Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Association Of Hospital Centrality In Inter-Hospital Patient-Sharing Networks With Patient Mortality And Length Of Stay, Regan W. Bergmark, Ginger Jin, Robert S. Semco, Marc Santolini, Margaret A. Olsen, Amar Dhand

2020-Current year OA Pubs

OBJECTIVE: The interdependence of hospitals is underappreciated in patient outcomes studies. We used a network science approach to foreground this interdependence. Specifically, within two large state-based interhospital networks, we examined the relationship of a hospital's network position with in-hospital mortality and length of stay.

METHODS: We constructed interhospital network graphs using data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project and the American Hospital Association Annual Survey for Florida (2014) and California (2011). The exposure of interest was hospital centrality, defined as weighted degree (sum of all ties to a given hospital from other hospitals). The outcomes were in-hospital mortality and …

How Penalizing Substance Use In Pregnancy Affects Treatment And Research: A Qualitative Examination Of Researchers' Perspectives, Seema K Shah, Leishla Perez-Cardona, Khrystyna Helner, Suena H Massey, Ashish Premkumar, Renee Edwards, Elizabeth S Norton, Cynthia E Rogers, Emily S Miller, Christopher D Smyser, Matthew M Davis, Lauren S Wakschlag

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Laws regulating substance use in pregnancy are changing and may have unintended consequences on scientific efforts to address the opioid epidemic. Yet, how these laws affect care and research is poorly understood.

METHODS: We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews using purposive and snowball sampling of researchers who have engaged pregnant people experiencing substance use. We explored views on laws governing substance use in pregnancy and legal reform possibilities. Interviews were double coded. Data were examined using thematic analysis.

RESULTS: We interviewed 22 researchers (response rate: 71 per cent) and identified four themes: (i) harms of punitive laws, (ii) negative legal …

Promis Physical Function And Pain Interference Scores Correlate With The Lower Extremity Toronto Extremity Salvage Score, Julie Jin, Zachery Hong, Lee Rhea, Douglas J. Mcdonald, Regis J. O'Keefe, Cara A. Cipriano

2020-Current year OA Pubs

UNLABELLED: The Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (TESS) and the National Institutes of Health Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) are both utilized to measure patient-reported outcomes in adults with musculoskeletal oncologic conditions. However, the relationship between them has not been studied. We sought to describe a link between Lower Extremity (LE) TESS and PROMIS Physical Function (PF) scores, as well as between LE TESS and Pain Interference (PI) scores, to develop a method for converting scores between TESS and PROMIS and to examine whether TESS and PROMIS captured differences in pain and function between clinically relevant subgroups in our population. …

Imputation Of Missing Values For Cochlear Implant Candidate Audiometric Data And Potential Applications, Cole Pavelchek, Andrew P. Michelson, Amit Walia, Amanda Ortmann, Jacques Herzog, Craig A. Buchman, Matthew A. Shew

2020-Current year OA Pubs

OBJECTIVE: Assess the real-world performance of popular imputation algorithms on cochlear implant (CI) candidate audiometric data.

METHODS: 7,451 audiograms from patients undergoing CI candidacy evaluation were pooled from 32 institutions with complete case analysis yielding 1,304 audiograms. Imputation model performance was assessed with nested cross-validation on randomly generated sparse datasets with various amounts of missing data, distributions of sparsity, and dataset sizes. A threshold for safe imputation was defined as root mean square error (RMSE) <10dB. Models included univariate imputation, interpolation, multiple imputation by chained equations (MICE), k-nearest neighbors, gradient boosted trees, and neural networks.

RESULTS: Greater quantities of missing data were associated with worse performance. Sparsity in audiometric data is not uniformly distributed, as inter-octave frequencies are less commonly …

Evaluation Of Gliovascular Functions Of Aqp4 Readthrough Isoforms, Shayna M Mueller, Kelli Mcfarland White, Stuart B Fass, Siyu Chen, Zhan Shi, Xia Ge, John A Engelbach, Seana H Gaines, Annie R Bice, Michael J Vasek, Joel R Garbow, Joseph P Culver, Zila Martinez-Lozada, Martine Cohen-Salmon, Joseph D Dougherty, Darshan Sapkota

