Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Nano-Pulse Stimulation For The Treatment Of Pancreatic Cancer And The Changes In Immune Profile, Sigi Guo, Niculina I. Burcus, James Hornef, Yu Jing, Chunqi Jiang, Richard Heller, Stephen J. Beebe

Bioelectrics Publications

A Pancreatic cancer is a notorious malignant neoplasm with an extremely poor prognosis. Current standard of care is rarely effective against late-stage pancreatic cancer. In this study, we assessed nanopulse stimulation (NPS) as a local treatment for pancreatic cancer in a syngeneic mouse Pan02 pancreatic cancer model and characterized corresponding changes in the immune profile. A single NPS treatment either achieved complete tumor regression or prolonged overall survival in animals with partial tumor regression. While this is very encouraging, we also explored if this local ablation effect could also result in immune stimulation, as was observed when NPS led to …

Enhanced Electric Pulse Technology For The Ablation Of Pancreatic Cancer, Siqi Guo, Niculina I. Burcus, Chelsea M. Edelblute, James Hornef, Chunqi Jiang, Karl Schoenbach, Richard Heller, Stephen J. Beebe

Bioelectrics Publications

Electric pulse based technology has been developed and studied as a non-thermal ablation method for local control of pancreatic cancer. Irreversible electroporation (IRE) has shown a significant survival benefit for local advanced pancreatic cancer in clinical trials. However, incomplete ablation with local recurrence and major complications limit the potential of this new technology. We have developed an integrated moderate heating electric pulse delivery system which consists of controllable tumor heating, multi-parameter monitoring and electric pulse delivery. The impedance of tumor is greatly decreased after moderate heating at 42°C for 1–2 min, which does not cause any cell death. Moderate heating …

Predicting Speech-Language Pathology Graduate Student Success: Executive Functions And Standardized Admission Tests, Jane E. Roitsch

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Within the next three years, the number of available speech-language pathology (SLP) jobs is projected to increase by 18% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018). The most logical response to the escalating market demand would be to increase the number of students admitted into SLP graduate programs. However, this may not be as simple as it sounds.

Successful training of graduate SLP clinicians requires the professional, emotional, financial, and time commitments of the program’s clinical and academic faculty. The accreditation status of graduate SLP programs is based in part on graduation completion rates and students passing the national examination in SLP, …

A Single Campus Study Of The Green Dot Bystander Intervention Program, Brittany F. Hollis

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Sexual assault is a serious public health issue that is especially problematic on college campuses. To combat sexual violence on college campuses prevention programs have been instituted by many universities. One such prevention program, the Green Dot program, works to teach students what constitutes sexual violence and how to prevent it by increasing bystander intervention. The current study examined the effectiveness of Green Dot at a large southeastern university. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was used as the theoretical framework. TPB examines how efficacy, attitudes, and norms influence behavior. Students were recruited to participate in the Green Dot program …

Electrotransfer Of Different Control Plasmids Elicits Different Antitumor Effectiveness In B16.F10 Melanoma, Masa Bosnjak, Tanjo Jesenko, Urska Kamensek, Gregor Sersa, Jaka Lavrencak, Loree Heller, Maja Cemazar

Bioelectrics Publications

Several studies have shown that different control plasmids may cause antitumor action in different murine tumor models after gene electrotransfer (GET). Due to the differences in GET protocols, plasmid vectors, and experimental models, the observed antitumor effects were incomparable. Therefore, the current study was conducted comparing antitumor effectiveness of three different control plasmids using the same GET parameters. We followed cytotoxicity in vitro and the antitumor effect in vivo after GET of control plasmids pControl, pENTR/U6 scr and pVAX1 in B16.F10 murine melanoma cells and tumors. Types of cell death and upregulation of selected cytosolic DNA sensors and cytokines were …

Factors Associated With Prolonged Length Of Stay For Elective Hepatobiliary And Neurosurgery Patients: A Retrospective Medical Record Review, Siu Yin Lee, Soo-Hoon Lee, Jenny H.H. Tan, Howard S.L. Foo, Phillip H. Phan, Alfred W.C. Kow, Sein Lwin, Penelope M.Y. Seah, Siti Zubaidah Mordiffi

