Diseases Commons^™

Economic And Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Of The Community-Level Interventions For Pre-Eclampsia (Clip) Trials In India, Pakistan And Mozambique, Jeffrey N. Bone, Asif R. Khowaja, Marianne Vidler, Beth A. Payne, Mrutyunjaya B. Bellad, Shivaprasad S. Goudar, Ashalata A. Mallapur, Khatia Munguambe, Rahat Qureshi, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Woman and Child Health

Background: The Community-Level Interventions for Pre-eclampsia (CLIP) trials (NCT01911494) in India, Pakistan and Mozambique (February 2014-2017) involved community engagement and task sharing with community health workers for triage and initial treatment of pregnancy hypertension. Maternal and perinatal mortality was less frequent among women who received ≥8 CLIP contacts. The aim of this analysis was to assess the incremental costs and cost-effectiveness of the CLIP intervention overall in comparison to standard of care, and by PIERS (Pre-eclampsia Integrated Estimate of RiSk) On the Move (POM) mobile health application visit frequency.
Methods: Included were all women enrolled in the three …

Chikungunya Outbreak In Karachi Pakistan 2016-2017: An Analysis Of Viral Isolates, Dhani Prakoso, Kelli Barr, Kehkashan Imtiaz, Joveria Farooqi, Erum Khan, Maureen Long

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

In December 2016 physicians in Karachi, Pakistan,witnessed an increase in patients presenting with febrile illness and severe polyarthralgia. Subsequently, chikungunya virus (CHIKV)) was isolated from three patients. This virus was sequenced and compared with other isolates of CHIKV obtained in India and Pakistan during recent outbreaks. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the Karachi isolates were most similar to the East Central South African CHIKV lineage and showed sequence homology to isolates obtained in other parts of Pakistan and India. More importantly, two of the CHIKV isolates had a nucleotide substitution in the E1 gene corresponding to an amino acid change at …

How Covid-19 Has Fundamentally Changed Clinical Research In Global Health, Jay J H. Park, Robin Mogg, Gerald E. Smith, Etheldreda Nakimuli-Mpungu, Fyezah Jehan, Craig R. Rayner, Jeanine Condo, Eric H. Decloedt, Jean B. Nachega, Gilmar Reis, Edward J. Mills

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

COVID-19 has had negative repercussions on the entire global population. Despite there being a common goal that should have unified resources and efforts, there have been an overwhelmingly large number of clinical trials that have been registered that are of questionable methodological quality. As the final paper of this Series, we discuss how the medical research community has responded to COVID-19. We recognise the incredible pressure that this pandemic has put on researchers, regulators, and policy makers, all of whom were doing their best to move quickly but safely in a time of tremendous uncertainty. However, the research community's response …

Referral Pattern And Outcomes Of Neonates From Secondary Care Setting Of Aga Khan University Hospital To Tertiary Care Centers In Pakistan, Suneeta Khemani, Nazia Shamim, Adnan Mirza, Nadia Mohammad, Safdar Kagazwala, Shakeel Ahmed

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Objective: To determine the reasons of neonatal referrals from secondary-care to tertiary-care setting, and to assess neonatal outcomes for the referred cases.
Methods: The retrospective study was conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, and comprised data from July 2015 to June 2019 Related to all neonates born after 32 weeks of gestation at the satellite secondary-care centres in Kharadar, Garden and Karimabad who had been referred to the main tertiary care hospital. The reason for referral, need of mechanical ventilation, referral place and neonatal outcome were noted. Data was analysed using SPSS 22.
Results: Of the 348 cases, …

Gastrointestinal Complications In Critically Ill Children: Experience From A Resource-Limited Country, Sidra Ishaque, Mariam Shakir, Asma Akbar Ladak, Anwar Ul Haque

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Objectives: To determine the frequency and predictors of outcome of gastrointestinal complications (GIC) in critically ill children.
Methods: This descriptive study was prospectively conducted in The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), The Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), Karachi, from September 2015 to January 2017. After obtaining approval from the Ethical Review Committee of AKUH and informed consent from the parents, all children (aged one month to 18 years), of either gender, admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) during the study period were included. The frequency of the defined GIC: vomiting, high gastric residue volume (GRV), diarrhea, constipation, and …

