Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Evolving Use Of Gold Nanoparticles As A Possible Reversal Agent For The Symptoms Of Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Narrative Review, Alan D. Kaye, Kelly R. Sala, Drew Dethloff, Matthew Norton, Corey Moss, Michael J. Plessala, Alyssa G. Derouen, Yair Lopez Torres, Julian Kim, Sridhar Tirumala, Sahar Shekoohi, Giustino Varrassi

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Neurodegenerative diseases are broadly hallmarked by impaired energy metabolism and toxic intracellular accumulations such as damaged organelles or reactive oxygen species (ROS). Gold nanoparticles readily cross the blood-brain barrier and increase nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide + hydrogen (NADH) oxidation to nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), which is vital for intracellular energy generation, cellular repair, and protection from ROS. Thus, the use of gold nanoparticles to treat and potentially reverse cellular injury seen in neurodegenerative disease has been an area of ongoing research. This systematic review explores current literature regarding the use of gold nanoparticle therapy in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such …

Long G4-Rich Enhancers Physically Interacts With Promoters Via A G4:G4 Dna-Based Mechanism, Jeffrey David Demeis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

Enhancers are genomic sequences that function as regulatory elements capable of increasing the transcription of a given gene often located at a considerable distance. The broadly accepted model of enhancer activation involves bringing an enhancer-bound activator protein complex into close spatial proximity to its target promoter through chromatin looping. Equally relevant to the work described herein, roles for guanine (G) rich sequences in transcriptional regulation are now widely accepted. Non-coding G-rich sequences are commonly found in gene promoters and enhancers, and various studies have described specific instances where G-rich sequences regulate gene expression via their capacity to form G-quadruplex (G4) …

Accuracy, Thoroughness, And Quality Of Outpatient Primary Care Documentation In The U.S. Department Of Veterans Affairs., Michael Weiner, Mindy E Flanagan, Katie Ernst, Ann H Cottingham, Nicholas A Rattray, Zamal Franks, April W Savoy, Joy L Lee, Richard M Frankel

Health Services and Informatics Research

BACKGROUND: Electronic health records (EHRs) can accelerate documentation and may enhance details of notes, or complicate documentation and introduce errors. Comprehensive assessment of documentation quality requires comparing documentation to what transpires during the clinical encounter itself. We assessed outpatient primary care notes and corresponding recorded encounters to determine accuracy, thoroughness, and several additional key measures of documentation quality.

METHODS: Patients and primary care clinicians across five midwestern primary care clinics of the US Department of Veterans Affairs were recruited into a prospective observational study. Clinical encounters were video-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Using the Physician Documentation Quality Instrument (PDQI-9) added to …

Optimizing Adherence To Antiretroviral Therapy Among Adolescents Living With Hiv In Low And Middle-Income Settings, Samuel Kizito

Brown School Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Globally, 1.8 million adolescents are living with HIV (ALHIV), of whom 89% (1.5 million) are in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (UNAIDS, 2021b). Unfortunately, despite advances in prevention—such as the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) and pre-exposure prophylaxis—new infections continue to occur. For example, in 2021 alone, the number of new HIV infections among adolescents aged 10 to 19 was 160,000 cases. Moreover, the rate of HIV-related deaths among adolescents has only declined by 10% in the last decade, which is not fast enough to meet the 2030 global targets. Despite antiretroviral therapy (ART) playing a crucial role in controlling …

In Vitro Data Suggest A Role For Pms2 Kozak Sequence Mutations In Lynch Syndrome Risk, Evanjalina J Matoy, Jocelyn N Plowman, Cynthia J Watson, Michael A Belshan, Elizabeth E Blue, Chad D Huff, Holly A F Stessman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This study investigates the role of 5′ UTR PMS2 Kozak sequence genetic variation in cancer risk. It accomplishes this through the development of a mid-throughput reporter assay where variants can be tested for protein translation efficiency. The results highlight the importance of continued study of the Kozak sequence related to human disease.

