Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Cultural Competence Amongst Undergraduate Healthcare Students (Spring 2019), Mary Lee, Tiffany Yip, Teresa Lok, Zoya Vinokur

Publications and Research

As students in the healthcare field, we want to be able to provide care that best serves the needs of a culturally diverse patient body. This study aims to look at whether healthcare students at City Tech are able to clearly define and understand the concepts of cultural competence and implicit bias in their healthcare encounters. Our research expands upon existing data from the previous

year. We opened the scope of the project to include students in non-healthcare majors to understand how the general student population perceives their healthcare encounters. While focusing on improving our data analysis, we distributed two …

Validity And Reliability Of The Exercise Vital Sign Questionnaire In An Ethnically Diverse Group: A Pilot Study, Noberto N. Quiles, Aston K. Mccullough, Lin Piao

Publications and Research

The purpose of this study was to determine the validity and reliability of the Exercise Vital Sign (EVS) questionnaire in an ethnically diverse sample. Participants (N = 39) were asked to wear an accelerometer at the hip for at least 7 days and to complete the EVS at the beginning (T1) and end (T2) of the wear period. The EVS questionnaire validity was determined against accelerometry, and bias was calculated as the mean difference between measures. The sensitivity and specificity of the EVS questionnaire were also evaluated. The reliability of the questionnaire was calculated using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between …

Effects Of The Kcnq Channel Opener Ezogabine On Functional Connectivity Of The Ventral Striatum And Clinical Symptoms In Patients With Major Depressive Disorder, Aaron Tan, Sara Costi, Laurel S. Morris, Nicholas T. Van Dam, Marin Kautz, Alexis E. Whitton, Allyson K. Friedman, Katherine A. Collins, Gabriella Ahle, Nisha Chadha, Brian Do, Diego A. Pizzagalli, Dan V. Iosifescu, Eric J. Nestler, Ming-Hu Han, James W. Murrough

Publications and Research

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a leading cause of disability worldwide, yet current treatment strategies remain limited in their mechanistic diversity. Recent evidence has highlighted a promising novel pharmaceutical target—the KCNQ-type potassium channel—for the treatment of depressive disorders, which may exert a therapeutic effect via functional changes within the brain reward system, including the ventral striatum. The current study assessed the effects of the KCNQ channel opener ezogabine (also known as retigabine) on reward circuitry and clinical symptoms in patients with MDD. Eighteen medication-free individuals with MDD currently in a major depressive episode were enrolled in an open-label study and …

A Two-Way Interactive Text Messaging Application For Low-Income Patients With Chronic Medical Conditions: Design-Thinking Development Approach, Monika Marko-Holguin, Stephanie Luz Cordel, Benjamin William Van Voorhees, Joshua Fogel, Emily Sykes, Marian Fitzgibbon, Anne Elizabeth Glassgow

Publications and Research

Background: Two-way interactive text messaging between patient and community health workers (CHWs) through mobile phone SMS (short message service) text messaging is a form of digital health that can potentially enhance patient engagement in young adults and families that have a child with chronic medical conditions such as diabetes mellitus, sickle cell disease, and asthma. These patients have complex needs, and a user-centered way can be useful for designing a tool to address their needs.

Objective: The aim of this study was to utilize the user-centered approach of design thinking to develop a two-way interactive communication SMS text messaging tool …

Modeling Changes In Cellular Micro-Environment In Mild To Moderate Head Trauma, Xiangfu Zhang, Subhendra N. Sarkar Phd, Rt

Publications and Research

Our work aims to connect and model multiple small, inter-related tissue injuries as a consequence of mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI). It has been shown that frontal and temporal lobes are vulnerable regions for brain traumatic injury. A brain injury from a blow or high-speed impact can cause undersurface of the frontal and temporal lobes to deform against the anterior and cranial fossae. This deformation can often trigger damage to the cerebral vasculature, which is ill-understood and can result in chronic damage to larger vessels over time. These physiological injuries can be manifested psychologically; such as patients’ sleep-wake disturbances. The …

Neural Indices Of Vowel Discrimination In Monolingual And Bilingual Infants And Children, Yan H. Yu, Carol Tessel, Henry Han, Luca Campanelli, Nancy Vidal, Jennifer Gerometta, Karen Garrido-Nag, Hia Datta, Valerie L. Shafer

Publications and Research

Objectives: To examine maturation of neural discriminative responses to an English vowel contrast from infancy to 4 years of age and to determine how biological factors (age and sex) and an experiential factor (amount of Spanish versus English input) modulate neural discrimination of speech.

