Disease Modeling Commons^™

Orthogonal Decomposition Of Left Ventricular Remodeling In Myocardial Infarction, Xingyu Zhang, Pau Medrano-Gracia, Bharath Ambale-Venkatesh, David A. Bluemke, Brett R. Cowan, J. Paul Finn, Alan H. Kadish

Office of the President Publications and Research

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular size and shape are important for quantifying cardiac remodeling in response to cardiovascular disease. Geometric remodeling indices have been shown to have prognostic value in predicting adverse events in the clinical literature, but these often describe interrelated shape changes. We developed a novel method for deriving orthogonal remodeling components directly from any (moderately independent) set of clinical remodeling indices.

RESULTS: Six clinical remodeling indices (end-diastolic volume index, sphericity, relative wall thickness, ejection fraction, apical conicity, and longitudinal shortening) were evaluated using cardiac magnetic resonance images of 300 patients with myocardial infarction, and 1991 asymptomatic subjects, obtained from …

Testing Mice At Risk Of Pancreatic Cancer For Altered Protein Pathways Found In Diabetes, Henley Cheung

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Pancreatic cancer is nearly asymptomatic, which can result in extensive grow and even metastasis to other organs before detection. When diagnosed at a late stage, the survival rate is 3%. Early detection is therefore the key to treating pancreatic cancer. Diabetes was identified as a risk factor for the development of pancreatic cancer, but the mechanism remains unknown. In this project, the objective was to delineate a link between diabetes and pancreatic cancer by examining their shared protein signaling pathways. In a previous study, hyper-activation of AKT1 resulted in a pre-diabetic phenotype and also increased upregulation of downstream phosphorylated mTOR …

International Consensus (Icon) On: Clinical Consequences Of Mite Hypersensitivity, A Global Problem., Mario Sánchez-Borges, Enrique Fernandez-Caldas, Wayne R. Thomas, Martin D. Chapman, Bee Wah Lee, Luis Caraballo, Nathalie Acevedo, Fook Tim Chew, Ignacio J. Ansotegui, Leili Behrooz, Wanda Phipatanakul, Roy Gerth Van Wijk, Demoly Pascal, Nelson Rosario, Motohiro Ebisawa, Mario Geller, Santiago Quirce, Susanne Vrtala, Rudolf Valenta, Markus Ollert, Giorgio Walter Canonica, Moises A. Calderón, Charles S. Barnes, Adnan Custovic, Suwat Benjaponpitak, Arnaldo Capriles-Hulett

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Since mite allergens are the most relevant inducers of allergic diseases worldwide, resulting in significant morbidity and increased burden on health services, the International Collaboration in Asthma, Allergy and Immunology (iCAALL), formed by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI), the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), and the World Allergy Organization (WAO), has proposed to issue an International Consensus (ICON) on the clinical consequences of mite hypersensitivity. The objectives of this document are to highlight aspects of mite biology that are clinically relevant, to update the …

Strategies For Enriching Variant Coverage In Candidate Disease Loci On A Multiethnic Genotyping Array, Stephanie Bien, Genevieve L. Wojcik, Niha Zubair, Christopher Gignoux, Alicia R. Martin, Lisa W. Martin, Page Study Investigators

Medicine Faculty Publications

Investigating genetic architecture of complex traits in ancestrally diverse populations is imperative to understand the etiology of disease. However, the current paucity of genetic research in people of African and Latin American ancestry, Hispanic and indigenous peoples in the United States is likely to exacerbate existing health disparities for many common diseases. The Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology, Phase II (PAGE II), Study was initiated in 2013 by the National Human Genome Research Institute to expand our understanding of complex trait loci in ethnically diverse and well characterized study populations. To meet this goal, the Multi-Ethnic Genotyping Array (MEGA) …

Epidemiology Of White Spot Syndrome Virus In The Daggerblade Grass Shrimp (Palaemonetes Pugio) And The Gulf Sand Fiddler Crab (Uca Panacea), Muhammad

Dissertations

Ever since the first outbreaks of White spot syndrome virus (WSSV), which causes White Spot Disease (WSD), in Asia in the early 1990s, the pathogen has been a major constraint to the profitability of the shrimp aquaculture industry across the globe. WSSV has a broad host range and is routinely detected in wild decapod crustaceans. In the present study, two common species in the tidal salt marsh along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, the daggerblade grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio) and the Gulf sand fiddler crab (Uca panacea), were investigated for their role as …

Evolving Healthy Populations, Nina H. Fefferman

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Preventive Measures To Eradicate The Spread Of The Zika Arbovirus, Pradyuta Padmanabhan, Padmanabhan Seshaiyer

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Devil Facial Tumor Disease On The Tasmanian Devil Age Structure, Christopher Bruno, Vashni Vasquez

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

The Kinetics Of Type 1 Interferons During Influenza Virus Infection, Margaret A. Myers

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Optimal Control Of Vaccination Rate In An Epidemiological Model Of Clostridium Difficile Transmission, Brittany Stephenson

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Endothelial Hspa12b Is A Novel Protein For The Preservation Of Cardiovascular Function In Polymicrobial Sepsis Via Exosome Mir-126, Xia Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sepsis is the most frequent cause of mortality in most intensive care units. Cardiovascular dysfunction is a major complication associated with sepsis, with high mortality rates up to 70%. Currently, there is no effective treatment approach for sepsis.

