Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Phonetic Complexity Affects Children’S Mandarin Tone Production Accuracy In Disyllabic Words: A Perceptual Study, Puisan Wong, Winifred Strange

Publications and Research

This is the first study to examine the effect of phonetic contexts on children’s lexical tone production. Mandarin tones in disyllabic words produced by forty-four 2- to 6-year-old children and twelve mothers were low-pass filtered to eliminate lexical information. Native Mandarin speaking adults categorized the tones based on the pitch information in the filtered stimuli. All mothers’ tones were categorized with ceiling accuracy. Counter to the findings in most previous studies on children’s tone acquisition and the prevailing assumption in models of speech development that children acquire suprasegmental features much earlier than segmental features, this study found that children as …

Exosomes Serve As Novel Modes Of Tick-Borne Flavivirus Transmission From Arthropod To Human Cells And Facilitates Dissemination Of Viral Rna And Proteins To The Vertebrate Neuronal Cells, Wenshuo Zhou, Michael Woodson, Biswas Neupane, Fengwei Bai, Michael B. Sherman, Kyung H. Choi, Girish Neelakanta, Hameeda Sultana

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Molecular determinants and mechanisms of arthropod-borne flavivirus transmission to the vertebrate host are poorly understood. In this study, we show for the first time that a cell line from medically important arthropods, such as ticks, secretes extracellular vesicles (EVs) including exosomes that mediate transmission of flavivirus RNA and proteins to the human cells. Our study shows that tick-borne Langat virus (LGTV), a model pathogen closely related to tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), profusely uses arthropod exosomes for transmission of viral RNA and proteins to the human- skin keratinocytes and blood endothelial cells. Cryo-electron microscopy showed the presence of purified arthropod/neuronal exosomes …

Factors Influencing The Perceived Stressors Of New Graduate Nurses Transitioning Into Acute Care Settings: A Secondary Data Analysis, Eileen K. Mahler

Theses & Dissertations

Background: The transition into practice of new graduate nurses continues to be of concern to the nursing profession. Smooth transition into practice takes on increased importance in the current era of healthcare transformation and resulting impact on the clinical environments within which nurses practice. It is important to study the stressors and challenges new graduates face in the practice environment. Methods: This descriptive study utilized secondary data analysis to explore new graduate nurses' self-report of clinical stressors during their transition into the professional RN role. Meleis’ Transitions Theory and Lazarus and Folkman’s Transactional Model of Stress and Coping provided the …

Modulation Of Pkr Activity During Hiv Infection And Cellular Stress By Pact And Trbp, Evelyn E. Chukwurah

Theses and Dissertations

A crucial component of the cellular response to stress is the attenuation of protein synthesis to allow the cell to dedicate resources for the restoration of homeostasis or towards the induction of apoptotic cell death in case the stressors overwhelm the cell. This process is itself regulated by one of the four eIF2α kinases of which PKR (Protein Kinase R) is responsible for inhibiting general translation during viral infection, oxidative stress, ER stress, heat shock or serum withdrawal.

During viral infection, PKR is transcriptionally induced by interferon but remains latent until it interacts with dsRNA. This interaction induces a conformational …

Radioactive Contamination Of Natural Biological Systems: Oxidative Balance And Genetic Stability, Daniel Einor

Theses and Dissertations

The global demand for nuclear energy grows, and so do the risks of an accidental release of nuclear products into the environment. Therefore, understanding the health and ecological effects of contamination by radionuclides should be of great interest for biomedical specialists and the public. Empirical studies unequivocally show that high doses of ionizing radiation (IR) shift the redox-balance of many biological systems and increase the rates of genetic errors. However, the effects of chronic low doses of radiation vary significantly between tissues and between species. The present dissertation comprises the results of experimental and meta-analytical research of a variety of …

Prenatal Methylmercury Exposure In A South Carolina Coastal Cohort, Alexis Donohue

Theses and Dissertations

Objectives: Methylmercury is a neurotoxin that has the ability to cross the placenta and adversely affect the developing fetus. Our primary objective was to investigate whether prenatal methylmercury exposure varied longitudinally, and whether differences were associated with maternal characteristics.

