Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Yeast Model For Trichohepatoenteric Syndrome Suggests Strong Loss Of Ski2 Function In Most Causative Mutations, Luisa J Orlando, Matthew K Yim, Thomson Hallmark, Michael Cotner, Sean J Johnson, Ambro Van Hoof

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The intestinal and immune disorder trichohepatoenteric syndrome (THES) is characterized by mutations in human Ski2 and Ski3, also known as SKIV2L and TTC37, respectively. The mechanism by which these mutations leads to the immunodeficiency, chronic diarrhea, failure to thrive and liver disease associated with THES is unknown. To what degree THES patient mutations in Ski2 affect Ski2 function and how the differences in Ski2 function could lead to varying patient outcomes has not been studied. Here, we assayed function of THES ski2 mutants in the yeast homolog. Our results show that most THES patient mutations cause severe dysfunction in Ski2. …

An Autoencoder-Based Deep Learning Method For Genotype Imputation, Meng Song, Jonathan Greenbaum, Joseph Luttrell, Weihua Zhou, Chong Wu, Zhe Luo, Chuan Qiu, Lan Juan Zhao, Kuan-Jui Su, Qing Tian, Hui Shen, Huixiao Hong, Ping Gong, Xinghua Shi, Hong-Wen Deng, Chaoyang Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Genotype imputation has a wide range of applications in genome-wide association study (GWAS), including increasing the statistical power of association tests, discovering trait-associated loci in meta-analyses, and prioritizing causal variants with fine-mapping. In recent years, deep learning (DL) based methods, such as sparse convolutional denoising autoencoder (SCDA), have been developed for genotype imputation. However, it remains a challenging task to optimize the learning process in DL-based methods to achieve high imputation accuracy. To address this challenge, we have developed a convolutional autoencoder (AE) model for genotype imputation and implemented a customized training loop by modifying the training process with a …

Recurrent Hgnet-Mn1 Altered (Astroblastoma Mn1-Altered) Of The Foramen Magnum: Case Report And Molecular Classification, Sricharan Gopakumar, Malcolm F Mcdonald, Himanshu Sharma, Claudio E Tatsui, Gregory N Fuller, Ganesh Rao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Astroblastoma is a rare primary brain tumor of unclear origin, often occurring in young patients less than 30-years-old. It typically arises supratentorially and is diagnosed based on histological features including vascular hyalinization and perivascular pseudorosettes. Recent molecular characterization of primary CNS high-grade neuroepithelial tumors with meningioma I alteration (HGNET-MN1) found that HGNET-MN1 and tumors with morphological signatures of astroblastoma clustered together. Further analysis revealed such astroblastomas have MN1 alteration and the 2021 WHO classification of tumors of the CNS now recognizes astroblastoma MN1-altered as a new entity.

Case description: Here, we present the case of …

Analysis Of The Antimicrobial Activity Of The Novel Chemotherapeutic Drug, Tpp1, Against Pseudomonas Aeruginosa And The Hydrogel Delivery Of Water-Soluble Antimicrobial Compounds, Alex Gasper

Senior Independent Study Theses

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world, and it is commonly linked with bacterial infections that often complicate treatments. Recently, chemotherapeutics have been developed that are able to act as anti-cancer agents using delocalized lipophilic cations (DLCs) that are able to specifically target mitochondrial membranes of cancer cells. TPP1 is a newly developed chemotherapeutic drug that has activity against bladder cancer and melanoma cell lines in vitro. In order to determine if TPP1 has antimicrobial activity, TPP1 was tested against a common bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, to determine if antimicrobial activity was present. This testing was …

Cross-Modal Reorganization From Both Visual And Somatosensory Modalities In Cochlear Implanted Children And Its Relationship To Speech Perception, Garrett Cardon, Theresa Hennesy, Julia Campbell, Hannah Glick, Don Bell-Souder

Faculty Publications

Hypothesis: We hypothesized that children with cochlear implants (CIs) who demonstrate cross-modal reorganization by vision also demonstrate cross-modal reorganization by somatosensation and that these processes are interrelated and impact speech perception. Background: Cross-modal reorganization, which occurs when a deprived sensory modality's cortical resources are recruited by other intact modalities, has been proposed as a source of variability underlying speech perception in deaf children with CIs. Visual and somatosensory cross-modal reorganization of auditory cortex have been documented separately in CI children, but reorganization in these modalities has not been documented within the same subjects. Our goal was to examine the relationship …

