Medical Specialties Commons^™

Genome-Wide Association Analysis Of Metabolic Syndrome Quantitative Traits In The Gennid Multiethnic Family Study, Jia Y Wan, Deborah L Goodman, Emileigh L Willems, Alexis R Freedland, Trina M Norden-Krichmar, Stephanie A Santorico, Karen L Edwards

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: to identify genetic associations of quantitative metabolic syndrome (MetS) traits and characterize heterogeneity across ethnic groups.

METHODS: Data was collected from GENetics of Noninsulin dependent Diabetes Mellitus (GENNID), a multiethnic resource of Type 2 diabetic families and included 1520 subjects in 259 African-American, European-American, Japanese-Americans, and Mexican-American families. We focused on eight MetS traits: weight, waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, fasting glucose, and insulin. Using genotyped and imputed data from Illumina's Multiethnic array, we conducted genome-wide association analyses with linear mixed models for all ethnicities, except for the smaller Japanese-American group, where we used …

Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography For Detecting Subclinical Left Ventricular Dysfunction In Patients With Familial Hypercholesterolemia, Rongjuan Li, Jinjie Xie, Bo Jiang, Zhonghua Sun, Lvya Wang, Zhaoting Leng, Yueli Wang, Ya Yang

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Myocardial ischemia and left ventricular dysfunction have been documented in young adults with familial hypercholesterolemia. We investigated whether speckle-tracking echocardiography can be used to detect subclinically impaired global and regional myocardial function in patients with this lipid disorder. This single-center study included 47 patients with familial hypercholesterolemia and 37 healthy control subjects who underwent transthoracic Doppler echocardiography and speckle-tracking echocardiography from January 2003 through December 2016. Conventional echocardiographic and strain parameters in the 2 groups were analyzed and compared. Left ventricular dimensions were significantly larger at end-diastole (P=0.02) and end-systole (P=0.013), left ventricular walls were significantly thicker (P

Timing Of Surgery Following Sars-Cov-2 Infection: An International Prospective Cohort Study, Covidsurg Collaborative, Globalsurg Collaborative

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Peri-operative SARS-CoV-2 infection increases postoperative mortality. The aim of this study was to determine the optimal duration of planned delay before surgery in patients who have had SARS-CoV-2 infection. This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study included patients undergoing elective or emergency surgery during October 2020. Surgical patients with pre-operative SARS-CoV-2 infection were compared with those without previous SARS-CoV-2 infection. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality. Logistic regression models were used to calculate adjusted 30-day mortality rates stratified by time from diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection to surgery. Among 140,231 patients (116 countries), 3127 patients (2.2%) had a pre-operative SARS-CoV-2 …

Advantage Of 16s Rrna Amplicon Sequencing In Helicobacter Pylori Diagnosis, Boldbaatar Gantuya, Hashem B El Serag, Batsaikhan Saruuljavkhlan, Dashdorj Azzaya, Takashi Matsumoto, Tomohisa Uchida, Khasag Oyuntsetseg, Nyamdorj Oyunbileg, Duger Davaadorj, Yoshio Yamaoka

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing is an accurate method of detecting microbial infection without culture. It is unclear if sequencing has additional benefits over routine diagnostic methods for Helicobacter pylori testing.

METHODS: We enrolled Mongolian volunteers with dyspepsia. Using routine diagnostic methods, positive H. pylori was defined as positive results on histology/immunohistochemistry, culture, rapid urease test, or serology; negative H. pylori was defined by negative results from all these tests. We performed 16S rRNA sequencing on gastric biopsy specimens and calculated cutoffs for operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and relative abundance (RA) to define positive results using ROC curves.