Methods: Pregnant mothers were recruited in Charleston, South Carolina (8-17 weeks gestation) (n=78). Blood samples were collected during both early (11.8 ± 1.7 weeks) and late (35.3 ± 2.0 weeks) gestation. Blood total mercury and methylmercury concentrations were analyzed. Upon enrollment in the study, mothers filled out a sociodemographic questionnaire that included questions regarding maternal age, race/ethnicity, and education level. Additionally, …

Succination Impairs Protein Folding And Promotes Chop Stability In The Adipocyte During Diabetes, Allison Manuel

Theses and Dissertations

Type 2 diabetes mellitus has been diagnosed in ~21 million people in the United States and is closely correlated with obesity, prompting the need for a detailed understanding of adipocyte metabolism in the development of diabetes. The intake of excess nutrients surpasses the energy requirements of the cell and leads to increased mitochondrial stress in the adipocyte. We have shown that this is associated with increased levels of the mitochondrial metabolite fumarate. Fumarate can react with cysteine thiol groups to form the chemical modification S-(2-succino)cysteine (2SC), also termed protein succination. Succination is significantly increased in the adipose tissue of type …

Barriers To The Use Of Guardrails On Iv Smart Pumps, Ivory Williams

Theses and Dissertations

Medication errors involving hospitalized patients have been an evolving challenge for decades. Moreover, errors related to intravenous (IV) medication administration continue to rise in hospitals despite implemented policies governing the use of Guardrails™ for safe IV medication infusion via smart pump technology. An organizational investigation was performed to identify barriers to the use of Guardrails™ among nursing staff. From 2015 through 2017, multiple interventions that aimed to identify barriers and increase nurses’ use of the safety features on IV smart pumps were implemented in the hopes of reaching a compliance goal of 90-100%. This quality improvement project assesses Guardrails™ compliance …

Improving Leadership Communication In Nurse-Physician Dyad Teams, Lisa James

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Changes in the delivery of healthcare services in the United States have been driven by cost containment over the last 20 years. To have a thriving organization within the current healthcare environment, nurses and physicians need to closely collaborate. As healthcare organizations prepare for the value-based era, new leadership models need to be implemented. This project addressed collaboration between nurse and physician leaders with a focused communication strategy to improve team performance, engagement, and quality outcomes in the acute care setting.

Method: A quality improvement project was designed to improve communication between front line team members and …

In Silico Study Of Rxlr Effectors Of Phytophthora Infestans Hp-10-31, A2 Mating Type Potato Late Blight Pathogen, Youvika Singh, Virupaksh U. Patil, Anupam Dhasmana, Swarup K. Chakraborty, Pradeep K. Shukla, Shashi Rawat

School of Medicine Publications

Phytophthora infestans is one of the most compelling plant pathogen among the scientific community throughout the world. It is the causative agent of potato late blight and responsible for tremendous economic loss worldwide. Pathogenic effector proteins are instrumental in modulating host immunity and disease resistance has been a major concern. In P. infestans, a class of cytoplasmic effectors recognized as RxLR is characterized by highly conserved region and abet in parasitic colonization by modifying the host defense system. We have sequenced an Indian strain of P. infestans HP-10-31 genome and identified several RxLR motif-containing genes.In this study we selected two …

Autocrine And Paracrine Secretion Of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor In The Pre-Hypoxic Diabetic Retina, Jeffery G. Grigsby, Donald M. Allen, Ana S. Ferrigno, Sandeep Vellanki, Cindy E. Pouw, Whitney A. Hejny, Andrew Tsin

