Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Links Between Mental Health And Employment Outcomes Among Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Emma Atkinson

Honors Theses

Problem: Mental health outcomes related to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have been extensively researched, although most research in the area is on children with ASD. Studies on adults with ASD are scarcer. More specifically, studies that analyze the association between mental health and work-life balance (WLB) as well as mental health and job satisfaction (JS) among employed adults with ASD is limited. The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between mental health and WLB among adults with ASD, the association between mental health and perceived JS among adults with ASD, and whether or not ASD severity moderates …

How Medical Cannabis Took Root In Mississippi, Loral Winn

Honors Theses

How Medical Cannabis Took Root in Mississippi

(Under the direction of Dr. Iveta Imre)

How Medical Cannabis Took Root in Mississippi is a multimedia journalism piece that follows the timeline of medical cannabis’ legalization in Mississippi through the lives and lenses of characters from each sector of the medical marijuana industry. Written in a journalistic style with hints of narrative methods, the article tells the story of medical cannabis advocates, current patients, state registered practitioners, dispensary owners and employees, and a family-owned cultivation facility while also providing concrete evidence and facts about the legislation and regulations included in the state’s …

Calculating Risk: A Scoping Review Of Ncaa D1 Football Players’ Motivations To Play And The Correlation To Demographic Characteristics And Injury Experiences, Kathleen D. Walsh

Honors Theses

The purpose of this research was to investigate the motivations of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 (D1) football players for playing the game and how these motivations are associated with their socioeconomic status (SES). Further, the research aimed to investigate how the uncovered motivations were linked to injury experiences. The original project was designed as a survey-based mixed methods study on a national scale. However, issues with participant recruitment led to sidelining of that primary research. The research presented is a scoping review of the available literature pertaining to the research question: What is known from existing literature …

The Relationship Between Coping Behaviors And Misophonia Symptom Severity And Impairment, Ruth Emmon Tyson

Honors Theses

Misophonia is a complex disorder that is characterized by an extreme disliking of sounds. Individuals with misophonia may engage in anxiety-driven coping behaviors that constitute avoidance and safety behaviors. Current literature shows that while coping behavior may offer temporary relief of anxiety and distress, they can lead to persisting anxiety and avoidance of experiences. Given preliminary evidence demonstrating a link between coping behaviors and maintained or worsening symptoms, additional research is warranted to further understand the role of coping behaviors in misophonia. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between coping behaviors and maintenance or worsening of misophonia symptom severity …

Medical Cannabis In Mississippi: Practitioner Education And Continuing Research, Andrea Cleveland

Honors Theses

Use of medical cannabis in Mississippi was legalized in February 2022 following many years of cannabis research at the University of Mississippi. Issues immediately became apparent, beginning with the lack of education about medical cannabis among providers. A 2017 study showed that the majority of physicians are not exposed to information about medical cannabis despite its legalization in 37 states. Another issue with Mississippi’s medical cannabis program is the cost of the product itself. The most effective way to decrease spending on medication is for patients to have access to medication that is guaranteed to work. Further research on cannabis …

The Impact Of A Lower Body Positive Pressure Treadmill On Exercise Regulation, Camille Couey

Honors Theses

Objective: The benefits of lower body positive pressure treadmills have recently been investigated as a tool for rehabilitation, but research is lacking on whether participants can regulate exercise utilizing rate of perceived exertion (RPE) at reduced body weight loads on lower body positive pressure (LBPP) treadmills. The purpose of the study is to examine the potential for RPE production estimation at various body weight loads. Methods: Fifteen apparently healthy young adults between the ages of 18-35 participated and completed this study. Each participant completed a graded VO_2max test after being familiarized with an OMNI pictorial RPE scale ranging from …

Spanish Club For Healthcare Professionals, Sophie Stallings

Honors Theses

Spanish Club for Healthcare Professionals was registered as an approved student organization in January of 2023, and the first meeting was January 30. The objective of this club is to educate students entering different healthcare fields on how to communicate with Spanish speaking patients. During my time serving as the founder and president of this organization, I strived to provide a resource that would help lower the language barrier that is present in today’s society with regards to a lack of Spanish- speaking healthcare professionals. The goal is not for students to be fully fluent in Spanish but simply learn …

