Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Mucosal Immunology Of The Ocular Surface, Cintia S De Paiva, Anthony J St Leger, Rachel R Caspi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The eye is a sensory organ exposed to the environment and protected by a mucosal tissue barrier. While it shares a number of features with other mucosal tissues, the ocular mucosal system, composed of the conjunctiva, Meibomian glands, and lacrimal glands, is specialized to address the unique needs of (a) lubrication and (b) host defense of the ocular surface. Not surprisingly, most challenges, physical and immunological, to the homeostasis of the eye fall into those two categories. Dry eye, a dysfunction of the lacrimal glands and/or Meibomian glands, which can both cause, or arise from, sensory defects, including those caused …

Persistent Opioid Use In Cataract Surgery Pain Management And The Role Of Nonopioid Alternatives, Richard S Davidson, Kendall Donaldson, Maggie Jeffries, Sumitra Khandelwal, Michael Raizman, Yasaira Rodriguez Torres, Terry Kim

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Cataracts are a leading cause of preventable blindness globally. Although care varies between developing and industrialized countries, surgery is the single effective approach to treating cataracts. From the earliest documented primitive cataract removals to today's advanced techniques, cataract surgery has evolved dramatically. As surgical techniques have developed, so have approaches to surgical pain management. With current cataract surgical procedures and advanced technology, anesthesia and intraoperative pain management have shifted to topical/intracameral anesthetics, with or without low-dose systemic analgesia and anxiolysis. Despite this, pain and discomfort persist in some patients and are underappreciated in modern cataract surgery. Although pain management has …

Age-Dependent White Matter Disruptions After Military Traumatic Brain Injury: Multivariate Analysis Results From Enigma Brain Injury, Heather C Bouchard, Paul M Thompson, Aristeidis Sotiras, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Mild Traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a signature wound in military personnel, and repetitive mTBI has been linked to age-related neurogenerative disorders that affect white matter (WM) in the brain. However, findings of injury to specific WM tracts have been variable and inconsistent. This may be due to the heterogeneity of mechanisms, etiology, and comorbid disorders related to mTBI. Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) is a data-driven approach that detects covarying patterns (components) within high-dimensional data. We applied NMF to diffusion imaging data from military Veterans with and without a self-reported TBI history. NMF identified 12 independent components derived from fractional …

Risk For Post-Colonoscopy Irritable Bowel Syndrome In Patients With And Without Antibiotic Exposure: A Retrospective Cohort Study, Ravy K Vajravelu, Jordan M Shapiro, Josephine Ni, Shivani U Thanawala, James D Lewis, Hashem B El-Serag

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Laboratory studies have demonstrated that antibiotic use in conjunction with bowel purgatives causes alterations to the gut microbiota. Because gut microbiota changes may be a trigger for the development of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), we sought to assess whether individuals who undergo bowel cleansing for colonoscopy and have concurrent antibiotic exposure develop IBS at higher rates than individuals who undergo colonoscopy without antibiotic exposure.

METHODS: We used data from Optum's de-identified Clinformatics Data Mart Database in the United States to study a cohort of 50- to 55-year-olds who underwent screening colonoscopy. Individuals exposed to antibiotics within 14 …

Intracorporeal And Extracorporeal Anastomosis For Robotic-Assisted And Laparoscopic Right Colectomy: Short-Term Outcomes Of A Multi-Center Prospective Trial, Robert K Cleary, Matthew Silviera, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Studies to date show contrasting conclusions when comparing intracorporeal and extracorporeal anastomoses for minimally invasive right colectomy. Large multi-center prospective studies comparing perioperative outcomes between these two techniques are needed. The purpose of this study was to compare intracorporeal and extracorporeal anastomoses outcomes for robotic assisted and laparoscopic right colectomy.

METHODS: Multi-center, prospective, observational study of patients with malignant or benign disease scheduled for laparoscopic or robotic-assisted right colectomy. Outcomes included conversion rate, gastrointestinal recovery, and complication rates.