School of Medicine Publications

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is well established as the main agent responsible for vascular leakage and angiogenesis in the diabetic retina. While VEGF can have positive effects on hyperglycemia stressed retinal tissues, it also plays a role in events progressing to the oxygen- stressed, i.e. hypoxic, diabetic retina. Some VEGF makes its way to the retina from systemic sources and some is produced locally within the eye. Hyperglycemia, oxidants, inflammation, and advanced glycation end-products are all stimulants to VEGF production, both in the hypoxic and the pre-hypoxic retina. Endothelial cells, pericytes, Müller cells, microglia, astrocytes, retinal pigment epithelium and …

Cordycepin Induces Human Lung Cancer Cell Apoptosis By Inhibiting Nitric Oxide Mediated Erk/Slug Signaling Pathway, Jung-Hoo Hwang, Soo Kyung Park, Won Gyo Ko, Seong-Mun Kang, Da Bin Lee, Junho Bang, Byunghun Lee, Byung-Joo Park, Chung-Beum Wee, Dae Joon Kim

School of Medicine Publications

Nitric oxide (NO) is an important signaling molecule and a component of the inflammatory cascade. Besides, it is also involved in tumorigenesis. Aberrant upregulation and activation of the ERK cascade by NO often leads to tumor cell development. However, the role of ERK inactivation induced by the negative regulation of NO during apoptosis is not completely understood. In this study, treatment of A549 and PC9 human lung adenocarcinoma cell lines with cordycepin led to a reduction in their viability. Analysis of the effect of cordycepin treatment on ERK/Slug signaling activity in the A549 cell line revealed that LPS-induced inflammatory microenvironments …

Association Of Cardiometabolic Genes With Arsenic Metabolism Biomarkers In American Indian Communities: The Strong Heart Family Study (Shfs), Poojitha Balakrishnan, Dhananjay Vaidya, Nora Franceschini, V. Saroja Voruganti, Matthew O. Gribble, Karin Haack, Sandra Laston, Jason G. Umans, Kevin A. Francesconi, Walter Goessler

School of Medicine Publications

Background:

Metabolism of inorganic arsenic (iAs) is subject to inter-individual variability, which is explained partly by genetic determinants.

Objectives:

We investigated the association of genetic variants with arsenic species and principal components of arsenic species in the Strong Heart Family Study (SHFS).

Methods:

We examined variants previously associated with cardiometabolic traits (~ 200,000 from Illumina Cardio MetaboChip) or arsenic metabolism and toxicity (670) among 2,428 American Indian participants in the SHFS. Urine arsenic species were measured by high performance liquid chromatography–inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS), and percent arsenic species [iAs, monomethylarsonate (MMA), and dimethylarsinate (DMA), divided by their sum …

Time Related Effects On Functional Brain Connectivity After Serotonergic And Cholinergic Neuromodulation, Bernadet L. Klaassens, Serge A. Rombouts, Anderson M. Winkler, Helene C. Van Gorsel, Jeroen Van Der Grond, Joop M A Van Gerven

School of Medicine Publications

Psychopharmacological research, if properly designed, may offer insight into both timing and area of effect, increasing our understanding of the brain's neurotransmitter systems. For that purpose, the acute influence of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor citalopram (30 mg) and the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor galantamine (8 mg) was repeatedly measured in 12 healthy young volunteers with resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI). Eighteen RS-fMRI scans were acquired per subject during this randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. Within-group comparisons of voxelwise functional connectivity with 10 functional networks were examined (P < 0.05, FWE-corrected) using a non-parametric multivariate approach with cerebrospinal fluid, white matter, heart rate, and baseline measurements as covariates. Although both compounds did not change cognitive performance on several tests, significant effects were found on connectivity with multiple resting state networks. Serotonergic stimulation primarily reduced connectivity with the sensorimotor network and structures that are related to self-referential mechanisms, whereas galantamine affected networks and regions that are more involved in learning, memory, and visual perception and processing. These results are consistent with the serotonergic and cholinergic trajectories and their functional relevance. In addition, this study demonstrates the power of using repeated measures after drug administration, which offers the chance to explore both combined and time specific effects. Hum Brain Mapp 38:308-325, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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 G. Gilliam

School of Medicine Publications

Highlights

• t1/2z may not adequately describe drug accumulation and distribution for some drugs.