Caregiver Attitudes Toward Sexual Behavior And Sex Education For Children With Down Syndrome, Shawna Urban

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This quantitative correlational study investigates caregivers’ attitudes toward sexual behavior and sex education for children with Down syndrome, drawing upon the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior. Data was collected from a convenience sample of 112 caregivers. The analysis revealed significant positive associations between caregivers’ attitudes toward sexuality and their perspectives on sex education. Binary logistic regression indicated that higher POS scores predict increased likelihood of endorsing sexual behavior and supporting sex education for children with Down syndrome. Notably, demographic factors such as gender, age, and educational level did not significantly influence caregivers’ decisions regarding sex education support. The …

The Association Of Vitamin D Levels And Dental Caries In Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study., Man Hung, Amir Mohajeri, Mahsa Sadri, Elahe Khodabandeh, Ibrahim Zeitoun, Martin S. Lipsky

Institute on Aging Publications

Most research examining vitamin D and dental caries focuses on children and younger adults. This study investigated the association between vitamin D levels and dental caries in older adults using data from the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2011 to 2016.

Deepface: Deep-Learning-Based Framework To Contextualize Orofacial-Cleft-Related Variants During Human Embryonic Craniofacial Development, Yulin Dai, Toshiyuki Itai, Guangsheng Pei, Fangfang Yan, Yan Chu, Xiaoqian Jiang, Seth M Weinberg, Nandita Mukhopadhyay, Mary L Marazita, Lukas M Simon, Peilin Jia, Zhongming Zhao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Orofacial clefts (OFCs) are among the most common human congenital birth defects. Previous multiethnic studies have identified dozens of associated loci for both cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) and cleft palate alone (CP). Although several nearby genes have been highlighted, the "casual" variants are largely unknown. Here, we developed DeepFace, a convolutional neural network model, to assess the functional impact of variants by SNP activity difference (SAD) scores. The DeepFace model is trained with 204 epigenomic assays from crucial human embryonic craniofacial developmental stages of post-conception week (pcw) 4 to pcw 10. The Pearson correlation coefficient between …

Prediction Of Mild Cognitive Impairment Status: Pilot Study Of Machine Learning Models Based On Longitudinal Data From Fitness Trackers, Qidi Xu, Yejin Kim, Karen Chung, Paul Schulz, Assaf Gottlieb

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Early signs of Alzheimer disease (AD) are difficult to detect, causing diagnoses to be significantly delayed to time points when brain damage has already occurred and current experimental treatments have little effect on slowing disease progression. Tracking cognitive decline at early stages is critical for patients to make lifestyle changes and consider new and experimental therapies. Frequently studied biomarkers are invasive and costly and are limited for predicting conversion from normal to mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to use data collected from fitness trackers to predict MCI status.

METHODS: In this pilot study, fitness trackers were …

Membrane Vectorial Lipidomic Features Of Coral Host Cells’ Plasma Membrane And Lipid Profiles Of Their Endosymbionts Cladocopium, Tatyana V Sikorskaya, Ekaterina V Ermolenko, Taliya T Ginanova, Andrey V Boroda, Kseniya V Efimova, Mikhail Bogdanov

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The symbiotic relationships between coral animal host and autotrophic dinoflagellates are based on the mutual exchange and tight control of nutritional inputs supporting successful growth. The corals Sinularia heterospiculata and Acropora aspera were cultivated using a flow-through circulation system supplying seawater during cold and warm seasons of the year, then sorted into host cells and symbionts and subjected to phylogenetic, morphological, and advanced lipid analyses. Here we show, that the lipidomes of the dinoflagellates Cladocopium C1/C3 and acroporide-specific Cladocopium hosted by the corals, are determined by lipidomic features of different thermosensitivity and unique betaine- and phospholipid molecular species. Phosphatidylserines and …

Targeted Sequencing For Hereditary Breast And Ovarian Cancer In Brca1/2-Negative Families Reveals Complex Genetic Architecture And Phenocopies, Jocelyn N Plowman, Evanjalina J Matoy, Lavanya V Uppala, Samantha B Draves, Cynthia J Watson, Bridget A Sefranek, Mark L Stacey, Samuel P Anderson, Michael A Belshan, Elizabeth E Blue, Chad D Huff, Yusi Fu, Holly A F Stessman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Approximately 20% of breast cancer cases are attributed to increased family risk, yet variation in BRCA1/2 can only explain 20%-25% of cases. Historically, only single gene or single variant testing were common in at-risk family members, and further sequencing studies were rarely offered after negative results. In this study, we applied an efficient and inexpensive targeted sequencing approach to provide molecular diagnoses in 245 human samples representing 134 BRCA mutation-negative (BRCAX) hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) families recruited from 1973 to 2019 by Dr. Henry Lynch. Sequencing identified 391 variants, which were functionally annotated and ranked based on their …

Occupational Therapy & Dyslexia Curriculum, Tiara Ortiz

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

My capstone project, a truly innovative endeavor, was conducted in a school-based setting for children with dyslexia. I developed educational materials, distinct in their approach, for teachers and occupational therapists to implement individually or in a group setting. These materials comprise a curriculum that explicitly targets executive functioning and visual interventions, a novel and exciting approach to dyslexia treatment. The project was successfully implemented in the Bridge Program at the Christ School in Orlando, Florida, a private school program tailored to children with dyslexia. I was mentored by Dominque Kiefer, OTD, OTR/L, BCP, the Bridge Program's school-based occupational therapist.

