Medical Sciences Commons^™

Chronic Stressors, Obesity Pathogenesis, And The Moderating Effect Of Internalized Weight Stigma; A Quantitative, Illinois Study, Karyn Byrne

Dissertations

The obesity epidemic is a ‘wicked’ problem with a complex web of determinants and outcomes. While generally higher for minoritized populations, prevalence rates manifest in surprising, nonlinear patterns. There is no consensus regarding treatment protocols or mitigation efforts, except that current efforts remain largely ineffective. Much research evidence that a profusion of determinants of health support obesity pathogenesis through various physiological processes and mechanisms, including the allostatic load, mitochondria functioning, the gut microbiome, and epigenetics. Intervening to support markers of the allostatic load (immunity, inflammation, and metabolic health) may provide a more effective treatment outcomes than traditional approaches, which tend …

Development, Validation, And Diagnostic Performance Of A Novel Radiomic Model For Predicting Prostate Cancer Recurrence, Linda M. Huynh

Theses & Dissertations

Multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (MP-MRI)-derived radiomics have been shown to capture sub-visual patterns for the quantitative characterization of prostate cancer (PC) phenotypes. The present dissertation seeks to develop, evaluate, and compare the performance of an MRI-derived radiomic model for the prediction of PC recurrence following definitive treatment with radical prostatectomy (RP).

MP-MRI was obtained from 339 patients who had a minimum of 2 years follow-up following RP at three institutions. The prostate was manually delineated as the region of interest and 924 radiomic features were extracted. All features were evaluated for stability via intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and image normalization …

Molecular Mechanisms Of Opioid Use Disorder In Human Brain Models, Emily Mendez

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a national and global public health crisis with no end in sight. While studies from animal models hint at widespread epigenetic and transcriptomic alterations of opioid drugs, the molecular consequences of long-term exposure to opioid drugs in human brain is still unclear, and human-centered translational models are necessary to discern the human cell type-specific effects of OUD.

Using postmortem brain Brodmann area 9 (BA9) from the UTHealth Brain Collection for Research on Psychiatric Disorders, I identified angiogenic gene networks perturbed in the RNA and protein of OUD subjects, as well as downregulation of many neuron-correlated …

Examining The Effects Of Menstrual Cycle Phase And Hormonal Contraceptive Use On Women's Sleep, Charles Ethan Coombs

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Women overrepresent men for sub-optimal sleep, a consequence of hormone fluctuation in the menstrual cycle affecting sleep regulatory pathways. While research has examined the prevalence of sub-optimal sleep through cycle phases, little research has examined how hormonal contraceptives (HC’s) could similarly affect women’s sleep, while also neglecting to utilize subjective sleep measures. In this study, we examine subjective sleep quality among naturally cycling (NC) women, women using different HC types, and between active and inactive phase pill users by subjecting 463 women to a subjective sleep battery. We hypothesized that HC users would report more sub-optimal sleep than NC women. …

Evaluation Of An End-To-End Radiotherapy Treatment Planning Pipeline For Prostate Cancer, Mohammad Daniel El Basha, Court Laurence, Carlos Eduardo Cardenas, Julianne Pollard-Larkin, Steven Frank, David T. Fuentes, Falk Poenisch, Zhiqian H. Yu

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Radiation treatment planning is a crucial and time-intensive process in radiation therapy. This planning involves carefully designing a treatment regimen tailored to a patient’s specific condition, including the type, location, and size of the tumor with reference to surrounding healthy tissues. For prostate cancer, this tumor may be either local, locally advanced with extracapsular involvement, or extend into the pelvic lymph node chain. Automating essential parts of this process would allow for the rapid development of effective treatment plans and better plan optimization to enhance tumor control for better outcomes.

The first objective of this work, to automate the treatment …

Cord Blood-Derived Invariant Natural Killer T Cells As A Platform For Allogeneic Chimeric Antigen Receptor Cell Therapy, Maison Grefe

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells have revolutionized the treatment of hematopoietic malignancies achieving >50% complete response rates in numerous refractory/relapsed B cell malignancies. However, there are challenges that hinder CAR-T efficacy and bar the broader use of this therapy in patients. One approach to address these challenges is to create a safe allogeneic CAR cell product by using cells that do not cause graft versus host disease (GvHD). Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are an ideal candidate as they are restricted to the monomorphic CD1d protein in contrast to HLA restricted αβ-T cells and therefore are safe in …

