Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Medical Futility And Religious Free Exercise, Teneille R. Brown

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

A tragic scenario has become all too common in hospitals across the United States. Dying patients pray for medical miracles when their physicians think that continuing treatment would render no meaningful benefit. This situation is unfortunately referred to as “medical futility.” In these cases, physicians, who are less likely than their patients to rely on God as a means of coping with major illness, are at an impasse. Their patients request everything be done so that they can have more time for God to intervene, but in the physician’s professional experience, everything will probably do nothing. What is the physician …

Interview With Dean Miller, Lana Malekan, Rana Mehdizadeh

Quill & Scope

No abstract provided.

Serial Sympathies, Trevor Plumer

Quill & Scope

No abstract provided.

Management Of Heterotopic Ossification With Bisphosphonates After Hip Hemiarthroplasty In Patiens With Contraindications To Standard Of Care Prophylaxis, Peter Tumminelli, Steven Shapiro, Vanessa Cooper, Christopher Thomas, Haresh Sampathkumar, Mohammad Islam

Quill & Scope

No abstract provided.

Management And Complications Of A Late-Presenting Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, Gabrielle Hatton, Nicholas Bartell

Quill & Scope

No abstract provided.

The Underserved Community Of Squirrels At Valhalla, David Bass

Quill & Scope

No abstract provided.

Forever Flowers, Lisaray Morales

Quill & Scope

No abstract provided.

The Currency Of Life (An Ode To The Beat Of The Heart), Joey Resignato

Quill & Scope

No abstract provided.

Sidekick, Brian (Kyu Won) Yum

Quill & Scope

No abstract provided.

Workplace Management Knowledge And Support For Employee Breastfeeding Practices, Elizabeth Heimer

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Breastfeeding has many benefits to both mother and child. It also happens to have benefits to workplaces who support breastfeeding. Research shows that lack of environmental support of breastfeeding at the workplace may discourage women from exclusively breastfeeding the recommended amount of time of SIX months (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2012). To investigate the management knowledge and workplace breastfeeding support services, an online survey was sent out employees in management positions at selected workplaces in Faribault, Martin and Watonwan counties in Minnesota. Of the 98 selected participants, only 16 participants completed the survey. The study aimed to discover whether there …

Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Characteristics And How Social Support Plays A Role, Stephanie Smith-Kellen

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

NSSI affects many young adults and is associated with suicidal ideation, as well as numerous mental health disorders and other psychological variables. There were a total of 59 participants that participated in this study from an undergraduate college sample who endorsed self-injuring. An online platform for research was used to recruit participants and provide them with the online survey link. Self-injuring more than one bodily location may result in feeling more stigma than individuals who self-injure one bodily location. Self-stigma and self-injuring multiple bodily locations both significantly predicted suicidal ideation, but gender and social support did not predict suicidal ideation. …

Telotristat Ethyl, A Tryptophan Hydroxylase Inhibitor For The Treatment Of Carcinoid Syndrome, Matthew H. Kulke, Dieter Hörsch, Martyn E. Caplin, Lowell B. Anthony, Emily Bergsland, Kjell Öberg, Staffan Welin, Richard R. P. Warner, Catherine Lombard-Bohas, Pamela L. Kunz, Enrique Grande, Juan W. Valle, Douglas Fleming, Pablo Lapuerta, Phillip Banks, Shanna Jackson, Brian Zambrowicz, Arthur T. Sands, Marianne Pavel

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Purpose

Preliminary studies suggested that telotristat ethyl, a tryptophan hydroxylase inhibitor, reduces bowel movement (BM) frequency in patients with carcinoid syndrome. This placebo-controlled phase III study evaluated telotristat ethyl in this setting.

Patients and Methods

Patients (N = 135) experiencing four or more BMs per day despite stable-dose somatostatin analog therapy received (1:1:1) placebo, telotristat ethyl 250 mg, or telotristat ethyl 500 mg three times per day orally during a 12-week double-blind treatment period. The primary end point was change from baseline in BM frequency. In an open-label extension, 115 patients subsequently received telotristat ethyl 500 mg.

