Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Wada Asymmetry In Patients With Drug-Resistant Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: Implications For Postoperative Neuropsychological Outcomes, Ryan W. Sever, Andrew C. Vivas, Fernando L. Vale, Mike R. Schoenberg

Neurosurgery and Brain Repair Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Patient Perceived Changes In Sexual Dysfunction After Initiation Of Natalizumab For Multiple Sclerosis, Derrick Robertson, Angela Aungst, Ryan Collier, Jhulianna Vivar, Natalie Moreo, Lise Casady, Tuan Vu

Neurology Faculty Publications

Purpose Sexual dysfunction is a common but often overlooked secondary symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS) and can be associated with a decreased health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Natalizumab is a disease-modifying therapy approved for the treatment of relapsing forms of MS. In addition to its efficacy, those using natalizumab have shown improvement in HRQoL parameters, including fatigue and cognition. The idea that improvement in fatigue may also correlate with improvement in sexual dysfunction is the impetus for this study.

Methods A single-center, open-label, single-arm, 24-week study was performed to evaluate perceived change in sexual dysfunction in MS patients treated with …

Association Between Obesity, Surgical Route, And Perioperative Outcomes In Patients With Uterine Cancer, Entidhar Al Sawah, Jason L. Salemi, Mitchel Hoffman, Anthony N. Imudia, Emad Mikhail

Obstetrics & Gynecology Faculty Publications

Objective. To study temporal trends of hysterectomy routes performed for uterine cancer and their associations with body mass index (BMI) and perioperative morbidity. Methods. A retrospective review of the American College of Surgeons-National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) 2005-2013 databases was conducted. All patients who were 18 years old and older with a diagnosis of uterine cancer and underwent hysterectomy were identified using ICD-9-CM and CPT codes. Surgical route was classified into four groups: total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH), total vaginal hysterectomy (TVH), laparoscopic assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH), and total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) including both conventional and robotically assisted. …

Adnexal Torsion In A Patient With Müllerian Agenesis Undergoing Ovarian Stimulation: A Case Report, Erika P. New, Adrianne R. Mallen, Abigail C. Mancuso, Bradley J. Van Voorhis

Obstetrics & Gynecology Faculty Publications

Background: As assisted reproductive technologies become increasingly available to patients, more women with Müllerian agenesis may undergo ovarian stimulation and oocyte retrieval to have genetically-related offspring. The risk of ovarian torsion is increased in patients utilizing assisted reproductive technologies compared to patients who do not undergo these treatments.

Case: A 25-year-old G0 with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome presented to the emergency room two days after oocyte retrieval with an acute abdomen. During laparoscopy, she was found to have torsion of her left ovary.

Summary and Conclusion: As more young women with Müllerian agenesis present for fertility treatment, this anatomically unique patient cohort …

Clinical Utility Of Ca-125 In The Management Of Uterine Carcinosarcoma, Koji Matsuo, Malcolm S. Ross, Mayu Yunokawa, Marian S. Johnson, Hiroko Machida, Kohei Omatsu, Merieme M. Klobocista, Dwight D. Im, Shinya Satoh, Tsukasa Baba, Yuji Ikeda, Stephen H. Bush, Kosei Hasegawa, Erin A. Blake, Munetaka Takekuma, Masako Shida, Masato Nishimura, Sosuke Adachi, Tanja Pejovic, Satoshi Takeuchi, Takuhei Yokoyama, Yutaka Ueda, Keita Iwasaki, Takahito M. Miyake, Shiori Yanai, Tadayoshi Nagano, Tadao Takano, Mian M. Shahzad, Frederick R. Ueland, Joseph L. Kelley, Lynda D. Roman

Obstetrics & Gynecology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Sb Driver Analysis: A Sleeping Beauty Cancer Driver Analysis Framework For Identifying And Prioritizing Experimentally Actionable Oncogenes And Tumor Suppressors, Justin Y. Newberg, Michael A. Black, Nancy A. Jenkins, Neal G. Copeland, Karen M. Mann, Michael B. Mann

Oncologic Sciences Faculty Publications

Cancer driver prioritization for functional analysis of potential actionable therapeutic targets is a significant challenge. Meta-analyses of mutated genes across different human cancer types for driver prioritization has reaffirmed the role of major players in cancer, including KRAS, TP53 and EGFR, but has had limited success in prioritizing genes with non-recurrent mutations in specific cancer types. Sleeping Beauty (SB) insertional mutagenesis is a powerful experimental gene discovery framework to define driver genes in mouse models of human cancers. Meta-analyses of SB datasets across multiple tumor types is a potentially informative approach to prioritize drivers, and complements efforts …

Evaluation Of Self-Efficacy And Confidence Levels Among Newly Graduated Nurses Exposed To An End-Of-Life Simulation: A Comparison Study, Catherine Edwards

DNP Projects

Purpose: The purpose of this project is to compare self-efficacy and confidence levels among a cohort of newly graduated nurses (defined as nurses who have had no nursing experience and are participating in a new graduate nursing residency) who will participate in an EOL simulation with another cohort of nurses who have been practicing for a year or more, but have not participated in an end-of-life simulation.

