Medical Specialties Commons^™

Microscopic Extraovarian Sex Cord Proliferations, Tricia O'Brien, Cameron Summers-Powell, Susana Ferra

East Florida Division GME Research Day 2023

No abstract available.

Comparing The Expression Of Er, Pr, Her-2 Between Initial Biopsy And Excision Specimens In Invasive Breast Carcinoma Cases. Is There A Need For Universal Repeat Testing?, Gul Wymer, Astrid Sacasa, Susana Ferra

East Florida Division GME Research Day 2023

BACKGROUND: The current College of American Pathologist (CAP) recommendation is that breast biomarkers Estrogen (ER), Progesterone (PR) and HER2 neu (Her2) testing be done on all primary invasive breast carcinomas and on recurrent or metastatic tumors with the aim to identify patients that will benefit from hormonal treatment or anti-Her2 therapy. Repeat testing on a subsequent specimen is not usually indicated unless results appear discordant with the histopathologic findings. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the need of adopting universal reflex re-testing of breast biomarkers in subsequent excision specimens. The rationale behind this study was based upon …

Addressing The Health Of Children In Foster Care, The Rees-Jones Center For Foster Care Excellence

White Papers and Policy Briefs

Studies have shown high rates of physical, developmental and behavioral health concerns along with high rates of health care utilization, among children and adolescents in foster care. In 2016, the Rees-Jones Center for Foster Care Excellence produced a white paper entitled, Addressing the Health and Safety of Children in Foster Care (Children’s HealthSM, 2016), which drew attention to some of these needs and made recommendations for promoting improved health-related outcomes for this population. Much has changed during the last six years, and the purpose of this current white paper is to highlight progress made, draw attention to new and continuing …

Advances In Antimicrobial Peptide Discovery Via Machine Learning And Delivery Via Nanotechnology, Alexa Sowers, Guangshun Wang, Malcolm Xing, Bingyun Li

Journal Articles: Pathology and Microbiology

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been investigated for their potential use as an alternative to antibiotics due to the increased demand for new antimicrobial agents. AMPs, widely found in nature and obtained from microorganisms, have a broad range of antimicrobial protection, allowing them to be applied in the treatment of infections caused by various pathogenic microorganisms. Since these peptides are primarily cationic, they prefer anionic bacterial membranes due to electrostatic interactions. However, the applications of AMPs are currently limited owing to their hemolytic activity, poor bioavailability, degradation from proteolytic enzymes, and high-cost production. To overcome these limitations, nanotechnology has been used …

Relationship Between Crown Like Structures And Body Mass Index In Breast Cancer, Sophie Wanjiru Irungu

Master of Medicine in Anatomic Pathology

Introduction: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy in women worldwide, including Kenya. Globally, increasing incidences of BC have paralleled those of obesity. The mechanism by which obesity contributes to BC is still an active area of research but white adipose tissue inflammation characterized by crown-like structures (CLS), which are macrophages surrounding dying adipocytes, is considered an important contributor. Objectives: The primary objective was to determine the association between CLS and body mass index (BMI) in BC patients. The secondary objectives were to determine the association of CLS with BC risk factors specifically, age, menopausal status, subtypes of BC, …

The Antimicrobial Peptide Database Is 20 Years Old: Recent Developments And Future Directions, Guangshun Wang

Journal Articles: Pathology and Microbiology

In 2023, the Antimicrobial Peptide Database (currently available at https://aps.unmc.edu) is 20-years-old. The timeline for the APD expansion in peptide entries, classification methods, search functions, post-translational modifications, binding targets, and mechanisms of action of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) has been summarized in our previous Protein Science paper. This article highlights new database additions and findings. To facilitate antimicrobial development to combat drug-resistant pathogens, the APD has been re-annotating the data for antibacterial activity (active, inactive, and uncertain), toxicity (hemolytic and nonhemolytic AMPs), and salt tolerance (salt sensitive and insensitive). Comparison of the respective desired and undesired AMP groups produces new knowledge …

Investigating The Potential Role Of Akkermansia Muciniphila Supplementation In Neuroinflammation: A Progress Report, Geetika Verma

Biomedical Sciences Posters and Presentations

Gut bacteria are important for proper development and function of the host immune system (1). Recent studies have provided association of altered microbiome in both food allergy and neuropsychiatric disorders (2, 3) indicating potential role of microbiome in regulating Gut-Brain-Axis. Akkermansia muciniphila belongs to the phylum Verrucomicrobia, is a commensal mucin degrading bacterial species (4). A. muciniphila protects the gut barrier by facilitating host mucus production. Since patients with food allergy have increased gut permeability, protection of intestinal barrier by increased mucus production may be beneficial in preventing allergen and pathogen infiltrations, hence, minimizing inflammation. A. muciniphila is well known …

