eScholarship@UMassChan
http://repository.escholarship.umassmed.edu:80
The eScholarship@UMassChan digital repository system captures, stores, indexes, preserves, and distributes digital research material.
2024-03-29T01:49:30Z
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Celebrating and Congratulations!
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/53216
Celebrating and Congratulations!
Silk, Hugh
Introduction: This week I am celebrating, along with my colleagues, our very successful match into family medicine (and to our residencies)! With 14.02% of UMass Chan students matching into Family Medicine, we exceeded the national average of 12.7% (per AAFP). Family Medicine Proud!
This quote from Dr. Victor Johnson, known as the founding father of the College of General Practitioners now the College of Family Physicians in Canada, summarizes their future impact.
"I became convinced that the medical profession would be saved not by its organization but by the sum total of the common sense and humanity of its individual practicing members. General practitioners... are the doctors closest to [the] people. They heal more of the broken hearted, repair more of the injured and deprived, and live with the poor and dying who are without influence and hope. As Family Physicians, you are ideally positioned in the health care system to understand patients and their family and community context, and to provide for them a deep connection, compassion, and care."
The picture below says it best. These individuals are way more than a statistic. They will make us proud in the way Victor Johnson wanted family doctors to be.
Congratulations to these future family physicians and to all who taught, challenged, mentored, coached, consoled, and encouraged them. Take a moment and congratulate yourselves too! Be well.
2024-03-21T00:00:00Z
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Over Fartsgrensen
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/53190
Over Fartsgrensen
Gracey, Kristina
Introduction: This week I am grateful to Kristina Gracey, faculty at Barre Family Health Center, for her essay that is both personal and informative. She is an avid and successful runner. Which can be dangerous. She has been thinking about this element of risk and adds a public health perspective to her reflection that I personally admire. Food for thought for possible collective advocacy by us all on this topic.
2024-03-14T00:00:00Z
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Sampling of healthcare professionals' perspective on point-of-care technologies from 2019-2021: A survey of benefits, concerns, and development
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/53185
Sampling of healthcare professionals' perspective on point-of-care technologies from 2019-2021: A survey of benefits, concerns, and development
Orwig, Taylor; Sutaria, Shiv; Wang, Ziyue; Howard-Wilson, Sakeina; Dunlap, Denise; Lilly, Craig M; Buchholz, Bryan; McManus, David D; Hafer, Nathaniel
Point-of-care technology (POCT) plays a vital role in modern healthcare by providing a fast diagnosis, improving patient management, and extending healthcare access to remote and resource-limited areas. The objective of this study was to understand how healthcare professionals in the United States perceived POCTs during 2019-2021 to assess the decision-making process of implementing these newer technologies into everyday practice. A 5-point Likert scale survey was sent to respondents to evaluate their perceptions of benefits, concerns, characteristics, and development of point-of-care technologies. The 2021 survey was distributed November 1st, 2021- February 15th, 2022, with a total of 168 independent survey responses received. Of the respondents, 59% identified as male, 73% were white, and 48% have been in practice for over 20 years. The results showed that most agreed that POCTs improve patient management (94%) and improve clinician confidence in decision making (92%). Healthcare professionals were most concerned with potentially not being reimbursed for the cost of the POCT (37%). When asked to rank the top 3 important characteristics of POCT, respondents chose accuracy, ease of use, and availability. It is important to note this survey was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. To achieve an even greater representation of healthcare professionals' point of view on POCTs, further work to obtain responses from a larger, more diverse population of providers is needed.
2024-03-08T00:00:00Z
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Photos of Meaningful Things and Places
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/53189
Photos of Meaningful Things and Places
Penumetcha, Venkata "Sai Sri"; Isaac, Tamika; Coderre, Danielle; Silk, Hugh
Introduction: This week I have a visual treat. Last week Sara Shields and I had a session with the PGY1s on the topic of medical humanities and one of the prompts was to go into the hospital and return with a photo of something that is meaningful to you - can be a piece, a thing, a person. The discussion that ensued from these photos was wonderful! I am sharing some of the photos here for you with their title. Enjoy.