• t1/2eff may be more appropriate; it describes drug-loss rate over dosing interval.

• For IR and XR topiramate, t1/2z was similar but t1/2eff was 1.5× longer for XR.

• Steady-state simulations predicted reduced fluctuation for XR topiramate vs IR.

Abstract

Objective

For extended-release drugs with multi-compartment kinetics, such as topiramate, effective half-life (t1/2eff) may be a more clinically relevant parameter than elimination half-life (t1/2z). 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) …

Thrombectomy 6 To 24 Hours After Stroke With A Mismatch Between Deficit And Infarct, Raul G. Nogueira, Ashutosh P. Jadhav, Diogo C. Haussen, Alain Bonafe, Ronald J. Budzik, Parita Bhuva, Dileep R. Yavagal, Christophe Cognard, Ameer E. Hassan, Wondwossen G. Tekle

School of Medicine Publications

Background The effect of endovascular thrombectomy that is performed more than 6 hours after the onset of ischemic stroke is uncertain. Patients with a clinical deficit that is disproportionately severe relative to the infarct volume may benefit from late thrombectomy.

Methods We enrolled patients with occlusion of the intracranial internal carotid artery or proximal middle cerebral artery who had last been known to be well 6 to 24 hours earlier and who had a mismatch between the severity of the clinical deficit and the infarct volume, with mismatch criteria defined according to age (<80 years or ≥80 years). Patients were randomly assigned to thrombectomy plus standard care (the thrombectomy group) or to standard care alone (the control group). The coprimary end points were the mean score for disability on the utility-weighted modified Rankin scale (which ranges from 0 [death] to 10 [no symptoms or disability]) and the rate of functional independence (a score of 0, 1, or 2 on the modified Rankin scale, which ranges from 0 to 6, with higher scores indicating more severe disability) at 90 days.

Results A total of 206 patients …

Genome-Wide Meta-Analysis Of 241,258 Adults Accounting For Smoking Behaviour Identifies Novel Loci For Obesity Traits, Anne E. Justice, Thomas W. Winkler, Mary F. Feitosa, Misa Graff, Virginia A. Fisher, Kristin Leonard, Kristin Young, Llilda Barata, Xuan Deng, John Blangero, Joanne E. Curran

School of Medicine Publications

Few genome-wide association studies (GWAS) account for environmental exposures, like smoking, potentially impacting the overall trait variance when investigating the genetic contribution to obesity-related traits. Here, we use GWAS data from 51,080 current smokers and 190,178 nonsmokers (87% European descent) to identify loci influencing BMI and central adiposity, measured as waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio both adjusted for BMI. We identify 23 novel genetic loci, and 9 loci with convincing evidence of gene-smoking interaction (GxSMK) on obesity-related traits. We show consistent direction of effect for all identified loci and significance for 18 novel and for 5 interaction loci in an …

Authors' Response To Commentary By Drs Sueki And Achhnani On The Article, "Does Exercise Decrease Pain Via Conditioned Pain Modulation In Adolescents?", Stacy Stolzman, Marie K. Hoeger Bement

Physical Therapy Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Exercise Increases Pressure Pain Tolerance But Not Pressure And Heat Pain Thresholds In Healthy Young Men, H. B. Vaegter, Marie K. Hoeger Bement, A. B. Madsen, J. Fridriksson, M. Dasa, T. Graven-Nielsen

Physical Therapy Faculty Research and Publications

Background: Exercise causes an acute decrease in the pain sensitivity known as exercise-induced hypoalgesia (EIH), but the specificity to certain pain modalities remains unknown. This study aimed to compare the effect of isometric exercise on the heat and pressure pain sensitivity.

