Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Novel Comparative Pattern Analysis Approach Identifies Chronic Alcohol Mediated Dysregulation Of Transcriptomic Dynamics During Liver Regeneration., Lakshmi Kuttippurathu, Egle Juskeviciute, Rachael P Dippold, Jan B. Hoek, Rajanikanth Vadigepalli

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Liver regeneration is inhibited by chronic ethanol consumption and this impaired repair response may contribute to the risk for alcoholic liver disease. We developed and applied a novel data analysis approach to assess the effect of chronic ethanol intake in the mechanisms responsible for liver regeneration. We performed a time series transcriptomic profiling study of the regeneration response after 2/3(rd) partial hepatectomy (PHx) in ethanol-fed and isocaloric control rats.

RESULTS: We developed a novel data analysis approach focusing on comparative pattern counts (COMPACT) to exhaustively identify the dominant and subtle differential expression patterns. Approximately 6500 genes were differentially regulated …

Current Prevalence Rate Of Latex Allergy: Why It Remains A Problem?, Miaozong Wu, James Mcintosh, Jian Liu

MIIR Faculty Research

OBJECTIVES: This article aims to review the current prevalence rate of latex allergy among healthcare workers, susceptible patients, and the general public, and to investigate why latex is still a ubiquitous occupational health hazard.

METHODS: Scientific publications on PubMed, particularly those published within the last five years, and current regulations from agencies such as Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were reviewed. Consumer and commercial products that may contain latex were also surveyed.

RESULTS: Approximately 12 million tons of natural rubber latex is produced annually and is widely used to manufacture millions of consumer and commercial products. Only limited number of …

Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia Co-Existing With Jak2 V617f Positive Myeloproliferative Neoplasm: A Case Report, Aleksandra Mamorska-Dyga, Jingjing Wu, Pallavi Khattar, Faisal Ronny, Humayun Islam, Karen Seiter, Delong Liu

NYMC Faculty Publications

The V617F mutation of Janus-associated kinase 2 (JAK2) is commonly seen in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). Transformation of JAK2 positive MPNs to acute leukemia has been reported. We here report a case of acute promyelocytic leukemia which was later confirmed to have a co-existing JAK2 V617F positive MPN. In addition, the patient was found to have FLT3-TKD mutation, which, together with PML/RARa, could play a role in the MPN transformation to APL.

Conditional Screening For Ultra-High Dimensional Covariates With Survival Outcomes, Hyokyoung Grace Hong, Jian Kang, Yi Li

The University of Michigan Department of Biostatistics Working Paper Series

Identifying important biomarkers that are predictive for cancer patients' prognosis is key in gaining better insights into the biological influences on the disease and has become a critical component of precision medicine. The emergence of large-scale biomedical survival studies, which typically involve excessive number of biomarkers, has brought high demand in designing efficient screening tools for selecting predictive biomarkers. The vast amount of biomarkers defies any existing variable selection methods via regularization. The recently developed variable screening methods, though powerful in many practical setting, fail to incorporate prior information on the importance of each biomarker and are less powerful in …

Single-Session Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Training Versus Relaxation Training For Non-Treatment-Engaged Suicidal Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Erin Ward-Ciesielski, Erin Ward-Ciesielski, Connor Jones, Madeline Wielgus, Chelsey Wilks, Marsha Linehan

Psychology Faculty Works

Background: Individuals who are not engaged in treatment are commonly overlooked in the design of intervention trials targeting suicidal populations as a result of recruitment methodology that requires individuals to be referred from their current provider. In fact, research suggests that the majority of individuals who die by suicide have not been in contact with mental health services in the year before their death. Methods/design: A randomized controlled trial of two brief, one-session interventions for adults who are not engaged in mental health treatment. Inclusion criteria include 1) 18 years or older, 2) experiencing suicidal ideation in the past week, …

Environmental Health News, Georgia Southern University

Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Environmental Health Sciences: News & Publications (2011-2018)

• Dr. Asli Aslan Faculty Feature

Eeg-Based Classification And Advanced Warning Of Epileptic Seizures, Lauren E. Clisby