Design: Event-related potential (ERP) mismatch responses (MMRs) were used as indices of discrimination of the American English vowels [ε] versus [I] in infants and children between 3 months and 47 months of age. A total of 168 longitudinal and cross-sectional data sets were collected from 98 children (Bilingual Spanish–English: 47 male and 31 female …

Initial Evaluation Of Computer-Assisted Radiologic Assessment For Renal Mass Edge Detection As An Indication Of Tumor Roughness To Predict Renal Cancer Subtypes, Rahul Rajendran, Kevan Iffrig, Deepak K. Pruthi, Allison Wheeler, Brian Neuman, Dharam Kaushik, Ahmed M. Mansour, Karen Panetta, Sos Agaian, Michael A. Liss

Publications and Research

Objective. To develop software to assess the potential aggressiveness of an incidentally detected renal mass using images. Methods. Thirty randomly selected patients who underwent nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) had their images independently reviewed by engineers. Tumor “Roughness” was based on image algorithm of tumor topographic features visualized on computed tomography (CT) scans. Univariant and multivariant statistical analyses are utilized for analysis. Results. We investigated 30 subjects that underwent partial or radical nephrectomy. After excluding poor image-rendered images, 27 patients remained (benign cyst = 1, oncocytoma = 2, clear cell RCC = 15, papillary RCC = …

The Criminogenic And Psychological Effects Of Police Stops On Adolescent Black And Latino Boys, Juan Del Toro, Tracey Lloyd, Kim S. Buchanan, Summer Joi Robins, Lucy Zhang Bencharit, Meredith Gamson Smiedt, Kavita S. Reddy, Enrique Rodriguez Pouget, Erin M. Kerrison, Philip Atiba Goff

Publications and Research

Proactive policing, the strategic targeting of people or places to prevent crimes,is a well-studied tactic that is ubiquitous in modern law enforcement. A 2017 National Academies of Sciences report reviewed existing literature, entrenched in deterrence theory, and found evidence that proactive policing strategies can reduce crime. The existing literature, however, does not explore what the short and long-term effects of police contact are for young people who are subjected to high rates of contact with law enforcement as a result of proactive policing. Using four waves of longitudinal survey data from a sample of predominantly black and Latino boys in …

All-Optical Control Of Lead Halide Perovskite Microlasers, Nan Zhang, Yubin Fan, Kaiyang Wang, Zhiyuan Gu, Yuhan Wang, Li Ge, Shumin Xiao, Qinghai Song

Publications and Research

Lead halide perovskites based microlasers have recently shown their potential in nanophotonics. However, up to now, all of the perovskite microlasers are static and cannot be dynamically tuned in use. Herein, we demonstrate a robust mechanism to realize the alloptical control of perovskite microlasers. In lead halide perovskite microrods, deterministic mode switching takes place as the external excitation is increased: the onset of a new lasing mode switches off the initial one via a negative power slope, while the main laser characteristics are well kept. This mode switching is reversible with the excitation and has been explained via cross-gain saturation. …

Why Doula Services Should Become An Essential Health Benefit In New York State, Jalisha Hanshaw, Amy White

Publications and Research

Doulas are birth workers who assist expecting mothers through pregnancy, birth and postpartum using holistic techniques. Techniques include: prenatal yoga, birth affirmations and induction acupuncture. Doulas are underrated healthcare providers who deserve the same respect as clinical and non-clinical providers. Doulas are well-rounded alternative care providers who focus on mental, emotional, and physical well being of mothers. Also, they know special alternative medical techniques that prevent mothers from maternal mortality among other negative health outcomes. The amount of time and effort doulas perform with expecting mothers are equal or more than the average medical healthcare provider and should be a …