Management Faculty Publications

Background: Patients with prolonged length of hospital stay (LOS) not only increase their risks of nosocomial infections but also deny other patients access to inpatient care. Hepatobiliary (HPB) malignancies have some of highest incidences in East and Southeast Asia and the management of patients undergoing HPB surgeries have yet to be standardized. With improved neurosurgery techniques for intracranial aneurysms and tumors, neurosurgeries (NS) can be expected to increase. Elective surgeries account for far more operations than emergencies surgeries. Thus, with potentially increased numbers of elective HPB and NS, this study seeks to explore perioperative factors associated with prolonged LOS for …

Nanopulse Stimulation (Nps) Induces Tumor Ablation And Immunity In Orthotopic 4t1 Mouse Breast Cancer: A Review, Stephen J. Beebe, Brittany P. Lassiter, Siqi Guo

Bioelectrics Publications

Nanopulse Stimulation (NPS) eliminates mouse and rat tumor types in several different animal models. NPS induces protective, vaccine-like effects after ablation of orthotopic rat N1-S1 hepatocellular carcinoma. Here we review some general concepts of NPS in the context of studies with mouse metastatic 4T1 mammary cancer showing that the postablation, vaccine-like effect is initiated by dynamic, multilayered immune mechanisms. NPS eliminates primary 4T1 tumors by inducing immunogenic, caspase-independent programmed cell death (PCD). With lower electric fields, like those peripheral to the primary treatment zone, NPS can activate dendritic cells (DCs). The activation of DCs by dead/dying cells leads to increases …

Towards Blockchain Empowered Trusted And Accountable Data Sharing And Collaboration In Mobile Healthcare Applications, Xueping Liang, Sachin Shetty, Deepak Tosh, Daniel Bowden, Laurent Njilla, Charles Kamhoua

VMASC Publications

Enabled by mobile and wearable technology, personal health data delivers immense and increasing value for healthcare, benefiting both care providers and medical research. The secure and convenient sharing of personal health data is crucial to the improvement of the interaction and collaboration of the healthcare industry. Faced with the potential privacy issues and vulnerabilities existing in current personal health data storage and sharing systems, as well as the blockchain integration concerns summarized in this paper, an innovative user-centric health data sharing solution by utilizing a decentralized but permissioned blockchain is proposed to protect privacy and enhance access management, with the …

Range Expansion Of Tick Disease Vectors In North America: Implications For Spread Of Tick-Borne Disease, Daniel E. Sonenshine

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Ticks are the major vectors of most disease-causing agents to humans, companion animals and wildlife. Moreover, ticks transmit a greater variety of pathogenic agents than any other blood-feeding arthropod. Ticks have been expanding their geographic ranges in recent decades largely due to climate change. Furthermore, tick populations in many areas of their past and even newly established localities have increased in abundance. These dynamic changes present new and increasing severe public health threats to humans, livestock and companion animals in areas where they were previously unknown or were considered to be of minor importance. Here in this review, the geographic …

Normative Functional Performance Values In High School Athletes: The Functional Pre-Participation Evaluation Project, James A. Onate, Cambrie Starkel, Daniel R. Clifton, Thomas M. Best, James Borchers, Ajit Chaudhari, Eric Schussler, Bonnie L. Van Lunen

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Context: The fourth edition of the Preparticipation Physical Evaluation recommends functional testing for the musculoskeletal portion of the examination; however, normative data across sex and grade level are limited. Establishing normative data can provide clinicians reference points with which to compare their patients, potentially aiding in the development of future injury-risk assessments and injury-mitigation programs.

Objective: To establish normative functional performance and limb-symmetry data for high school-aged male and female athletes in the United States.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Athletic training facilities and gymnasiums across the United States.