Theses and Dissertations

Epilepsy is the second most common neurological disease after stroke. Epileptics may suffer hundreds of seizures per day, yet one is enough to put a person in constant fear of the next. The sudden and unexpected onset of seizures has debilitating and sometimes fatal consequences. The development of a real-time seizure prediction and alerting device would greatly improve epileptics’ quality of life. Major challenges for such a device include determining predictive features and discovering the maximum prediction window. Using the novel approach of random forest classification on EEG data, this research investigates the predictive features among the common EEG frequency …

College Of Public Health News, Georgia Southern University

College of Public Health: News & Publications

• Dr. Asli Aslan Faculty Feature

Neglected Dimensions Of Global Security: The Global Health Risk Framework Commission, Lawrence O. Gostin, Carmen C. Mundaca-Shah, Patrick W. Kelley

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The world has experienced global health crises ranging from novel influenzas (H5N1 and H1N1) and coronaviruses (SARS and MERS) to the Ebola and Zika viruses. In each case, governments and international organizations seemed unable to react quickly and decisively. Health crises have unmasked critical vulnerabilities— weak health systems, failures of leadership, and political overreaction and underreaction. The Global Health Risk Framework Commission, for which the National Academy of Medicine served as the secretariat, recently set out a comprehensive strategy to safeguard human and economic security from pandemic threats.

Using Artificial Neural Networks To Predict Disease Associations For Chemicals Present In Burn Pit Emissions, Amanda R. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

In June of 2015, 27,378 of the 28,000 returning Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) veterans report being exposed to burn pits. According to Barth et al. (2014), 9,660 returning OIF/OEF veterans were diagnosed with respiratory diseases, to include asthma, bronchitis, and sinusitis, thus strengthening the need to develop decision support tools that can be used to understand the relationships between chemical exposure and disease. In this study an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was used to predict the chemical-disease associations for burn pit constituents. Ten burn pit constituents were tested using varying hidden layers, similar chemical structure relationships, and three …

Neck Injury Criteria Development For Use In System Level Ejection Testing; Characterization Of Atd To Human Response Correlation Under -Gx Accelerative Input, Craig M. Zinck

Theses and Dissertations

The use of Helmet Mounted Displays is ubiquitous in the field of aviation, adding operational capability, increasing head-supported weight and potential neck injury risk. Developing neck injury criteria to evaluate and quantify neck injury is important to ensure ejection systems are produced within acceptable standards. An ATD to human transfer function is developed that quantifies the difference between ATD and human neck response from -Gx accelerative tests, and demonstrates how this function can be applied to ATD test data to make previously developed human risk functions directly applicable to interpreting ATD data with a human based neck injury criterion. A …

N404 Nursing Care Of The Diverse Veteran Population In Rural And Urban Settings, Ron Ulberg, Kent Blad

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Evaluation of how well the academic objectives of the proposal were met:

The academic objectives of the MEG proposal were met and exceeded. Specifically, students were exposed to local and national venues in which Veterans and their history are prevalent. Examples of this include visits by the students and faculty to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, VA Medical Center War Related Injury and Illness Study Center, Arlington National Cemetery, US Capitol, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial, WW I Memorial, WW II Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Museum of American History, etc. We also met with Senator Mike Lee …

The Effects Of Cep-37440, An Inhibitor Of Focal Adhesion Kinase, In Vitro And In Vivo On Inflammatory Breast Cancer Cells., Israa Salem, Manal Alsalahi, I Chervoneva, Lucy D Aburto, Sankar Addya, Gregory R Ott, Bruce A Ruggeri, Massimo Cristofanilli, Sandra V Fernandez

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is an aggressive type of advanced breast cancer with a poor prognosis. We recently found that focal adhesion kinase 1 (FAK1) is upregulated and phosphorylated (active) in IBC. In this study, we investigated the effect of CEP-37440, a dual inhibitor of FAK1 and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), using human IBC cell lines and preclinical models of IBC.

