Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Review Of Chagas Disease And Treatment Obstacles To Eradication, Emily Sherman

Senior Honors Theses

The World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control reports Chagas disease, or American trypanosomiasis, as a major neglected tropical disease prevalent in 21 endemic Latin American countries. The agent of the disease is a single-celled protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, and common modes of transmission include infected feces of a triatomine bug, crossing the placental barrier, and blood products. The two phases of infection are acute and chronic, and the three most affected body systems are cardiovascular, digestive, and nervous. Although research has led to several advances in the knowledge of CD, there are gaps in treatment and epidemiological …

The Anti-Sigma Factor Muca Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa: Dramatic Differences Of A Muca22 Vs. A Δmuca Mutant In Anaerobic Acidified Nitrite Sensitivity Of Planktonic And Biofilm Bacteria In Vitro And During Chronic Murine Lung Infection, Warunya Panmanee, Shengchang Su, Michael J. Schurr, Gee W. Lau, Xiaoting Zhu, Zhaowei Ren, Cameron T. Mcdaniel, Long J. Lu, Dennis E. Ohman, Daniel A. Muruve, Ralph J. Panos, Hongwei D. Yu, Thomas B. Thompson, Boo Shan Tseng, Daniel J. Hassett

Life Sciences Faculty Research

Mucoid mucA22 Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is an opportunistic lung pathogen of cystic fibrosis (CF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients that is highly sensitive to acidified nitrite (A-NO2-). In this study, we first screened PA mutant strains for sensitivity or resistance to 20 mM A-NO2- under anaerobic conditions that represent the chronic stages of the aforementioned diseases. Mutants found to be sensitive to A-NO2- included PA0964 (pmpR, PQS biosynthesis), PA4455 (probable ABC transporter permease), katA (major catalase, KatA) and rhlR (quorum sensing regulator). In contrast, mutants lacking PA0450 (a putative phosphate transporter) and PA1505 (moaA2) were A-NO2- resistant. However, …

Socioeconomic Status And Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease In 20 Low-Income, Middle-Income, And High-Income Countries: The Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiologic (Pure) Study, Annika Rosengren, Andrew Smyth, Sumathy Rangarajan, Chinthanie Ramasundarahettige, Shrikant I. Bangdiwala, Khalid F. Alhabib, Alvaro Avezum, Kristina Bengtsson Boström, Jephat Chifamba, Romaina Iqbal

Community Health Sciences

Background: Socioeconomic status is associated with differences in risk factors for cardiovascular disease incidence and outcomes, including mortality. However, it is unclear whether the associations between cardiovascular disease and common measures of socioeconomic status-wealth and education-differ among high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries, and, if so, why these differences exist. We explored the association between education and household wealth and cardiovascular disease and mortality to assess which marker is the stronger predictor of outcomes, and examined whether any differences in cardiovascular disease by socioeconomic status parallel differences in risk factor levels or differences in management.
Methods: In this large-scale prospective cohort …

Development Of A Pediatric Model Of Nafld In Neonatal Iberian Pigs, Gabriella Veronica Hernandez, Victoria Alice Smith, Morgan Coffin, Daniel Columbus, Matthew Burd, Kimberly Sprayberry, Mark Edwards, Daniel Peterson, Darin Bennett, Robert Fanter, Christopher Kitts, Michael La Frano, Margaret Rice, Douglas Burrin, Magdalena Maj, Rodrigo Manjarin

Master's Theses

The prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in children has increased over the past decades, creating a need for animal models that recapitulate the features of the pediatric disease. Iberian pigs have a leptin-resistant phenotype characterized by hyperleptinemia, hyperphagia, and extreme adipogenesis. We hypothesized that neonatal Iberian pigs fed a high fat high-fructose (HFF) diet will develop a pattern of liver injury resembling pediatric NAFLD. In addition, we sought to determine if a mixture of probiotics would prevent the disease. Animals were fed 1 of 4 diets containing (g/kg body weight × d) 0 g fructose, 11 g fat …

Theileriosis In Mountain Bongo Repatriated To Kenya: A Clinical And Molecular Investigation, Richard P. Bishop, David O. Odongo, Thomas T. Dolan, Rosemary B. Dolan, Robert A. Skilton, Paul D. Sayer