Patients or Other Participants: A total of 3951 male and female athletes …

Association Between Vitamin D Status And Testosterone And Cortisol In Ice Hockey Players, John S. Fitzgerald, Joanna Orysiak, Patrick B. Wilson, Joanna Mazur-Różycka, Zbigniew Obinski

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications

The identification of the vitamin D receptor in tissues related to testosterone and cortisol production, in conjunction with the observed correlations between vitamin D levels and these hormones in the general population, suggest vitamin D may influence testosterone and cortisol concentrations in athletes. A crosssectional study design was used to evaluate the association between 25(OH)D and testosterone and cortisol concentrations in young male ice hockey players (n = 50). All athletes were recruited during October from the Sosnowiec area, Poland (50° N). Commercially available ELISA kits were used to determine total serum 25(OH)D, testosterone and cortisol concentrations. Serum 25(OH)D …

Targeting Ovarian Cancer And Endothelium With An Allosteric Ptp4a3 Phosphatase Inhibitor, Kelley E. Mcqueeney, Joseph M. Salamoun, James C. Burnett, Nektarios Barabutis, Paula Pekic, Sophie L. Lewandowski, Danielle C. Llaneza, Robert Cornelison, Yunpeng Bai, Zhong-Yin Zhang, John D. Catravas

Bioelectrics Publications

Overexpression of protein tyrosine phosphatase PTP4A oncoproteins is common in many human cancers and is associated with poor patient prognosis and survival. We observed elevated levels of PTP4A3 phosphatase in 79% of human ovarian tumor samples, with significant overexpression in tumor endothelium and pericytes. Furthermore, PTP4A phosphatases appear to regulate several key malignant processes, such as invasion, migration, and angiogenesis, suggesting a pivotal regulatory role in cancer and endothelial signaling pathways. While phosphatases are attractive therapeutic targets, they have been poorly investigated because of a lack of potent and selective chemical probes. In this study, we disclose that a potent, …

Esope-Equivalent Pulsing Protocols For Calcium Electroporation: An In Vitro Optimization Study On 2 Cancer Cell Models, Stefania Romeo, Anna Sannino, Maria Rosaria Scarfi, P. Thomas Vernier, Ruggero Cadossi, Julie Gehl, Olga Zeni

Bioelectrics Publications

Reversible electroporation is used to increase the uptake of chemotherapeutic drugs in local tumor treatment (electrochemotherapy) by applying the pulsing protocol (8 rectangular pulses, 1000 V/cm, 100 µs) standardized in the framework of the European Standard Operating Procedure on Electrochemotherapy multicenter trial. Currently, new electrochemotherapy strategies are under development to extend its applicability to tumors with different histology. Electrical parameters and drug type are critical factors. A possible approach is to test pulse parameters different from European Standard Operating Procedure on Electrochemotherapy but with comparable electroporation yield (European Standard Operating Procedure on Electrochemotherapy-equivalent protocols). Moreover, the use of non-toxic drugs …

8890: Athletic Training Student Application Of Patient-Centered Care During Clinical Education: A Report From The Athletic Training Clinical Education Network, J. M. Cavallario, C. E. Welch Bacon, S. E. Walker, R. C. Bay, B. L. Van Lunen

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Context: Patient-centered care (PCC) is the most frequently implemented core competency by students in health care education programs, and is more likely to be included when students and preceptors are jointly treating patients during clinical education. However, past research has examined only self-identification of implementation, not the inclusion of components of the competency during patient encounters (PEs).

Objective: To assess whether athletic training students (ATSs) are integrating concepts of PCC during PEs as a part of their clinical education experiences.

Design: Multisite, panel design.