METHODS: Cell proliferation assays were performed in the presence of several concentrations of CEP-37440 using IBC and triple-negative breast cancer non-IBC cell lines. In vitro, we studied the expression of total FAK1, phospho-FAK1 (Tyr 397), total ALK and …

Modulation Of Whole Cell Currents In Human Neuroblastoma Cells Via The Hormone Aldosterone: An In Vitro Study, Harish Kumar Chittam

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ion channels play a critical role in maintaining homeostasis by moving various ions in and out of cells. The Na⁺-K⁺-2Cl^- or NKCC1 ion channel is involved in the regulation of Na⁺, K⁺, and Cl^- across cell membranes, and plays a key role in many forms of cellular physiology. In the cochlea, NKCC1 is involved in endolymph production and maintenance of the endocochlear potential. Our hypothesis is that blocking NKCC1 channels should directly impact auditory sensitivity causing hearing loss. Our lab has also shown that the hormone aldosterone (ALD) can upregulate …

Investigating The Determinants Of Recycling Behavior In Youth By Using Theory Of Planned Behavior., Tejaswini Gadiraju

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study is to understand the determinants that influence the youth recycling behavior intention. In other words, this study wants to know the motivations and barriers behind university students’ recycling behavior. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), which provides a theoretical framework for systematically identifying the determinants of recycling behavior, is the basis for this study. Along with the TPB variables, additional predictor variables (moral norm, past experience, knowledge of how and what to recycle, knowledge of consequences, and inconvenience) that can influence behavior intentions were tested in the study. Online survey was used to collect the …

Resilience In Uncertainty: An Examination Of A Moroccan Centre Serving Unwed Mothers, Dana Louise Goodlett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Utilizing a gender-based violence approach, this study investigated service delivery realities for a Moroccan women’s centre serving unwed mothers and their babies. Primary research methods included participant observation and semi-structured interviews (n=20) with unwed mothers and centre staff. This study aimed to determine what factors lead mothers to seek assistance, types of assistance offered, and challenges and future opportunities for services. Findings indicate a lack of social support to mothers, lack of social and economic support for the centre and reduced service capacity, and the use of deceit in interactions between mothers and staff rooted in cultural notions of shame. …

An Assessment Of Elementary School Children’S Diet And Physical Activity Levels, Karen Tamara Serrano Arce

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With prevalence rates of obesity among children and adolescents steadily rising, childhood obesity and overweight has become a public health concern. Publically funded elementary schools are in a unique position to provide children with opportunities regarding the promotion of physical activity and healthy nutritional behaviors. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to conduct exploratory research to investigate the dietary habits of elementary school students enrolled in four Hillsborough County Out-of-School Time (HOST) care programs. Methods: The study utilized a quantitative, non-experimental study design. The instruments that were used in this research included a new questionnaire that was titled “All …

Critical Heat Stress Evaluation In Two Ebola Ensembles, Christopher T. Lee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ebola, a type of filovirus that causes hemorrhagic fevers, dominated global headlines in 2014 when the largest Ebola epidemic in history took place in West Africa. Healthcare practitioners were at particular risk of contracting Ebola while taking care of patients with the disease because they were easily exposed to bodily fluids such as blood, urine, saliva, and feces, quite often in the intensive care unit (ICU). While personal protective equipment (PPE) protects the healthcare practitioner by providing an effective barrier against the virus, users were also at risk for heat stress because of the type of protective clothing. In this …

Anti-Fat Attitudes And Weight Bias Internalization: An Investigation Of How Bmi Impacts Perceptions, Opinions And Attitudes, Laurie Schrider

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Americans hold negative and judgmental attitudes towards obese and overweight individuals and these anti-fat attitudes and weight stigma have become a damaging form of discrimination. The internalization of weight bias and anti-fat attitudes contributes to negative health outcomes including: feelings of devalue, self-hate, anxiety, depression, body dissatisfaction and eating disturbances. The purpose of this study was to investigate weight bias internalization in individuals who perceive themselves as overweight as well as to examine differences in anti-fat attitudes among normal and overweight individuals. A sample of 202 male and females completed an online survey that assessed anti-fat attitudes via the Anti-Fat …

Correlation Of Maximal Inspiratory Pressure To Transdiaphragmatic Twitch Pressure In Intensive Care Unit Patients, Gerald S. Supinski, Philip M. Westgate, Leigh Ann Callahan

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Background: Respiratory muscle weakness contributes to respiratory failure in ICU patients. Unfortunately, assessment of weakness is difficult since the most objective test, transdiaphragmatic pressure in response to phrenic nerve stimulation (PdiTw), is difficult to perform. While most clinicians utilize maximum inspiratory pressure (Pimax) to assess strength, the relationship of this index to PdiTw has not been evaluated in a large ICU population. The purpose of the present study was to assess both PdiTw and Pimax in ICU patients to determine how these indices correlate with each other, what factors influence these indices, and how well these indices predict outcomes.

