Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment Commons^™

Detection Of Homocysteine With Bridged Viologen Chemical Probes, Davin Rautiola

Dissertations and Theses

Increased blood plasma concentrations of the aminothiol homocysteine (Hcy) are associated with a variety of disease states including those which cause impaired renal function, many forms of cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. Therefore, Hcy has the potential to be a significant diagnostic biomarker. Routine monitoring of Hcy plasma concentration is encumbered by the time and resources required to quantify Hcy using currently accepted instrumental analysis methods. As part of the continuing effort to develop a quick, reliable, inexpensive, and user-friendly test to quantify Hcy at the point of care, we have designed a series of novel colorimetric …

Renal Recovery, Stuart L. Goldstein, Lakhmir S. Chawla, Claudio Ronco, John A. Kellum

Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine Faculty Publications

Acute kidney injury (AKI) research in the past decade has mostly focused upon development of a standard AKI definition, validation of early novel biomarkers to predict AKI prior to serum creatinine rise and predict AKI severity, and assessment of aspects of renal replacement therapies and their impact on survival. Given the independent association between AKI and mortality in the acute phase, such focus makes imminent sense. More recently, the recognition that AKI is associated with subsequent development of chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease, with the attendant increase in mortality, has led to interest in the clinical epidemiology and …

The Importance Of Managing Psychosocial Health: A Case Study, Mary Insana Fisher, Harold L. Merriman

Physical Therapy Faculty Publications

Managing the physical aspects of lymphedema requires an individual to be committed to daily treatment of this chronic condition. Performing manual lymph drainage, using compression bandaging or compression garments, exercising, and caring for the skin all take time and a high level of dedication. This commitment to self-care can be emotionally and psychologically exhausting.

When coupled with other emotional stressors in a patient’s life, successful treatment of lymphedema is challenging. We present a case demonstrating how the physical and psychological aspects of care interplay, and, when well-managed, can positively affect the outcome.

Breast Cancer Edge Task Force Outcomes - Clinical Measures Of Strength And Muscular Endurance: A Systematic Review, Mary Insana Fisher, Claire Davies, Christine Beuthin, Genevieve Colon, Brittany Zoll, Lucinda Pfalzer

Physical Therapy Faculty Publications

Background: Muscular strength deficits are a common morbidity following treatment for breast cancer. Accurate assessment of strength and muscular endurance following breast cancer treatments is essential in identifying deficits and planning rehabilitation strategies.

Purpose: The purpose of this systematic review was to identify strength and muscular endurance outcome measures for use with women treated for breast cancer that possess strong psychometric properties and are clinically useful.

Methods: Multiple electronic databases were searched between February and June 2013. Included studies of tools used to assess strength and muscular endurance met the following criteria: reported psychometric properties, clinically feasible methods, adults (preferably …

Test Items In The Complete And Short Forms Of The Bot-2 That Contribute Substantially To Motor Performance Assessments In Typically Developing Children 6-10 Years Of Age, Kadi Carmosino, Ashley Grzeszczak, Kaylie Mcmurray, Ali Olivo, Bo Slutz, Brittany Zoll, Betsy Donahoe-Fillmore, C. Jayne Brahler

Physical Therapy Faculty Publications

Objectives: Determine the magnitude of association between individual subtest items of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, second edition (BOT-2), and the respective total subtest scores and to review items on the BOT-2 Short Form.

Background: The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, second edition (BOT-2), is a test used to measure gross motor proficiency in both typically developing children and children with developmental disabilities between the ages of four and twenty-one. The BOT-2 Short Form consists of fourteen test items proportionally selected from the subtests of the Complete Form. It can be used as a screening tool and takes less …

Ethical Dilemmas Posed In The Care Of Obese Patients In The Emergency Department, Arvind Venkat, Gregory Luke Larkin

Journal of Health Ethics

The rising prevalence of obesity represents a health care crisis. As the gateway to the health care system, the emergency department is the clinical setting where the difficulties posed by the care of obese patients are heightened. These difficulties include the increasing burden of obesity-related illnesses, the challenges posed in diagnostic evaluation and treatment and the known barriers to access to care seen in this patient population. The limitations posed by obesity on care in the emergency department, the one guaranteed access point for medical treatment, creates a series of ethical dilemmas for emergency physicians and the facilities in which …