Balancing Functional Tradeoffs Between Protein Stability And Ace2 Binding In The Sars-Cov-2 Omicron Ba.2, Ba.2.75 And Xbb Lineages: Dynamics-Based Network Models Reveal Epistatic Effects Modulating Compensatory Dynamic And Energetic Changes, Gennady M. Verkhivker, Mohammed Alshahrani, Grace Gupta

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Evolutionary and functional studies suggested that the emergence of the Omicron variants can be determined by multiple fitness trade-offs including the immune escape, binding affinity for ACE2, conformational plasticity, protein stability and allosteric modulation. In this study, we systematically characterize conformational dynamics, structural stability and binding affinities of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Omicron complexes with the host receptor ACE2 for BA.2, BA.2.75, XBB.1 and XBB.1.5 variants. We combined multiscale molecular simulations and dynamic analysis of allosteric interactions together with the ensemble-based mutational scanning of the protein residues and network modeling of epistatic interactions. This multifaceted computational study characterized molecular mechanisms and …

Newly Diagnosed Papillary Craniopharyngioma With Braf V600e Mutation Treated With Single-Agent Selective Braf Inhibitor Dabrafenib: A Case Report, Mayank Rao, Meenakshi Bhattacharjee, Scott Shepard, Sigmund Hsu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

We report a case of a patient with newly diagnosed, locally extensive and cystic, suprasellar papillary craniopharyngioma successfully treated with single-agent Dabrafenib. The patient was symptomatic with gait imbalance with falls, lethargic episodes, fatigue and incontinence. Diagnostic imaging demonstrated a cystic suprasellar tumor extending into the third ventricle causing obstructive hydrocephalus. The tumor was partially debulked, and bilateral shunts were placed. NGS sequencing demonstrated BRAF V600E mutation, and the patient was prescribed dual agent Dabrafenib and Trametinib. However, due to insurance denial for Trametinib, he only received single-agent Dabrafenib (150mg BID). The treatment resulted in a major response (over two …

Functional Neuronal Circuits Promote Disease Progression In Cancer, Anthony C Restaino, Austin Walz, Samuel J Vermeer, Jeffrey Barr, Attila Kovács, Robin R Fettig, Daniel W Vermeer, Hunter Reavis, Caitlin S Williamson, Christopher T Lucido, Tuany Eichwald, Dalia K Omran, Euihye Jung, Lauren E Schwartz, Maria Bell, Desirae M Muirhead, Jody E Hooper, William C Spanos, Ronny Drapkin, Sebastien Talbot, Paola D Vermeer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The molecular and functional contributions of intratumoral nerves to disease remain largely unknown. We localized synaptic markers within tumors suggesting that these nerves form functional connections. Consistent with this, electrophysiological analysis shows that malignancies harbor significantly higher electrical activity than benign disease or normal tissues. We also demonstrate pharmacologic silencing of tumoral electrical activity. Tumors implanted in transgenic animals lacking nociceptor neurons show reduced electrical activity. These data suggest that intratumoral nerves remain functional at the tumor bed. Immunohistochemical staining demonstrates the presence of the neuropeptide, Substance P (SP), within the tumor space. We show that tumor cells express the …

Late Health Outcomes Among Survivors Of Wilms Tumor Diagnosed Over Three Decades: A Report From The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, Brent R Weil, Andrew J Murphy, Qi Liu, Rebecca M Howell, Susan A Smith, Christopher B Weldon, Elizabeth A Mullen, Arin L Madenci, Wendy M Leisenring, Joseph P Neglia, Lucie M Turcotte, Kevin C Oeffinger, Amanda M Termuhlen, Sogol Mostoufi-Moab, Jennifer M Levine, Kevin R Krull, Yutaka Yasui, Leslie L Robison, Gregory T Armstrong, Eric J Chow, Saro H Armenian

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: To evaluate long-term morbidity and mortality among unilateral, nonsyndromic Wilms tumor (WT) survivors according to conventional treatment regimens.

