Diseases Commons^™

Prevalence Of Barrett’S Esophagus And Performance Of Societal Screening Guidelines In An Unreferred Primary Care Population Of Us Veterans, Theresa H Nguyen, Aaron P Thrift, Massimo Rugge, Hashem B El-Serag

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Less than 10% of patients diagnosed with esophageal adenocarcinoma have a pre-existing Barrett's esophagus (BE) diagnosis, possibly because of suboptimal performance of guidelines. We examined the prevalence of BE in a previously unscreened primary care population and the potential yield of practice BE screening guidelines.

METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis of a prospective cross-sectional study of consecutively recruited unreferred patients from primary care clinics who underwent study upper endoscopy. We examined the performance of BE screening guidelines of the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE), British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG), American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), …

Association Of Baseline Characteristics With Insulin Sensitivity And Β-Cell Function In The Glycemia Reduction Approaches In Diabetes: A Comparative Effectiveness (Grade) Study Cohort, Neda Rasouli, Naji Younes, Kristina M Utzschneider, Silvio E Inzucchi, Ashok Balasubramanyam, Andrea L Cherrington, Faramarz Ismail-Beigi, Robert M Cohen, Darin E Olson, Ralph A Defronzo, William H Herman, John M Lachin, Steven E Kahn, Grade Research Group

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: We investigated sex and racial differences in insulin sensitivity, β-cell function, and glycated hemoglobin (HbA

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This is a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from 3,108 GRADE (Glycemia Reduction Approaches in Diabetes: A Comparative Effectiveness Study) participants. All had type 2 diabetes diagnosedβ-cell function were evaluated using the HOMA of insulin sensitivity and estimates from oral glucose tolerance tests, including the Matsuda Index, insulinogenic index, C-peptide index, and oral disposition index (DI).

RESULTS: The cohort was 56.6 ± 10 years of age (mean ± SD), 63.8% male, with BMI 34.2 ± 6.7 kg/m

CONCLUSIONS: In the …

Prevalence Of Gastric Intestinal Metaplasia In A Multiethnic Us Veterans Population, Theresa H Nguyen, Mimi C Tan, Yan Liu, Massimo Rugge, Aaron P Thrift, Hashem B El-Serag

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND & AIMS: There is a need to identify individuals with gastric intestinal metaplasia, a precursor to gastric cancer, so they can be offered screening and surveillance. We examined the prevalence of gastric intestinal metaplasia, detected by upper endoscopy biopsy analysis, in different race and ethnic subgroups. We also investigated the extent to which Helicobacter pylori infection, with or without acute and chronic gastritis, accounts for observed associations between race or ethnicity and risk of gastric intestinal metaplasia.

METHODS: We used data from a cross-sectional study of consecutively recruited patients at the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center in …

Links Between Thrombosis And Inflammation In Traumatic Brain Injury, W Brad Hubbard, Jing-Fei Dong, Miguel A Cruz, Rolando E Rumbaut

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) continues to be a major healthcare problem and there is much to be explored regarding the secondary pathobiology to identify early predictive markers and new therapeutic targets. While documented changes in thrombosis and inflammation in major trauma have been well described, growing evidence suggests that isolated TBI also results in systemic alterations in these mechanisms. Here, we review recent experimental and clinical findings that demonstrate how blood-brain barrier dysfunction, systemic immune response, inflammation, platelet activation, and thrombosis contribute significantly to the pathogenesis of TBI. Despite advances in the links between thrombosis and inflammation, there is a …

Relation Of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Based Arterial Signal Enhancement To Markers Of Peripheral Artery Disease, Olga A Gimnich, Jonathan Holbrook, Tatiana Belousova, Christina M Short, Addison A Taylor, Vijay Nambi, Joel D Morrisett, Christie M Ballantyne, Jean Bismuth, Dipan J Shah, Gerd Brunner

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is associated with impaired lower extremity function. We hypothesized that contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE-MRI) based arterial signal enhancement (SE) measures are associated with markers of PAD. A total of 66 participants were enrolled, 10 were excluded due to incomplete data, resulting in 56 participants for the final analyses (36 PAD, 20 matched controls). MR imaging was performed postreactive hyperemia using bilateral thigh blood-pressure cuffs. First pass-perfusion images were acquired at the mid-calf region with a high-resolution saturation recovery gradient echo pulse sequence, and arterial SE was measured for the lower extremity arteries. As expected, peak …

