CONTEXT: In older adults with multiple conditions, medications may not impart the same benefits seen in patients who are younger, or without multi-morbidity. Furthermore, medications given for one condition may adversely affect other outcomes. Beta-blocker (β-Blocker) use with coexisting cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is such...
Importance
Randomized trials of anti-hypertensive treatment demonstrating reduced risk of cardiovascular events in older adults included participants with less comorbidity than clinical populations. Whether these results generalize to all older adults, most of whom have multiple chronic conditions, is uncertain.
Objective
To determine the association between anti-hypertensive medications and CV...
Pulmonic stenosis (PS) is one of the most commonly encountered congenital cardiac defects in canine patients. English bulldogs have an increased risk of PS as compared to other dog breeds and have a higher reported prevalence of type II/type B/dysplastic pulmonic valve morphology. It has been shown that the dysplastic...
Recent evidence has demonstrated the importance of kidney function in healthy aging. We examined the association between kidney function and change in cognitive function in 3,907 participants in the Cardiovascular Health Study, recruited from 4 U.S. communities, and studied from 1992 - 1999. Kidney function was measured by cystatin C-based...
Cognitive impairment can severely impact quality of life, and can place added strain on family and caregivers.¹⁻³ Moreover, cognitive decline has been shown to proceed to more serious conditions including Alzheimer’s disease and dementia,⁴⁻⁶ making it critical to intervene on risk factors. In addition to traditional risk factors for cognitive...
Older adults are the fastest growing population in the United States, and their numbers are expected to continue rising over the next few decades. The number of older adults with psychiatric disorders such as anxiety is also increasing. Increases in the population of older adults and in the incidence of...
OBJECTIVE: The 75% of older adults with multiple chronic conditions are at risk of therapeutic competition (i.e. treatment for
one condition may adversely affect a coexisting condition). The objective was to determine the prevalence of potential
therapeutic competition in community-living older adults.
METHODS: Cross-sectional descriptive study of a representative sample...
Linear M-mode (1D) and later 2-dimensional (2D) measurements of the left atrium (LA) are commonly been used to assess LA size in veterinary studies despite the fact that studies in human subjects have shown that LA volume (LAV) more accurately reflects LA size than linear measurements due to the complex...
With continual and worldwide human population growth, our impact on the natural environment expands and intensifies every day. We consume natural resources, burn fossil fuels, and release toxic compounds into the air, water, and earth. We build roads that fragment the landscape, construct new settlements, and develop agricultural lands in...
While historiography and interest in Tudor England at both the popular and specialist levels presents few signs of diminishing, there may nonetheless exist a sense that we have little left to learn about this period and its culture. A notable gap in our knowledge, however, remains regarding the mysterious disease...
BACKGROUND: We conducted a national level assessment of the quality of clinical care practice in the Ukrainian healthcare system for two important causes of death and chronic disease conditions. We tested two hypotheses: a) quality of care is predicted by physician and facility characteristics and b) health status is predicted...
The effects of alfaxalone (A-HPCD), propofol (P), ketamine-diazepam (KD) and tiletamine-zolazepam (TZ) administered IV in dogs on cardiovascular and respiratory systems, acid-base balance and electrolytes have been reported in the literature, but a study that compares IV TZ to the other induction protocols (IP) is needed. Six dogs enrolled in...
Mycobacteriosis is a common disease of laboratory zebrafish (Danio rerio). Different infection patterns occur in zebrafish depending on mycobacterial species. Mycobacterium marinum and M. haemophilum produce virulent infections associated with high mortality, whereas M. chelonae is more wide spread and not associated with high mortality. Identification of mycobacterial infections to...
Primary Objective: To describe the processes involved with developing and implementing a
physical activity based health promotion program for people with a brain injury, summarize
previous health promotion research efforts, and provide an actual example of a program entitled
P.A.C.E, a “Physical Activity Centred Education” program.
Reasoning Behind literature Selection:...
Cancer risk at low-dose ionizing radiation has been the subject of great scientific controversy in the past century. The clear majority of national and international radiation protection regulators adopt the linear no-threshold (LNT) model based on the atomic-bomb survivors Life Span Study (LSS) for solid cancer risk assessment. The LNT...
Osteoporosis is a common metabolic bone disease, affecting a third of women and a fifth of men over age 65. In the US, annual health care costs associated with osteoporosis are estimated to be over $20 billion. Osteoporosis is associated with increased fracture risk, which has been demonstrated to predict...
The human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide (CAMP) is a broad spectrum microbicidal agent and modulator of both the innate and adaptive immune system. It is induced by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)₂D₃) through activation of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) and primary bile salts through activation of the xenobiotic nuclear receptor farnesoid X...