Setting: Three Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education-accredited professional athletic training programs (2 baccalaureate, 1 …

8902: Athletic Training Student Application Of Evidence-Based Practice During Clinical Education: A Report From The Athletic Training Clinical Education Network, B. L. Van Lunen, J. M. Cavallario, S. E. Walker, R. C. Bay, C. E. Welch Bacon

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Context: Previous research has demonstrated that the translation of evidence-based practice (EBP) from didactic environments to clinical practice can be difficult. The level to which athletic training students (ATSs) incorporate EBP during clinical experiences is still largely unknown. Objective: To assess whether ATSs are integrating concepts of EBP during patient encounters (PEs) as a part of their clinical experiences. Design: Multisite, panel design. Setting: Three Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education-accredited professional athletic training programs (2 baccalaureate, 1 postbaccalaureate). Patients or Other Participants: One thousand three hundred nineteen PEs (539 pediatric patients, 775 adult patients, 5 missing) were entered …

8870: Program Administrators' Perceived Challenges Associated With Developing Preceptors, J. L. Rager, J. M. Cavallario, D. A. Hankemeier, C. E. Welch Bacon, S. E. Walker

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Context: While research has revealed the characteristics, behaviors, and skills that help improve preceptors' success in meeting the objectives of clinical education, a gap in the literature exists as to how preceptors are being developed to ensure they exhibit such characteristics, behaviors, and skills. Understanding potential barriers that prevent program administrators from providing high-quality preceptor development opportunities will help develop future strategies and initiatives that enhance the development of preceptors. Objective: To explore the challenges program administrators (ie, program directors, clinical education coordinators) encounter when developing preceptors for graduate professional athletic training programs. Design: A consensual qualitative research approach guided …

8893: Athletic Training Student Application Of Health Information Technology During Clinical Education: A Report From The Athletic Training Clinical Education Network, C. E. Welch Bacon, S. E. Walker, J. M. Cavallario, R. C. Bay, B. L. Van Lunen

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Context: Health information technology (HIT) is becoming ubiquitous in health care, so it is essential to ensure professional athletic training students (ATSs) are gaining exposure to the concepts of HIT throughout their clinical experiences. Research has demonstrated that when ATSs observe patient encounters (PEs) they are less likely to implement HIT; however, it is still unclear how or to what extent ATSs are incorporating concepts of HIT during individual PEs. Objective: To assess whether ATSs are integrating concepts of HIT during PEs as part of their clinical experiences. Design: Multisite, panel design. Setting: Convenience sample of 3 Commission on Accreditation …

8892: Athletic Training Student Application Of Interprofessional Education During Clinical Education: A Report From The Athletic Training Clinical Education Network, S. E. Walker, J. M. Cavallario, C. E. Welch Bacon, R. C. Bay, B. L. Van Lunen

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Context: Past research has identified interprofessional education (IPE) as a challenging core competency to incorporate into health care education, and suggested that the lack of IPE is a barrier to students' ability to provide patient-centered care. The extent to which IPE is being incorporated into athletic training clinical experiences for athletic training students (ATSs) is still largely unknown. Objective: To assess whether ATSs are integrating concepts of IPE during patient encounters (PEs) during their clinical education. Design: Multisite, panel design. Setting: Three Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education-accredited professional athletic training programs (2 baccalaureate, 1 postbaccalaureate) via convenience sampling. …

Athletic Training Student Core Competency Implementation During Patient Encounters, Julie M. Cavallario, Bonnie L. Van Lunen, Johanna M. Hoch, Matthew Hoch, Sarah A. Manspeaker, Shana L. Pribesh

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Context: Health care research evidence suggests that early patient encounters (PEs), as well as the purposeful implementation of professional core competencies (CCs), for athletic training students (ATSs) may be beneficial to their ability to provide care. However, no investigators have related facets of the clinical education experience with CC implementation as a form of summative assessment of the clinical experience.

Objective: To determine the relationship between the frequency and length of PEs, as well as the student's role and clinical site during PEs, and the students' perceived CC implementation during these encounters.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Professional athletic training program, …

Inter-Rater Agreement And Validity Of A Tackling Performance Assessment Scale In Youth American Football, Eric Schussler, Richard J. Jagacinski, Susan E. White, Ajit M. Chaudhari, John A. Buford, James A. Onate

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Long term neurologic injury and concussion have been identified as risks from participation in American football. Altering tackling form has been recommended to reduce the risk of neurologic injury caused by head accelerations when tackling. The purpose of this research is to determine the inter-rater agreement and validity of the Qualitative Youth Tackling System (QYTS), a six-item feedback scale to correct tackling form, when utilized by novice and expert raters.