X-Aptamers Targeting Thy-1 Membrane Glycoprotein In Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma, Hongyu Wang, Xin Li, Lisa A Lai, Teresa A Brentnall, David W Dawson, Kimberly A Kelly, Ru Chen, Sheng Pan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Modified DNA aptamers incorporated with amino-acid like side chains or drug-like ligands can offer unique advantages and enhance specificity as affinity ligands. Thy-1 membrane glycoprotein (THY1 or CD90) was previously identified as a biomarker candidate of neovasculature in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The current study developed and evaluated modified DNA X-aptamers targeting THY1 in PDAC. The expression and glycosylation of THY1 in PDAC tumor tissues were assessed using immunohistochemistry and quantitative proteomics. Bead-based X-aptamer library that contains 108 different sequences was used to screen for high affinity THY1 X-aptamers. The sequences of the X-aptamers were analyzed with the next-generation sequencing. …

Intestinal Stem Cell-Derived Enteroids From Morbidly Obese Patients Preserve Obesity-Related Phenotypes: Elevated Glucose Absorption And Gluconeogenesis, Nesrin M Hasan, Kelli F Johnson, Jianyi Yin, Nicholas W Baetz, Lea Fayad, Vadim Sherman, Sarah E Blutt, Mary K Estes, Vivek Kumbhari, Nicholas C Zachos, Olga Kovbasnjuk

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: The mechanisms behind the efficacy of bariatric surgery (BS) for treating obesity and type 2 diabetes, particularly with respect to the influence of the small bowel, remain poorly understood. In vitro and animal models are suboptimal with respect to their ability to replicate the human intestinal epithelium under conditions induced by obesity. Human enteroids have the potential to accelerate the development of less invasive anti-obesity therapeutics if they can recapitulate the pathophysiology of obesity. Our aim was to determine whether adult stem cell-derived enteroids preserve obesity-characteristic patient-specific abnormalities in carbohydrate absorption and metabolism.

METHODS: We established 24 enteroid lines …

Effect Of Treatment For Hcv On The Development Of Hcc In A Predominately African American Medical Center Population, Bassem Farah, Yechiel Mor, Sarvani Surapaneni, Brian Rutledge, Hojun Lee, Hajra Khan, Anshu Wadehra, Neel Patel, Paul Naylor, Murray Ehrinpreis, Milton Mutchnick

Medical Student Research Symposium

Introduction

Direct Acting Antivirals (DAA) are effective in Hepatitis C (HCV) patients with cirrhosis, but viral elimination may occur in a setting where the HCC development pathway has already begun. Our objective was to determine whether achieving a sustained virologic response (SVR) prior to diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) improved outcomes in our predominately African American population.

Methods

We reviewed the medical records of 96 HCV patients diagnosed with HCC between 2015 and 2019 Primary outcomes were defined as either alive, death/hospice, or transplant. Tumor size was measured as non-small (> 5cm or multiple tumors) or small (< 5cm). The study was approved by the WSU IRB and data analysis performed using the SAS-JMP statistical software.

Results

Of …

Covid-19 Infection Outcome In African American Renal Transplant Recipients: Detroit Medical Center, Claudia Jarrin Tejada Md, Mareena Zachariah Md, Angela Cruz Md, Shakir Hussein Md, Elizabeth Wilpula Pharmd, Nicole Meeks, Jeffrey A. Wolff Msn, Agacnp-Bc, Pranatharthi Chandrasekar Md

Medical Student Research Symposium

Background: Transplant recipients are more vulnerable to infections including COVID-19, given their comorbidities and chronic immunosuppression. Most preliminary care series report rapid clinical progression and higher mortality compared to the general population.

Methods: Retrospective study at Harper University Hospital - Detroit Medical Center. Twenty-five renal transplant recipients (RTR) presenting consecutively with COVID-19 symptoms and positive NP swab PCR for SARS-CoV2 between 03/01/2020 - 05/01/2020 were included. Data on demographics, clinical presentation, laboratory findings, management and outcomes were collected.