The Effects Of Chemotherapeutic Agents On Cognitive Function: A Literature Review, Corinne Menz

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

With increasing cancer diagnoses and an increase of chemotherapy treatment, many patients complain of cognitive decline during the duration of treatment as well as once treatment has been completed. The purpose of this review is to compile relevant research regarding chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment and its implications for the care of cancer patients. Peer-reviewed articles and studies focusing on the impact of chemotherapy on cognitive function were evaluated, resulting in a total of 12 studies utilized in this review. Overall, it has been found that a large percentage of patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment report a subjective decline in cognitive functioning, but …

A Clinical Audit Of Management Of Third And Fourth Degree Perineal Tears, Saida Abrar, Raheela Mohsin Rizvi, Urooj Kashif

Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology

Objective: To perform a clinical audit of the practices related to the management of third and fourth degree perineal tears.
Methods: The retrorspective study was conducted in 2019 at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, and comprised medical records from January 2008 to December 2018 of women having singleton term vaginal delivery and sustaining obstetric anal sphincter injuries. The change in practices regarding tear management was compared with a previous audit done at the same institution in 2008. Data was analysed using SPSS 20.
Results: Of the 25,370 deliveries, 142(0.56%) sustained obstetric anal sphincter injuries. There was a significant increase …

Harnessing The Power Of Trained Immunity In The Setting Of Pancreatic Cancer: A Novel Mechanism Of Immune Trafficking And Tumor Control., Anne Elena Geller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the success of immunotherapy in many types of cancer, pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has yet to benefit. Innate immune cells are critical to antitumor immunosurveillance and recent studies have revealed that these populations possess a form of memory, termed trained innate immunity, which occurs through transcriptomic, epigenetic, and metabolic reprograming. Though trained innate immunity has mostly been investigated in the context of infection, the induction of trained innate immunity could also protect against tumors, and specifically pancreatic tumors. Here, we demonstrate that yeast-derived particulate β-glucan, a known inducer of trained immunity, traffics to the pancreas following IP administration. This causes …

Breast Cancer Risk For Female Relatives Of Male Breast Cancer Patients With Negative Brca1/2 Testing, Emily Martin

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Risk models exist to estimate a female’s lifetime risk of breast cancer in the absence of a hereditary predisposition to cancer, namely Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer syndrome. These risk models consider various factors such as reproductive history and family history, but few models take a family history of male breast cancer into account. This study aims to evaluate if prevalence of breast cancer among female relatives is higher when there is a family history of male breast cancer in the context of uninformative BRCA1 and BRCA2 testing. This information may aid in the process of risk assessments for patients …

Imaging Based Prediction Of Pathology In Adult Diffuse Glioma With Applications To Therapy And Prognosis, Evan Gates

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The overall aggressiveness of a glioma is measured by histologic and molecular analysis of tissue samples. However, the well-known spatial heterogeneity in gliomas limits the ability for clinicians to use that information to make spatially specific treatment decisions. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) visualizes and assesses the tumor. But, the exact degree to which MRI correlates with the actual underlying tissue characteristics is not known.

In this work, we derive quantitative relationships between imaging and underlying pathology. These relations increase the value of MRI by allowing it to be a better surrogate for underlying pathology and they allow evaluation of the …

Investigating Diffusion Tensor Imaging Correlates Of Cognitive Impairment In Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus And Alzheimer's Disease, Omar Hasan, Omar Hasan

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Modest expansion of the human brain cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-filled ventricles is normal with aging, and because of this, it can be difficult for physicians to accurately diagnose and treat enlarged ventricles (ventriculomegaly), called hydrocephalus¹ (fluid or water in the brain) Ventriculomegaly occurs due to an obstruction (such as a blood clot or tumor), or a change in CSF absorption². Primary hydrocephalus, also called idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH), is non-obstructive and may be comorbid with other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Clinically, it can be difficult to tell whether the pathophysiological …

Impact Of Proton Pump Inhibitor Use On Effectiveness Of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors In Advanced Cancer Patients, Ken Chen

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Background: Gut microbiome plays a critical role in modulating therapeutic effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) may affect the gut microbiome by altering gut pH.

