Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Practical Scale For Multi-Faceted Organizational Health Climate Assessment, Zandra M. Zweber

Master's Theses

The current study sought to develop a practical scale to measure workplace health climate in a way that has not previously been conceptualized – as a three-faceted approach from the employee perspective serving as an indicator of a healthy organization. The goal was to create a short, useable yet comprehensive scale that could translate into practical use by organizations and occupational health professionals planning workplace interventions. To accomplish this, the proposed multi-faceted organizational health climate scale (MOHCA) assesses three-facets which match up with three organizational levels: 1) organization 2) supervisor and 3) workgroup. Ten items were developed and tested on …

An Opportunity For Diagonal Development In Global Surgery: Cleft Lip And Palate Care In Resource-Limited Settings, Christopher D. Hughes

Articles - Patient Care

Global cleft surgery missions have provided much-needed care to millions of poor patients worldwide. Still, surgical capacity in low- and middle-income countries is generally inadequate. Through surgical missions, global cleft care has largely ascribed to a vertical model of healthcare delivery, which is disease specific, and tends to deliver services parallel to, but not necessarily within, the local healthcare system. The vertical model has been used to address infectious diseases as well as humanitarian emergencies. By contrast, a horizontal model for healthcare delivery tends to focus on long-term investments in public health infrastructure and human capital and has less often …

Lc-Ms/Ms Identification Of A Bromelain Peptide Biomarker From Ananas Comosus Merr, Eric R. Secor, Steven M. Szczepanek, Linda Guernsey, Prabitha Natarajan, Karim Rezaul, David K. Han, Roger S. Thrall, Lawrence K. Silbart

UCHC Articles - Research

Bromelain (Br) is a cysteine peptidase (GenBank AEH26024.1) from pineapple, with over 40 years of clinical use. The constituents mediating its anti-inflammatory activity are not thoroughly characterized and no peptide biomarker exists. Our objective is to characterize Br raw material and identify peptides in the plasma of Br treated mice. After SDS-PAGE in-gel digestion, Br (VN#3507; Middletown, CT, USA) peptides were analyzed via LC/MS/MS using 95% protein probability, 95% peptide probability, and a minimum peptide number = 5. Br spiked mouse plasma (1 ug/ul) and plasma from i.p. treated mice (12 mg/kg) were assessed using SRM. In Br raw material, …

Bone-Specific Overexpression Of Npy Modulates Osteogenesis, I Matic, B G. Matthews, T Kizivat, J C. Igwe, D J. Adams, Ivo Kalajzic

UCHC Articles - Research

Objectives

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a peptide involved in the regulation of appetite and energy homeostasis. Genetic data indicates that NPY decreases bone formation via central and peripheral activities. NPY is produced by various cell types including osteocytes and osteoblasts and there is evidence suggesting that peripheral NPY is important for regulation of bone formation. We sought to investigate the role of bone-derived NPY in bone metabolism.

Methods

We generated a mouse where NPY was over-expressed specifically in mature osteoblasts and osteocytes (Col2.3NPY) and characterized the bone phenotype of these mice in vivo and in vitro.

Results

Trabecular and cortical …

Distinct Mechanisms Mediate Naïve And Memory Cd8 T-Cell Tolerance, Evan R. Jellison, Elizabeth G. Lingenheld, Li Zu, Lynn Puddington, Leo Lefrancois

UCHC Articles - Research

Peripheral tolerance to developmentally regulated antigens is necessary to sustain tissue homeostasis. We have now devised an inducible and reversible system that allows interrogation of T-cell tolerance induction in endogenous naïve and memory CD8 T cells. Our data show that peripheral CD8 T-cell tolerance can be preserved through two distinct mechanisms, antigen addiction leading to anergy for naïve T cells and ignorance for memory T cells. Induction of antigen in dendritic cells resulted in substantial expansion and maintenance of endogenous antigen-specific CD8 T cells. The self-reactive cells initially exhibited effector activity but eventually became unresponsive. Upon antigen removal, the antigen-specific …