Results: Patients had a median age of 56, all African American and deceased donor transplant recipients. Most had hypertension …

A Younger Demographic Defines Hepatitis C Patient Profiles In The Recent Direct-Acting Antiviral Era, Ria Minawala, Paul H. Naylor Phd, Murray N. Ehrinpreis Md, Milton G. Mutchnik Md

Medical Student Research Symposium

A Younger Demographic Defines Hepatitis C Patient Profiles in the Recent Direct-Acting Antiviral Era

Authors: Minawala, Ria1; Naylor, Paul H.2; Ehrinpreis, Murray N.2; Mutchnick, Milton G.2

Institutions: 1. Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, United States. 2. Wayne State University School of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Detroit, MI, United States.

Background:

Highly effective and safe direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) against hepatitis C virus (HCV) combined with U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation to screen for HCV in individuals born between 1945 and 1965 (age cohort; 54-79 years of age in 2019) was expected to reduce the number of actively …

The Mechanism Of Β-N-Methylamino-L-Alanine Inhibition Of Trna Aminoacylation And Its Impact On Misincorporation, Nien-Ching Han, Tammy J. Bullwinkle, Kaeli F. Loeb, Kym F. Faull, Kyle Mohler, Jesse Rinehart, Michael Ibba

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

β-N-methylamino-l-alanine (BMAA) is a nonproteinogenic amino acid that has been associated with neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). BMAA has been found in human protein extracts; however, the mechanism by which it enters the proteome is still unclear. It has been suggested that BMAA is misincorporated at serine codons during protein synthesis, but direct evidence of its cotranslational incorporation is currently lacking. Here, using LC-MS–purified BMAA and several biochemical assays, we sought to determine whether any aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (aaRS) utilizes BMAA as a substrate for aminoacylation. Despite BMAA's previously predicted misincorporation at serine …

Post-Operative Day 1 Versus Day 0 Follow-Up For Uncomplicated Cataract Surgeries: A Comparison Of Post-Operative Outcomes And Managements, Harsh Parekh Bs, Shibandri Das Md, Vaama Patel Md, Ryan Freedman Md, Sabba Mansoor Bs, Amanda Ismail Md, Faisal Ridha Al-Timimi Md

Medical Student Research Symposium

Purpose: To compare the postoperative outcomes and management of uncomplicated cataract surgery (CEIOL) patients seen on post-operative day zero (POD 0) versus post-operative day one (POD 1).

Methods: A retrospective chart review of 533 patients who had CEIOL at the Kresge Eye Institute from December 2017 to September 2019 was performed. Visual acuity (VA) and intraocular pressure (IOP) were collected from the pre-operative visit, and the first and second post-operative day visits. In addition, changes in management were recorded from the first post-operative day visit. Patients were excluded if they had a complex cataract procedure, had combined glaucoma filtering surgery, …

Use Of Prame Immunostaining To Distinguish Melanoma In Situ From Lentigo Senilis, Hailey Olds, Sarah Utz, Darius Mehregan

Medical Student Research Symposium

PRAME (PReferentially expressed Antigen in MElanoma) is an antigen that is expressed by malignant cells in melanoma, as well as other cancers such as breast carcinoma, renal cell carcinoma, and leukemia. PRAME immunohistochemistry has proved effective in identifying malignant melanocytes in melanoma lesions, but it is unclear if it may be used to distinguish melanoma from benign melanocytic conditions, such as lentigo senilis. In particular, melanoma in situ may be confused with lentigo senilis clinically and histologically, thus PRAME immunostaining is potentially useful for differentiating these two lesions. We evaluated 31 samples of lentigo senilis, 26 of melanoma in situ, …

Streptococcus Cristatus – An Oral Bacterium Causing A Case Of Mild Bacteremia And “Possible Endocarditis”, Camilo Guzman, Adi Zaclli, John Molinari

Medical Student Research Symposium

Streptococcus cristatus is a member of the Mitis streptococcus group. Like other members of this group, it resides in mucosal surfaces of the oral cavity but rarely causes disease. We present a case of S. cristatus bacteremia and “possible endocarditis” (per the modified Duke criteria) in a 59-year-old male suffering from end- stage cryptogenic cirrhosis. To date, it is the fifth reported case of disease caused by the microbe, and the first adult case in which S. cristatus was the sole microbe identified. Our patient had a history of dental caries and poor dentition, which were likely the source of …

Characterization Of Abin-1 In The Traumatically Injured Brain, Aaron Orellana, Alana C. Conti

