Public Health Commons^™

Evaluation Of Medical Services From The Perspective Of Covid-19 Vaccine Demand Satisfaction In Hangzhou, China, Mingjun Cheng, Yunchen Zhu, Peili Cen, Shan Huang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The outbreak of COVID-19 has had a huge global impact, and it continues to test the resilience of medical services to emergencies worldwide. In the current post-epidemic era, vaccination has become a highly effective strategy to prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, using conventional mathematical models to evaluate the spatial distribution of medical resources, including vaccination, ignore people's behaviors and choices and make simplifications to the real world. In this study, we use an enhanced model based on the Theory of People Behavior (TPB) to perform a macro analysis of the satisfaction ability of medical resources for vaccination in Hangzhou, …

The Current State Of Fellowship Leadership In Dermatology: Trends In Workforce Demographics And Scholarly Productivity, Steven Idell, David D Mcpherson, Jessica Martin, Andrew Dentino, Luis Ostrosky-Zeichner, Julia V Philley, Paul Mcgaha, Megan Devine, Jacqueline Bronicki, Daniel D Karp

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In 2018, The University of Texas Health Science Center-Tyler and University of Texas Rio Grande Valley were invited to develop clinical research units for an existing Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) consortium with the objective to equip medically underserved, economically disadvantaged communities and subsequently to deploy COVID-19 clinical trials in response to a public health emergency.

Invasive Haemophilus Influenza Type B In An Infant During The Covid-19 Pandemic: The Return Of Diseases We Hoped Never To See Again…, Christy Tabarani, Stephen A Fletcher, Gloria P Heresi, Susan H Wootton

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Update On Mri In Evaluation And Treatment Of Endometrial Cancer, Ekta Maheshwari, Stephanie Nougaret, Erica B Stein, Gaiane M Rauch, Ken-Pin Hwang, R Jason Stafford, Ann H Klopp, Pamela T Soliman, Katherine E Maturen, Andrea G Rockall, Susanna I Lee, Elizabeth A Sadowski, Aradhana M Venkatesan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Endometrial cancer is the second most common gynecologic cancer worldwide and the most common gynecologic cancer in the United States, with an increasing incidence in high-income countries. Although the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging system for endometrial cancer is a surgical staging system, contemporary published evidence-based data and expert opinions recommend MRI for treatment planning as it provides critical diagnostic information on tumor size and depth, extent of myometrial and cervical invasion, extrauterine extent, and lymph node status, all of which are essential in choosing the most appropriate therapy. Multiparametric MRI using a combination of T2-weighted sequences, …

Epigenome-Wide Association Study Of Mitochondrial Genome Copy Number, Penglong Wang, Christina A Castellani, Jie Yao, Tianxiao Huan, Lawrence F Bielak, Wei Zhao, Jeffrey Haessler, Roby Joehanes, Xianbang Sun, Xiuqing Guo, Ryan J Longchamps, Joann E Manson, Megan L Grove, Jan Bressler, Kent D Taylor, Tuuli Lappalainen, Silva Kasela, David J Van Den Berg, Lifang Hou, Alexander Reiner, Yongmei Liu, Eric Boerwinkle, Jennifer A Smith, Patricia A Peyser, Myriam Fornage, Stephen S Rich, Jerome I Rotter, Charles Kooperberg, Dan E Arking, Daniel Levy, Chunyu Liu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

We conducted cohort- and race-specific epigenome-wide association analyses of mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid (mtDNA) copy number (mtDNA CN) measured in whole blood from participants of African and European origins in five cohorts (n = 6182, mean age = 57-67 years, 65% women). In the meta-analysis of all the participants, we discovered 21 mtDNA CN-associated DNA methylation sites (CpG) (P < 1 × 10-7), with a 0.7-3.0 standard deviation increase (3 CpGs) or decrease (18 CpGs) in mtDNA CN corresponding to a 1% increase in DNA methylation. Several significant CpGs have been reported to be associated with at least two risk factors (e.g. chronological age or smoking) for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Five genes [PR/SET domain 16, nuclear receptor subfamily 1 group H member 3 (NR1H3), DNA repair protein, DNA polymerase kappa and decaprenyl-diphosphate synthase subunit 2], which harbor nine significant CpGs, are known to be involved in mitochondrial biosynthesis and functions. For example, NR1H3 encodes a transcription factor that is differentially expressed during an adipose tissue transition. The methylation level of cg09548275 in NR1H3 was negatively associated with mtDNA CN (effect size = -1.71, P = 4 × 10-8) and was positively associated with the NR1H3 expression level (effect size = 0.43, P = 0.0003), which indicates that the methylation level in NR1H3 may underlie the relationship between mtDNA CN, the NR1H3 transcription factor and energy expenditure. In summary, the study results suggest that mtDNA CN variation in whole blood is associated with DNA methylation levels in genes that are involved in a wide range of mitochondrial activities. These findings will help reveal molecular mechanisms between mtDNA CN and CVD.