Methods: The study included two parts. The first portion included a pre and post-test evaluation of an end-of-life (EOL) simulation intervention with newly graduated nurses (Group One, n= 22), as part of their …

Hospital-Acquired Malnutrition In Children At A Tertiary Care Hospital, Del-Rossi Sean, Rose Kamenwa, Samuel Akech, William Macharia

Paediatrics and Child Health, East Africa

Objectives: This study sought to investigate the incidence and factors associated with hospital-acquired malnutrition in children.

Design: A hospital-based longitudinal survey carried out between December 2013 and February 2014.

Setting: Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya, a tertiary care hospital.

Subjects: One hundred and seventy children who met the inclusion criteria were included in the study.

Outcome measures: Anthropometry was done at admission and discharge. Incidence of hospital-acquired malnutrition was estimated from the total number of children showing a decrease in weight-for-height/length (WFH) or Body Mass Index (BMI) z-scores from the time of admission to discharge. Logistic regression analysis was …

Distal Urogenital Anatomy Of Male Southern Coal Skinks, Plestiodon Anthracinus Pluvialis (Reptilia: Scincidae), Stanley E. Trauth

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

I investigated the morphology and histology of the distal urogenital anatomy of male southern coal skinks (Plestiodon anthracinus pluvialis) from reproductively active individuals collected in Arkansas in order to provide comparative information with recent studies on squamate urogenital anatomy. Specifically, I focused on the basic anatomy and positioning of posterior ducts in this skink, which included portions of the ductus deferens, the ampulla ductus deferentis, the sexual segment of the kidney, the ureter and collecting ducts, as well as aspects of the urodaeal chamber and urogenital papillae. I found a much reduced ampulla ductus deferentis comprising only 0.7 …

Improving Public Health Readiness For Sea Level Rise: A New Initiative In Coastal Virginia, Steven M. Becker

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Sea level has been rising around the world, and in recent decades, the rate has been accelerating. Because rising seas have the potential to directly or indirectly affect the health of vast numbers of coastal communities and inhabitants, public health agencies and professionals—in conjunction with other fields—have a pivotal role to play in helping to protect populations, reduce and prevent health impacts, and foster resilience. This article discusses a novel effort that has been undertaken in Coastal Virginia to help prepare the next generation of public health professionals to grapple with sea level rise issues. The effort grew out of …

Wic Participation And Breastfeeding After The 2009 Wic Revision: A Propensity Score Approach, Kelin Li, Ming Wen, Megan Reynolds, Qi Zhang

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

In this study, we examined the association between participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and breastfeeding outcomes before and after the 2009 revisions. Four-thousand-three-hundred-and-eight WIC-eligible children younger than 60 months were included from the 2005-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). We compared two birth cohorts with regard to their associations between WIC participation and being ever-breastfed and breastfed at 6 months. We estimated the average effect of the treatment for the treated to assess the causal effect of WIC participation on breastfeeding based on propensity score matching. The results showed that …

Children’S Oxygen Administration Strategies Trial (Coast): A Randomised Controlled Trial Of High Flow Versus Oxygen Versus Control In African Children With Severe Pneumonia, Kathryn Maitland, Sarah Kiguli, Robert Opoka, Peter Olupot-Olupot, Charles Engoru, Patricia Njuguna, Victor Bandika, Ayub Mpoya, Andrew Bush, Thomas Williams

Paediatrics and Child Health, East Africa

Background: In Africa, the clinical syndrome of pneumonia remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children in the post-neonatal period. This represents a significant burden on in-patient services. The targeted use of oxygen and simple, non-invasive methods of respiratory support may be a highly cost-effective means of improving outcome, but the optimal oxygen saturation threshold that results in benefit and the best strategy for delivery are yet to be tested in adequately powered randomised controlled trials. There is, however, an accumulating literature about the harms of oxygen therapy across a range of acute and emergency situations that …

A Multifactorial Cytochrome P450 2d6 Genotype-Phenotype Prediction Model To Improve Precision Of Clinical Pharmacogenomic Tests, Rachel Dalton

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

BACKGROUND: CYP2D6 is difficult to accurately genotype due to a large number of single nucleotide variants (SNVs), indels, and structural variation such as deletions, duplications, and CYP2D6/CYP2D7 hybrid genes. CYP2D6 targeted genotyping panels are of limited utility; clinically relevant variants that are not genotyped will be missed. Sequencing solves this problem but requires additional tools to address structural variation. The goal of our study was to determine the predictive power of Stargazer, a novel allele-calling program, which combines SNV/indel calls with structural variation identification.