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Mountain bongo (Tragelaphus euryceros isaaci) from Kenya were exported to zoological institutions in North America and Europe in the 1970s and 1980s. In the following 20-30 years bongo numbers declined in Kenya and the Mountain Bongo Repatriation Project was launched. This resulted in 18 adult bongo, descendants of the original translocated bongo, being repatriated from the United States to Kenya in 2004. These newly arrived bongo were inadvertently exposed to heavy tick infestation on release in a conservancy on the slopes of Mount Kenya. Mortality and morbidity occurred during the third week after arrival. Theileria sp. infection was apparent from …

Host Species And Site Of Collection Shape The Microbiota Of Rift Valley Fever Vectors In Kenya, David P. Tchouassi, Ephantus J. Muturi, Samwel O. Arum, Chang Hyun Kim, Christopher J. Fields, Baldwyn Torto

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The composition and structure of microbial communities associated with mosquitoes remain poorly understood despite their important role in host biology and potential to be harnessed as novel strategies for mosquito-borne disease control. We employed MiSeq sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene amplicons to characterize the bacterial flora of field-collected populations of Aedes mcintoshi and Aedes ochraceus, the primary vectors of Rift Valley fever (RVF) virus in Kenya. Proteobacteria (53.5%), Firmicutes (22.0%) and Actinobacteria (10.0%) were the most abundant bacterial phyla accounting for 85.5% of the total sequences. Non-metric multi-dimensional scaling plots based on Bray-Curtis dissimilarities revealed a clear grouping of …

Evaluating The Epidemiology And Management Of Bovine Congestive Heart Failure, Adam Bassett

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A form of congestive heart failure is increasingly reported as a cause of death in feedlot cattle located at moderate altitude (≤ 1,524 m.). Significant knowledge gaps exist in the epidemiology and management of this form of bovine congestive heart failure (BCHF) regarding frequency and timing of BCHF cases and ways in which beef cattle producers and veterinarians can mitigate this condition. These knowledge gaps present major barriers to understanding the mechanism of BCHF and mitigating the consequences of BCHF. The purpose of this thesis is to summarize current knowledge about BCHF, define gaps in knowledge for which more research …

Recommendations For The Design Of Therapeutic Trials For Neonatal Seizures., Janet S. Soul, Ronit Pressler, Marilee Allen, Geraldine Boylan, Heike Rabe, Ron Portman, Pollyanna Hardy, Sarah Zohar, Klaus Romero, Brian Tseng, Varsha Bhatt-Mehta, Cecil Hahn, Scott Denne, Stephane Auvin, Alexander Vinks, John Lantos, Neil Marlow, Jonathan M. Davis, International Neonatal Consortium

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Although seizures have a higher incidence in neonates than any other age group and are associated with significant mortality and neurodevelopmental disability, treatment is largely guided by physician preference and tradition, due to a lack of data from well-designed clinical trials. There is increasing interest in conducting trials of novel drugs to treat neonatal seizures, but the unique characteristics of this disorder and patient population require special consideration with regard to trial design. The Critical Path Institute formed a global working group of experts and key stakeholders from academia, the pharmaceutical industry, regulatory agencies, neonatal nurse associations, and patient advocacy …

Arachidin 3 Modulation Of Lipid Metabolism In Rotavirus Infections, Stormey Wisdom

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rotavirus (RV) can cause severe and deadly gastroenteritis in young children, infants, and immunocompromised individuals. Previous studies have shown that arachidin 3 (A3) inhibits RV replication, and that RV replication is dependent on the presence of lipids. This study investigated the alteration of lipid metabolism by A3 in RV infected HT29.f8 cells. A decrease in the RV regulation of lipid biosynthesis genes was observed with the addition of A3 using qRT-PCR. Also, immunofluorescent and histochemical staining for neutral fats, a major component of cellular lipid droplets, revealed an increased accumulation with both RV and RV+A3 when compared to no virus …

A Neonate With Upper Gi Bleeding, Suneeta Khemani, Huma Ghulam Qadir, Mumtaz Malik, Faiqa Hassan

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Bleeding in the newborn is often a serious problem because of cardiovascular effects associated with a loss of blood and/or the damaging effects of bleeding on neonatal tissues, especially the brain. Gastric polyps are described as abnormal lesions that originate in the gastric epithelium or submucosa and protrude into the stomach lumen. Clinical presentation of gastric polyps in children varies widely, from incidental endoscopic finding to massive gastrointestinal bleeding. However, acute gastrointestinal bleeding in association with hyperplastic gastric polyps has been reported very rarely. We report a case of unusual upper gastrointestinal bleeding in newborn baby on 2nd day of …

Goosebumps, Efrain Rodriguez

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

No abstract provided.