The integrity of the endothelium is fundamental for the homeostasis of the cardiovascular system. Sepsis induces endothelial cell injury which is the key factor for multiple organ failure. The increased expression of adhesion molecules and chemokines in endothelial cell promotes leukocytes infiltration into the tissue. The loss of tight junction proteins and increased permeability of the endothelial cells will provoke tissue hypoxia …

Investigating Stromal Contributions To The Regulation Of Cancer Progression, Krista M. Vincent

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Tumours are not insular masses of proliferating cells, rather tumour cells evolve within a complex local environment complete with matrix, stromal, and immune components. Therefore, successful tumour growth and eventual metastasis is not determined solely by tumour cells themselves, but also by the fitness advantage or disadvantage conferred by their local environment. However, many of our current cancer models are composed solely of tumour cell isolates. As tumour fitness is dependent on the entire local cellular context, we were interested in characterizing the accuracy of cell lines as models of the tumour microenvironment, with a focus on the secreted Frizzled-related …

The Development Of Novel Imaging Modalities & High-Throughput Drug Screening Platforms In The Drosophila Melanogaster Model Of Human Calcium Oxalate Nephrolithiasis, Sohrab Naushad Ali

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Nephrolithiasis is a common urological disorder. Despite advances in the surgical treatment of kidney stone disease, research into its prevention and medical management remain stagnant. This is due to lack of viable pre-clinical models to study the disorder. In this project, we develop and characterize a robust Drosophila melanogaster model for human calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis. Using this model, we have developed intravital imaging techniques to study stone formation and novel high-throughput drug screening platforms. We successfully demonstrate calcium oxalate stone formation by sodium oxalate and ethylene glycol supplementation, with subsequent intravital imaging using bisphosphonate based fluorescent probes. Screening of 360 …

A Generalized-Growth Model To Characterize The Early Ascending Phase Of Infectious Disease Outbreaks, Cecile Viboud, Lone Simonsen, Gerardo Chowell

Global Health Faculty Publications

Background

A better characterization of the early growth dynamics of an epidemic is needed to dissect the important drivers of disease transmission, refine existing transmission models, and improve disease forecasts.

Materials and methods

We introduce a 2-parameter generalized-growth model to characterize the ascending phase of an outbreak and capture epidemic profiles ranging from sub-exponential to exponential growth. We test the model against empirical outbreak data representing a variety of viral pathogens in historic and contemporary populations, and provide simulations highlighting the importance of sub-exponential growth for forecasting purposes.

Results

We applied the generalized-growth model to 20 infectious disease outbreaks representing …

Activation Of Target Gene Expression In Neurons By The C. Elegans Rfx Transcription Factor, Daf-19, Katherine P. Mueller

Lawrence University Honors Projects

DAF-19, the only RFX transcription factor found in C. elegans, is required for the formation of neuronal sensory cilia. Four isoforms of the DAF-19 protein have been reported, and the m86 nonsense (null) mutation affecting all four isoforms has been shown to prevent cilia formation. Transcriptome analyses employing microarrays of L1 and adult stage worms were completed using RNA from daf-19(m86) worms and an isogenic wild type strain to identify additional putative DAF-19 target genes. Using transcriptional fusions with GFP, we compared the expression patterns of several potential gene targets using fluorescence confocal microscopy. Expression patterns were characterized in …

A Bi-Stable Switch In Virus Dynamics Can Explain The Differences In Disease Outcome Following Siv Infections In Rhesus Macaques, Stanca Ciupe, Christopher Miller, Jonathan Forde

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Determinants Of The Efficacy Of Hiv Latency Reversing Agents And Implications For Drug And Treatment Design, Ruian Ke

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

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.

The Influence Of Temperature Variation On Dengue Fever: A Model-Based Investigation, Michael A. Robert, Paula D. Weber, Rebecca C. Christofferson, Christopher N. Mores, Helen J. Wearing

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Optimal Insecticide-Treated Bed-Net Coverage And Malaria Treatment In A Malaria-Hiv Co-Infection Model, Eric Numfor

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.