RESULTS: We …

Psychological Impact Of Genetic And Clinical Screening For Pulmonary Fibrosis On Asymptomatic First-Degree Relatives Of Affected Individuals, Nikkola Carmichael, Jose M Martinez Manzano, Luisa D Quesada-Arias, Sergio De Frías Poli, Maura Alvarez Baumgartner, Maria A Planchart Ferretto, Lisa Digianni, Shannon Gampala-Sagar, Dominick A Leone, Swati Gulati, Souheil Y El-Chemaly, Hilary J Goldberg, Rachel Putman, Hiroto Hatabu, Ivan O Rosas, Gary M Hunninghake, Benjamin A Raby

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Screening for pulmonary fibrosis may help to identify early stages of the disease. We assessed the psychological impact of screening undiagnosed first-degree relatives of patients with pulmonary fibrosis by administering two validated measures after participants received their results: the Decisional Regret Scale and the Feelings About genomiC Testing Results Questionnaire. More than 90% of relatives reported either no or mild decisional regret. Increased measures of decisional regret and negative feelings were present in those found to have a low diffusion capacity of carbon monoxide or interstitial lung abnormalities. Results of telomere length and genetic testing did not significantly impact regret.

The Synergy Of Bet Inhibitors With Aurora A Kinase Inhibitors In Mycn-Amplified Neuroblastoma Is Heightened With Functional Tp53, Joanna S Yi, Oscar Sias-Garcia, Nicole Nasholm, Xiaoyu Hu, Amanda Balboni Iniguez, Matthew D Hall, Mindy Davis, Rajarshi Guha, Myrthala Moreno-Smith, Eveline Barbieri, Kevin Duong, Jessica Koach, Jun Qi, James E Bradner, Kimberly Stegmaier, William A Weiss, W Clay Gustafson

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Amplification of MYCN is a poor prognostic feature in neuroblastoma (NBL) indicating aggressive disease. We and others have shown BET bromodomain inhibitors (BETi) target MYCN indirectly by downregulating its transcription. Here we sought to identify agents that synergize with BETi and to identify biomarkers of resistance. We previously performed a viability screen of ∼1,900 oncology-focused compounds combined with BET bromodomain inhibitors against MYCN-amplified NBL cell lines. Reanalysis of our screening results prominently identified inhibitors of aurora kinase A (AURKAi) to be highly synergistic with BETi. We confirmed the anti-proliferative effects of several BETi+AURKAi combinations in MYCN-amplified NBL cell lines. Compared …

A Novel Biomarker Panel For The Early Detection And Risk Assessment Of Hepatocellular Carcinoma In Patients With Cirrhosis, Ilvira M Khan, Donjeta Gjuka, Jingjing Jiao, Xiaoling Song, Ying Wang, Jing Wang, Peng Wei, Hashem B El-Serag, Jorge A Marrero, Laura Beretta

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Novel biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) surveillance in patients with cirrhosis are urgently needed. We previously identified osteopontin (OPN) as a promising biomarker for the early detection of HCC. This study is to further validate the performance of OPN and identify fatty acids (FA) that could improve OPN's performance in HCC risk assessment in patients with cirrhosis. To that end, we selected 103 patients with cirrhosis under surveillance. Among them, 40 patients developed HCC during follow-up. We investigated in these 103 patients, the association between HCC incidence and prediagnostic serum levels of AFP, OPN, and 46 FAs. OPN performance was …

Understanding The "Social" In "Social Media" An Analysis Of Twitter Engagement Of Pulmonary And Critical Care Fellowship Programs, Sheetal Gandotra, Nancy H Stewart, Dina Khateeb, Puneet Garcha, W Graham Carlos, Christopher L Carroll, Viren Kaul

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Social media is ubiquitous as a tool for collaboration, networking, and dissemination. However, little is known about use of social media platforms by pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship programs.

Objective: We identify and characterize pulmonary and critical care fellowship programs using Twitter and Instagram, as well as the posting behaviors of their social media accounts.

