Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

El Artista Está En Línea: E-Performance En El Tiempo De Covid-19, Ezequiel N. González

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Esta investigación propone una lectura detallada y comparativa de varias e-performances creadas por el artista visual uruguayo Ernesto Rizzo y la performer argentina Susy Shock, trazando un corpus de trabajo creado durante la crisis de COVID-19 y compartido en Instagram desde finales de marzo a finales de mayo de 2020. Al centrarse en el giro digital del arte de performance debido a las particularidades de la cuarentena, esta investigación busca distinguir este momento de "e-performance", entendiendo cuáles serán sus ramificaciones para el/la artista y el arte de performance en general. Así, a través de una reflexión teórica sobre el terreno …

Bilingualism/Multilingualism To Protect Against Cognitive Decline In Alzheimer’S Disease And Other Forms Of Dementia: A Systematic Review, Kirsten L. May

Honors Thesis

Given a growing incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and lack of treatments, prevention is a popular topic in both research literature (Angevaren et al., 2008; Orrell & Sahakian, 1995) and in news articles (Iacono et al., 2009). A cognitive reserve is a skill that improves cognitive functioning in executive controls. Bilingualism is believed to be a practice that increases cognitive reserve, which could delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

The purpose of this project was to analyze the possibility that bilingualism or multilingualism could create a cognitive reserve to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia-related diseases. This systematic …

Potential Role Of The Large Protein Titin In The Development Of Heart Failure, Mary M. Prickett

Senior Theses

I will be exploring the impact of the large protein Titin on heart failure with a preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). It was hypothesized that myocardial Titin plays a significant role in the progression of HFpEF through isoform, N2BA and N2B, changes. It was hypothesized that an increase in the quantity of N2B Titin, less compliant, and a decrease in N2BA Titin, more compliant, will be observed as HF progresses, contributing to an increase in passive stiffness involved in heart contraction. I will cover a detailed report on the role of Titin in HFpEF and propose research methods to explore further.

Neurochemical Characterization Of Brainstem Pro-Opiomelanocortin Cells, Teodora Georgescu, David Lyons, Barbora Doslikova, Ana Paula Garcia, Oliver Marston, Luke K Burke, Raffaella Chianese, Brian Y H Lam, Giles S H Yeo, Justin J Rochford, Alastair S Garfield, Lora K Heisler

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Genetic research has revealed pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) to be a fundamental regulator of energy balance and body weight in mammals. Within the brain, POMC is primarily expressed in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARC), while a smaller population exists in the brainstem nucleus of the solitary tract (POMCNTS). We performed a neurochemical characterization of this understudied population of POMC cells using transgenic mice expressing green fluorescent protein (eGFP) under the control of a POMC promoter/enhancer (PomceGFP). Expression of endogenous Pomc mRNA in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) PomceGFP cells was confirmed using fluorescence-activating cell sorting (FACS) followed by …

Pitfalls In Quantitative Myocardial Pet Perfusion I: Myocardial Partial Volume Correction, K Lance Gould, Linh Bui, Danai Kitkungvan, Tinsu Pan, Amanda E Roby, Tung T Nguyen, Nils P Johnson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: PET quantitative myocardial perfusion requires correction for partial volume loss due to one-dimensional LV wall thickness smaller than scanner resolution.

METHODS: We aimed to assess accuracy of risk stratification for death, MI, or revascularization after PET using partial volume corrections derived from two-dimensional ACR and three-dimensional NEMA phantoms for 3987 diagnostic rest-stress perfusion PETs and 187 MACE events. NEMA, ACR, and Tree phantoms were imaged with Rb-82 or F-18 for size-dependent partial volume loss. Perfusion and Coronary Flow Capacity were recalculated using different ACR- and NEMA-derived partial volume corrections compared by Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistics to standard perfusion metrics with established …

Evidence Of The Covid-19 Virus Targeting The Cns: Tissue Distribution, Host-Virus Interaction, And Proposed Neurotropic Mechanisms, Abdul Mannan Baig, Areeba Khaleeq, Usman Ali, Hira Syeda

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

The recent outbreak of coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) has gripped the world with apprehension and has evoked a scare of epic proportion regarding its potential to spread and infect humans worldwide. As we are in the midst of an ongoing pandemic of COVID-19, scientists are struggling to understand how it resembles and differs from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) at the genomic and transcriptomic level. In a short time following the outbreak, it has been shown that, similar to SARS-CoV, COVID-19 virus exploits the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor to gain entry inside the cells. This finding …

