Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Labrad : Vol 40, Issue 1 - April 2014, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi

LABRAD - Departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Radiology Archives

• Provocative Testing for Growth Hormone Disorders
• Serum Procalcitonin for Early Sepsis Diagnosis
• Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance (MGUS)
• Understanding Six Sigma Methodology
• Blood Collection for Culture
• Molecular Analysis of Alpha Thalassaemia by Multiple Ligation Probe Assay
• Prognostification of Acute Myeloid Leukemia with FLT 3 Mutation
• Interferon Gamma Release Assay (IGRA) for Detection of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Infection in the Host
• Meeting Report: The 37th Annual Conference of the Pakistan Association of Pathologists

Vaccinia Virus Flll Mediated Expedition Of Tanapoxvirus Replication In Cell Culture, Yih Wen Goh

Masters Theses

Tanapoxvirus (TPV) produces large but slow-forming plaques as opposed to vaccinia virus (VACV) that forms similar large plaques but more rapidly. A number of genes were identified in VACV, inclucding FllL, A33R, A34R and A36R that contribute to the regulation of virus release and dissemination, and are particularly responsible for the induction of actin tails. Among them, TPV lacks homologs of the FllL and A36R genes. F11Lmediated inhibition of RhoA-mDia signaling was shown to enhance the microtubules dynamics and modulates the cortical actin that assisted in the release of progeny virus from infected cells. To understand the possible effects of …

Correlations Of Skin Fold Thickness And Validation Of Prediction Equations Using Dexa As The Gold Standard For Estimation Of Body Fat Composition In Pakistani Children., Zainab Hussain, Tazeen H. Jafar, Maseeh Uz Zaman, Riffat Parveen Hussain

Department of Radiology

OBJECTIVE:

To determine the correlation between dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and skin fold thickness (SKF) equations for estimation of body fat (BF) composition in secondary school children and validation of prediction equations by Slaughter, Goran and Dezenberg.

DESIGN:

Cross sectional analytical study.

SETTING:

Joint Commission for International Accredited (JCIA) tertiary care hospital of Karachi, Pakistan from January 2010 to May 2010.

PARTICIPANTS:

The study was approved by the Hospital's ethical review committee. Written and verbal consents were obtained from principals of two schools and parents of 99 children (mean age of 14±1.89 years; min-max 9-19 years; 54 men and …

A Long-Term Study Of The Effects Of Antiviral Therapy On Survival Of Patients With Hbv-Associated Hepatocellular Carcinoma (Hcc) Following Local Tumor Ablation., Hie-Won Hann, Robert Coben, Daniel Brown, Laurence Needleman, Ernest Rosato, Albert Min, Richard Hann, Kyong Bin Park, Stephen Dunn, Anthony J. Dimarino

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

The ultimate goal of antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Earlier we reported favorable effects of antiviral therapy on survival of HCC patients following curative tumor ablation (Int J Cancer online 14 April 2010; doi: 10.1002/ijc.25382). It was the first observation made in the United States. We now report 12 year follow-up of this patient group. CHB patients with no prior antiviral therapy with a single HCC (≤ 7 cm) were studied. All patients underwent local tumor ablation as their first option. Patients diagnosed before 1999 received no antiviral treatment while those diagnosed …

Controlling Protein Release Using Biodegradable Microparticles, Benjamin Patrick Kline

Open Access Theses

Research in the field of protein therapeutics has exploded over the past decade and continues to grow in both academia and in industry. Protein drugs have advantages of being highly specific and highly active making them coveted targets for high profile disease states like cancer and multiple sclerosis. Unfortunately, their many advantages are complemented by their obstacles. Because proteins are highly active and highly specific, the window between efficacy and toxicity is very narrow and drug development can be long and arduous. In addition, protein activity is dependent on its specific folding conformation that is easily disrupted by a variety …

Modeling And Optimization Of Care Transitions, Yuming Mo

Open Access Theses

More than 145 million people live with at least one chronic condition, and almost half of them have multiple conditions. As a result, many managed care and integrated delivery systems have taken a great interest in alleviating the many deficiencies in managing the current care system that spans across various care delivery settings. In addition, many Americans have to rely on some social health insurance plan to cover her care expenses. As a result, these patients often may not been sufficiently cured but have to be transitioned to less expensive but less medically intensive facilities, due to the increasing pressure …

The Relationship Between Perceived Discrimination And Hope For The Future, Global Self Worth And Academic Competence: In A Multi-Racial/Ethnic, Low Income Sample Of School Age Children, Grace Elisabeth Quattrocki