Methods: We identified all adult and pediatric pulmonary, critical care medicine (CCM), and combined pulmonary and critical care medicine (PCCM) programs in the United States using the Electronic Residency Application Service. We searched for Twitter profiles for each program between January 1, 2018, …

Two Mechanisms Of Chromosome Fragility At Replication-Termination Sites In Bacteria, Qian Mei, Devon M Fitzgerald, Jingjing Liu, Jun Xia, John P Pribis, Yin Zhai, Ralf B Nehring, Jacob Paiano, Heyuan Li, Andre Nussenzweig, P J Hastings, Susan M Rosenberg

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Chromosomal fragile sites are implicated in promoting genome instability, which drives cancers and neurological diseases. Yet, the causes and mechanisms of chromosome fragility remain speculative. Here, we identify three spontaneous fragile sites in the Escherichia coli genome and define their DNA damage and repair intermediates at high resolution. We find that all three sites, all in the region of replication termination, display recurrent four-way DNA or Holliday junctions (HJs) and recurrent DNA breaks. Homology-directed double-strand break repair generates the recurrent HJs at all of these sites; however, distinct mechanisms of DNA breakage are implicated: replication fork collapse at natural replication …

Ube2i Deletion In Adipocytes Causes Lipoatrophy In Mice, Aaron R Cox, Natasha Chernis, Kang Ho Kim, Peter M Masschelin, Pradip K Saha, Shawn M Briley, Robert Sharp, Xin Li, Jessica B Felix, Zheng Sun, David D Moore, Stephanie A Pangas, Sean M Hartig

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: White adipose tissue (WAT) expansion regulates energy balance and overall metabolic homeostasis. The absence or loss of WAT occurring through lipodystrophy and lipoatrophy contributes to the development of hepatic steatosis and insulin resistance. We previously demonstrated that sole small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) E2-conjugating enzyme Ube2i represses human adipocyte differentiation. The role of Ube2i during WAT development remains unknown.

METHODS: To determine how Ube2i impacts body composition and energy balance, we generated adipocyte-specific Ube2i knockout mice (Ube2i

RESULTS: Surprisingly, Ube2i

CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that Ube2i expression in mature adipocytes allows WAT expansion during postnatal growth. Deletion of Ube2i in …

Patient Perceptions And Use Of Non-Statin Lipid Lowering Therapy Among Patients With Or At Risk For Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: Insights From The Palm Registry, Angela Lowenstern, Shuang Li, Ann Marie Navar, Salim S Virani, Veronique L Roger, Jennifer G Robinson, Anne C Goldberg, Wendy Kampman, Eric D Peterson, Tracy Y Wang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Non-statin lipid lowering therapies (LLTs) provide additional treatment options for patients. Use patterns and patient perceptions of non-statin LLT remain incompletely described.

HYPOTHESIS: The guideline-recommended statin intensity remains underutilized in patients treated with and without non-statin LLT.

METHODS: The PALM Registry collected LLT information on patients with or at risk of ASCVD treated at 125 US clinics in 2015. We compared patient perceptions, lipid levels and statin use among patients treated with and without non-statin LLT.

RESULTS: Among 7720 patients, 1930 (25.0%) were treated with a non-statin LLT (1249 fish oil, 417 fibrates, 329 ezetimibe, 196 niacin). Concurrent statin …

Young Athletes: Preventing Sudden Death By Adopting A Modern Screening Approach? A Critical Review And The Opening Of A Debate, Paolo Angelini, Raja Muthupillai, Alberto Lopez, Benjamin Cheong, Carlo Uribe, Eduardo Hernandez, Stephanie Coulter, Emerson Perin, Silvana Molossi, Federico Gentile, Scott Flamm, Giovanni Lorenz, Flavio D'Ascenzi, Jonathan Tobis, Roberto Sarnari, Antonio Corno, James Furgerson, Amedeo Chiribiri, Adriana D M Villa, Fulvio Orzan, Pedro Brugada, John Jefferies, Pierre Aubry, Jeffrey Towbin, Gaetano Thiene, Robert Tomanek

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Preventing sudden cardiac death (SCD) in athletes is a primary duty of sports cardiologists. Current recommendations for detecting high-risk cardiovascular conditions (hr-CVCs) are history and physical examination (H&P)-based. We discuss the effectiveness of H&P-based screening versus more-modern and accurate methods. In this position paper, we review current authoritative statements and suggest a novel alternative: screening MRI (s-MRI), supported by evidence from a preliminary population-based study (completed in 2018), and a prospective, controlled study in military recruits (in development).