Endoanchors Minimize Endoleaks In Chimney-Graft Endovascular Repair Of Juxtarenal Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms, Edgar Luis Galiñanes, Eduardo A Hernandez-Vila, Zvonimir Krajcer

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Juxtarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) are difficult to treat because they often have little or no proximal aortic neck. Patients with this complex anatomy are not usually candidates for an endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). Chimney-graft EVAR has been introduced, but type Ia endoleak is a typical risk. We have begun using EndoAnchors to determine whether this risk can be reduced. From July 2013 through July 2014, we used the chimney-graft EVAR technique in 5 patients whose juxtarenal AAAs had a short or no proximal aortic neck. During the procedure, we implanted EndoAnchors as needed. Postprocedurally, at 30 days, and through …

Osborn Waves: Differential Diagnosis, Akriti G Jain, Hammad Zafar, Sanjay Jain, Jason D'Souza

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

No abstract provided.

The Man With 2 Hearts: 25 Years From Heterotopic To Orthotopic Heart Transplantation, Elizabeth L Godfrey, Michael L Kueht, Abbas Rana, O H Frazier

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Substantial technological advances in mechanical circulatory support have caused a shift in the management of end-stage heart failure. From the 1970s through the 1990s, heterotopic heart transplantation was routinely performed in patients in whom orthotopic transplantation was likely to fail. Heterotopic heart transplantation is now performed less often because modern mechanical circulatory assist devices are routinely used as bridges to orthotopic transplantation; regardless, the operation has helped numerous patients who would not otherwise have received adequate allografts. We describe the case of a man with idiopathic nonischemic cardiomyopathy who, at age 17, was given an ABO- and size-matched heterotopic allograft …

Anomalous Origin Of The Right Coronary Artery From The Pulmonary Artery In A Neonate With Turner Syndrome And Aortic Arch Hypoplasia, Bryan P Stefek, Jason R Imundo, Joseph B Clark

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the pulmonary artery, a rare congenital cardiac defect, is typically not diagnosed during infancy. On the other hand, Turner syndrome is usually diagnosed early, and it is classically associated with bicuspid aortic valve and aortic coarctation. Individuals with Turner syndrome are also at increased risk for coronary artery anomalies. We present a case of anomalous right coronary artery from the pulmonary artery in a week-old neonate who also had Turner syndrome, patent ductus arteriosus, transverse aortic arch hypoplasia, and impaired ventricular function. Prostaglandin therapy through the ductus increased the patient's myocardial perfusion. …

Percutaneous Coronary Intervention For Interposed Coronary Graft Stenosis After Modified Bentall Procedure In A Teenaged Boy With Takayasu Arteritis, Hiroki Ikenaga, Satoshi Kurisu, Yasuki Kihara

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Anastomotic occlusion of an interposed coronary artery graft after a Bentall procedure is rare and catastrophic. It can lead to myocardial infarction or sudden cardiac death. We found several reports of occlusion and stenosis of a coronary-graft anastomosis, but few describe occlusion of the interposed coronary graft itself, as evaluated with use of intracoronary ultrasonography and computed tomography. We report the case of a 17-year-old boy with Takayasu arteritis who had a myocardial infarction caused by severe ostial stenosis in an interposed left coronary graft. The graft occlusion was confirmed by results of electrocardiography, aortography, and intracoronary ultrasonography. The patient …

Incidence And Predictors Of Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease And The Role Of Cardiac Troponin Assays In Patients With Unstable Angina, Sushan Yang, Nirmanmoh Bhatia, Meng Xu, John A Mcpherson

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

In a time when cardiac troponin assays are widely used to detect myocardial injury, data remain scarce concerning the incidence and predictors of substantial obstructive coronary artery disease that causes unstable angina. This retrospective single-center study included consecutive patients hospitalized for unstable angina from January 2015 through January 2016. Patients with troponin I levels above the upper reference limit and those who did not undergo angiography were excluded. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictors of obstructive coronary artery disease that warranted revascularization and of major adverse cardiac events up to 6 months after discharge from the hospital. …

Adam Christian Thebesius' Channels Into The Human Heart: The Thebesian Veins And The Thebesian Valve, Magdalena Mazurak, Jacek Kusa

