Translational Medical Research Commons^™

Manage Terminal Ileum Diverticulitis Comparably To Diverticulitis Elsewhere, James Yip

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

A critical appraisal and clinical application of Park HC, Lee BH. The management of terminal ileum diverticulitis. Am Surg. 2009 Dec;75(12):1199-202.

Unique Breast Cancer Features Within The Vietnamese Population, Polly Niravath, Melissa Bondy, Susan G. Hilsenbeck

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is known to be a heterogeneous disease across women, and even within individual tumors. However, relatively little is known about heterogeneity across cultures. There has been some evidence to suggest that Asian women are more likely to have HER2+ breast cancer than their Caucasian counterparts.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to further investigate the unique pattern of breast cancer incidence and subtype in the Vietnamese population.

METHODS: We retrospectively collected data on all Vietnamese women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer at the Lester & Sue Smith Breast Center in Houston, Texas over a four year …

Glypican-3 And Cd81 Promote Development Of Hepatocellular Carcinoma And Hepatoblastoma Through Negative Selection., Yuhua Xue, Wendy Mars, William Bowen, Aatur D. Singhi, Sarangarajan Ranganathan, George K. Michalopoulos

Hepatobiliary Cancers: Pathobiology and Translational Advances

No abstract provided.

Decellularized Wharton's Jelly From Human Umbilical Cord As A Novel 3d Scaffolding Material For Tissue Engineering Applications., Sushma Jadalannagari, Gabriel Converse, Eric Buse, Michael Filla, Maria T. Villar, Antonio Artigues, Adam J. Mellot, Jinxi Wang, Michael S. Detamore, Richard A. Hopkins, Omar S. Aljitawi, C Mcfall

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

In tissue engineering, an ideal scaffold attracts and supports cells thus providing them with the necessary mechanical support and architecture as they reconstruct new tissue in vitro and in vivo. This manuscript details a novel matrix derived from decellularized Wharton's jelly (WJ) obtained from human umbilical cord for use as a scaffold for tissue engineering application. This decellularized Wharton's jelly matrix (DWJM) contained 0.66 ± 0.12 μg/mg sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), and was abundant in hyaluronic acid, and completely devoid of cells. Mass spectroscopy revealed the presence of collagen types II, VI and XII, fibronectin-I, and lumican I. When seeded onto …

New Insights Into Post-Sepsis Muscle Weakness Elucidated Using A Novel Animal Model, Allison M. Steele

Theses and Dissertations--Physiology

Sepsis is a severe life-threatening critical illness that damages multiple physiological systems. After hospital discharge, more than 70% of severe sepsis survivors report profound weakness which significantly impacts quality of life. Such weakness gives rise to new limitations of daily living, which ultimately leads to loss of independence in many patients. Despite wide recognition of this serious issue by clinicians and researchers alike, the mechanisms contributing to chronic skeletal muscle dysfunction after sepsis are not well understood. Lack of progress in this field is largely due to the absence of an appropriate animal model; current models are either too mild …

Frontiers In Precision Medicine Ii: Cancer, Big Data And The Public, Emily Coonrod, Jorge L. Contreras, Willard Dere, Jeffrey Botkin, Leslie Francis, Jim Tabery

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Precision medicine is being developed within a complex landscape of public policy, science, economics, law, and regulation. In these and other policy areas, the goal of developing individually-tailored therapies poses novel challenges for health care research, delivery and policy. In this symposium, a range of experts in genetics, medicine, bioinformatics, intellectual property, health economics and bioethics identified and discussed many of the pressing questions raised by the development and practice of precision medicine. These and other issues will need to be taken into account as precision medicine moves ahead and becomes the standard of medical practice and care in the …

Adoption Of Perioperative Lidocaine Infusion For The Reduction Of Postoperative Pain, Brandon Scott Figueiredo

Doctoral Projects

Laparoscopic capability provides numerous benefits to patients requiring abdominal surgical procedures. However, the use of these techniques has presented the anesthesia provider with a unique set of challenges in terms of perioperative management and postoperative pain reduction. No standardized method has existed to reduce postoperative pain and improve recovery following these procedures. There were three primary goals of this project. The first goal was to conduct a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to determine the benefit of the use of intravenous lidocaine infusions to reduce postoperative pain in laparoscopic abdominal surgery. Twelve articles were included in the meta-analysis that pertained …