No Difference In Corticosterone Concentrations Between Missouri Three-Toed Box Turtles Living In An Urban And A Rural Site, Bennett A. Lamczyk, Jamie L. Palmer, Corinne P. Kozlowski, Stephen Blake, Sharon L. Deem

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Baseline health data for species of conservation concern are important for understanding threats to the long-term viability of populations. One indication of health is physiological stress among individuals. Corticosterone (CORT) is frequently used to quantify stress in free-living reptile populations, as high values may be associated with reduced fitness. Herein, we describe and validate methods for quantifying blood CORT levels in three-toed box turtles (Terrapene mexicana triunguis). We subsequently use this information to evaluate stress levels in 2 populations of free-living three-toed box turtles in Missouri, USA. To our knowledge, this is the first quantification of CORT levels …

Dehydration And Mortality Of Feral Horses And Burros: A Systematic Review Of Reported Deaths, John Derek Scasta, Eric Thacker, Jacob D. Hennig, Karl Hoopes

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Water is a requirement for all organisms, including equids. Dehydration-caused mortality of feral horses (Equus ferus caballus) is often cited as a cause of concern and as justification for management of feral horses, yet a paucity of information exists on the matter. We conducted a systematic review from September 1, 2020 through January 15, 2021 of available news reports of feral horse and burro (E. asinus) dehydration mortalities and public interventions to save horses using a public search engine with a priori defined search term combinations and additional snowball sampling. We found 15 uniquely reported mortality …

Psychological Resilience In Student-Athletes During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Henley Lapid

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the psychological resilience process in student-athletes during the unique adverse context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study sought to answer the following research questions guided by Fisher et al.’s (2019) heuristic framework: (1) What resilience mechanisms, (2) promoting factors, and (3) resilience outcomes were experienced by participants in their resilience demonstrations? and (4) How does the resilience process unfold over time across adverse contexts including the COVID-19 pandemic? Nine student-athletes from Wilfrid Laurier University were interviewed on their experiences demonstrating resilience within and outside of the pandemic. A thematic analysis (Braun …

"If We're Not Loud, We're Not Cared For": Empowerment In Transgender Peoples' Healthcare Experiences, Chase Valiant

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Healthcare plays a crucial role in the health and quality of life of transgender (herein trans) people. The experiences people have when accessing healthcare, can have significant effects on future interactions with the healthcare system as well as individual health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to gather insights into trans peoples’ positive healthcare experiences and health outcomes through the lens of empowerment. Fifteen interviews with trans men and trans women were drawn from a larger study of trans peoples’ experiences of discrimination. Thematic analysis was undertaken to identify key themes in the data. Experiences of empowerment were facilitated …

Resilience Among Older Adults With Multiple Sclerosis: Pattern And Correlates, Dena Sadeghi-Bahmani, Ariel Kidwell, Rachel E. Bollaert, Robert W. Motl

Exercise Science Faculty Research and Publications

Background

There is an increasing number of older adults with multiple sclerosis (MS) who present with significant challenges associated with aging in conjunction with a chronic, disabling disease. Resilience has been associated with healthy aging in the general population, yet there is limited research on resilience and its correlates among older adults with MS. The current study investigated the difference in resilience between older adults with MS and demographically matched healthy controls. We then examined the associations between resilience and functional, symptomatic, socio-behavioral, and QOL outcomes, along with demographic and clinical characteristics, among only older adults with MS. Method: The …

Do People With Apraxia Of Speech And Aphasia Improve Or Worsen Across Repeated Sequential Word Trials?, Tyson G. Harmon, Adam Jacks, Katarina L. Haley, Jessica D. Richardson, Elizabeth H. Lacey, Peter Turkeltaub

Faculty Publications

Purpose:

During motor speech examinations for suspected apraxia of speech (AOS), clients are routinely asked to repeat words several times sequentially. The purpose of this study was to understand the task in terms of the relationship among consecutive attempts. We asked to what extent phonemic accuracy changes across trials and whether the change is predicted by AOS diagnosis and sound production severity.