Background: Considering the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic aspects of different medications, it is plausible that the age of a smoker could affect the half-life of these drugs. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of smoking cessation drugs (nicotine replacement therapy, bupropion, and varenicline) used either in isolation...
Over the past century, life expectancy in the United States has dramatically increased leading to an increasingly aging population with people reaching, and spending more years in ‘old age’. While this unprecedented shift in population demographics represents great strides for humanity, it is not without cost. One consequence of longer...
Organismal development requires a precisely orchestrated transcriptional program to correctly deploy genetic information into the genome. This process requires sophisticated gene regulatory networks at multiple spatial and temporal levels from early embryonic development to adult physiological conditions. Molecular differences that define cell types are set up during the pattern formation...
Congenital myopathies are caused by heritable mutations in particular genes. Genes mutated in congenital muscular dystrophies often encode cytoskeletal proteins, which contribute to the shape and movement of cells. We would like to know how such molecular defects lead to the muscle weakness in patients. It is therefore important to...
People will spend a large amount of their lifetime indoors where the air is filled with both indoor and outdoor allergens. Exposure to allergens can have a range of effects on the health of building occupants. Textiles make up a vast majority of the surfaces, such as draperies, sofas, pillows,...
Respiratory infections caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), especially Mycobacterium avium, can lead to progressive, recurrent disease that is refractory to therapy. Bacterial biofilms are intrinsically resistant to a variety of stressors and pressures, including host killing mechanisms and antibiotic therapy. Though it is becoming increasingly evident that NTM biofilms are...
Aging, obesity and increased waist circumference (WC) increases risk for metabolic syndrome (MetS). MetS is a cluster of symptoms (elevated WC, triglycerides, blood pressure, fasting glucose, and decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C]) increasing risk for chronic disease. Low-energy dense (LED) diets, emphasizing whole food eating patterns, have not been examined...
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related death in American men. Epidemiologic studies suggest that cruciferous vegetable intake may lower the risk for many cancers, including prostate and colon. Isothiocyanates (ITC) are phytochemicals derived from cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and cabbage that may...
Frailty is a clinical syndrome characterized by decreased resilience to stressors, resulting from dysregulation across multiple physiological systems. Frailty is prevalent in elders and is associated with a wide range of adverse outcomes including death, disability, hip fracture, and falls. In the absence of a gold standard, there is a...
Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, arising from malignant transformation of pigment-producing melanocytes. The primary risk factor for melanoma and other skin cancers is DNA damage resulting from unprotected solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR). If incorrectly repaired, this damage can result in incorporation of mutations that cause aberrant cell...
Mycobacterium avium subsp hominissuis (MAH) is an opportunistic environmental pathogen that causes respiratory and gastrointestinal illness in immunocompromised persons such as those with chronic respiratory diseases or AIDs, respectively. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the incidence of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung infections, including in cystic...
Abstract: Background: Exposure to pollutants including metals and particulate air pollution can alter DNA methylation. Yet little is known about intra-individual changes in DNA methylation over time in relationship to environmental exposures. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of acute-and chronic metal-rich PM[subscript 2.5] exposures on DNA methylation.
Methods: Thirty-eight male...
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) and abdominal obesity (AbOb) increase the risk of
developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Energy restriction (ER), highprotein
(PRO) intake and high-intensity interval training (HIT) can independently
improve MetS and AbOb. However, ER reduces metabolically active lean body
mass (LBM) in addition to body fat (BF). Purpose: To...
Mycotoxins are food-borne toxins produced by molds which are commonly found on animal feeds of economic significance. Toxic doses of these compounds vary widely across livestock species, and even within a species when considered across all stages of development and production. This variation is due to the wide range of...
Few remote health monitoring (RHM) studies have included Mexican-origin Latinos, and even fewer have explored RHM acceptance and utility, reasons for RHM uptake success or failure, or how cultural values influence RHM use among this population. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the remote health monitoring (RHM)...
Human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide (CAMP/LL-37) is a cationic antimicrobial peptide that is widely expressed by myeloid and epithelial cells at the human-environment interface. It possesses broad spectrum antimicrobial capacity against bacteria, fungi and viruses. In addition to its direct antimicrobial activity, CAMP/LL-37 also attracts and recruits monocytes, neutrophils and other...
Recent scientific studies show that framing climate change as a health issue rather than an environmental issue were more persuasive with American audience members (Maibach et. al., 2010; Maibach et. al. 2014). Also in 2014, a survey on respiratory healthcare providers and found that a large percentage believed that climate...
In endurance-trained men, an acute bout of exercise is shown to suppress post-exercise appetite and alter changes in specific appetite regulating hormones. Limited research has examined these responses in endurance-trained women. PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of exercise intensity on the appetite regulating hormones acylated ghrelin, PYY and GLP-1 and...