Histomorphological Spectrum Of Ovarian Neoplasms In A Tertiary Care Centre, Lionel Rohit Mathew, Shalini Karthikeyan, Jaishree Tamilmani, Prema Devi Elangovan, Sridevi Vijayasankar

Journal of Medicine in Scientific Research

Introduction: Ovary is the second most common site of gynaecological malignancies in India and therefore ovarian tumours need to be studied under the microscope for accurate diagnosis and management.

Aim: This study aims to study the spectrum of ovarian tumours and calculate their incidence and age-distribution. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in the Department of Pathology, Sri Muthukumaran Medical College, Hospital & Research Institute, Chennai, during the year 2022. Results: Among a total of 68 ovarian neoplasms studied, benign tumours (61.7%) were more common and most of the patients were in the fourth decade of life. The commonest …

Homogeneity Test On Error Rates From Ordinal Scores And Application To Forensic Science, Ngoc Ty Nguyen

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve is used to measure the classification accuracy of tests that yield ordinal or continuous scores. Ordinal scores are common in medical imaging studies and, more recently, in black-box studies on forensic identification accuracy (Phillips et al., 2018). To assess the accuracy of radiologists in medical imaging studies or the accuracy of forensic examiners in biometric studies, one needs to estimate the ROC curves from the ordinal scores and account for the covariates related to the radiologists or forensic examiners. In this thesis, we propose a homogeneity test to compare the performance of raters. We …

Uncovering The Role Of Fat-Infiltrated Axillary Lymph Nodes In Obesity-Related Diseases With Statistical And Machine Learning Analyses, Qingyuan Song

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

The link between obesity and pathogenesis is a complex and multifaceted area of research that is yet to be fully understood. Ample evidence exists to demonstrate the direct relationship between excessive internal fat and various health conditions such as cancer, and metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. The infiltration of ectopic fat into axillary lymph nodes, observable on breast cancer screening images, has been shown to be correlated with body mass index (BMI) in women undergoing screening. This study aimed to explore the relationship between fat-infiltrated axillary lymph nodes (FIN) and obesity-related diseases, with the goal of evaluating the clinical value of …

Diagnostic Accuracy Of Different Cut-Off Values Of Adenosine Deaminase Levels In Tuberculous Pleural Effusion, Kiran Iqbal Masood, Shayan Shahid, Kauser Jabeen, Joveria Farooqi, Sabeika Raza Kerawala, Muhammad Irfan

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Objective: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of different cut-off values of pleural fluid adenosine deaminase levels as a diagnostic method for tuberculous pleural effusion.
Method: The prospective study was conducted from 2014 to 2016 at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, and comprised pleural fluid samples of adult patients with and without tuberculosis which were tested for adenosine deaminase levels, and divided into tuberculosis group A and non-tuberculosis group B. Sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value and positive predictive value were calculated using different cut-offs. Data was analysed using IBM SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) version 21.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, …

Diagnostic Dilemma: Schwannoma Or Ganglion Cyst, Karthik Ks, Prakash M, Gurumurthy B, Sujanatheja Js, Pramod Bm, Punith N

Digital Journal of Clinical Medicine

Schwannomas are rare, slow growing benign tumors of peripheral nerve sheath originating from Schwann cells surrounding the nerve associated with delayed presentation of pain and paresthesia. Their incidence being 5% of all upper extremity tumors. They may be a part of neurofibromatosis called schwannomatosis with multiple peripheral schwannomas. We present a case of solitary schwannomas from the peripheral nerves probably superficial branch of median nerve mistaken initially for ganglion cyst.

Impact Of Gastrointestinal Polymerase Chain Reaction Panels On Antibiotic Utilization In Hospitalized Adult Patients, Gillean A Kelly, Roumen Iordanov, Alex Franklin, Amna Ahmed, Krithika Srinivasan, Jesica Hayon, Todd Lasco, Rosie Amini, Sabra Shay, Prathit A Kulkarni, Mayar Al Mohajer

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Multiplex stool polymerase chain reaction (PCR) panels offer rapid comprehensive testing for patients with infectious diarrhea. We compared antibiotic utilization among hospitalized patients with suspected infectious diarrhea who underwent diagnostic testing with either a stool culture or stool PCR panel. No significant differences in antibiotic utilization were identified.