Hypothesis: Experienced raters will have higher levels of agreement with each other and with motion capture when compared to novice raters. Methods: Both novice and experienced raters viewed video …

The Effect Of Tackling Training On Head Accelerations In Youth American Football, Eric Schussler, Richard J. Jagacinski, Susan E. White, Ajit M. Chaudhari, John A. Buford, James A. Onate

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Many organizations have introduced frameworks to reduce the incidence of football related concussions through proper equipment fitting, coach education, and alteration of tackling technique.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of training in a vertical, head up tackling style on the number of head accelerations experienced while tackling in a controlled laboratory situation. The authors hypothesized that training in a head up tackling technique would reduce the severity of head acceleration experienced by participants.

Design: Controlled Laboratory Study.

Methods: Twenty-four participants (11.5 ± 0.6 years old, 60.5 ± 2.2 in, 110 ± 18.4 lbs.) …

Grip Force Control Using Prosthetic And Anatomical Limbs, Michael S. Trujillo, Daniel M. Russell, David I. Anderson, Marilyn Mitchell

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Introduction

Skillful object manipulation in various activities of daily living requires accurate and economical modulation of grip force, yet experimental studies investigating grip force using a prosthesis are lacking. The purpose of this study was to compare grip force output between two types of upper-limb prosthetic prehensors. We hypothesized a relationship between grip force output and the muscular tension needed to control the prehensor.

Materials and Methods

Ten able-bodied participants attempted to produce a static target grip force using a voluntary opening and voluntary closing prosthetic simulator and their anatomical hand. The target forces were 0.49 N, 4 N, and …

Association Between Acculturation And Body Weight Status Among Migrant Children In Guangzhou, China: A Cross-Sectional Study, Xiaoling Huang, Wen Chen, Yanwei Lin, Qi Zhang, Li Ling

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Objective To assess the association between acculturation and body weight status among internal migrant children in China. Design, setting and participants A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1154 pairs of migrant children aged 11–17 years and their primary caregivers in Guangzhou, China, from April to May 2016. Measures Migrant children’s body weight status was measured by body mass index. Acculturation was measured by a questionnaire, developed and validated by the research team. The questionnaire had three dimensions with five factors, namely language, social interaction, custom, dressing and diet. Social anxiety was measured by Social Anxiety Scale for Children. Food intake …

Making A Global Impact One Vaccine At A Time, Janice E. Hawkins, Deborah C. Gray

Ellmer School of Nursing Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) Did you know that, worldwide, almost one third of deaths among children under age 5 can be prevented by vaccines? It's stunning to think that one child dies every 20 seconds from an immunization-preventable disease. That equates to 12 lives that could be saved in the time it takes to read this brief article!

Size-Dependent Inhibitory Effects Of Antibiotic Drug Nanocarriers Against Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Feng Ding, Preeyaporn Songkiatisak, Pavan Kumar Cherukuri, Tao Huang, Xiao-Hong Nancy Xu

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Multidrug membrane transporters (efflux pumps) are responsible for multidrug resistance (MDR) and the low efficacy of therapeutic drugs. Noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) possess a high surface-area-to-volume ratio and size-dependent plasmonic optical properties, enabling them to serve both as imaging probes to study sized-dependent MDR and as potential drug carriers to circumvent MDR and enhance therapeutic efficacy. To this end, in this study, we synthesized three different sizes of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs), 2.4 ± 0.7, 13.0 ± 3.1, and 92.6 ± 4.4 nm, functionalized their surface with a monolayer of 11-amino-1-undecanethiol (AUT), and covalently conjugated them with antibiotics (ofloxacin, Oflx) …