Methods: …

Effects Of Stability Balls On Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Patricia A. Krombach

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Children with ASD often display behavior problems that can lead to daily academic and social disruptions. Many teachers and therapists have sought to create classroom interventions that improve the length of time a child stays seated and focused on the required task. This has led to the introduction of stability balls as an alternative seating method for children, both on the autism spectrum and with other needs. This study used a multiple baseline design and duration data to evaluate the effects of stability ball seating on attending and in-seat behavior for children with ASD who received ABA therapy in their …

Effects Of Delay To Reinforcement On Selections For High-Tech And Low-Tech Leisure Items, Yuram Kim

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many children are exposed to excessively technology. Such use of technology may lead to health issues including obesity, attention deficits, and sleep disorders. Research has shown that parameters of reinforcement, such as quality and delay, may influence how children allocate their preferences. One way to drive preference away from high-tech toys may be to arrange delays to reinforcement following such selections and immediate reinforcement for an alternative response. In Experiment 1, four subjects who preferred high-tech leisure items over low-tech leisure items were identified through the pair-stimulus preference assessments. The results of Experiment 2 indicated that all subjects were sensitive …

'Refractory Epilepsy': What Lies Beneath?, Syedah Saira Bokhari, Satwat Hashmi

Section of Internal Medicine

A 30-year-old woman presented to the emergency room with recurrent seizures for 5 days. She had been diagnosed with epilepsy 2 years previously but stopped treatment due to the side effects of her medications. She was now experiencing episodes every 15-30 min. While undergoing a brain MRI to investigate for structural central nervous system pathology, she experienced another episode, preceded by prodromal symptoms. Polymorphic ventricular tachycardia was noted during the event. Further investigation revealed a normal QT interval, normal electrolyte panel, normal coronaries and severe left ventricular systolic dysfunction. Cardiac MRI revealed non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy. The patient was managed with heart …

Effects Of Isolated Core Stability Training On Standing Static Postural Control, Recovery Of Standing Postural Control And Kicking Velocity In Soccer Athletes, Ali El-Kerdi

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

BACKGROUND: About 1/3 of injuries are non-contact in nature and half of these involve the LE’s. There are numerous anatomical and physiological mechanisms and systems involved in stabilizing the trunk for movement of the lower extremities. The ability of the trunk to maintain the position and motion of the trunk over the pelvis and LE’s is predominantly accomplished via quick postural responses to internal and external forces. These pre-programed postural responses are integrated within the neuromuscular system. It is theorized that poor core stability is a result of a failure in the neuromuscular system to support the trunk and pelvis …

Male Psychological Adaptation To Unsuccessful Medically Assisted Reproduction Treatments: A Systematic Review, Mariana Veloso Martins, Miguel Basto-Pereira, Juliana Pedro, Brennan Peterson, Vasco Almeida, Lone Schmidt, Maria Emília Costa

Marriage and Family Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

BACKGROUND Similarly to women, men suffer from engaging in fertility treatments, both physically and psychologically. Although there is a vast body of evidence on the emotional adjustment of women to infertility, there are no systematic reviews focusing on men's psychological adaptation to infertility and related treatments.

OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE The main research questions addressed in this review were ‘Does male psychological adaptation to unsuccessful medically assisted reproduction (MAR) treatment vary over time?’ and ‘Which psychosocial variables act as protective or risk factors for psychological maladaptation?’

SEARCH METHODS A literature search was conducted from inception to September 2015 on five databases …

The Role Of Sonic Hedgehog Signaling In Osteoclastogenesis And Jaw Bone Destruction., Tsuyoshi Shimo, Kenichi Matsumoto, Kiyofumi Takabatake, Eriko Aoyama, Yuichiro Takebe, Soichiro Ibaragi, Tatsuo Okui, Naito Kurio, Hiroyuki Takada, Kyoichi Obata, Pai Pang, Masahiro Iwamoto, Hitoshi Nagatsuka, Akira Sasaki

