Diseases Commons^™

Murmur Associated With Diastolic Paradoxical Jet Flow In A 43-Year-Old Man With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, Michiyo Yamano, Tatsuya Kawasaki, Hirokazu Shiraishi, Tadaaki Kamitani, Takatomo Shima, Takashi Nakamura, Satoaki Matoba

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

A diastolic paradoxical jet flow, often seen in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, is a unique flow from the apex toward the base of the left ventricle during isovolumic relaxation. To date, this phenomenon appears to have been noninvasively detected only on echocardiograms. We report the case of a 43-year-old man with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and a diastolic paradoxical jet flow, in whom cardiac auscultation revealed a soft S4, a systolic ejection murmur, and a low-pitched early diastolic murmur immediately after S2 at the apex. On comparing his echocardiographic findings with those on phonocardiograms and apexcardiograms, we confirmed that the unusual murmur …

Public Hospitals Matter, Herbert L Fred

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Recent events in this country pose major concerns. Police shoot unarmed blacks, gun-wielding malcontents ambush policemen, white supremacists march, gays are murdered, gender inequality pervades our workforce, and sexual harassment and abuse are surfacing in many segments of our society. In reaction, various social movements have sprung up, including Black Lives Matter, White Lives Matter, Blue Lives (policemen) Matter, Gay Lives Matter, Girls for Gender Equity (GGE), #MeToo, and Time's Up. To that list, I add another battle cry: Public Hospitals Matter.

Clinical-Evolutional Particularities Of The Cryoglobulinemic Vasculitis In The Case Of A Patient Diagnosed With Hepatitis C Virus In The Predialitic Phase, Daniel C. Caragea, Larisa Săndulescu, Vlad Pădureanu, Mircea C. Forțofoiu, Costin Streba, Lidia Boldeanu, Mihail V. Boldeanu, Mircea Popescu-Drigă, Marius E. Ciurea, Maria Forțofoiu, Ion Rogoveanu, Tudorel Ciurea, Cristin C. Vere

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) represents a fundamental issue for public health, with long term evolution and the gradual appearance of several complications and associated pathologies. One of these pathologies is represented by cryoglobulinemic vasculitis, a disorder characterized by the appearance in the patient’s serum of the cryoglobulins, which typically precipitate at temperatures below normal body temperature (37°C) and dissolve again if the serum is heated. Here, we describe the case of a patient diagnosed with HCV that, during the evolution of the hepatic disease, developed a form of cryoglobulinemic vasculitis. The connection between the vasculitis and the hepatic disorder was …

Melatonin Attenuates Oxidative Stress And Modulates Inflammatory Response After Experimental Burn Trauma, Minka Hristova, Ganka Bekyarova, Milena Atanasova, Maria Tzaneva

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Introduction. Thermal injury activates an inflammatory response. Melatonin possesses anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The objective of the present work was to study melatonin effects on the inflammatory response under conditions of oxidative stress during the early stage of thermal injury.

Materials and methods. We used 24 white male rats of Wistar breed, randomly divided into three experimental groups. Group one was the control, group two was inflicted with burn trauma, and group three was inflicted with burn trauma, with melatonin application following the thermal injury. Melatonin was applied twice in doses of 10 g/kg b.m. immediately after the burn trauma …

Dietary Habits And Lifestyle In School-Aged Children From Bucharest, Romania, Anca Pantea Stoian, Liliana F. Andronache, Razvan Hainarosie, Dan N. Paduraru, Cristinel D. Badiu, Andreea Arsene, Claudia Mehedintu, Georgiana Ditu, Silviu M. Pituru, Cristina Orlov, Mihaela Oros, Cornelia Nitipir

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Background. This study evaluated the difference between boys and girls in terms of nutritional status, lifestyle, and dietary habits during school life.

Materials and Methods. A descriptive and observational study was conducted in 2016, in which 251 children, aged 7-17, from 3 elementary schools and a high school inBucharest,Romania, were evaluated. A questionnaire was used to assess food behavior, eating, and lifestyle habits.

Results. Boys had a significantly higher waist circumference (71.18±9) than girls (67.46±9.91) (p=0.004). Thus 27% of boys were overweight or obese compared with only 22% of the girls. Differences were also seen between the two groups in …

Vascular Neurocognitive Disorders And The Vascular Risk Factors, Carmen V. Albu, Vlad Padureanu, Mihail V. Boldeanu, Ana M. Bumbea, Anca S. Enescu, Dana M. Albulescu, Cristian A. Silosi, Aurelia Enescu

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Dementias are clinical neurodegenerative diseases characterized by permanent and progressive transformation of cognitive functions such as memory, learning capacity, attention, thinking, language, passing judgments, calculation or orientation. Dementias represent a relatively frequent pathology, encountered at about 10% of the population of 65-year olds and 20% of the population of 80-year olds.