Objective: To evaluate if concurrent use of PPI 0-30 days before or after initiation of ICIs (nivolumab or pembrolizumab) is associated with poorer overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) for patients with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, transitional cell carcinoma or head and neck squamous cell carcinoma compared with no PPI use.

Methods: This was a single-center retrospective cohort study of advanced cancer patients …

Impact Of Acne On Quality Of Life In Young Pakistani Adults And Its Relationship With Severity: A Multicenter Study, Shaheen Naveed, Sadia Masood, Atiya Rahman, Safia Awan, Saadia Tabassum

Department of Medicine

Objectives: The current study aimed to determine the effect of acne vulgaris on quality of life of young adults and to assess the correlation between acne severity and impairment of quality of life (QOLI).
Methods: In this multi-center cross-sectional study, 163 young adults with acne vulgaris were assessed for severity and quality of life impairment between December 2016 and May 2017 at three tertiary care hospitals. Cardiff Acne Disability Index (CADI) was used to assess the quality of life while the severity of acne measured by Global Acne Grading System (GAGS). Data were collected on standardized forms, with CADI, GAGS …

Cervical Cancer-Associated Suffering: Estimating The Palliative Care Needs Of A Highly Vulnerable Population, Eric L. Krakauer, Xiaoxiao Kwete, Khadidjatou Kane, Gauhar Afshan, Lisa Bazzett-Matabele, Danta Dona Ruthnie Bien-Aimé, Sarah Byrne-Martelli, Stephen Connor, Raimundo Correa, C R Beena Devi C R Beena Devi

Department of Anaesthesia

Purpose: To enable design of optimum palliative care for women with cervical cancer, we studied the most common types of suffering and their severity, prevalence, and duration.
Methods: We first reviewed the literature on the major types, severity, prevalence, and duration of suffering associated with cervical cancer. We then conducted a modified Delphi process with experts in cervical cancer care to supplement the literature. For each type of suffering, we distinguished between decedents (those who die from cervical cancer in a given year) and nondecedents (those who have cervical cancer in a given year but do not die). By applying …

Patient-Reported Barriers Are Associated With Receipt Of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Surveillance In A Multicenter Cohort Of Patients With Cirrhosis, Amit G Singal, Jasmin A Tiro, Caitlin C Murphy, James-Michael Blackwell, Jennifer R Kramer, Aisha Khan, Yan Liu, Song Zhang, Jessica L Phillips, Ruben Hernaez

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: More than 20% of patients with cirrhosis do not receive semi-annual hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) surveillance as recommended. Few studies have evaluated the effects of patient-level factors on surveillance receipt.

METHODS: We administered a telephone survey to a large cohort of patients with cirrhosis from 3 health systems (a tertiary care referral center, a safety-net health system, and Veterans Affairs) to characterize patient knowledge, attitudes, and perceived barriers of HCC surveillance. Multinomial logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with HCC surveillance receipt (semi-annual and annual vs none) during the 12-month period preceding survey administration.

RESULTS: Of 2871 patients …

Associations Of Abdominal Pain And Psychosocial Distress Measures With Health-Related Quality-Of-Life In Pediatric Healthy Controls And Irritable Bowel Syndrome, John M Hollier, Danita I Czyzewski, Mariella M Self, Yan Liu, Erica M Weidler, Miranda A L Van Tilburg, James W Varni, Robert J Shulman

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Children with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) have lower health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) than healthy controls (HC). Abdominal pain and psychosocial distress are negatively associated with HRQOL, although their relative effect is unclear.

AIM: The aim of this study was to compare the relative associations of abdominal pain and psychosocial distress with HRQOL in HC and IBS.