Permaculture And Public Health: Mitigation Of The Lifestyle Risk Factors For Type 2 Diabetes Through The Establishment Of Permaculture Edible Forest Gardens, Brett Christopher Lehner

Honors Scholar Theses

Over the past thirty years, the incidence of type 2 diabetes and obesity has greatly increased in the United States. This paper compares the living environment of hunter-gathers to that of modern humans, in diet and activity levels, and discusses the recent increase of type 2 diabetes as a 'disease of civilization'. To address these changes in dietary composition and activity levels, an alternative agricultural model, permaculture edible forest gardening, is proposed. Permaculture edible forest gardening is an agricultural model which mimics natural ecosystem structure while consisting of entirely edible, perennial plant species. Permaculture edible forest gardens can potentially play …

Logic Modeling And The Ridiculome Under The Rug, Michael L. Blinov, Ion I. Moraru

UCHC Articles - Research

Logic-derived modeling has been used to map biological networks and to study arbitrary functional interactions, and fine-grained kinetic modeling can accurately predict the detailed behavior of well-characterized molecular systems; at present, however, neither approach comes close to unraveling the full complexity of a cell. The current data revolution offers significant promises and challenges to both approaches - and could bring them together as it has spurred the development of new methods and tools that may help to bridge the many gaps between data, models, and mechanistic understanding.

Have you used logic modeling in your research? It would not be surprising …

Defining The Developmental Parameters Of Temper Loss In Early Childhood: Implications For Developmental Psychopathology, Heide Hullsiek, Margaret J. Briggs-Gowan

UCHC Articles - Research

Abstract

Background

Temper modulation problems are both a hallmark of early childhood and a common mental health concern. Thus, characterizing specific behavioral manifestations of temper loss along a dimension from normative misbehaviors to clinically significant problems is an important step toward identifying clinical thresholds.

Methods

Parent-reported patterns of temper loss were delineated in a diverse community sample of preschoolers (n = 1,490). A developmentally sensitive questionnaire, the Multidimensional Assessment of Preschool Disruptive Behavior (MAP-DB), was used to assess temper loss in terms of tantrum features and anger regulation. Specific aims were: (a) document the normative distribution of temper loss in …

Swimming Dynamics Of The Lyme Disease Spirochete, Dhruv K. Vig, Charles W. Wolgemuth

UCHC Articles - Research

The Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, swims by undulating its cell body in the form of a traveling flat-wave, a process driven by rotating internal flagella. We study B. burgdorferi ’s swimming by treating the cell body and flagella as linearly elastic filaments. The dynamics of the cell are then determined from the balance between elastic and resistive forces and moments. We find that planar, traveling waves only exist when the flagella are effectively anchored at both ends of the bacterium and that these traveling flat-waves rotate as they undulate. The model predicts how the undulation frequency is related …

Narrative Abilities Of Optimal Outcome Children And Adolescents With A Previous History Of Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd), Joyce Suh

Master's Theses

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) have traditionally been considered a lifelong condition; however there appear to be a subset of people who make such significant improvements that they no longer meet diagnostic criteria for autism. The current study examines whether these “optimal outcome” (OO) children and adolescents continue to have subtle language and socio-cognitive deficits. Method: The narratives of 15 children and adolescents with a history of ASD who achieved optimal outcomes (OO), 15 high-functioning children and adolescents with a current ASD diagnosis (HFA), and 15 typically developing peers (TD) were evaluated. Results: OO children and adolescents have few residual …

Effect Of Rotating Acoustic Stimulus On Heart Rate Variability In Healthy Adults, Bhaskar Roy

Articles - Patient Care

Acoustic stimulus can modulate the Autonomic Nervous System. However, previous reports on this topic are conflicting and inconclusive. In this study we have shown, how rotating acoustic stimulus, a novel auditory binaural stimulus, can change the autonomic balance of the cardiac system. We have used Heart rate Variability (HRV), an indicator of autonomic modulation of heart, both in time and frequency domain to analyze the effect of stimulus on 31 healthy adults.