International Clinical Rotations During U.S. Residency Training: Creating An Accreditation Council For Graduate Medical Education-Approved Rotation, Jeffrey S. Berger, Deborah Jeon, Eric P. Chiang, Daniel Asay, Huda M. Ayas

Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine Faculty Publications

Healthcare professionals increasingly report interest in global health and participation in international healthcare delivery. Growth opportunities exist for trainees to improve knowledge, skills and attitudes through international experiences. Professional development via international medicine may have lasting effects on patient care and practice patterns following training. In 2010, the first resident took part in an international, exchange elective between The George Washington University’s Department of Anesthesiology in Washington, DC and La Universidad de San Francisco’s Department of Anesthesiology in Quito, Ecuador. This resident elective rotation resulted from a strategic partnership, initiated in 2008, between two training institutions with an established track …

A Qualitative Study Of Rural Primary Care Clinician Views On Remote Monitoring Technologies, Melinda M. Davis, Jillian M. Currey, Sonya Howk, Molly R. Desordi, Linda Boise, Lyle J. Fagnan, Nancy Vuckovic

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose: Remote monitoring technologies (RMTs) may improve the quality of care, reduce access barriers, and help control medical costs. Despite the role of primary care clinicians as potential key users of RMTs, few studies explore their views. This study explores rural primary care clinician interest and the resources necessary to incorporate RMTs into routine practice.

Methods: We conducted 15 in-depth interviews with rural primary care clinician members of the Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network (ORPRN) from November 2011 to April 2012. Our multidisciplinary team used thematic analysis to identify emergent themes and a cross-case comparative analysis to explore variation by …

In Vitro Propagation Of Gentiana Scabra Bunge – An Important Medicinal Plant In The Chinese System Of Medicines, Shih-Hung Huang, Dinesh Chandra Agrawal, Fang-Sheng Wu, Hsin-Sheng Tsay

Biology Publications

Background: Gentiana scabra Bunge commonly known as `Long dan cao' in China has been used in traditional Chinese medicines for more than 2000 years. Dry roots and rhizome of the herb have been used for the treatment of inflammation, anorexia, indigestion and gastric infections. Iridoids and secoiridoids are the main bioactive compounds which attribute to the pharmacological properties of this plant. The species is difficult to mass propagate by seed due to the low percentage of germination and limited dormancy period. Wild populations in some locations are considered to be in the endangered category due to over exploitation.

Results: In …

The Search For Novel Inhibitors Of The Mycobacterial Enoyl Reductase Inha, Esther Saul

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Isoniazid (INH), one of two first-line drugs used to treat tuberculosis (TB), has been shown to be a potent inhibitor of InhA, the mycobacterial enoyl reductase. However, the increasing resistance to INH makes it imperative to find alternative drugs that are as effective as the first-line drugs, yet active against INH-resistant strains. Since InhA has been validated as an excellent target of TB, there have been attempts to find novel inhibitors of InhA. Through rational drug design, a variety of high affinity InhA inhibitors were synthesized. Triclosan itself was observed to be a suboptimal inhibitor of InhA with a K …

Vibrational Spectroscopy: Disease Diagnostics And Beyond, Hugh Byrne, Kamila Ostrowska, Haq Nawaz, Jennifer Dorney, Aidan Meade, Franck Bonnier, Fiona Lyng

Books/Book Chapters

Summary

This chapter outlines some developments in the applications of vibrational spectroscopy for disease diagnostics and demonstrates how the applications of the spectroscopic techniques can be extended to the analysis and evaluation of disease aetiology and the mechanisms of interaction and the cellular and subcellular responses to, for example chemotherapeutic agents and nanoparticles. The primary emphasis is on Raman spectroscopy, although some examples are based on infrared absorption spectroscopy. The studies presented are chosen to illustrate how a range of multivariate analytical techniques can be employed to maximize the potential benefits of the complex spectral information obtained from tissue or …

The Helminthological Society Of Washington 2013 Anniversary Award: Larry S. Roberts, Sherman S. Hendrix

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Dr. Roberts was born in the great state of Texas, and much of his early life is murky, but snakes are often mentioned. Larry received his Bachelor’s degree at Southern Methodist University; his Master of Science at the University of Illinois; and his Doctorate in the Department of Pathobiology at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. Larry’s doctoral research, published in Experimental Parasitology, documented the early development and crowding effect of the tapeworm, Hymenolepis diminuta, in the rat small intestine. His publication on this subject opened the door to the golden age of cestode physiology and biochemistry …