STUDY: Baseline abdominal pain, psychosocial distress, and HRQOL measures were obtained from HC and IBS pediatric clinical trial participants. Regression assessed which measures were most strongly associated with Physical and Psychosocial HRQOL separately by group. Interaction analyses examined group differences in the associations of …

Coronavirus Disease-19 And Cardiovascular Disease: A Risk Factor Or A Risk Marker?, Jing Liu, Salim S Virani, Mahboob Alam, Ali E Denktas, Ihab Hamzeh, Umair Khalid

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 causes the clinical syndrome of coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) which has become a global pandemic resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. While the virus primarily affects the respiratory system, it also causes a wide variety of complex cardiac manifestations such as acute myopericarditis, acute coronary syndrome, congested heart failure, cardiogenic shock and cardiac arrhythmias. There are numerous proposed mechanisms of cardiac injury, including direct cellular injury, pro-inflammatory cytokine storm, myocardial oxygen-demand mismatch, and systemic inflammation causing multi-organ failure. Additionally, medications commonly used to treat COVID-19 patients have various cardiovascular side effects. We aim to …

Temporal Changes And Institutional Variation In Use Of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention For St-Elevation Myocardial Infarction With Multivessel Coronary Artery Disease In The United States: An Ncdr Research To Practice Project, Eric A Secemsky, Neel Butala, Aishwarya Raja, Rohan Khera, Yongfei Wang, Jeptha P Curtis, Thomas M Maddox, Salim S Virani, Ehrin J Armstrong, Kendrick A Shunk, Ralph G Brindis, Deepak Bhatt, Robert W Yeh

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

IMPORTANCE: After disparate results from observational and small randomized studies, the COMPLETE trial demonstrated superiority of multivessel (MV) percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) over culprit-only PCI for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

OBJECTIVE: To describe temporal trends and institutional variation of MV PCI use for STEMI in the United States to inform how new evidence may influence clinical practice.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study included STEMI admissions involving MV disease from 1598 institutions in the National Cardiovascular Data Registry CathPCI Registry from the third quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2018. An MV PCI was defined as a …

Type 2 Diabetes Subgroups, Risk For Complications, And Differential Effects Due To An Intensive Lifestyle Intervention, Michael P Bancks, Haiying Chen, Ashok Balasubramanyam, Alain G Bertoni, Mark A Espeland, Steven E Kahn, Scott Pilla, Elizabeth Vaughan, Lynne E Wagenknecht

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: We reevaluated the Action for Health in Diabetes (Look AHEAD) intervention, incorporating diabetes subgroups, to identify whether intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) is associated with differential risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) by diabetes subgroup.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In the Look AHEAD trial, 5,145 participants, aged 45-76 years, with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and overweight or obesity were randomly assigned to 10 years of ILI or a control condition of diabetes support and education. The ILI focused on weight loss through decreased caloric intake and increased physical activity. To characterize diabetes subgroups, we applied k-means clustering to data on age …

Mitophagy Deficiency Increases Nlrp3 To Induce Brown Fat Dysfunction In Mice, Myoung Seok Ko, Ji Young Yun, In-Jeoung Baek, Jung Eun Jang, Jung Jin Hwang, Seung Eun Lee, Seung-Ho Heo, David A Bader, Chul-Ho Lee, Jaeseok Han, Jong-Seok Moon, Jae Man Lee, Eun-Gyoung Hong, In-Kyu Lee, Seong Who Kim, Joong Yeol Park, Sean M Hartig, Un Jung Kang, David D Moore, Eun Hee Koh, Ki-Up Lee

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Although macroautophagy/autophagy deficiency causes degenerative diseases, the deletion of essential autophagy genes in adipocytes paradoxically reduces body weight. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays an important role in body weight regulation and metabolic control. However, the key cellular mechanisms that maintain BAT function remain poorly understood. in this study, we showed that global or brown adipocyte-specific deletion of pink1, a Parkinson disease-related gene involved in selective mitochondrial autophagy (mitophagy), induced BAT dysfunction, and obesity-prone type in mice. Defective mitochondrial function is among the upstream signals that activate the NLRP3 inflammasome. NLRP3 was induced in brown adipocyte precursors (BAPs) from pink1 …