This review presents the main etiological forms of dementia, which include Alzheimer form of dementia, vascular dementia, dementia associated with alpha-synucleionopathies, and mixed forms. Regarding vascular dementia, the risk factors are similar to those for an ischemic or hemorrhagic cerebrovascular accident: arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, smoking, obesity, age, …

Androgenic Alopecia; The Risk–Benefit Ratio Of Finasteride, David L. Rowland, Ion G. Motofei, Ioana Păunică, Petrișor Banu, Mihaela F. Nistor, Stana Păunică, Vlad D. Constantin

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Finasteride is currently approved and largely used as a therapeutic option for androgenetic alopecia. Apparently a safe drug and effective at the onset of its application, several concerns have since appeared over the years regarding the frequency and magnitude of finasteride adverse effects, which in some cases appear irreversible even after drug termination.

This paper discusses the use of finasteride for androgenic alopecia from two distinct perspectives. On the one hand, androgenic alopecia is a condition that especially affects a person’s self-image and esteem, aspects that are subjectively-constructed and thus relative and changeable. On the other hand, this condition involves …

Sequence Analysis Of The Potato Aphid Macrosiphum Euphorbiae Transcriptome Identified Two New Viruses, Marcella A. Texeira, Noa Sela, Hagop S. Atamian, Ergude Bao, Rita Chaudhury, Jacob Macwilliams, Jiangman He, Sophie Mantelin, Thomas Girke, Isgouhi Kaloshian

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The potato aphid, Macrosiphum euphorbiae, is an important agricultural pest that causes economic losses to potato and tomato production. To establish the transcriptome for this aphid, RNA-Seq libraries constructed from aphids maintained on tomato plants were used in Illumina sequencing generating 52.6 million 75±105 bp paired-end reads. The reads were assembled using Velvet/Oases software with SEED preprocessing resulting in 22,137 contigs with an N50 value of 2,003bp. After removal of contigs from tomato host origin, 20,254 contigs were annotated using BLASTx searches against the non-redundant protein database from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) as well as IntereProScan. …

Role Of Mucin 19 In The Respiratory Tract, Kaitlin Mcbride

LSU Master's Theses

Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a negative sense, single stranded RNA virus belonging to the Pneumoviridae family, and represents an important pathogen that causes severe respiratory disease worldwide. There is currently no vaccine against HMPV, so it is important to study the aspects of the immune response induced by HMPV. Because infiltration of mucus is a hallmark of HMPV infection, it is warranted to study the role of mucus in the disease process. Mucin proteins make up the major component of mucus and can be found within the airway and lungs. Previous work from our laboratory demonstrated a high upregulation of …

The Role Of Nutrition In Influencing Mechanisms Involved In Environmentally Mediated Diseases, Bernhard Hennig, Michael C. Petriello, Mary V. Gamble, Young-Joon Surh, Laura A. Kresty, Norbert Frank, Nuchanart Rangkadilok, Mathuros Ruchirawat, William A. Suk

Superfund Research Center Faculty Publications

Human exposure to environmental contaminants such as persistent chlorinated organics, heavy metals, pesticides, phthalates, flame retardants, electronic waste and airborne pollutants around the world, and especially in Southeast Asian regions, are significant and require urgent attention. Given this widespread contamination and abundance of such toxins as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the ecosystem, it is unlikely that remediation alone will be sufficient to address the health impacts associated with this exposure. Furthermore, we must assume that the impact on health of some of these contaminants results in populations with extraordinary vulnerabilities to disease risks. Further exacerbating risk; infectious diseases, poverty …

Roche Gears Up For Pivotal Phase 3 Huntington’S Disease Gene-Slicing Clinical Trial, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

Prevalence Of Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension, And Dyslipidemia In Student-Run Screening Clinics For Rural Communities In The Sierra Norte Of Puebla, Mexico, Sean Navin, Daniel M. Tomaszewski

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Background: The growing prevalence of hypertension (HTN), diabetes mellitus (DM), and in Mexico highlights the need for preventative health care services. Rural communities worldwide lack access to such services. The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence of HTN, DM, and dyslipidemia in student-run screening clinics in rural communities of the Sierra Norte of Puebla, Mexico to better understand the role the clinics play for the patients served.

