Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Morphea With Seronegative Inflammatory Arthritis And Normal Acute Phase Reactants: A Case Report, Balakrishnan Navaneethakrishnan, Mahabaleshwar Mamadapur

Digital Journal of Clinical Medicine

Localised scleroderma, also known as morphea, is an immune-mediated fibrosing disorder that primarily affects the skin and subcutaneous tissues. While traditionally considered purely a cutaneous disease, extracutaneous manifestations (especially inflammatory arthritis) are increasingly being appreciated. The combined presence of morphea and inflammatory arthritis is rare and can be difficult to diagnose, particularly when inflammatory markers and serological testing are non-contributory.

Case Summary : We describe a 41-year-old woman with long-standing biopsy-proven morphea who over 2 years developed chronic, asymmetric inflammatory arthritis of the left wrist and hand small joints. On examination, she had active synovitis with restricted movements of her …

Pseudo-Hallucinations: A Diagnostic Conundrum, Dr Sankram Nayak, Manju Aswath, Vathsalya S. Gowda

Digital Journal of Clinical Medicine

Background:

Pseudohallucinations are vivid, hallucination-like experiences that are internal, recognized as unreal. Distinguishing from true hallucinations remains a diagnostic challenge.

Case-report

33-year-old female with family history of psychosis presented with 10-year duration of delusion of infidelity and auditory experiences, with normal Biopsychosocial functioning. She had multiple psychiatric consultations, diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenia, treated with  various antipsychotics, ECT, current prescription of clozapine(350mg) with clozapine induced seizure.  Reported that her husband was emotionally unavailable. She described the voices in her head which were non-threatening, praising her for having qualities of an ideal-wife.  They were constant companions giving her solace and hence refrained …

Signal Peptidase Complex Mediates Rotavirus Vp7 Processing And Virion Assembly, Xuejiao Zhu, Enkai Li, Liliana Sanchez-Tacuba, Wandy Beatty, Bin Li, Siyuan Ding

2020-Current year OA Pubs

For viruses that replicate in the proximity of or bud at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) associated membranes, proper processing of their glycoproteins is critical for successful infection. Rotavirus outer capsid protein VP7 is an ER-resident protein. However, its N-terminal signal peptide is removed by an unknown proteolytic mechanism. In this study, we leveraged tandem affinity purification followed by high-resolution mass spectrometry to profile host proteins that interact with VP7. We identified members of the signal peptidase complex (SPC) family as important host factors that facilitate rotavirus infection. CRISPR knockout or siRNA knockdown of distinct SPC subunits resulted in significant decrease …

Seeking Traditional Health Practitioners And Use Of Complementary/Alternative Medicines In The Management Of Movement Disorders In Africa: A Multicenter Continental Study, Ali Shalash, Tamer Roushdy, Samia Sassi, Oluwadamilola Ojo, Yusuf Jamnagerwalla, Ahmed Sheikh, Yasser Mecheri, Maouly Fall, Juzar Hooker, Dilraj Sokhi

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Background Traditional health practitioners (THP) and complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) play a well-recognized role in Africa. However, their role in treating movement disorders (MD) remains poorly studied.

Objective This large multicenter continental study aimed to investigate the prevalence of seeking and consulting THPs and using CAMs among people with MDs in different African countries and the associated factors of their use.

Methods This study involved 12 sites within 11 African countries. We developed and distributed a structured questionnaire that documented frequency, attitudes, beliefs, and factors related to patients' engagement with THPs and use of CAMs.

Results We surveyed 1158 …

Estimating Population Structure Using Epigenome-Wide Methylation Data, Ziqing Wang, Kent D Taylor, Jerome I Rotter, Stephen S Rich, Yinan Zheng, Lifang Hou, Xiuqing Guo, Jan Bressler, Laura M Raffield, Yongmei Liu, Robert Kaplan, Donald M Lloyd-Jones, Alanna C Morrison, Myriam Fornage, Bruce M Psaty, Jennifer A Brody, Tamar Sofer