Open Access Theses

Objective: To examine the extent to which a change in perceived interpersonal discrimination was associated with a change in the levels of hope for the future, global self-worth and perceived academic competence among a multiracial sample of adolescents attending a four-week, summer positive youth development program. Method: We first estimated means with standard errors of continuous variables and percentages within categorical variables in our total sample, and between those returning to PALS and those who were new to PALS. We then examined the correlation between perceived interpersonal racial/ethnic discrimination and the three outcome variables at the beginning and end of …

An Exploratory Analysis Of Fruit And Vegetable Consumption In Black Men, Jacqueline Reiter

Open Access Theses

Objective: Multiple peer-reviewed studies have found an association between fruit and vegetable consumption and lower risk for diseases such as hypertension, stroke and cancer. In other related studies, education level, retail food environment, and fruit and vegetable consumption were also examined together to discover patterns and associations. Currently, Black males have a higher risk for poor health outcomes. Limited research has focused specifically on Black men's fruit and vegetable consumption. This study explored the association between education level, food store access (measured by proximity) and fruit and vegetable consumption in black African American men.

Design: The data for this study …

Pharmaceuticals And Personal Care Products: Emerging Contaminants In Aquatic Ecosystems, Jenny E. Zenobio

Open Access Theses

In recent years, the presence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in aquatic systems has led to research on their fate and effects. PPCPs have been found in mixture in wastewater effluents, surface, ground, and drinking water at low concentrations from areas of intense urbanization. Although adverse effects to human health from the current environmental concentrations are unlikely, the impacts to ecological receptors are not clear. We performed field and laboratory studies to quantify and evaluate effects of PPCPs on fish. First, a field study was conducted at the Baca National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado (2010-2012) because a portion of …

Feasibility Of Pulsed Proton Induced Acoustics For 3d Dosimetry, Fahed M. Alsanea

Open Access Theses

Proton therapy has the potential to deposit its energy in tissue with high conformity to the tumor and significantly reduced integral dose to normal tissue compared to conventional radiation, such as x-rays. As a result, local control can be enhanced while reducing side-effects and secondary cancers. This is due to the way charged Particles deposit their energy or dose, where protons form a Bragg peak and establish a well-defined distal edge as a function of depth (range). To date, the dose delivered to a patient from proton therapy remains uncertain, in particular the positioning of the distal edge of the …

A Nurse In Nepal: Determining Quality Of Postnatal Care In The Foothills Of The Himalayas, Stephanie Winn

Inquiry Journal 2014

No abstract provided.

Interleukin-7-Dependent B Lymphocytes Are Required For The Anti-Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Response And Protective Immunity To Streptococcus Pneumoniae, Gregory S. Dickinson, Phd, Raja Vuyyuru, Timothy L. Manser, Phd, John F. Kerney, Kishore Alugupalli, Phd

Department of Microbiology and Immunology Faculty Papers

Unlike human adults or adult mice, young children or young mice respond poorly to pneumococcal polysaccharides (PPS). In mice, B1b lymphocytes are the major responders to a variety of bacterial polysaccharides including PPS. Despite having B1b cells, young mice are severely impaired in responding to PPS, suggesting that B cells in the young are distinct from those in adults. Since B lymphopoeisis early in life is largely Interleukin-7 (IL-7)-independent, while in adults it is IL-7-dependent, we hypothesize that B cells developed in the presence of IL-7 are required for generating anti-PPS antibody responses. In support of this, we found that …

Fatigue In The Presence Of Coronary Heart Disease, Ann Eckhardt, Holli Devon, Mariann Piano, Catherine Ryan, Julie Zerwic

Scholarship

Fatigue is a prevalent and disabling symptom associated with many acute and chronic conditions. It has been identified as a symptom of acute myocardial infarction and chronic heart failure, but it has not been explored in patients with stable coronary heart disease (CHD). Objectives: The purpose of this partially mixed sequential dominant status study was to: 1) describe fatigue in patients with stable CHD, 2) determine if specific demographic (sex, age, education, income), physiologic (hypertension, hyperlipidemia) or psychological variables (depressive symptoms) were correlated with fatigue, and 3) determine if fatigue was associated with health-related quality of life. The theory of …