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) is a water channel protein that links the astrocytic endfeet to the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and regulates water and potassium homeostasis in the brain, as well as the glymphatic clearance of waste products that would otherwise potentiate neurological diseases. Recently, translational readthrough was shown to generate a C-terminally extended variant of AQP4, known as AQP4x, which preferentially localizes around the BBB through interaction with the scaffolding protein α-syntrophin, and loss of AQP4x disrupts waste clearance from the brain. To investigate the function of AQP4x, we generated a novel AQP4 mouse line (AllX) to increase relative levels of the …

Iron Homeostasis And Post-Hemorrhagic Hydrocephalus: A Review, Shelei Pan, Andrew T Hale, Mackenzie E Lemieux, Dhvanii K Raval, Thomas P Garton, Brooke Sadler, Kelly B Mahaney, Jennifer M Strahle

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Iron physiology is regulated by a complex interplay of extracellular transport systems, coordinated transcriptional responses, and iron efflux mechanisms. Dysregulation of iron metabolism can result in defects in myelination, neurotransmitter synthesis, and neuronal maturation. In neonates, germinal matrix-intraventricular hemorrhage (GMH-IVH) causes iron overload as a result of blood breakdown in the ventricles and brain parenchyma which can lead to post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus (PHH). However, the precise mechanisms by which GMH-IVH results in PHH remain elusive. Understanding the molecular determinants of iron homeostasis in the developing brain may lead to improved therapies. This manuscript reviews the various roles iron has in brain …

Prevalence Of Diarrheagenic Escherichia Coli And Impact On Child Health In Cap-Haitien, Haiti, Jenna N. Diaz, Lora L. Iannotti, Sherlie Jean Louis Dulience, Sydney Vie, Xuntian Jiang, Vadim Grigura, Jacques Boncy, Francesca J. Marhone Pierre, F. Matthew Kuhlmann

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) are common pathogens infecting children during their growth and development. Determining the epidemiology and the impact of DEC on child anthropometric measures informs prioritization of prevention efforts. These relationships were evaluated in a novel setting, Cap-Haitien, Haiti.

METHODS: We performed pre-specified secondary analysis of a case-control study of community-dwelling children, 6-36 months of age, enrolled 96 cases with diarrhea and 99 asymptomatic controls. Assessments were performed at enrollment and one month later at follow-up. Established endpoint PCR methodologies targeted DEC gDNA isolated from fecal swabs. The association between DEC and anthropometric z-scores at enrollment was …

Aromatic Amino Acid Metabolites Alter Interferon Signaling And Influenza Pathogenesis, Gautam Anand, Colin Clark-Dinovo, Alexandra M Perry, Victoria M Goodwin, Emma St Raymond, Sonia Sakleshpur, Ashley L Steed

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The ability of gut microbial metabolites to influence the host is increasingly recognized. The microbiota extensively metabolizes the three aromatic amino acids, tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylalanine. Previously we have found that a metabolite of tyrosine, 4-OH-phenylpropionic acid, can enhance type I interferon (IFN) signaling and protect from influenza pathogenesis in a murine model. Herein we screened 17 related aromatic amino acid metabolites for effects on IFN signaling in human lung epithelial cells and monocytes alone and in the presence of IFN-β, influenza, and LPS. While the tryptophan family metabolites reduced IFN signaling in both cell types, the tyrosine and phenylalanine …

What Is Operative? Conceptualizing Neuralgia: Neuroma, Compression Neuropathy, Painful Hyperalgesia, And Phantom Nerve Pain, Elspeth J R Hill, J Megan M Patterson, Andrew Yee, Lara W Crock, Susan E Mackinnon

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Neuralgia, or nerve pain, is a common presenting complaint for the hand surgeon. When the nerve at play is easily localized, and the cause of the pain is clear (eg, carpal tunnel syndrome), the patient may be easily treated with excellent results. However, in more complex cases, the underlying pathophysiology and cause of neuralgia can be more difficult to interpret; if incorrectly managed, this leads to frustration for both the patient and surgeon. Here we offer a way to conceptualize neuralgia into 4 categories-compression neuropathy, neuroma, painful hyperalgesia, and phantom nerve pain-and offer an illustrative clinical vignette and strategies for …

Disease-Causing Mutations In Genes Encoding Transcription Factors Critical For Photoreceptor Development, Chi Sun, Shiming Chen