RESULTS: There were 280 patients: 156 in the robotic assisted and laparoscopic intracorporeal anastomosis (IA) group and 124 in the robotic …

Care Levels For Fetal Therapy Centers, Ahmet A Baschat, Barbara B Warner, Et Al

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Fetal therapies undertaken to improve fetal outcome or to optimize transition to neonate life often entail some level of maternal, fetal, or neonatal risk. A fetal therapy center needs access to resources to carry out such therapies and to manage maternal, fetal, and neonatal complications that might arise, either related to the therapy per se or as part of the underlying fetal or maternal condition. Accordingly, a fetal therapy center requires a dedicated operational infrastructure and necessary resources to allow for appropriate oversight and monitoring of clinical performance and to facilitate multidisciplinary collaboration between the relevant specialties. Three care levels …

Determination Of The Electronic Portal Imaging Device Pixel-Sensitivity-Map For Quality Assurance Applications. Part 2: Photon Beam Dependence, Michael Paul Barnes, Baozhou Sun, Brad Michael Oborn, Bishnu Lamichhane, Stuart Szwec, Matthew Schmidt, Bin Cai, Frederick Menk, Peter Greer

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: The EPID PSM is a useful EPID calibration method for QA applications. The dependence of the EPID PSM on the photon beam used to acquire it has been investigated in this study for the four available PSM methods. The aim is to inform upon the viability of applying a single PSM for all available photon beams to simplify PSM implementation and maintenance.

METHODS: Four methods of PSM determination were each measured once in a single session on a single TrueBeam ® STx linac using 6 MV, 10 MV, 6 MV Flattening-Filter-Free (FFF), and 10 MV FFF photon beams. The …

Determination Of The Electronic Portal Imaging Device Pixel-Sensitivity-Map For Quality Assurance Applications. Part 1: Comparison Of Methods, Michael Paul Barnes, Baozhou Sun, Brad Michael Oborn, Bishnu Lamichhane, Stuart Szwec, Matthew Schmidt, Bin Cai, Frederick Menk, Peter Greer

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: Calibration of a radiotherapy electronic portal imaging device (EPID) using the pixel-sensitivity-map (PSM) in place of the flood field correction improves the utility of the EPID for quality assurance applications. Multiple methods are available for determining the PSM and this study provides an evaluation to inform on which is superior.

METHODS: Three different empirical methods ("Calvary Mater Newcastle" [CMN], "Varian," and "WashU") and a Monte Carlo-based method of PSM determination were investigated on a single Varian TrueBeam STx linear accelerator (linac) with an aS1200 EPID panel. PSM measurements were performed for each empirical method three successive times using the …

Association Of State Medicaid Expansion Status With Rates Of Suicide Among Us Adults, Hetal Patel, Justin Barnes, Nosayaba Osazuwa-Peters, Laura Jean Bierut

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Importance: In the US, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death and a serious mental health emergency. National programs that address suicide list access to mental health care as key in prevention, and more large-scale policies are needed to improve access to mental health care and address this crisis. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid Expansion Program was implemented in several states with the goal of increasing access to the health care system.

Objective: To compare changes in suicide rates in states that expanded Medicaid under the ACA vs states that did not.

Design, Setting, and …

Joint Eanm/Snmmi/Anzsnm Practice Guidelines/Procedure Standards On Recommended Use Of [18f]Fdg Pet/Ct Imaging During Immunomodulatory Treatments In Patients With Solid Tumors Version 1.0, E Lopci, R J Hicks, A Dimitrakopoulou-Strauss, L Dercle, A Iravani, R D Seban, C Sachpekidis, O Humbert, O Gheysens, A W J M Glaudemans, W Weber, R L Wahl, A M Scott, N Pandit-Taskar, N Aide

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: The goal of this guideline/procedure standard is to assist nuclear medicine physicians, other nuclear medicine professionals, oncologists or other medical specialists for recommended use of [

METHODS: In a cooperative effort between the EANM, the SNMMI and the ANZSNM, clinical indications, recommended imaging procedures and reporting standards have been agreed upon and summarized in this joint guideline/procedure standard.