Methods: Cumulative incidence of late mortality (≥ 5 years from diagnosis) and chronic health conditions (CHCs) were evaluated in WT survivors from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. Outcomes were evaluated by treatment, including nephrectomy combined with vincristine and actinomycin D (VA), VA + doxorubicin + abdominal radiotherapy (VAD + ART), VAD + ART + whole lung radiotherapy, or receipt of ≥ 4 chemotherapy agents.

Results: Among 2,008 unilateral WT survivors, 142 deaths occurred (standardized mortality ratio, 2.9, 95% CI, 2.5 to …

Sirolimus Versus Cyclosporine A In Patients With Primary Acquired Pure Red Cell Aplasia: A Prospective Cohort Study, Yuan Yang, Zengwei Tang, Yuzhou Huang, Qinglin Hu, Shuqing Wang, Jiang Ji, Yali Du, Chen Yang, Miao Chen, Shimin Hu, Bing Han

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

A Stability Indicating Lc-Ms/Ms Method For Quantification Of A Nox Inhibitor R14 In Its Bisulfite Adduct Form For Pharmacokinetic Studies, Yang Wang, Jing Ma, Shiaw-Yih Lin, Huan Xie, Dong Liang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

R14, also known as NOX Inhibitor VII, is a potent inhibitor of NADPH oxidases (NOX) which has recently been identified as a novel agent targeting to triple-negative breast cancer. It is also rapidly degraded in collected pharmacokinetic plasma and blood samples even stored under - 70 °C. The purpose of this study was to develop a stability indicating LC-MS/MS assay that would be suitable for quantification of R14 in plasma and blood. In the presence of sodium sulfite under acidic pH, R14, an aryl lactam compound which is not a typically reactive compound for bisulfite addition, readily and completely converted …

Ppigcf: A Protein-Protein Interaction-Based Gene Correlation Filter For Optimal Gene Selection, Soumen Kumar Pati, Manan Kumar Gupta, Ayan Banerjee, Saurav Mallik, Zhongming Zhao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Biological data at the omics level are highly complex, requiring powerful computational approaches to identifying significant intrinsic characteristics to further search for informative markers involved in the studied phenotype. In this paper, we propose a novel dimension reduction technique, protein-protein interaction-based gene correlation filtration (PPIGCF), which builds on gene ontology (GO) and protein-protein interaction (PPI) structures to analyze microarray gene expression data. PPIGCF first extracts the gene symbols with their expression from the experimental dataset, and then, classifies them based on GO biological process (BP) and cellular component (CC) annotations. Every classification group inherits all the information on its CCs, …

Immune Checkpoint B7-H3 Is A Therapeutic Vulnerability In Prostate Cancer Harboring Pten And Tp53 Deficiencies, Wei Shi, Yin Wang, Yuehui Zhao, Justin Jimin Kim, Haoyan Li, Chenling Meng, Feiyu Chen, Jie Zhang, Duncan H Mak, Vivien Van, Javier Leo, Brad St Croix, Ana Aparicio, Di Zhao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Checkpoint immunotherapy has yielded meaningful responses across many cancers but has shown modest efficacy in advanced prostate cancer. B7 homolog 3 protein (B7-H3/CD276) is an immune checkpoint molecule and has emerged as a promising therapeutic target. However, much remains to be understood regarding B7-H3's role in cancer progression, predictive biomarkers for B7-H3-targeted therapy, and combinatorial strategies. Our multi-omics analyses identified B7-H3 as one of the most abundant immune checkpoints in prostate tumors containing PTEN and TP53 genetic inactivation. Here, we sought in vivo genetic evidence for, and mechanistic understanding of, the role of B7-H3 in PTEN/TP53-deficient prostate …