Method:

One hundred thirty-three participants were assigned to four diagnostic groups based on quantitative metrics (aphasia plus AOS, aphasia-only, and aphasia with two borderline speech profiles). Each participant produced four multisyllabic words 5 times consecutively. These productions were …

Association Of Pretreatment Hippocampal Volume With Neurocognitive Function In Patients Treated With Hippocampal Avoidance Whole Brain Radiation Therapy For Brain Metastases: Secondary Analysis Of Nrg Oncology/Rtog 0933, Christopher D. Abraham, Stephanie L. Pugh, Joseph A. Bovi, Vinai Gondi, Minesh P. Mehta, Tammie Benzinger, Christopher J. Owen, Simon S. Lo, Vijayananda Kundapur, Paul D. Brown, Alexander Y. Sun, Steven P. Howard, Albert S Denittis, Clifford G. Robinson, Lisa A. Kachnic

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: Hippocampal volume (HV) is an established predicting factor for neurocognitive function (NCF) in neurodegenerative disease. Whether the same phenomenon exists with hippocampal-avoidant whole brain radiation therapy is not known; therefore, we assessed the association of baseline HV with NCF among patients enrolled on RTOG 0933.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: Hippocampal volume and total brain volume were calculated from the radiation therapy plan. Hippocampal volume was correlated with baseline and 4-month NCF scores (Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised [HVLT-R] Total Recall [TR], Immediate Recognition, and Delayed Recall [DR]) using Pearson correlation. Deterioration in NCF was defined per the primary endpoint of RTOG …

Leishmania Guyanensis Suppressed Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase Provoked By Its Viral Endosymbiont, Dmitry Kopelyanskiy, Chantal Desponds, Florence Prevel, Matteo Rossi, Romain Migliorini, Tiia Snäkä, Remzi Onur Eren, Stéphanie Claudinot, Lon-Fye Lye, Manolis Pasparakis, Stephen M Beverley, Nicolas Fasel

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is essential to the production of nitric oxide (NO), an efficient effector molecule against intracellular human pathogens such as

Combining Empirical Knowledge, In Silico Molecular Docking And Admet Profiling To Identify Therapeutic Phytochemicals From Brucea Antidysentrica For Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Lemessa Etana Bultum, Gemechu Bekele Tolossa, Doheon Lee

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is one of the deadly cancers. Chemotherapy is the first-line treatment and the only curative intervention is stem cell transplantation which are intolerable for aged and comorbid patients. Therefore, finding complementary treatment is still an active research area. For this, empirical knowledge driven search for therapeutic agents have been carried out by long and arduous wet lab processes. Nonetheless, currently there is an accumulated bioinformatics data about natural products that enabled the use of efficient and cost effective in silico methods to find drug candidates. In this work, therefore, we set out to computationally investigate the …

Climbing The Anki Mountain, One (Review) Step At A Time: A Written And Video-Based Guide On Using Anki In Medical School To Enhance Knowledge Acquisition And Retention, Alexander Tu, Tiffany Truong, Avi Prajapati

EMET Projects

No abstract provided.

Footwear Characteristics: Effects On Dynamic Balance In The Young And Elderly, Joseph Wallace

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Older adults suffer from an increased risk of falling, and falls make up a substantial percentage of injuries and mortality rates in elderly populations. Falls also burden health and long-term care infrastructure and can limit individual independence and overall functioning due to fear of falling. Footwear and orthotic interventions have previously been shown to affect balance in both young and older adult populations and may provide a potential avenue for improving balance and combatting fall rates. Footwear and orthotic interventions are relatively easily implemented, however there is a lack of consistency among current footwear and orthotic literature as well as …

The Potential Mediating Effects Of Social Support Network Size And Physical Activity On Cognitive Function And Mortality Risk, Madeline Zipperer

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Low cognitive function has been shown to be an independent predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related mortality. Social support network size and total physical activity volume (TPAV) are two modifiable factors which have been shown to be independently associated with cognitive function and mortality risk. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the potential mediating effects of social support network size and TPAV on cognitive function and all-cause and CVD-related mortality risk in a large, nationally representative sample of U.S. adults.

METHODS: Study sample (N =2,550) included older adult (≥ 60 years of age) participants …

Implementation Of A Transitions Of Care Nutrition Intervention For Malnourished Patients, Nina Rocca

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The topic of Transitions of Care (TOC) has been investigated by physician and nursing professions for years, while only more recently by nutrition professionals. Registered Dietitians are not always involved in TOC planning. RDs can play an important role in TOC by communicating patients’ nutrition information across health care settings, especially for patients with malnutrition. The primary aim was to use a CDC based process evaluation to evaluate if a case management, nursing focused care transitions framework, adapted for a TOC nutrition intervention, can result in a successful intervention implementation. The secondary aim was to use a CDC outcomes evaluation, …

Exploring The Health Outcomes And Patient’S Viewpoint Of Pediatric Patients Receiving Medical Nutrition Therapy Visits With In-Person, Telephonic, And Tele-Video Modalities At A Rural Community Health Center, Valerie L. Muehleman