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Photoreceptor development of the vertebrate visual system is controlled by a complex transcription regulatory network. OTX2 is expressed in the mitotic retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) and controls photoreceptor genesis. CRX that is activated by OTX2 is expressed in photoreceptor precursors after cell cycle exit. NEUROD1 is also present in photoreceptor precursors that are ready to specify into rod and cone photoreceptor subtypes. NRL is required for the rod fate and regulates downstream rod-specific genes including the orphan nuclear receptor NR2E3 which further activates rod-specific genes and simultaneously represses cone-specific genes. Cone subtype specification is also regulated by the interplay of …

Whole-Brain Imaging Of Freely-Moving Zebrafish, Hamid Hasani, Jipeng Sun, Shuyu I Zhu, Qiangzhou Rong, Florian Willomitzer, Rumelo Amor, Gail Mcconnell, Oliver Cossairt, Geoffrey J Goodhill

2020-Current year OA Pubs

One of the holy grails of neuroscience is to record the activity of every neuron in the brain while an animal moves freely and performs complex behavioral tasks. While important steps forward have been taken recently in large-scale neural recording in rodent models, single neuron resolution across the entire mammalian brain remains elusive. In contrast the larval zebrafish offers great promise in this regard. Zebrafish are a vertebrate model with substantial homology to the mammalian brain, but their transparency allows whole-brain recordings of genetically-encoded fluorescent indicators at single-neuron resolution using optical microscopy techniques. Furthermore zebrafish begin to show a complex …

Designing Implementation Strategies To Improve Identification, Cascade Testing, And Management Of Families With Familial Hypercholesterolemia: An Intervention Mapping Approach, Laney K Jones, Ross C Brownson, Anne C Goldberg, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a common inherited cholesterol disorder that, without early intervention, leads to premature cardiovascular disease. Multilevel strategies that target all components of FH care including identification, cascade testing, and management are needed to address gaps that exist in FH care. We utilized intervention mapping, a systematic implementation science approach, to identify and match strategies to existing barriers and develop programs to improve FH care.

METHODS: Data were collected utilizing two methods: a scoping review of published literature, related to any component of FH care, and a parallel mixed method study using interviews and surveys. The scientific …

Therapeutic Activity Of Lipoxin A4 In Tio2-Induced Arthritis In Mice: Nf-Κb And Nrf2 In Synovial Fluid Leukocytes And Neuronal Trpv1 Mechanisms, Telma Saraiva-Santos, Tiago H Zaninelli, Felipe A Pinho-Ribeiro, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Lipoxin A4 (LXA

METHODS: Mice were stimulated with TiO

RESULTS: LXA

CONCLUSION: LXA

Clinical Characteristics And Outcomes Of Infection With Human T-Lymphotropic Virus In A Non-Endemic Area: A Single Institution Study, Margery Gang, Feng Gao, Sneha Poondru, Theodore Thomas, Lee Ratner

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Understanding of human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) remains largely based on epidemiologic and clinical data from endemic areas. Globalization has resulted in migration of persons living with HTLV (PLHTLV) from endemic to non-endemic areas, and a rise of HTLV infection in the United States. Yet, due to the historical rarity of this disease, affected patients are often under- and mis-diagnosed. Thus, we sought to characterize the epidemiology, clinical features, comorbidities, and survival of HTLV-1- or HTLV-2-positive individuals identified in a non-endemic area.

METHODS: Our study was a single institution, retrospective case-control analysis of HTLV-1 or HTLV-2 patients between 1998 and …

T-Cell Redirecting Therapies For B-Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: Recent Progress And Future Directions, David A Russler-Germain, Armin Ghobadi

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Several key advances in the treatment of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL) over the past two decades have strategically exploited B-cell lineage markers suitable for targeting by immunotherapies. First, the addition of the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (mAb) rituximab to a range of standard therapies conferred remarkable outcomes improvements in diverse settings, perhaps most prominently an overall survival advantage in newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Subsequently, multiple chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies targeting CD19 have revolutionized the treatment of relapsed/refractory (rel/ref) DLBCL and are active in other B-NHL subtypes as well. Most recently, the longstanding aspiration to exploit patients' …

