Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Defining The Role Of Syndecan-4 In Mechanotransduction Using Surfacemodification Approaches, Robert M. Bellin, James D. Kubicek, Matthew J. Frigault, Andrew J. Kamien, Robert L. Steward, Hillary M. Barnes, Michael B. Digiacomo, Luke J. Duncan, Christina K. Edgerly, Elizabeth M. Morse, Chan Young Park, Jeffrey J. Fredberg, Chao Min Cheng, Philip R. Leduc

Biology Department Faculty Scholarship

The ability of cells to respond to external mechanical stimulation is a complex and robust process involving a diversity of molecular interactions. Although mechanotransduction has been heavily studied, many questions remain regarding the link between physical stimulation and biochemical response. Of significant interest has been the contribution of the transmembrane proteins involved, and integrins in particular, because of their connectivity to both the extracellular matrix and the cytoskeleton. Here, we demonstrate the existence of a mechanically based initiation molecule, syndecan-4. We first demonstrate the ability of syndecan-4 molecules to support cell attachment and spreading without the direct extracellular binding of …

Comparison Of Ammonia And Particulate Matter Air Sample Concentrations At Task-Locations Within Swine Confinement Buildings., Earl Dan Bembry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: A task-associated analysis of ammonia and particulate matter concentrations was conducted on swine farms in breeding and gestation barns. The purpose of this study was to determine if specific tasks performed by workers increase concentrations of ammonia and particulate matter exposure.

Methods: An exploratory, descriptive design was used to determine if swine confinement workers have increased ammonia and particulate matter exposure when performing assigned tasks in breeding and gestation barns. A convenience sample of 8 workers volunteered from among all breeding and gestation workers (n=24). Data collection occurred in the morning at each of the 8 farms …

The Need To Teach Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, Gilbert Pinard

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

Predicting Flavonoid Ugt Regioselectivity With Graphical Residue Models And Machine Learning., Arthur Rhydon Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning is applied to a challenging and biologically significant protein classification problem: the prediction of flavonoid UGT acceptor regioselectivity from primary protein sequence. Novel indices characterizing graphical models of protein residues are introduced. The indices are compared with existing amino acid indices and found to cluster residues appropriately. A variety of models employing the indices are then investigated by examining their performance when analyzed using nearest neighbor, support vector machine, and Bayesian neural network classifiers. Improvements over nearest neighbor classifications relying on standard alignment similarity scores are reported.

Comparative Study Of The Radial And Femoral Artery Approaches For Diagnostic Coronary Angiography, Mansour Sallam, Hafidh Al-Hadi, S Rathinasekar, Sunil Chandy

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

Objectives: Femoral artery access is the standard approach for coronary procedures; however, the radial approach has gained sound recognition as an alternative to femoral access. We present our early experience with the transradial approach. Methods: A prospective, non-randomised study of 221 candidates for diagnostic coronary angiography was carried out at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Oman between December 2008 and April 2009. The patients had their procedure performed from radial or femoral access according to operator discretion and the results were compared. Femoral and radial groups included 116 and 105 patients respectively. Results: Radial access was associated with a significantly higher …

T Cell Receptor Cross-Reactivity Directed By Antigen-Dependent Tuning Of Peptide-Mhc Molecular Flexibility, Oleg Y. Borbulevych, Kurt H. Piepenbrink, Brian E. Gloor, Daniel R. Scott, Ruth F. Sommese, David K. Cole, Andrew K. Sewell, Brian M. Baker

Food for Health: Publications

Tell mediated immunity requires T cell receptor (TCR) cross-reactivity, the mechanisms behind which remain incompletely elucidated. The αβ TCR A6 recognizes both the Tax (LLFGYPVYV) and Tel1p (MLWGYLQYV) peptides presented by the human class I MHC molecule HLA-A2. Here we found that although the two ligands are ideal structural mimics, they form substantially different interfaces with A6, with conformational differences in the peptide, the TCR, and unexpectedly, the MHC molecule. The differences between the Tax and Tel1p ternary complexes could not be predicted from the free peptide-MHC structures and are inconsistent with a traditional induced-fit mechanism. Instead, the differences were …

The Negative Images Of Nursing Portrayed On Grey’S Anatomy, House And Er And Its Effect On Public Perception And The Contemporary Nursing Shortage, Jacquelyn Bishop

Health Sciences Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of The Wellbeing Of Orphans And Abandoned Children Ages 6–12 In Institutional And Community-Based Care Settings In 5 Less Wealthy Nations, Kathryn Whetten, Jan Ostermann, Rachel A. Whetten, Brian W. Pence, Karen O'Donnell, Lynne C. Messer, Nathan M. Thielman, The Positive Outcomes For Orphans (Pofo) Research Team

Faculty Publications

Background

Leaders are struggling to care for the estimated 143,000,000 orphans and millions more abandoned children worldwide. Global policy makers are advocating that institution-living orphans and abandoned children (OAC) be moved as quickly as possible to a residential family setting and that institutional care be used as a last resort. This analysis tests the hypothesis that institutional care for OAC aged 6–12 is associated with worse health and wellbeing than community residential care using conservative two-tail tests.