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Covid-19 pandemic advanced telephonic (TP) and tele-video (TV) visits for medical nutrition therapy (MNT). This study explored the health outcomes and patient’s viewpoints of MNT by modalities in a community health center (CHC). Participants ranged in age from 1-18 years, diagnosed with overweight/obesity, and received MNT from a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) from January 1, 2019 to August 31, 2021. Health outcomes measured were health goal achievement, BMI percentile, pre/post lipid panel, and A1C%. Show/no-show rates and demographic characteristics of gender, age, race, insurance, county, language, and ethnicity were also compared by the visit modality. Ten interviews in the …

Childhood Food Insecurity: A Program Impact And Evaluation Study Of The Meals On Wheels For Kids Program, Claudia Rivero

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In America, millions of families and children face hunger and food insecurity every day. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, more than thirty-eight million people experienced hunger in 2020. As many as 13 million children in the United States live in food-insecure homes. Many households that experience food insecurity do not qualify for federal nutrition programs. While valuable, barriers to these programs can block food-insecure households with children and prevent access to healthy food. The impact of adverse health and nutritional consequences, of a food-insecure household, will continue to plague our communities until efficient programming connects to those …

The Effects Of Fermented Vegetables On The Gut Microbiota For Prevention Of Cardiovascular Disease, Melissa Baron

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the impact of regular consumption of fermented vegetables on markers of inflammation and the composition of the gut microbiota in adults at increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Eighty-seven adults ages 35-64 were randomized into a Fermented Vegetable (FV) (100g fermented vegetables daily at least 5x/wk), or a Usual Diet (UD) group. Blood and stool samples were obtained before and after the intervention for measurement of C-Reactive Protein, interleukin-6, angiopoietin-like protein 4, trimethylamine oxide, and lipopolysaccharide binding protein. Next-generation sequencing of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene isolated from stool samples was performed on the Illumina …

Nutrition Perception, Dietary Intake, And Anthropometric Correlations Between Autism Spectrum Disorder And Typically Developing Adolescents., Kristin M. Berg

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The adolescent’s nutrition perception is reflected in dietary intake and body composition. Obesity is prevalent among adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Dietary habits of children with ASD are affected by sensory issues, gastrointestinal factors, and parental provision of diet. This cross-sectional study identifies the relationships among variables for dietary intake, nutrition perception of intake, and anthropometric measurements for adiposity for 19 adolescents, ages 11 to 17, with ASD. Twenty-four children who are typically developing (TD) were assessed to compare all variables for significant differences. Measurements of variables of interest were obtained from the adolescent subjects: a 24-hour recall of …

Maximal Strength In Relation To Force And Velocity Patterns During Countermovement Jumps, Michael H. Haischer, John Krzyszkowski, Stuart Roche, Kristof Kipp

Exercise Science Faculty Research and Publications

Maximal strength is important for the performance of dynamic athletic activities, such as countermovement jumps (CMJ). Although measures of maximal strength appear related to discrete CMJ variables, such as peak ground reaction forces (GRF) and center-of-mass (COM) velocity, knowledge about the association between strength and the time series patterns during CMJ will help characterize changes that can be expected in dynamic movement with changes in maximal strength. Purpose: To investigate the associations between maximal strength and GRF and COM velocity patterns during CMJ. Methods: Nineteen female college lacrosse players performed 3 maximal-effort CMJs and isometric midthigh pull. GRF …

The Importance Of Violence Prevention Coordinators To Your Trauma Program, Carol Fox Rn, Ma, Ccrn, Melissa Mee

Administration & Leadership

No abstract provided.

Sentience And Sentient Minds, John Anthony Webster

Animal Sentience

My commentary builds on Rowan et al.’s (2022) comprehensive review to address the question ‘what do we mean by sentience?’ It suggests how we might recognise degrees of sentience within the animal kingdom, ranging from primitive sensations such as hunger and pain to more complex emotions that determine quality of life.