METHODS: In a panel of 309 human livers, CYP2D6 diplotypes and activity scores were initially assigned …

The Psychological And Physiological Effect Of Performing The Primal Reflex Release Technique On Female, Division I Collegiate Athletes, Erika K. Vichcales

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Anxiety is a cognitive, behavioral, and physiological reaction to stress, and athletes have an increased risk being in a high-stress environment. One of the effects of increased stress on the body is a condition known as central sensitization (CS) where the central nervous system amplifies sensory input across many organ systems causing a pain response in normally non-painful areas or hypersensitivity to stimuli. The Primal Reflex Release Technique (PRRT) is a manual-therapy approach for evaluating and relieving musculoskeletal pain in patients, and is meant to facilitate a “neural reboot” of a hyper-aroused nervous system. The purpose of this study is …

Evaluation Of A Web-Based Performance Program For Wildland Firefighters, José M. Peña Cueto

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Introduction: In an effort to increase work capacity and reduce occupational injury rates and mortality rates among wildland firefighters, a web-based performance program named The Black was developed. The training program was designed to provide evidence-based training specific to wildland firefighters’ needs.

Purpose: A formative and process evaluation of the program was conducted to study the user rates, and user’s attitudes and preferences regarding the program during the pilot of its first phase.

Methodology: A sequential mixed-methods design was utilized for this evaluation. Qualitative interviews were conducted with firefighters who attended an introductory seminar. Interview data was utilized by program …

Interleukin-6 And Exercise; Early Evidence Of A Novel Myokine, Brendan Hogg Mr.

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) was first identified as a pleiotropic cytokine, with a host of body-wide functions. Cytokine functions are characterized by chronically elevated levels within various inflammatory states. In this regard, IL-6 is largely associated with the acute phase response to many stimuli and performs specific actions when produced from certain cell types. Accrued evidence indicates IL-6 release from skeletal muscle often includes myokine functions. Novel myokine functions are adaptive in nature, and as compared to inflammatory/cytokine roles, exhibit a transient time course. Following exercise plasma IL-6 peaks and returns to resting levels within 1-2 hours. In contrast, IL-6 is observed …

Fall Risk Behaviors And Intrinsic Risk Factors For Falls In Indigenous And Non-Indigenous Rural Older Adults, Andre Gallegos Bouweraerts

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The purpose of this study was to examine fall risk behaviors and intrinsic risk factors for falls in rural dwelling indigenous and non-indigenous older adults in California. Methods: Participants included 157 adults 60+ years of age (89 indigenous and 68 non- indigenous) and were recruited from advertisements in local newspapers, senior centers, and health clinics in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. Fall risk behaviors and intrinsic risk factors for falls were identified through administration of a demographic, fall risk, and physical activity questionnaire as well as the chair stand, functional reach, timed up and go, four-meter walk, and modified clinical …

Wild-Type P53 Enhances Endothelial Barrier Function By Mediating Rac1 Signalling And Rhoa Inhibition, Nektarios Barabutis, Christiana Dimitropoulou, Betsy Gregory, John D. Catravas

Bioelectrics Publications

Inflammation is the major cause of endothelial barrier hyper-permeability, associated with acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome. This study reports that p53 "orchestrates" the defence of vascular endothelium against LPS, by mediating the opposing actions of Rac1 and RhoA in pulmonary tissues. Human lung microvascular endothelial cells treated with HSP90 inhibitors activated both Rac1- and P21-activated kinase, which is an essential element of vascular barrier function. 17AAG increased the phosphorylation of both LIMK and cofilin, in contrast to LPS which counteracted those effects. Mouse lung microvascular endothelial cells exposed to LPS exhibited decreased expression of phospho-cofilin. 17AAG treatment …

Alteration Of Metabolite Profiling By Cold Atmospheric Plasma Treatment In Human Myeloma Cells, Dehui Xu, Yujing Xu, Ning Ning, Qingjie Cui, Zhijie Liu, Xiaohua Wang, Dingxin Liu, Hailan Chen, Michael G. Kong

Bioelectrics Publications

BACKGROUND: Despite new progress of chemotherapy in multiple myeloma (MM) clinical treatment, MM is still a refractory disease and new technology is needed to improve the outcomes and prolong the survival. Cold atmospheric plasma is a rapidly developed technology in recent years, which has been widely applied in biomedicine. Although plasma could efficiently inactivate various tumor cells, the effects of plasma on tumor cell metabolism have not been studied yet.