CONCLUSIONS: The field of immuno-oncology is rapidly evolving, and this guideline/procedure standard should not be seen as definitive, but rather as a guidance document standardizing the use and interpretation of [

PREAMBLE: The European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) is a …

Assessing Researchers' Capabilities, Opportunities, And Motivation To Conduct Equity-Oriented Dissemination And Implementation Research, An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study, Ana A Baumann, Eva N Woodward, Rajinder Sonia Singh, Prajakta Adsul, Rachel C Shelton

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: A recent paradigm shift has led to an explicit focus on enhancing health equity through equity-oriented dissemination and implementation (D&I) research. However, the integration and bidirectional learning across these two fields is still in its infancy and siloed. This exploratory study aimed to examine participants' perceived capabilities, opportunities, and motivations to conduct equity-oriented D&I research.

METHODS: We conducted an exploratory cross-sectional survey distributed online from December 2020 to April 2021. Participants were recruited at either D&I or health disparities-oriented conferences, meetings, through social media, or personal outreach via emails. Informed by the Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation Model (COM-B), the …

Association Of The Receptor For Activated C-Kinase 1 With Ribosomes In Plasmodium Falciparum, Jessey Erath, Sergej Djuranovic

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The receptor for activated C-kinase 1 (RACK1), a highly conserved eukaryotic protein, is known to have many varying biological roles and functions. Previous work has established RACK1 as a ribosomal protein, with defined regions important for ribosome binding in eukaryotic cells. In Plasmodium falciparum, RACK1 has been shown to be required for parasite growth, however, conflicting evidence has been presented about RACK1 ribosome binding and its role in mRNA translation. Given the importance of RACK1 as a regulatory component of mRNA translation and ribosome quality control, the case could be made in parasites that RACK1 either binds or does not …

Global Health Electives In The Covid-19 Era: Resuming Travel And Strengthening Global Health Academic Partnerships., Heather Haq, Amos Msekandiana, Mogomotsi Matshaba, Linoeo Thahane, Jennifer Watts, Reena Tam, Nicole St Clair, Charles Schubert, Amy Rule, Pia Pannaraj, Michael Pitt, David Oleson, Brittany Murray, Lee Morris, Joanne Mendoza, Megan Mchenry, Elizabeth Keating, Kathy Ferrer, Heather Crouse, Tania Condurache, Maneesh Batra, Adelaide Barnes, James Conway

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

No abstract provided.

Ultrapotent And Broad Neutralization Of Sars-Cov-2 Variants By Modular, Tetravalent, Bi-Paratopic Antibodies, Shane Miersch, Nitin Sharma, Reza Saberianfar, Chao Chen, Francesca Caccuri, Alberto Zani, Arnaldo Caruso, James Brett Case, Michael S Diamond, Gaya K Amarasinghe, Giuseppe Novelli, Sachdev S Sidhu

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) that target the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein have received emergency use approval for treatment of COVID-19. However, with the emergence of variants of concern, there is a need for new treatment options. We report a format that enables modular assembly of bi-paratopic tetravalent nAbs with antigen-binding sites from two distinct nAbs. The tetravalent nAb purifies in high yield and exhibits biophysical characteristics that are comparable to those of clinically used therapeutic antibodies. The tetravalent nAb binds to the spike protein trimer at least 100-fold more tightly than bivalent IgGs (apparent K

Discovery Of Potent Bet Bromodomain 1 Stereoselective Inhibitors Using Dna-Encoded Chemical Library Selections, Ram K Modukuri, Zhifeng Yu, Zhi Tan, Hai Minh Ta, Melek Nihan Ucisik, Zhuang Jin, Justin L Anglin, Kiran L Sharma, Pranavanand Nyshadham, Feng Li, Kevin Riehle, John C Faver, Kevin Duong, Sureshbabu Nagarajan, Nicholas Simmons, Stephen S Palmer, Mingxing Teng, Damian W Young, Joanna S Yi, Choel Kim, Martin M Matzuk

