Publications by authors named "Megha Shah"

Introduction: Surgical device-aided therapies (DATs), including carbidopa-levodopa enteral suspension (CLES) and deep brain stimulation (DBS), are efficacious treatment options for people with advanced Parkinson's disease (aPD). While provider and patient preference influence treatment choices, DAT use remains low and social drivers of health (SDOH) may present barriers to access. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship of patient characteristics and SDOH-including geographic distance to facilities that provide DATs-with likelihood of receiving DAT.

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is the leading cause of wound infections in humans following animals' bites or scratches. This bacterium is also commonly found in the respiratory tract of many mammals and can cause serious diseases resulting in the brutal rapid death of infected animals, especially cattle. To prevent these infections in cattle, a subunit-based vaccine utilizing the surface lipoprotein PmSLP was developed and showed remarkable protection with a single dose administration.

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Context: As response rates to health surveys conducted by telephone continue to fall while data collection costs rise, practitioners are increasingly transitioning to address-based sample (ABS) designs with a self-administered, mail contact data collection mode.

Objective: To compare differences in key health indicators produced from both the Adult Survey and Child Survey of the Los Angeles County Health Survey (LACHS), which transitioned from a telephone to primarily self-administered mode in the 2022-2023 administration.

Design: Weighted survey estimates from the 2015, 2018, and 2022-2023 LACHS administrations are compared to investigate differences that may be attributable to LACHS' recent mode transition.

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Background: The National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) is an evidence-based lifestyle intervention successfully disseminated across the United States. Some adaptations have been made to address real-world needs, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to qualitatively describe adaptations Lifestyle Coaches made in response to the pandemic.

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Article Synopsis
  • Bacterial pathogens have developed various strategies, including heme acquisition systems, to obtain iron in environments where it's limited, enabling their growth and survival against host defenses.
  • This study focuses on newly identified structures of hemophores known as HphAs found in several Gram-negative bacteria, revealing their unique structural features and genetic organization related to iron uptake.
  • Findings indicate that the Slam-dependent HphA system plays a crucial role in the efficient secretion and uptake of heme, suggesting that these hemophores are widely conserved among different bacteria and essential for their pathogenic capabilities.
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The term prediabetes describes blood glucose levels above the normal range but below the threshold to diagnose type 2 diabetes. Several population health initiatives encourage a test and treat approach for prediabetes. In this approach, screening and identification of individuals with prediabetes should be followed by prompt referral to structured lifestyle modification programs or pharmacologic interventions that have been shown to prevent or delay the progression to type 2 diabetes in clinical trials.

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Aims: Understanding health behaviors of people with diabetes can inform strategies to reduce diabetes-related burdens.

Methods: We used serial cross-sectional National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys over 2007-2018 to characterize self-reported health behaviors among non-pregnant adults, with and without self-reported diabetes. We estimated weighted proportions meeting recommended health behaviors overall and by sociodemographic and glycemic levels.

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Background: South Asians face a high prevalence of type II diabetes (DMII) and comorbid hypertension (HTN). Community health worker (CHW) interventions have the potential to improve chronic disease outcomes, yet few have been tailored to South Asian populations in the United States.

Objective: To test the effectiveness of an evidence-based CHW-led and culturally-tailored HTN and DMII management program for South Asian adults with diabetes and comorbid uncontrolled HTN (systolic blood pressure (SBP) > 130 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) > 80 mmHg).

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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) emerged in December 2019, causing a range of respiratory infections from mild to severe. This resulted in the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a significant impact on public health. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic in March 2020.

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Benign conditions of the colon and rectum are a heterogeneous group of conditions that range from inflammatory to infectious to pelvic floor health conditions that affect large segments of the US population. These conditions include diverticular disease, hemorrhoids, and anorectal lesions. The initial presentation of these very common conditions often occurs in the outpatient primary care setting, and most can be managed by the primary care clinician.

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The success of personal non-pharmaceutical interventions as a public health strategy requires a high level of compliance from individuals in private social settings. Strategies to increase compliance in these hard-to-reach settings depend upon a comprehensive understanding of the patterns and predictors of protective social behavior. Social cognitive models of protective behavior emphasize the contribution of individual-level factors while social-ecological models emphasize the contribution of environmental factors.

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Type 2 diabetes disparities in the USA persist in both the prevalence of disease and diabetes-related complications. We conducted a literature review related to diabetes prevention, management, and complications across racial and ethnic groups in the USA. The objective of this review is to summarise the current understanding of diabetes disparities by examining differences between and within racial and ethnic groups and among young people (aged <18 years).

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Pasteurella multocida can infect a multitude of wild and domesticated animals, with infections in cattle resulting in hemorrhagic septicemia (HS) or contributing to bovine respiratory disease (BRD) complex. Current cattle vaccines against P. multocida consist of inactivated bacteria, which only offer limited and serogroup specific protection.