The Relationship Between “Speak Up” Culture Level, Team Effectiveness, And Organizational Performance Among Clinical Laboratory Professionals, Emmanuel Udasco

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The clinical laboratory plays a crucial role in aiding physicians to diagnose disease. With numerous studies on “Speak Up” culture well-documented among providers and nurses surrounding patient safety, gaps in literature exist concerning “Speak Up” culture that address team effectiveness and organizational performance within the clinical lab setting. The purpose of this quantitative correlation study was to investigate the relationship between “Speak Up” culture level, team effectiveness, and organizational performance among health care workers employed in the clinical lab. The high-performance work practices model was utilized as the conceptual framework to ground this study. Research questions assessed the link between …

Experiential Exposure As The Key To Recruiting Medical Students Into Pathology, Ashley M Holloman, Mary P Berg, Bronwyn Bryant, Lisa Ross Dixon, Melissa R George, Julie Katz Karp, Barbara Ec Knollmann-Ritschel, Victor Gerardo Prieto, Charles F Timmons, John Michael Childs, Amanda Lofgreen, Kristen Johnson, Cindy B Mccloskey

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Medical student interest and pursuit of a career in pathology have been steadily declining since 2015. We conducted three separate surveys of medical students to better understand these trends. In our first survey, we focused on assessing U.S. allopathic medical students understanding and perceptions of pathology. We later surveyed U.S. osteopathic medical students as a companion to the allopathic medical student survey, in which many similarities were discovered with some key differences. In our final survey, we specifically looked at curriculum differences between the U.S. allopathic medical schools that graduate the most students who enter pathology training programs (Group 1) …

Stem Cell Theory Of Cancer: Origin Of Metastasis And Sub-Clonality, Shi-Ming Tu, Cesar Moran, William Norton, Niki M Zacharias

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Metastasis may be the secret weapon cancer uses to dominate and subjugate, to persist and prevail. However, it is no longer a secret when we realize that a stem cell has the same ways and means to fulfill its own omnipotence and accomplish its own omnipresence… and when we realize that a cancer cell has its own version of stem-ness origin and stem-like nature. In this perspective, we discuss whether stem-ness enables metastasis or mutations drive metastasis. We ponder about low-grade versus high-grade tumors and about primary versus metastatic tumors. We wonder about stochasticity and hierarchy in the genesis and …

Growth And Differentiation Factor 15 (Gdf15) Levels Predict Adverse Respiratory Outcomes In Premature Neonates, Faeq Almudares, Joseph Hagan, Xinpu Chen, Sridevi Devaraj, Bhagavatula Moorthy, Krithika Lingappan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Growth and differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) is a stress-responsive cytokine, and its expression increases during inflammation, hyperoxia, and senescence. Significantly, GDF15 is secreted by the placenta, and maternal levels increase throughout pregnancy. Serum GDF15 level is a promising biomarker for many lung diseases like pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary fibrosis. However, circulating GDF15 levels in preterm infants and their role as a predictor of respiratory outcomes have not been studied. We hypothesized that GDF15 levels would increase with gestational age at birth, and that postnatal GDF15 will be correlated with adverse respiratory outcomes in preterm infants. Scavenged blood samples were retrieved …

Lox Upregulates Fak Phosphorylation To Promote Metastasis In Osteosarcoma, Xiang Chen, Margaret Clement, M John Hicks, Poonam Sarkar, M Waleed Gaber, Tsz-Kwong Man

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Osteosarcoma is a malignant bone tumor that commonly occurs in the pediatric population. Despite the use of chemotherapy and surgery, metastasis remains to be the leading cause of death in patients with osteosarcoma. We have previously reported that cytoplasmic mislocalization of p27 is associated with a poor outcome in osteosarcoma. In this study, we further show that lysyl oxidase (LOX) expression was associated with p27 mislocalization. LOX is an enigmatic molecule that acts as a tumor suppressor or a metastatic promoter; however, its role in osteosarcoma is still unclear. Hence, we performed both

Resident Education And Virtual Medicine: A Faculty Development Session To Enhance Trainee Skills In The Realm Of Telemedicine, Anna E Rueda, Ana C Monterrey, Margaret Wood, Linessa Zuniga, Betty Del Rio Rodriguez

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 accelerated the use of telemedicine. Subsequently, clinical sites began conducting virtual visits. Academic institutions implemented telemedicine for patient care and simultaneously had to teach residents the logistics and best practices. To meet this need, we developed a training session for faculty focused on telemedicine best practices and teaching telemedicine in the pediatric realm.