Results

Estimated differences …

Role Of Healthcare Providers' Recommendation Style In Hpv Vaccine-Decision-Making Among Haitian Parents And Female Patients, Dudith Pierre-Victor, Dionne P. Stephens, Rachel Clarke, Kemesha Gabbidon, Purnima Madhivanan

USF St. Petersburg Campus Faculty Publications

Background and Purpose: The strong influence of physician recommendation on vaccine uptake is well established in the literature. However, its influence on HPV vaccine decision-making among young Haitian women is understudied. This study investigated the role of healthcare providers’ recommendation style in Haitian parents’ and female patients’ HPV vaccine decision-making. Methods: Thirty selfidentified Haitian women aged 17-26 years were recruited from a large university campus in the Southeastern United States (N=30). They completed in-depth face-to-face interviews regarding their HPV vaccine decision-making process. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Provider recommendation was cited as a major factor that influenced HPV …

Recovery From Diffuse Brain Injuries: Two Case Studies., Alejandro E. Brice, Roanne G. Brice

USF St. Petersburg Campus Faculty Publications

Subarachnoid hemorrhages (SAHs) are grave medical emergencies, whereas 30–50% of all SAHs may ultimately result in death. Subarachnoid hemorrhages share many resemblances with other neurological traumas such as a cerebral vascular accident, meningitis, and/or traumatic brain injury. Autoimmune encephalopathies (AE) occur when human antibodies assault the body’s cell surfaces and/or synaptic proteins. Consequently, widespread nervous system and diffuse brain involvement may occur. With subarachnoid hemorrhages and autoimmune encephalopathies, multiple areas of cognition and language can be impaired. Case studies in communication sciences and disorders are underutilized, yet are important in evidenced‐based practice. Speech-language pathologists in medical settings have worked with …

Somatosensory Deficits In Post-Acl Reconstruction Patients: A Case-Control Study, Johanna M. Hoch, William O. Perkins, Jonathan R. Hartman, Matthew C. Hoch

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Introduction: Diminished cutaneous detection thresholds have been identified in patients with multiple orthopedic conditions, and these phenomena may occur in postanterior cruciate ligament reconstructed (ACLR) patients. The purpose of this study was to determine if differences in lower extremity cutaneous detection thresholds exist in post-ACLR patients when compared with healthy controls. Methods: Fifteen individuals who were post-ACLR and 15 individuals who had no history of knee injury participated. Light touch cutaneous detection thresholds were assessed at 4 locations on the foot and ankle (first metatarsal, fifth metatarsal, medial malleolus, and lateral malleolus). Nonparametric statistics examined group differences between the …

Improving Compliance With Evidence-Based Practice Guidelines For Bipolar I Depression Treatment By Mental Health Clinicians, Ket Davis

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects - Archive

Background: A large body of literature describes poor compliance among mental health providers with evidence-based practice (EBP) guidelines for Bipolar Disorder (BD) I depression treatment. Poor compliance to EBP guidelines has been linked to unfavorable patient outcomes. Specifically, the use of antidepressants (AD) in the treatment of BD has been linked to flares of mania and hypomania. Despite the ineffectiveness of these drugs, clinicians continue to use them. At one mental health primary care site, a lack of compliance with EBP guidelines for AD use in BD I depression was found. The purpose of this project was to implement a …

Evaluating Knowledge Of And Adherence To Chronic Kidney Disease Early Detection Guidelines: Education Intervention For Healthcare Providers In An Acute Care Setting, Hedrine Nana

