Investigative Techniques Commons^™

Expression And Function Of Transcription Factors Foxa1, Hoxb13 And Cdx2 In Prostate Cancer, Hamsat B. Anwar

University Honors Theses

Prostate cancer (PC) is the second leading cause of death in men, affecting around 190 thousand patients in 2020 alone (National Institute of Cancer, 2020). Much of the current research focuses on treatments for advanced PC, which is problematic due to the rapid evolution of tumors and development of treatment resistance. Cancer early detection presents a better approach to control and treat patients before they acquire an incurable disease. Earlier diagnosis of patients leads to better prognosis and a more comfortable treatment process (Etzioni et al., 2003). However, we currently lack molecular markers to stratify PC during its early stages. …

Adaptive Physics-Based Non-Rigid Registration For Immersive Image-Guided Neuronavigation Systems, Fotis Drakopoulos, Christos Tsolakis, Angelos Angelopoulos, Yixun Liu, Chengjun Yao, Kyriaki Rafailia Kavazidi, Nikolaos Foroglou, Andrey Fedorov, Sarah Frisken, Ron Kikinis, Alexandra Golby, Nikos Chrisochoides

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Objective: In image-guided neurosurgery, co-registered preoperative anatomical, functional, and diffusion tensor imaging can be used to facilitate a safe resection of brain tumors in eloquent areas of the brain. However, the brain deforms during surgery, particularly in the presence of tumor resection. Non-Rigid Registration (NRR) of the preoperative image data can be used to create a registered image that captures the deformation in the intraoperative image while maintaining the quality of the preoperative image. Using clinical data, this paper reports the results of a comparison of the accuracy and performance among several non-rigid registration methods for handling brain deformation. A …

Management Of Refractory Ventricular Fibrillation With Double Sequential Defibrillation, Kaitlyn A. Brown

Capstone Showcase

Patients experiencing cardiac arrest are treated according to ACLS protocols, however current protocols lack recommendations for the treatment of refractory Ventricular Fibrillation which persists after more than 3 cycles of CPR and defibrillation. One potential intervention for these cases that is being researched is the use of simultaneous or sequential activation of two defibrillators. This literature review analyzed the results of several studies to determine if double sequential defibrillation (DSD) is a viable treatment to achieve return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and improved patient survival. The results of the studies were mixed with some showing positive outcomes, and others showing …

Nebulizer-Based Systems To Improve Pharmaceutical Aerosol Delivery To The Lungs, Benjamin M. Spence

Theses and Dissertations

Combining vibrating mesh nebulizers with additional new technologies leads to substantial improvements in pharmaceutical aerosol delivery to the lungs across therapeutic administration methods. In this dissertation, streamlined components, aerosol administration synchronization, and/or Excipient Enhanced Growth (EEG) technologies were utilized to develop and test several novel devices and aerosol delivery systems. The first focus of this work was to improve the poor delivery efficiency, e.g., 3.6% of nominal dose (Dugernier et al. 2017), of aerosolized medication administration to adult human subjects concurrent with high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) therapy, a form of continuous-flow non-invasive ventilation (NIV). The developed Low-Volume Mixer-Heater (LVMH) …

Using Preliminary Data And Prospective Power Analyses For Mid-Stream Revision Of Projected Group And Subgroup Sizes In Pragmatic Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Elizabeth A. Tolley Md, Satya Surbhi Md, James E. Bailey Md

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Pragmatic clinical trials are commonly used in patient-centered outcomes research to assess heterogeneity of treatment effects. Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) methodology standards for assessing heterogeneity of treatment effects are extremely rigorous, but their implementation in real-world settings can be difficult. Predicting recruitment effectiveness and subgroup characteristics is often challenging and may require mid-stream revision of projected group and subgroup sizes. Yet, little real-world data are available to demonstrate methodologically valid approaches to address situations where such revisions are necessary. These data were used for mid-stream revision of group and subgroup sizes in the Management of Diabetes in Everyday Life …

