Clinical Epidemiology Commons^™

The Dose-Response Effect Of Aerobic Exercise On Inflammation In Colon Cancer Survivors, Justin C. Brown, Stephanie L.E. Compton, Jeffrey A. Meyerhardt, Guillaume Spielmann, Shengping Yang

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Background; Physical activity after surgical resection for colon cancer is associated with significantly longer disease-free survival. Inflammation is hypothesized to mediate the association between physical activity and disease-free survival in colon cancer. Methods; In this exploratory analysis of a randomized dose-response trial, 39 colon cancer survivors who completed standard therapy were stratified by cancer stage and randomized in a 1;1;1 ratio to one of three treatment groups for 24 weeks of usual-care control, 150 min/wk of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (low-dose), or 300 min/wk of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (high-dose). Inflammation outcomes included high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL6), and soluble tumor …

Influenza Viral Infection Is A Risk Factor For Severe Illness In Covid-19 Patients: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study, Jeong-Hwan Hwang, Yeon Seok You, Sang Woo Yeom, Min Gyu Lee, Jong-Hwan Lee, Min Gul Kim, Jong Seung Kim

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In order to prepare for the twindemic of influenza and SARS-CoV-2 infection, we investigated the association between influenza infection and subsequent severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection. A population-based nationwide cohort study was performed using data from the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) in the Republic of Korea. This study included 274,126 individuals who underwent SARS-CoV-2 PCR testing between 20 January 2020 and 1 October 2020. Among these patients, 28,338 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and 4,003 of these individuals had a history of influenza. The control group was selected through 1:1 propensity score matching. In the group of 4,003 COVID-19-positive individuals with …

The Implications Of Ferroptosis In Antibiotic Resistance, Marysol Hohl

Senior Honors Theses

Bacterial infections in the United States are becoming increasingly resistant to existing antibiotic treatments. Due to projected increases in resistance and the recent decrease in novel antibacterials, experts have determined that the United States is in the “post-antibiotic era.” The scientific community has failed to resolve resistance despite the continual discovery of new antibiotic compounds. In the past decade, a novel form of cell death called ferroptosis has been implicated in antibiotic treatment by employing the use of nanotechnology. This literature review will describe the problem of bacterial resistance and demonstrate how current research is pioneering a new age of …

Rapid, High Throughput, Automated Detection Of Sars-Cov-2 Neutralizing Antibodies Against Wuhan-Wt, Delta And Omicron Ba1, Ba2 Spike Trimers, Narayanaiah Cheedarla, Hans P Verkerke, Sindhu Potlapalli, Kaleb Benjamin Mclendon, Anamika Patel, Filipp Frank, William Henry O'Sick, Suneethamma Cheedarla, Tyler Jon Baugh, Gregory L Damhorst, Huixia Wu, Daniel Graciaa, Fuad Hudaib, David N Alter, Janetta Bryksin, Eric A Ortlund, Jeanette Guarner, Sara Auld, Sarita Shah, Wilbur Lam, Dawn Mattoon, Joseph M Johnson, David H Wilson, Madhav V Dhodapkar, Sean R Stowell, Andrew S Neish, John D Roback

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Traditional cellular and live-virus methods for detection of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) are labor- and time-intensive, and thus not suited for routine use in the clinical lab to predict vaccine efficacy and natural immune protection. Here, we report the development and validation of a rapid, high throughput method for measuring SARS-CoV-2 nAbs against native-like trimeric spike proteins. This assay uses a blockade of human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (hACE-2) binding (BoAb) approach in an automated digital immunoassay on the Quanterix HD-X platform. BoAb assays using Wuhan-WT (vaccine strain), delta (B.1.167.2), omicron BA1 and BA2 variant viral strains showed strong correlation …

Sociodemographic Factors Influencing Pandemic-Era Ehdi Use And Access, Nicole Perez, David Adkins, Marissa Schuh, Jennifer B. Shinn, Lori Travis, Matthew L. Bush

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic impact on Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) programs is unknown. This research evaluated sociodemographic factors influencing adherence to EDHI diagnostic testing and the incidence of infant hearing loss during the pandemic.

Method: We evaluated EHDI adherence and incidence of hearing loss in Kentucky before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using univariate and multivariate analysis, we evaluated the association of these outcomes to sociodemographic variables.