METHODS: We designed this training session based on institutional and society guidelines and faculty experience with telemedicine. Objectives included telemedicine documentation, triage, counseling, and ethical issues in telemedicine. We conducted all sessions in a 60-minute or 90-minute format over a virtual platform for small and …

Editorial: Hemostasis In Ecmo And Vad, Volume Ii, Jun Teruya, Jean M Connors, Barbara Zieger

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

From Concept To Delivery: A Yeast-Expressed Recombinant Protein-Based Covid-19 Vaccine Technology Suitable For Global Access, Peter J Hotez, Rakesh Adhikari, Wen-Hsiang Chen, Yi-Lin Chen, Portia Gillespie, Nelufa Y Islam, Brian Keegan, Rakhi Tyagi Kundu, Jungsoon Lee, Zhuyun Liu, Jason T Kimata, Numan Oezguen, Jeroen Pollet, Cristina Poveda, Kay Razavi, Shannon E Ronca, Ulrich Strych, Syamala R Thimmiraju, Leroy Versteeg, Maria Jose Villar-Mondragon, Junfei Wei, Bin Zhan, Maria Elena Bottazzi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Introduction: The development of a yeast-expressed recombinant protein-based vaccine technology co-developed with LMIC vaccine producers and suitable as a COVID-19 vaccine for global access is described. The proof-of-concept for developing a SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) antigen as a yeast-derived recombinant protein vaccine technology is described.

Areas covered: Genetic Engineering: The strategy is presented for the design and genetic modification used during cloning and expression in the yeast system. Process and Assay Development: A summary is presented of how a scalable, reproducible, and robust production process for the recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine antigen was developed. Formulation and Pre-clinical Strategy: …

Congenital Giant Juvenile Xanthogranuloma, Let It Be, Michael Carletti, Daniel A. Nguyen, Joseph S. Susa, Stephen E. Weis

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Juvenile xanthogranuloma (JXG) is a rare type of non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis. JXGs are benign and have a self-limiting course generally lasting 6 months to 3 years, with some reported durations longer than 6 years. We present a rarer congenital giant variant, defined as lesions with a diameter larger than 2 cm. It is uncertain if the natural history of giant xanthogranulomas is similar to the usual JXG. We followed a 5-month-old patient with a 3.5 cm in diameter, histopathologically-confirmed, congenital, giant JXG located on the right side of her upper back. The patient was seen every 6 months for 2.5 …

Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma: A Case Report, Jennie Tan, Jamie Johnson-Eddy, Wesley Tang, Yanchun Li

Cooper Rowan Medical Journal

This report aims to review a case of breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) by comparing the patient's course with the current literature.

BIA-ALCL is a specific type of T-cell lymphoma that can develop after breast implantation, but has only recently been recognized within the last decade. Although overall rare, certain types of breast implants have increased association with developing subsequent lymphoma. This case occurred after mastectomy with breast reconstruction for unilateral invasive ductal carcinoma with a textured, saline Allergan breast implant. BIA-ALCL manifested and was symptomatic nine years after implantation.

Proximity-Dependent Biotin Labeling In Testicular Germ Cells Identified Tesmin-Associated Proteins, Seiya Oura, Akinori Ninomiya, Fuminori Sugihara, Martin M Matzuk, Masahito Ikawa

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Characterization of protein-protein interactions (PPI) is a key to understanding the functions of proteins of interest. Recently developed proximity-dependent biotin identification (BioID) has been actively investigated as an alternative PPI mapping method because of its usefulness in uncovering transient PPI. Here, as an example of proximity labeling proteomics application in the testis, we generated two transgenic mouse lines expressing two biotin ligases (BioID2 or TurboID) fused with TESMIN, which translocates from the cytosol to the nucleus during meiotic progression and is required for reproduction. The BioID2 transgene, albeit not the TurboID transgene, rescued fertility defects of the Tesmin KO male …

Engineering Naturally Occurring Cd7- T Cells For The Immunotherapy Of Hematological Malignancies, Abdullah Freiwan, Jaquelyn T Zoine, Jeremy Chase Crawford, Abishek Vaidya, Stefan A Schattgen, Jacquelyn A Myers, Sagar L Patil, Mahsa Khanlari, Hiroto Inaba, Jeffery M Klco, Charles G Mullighan, Giedre Krenciute, Peter J Chockley, Swati Naik, Deanna M Langfitt, Maksim Mamonkin, Esther A Obeng, Paul G Thomas, Stephen Gottschalk, M Paulina Velasquez