Novel Survivin Inhibitor For Suppressing Pancreatic Cancer Cells Growth Via Downregulating Sp1 And Sp3 Transciption Factors, Myrna Hurtado, Umesh T. Sankpal, Aboubacar Kaba, Shahela Mahammad, Jaya Chhabra, Deondra T. Brown, Raj K. Gurung, Alvin A. Holder, Jamboor K. Vishwanatha, Riyaz Basha

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Background/Aims: Targeting survivin, an anti-apoptotic protein and mitotic regulator, is considered as an effective therapeutic option for pancreatic cancer (PaCa). Tolfenamic acid (TA) showed anti-cancer activity in pre-clinical studies. A recent discovery demonstrated a copper(II) complex of TA (Cu-TA) can result in higher activity. In this study, the ability of Cu-TA to inhibit survivin and its transcription factors, Specificity protein (Sp) 1 and 3 in PaCa cell lines and tumor growth in mouse xenograft model were evaluated.

Methods: Cell growth inhibition was measured in MIA PaCa-2 and Panc1 cells for 2 days using CellTiter-Glo kit. Sp1, Sp3 and survivin expression …

A Purification And In Vitro Activity Assay For A (P)Ppgpp Synthetase From Clostridium Difficile, Astha Pokhrel, Asia Poudel, Erin B. Purcell

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Kinase and pyrophosphokinase enzymes transfer the gamma phosphate or the beta-gamma pyrophosphate moiety from nucleotide triphosphate precursors to substrates to create phosphorylated products. The use of γ-³²-P labeled NTP precursors allows simultaneous monitoring of substrate utilization and product formation by radiography. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) on cellulose plates allows rapid separation and sensitive quantification of substrate and product. We present a method for utilizing the thin-layer chromatography to assay the pyrophosphokinase activity of a purified (p)ppGpp synthetase. This method has previously been used to characterize the activity of cyclic nucleotide and dinucleotide synthetases and is broadly suitable for …

Needlestick Injury Prevention Training Among Health Care Workers In The Caribbean, Muge Akpinar-Elci, Satesh Bisaisee, Praveen Durgampudi, Roger Radix, Julietta Rodriquez-Guzman, Myngoc Thuy Nguyen, Omur Cinar Elci

Center for Global Health Publications

The rate of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections among health care workers that is caused by sharps injuries is higher in the Caribbean and Latin America than in other regions of the world. To respond to and reduce occupational exposures to bloodborne pathogens while also strengthening capacities in the Caribbean, needlestick injury prevention training programs for health care workers were implemented, beginning in 2011. The programs included lectures, workshops, policy reviews, evaluations of safety devices, and workplace assessment. During the training, baseline data from health care workers on their personal history …

Well-Being And Mental Health Impact Of Household Flooding In Guyana, The Caribbean, Muge Akpinar-Elci, Shanomae Rose, Michele Kekeh

Center for Global Health Publications

Guyana has annually experienced excessive rainfall and flooding since 2005. This study investigated the general well-being and mental health problems among occupants of households affected by the December 2008 flooding in Guyana. A cross-sectional study design was used to administer validated questionnaires, which included sections on demographics, environmental exposure, general health, and personal behavior. The response rate to the survey was 70% (130/185). The findings indicate an increased self-reported poor health for study participants who smelled moldy odors inside of their home (OR: 4.1, 95% CI: 2.0‐12.0) and for individuals who had mold or mildew inside of their homes (OR: …

A Comparison Of Outcome Measures For Speech Motor Learning In Acquired Apraxia Of Speech Using Motor Learning Guided Treatment, Rachel K. Johnson, Aileen Lott, Jessica Prebor

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate potential benefits of using a qualitative and quantitative outcome measure of articulation accuracy and suprasegmental characteristics in isolation for speech motor learning in acquired apraxia of speech (AOS).

Methods: Baseline, retention, and maintenance measures from an oral reading task of 2 speakers with chronic AOS and aphasia were rated using an 11-point multidimensional rating scale accounting for articulation and immediacy and a hybrid scale measuring number of correctly produced words, presence of distortions in correctly produced words, and immediacy of the production. Participants received motor learning guided treatment two days …