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects - Archive

Purpose: The purpose of the scholarly project was to evaluate the effect of an education intervention to increase healthcare providers' knowledge and adherence to Kidney Disease I Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) 2012 guidelines for CKD early detection in an adult population admitted to an Emergency Department (ED) observation unit in a tertiary hospital. Design: Through chart audits, a descriptive pre- and posttest design of two independent groups of patients admitted to ED observation status was used to determine healthcare providers' adherence to KDIGO CKD early detection. An education intervention using an investigator developed Identify-Detect-Intervene algorithm and survey were conducted prior …

The Application Of Half-Life In Clinical Decision Making: Comparison Of The Pharmacokinetics Of Extended-Release Topiramate (Usl255) And Immediate-Release Topiramate, Barry E. Gidal, Annie M. Clark, Bob Anders, Frank Gilliam

Neuroscience Faculty Publications

Objective: For extended-release drugs with multi-compartment kinetics, such as topiramate, effective half-life (t_1/2eff) may be a more clinically relevant parameter than elimination half-life (t_1/2z). Using topiramate as a real-life example, the objective was to compare these half-life values for immediate- and extended-release topiramate (TPM-IR and USL255, respectively) to understand how drug pharmacokinetics may impact drug dosing recommendations.

Methods: The t_1/2z and t_1/2eff for USL255 and TPM-IR were compared using data from a phase I study (N = 36) of 200 mg USL255 administered once daily (QD) or TPM-IR twice daily (BID); effect of sampling duration …

Diagnostic And Prognostic Relevance Of Cp2c And Yy1 Expression In Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Ji Sook Kim, Seung Han Son, Min Young Kim, Dongho Choi, Ik-Soon Jang, Seung Sam Paik, Ji Hyung Chae, Vladimir N. Uversky, Chul Geun Kim

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

Recent studies have demonstrated an oncogenic role of the transcription factor (TF) CP2c in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) based on a strong correlation between CP2c expression, tumor grade, and aggressiveness. We recently found that CP2c directly interacts with another TF, YY1, which is also overexpressed in multiple cancers, including HCC. To evaluate if these proteins are co-regulated in carcinogenesis, we analyzed the expression of CP2c and YY1 in HCC (n = 136) tissues and examined the correlation between their expression and clinicopathological characteristics of HCC. Receiver operating characteristic analysis exhibited the validity of CP2c and nuclear YY1 expression as a …

Mhc Class Ii Associated Stomach Cancer Mutations Correlate With Lack Of Subsequent Tumor Development, John M. Yavorski, George Blanck

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

The role of tumor cell expression of major histocompatibility class II (MHCII) has been controversial, with evidence indicating that tumor cell expression of MHCII may lead to an anti‑tumor immune response and to tumor cell apoptosis and that MHCII has pro‑tumorigenic functions. The cancer genome atlas (TCGA) indicates numerous deleterious mutations for the highly specific, MHCII transcriptional activation proteins, RFX5, RFXAP, RFXANK and CIITA. Also, mutations in the non‑polymorphic, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)‑DRA gene, which encodes the heavy chain for the most prominent human MHCII molecule, HLA‑DR, are common. For many, if not most TCGA cancer datasets, the MHCII specific …

Sertoli Cells Loaded With Doxorubicin In Lipid Micelles Reduced Tumor Burden And Dox-Induced Toxicity, Mahasweta Das, Mark Howell, Elspeth A. Foran, Rohit Iyre, Shyam S. Mohapatra, Subhra Mohapatra

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

The toxic side effects of doxorubicin (Dox) limit its long-term use as a lung cancer chemotherapeutic. Additionally, drug delivery to the deep lung is challenging. To address these challenges, isolated rat Sertoli cells (SCs) were preloaded with Dox conjugated to lipid micelle nanoparticles (SC-DLMNs) and delivered to mouse lungs. These immunocompetent cells, when injected intravenously, travel to the lung, deliver the payload, and get cleared by the system quickly without causing any adverse reaction. We observed that SC-DLMNs effectively treated Lewis lung carcinoma 1-induced lung tumors in mice and the drug efficacy was comparable to SC-Dox treatment. Mice treated with …