Phase 3 Safety And Efficacy Of Azd1222 (Chadox1 Ncov-19) Covid-19 Vaccine, Ann R Falsey, Magdalena E Sobieszczyk, Ian Hirsch, Stephanie Sproule, Merlin L Robb, Lawrence Corey, Kathleen M Neuzil, William Hahn, Julie Hunt, Mark J Mulligan, Charlene Mcevoy, Edwin Dejesus, Michael Hassman, Susan J Little, Barbara A Pahud, Anna Durbin, Paul Pickrell, Eric S Daar, Larry Bush, Joel Solis, Quito Osuna Carr, Temitope Oyedele, Susan Buchbinder, Jessica Cowden, Sergio L Vargas, Alfredo Guerreros Benavides, Robert Call, Michael C Keefer, Beth D Kirkpatrick, John Pullman, Tina Tong, Margaret Brewinski Isaacs, David Benkeser, Holly E Janes, Martha C Nason, Justin A Green, Elizabeth J Kelly, Jill Maaske, Nancy Mueller, Kathryn Shoemaker, Therese Takas, Richard P Marshall, Menelas N Pangalos, Tonya Villafana, Antonio Gonzalez-Lopez

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The safety and efficacy of the AZD1222 (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19) vaccine in a large, diverse population at increased risk for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in the United States, Chile, and Peru has not been known.

METHODS: In this ongoing, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 3 clinical trial, we investigated the safety, vaccine efficacy, and immunogenicity of two doses of AZD1222 as compared with placebo in preventing the onset of symptomatic and severe coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) 15 days or more after the second dose in adults, including older adults, in the United States, Chile, and Peru.

RESULTS: …

Intra-Tumoral Nerve-Tracing In A Novel Syngeneic Model Of High-Grade Serous Ovarian Carcinoma, Jeffrey L Barr, Allison Kruse, Anthony C Restaino, Natalia Tulina, Sarah Stuckelberger, Samuel J Vermeer, Caitlin S Williamson, Daniel W Vermeer, Marianna Madeo, Jillian Stamp, Maria Bell, Mark Morgan, Ju-Yoon Yoon, Marilyn A Mitchell, Anna Budina, Dalia K Omran, Lauren E Schwartz, Ronny Drapkin, Paola D Vermeer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Dense tumor innervation is associated with enhanced cancer progression and poor prognosis. We observed innervation in breast, prostate, pancreatic, lung, liver, ovarian, and colon cancers. Defining innervation in high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) was a focus since sensory innervation was observed whereas the normal tissue contains predominantly sympathetic input. The origin, specific nerve type, and the mechanisms promoting innervation and driving nerve-cancer cell communications in ovarian cancer remain largely unknown. The technique of neuro-tracing enhances the study of tumor innervation by offering a means for identification and mapping of nerve sources that may directly and indirectly affect the tumor microenvironment. …