Methodology

The Positive Outcomes for Orphans (POFO) study employed two-stage random sampling survey methodology in 6 sites across 5 countries to identify 1,357 …

Regulation Of Cellular Protein Phosphatase-1 (Pp1) By Phosphorylation Of The Cpi-17 Family, C-Kinase-Activated Pp1 Inhibitors., Masumi Eto

Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics Faculty Papers

The regulatory circuit controlling cellular protein phosphatase-1 (PP1), an abundant group of Ser/Thr phosphatases, involves phosphorylation of PP1-specific inhibitor proteins. Malfunctions of these inhibitor proteins have been linked to a variety of diseases, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. Upon phosphorylation at Thr(38), the 17-kDa PP1 inhibitor protein, CPI-17, selectively inhibits a specific form of PP1, myosin light chain phosphatase, which transduces multiple kinase signals into the phosphorylation of myosin II and other proteins. Here, the mechanisms underlying PP1 inhibition and the kinase/PP1 cross-talk mediated by CPI-17 and its related proteins, PHI, KEPI, and GBPI, are discussed.

Identifying Blood Biomarkers And Physiological Processes That Distinguish Humans With Superior Performance Under Psychological Stress., Amanda M. Cooksey, Nausheen Momen, Russell Stocker, Shane C. Burgess

CVM Publications

BACKGROUND: Attrition of students from aviation training is a serious financial and operational concern for the U.S. Navy. Each late stage navy aviator training failure costs the taxpayer over $1,000,000 and ultimately results in decreased operational readiness of the fleet. Currently, potential aviators are selected based on the Aviation Selection Test Battery (ASTB), which is a series of multiple-choice tests that evaluate basic and aviation-related knowledge and ability. However, the ASTB does not evaluate a person's response to stress. This is important because operating sophisticated aircraft demands exceptional performance and causes high psychological stress. Some people are more resistant to …

Soothability And Growth In Preterm Neonates, Holly Johanna Diesel

Dissertations

This proposal seeks to understand the relationship between soothability, weight gain and length of hospital stay in premature infants when the infants receive a simple, non-invasive treatment to help them cope with the noxious environment of the special care nursery. Thousands of premature infants are born every year in the United States, and the numbers are increasing. Prematurity is the leading cause of mortality in infants. Despite numerous technological and medical advances in treatment and care, premature infants still have difficulty adapting to life outside the uterus as a result of immature nervous systems and significant differences in the pre …

Rx For Change: Nurses' Response To A Smoking Cessation Intervention, Laura Louise Bisch Ochoa

Dissertations

Problem: An evaluation of a smoking cessation educational intervention for direct care RNs. Design: A randomized controlled trial. Methods: The study was conducted at a large Midwestern academic medical center. Direct care Registered nurses (dcRN’s) employed at least .7 FTE and spending 80% of their time in direct patient care on general medicine or general surgery units were recruited. Recruitment occurred between April and May, 2009. Outcome data was abstracted from charts of patients receiving care from the intervention group. Interventions: Participants were randomized to either ‘Rx for Change’ which was a training program regarding tobacco cessation or to a …

Documentation Of Body Mass Index And Control Of Associated Risk Factors In A Large Primary Care Network, Stephanie A. Rose, Alexander Turchin, Richard W. Grant, James B. Meigs

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Body mass index (BMI) will be a reportable health measure in the United States (US) through implementation of Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) guidelines. We evaluated current documentation of BMI, and documentation and control of associated risk factors by BMI category, based on electronic health records from a 12-clinic primary care network.

METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 79,947 active network patients greater than 18 years of age seen between 7/05 - 12/06. We defined BMI category as normal weight (NW, 18-24.9 kg/m²), overweight (OW, 25-29.9), and obese (OB, ≥ 30). We measured documentation …

Giant Synovial Cell Sarcoma Of The Thorax In A 46-Year-Old Man: A Case Report., Saulat Hasnain Fatimi, Taimur Saleem

Department of Surgery Docs

Background:Although synovial cell sarcoma is a common tumor of the extremities, its occurrence in the thorax has been less frequently documented. Case Presentation: A 46-year-old Pakistani man presented with a 2 month history of progressively increasing cough and left lower chest pain. Initial evaluation was done using a chest x-ray, the Patient was found to have a large mass involving the lower portion of the left chest. A computed tomography scan was performed next which showed a large mass involving the left chest wall with invasion into the pericardium and left hemidiaphragm. En bloc surgical resection of the tumor …

Ada News - 12/14/2009, American Dental Association, Publishing Division

ADA News

Established in 1970 as the official newspaper of the American Dental Association, the ADA News serves practicing dentists and others allied to the dental profession in the U.S. and internationally. It is the No. 1 source of news and information about the many benefits and services the ADA delivers to members daily as well as timely information on scientific, social, political and economic developments affecting dentistry and health care.