A decrease in the heart rate accompanied with an increase in SD and RMSSD indices on linear analysis was observed post-stimulation. In the Poincaré Plot, Minor Axis (SD1), …

Healthnet News V.27:No.3 Fall 2012, Alberta Richetelle, Judith S. Kronick

Articles - Patient Care

A newsletter for public librarians and others interested in consumer health information services.

Simultaneous Measurement And Modulation Of Multiple Physiological Parameters In The Isolated Heart Using Optical Techniques, Leslie M. Loew, Ping Yan

UCHC Articles - Research

Whole-heart multi-parametric optical mapping has provided valuable insight into the interplay of electro-physiological parameters, and this technology will continue to thrive as dyes are improved and technical solutions for imaging become simpler and cheaper. Here, we show the advantage of using improved 2nd-generation voltage dyes, provide a simple solution to panoramic multi-parametric mapping, and illustrate the application of flash photolysis of caged compounds for studies in the whole heart. For proof of principle, we used the isolated rat whole-heart model. After characterising the blue and green isosbestic points of di-4-ANBDQBS and di-4-ANBDQPQ, respectively, two voltage and calcium mapping systems are …

Tlr8: The Forgotten Relative Revindicated, Jorge L. Cervantes, Bennett Weinerman, Chaitali Basole, Juan C. Salazar

UCHC Articles - Research

The endosomal Toll-like receptors (TLRs) TLR3, TLR7, TLR8 and TLR9 are important in sensing foreign nucleic acids encountered by phagocytes. Because TLR8 was initially thought to be non-functional in mice, less is known about TLR8 than the genetically and functionally related TLR7. Originally associated with the recognition of single-stranded RNA of viral origin, there is now evidence that human TLR8 is also able to sense bacterial RNA released within phagosomal vacuoles, inducing the production of both nuclear factor (NF)-κB-dependent cytokines and type I interferons (IFNs), such as IFN-β. The functions of TLR8 extend beyond the recognition of foreign pathogens and …

Cicats Brochure 2012

Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (CICATS)

The scientific mission of CICATS is to promote clinical and translational research of medical relevance applicable to the community. For this purpose, CICATS will:

Expedite the translation of new discoveries and foster clinical & translational research

Educate and mentor new scientists

Work collaboratively to reduce health care disparities

Looking In The Mouth For Noninvasive Gene Expression-Based Methods To Detect Oral, Oropharyngeal, And Systemic Cancer, Alexander J. Adami

UCHC Articles - Research

Noninvasive diagnosis, whether by sampling body fluids, body scans, or other technique, has the potential to simplify early cancer detection. A classic example is Pap smear screening, which has helped to reduce cervical cancer 75% over the last 50 years. No test is error-free; the real concern is sufficient accuracy combined with ease of use. This paper will discuss methods that measure gene expression or epigenetic markers in oral cells or saliva to diagnose oral and pharyngeal cancers, without requiring surgical biopsy. Evidence for lung and other distal cancer detection is also reviewed.

Herpes Simplex Viruses: Mechanisms Of Dna Replication, Sandra K. Weller

UCHC Articles - Research

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) encodes seven proteins necessary for viral DNA synthesis—UL9 (origin-binding protein), ICP8 (single-strand DNA [ssDNA]-binding protein), UL30/UL42 (polymerase), and UL5/UL8/UL52 (helicase/primase). It is our intention to provide an up-to-date analysis of our understanding of the structures of these replication proteins and how they function during HSV replication. The potential roles of host repair and recombination proteins will also be discussed.

Nf-Κb Contributes To The Detrimental Effects Of Social Isolation After Experimental Stroke, Venugopal Reddy Venna, Gillian Weston, Sharon E. Benashski, Sami Tarabishy, Fudong Liu, Jun Li, Lisa H. Conti, Louise D. Mccullough

UCHC Articles - Research

Social isolation (SI) is increasingly recognized as a risk factor for stroke. Individuals with lack of social support systems have an increased incidence of stroke, poorer recovery, and greater functional decline after injury compared to individuals with social support. Attesting to the importance of social factors in stroke outcome is that these same effects can be reproducibly demonstrated in animals; social interaction improves behavioral deficits and reduces damage after experimental stroke, whereas SI enhances injury. The mechanism by which SI exacerbates injury is unclear. We investigated the role of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) signaling in male mice that were pair housed …

Gabra2 Genotype, Impulsivity, And Body Mass, Lance O. Bauer

UCHC Articles - Research

Background

The goal of this study was to test a hypothesis associating impulsivity with an elevated body mass index (BMI).