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous in the environment as components of fossil fuels and by-products of combustion. Defining toxicity mechanisms for this large family of multi-ring structures and substituted derivatives is a substantial challenge. Several PAHs, such as benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), are mutagenic, toxic to wildlife, and classified as probable...
Decline in cardiac pump function is a hallmark of aging where mitochondrial decay is an important underlying cause. Although certainly multifactorial in nature, both dysfunction of the machinery involved in the chemiosmotic process of energy transduction and lower capacity to maintain fatty acid-driven respiration are identified as intrinsic factors of...
Nitric oxide (NO) is a signaling molecule that regulates blood pressure and vascular tone. Humans produce NO by endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), which is impaired in patients with cardiovascular disease leading to increased blood pressure, endothelial dysfunction, and an increased risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Maintaining optimal levels of...
Exercise training has consistently been shown to increase fat utilization during exercise, while conflicting results have been reported on the effects of sex and age on fuel metabolism during exercise. PURPOSE: The primary objective of this investigation was to compare fat and carbohydrate utilization during exercise among males and females...
Maximal aerobic capacity (V̇O₂max) is the most widely used measure for assessing cardiorespiratory fitness. It is a strong contributor to performance in endurance sports, predicts functional capacity in older adults, and is related to overall disease risk. As such, it is important that testing methodologies for determining V̇O₂max provide valid...
Skeletal muscle, the largest organ in the body in mass, is composed by 600 specialized muscles in humans with unique biochemical, physiological and metabolic identities. Skeletal muscles control body movement, locomotion, and nutrient balance. Muscle formation requires precisely orchestrated environmental signals and regulatory gene networks in time and space. Gene...
Throughout most of the developed world, surgical sterilization via gonadectomy has become a common tool for combating the overpopulation of unwanted dogs as well as to eliminate the risk of reproductive diseases in pet dogs. In the dog as in other normal adult mammal, the hypothalamus secretes gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH),...
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) encompasses a spectrum of lymphoid progenitors that have undergone malignant transformation and clonal proliferation at various stages of differentiation. Some cases of ALL have been documented to have prenatal origins and in particular neonatal exposure to various environmental pollutants is associated with increased disease risk, including...
Nuclear Factor, Erythroid Derived 2, Like 2 (NFE2L2 or Nrf2) is the primary transcription factor in cellular defense against oxidative and xenobiotic stresses in higher eukaryotes. This basic leucine zipper transcription factor regulates over 200 antioxidant, detoxification, and lipid metabolizing genes by binding to the Antioxidant Response Element (ARE; a...
Research Objective: Nearly 60 million people in the United States reside in a rural area. Residents in rural areas have higher rates of chronic disease, risky health behaviors, disability, infant mortality, and age-adjusted mortality than their urban counterparts. Health insurance and access to care mitigate those risks, in part because...
The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand activated transcription factor that is a member of the basic helix-loop-helix PER-ARNT-SIM (bHLH/PAS) protein family of cellular sensors. The AHR is conserved across multiple animal phyla and is required for proper vertebrate development. A structurally diverse group of chemicals, including polycyclic aromatic...
Through this dissertation, the quality of freely available physical activity promotion web articles that lay adults would likely locate online was critically appraised and theoretically analyzed. Three broad categories were considered. They were 1) message consistency with national health guidelines for physical activity; 2) suitability for health-related communication; and 3)...
The purpose of this review is to stimulate new ideas regarding low-dose environmental mixtures and carcinogens and their potential to promote invasion and metastasis. Whereas a number of chapters in this review are devoted to the role of lowdose environmental mixtures and carcinogens in the promotion of invasion and metastasis...
Flax seed is a rich source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). Feeding broiler birds flax seed can increase n-3 fatty acids (FA) in meat tissues and can increase human intake of n-3 FA. However, non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) in flax seed decrease digestibility of lipids and proteins and have a negative impact...
Although electronic medical records systems (EMR) present promising benefits, they have not yet been widely adopted. A problem facing many EMR are that they are disruptive technologies; their complex hardware and software are not designed to account for the clinicians' characteristics and needs, thus, demanding a steep learning curve and...
This research examined public perceptions of risk, behavioral intentions in the event of the M9 Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) earthquake and tsunami on the Oregon Coast, and factors that may influence both attitudes and intentions. A household survey was conducted to understand public opinion in Seaside, Oregon, which is located...
There are more than 87,000 chemicals in current use with little to no toxicity information available. Assessing such a large number of chemicals using traditional methods would take an unreasonable amount of time and money, and require the use a large number of animals. The incorporation of high-throughput in vivo...
