Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Staging Tau Pathology With Tau Pet In Alzheimer’S Disease: A Longitudinal Study, Shi Dong Chen, Jia Ying Lu, Hong Qi Li, Yu Xiang Yang, Jie Hui Jiang, Mei Cui, Chuan Tao Zuo, Lan Tan, Qiang Dong, Jin Tai Yu, Michael W. Weiner, Paul Aisen, Ronald Petersen, Clifford R. Jack, William Jagust, John Q. Trojanowki, Arthur W. Toga, Laurel Beckett, Robert C. Green, Andrew J. Saykin, John C. Morris, Richard J. Perrin, Leslie M. Shaw, Maria Carrillo, William Potter, Lisa Barnes, Marie Bernard, Hector González, Carole Ho, John K. Hsiao, Jonathan Jackson, Eliezer Masliah

Medical Biophysics Publications

A biological research framework to define Alzheimer’ disease with dichotomized biomarker measurement was proposed by National Institute on Aging–Alzheimer’s Association (NIA–AA). However, it cannot characterize the hierarchy spreading pattern of tau pathology. To reflect in vivo tau progression using biomarker, we constructed a refined topographic 18F-AV-1451 tau PET staging scheme with longitudinal clinical validation. Seven hundred and thirty-four participants with baseline 18F-AV-1451 tau PET (baseline age 73.9 ± 7.7 years, 375 female) were stratified into five stages by a topographic PET staging scheme. Cognitive trajectories and clinical progression were compared across stages with or without further dichotomy of amyloid status, …

Expansion Of Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells Contributes To Metabolic Osteoarthritis Through Subchondral Bone Remodeling, Lixia Zhang, Cameron L. Kirkwood, Jiho Sohn, Ashley Lau, Mary Bayers-Thering, Supinder Kour Bali, Sridhar Rachala, John M. Marzo, Mark J. Anders, Frank Beier, Keith L. Kirkwood

Bone and Joint Institute

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) subsequent to acute joint injury accounts for a significant proportion of all arthropathies. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are a heterogeneous population of myeloid progenitor cells classically known for potent immune-suppressive activity; however, MDSCs can also differentiate into osteoclasts. In addition, this population is known to be expanded during metabolic disease. The objective of this study was to determine the role of MDSCs in the context of OA pathophysiology. Methods: In this study, we examined the differentiation and functional capacity of MDSCs to become osteoclasts in vitro and in vivo using mouse models of OA and in MDSC …

Diet-Induced Obesity Leads To Behavioral Indicators Of Pain Preceding Structural Joint Damage In Wild-Type Mice, Geoffrey J. Kerr, Bethia To, Ian White, Magali Millecamps, Frank Beier, Matthew W. Grol, Laura S. Stone, Cheryle A. Séguin

Bone and Joint Institute

Introduction: Obesity is one of the largest modifiable risk factors for the development of musculoskeletal diseases, including intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration and back pain. Despite the clinical association, no studies have directly assessed whether diet-induced obesity accelerates IVD degeneration, back pain, or investigated the biological mediators underlying this association. In this study, we examine the effects of chronic consumption of a high-fat or high-fat/high-sugar (western) diet on the IVD, knee joint, and pain-associated outcomes. Methods: Male C57BL/6N mice were randomized into one of three diet groups (chow control; high-fat; high-fat, high-sugar western diet) at 10 weeks of age and remained …

Early Protein Intake Predicts Functional Connectivity And Neurocognition In Preterm Born Children, Emma G. Duerden, Benjamin Thompson, Tanya Poppe, Jane Alsweiler, Greg Gamble, Yannan Jiang, Myra Leung, Anna C. Tottman, Trecia Wouldes, Steven P. Miller, Jane E. Harding, Jane M. Alsweiler, Janene B. Biggs, Coila Bevan, Joanna M. Black, Frank H. Bloomfield, Kelly Fredell, Greg D. Gamble, Jane E. Harding, Sabine Huth, Yannan Jiang, Christine Kevan, Myra Leung, Geraint Phillips, Tanya Poppe, Jennifer A. Rogers, Heather Stewart, Benjamin S. Thompson