Methods

To this end, we examined associations of BMI with putative genetic, neurophysiological, psychiatric, and psychological indicators of impulsivity in 78 women and 74 men formerly dependent on alcohol or drugs. A second analysis was designed to test the replicability of the genetic findings in an independent sample of 109 women and 111 men with a similar history of substance dependence.

Results

The results of the first analysis showed that BMI was positively correlated with Total and Nonplanning Scale Scores …

Effect Of Food Security And Federal Food Assistance Participation On Household Availability And Recorded Preschool Child Consumption Of Sugar Sweetened Beverages And 100% Fruit Juice, Katherine A. Yarbrough

Master's Theses

Sugar sweetened beverage consumption is on the rise in the United States, particularly among children. However, the impact of household food security and federal food assistance participation on beverage habits has not been extensively analyzed. This paper sought to fill the current gap in literature on household beverage availability and recorded preschool child consumption of sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) and 100% fruit juice based on food security levels and status of federal food assistance participation. For this thesis, SSB are beverages that have added sugar and include fruit drinks, sodas, sports drinks, syrups, flavored milks, and teas. Baseline data from …

Development Of Repressible Systems To Control Gene Expression In Vaccinia Virus, Allison Titong

Master's Theses

Two vaccinia virus (VACV) expression systems that contain elements from the lactose (lac) and the tetracycline (tet) operons of E. coli were developed to repress the expression of a reporter gene, enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP), in the presence of tet operon inducers. In the first system, lac and tet operon elements were arranged in a gene circuit, and in the presence of increasing concentrations of a lac operon inducer (isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactoside, IPTG), EGFP expression increased in a dose dependent manner and at high IPTG concentrations, expression reached the same levels as a positive control virus. Importantly, in the …

Nuclear Dna Content And Genome Size Of American Ginseng, Samuel G. Obae

Open Access Author Fund Awardees' Articles

Flow cytometry analysis of propidium iodide (PI) stained nuclei isolated from leaf tissues was used to estimate the genome size of American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) and evaluate inhibitor y effects of its secondary compounds on PI intercalation. American ginseng nuclear DNA content was estimated to be 10.05 ± 0.04 pg/2C, and therefore its haploid (1C) genome size is 4914 Mbp. There was no significant inhibition of PI fluorescence of reference standard nuclei co-processed with American ginseng. This indicates that secondary compounds of American ginseng do not interfere with PI intercalation. By comparison, the genome size of American ginseng is …

Green Tea Extract Protects Against Fibrogenesis Associated With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease In Diet-Induced Obese Rats, Allyson M. Bower

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Active Induction Of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis By Mog35-55 Peptide Immunization Is Associated With Differential Responses In Separate Compartments Of The Choroid Plexus, Nivetha Murugesan, Debayon Paul, Yen Lemire, Bandana Shrestha, Shujun Ge, Joel S. Pachter

UCHC Articles - Research

Background

There is increasing awareness that, aside from producing cerebrospinal fluid, the choroid plexus (CP) might be a key regulator of immune activity in the central nervous system (CNS) during neuroinflammation. Specifically, the CP has recently been posited to control entry of sentinel T cells into the uninflamed CNS during the early stages of neuroinflammatory diseases, like multiple sclerosis (MS) and its animal model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). As the CP is compartmentalized into a stromal core containing fenestrated capillaries devoid of typical blood–brain barrier properties, surrounded by a tight junction-expressing choroidal epithelium, each of these compartments might mount unique …

Aortic Valve Perforation Diagnosed With Use Of 3-Dimensional Transesophageal Echocardiography, Nitya Alluri, Simi Kumar, Ravi Marfatia, Pravin Patil, Jason Ryan, Erick Avelar

Articles - Patient Care

A 62-year-old man presented with acute decompensated heart failure. His medical history included heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and infective endocarditis. Two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) showed eccentric aortic insufficiency, the mechanism and severity of which could not be accurately determined because multiple jets were present (Fig. 1A and 1B). Three-dimensional (3D) transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) of the aortic valve showed major perforations in the right coronary and noncoronary cusps and small perforations in the left coronary cusp; moderate thickening was consistent with prior endocarditis (Fig. 1C and 1D). Visual examination of the excised aortic valve confirmed these findings (Fig. 2).