Paediatric Respiratory Isolation: A Challenge For A Secondary Care Hospital! A Service Innovation Project, Nadia Mohammad, Shireen Mohammad, Arjumand Sohaila, Syed Mohammad Yousuf, Adnan Khan, Rahila Meghani, Kashif Sajwani, Khalil Ahmad, Ali Faisal Saleem Dr, Pawan Vash

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Objective: The aim of this project was to broaden the secondary care hospital's scope of services and provide safe, effective and quality care for the patient presenting with measles.
Methods: Six Sigma DMAIC [define measure, analyze, improve, and control (DMAIC)] methodology was used in this quality improvement project. The quality project was started in October 2015 using a Gantt chart quality tool.
Results: The paediatric team with the support of administration of the hospital has established isolation rooms and devised a policy for the care and management of patient with airborne infection to avoid cross transmission. During six months period …

Towards Precision Medicine: Defining And Characterizing Adipose Tissue Dysfunction To Identify Early Immunometabolic Risk In Symptom-Free Adults From The Gemm Family Study, Ernesto Rodriguez-Ayala, Esther C. Gallegos-Cabrales, Laura Gonzalez-Lopez, Hugo A. Laviada-Molina, Rocio A. Salinas-Osornio, Edna J. Nava-Gonzalez, Irene Leal-Berumen, Claudia Escudero-Lourdes, Fabiola Escalante-Araiza, Juan Carlos Lopez Alvarenga

School of Medicine Publications

Interactions between macrophages and adipocytes are early molecular factors influencing adipose tissue (AT) dysfunction, resulting in high leptin, low adiponectin circulating levels and low-grade metaflammation, leading to insulin resistance (IR) with increased cardiovascular risk. We report the characterization of AT dysfunction through measurements of the adiponectin/leptin ratio (ALR), the adipo-insulin resistance index (Adipo-IRi), fasting/postprandial (F/P) immunometabolic phenotyping and direct F/P differential gene expression in AT biopsies obtained from symptom-free adults from the GEMM family study. AT dysfunction was evaluated through associations of the ALR with F/P insulin-glucose axis, lipid-lipoprotein metabolism, and inflammatory markers. A relevant pattern of negative associations between …

Provider Attitudes And Practice Patterns For Direct-Acting Antiviral Therapy For Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Nicole E Rich, Ju Dong Yang, Ponni V Perumalswami, Naim Alkhouri, Whitney Jackson, Neehar D Parikh, Neil Mehta, Reena Salgia, Andres Duarte-Rojo, Laura Kulik, Mina Rakoski, Adnan Said, Omobonike Oloruntoba, George N Ioannou, Maarouf A Hoteit, Andrew M Moon, Amol S Rangnekar, Sheila L Eswaran, Elizabeth Zheng, Janice H Jou, James Hanje, Anjana Pillai, Ruben Hernaez, Robert Wong, Steven Scaglione, Hrishikesh Samant, Devika Kapuria, Shaun Chandna, Russell Rosenblatt, Veeral Ajmera, Catherine T Frenette, Sanjaya K Satapathy, Parvez Mantry, Prasun Jalal, Binu V John, Oren K Fix, Michael Leise, Christina C Lindenmeyer, Avegail Flores, Nayan Patel, Z Gordon Jiang, Nyan Latt, Renumathy Dhanasekaran, Mobolaji Odewole, Sofia Kagan, Jorge A Marrero, Amit G Singal

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) are effective against hepatitis C virus and sustained virologic response is associated with reduced incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, there is controversy over the use of DAAs in patients with active or treated HCC and uncertainty about optimal management of these patients. We aimed to characterize attitudes and practice patterns of hepatology practitioners in the United States regarding the use of DAAs in patients with HCC.