Valosin-Containing Protein (Vcp) Is Required For Autophagy And Is Disrupted In Vcp Disease, Jeong-Sun Ju, Rodrigo A. Fuentealba, Sara E. Miller, Erin Jackson, David Piwnica-Worms, Robert H. Baloh, Conrad C. Weihl

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

The Danger Signal Adenosine Induces Persistence Of Chlamydial Infection Through Stimulation Of A2b Receptors, Matthew A. Pettengill, Verissa W. Lam, David M. Ojcius

All Dugoni School of Dentistry Faculty Articles

Infections with intracellular bacteria such as chlamydiae affect the majority of the world population. Infected tissue inflammation and granuloma formation help contain the short-term expansion of the invading pathogen, leading also to local tissue damage and hypoxia. However, the effects of key aspects of damaged inflamed tissues and hypoxia on continued infection with intracellular bacteria remain unknown. We find that development of Chlamydia trachomatis is reversibly retarded by prolonged exposure of infected cells to extracellular adenosine, a hallmark of hypoxia and advanced inflammation. In epithelial cells, this effect was mediated by the A2b adenosine receptor, unique in the adenosine receptor …

Antibiotic Use By Members Of The American Association Of Endodontics: A National Survey For 2009- A Follow Up From The Report In 1999, Pye Kyu

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the changes in prescribing habits of active members of American Association of Endodontics (AAE) with regards to antibiotics in comparison to the findings reported by Yingling et al. in 1999. The invitations to take the online survey were sent via email to 2593 active members. A response rate of 37.75% was obtained. It was determined to be adequate for analysis and for comparison to the results obtained by Yingling et al. Comparisons between the percentages shown in this survey and the previous survey were tested using a z-test. An ANOVA model was …

Medical School Watercooler Newsletter - December 13, 2009, Lindsey Lyle

Watercooler Newsletter

This is the December 13, 2009 edition of the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine's newsletter - Watercooler

Contents Include:

• USA Pulmonary Hypertension Patient Highlighted
• December Med School Cafe' Draws Enthusiastic Crowd

• Educational Technologies and Services Announces New Employees

• Enjoy The Holidays...without "Heartbreak"

• Q&A with USA Med Student Sarah Beth Hill

A Head Injury Teaching Module For Pre-Hospital Assessment: Using The Four Score, Chris A. Wolf

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project is to create a teaching module and evaluation tool for a United States Air Force Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron for the pre-hospital assessment of patients with head injuries using the FOUR Score assessment scale. Specifically, this project integrates theory, relevant literature, and reflection on service to and caring for others. Information from published literature supports the development and implementation of a new assessment tool, such as the FOUR Score, to assess patients who have suffered a head injury. Ultimately, a teaching module is presented, described, and evaluated, along with potential questions to be addressed in the …

No Free Lunch? Current Challenges Facing The National School Lunch And School Breakfast Programs, Eileen Salinsky

National Health Policy Forum

This background paper describes important characteristics of the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program, reviews U.S. Department of Agriculture rules regarding the nutritional content of school meals, and examines compliance with current nutrition standards. It also considers the dietary status and obesity risk of meal program participants, discusses proposed improvements to nutritional standards and meal requirements, and highlights key legislative issues.

Got Junk? The Federal Role In Regulating “Competitive” Foods, Eileen Salinsky

National Health Policy Forum

A wide variety of food and beverage items are available in schools in addition to the school meals provided through the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. A long-standing source of controversy, the need for stronger federal restrictions on foods that compete with school meals is again under debate. This issue brief examines the availability and consumption of competitive foods, explores the regulation of these foods at the federal level, considers trends in state and local restrictions, and summarizes perceived barriers to improving the nutritional quality of competitive food options.

Strengthening Nurse/Physician Collaborative Relationships To Promote Patient Safety, Julie Lynch Weegman

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project is to identify implementable best practices that promote effective nurse physician collaboration in the hospital setting at the unit level for strengthening the culture of patient safety. These best practices will be shared with nurses and physicians at a workshop using the methods of powerpoint presentation and appreciative inquiry. The goal for this workshop is to inspire nurses and physicians to spread the seeds of collaborative practice throughout the organization through the path of shared governance.