Addendum: Newly Diagnosed Papillary Craniopharyngioma With Braf V600e Mutation Treated With Single-Agent Selective Braf Inhibitor Dabrafenib: A Case Report, Mayank Rao, Meenakshi Bhattacharjee, Scott Shepard, Sigmund Hsu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Brexucabtagene Autoleucel For Relapsed Or Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma In Standard-Of-Care Practice: Results From The Us Lymphoma Car T Consortium, Yucai Wang, Preetesh Jain, Frederick L Locke, Matthew J Maurer, Matthew J Frank, Javier L Munoz, Saurabh Dahiya, Amer M Beitinjaneh, Miriam T Jacobs, Joseph P Mcguirk, Julie M Vose, Andre Goy, Charalambos Andreadis, Brian T Hill, Kathleen A Dorritie, Olalekan O Oluwole, Abhinav Deol, Jonas Paludo, Bijal Shah, Trent Wang, Rahul Banerjee, David B Miklos, Aaron P Rapoport, Lazaros Lekakis, Armin Ghobadi, Sattva S Neelapu, Yi Lin, Michael L Wang, Michael D Jain

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Brexucabtagene autoleucel (brexu-cel) is an autologous CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy approved for relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). This therapy was approved on the basis of the single-arm phase II ZUMA-2 trial, which showed best overall and complete response rates of 91% and 68%, respectively. We report clinical outcomes with brexu-cel in the standard-of-care setting for the approved indication.

Patients and methods: Patients who underwent leukapheresis between August 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021, at 16 US institutions, with an intent to manufacture commercial brexu-cel for relapsed/refractory MCL, were included. Patient data were collected for analyses of …

Sensor-Controlled Digital Game For Heart Failure Self-Management: Protocol For A Randomized Controlled Trial, Kavita Radhakrishnan, Christine Julien, Matthew O'Hair, Rachel Tunis, Grace Lee, Angelica Rangel, James Custer, Tom Baranowski, Paul J Rathouz, Miyong T Kim

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) is the leading cause of hospitalization among older adults in the United States. There are substantial racial and geographic disparities in HF outcomes, with patients living in southern US states having a mortality rate 69% higher than the national average. Self-management behaviors, particularly daily weight monitoring and physical activity, are extremely important in improving HF outcomes; however, patients typically have particularly low adherence to these behaviors. With the rise of digital technologies to improve health outcomes and motivate health behaviors, sensor-controlled digital games (SCDGs) have become a promising approach. SCDGs, which leverage sensor-connected technologies, offer the …

Exrna-Eclip Intersection Analysis Reveals A Map Of Extracellular Rna Binding Proteins And Associated Rnas Across Major Human Biofluids And Carriers, Emily L Laplante, Alessandra Stürchler, Robert Fullem, David Chen, Anne C Starner, Emmanuel Esquivel, Eric Alsop, Andrew R Jackson, Ionita Ghiran, Getulio Pereira, Joel Rozowsky, Justin Chang, Mark B Gerstein, Roger P Alexander, Matthew E Roth, Jeffrey L Franklin, Robert J Coffey, Robert L Raffai, Isabelle M Mansuy, Stavros Stavrakis, Andrew J Demello, Louise C Laurent, Yi-Ting Wang, Chia-Feng Tsai, Tao Liu, Jennifer Jones, Kendall Van Keuren-Jensen, Eric Van Nostrand, Bogdan Mateescu, Aleksandar Milosavljevic

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Although the role of RNA binding proteins (RBPs) in extracellular RNA (exRNA) biology is well established, their exRNA cargo and distribution across biofluids are largely unknown. To address this gap, we extend the exRNA Atlas resource by mapping exRNAs carried by extracellular RBPs (exRBPs). This map was developed through an integrative analysis of ENCODE enhanced crosslinking and immunoprecipitation (eCLIP) data (150 RBPs) and human exRNA profiles (6,930 samples). Computational analysis and experimental validation identified exRBPs in plasma, serum, saliva, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, and cell-culture-conditioned medium. exRBPs carry exRNA transcripts from small non-coding RNA biotypes, including microRNA (miRNA), piRNA, tRNA, small …