Calreticulin: Challenges Posed By The Intrinsically Disordered Nature Of Calreticulin To The Study Of Its Function, Lilian Varricchio, Mario Falchi, Massimiliano Dall'ora, Benedittis, Caterina De Benedittis, Alessandra Ruggeri, Vladimir N. Uversky, Anna Rita Migliaccio

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

Calreticulin is a Ca²⁺-binding chaperone protein, which resides mainly in the endoplasmic reticulum but also found in other cellular compartments including the plasma membrane. In addition to Ca²⁺, calreticulin binds and regulates almost all proteins and most of the mRNAs deciding their intracellular fate. The potential functions of calreticulin are so numerous that identification of all of them is becoming a nightmare. Still the recent discovery that patients affected by the Philadelphia-negative myeloproliferative disorders essential thrombocytemia or primary myelofibrosis not harboring JAK2 mutations carry instead calreticulin mutations disrupting its C-terminal domain has highlighted the clinical need …

The Relationship Between Folding And Activity In Ureg, An Intrinsically Disordered Enzyme, Marta Palombo, Alessio Bonucci, Emilien Etienne, Stefano Ciurli, Vladimir N. Uversky, Bruno Guigliarelli, Valérie Belle, Elisabetta Mileo, Barbara Zambelli

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

A growing body of literature on intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) led scientists to rethink the structure-function paradigm of protein folding. Enzymes are often considered an exception to the rule of intrinsic disorder (ID), believed to require a unique structure for catalysis. However, recent studies revealed the presence of disorder in several functional native enzymes. In the present work, we address the importance of dynamics for catalysis, by investigating the relationship between folding and activity in Sporosarcina pasteurii UreG (SpUreG), a P-loop GTPase and the first discovered native ID enzyme, involved in the maturation of the nickel-containing urease. The effect of …

Functional Analysis Of Human Hub Proteins And Their Interactors Involved In The Intrinsic Disorder-Enriched Interactions, Gang Hu, Zhonghua Wu, Vladimir N. Uversky, Lukasz Kurgan

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

Some of the intrinsically disordered proteins and protein regions are promiscuous interactors that are involved in one-to-many and many-to-one binding. Several studies have analyzed enrichment of intrinsic disorder among the promiscuous hub proteins. We extended these works by providing a detailed functional characterization of the disorder-enriched hub protein-protein interactions (PPIs), including both hubs and their interactors, and by analyzing their enrichment among disease-associated proteins. We focused on the human interactome, given its high degree of completeness and relevance to the analysis of the disease-linked proteins. We quantified and investigated numerous functional and structural characteristics of the disorder-enriched hub PPIs, including …

Carbonyl-Based Blue Autofluorescence Of Proteins And Amino Acids, Chamani Niyangoda, Tatiana Miti, Leonid Breydo, Vladimir Uversky, Martin Muschol

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

Intrinsic protein fluorescence is inextricably linked to the near-UV autofluorescence of aromatic amino acids. Here we show that a novel deep-blue autofluorescence (dbAF), previously thought to emerge as a result of protein aggregation, is present at the level of monomeric proteins and even poly- and single amino acids. Just as its aggregation-related counterpart, this autofluorescence does not depend on aromatic residues, can be excited at the long wavelength edge of the UV and emits in the deep blue. Differences in dbAF excitation and emission peaks and intensities from proteins and single amino acids upon changes in solution conditions suggest dbAF’s …

Data On Evolution Of Intrinsically Disordered Regions Of The Human Kinome And Contribution Of Fak1 Idrs To Cytoskeletal Remodeling, Jaymin J. Kathiriya, Ravi Ramesh Pathak, Alexandr Bezginov, Bin Xue, Vladimir N. Uversky, Elisabeth R.M. Tillier, Vrushank Davé