Fast Rebinding Increases Dwell Time Of Src Homology 2 (Sh2)-Containing Proteins Near The Plasma Membrane, Dongmyung Oh, Mari Ogiue-Ikeda, Joshua A. Jadwin, Kazuya Machida, Bruce J. Mayer, Ji Yu

UCHC Articles - Research

Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) control a host of biological functions by phosphorylating tyrosine residues of intracellular proteins upon extracellular ligand binding. The phosphotyrosines (p-Tyr) then recruit a subset of ∼100 Src homology 2 (SH2) domain-containing proteins to the cell membrane. The in vivo kinetics of this process are not well understood. Here we use total internal reflection (TIR) microscopy and single-molecule imaging to monitor interactions between SH2 modules and p-Tyr sites near the cell membrane. We found that the dwell time of SH2 modules within the TIR illumination field is significantly longer than predictions based on chemical dissociation rate constants, …

Family-Based Genome-Wide Association Study Of Frontal Theta Oscillations Identifies Potassium Channel Gene Kcnj6, Victor M. Hesselbrock

UCHC Articles - Research

Event-related oscillations (EROs) represent highly heritable neuroelectric correlates of cognitive processes that manifest deficits in alcoholics and in offspring at high risk to develop alcoholism. Theta ERO to targets in the visual oddball task has been shown to be an endophenotype for alcoholism. A family-based genome-wide association study was performed for the frontal theta ERO phenotype using 634583 autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyped in 1560 family members from 117 families densely affected by alcohol use disorders, recruited in the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism. Genome-wide significant association was found with several SNPs on chromosome 21 in KCNJ6 …

Interleukin-1Β In Central Nervous System Injury And Repair, Nicole A. Jackman, Sandra J. Hewett, Robert J. Claycomb

UCHC Articles - Research

Acute inflammation is a self-limiting, complex biological response mounted to combat pathogen invasion, to protect against tissue damage, and to promote tissue repair should it occur. However, unabated inflammation can be deleterious and contribute to injury and pathology. Interleukin-1β (IL-1β), a prototypical “pro-inflammatory” cytokine, is essential to cellular defense and tissue repair in nearly all tissues. With respect to brain, however, studies suggest that IL-1β has pleiotrophic effects. It acts as a neuromodulator in the healthy central nervous system (CNS), has been implicated in the pathogenic processes associated with a number of CNS maladies, but may also provide protection to …

Predicting Exercise Adherence In College Students Using A Self-Determination Theory Framework, Megan M. Clarke

Master's Theses

College is a pivotal time for weight gain and unhealthy behavior changes in many young adults. Decreases in physical activity are common in this age group and likely contribute to the 1.6 to 1.8 kg weight gain that is often observed in the first year of college. Identifying groups of students who are at high-risk for decreasing or discontinuing physical activity may help develop more targeted interventions. The present study explored physical activity patterns in the first semester of college and examined predictors of exercise decreases to levels below recommended daily values within a Self-Determination Theory framework. Incoming freshman (n=174; …

Dietary Protein Influences Paracellular Calcium Transport: Two Molecular Targets, Belinda M. Kotler

Master's Theses

The effect of dietary protein on bone health remains controversial. We have shown that increasing dietary protein increases calcium absorption in both humans and rats with no change in bone resorption. We used a rat model in which dietary protein increases intestinal calcium absorption and whole body calcium retention, to explore the molecular basis for this effect. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a low (5%) or high (40%) protein diet for 7 days. On day 7, duodenal mucosa was harvested and total RNA isolated. Microarray analyses using these RNA samples identified 208 genes whose expression was at least 1.5 fold …