Using An Evidence-Based Practice Nurse Recognition Practice To Improve Job Satisfaction, Hali Bianchi

Student Scholarly Projects

Practice Problem: The project targeted low job satisfaction and high nurse turnover in a Central Florida bone marrow transplant unit, impacting patient care and costs.

PICOT: (P) For registered nurses (RNs) on the bone marrow transplant unit, (I) does implementing an evidence-based practice employee recognition program (C) compared to no employee recognition program, (O) lead to an increase in job satisfaction (T) over 10 weeks?

Evidence: The evidence supported the effectiveness of meaningful recognition programs, such as personalized verbal acknowledgment from leadership, in boosting job satisfaction among nurses.

Intervention: The intervention involved nurse managers using a weekly employee recognition …

Nurse Retention Amid Workplace Adversity: Examining Strategies And Outcomes, Horace Smith

Student Scholarly Projects

Practice Problem: This project aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of nurse retention strategies in enhancing job satisfaction, focusing primarily on Emergency Department (ED) Registered Nurses (RNs). A comprehensive approach was adopted within the ED of a veteran hospital in the Southeast, aimed at promoting staff retention.

PICOT: The PICOT question guiding this project is as follows: In a veteran hospital's Emergency Room (ER) located in the southeast (P), how does the implementation of nurse retention strategies (I) compared to current standards (C) increase their job satisfaction (O) over a period of ten weeks (T)?

Evidence: This project …

Implementation Of A Standardized Acute Care Plan For Complex Care Medicine Service Patients: A Quality Improvement Initiative, Tracy Markwell

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Care transition plans, locally called Acute Care Plans (ACPs), are created specifically for super utilizers of the Complex Care Medicine Service (CCMS) and are a target for improvement. The purpose of this project was to improve care for CCMS patients by developing, implementing, and evaluating a standardized CCMS ACP. A multidisciplinary approach was chosen to facilitate the transitions of care process during an admission or discharge from the hospital.

LOCAL PROBLEM: The purpose of the ACP is to get a quick summary of how to treat a patient when they come to the hospital. The ACPs are …

Implementing Pain Screening In A Parkinson’S Disease Clinic: A Quality Improvement Initiative, Anne Marie Desmond

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Background: Pain is a multifaceted, non-motor symptom often unnoticed and undertreated in Parkinson's disease (PD). PD pain is associated with decreased quality of life (QOL) and is found in 30-85% of PD patients. The effective diagnosis and treatment of PD pain could improve patient QOL. Barriers to appropriate diagnosis and treatment include a valid and reliable PD pain assessment tool. There was an opportunity to improve the assessment of PD-related pain at the movement disorder clinic in this suburban clinic of a tertiary safety net hospital. The local movement disorder clinic did not have a standardized PD-specific tool to assess …

Terahertz Tunable Three-Dimensional Photonic Jets, Behrooz Rezaei, Babak Yahyapour, Arash Darafsheh

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Highly localized electromagnetic field distributions near the "shadow-side" surface of certain transparent mesoscale bodies illuminated by light waves are called photonic jets. We demonstrated formation of three-dimensional (3D) tunable photonic jets in terahertz regime (terajets, TJs) by dielectric micro-objects -including spheres, cylinders, and cubes-coated with a bulk Dirac semimetal (BDS) layer, under uniform beam illumination. The optical characteristics of the produced TJs can be modulated dynamically through tuning the BDS layer's index of refraction via changing its Fermi energy. It is demonstrated that the Fermi energy of BDS layer has a significant impact on tuning the optical characteristics of the …

Brilacidin, A Novel Antifungal Agent Against Cryptococcus Neoformans, Camila Diehl, Dong-Gyu Kim, Tamara L Doering, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

UNLABELLED:

IMPORTANCE: Invasive fungal infections have a high mortality rate causing more deaths annually than tuberculosis or malaria. Cryptococcosis, one of the most prevalent fungal diseases, is generally characterized by meningitis and is mainly caused by two closely related species of basidiomycetous yeasts,