We present: 1. Literature-Based Comparisons (for diagnosing hr-CVCs): Two recent studies using traditional methods to identify hr-CVCs in >3,000 young athletes are …

Cell Lineage Tracing Links Erα Loss In Erbb2-Positive Breast Cancers To The Arising Of A Highly Aggressive Breast Cancer Subtype, Yunfeng Ding, Yonghong Liu, Dong-Kee Lee, Zhangwei Tong, Xiaobin Yu, Yi Li, Yong Xu, Rainer B Lanz, Bert W O'Malley, Jianming Xu

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

HER2-positive (HER2+) breast cancers (BrCs) contain approximately equal numbers of ERα+HER2+ and ERα−HER2+ cases. An enduring obstacle is the unclear cell lineage-related characteristics of these BrCs. Although ERα+HER2+ BrCs could lose ERα to become ERα−HER2+ BrCs, direct evidence is missing. To investigate ERα dependencies and their implications during BrC growth and metastasis, we generated ERαCreRFP-T mice that produce an RFP-marked ERα+ mammary gland epithelial cell (MGEC) lineage. RCAS virus-mediated expression of Erbb2, a rodent Her2 homolog, first produced comparable numbers of ERα+RFP+Erbb2+ and ERα−RFP−Erbb2+ MGECs. Early hyperplasia developed mostly from ERα+RFP+Erbb2+ cells and ERα−RFP−Erbb2+ cells in these lesions were rare. …

Development Of A Multilevel Intervention To Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening In Appalachia, Aaron J Kruse-Diehr, Jill M Oliveri, Robin C Vanderpool, Mira L Katz, Paul L Reiter, Darrell M Gray, Michael L Pennell, Gregory S Young, Bin Huang, Darla Fickle, Mark Cromo, Melinda Rogers, David Gross, Ashley Gibson, Jeanne Jellison, Michael D Sarap, Tonia A Bivens, Tracy D Mcguire, Ann Scheck Mcalearney, Timothy R Huerta, Saurabh Rahurkar, Electra D Paskett, Mark Dignan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates are lower in Appalachian regions of the United States than in non-Appalachian regions. Given the availability of various screening modalities, there is critical need for culturally relevant interventions addressing multiple socioecological levels to reduce the regional CRC burden. In this report, we describe the development and baseline findings from year 1 of "Accelerating Colorectal Cancer Screening through Implementation Science (ACCSIS) in Appalachia," a 5-year, National Cancer Institute Cancer Moonshot

METHODS: Project development was theory-driven and included the establishment of both an external Scientific Advisory Board and a Community Advisory Board to provide guidance in …

Esomeprazole Attenuates Inflammatory And Fibrotic Response In Lung Cells Through The Mapk/Nrf2/Ho1 Pathway, Afshin Ebrahimpour, Min Wang, Li Li, Anil G Jegga, Mark D Bonnen, N Tony Eissa, Ganesh Raghu, Soma Jyothula, Farrah Kheradmand, Nicola A Hanania, Ivan O Rosas, Yohannes T Ghebre

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

INTRODUCTION: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an orphan disease characterized by progressive loss of lung function resulting in shortness of breath and often death within 3-4 years of diagnosis. Repetitive lung injury in susceptible individuals is believed to promote chronic oxidative stress, inflammation, and uncontrolled collagen deposition. Several preclinical and retrospective clinical studies in IPF have reported beneficial outcomes associated with the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) such as esomeprazole. Accordingly, we sought to investigate molecular mechanism(s) by which PPIs favorably regulate the disease process.