Polydopamine As A Biomaterial For Hydrogels, Abdulhaq Syed, Elena Dermendzhieva, Josiah Hicks, Madeline Wong, Naphtali O'Connor

Publications and Research

Hydrogels are networked polymers with hydrophilicity that helps them to retain an ample amount of water. Recent research on hydrogels have been focusing on their use as tissue scaffolding, wound dressings, and drug delivery agents. Polydopamine is formed from the oxidation of dopamine and is attractive as a biomaterial because of the adhesive properties it imparts due to the catechol motif. We proposed polydopamine may behave utility as an antioxidant, as its precursor dopamine has antioxidant properties. We recently developed a method of preparing polysaccharide-polyamine hybrid hydrogels by first reacting the less reactive polysaccharides with the cross-linker epichlorohydrin and completed …

Effects Of Vitamin D3 And Its Chemical Analogs On The Growth Of Hodgkin’S Lymphoma, In Vitro, Rajendra Ghardbaran, Bo Zhang, Luis Valerio, Onyekwere Onwumere, Madeline Wong, Jason Mighty, Stephen Redenti

Publications and Research

Objective: Vitamin D receptor (VDR) activities have been noted for a number of B cell malignancies which showed varying sensitivities to vitamin D3 (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, VD3, calcitriol) and its synthetic analogs. The objective of this study was to address the potential effects of VD3 and vitamin D3 analogs (VDAs) on the growth of Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL), a malignant pathology of B cell origin, in vitro.

Results: Immunofluorescence staining showed the expression of VDR by primary Hodgkin’s (H) and Reed–Sternberg (RS)—HRS-tumor cells in HL histological sections. Western blot analyses revealed expression of VDR in the HL cell lines Hs445, HDLM2, KMH2, …

Deep Learning Enables Robust Assessment And Selection Of Human Blastocysts After In Vitro Fertilization, Pegah Khosravi, Ehsan Kazemi, Qiansheng Zhan, Jonas E. Malmsten, Marco Toschi, Pantelis Zisimopoulos, Alexandros Sigaras, Stuart Lavery, Lee A. D. Cooper, Cristina Hickman, Marcos Meseguer, Zev Rosenwaks, Olivier Elemento, Nikica Zaninovic, Iman Hajirasouliha

Publications and Research

Visual morphology assessment is routinely used for evaluating of embryo quality and selecting human blastocysts for transfer after in vitro fertilization (IVF). However, the assessment produces different results between embryologists and as a result, the success rate of IVF remains low. To overcome uncertainties in embryo quality, multiple embryos are often implanted resulting in undesired multiple pregnancies and complications. Unlike in other imaging fields, human embryology and IVF have not yet leveraged artificial intelligence (AI) for unbiased, automated embryo assessment. We postulated that an AI approach trained on thousands of embryos can reliably predict embryo quality without human intervention. We …

Creating Oral Health Awareness: Happy Teeth Make Healthy Teeth, Roseanna M. Torres, Dirien Santos, Tatyana Aksaeva, Hanna Jo, Nastassia Liaushun, Anty Lam

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

When Public Health Gets Shut Down, All Americans Suffer, And The Most Vulnerable Are First, Alfredo Morabia

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Case Presentation On Congestive Heart Failure And Pulmonary Edema, Tetiana Soloviova, Denise Aris

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Comparative Clinical Outcomes Between Direct Oral Anticoagulants And Warfarin Among Elderly Patients With Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation In The Cms Medicare Population, Alpesh Amin, Oluwaseyi Dina, Allison Keshishian, Amol Dhamane, Anagha Nadkarni, Eric Carda, Cristina Russ, Lisa Rosenblatt, Jack Mardekian, Huseyin Yuce, Christine L. Baker

Publications and Research

Atrial fibrillation (AF) prevalence increases with age; > 80% of US adults with AF are aged ≥ 65 years. Compare the risk of stroke/systemic embolism (SE), major bleeding (MB), net clinical outcome (NCO), and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) among elderly non-valvular AF (NVAF) Medicare patients prescribed direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) vs warfarin. NVAF patients aged ≥ 65 years who initiated DOACs (apixaban, dabigatran, and rivaroxaban) or warfarin were selected from 01JAN2013-31DEC2015 in CMS Medicare data. Propensity score matching was used to balance DOAC and warfarin cohorts. Cox proportional hazards models estimated the risk of stroke/SE, MB, NCO, and MACE. 37,525 …