Defining Patient-Level Molecular Heterogeneity In Psoriasis Vulgaris Based On Single-Cell Transcriptomics, Yale Liu, Hao Wang, Christopher Cook, Mark A Taylor, Jeffrey P North, Ashley Hailer, Yanhong Shou, Arsil Sadik, Esther Kim, Elizabeth Purdom, Jeffrey B Cheng, Raymond J Cho

Staff and Researcher Publications

Identifying genetic variation underlying human diseases establishes targets for therapeutic development and helps tailor treatments to individual patients. Large-scale transcriptomic profiling has extended the study of such molecular heterogeneity between patients to somatic tissues. However, the lower resolution of bulk RNA profiling, especially in a complex, composite tissue such as the skin, has limited its success. Here we demonstrate approaches to interrogate patient-level molecular variance in a chronic skin inflammatory disease, psoriasis vulgaris, leveraging single-cell RNA-sequencing of CD45+ cells isolated from active lesions. Highly psoriasis-specific transcriptional abnormalities display greater than average inter-individual variance, nominating them as potential sources of clinical …

A Novel Approach To Link Genetics And Human Mri Identifies Akap7-Dependent Subicular/Prefrontal Functional Connectivity As Altered In Suicidality, Guillermo Poblete, Tien Nguyen, Savannah Gosnell, Olutayo Sofela, Michelle Patriquin, Sanjay J Mathew, Alan Swann, David A Nielsen, Thomas R Kosten, Ramiro Salas

Staff and Researcher Publications

Background: Brain imaging and genetics are fields acquiring data at increasing speed, but more information does not always result in a better understanding of the underlying biology. We developed the ProcessGeneLists (PGL) approach to use genetics and mRNA gene expression data to generate regions of interest for imaging studies.

Methods: We applied PGL to past suicide attempt (ATT): We averaged the mRNA expression levels of genes (n = 130) possibly associated with ATT (p ≤ 10-3 in a published genome-wide association study, GWAS) in each brain region studied in the Human Allen Brain Atlas (6 ex-vivo brains, 158 to 946 …

Decreased Brain Ventricular Volume In Psychiatric Inpatients With Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Treatment, P K Bolin, S N Gosnell, K Brandel-Ankrapp, N Srinivasan, A Castellanos, R Salas

Staff and Researcher Publications

Background: Brain ventricles have been reported to be enlarged in several neuropsychiatric disorders and in aging. Whether human cerebral ventricular volume can decrease over time with psychiatric treatment is not well-studied. The aim of this study was to examine whether inpatients taking serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRI) exhibited reductions in cerebral ventricular volume.

Methods: Psychiatric inpatients, diagnosed mainly with depression, substance use, anxiety, and personality disorders, underwent two imaging sessions (Time 1 and Time 2, approximately 4 weeks apart). FreeSurfer was used to quantify volumetric features of the brain, and ANOVA was used to analyze ventricular volume differences between Time 1 …

Estimation Of 24-Hour Urinary Creatinine Excretion Through The Development Of A Model And Its Relationship To Outcomes In Hospitalized Critically Ill Veterans, Lynn Diane Hiller

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Muscle mass is highly correlated with patient outcomes. Techniques to identify patients with low muscularity include computed tomography (CT) and bioelectrical impendence analysis (BIA) however disadvantages of cost, exposure to radiation and access make these measurements unavailable to the average dietitian. Urinary creatinine excretion (UCE) and estimation of creatinine height index (CHI) are strongly associated with muscularity and outcomes, however, require a 24-hour urine collection. The postulation that UCE may be predicted from patient variables, through mathematical modeling, would avoid the need for a 24-hour urine collection and may be clinically useful.

Methods: Input variables of age, …

Prefrontal Glutamate Neurotransmission In Ptsd: A Novel Approach To Estimate Synaptic Strength In Vivo In Humans, Lynnette A Averill, Lihong Jiang, Prerana Purohit, Anastasia Coppoli, Christopher L Averill, Jeremy Roscoe, Benjamin Kelmendi, Henk M De Feyter, Robin A De Graaf, Ralitza Gueorguieva, Gerard Sanacora, John H Krystal, Douglas L Rothman, Graeme F Mason, Chadi G Abdallah

Staff and Researcher Publications

Background: Trauma and chronic stress are believed to induce and exacerbate psychopathology by disrupting glutamate synaptic strength. However, in vivo in human methods to estimate synaptic strength are limited. In this study, we established a novel putative biomarker of glutamatergic synaptic strength, termed energy-per-cycle (EPC). Then, we used EPC to investigate the role of prefrontal neurotransmission in trauma-related psychopathology.

Methods: Healthy controls (n = 18) and patients with posttraumatic stress (PTSD; n = 16) completed 13C-acetate magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) scans to estimate prefrontal EPC, which is the ratio of neuronal energetic needs per glutamate neurotransmission cycle (VTCA/VCycle).

Results: Patients …