Meta-Analyses Identify Dna Methylation Associated With Kidney Function And Damage, Pascal Schlosser, Adrienne Tin, Pamela R Matias-Garcia, Chris H L Thio, Roby Joehanes, Hongbo Liu, Antoine Weihs, Zhi Yu, Anselm Hoppmann, Franziska Grundner-Culemann, Josine L Min, Adebowale A Adeyemo, Charles Agyemang, Johan Ärnlöv, Nasir A Aziz, Andrea Baccarelli, Murielle Bochud, Hermann Brenner, Monique M B Breteler, Cristian Carmeli, Layal Chaker, John C Chambers, Shelley A Cole, Josef Coresh, Tanguy Corre, Adolfo Correa, Simon R Cox, Niek De Klein, Graciela E Delgado, Arce Domingo-Relloso, Kai-Uwe Eckardt, Arif B Ekici, Karlhans Endlich, Kathryn L Evans, James S Floyd, Myriam Fornage, Lude Franke, Eliza Fraszczyk, Xu Gao, Xīn Gào, Mohsen Ghanbari, Sahar Ghasemi, Christian Gieger, Philip Greenland, Megan L Grove, Sarah E Harris, Gibran Hemani, Peter Henneman, Christian Herder, Steve Horvath, Lifang Hou, Mikko A Hurme, Shih-Jen Hwang, Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin, Sharon L R Kardia, Silva Kasela, Marcus E Kleber, Wolfgang Koenig, Jaspal S Kooner, Holly Kramer, Florian Kronenberg, Brigitte Kühnel, Terho Lehtimäki, Lars Lind, Dan Liu, Yongmei Liu, Donald M Lloyd-Jones, Kurt Lohman, Stefan Lorkowski, Ake T Lu, Riccardo E Marioni, Winfried März, Daniel L Mccartney, Karlijn A C Meeks, Lili Milani, Pashupati P Mishra, Matthias Nauck, Ana Navas-Acien, Christoph Nowak, Annette Peters, Holger Prokisch, Bruce M Psaty, Olli T Raitakari, Scott M Ratliff, Alex P Reiner, Sylvia E Rosas, Ben Schöttker, Joel Schwartz, Sanaz Sedaghat, Jennifer A Smith, Nona Sotoodehnia, Hannah R Stocker, Silvia Stringhini, Johan Sundström, Brenton R Swenson, Maria Tellez-Plaza, Joyce B J Van Meurs, Jana V Van Vliet-Ostaptchouk, Andrea Venema, Niek Verweij, Rosie M Walker, Matthias Wielscher, Juliane Winkelmann, Bruce H R Wolffenbuttel, Wei Zhao, Yinan Zheng, Marie Loh, Harold Snieder, Daniel Levy, Melanie Waldenberger, Katalin Susztak, Anna Köttgen, Alexander Teumer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Chronic kidney disease is a major public health burden. Elevated urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio is a measure of kidney damage, and used to diagnose and stage chronic kidney disease. to extend the knowledge on regulatory mechanisms related to kidney function and disease, we conducted a blood-based epigenome-wide association study for estimated glomerular filtration rate (n = 33,605) and urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (n = 15,068) and detected 69 and seven CpG sites where DNA methylation was associated with the respective trait. The majority of these findings showed directionally consistent associations with the respective clinical outcomes chronic kidney disease and moderately increased albuminuria. …

Epigenome-Wide Association Study Of Serum Urate Reveals Insights Into Urate Co-Regulation And The Slc2a9 Locus, Adrienne Tin, Pascal Schlosser, Pamela R Matias-Garcia, Chris H L Thio, Roby Joehanes, Hongbo Liu, Zhi Yu, Antoine Weihs, Anselm Hoppmann, Franziska Grundner-Culemann, Josine L Min, Victoria L Halperin Kuhns, Adebowale A Adeyemo, Charles Agyemang, Johan Ärnlöv, Nasir A Aziz, Andrea Baccarelli, Murielle Bochud, Hermann Brenner, Jan Bressler, Monique M B Breteler, Cristian Carmeli, Layal Chaker, Josef Coresh, Tanguy Corre, Adolfo Correa, Simon R Cox, Graciela E Delgado, Kai-Uwe Eckardt, Arif B Ekici, Karlhans Endlich, James S Floyd, Eliza Fraszczyk, Xu Gao, Xīn Gào, Allan C Gelber, Mohsen Ghanbari, Sahar Ghasemi, Christian Gieger, Philip Greenland, Megan L Grove, Sarah E Harris, Gibran Hemani, Peter Henneman, Christian Herder, Steve Horvath, Lifang Hou, Mikko A Hurme, Shih-Jen Hwang, Sharon L R Kardia, Silva Kasela, Marcus E Kleber, Wolfgang Koenig, Jaspal S Kooner, Florian Kronenberg, Brigitte Kühnel, Christine Ladd-Acosta, Terho Lehtimäki, Lars Lind, Dan Liu, Donald M Lloyd-Jones, Stefan Lorkowski, Ake T Lu, Riccardo E Marioni, Winfried März, Daniel L Mccartney, Karlijn A C Meeks, Lili Milani, Pashupati P Mishra, Matthias Nauck, Christoph Nowak, Annette Peters, Holger Prokisch, Bruce M Psaty, Olli T Raitakari, Scott M Ratliff, Alex P Reiner, Ben Schöttker, Joel Schwartz, Sanaz Sedaghat, Jennifer A Smith, Nona Sotoodehnia, Hannah R Stocker, Silvia Stringhini, Johan Sundström, Brenton R Swenson, Joyce B J Van Meurs, Jana V Van Vliet-Ostaptchouk, Andrea Venema, Uwe Völker, Juliane Winkelmann, Bruce H R Wolffenbuttel, Wei Zhao, Yinan Zheng, Marie Loh, Harold Snieder, Melanie Waldenberger, Daniel Levy, Shreeram Akilesh, Owen M Woodward, Katalin Susztak, Alexander Teumer, Anna Köttgen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Elevated serum urate levels, a complex trait and major risk factor for incident gout, are correlated with cardiometabolic traits via incompletely understood mechanisms. DNA methylation in whole blood captures genetic and environmental influences and is assessed in transethnic meta-analysis of epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) of serum urate (discovery, n = 12,474, replication, n = 5522). The 100 replicated, epigenome-wide significant (p < 1.1E-7) CpGs explain 11.6% of the serum urate variance. At SLC2A9, the serum urate locus with the largest effect in genome-wide association studies (GWAS), five CpGs are associated with SLC2A9 gene expression. Four CpGs at SLC2A9 have significant causal effects on serum urate levels and/or gout, and two of these partly mediate the effects of urate-associated GWAS variants. In other genes, including SLC7A11 and PHGDH, 17 urate-associated CpGs are associated with conditions defining metabolic syndrome, suggesting that these CpGs may represent a blood DNA methylation signature of cardiometabolic risk factors. This study demonstrates that EWAS can provide new insights into GWAS loci and the correlation of serum urate with other complex traits.