METHODS: We conducted a survey of hepatology providers at 47 tertiary care centers in 25 states. Surveys were sent to 476 providers and we received 279 responses …

Potency And Breadth Of Human Primary Zikv Immune Sera Shows That Zika Viruses Cluster Antigenically As A Single Serotype, Chad M. Nix, Jonathan Salberg, Felicity J. Coulter, Bettie W. Kareko, Zoe L. Lyski, Brian L. Booty, William B. Messer

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

The recent emergence of Zika virus as an important human pathogen has raised questions about the durability and breadth of Zika virus immunity following natural infection in humans. While global epidemic patterns suggest that Zika infection elicits a protective immune response that is likely to offer long-term protection against repeat infection by other Zika viruses, only one study to date has formally examined the ability of human Zika immune sera to neutralize different Zika viruses. That study was limited because it evaluated human immune sera no more than 13 weeks after Zika virus infection and tested a relatively small number …

Ethnic Enclaves And Pregnancy And Behavior Outcomes Among Asian/Pacific Islanders In The Usa, Andrew D. Williams, Lynne C. Messer, Jenna Kanner, Sandie Ha, Katherine L. Grantz, Pauline Mendola

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objectives—Ethnic enclaves are ethnically, spatially, and socially distinct communities that may promote health through access to culturally appropriate resources and reduced exposure to discrimination. This study examined ethnic enclave residence and pregnancy outcomes among Asian/Pacific Islander (API) women in the USA.

Design—We examined 9206 API births in the Consortium on Safe Labor (2002–2008). Ethnic enclaves were defined as hospital regions with high percentage of API residents (> 4%), high dissimilarity index (> 0.41; distribution of API and white residents within a geographic area), and high isolation index (> 0.03; interaction between API and white residents in an area). …

Diabetes And Cardiovascular Disease In Women: Current Challenges And New Hope, Efstratios Koutroumpakis, David Aguilar

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

No abstract provided.

Los Comedores Populares Argentinos En Tiempos Del Covid-19: El Rol De Los Comedores Durante La Pandemia: El Sistema Alimentario Y La Acción Del Gobierno Argentino, Katrina Frei-Herrmann

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Durante la pandemia mundial de COVID-19 a principios del 2020, muchos países enfrentaron enormes desafíos desde el punto de vista económico y de salud pública. Argentina tomó las medidas rápidas y drásticas para combatir la propagación del virus, que incluyó un largo período de cuarentena con controles muy estrictos. Esto llevó a un alto costo económico en el cual muchos trabajadores perdieron sus empleos y fuentes de ingresos. Como resultado, un creciente número de personas debieron depender de ayuda de instituciones sociales para sobrevivir o atender sus necesidades básicas como el alimento. Los comedores populares – que han existido desde …

El Ingreso Familiar De Emergencia En Argentina: Una Exploración Cualitativa Preliminar De La Suficiencia Relativa Y El Acceso / Emergency Family Income In Argentina: A Qualitative And Preliminary Exploration Of Relative Sufficiency And Access, Seamus Mcwilliams

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El gobierno argentino ha promulgado docenas de nuevas protecciones sociales y varios de apoyo financiero para limitar la devastación económica causada por la pandemia del coronavirus. Una de estas medidas es el Ingreso Familiar de Emergencia (IFE), un estímulo de 10.000 pesos dirigido a familias del sector informal. Esta población tiene poca capacidad para resistir un período indefinido sin ingreso, y simultáneamente es difícil de alcanzar con los otros programas de ingresos debido a la naturaleza de la informalidad. A través de un análisis del ecosistema de apoyo gubernamental y dos entrevistas con profesionales familiarizadas con el sector informal, este …

El Rol Del Gobierno En Las Campañas Sanitarias De Vih, Covid-19 E Influenza, Sydney Reyes

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Research Question: What are the differences and similarities between the three health campaigns — the flu, HIV, and COVID-19 — that the Chilean government has spread to population?

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to describe and compare the three public health campaigns — the flu, HIV, and COVID-19 — to examine the role that the Chilean government has in health education and heath promotion. The secondary objectives were to identify the differences in national health campaigns and regional campaigns as well as to show the interactions between health campaigns and indigenous people. Overall, the research project looked …

Covid 19 In U.S. Migrant Detention Centers: The Call For Freedom In The Face Of A Global Pandemic, Salma Rojas

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My research paper investigates the responses of the U.S. immigration detention system to the COVID 19 pandemic and determines the capacity of the detention centers to keep detained individuals alive and healthy. As I analyze their capacities, I look to past detention center outbreaks, updated public health resources, reports on ICE facility conditions and the testimonies of migrant people who were detained during the COVID 19 crisis. The urgency of the COVID 19 pandemic is why I dedicate part of my paper to what needs to be done to prevent the situation from worsening. In drawing from these various sources, …