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

BRDT, BRD2, BRD3, and BRD4 comprise the bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) subfamily which contain two similar tandem bromodomains (BD1 and BD2). Selective BD1 inhibition phenocopies effects of tandem BET BD inhibition both in cancer models and, as we and others have reported of BRDT, in the testes. To find novel BET BD1 binders, we screened >4.5 billion molecules from our DNA-encoded chemical libraries with BRDT-BD1 or BRDT-BD2 proteins in parallel. A compound series enriched only by BRDT-BD1 was resynthesized off-DNA, uncovering a potent chiral compound, CDD-724, with >2,000-fold selectivity for inhibiting BRDT-BD1 over BRDT-BD2. CDD-724 stereoisomers exhibited remarkable differences in …

Cardiovascular Outcomes In Aortopathy: Gentac Registry Of Genetically Triggered Aortic Aneurysms And Related Conditions, Kathryn W Holmes, Sheila Markwardt, Kim A Eagle, Richard B Devereux, Jonathan W Weinsaft, Federico M Asch, Scott A Lemaire, Cheryl L Maslen, Howard K Song, Dianna M Milewicz, Siddharth K Prakash, Dongchuan Guo, Shaine A Morris, Reed E Pyeritz, Rita C Milewski, William J Ravekes, H C Dietz, Ralph V Shohet, Michael Silberbach, Mary J Roman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The GenTAC (Genetically Triggered Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm and Cardiovascular Conditions) Registry enrolled patients with genetic aortopathies between 2007 and 2016.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to compare age distribution and probability of elective surgery for proximal aortic aneurysm, any dissection surgery, and cardiovascular mortality among aortopathy etiologies.

METHODS: The GenTAC study had a retrospective/prospective design. Participants with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) with aneurysm (n = 879), Marfan syndrome (MFS) (n = 861), nonsyndromic heritable thoracic aortic disease (nsHTAD) (n = 378), Turner syndrome (TS) (n = 298), vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (vEDS) (n = 149), and Loeys-Dietz syndrome …

The H3k27m Mutation Alters Stem Cell Growth, Epigenetic Regulation, And Differentiation Potential, N Kfoury-Beaumont, R Prakasam, S Pondugula, J S Lagas, S Matkovich, P Gontarz, L Yang, H Yano, A H Kim, J B Rubin, K L Kroll

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Neurodevelopmental disorders increase brain tumor risk, suggesting that normal brain development may have protective properties. Mutations in epigenetic regulators are common in pediatric brain tumors, highlighting a potentially central role for disrupted epigenetic regulation of normal brain development in tumorigenesis. For example, lysine 27 to methionine mutation (H3K27M) in the H3F3A gene occurs frequently in Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gliomas (DIPGs), the most aggressive pediatric glioma. As H3K27M mutation is necessary but insufficient to cause DIPGs, it is accompanied by additional mutations in tumors. However, how H3K27M alone increases vulnerability to DIPG tumorigenesis remains unclear.

RESULTS: Here, we used human …

Detoxification Role Of Metabolic Glutathione S-Transferase (Gst) Genes In Blood Lead Concentrations Of Jamaican Children With And Without Autism Spectrum Disorder, Mohammad H Rahbar, Maureen Samms-Vaughan, Sori Kim, Sepideh Saroukhani, Jan Bressler, Manouchehr Hessabi, Megan L Grove, Sydonnie Shakspeare-Pellington, Katherine A Loveland

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Glutathione S-transferases (GST) are involved in the detoxification of exogenous chemicals including lead (Pb). Using data from 344 pairs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) cases and age- and sex-matched typically developing (TD) controls (2−8 years old) from Jamaica, we investigated the interaction between three GST genes and ASD status as determinants of blood Pb concentrations (BPbCs). We found that ASD cases had lower geometric mean BPbCs than TD children (1.74 vs. 2.27 µg/dL, p < 0.01). Using a co-dominant genetic model, ASD cases with the Ile/Val genotype for the GSTP1 Ile105Val polymorphism had lower GM BPbCs than TD controls, after adjusting for a known interaction between GSTP1 and GSTT1, child’s parish, socioeconomic status, consumption of lettuce, fried plantains, and canned fish (Ile/Val: 1.78 vs. 2.13 µg/dL, p = 0.03). Similarly, among carriers of the I/I or I/D (I*) genotype for GSTT1 and GSTM1, ASD cases had lower adjusted GM BPbCs than TD controls (GSTT1 I*: 1.61 vs. 1.91 µg/dL, p = 0.01; GSTM1 I*: 1.71 vs. 2.04 µg/dL, p = 0.01). Our findings suggest that genetic polymorphisms in GST genes may influence detoxification of Pb by the enzymes they encode in Jamaican children with and without ASD.