Diagnosis And Treatment Of Fungal Infections In Lung Transplant Recipients, Jesus E Escamilla, Spenser E January, Rodrigo Vazquez Guillamet

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Fungal infections are a significant source of morbidity in the lung transplant population via direct allograft damage and predisposing patients to the development of chronic lung allograft dysfunction. Prompt diagnosis and treatment are imperative to limit allograft damage. This review article discusses incidence, risk factors, and symptoms with a specific focus on diagnostic and treatment strategies in the lung transplant population for fungal infections caused by

Bronchoscopic Evaluation Of A Steerable Needle For Simulated Tumor Targets In The Lung Periphery: A Feasibility Study (Bullseye), Alexander C. Chen, Michael Machuzak, George Cheng, Momen M. Wahidi

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Peripheral bronchoscopy is often performed to biopsy peripheral pulmonary lesions. Despite technological advancements to improve reach and access to the lung periphery, the diagnostic yield of peripheral bronchoscopy has been inconsistent, and challenging, particularly for lesions that are adjacent to peripheral bronchi. Current biopsy instruments are reliant on the catheter or scope to align properly with targeted lesions.

OBJECTIVES: This study evaluates the feasibility of using a steerable biopsy needle to gain access to peripheral tumor targets in a cadaveric model.

METHODS: Simulated tumor targets 10-30 mm in axial diameter were placed into human cadavers. Bronchoscopy was performed using …

Study Design And Protocol Of A Stepped Wedge Cluster Randomized Trial Using A Practical Implementation Strategy As A Model For Hypertension-Hiv Integration - The Map-It Trial, Angela A Aifah, Daphne Lew, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: As people living with HIV (PLWH) experience earlier and more pronounced onset of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), advancing integrated care networks and models in low-resource-high-need settings is critical. Leveraging current health system initiatives and addressing gaps in treatment for PLWH, we report our approach using a late-stage (T4) implementation research study to test the adoption and sustainability of a proven-effective implementation strategy which has been minimally applied in low-resource settings for the integration of hypertension control into HIV treatment. We detail our protocol for the Managing Hypertension Among People Living with HIV: an Integrated Model (MAP-IT) trial, which uses a …

Dynamic Frailty Risk Assessment Among Older Adults With Multiple Myeloma: A Population-Based Cohort Study, Hira Mian, Tanya M Wildes, Ravi Vij, Matthew J Pianko, Ajay Major, Mark A Fiala

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a cancer of older adults and those who are more frail are at high risk of poor outcomes. Current tools for identifying and categorizing frail patients are often static and measured only at the time of diagnosis. The concept of dynamic frailty (i.e. frailty changing over time) is largely unexplored in MM. In our study, adults with newly-diagnosed MM who received novel drugs between the years 2007-2014 were identified in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked databases. Using a previously published cumulative deficit approach, a frailty index score was calculated at diagnosis and each …

Physical Activity In Managing Stress Among Managers During The Covid-19 Pandemic – A Systematic Review, Anna Hryniewicz, Anna Gmiąt, Magdalena Jaroch-Lidzbarska, Mariusz Lipowski

Baltic Journal of Health and Physical Activity

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic managers experienced additional stress connected with taking responsibility for workers at the time of a worldwide crisis. Maintaining a high level of physical activity in this specific group possibly could have contributed to keeping both management skills and health condition at a high required standard. The purpose of this review is to verify the range of scientific interest on the subject of physical activity among managers as a stress coping strategy during the pandemic. Materials and Methods: For this systematic review six studies were chosen (two of them are qualitative descriptive, three are cross-sectional, one …

A Cadaveric Case Study On Lung Cancer Pathology, Anna Beth Boyette, Sarah Kate Boyette, Haley Garrett, Janai Groves, Perry Chandler Mullis, Sofia Sirocchi, Shiv Dhiman, Savita Arya

Research Day

INTRODUCTION: Lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer amongst both genders, currently accounting for about 18% of all cancer deaths.