Results: There were 71,206 births and 1,385 referred infant hearing screening tests during the study period. Infants during the pandemic had a 24% lower odds of hearing testing adherence (OR …

Helping Frontline Workers In Texas-A Framework For Resource Development, Karima Lalani, Meredith O'Neal, Simone Lee Joannou, Bhanumathi Gopal, Tiffany Champagne-Langabeer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

First responders disproportionately experience occupational stress when compared to the general population, and COVID-19 has exacerbated this stress. The nature of their duties as law enforcement officers, firefighters, and medics exposes them to repeated trauma, increasing their risk of developing a broad array of mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance use disorder (SUD), and compassion fatigue. This paper describes the need for resources for frontline workers and provides a framework for creating and implementing resources. A team of interdisciplinary subject matter experts developed two major resources. The first resource was a 24/7 helpline to support first responders …

Prevalence Of Liver Cirrhosis And Its Association With Obesity Among Mexican Americans: An Evidence Synthesis, Alexa Perlick, Abaigeal Thompson, Colton Wayne, Angel Rendon, Jose E. Campo Maldonado

Research Colloquium

Introduction: Chronic liver disease is the 6^th and 7^th leading cause of death in Hispanic men and Hispanics, respectively.¹ In contrast to other causes of liver disease, the prevalence of nonalcoholic liver disease has been growing as is diabetes and obesity.²

Objective: There is a paucity of data regarding the prevalence of cirrhosis for Mexican Americans in South Texas. The aim of this evidence synthesis is to investigate the prevalence of cirrhosis in Hispanic populations and its relationship with obesity.

Methods: PubMed was used to perform a thorough literature search on September10, 2020. The terms “liver …

Malignant Colorectal Cancer In The Rio Grande Valley: A Demographical Study, Kevin M. Camstra, Vijian Dhevan

Research Symposium

Background: There is abundant demographical data available that provides an excellent general statistical overview of colorectal cancer (CRC) within the Hispanic population in South Texas. Much is known about the overarching trends regarding incidence, prevalence, mortality and screening rates among this specific population as compared to other racial and ethnic groups at the state and national levels. Despite our understanding of these broad trends, few studies have taken a step inward to provide a closer demographical analysis of a CRC population here in the Rio Grande Valley. In this study, we narrow the scope and take a closer look …

Characterization Of Prostate Cancer In Transgender Women, Simita Gaglani, Rajveer Purohit, Ashutosh Tewari, Dara Lundon, Natasha Kyprianou

Research Symposium

Background: The risk of developing prostate cancer (PC) in transgender women is unknown. Many patients are unaware that the prostate is not removed during male-to-female surgical transition. It is unclear what the exposure of estrogens and androgen blockers in these transgender patients has on the prostate. Our aim was to examine and characterize the different presentations of PC in published cases and augment this with an additional case series from one institute.

Methods: A retrospective review of prospectively maintained medical records was performed identifying features of PC diagnoses in transgender women. These included age, duration of feminizing hormone therapy, PSA …

Clinical Characteristics And Risk Factors For Mortality During The 'First Wave' Of Covid-19 In Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Luis G. Vargas Garcia, Francisco E. Díaz Cisneros, Antonio Gutiérrez Sierra, Juan Rosales Martínez, Manlio F. Lara Duck, Netzahualcoyotl Mayek Pérez

Research Symposium

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted public health in Mexico. As of February 2020, there have been at least four "waves" of contagion that resulted in 5.82 million positive cases and more than 325 thousand deaths. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital and population-based information was available, frequently with non-specific symptoms. Little was known about the risk factors for mortality in specific conditions. We described the clinical characteristics of patients with COVID-19 in Reynosa, Tamaulipas during 2020 and identified the risk factors for mortality.

Methods: The COVID-19 cases registered from March to November 2020 in Reynosa were divided …

Tobacco, Alcohol And Diet As Mortality Risk Factors: The Secondary Analysis Of The 25-Year Cohort Study, Alina Egorova, Bulat Idrisov, Romany Redman, Stanislav Otstavnov, Sergey Soshnikov

Journal of Health Research

Background: Individual lifestyle risk factors have been linked to increased mortality globally; however, there is limited data on these associations in Russia. A secondary analysis of the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) data was conducted to close this gap.

Methods: The secondary data have been obtained from a nationally-representative annual cohort survey conducted by the Higher School of Economics (HSE). In this original study, for the first time in Russia, we extracted RRs for researched risk factors. Of additional original value, we made a prospective-retrospective cohort based on a representative longitudinal survey and provided the deaths as outcomes for survival …

Global Blood Pressure Screening During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Results From The May Measurement Month 2021 Campaign, Thomas Beaney, Wei Wang, Markus P Schlaich, Aletta E Schutte, George S Stergiou, Luis Alcocer, Jafar Alsaid, Alejandro Bimbo Diaz, Rafael Hernandez-Hernandez, Mohammad Ishaq, Jacek Jozwiak, Nadia Khan, Gaia Kiru, Harsha Mccardle, Augustine Nonso Odili, Wook Bum Pyun, Cesar A Romero, Jiguang Wang, Neil R Poulter, Mmm Investigators