Beyond Inhibition: A Novel Strategy Of Targeting Hiv-1 Protease To Eliminate Viral Reservoirs, Josh G Kim, Liang Shan

2020-Current year OA Pubs

HIV-1 protease (PR) is a viral enzyme that cleaves the Gag and Gag-Pol polyprotein precursors to convert them into their functional forms, a process which is essential to generate infectious viral particles. Due to its broad substrate specificity, HIV-1 PR can also cleave certain host cell proteins. Several studies have identified host cell substrates of HIV-1 PR and described the potential impact of their cleavage on HIV-1-infected cells. Of particular interest is the interaction between PR and the caspase recruitment domain-containing protein 8 (CARD8) inflammasome. A recent study demonstrated that CARD8 can sense HIV-1 PR activity and induce cell death. …

Parent-Perceived Neighbourhood Environment, Parenting Practices And Preschool-Aged Children Physical Activity And Screen Time: A Cross-Sectional Study Of Two Culturally And Geographically Diverse Cities, Ester Cerin, Anthony Barnett, Tom Baranowski, Rebecca E Lee, Robin R Mellecker, Yi Nam Suen, Jason A Mendoza, Deborah I Thompson, Teresia M O'Connor

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

BACKGROUND: Preschool-aged children's physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST) are important health-related behaviours likely influenced by PA opportunities, parental perceptions of neighbourhood safety and parenting practices pertaining to PA and ST. How these factors interact to impact on young children's PA and ST, and whether their effects are generalisable across cultures and geographical location is not known. This study addressed these knowledge gaps by conducting pooled analyses of comparable data from two culturally and geographically diverse samples - Chinese parent-child dyads from an ultra-dense city (Hong Kong, China) and Latino parent-child dyads from a low-density city (Houston, USA).

METHODS: …

Cross-Reactive Immunity Against The Sars-Cov-2 Omicron Variant Is Low In Pediatric Patients With Prior Covid-19 Or Mis-C., Juanjie Tang, Tanya Novak, Julian Hecker, Gabrielle Grubbs, Fatema Tuz Zahra, Lorenza Bellusci, Sara Pourhashemi, Janet Chou, Kristin Moffitt, Natasha B. Halasa, Stephanie P. Schwartz, Tracie C. Walker, Keiko M. Tarquinio, Matt S. Zinter, Mary A. Staat, Shira J. Gertz, Natalie Z. Cvijanovich, Jennifer E. Schuster, Laura L. Loftis, Bria M. Coates, Elizabeth H. Mack, Katherine Irby, Julie C. Fitzgerald, Courtney M. Rowan, Michele Kong, Heidi R. Flori, Aline B. Maddux, Steven L. Shein, Hillary Crandall, Janet R. Hume, Charlotte V. Hobbs, Adriana H. Tremoulet, Chisato Shimizu, Jane C. Burns, Sabrina R. Chen, Hye Kyung Moon, Christoph Lange, Adrienne G. Randolph, Surender Khurana

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Neutralization capacity of antibodies against Omicron after a prior SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents is not well studied. Therefore, we evaluated virus-neutralizing capacity against SARS-CoV-2 Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron variants by age-stratified analyses (5 years of age. As expected, convalescent pediatric COVID-19 and MIS-C cohorts demonstrate higher neutralization titers than hospitalized acute COVID-19 patients. Overall, children and adolescents show some loss of cross-neutralization against all variants, with the most pronounced loss against Omicron. In contrast to SARS-CoV-2 infection, children vaccinated twice demonstrated higher titers against Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron. These findings can influence transmission, re-infection …