Association Of Low-Frequency And Rare Coding Variants With Information Processing Speed, Jan Bressler, Gail Davies, Albert V Smith, Yasaman Saba, Joshua C Bis, Xueqiu Jian, Caroline Hayward, Lisa Yanek, Jennifer A Smith, Saira S Mirza, Ruiqi Wang, Hieab H H Adams, Diane Becker, Eric Boerwinkle, Archie Campbell, Simon R Cox, Gudny Eiriksdottir, Chloe Fawns-Ritchie, Rebecca F Gottesman, Megan L Grove, Xiuqing Guo, Edith Hofer, Sharon L R Kardia, Maria J Knol, Marisa Koini, Oscar L Lopez, Riccardo E Marioni, Paul Nyquist, Alison Pattie, Ozren Polasek, David J Porteous, Igor Rudan, Claudia L Satizabal, Helena Schmidt, Reinhold Schmidt, Stephen Sidney, Jeannette Simino, Blair H Smith, Stephen T Turner, Sven J Van Der Lee, Erin B Ware, Rachel A Whitmer, Kristine Yaffe, Qiong Yang, Wei Zhao, Vilmundur Gudnason, Lenore J Launer, Annette L Fitzpatrick, Bruce M Psaty, Myriam Fornage, M Arfan Ikram, Cornelia M Van Duijn, Sudha Seshadri, Thomas H Mosley, Ian J Deary

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Measures of information processing speed vary between individuals and decline with age. Studies of aging twins suggest heritability may be as high as 67%. The Illumina HumanExome Bead Chip genotyping array was used to examine the association of rare coding variants with performance on the Digit-Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) in community-dwelling adults participating in the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Consortium. DSST scores were available for 30,576 individuals of European ancestry from nine cohorts and for 5758 individuals of African ancestry from four cohorts who were older than 45 years and free of dementia and …

Modeling Recurrence In Idiopathic Subglottic Stenosis With Mobile Peak Expiratory Flow, Kyle Kimura, Liping Du, Lynn D Berry, Li-Ching Huang, Sheau-Chiann Chen, David O Francis, Alexander Gelbard

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: We sought to establish normative peak expiratory flow (PEF) data for patients with idiopathic subglottic stenosis (iSGS), evaluate whether immediate changes in PEF after a procedure predict long-term treatment response, and test if a decline in longitudinal PEF is associated with disease recurrence.

STUDY DESIGN: International, prospective, 3-year multicenter cohort study of 810 patients with untreated, newly diagnosed, or previously treated iSGS.

METHODS: iSGS patients consented and enrolled in the North American Airway Collaborative (NoAAC) iSGS

RESULTS: Within the NoAAC iSGS1000 cohort, 810 patients participated in a 3-year, prospective study comparing surgical treatment efficacy and 385 had appropriate PEF …

Defining The Epidemiology Of Safety Risks In Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Patients Requiring Surgery, Daniel J France, Jason Slagle, Emma Schremp, Sarah Moroz, L Dupree Hatch, Peter Grubb, Timothy J Vogus, Matthew S Shotwell, Amanda Lorinc, Christoph U Lehmann, Jamie Robinson, Marlee Crankshaw, Maria Sullivan, Timothy A Newman, Tamara Wallace, Matthew B Weinger, Martin L Blakely

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine the incidence, type, severity, preventability, and contributing factors of nonroutine events (NREs)-events perceived by care providers or skilled observers as a deviations from optimal care based on the clinical situation-in the perioperative (i.e., preoperative, operative, and postoperative) care of surgical neonates in the neonatal intensive care unit and operating room.