Methods: On three different days, 20 healthy young men performed two submaximal isometric knee extensions (30% maximal voluntary contraction in 3 min) and a control condition (quiet rest). Before and immediately after exercise and rest, the sensitivity to heat pain and pressure pain was assessed in randomized and counterbalanced order. Cuff pressure pain threshold (cPPT) and pain tolerance (cPTT) …

Ultrasound-Induced Microbubble Cavitation For The Treatment Of Catheterization-Induced Vasospasm, Shelby Kutty, Na Liu, Jia Zhou, Yunbin Xiao, Juefei Wu, David A. Danford, John Lof, Feng Xie, Thomas R. Porter

Journal Articles: Pediatrics

No abstract provided.

Weight Perception And Weight Loss Behaviors: A Comparison Between Adolescents With And Without Autism Spectrum Disorder, Elanor J. Anderson

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

OBJECTIVE: The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the accuracy of weight status perception among adolescents with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder. A secondary purpose is to compare weight loss behaviors between children with and without ASD.

METHODS: This study measured weight-perception and weight loss behaviors among Irish-thirteen-year olds with ASD (n=47) and typically developing (TD) children (n=47) (72% male). Participants completed questionnaires assessing perception of weight and weight loss behaviors. . Based on BMI, calculated from height and weight measurements, participants were classified as non-overweight, overweight and obese. Several Chi-square tests were used to examine (1) differences …

Retrospective Analysis Of Contact Sport Participation On Cognitive Function In Healthy Athletes, Lisa C. Martinez

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This study explored the effects of contact and limited contact sport participation on neurocognitive function in non-concussed collegiate and adolescent athletes over time. Athletes participating in contact and limited contact sports have an increased risk of sustaining neurocognitive injuries, known as subconcussive blows, compared to non-contact sport athletes. We hypothesized that athletes participating in contact and limited contact sports, would exhibit a deficit in neurocognitive function following multiple seasons of play when compared to athletes participating in non-contact sports. Using a mixed repeated measures MANOVA statistical design, we analyzed computerized neurocognitive baseline ImPACT composite scores (verbal memory, visual memory, visual …

Uv-Induced Somatic Mutations Elicit A Functional T Cell Response In The Yummer1.7 Mouse Melanoma Model, Jake Xiao Wang

Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library

Human melanomas exhibit relatively high somatic mutation burden compared to other malignancies. These somatic mutations may produce neoantigens that are recognized by the immune system, leading to an anti-tumor response. By irradiating a parental mouse melanoma cell line carrying three driver mutations with UVB and expanding a single cell-derived clone, we generated a mutagenized model that exhibits high somatic mutation burden. When inoculated at low cell numbers in immunocompetent C57BL/6J mice, YUMMER1.7 (YUMM Exposed to Radiation) regresses after a brief period of growth. This regression phenotype is dependent on T cells as YUMMER1.7 tumors grow significantly faster in immunodeficient Rag1-/- …

Influence Of 4-Week Exercise Program On Clinical And Biomechanical Measures Of Foot Function, Lacey Seidl, Josh Keefer, Miranda Walker, Austin Montgomery, Jeff Houck

Student-Faculty Research - College of Physical Therapy

The significance of foot muscle function associated with flat feet is unclear. It is reported that flat feet have significantly decreased lateral forefoot pressure during ambulation with increased midfoot contact area and increased pressure under the big toe. There are passive mechanisms in the foot that support the arch during static standing, but cannot produce energy for dynamic activity. The two most plausible explanations for energy generation of the midfoot for dynamic activity are muscle contributions or recoil of stretched soft tissue (i.e. plantar fascia and other ligaments) or a combination. No studies to date evaluate the ability of foot …

Developing An Auditory And Visual Cross-Modal Continuous Performance Task For Evaluating Concussion, Chris Koch, Taylor Charbonnier, Kristin Dissinger, Steven Egeberg, Matthew Johnson, Lindsey Levanen, Matthew Scott