Can Helmet Design Reduce The Risk Of Concussion In Football?, Steven Rowson, Stefan M. Duma, Richard M. Greenwald, Jonathan Beckwith, Jeffrey J. Chu, Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Jason P. Mihalik, Joe Crisco, Bethany J. Wilcox, Thomas W. Mcallister, Arthur C. Maerlender, Steven P. Broglio, Brock Schnebel, Scott Anderson, P. Gunnar Brolinson

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Of all sports, football accounts for the highest incidence of concussion in the US due to the large number of athletes participating and the nature of the sport. While there is general agreement that concussion incidence can be reduced through rule changes and teaching proper tackling technique, there remains debate as to whether helmet design may also reduce the incidence of concussion. A retrospective analysis was performed of head impact data collected from 1833 collegiate football players who were instrumented with helmet-mounted accelerometer arrays for games and practices. Data were collected between 2005 and 2010 from 8 collegiate football teams: …

Winning And Losing: Differences In Reward And Punishment Sensitivity Between Smokers And Nonsmokers, Laura E. Martin, Lisa S. Cox, William M. Brooks, Cary R. Savage

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Background: Smokers show increased brain activation in reward processing regions in response to smoking-related cues, yet few studies have examined secondary rewards not associated with smoking (i.e., money). Inconsistencies exist in the studies that do examine secondary rewards with some studies showing increased brain activation in reward processing brain regions, while others show decreased activation or no difference in activation between smokers and nonsmokers. Aims: The goal of the current study is to see if smokers process the evaluation and delivery of equally salient real world rewards similarly or differently than nonsmokers. Methods: The current study employed functional magnetic resonance …

Anesthesia For Ambulatory Surgery In A Child With Hyposensitivity To Pain, Claude Abdallah

Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine Faculty Publications

Congenital hyposensitivity to pain is a condition with predisposition to injury. In patients with congenital hyposensitivity to pain/Hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy (HSAN), knowledge regarding anesthetic requirements and complications derives from individual case reports, or small case series. Different categories of HSAN have been described. Complications in the immediate perioperative period have been described such as mild hypothermia and cardiovascular events, mostly bradycardia and hypotension. The majority of patients with hyposensitivity to pain reported in the literature have received standard anesthesia for surgery. Immobilization, prevention of autonomic reflexes, anxiolysis, and sedation are equally important aspects of the anesthetic management in …

Considerations In Perioperative Assessment Of Valproic Acid Coagulopathy, Claude Abdallah

Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine Faculty Publications

Valproic acid (VPA) is one of the widely prescribed antiepileptic drugs in children with multiple indications. VPA-induced coagulopathy may occur and constitute a pharmacological and practical challenge affecting pre-operative evaluation and management of patients receiving VPA therapy. This review summarizes the different studies documenting the incidence, severity and available recommendations related to this adverse effect.

Current Research Of Extracorporeal Photopheresis And Future Applications, Chaim Lederer

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Photopheresis, also known as Extracorporeal Photopheresis (ECP) is making inroads in treatment of previously untreatable diseases. As the medical world has delved deeper into, Although the mechanisms of photopheresis are largely unknown, increasingly detailed studies have proven its efficacy. The lack of side effects has made photopheresis an ideal option for patients. The treatment is also versatile enough that it can be used as a mono-therapy or as a supplement to other traditional therapies. The use of photopheresis has been proven successful in the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) and graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), and is currently being administered for …

Aqueous Maté Extract Decreases The Viability Human Breast Cancer Through Apoptosis And Cancer Repression, Kenisha Nisbett, Amina Sadik

College of Osteopathic Medicine (TUN) Publications and Research

Ilex paraguariensis, also known as Yerba Maté, is a subtropical plant native to South America. In various South American cultures, the leaves of Yerba Maté tree are roasted to make a traditional herbal tea. Several studies have been conducted to elucidate the beneficial effects of this beverage. A recent study has shown that saponins isolated from Yerba Maté extract induce apoptosis in human colon cancer cells, while another study indicated that the consumption of Maté tea causes higher incidence of esophageal cancer. Our study looked into the effects Yerba Maté extract had on human breast cancer cells. The findings …

Effects Of Hepatic Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury On The P-Glycoprotein Activity At The Liver Canalicular Membrane And Blood-Brain Barrier Determined By In Vivo Administration Of Rhodamine 123 In Rats, M. K. Miah, Imam H. Shaik, Ulrich Bickel, Reza Mehvar

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose To investigate the effects of normothermic hepatic ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury on the activity of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in the liver and at the blood-brain barrier (BBB) of rats using rhodamine 123 (RH-123) as an in vivo marker.