Cellular Endosomal Potassium Ion Flux Regulates Arenavirus Uncoating During Virus Entry, Amelia B Shaw, Hiu Nam Tse, Owen Byford, Grace Plahe, Alex Moon-Walker, Samantha E Hover, Erica Ollmann Saphire, Sean P J Whelan, Jamel Mankouri, Juan Fontana, John N Barr

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) is an enveloped and segmented negative-sense RNA virus classified within the

A Reinterpretation Of The Relationship Between Persistent And Resurgent Sodium Currents, Samuel P Brown, Ryan J Lawson, Jonathan D Moreno, Joseph L Ransdell

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The resurgent sodium current (I

Assessing Environmental Injustice In Kansas City By Linking Paediatric Asthma To Local Sources Of Pollution: A Cross-Sectional Study., Elizabeth Friedman, Brian R. Lee, David Rahn, Beto Lugo Martinez, Atenas Mena

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

OBJECTIVE: A grassroots environmental-justice organisation in Kansas City has been examining the disproportionate exposure to air pollution experienced by residents living fenceline to the largest classification railyard in the USA. Prior analyses showed limited increased risk for asthma exacerbation for patients with asthma living closer to toxic release inventory (TRI) facilities and railyards. In this study, we assessed geographical asthma and environmental disparities, to further explore community-level disparities.

DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional study of population-level asthma rates, which included rates for all asthma encounters and acute asthma encounters (urgent care, emergency department, inpatient admission). Distances from census-tract centroids to …

Spanish Translation Of The Expert Recommendations For Implementing Change (Eric) Compilation, Amelia E Van Pelt, Alejandra Paniagua-Avila, Amanda Sanchez, Stephanie Sila, Elizabeth D Lowenthal, Byron J Powell, Rinad S Beidas

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Most implementation science resources (e.g., taxonomies) are published in English. Linguistic inaccessibility creates a barrier to the conduct of implementation research among non-English-speaking populations, so translation of resources is needed. Translation into Spanish can facilitate widespread reach, given the large proportion of Spanish speakers around the world. This research aimed to systematically translate the Expert Recommendations for Implementation Change (ERIC) compilation into Spanish as an exemplar for the linguistic translation process.

METHODS: Using the World Health Organization guidelines, this work translated the ERIC compilation strategy names, short definitions, and thematic clusters through a three-step process: 1) forward translation into …

Gender-Specific Mental Health Outcomes In Central America: A Natural Experiment, Thea Nagasuru

Computer Science Summer Fellows

While COVID lockdown measures have had varying effects on the mental health of different demographics, several bodies of research have noted their disparate effect on women. Why is women's mental health more negatively impacted by lockdown measures, and how much more are they impacted than men? How can we predict and mitigate these negative effects on women? This paper aims to contribute to answering those questions by comparing COVID stringency measures and their effect on the gap in depression rates between men and women in two neighboring countries: Nicaragua and Honduras.

Morphotype-Specific Calcium Signaling In Human Microglia, Sofia Nevelchuk, Bianca Brawek, Niklas Schwarz, Ariel Valiente-Gabioud, Thomas V Wuttke, Yury Kovalchuk, Henner Koch, Anke Höllig, Frederik Steiner, Katherine Figarella, Oliver Griesbeck, Olga Garaschuk

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Key functions of Ca2+ signaling in rodent microglia include monitoring the brain state as well as the surrounding neuronal activity and sensing the danger or damage in their vicinity. Microglial Ca2+ dyshomeostasis is a disease hallmark in many mouse models of neurological disorders but the Ca2+ signal properties of human microglia remain unknown.

Methods: We developed a novel genetically-encoded ratiometric Ca2+ indicator, targeting microglial cells in the freshly resected human tissue, organotypically cultured tissue slices and analyzed in situ ongoing Ca2+ signaling of decades-old microglia dwelling in their native microenvironment.

Results: The data revealed marked compartmentalization of Ca2+ signals, …

The Role Of Positive Affect In Asthma Control And Symptom Severity In Adolescents, Brooke N. Jenkins, Logan T. Martin, Jill S. Halterman, Judith T. Moskowitz, Laura M. Glynn, Pornchai Tirakitsoontorn, Sunil Kamath, Zeev N. Kain

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Introduction

We test the effects of positive affect and its arousal subscale components of calm, wellbeing, and vigor on asthma control and symptom severity in adolescents with moderate to severe asthma. Additionally, we test whether positive affect (and its arousal components) moderate how stress impacts asthma control and symptom severity.