METHODS: We stimulated oxidative stress, pro-inflammatory and profibrotic phenotypes in primary human lung epithelial …

A Method To Delineate De Novo Missense Variants Across Pathways Prioritizes Genes Linked To Autism, Amanda Koire, Panagiotis Katsonis, Young Won Kim, Christie Buchovecky, Stephen J Wilson, Olivier Lichtarge

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Genotype-phenotype relationships shape health and population fitness but remain difficult to predict and interpret. Here, we apply an evolutionary action method in mutational landscapes to unravel genes and pathways connected to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Evolutionary action predicts the impact of missense variants on protein function by measuring motions in fitness landscapes, based on phylogenetic distances and substitution odds in homologous sequences. By examining 368 pathways across 2,384 individuals with ASD (probands), we found that 23 pathways, a total of 398 genes, had de novo missense variants biased to higher evolutionary action scores than expected by random chance, including axonogenesis, …

Perceptions Of Family-Level Social Factors That Influence Health Behaviors In Latinx Adolescents And Young Adults At High Risk For Type 2 Diabetes, Erica G Soltero, Neeku Navabi, Felipe G Castro, Stephanie L Ayers, Jenny Mendez, Deborah I Thompson, Gabriel Q Shaibi

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Given that health behaviors occur within the context of familial social relationships, a deeper understanding of social factors that influence health behaviors in Latinx families is needed to develop more effective diabetes prevention programming. This qualitative study identified perceived family-level social factors that influence health behaviors in Latinx adolescents (12–16 years; N = 16) and young adults (18–24 years; N = 15) with obesity and explored differences in perceptions across sex and age. Participants completed an in-depth interview that was recorded, transcribed, and coded using thematic content analysis. Emergent themes central to health behaviors included: perceived parental roles and responsibilities, …

Left Ventricular Assist Device Thrombosis Treated With Intravenous Tissue Plasminogen Activator In A Patient With Covid-19 Infection, Simone A. Jarrett, Jafar Alzubi, Savalan Babapoor-Farrokhran, Zaid Ammari, Mohammad Al-Sarie, Zachary Port, Farhan Hasni, Behnam Bozorgnia, Raphael Bonita

The VAD Journal

Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation is an established treatment for patients with end-stage, systolic heart failure as a bridge to heart transplantation or destination therapy. LVAD pump thrombosis is a life-threatening complication than can be triggered by prothrombotic conditions such as infection. Management of pump thrombosis presents as both a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge that is associated with a high morbidity and mortality. We report a case of pump thrombosis in a patient with a HeartMate II (Abbott Laboratories, Chicago, IL) and coronavirus (COVID-19) infection that was treated successfully with an intravenous thrombolytic, tissue plasminogen activator.

Models Of Care For Patients With Hypertension And Diabetes In Humanitarian Crises: A Systematic Review, Michael S Jaung, Ruth Willis, Piyu Sharma, Sigiriya Aebischer Perone, Signe Frederiksen, Claudia Truppa, Bayard Roberts, Pablo Perel, Karl Blanchet, Éimhín Ansbro

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Care for non-communicable diseases, including hypertension and diabetes (HTN/DM), is recognized as a growing challenge in humanitarian crises, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where most crises occur. There is little evidence to support humanitarian actors and governments in designing efficient, effective, and context-adapted models of care for HTN/DM in such settings. This article aimed to systematically review the evidence on models of care targeting people with HTN/DM affected by humanitarian crises in LMICs. A search of the MEDLINE, Embase, Global Health, Global Indexus Medicus, Web of Science, and EconLit bibliographic databases and grey literature sources was performed. Studies …

A Neural Basis For Brain Leptin Action On Reducing Type 1 Diabetic Hyperglycemia, Shengjie Fan, Yuanzhong Xu, Yungang Lu, Zhiying Jiang, Hongli Li, Jessie C Morrill, Jing Cai, Qi Wu, Yong Xu, Mingshan Xue, Benjamin R Arenkiel, Cheng Huang, Qingchun Tong

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Central leptin action rescues type 1 diabetic (T1D) hyperglycemia; however, the underlying mechanism and the identity of mediating neurons remain elusive. Here, we show that leptin receptor (LepR)-expressing neurons in arcuate (LepRArc) are selectively activated in T1D. Activation of LepRArc neurons, Arc GABAergic (GABAArc) neurons, or arcuate AgRP neurons, is able to reverse the leptin’s rescuing effect. Conversely, inhibition of GABAArc neurons, but not AgRP neurons, produces leptin-mimicking rescuing effects. Further, AgRP neuron function is not required for T1D hyperglycemia or leptin’s rescuing effects. Finally, T1D LepRArc neurons show defective nutrient sensing and signs of cellular energy deprivation, which are …