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

© 2021, The Author(s). Nutritional intake can promote early neonatal brain development in very preterm born neonates (< 32 weeks’ gestation). In a group of 7-year-old very preterm born children followed since birth, we examined whether early nutrient intake in the first weeks of life would be associated with long-term brain function and neurocognitive skills at school age. Children underwent resting-state functional MRI (fMRI), intelligence testing (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 5th Ed) and visual-motor processing (Beery-Buktenica, 5th Ed) at 7 years. Relationships were assessed between neonatal macronutrient intakes, functional connectivity strength between thalamic and default mode networks (DMN), and neuro-cognitive function using multivariable regression. Greater functional connectivity strength between thalamic networks and DMN was associated with greater intake of protein in the first week (β = 0.17; 95% CI 0.11, 0.23, p < 0.001) but lower intakes of fat (β = − 0.06; 95% CI − 0.09, − 0.02, p = 0.001) and carbohydrates (β = − 0.03; 95% CI − 0.04, − 0.01, p = 0.003). Connectivity strength was also associated with protein intake during the first month (β = 0.22; 95% CI 0.06, 0.37, p = 0.006). Importantly, greater thalamic-DMN connectivity strength was associated with higher processing speed indices (β = 26.9; 95% CI 4.21, 49.49, p = 0.02) and visual processing scores (β = 9.03; 95% CI 2.27, 15.79, p = 0.009). Optimizing early protein intake may contribute to promoting long-term brain health in preterm-born children.

Benzodiazepines: Uses, Dangers, And Clinical Considerations, Amber N. Edinoff, Catherine A. Nix, Janice W. Hollier, Caroline E. Sagrera, Blake M. Delacroix, Tunde Abubakar, Elyse M. Cornett, Adam M. Kaye, Alan David Kaye

School of Pharmacy Faculty Articles

Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are among one of the most widely prescribed drug classes in the United States. BZDs are a class of psychoactive drugs known for their depressant effect on the central nervous system (CNS). They quickly diffuse through the blood–brain barrier to affect the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA and exert sedative effects. Related to their rapid onset and immediate symptom relief, BZDs are used for those struggling with sleep, anxiety, spasticity due to CNS pathology, muscle relaxation, and epilepsy. One of the debilitating side effects of BZDs is their addictive potential. The dependence on BZDs generally leads to withdrawal symptoms, requiring …

A Physician’S Guide To Clinical Documentation Improvement: Aligning Cdi To Health Information Practice (Canadian Health Information Management Association), Noor Baldawi, Jacky Cheung, Georgia Diamanakis, Alvina Jiwani, Zexi Wang

Medical Sciences 4300A: Addressing Healthcare Misconceptions Using Scientific Inquiry

The field of clinical documentation improvement (CDI) is emerging alongside the need for more accurate health care information that is reflective of the health status of Canadians. Health information management professionals and physicians play a critical role in the collection, transformation, protection, and distribution of clinical documentation. The quality of health data is dependent on the physician’s specificity in clinical documentation of patient health records, as this information is converted into data by coding specialists. Coded medical information, and associated hospital data, provides information surrounding patient severity of disease, a hospital’s expected length of stay, and a hospital’s mortality rate. …

Supporting Pregnant Persons: The Benefits Of Opening A Birth Centre In London, Ontario (Dynamic Doulas Of London), Alisha George, Megan Harris, Allison Kirkpatrick, Lianna Mathew, Amel Sassi

Medical Sciences 4300A: Addressing Healthcare Misconceptions Using Scientific Inquiry

No abstract provided.

Discovering Body Positivity & Self-Image (Gender Equality Coalition Of Ontario), Ella Clarke, Morolayo Ilori, Melanie Peck, Hannah Polley, Mili Shah

Medical Sciences 4300A: Addressing Healthcare Misconceptions Using Scientific Inquiry

Body image refers to the way we perceive our bodies, and it can positively or negatively impact physical and mental health (Alleva et al., 2015). Unfortunately, negative body image is becoming more common with some studies finding that 65% of young people are dissatisfied with their bodies (Linardon et al., 2021). This can lead to a variety of psychological and behavioral problems and disorders such as body dysmorphia or eating disorders (Alleva et al., 2015). However, many of these consequences associated with negative body image can be circumvented by learning to foster positive body images through building self-esteem (Jessie’s Legacy, …

A Wicked Problem: The Implementation Of Clinical Guidelines Application To Optimize Patient Care (Uhn Openlab), Ardavan Bonyadi Behrouz, Nelson Chang, Jasmine Luo, Daniel Olteanu, Naomi Smith

Medical Sciences 4300A: Addressing Healthcare Misconceptions Using Scientific Inquiry

The purpose of our partnership with the UHN OpenLab was to discover the barriers involved with automating the sporadic release of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) into the Innovate Guidelines Application (IGA). The problem is considered wicked—interlocking challenges cannot be addressed by a single solution. Accordingly, the goal was to explore the barriers of stakeholders and specialization groups, general guideline issues, and the considerations of healthcare professionals and public perception. An initial literature review was conducted to discover unidentified problems before a first draft of the systems map was created. Subsequently, connections were formed across problems and each was categorized based …