Quality Of Life Associated With Health In Spinal Tuberculosis, Juan C. Salcedo-Moreno, Pedro Aleixo-Nogueira, Armando Alpizar-Aguirre, Tania Arancibia-Baspineiro, Julio C. Burgos-Flores, Andrei Andrei, Eduardo Laos-Plasier, Edson Lizarazu-Oroz, Carlos A. Llanos-Lucero, José L. López-Segales, Thiago Magalhães-De Souza, Juan F. Mier-García, Molina Pizarro, Filadelfo Normabuena, María E. Núñez-Castillo, Erika Reyes-Quezada, Wilson Quispe-Alanoca, Paulo G. Sacramento-Da Silva, Byron Salazar-Maldonado, Jorge Salazar-Flores, Josselin M. Sánchez-Mamani, Felipe A. Santos-De Queiroz-Chaves, Reddy A. Simón-Nunes, Manuel E. Soto-García, Perla M. Del Valle-Oros, José A. Israel-Romero-Rangel, Luis M. Duchén-Rodríguez, José A. Soriano-Sánchez

LATIN Neurosurgery Journal

Introduction: Spinal tuberculosis, al though rare, is a variant of miliary TB, which when it occurs can lead to catastrophic in juries, since it is usually painful and disfig uring, and can lead to irreversible neurologi cal injuries. Which directly or indirectly has an impact on the quality of life of the patient. For this reason, our objective is to review the updated literature on the impact of spinal TB onthequality of life of patients and to identify variables that are directly or indirectly associ ated with better or worse results.
Methodology: Following the Prisma criteria for the development of …

Surgical Indicatios For Spinal Tuberculosis Systematic Review, Byron Salazar-Maldonado, Jorge Salazar-Flores, Pedro Aleixo-Nogueira, Armando Alpizar-Aguirre, Tania Arancibia-Baspineiro, Julio C. Burgos-Flores, Andrei Andrei, Eduardo Laos-Plasier, Edson Lizarazu-Oroz, Carlos A. Llanos-Lucero, José L. López-Segales, Thiago Magalhães-De Souza, Juan F. Mier-García, Molina Pizarro, Filadelfo Normabuena, María E. Núñez-Castillo, Erika Reyes-Quezada, Wilson Quispe-Alanoca, Paulo G. Sacramento-Da Silva, Juan C. Salcedo-Moreno, Josselin M. Sánchez-Mamani, Felipe A. Santos-De Queiroz-Chaves, Reddy A. Simón-Nunes, Manuel E. Soto-García, Perla M. Del Valle-Oros, José A. Israel-Romero-Rangel, Luis M. Duchén-Rodríguez, José A. Soriano-Sánchez

LATIN Neurosurgery Journal

Introduction: The objective of this systematic review is to establish the main indi cations for the treatment of spinal tuberculo sis. Although there are many factors to con sider this modality of treatment, with differ ent techniques and surgical approaches, we summarize the main indications for easy to re member reference check list.
Methodology: On this systematic review we analyze the quality of evidence generated on the subject “Indications for Surgical treat ment in spinal tuberculosis” from 2017-01-01 to 2022-01-08 to stablish an update and issue recommendtions on this regard.
Results: 20 articles met the criteria and were included in …

Interferon-Gamma Release Assays In The Diagnosis Of Spinal Tuberculosis: A Systemic Review, Eduardo Laos-Plasier, Pedro Aleixo-Nogueira, Armando Alpizar-Aguirre, Tania Arancibia-Baspineiro, Julio C. Burgos-Flores, Andrei Andrei, Edson Lizarazu-Oroz, Carlos A. Llanos-Lucero, José L. López-Segales, Thiago Magalhães-De Souza, Juan F. Mier-García, Molina Pizarro, Filadelfo Normabuena, María E. Núñez-Castillo, Erika Reyes-Quezada, Wilson Quispe-Alanoca, Paulo G. Sacramento-Da Silva, Byron Salazar-Maldonado, Jorge Salazar-Flores, Juan C. Salcedo-Moreno, Josselin M. Sánchez-Mamani, Felipe A. Santos-De Queiroz-Chaves, Reddy A. Simón-Nunes, Manuel E. Soto-García, Perla M. Del Valle-Oros, José A. Israel-Romero-Rangel, Luis M. Duchén-Rodríguez, José A. Soriano-Sánchez