METHODS: In this study, we investigated the metabolite profiling of He plasma treatment on myeloma tumor cells by gas-chromatography time-of-flight (GC-TOF) mass-spectrometry. Meanwhile, by bioinformatic analysis such as GO and …

Nano-Pulse Stimulation Ablates Orthotopic Rat Hepatocellular Carcinoma And Induces Innate And Adaptive Memory Immune Mechanisms That Prevent Recurrence, Brittany P. Lassiter, Siqi Guo, Stephen J. Beebe

Bioelectrics Publications

Nano-pulse stimulation (NPS), previously called nsPEFs, induced a vaccine-like effect after ablation of orthotopic N1-S1 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), protecting rats from subsequent challenges with N1-S1 cells. To determine immunity, immune cell phenotypes were analyzed in naïve, treated and protected rats. NPS provides a positive, post-ablation immuno-therapeutic outcome by alleviating immunosuppressive T regulatory cells (Treg) in the tumor microenvironment (TME), allowing dendritic cell influx and inducing dynamic changes in natural killer cells (NKs), NKT-cells and T-lymphocytes in blood, spleen and liver. NPS induced specific increases in NKs and NKT-cells expressing CD8 and activation receptors CD314-NKG2D and CD161 (NK1.1) in the TME …

Tumor Cell Death After Electrotransfer Of Plasmid Dna Is Associated With Cytosolic Dna Sensor Upregulation, Katarina Znidar, Masa Bosnjak, Nina Semenova, Olga N. Pakhomova, Loree Heller, Maja Cemazar

Bioelectrics Publications

Cytosolic DNA sensors are a subgroup of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and are activated by the abnormal presence of the DNA in the cytosol. Their activation leads to the upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines and can also induce cell death. The presence of cytosolic DNA sensors and inflammatory cytokines in TS/A murine mammary adenocarcinoma and WEHI 164 fibrosarcoma cells was demonstrated using real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). After electrotransfer of plasmid DNA (pDNA) using two pulse protocols, the upregulation of DNA-depended activator of interferon regulatory factor or Z-DNA binding …

Cold Atmospheric Plasma As A Potential Tool For Multiple Myeloma Treatment, Dehui Xu, Yujing Xu, Qingjie Cui, Dingxin Liu, Zhijie Liu, Xiaohua Wang, Yanjie Yang, Niaojuan Feng, Rong Liang, Hailan Chen, Kai Ye, Michael G. Kong

Bioelectrics Publications

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a fatal and incurable hematological malignancy thus new therapy need to be developed. Cold atmospheric plasma, a new technology that could generate various active species, could efficiently induce various tumor cells apoptosis. More details about the interaction of plasma and tumor cells need to be addressed before the application of gas plasma in clinical cancer treatment. In this study, we demonstrate that He+O₂ plasma could efficiently induce myeloma cell apoptosis through the activation of CD95 and downstream caspase cascades. Extracellular and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation is essential for CD95-mediated cell apoptosis in response …

Upregulation Of Dna Sensors In B16.F10 Melanoma Spheroid Cells After Electrotransfer Of Pdna, Katarina Znidar, Masa Bosnjak, Tanja Jesenko, Loree C. Heller, Maja Cemazar

Bioelectrics Publications

Increased expression of cytosolic DNA sensors, a category of pattern recognition receptor, after control plasmid DNA electrotransfer was observed in our previous studies on B16.F10 murine melanoma cells. This expression was correlated with the upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines and was associated with cell death. Here, we expanded our research to include the influence of features of cells in a 3-dimensional environment, which better represents the tumors’ organization in vivo. Our results show that lower number of cells were transfected in spheroids compared to 2-dimensional cultures, that growth was delayed after electroporation alone or after electrotransfer of plasmid …

Nano-Pulse Stimulation For The Treatment Of Pancreatic Cancer And The Changes In Immune Profile, Sigi Guo, Niculina I. Burcus, James Hornef, Yu Jing, Chunqi Jiang, Richard Heller, Stephen J. Beebe