Can Viruses Cause Lupus?, Stephen I. Reeder

Selected Honors Theses

Like so many autoimmune diseases, the exact cause of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) remains unknown. Evidence points to both genetics and environment playing roles in the onset of the disease, but neither acts independent of the other. Genetics are the easier of the two to study with recent advances in the field making it easier to isolate genes shared by individuals with the disease. However, genetic studies reveal that there is almost certainly an environmental component to the development of SLE. The underlying pathology and existing research on environmental contributors to the development of SLE suggest that viruses could potentially …

Face Mask Effects Of Co2, Heart Rate, Respiration Rate, And Oxygen Saturation On Instructor Pilots, Andrew R. Dattel, Nicola M. O'Toole, Guillermina Lopez, Kenneth P. Byrnes

Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic has required people to take new measures to mitigate the spread of the communicable virus. Guidelines from health organizations, government offices, and universities have been disseminated. Adherence to these guidelines cannot be more critical for flight training. This study explored the effects face masks had on CO2, heart rate, respiration rate, and oxygen saturation while wearing a face mask at an oxygen level simulated to 5,000 feet. Thirty-two instructor pilots (IP) volunteered to participate in the study. IPs spent 90 minutes in a normobaric chamber while wearing a cloth face mask or a paper face mask. Participants …

Budd-Chiari Syndrome From A Tunneled-Dialysis Catheter?, Ifrah Butt Md, Kairavee D. Dave Md, Lucas Rindy Do, Arash Zarrin Do, Livasky Concepcion Md, Daniel Heller Md, Franklin Kasmin Md, Steven Kaplan Md, John Rivas Md

Internal Medicine

No abstract provided.

Tick-Borne Infections In New Hampshire: An Evaluation Of The Diagnostic Process In A Local Patient Population, Katherine Anderson

Honors Theses and Capstones

Overall, approximately 95 percent of reported cases of vector-borne disease were associated with ticks, making these the most medically important group of arthropods in the United States.¹ Despite the prevalence of tick-borne infections, the process for the diagnosis of this condition is not well studied. This study aims to analyze data from a pool of 100 patients who underwent testing for tick-borne disease in the same institution in Dover, New Hampshire during the most recent peak tick season of 2019. Information utilized in this study included: patient age, sex, location of testing (inpatient versus outpatient), diagnostic testing methods used …

Tunable Multiphase Dynamics Of Arginine And Lysine Liquid Condensates, Rachel S. Fisher, Shana Elbaum-Garfinkle

Advanced Science Research Center

Liquid phase separation into two or more coexisting phases has emerged as a new paradigm for understanding subcellular organization, prebiotic life, and the origins of disease. The design principles underlying biomolecular phase separation have the potential to drive the development of novel liquid-based organelles and therapeutics, however, an understanding of how individual molecules contribute to emergent material properties, and approaches to directly manipulate phase dynamics are lacking. Here, using microrheology, we demonstrate that droplets of poly-arginine coassembled with mono/polynucleotides have approximately 100 fold greater viscosity than comparable lysine droplets, both of which can be finer tuned by polymer length. We …

Molecular And Behavioral Mechanisms Mediated Paclitaxel-Induced Changes In Affect-Like Behavior In Mice, Julia Meade

Theses and Dissertations

Paclitaxel and oxaliplatin are two chemotherapeutics that cause acute neurotoxicity and chemotherapy-induce peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) in 70-90% of cancer patients. Chemotherapy-induced sensory changes are correlated with depression and anxiety. We characterized the effects of these drugs on sensation and various mood-related behaviors in mice, to determine if changes in sensation are associated with depression-like behavior, to explore putative mechanisms of chemotherapy-induced depression-like behavior (Aim 1), and to develop a mouse model of chemotherapy-induced operant responding deficit (Aim 2). In Aim 1, we observed that a cumulative dose of 32 mg/kg paclitaxel induced mechanical hypersensitivity and transiently reduced preference for sucrose …

Evolution Of Acute Ischemic Stroke Treatment As Supported By Clinical Trials, Savya S. Shukla, Brian F. Baigorri Md, Roberto I. Fourzali Md, Yafell Serulle Md

Radiology

No abstract provided.