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy targeting T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) faces limitations such as antigen selection and limited T-cell persistence. CD7 is an attractive antigen for targeting T-ALL, but overlapping expression on healthy T cells leads to fratricide of CD7-CAR T cells, requiring additional genetic modification. We took advantage of naturally occurring CD7- T cells to generate CD7-CAR (CD7-CARCD7-) T cells. CD7-CARCD7- T cells exhibited a predominantly CD4+ memory phenotype and had significant antitumor activity upon chronic antigen exposure in vitro and in xenograft mouse models. Based on these encouraging results, we next explored the utility of CD7- …

Ex Vivo Drug Sensitivity Correlates With Clinical Response And Supports Personalized Therapy In Pediatric Aml, Debbie C Strachan, Christine J Gu, Ryosuke Kita, Erica K Anderson, Michelle A Richardson, George Yam, Graham Pimm, Jordan Roselli, Alyssa Schweickert, Maci Terrell, Raushan Rashid, Alan K Gonzalez, Hailey H Oviedo, Michelle C Alozie, Tamilini Ilangovan, Andrea N Marcogliese, Hiroomi Tada, Marianne T Santaguida, Alexandra M Stevens

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous disease that accounts for ~20% of all childhood leukemias, and more than 40% of children with AML relapse within three years of diagnosis. Although recent efforts have focused on developing a precise medicine-based approach towards treating AML in adults, there remains a critical gap in therapies designed specifically for children. Here, we present ex vivo drug sensitivity profiles for children with de novo AML using an automated flow cytometry platform. Fresh diagnostic blood or bone marrow aspirate samples were screened for sensitivity in response to 78 dose conditions by measuring the reduction in …

Single Cell Rna Sequencing Of The Adult Drosophila Eye Reveals Distinct Clusters And Novel Marker Genes For All Major Cell Types, Kelvin Yeung, Komal Kumar Bollepogu Raja, Yoon-Kyung Shim, Yumei Li, Rui Chen, Graeme Mardon

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The adult Drosophila eye is a powerful model system for phototransduction and neurodegeneration research. However, single cell resolution transcriptomic data are lacking for this tissue. We present single cell RNA-seq data on 1-day male and female, 3-day and 7-day old male adult eyes, covering early to mature adult eyes. All major cell types, including photoreceptors, cone and pigment cells in the adult eye were captured and identified. Our data sets identified novel cell type specific marker genes, some of which were validated in vivo. R7 and R8 photoreceptors form clusters that reflect their specific Rhodopsin expression and the specific Rhodopsin …

A Rare Case Of Extra-Ventricular Supra-Sellar Neurocytoma – A Diagnostic Conundrum, Rohan Karkra, Suchitha Satish, Peri Keerthi

Digital Journal of Clinical Medicine

The brain and its associated structures are often the primary source or site of metastases for many tumors. Neurocytoma is a relatively rare neuronal neoplasm, first described as an intra-ventricular tumor that is not known to be very aggressive. It constitutes less than 0.5% of CNS neoplasms. Extraventricular Neurocytoma (EVN) is an extremely rare variant, of which only 12 cases have ever been reported in the supra-sellar region. In all of these 12 cases, the patient was initially misdiagnosed; hence, this condition is a diagnostic conundrum. Grossly, the tumor is firm and smooth with extensive blood supply and fibrous tissue. …

December 2022: Region 10 Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center (Resptc) At Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children’S Hospital, Providence - Special Pathogens Program

Special Pathogens Newsletters

REGION 10 SPECIAL PATHOGENS NEWSLETTER

Labrad : Vol 47, Issue 2 - December 2022, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi

LABRAD - Departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Radiology Archives

• From the Editor’s Desk
• Case Quiz
• Contrast Enhanced Spectral Mammography Clinical Usefulness of Biochemical Parameters in Prenatal Diagnosis of Down Syndrome In First and Second Trimester
• The Science of Efficiency in a Clinical Laboratory
• Updates in new WHO Blue Book
• Monkeypox vs. COVID-19
• From the Diary of a Researcher- Notes on Understanding Beta-Thalassemia and Metabolic Bone Disease
• Significance of Audit in a Clinical Laboratory
• Microsatellite Instability (MSI) Testing
• Pre-Analytical Variables Affecting Coagulation Testing
• Grading of Soft Tissue Sarcomas
• Recent Updates in 2022 WHO Classification of Thyroid Neoplasms
• MMR and MSI Testing in Malignancies
• Transforming Pedagogical Framework of Pathology through Social …