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Faculty Papers

Sonic hedgehog (SHH) and its signaling have been identified in several human cancers, and increased levels of its expression appear to correlate with disease progression and metastasis. However, the role of SHH in bone destruction associated with oral squamous cell carcinomas is still unclear. In this study we analyzed SHH expression and the role played by SHH signaling in gingival carcinoma-induced jawbone destruction. From an analysis of surgically resected lower gingival squamous cell carcinoma mandible samples, we found that SHH was highly expressed in tumor cells that had invaded the bone matrix. On the other hand, the hedgehog receptor Patched …

Hcv-Induced Mir146a Controls Socs1/Stat3 And Cytokine Expression In Monocytes To Promote Regulatory T-Cell Development, Junping Ren, Rue S. Ying, Yong Q. Cheng, Ling Wang, Mohamed A. El Gazzar, Guang Y. Li, Shun B. Ning, Jonathon P. Moorman, Zhi Q. Yao

ETSU Faculty Works

Host innate and adaptive immune responses must be tightly regulated by an intricate balance between positive and negative signals to ensure their appropriate onset and termination while fighting pathogens and avoiding autoimmunity; persistent pathogens may usurp these regulatory machineries to dampen host immune responses for their persistence in vivo. Here, we demonstrate that miR146a is up‐regulated in monocytes from hepatitis C virus (HCV )‐infected individuals compared to control subjects. Interestingly, miR146a expression in monocytes without HCV infection increased, whereas its level in monocytes with HCV infection decreased, following Toll‐like receptor (TLR ) stimulation. This miR146a induction by HCV infection …

Vegfr2 Py949 Signalling Regulates Adherens Junction Integrity And Metastatic Spread, Xiujuan Li, Narendra Padhan, Elisabet O. Sjöström, Francis P. Roche, Chiara Testini, Naoki Honkura, Miguel Sáinz-Jaspeado, Emma Gordon, Katie Bentley, Andrew Philippides, Vladimir Tolmachev, Elisabetta Dejana, Radu V. Stan, Dietmar Vestweber, Kurt Ballmer-Hofer, Christer Betsholtz, Kristian Pietras, Leif Jansson, Lena Claesson-Welsh

Dartmouth Scholarship

The specific role of VEGFA-induced permeability and vascular leakage in physiology and pathology has remained unclear. Here we show that VEGFA-induced vascular leakage depends on signalling initiated via the VEGFR2 phosphosite Y949, regulating dynamic c-Src and VE-cadherin phosphorylation. Abolished Y949 signalling in the mouse mutant Vegfr2^Y949F/Y949F leads to VEGFA-resistant endothelial adherens junctions and a block in molecular extravasation. Vessels in Vegfr2^Y949F/Y949F mice remain sensitive to inflammatory cytokines, and vascular morphology, blood pressure and flow parameters are normal. Tumour-bearing Vegfr2^Y949F/Y949F mice display reduced vascular leakage and oedema, improved response to chemotherapy and, importantly, reduced metastatic spread. The inflammatory …

Depression And Body Mass Index, Differences By Education: Evidence From A Population-Based Study Of Adult Women In The U.S. Buffalo-Niagara Region, Ashley Wendell Kranjac, Jing Nie, Maurizio Trevisan, Jo L. Freudenheim

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

The relationship between obesity and depression is well described. However, the evidence linking depression and body mass index (BMI) across the broad range of body size is less consistent. We examined the association between depressive symptoms and BMI in a sample of adult women in the Buffalo-Niagara region between 1997 and 2001. Using logistic regression, we investigated whether increased weight status beyond normal-weight was associated with a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms, and if educational attainment modified the association between obesity and depression. There was a trend for increased weight status to be associated with higher depressive symptoms (obese II/III, …

A Phenomenological Approach To Understand The Challenges Faced By Medical Students, R. Deepa, Anuja S. Panicker

The Qualitative Report

Life in a medical school is more challenging, when compared to other disciplines like arts and engineering. The innate nature of the medical curriculum and the demands of the profession have created extensive pressure on its students, leading to the prevalence of high stress levels and stress related disorders in them. The mental health of future doctors is very important for quality patient care. Hence it is high time for medical institutions to design interventions to mitigate this situation. A significant amount of research has gone into identifying the predominant stressors of medical education and the prevailing stress levels amongst …