Addressing Workplace Mental Health During Covid-19 (Global Minds Collective), Candace Brooks-Dasilva, Ashlee Jiang, Priya Modi, Komal Patel, Lilian Raphael

Medical Sciences 4300A: Addressing Healthcare Misconceptions Using Scientific Inquiry

We aimed to produce novel, comprehensive tools to support The Global MINDS Collective’s mission of co-creating unique workplace infrastructures conducive to employee mental wellness. Our Systems Map uses a multifactorial and intersectional approach to analyze how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed employees’ mental and psychosocial wellness. A systems thinking approach was used to connect ideas from literature and industry resources to expand on concepts such as workplace diversity, burnout, and current practices. The interconnected nature of the systems map allowed us to identify “leverage points,” which were topics with a high degree of connectivity that could be targeted for high-impact …

Restructuring Training (Participation House Support Services), Victoria Lun, Do Yeon Oh, Nadir Saeed, Joe Thorne, Alexander Trusler

Medical Sciences 4300A: Addressing Healthcare Misconceptions Using Scientific Inquiry

Participation House Support Services (PHSS) is a non-profit organization with over 60 locations across Ontario that serves individuals with complex medical, physical, and developmental needs with the goal of including them in the community. The scope of the project covers members of the PHSS organization and the London community that they serve by addressing problems with burnout and culture of resentment that the Coordinators of the organization face. After initial discussions with the community partner, qualitative research was done via focus groups with PHSS Coordinators and training staff. An agreed-upon solution of restructuring the training process was developed, as training …

Increasing Civic Engagement And Awareness Of Poverty & Homelessness Through Social Media (Project Hope London), Vanessa Chan, Sairam Gajavelli, Majid Khan, Iris Kwon, Masum Patel

Medical Sciences 4300A: Addressing Healthcare Misconceptions Using Scientific Inquiry

As the Project Hope London (PHL) Social Media Team, the purpose of our project was to utilize social media to support PHL in their goal of helping to improve the overall health of individuals experiencing homelessness. We aimed to broaden the organization’s audience through Instagram as this popular platform has the potential to reach younger demographics, such as the Western student body, and local businesses. Our team took control of their Instagram page to revitalize their social media presence. We redesigned the bio, curated posts with modern aesthetics, and ran a social media campaign to further boost engagement with the …

A Complete Guide To Incorporation (Project Hope London), Kevin Dong, Karen Guirguis, Rozmin Jasani, Samuel Luo, Sahara Rosha

Medical Sciences 4300A: Addressing Healthcare Misconceptions Using Scientific Inquiry

Our team worked with Project Hope (PH)–a grassroots organization that supports London’s population experiencing homelessness via needs-based outreach, community building, and housing support. PH serves 250 individuals/week at outreach and intends to expand this number and explore larger-scale projects such as affordable housing initiatives. However, to attain these goals, PH needs more funding–which it has struggled to obtain due to its lack of Registered Charity (RC) status. RCs are the only not-for-profit organizations that can issue tax receipts to monetary donors, and several commercial donors only donate to RCs for this reason. Thus, our deliverable intends to streamline PH’s progress …

Embracing Culture At The Centre Of Hope Food Bank (Salvation Army), Angela Chen, Ewan Kelly, Caitlin Lee, Sumin Shin

Medical Sciences 4300A: Addressing Healthcare Misconceptions Using Scientific Inquiry

The purpose of our project was to expand the food options provided at the Centre of Hope (COH) to better reflect the cultural diversity that exists within the London community. Overall, our project aimed to provide all individuals with the opportunity to consume food they are familiar and comfortable with, using a food choice-model system. This involved the creation of four deliverables: a comprehensive list of food options specific to the major minority groups in London, a culturally-specific food preference survey (physical and online versions, to improve accessibility), and a flyer with a QR code to encourage survey responses. The …

Stakeholders Surrounding Assisted & Affordable Housing (The Unity Project), Jiyoon Choi, Mahir Rahman, Adesh Suchit, Kenneth Wong

Medical Sciences 4300A: Addressing Healthcare Misconceptions Using Scientific Inquiry

Our team worked with the Unity Project, a registered charity in London that provides emergency shelter and supportive housing, to address the current needs of the organization based on a research and evidence-based approach. Specifically, we aimed to support their goals relating to the need for improved affordable housing solutions in London and the current divide between the different stakeholders involved. We provided two main deliverables: a) a report and slide deck that outline the positions of key stakeholders involved with affordable housing, and b) a set of three infographics that provide information that connects the homeless community to useful …