Methods Rats were subjected to 90 min of partial ischemia or sham surgery, followed by 12 or 24 h of reperfusion. Following intravenous injection, the concentrations of RH-123 in blood, bile, brain, and liver were used for pharmacokinetic calculations. The protein levels of P-gp and some other transporters in the liver and brain were also determined by Western blot analysis.

Results P-gp protein …

Quantitative Mass Spectrometric Investigations Of Protein Biomarkers: Serum Thymidine Kinase 1 And Human Osteopontin, Morse Faria

Theses and Dissertations

Mass spectrometry is being increasingly used in biomarker research mainly due to its ability to achieve high selectivity coupled with high sensitivity. This dissertation focuses on quantitative mass spectrometric investigations of two protein biomarkers i.e. serum thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) and human osteopontin (OPN).

First part of this research was focused on developing a liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for measuring the activity of TK1 in serum by monitoring the conversion of a TK1 specific exogenous substrate, 3’-deoxy-3’-fluorothymidine (FLT), to its mono-phosphorylated form 3’-deoxy-3’-fluorothymidine monophosphate (FLT-MP). A method to quantify FLT-MP on LC-MS/MS was developed and …

Anesthesia For Cardiac Catheterization Procedures, A Hamid

Department of Anaesthesia

Anesthesiologist's involvement for the purpose of diagnostic and interventional procedures in cardiac catheterization laboratory has been evolving particularly since last two decades. Catheterization laboratory environment poses certain challenges for the anesthesiologist including unfamiliar remote location, exposure to radiation, limited help from colleagues and communication with cardiologists. Anesthesiologists working in catheterization laboratory are required to have adequate knowledge of the environment, personnel, fluoroscope, echocardiography and type of radio contrast dye during the procedure. Anyone who is exposed to radiation environment is expected to protect himself from the exposure and must also wear a dosimeter for cumulative exposure tracing.There is no ideal …

Correlation Of Ischemia-Modified Albumin With Sofa And Apache Ii Scores In Preoperative Patients With Colorectal Cancer, Masaaki Katoh, Kazuhiko Kotani, Alejandro Gugliucci, Hisanaga Horie, Russell Caccavello, Mamoru Takeuchi

Faculty Publications & Research of the TUC College of Osteopathic Medicine

Purpose. Critical illnesses are assessed according to the sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) II. Circulating ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) is a biomarker generated under ischemic and oxidative conditions and may reflect disease severity in preoperative patients. This study investigated the correlations of IMA with SOFA and APACHE II scores in inpatients admitted for colorectal surgery. Methods.We examined 27 patients with advanced colorectal cancers (mean age 69 years, men/women = 15/12). Correlations between SOFA and APACHE II scores in addition to preoperative serum IMA and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were analyzed. Results …

Supporting Narrative Retells For People With Aphasia Using Augmentative And Alternative Communication: Photographs Or Line Drawings? Text Or No Text?, Julie Griffith, Aimee R. Dietz, Kristy S.E. Weissling

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how the interface design of an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device influences the communication behaviors of people with aphasia during a narrative retell task.

Method: A case-series design was used. Four narratives were created on an AAC device with combinations of personally relevant (PR) photographs, line drawings (LDs), and text for each participant. The narrative retells were analyzed to describe the expressive modality units (EMUs) used, trouble sources experienced, and whether trouble sources were repaired. The researchers also explored the participants’ perceived helpfulness of the interface features.