Glycine Supplementation Extends Lifespan Of Male And Female Mice, Richard A. Miller, David E. Harrison, C. Michael Astle, Molly A. Bogue, Joel Brind, Elizabeth Fernandez, Kevin Flurkey, Martin Javors, Warren Ladiges, Christiaan Leeuwenburgh, Francesca Macchiarini, James Nelson, Alexey G. Ryazanov, Jessica Snyder, Timothy M. Stearns, Douglas E. Vaughan, Randy Strong

Publications and Research

Diets low in methionine extend lifespan of rodents, though through unknown mechanisms. Glycine can mitigate methionine toxicity, and a small prior study has suggested that supplemental glycine could extend lifespan of Fischer 344 rats. We therefore evaluated the effects of an 8% glycine diet on lifespan and pathology of genetically heterogeneous mice in the context of the Interventions Testing Program. Elevated glycine led to a small (4%–6%) but statistically significant lifespan increase, as well as an increase in maximum lifespan, in both males (p = 0.002) and females (p < 0.001). Pooling across sex, glycine increased lifespan at each of the three independent sites, with significance at p = 0.01, 0.053, and 0.03, respectively. Glycinesupplemented females were lighter than controls, but there was no effect on weight in males. End‐of‐life necropsies suggested that glycine‐treated mice were less likely than controls to die of pulmonary adenocarcinoma (p = 0.03). Of the 40 varieties of incidental pathology evaluated in these mice, none were increased to a significant degree by the glycine‐supplemented diet. In parallel analyses of the same cohort, we found no benefits from TM5441 (an inhibitor of PAI‐1, the primary inhibitor of tissue and urokinase plasminogen activators), inulin (a source of soluble fiber), or aspirin at either of two doses. Our glycine results strengthen the idea that modulation of dietary amino acid levels can increase healthy lifespan in mice, and provide a foundation for further investigation of dietary effects on aging and late‐life diseases.

Proceedings Of The Cuny Games Conference 5.0, Robert O. Duncan, Joe Bisz, Julie Cassidy, Kathleen Offenholley, Carolyn Stallard, Deborah Sturm, Anders A. Wallace

Publications and Research

The CUNY Games Network is an organization dedicated to encouraging research, scholarship and teaching in the developing field of games-based learning. We connect educators from every campus and discipline at CUNY and beyond who are interested in digital and non-digital games, simulations, and other forms of interactive teaching and inquiry-based learning. The CUNY Games Conference distills its best cutting-edge interactive presentations into a two-day event to promote and discuss game-based pedagogies in higher education, focusing particularly on non-digital learning activities that faculty can use in the classroom every day. The conference will include workshops lead by CUNY Games Organizers on …

Phytoene Accumulation In The Novel Microalga Chlorococcum Sp. Using The Pigment Synthesis Inhibitor Fluridone, Kelly Laje, Mark Seger, Barry Dungan, Peter Cooke, Juergen Polle, F. Omar Holguin

Publications and Research

Carotenoids are lipophilic pigments found in plants and algae, as well as some bacteria, archaea, and fungi that serve two functions—(1) as light harvesting molecules—primary carotenoids, and (2) as antioxidants, acting against reactive oxygen species–secondary carotenoids. Because of their strong antioxidant properties, they are also valuable for the development of anti-aging and photo-protective cosmetic applications. Of particular interest is the carotenoid phytoene, for its colorless and UV absorption characteristics. In this study, we targeted a reduction of phytoene desaturase (PDS) activity with the pigment-inhibiting herbicide 1-methyl-3-phenyl-5-[3- (trifluoromethyl)phenyl]pyridin-4-one (fluridone), which leads to the over-accumulation of phytoene in the recently characterized microalgal …