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

We present data on the evolution of intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) taking into account the entire human protein kinome. The evolutionary data of the IDRs with respect to the kinase domains (KDs) and kinases as a whole protein (WP) are reported. Further, we have reported its post translational modifications of FAK1 IDRs and their contribution to the cytoskeletal remodeling. We also report the data to build a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of primary and secondary FAK1-interacting hybrid proteins. Detailed analysis of the data and its effect on FAK1-related functions have been described in “Structural pliability adjacent to the kinase domain …

Electronegativity And Intrinsic Disorder Of Preeclampsia-Related Proteins, Carlos Polanco, Jorge Alberto Castañón-González, Vladimir N. Uversky, Thomas Buhse, José Lino Mendoza, Juan J. Calva

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

Preeclampsia, hemorrhage, and infection are the leading causes of maternal death in underdeveloped countries. Since several proteins associated with preeclampsia are known, we conducted a computational study in which evaluated the commonness and potential functionality of intrinsic disorder in these proteins and also made an attempt to characterize their origin. To this end, we used a several supervised techniques, as a Polarity Index Method (PIM), which evaluates the electronegativity of proteins from their sequence alone. Peculiarities of resulting polar profile of the group of preeclampsia-related proteins were then compared with profiles of a group of lipoproteins, antimicrobial peptides, angiogenesis-related proteins, …

Real Time Monitoring Of Children, And Adults With Mental Disabilities Using A Low-Cost Non-Invasive Electronic Device, Carlos Polanco, Ignacio Islas Vazquez, Adrian Martinez-Rivas, Miguel Arias-Estrada, Thomas Buhse, Juan J. Calva, Carlos Aguilar Salinas, Claudia Pimentel Instituto Nacional De Pediatría, Vladimir N. Uversky

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

There are a growing number of small children—as well as adults—with mental disabilities (including elderly citizens with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of age-related dementia) that are getting lost in rural and urban areas for various reasons. Establishing their location within the first 72 h is crucial because lost people are exposed to all kinds of adverse conditions and in the case of the elderly, this is further aggravated if prescribed medication is needed. Herein we describe a non-invasive, low-cost electronic device that operates constantly, keeping track of time, the geographical location and the identification of the subject using it. …

Identification And Initial Characterization Of The Effectors Of An Anther Smut Fungus And Potential Host Target Proteins, Venkata S. Kuppireddy, Vladimir N. Uversky, Su San Toh, Ming-Chang Tsai, William C. Beckerson, Catarina Cahill, Brittany Carman, Michael H. Perlin

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

(1) Background: Plant pathogenic fungi often display high levels of host specificity and biotrophic fungi; in particular, they must manipulate their hosts to avoid detection and to complete their obligate pathogenic lifecycles. One important strategy of such fungi is the secretion of small proteins that serve as effectors in this process. Microbotryum violaceum is a species complex whose members infect members of the Caryophyllaceae; M. lychnidis-dioicae, a parasite on Silene latifolia, is one of the best studied interactions. We are interested in identifying and characterizing effectors of the fungus and possible corresponding host targets; (2) Methods: In silico analysis of …

Structure And Conformational Properties Of D-Glucose/D-Galactose-Binding Protein In Crowded Milieu, Alexander V. Fonin, Sergey A. Silonov, Asiia K. Sitdikova, Irina M. Kuznetsova, Vladimir N. Uversky

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

Conformational changes of d-glucose/d-galactose-binding protein (GGBP) were studied under molecular crowding conditions modeled by concentrated solutions of polyethylene glycols (PEG-12000, PEG-4000, and PEG-600), Ficoll-70, and Dextran-70, addition of which induced noticeable structural changes in the GGBP molecule. All PEGs promoted compaction of GGBP and lead to the increase in ordering of its structure. Concentrated solutions of PEG-12000 and PEG-4000 caused GGBP aggregation. Although Ficoll-70 and Dextran-70 also promoted increase in the GGBP ordering, the structural outputs were different for different crowders. For example, in comparison with the GGBP in buffer, the intrinsic fluorescence spectrum of this protein was shifted to …