Alignment Of The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals And The London Plan (Citystudio London), Jack Adams, Trent Arnold, Rachel Jairam, Amani Khan

Medical Sciences 4300A: Addressing Healthcare Misconceptions Using Scientific Inquiry

The goal of our project was to map the City of London Plan to the UN’s Sustainability and Development Goals. An aim of the project was to present the contents in the City of London Plan in a more understandable and accessible way for London citizens and city counsellors to be able to engage with. Another aim was to measure the similarities and discrepancies of the London Plan and the UNs SDGs in a quantifiable way that could be easily examined by the city when creating future city plans. Our deliverables were a 1-minute video pitch, an excel spreadsheet that …

Improving Senior Fitness Programs & Dementia Care (Canadian Centre For Activity & Aging), Nidaal Abid, Tarannum Khan, Serena Lai, Kyle Lam, Madeline Macrae, Karen Wong

Medical Sciences 4300A: Addressing Healthcare Misconceptions Using Scientific Inquiry

Our team worked alongside the Canadian Centre for Activity and Aging (CCAA) to improve senior fitness programs and dementia care through volunteering at weekly exercise classes, assisting with fitness assessments, and creating two tangible deliverables. Our first deliverable was a Wordle; a tool for visualizing the modifiable risk factors of dementia. By consulting existing literature, we concluded that hearing loss, low education status, depression, and smoking were the main modifiable risk factors. This Wordle will be used for future research and educational purposes. Our next deliverables targeted the fitness aspect of the CCAA. We helped facilitate weekly instructor-led fitness classes …

Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation For Supraclavicular And Femoral Nerve Blocks Utilizing Ultrasound Guidance For Student Nurse Anesthetists, Mitchell Fowler, Christopher Bond

Doctoral Projects

The purpose of this DNP project was to create a tool to teach and evaluate student registered nurse anesthetists (SRNAs) at TheUniversity of Southern Mississippi (USM) on supraclavicular and femoral nerve blocks to promote safety in the clinical setting. An objective structured clinical evaluation (OSCE) for ultrasound-guided supraclavicular and femoral nerve blocks was created as the basis for this project. Best-practice techniques as identified by the AANA’s 14^thstandard of nurse anesthesia practice were researched and used in the development of the OSCE to promote a culture of safety for SRNAs and patients (AANA, 2019).

A culture of safety …

Towards A More Comprehensive Understanding Of Wild Pig (Sus Scrofa) Impacts On Agricultural Producers: Insights From A Texas Case Study, Keith M. Carlisle, Nicole Didero, Sophie Mckee, Julie Elser, Stephanie A. Shwiff

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

This research investigates the impacts of invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa Linneaus) on agricultural producers in Texas, with the aim of identifying and describing all categories of wild pig impacts and quantifying the extent of producers’ over- or underestimation of their total wild pig-related costs in 2018, as compared to calculations based upon data subsequently provided by the producers about individual wild pig-related costs and losses. Based on interviews with 23 producers in 16 Texas counties, we identified more than 20 discrete categories of negative impacts and negligible positive impacts associated with wild pigs. Among them were categories that have …

Spatial Concordance Of Dna Methylation Classification In Diffuse Glioma., Niels Verburg, Floris P Barthel, Kevin J Anderson, Kevin C Johnson, Thomas Koopman, Maqsood M Yaqub, Otto S Hoekstra, Adriaan A Lammertsma, Frederik Barkhof, Petra J W Pouwels, Jaap C Reijneveld, Annemieke J M Rozemuller, Jeroen A M Beliën, Ronald Boellaard, Michael D Taylor, Sunit Das, Joseph F Costello, William Peter Vandertop, Pieter Wesseling, Philip C De Witt Hamer, Roel G W Verhaak

Faculty Research 2021

BACKGROUND: Intratumoral heterogeneity is a hallmark of diffuse gliomas. DNA methylation profiling is an emerging approach in the clinical classification of brain tumors. The goal of this study is to investigate the effects of intratumoral heterogeneity on classification confidence.