METHODS: A prospective observational study of noncardiac surgical neonates, who received preoperative and postoperative neonatal intensive care unit care, was conducted at an urban academic children's hospital between November 1, 2016, and March 31, 2018. One hundred twenty-nine surgical cases in …

Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis With Various Doses Of Hydroxychloroquine Among Healthcare Personnel With High-Risk Exposure To Covid-19: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Fibhaa Syed, Muhammad Hassan, Mohammad Ali Arif, Sadia Batool, Rauf Niazi, Ume E Laila, Sadia Ashraf, Junaid Arshad

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective This trial aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with various hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) doses against a placebo among healthcare personnel (HCP) with high-risk exposure to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19). Methods A phase II, randomized, placebo-controlled trial was conducted including 200 subjects with no active or past severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (antibody testing and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were taken at the time of enrollment). Subjects of experimental groups one to three received HCQ in various doses and the control group received a placebo. The study outcomes in terms of …

Long-Term Impacts Faced By Patients And Families After Harmful Healthcare Events, Madelene J Ottosen, Emily W Sedlock, Aitebureme O Aigbe, Sigall K Bell, Thomas H Gallagher, Eric J Thomas

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Patients and families report experiencing a multitude of harms from medical errors resulting in physical, emotional, and financial hardships. Little is known about the duration and nature of these harms and the type of support needed to promote patient and family healing after such events. We sought to describe the long-term impacts (LTIs) reported by patients and family members who experienced harmful medical events 5 or more years ago.

METHODS: We performed a content analysis on 32 interviews originally conducted with 72 patients or family members about their views of the factors contributing to their self-reported harmful event. Interviews …

Construct Validity For The Self-Reported Competency And Sub-Construct Associated Characteristics Of Romanian Physicians In Autism Spectrum Disorder, Mohammad H Rahbar, Iuliana Dobrescu, Shezeen Gillani, Manouchehr Hessabi, Sori Kim, Mihaela Stancu, Florina Rad

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Lack of physicians' knowledge regarding mental health, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) could have adverse effects on affected individuals' health and quality of life. The purpose of this study was to provide construct validity for a modified questionnaire in order to determine the self-reported competency for underlying sub-constructs in ASD, make inferences on perceived competence in ASD based on a sample of Romanian physicians, and identify physicians' characteristics associated with these sub-domains of competency.

METHODS: For this survey, we modified a questionnaire that was used in Pakistan and Turkey, and administered it to a sample of 383 practicing physicians …

A Comparison Of Methods Of Discontinuing Nasal Cpap In Premature Infants <30 Weeks Gestation: A Feasibility Study, Brittany Duyka, Claire Beaullieu, Amir M Khan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine whether abrupt discontinuation vs gradual wean of nasal CPAP (NCPAP) in infantstherapy.

STUDY DESIGN: We performed a single-center, randomized control trial of premature infants born(n = 66), comparing discontinuation of NCPAP from 6 cmH

RESULTS: Duration of NCPAP or mechanical ventilation was longer in the slow wean arm compared to the fast wean arm (17 vs 12 days, p = 0.03). There were no differences observed in secondary outcomes.

CONCLUSION: In weaning NCPAP, abrupt discontinuation may be associated with a shorter duration of positive pressure respiratory support compared to a gradual …

Efficacy Of Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine In Nepal: Final Results Of A Phase 3, Randomised, Controlled Trial, Mila Shakya, Merryn Voysey, Katherine Theiss-Nyland, Rachel Colin-Jones, Dikshya Pant, Anup Adhikari, Susan Tonks, Yama F Mujadidi, Peter O'Reilly, Olga Mazur, Sarah Kelly, Xinxue Liu, Archana Maharjan, Ashata Dahal, Naheeda Haque, Anisha Pradhan, Suchita Shrestha, Manij Joshi, Nicola Smith, Jennifer Hill, Jenny Clarke, Lisa Stockdale, Elizabeth Jones, Timothy Lubinda, Binod Bajracharya, Sabina Dongol, Abhilasha Karkey, Stephen Baker, Gordan Dougan, Virginia E Pitzer, Kathleen M Neuzil, Shrijana Shrestha, Buddha Basnyat, Andrew J Pollard

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Typhoid fever is a major public health problem in low-resource settings. Vaccination can help curb the disease and might reduce transmission. We have previously reported an interim analysis of the efficacy of typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) in Nepali children. Here we report the final results after 2 years of follow-up.