The Brown Foundation: Institute of Molecular Medicine

Population stratification is one of the source of inflation in epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) when not properly accounted for. To address this, we developed methylation population scores (MPSs) to predict genetic principal components (GPCs) using a feature selection approach. We used multi-ethnic DNA methylation data from Illumina EPIC arrays across five cohorts, including MESA (n = 929), CARDIA (n = 1123), JHS (n = 1365), ARIC (n = 2338), and HCHS/SOL (n = 1475), randomly splitting participants into training (85%) and test (15%) sets. Within each cohort, associations between GPCs and CpG sites were estimated using linear regression adjusting for …

Human-Centered Design Of Patient Interviews: Capturing The Experiences Of Patients Recovering From Emergency Abdominal Surgery, Jenna L Marquard, Christie L Martin, Elizabeth C Wick, Amanda C Trofholz, Matthew S Loth, Suhyun Park, Genevieve B Melton

The Brown Foundation: Institute of Molecular Medicine

Objectives: Recognizing the challenges of at-home recovery following a truncated presurgical pathway for emergency laparotomy (EL) patients, we sought to identify barriers and facilitators to optimal recovery. This study aimed to develop a human-centered interview guide to capture the experiences of patients recovering at home after EL.

Methods: We employed an iterative human-centered design (HCD) approach to interview guide development, structured across 3 cycles. Each cycle refined the interview guide based on mock interviews and feedback from an interdisciplinary team. In cycle 1, we focused on creating a patient-centered, understandable guide. In cycle 2, we introduced a preinterview survey to …

Diversity And Immune Dynamics Of Choroid Plexus Macrophages Are Shaped By Distinct Developmental Origins, Siling Du, Khai M Nguyen, Alina Ulezko Antonova, Jose L Fachi, Patrick Fernandes Rodrigues, Alice Verdiani, Martina Molgora, Igor Smirnov, Jasmin Herz, Tornike Mamuladze, Jennifer Ponce, Amanda Swain, Mattia Bugatti, Susan Gilfillan, Marina Cella, William Vermi, Jonathan Kipnis, Marco Colonna, Simone Brioschi

The Brown Foundation: Institute of Molecular Medicine

The choroid plexus forms a key barrier and signaling interface between the brain and peripheral circulation, yet its immune landscape remains incompletely understood. Using single-cell transcriptomics combined with lineage and spatial tracing methods, we identified three biologically distinct populations of choroid plexus macrophages, defined by differential expression of CD163, MHCII or CD9. These subsets arise from separate hematopoietic waves, occupy distinct anatomical niches and differentially rely on CSF1 and IL-34 for survival. We found that TGFβ signaling is essential to maintain their tissue-specific identities, and deletion of Tgfbr2 in these cells induces broad phenotypic reprogramming. During neuroinflammation, choroid plexus macrophages …

Glutamatergic Dysfunction Of Astrocytes In Paraventricular Nucleus Of Thalamus Contributes To Adult Anxiety Susceptibility In Adolescent Ethanol Exposed Mice, Aubrey Bennett, Hyunjung Kim, David Thomas, Peter Biggs, Roxan Ara, Asamoah Bosomtwi, Seungwoo Kang

The Brown Foundation: Institute of Molecular Medicine

Repeated ethanol exposure during adolescence increases adult anxiety risk, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) has been considered a hub for controlling anxiety and is affected by experiences from early life. Thus, this study investigated how adolescent intermittent repeated ethanol exposure (AIE) affects the PVT activities and anxiety-related behaviors in adulthood. We found that AIE triggers anxiety-like behaviors and parallelly exhibited elevated firing rates and increased calcium signaling in the PVT neurons compared to control counterpart mice. Chemogenetic inhibition of PVT neurons reduced anxiety-like behaviors in AIE-treated animals, confirming PVT's role in adolescent …

Lipids Grease The Chain Of Cancer Progression, Joseph Rupert, Pham Hong Anh Cao, Daniel E Frigo, Mikhail G Kolonin

The Brown Foundation: Institute of Molecular Medicine

The role of lipids in cancer progression has become a fervent area of exploration. The crosstalk of tumors with adipose tissue is a complex but well-regulated orchestration of signaling pathways, lipid transporters, and enzymes. They regulate fatty acid synthesis, their deposition into lipid droplets (LDs) as triglycerides, induction of lipolysis, shuttling lipids across cells, and their systemic trafficking, modification, and catabolism. For the latter, lipid oxidation has emerged as a metabolic process of particular clinical importance. Products of lipid processing can become secondary messengers, contribute to reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, stimulate the production of antioxidants, and, if left unchecked, …