Results: The participants …

The Efficacy And Safety Of The Human Papillomavirus Vaccine, Gail Tessler

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

The HPV virus is said to be the cause of many infections, warts, and cancers. In addition to the fact that the treatment for HPV is not always successful, not every individual knows that s/he is infected and is very likely to infect his or her partner, too. This is one factor that explains why 14 million people each year in America alone contract HPV and makes cervical cancer so threatening to many people worldwide. In light of this and the known dangers of cervical, anal, vaginal and penile cancers, the HPV vaccine was created to prevent an infection of …

Apoptotic Neurodegeneration In The Developing Human Brain: Possible Role Of General Anesthetics In Its Genesis, And Of L-Carnitine In Its Reversal, Yisroel Yitzchok Rosenfeld

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Recent studies suggest that general anesthetic (GA) agents administered to developing rats, through its mechanism as an NMDA antagonist or a GABAa mimetic, may damage developing neural cells by inducing a higher rate of programmed cell death (apoptosis). Similar heightened degeneration was also apparent in higher primates such as the monkey. This warrants strong concern, as every year thousands of pregnant women and children below 1 year of age undergo a surgical procedure in which GAs are used. A spike in neuroapoptosis may lead to long term cognitive deficiencies lingering into adulthood. Are humans vulnerable to these affects? Different pathways …

Stem Cells As A Cure For Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Chaya K. Hirsch

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal motor neuron disease which affects approximately 30,000 Americans at any given time (alsa.org, 2010). The etiology of this terminal disease unfortunately remains an unsolved mystery and has therefore severely limited the ability to find a cure. The use of stem cells to regenerate neurons has been vastly studied and have produced very promising results. However, its practicality as a cure or treatment for neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS, is greatly compromised. Three different therapies involving stem cells were examined, Embryonic Stem Cells (ESC), induced pluripotent stem cells, (iPSC) and direct reprogramming of adult …

Biomarkers In Nsclc Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Mutations, Suzanne Freidman

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Lung Cancer is the most common global cause of cancer related deaths in men and women (Markus, Alain, 2013). As standard radiation and chemotherapy have proved ineffective, novel target therapies are in the midst of development. This review will analyze the success of the inhibitor drugs targeting the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) mutation, commonly found amongst Lung Cancer patients. Numerous studies and reviews are utilized to determine the cause of the 10% success rate currently exhibited for these drugs. The L858R and E746-A750 point mutations and deletions respectively, were found prevalent in responsive patients as well as clinical-pathological features …

Calibration Of Built-In Accelerometer Using A Commercially Available Smartphone, Jung-Min Lee, Youngwon Kim, Yi-Suk Kwon, Timothy R. Derrick, Gregory J. Welk

Research Presentations

Wearable trackers that detect sleep offer users a way to track their sleep quality and patterns without the use of expensive equipment. Few studies have tested the validity of these trackers on sleep measure. PURPOSE: To examine the validity of the Actigraph GT9X (AG), SenseWear Mini Armband (SW), Basis Peak (BP), Fitbit Charge HR (FB), Jawbone UP3 (JU), and Garmin Vivosmart (GV) for estimating sleep variables as compared with a sleep diary. METHODS: 78 healthy individuals participated in the study. Group 1 (n= 38) and wore the AG, SW, BP, and FB or Group 2 (n = 40) …

Chemopreventive Effects Of Pterostilbene In Metastatic Prostate Cancer Cells, Phillip A. Zook

PCOM Biomedical Studies Student Scholarship

Recent studies find that pterostilbene (PTS) exhibits more favorable drug properties and similar chemopreventive effects to its structural analogue resveratrol (RSV). However, few studies describe the activity of PTS in prostate cancer (PCa). Here, we conducted cell count experiments to assess the effects of PTS on metastatic PCa cell viability and to compare the potency of PTS to RSV in this respect. We also performed experiments to assess the effects of PTS on the androgen receptor (AR) and AR-mediated events. We used qPCR to measure the mRNA levels of the androgenresponsive gene (ARG), prostate-specific antigen (PSA), and Western blots to …

An Analysis Of Abnormal Electrocardiograms In First And Second Year Medical School Students, Molly Anne Kalish

PCOM Biomedical Studies Student Scholarship

The high stress level placed upon medical school students, particularly during their first and second didactic years, may have a negative effect on their health. Although surveys and subjective questionnaires have been used to evaluate the effects medical school has upon a student’s cardiovascular health, there has been little clinical data obtained to confirm this notion. The aim of this longitudinal study was to demonstrate whether any abnormal cardiovascular parameters, specifically QTc wave interval, cardiac axis vector and blood pressure abnormalities, could be documented to occur in two different classes of medical students during their first two years. Such information …