Methods: Data were collected from patients from rural, Mexican towns participating in free pharmacy student-run screening clinics. Patients consented to have their de-identified information pooled for re-search. Screenings …

Examining A Relationship Between Chronic Dietary Folic Acid Deficiency And Activation Of P53 Gene In Down Syndrome Ts65dn Mice, Julia Thomas, Susan E. Helm Phd, Jay Brewster

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Seaver Undergraduate Research

Ethnicity, Climate, And House Types As Mortality Factors In The New Orleans' 1878 Yellow Fever Outbreak, Gabriele Richardson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The following study is first a demonstration that even incomplete health data from 1878 New Orleans’ yellow fever outbreak can be used with modern epidemiological methods and achieve useful and revealing results. Accordingly, this research examines three possible associations between New Orleans’ population exposed to yellow fever and the environment they lived in, using 4,755 yellow fever cases, derived from the New Orleans Board of Health report, Cemetery Burial records, Hospital, Asylum, and prison registers, and New Orleans obituaries. The first relationship addresses the vulnerability to yellow fever for people born in Italy, France, Great Britain, and the German Empire, …

Designing A Socio-Normative Intervention To Reduce Anemia In Odisha India: A Formative Research Protocol [Version 1; Referees: 2 Approved], Erica Sedlander, Rajiv N Rimal, Sameera A Talegawkar, Hagere Yilma, Wolfgang Munar

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

Background: More than half of women of reproductive age in India are anemic. Anemia is associated with increased risk of preterm delivery, higher maternal mortality and contributes to fatigue, which affects women’s work productivity. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends daily oral iron and folic acid (IFA) supplements during pregnancy and weekly supplements for women of reproductive age. Government programs and global donors have distributed and promoted IFA supplements in India for over four decades. However, initial intake and compliance remain inadequate.
Objectives: This protocol describes the formative research phase of a larger study, which will test, through a randomized …

Rapid Identification And Typing Of Mycobacterium Avium Complex Using Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (Maldi-Tof) Library And Biomarker Based Approaches, Claudia Antonika, John Dustin Loy, Raul Barletta, Michael Collins

UCARE: Research Products

Bacteria associated with the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) cause significant problems in animal agriculture and cause large economic losses and morbidity of livestock. Two clinically important subspecies of M. avium are M.avium ssp paratuberculosis (MAP) and M. avium ssp hominissuis (MAH). MAP is the etiologic agent of Johne’s disease, a chronic and fatal enteritis in ruminants, that has been linked to Crohn’s disease in humans.1 MAH has zoonotic potential as it is one of the leading causes of secondary infections in AIDS patients. Identification of M. avium in clinical samples is challenging as they have overlapping host ranges and clinical …

Contributions Of Mean And Shape Of Blood Pressure Distribution To Worldwide Trends And Variations In Raised Blood Pressure: A Pooled Analysis Of 1018 Population-Based Measurement Studies With 88.6 Million Participants, Majid Ezzati, Bin Zhou, James Bentham, Mariachiara Di Cesare, Honor Bixby, Goodarz Danaei, Kaveh Hajifathalian, Cristina Taddei, Rodrigo M. Carrillo-Larco, Shirin Djalalinia, Shahab Khatibzadeh, Charles Lugero, Niloofar Peykari, Wan Zhu Zhang, James Bennett, Ver Bilano, Gretchen A. Stevens, Melanie J. Cowan, Leanne M. Riley, Zhengming Chen, Ian R. Hambleton, Rod T. Jackson, Andre Pascal Kengne, Young Ho Khang, Avula Laxmaiah, Jing Liu, Reza Malekzadeh, Hannelore K. Neuhauser, Maroje Sorić, Gregor Starc, Johan Sundström, Tara Coppinger, Janette Walton, Con Burns, Mark Woodward

Publications

Background: Change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure could be due to both shifts in the entire distribution of blood pressure (representing the combined effects of public health interventions and secular trends) and changes in its high-blood-pressure tail (representing successful clinical interventions to control blood pressure in the hypertensive population). Our aim was to quantify the contributions of these two phenomena to the worldwide trends in the prevalence of raised blood pressure. Methods: We pooled 1018 population-based studies with blood pressure measurements on 88.6 million participants from 1985 to 2016. We first calculated mean systolic blood pressure (SBP), mean …

Investigating Ampk Signalling Regulation Of Autophagy In A Model Of Ovarian Tumour Dormancy, Jeremi Laski

Western Research Forum

Investigating AMPK signalling regulation of autophagy in a model of ovarian tumour dormancy

Jeremi Laski and Trevor G. Shepherd

Background:

Ovarian cancer is the most deadly gynecologic malignancy in women. A particular subset of this disease, epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), is responsible for over 70% of all diagnosed ovarian cancer cases, yet the mechanisms governing disease progression are poorly understood. One of the unique hallmarks of EOC metastasis lies in the process of spheroid formation, whereby tumour cells aggregate into larger 3D structures. These EOC spheroids have been shown to be metabolically dormant, while concurrently up-regulating autophagy (cellular waste …