The Atpase Mechanism Of Uvra2 Reveals The Distinct Roles Of Proximal And Distal Atpase Sites In Nucleotide Excision Repair, Brandon C. Case, Silas Hartley, Memie Osuga, David Jeruzalmi, Manju M. Hingorani

Publications and Research

The UvrA2 dimer finds lesions in DNA and initiates nucleotide excision repair. Each UvrA monomer contains two essential ATPase sites: proximal (P) and distal (D). The manner whereby their activities enable UvrA2 damage sensing and response remains to be clarified. We report three key findings from the first pre-steady state kinetic analysis of each site. Absent DNA, a P2ATP-D2ADP species accumulates when the low-affinity proximal sites bind ATP and enable rapid ATP hydrolysis and phosphate release by the highaffinity distal sites, and ADP release limits catalytic turnover. Native DNA stimulates ATP hydrolysis by all four sites, causing UvrA2 to transition …

Dual Complementary Liposomes Inhibit Triple-Negative Breast Tumor Progression And Metastasis, Peng Guo, Jiang Yang, Daxing Liu, Lan Huang, Gillian Fell, Jin Huang, Marsha A. Moses, Debra T. Auguste

Publications and Research

Distinguishing malignant cells from non-neoplastic ones is a major challenge in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) treatment. Here, we developed a complementary targeting strategy that uses precisely matched, multivalent ligand-receptor interactions to recognize and target TNBC tumors at the primary site and metastatic lesions. We screened a panel of cancer cell surface markers and identified intercellular adhesion molecule–1 (ICAM1) and epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) as optimal candidates for TNBC complementary targeting. We engineered a dual complementary liposome (DCL) that precisely complements the molecular ratio and organization of ICAM1 and EGFR specific to TNBC cell surfaces. Our in vitro mechanistic studies …

Å-Indentation For Non-Destructive Elastic Moduli Measurements Of Supported Ultra-Hard Ultra-Thin Films And Nanostructures, Filippo Cellini, Yang Gao, Elisa Riedo

Publications and Research

During conventional nanoindentation measurements, the indentation depths are usually larger than 1–10 nm, which hinders the ability to study ultra-thin films (<10 >nm) and supported atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) materials. Here, we discuss the development of modulated Å-indentation to achieve sub-Å indentations depths during force-indentation measurements while also imaging materials with nanoscale resolution. Modulated nanoindentation (MoNI) was originally invented to measure the radial elasticity of multi-walled nanotubes. w, by using extremely small amplitude oscillations (<<1 Å) at high frequency, and stiff cantilevers, we show how modulated nano/Å-indentation (MoNI/ÅI) enables non-destructive measurements of the contact stiffness and indentation modulus of ultra-thin ultra-stiff films, including CVD diamond films (~1000 GPa stiffness), as well as the transverse modulus of 2D materials. Our analysis demonstrates that in presence of a standard laboratory noise floor, the signal to noise ratio of MoNI/ÅI implemented with a commercial atomic force microscope (AFM) is such that a dynamic range of 80 dB –– achievable with commercial Lock-in amplifiers –– is sufficient to observe superior indentation curves, having indentation depths as small as 0.3 Å, resolution in indentation <0.05 Å, and in normal load <0.5 nN. Being implemented on a standard AFM, this method has the potential for a broad applicability.

Transspinal Stimulation Increases Motoneuron Output Of Multiple Segments In Human Spinal Cord Injury, Lynda M. Murray, Maria Knikou

Publications and Research

Targeted neuromodulation strategies that strengthen neuronal activity are in great need for restoring sensorimotor function after chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). In this study, we established changes in the motoneuron output of individuals with and without SCI after repeated noninvasive transspinal stimulation at rest over the thoracolumbar enlargement, the spinal location of leg motor circuits. Cases of motor incomplete and complete SCI were included to delineate potential differences when corticospinal motor drive is minimal. All 10 SCI and 10 healthy control subjects received daily monophasic transspinal stimuli of 1-ms duration at 0.2 Hz at right soleus transspinal evoked potential (TEP) …