2024-03-07T00:00:00Z
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Introducing Telomere-Dysfunction Induced Cellular Senescence in iPSC-Based Modeling Of Neurodegenerative Diseases
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/53248
Introducing Telomere-Dysfunction Induced Cellular Senescence in iPSC-Based Modeling Of Neurodegenerative Diseases
Neherin, Kashfia
Investigation of disease-associated cellular changes in vitro has leaped forward significantly with the innovation of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology. However, resetting the epigenetic landscape and aging clock during reprogramming results in iPSC-differentiated cells resembling fetal cell types instead of adult or aged cells. The lack of cellular aging in iPSC-based models presents a significant drawback in the investigation of age-associated diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. My thesis aims to introduce proper cellular aging to improve iPSC-based modeling of neurodegeneration. Toward this goal, I created an inducible system to trigger senescence in iPSC-based cell models, as recent studies showed senescence playing a crucial role in aging and neurodegeneration. I utilized CRISPR-interference (CRISPRi) to suppress telomere repeat factor 2 (TERF2), a significant component of the telomere-protecting Shelterin complex. I demonstrated that suppression of TERF2 in iPSCs robustly activated DNA damage response (DDR), p53/p21 signaling, and cellular senescence in an inducible and synchronized manner. The inducible approach allows temporal control of senescence activation throughout differentiation from iPSCs to desired cell types. I applied the CRISPRi-TERF2 approach to iPSC-differentiated neural progenitor cells (NPCs) and showed that suppression of TERF2 efficiently activated DDR, p53/p21 signaling, and cellular senescence in differentiated NPCs. This inducible model of cellular senescence generated in this study will enable the investigation of cellular senescence using isogenic comparisons in the progression of age-associated neurodegeneration and improve disease modeling with a proper cellular aging context to facilitate drug discovery.
2024-03-06T00:00:00Z
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UMCCTS Newsletter, March 2024
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/53235
UMCCTS Newsletter, March 2024
UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science
This is the March 2024 issue of the UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science Newsletter containing news and events of interest.
2024-03-01T00:00:00Z
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Adjustment for Renal Function Improves the Prognostic Performance of Urinary Thromboxane Metabolites
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/53217
Adjustment for Renal Function Improves the Prognostic Performance of Urinary Thromboxane Metabolites
Barton, Bruce A; Kronsberg, Shari S; Hariri, Essa; Vasan, Ramachandran S; Rade, Grace A; Xanthakis, Vanessa; Kickler, Thomas S; Rade, Jeffrey J
Background: Systemic thromboxane A2 generation, assessed by quantifying the concentration of stable thromboxane B2 metabolites (TXB2-M) in the urine adjusted for urinary creatinine, is strongly associated with mortality risk. We sought to define optimal TXB2-M cutpoints for aspirin users and nonusers and determine if adjusting TXB2-M for estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in addition to urinary creatinine improved mortality risk assessment.
Methods: Urinary TXB2-M were measured by competitive ELISA in 1363 aspirin users and 1681 nonusers participating in the Framingham Heart Study. Cutpoints were determined for TXB2-M and TXB2-M/eGFR using log-rank statistics and used to assess mortality risk by Cox proportional hazard modeling and restricted mean survival time. Multivariable models were compared using the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). A cohort of 105 aspirin users with heart failure was used for external validation.
Results: Optimized cutpoints of TXB2-M were 1291 and 5609 pg/mg creatinine and of TXB2-M/eGFR were 16.6 and 62.1 filtered prostanoid units (defined as pg·min/creatinine·mL·1.73 m2), for aspirin users and nonusers, respectively. TXB2-M/eGFR cutpoints provided more robust all-cause mortality risk discrimination than TXB2-M cutpoints, with a larger unadjusted hazard ratio (2.88 vs 2.16, AIC P < 0.0001) and greater differences in restricted mean survival time between exposure groups (1.46 vs 1.10 years), findings that were confirmed in the external validation cohort of aspirin users. TXB2-M/eGFR cutpoints also provided better cardiovascular/stroke mortality risk discrimination than TXB2-M cutpoints (unadjusted hazard ratio 3.31 vs 2.13, AIC P < 0.0001).