METHODS: We did a participant-masked and observer-masked individually randomised trial in Lalitpur, Nepal, in which 20 019 children aged 9 months to younger than 16 years were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive a single dose of TCV (Typbar TCV, Bharat Biotech International, India) or capsular group …

Positron Emission Tomography In The Covid-19 Pandemic Era, Chentao Jin, Xiaoyun Luo, Shufang Qian, Kai Zhang, Yuanxue Gao, Rui Zhou, Peili Cen, Zhoujiao Xu, Hong Zhang, Mei Tian

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a major public health problem worldwide since its outbreak in 2019. Currently, the spread of COVID-19 is far from over, and various complications have roused increasing awareness of the public, calling for novel techniques to aid at diagnosis and treatment. Based on the principle of molecular imaging, positron emission tomography (PET) is expected to offer pathophysiological alternations of COVID-19 in the molecular/cellular perspectives and facilitate the clinical management of patients. A number of PET-related cases and research have been reported on COVID-19 over the past one year. This article reviews the current studies of …

Racism And Cancer Screening Among Low-Income, African American Women: A Multilevel, Longitudinal Analysis Of 2-1-1 Texas Callers, Lynn N Ibekwe, Maria Eugenia Fernández-Esquer, Sandi L Pruitt, Nalini Ranjit, Maria E Fernández

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Although racism is increasingly being studied as an important contributor to racial health disparities, its relation to cancer-related outcomes among African Americans remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to help clarify the relation between two indicators of racism-perceived racial discrimination and racial residential segregation-and cancer screening. We conducted a multilevel, longitudinal study among a medically underserved population of African Americans in Texas. We assessed discrimination using the Experiences of Discrimination Scale and segregation using the Location Quotient for Racial Residential Segregation. The outcome examined was "any cancer screening completion" (Pap test, mammography, and/or colorectal cancer screening) at follow-up …

Allografts For Skin Closure During In Utero Spina Bifida Repair In A Sheep Model, Lovepreet K Mann, Jong Hak Won, Rajan Patel, Eric P Bergh, Jeannine Garnett, Meenakshi B Bhattacharjee, Ponnada A Narayana, Ranu Jain, Stephen A Fletcher, Dejian Lai, Ramesha Papanna

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES: Use of off-label tissue graft materials, such as acellular dermal matrix (ADM), for in utero repair of severe spina bifida (SB), where primary skin layer closure is not possible, is associated with poor neurological outcomes. The cryopreserved human umbilical cord (HUC) patch has regenerative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-scarring properties, and provides watertight SB repair. We tested the hypothesis that the HUC is a superior skin patch to ADM for reducing inflammation at the repair site and preserving spinal cord function.

METHODS: In timed-pregnant ewes with twins, on gestational day (GD) 75, spina bifida was created without a myelotomy (functional model). …

Initial Laparotomy Versus Peritoneal Drainage In Extremely Low Birthweight Infants With Surgical Necrotizing Enterocolitis Or Isolated Intestinal Perforation: A Multicenter Randomized Clinical Trial, Martin L Blakely, Jon E Tyson, Kevin P Lally, Susan R Hintz, Barry Eggleston, David K Stevenson, Gail E Besner, Abhik Das, Robin K Ohls, William E Truog, Leif D Nelin, Brenda B Poindexter, Claudia Pedroza, Michele C Walsh, Barbara J Stoll, Rachel Geller, Kathleen A Kennedy, Reed A Dimmitt, Waldemar A Carlo, C Michael Cotten, Abbot R Laptook, Krisa P Van Meurs, Kara L Calkins, Gregory M Sokol, Pablo J Sanchez, Myra H Wyckoff, Ravi M Patel, Ivan D Frantz, Seetha Shankaran, Carl T D'Angio, Bradley A Yoder, Edward F Bell, Kristi L Watterberg, Colin A Martin, Carroll M Harmon, Henry Rice, Arlet G Kurkchubasche, Karl Sylvester, James C Y Dunn, Troy A Markel, Diana L Diesen, Amina M Bhatia, Alan Flake, Walter J Chwals, Rebeccah Brown, Kathryn D Bass, Shawn D St Peter, Christina M Shanti, Walter Pegoli, David Skarda, Joel Shilyansky, David G Lemon, Ricardo A Mosquera, Myriam Peralta-Carcelen, Ricki F Goldstein, Betty R Vohr, Isabell B Purdy, Abbey C Hines, Nathalie L Maitre, Roy J Heyne, Sara B Demauro, Elisabeth C Mcgowan, Kimberly Yolton, Howard W Kilbride, Girija Natarajan, Kelley Yost, Sarah Winter, Tarah T Colaizy, Matthew M Laughon, Satyanarayana Lakshminrusimha, Rosemary D Higgins, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute Of Child Health And Human Development Neonatal Research Network

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine which initial surgical treatment results in the lowest rate of death or neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI) in premature infants with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) or isolated intestinal perforation (IP).

SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: The impact of initial laparotomy versus peritoneal drainage for NEC or IP on the rate of death or NDI in extremely low birth weight infants is unknown.

METHODS: We conducted the largest feasible randomized trial in 20 US centers, comparing initial laparotomy versus peritoneal drainage. The primary outcome was a composite of death or NDI at 18 to 22 months corrected …

Initial Laparotomy Versus Peritoneal Drainage In Extremely Low Birthweight Infants With Surgical Necrotizing Enterocolitis Or Isolated Intestinal Perforation: A Multicenter Randomized Clinical Trial, Martin L Blakely, Jon E Tyson, Kevin P Lally, Susan R Hintz, Barry Eggleston, David K Stevenson, Gail E Besner, Abhik Das, Robin K Ohls, William E Truog, Leif D Nelin, Brenda B Poindexter, Claudia Pedroza, Michele C Walsh, Barbara J Stoll, Rachel Geller, Kathleen A Kennedy, Reed A Dimmitt, Waldemar A Carlo, C Michael Cotten, Abbot R Laptook, Krisa P Van Meurs, Kara L Calkins, Gregory M Sokol, Pablo J Sanchez, Myra H Wyckoff, Ravi M Patel, Ivan D Frantz, Seetha Shankaran, Carl T D'Angio, Bradley A Yoder, Edward F Bell, Kristi L Watterberg, Colin A Martin, Carroll M Harmon, Henry Rice, Arlet G Kurkchubasche, Karl Sylvester, James C Y Dunn, Troy A Markel, Diana L Diesen, Amina M Bhatia, Alan Flake, Walter J Chwals, Rebeccah Brown, Kathryn D Bass, Shawn D St Peter, Christina M Shanti, Walter Pegoli, David Skarda, Joel Shilyansky, David G Lemon, Ricardo A Mosquera, Myriam Peralta-Carcelen, Ricki F Goldstein, Betty R Vohr, Isabell B Purdy, Abbey C Hines, Nathalie L Maitre, Roy J Heyne, Sara B Demauro, Elisabeth C Mcgowan, Kimberly Yolton, Howard W Kilbride, Girija Natarajan, Kelley Yost, Sarah Winter, Tarah T Colaizy, Matthew M Laughon, Satyanarayana Lakshminrusimha, Rosemary D Higgins, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute Of Child Health And Human Development Neonatal Research Network

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine which initial surgical treatment results in the lowest rate of death or neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI) in premature infants with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) or isolated intestinal perforation (IP).

SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: The impact of initial laparotomy versus peritoneal drainage for NEC or IP on the rate of death or NDI in extremely low birth weight infants is unknown.

METHODS: We conducted the largest feasible randomized trial in 20 US centers, comparing initial laparotomy versus peritoneal drainage. The primary outcome was a composite of death or NDI at 18 to 22 months corrected …

Using Increased Trust In Medical Researchers To Increase Minority Recruitment: The Recruit Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial, Barbara C Tilley, Arch G Mainous, Rossybelle P Amorrortu, M Diane Mckee, Daniel W Smith, Ruosha Li, Stacia M Desantis, Sally W Vernon, Gary Koch, Marvella E Ford, Vanessa Diaz, Jennifer Alvidrez

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

While extensive literature exists on barriers and strategies to increase minority participation in clinical trials, progress is limited. Few strategies were evaluated in randomized trials. We studied the impact of RECRUIT, a trust-based, cluster randomized minority recruitment trial layered on top of four traditional NIH-funded parent trials (BMT CTN, CABANA, PACES, STEADY-PD III; fifty specialty sites). RECRUIT was conducted from July 2013 through April 2017. Intervention sites implemented trust-based approaches customized to individual sites, promoting relationships between physician-investigators and minority-serving physicians and their minority patients. Control sites implemented only parent trials' recruitment procedures. Adjusting for within-site clustering, we detected no …

A Novel Imputation Approach For Sharing Protected Public Health Data, Elizabeth A Erdman, Leonard D Young, Dana L Bernson, Cici Bauer, Kenneth Chui, Thomas J Stopka

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objectives. To develop an imputation method to produce estimates for suppressed values within a shared government administrative data set to facilitate accurate data sharing and statistical and spatial analyses.