Student-Faculty Research - College of Physical Therapy

Neurocognitive tests like the SCAT3 and ImPACT have become standard concussion assessment tools. Although these tests have adequate sensitivity, specificity, and reliability, they are unimodal in nature. Consequently, the tests do not fully assess the range of processing that can be affected by concussion (Thompson, 2012). Therefore, we developed a cross-modal continuous performance task to examine cognitive processing post-concussion. Forty-three middle school school lacrosse players, college students, and physical therapy graduate students participated in the study. Twelve of these participants had been previously diagnosed with a concussion. Participants completed a symptom checklist from SCAT3 along with other demographic information (e.g., …

Sit-To-Stand Symmetry In Individuals With Hip Pathology, Andrew J. Meszaros, Stephen Block, Jake Edwards, Brittany Jones, Elizabeth Keeler, Christina Ridley, Ashley Yates

Student-Faculty Research - College of Physical Therapy

Why study hip fracture?

• Hip fractures occur in approximately 300,000 individuals over 65 years of age and is on the rise

• 53.3% of those who fall, fall again • 50% loss of function in involved lower extremity post fracture

• 25% increased mortality rate 1 year post hip fracture

An asymmetry in force production has been found to exist between fractured/non- fractured sides during a sit-to-stand task post hip fracture, despite having adequate

capacity to perform the task symmetrically.

Houck 2011 found the asymmetry is a result of weakness in the fractured lower extremity.

Briere 2013 found the …

Promis Physical Function Scale Bookmarking And Validation, Luke Skerjanec, Amanda Tamanaha, Alex Wegner, Zane Wise, Jeff Houck

Student-Faculty Research - College of Physical Therapy

• Quick, valid and responsive outcome measure are critical for physical therapists

• The NIH’s Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) is a universal, 124 item, computer adapted system (CAT) that evaluates various health domains including physical function without a ceiling or floor effect.

• PROMIS demonstrates good convergent validity with the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) and Short-form 36 (SF-36) physical function subscale1 and also with ‘gold standard' International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) scale. PROMIS score can also predict poor outcomes at various follow-up lengths ranging from 3-52 weeks2.

• The modified physical performance test (mPPT) is …

Pilot Study: What Measures Predict First Time Pass Rate On The National Physical Therapy Examination?, Jamie Bayliss, Rosanne M. Thomas, Marsha Eifert-Mangine

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Background: Research investigating predictors of success on licensure examination is useful for admission criteria as well as targeted intervention for identified at risk students in physical therapy programs. Predictors of success on the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) have been explored but results are no longer current. This study assessed predictive variables including admission data, performance in identified key courses, and academic/clinical difficulty for Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) cohorts at Mount St Joseph University. Objective: Determine variables predicting success on the National Physical Therapy Examination. Design: A retrospective correlational study was done. Methods: Retrospective data of Mount St Joseph …

Learning Styles And Personality Types Of Freshman Level Pre-Athletic Training Major Students, Marketa Schublova

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the preferred learning style and personality types of freshman-level pre-athletic training students. The secondary purpose was to identify any possible differences in learning styles and personality types of students admitted into the athletic training program versus those that were denied admission or changed their major. Methods: Data collection took place during a college introductory course over a period of seven years. Four hundred seventy-two freshmen (188 men, 284 women; average age 18.66 ± 0.87 years) considering athletic training as their major at a CAATE-accredited athletic training program participated in this …

Developing Student Skills To Actively Engage In Feedback Conversations: A Pilot Study, Neil Tuttle, Andrea Bialocerkowski

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: Students often have passive or counterproductive responses to feedback. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate a feedback training module containing online learning and live simulation. It was hypothesized that 1) student confidence in feedback skills would increase following the module, and 2) compared with a control group who undertook the module after their clinical placement, the feedback group who undertook the module before their placement would perform better on clinical placement on the sections of the Assessment of Physiotherapy Practice related to communication, but those related to clinical skills would not be affected. Methods: …