Developing Novel Therapeutics For Bacterial Lung Infections, Brandon J. Baer, Ruud Veldhuizen, Cory Yamashita

Western Research Forum

Background: Bacterial lung infections are leading causes of death worldwide. Unfortunately, increasing resistance to antibiotics and the inflammation often accompanying these infections are leading to poor outcomes despite antibiotic intervention. Complicating treatment further, the tree-like branching structure of the lung makes drug delivery to distal sites of infection difficult. Our research aims to address these challenges by developing new therapeutics and new tools to improve and assess drug delivery, bacterial killing and inflammation. Our therapy combines host defense peptides, which have been shown to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria and down regulate inflammation, with a pulmonary vehicle, exogenous surfactant, that can improve …

Improving Canadian Indigenous Health: Diabetes & Cardiovascular Disease, Sukhmeet S. Sachal

Western Research Forum

Background:

This abstract explores improving health outcomes for Canada’s Indigenous peoples. The increased prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and diabetes in this population makes this a public health problem because diabetes has long-term complications that affect the cardiovascular system and can result in disability and premature death.

Methods:

A literature review using specific search terms was performed to find 36 relevant articles. Search databases for the primary and secondary information were CINAHL and PubMED, respectively.

Results:

The results were classified into five groups: (1) Previous Genetic Protection; (2) Current Day Risk; (3) Diet; (4) Barriers in Developing and Maintaining …

Variant Intestinal-Cell Kinase In Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy, J. N. Bailey, L. De Nijs, D. Bai, T. Suzuki, H. Miyamoto, M. Tanaka, C. Patterson, Y.-C. Lin, M. T. Medina, M. E. Alonso, J. M. Serratosa, R. M. Durón, Viet-Hong Nguyen, J. E. Wight, I. E. Martínez‑Juárez, A. Ochoa, A. Jara-Prado, L. Guilhoto, Y. Molina, E. M. Yacubian, M. López‑Ruiz, Y. Inoue, S. Kaneko, S. Hirose, M. Osawa, H. Oguni, S. Fujimoto, T. M. Grisar, J. M. Stern, K. Yamakawa, B. Lakaye, A. V. Delgado-Escueta

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

BACKGROUND

In juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, data are limited on the genetic basis of networks promoting convulsions with diffuse polyspikes on electroencephalography (EEG) and the subtle microscopic brain dysplasia called microdysgenesis.

METHODS

Using Sanger sequencing, we sequenced the exomes of six members of a large family affected with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy and confirmed cosegregation in all 37 family members. We screened an additional 310 patients with this disorder for variants on DNA melting-curve analysis and targeted real-time DNA sequencing of the gene encoding intestinal-cell kinase (ICK). We calculated Bayesian logarithm of the odds (LOD) scores for cosegregating variants, odds …

In Chronicling The Quest To Cure Huntington’S Disease, A Whirlwind Of Emotions, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

Biomarkers Of Rehabilitation Therapy Vary According To Stroke Severity, Erin Burke Quinlan, Lucy Dodakian, Jill See, Alison Mckenzie, Jill Campbell Stewart, Steven C. Cramer

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Biomarkers that capture treatment effects could improve the precision of clinical decision making for restorative therapies. We examined the performance of candidate structural, functional,and angiogenesis-related MRI biomarkers before and after a 3-week course of standardized robotic therapy in 18 patients with chronic stroke and hypothesized that results vary significantly according to stroke severity. Patients were 4.1 ± 1 months poststroke, with baseline arm Fugl-Meyer scores of 20–60. When all patients were examined together, no imaging measure changed over time in a manner that correlated with treatment-induced motor gains. However, when also considering the interaction with baseline motor status, treatment-induced motor …

Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Methods For Diagnosis Of Bacterial Meningitis, Mitsuko Seki, Paul E. Kilgore, Eun Jin Kim, Makoto Ohnishi, Satoshi Hayakawa, Dong Wook Kim

Department of Pharmacy Practice

The rapid, accurate, and efficient identification of an infectious disease is critical to ensure timely clinical treatment and prevention in public health settings. In 2015, meningitis caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Neisseria meningitidis was responsible for 379,200 (range: 322,700–444,700) deaths. Clinical features alone cannot determine whether bacterial meningitis is present; an analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is essential. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a nucleic acid amplification method offering an alternative to polymerase chain reaction (PCR). LAMP-based assays for detection of three leading bacteria in CSF for diagnosis of meningitis have been established. The typing assays …