Non-State Actors’ Covid-19 Response In Nepal, Jenna Mae Biedscheid

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research explores the ways in which non-state actors have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal and the needs present in the months before drastic increases in cases began on May 11th. In doing so, it describes how social and political inequality within Nepal has caused people experiencing the most need to be left out of early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic relief effort. This research includes a literature review which situates Nepal amidst the global pandemic as well as interviews with non-state actors currently responding in Nepal. It finds that migrant workers, daily wage earners, Dalits, Janajati/Adivasi peoples, …

Two (Or More) Viruses In One Bat: A Systematic Quantitative Literature Review Of Viral Coinfection In Bats, Eli J. Kaufman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Viral coinfection is an important topic in pathogen dynamics, and can increase viral shedding and change disease outcomes. As bats are carriers of important zoonoses, such as the SARS coronaviruses, rabies, and other deadly viruses, knowing more about their coinfection dynamics is important. This quantitative systematic literature review sought to show how many papers reported bat viral coinfections, and created three databases. The first database, the SQLR database was based on searches for coinfections. The second database, the Astrovirus database was to determine how much of the literature was being missed by examining a single viral family more in depth …

Association Of Dairy Consumption With Metabolic Syndrome, Hypertension And Diabetes In 147 812 Individuals From 21 Countries, Balaji Bhavadharini, Mahshid Dehghan, Andrew Mente, Sumathy Rangarajan, Patrick Sheridan, Viswanathan Mohan, Romaina Iqbal, Rajeev Gupta, Scott Lear, Edelweiss Wentzel-Viljoen

Community Health Sciences

Objective: Our aims were to assess the association of dairy intake with prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) (cross-sectionally) and with incident hypertension and incident diabetes (prospectively) in a large multinational cohort study.
Methods: The Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study is a prospective epidemiological study of individuals aged 35 and 70 years from 21 countries on five continents, with a median follow-up of 9.1 years. In the cross-sectional analyses, we assessed the association of dairy intake with prevalent MetS and its components among individuals with information on the five MetS components (n=112 922). For the prospective analyses, we …

Tortuosity-Powered Microfluidic Device For Assessment Of Thrombosis And Antithrombotic Therapy In Whole Blood, David J Luna, Navaneeth K R Pandian, Tanmay Mathur, Justin Bui, Pranav Gadangi, Vadim V Kostousov, Shiu-Ki Rocky Hui, Jun Teruya, Abhishek Jain

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Accurate assessment of blood thrombosis and antithrombotic therapy is essential for the management of patients in a variety of clinical conditions, including surgery and on extracorporeal life support. However, current monitoring devices do not measure the effects of hemodynamic forces that contribute significantly to coagulation, platelet function and fibrin formation. This limits the extent to which current assays can predict clotting status in patients. Here, we demonstrate that a biomimetic microfluidic device consisting stenosed and tortuous arteriolar vessels would analyze blood clotting under flow, while requiring a small blood volume. When the device is connected to an inline pressure sensor …

Cofilin-1-Induced Actin Reorganization In Stored Platelets, Swapan K Dasgupta, Perumal Thiagarajan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: During platelet storage, there are extensive changes in cytoskeleton and phosphatidylserine exposure. The intrinsic mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis, activated in stored platelets, is a major mediator these changes. Cofilin-1 is an effector of actin reorganization. We examined the effect of cofilin-1 deficiency on cytoskeleton and phosphatidylserine exposure during storage and following activation of apoptosis.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We assessed actin filaments by Alexa-647-phalloidin and phosphatidylserine exposure by fluorescein isothiocyanate-lactadherin by fluorescence microscopy. In fresh platelets, actin filaments are distributed in the subcortical region, and they do not express phosphatidylserine in the outer surface. In stored platelets, there is retraction …

Global Burden Of Respiratory Infections Associated With Seasonal Influenza In Children Under 5 Years In 2018: A Systematic Review And Modelling Study, Xin Wang, You Li, Katherine L. O'Brien, Qalab Abbas, Syed Asad Ali, Respiratory Virus Global Epidemiology Network, Mohammad Tahir Yousafzai, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Sajid Bashir Soofi, Anita K. M. Zaidi

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Seasonal influenza virus is a common cause of acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) in young children. In 2008, we estimated that 20 million influenza-virus-associated ALRI and 1 million influenza-virus-associated severe ALRI occurred in children under 5 years globally. Despite this substantial burden, only a few low-income and middle-income countries have adopted routine influenza vaccination policies for children and, where present, these have achieved only low or unknown levels of vaccine uptake. Moreover, the influenza burden might have changed due to the emergence and circulation of influenza A/H1N1pdm09. We aimed to incorporate new data to update estimates of the global …