LATIN Neurosurgery Journal

Introduction: Interferon-gamma release assays are indirect immunological tests used mainly for the diagnosis of latent tubercu losis, their use in active tuberculosis being controversial. This study aims to analyze the usefulness of gamma interferon release assays in the diagnosis of spinal tuberculosis and to obtain a consensus for their use.
Methods: A systematized search was carried out in PubMed and Scielo for ar ticles in English, Spanish, or Portuguese from 10/01/2012 to 10/01/2022, eligibility criteria were applied, the papers included were analyzed according to the GRADE methodology and then established the SORT type recommendation.
Results: We obtained 27 articles, of …

Imaging Signs Indicating Post Tubercular Kyphosis Progression In Children: Systematic Review, Juan F. Mier-García, Carlos A. Llanos-Lucero, Pedro Aleixo-Nogueira, Armando Alpizar-Aguirre, Tania Arancibia-Baspineiro, Julio C. Burgos-Flores, Andrei Andrei, Eduardo Laos-Plasier, Byron Salazar-Maldonado, Jorge Salazar-Flores, Edson Lizarazu-Oroz, José L. López-Segales, Thiago Magalhães-De Souza, Molina Pizarro, Filadelfo Normabuena, María E. Núñez-Castillo, Erika Reyes-Quezada, Wilson Quispe-Alanoca, Paulo G. Sacramento-Da Silva, Juan C. Salcedo-Moreno, Josselin M. Sánchez-Mamani, Felipe A. Santos-De Queiroz-Chaves, Reddy A. Simón-Nunes, Manuel E. Soto-García, Perla M. Del Valle-Oros, José A. Israel-Romero-Rangel, Luis M. Duchén-Rodríguez, Jose A. Soriano-Sánchez

LATIN Neurosurgery Journal

Introduction: One of the main complications of spine tuberculosis is the instability produced by the injury of the articular structures between the vertebrae as well as the adjacent tissues, which, depending on the degree of involvement, can lead to angular kyphosis with the consequent risk of neurological impairment that can end with paraplegia. While the criteria for vertebral instability secondary to tuberculosis were identified and the pathophysiological processes that determine the progression of kyphosis following tuberculosis were deter mined, there is no new criteria, following Rajasekaran’s 2001 work, which demon strated which imaging signs could predict a kyphosis progression in …

Genexpert Mtb/Rif As A Diagnostic Test For Spinal Tuberculosis: Systematic Review, Erika Reyes-Quezada, María E. Núñez-Castillo, Pedro Aleixo-Nogueira, Armando Alpizar-Aguirre, Tania Arancibia-Baspineiro, Julio C. Burgos-Flores, Andrei Andrei, Eduardo Laos-Plasier, Byron Salazar-Maldonado, Jorge Salazar-Flores, Edson Lizarazu-Oroz, Carlos A. Llanos-Lucero, José L. López-Segales, Thiago Magalhães-De Souza, Juan F. Mier-García, Molina Pizarro, Filadelfo Normabuena, Wilson Quispe-Alanoca, Paulo G. Sacramento-Da Silva, Juan C. Salcedo-Moreno, Josselin M. Sánchez-Mamani, Felipe A. Santos-De Queiroz-Chaves, Reddy A. Simón-Nunes, Manuel E. Soto-García, Perla M. Del Valle-Oros, José A. Israel-Romero-Rangel, Luis M. Duchén-Rodríguez, José A. Soriano-Sánchez

LATIN Neurosurgery Journal

Introduction: Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that ranks as the thirteenth cause of death worldwide. As is known, tuberculo sis is not only limited to the lungs, but there is a wide range of extrapulmonary pathologies. Current diagnostic methods for spinal tuberculosis are limited by the time factor in order to provide results early and reliably. GeneX pert MTB/RIF is currently available as an al ternative, fast and reliable test for pathogen identification.
Methodology: This systematic review adheres to the PRISMA [1] criteria. The objective of the systematic review was to analyze the quality of the evidence gener ated on …

Effectiveness Of Vertebral Biopsy In Spinal Tuberculosis. Systematic Review, Armando Alpizar-Aguirre, Pedro Aleixo-Nogueira, Tania Arancibia-Baspineiro, Julio C. Burgos-Flores, Andrei Andrei, Eduardo Laos-Plasier, Edson Lizarazu-Oroz, Carlos A. Llanos-Lucero, Jose L. López-Segales, Thiago Magalhães-De Souza, Juan F. Mier-Gracía, Molina Pizarro, Filadelfo Normabuena, María E. Núñez-Castillo, Erika Reyes-Quezada, Wilson Quispe-Alanoca, Paulo G. Sacramento-Da Silva, Juan C. Salcedo-Moreno, Josselin M. Sánchez-Mamani, Felipe A. Santos-De Queiroz-Chaves, Byron Salazar-Maldonado, Jorge Salazar-Flores, Reddy A. Simón-Nunes, Manuel E. Soto-García, Perla M. Del Valle-Oros, José A. Israel-Romero-Rangel, Luis M. Duchén-Rodríguez, José A. Soriano-Sánchez