Conclusion: Adjustment for eGFR strengthens the association of urinary TXB2-M with long-term mortality risk irrespective of aspirin use.
2024-02-28T00:00:00Z
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Adulting Shorts: Let’s Talk About Workplace Accommodations
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/53108
Adulting Shorts: Let’s Talk About Workplace Accommodations
Seward, Hannah
Work can be hard! If you have a mental health condition, you might need to ask for an accommodation at work. An accommodation is a change to the way your job is done to allow you to do your job well when you have a disability. This comic by the NIDILRR-funded Learning & Working RRTC shares some real-world experiences young adults with lived experience of mental health conditions when working.
For more information about requesting accommodations at work, please read our Accommodations at Work tip sheet.
2024-02-27T00:00:00Z
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Fleischner Society: Glossary of Terms for Thoracic Imaging
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/53210
Fleischner Society: Glossary of Terms for Thoracic Imaging
Bankier, Alexander A; MacMahon, Heber; Colby, Thomas; Gevenois, Pierre Alain; Goo, Jin Mo; Leung, Ann N C; Lynch, David A; Schaefer-Prokop, Cornelia M; Tomiyama, Noriyuki; Travis, William D; Verschakelen, Johny A; White, Charles S; Naidich, David P
Members of the Fleischner Society have compiled a glossary of terms for thoracic imaging that replaces previous glossaries published in 1984, 1996, and 2008, respectively. The impetus to update the previous version arose from multiple considerations. These include an awareness that new terms and concepts have emerged, others have become obsolete, and the usage of some terms has either changed or become inconsistent to a degree that warranted a new definition. This latest glossary is focused on terms of clinical importance and on those whose meaning may be perceived as vague or ambiguous. As with previous versions, the aim of the present glossary is to establish standardization of terminology for thoracic radiology and, thereby, to facilitate communications between radiologists and clinicians. Moreover, the present glossary aims to contribute to a more stringent use of terminology, increasingly required for structured reporting and accurate searches in large databases. Compared with the previous version, the number of images (chest radiography and CT) in the current version has substantially increased. The authors hope that this will enhance its educational and practical value. All definitions and images are hyperlinked throughout the text. Click on each figure callout to view corresponding image. © RSNA, 2024 Supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorials by Bhalla and Powell in this issue.
2024-02-27T00:00:00Z
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Modeling neurodevelopmental disorder-associated human AGO1 mutations in Caenorhabditis elegans Argonaute alg-1
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/53225
Modeling neurodevelopmental disorder-associated human AGO1 mutations in Caenorhabditis elegans Argonaute alg-1
Duan, Ye; Li, Li; Panzade, Ganesh Prabhakar; Piton, Amélie; Zinovyeva, Anna; Ambros, Victor R.
MicroRNAs (miRNA) associate with Argonaute (AGO) proteins and repress gene expression by base pairing to sequences in the 3' untranslated regions of target genes. De novo coding variants in the human AGO genes AGO1 and AGO2 cause neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) with intellectual disability, referred to as Argonaute syndromes. Most of the altered amino acids are conserved between the miRNA-associated AGO in Homo sapiens and Caenorhabditis elegans, suggesting that the human mutations could disrupt conserved functions in miRNA biogenesis or activity. We genetically modeled four human AGO1 mutations in C. elegans by introducing identical mutations into the C. elegans AGO1 homologous gene, alg-1. These alg-1 NDD mutations cause phenotypes in C. elegans indicative of disrupted miRNA processing, miRISC (miRNA silencing complex) formation, and/or target repression. We show that the alg-1 NDD mutations are antimorphic, causing developmental and molecular phenotypes stronger than those of alg-1 null mutants, likely by sequestrating functional miRISC components into non-functional complexes. The alg-1 NDD mutations cause allele-specific disruptions in mature miRNA profiles, accompanied by perturbation of downstream gene expression, including altered translational efficiency and/or messenger RNA abundance. The perturbed genes include those with human orthologs whose dysfunction is associated with NDD. These cross-clade genetic studies illuminate fundamental AGO functions and provide insights into the conservation of miRNA-mediated post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms.
2024-02-27T00:00:00Z