Methods

Adolescents with asthma (N = 66, ages 12–17) completed brief surveys 4 times a day for 7 days reporting on their positive affect, stress, and asthma symptom severity and conducted a morning peak expiratory flow assessment each day. Asthma control and psychological asthma triggers were assessed at the …

Neurostructural Subgroup In 4291 Individuals With Schizophrenia Identified Using The Subtype And Stage Inference Algorithm, Yuchao Jiang, Cheng Luo, Jijun Wang, Lena Palaniyappan, Xiao Chang, Shitong Xiang, Jie Zhang, Mingjun Duan, Huan Huang, John Blangero

School of Medicine Publications

Machine learning can be used to define subtypes of psychiatric conditions based on shared biological foundations of mental disorders. Here we analyzed cross-sectional brain images from 4,222 individuals with schizophrenia and 7038 healthy subjects pooled across 41 international cohorts from the ENIGMA, non-ENIGMA cohorts and public datasets. Using the Subtype and Stage Inference (SuStaIn) algorithm, we identify two distinct neurostructural subgroups by mapping the spatial and temporal ‘trajectory’ of gray matter change in schizophrenia. Subgroup 1 was characterized by an early cortical-predominant loss with enlarged striatum, whereas subgroup 2 displayed an early subcortical-predominant loss in the hippocampus, striatum and other …

Crispr-Cas9 And Cas12a Target Site Richness Reflects Genomic Diversity In Natural Populations Of Anopheles Gambiae And Aedes Aegypti Mosquitoes, Travis C Collier, Yoosook Lee, Derrick K Mathias, Víctor López Del Amo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Due to limitations in conventional disease vector control strategies including the rise of insecticide resistance in natural populations of mosquitoes, genetic control strategies using CRISPR gene drive systems have been under serious consideration. The identification of CRISPR target sites in mosquito populations is a key aspect for developing efficient genetic vector control strategies. While genome-wide Cas9 target sites have been explored in mosquitoes, a precise evaluation of target sites focused on coding sequence (CDS) is lacking. Additionally, target site polymorphisms have not been characterized for other nucleases such as Cas12a, which require a different DNA recognition site (PAM) and would …

Integrating Physiological Measures Within A Music Therapy Research Course: Program Description And Initial Evaluation, Andrea M. Hunt, Felicity Sims

College of Performing Arts Departmental Research

Applying research to practice is an essential competency, and some educators have turned to course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) to support music therapy students in developing these skills. We provided a bounded CURE involving a research question requiring data from three different biosensors. We collected program evaluation outcomes where respondents reported increased interest and confidence in reading and doing research as well as personal investment in the project. Respondents also indicated that, as a result of taking this course, they were more likely to take part in research projects in the future and they were interested in pursuing master’s level …

Quantifying Sustained Health System Benefits Of Primary Care-Based Integrated Disease Management For Copd: A 6-Year Interrupted Time Series Study., Christopher Licskai, Anna Hussey, Véronique Rowley, Madonna Ferrone, Zihang Lu, Kimball Zhang, Emilie Terebessy, Andrew Scarffe, Shannon Sibbald, Cathy Faulds, Tim O'Callahan, Teresa To

Health Studies Publications

BACKGROUND: Severe exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a trajectory-changing life event for patients and a major contributor to health system costs. This study evaluates the real-world impact of a primary care, integrated disease management (IDM) programme on acute health service utilisation (HSU) in the Canadian health system.

METHODS: Interrupted time series analysis using retrospective health administrative data, comparing monthly HSU event rates 3 years prior to and 3 years following the implementation of COPD IDM. Primary outcomes were COPD-related hospitalisation and emergency department (ED) visits. Secondary outcomes included hospital bed days and all-cause HSU.

RESULTS: There were …

Transitions Of Care And The Prevention Of Readmissions, Beatriz Granado

Student Scholarly Projects

Unplanned hospital readmissions often result from poor discharge planning and challenges during the transition from hospital to home, including medication errors and weak communication with primary care providers. A well-organized and personalized discharge plan can significantly reduce hospital stays, lower readmission rates, minimize medication errors, and improve patient outcomes, all while decreasing healthcare costs. In post-discharge Medicare-eligible patients (P), how does transitional care coordination through organized, personalized, and patient-focused discharge planning (I), compared with standard or no transitional care coordination provided (C), affect readmissions (O) within the 30-day post-discharge phase monitored over a 10–12-week period (T)? A search was conducted …