A Universal Neocortical Mask For Centiloid Quantification, Pierrick Bourgeat, Vincent Doré, Christopher C Rowe, Tammie Benzinger, Duygu Tosun, Manu S Goyal, Pamela Lamontagne, Liang Jin, Michael W Weiner, Colin L Masters, Jurgen Fripp, Victor L Villemagne, Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative; Oasis3, Aibl Research Group

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: The Centiloid (CL) project was developed to harmonize the quantification of amyloid beta (Aβ) positron emission tomography (PET) scans to a unified scale. The CL neocortical mask was defined using

METHODS: Using data from the Alzheimer's Dementia Onset and Progression in International Cohorts (ADOPIC) study (Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle + Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative + Open Access Series of Imaging Studies), age-matched pairs of mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) and healthy controls (HC) were selected:

RESULTS: In the GAAIN dataset, the universal mask led to a small reduction in the variance of the YC, and a small increase in …

A New Measure For Multi-Professional Medical Team Communication: Design And Methodology For Multilingual Measurement Development, Sara Malone, Kim Prewitt, Lara Counts, Douglas A Luke, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: As implementation science in global health continues to evolve, there is a need for valid and reliable measures that consider diverse linguistic and cultural contexts. A standardized, reproducible process for multilingual measure development may improve accessibility and validity by participants in global health settings. To address this need, we propose a rigorous methodology for multilingual measurement development. We use the example of a novel measure of multi-professional team communication quality, a determinant of implementation efforts.

METHODS: The development and translation of this novel bilingual measure is comprised of seven steps. In this paper, we describe a measure developed in …

Implementation Strategies For Occupational Therapists To Advance Goal Setting And Goal Management, Eunyoung Kang, Julie Chen, Erin R Foster

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: There is a need for an effective evidence-based system to support high-quality goal setting and goal management implementation. We developed a new system for community-based rehabilitation, MyGoals, along with implementation strategies to support occupational therapists (OTs) in its administration. This study evaluates the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of the implementation strategies,

METHODS: This mixed-methods case series study evaluated the MyGoals implementation strategies developed using Implementation Mapping (IM), specifically IM Task 5 - Implementation Outcome Evaluation. Seven OTs and 13 adults with chronic conditions participated in this study. OTs participated in two

RESULTS: Seven OTs participated in this study (mean …

Women's Empowerment And Child Nutrition In A Context Of Shifting Livelihoods In Eastern Oromia, Ethiopia, Karah Mechlowitz, Mark J Manary, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Agriculture, and particularly livestock and animal source foods, has been closely linked to improvements in human nutrition. Production, income, and women's empowerment improve household food security and child nutritional outcomes in interacting ways. Khat production in Eastern Ethiopia is changing the economic and livelihood landscape for communities that have traditionally relied upon small-scale mixed agriculture and livestock production. How this shifting livelihood landscape and the empowerment of women in these communities are affecting nutritional outcomes has not been investigated. Using cross-sectional data collected during formative research for the Campylobacter Genomics and Environmental Enteric Dysfunction (CAGED) project, we developed models to …

Multi-Omic Analysis Of The Tumor Microenvironment Shows Clinical Correlations In Ph1 Study Of Atezolizumab +/- Soc In Mm, Sandy Wong, Habib Hamidi, Luciano J Costa, Selma Bekri, Natalia Neparidze, Ravi Vij, Tina G Nielsen, Aparna Raval, Rajan Sareen, Elisabeth Wassner-Fritsch, Hearn J Cho

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Multiple myeloma (MM) remains incurable, and treatment of relapsed/refractory (R/R) disease is challenging. There is an unmet need for more targeted therapies in this setting; deep cellular and molecular phenotyping of the tumor and microenvironment in MM could help guide such therapies. This phase 1b study (NCT02431208) evaluated the safety and efficacy of the anti-programmed death-ligand 1 monoclonal antibody atezolizumab (Atezo) alone or in combination with the standard of care (SoC) treatments lenalidomide (Len) or pomalidomide (Pom) and/or daratumumab (Dara) in patients with R/R MM. Study endpoints included incidence of adverse events (AEs) and overall response rate (ORR). A novel …

