgery, Karyn B Stitzenberg, Laura S Manuel, Hoah-Der Su, Jonathan C Silverstein, Paula K Shireman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: Assess associations of Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) using Area Deprivation Index (ADI), race/ethnicity and insurance type with Textbook Outcomes (TO).

SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Individual- and contextual-level SDoH affect health outcomes, but only one SDoH level is usually included.

METHODS: Three healthcare system cohort study using National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (2013-2019) linked with ADI risk-adjusted for frailty, case status and operative stress examining TO/TO components (unplanned reoperations, complications, mortality, Emergency Department/Observation Stays and readmissions).

RESULTS: Cohort (34,251 cases) mean age 58.3 [SD=16.0], 54.8% females, 14.1% Hispanics, 11.6% Non-Hispanic Blacks, 21.6% with ADI>85, and 81.8% TO. Racial and …

Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Acute Care Utilization Among Patients With Glomerular Disease, Salem Almaani, Daniel Cattran, Rasheed Gbadegesin, Dorey A Glenn, Larry A Greenbaum, Sandra Iragorri, Koyal Jain, Myda Khalid, Jason Kidd, Jeffrey Kopp, Richard Lafayette, Jerome C Lane, Francesca Lugani, Jordan G Nestor, Rulan S Parekh, Kimberly Reidy, David T Selewski, Christine B Sethna, C John Sperati, Katherine Tuttle, Katherine Twombley, Tetyana L Vasylyeva, Donald J Weaver, Scott E Wenderfer, Keisha Gibson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE: The effects of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), and disease severity on acute care utilization in patients with glomerular disease are unknown.

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort study.

SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: 1,456 adults and 768 children with biopsy-proven glomerular disease enrolled in the Cure Glomerulonephropathy (CureGN) cohort.

EXPOSURE: Race and ethnicity as a participant-reported social factor.

OUTCOME: Acute care utilization defined as hospitalizations or emergency department visits.

ANALYTICAL APPROACH: Multivariable recurrent event proportional rate models were used to estimate associations between race and ethnicity and acute care utilization.

RESULTS: Black or Hispanic participants had lower SES and more …

Linoleic Acid Improves Piezo2 Dysfunction In A Mouse Model Of Angelman Syndrome, Francisco J Sierra-Valdez, Ugo Mayor, Lawrence T Reiter, Valeria Vásquez, Julio F Cordero-Morales

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Angelman syndrome (AS) is a neurogenetic disorder characterized by intellectual disability and atypical behaviors. AS results from loss of expression of the E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase UBE3A from the maternal allele in neurons. Individuals with AS display impaired coordination, poor balance, and gait ataxia. PIEZO2 is a mechanosensitive ion channel essential for coordination and balance. Here, we report that PIEZO2 activity is reduced in Ube3a deficient male and female mouse sensory neurons, a human Merkel cell carcinoma cell line and female human iPSC-derived sensory neurons with UBE3A knock-down, and de-identified stem cell-derived neurons from individuals with AS. We find that loss …

The Effect Direction Should Be Taken Into Account When Assessing Small-Study Effects, Zhuo Meng, Chong Wu, Lifeng Lin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: Studies with statistically significant results are frequently more likely to be published than those with non-significant results. This phenomenon leads to publication bias or small-study effects and can seriously affect the validity of the conclusion from systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Small-study effects typically appear in a specific direction, depending on whether the outcome of interest is beneficial or harmful, but this direction is rarely taken into account in conventional methods.

METHODS: We propose to use directional tests to assess potential small-study effects. The tests are built on a one-sided testing framework based on the existing Egger's regression test. We …