OBJECTIVES: The overall purpose of this study was to evaluate the pathology associated with the patient’s cause of death, cardiorespiratory failure and lung cancer. The secondary aims of this study were to confirm the presence of malignant neoplasms within a human cadaver, determine the type of cancer present, and take specimens for histological examination to evaluate the patient’s cause of death.

METHODS: This is a case report from one of the cadavers in the Gross Anatomy laboratory at the …

Case Series Of Common Skin Lesions Encountered In Elderly Cadavers: A Dermatopathology Analysis, Tamryn L. Van Der Horn, Brigitte L. Cochran, Savita Arya

Research Day

INTRODUCTION: Gaining hands-on experience in both dermatology and pathology is a common barrier that prevents first and second year medical students from refining skills that are not later taught until residency. This prompted a study to develop gross differential diagnostic skills and how to analyze histopathology slides to diagnose common skin lesions to refine skills in both clinical and histology presentation for medical students.

METHODS: A case series was designed to examine multiple shave biopsies on all abnormal skin lesions observed from nine cadavers used for the first-year medical students gross anatomy lab during the year 2022-2023. Biopsies were stained …

Study Of Liver Based On Histopathological Patterns Of Liver Damage, Destiny Sciuva, Didem Aydin, Savita Arya

Research Day

INTRODUCTION: Liver histopathology patterns are an essential component of the diagnostic process for liver disease. If left untreated, liver disease can lead to liver cancer and liver failure. The American Liver Foundation stated that liver disease and cirrhosis was the twelve leading cause of death in the United States in 2020. As such, this is a significant field of study for further research as this is a primary public health concern.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the histopathological patterns of liver damage and their associations with different liver diseases from elderly cadavers in the South East United States regions. …

Colonic Stenosis In An Elderly Female, Tiffany R. Pittman, Kylie A. Parrish, Grace M. Perry, Oyindamola C. Orekoya, Shiv Dhiman, Savita Arya

Research Day

Introduction

Colonic stenosis is commonly caused by chronic inflammation and is a known side effect of inflammatory conditions, such as diverticulitis and irritable bowel syndrome. Diverticulosis is a common condition where parts of the colon wall become weakened, forming outpouches. These outpouchings may become inflamed, leading to diverticulitis. This chronic inflammation can cause scarring and fibrosis of the colon, resulting in colonic stenosis. Inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, may also result in scarring and colonic stenosis. The incidence rate of patients developing colonic stenosis is 8-13.5% for Crohn's disease and 1-11% for ulcerative colitis. Patients …

Evaluation Of Caffeine And Taurine Administration In Improving Neurodegenerative Dysfunction In Caenorhabditis Elegans Overexpressing The App Ortholog: Apl-1, Perry Chandler Mullis, Heather M. Cathcart

Research Day

INTRODUCTION: Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is characterized by an over-accumulation of β-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary Tau tangles present within the brain, contributing to associative neurodegeneration. Taurine is an essential amino acid found within the nervous system; however, it is one of a few amino acids not required in routine protein synthesis. Caffeine and taurine have both been identified as active ingredients in energy drinks with the benefit of improving nervous system function, supporting neural recovery, and synaptogenesis. In previous studies, taurine has been shown to increase memory retention in animal models, and consumption of caffeine reflects improvement in locomotion, memory, and …

Histopathological Findings Of Myocardial Tissue In Chf, Mi And Cardiac Arrest, Mohammad Malik, Johnathan Abdool, Savita Arya, Shiv Dhiman

Research Day

Introduction: Coronary arteries are responsible for perfusing the myocardium with oxygen rich blood. Based on bodily requirements, these vital arteries can quickly adjust oxygen delivery to the myocardium to meet demand. Coronary arteries, however, can become narrowed by pathologies such as atherosclerosis leading to ischemic heart disease. The most common form of ischemic heart disease (IHD) is coronary artery disease. With over 17.9 million lives lost annually, Coronary artery disease (CAD) remains the leading cause of death. CAD progressively develops overtime due to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. These plaques can eventually rupture and result in complete occlusion of the …