Soluble Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2, Cardiac Biomarkers, Structure, And Function, And Cardiovascular Events (From The Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities Study), Aliza Hussain, Olive Tang, Caroline Sun, Xiaoming Jia, Elizabeth Selvin, Vijay Nambi, Aaron Folsom, Gerardo Heiss, Faiez Zannad, Thomas Mosley, Salim S Virani, Josef Coresh, Eric Boerwinkle, Bing Yu, Jonathan W Cunningham, Amil M Shah, Scott D Solomon, James A De Lemos, Ron C Hoogeveen, Christie M Ballantyne

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Membrane-bound angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 is important in regulation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, but the association of cleaved soluble ACE2 (sACE2) with cardiovascular disease (CVD) is unclear. We evaluated the association of sACE2 with cardiac biomarkers, structure, and function and cardiovascular events in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. sACE2 was measured in a subset of 497 participants (mean age 78±5.4 years, 53% men, 27% black); Cox regression analyses assessed prospective associations of sACE2 with time to first CVD event at median 6.1-year follow-up. sACE2 was higher in men, blacks, and participants with prevalent CVD, diabetes, or hypertension. Higher sACE2 levels …

Coronavirus Disease-19 And Cardiovascular Disease: A Risk Factor Or A Risk Marker?, Jing Liu, Salim S Virani, Mahboob Alam, Ali E Denktas, Ihab Hamzeh, Umair Khalid

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 causes the clinical syndrome of coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) which has become a global pandemic resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. While the virus primarily affects the respiratory system, it also causes a wide variety of complex cardiac manifestations such as acute myopericarditis, acute coronary syndrome, congested heart failure, cardiogenic shock and cardiac arrhythmias. There are numerous proposed mechanisms of cardiac injury, including direct cellular injury, pro-inflammatory cytokine storm, myocardial oxygen-demand mismatch, and systemic inflammation causing multi-organ failure. Additionally, medications commonly used to treat COVID-19 patients have various cardiovascular side effects. We aim to …

Enabling Precision Medicine In Cancer Care Through A Molecular Data Warehouse: The Moffitt Experience, Steven A Eschrich, Jamie K Teer, Phillip Reisman, Erin Siegel, Chandan Challa, Patricia Lewis, Katherine Fellows, Everin Malpica, Rodrigo Carvajal, Guillermo Gonzalez, Scott Cukras, Miguel Betin-Montes, Garrick Aden-Buie, Melissa Avedon, Daniel Manning, Aik Choon Tan, Brooke L Fridley, Travis Gerke, Mattias Van Looveren, Amilcar Blake, Jennifer Greenman, Dana E Rollison

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

PURPOSE: The use of genomics within cancer research and clinical oncology practice has become commonplace. Efforts such as The Cancer Genome Atlas have characterized the cancer genome and suggested a wealth of targets for implementing precision medicine strategies for patients with cancer. The data produced from research studies and clinical care have many potential secondary uses beyond their originally intended purpose. Effective storage, query, retrieval, and visualization of these data are essential to create an infrastructure to enable new discoveries in cancer research.

METHODS: Moffitt Cancer Center implemented a molecular data warehouse to complement the extensive enterprise clinical data warehouse …

Prospective Patient-Reported Symptom Profiles Associated With Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Relapse, Austin L Brown, Kimberly P Raghubar, Olga A Taylor, Melanie Brooke Bernhardt, Lisa S Kahalley, Wei Pan, Philip J Lupo, Marilyn J Hockenberry, Michael E Scheurer

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

PURPOSE: Despite improvements in frontline pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treatment, relapse remains a concern. Research in adult cancer patients suggests that patient-reported symptoms may predict survival, but the relationship between symptoms and relapse for pediatric ALL has received little attention.

METHODS: Pediatric patients with ALL (age 2-18 years) and/or their primary caregivers completed symptom surveys at the end of induction, start of delayed intensification (DI), start of maintenance cycle 1 (MC1), and start of maintenance cycle 2 (MC2). Symptom clusters for co-occurring fatigue, pain, sleep disruptions, and nausea were defined using latent profile analysis. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% …

Dietary Factors And Gastric Intestinal Metaplasia Risk Among Us Veterans, Mimi C Tan, Niharika Mallepally, Quynh Ho, Yan Liu, Hashem B El-Serag, Aaron P Thrift

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Studies on diet and gastric intestinal metaplasia (GIM) risk are lacking in US populations.