Consumption Of High-Fructose Corn Syrup Compared With Sucrose Promotes Adiposity And Increased Triglyceridemia But Comparable Nafld Severity In Juvenile Iberian Pigs, Magdalena Maj, Brooke Harbottle, Payton A Thomas, Gabriella V Hernandez, Victoria A Smith, Mark S Edwards, Rob K Fanter, Hunter S Glanz, Chad Immoos, Douglas G Burrin, Tasha M Santiago-Rodriguez, Michael R La Frano, Rodrigo Manjarín

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Background: Fructose consumption has been linked to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in children. However, the effect of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) compared with sucrose in pediatric NAFLD has not been investigated.

Objectives: We tested whether the isocaloric substitution of dietary sucrose by HFCS would increase the severity of NAFLD in juvenile pigs, and whether this effect would be associated with changes in gut histology, SCFA production, and microbial diversity.

Methods: Iberian pigs, 53-d-old and pair-housed in pens balanced for weight and sex, were randomly assigned to receive a mash diet top-dressed with increasing amounts of sucrose (SUC; n = …

Invasive Therapies For Acute Coronary Syndromes In The Covid-19 Era, Sanket Borgaonkar, Joshua Hahn, Marilyne Daher, Waleed Kayani, Hani Jneid

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To identify and address the challenges associated with the care of ACS patients during the coronavirus 2019 pandemic.

RECENT FINDINGS: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable global impact with over 2.0 million deaths worldwide so far. There has been considerable evidence suggesting that COVID-19 increases the risk of acute coronary syndromes (ACS). We propose characterizing ACS patients into 3 distinct categories to better assist in appropriate triage and management: critically ill patients, non-critically ill ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients, and non-critically ill non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI)/unstable angina (UA) patients. We thoroughly review treatments strategies, …

The Contribution Of Age-Related Changes In The Gut-Brain Axis To Neurological Disorders, M Kareem Shaath, Stephen J Warner, James F Kellam, Timothy S Achor

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: In 2018, orthopaedic trauma had the lowest match rate among orthopaedic subspecialties. The purpose of this study was to determine the importance of factors evaluated by orthopaedic trauma fellowship directors when ranking applicants after the interview.

METHODS: An electronic survey was submitted to fellowship directors and consisted of 16 factors included in a fellowship application. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of these factors for applicants they interviewed on a 1 to 5 Likert scale, with 1 being not at all important and 5 being critical.

RESULTS: Thirty-seven fellowship directors responded (63.8%). The highest-rated factor was the applicant …

Identifying And Predicting Food Parenting Practice Profiles Among Canadian Parents, Claire N Tugault-Lafleur, Olivia De-Jongh González, Teresia M O'Connor, Sheryl O Hughes, Louise C Mâsse

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Background: Food parenting practices (FPP) can affect children's eating behaviours, yet little is known about how various FPP co-occur. The primary aim was to identify profiles of FPPs use among Canadian parents. Secondary aims included examining sociodemographic correlates of FPP profiles and evaluating whether children's eating behaviours differed across FPP profiles.

Methods: Parents (n = 799) of 5-12-year-old children completed a validated FPP Item Bank and the Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was used to identify distinct FPP profiles. Regression analyses were used to explore associations between FPP profiles, sociodemographic variables (race, sex and education) and children's …

Feasibility Of The Use Of A Stereoscopic Camera In The Final Inclusion (Sci-Fi) Of Donor Organ Assessment Using Virtual Reality Technology, Ismael A. Salas De Armas, Juan E. Marcano, Jayeshkumar A. Patel, Mehmet H. Akay, Manish K. Patel, Bindu Akkanti, Marwan F. Jumean, Sachin Kumar, Rajko Radovancevic, Sriram Nathan, Biswajit Kar, Igor D. Gregoric

The VAD Journal

Objective: Donor organ assessment is challenging, particularly when physicians and surgeons have to make decisions remotely. To improve communication and preparation for the transplant process, we proposed that a versatile, secure, and transportable video presence would enable a detailed assessment of donor organs.