Medical Student Research Symposium

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with chronic pain and persistent neuroinflammation. Opioids are often prescribed in order to relieve pain symptoms, but recent evidence suggests that their use negatively impacts the neuropathology of TBI leading to behavioral impairments and exacerbated neuroinflammation. The de-ubiquinating enzyme tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced protein (TNFAIP)3 or A20, inhibits the inflammatory signaling transcription factor nuclear factor (NF)-kB leading to attenuation of the inflammatory response. A20-binding inhibitor of nuclear factor kB (ABIN-1), which physically interacts with A20, also plays a role in the inhibition of NF-kB and is poorly researched in the central nervous system (CNS). …

Does Delay In The Diagnosis Of Rudimentary Horn Pregnancy In Patients With Unicornuate Uteri Impact Treatment Outcomes?, Victoria Webber, Megan Fee, Damla Gonullu, Jessica Rausch, Omosalewa Itauma, Chidinma Abara, Awoniyi Awonuga

Medical Student Research Symposium

OBJECTIVE: Rudimentary horn pregnancy (RHP) is a very rare form of ectopic pregnancy (EP) that tends to rupture in the second trimester. Similar to other EPs, the treatment of RHPs is excision, hence delay in diagnosis (DID) can be detrimental. Our objective is to determine whether DID of RHP in patients with unicornuate uteri (UCU) impacts the treatment outcome.

DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study of published case reports in PubMed database.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A computerized PubMed search of case reports of RHP from 2007 to 2020 was performed using the key words; unicornuate uterus, rudimentary horn, pregnancy, case. Data was …

Dermatology Technique: Mohs Micrographic Surgery, Michelle J. Volis

Mako: NSU Undergraduate Student Journal

This paper aims to educate the readers about a novel surgery approach that is becoming popular among dermatologists. This technique, Mohs surgery, is implemented in order to treat malignant skin cancer types. This paper incorporates the history of Mohs micrographic surgery, the advantages and disadvantages of the procedure, and alternatives to this approach. The main advantage is healthy tissue preservation while disadvantages include holes in fragmented tissue margins and tissue orientation complications.

Coronavirus Update 1-29-21, The Coronavirus Planning Team

University Briefings & Virtual Events

Today’s dashboard, which was updated yesterday, shows 11 active cases. We will go back to updating the dashboard Monday-Friday next week.

Knowledge And Practices: Risk Perceptions Of Covid-19 And Satisfaction With Preventive Measures At Workplace Among Maternity Care Providers In Pakistan, Rubina Izhar, Samia Husain, Muhammad Ahmad Tahir, Sonia Husain

Medical College Documents

Introduction: While all healthcare services across the globe deferred non-urgent surgeries, labor wards provided maternity care during the COVID-19 pandemic continuously. This study assesses the knowledge and practices of obstetricians and midwives about personal protective equipment (PPE); their risk perception of COVID-19 and satisfaction with the preventive measures adopted at their workplace.
Methods: A questionnaire designed according to the World Health Organization’s advice on rational use of personal protective equipment for COVID-19 was administered to 452 Pakistani maternity care providers between 1 July and 30 July 2020.
Results: Most (85%) had adequate knowledge and 78.8% had good practices regarding PPE …

Accuracy Of Procalcitonin Levels For Diagnosis Of Culture-Positive Sepsis In Critically Ill Trauma Patients: A Retrospective Analysis, Aisha Bakhtiar, Syed Jawad Haider Kazmi, Muhammad Sohaib Asghar, Muhammad Nadeem Khurshaidi, Salman Mazhar, Noman A. Khan, Nisar Ahmed, Farah Yasmin, Rabail Yaseen, Maira Hassan

Section of Cardiothoracic Surgery

Background: Abdominal trauma and intra-abdominal sepsis are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Microcirculation in the gut is disrupted in hemorrhagic and septic shock leading to tissue hypoxia, and the damaged gut acts as a reservoir rich in inflammatory mediators and provides a continual source of inflammation to the systemic circulation leading to sepsis. Sepsis is defined as the presence (probable or documented) of infection together with a systemic inflammatory response to infection. Blood culture is commonly considered to be the preferred approach for diagnosing sepsis, although it is time-consuming, that is, reports are normally available only after 12-48 hours. …