Transferrin Receptor In Primary And Metastatic Breast Cancer: Evaluation Of Expression And Experimental Modulation To Improve Molecular Targeting, Francesca Fontana, Alison K. Esser, Christopher Egbulefu, Partha Karmakar, Xinming Su, John S. Allen, Yalin Xu, Jennifer L. Davis, Ariel Gabay, Jingyu Xiang, Kristin A. Kwakwa, Brad Manion, Suzanne Bakewell, Shunqiang Li, Haeseong Park, Gregory M. Lanza, Samuel Achilefu, Katherine N. Weilbaecher

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Conjugation of transferrin (Tf) to imaging or nanotherapeutic agents is a promising strategy to target breast cancer. Since the efficacy of these biomaterials often depends on the overexpression of the targeted receptor, we set out to survey expression of transferrin receptor (TfR) in primary and metastatic breast cancer samples, including metastases and relapse, and investigate its modulation in experimental models.

METHODS: Gene expression was investigated by datamining in twelve publicly-available datasets. Dedicated Tissue microarrays (TMAs) were generated to evaluate matched primary and bone metastases as well as and pre and post chemotherapy tumors from the same patient. TMA were …

Neurobridge: A Prototype Platform For Discovery Of The Long-Tail Neuroimaging Data, Lei Wang, Janine Bijsterbosch, Rick Herrick, Daniel Marcus, Stephen M Moore, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Open science initiatives have enabled sharing of large amounts of already collected data. However, significant gaps remain regarding how to find appropriate data, including underutilized data that exist in the long tail of science. We demonstrate the NeuroBridge prototype and its ability to search PubMed Central full-text papers for information relevant to neuroimaging data collected from schizophrenia and addiction studies.

METHODS: The NeuroBridge architecture contained the following components: (1) Extensible ontology for modeling study metadata: subject population, imaging techniques, and relevant behavioral, cognitive, or clinical data. Details are described in the companion paper in this special issue; (2) A …

Applying Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation Studies In Equity-Centered Policy Implementation Science, Yuka Asada, Aimee Kroll-Desrosiers, Jamie F Chriqui, Geoffrey M Curran, Karen M Emmons, Debra Haire-Joshu, Ross C Brownson

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Policy implementation science (IS) is complex, dynamic, and fraught with unique study challenges that set it apart from biomedical or clinical research. One important consideration is the ways in which policy interacts with local contexts, such as power and social disadvantage (e.g., based on ability, race, class, sexual identity, geography). The complex nature of policy IS and the need for more intentional integration of equity principles into study approaches calls for creative adaptations to existing implementation science knowledge and guidance. Effectiveness-implementation hybrid studies were developed to enhance translation of clinical research by addressing research questions around the effectiveness of an …

Critcom: Assessment Of Quality Of Interdisciplinary Communication Around Deterioration In Pediatric Oncologic Patients, Jocelyn Rivera, Sara Malone, Kim Prewitt, Lara Counts, Douglas A Luke, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: High-quality clinical care requires excellent interdisciplinary communication, especially during emergencies, and no tools exist to evaluate communication in critical care. We describe the development of a pragmatic tool focusing on interdisciplinary communication during patient deterioration (CritCom).

METHODS: The preliminary CritCom tool was developed after a literature review and consultation with a multidisciplinary panel of global experts in communication, pediatric oncology, and critical care to review the domains and establish content validity iteratively. Face and linguistic validity were established through cognitive interviews, translation, and linguistic synthesis. We conducted a pilot study among an international group of clinicians to establish reliability …

A Pooled Long-Term Follow-Up After Radiotherapy For Prostate Cancer With And Without A Rectal Hydrogel Spacer: Impact Of Hydrogel On Decline In Sexual Quality Of Life, Zachary A Seymour, Michael Pinkawa, Stephanie Daignault-Newton, Walter Bosch, Jeff M Michalski, Hiram Gay, Daniel A Hamstra

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of prostate rectal spacers on sexual quality of life (QOL) following external beam radiation therapy (RT).