METHODS: We used neuronavigation to acquire 133 image-guided and spatially separated stereotactic biopsy samples from 16 adult patients with a diffuse glioma (7 IDH-wildtype and 2 IDH-mutant glioblastoma, 6 diffuse astrocytoma, IDH-mutant and 1 oligodendroglioma, IDH-mutant and 1p19q codeleted), which we characterized using DNA methylation arrays. Samples were obtained from regions with and without abnormalities on contrast-enhanced T1-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion …

Pursuit Of Precision Medicine: Systems Biology Approaches In Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Models., Brianna Gurdon, Catherine Kaczorowski

Faculty Research 2021

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a complex disease that is mediated by numerous factors and manifests in various forms. A systems biology approach to studying AD involves analyses of various body systems, biological scales, environmental elements, and clinical outcomes to understand the genotype to phenotype relationship that potentially drives AD development. Currently, there are many research investigations probing how modifiable and nonmodifiable factors impact AD symptom presentation. This review specifically focuses on how imaging modalities can be integrated into systems biology approaches using model mouse populations to link brain level functional and structural changes to disease onset and progression. Combining imaging …

Human Macrophage Polarization In The Response To, Alberto Marin, Kristopher Van Huss, John Corbett, Sangjin Kim, Jonathon Mohl, Bo-Young Hong, Jorge Cervantes

Faculty Research 2021

Infection with Mycobacterium leprae, the causative organism of leprosy, is still endemic in numerous parts of the world including the southwestern United States. The broad variation of symptoms in the leprosy disease spectrum range from the milder tuberculoid leprosy (paucibacillary) to the more severe and disfiguring lepromatous leprosy (multibacillary). The established thinking in the health community is that host response, rather than M. leprae strain variation, is the reason for the range of disease severity. More recent discoveries suggest that macrophage polarization also plays a significant role in the spectrum of leprosy disease but to what degree it contributes is …

Supervised Learning With Word Embeddings Derived From Pubmed Captures Latent Knowledge About Protein Kinases And Cancer., Vida Ravanmehr, Hannah Blau, Luca Cappelletti, Tommaso Fontana, Leigh Carmody, Ben D Coleman, Joshy George, Justin Reese, Marcin Joachimiak, Giovanni Bocci, Peter Hansen, Carol J Bult, Jens Rueter, Elena Casiraghi, Giorgio Valentini, Christopher Mungall, Tudor I Oprea, Peter N Robinson

Faculty Research 2021

Inhibiting protein kinases (PKs) that cause cancers has been an important topic in cancer therapy for years. So far, almost 8% of >530 PKs have been targeted by FDA-approved medications, and around 150 protein kinase inhibitors (PKIs) have been tested in clinical trials. We present an approach based on natural language processing and machine learning to investigate the relations between PKs and cancers, predicting PKs whose inhibition would be efficacious to treat a certain cancer. Our approach represents PKs and cancers as semantically meaningful 100-dimensional vectors based on word and concept neighborhoods in PubMed abstracts. We use information about phase …

Bobby And Marv: The Asthma Attack, Vidhi Shah '23, Joanna Menendie '22

Human Diseases Graphic Novels

No abstract provided.

The Misadventures Of Dirty Dan, Ethan Brazelton '22, Akhil Vytla '22, Andrew Zhang '22, Piere Joyner '23

Human Diseases Graphic Novels

No abstract provided.

Chronic Bronchitis, Siddharth Tiwari '22, Edward Ning '23, Avery Hedican '23

Human Diseases Graphic Novels

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Covid-19 Related Deaths On New Nurses In Rhode Island, Jessica Petonak

Senior Honors Projects

The purpose of this project was to identify the impact that COVID-19 related deaths have had on nurses with limited bedside experience in the state of Rhode Island. Exploring the level of preparedness that nurses felt to deal with death can provide insight into nursing and employer education. Hearing about nurses’ experiences during the pandemic helps illustrate the current state of nurses’ mental health. Gaining a better understanding of the amount and types of support that nurses on the frontlines are receiving can identify current gaps and potential areas of improvement. I found that the COVID-19 pandemic and related deaths …

Physical Activity May Mitigate Covid-19 Infections In People With Obesity: A Call To Action., Christina D Economos, William H. Dietz, Kathleen Tullie, James F Sallis

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Apache Science Team, Denise L. Jameson

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

Sanger High school has the unique opportunity to offer a wide array of classes and pathways for students to take so that they can meet their educational goals of graduation the move on to higher education or starting a career right out of high school. Students have all these opportunities and benefits to have a strong start out of high school, but ultimately students are unaware of what jobs are related to those choices or pathways that they have decided to take part in. Apache Science Team allows for students to experience and learn about many different careers and opportunities …

Epidural Blood Patch For Pediatric Patients Only, Children's Mercy Kansas City

Clinical Pathways (Formally Known As Care Process Models)

No abstract provided.