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

In 1708, Adam Christian Thebesius, a 22-year-old student at Leiden University, presented his graduate thesis, Disputatio medica inauguralis de circulo sanguinis in corde. More than a doctoral dissertation, this groundbreaking work opened new channels into the study of the human coronary venous system. Thebesius' theory about the vascular communication between the coronary arteries and the chambers of the heart helped to advance understanding of hemodynamic principles and to clarify the physiologic pathways of the coronary circulation. The following article—the third in a trilogy about Lower Silesian scientists—provides an overview of the life story and achievements of this Silesian physician …

Surgical Thrombectomy For Pulmonary Embolism: Updated Performance Rates And Outcomes, Fahad Alqahtani, Muhammad Bilal Munir, Sami Aljohani, Abdul Tarabishy, Ahmad Almustafa, Mohamad Alkhouli

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Treatments for pulmonary embolism are numerous and often complex. Current data on surgical thrombectomy are important but are not readily available. We studied the National Inpatient Sample to evaluate trends in the performance rates and outcomes of surgical thrombectomy in the United States from 2003 through 2014. We think that our findings have meaningful application to the triage and risk stratification of patients who have hemodynamically significant pulmonary embolism.

The Use Of Geospatial Modeling And Novel Diagnostics To Detect And Map Risk Factors Of Soil-Transmitted Helminths In Feira De Santana, Brazil, Ryan Harry Avery

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections impact billions of people worldwide. The traditional STH control approach is a morbidity control strategy implementing mass drug administration (MDA) programs targeting school-aged children (SAC). In Brazil, this control strategy has decreased STH prevalence to less than 20% in most of the country and providing an opportunity to transition from the morbidity control program and towards a surveillance and response system geared towards STH elimination. Surveillance and response systems geared towards elimination require the implementation higher accuracy diagnostics to detect infection in low-transmission communities, surveillance of entire households, high-resolution modeling at the household-habitat scale, and targeted …

The Association Between Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Reactivation And Alzheimer’S Disease, Andrew Allee

BIO 410 Spring 2019 Research Papers

This review will focus on the interaction of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and its causative role in pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) noting specifically, the epidemiological relevance of addressing this problem, as well as the molecular pathways associated. HSV-1 reactivation tends to be one of the primary causative events that is responsible for many of the pathologies associated with AD, such as: amyloid beta (Aβ) accumulation caused by malfunctioning cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP) as well as tau hyperphosphorylation. HSV-1 reactivation is a primary causative event in downstream dysfunction and is also shown to be directed by …

The Effects Of A Low-Glycemic Index Diabetes Management Program On Weight, Body Mass Index, Triglycerides, Cholesterol And Hemoglobin A1c Values, Morgan Williston

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate effects of a low-glycemic index diet on weight, body mass index (BMI), triglycerides, cholesterol levels, and hemoglobin A1c

(HbA1c) following participation in a 12-hour outpatient diabetes self- management education (DSME) program. This DSME program is unique as it

focuses on a low-glycemic index diet rather than the traditional carbohydrate consistent diet to control blood glucose levels. Health outcomes obtained post participation were compared to baseline data. Participants were 283 individuals with type 2 diabetes including 94 (33%) men and 189 (67%) women, with a mean baseline HbA1c of 8.7 ±2.2%. Statistically significant …

Shingles Vaccine: Identifying High Risk Groups In The Ibd Clinic Setting, Crystal Barajas

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Manuscripts

Title: Shingles Vaccine: Identifying high risk groups in the IBD clinic setting

Background: The Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) population is an immunocompromised patient population who is at risk for Herpes Zoster (HZ) due to their medication regimen, which further compromises their immune system. It can be difficult for patients to receive appropriate preventative health maintenance measures due to patients’ fears, primary care providers’ lack of knowledge, and gastroenterologists not addressing what may be considered primary care topics. Furthermore, evidence demonstrates that IBD patients have low vaccination rates despite insurance coverage.

Purpose of Project: (a) To increase awareness of the …

Delirium In Long Term Care Rehabilitation Residents: A Correlational Retrospective Study, Rebecca Lerma-Kjonegaard

Dissertations

Abstract Background: Delirium is associated with devastating outcomes, cognitive loss,

decreased function and an increase risk of mortality which affects patients and places a heavy burden on family and the healthcare system. The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between select demographics, clinical characteristics, CHART- DEL-derived delirium diagnosis and ICD-10 coded discharge delirium diagnoses among Long Term Care (LTC) rehabilitation residents.