Methods: A virtual reality camera with a 360-degree visualization range was used with a smartphone receiver to enable integral assessment of the donor's heart in the operating room, with visualization of the organs in real time. Prospective, observational data was collected in two cases in this proof-of-concept study. An assessment physician evaluated the donor heart remotely, and …

Removal Of Impella In The Setting Of Left Ventricular Thrombus: A Potential Indication For Cerebral Embolic Protection Devices, Miro Asadourian, Avinash Sharma, Richard Kiel, Felice Lin, Manminder Bhullar

The VAD Journal

Successful percutaneous mechanical circulatory support (MCS) has been used for acute stabilization of cardiogenic shock (CS). Improved survival outcomes have been observed in patients with CS from an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) who undergo implantation of left ventricular (LV) to ascending aorta rotodynamic pumps, such as the Impella® device (Abiomed). However, thrombotic events are a known complication of such devices in poor flow states such as CS. There is limited evidence regarding the management of patients who develop an LV thrombus after Impella insertion. Currently, the Sentinel cerebral protection system (SCPS, Boston Scientific) is the only FDA-approved device for cerebral …

Protecting Sanitation Workers In Low-Middle Income Countries Amid Covid-19, Muhammad Mainuddin Patwary, Md Riad Hossain, Faysal Kabir Shuvo, Sadia Ashraf, Rabeya Sultana, Md Ashraful Alam

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Biases And Blind-Spots In Genome-Wide Crispr-Cas9 Knockout Screens, Merve Dede

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Adaptation of the bacterial CRISPR-Cas9 system to mammalian cells revolutionized the field of functional genomics, enabling genome-scale genetic perturbations to study essential genes, whose loss of function results in a severe fitness defect. There are two types of essential genes in a cell. Core essential genes are absolutely required for growth and proliferation in every cell type. On the other hand, context-dependent essential genes become essential in an environmental or genetic context. The concept of context-dependent gene essentiality is particularly important in cancer, since killing cancer cells selectively without harming surrounding healthy tissue remains a major challenge. The toxicity of …

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 …

N-3 Fatty Acid Biomarkers And Incident Type 2 Diabetes: An Individual Participant-Level Pooling Project Of 20 Prospective Cohort Studies, Frank Qian, Andres V Ardisson Korat, Fumiaki Imamura, Matti Marklund, Nathan Tintle, Jyrki K Virtanen, Xia Zhou, Julie K Bassett, Heidi Lai, Yoichiro Hirakawa, Kuo-Liong Chien, Alexis C Wood, Maria Lankinen, Rachel A Murphy, Cecilia Samieri, Kamalita Pertiwi, Vanessa D De Mello, Weihua Guan, Nita G Forouhi, Nick Wareham, Interact Consortium Frank B Hu, Ulf Riserus, Lars Lind, William S Harris, Aladdin H Shadyab, Jennifer G Robinson, Lyn M Steffen, Allison Hodge, Graham G Giles, Toshiharu Ninomiya, Matti Uusitupa, Jaakko Tuomilehto, Jaana Lindström, Markku Laakso, David S Siscovick, Catherine Helmer, Johanna M Geleijnse, Jason H Y Wu, Amanda Fretts, Rozenn N Lemaitre, Renata Micha, Dariush Mozaffarian, Qi Sun

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Objective: Prospective associations between n-3 fatty acid biomarkers and type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk are not consistent in individual studies. We aimed to summarize the prospective associations of biomarkers of α-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) with T2D risk through an individual participant-level pooled analysis.

Research design and methods: For our analysis we incorporated data from a global consortium of 20 prospective studies from 14 countries. We included 65,147 participants who had blood measurements of ALA, EPA, DPA, or DHA and were free of diabetes at baseline. De novo harmonized analyses were performed …