Neutralization Of Sars-Cov-2 By Igm-14 Via Engagement Of Two Distinct Spike Epitopes, Yan Wang, Yanping Hu, Zhiqiang Ku, Jason Yeung, Jing Zou, Michael Woodson, Nikolai S Prokhorov, Ekaterina S Knyazhanskaya, Haiqing Zhao, Michael B Sherman, Zhiqiang An, Stephen F Carroll, Pei-Yong Shi, Petr G Leiman, Xuping Xie

The Brown Foundation: Institute of Molecular Medicine

Engineered immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies typically exhibit superior neutralization potency and avidity compared to their parental IgG counterparts, primarily due to multivalent binding to repeated epitopes on a targeting antigen. In this study, we characterize the neutralization breadth and mechanism of action of IgM-14, a previously reported intranasally deliverable antibody targeting SARS-CoV-2. IgM-14 demonstrates remarkably potent antiviral activity against all pre-Omicron variants but significantly reduced efficacy against Omicron BA.1, and complete loss of activity against the later subvariant JN.1. Resistance selection identified two key mutations in the receptor-binding domain (RBD), G476D and F486P, which disrupt IgM-14 binding and confer strong …

Severe Bilateral Retinal Degeneration Following A Twenty-Six-Year Pentosan Polysulfate Sodium Exposure: A Case Report., Aaron T. Zhao, Turner D. Wibbelsman, Martin Calotti, Collin J Richards, Tamara R. Vrabec

Wills Eye Hospital Papers

PURPOSE: To describe an advanced case of pentosan polysulfate sodium (PPS)-associated retinopathy with extensive macular and peripheral retinal involvement following prolonged high-dose exposure.

OBSERVATIONS: An 86-year-old male presented with bilateral hand motion visual acuity and a 26-year history of PPS use (400mg daily, ∼3769g cumulative dose) for treatment of interstitial cystitis. Fundus examination revealed widespread retinal degeneration characterized by confluent nummular patches of retinal atrophy in a radial distribution from the optic nerves. Ocular coherence tomography (OCT) demonstrated severe outer retinal disorganization, and fundus autofluorescence (FAF) showed extensive RPE loss and absence of the Robson Holder ring. Genetic testing excluded …

Diabetes Equity In Lehigh Valley: Recruitment For A National Diabetes Prevention Program Train The Trainer Model, Miguel Chuidian Md, Autumn Kieber-Emmons Md, Mph, Rachel Apiolaza, Carolyn Peterseim Md

Department of Family Medicine

No abstract provided.

Dental Rankings: Relevant Or A Psychological Rollercoaster?, Stuart L. Segelnick Dds, Ms

The New York State Dental Journal

It may take a village of dentists honing in on their own rankings to reverse the profession’s downward trend.

Improving Equity Within The Holistic Admission Process Through Race-Neutral Holistic Review: A Before And After Cross-Sectional Study, Megan Eikenberry, Kylie Scott, Jaime González, Josh Subialka, Lacey Frankland, Patrice Ayala, Mark Kargela, Byron Russell

Physical Therapy Faculty Publications

Introduction: The US Physical therapist (PT) workforce lacks racial and ethnic diversity, which may contribute to health disparities. Holistic review (HR) admission methods may improve workforce diversity by evaluating applicants' academic metrics, experiences, and personal attributes. Holistic review processes must adapt following the 2023 Supreme Court ruling prohibiting race-based admission criteria.

Review of literature: Holistic review criteria are program-specific and align with institutional and programmatic goals. While HR is shown to improve student body diversity, most PT education programs heavily emphasize academic metrics, which may disadvantage racial and ethnic minority (REM) applicants from acceptance. This study examines the racial and …

Implementation Barriers And Change Management Considerations In Deploying A Literature-Informed, Respiratory Therapy–Driven Copd Care Bundle With Ehr-Based Readmission Risk Stratification, Yusuf Aboul-Nasr, David M. Richardson Md

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Mogad-Associated Optic Neuritis: Is It A Pain?, Anchal Shukla, Tejasvi Paturu, Amber Mcpherson, Raymond Schneider, Angela Aungst, Mitchelle Drucker, Natalie Moreo