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Raised blood pressure (BP) remains the biggest risk factor contributing to the global burden of disease and mortality, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. May Measurement Month (MMM), an annual global screening campaign aims to highlight the importance of BP measurement by evaluating global awareness, treatment and control rates among adults with hypertension. In 2021, we assessed the global burden of these rates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS: Screening sites were set up in 54 countries between May and November 2021 and screenees were recruited by convenience sampling. Three sitting BPs were measured, and a questionnaire completed including demographic, lifestyle and …

Intravenous Aviptadil And Remdesivir For Treatment Of Covid-19-Associated Hypoxaemic Respiratory Failure In The Usa (Tesico): A Randomised, Placebo-Controlled Trial, Samuel M Brown, Christina E Barkauskas, Birgit Grund, Shweta Sharma, Andrew N Phillips, Lindsay Leither, Ithan D Peltan, Michael Lanspa, Daniel L Gilstrap, Ahmad Mourad, Kathleen Lane, Jeremy R Beitler, Alexis L Serra, Ivan Garcia, Eyad Almasri, Mohamed Fayed, Kinsley Hubel, Estelle S Harris, Elizabeth A Middleton, Macy A G Barrios, Kusum S Mathews, Neha N Goel, Samuel Acquah, Jarrod Mosier, Cameron Hypes, Elizabeth Salvagio Campbell, Akram Khan, Catherine L Hough, Jennifer G Wilson, Joseph E Levitt, Abhijit Duggal, Siddharth Dugar, Andrew J Goodwin, Charles Terry, Peter Chen, Sam Torbati, Nithya Iyer, Uriel S Sandkovsky, Nicholas J Johnson, Bryce R H Robinson, Michael A Matthay, Neil R Aggarwal, Ivor S Douglas, Jonathan D Casey, Manuel Hache-Marliere, J Georges Youssef, William Nkemdirim, Brad Leshnower, Omar Awan, Sonal Pannu, Darragh Shane O'Mahony, Prasad Manian, J W Awori Hayanga, Glenn W Wortmann, Bruno M Tomazini, Robert F Miller, Jens-Ulrik Jensen, Daniel D Murray, Nina A Bickell, Jigna Zatakia, Sarah Burris, Elizabeth S Higgs, Ven Natarajan, Robin L Dewar, Adam Schechner, Nayon Kang, Alejandro Arenas-Pinto, Fleur Hudson, Adit A Ginde, Wesley H Self, Angela J Rogers, Cathryn F Oldmixon, Haley Morin, Adriana Sanchez, Amy C Weintrob, Alexandre Biasi Cavalcanti, Anne Davis-Karim, Nicole Engen, Eileen Denning, B Taylor Thompson, Annetine C Gelijns, Virginia Kan, Victoria J Davey, Jens D Lundgren, Abdel G Babiker, James D Neaton, H Clifford Lane

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: There is a clinical need for therapeutics for COVID-19 patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure whose 60-day mortality remains at 30-50%. Aviptadil, a lung-protective neuropeptide, and remdesivir, a nucleotide prodrug of an adenosine analog, were compared with placebo among patients with COVID-19 acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure.

METHODS: TESICO was a randomised trial of aviptadil and remdesivir versus placebo at 28 sites in the USA. Hospitalised adult patients were eligible for the study if they had acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure due to confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and were within 4 days of the onset of respiratory failure. Participants could be randomly …

Genome-Scale Methylation Analysis In Blood And Tumor Identifies Immune Profile, Age Acceleration, And Dna Methylation Alterations Associated With Bladder Cancer Outcomes, Ji-Qing Chen

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Bladder cancer patients receive frequent screening due to the high tumor recurrence rate (more than 60%). Nowadays, the conventional monitoring method relies on cystoscopy which is highly invasive and increases patient morbidity and burden to the health care system with frequent follow-up. As a result, it is urgent to explore novel markers related to the outcomes of bladder cancer. Immune profiles have been associated with cancer outcomes and may have the potential to be biomarkers for outcomes management. However, little work has been conducted to investigate the associations of immune cell profiles with bladder cancer outcomes. Here, I utilized the …

‘Safe Couch, Safe House’ Program (Scshp): Reducing Exposure To Toxic Flame Retardants For Children In A Low-Income Public Housing At Hunters View, Bayview-Hunters Point, San Francisco., Aliza Khan

Master's Projects and Capstones

Since the 1970s, flame retardants have been used extensively in consumer goods, including furniture, textile, and electronics, to meet California’s flammability standards. (Gibson et al.,2019) Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs), once the most widely used flame retardants being used in consumer products, were phased out from use in manufacturing as evidence emerged about PBDEs persistence and toxicity. (Hoffman et al.,2017) PBDEs were replaced by Organophosphate Flame Retardants (OPFRs), which has proven to be a case of ‘regrettable substitution’ as exposure to OPFRs is ubiquitous and pervasive in humans due to their volatility and propensity to leach from products into the environment. …