Bioelectrics Publications

A Pancreatic cancer is a notorious malignant neoplasm with an extremely poor prognosis. Current standard of care is rarely effective against late-stage pancreatic cancer. In this study, we assessed nanopulse stimulation (NPS) as a local treatment for pancreatic cancer in a syngeneic mouse Pan02 pancreatic cancer model and characterized corresponding changes in the immune profile. A single NPS treatment either achieved complete tumor regression or prolonged overall survival in animals with partial tumor regression. While this is very encouraging, we also explored if this local ablation effect could also result in immune stimulation, as was observed when NPS led to …

Enhanced Electric Pulse Technology For The Ablation Of Pancreatic Cancer, Siqi Guo, Niculina I. Burcus, Chelsea M. Edelblute, James Hornef, Chunqi Jiang, Karl Schoenbach, Richard Heller, Stephen J. Beebe

Bioelectrics Publications

Electric pulse based technology has been developed and studied as a non-thermal ablation method for local control of pancreatic cancer. Irreversible electroporation (IRE) has shown a significant survival benefit for local advanced pancreatic cancer in clinical trials. However, incomplete ablation with local recurrence and major complications limit the potential of this new technology. We have developed an integrated moderate heating electric pulse delivery system which consists of controllable tumor heating, multi-parameter monitoring and electric pulse delivery. The impedance of tumor is greatly decreased after moderate heating at 42°C for 1–2 min, which does not cause any cell death. Moderate heating …

Characterization And Treatment Of Unilateral Facial Muscle Spasm In Linear Scleroderma: A Case Report, Fabio Danisi, Emma Guidi

NYMC Faculty Publications

Background: Linear scleroderma has been associated with muscle spasms ipsilateral to skin lesions. Typically, spasms are located in trigeminal innervated muscles, leading to hemimasticatory spasm (HMS). Case Report: We report a case of linear scleroderma associated with spasm of muscles innervated not only by the trigeminal but also by the facial nerve. Discussion: We review the patient's successful treatment with incobotulinumtoxinA, a formulation of botulinum toxin that has not been reported for use in this condition.

Ali, Ali, Twila Bird

TSOS Interview Gallery

At eighteen fate placed Ali and his family in the center of hostilities in northern Afghanistan. Warring militant factions killed hundreds of people in his village. Ali helped identify and bury dozens of his friends and neighbors in a mass grave.

We spent days and nights in the mountains and blocked on the borders. I crossed the mountainous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan walking with my handicap. Then it took us another sixteen hours to cross the border between Pakistan and Iran, also in very high mountains of more than 2500 meters. The Iranian police were killing people on the …

Jeanusnat, Jeanusnat, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Jeanusnat’s father, who was chief of a Nigerian community, was murdered by an enemy community. The murderer intended to kill Jeanusnat and his mother as well, but they fled to neighboring Niger. There, Jeanusnat parted ways with his mother, who stayed at the church with a family, and Jeanusnat crossed into Libya in the back of a truck. But once in Libya, danger persisted. He was confronted by some robbers who stabbed him with a knife and beat him, leaving injuries on his legs and shoulder. In Tripoli, a man offered him temporary refuge, where Jeanusnat stayed until he decided …

Efficacy Of Oral Administration Of Sodium Iodide To Prevent Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex, B. M. Shoemake, B. L. Vander Ley, B. W. Newcomer, M. C. Heller

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: The prevention of bovine respiratory disease complex (BRD) in beef cattle is important to maintaining health and productivity of calves in feeding operations.

Objective: Determine whether BRD bacterial and viral pathogens are susceptible to the lactoperoxidase/hydrogen peroxide/ iodide (LPO/H₂O₂/I^-) system in vitro and to determine whether the oral administration of sodium iodide (NaI) could achieve sufficient concentrations of iodine (I) in the respiratory secretions of weaned beef calves to inactivate these pathogens in vivo.

Animals: Sixteen weaned, apparently healthy, commercial beef calves from the University of Missouri, College of Veterinary Medicine teaching herd. …

Genes For Membrane Transport Proteins: Not So Rare In Viruses, Timo Greiner, Anna Moroni, James L. Van Etten, Gerhard Thiel

James Van Etten Publications

Some viruses have genes encoding proteins with membrane transport functions. It is unknown if these types of proteins are rare or are common in viruses. In particular, the evolutionary origin of some of the viral genes is obscure, where other viral proteins have homologs in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. We searched virus genomes in databases looking for transmembrane proteins with possible transport function. This effort led to the detection of 18 different types of putative membrane transport proteins indicating that they are not a rarity in viral genomes. The most abundant proteins are K+ channels. Their predicted structures vary between …