METHODS AND MATERIALS: Patient- reported QOL was evaluated using the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC). Patients were pooled from two sources: a randomized controlled trial and a non-randomized cohort of patients from a single institution. Both cohorts used the same spacing product and QOL instrument. Analysis was limited to those with good baseline pre-treatment sexual QOL (EPIC >/= 60). Differences in QOL summary score and individual items were assessed compared with baseline …

Human Deprivation Amblyopia: Treatment Insights From Animal Models, Kevin R Duffy, Mark F Bear, Nimesh B Patel, Vallabh E Das, Lawrence Tychsen

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Amblyopia is a common visual impairment that develops during the early years of postnatal life. It emerges as a sequela to eye misalignment, an imbalanced refractive state, or obstruction to form vision. All of these conditions prevent normal vision and derail the typical development of neural connections within the visual system. Among the subtypes of amblyopia, the most debilitating and recalcitrant to treatment is deprivation amblyopia. Nevertheless, human studies focused on advancing the standard of care for amblyopia have largely avoided recruitment of patients with this rare but severe impairment subtype. In this review, we delineate characteristics of deprivation amblyopia …

Interobserver Variability In Target Definition For Stereotactic Arrhythmia Radioablation, Martijn H Van Der Ree, Phillip S Cuculich, Geoffrey D Hugo, Clifford G Robinson, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Stereotactic arrhythmia radioablation (STAR) is a potential new therapy for patients with refractory ventricular tachycardia (VT). The arrhythmogenic substrate (target) is synthesized from clinical and electro-anatomical information. This study was designed to evaluate the baseline interobserver variability in target delineation for STAR.

METHODS: Delineation software designed for research purposes was used. The study was split into three phases. Firstly, electrophysiologists delineated a well-defined structure in three patients (spinal canal). Secondly, observers delineated the VT-target in three patients based on case descriptions. To evaluate baseline performance, a basic workflow approach was used, no advanced techniques were allowed. Thirdly, observers delineated …

Leishmania Major- Derived Lipophosphoglycan Influences The Host's Early Immune Response By Inducing Platelet Activation And Dkk1 Production Via Tlr1/2, Olivia C Ihedioha, Anutr Sivakoses, Stephen M Beverley, Diane Mcmahon-Pratt, Alfred L M Bothwell

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Platelets are rapidly deployed to infection sites and respond to pathogenic molecules via pattern recognition receptors (TLR, NLRP). Dickkopf1 (DKK1) is a quintessential Wnt antagonist produced by a variety of cell types including platelets, endothelial cells, and is known to modulate pro-inflammatory responses in infectious diseases and cancer. Moreover, DKK1 is critical for forming leukocyte-platelet aggregates and induction of type 2 cell-mediated immune responses. Our previous publication showed activated platelets release DKK1 following

RESULTS: Here we probed the role of the key surface virulence glycoconjugate lipophosphoglycan (LPG), on DKK1 production using null mutants deficient in LPG synthesis (

CONCLUSION: …

Relationship Between Baseline Plasma P-Tau181 And Longitudinal Changes In Cognition And Structural Brain Measures In A Cohort Of Cognitively Unimpaired Older Adults, Marcos V Pais, Chia-Ling Kuo, Beau M Ances, Julie Loebach Wetherell, Eric J Lenze, Breno S Diniz

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD) affects a significant proportion of cognitively unimpaired (CU) older adults. Currently, blood-based biomarkers detect very early changes in the AD continuum with great accuracy.

METHODS: We measured baseline plasma phosphorylated tau (p-tau)181 using electrochemiluminescence (ECL)-based assay (MesoScale Discovery) in 533 CU older adults. Follow-up lasted up to 18 months. Cognitive performance assessment included memory and cognitive control. Structural brain measures included cortical thickness, which includes the AD magnetic resonance imaging (AD MRI) signature, and hippocampal volume.

RESULTS: In this cohort of CU older adults, baseline plasma p-tau181 levels were not associated with short-term changes in …

What Can State Medical Boards Do To Effectively Address Serious Ethical Violations?, Tristan Mcintosh, Elizabeth Pendo, Heidi A Walsh, Kari A Baldwin, Patricia King, Emily E Anderson, Catherine V Caldicott, Jeffrey D Carter, Sandra H Johnson, Katherine Mathews, William A Norcross, Dana C Shaffer, James M Dubois

2020-Current year OA Pubs

State Medical Boards (SMBs) can take severe disciplinary actions (e.g., license revocation or suspension) against physicians who commit egregious wrongdoing in order to protect the public. However, there is noteworthy variability in the extent to which SMBs impose severe disciplinary action. In this manuscript, we present and synthesize a subset of 11 recommendations based on findings from our team's larger consensus-building project that identified a list of 56 policies and legal provisions SMBs can use to better protect patients from egregious wrongdoing by physicians.