Double Pylorus: Case Report Of Atypical Presentation, Christopher Lozano Orpiano Do, Gurjeet Kang Do, Michael Quinn Do, Lakshminarasimhan Venu Md, Joseph Staffetti Md

Gastroenterology

Introduction: Double pylorus is a rare endoscopic finding that has been reported in 0.001% to 0.4% of upper gastrointestinal endoscopies, consisting of a gastroduodenal fistula extending from the prepyloric gastric antrum to the duodenal bulb through an accessory channel. In the majority of cases, it is a complication when peptic ulcers erode and create a fistula between the duodenal bulb and the distal stomach. It usually presents on the lessor curvature of the gastric antrum and on a superior wall of the duodenal bulb. It is commonly an endoscopic finding, since clinical presentation is similar to other peptic diseases.

Case …

Sarcoidosis Presenting With Massive Splenomegaly And Severe Epistaxis, Austen Stoelting Md, Shawn B. Esperti Do, Andrew Mangano Do, Nino Balanchivadze Md

Internal Medicine

No abstract provided.

Rare Infective Endocarditis Caused By Dental Source Due To Streptococcus Bovis Masquerading As Cardiac Failure, Ravish Patel, Pratikkumar Vekaria, Devin Vaishnani, Johnnie Mao, Asif Shah

Internal Medicine

No abstract provided.

Using The Clinical Frailty Scale To Predict The Length Of Stay In Otolaryngology Unit In Taiwan, Wei-Kang Tung, Hsiang-Chin Hung, Wei-Chen Tung

Faculty Publications

Frailty was a common syndrome in geriatric clinic and general internal medical wards. Some authors had identified the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) as a predictor of length of stay in the acute medicine unit. However, the role of the Clinical Frailty Scale in the length of stay in otolaryngology unit had not been well studied. The objective of this study was to find out the correlation of the CFS in elderly patients admitted to otolaryngology unit and their length of stay. A retrospective medical chart review of 203 elderly patients admitted to the otolaryngology ward from January, 2014 to December, …

A Coronary Masquerade: Spontaneous Coronary Dissection Presenting As Acute Coronary Syndrome, Kara Stout Do, Stephanie Cochran Do, Abdullah Rathur Do, Joe Carragher Do, Iftekhar Baig Do, Merrill Krolick Do

Cardiology

No abstract provided.

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D Mediated Hypercalcemia As An Initial Presentation In A Patient With Undiagnosed B-Cell Non-Hodgkin’S Lymphoma, Ranjit Banwait Md, Jawad Noor Md, Jing He Md, Xiaolong Liu Md, Liang Sun Md

Internal Medicine

In non-Hodgkin's lymphoma the findings of hypercalcemia as an initial presentation is extremely rare (<3% of cases). Here we report a 67 year-old man who presented with ST changes secondary to hypercalcemia in the setting of B-cell lymphoma.

Predicting Premature Birth Risk With Cfrna, Jason Lin, Jonathan Marin, John Santerre

SMU Data Science Review

Identifying which genes are early indicators for preterm births using cell-free ribonucleic acid (cfRNA) from non-invasive blood tests provided by pregnant women can improve prenatal care. Currently, there are no medical tests for early detection of preterm birth risk in routine checkups for pregnant women. Recent studies have shown potential genes that can predict preterm birth. Machine learning techniques are utilized to see if the Area Under the Curve (AUC) can be improved upon when evaluating the prediction accuracy for chosen genes sequences and concentrations. Using cell-free RNA data from non-invasive blood tests in conjunction with machine learning, we improve …

Evaluation Of The Role Of Microvascular Pathology On Peripheral Artery Disease, Constance Mietus