Mucosal Genomics Implicate Lymphocyte Activation And Lipid Metabolism In Refractory Environmental Enteric Dysfunction, Najeeha Talat Iqbal, Najeeb Rahman, Kamran Sadiq, Zubair Ahmad, Romana Idress, Junaid Iqbal, Sheraz Ahmed, Aneeta Hotwani, Fayyaz Umrani, Sana Syed, Syed Asad Ali

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background & aims: Environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) limits the Sustainable Development Goals of improved childhood growth and survival. We applied mucosal genomics to advance our understanding of EED.
Methods: The Study of Environmental Enteropathy and Malnutrition (SEEM) followed 416 children from birth to 24 months in a rural district in Pakistan. Biomarkers were measured at 9 months and tested for association with growth at 24 months. The duodenal methylome and transcriptome was determined in 52 undernourished SEEM participants and 42 North American controls and celiac disease patients.
Results: After accounting for growth at study entry, circulating IGF-1 and ferritin predicted …

The Cardiovascular Manifestations Of Covid-19: A Review Of The Literature And Institutional Experience, Gina Polsinelli, Steven J. Korzeniewski, Oksana M. Doubrovski, James Paxton

Medical Student Research Symposium

The cardiovascular health of those infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) plays a major role in rates of hospitalization, mortality risk, and rates of mechanical ventilation. In patients with COVID-19, acute myocardial injury and history of cardiovascular disease are both independently established risk factors for poor patient prognosis. In addition to myocardial injury, numerous acute cardiovascular manifestations of COVID-19 disease have been identified. Previous work on this topic typically focused either upon a general description of the acute cardiovascular manifestations and sequalae of COVID-19, or upon broad-based clinical outcomes associated with COVID-19 in patients with history of …

Predictors Of Improved Clinical Outcome Following Mechanical Thrombectomy On South Texas Patients With Posterior Circulation Stroke, Leslie M. Ocampo, Ameer E. Hassan

MEDI 9331 Scholarly Activities Clinical Years

The South Texas population is well-acquainted with hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 (DM2), and hyperlipidemia, all well-known risk factors for stroke1. Both anterior and posterior circulation strokes can lead to detrimental life changes, and although posterior circulation, or vertebrobasilar, strokes make up about 20% of all ischemic strokes2, their elusive characteristics often overlap with anterior circulation symptoms. In this study, we study factors that may influence the outcome of patients with posterior circulation stroke (PCS) following successful recanalization using mechanical thrombectomy. In this paper, the clinical outcome is evaluated by the primary endpoint, Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at discharge. The …

Conformation-Dependent Blockage Of Activated Vwf Improves Outcomes Of Traumatic Brain Injury In Mice, Xin Xu, Chenyu Wang, Yingang Wu, Katie Houck, Tristan Hilton, Ashley Zhou, Xiaoping Wu, Cha Han, Mengchen Yang, Wei Yang, Fu-Dong Shi, Moritz Stolla, Miguel A Cruz, Min Li, Jianning Zhang, Jing-Fei Dong

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Traumatic brain injury-induced coagulopathy (TBI-IC) causes life-threatening secondary intracranial bleeding. Its pathogenesis differs mechanistically from that of coagulopathy arising from extracranial injuries and hemorrhagic shock, but it remains poorly understood. We report results of a study designed to test the hypothesis that von Willebrand factor (VWF) released during acute TBI is intrinsically hyperadhesive because its platelet-binding A1-domain is exposed and contributes to TBI-induced vascular leakage and consumptive coagulopathy. This hyperadhesive VWF can be selectively blocked by a VWF A2-domain protein to prevent TBI-IC and to improve neurological function with a minimal risk of bleeding. We demonstrated that A2 given through …

New Insights And Enhanced Human Norovirus Cultivation In Human Intestinal Enteroids, Khalil Ettayebi, Victoria R Tenge, Nicolas W Cortes-Penfield, Sue E Crawford, Frederick H Neill, Xi-Lei Zeng, Xiaomin Yu, B Vijayalakshmi Ayyar, Douglas Burrin, Sasirekha Ramani, Robert L Atmar, Mary K Estes