AIM: To determine the associations of dietary factors and risk of GIM among a US population with typical American diet.

METHODS: We analyzed data from a cross-sectional study of veterans attending primary care and endoscopy clinics at the Houston VA Medical Center. Patients completed a 110-item Block Food Frequency Questionnaire then underwent upper endoscopy with gastric mapping biopsies. We compared cases defined by GIM on ≥ 1 non-cardia gastric biopsy to controls without GIM. Associations of dietary factors and GIM were estimated using logistic regression …

Acetyl-Coa And Metabolite Fluxes Regulate White Adipose Tissue Expansion, Jessica B Felix, Aaron R Cox, Sean M Hartig

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

White adipose tissue (WAT) depends on coordinated regulation of transcriptional and metabolic pathways to respond to whole-body energy demands. We highlight metabolites that contribute to biosynthetic reactions for WAT expansion. Recent studies have precisely defined how byproducts of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism affect physiological and endocrine functions in adipocytes. We emphasize the critical emerging roles of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle metabolites that connect lipogenesis to WAT energy balance and endocrine functions. These insights address how adipocytes use small molecules generated from central carbon metabolism to measure responses to nutritional stress.

Genetics Of Atrial Fibrillation, Jitae A Kim, Mihail G Chelu, Na Li

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Atrial fibrillation is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia. In addition to traditional risk factors, it is increasingly recognized that a genetic component underlies atrial fibrillation development. This review aims to provide an overview of the genetic cause of atrial fibrillation and clinical applications, with a focus on recent developments.

RECENT FINDINGS: Genome-wide association studies have now identified around 140 genetic loci associated with atrial fibrillation. Studies into the effects of several loci and their tentative gene targets have identified novel pathways associated with atrial fibrillation development. However, further validations of causality are still needed for many …

Perivascular Adipose Tissue In Relation To Diet, Thermogenesis And Cardiovascular Health, Ginger Paquette, Caitlin Stieber, Ashely Soucy, Benjamin Tero, Lucy Liaw

Thinking Matters Symposium

Adipose tissue is a diverse and crucial component to vascular health due to its role in energy storage and heat production. The primary function of white adipose tissue (WAT) is energy storage while the function of mitochondria-rich brown adipose tissue (BAT) is heat production. Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT), which surrounds blood vessels, contains both WAT and BAT adipocytes. Dietary calorie restriction is associated with increased lifespan with decreased adiposity. Increased prevalence of WAT-like PVAT, due to high-fat diets and obesity, leads to increased metabolic disfunction and cardiovascular-disease. We used a calorie-restriction model in C57BL6/J mice to test the hypothesis that …

Clinical Characteristics And Outcomes Of Covid-19: Experience At A Major Tertiary Care Center In Pakistan, Nosheen Nasir, Kiren Habib, Iffat Khanum, Naveera Khan, Zehra Abdul Muhammad, Syed Faisal Mahmood

Section of Internal Medicine

Introduction: Limited data exist on clinical characteristics and outcomes of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in low-middle income countries. We aimed to describe the clinical spectrum and outcomes of hospitalized COVID-19 patients at a tertiary-care center in Karachi, Pakistan.
Methodology: We conducted an observational study of adult COVID-19 patients hospitalized between February-June 2020. Patients with a discharge diagnosis of COVID-19 and PCR positivity were included. We created logistic regression models to understand association of clinical characteristics with illness severity and in-hospital mortality.
Results: The study population comprised 445 patients [67% males, median age 53 (IQR 40-64) years]. Majority of patients (N = …

Thyreos Completes Seed Funding From Invest Nebraska, Strategic Angel Investors, Nebraska Combine

The Combine

First paragraph:

Thyreos (https://www.thyreosvaccines.com/), a vaccine company that is developing a novel vaccine platform that protects against a range of herpesviruses, has announced a $750,000 investment round led by Invest Nebraska with participation from other local angel investors in the animal health and veterinary space.