Theses & Dissertations

Background: Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) begins with atherosclerotic narrowing of arteries, including those that supply the legs. Individuals with PAD experience pain during walking, which becomes increasingly limiting. Studies from our group and others have shown that a myopathy is present in the skeletal muscle of PAD patients, and is characterized by myofiber degeneration, fibrosis, and remodeling of vessels ranging from 50 – 150 mm in diameter. However, microvascular pathology, particularly of the smallest microvessels (5 – 15 mm in diameter) remains poorly characterized. Furthermore, little is known about the relationships between microvascular architecture, microperfusion, and patient walking performance. We …

A Rare Manifestation Of A Bleeding Tubulovillous Duodenal Polyp Presenting As An Upper Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage, Neethi Dasu, Yaser Khalid, Herman Suga, Michael Itidiare, Richard Walters

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

• Duodenal polyps are a group of polyps that are fairly uncommon to find on endoscopic evaluation (1).

• They are histologically classified according to mucin phenotype into intestinal and gastric subtypes; the intestinal-type polyps are morphologically subdivided into tubular and tubulovillous adenomas (2)

• We present a case of a 76-year-old male with recurrent hematemesis who was found to have an intestinal-type pedunculated tubulovillous adenoma (TVA) in the descending duodenum • An isolated occurrence of non-ampullary sporadic duodenal adenomas (SDA)’s are a rare finding and presentation as an upper GI hemorrhage is extremely uncommon (3)

• Furthermore, our patient’s …

Data Visualization Of Treatment Outcomes For Tuberculosis Patients, Joy Jenkins

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease, and different treatments have been discovered over the years. However, patients may develop various drug resistance levels that affect the likelihood of becoming cured or dying. In this study, we sought to employ data visualization to explore the relationship between treatment trajectory, as indicated by smear and culture results in the follow-up tests and patient outcomes. A large sample of patients have been broken down by demographics including age, gender, and drug resistance status. Sankey diagrams were used to visualize the pathway progression of the patients over time split between two time periods- months 0-6 …

Seeing Eye To Eye: A Machine Learning Approach To Automated Saccade Analysis, Maigh Attre

Honors Scholar Theses

Abnormal ocular motility is a common manifestation of many underlying pathologies particularly those that are neurological. Dynamics of saccades, when the eye rapidly changes its point of fixation, have been characterized for many neurological disorders including concussions, traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and Parkinson’s disease. However, widespread saccade analysis for diagnostic and research purposes requires the recognition of certain eye movement parameters. Key information such as velocity and duration must be determined from data based on a wide set of patients’ characteristics that may range in eye shapes and iris, hair and skin pigmentation [36]. Previous work on saccade analysis has …

The Effect Of Sepsis On Cerebral Microvascular Blood Flow, Laura Mawdsley, Mamadou Diop, Chris G. Ellis

Western Research Forum

Background: Sepsis is a dysregulated host response to infection that affects 18 000 000 people worldwide, and over 325 000 000 dollars are spent treating sepsis in Canada every year. One of the symptoms of severe sepsis is an altered mental state, which is accompanied with a measured decrease in oxygen levels in the skeletal muscle microvasculature. It is hypothesized that his altered mental state is due to a lack of oxygenated blood reaching the brain.

Hypothesis: After the onset of sepsis, microvascular cerebral blood flow and oxygen levels in the blood will decrease. Onset of decreased blood flow in …

Aortoduodenal Fistula Forms From Primary Aortic Stump Graft In A Two-Time Multi-Visceral Transplant Patient With Presentation Of Gastrointestinal Bleed And Bowel Perforation: A Case Report, Brielle Corrente

Graduate Student Research Symposium

Usually not diagnosed until open laparotomy, aortoduodenalfistulas (ADF) are one of the rarest complications of intestinal transplant surgery. With an incidence rate of only 0.04% at autopsy and only 250 documented cases since the early 1800’s, aortoduodenal fistulas are the most deadly complications of intestinal transplantation with a mortality rate of 100% without surgical intervention. A 39 year old, two-time multi-visceral transplant African American female patient suffered from a primary aortoduodenal fistula formation in a primary modified multi-visceral transplant aortic stump graft site. With emergency open laparotomy repair, revascularization of the secondary multi-visceral transplant was performed, saving the life of …