Method: A retrospective correlational design from174 LTC rehabilitation residents age 65 years or older using EMR and hard copy charts. The setting was a Southern California community hospital-based 100-bed LTC. Abstracted data included demographic characteristics (age, …

The Roles Of An Evidence-Based Weight Management Protocol In Hypertension Control, Belinda Akakpo Maxwell

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Manuscripts

The Roles of an Evidence-Based Weight Management Protocol in Hypertension Control

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this project is to evaluate the impact of a healthcare provider-led protocol for patients with hypertension (HTN) and weight loss needs to improve weight control, cardiovascular risk and quality of life.

Background: Evidence shows that a 1.2-kg weight loss can reduce systolic blood pressure (SBP) by 3.8mmHg. Thus, a 10kg (22lbs) weight loss is likely to yield a SBP decrease of as much as 32mmHg. Such results would positively impact quality of life and costs. The simple approach of instructing patients to eat less …

My Huntington’S Disease Sister – And A Hero Who Strives For The Unthinkable, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

Sub-Region Based Radiomics Analysis For Survival Prediction In Oesophageal Tumours Treated By Definitive Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy, Congying Xie, Pengfei Yang, Xuebang Zhang, Lei Xu, Xiaoju Wang, Xiadong Li, Luhan Zhang, Ruifei Xie, Ling Yang, Zhao Jing, Hongfang Zhang, Lingyu Ding, Yu Kuang, Tianye Niu, Shixiu Wu

Health Physics and Diagnostic Sciences Faculty Research

Background: Evaluating clinical outcome prior to concurrent chemoradiotherapy remains challenging for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) as traditional prognostic markers are assessed at the completion of treatment. Herein, we investigated the potential of using sub-region radiomics as a novel tumour biomarker in predicting overall survival of OSCC patients treated by concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Methods: Independent patient cohorts from two hospitals were included for training (n = 87) and validation (n = 46). Radiomics features were extracted from sub-regions clustered from patients' tumour regions using K-means method. The LASSO regression for ‘Cox’ method was used for feature selection. The survival prediction model …

The Effects Of Autophagy On The Replication Of Zika Virus, Mohammed Marghani

NYMC Student Theses and Dissertations

Zika virus is an enveloped virus with a single-stranded positive-sense RNA genome. The Zika virus is a member of the Flaviviridae family of viruses that was discovered to infect humans in 1952. The Flavivirus envelope is decorated by many copies of two membrane proteins that facilitate viral entry. The virus is primarily transmitted through mosquito bites. Another method by which Zika virus could be transmitted is through sexual contact with Zika infected partners or from an infected pregnant woman to fetus known as congenital transmission. Infected patients suffer from self-limiting febrile illness including headaches, skin rash myalgia, and conjunctivitis. Zika …

Investigating Neuroinflammation And Demyelination In The Nervous System Of Twitcher Mice By The Use Of Immunohistochemistry, Irene Wilson

Natural Sciences and Mathematics | Biological Sciences Master's Theses

Neuroinflammation and demyelination are the hallmark lesions of the Twitcher mouse—the model of Krabbe Disease. By analyzing hemibrains and sciatic nerves via immunohistochemistry, we supported the microglial hypothesis that early activation of microglial cells, macrophages, and globoid cells in the nervous system of Twitcher mice results in specific cellular polarization states that may contribute to myelin loss. The influx of activated macrophages seen in both the central and peripheral nervous systems at days 21 and 17, respectively, accounted for this polarization. Using selected M1 and M2 markers, YKL-40, and GPNMB and CD206, respectively, we proved that microglial cells and macrophages …

The Impact Of Cleft Lip/Palate And Clp Surgical Intervention On The Social Integration Of Adolescents In India, Mustafa Zahid

Master's Theses

Cleft Lip/Palate, a congenital orofacial anomaly, carries an incidence rate of approximately 1 in every 1000 births. In addition to the stigma associated with the condition, the varying levels of cleft severity might result in lower life outcomes which could include lower cognitive ability, physical and psychological well-being, social and behavioral outcomes of adolescents. This paper focuses on the social integration element of life outcomes, which is composed of the social inclusion and prosocial behavior of the adolescent. Despite the affordability of restorative surgeries, patients in rural areas of Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) such as India face accessibility and …