Her4 Promotes A Stem-Like Phenotype In Osteosarcoma, Rocio K. Rivera-Valentin

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Metastatic disease to the lungs is the primary cause of death for patients with pediatric osteosarcoma (OS). OS has a high degree of heterogeneity and genomic instability, making understanding the pathogenesis and drivers of metastasis of this disease challenging. In an effort to explain tumoral heterogeneity, the tumor initiating cell model (TIC) states that tumors are composed of cells that form the majority of the tumor and are terminally differentiated. This model however, attributes tumorigenesis, metastasis and chemoresistance to a distinct cell population with a stem-like phenotype that can be identified using selective markers. OS appears to follow this model …

The Role Of Nicotine, A7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors And Extracellular Matrix Remodeling In Pulmonary Fibrosis., Glenn Ward Vicary

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The median survival for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients from diagnosis is a dismal 3 years. This condition is characterized by pulmonary fibroproliferation and excess production and disordered deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins resulting in obliteration of the original tissue architecture, loss of lung function and eventual death due to respiratory failure. The main hindrance to the development of effective treatments against pulmonary fibrosis is the late detection of its progression and is often of unknown cause. Tobacco smoke represents the most important environmental factor linked to the development of pulmonary fibrosis, with over 60% of IPF patients current …

Seniors Welcome! Avoiding The Trap Of Age Limits In Health Research, Arshad Jahangir

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

The guest editor introduces this specialty issue of the Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews, which focuses on cardiovascular diseases in the elderly. The reality of an aging population has increased the need for better evidence-based medicine in older patients. However, randomized controlled trials frequently exclude such patients, especially those with comorbidities, from study. This practice ignores the fact that physiologic changes to the cardiovascular system caused by the aging process and aging-associated diseases create clinical dilemmas distinct from those in younger patients. Considering the rising costs of health care and growing incidence of cardiovascular disease, research efforts and …

Early Haart Should Be Used For Treatment-Naive Hiv Patients With Pneumocystis Pneumonia, Maxwell L. Winkler

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

A critical appraisal and clinical application of Manzardo C, Esteve A, Ortega N, et al. Optimal timing for initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy in treatment-naïve human immunodeficiency virus-1-infected individuals presenting with AIDS-defining diseases: the experience of the PISCIS Cohort. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. 2013 July;19(7):646-653. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2012.03991.x

Pharmacologic Diuresis Is Safer Than Ultrafiltration For Cardiorenal Syndrome, Grace Choong

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

A critical appraisal and clinical application of Bart BA, Goldsmith SR, Lee KL et al. Ultrafiltration in decompensated heart failure with cardiorenal syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2012;367:2296-2304. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1210357

Spinal Compression Fractures: No Additional Pain Relief With Use Of Back Braces, Kayla A. Berigan, Brandon Baker, Zakaria Ahmad, Aaron Simpson

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

A critical appraisal and clinical application of Li M, Law SW, Cheng J, Kee HM, Wong MS. A comparison study on the efficacy of SpinoMed® and soft lumbar orthosis for osteoporotic vertebral fracture. J. Prosthet. Orthot. Int. 2015;39(4):270-276. doi: 10.1177/0309364614528204

Anticoagulation Following Gastrointestinal Bleeding: Assessing Harms And Benefits, Jacob Jeffers

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

A critical appraisal and clinical application of Sengupta N, Feuerstein JD, Patwardhan VR, et al. The risks of thromboembolism vs. recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding after interruption of systemic anticoagulation in hospitalized in patients with gastrointestinal bleeding: a prospective study. Am. J. Gastroenterol. 2014;110:328-335. doi: 10.1038/ajg.2014.398

Characterization Of Left-Ventricular Thrombus Formation Using High Frequency Ultrasound, Kelsey A. Bullens, Arvin H. Soepriatna, Pavlos P. Vlachos, Craig J. Goergen

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Heart failure is a leading cause of death in the United States, and cardiac thrombus, a common morbidity associated with heart failure, significantly increases a patient’s risk of embolic events. The objective of this project is to characterize left-ventricular (LV) thrombus development using high frequency ultrasound imaging in a murine model. C57BL/6J wild-type mice (n=6) were injected intraperitoneally with iron dextran five times a week for six weeks to increase oxidative stress in the heart. Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) was subcutaneously injected daily during the second week to initiate stem cell migration and stimulate endothelial cell activation, thus increasing the …

Restriction Therapy In Acute Heart Failure Is Not Shown To Be Effective, Amrit K. Basi, Colleen W. Harkreader, Nicholus H. Yee M.D., Shadia A. Yeihey M.D., Suraiya K. Azom M.D.