Allergen Sensitization And Asthma Outcomes Among World Trade Center Rescue And Recovery Workers, Belen Rojano, Erin West, Emily Federmann, Steven Markowitz, Denise Harrison, Laura Crowley, Paula Busse, Alex D. Federman, Juan P. Wisnivesky

Publications and Research

A large number of World Trade Center (WTC) rescue and recovery workers are affected by asthma. While physical and mental health comorbidities have been associated with poor asthma control in this population, the potential role of allergen sensitization is unknown. This study examined the association of indoor sensitization and exposure as a risk factor for increased asthma morbidity in WTC workers. We used data from a prospective cohort of 331 WTC workers with asthma. Sensitization to indoor allergens was assessed by measurement of antigen-specific serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels. We used validated tools to evaluate the exposure to indoor allergens. …

Faith-Based Organizations And Public Health: Another Facet Of The Public Health Dialogue, Alfredo Morabia

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Implementation Science Research Examining The Integration Of Evidence-Based Practices Into Hiv Prevention And Clinical Care: Protocol For A Mixed-Methods Study Using The Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, And Sustainment (Epis) Model, April Idalski Carcone, Karin Coyle, Sitaji Gurung, Demetria Cain, Rafael E. Dilones, Laura Jadwin-Cakmak, Jeffrey T. Parsons, Sylvie Naar

Publications and Research

BACKGROUND: The Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment (EPIS) model is an implementation framework for studying the integration of evidence-based practices (EBPs) into real-world settings. The EPIS model conceptualizes implementation as a process starting with the earliest stages of problem recognition (Exploration) through the continued use of an EBP in a given clinical context (Sustainment). This is the first implementation science (IS) study of the integration of EBPs into adolescent HIV prevention and care settings.

OBJECTIVE: This protocol (ATN 153 EPIS) is part of the Scale It Up program, a research program administered by the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS …

Can An Exercise-Based Educational And Motivational Intervention Be Durably Effective In Changing Compliance To Physical Activity And Anthropometric Risk In People With Type 2 Diabetes? A Follow-Up Study, Francesca Gallè, Jesse C. Krakauer, Nir Krakauer, Giuliana Valerio, Giorgio Liguori

Publications and Research

Aims. A nine-month motivational exercise-based intervention was previously offered to subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2D). A year after the end of the intervention, compliance to physical activity (PA) and anthropometric indices of participants were analyzed to evaluate the durability of its effects. Methods. PA levels, expressed as total energy expenditure per week, were assessed with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Changes in Body Mass Index (BMI), A Body Shape Index (ABSI), Hip Index (HI) z-scores, the relative mortality risk related to each of these measures, and a combined Anthropometric Risk Index (ARI) were also evaluated. Results. Of a …

Use Of Plumage And Gular Pouch Color To Evaluate Condition Of Oil Spill Rehabilitated California Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus Occidentalis Californicus) Post-Release, Deborah L. Jaques, Kyra L. Mills, Barton G. Selby, Richard R. Veit, Michael H. Ziccardi

Publications and Research

Sublethal effects of oil spills may dampen seabird rehabilitation success due to lingering negative impacts of contamination and stress on reproduction and long-term survival. These effects can be difficult to measure while birds are in care as well as once birds are released. Expression of sexually selected traits that are sensitive to condition can provide information on physiological status of birds. We evaluated plumage molt and gular pouch skin color of California brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus) following oil contamination and rehabilitation to test for differences between previously oiled and rehabilitated (post-spill) and presumably uncontaminated pelicans. Post-spill pelicans released with …

Factors Associated With Outpatient Follow-Up After A Pediatric Inpatient Stay At A Community Hospital, Shuchi Jani, Joshua Fogel, Clare Kelly

Publications and Research

Background and objectives: Pediatric settings often use a patient-centered medical home model in caring for patients in the outpatient setting and for attempting to connect inpatient care with outpatient followup. This medical home model has proven to be beneficial in many aspects of patient care, but there needs to be a good transition between inpatient and outpatient services. Our goal in this study is to determine the association of particular variables with adherence to outpatient follow-up after a general inpatient stay, in the pediatric population.

Methods: In a retrospective sample of 221 patients, we study the association of variables such …