A Nursing Educational Program For Recognizing And Managing Emotional Labor, Kathleen Kuzelka

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project is to develop a one hour learning module on emotional labor for all staff that will enable them to recognize and manage emotional labor for themselves and their coworkers in their daily work. This project presents the concept of emotional labor and emotional labor in nursing. A one hour learning module is described. The presentation of this module is discussed. There is discussion of the implications of emotional labor for nursing research, nursing practice and nursing education.

Brad: A Model Of Caring For Persons With Frontotemporal Dementia, Jennifer Mcguire

Theses and Graduate Projects

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is caused by u progressive degeneration of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain (Boxer & Miller, 2005), This degeneration causes profound alterations in personality, social behavior, and language skills. FTD is particularly devastating due to the fact that it commonly affects people during mid-life or earlier. Evidence has shown that caregivers face higher rates of burden, distress and isolation when providing care for someone with FTD than other forms of dementia (de Vugt, Riedijk, Aalten, Tibben, van Swieten, & Verhey,2006; Kumamoto, Arai, Hashimoto, Ikeda, Mizuno, & Washio, 2004). The Behavioral Recognition, Assessment and Delivery (BRAD) …

The Association Between Lead Exposure And Respiratory Health In Children, Colleen Coleman

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The substantial impact of indoor air quality and environmental hazards in the home on one’s health has long been recognized in the field of public health. This cross-sectional study investigates the risk between home based hazards, specifically lead, and respiratory health in children. The objective of this study is to examine the extent to which children testing positive for blood lead exposure are at an increased risk for having poor respiratory health. Methods: A nationally representative sample of 977 children ages 1- 6 years was obtained from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Information from the …

Clinical Profile, Outcomes And Improvement In Symptoms And Productivity In Rhinitic Patients In Karachi, Pakistan., Taimur Saleem, Umair Khalid, Ubaid Ur Rehman Sherwani, Shehzad Ghaffar

Section of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery

Background:Rhinitis can cause a heavy toll on Patients because of its bothersome effects on productivity. This retrospective study was conducted to explore the clinical profile, outcomes and improvement in the symptoms and productivity resulting from treatment of allergic rhinitis in Pakistan.

Methods:

We carried out a retrospective file review of all allergic rhinitis Patients who presented to the Ear, Nose, Throat Consulting Clinic from January, 2006 to June, 2008 using a structured proforma especially designed for this Purpose. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS v. 16.0.

Results:

The charts of 169 Patients were reviewed. The mean age of …

Challenges Predicting Ligand-Receptor Interactions Of Promiscuous Proteins: The Nuclear Receptor Pxr., Sean Ekins, Sandhya Kortagere, Manisha Iyer, Erica J. Reschly, Markus A. Lill, Matthew R. Redinbo, Matthew D. Krasowski

Borch Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology Faculty Publications

Transcriptional regulation of some genes involved in xenobiotic detoxification and apoptosis is performed via the human pregnane X receptor (PXR) which in turn is activated by structurally diverse agonists including steroid hormones. Activation of PXR has the potential to initiate adverse effects, altering drug pharmacokinetics or perturbing physiological processes. Reliable computational prediction of PXR agonists would be valuable for pharmaceutical and toxicological research. There has been limited success with structure-based modeling approaches to predict human PXR activators. Slightly better success has been achieved with ligand-based modeling methods including quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) analysis, pharmacophore modeling and machine learning. In this …

Addition Of Levalbuterol To A Pediatric Emergency Department Automated Medication Management System Does Not Increase Its Use., Gregory P. Conners, Daniel P. Hays, Thomas Richardson, Frank L. Zwemer

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Although adding a drug to an emergency department-based automated medication management system is known to increase how frequently it is ordered, little is known about this effect when the added drug does not offer substantial benefit over a substitute drug that was already available.

AIMS: We studied the effect of adding nebulized levalbuterol to a pediatric emergency department-based automated medication management system that already included albuterol.

METHODS: All completed orders for nebulized levalbuterol or nebulized albuterol from our academic pediatric emergency department were retrospectively identified using a computerized pharmacy database. We compared ordering of these drugs for the year …

Examining The Association Of Fruit And Vegetable Intake And Breast And Prostate Cancer Screening, Mark Yu

Theses and Dissertations

Breast and prostate cancer incidence and mortality have been steadily decreasing. Reasons for these reductions may be related to increased rates of cancer screening and other factors such as improvements in diet, including consumption of fruits and vegetables. We wanted to determine if individuals who get screened for breast and prostate cancer are more or less likely to consume adequate servings of fruit and vegetables. A cross-sectional study using the BRFSS survey was conducted. Individuals included in this study (n=26,222), were asked about their breast or prostate cancer screening history. They were also asked about their servings per day of …