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

A critical appraisal and clinical application of Travers B, O’Loughlin C, Murphy NF, et al. Fluid restriction in the management of decompensated heart failure: no impact on time to clinical stability. J Card Fail. 2007;13(2):128-132. doi: 10.1016/j.cardfail.2006.10.012

It Is Reasonable To Treat Patients With Type 1 Hepatorenal Syndrome With Midodrine And Octreotide, William Kane

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

A critical appraisal and clinical application of Esrailian E, Pantangco ER, Kyulo NL, Hu KQ, Runyon BA. Octreotide/midodrine therapy significantly improves renal function and 30-day survival in patients with type 1 hepatorenal syndrome. Dig Dis Sci. 2007;52(3):742-748. doi: 10.1007/s10620-006-9312-0

Salvage Therapy For Non-Acetaminophen-Induced Acute Liver Failure Includes N-Acetylcysteine, David Robinson

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

A critical appraisal and clinical application of Lee WM, Hynan LS, Rossaro L, et al. Intravenous N-acetylcysteine improves transplant-free survival in early stage non-acetaminophen acute liver failure. Gastroenterology. 2009;137(3):856-864. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2009.06.006

There Is Relief For Constipated Patients Taking Opioids., Ahmad Mohammadieh, James Choi, Md, Chelsea Gonzalez, Do, Diyanah Elyaman, Md

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

A critical appraisal and clinical application of Tack J, Lappalainen J, Diva U, Tummala R, Sostek M. Efficacy and safety of naloxegol in patients with opioid-induced constipation and laxative-inadequate response. United European Gastroenterol J. 2015 Oct;3(5):471-80. doi: 10.1177/2050640615604543

Carotid Ultrasound Is Not Helpful In Simple Syncope, Nicholus Yee M.D., Shilin Patel M.D., Raymond Gong

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

A critical appraisal and clinical application of Scott JW, Schwartz AL, Gates JD, Gerhard-Herman M, Havens JM. Choosing wisely for syncope: low-value carotid ultrasound use. J Am Heart Assoc. 2014 Aug 13;3(4). pii: e001063. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.114.001063

Using Mathematical Modeling To Unmask The Concealed Nature Of Long Qt-3 Syndrome, Steven Poelzing, Amara Greer-Short, Seth H. Weinberg

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Molecular Analyses Of Circadian Gene Variants Reveal Sex-Dependent Links Between Depression And Clocks, S-Q Shi, M. J. White, H. M. Borsetti, Julie S. Pendergast, A. Hida, C. M. Ciarleglio, P. A. De Verteuil, A. G. Cadar, C. Cala, D. G. Mcmahon, R. C. Shelton, S. M. Williams, C. H. Johnson

Biology Faculty Publications

An extensive literature links circadian irregularities and/or sleep abnormalities to mood disorders. Despite the strong genetic component underlying many mood disorders, however, previous genetic associations between circadian clock gene variants and major depressive disorder (MDD) have been weak. We applied a combined molecular/functional and genetic association approach to circadian gene polymorphisms in sex-stratified populations of control subjects and case subjects suffering from MDD. This approach identified significant sex-dependent associations of common variants of the circadian clock genes hClock, hPer3 and hNpas2 with major depression and demonstrated functional effects of these polymorphisms on the expression or activity of the hCLOCK …

Abnormal Uterine Bleeding Guidelines And Clinical Practice Are Based On Poor Quality Evidence, Mirek Mychajlowycz

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

A critical appraisal and clinical application of Munro MG, Mainor N, Basu R, Brisinger M, Barreda L. Oral medroxyprogesterone acetate and combination oral contraceptives for acute uterine bleeding: A randomized controlled trial. Obstet Gynecol. 2006 Oct;108(4):924-929. doi:10.1097/01.AOG.0000238343.62063.22

The Role Of Ng2 Proteoglycan In Glioma., Sridevi Yadavilli, Eugene I Hwang, Roger J. Packer, Javad Nazarian

Neurology Faculty Publications

Neuron glia antigen-2 ((NG2), also known as chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan 4, or melanoma-associated chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan) is a type-1 membrane protein expressed by many central nervous system (CNS) cells during development and differentiation and plays a critical role in proliferation and angiogenesis. 'NG2' often references either the protein itself or the highly proliferative and undifferentiated glial cells expressing high levels of NG2 protein. NG2 glia represent the fourth major type of neuroglia in the mammalian nervous system and are classified as oligodendrocyte progenitor cells by virtue of their committed oligodendrocyte generation in developing and adult brain. Here, we discuss NG2 …