Methods. We developed an imputation approach that incorporated known features of suppressed Massachusetts surveillance data from 2011 to 2017 to predict missing values more precisely. Our methods for 35 de-identified opioid prescription data sets combined modified previous or next substitution followed by mean imputation and a count adjustment to estimate suppressed values before sharing. We modeled 4 methods and compared the results to baseline mean imputation.

Results. We assessed performance by …

Barriers To Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Uptake Among Racial/Ethnic Minorities: A Systematic Review, Trisha L Amboree, Charles Darkoh

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is associated with poor health outcomes, including cervical cancer. Racial/ethnic minority populations experience poor health outcomes associated with HPV at higher rates. A vaccine is available to protect against HPV infections and prevent HPV-related sequelae; however, vaccination rates have remained low in the United States (U.S.) population. Thus, there is an urgent need to increase the HPV vaccination rate. Moreover, little is known about barriers to HPV vaccination in racial/ethnic minority groups. This paper highlights the most recent findings on barriers experienced by these groups.

METHODS: The PubMed database was searched on July 30, 2020, for …

You Learn How To Hate': Adapting A Healthy Relationship Curriculum Using A Trauma-Informed Race Equity Lens, Shannon Guillot-Wright, Elizabeth D Torres, Bianca Obinyan, Jeff R Temple

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Teen dating violence is a public health concern that can lead to short- and long-term mental and physical health consequences, including depression, anxiety, risky behaviors, and unhealthy future relationships. Research shows that social and structural determinants of health, such as racism, low socio-economic status, and neighborhood conditions, may predispose certain communities to violence. to better understand methods to reduce TDV among ethnically and economically diverse populations, we used a trauma-informed race equity lens to adapt an efficacious prevention program known as

Real-Time Geospatial Analysis Identifies Gaps In Covid-19 Vaccination In A Minority Population, Cici Bauer, Kehe Zhang, Miryoung Lee, Michelle Jones, Arturo Rodriguez, Isela De La Cerda, Belinda Reininger, Susan P Fisher-Hoch, Joseph B Mccormick

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

COVID-19 vaccination is being rapidly rolled out in the US and many other countries, and it is crucial to provide fast and accurate assessment of vaccination coverage and vaccination gaps to make strategic adjustments promoting vaccine coverage. We reported the effective use of real-time geospatial analysis to identify barriers and gaps in COVID-19 vaccination in a minority population living in South Texas on the US-Mexico Border, to inform vaccination campaign strategies. We developed 4 rank-based approaches to evaluate the vaccination gap at the census tract level, which considered both population vulnerability and vaccination priority and eligibility. We identified areas with …

Diabetes Detection And Prevention In Dermatology, Alexandra Ngo, Luise Froessl, John Wesley Mcwhorter, William Brett Perkison, Rajani Katta

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

We are currently in the midst of an international epidemic of diabetes mellitus (DM) and prediabetes. The prevalence of DM in the United States is estimated at 9.4% of the population across all ages, while an estimated 1 in 3 Americans (33.9%) has prediabetes. According to the WHO, about 60 million people suffer from diabetes in the European Region. Dermatologists may play an important role in tackling this epidemic via efforts to improve early detection of both diabetes and prediabetes. Dermatologists often treat patients with, or at risk of, diabetes. This includes patients who present with cutaneous manifestations such as …

Exome Sequence Association Study Of Levels And Longitudinal Change Of Cardiovascular Risk Factor Phenotypes In European Americans And African Americans From The Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities Study, Elena V Feofanova, Elise Lim, Han Chen, Minjae Lee, Ching-Ti Liu, L Adrienne Cupples, Eric Boerwinkle

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is responsible for 31% of all deaths worldwide. Among CVD risk factors are age, race, increased systolic blood pressure (BP), and dyslipidemia. Both BP and blood lipids levels change with age, with a dose-dependent relationship between the cumulative exposure to hyperlipidemia and the risk of CVD. We performed an exome sequence association study using longitudinal data with up to 7805 European Americans (EAs) and 3171 African Americans (AAs) from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. We assessed associations of common (minor allele frequency > 5%) nonsynonymous and splice-site variants and gene-based sets of rare variants with levels …

Secondary Bacterial Pneumonias And Bloodstream Infections In Patients Hospitalized With Covid-19, Max W Adelman, Divya R Bhamidipati, Alfonso C Hernandez-Romieu, Ahmed Babiker, Michael H Woodworth, Chad Robichaux, David J Murphy, Sara C Auld, Colleen S Kraft, Jesse T Jacob

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.