Communicating Effectively In Pediatric Cancer Care: Translating Evidence Into Practice., Lindsay J Blazin, Cherilyn Cecchini, Catherine Habashy, Erica C Kaye, Justin N Baker

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Effective communication is essential to the practice of pediatric oncology. Clear and empathic delivery of diagnostic and prognostic information positively impacts the ways in which patients and families cope. Honest, compassionate discussions regarding goals of care and hopes for patients approaching end of life can provide healing when other therapies have failed. Effective communication and the positive relationships it fosters also can provide comfort to families grieving the loss of a child. A robust body of evidence demonstrates the benefits of optimal communication for patients, families, and healthcare providers. This review aims to identify key communication skills that healthcare providers …

Promo Flyer (Pdf), Lsu Health Sciences Center - New Orleans

Usher Syndrome in Louisiana

3rd Symposium - Usher Syndrome in Louisiana was held Saturday, March 10 at the Cecil J. Picard Center for Child Development & Lifelong Learning University of Louisiana, Lafayette. It included ongoing discussions on the diagnosis and treatment of Usher Syndrome, and the progress of research to develop therapies for vision loss for those with Usher Syndrome.

Calnexin Is Necessary For T Cell Transmigration Into The Central Nervous System, Amber M. Paul, Joanna Jung, Paul Eggleton, Alison Robinson, Jessica Wang, Nick Gutowski

Publications

In multiple sclerosis (MS), a demyelinating inflammatory disease of the CNS, and its animal model (experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis; EAE), circulating immune cells gain access to the CNS across the blood-brain barrier to cause inflammation, myelin destruction, and neuronal damage. Here, we discovered that calnexin, an ER chaperone, is highly abundant in human brain endothelial cells of MS patients. Conversely, mice lacking calnexin exhibited resistance to EAE induction, no evidence of immune cell infiltration into the CNS, and no induction of inflammation markers within the CNS. Furthermore, calnexin deficiency in mice did not alter the development or function of the immune …

Risk Stratification For Bleeding Complications In Patients With Venous Thromboembolism: Application Of The Has-Bled Bleeding Score During The First 6 Months Of Anticoagulant Treatment, Joshua D. Brown, Amie J. Goodin, Gregory Y. H. Lip, Val R. Adams

Pharmacy Practice and Science Faculty Publications

Background—The Hypertension, Abnormal renal/liver function, Stroke, Bleeding, Labile International Normalized Ratio (INR), Elderly, Drugs or alcohol use (HAS-BLED) score has strong predictive validity for major bleeding complications, but limited validation has been conducted in venous thromboembolism (VTE). This study evaluates the HAS-BLED score in a large cohort of VTE patients.

Methods and Results—A retrospective cohort of adults ≥ 18 years with primary diagnosis of VTE between January 1, 2010 and November 31, 2013 were identified in an insurance claims database. Patients were tracked until death, any bleed event, or end of study period. HAS-BLED score and components were …

Acute Bilirubin Encephalopathy And Its Progression To Kernicterus: Current Perspectives, Fatima Usman, Udochukwu Michael Diala, Steven Shapiro, Jean-Baptist Lepichon, Tina M. Slusher

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Acute bilirubin encephalopathy (ABE) remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world, especially in low-middle-income countries where it can account for up to 15% of neonatal death. The pathophysiology of this acute life-threatening event of infancy and its potential evolution to kernicterus remain poorly understood. In this review, we start by reviewing the terminology of hyperbilirubinemia and its clinical consequences, ABE and later kernicterus spectrum disorder (KSD). We then review the pathogenesis of ABE and discuss clinical factors that can contribute to its pathogenicity. We examine in detail the clinical correlates of ABE and KSD. We present …

Amperometric Self-Referencing Ceramic Based Microelectrode Arrays For D-Serine Detection, Diana Campos-Beltrán, Åsa Konradsson-Geuken, Jorge E. Quintero, Lisa Marshall

Neuroscience Faculty Publications

D-serine is the major D-amino acid in the mammalian central nervous system. As the dominant co-agonist of the endogenous synaptic NMDA receptor, D-serine plays a role in synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory. Alterations in D-serine are linked to neuropsychiatric disorders including schizophrenia. Thus, it is of increasing interest to monitor the concentration of D-serine in vivo as a relevant player in dynamic neuron-glia network activity. Here we present a procedure for amperometric detection of D-serine with self-referencing ceramic-based microelectrode arrays (MEAs) coated with D-amino acid oxidase from the yeast Rhodotorula gracilis (RgDAAO). We demonstrate in vitro D-serine recordings with a …