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Anti-CRISPR proteins inhibit CRISPR-Cas immune systems through diverse mechanisms. Previously, the anti-CRISPR protein AcrIIC5 was shown to potently inhibit a type II-C Cas9 from Neisseria meningitidis (Nme1Cas9). In this work, we explore the mechanism of activity of the AcrIIC5 homologue from Neisseria chenwenguii (AcrIIC5) and show that it prevents Cas9 binding to target DNA.

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Importance: Consistent medication use is critical for diabetes management. Population surveillance of consistency of medication use may identify opportunities to improve diabetes care.

Objective: To evaluate trends in longitudinal use of glucose-, blood pressure-, and lipid-lowering medications by adults with diabetes.

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Spinal cord injury (SCI) represents an urgent unmet need for clinical reparative therapy due to its largely irreversible and devastating effects on patients, and the tremendous socioeconomic burden to the community. While different approaches are being explored, therapy to restore the lost function remains unavailable. Olfactory ensheathing cell (OEC) transplantation is a promising approach in terms of feasibility, safety, and limited efficacy; however, high variability in reported clinical outcomes prevent its translation despite several clinical trials.

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Background: Diabetes and hypertension are common in Asian Americans and vary by subgroup. There may be further variation by social determinants of health (SDOHs), but few studies have examined this previously.

Objective: To examine the associations of SDOHs and diabetes and hypertension within and across Asian subgroups in the USA DESIGN: Series cross-sectional analyses SETTING: National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS) from 1999 to 2018 PARTICIPANTS: Asian-American adults (Chinese, Filipino, Asian Indian, and Other Asian [Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, and other]) MEASUREMENTS: Self-reported diabetes and hypertension prevalence in pooled 5-year increments over 1999-2018 and multivariable regression models to assess the adjusted prevalence of diabetes or hypertension by poverty, marital status, education, and years in the USA, adjusting for age, sex, BMI, and health insurance status RESULTS: From 1999-2003 to 2014-2018, the age- and sex-adjusted prevalence of diabetes increased for Other Asians (absolute change: 4.

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Background: South Asians are disproportionately affected by type 2 diabetes (DMII) and comorbid hypertension (HTN). Community health worker (CHW) interventions have been shown to improve chronic disease outcomes, yet few have been tailored for South Asians. This paper describes the study protocol and baseline characteristics of an evidence-based CHW intervention to improve blood pressure (BP) control among South Asian adults with diabetes and comorbid HTN in Atlanta, GA.

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Importance: Little is known about emergency department (ED) use among people with diabetes and whether the pattern of ED use varies across geographic areas and population subgroups.

Objective: To estimate recent national- and state-level trends in diabetes-related ED use overall and by race and ethnicity, rural or urban location, and insurance status.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study of adults visiting the ED with a diabetes-related diagnosis used serial data from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample, a nationally representative database, and discharge records from 11 state emergency department databases for 2008, 2011, 2014, and 2016 to 2017.

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Axons respond well to mechanical stimuli and can be stretched mechanically to increase their growth rate. Although stretch growth of axons and their transient lengthening ex-vivo has been discussed in literature extensively, however, real applications of this phenomenon are scarcely found. This work presents a technique to translate ex-vivo axonal stretch growth to in-vivo nerve stretch growth.

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Individuals from socioeconomically disadvantaged groups have lesser participation and success in the National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP). Barriers to NDPP participation and lifestyle change were examined from the perspective of Lifestyle Coaches serving lower versus higher income participants. Lifestyle Coaches (n = 211) who serve lower income (n = 82) or higher income (n = 129) participants reported on observed barriers to NDPP participation and lifestyle change and ranked the three most significant barriers to (a) NDPP participation and (b) lifestyle change.

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Purpose: To describe Lifestyle Coach perceptions of dyads (i.e., family members and/or friends) in the National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP).

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Objective: To analyze national and state-specific trends in diabetes-related hospital admissions and determine whether disparities in rates of admission exist between demographic groups and geographically dispersed states.

Research Design And Methods: We conducted serial cross-sectional analyses of the National Inpatient Sample (2008, 2011, 2014, and 2016) and State Inpatient Databases for Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Utah, and Vermont for 2008, 2011, 2014, and 2016/2017 among adult patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes-related ICD codes (ICD-9 [250.XX] or ICD-10 [E10.

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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of adolescents' desire for COVID-19 vaccination on their parents' vaccination decision for their adolescent.

Methods: We surveyed an internet-based panel of 1,051 parents of 1,519 adolescents aged 11-18 years from February to March 2021 about their adolescent's desire for COVID-19 vaccination and whether they consider this desire in their vaccination decision for the adolescent. We used multivariable Poisson regression to assess associations with parent-stated likelihood of adolescent vaccination.

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