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

A Quality Improvement Evaluation Of Osteoporosis Management After Fragility Fractures At Lvhn, Randi J Wong, Marie S. O’Brien Do, Philip Dunn Do

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Reasons For Exposure Among Poisoned Patients Treated With Methylene Blue For Hypotension, Urmila Venkataramani, Gillian A. Beauchamp Md

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Imaging-Guided Interventional Management Of Chronic Pelvic Pain:Patient Characteristics And Procedural Utilization Among Responders, Ayushi Vashishtha, Joseph E. Patruno Md

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Timing Is Everything: A Quality Improvement Project Of Colonoscopy Withdrawal Time, Richard Barry Sirard, Amy Slenker Md, Rachel Patel Do, Shashin Shah Md

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Documentation Of Patient Goals Of Treatment Is Lacking At Both Rural And Urban Hospitals, Anthony Schinelli, Jessica K. Eygnor Do, Jennifer Allen Md, William Carmichael, Katie Best Rn, David B. Burmeister Do, Facep, Cpe, Katelyn Mclain, Zhe Chen, Justin Stauffer Pa-C, Courtney Moore Md, David M. Richardson Md, Matthew Mccambridge Md, Marna R. Greenberg Do, Mph, Facep, Timothy J. Friel Md

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Selective Icu Admission Following Head And Neck Free Flap Reconstruction: A Retrospective Study, Jacob Parker, Emma Dunn, Alisa Vidwans, Mayte Diaz, William Nick Doyle Bs, Samer Elsamna, Tara Mohktari, Christopher Nickel, Matthew Mifsud

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Standardizing Postoperative Pain Management In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Retrospective Quality Improvement Analysis And Protocol Development, Timothy Nehila, Laura Hayn Pharmd, Amy L. Serfas Bsn, Rn, Roseanna Hanson Bsn, Msn, Breeann Jensen Msn, Crna, Abhaya Seshachar Md, Wendy J. Kowalski Md, Oluwatobi Adegboyega Md, Marybeth Browne Md

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Peediatrics: Streamlining Uti Diagnosis And Treatment, Margaret B Cornwall, Hina Zaidi Md, Stanley Toyberman Md, Olga Schleyfer Do, Emily Coughlin

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Significant Disease In Substance-Related Deaths: A Serious Confounder, Clare F Hartman, Michael Johnson, Chandler Grant

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Detection Of Anti-Cmv Tcr Cdr3s Via Recombination Reads From Rnaseq Files Is Associated With Worse Outcomes For Low-Grade Glioma, Anna Laemmle, Kashvi Chirag Shah, Joyce Zhu, George Blanck

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Identifying Underserved Locations For Strategic Expansion Of Access To Urologic Care In The Lehigh Valley, Grace Hollis, Angelo A. Baccala Md

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Social Skill Program Development For Adults With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Clayton Stapert

Capstone Projects

This doctoral capstone experience (DCE) was completed at the Center for Disability Services (CDS) and focused on developing and implementing a social skills program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Many existing social skills programs focus on general or work-related skills, but there is a need for programs that help individuals apply social skills during real-life community activities. This project aimed to address that gap by creating a structured, occupation-based program within an adult day skill-building day center.

The program included education, group discussion, role-playing, and community outings to help participants practice skills such as interacting with cashiers, …

Conditions Affecting The Gi Tract: The Dental Professional’S Role, Sherri M. Lukes, Rdh, Ms, Faadh

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This article explores the critical role dental professionals play in identifying gastrointestinal (GI) conditions through their oral manifestations. It provides an overview of various pathologies, including HPV-induced oropharyngeal cancer, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis. The author describes specific oral signs, such as dental erosion and aphthous ulcerations, that can serve as early indicators of systemic disease. The piece advocates for an interdisciplinary approach to patient care, emphasizing that dental practitioners are often on the front lines of diagnosing serious systemic health issues.

What Ce Do I Need To Take To Renew My Dea License?, Rachel Sinacola Dds, Ms

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This resource provides practical answers to member questions about licensure and association events. It explains the new DEA requirement for a one-time eight-hour training on substance use disorders and highlights available MDA courses that fulfill this mandate. The source also details significant changes to the MDA Annual Session registration process, which now uses a simplified pass system rather than individual course registration. Additionally, it offers guidance on renewing dental licenses through the MiPLUS platform and downloading the MDA member logo.