LATIN Neurosurgery Journal

Introduction: Vertebral biopsy, espe cially percutaneous biopsy for histopathologi cal study and culture, continues to be the Gold Standard in the Diagnosis of Spinal Tubercu losis since the last century, however, there are no recent systematic reviews of the literature on its effectiveness in this pathology.
Method: A systematic review was car ried out on the PubMed platform, with the keywords ”Spinal tuberculosis” and ”Biopsy” in the title and abstract with a time limitation from January 1, 2017 to October 26, 2022. A summary of 11 selected articles was prepared, a list of the variables used in each article was …

Editorial Message: Vertebral Destruction Syndrome And Spinal Tuberculosis, Armando A. Aguirre

LATIN Neurosurgery Journal

No abstract provided.

Editorial Message: Top Class Neurosurgery Research Available From Latin America For The Benefit Of The World, José A. Soriano-Sánchez

LATIN Neurosurgery Journal

No abstract provided.

Editorial Message, Luis Alencar Biurrum Borba

LATIN Neurosurgery Journal

No abstract provided.

Content Table

LATIN Neurosurgery Journal

No abstract provided.

Headache And Vision Loss As Initial Symptoms For An Acute Invasive Rhino-Orbital-Cerebral Mucormycosis, Thanh Le Od, Gregg Wentworth Od

Optometric Clinical Practice

Background: Acute invasive rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis (ROCM) is a rare fungal infection commonly caused by Rhizopus species. It occurs in immune- compromised individuals who have acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), leukemia, uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, or organ transplant patients who are on immunosuppressive therapy. Diagnosing invasive ROCM is challenging because its clinical presentation can be nonspecific, and it is not frequently observed in ophthalmic practices. Case Report: A 66-year-old Hispanic male with poorly controlled diabetes mellitus presented with the complaint of severe headache and retrobulbar pain in the right eye. An ophthalmic examination revealed normal ocular health in both eyes. Computerized tomography …

Statistical Genetic Approaches To Investigate Genotype-By-Environment Interaction: Review And Novel Extension Of Models, Vincent P. Diego, Eron G. Manusov, Marcio Almeida, Sandra Laston, David Ortiz, John Blangero, Sarah Williams-Blangero

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Statistical genetic models of genotype-by-environment (G×E) interaction can be divided into two general classes, one on G×E interaction in response to dichotomous environments (e.g., sex, disease-affection status, or presence/absence of an exposure) and the other in response to continuous environments (e.g., physical activity, nutritional measurements, or continuous socioeconomic measures). Here we develop a novel model to jointly account for dichotomous and continuous environments. We develop the model in terms of a joint genotype-by-sex (for the dichotomous environment) and genotype-by-social determinants of health (SDoH; for the continuous environment). Using this model, we show how a depression variable, as measured by the …

The Development Of A New Water-Soluble Zinc Porphyrin, Zntpp-2mp, As A Photodynamic Therapy Agent, Emily Payne

Scholars Day Conference

Photodynamic therapy is a new technique used in cancer treatment involving the use of a photosensitizer and light exposure to kill malignant cells. This research tested the use of ZnTPP-2MP as a photosensitizer using white light as a source of possible treatment of the A549 cancer cell line, with preliminary testing on MYC-22 and other G- quadruplex DNA samples. ZnTPP-2MP was synthesized by the reaction of the porphyrin, ZnTPPC, with 2-amino-2- methyl-1-propanol. Following synthesis, the new porphyrin was purified by column chromatography using Sephadex LH-20 and G-50. To confirm the identity and structure of the product, ZnTPP-2MP was analyzed through …

Targeting Tgf-Β During Epithelial-To-Mesenchymal Progression As An Effective Therapy Against Colorectal Cancer, Joyce Fan

Undergraduate Research

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Understanding the mechanisms of colorectal cancer progression is crucial for the development of effective therapeutics. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition is a hallmark feature of cancer and is defined as the loss of epithelial cell features, such as apical-basal polarity and high expression of cell adhesion molecules, and the development of mesenchymal features, such as lack of polarity and increased cell mobility. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal is essential for cell migration, proliferation, and tumor growth. Both the TGF-β and SMAD pathway are associated with colorectal cancer progression. TGF-β is crucial to the cellular mechanism of cell …