Oncolog, Volume 59, Number 04, April 2014, Zach Bohannan, Joe Munch, J. Delsigne

OncoLog MD Anderson's Report to Physicians (All issues) Archives

• New fat Grafting Technique Improves Aesthetic Outcomes Following Head and Neck Reconstructive Surgery: A new gat grafting technique is enabling reconstructive surgeons to maximize aesthetic outcomes following major reconstruction for head and neck cancer treatment-related defects
• INBRIEF: Invasive Bladder Cancer Subtypes Resemble Breast Cancer Subtypes
• New Kinase Inhibitors Hold Promise for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Other B-Cell Malignancies: New targeted therapies against chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) are eliciting overall response rates similar to those achieved using standard chemoimmunotherapy but with fewer toxic effects
• HOUSE CALL: Animal-Assisted Therapy- Interacting with pets helps recovery

Labor Down Or Bear Down: A Strategy To Translate Second-Stage Labor Evidence To Perinatal Practice, Kathryn Osborne, Lisa Hanson

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Scientific evidence supports spontaneous physiologic approaches to second-stage labor care; however, most women in US hospitals continue to receive direction from nurses and birth attendants to use prolonged Valsalva bearing-down efforts as soon as the cervix is completely dilated. Delaying maternal bearing-down efforts during second-stage labor until a woman feels an urge to push (laboring down) results in optimal use of maternal energy, has no detrimental maternal effects, and results in improved fetal oxygenation. Although most commonly used with women who are undergoing epidural anesthesia, laboring down is just one component of physiologic second-stage labor care that can be used …

Management Of Crown-Related Fractures In Children: An Update Review, H. Cem Güngör

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

Traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) are a serious public health problem. Epidemiology of dental trauma indicates that these injuries are more prevalent in child population of the world. Children are the sufferers in two-thirds of all TDIs observed. Although being a major fraction, crown-related fractures are a less severe form of TDIs with respect to their complications and sequelae. However, as with other types of traumatic injuries, the delay in seeking for immediate care following a traumatic injury and the lack of appropriate treatment may compromise long-term outcomes. This article reviews the occurrence, management, and prognosis of crown-related fractures in primary …

Introducing Blended Learning To Medical Students In A Clinical Training Environment, Erik Langenau, Douglas Koch

Scholarly Posters

Third year medical students typically learn through supervised patient interaction in a clinical setting, often based in academic or hospital-based training sites. As one of the five medical schools in the Philadelphia area, PCOM strives to find the best training sties for its students in a number of specialties. Due to the increasing number of students in the region as well as a decreasing number of available training sites (as a result of reduced hospitalization rates and lengths of stay), finding suitable training sites for students has been a challenge. In order to better meet the academic needs of our …

A Training Programme To Build Cancer Research Capacity In Low- And Middle-Income Countries: Findings From Guatemala, Lauren D Arnold, Joaquin Barnoya, Eduardo N Gharzouzi, Peter Benson, Graham A Colditz

2010-2019 OA Pubs

PROBLEM: Guatemala is experiencing an increasing burden of cancer but lacks capacity for cancer prevention, control and research.

APPROACH: In partnership with a medical school in the United States of America, a multidisciplinary Cancer Control Research Training Institute was developed at the Instituto de Cancerología (INCAN) in Guatemala City. This institute provided a year-long training programme for clinicians that focused on research methods in population health and sociocultural anthropology. The programme included didactic experiences in Guatemala and the United States as well as applied training in which participants developed research protocols responsive to Guatemala's cancer needs.

LOCAL SETTING: Although INCAN …

Cd8Α Dendritic Cells Drive Establishment Of Hsv-1 Latency, Kevin R. Mott, Sariah J. Allen, Mandana Zandian, Bindu Konda, Behrooz G. Sharifi, Clinton Jones, Steven L. Wechsler, Terrence Town, Homayon Ghiasi

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

It is generally accepted that CD8 T cells play the key role to maintain HSV-1 latency in trigeminal ganglia of ocularly infected mice. Yet, comparably little is known about the role of innate immunity in establishment of viral latency. In the current study, we investigated whether CD8α DCs impact HSV-1 latency by examining latency in the trigeminal ganglia (TG) of wildtype (WT) C57BL/6 versus CD8α^‒/‒ (lack functional CD8 T cells and CD8α⁺ DCs), CD8β^‒/‒ (have functional CD8α⁺ T cells and CD8α⁺ DCs), and β2m^‒/‒ (lack functional CD8 T cells but have CD8α^{+ …}

Between The Lines: Somali Women And Medical Interpretation Experiences, Amin Sheikh

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

Many studies have investigated the health care experiences of Somali women. However, there is little research that looks at Somali women’s experiences with language barriers and their language preferences. In my capstone, I explore language barriers in the health care system from the perspective of non-English speaking immigrant Somali women with children living in the Lewiston-Auburn area.