The use of antibiotics is common in hospice care despite limited evidence that it improves symptoms or quality of life. Patients
receiving antibiotics upon discharge from a hospital may be more likely to continue use following transition to hospice care despite
a shift in the goals of care. We quantified...
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widespread environmental contaminants that occur in complex mixtures. These environmental mixtures can consist of both parent PAHs and their derivatives. Several parent PAHs are known or suspected mutagens and/or carcinogens, and a handful of PAH derivatives are known to be more potent mutagens and/or carcinogens...
Genome instability is a prerequisite for the development of cancer. It occurs when genome maintenance systems fail to safeguard the genome’s integrity, whether as a consequence of inherited defects or induced via exposure to environmental agents (chemicals, biological agents and radiation). Thus, genome instability can be defined as an enhanced...
Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis (MAH) belongs to the most-clinically significant non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) pathogens with constant increase in disease prevalence, mainly in several industrialized western countries where tuberculosis is less prevalent. Upon entry into the alveolar space, MAH is engulfed by resident-macrophages, where the pathogen adapts to the hostile phagosomal...
Interest in social-emotional and character development (SECD) programming has intensified in recent years. SECD-related programs often seek to enhance a variety of health-related outcomes by addressing multiple influences and embracing a comprehensive approach that includes youth, school personnel, families, and communities. Alongside a comprehensive approach arises the need for a...
Climate Change in the Northwest: Implications for Our Landscapes, Waters, and Communities is a report aimed at assessing the state of knowledge about key climate impacts and consequences to various sectors and communities in the Northwest United States. This report draws on two recent state climate assessments in Washington in...
Exposure to urban outdoor air pollution is ubiquitous and low birth weight represents an important health disparity in the United States. While previous research suggests that exposure to outdoor air pollutants are associated with term low birth weight, few studies have evaluated the effects of multipollutant outdoor air exposures or...
This research investigated the development of a novel canine model to study preeclampsia. Normal canine placental development has morphologic and histologic similarities to the shallow trophoblast invasion occurring with preeclampsia in humans, which makes the dog a particularly good choice for modeling this disease and will be an improvement on...
Purpose
To provide an update on the amount and type of physical activity education that occurs in medical education in the United States.
Methods
All accredited doctor of medicine (M.D., n = 141) and doctor of osteopathic medicine (D.O., n = 29) institutions were reviewed using their publicly accessible websites....
Background. Total knee arthroplasty, or replacement, is a common, generally successful, and expensive procedure. Tools to predict outcomes following orthopedic procedures are abundant, yet no commonly used assessment accounts for an individual’s propensity to engage in adaptive health behavior. The 13-item Patient Activation Measure (PAM) questionnaire is a tool that...
Methamphetamine has flooded the media for the past two decades however, this
drug has impacted the nation for many decades prior. Since its synthesis in 1893,
methamphetamine has appealed to various aspects of society including soldiers,
housewives, college students, businessmen, truck drivers, drugged crazed hippies, and
athletes. The extensive effects,...
........................................................................................................................ 159
SEGMENTS OF SOCIETY IN THE US THAT HAVE BECOME INVOLVED WITH
METHAMPHETAMINE AND WHY
Drug policies in the United States are rapidly changing at the state and national level paralleling a shift in drug culture from a societal perspective. This dissertation addresses current public health policy topics with a focus on three recent drug policies. As of 2015, medical cannabis is legal in 23...
The Safe Drinking Water Act ensures that public systems provide water that meets health standards. However, no such protection exists for millions of Americans who obtain water from private wells. Concern for safety is warranted as most wells draw from underground aquifers, and studies demonstrate that groundwater is affected by...
Over the past 42 years clay smoking pipes have been excavated from two U.S. army posts, Fort Hoskins (35BE15) and Fort Yamhill (35PO75) and curated at Oregon State University. These two forts were established in Western Oregon in 1856 and by 1866 both had been decommissioned. Numerous theses have focused...
Environmental scientists, land managers, and policy actors are increasingly presented with high-stakes high-uncertainty problems stemming from human-ecosystem interactions. To help address these problems, scientists frequently use models that produce enormous geospatial and temporal datasets that are constantly modified and often seek input from communities outside their discipline. To assist scientists—as...
The spatial and temporal patterning of sequence specific transcription factors (SSTFs) contributes to cell type specification and organ formation during embryogenesis. Homeodomain transcription factors are evolutionally conserved among invertebrate and vertebrate animals. They are responsible for body segmentation and organogenesis. Lbx1 and Pitx2 both are homeodomain transcription factors contributing to...
Lifestyle factors are responsible for a considerable portion of cancer incidence worldwide, but credible estimates from the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) suggest that the fraction of cancers attributable to toxic environmental exposures is between 7% and 19%. To explore the hypothesis that...