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Human noroviruses (HuNoVs) are the leading cause of epidemic and sporadic acute gastroenteritis worldwide. We previously demonstrated human intestinal stem cell-derived enteroids (HIEs) support cultivation of several HuNoV strains. However, HIEs did not support virus replication from every HuNoV-positive stool sample, which led us to test and optimize new medium conditions, identify characteristics of stool samples that allow replication, and evaluate consistency of replication over time. Optimization of our HIE-HuNoV culture system has shown the following: (i) a new HIE culture medium made with conditioned medium from a single cell line and commercial media promotes robust replication of HuNoV strains …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 96, No. 15, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. This issue contains articles:

• Bertucci, Leo. An Alumnus’ Journey to Shape Education – Gary Houchens
• Latimer, Jacob. Student Government Association Prepares for Another Unusual Semester
• Differing State & WKU Quarantine Guidelines Are Confusing, But It Has to Be Done
• Pepke, Brenna. The Man Behind the Tie – Tyreon Clark, Boys to Men Leadership Group of Kentucky
• Gaylord, Kaden. Hilltoppers Series Against Old Dominion Postponed – Basketball
• Snyder, Sean. Kicking It Again, Lady Topper Soccer is Back
• Kieser, Nick. Views: Charles Bassey Continues to Bulk Resume for NBA

Coronavirus Update 1-26-2021, The Coronavirus Planning Team

University Briefings & Virtual Events

Many of you moved back to campus yesterday and today, and the rest will be coming soon. Welcome! We are so happy to have you back, and we are looking forward to a great spring semester.

Repurposing The Orphan Drug Nitisinone To Control The Transmission Of African Trypanosomiasis, Marcos Sterkel, Lee R. Haines, Aitor Casas-Sánchez, Vincent Owino Adung'a, Raquel J. Vionette-Amaral, Shannon Quek, Clair Rose, Mariana Silva Dos Santos, Natalia García Escude, Hanafy M. Ismail, Mark I. Paine, Seth M. Barribeau, Simon Wagstaff, James I. Macrae, Daniel Masiga, Laith Yakob, Pedro L. Oliveira, Álvaro Acosta-Serrano

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Tsetse transmit African trypanosomiasis, which is a disease fatal to both humans and animals. A vaccine to protect against this disease does not exist so transmission control relies on eliminating tsetse populations. Although neurotoxic insecticides are the gold standard for insect control, they negatively impact the environment and reduce populations of insect pollinator species. Here we present a promising, environment-friendly alternative to current insecticides that targets the insect tyrosine metabolism pathway. A bloodmeal contains high levels of tyrosine, which is toxic to haematophagous insects if it is not degraded and eliminated. RNA interference (RNAi) of either the first two enzymes …

Malaria In Southern Venezuela: The Hottest Hotspot In Latin America, Maria Eugenia Grillet, Jorge E. Moreno, Juan V. Hernández-Villena, Maria F. Vincenti-González, Oscar Noya, Adriana Tami, Alberto Paniz-Mondolfi, Martin Llewellyn, Rachel Lowe, Ananias A. Escalante, Jan E. Conn

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

Malaria elimination in Latin America is becoming an elusive goal. Malaria cases reached a historical ~1 million in 2017 and 2018, with Venezuela contributing 53% and 51% of those cases, respectively. Historically, malaria incidence in southern Venezuela has accounted for most of the country’s total number of cases. The efficient deployment of disease prevention measures and prediction of disease spread to new regions requires an in-depth understanding of spatial heterogeneity on malaria transmission dynamics. Herein, we characterized the spatial epidemiology of malaria in southern Venezuela from 2007 through 2017 and described the extent to which malaria distribution has changed country-wide …

Ten Things To Know About Ten Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors, Harold E. Bays, Pam R. Taub, Elizabeth Epstein, Erin D. Michos, Richard A. Ferraro, Alison Bailey, Heval M. Kelli, Keith C. Ferdinand, Melvin R. Echols, Salim S. Virani

Office of the Provost

Given rapid advancements in medical science, it is often challenging for the busy clinician to remain up-to-date on the fundamental and multifaceted aspects of preventive cardiology and maintain awareness of the latest guidelines applicable to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. The "American Society for Preventive Cardiology (ASPC) Top Ten CVD Risk Factors 2021 Update" is a summary document (updated yearly) regarding CVD risk factors. This "ASPC Top Ten CVD Risk Factors 2021 Update" summary document reflects the perspective of the section authors regarding ten things to know about ten sentinel CVD risk factors. It also includes quick access to sentinel …