Tumor Immunology And Immunotherapy Of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer, Tina Cascone, Jared Fradette, Monika Pradhan, Don L Gibbons

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Historically, non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been regarded as a nonimmunogenic tumor; however, recent studies have shown that NSCLCs are among the most responsive cancers to monoclonal antibody immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). ICIs have dramatically improved clinical outcomes for a subset of patients (∼20%) with locally advanced and metastatic NSCLC, and they have also demonstrated promise as neoadjuvant therapy for early-stage resectable disease. Nevertheless, the majority of patients with NSCLC are refractory to ICIs for reasons that are poorly understood. Thus, major questions are: how do we initially identify the patients most likely to derive significant clinical benefit from these …

Multisystem Proteinopathy Due To Vcp Mutations: A Review Of Clinical Heterogeneity And Genetic Diagnosis, Gerald Pfeffer, Grace Lee, Carly S Pontifex, Roberto D Fanganiello, Allison Peck, Conrad C Weihl, Virginia Kimonis

2020-Current year OA Pubs

In this work, we review clinical features and genetic diagnosis of diseases caused by mutations in the gene encoding valosin-containing protein (VCP/p97), the functionally diverse AAA-ATPase. VCP is crucial to a multitude of cellular functions including protein quality control, stress granule formation and clearance, and genomic integrity functions, among others. Pathogenic mutations in

Recurrent Inversion Polymorphisms In Humans Associate With Genetic Instability And Genomic Disorders., David Porubsky, Wolfram Höps, Hufsah Ashraf, Pinghsun Hsieh, Bernardo Rodriguez-Martin, Feyza Yilmaz, Jana Ebler, Pille Hallast, Flavia Angela Maria Maggiolini, William T Harvey, Barbara Henning, Peter A Audano, David S Gordon, Peter Ebert, Patrick Hasenfeld, Eva Benito, Qihui Zhu, Charles Lee, Francesca Antonacci, Matthias Steinrücken, Christine R Beck, Ashley D Sanders, Tobias Marschall, Evan E Eichler, Jan O Korbel

Faculty Research 2022

Unlike copy number variants (CNVs), inversions remain an underexplored genetic variation class. By integrating multiple genomic technologies, we discover 729 inversions in 41 human genomes. Approximately 85% of inversionsretrotransposition; 80% of the larger inversions are balanced and affect twice as many nucleotides as CNVs. Balanced inversions show an excess of common variants, and 72% are flanked by segmental duplications (SDs) or retrotransposons. Since flanking repeats promote non-allelic homologous recombination, we developed complementary approaches to identify recurrent inversion formation. We describe 40 recurrent inversions encompassing 0.6% of the genome, showing inversion rates up to 2.7 × 10

Process Evaluation Of An Academic-Community-Government Partnership To Reduce Liver Diseases Attributable To Hepatitis B Virus., Daisy Le, Min Jeong Jeon, Annie Coriolan Ciceron, Y Tony Yang, Jane Pan, Hee-Soon Juon, Sherrie F Wallington

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Racial/ethnic minorities have higher incidence and mortality rates of liver cancer, or hepatocellular carcinoma, than non-Hispanic Whites. As such, the Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan Area Hepatitis B Virus (WB-HBV) Demonstration Project, a community-based participatory research (CBPR)-driven academic-community-government (ACG) partnership, was established in 2019 to address disparities and implement strategies to improve the HBV screening and vaccination infrastructure for at-risk communities. CBPR is a partnership of community members, organizational leaders, and academic researchers with a common aim to collectively share and contribute their input at every phase of the project. Herein, we describe the process evaluation of the WB-HBV Project and extract …

Food Insecurity And Health-Related Concerns Among Elementary Schoolteachers During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Fangyu Li, Nivedhitha Parthasarathy, Feng Zhang, Ru-Jye Chuang, Mallika Mathur, Mike Pomeroy, Jacqueline Noyola, Christine M Markham, Shreela V Sharma