Overcoming Treatment Resistance In Heterogeneous Tumors, Nikhil Hebbar

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

Most primary tumors are heterogeneous and are often composed of therapy-sensitive and emerging therapy-resistant cancer cells. Rather unexpectedly, treatment of therapy-sensitive tumor cells in heterogeneous tumor microenvironments resulted in apoptosis of the therapy-resistant cancer cells. We identified a novel Par-4 amino-terminal fragment (PAF, which includes amino acids 1-131 of Par-4) that is produced and released by therapy-sensitive cancer cells following therapy-induced caspase-dependent cleavage of the tumor suppressor Par-4. PAF caused paracrine apoptosis in therapy-resistant cancer cells. Unlike Par-4-inducible apoptosis, which is dependent on the cell surface GRP78 receptor, PAF produced cancer-selective apoptosis independent of cell surface GRP78 function. Par-4 contains …

The Role Of Fat Grafting And Adipose-Derived Stem Cells In Breast Reconstruction, Krishna S. Vyas

Theses and Dissertations--Clinical and Translational Science

Fat grafting is a common surgical procedure that involves the transfer of fat from one area of the body to another in order to improve contour deformities, such as in breast reconstruction. Advantages of the technique include using autologous tissue rather than a foreign body and the added benefit of having liposuction to remove fat from an undesirable location. Although adipose tissue could be the ideal soft tissue filler, fat grafting is plagued by tremendous variability in long-term retention, with volume survival rates of 20-80%, resulting in suboptimal outcomes and repetitive procedures.

The mechanisms contributing to long-term fat graft survival …

Characterizing The Oncogenic Properties Of C-Terminal Binding Protein, Evan T. Sumner

Theses and Dissertations

The paralogous C-terminal binding proteins (CtBP) 1 and 2 are evolutionarily conserved transcriptional coregulators that target and disrupt the expression of several genes essential for multiple cellular processes critical to regulating tumor formation. CtBP’s ability to govern the transcription of genes necessary for apoptosis, tumor suppression, invasion/migration and EMT gives rise to its oncogenic activities. Both isoforms of CtBP are found to be overexpressed in cancers including colorectal, pancreatic, ovarian, and breast, with higher levels correlating to lower overall median survival. Although multiple lines of evidence suggest CtBP plays a role in tumorigenesis, it has never been formally characterized as …

Understanding And Targeting The C-Terminal Binding Protein (Ctbp) Substrate-Binding Domain For Cancer Therapeutic Development, Benjamin L. Morris

Theses and Dissertations

Cancer involves the dysregulated proliferation and growth of cells throughout the body. C-terminal binding proteins (CtBP) 1 and 2 are transcriptional co-regulators upregulated in several cancers, including breast, colorectal, and ovarian tumors. CtBPs drive oncogenic properties, including migration, invasion, proliferation, and survival, in part through repression of tumor suppressor genes. CtBPs encode an intrinsic dehydrogenase activity, utilizing intracellular NADH concentrations and the substrate 4-methylthio-2-oxobutyric acid (MTOB), to regulate the recruitment of transcriptional regulatory complexes. High levels of MTOB inhibit CtBP dehydrogenase function and induce cytotoxicity among cancer cells in a CtBP-dependent manner. While encouraging, a good therapeutic would utilize >100-fold …

Extrapolating Evidence About Preventing Recurrent Cellulitis For An Individual Patient Concern, Christina L. Benkert D.O., Amrit K. Basi, Kristina L. Bahrou M.D., Catherine R. Cherri M.D., Suraiya K. Azom M.D., Nicholus H. Yee M.D.

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

A critical appraisal and clinical application of Thomas KS, Crook AM, Nunn AJ, et al. Penicillin to prevent recurrent leg cellulitis, N Engl J Med. 2013, May 2;368(18):1695-1703. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1206300

Interrater Variability In Identifying Ventilator Associated Pneumonia Using Six Different Definitions, Ahmad Nusair, Md, Balwinder Singh, Md, Ms., Shifang Ding, Md, Phd., Ognjen Gajic, Md, Guangxi Li, Md

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Objective

There is no widely accepted standard definition for Ventilator Associated Pneumonia (VAP). The reliability of the current definitions in use remains controversial. Our objective was to assess the reliability of six commonly used VAP definitions: The Loose, The Rigorous, The Modified Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score (CPIS), The Canadian Critical Care Trials Group (CCCTG), The International Sepsis Forum Consensus (ISFC) and The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Design

We examined the electronic health records of all the consecutively admitted adult patients at our institution who received invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) for ≥ 48 hours, from January 2006 through …