Successful Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation In The Management Of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome And Cardiopulmonary Collapse Secondary To Amniotic Fluid Embolism, Sumon Roy, Nishit A. Biniwale, Venkata S. Pendela, Patricia Oates, Katrina Wojciechowski, Scott C. Feitell

The VAD Journal

Amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) is one of the most devastating complications of pregnancy that typically manifests as acute cardiopulmonary collapse during delivery or in the postpartum period. The potential role of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) as a management technique in severe cases of AFE remains largely unknown given the limited literature available. In this report, we present the first case, to our knowledge, of successful implementation of ECMO as a life-saving measure in a case of hemorrhagic shock due to postpartum bleeding complicated by severe AFE leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) ultimately requiring tracheostomy. Hemodynamic decompensation is often …

Extracellular Vesicles From Thyroid Carcinoma: The New Frontier Of Liquid Biopsy, Germana Rappa, Caterina Puglisi, Mark F. Santos, Stefano Forte, Lorenzo Memeo, Aurelio Lorico

College of Osteopathic Medicine (TUN) Publications and Research

The diagnostic approach to thyroid cancer is one of the most challenging issues in oncology of the endocrine system because of its high incidence (3.8% of all new cancer cases in the US) and the difficulty to distinguish benign from malignant non-functional thyroid nodules and establish the cervical lymph node involvement during staging. Routine diagnosis of thyroid nodules usually relies on a fine-needle aspirate biopsy, which is invasive and often inaccurate. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify novel, accurate, and non-invasive diagnostic procedures. Liquid biopsy, as a non-invasive approach for the detection of diagnostic biomarkers for early tumor …

Multiple Regression Models To Analyze Length Of Hospitalization Due To Nosocomial Infections In U.S. Hospitals, Ernest M. Oleksy

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

Nosocomial diseases are a serious concern and detriment to hospitals’ abilities to provide appropriate patient care. Bearing this in mind, an effort must be made to determine whether infection surveillance and control programs have reduced the rates of nosocomial infection at U.S. hospitals. The data that were studied were obtained as part of the Study on the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control (SENIC) and used to develop a model of what variables most contribute to a patient’s length of stay at the Cleveland Clinic (Quade et al, 1980).

Community-Acquired Pneumonia In Adults: Diagnostic Reliability Of Physical Examination Techniques And Their Teaching In Academia, Amber Tordoff, Lauren A. Williams

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2016 to 2019

Background: Chest physical examination techniques are taught in academia, but their usefulness in the evaluation and diagnosis of patients in the clinical setting is controversial. Objective: To investigate the accuracy of physical examination techniques and their reliability in diagnosing community acquired pneumonia (CAP) and suggest a modified teaching approach to be used in academia. Design: Systematic Literature Review. Methods: Database search of PubMed and Google Scholar using the search terms “prediction of pneumonia in adults” and “prediction rule for pulmonary infiltrates.” Filters were implemented to include articles that only dealt with human subjects and were full text. Articles …

Effective Measures Of Weight Gain Five Years Post-Kidney Transplantation, Tara Calico Cherry

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

BACKGROUND: Weight gain is commonly observed post-kidney transplantation and is associated with unfavorable health outcomes, such as graft loss, new onset diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this study was to determine the most effective measure for assessing body composition after kidney transplantation.

DESIGN: The study was a descriptive correlational follow-up study from a single kidney transplant site.

SUBJECTS: A total of 45 eligible patients from a 2007-2011 parent study were selected, ages of 37 to 78.

MEASUREMENTS: Body composition was obtained 5–8 years posttransplant via anthropometric measures (waist circumference, body mass index, and dual energy X-ray …