A Potential Source Of Ozone With Concomitant Health Effects In The Hospital Environment, Kevin A. Vrablik Md, Mph, Facoem, Philip G. Lewis Md, Mph, Facoem, Judith Green-Mckenzie Md, Mph, Facoem

Department of Medicine

No abstract provided.

Antibiotics To Promote Growth In Children?, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

No abstract provided.

Written Presentations, Poster Presentations, Abstracts: A Guide, Amy B. Smith Phd, Kristine A. Petre Mls, Cm, Ahip

Department of Education

No abstract provided.

Section Abstracts: Medical Sciences

Virginia Journal of Science

Abstracts of the Medical Sciences Section for the 92nd Annual Meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science, May 13-15, 2014, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia

The Role Of Sirtuin 1 And Ceramide In T10C12 Conjugated Linoleic Acid Induced Delipidation In 3t3-L1 Adipocytes, Wei Wang

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Project 1: Trans-10, cis-12 conjugated linoleic acid (t10c12 CLA) reduces triglyceride (TG) levels in adipocytes through multiple pathways, with AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) generally facilitating, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) generally opposing these reductions. Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), a histone/protein deacetylase that affects energy homeostasis, often functions coordinately with AMPK, and is capable of binding to PPARγ, thereby inhibiting its activity. This study investigated the role of SIRT1 in the response of 3T3-L1 adipocytes to t10c12 CLA by testing the following hypotheses: 1) SIRT1 is functionally required for robust TG reduction; …

Adult Spinal Motoneurones Are Not Hyperexcitable In A Mouse Model Of Inherited Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Nicolas Delestrée, Marin Manuel, Caroline Iglesias, Sherif M. Elbasiouny, C. J. Heckman, Daniel Zytnicki

Neuroscience, Cell Biology & Physiology Faculty Publications

In amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an adult onset disease in which there is progressive degeneration of motoneurones, it has been suggested that an intrinsic hyperexcitability of motoneurones (i.e. an increase in their firing rates), contributes to excitotoxicity and to disease onset. Here we show that there is no such intrinsic hyperexcitability in spinal motoneurones. Our studies were carried out in an adult mouse model of ALS with a mutated form of superoxide dismutase 1 around the time of the first muscle fibre denervations. We showed that the recruitment current, the voltage threshold for spiking and the frequency–intensity gain in the …

The Scoop, Vol. 1 Issue 2, April 2014, Health Sciences Library

Volume 1

Latest news and events from the Health Sciences Library in our monthly newsletter for April 2014.

Comparison Of Functional Network Connectivity For Passive-Listening And Active-Response Narrative Comprehension In Adolescents, Yingying Wang, Scott K. Holland

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Comprehension of narrative stories plays an important role in the development of language skills. In this study, we compared brain activity elicited by a passive-listening version and an active-response (AR) version of a narrative comprehension task by using independent component (IC) analysis on functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 21 adolescents (ages 14–18 years). Furthermore, we explored differences in functional network connectivity engaged by two versions of the task and investigated the relationship between the online response time and the strength of connectivity between each pair of ICs. Despite similar brain region involvements in auditory, temporoparietal, and frontoparietal language networks …

Accuracy And Precision Of Die Spacer Thickness With Combined Computer-Aided Design And 3-D Printing Technology, Lisa Hoang

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and precision of die-spacer thickness achieved by the combination of computer aided design and 3-dimension printing technology.

Materials and Methods: An ivorine maxillary central incisor was prepared for an all ceramic crown. The prepared tooth was duplicated by using poly (vinyl siloxane) duplicating silicone and 80 die-stone models were produced using type IV dental stone. Dies were randomly divided into 5 groups with assigned die spacer thickness of (25 μm, 45 μm, 65 μm, 85 μm, 105 μm) (n=16/group). The printed resin copings, obtained from 3D Systems ProJet DP …

A Holistic Review Of The Medical School Admission Process: Examining Correlates Of Academic Underperformance, Terry D. Stratton, Carol L. Elam

Behavioral Science Faculty Publications

Background : Despite medical school admission committees' best efforts, a handful of seemingly capable students invariably struggle during their first year of study. Yet, even as entrance criteria continue to broaden beyond cognitive qualifications, attention inevitably reverts back to such factors when seeking to understand these phenomena. Using a host of applicant, admission, and post-admission variables, the purpose of this inductive study, then, was to identify a constellation of student characteristics that, taken collectively, would be predictive of students at-risk of underperforming during the first year of medical school. In it, we hypothesize that a wider range of factors than …