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: US school systems underwent major upheaval, including closures, implementation of virtual and/or hybrid learning, and stringent infection mitigation protocols, during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to examine the association between food insecurity and perceived health, perceived stress, and social determinants of health concerns among elementary schoolteachers serving predominantly low-income children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS: Brighter Bites, a nonprofit organization that weekly distributes fresh fruits and vegetables and nutrition education materials to more than 300 schools serving racial and ethnic minority populations with low income, conducts annual surveys of participating teachers to help determine subsequent …

Resistant Maltodextrin Consumption In A Double-Blind, Randomized, Crossover Clinical Trial Induces Specific Changes In Potentially Beneficial Gut Bacteria, Volker Mai, Alyssa M Burns, Rebecca J Solch, Jennifer C Dennis-Wall, Maria Ukhanova, Bobbi Langkamp-Henken

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: We have previously reported that the addition of resistant maltodextrin (RMD), a fermentable functional fiber, to the diet increases fecal weight as well as the amount of fecal bifidobacteria. Here, we report on the targeted analysis of changes in potentially beneficial gut bacteria associated with the intervention. Objective: The primary objective of this study was to determine the effect of adding 0, 15 and 25 g RMD to the diets of healthy free-living adults on potentially beneficial gut bacteria. Methods: We expanded on our previously reported microbiota analysis in a double-blind, placebo-controlled feeding study (NCT02733263) by performing additional qPCR …

Cardiovascular Tropism And Sequelae Of Sars-Cov-2 Infection, Oleksandr Dmytrenko, Kory J Lavine

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The extrapulmonary manifestation of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), became apparent early in the ongoing pandemic. It is now recognized that cells of the cardiovascular system are targets of SARS-CoV-2 infection and associated disease pathogenesis. While some details are emerging, much remains to be understood pertaining to the mechanistic basis by which SARS-CoV-2 contributes to acute and chronic manifestations of COVID-19. This knowledge has the potential to improve clinical management for the growing populations of patients impacted by COVID-19. Here, we review the epidemiology and pathophysiology of cardiovascular sequelae of COVID-19 and outline …

A Single Dose Of The Deactivated Rabies-Virus Vectored Covid-19 Vaccine, Coravax, Is Highly Efficacious And Alleviates Lung Inflammation In The Hamster Model, Drishya Kurup, Christoph Wirblich, Leila Zabihi Diba, Rachael Lambert, Megan Watson, Noor Shaikh, Holly Ramage, Charalambos Solomides, Matthias J Schnell

Department of Microbiology and Immunology Faculty Papers

Without sufficient herd immunity through either vaccination or natural infection, the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is unlikely to be controlled. Waning immunity with the currently approved vaccines suggests the need to evaluate vaccines causing the induction of long-term responses. Here, we report the immunogenicity and efficacy of our adjuvanted single-dose Rabies-vectored SARS-CoV-2 S1 vaccine, CORAVAX, in hamsters. CORAVAX induces high SARS-CoV-2 S1-specific and virus-neutralizing antibodies (VNAs) that prevent weight loss, viral loads, disease, lung inflammation, and the cytokine storm in hamsters. We also observed high Rabies VNA titers. In summary, CORAVAX is a promising dual-antigen vaccine candidate for clinical evaluation …

Association Study Between Mucin 4 (Muc4) Polymorphisms And Idiopathic Recurrent Pregnancy Loss In A Korean Population, Ji-Hyang Kim, Han-Sung Park, Jeong-Yong Lee, Eun-Ju Ko, Young-Ran Kim, Hee-Young Cho, Woo-Sik Lee, Eun-Hee Ahn, Nam-Keun Kim

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is the loss of two or more consecutive pregnancies before 20 weeks of gestational age. Our study investigated whether mucin 4 (MUC4) polymorphisms are associated with RPL. MUC polymorphisms (rs882605 C>A, rs1104760 A>G, rs2688513 A>G, rs2258447 C>T, and rs2291652 A>G) were genotyped in 374 women with RPL and 239 controls of Korean ethnicity using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and the TaqMan probe SNP genotyping assay. Differences in genotype frequencies between cases of RPL and the controls were compared. MUC4 rs882605 C>A and rs1104760 A>G polymorphisms were …