Incidence And Determinants Of Hypertensive Disorders Of Pregnancy In The Us: Hospitalization Discharge Rate For Preeclampsia, Eclampsia, And Gestational Hypertensions, 2016-2018., Kahir S. Jawad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Hypertension remains one of the most prevalent medical issues in pregnancy. It contributes considerably to maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality, making it one of the most significant public health problems. Although various epidemiological studies have been conducted over the past decades to assess the disease incidence and key risk factors associated with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, current incidence rates and trends are lacking. This is a novel and significant study because there are no current population-based incidence estimates of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and their subtypes and very few studies with the power to explore a wide range …

An Observational Study To Develop A Predictive Model For Bacterial Pneumonia Diagnosis In Severe Covid-19 Patients-C19-Pneumoscore, Eloisa Sofia Tanzarella, Joel Vargas, Marco Menghini, Stefania Postorino, Francesca Pozzana, Maria Sole Vallecoccia, Francesco Lorenzo De Matteis, Federico Franchi, Amato Infante, Luigi Larosa, Maria Antonietta Mazzei, Salvatore Lucio Cutuli, Domenico Luca Grieco, Alessandra Bisanti, Simone Carelli, Gianmarco Lombardi, Edoardo Piervincenzi, Gabriele Pintaudi, Tommaso Pirronti, Mario Tumbarello, Massimo Antonelli, Gennaro De Pascale

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In COVID-19 patients, antibiotics overuse is still an issue. A predictive scoring model for the diagnosis of bacterial pneumonia at intensive care unit (ICU) admission would be a useful stewardship tool. We performed a multicenter observational study including 331 COVID-19 patients requiring invasive mechanical ventilation at ICU admission; 179 patients with bacterial pneumonia; and 152 displaying negative lower-respiratory samplings. A multivariable logistic regression model was built to identify predictors of pulmonary co-infections, and a composite risk score was developed using β-coefficients. We identified seven variables as predictors of bacterial pneumonia: vaccination status (OR 7.01; 95% CI, 1.73-28.39); chronic kidney disease …

Determinants Of Covid-19 Vaccination Decision-Making Behaviors Among Pregnant Women In Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review, Sylvia Ayieko, Kimberly Baker, Sarah E Messiah, Brianna Lewis, Christine Markham

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Despite the availability of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination, uptake among pregnant women in Sub-Saharan Africa has been low. This scoping review aimed to identify and characterize determinants influencing COVID-19 vaccination decision-making behaviors among pregnant women in Sub-Saharan Africa. We searched five online databases for articles on COVID-19 vaccination among pregnant women in Sub-Saharan Africa. We identified studies published in English between March 2020 and April 2023 that assessed vaccine-specific issues, psychosocial constructs, and contextual factors associated with COVID-19 vaccination decision-making behaviors. Of the fourteen studies identified, over half (57.1%) were cross-sectional; three used qualitative research methods; and three …

Prevalence Of Leprosy In Lower -Middle- Income And Upper -Middle-Income Countries: A Secondary Data Analysis, Venkatesh Ramaswamy Naik, Rishikha Jeyapal

Manipal Journal of Nursing and Health Sciences

Abstract

To Study the Prevalence of Leprosy in Lower -Middle- Income and Upper -Middle-Income Countries

Introduction: Leprosy is an infectious disease affecting the nerves causing loss of sensation of touch and pain in the affected areas. The prevalence of leprosy in different countries has changed over time with the governments of the respective countries intensifying their efforts and working on various public health programs. Objective: This study aimed to look into the prevalence rates of leprosy per 1000000 population in lower-middle-income and upper-middle-income countries. Material and Method: The prevalence rates per 1000000 population were obtained from the Global Health Observatory …

Facilitators And Barriers To Effective Scale-Up Of Evidence-Based Nonprofit-Level Hiv Prevention And Treatment Interventions Among Black Men Who Have Sex With Men (Msm), Ugochukwu C. Uzoeghelu

Master's Projects and Capstones

Since the scale-up of HIV/AIDS prevention evidence-based interventions (EBIs) has not been simple in nonprofit settings, it is crucial to examine processes that occur in the translation of the EBIs into practice that affect successful implementation through the lens of nonprofit principles and practices. This paper examines the facilitators and barriers to effective scale-up of evidence-based HIV prevention and treatment services for nonprofit health organizations that serve Black men who have sex with men (MSM). I interviewed nonprofit health organizations (n = 4) engaged in the global response to end the HIV epidemic, specifically those who provide HIV prevention and …