An In Vivo Genome-Wide Crispr Screen Identifies The Rna-Binding Protein Staufen2 As A Key Regulator Of Myeloid Leukemia, Jeevisha Bajaj, Michael Hamilton, Yutaka Shima, Kendall Chambers, Kyle Spinler, Eric L Van Nostrand, Brian A Yee, Steven M Blue, Michael Chen, David Rizzeri, Charles Chuah, Vivian G Oehler, H Elizabeth Broome, Roman Sasik, James Scott-Browne, Anjana Rao, Gene W Yeo, Tannishtha Reya

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Aggressive myeloid leukemias such as blast crisis chronic myeloid leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia remain highly lethal. Here we report a genome-wide in vivo CRISPR screen to identify new dependencies in this disease. Among these, RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) in general, and the double-stranded RBP Staufen2 (Stau2) in particular, emerged as critical regulators of myeloid leukemia. In a newly developed knockout mouse, loss of Stau2 led to a profound decrease in leukemia growth and improved survival in mouse models of the disease. Further, Stau2 was required for growth of primary human blast crisis chronic myeloid leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia. Finally, …

The Comfort Of Destiny, Jeremy A Ross

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

No abstract provided.

Modified Danielson Technique For Prosthetic Aortic Valve Endocarditis And Aortoventricular Discontinuity, Gianfranco Filippone, Claudia Calia, Mario Finazzo, Fabio Fazzari, Giovanni Caruana, Vincenzo Argano

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Endocarditis is a devastating complication of prosthetic aortic valve replacement. The infective process can destroy aortic annulus tissue, making conventional surgical valve replacement difficult or impossible and causing aortoventricular discontinuity. Several treatment techniques have been proposed. One of these, the Danielson technique, involves translocating the aortic valve to the native ascending aorta, débriding the abscess cavity, closing the coronary ostia, and bypassing the coronary arteries with a Y anastomosis between 2 vein grafts. We describe our use of a modified Danielson technique in a 68-year-old man with advanced prosthetic valve endocarditis that was associated with aortic annulus destruction and aortoventricular …

Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography In Cardio-Oncology And Beyond, Raymundo A Quintana, Linh P Bui, Rohit Moudgil, Nicolas Palaskas, Saamir Hassan, Jun-Ichi Abe, Elie Mouhayar, Syed Wamique Yusuf, Antonieta Hernandez, Jose Banchs

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Speckle-tracking echocardiography has enabled clinicians to detect changes in myocardial function with more sensitivity than that afforded by traditional diastolic and systolic functional measurements, including left ventricular ejection fraction. Speckle-tracking echocardiography enables evaluation of myocardial strain in terms of strain (percent change in length of a myocardial segment relative to its length at baseline) and strain rate (strain per unit of time). Both measurements have potential for use in diagnosing and monitoring the cardiovascular side effects of cancer therapy. Regional and global strain measurements can independently predict outcomes not only in patients who experience cardiovascular complications of cancer and cancer …

Robotic-Assisted Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Through Transradial Approach: Experience In 4 Patients With Complex Lesions, Amornpol Anuwatworn, Muhammad Ali Kahn, Tomasz Stys, Marian Petrasko, Adam Stys

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Robotic-assisted percutaneous coronary intervention can reduce the exposure of interventional cardiologists to radiation and minimize the risk of occupational orthopedic injuries from wearing heavy protective aprons. The PRECISE (Percutaneous Robotically-Enhanced Coronary Intervention) study showed the efficacy and safety of robotic-assisted procedures for relatively low-risk lesions in single coronary arteries. Several reports have described robotic-assisted treatment of complex high-risk lesions, mostly through the transfemoral approach. We report 4 cases of patients in whom we used the transradial approach to treat complex lesions in the left anterior descending coronary artery with bifurcation balloon angioplasty reconstruction (2 cases), in the ostium of the …

Uprooted, Grace Meharg

Reflections, Poetry, Photos, and other Writings

I wrote this piece on March 31, 2020 reflecting on being home at such an odd time and without closure.

48 Hours, Olivia Winn

Reflections, Poetry, Photos, and other Writings

This is a reflection, two weeks after leaving TU for (maybe) the last time.

Ua94/6/1 Covid-19 Diary, Anonymous

Student/Alumni Personal Papers

COVID-19 diary submitted to WKU Archives by a healthcare worker.